menALASAD: Second part of the day
The Bus ride: Alasad was a former Marine base that the Army took over when the Marines went to Afghanistan. There still is a Marine presence but mostly Army and Air Force, and it was no-nonsense until we got VIP cards, then they couldn’t be more helpful. Alasad soldiers were hilarious people (they were very serious but had humor), they wrote all over the seats on the bus ride in. Take what you want from it. The security is Ugandan; it’s a marine base so the security is so tight. We did a ton of check INS and security clearances. In fact, we got taken to a detainee room to get a security check and question. I realized I love walking right behind Colonel Shock and pretending everyone is respecting and saluting me. Being Powerful is incredible.
Above: Just mean... but funny
To the right: Kind of Obscure?!
Below: I noticed everywhere we go, the Army has terrific artists. It is hard to tell, but its a 3-D black and white.
The green Room was a fantastic Library. Their Library system is incredible, They have books everywhere, and they also don’t have to return them, when they finish reading it drop it anywhere on base because there are books everywhere. I wouldn’t have thought Army men and women learn a ton. I saw more books there than on college campuses I visited.
I talked a bit to the colonel about Gary Sinese and how much he does for Armed Forces Entertainment. He is so amazing. In fact, he and John Malcovich (True West) are the reasons I got into theatre. He also was in “One Flew Over The CooCoo’s Nest”. They get some great entertainment over here. In fact, the show how it was running and set up was better than 99 % of the clubs that specialize in comedy shows. Here is one of the posters.
The show was great. The stage had disco lights, and it made me laugh; they kept them on for a while during my set. The PX had some great stuff I got an Alasad Hoodie! We got checked in late, so by the time we got to DFAC and ate, it was time to roll, Judd couldn’t show us the base.
Major Thomas knows everyone, no matter where we are, he is the man. He will probably be running IRAQ soon.
There was a weird situation on the way home. My chopper had two colonels Judd and I. Col. Shock, our guy and a guy out of the marines who’s stare would make an Avatar sweat. We took off and stopped in Ramadi to fuel up, and we picked up a couple guys and then went back to Alasad to drop them off, picked up soldiers then left for liberty, Check a map, and you’ll see it was ridiculous. The Colonels gave these pilots a bit of a scare. They where no Werewolf’s.
