Camp As Sayliyah is located in the proverbial middle of nowhere of the Qatari desert about an hour’s drive southwest of Doha. In my eyes, its chief advantage is that it’s not Baghdad.
Qatar is a small oil and gas-rich country, consisting of a peninsula shaped like a thumb jutting north from the larger peninsular land mass consisting chiefly of Saudi Arabia. Doha, its capital, is also its only chief city. Most Americans pronounce Qatar as “Kah-TAR” although the correct, Arabic pronunciation sounds more like “GHA-tar” with a guttural “gh” and soft “t”. The Brits, who also have a military presence here, pronounce it more like “KHAH-tar.”
Camp As Sayliyah, according to open sources, is a large logistical base for CENTCOM. There are many large vehicle maintenance yards servicing HUMVEEs, tracked vehicles and large trucks. The denizens of the base consist of a few permanent party in uniform attached to CENTCOM and ARCENT, many third country nationals (TCNs), mostly East Indian, who work in the maintenance yards, and a fair amount of service members walking around in civilian clothes who are here on four-day passes from either Iraq or the Horn of Africa.
The Rest and Relaxation Program makes being stuck here for two and half weeks most worthwhile. There are two big Morale, Welfare, Recreation (MWR) facilities here. The first is The Top Off, which is built inside a large, air-conditioned hangar. The front end consists of a three bars. The middle section is a large stage for musical acts and the rear section has phone banks and Internet computers along with a small Green Beans stand, and a movie lounge. Anyone posted here is entitled to three beers a night in one of the three bars.
On the evening of 9 March we went to the Top Off and I enjoyed my first beer since 31 October when we had our farewell dinner in Columbia, SC. While the Japanese have their Tea Ceremony, I relish the act of sitting in a comfy chair with one or more friends and sipping a beer. I felt refreshed, ready to start my series of meetings here.
Qatar is a small oil and gas-rich country, consisting of a peninsula shaped like a thumb jutting north from the larger peninsular land mass consisting chiefly of Saudi Arabia. Doha, its capital, is also its only chief city. Most Americans pronounce Qatar as “Kah-TAR” although the correct, Arabic pronunciation sounds more like “GHA-tar” with a guttural “gh” and soft “t”. The Brits, who also have a military presence here, pronounce it more like “KHAH-tar.”
Camp As Sayliyah, according to open sources, is a large logistical base for CENTCOM. There are many large vehicle maintenance yards servicing HUMVEEs, tracked vehicles and large trucks. The denizens of the base consist of a few permanent party in uniform attached to CENTCOM and ARCENT, many third country nationals (TCNs), mostly East Indian, who work in the maintenance yards, and a fair amount of service members walking around in civilian clothes who are here on four-day passes from either Iraq or the Horn of Africa.
The Rest and Relaxation Program makes being stuck here for two and half weeks most worthwhile. There are two big Morale, Welfare, Recreation (MWR) facilities here. The first is The Top Off, which is built inside a large, air-conditioned hangar. The front end consists of a three bars. The middle section is a large stage for musical acts and the rear section has phone banks and Internet computers along with a small Green Beans stand, and a movie lounge. Anyone posted here is entitled to three beers a night in one of the three bars.
On the evening of 9 March we went to the Top Off and I enjoyed my first beer since 31 October when we had our farewell dinner in Columbia, SC. While the Japanese have their Tea Ceremony, I relish the act of sitting in a comfy chair with one or more friends and sipping a beer. I felt refreshed, ready to start my series of meetings here.
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