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Gitmo Travelogue, Gitmo Observations

Other than Camp America, I can't figure out why this base exists anymore, really. It has fuel for airplanes and ships. Why do they come here? Because there's fuel. Why is there fuel here? Because the ships & planes come here. OK, that minimizes it a bit, there is a fair amount of drug interdiction that originates from here, due to its proximity to the islands. But now that the Cold War is over, its purpose has changed a bunch,especially since we're not worried about the Cubans and/or Soviets invading anymore.

The logistics to keep this base running are amazing. Fresh food comes in via airplane and bulk stuff comes in via barge from the mainland (there's a joke that goes "It's on the barge" anytime you want something that the Exchange/Commissary doesn't have). Everything the base needs (power, sewer, water) is handled here, since we can't use Cuban resources (in fact, the shutting off of water service by the Cubans to Gitmo was one of the final acts leading up to the "gate" being closed to Cuba). The desalination plant that Gitmo has was actually an existing plant from California that was brought out in the early 60s. Trash is taken off by barge (though some is dumped on base at a dump or burned). Some power is generated using huge windmills like you might see at Palm Springs.

Civilians really run this base - the Filipinos and Jamaicans do all of the real work on this base, like running food service, the fire department, landscaping, etc. etc. Lots of contractors here, too, that handle buildings, road maint, vehicle maintenance, etc.

There are Marines here, that keep the security of the base on the line between Gitmo and Cuba, but I didn't really see them around the base (then again, there aren't that many). The Coast Guard is here, since they do the drug interdiction, the Navy (duh), the Army (they're in charge of Camp America) and the Air Force (not quite sure what they do).

Of course, everyone lives on base, the Jamaicans live in one part, the Puerto Rican National Guard (they're security for Camp America) live in another and there's lots of family housing. The Puerto Ricans even raise the ire of the detainees on occasion because they have huge cookouts on the weekend at a small park and blast their music and it makes the detainees cranky.

As I mentioned earlier, there are lots of deserted (and repurposed) buildings. For example, the "Tiki Bar" is an outdoor bar that's built on top of a filled in swimming pool. I'm sure that there are lots of other repurposed buildings, but I didn't have the wherewithal to figure them out, tho I figure if I was living here, doing research on the history of the base itself would be one of the things I'd do to keep myself occupied.

Since Gitmo is so large, it's a good thing Noreen has her Geo Tracker (see pic, taken in front of an old steel light house) to get around. There are buses that go everywhere, but it's nice to have a car.

Gitmo Travelogue, Sat & Sun, 19/20 Sep (Gitmo-JAX-San Diego)

We got up, had breakfast and drove over to the ferry landing for the 9:30 ferry run to the leeward side. We got to the air terminal, did security & whatnot and then sat around forever until the flight was called to board, around 1:30. The flight was full, so it was a good thing I checked in on Friday. The flight was an easy flight to Jacksonville and after I got my suitcase, I had the duty driver take me to the Navy Lodge. Up at 3am on Sunday for the 4am ride to the Jacksonville airport. I was so early, I was the first guy to check in curbside (had to wait for the skycap to boot up the computers) and was the 1st or 2nd passenger thru the security checkpoint. The flight left Jax and when we got near Atlanta, I (and my rowmate) both noticed that the plane was orbiting Atlanta; we knew there was some weather there, but didn't know how bad. We landed 30 min late and the airport was chaos with
planes landing late, taking off late, etc. Delta has help-counters in the 2 terminals I was in and they were both mobbed with people trying to get their trips straightened out. I had a 3 hr layover in ATL that turned into almost 4 hrs because the plane that was coming into Atlanta to go to San Diego was late landing (of course, given the weather). We boarded and then the plane taxied out and got into a line of at least 20 planes waiting to take off. We waited for about 5-10 min and then the captain came on and said that another runway had been opened for takeoff and we were first in line for it, so off we went. 4 hours later, I was in San Diego.

Gitmo Travelogue, Friday, 18Sep

Noreen had her uniform inspection and then we headed off to Marine Hill, where the Marines that watch the fence between Gitmo and Cuba are quartered at. Marine Hill has the "White House," the HQ building for the Marines, their barracks, and a gym. At one point, there were nearly 2000 Marines stationed at Gitmo, the number is down to 113, and 14 of those are admin. We were at Marine Hill to catch the bus to take the "Northeast Gate" tour, the famous gate that everyone thinks of and see pictures of. On the busride to the gate, our tour guide (a Marine) explained some of the highlights, such as the mine fields that the US laid (60,000+ mines) that they then de-mined (only 3 unaccounted for!) and the spots along the road that could be blown up with concrete barriers to block the road and force invading Cubans & Soviets to traverse the minefields while invading the base. The Cubans also laid lots of mines on the approaches to Gitmo, but their mines are to keep people in, not to keep the Americans out (and they didn't make maps of their minefields, which will make the eventual demining of the fields VERY difficult). He also covered the history of Gitmo, going back to 1494 when Columbus first landed here; some smaller battles of the Spanish-American war were fought on lands that now make up the base, too.

The fence between Gitmo & Cuba is really just a 6' high fence topped with barbed wire, running the 22 mi of "border." In one spot, right near the gate, there is a 25' high fence/net that is intended to stop rocks from hitting the small building (with a tin roof) the Marines use as their HQ for the fence guards (used to be used as a barracks, too) - the Cubans would throw rocks at the building to harass the Marines. After the 25' fence went up, the Cubans then took to climbing the new fence and would hang wind chimes composed of a coat hanger and metal crap (cans, etc) on the new higher fence - 2 of the coathangers are still on the fence, but they don't have anything hanging anymore, so they're just remnants of the Cold War. There's also a huge Globe and Anchor symbol made of concrete on the small hill (see pic) - this is a result of the gamesmanship, too. The Cubans would shine bright lights on the building and hill nearby, but the Marines had the Seabees come out, and under the cover of a tent, they put the Marine logo into the hill. The Marines removed the tent and now the Cubans were shnining a light on the logo, which they quickly turned off. The Marines then installed their own light to illuminate the logo.

But, now, things are significantly more civil. The Cubans and Americans meet every month (in fact, the meeting for Sept had just occurred at the building with the tin roof that morning) to discuss various issues. They have a mutual-aid agreement of sorts in place to help out in disasters and even did a drill a few months ago where a Cuban helicopter fought a fire on Gitmo and the Marines went over to help out in a mass-casualty drill. The Americans can even overfly Cuba with medevac (medical evacuation) flights, which means that someone injured on base can be in Miami in short order, without having to go the "long way" around.

It was a very cool tour and was the reason that I scheduled my visit for this particular week - the tour runs every 3rd Friday.

At Gitmo, you can check in a day early (and drop off your suitcase) for the space-available seats on the flight out on Sat, so we went to do that around 3pm. When we got there, they asked for a letter from Noreen's command that we hadn't bothered to get since I didn't need it. It was already 3:30 and we were worried that no one would be in the office to do the letter and that'd mean I would be at Gitmo until Tuesday (when the next flight was). We ran back to Noreen's barracks so she could get into uniform to go to the office and she had me call the admin guy for her unit; he was in and he typed up the letter. We got to her office and waited for her department head to come back and he signed it and we went back to the air terminal office to get me checked in. Dinner that night was at the galley for "surf & turf," serving t-bones, lobster tail & crab claws, which they do every Friday dinner. The galley was mobbed and for $4.40 each, it was a great dinner (though, since it was the galley, there was no beer. How can you have a steak without beer?)

Gitmo Travelogue, Thurs, 17Sep

After breakfast, we went to Ferry Landing Beach, which is actually inside the Bay. It's a sandy beach (not fine sand like a real beach, but close) and I did more snorkling, which was much easier since I didn't have to fight the Atlantic! I saw a starfish on the bottom and a few fish, but not as many as I saw at Windmill. Noreen picked up shells and "sea glass" which is pieces of glass from bottles & whatnot that were thrown off of the shore or ships and broke and the sea has worn down to smooth pieces. One of the craft/hobbies here at Gitmo is to find sea glass and make jewelry out of it, which they sell at the Exchange. I got burned good while snorkling (ugh). Then we went up to where officers' quarters used to be, which is along the windward side facing the end of the bay & the Atlantic. This area was also a strategic spot for gun emplacements, and there are 2 of them, both dated 1906 and I took some pics of the emplacements. We then went down steps to Glass Beach (which is near the batteries). Glass Beach is so named because the old-old Officer's Club was on a cliff overlooked this "beach" and the officers would toss their emtpy bottles down to the water below, where they'd break and eventually become sea glass. Noreen found lots of glass down here, including a couple of thick porcelain/ceramic pieces that look like they were originally old medicine bottles and some pale green pieces that were definitely from Coke bottles (any other beverage use that glass color?). We had dinner that night at the Bayview Club and then a drink at the Tiki Bar before crashing early for the night, since Noreen had an early morning uniform inspection she couldn't get out of.

Gitmo Travelogue, Tues & Wed, 15 & 16 Sep

Tuesday:
We went to the pool and I swam laps while Noreen read. After lunch, Noreen and I did laundry and then went to the Exchange to buy stuff for a BBQ that night. There was a light rain and after the worst of it was over, we went down and cooked burgers. After dinner, I sat out and tried to have a stogie, but the bugs attacked like crazy and I got chased in.

Wed:
Noreen cancelled my plane reservations so I can fly space-available back to Jax (much cheaper!). We went to the Exchange and bought me a cheap snorkling set (fins, mask, snorkel), and we went back to Windmill Beach. Windmill has a rocky bottom and because it's directly exposed to the Atlantic, it made for VERY hard swimming, but I had fun seeing the fish. It was also my first time snorkling, so I learned a few lessons the hard way (I didn't realize the mask covers your nose, ouch.). We had lunch at the Windjammer, a casual sit-down restaurant, kind of like a Denny's (sandwiches & burgers). We then hit the dive shop and I bought a buddy a Gitmo diving t-shirt and Noreen bought a book on identifying Gitmo shells. We tried to do dinner at the Bayview Club, which is in the old Officer's Club, but it was closed, so we came back to Noreen's room and had a pizza delivered.

Gitmo Travelogue, Monday, 14Sep

Breakfast at the galley (chow hall), and it felt like every other base galley on every other base in the US military. Had everything you'd expect, including fresh fruits and a salad bar (for lunch) Noreen had to go into the office for a bit, so I sat at the coffee shop and had a stogie and surfed the web on the wifi. After that, we drove around a bit so I could take a couple pics of the cacti & trees. Went down to "Windmill Beach" to check it out and while I was walking towards the (bath-warm!) water of the Atlantic, I slipped on the super-slippery rocks and conked my knee. Windmill beach is basically next to Camp America, so you can't take pictures there. The beaches here at Gitmo are mostly rocks, no real sandy beaches. We had lunch at the galley and then Noreen went off to do some work stuff and I sat again at the coffee shop and caught up on my notes of the trip. Around 1700, it started raining
real hard (see pic, taken from Noreen's room looking at the bay). We had dinner at KFC and went to O'Kelly's to watch Monday Night Football. For some reason, O'Kelly's decided to play music instead of having the audio for MNF, so we left and went to the lounge at Noreen's barracks to watch the first game, then to her room for the 2nd.

Gitmo Travelogue, Sunday, 13Sep

Had breakfast at Subway (yes, there's a Subway here, along with a McD's, Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut). Got a massage from a visiting spa crew that comes here every few months and Noreen had a facial. We watched the first games on Sunday at O'Kelly's, the "Irish" pub here at Gitmo (Guinness on tap!) and ate Pizza Hut. O'Kelly's has DirecTV, so they get all the games. There were about 50 people in the pub and it was a lively crowd. We left after the first game and went back for a nap. Had dinner at McDonald's (see pic). What's unusual about the picture? Why did I take a pic of a McD's? Because there's NOTHING unusual about it, that's why! It's a regular McD's that serves everything (ok, they didn't have the meat for Angus burgers) a regular McD's does. Went to the outdoor theater to watch a movie, and when we got there at 1915, it was raining pretty good, but by 2000, the rain stopped and we watched the movie ("The Ugly Truth", a generic romantic comedy). The outdoor theater is free and they show movies almost every night, everything almost-first-run (G.I. Joe, G-Force were other movies showing this week). I smoked my first cigar in Cuba (one of the stogies I brought with me) sitting on the bleachers in the "smoking section" of the theater.

Gitmo Travelogue, Friday & Sat (San Diego - JAX- Gitmo), 11 & 12 Sep

Friday:
The flight from San Diego to Atlanta was REALLY rough as we flew over Arizona, noticable to me! The plane had satellite TV for every seat, so I watched CSI and saw the breathless report (that later turned out to be nothing) about the shots fired at the boat in the Potomac. Short flight from ATL to Jacksonville and caught my shuttle ride to the Navy Lodge on the base at Jacksonville. Had a sandwich and beer from the vending machine.

Saturday:
Got up at 4am and showered & got ready. Went down to the lobby to check on the duty driver and they said he'd already been called. Got to the air terminal at 0515 and got my name on the space-available list and sat around and waited. The plane ticket was only $15! As usual, some dumbass came up to the counter at 8am asking if people with reservations were going to be called; she had orders to go to Gitmo, but they'd already "closed the plane" (done the paperwork, figured weights, etc) and she was told she was out of luck. She'd been sitting since 6am and it never occurred to her to see if she needed to do anything. The Gitmo flight took 2 hrs in an old MD-80 run by a charter airline. The flight wasn't full, maybe 10-15 seats were open. The flight goes basically SE to the east tip of Cuba and then turns west to follow the coast (12+ mi out!) and then banks over the bay and then turns to land. Got my paperwork done and then a master-at-arms called my name out. Apparently the drug/bomb dog had "alerted" on my suitcase. So, the master-at-arms (Navy police) moved everyone to the other side of the hangar and had me take all of the stuff out of my suitcase. The dog sniffed everything again and didn't alert, but we suspected it was because of my stogies. We packed everything up and the MAs decided to have the dog sniff again he alerted again but we didn't know why. Oh well, I was sent on my way. The airfield is on the "leeward" (west) side of the bay, so you take a ferry
from the leeward to windward side of the base, where the rest of the base is at. Lots of fresh fruit/veggies came in on the flight, see pic. The ferry is an old LCU, meant for landing light vehicles and Marines on a beach. We got to the windward side and Noreen had to stop at the comissary/exchange for some stuff. Took a look at the comissary, and it's a normal comissary, fresh fruit, veggies, meats,etc. Prices were basically the same as they are in San Diego. The Exchange is a regular Navy exchange.

Noreen's barracks room is in a newer building. It's a studio apartment with a double bed, fridge, 2 burner stove, sink and bathroom. It's fairly nice inside. She has a view of the bay (see pic). The small concrete islands in the bay are "anchor bouys" which are heavy concrete pillars that go to the seabed that warships can "anchor" to by attaching their chain. They're in disuse now, obviously! Next door to Noreen's barracks is a coffee shop, the "Jerk House" that sells Jamaican food, the Tiki Bar, an outdoor bar and the Bayview Restaurant, a nice sitdown restaurant that has a view of the bay.

We went for a drive around the base; it's a large base, 45 sq mi. It's fairly rough terrain, with cacti and trees everywhere. And of course, the wildlife, which is mostly iguanas and banana rats. There are lots of deserted roads that go to nowhere and deserted buildings. Lots of ammo magazines (bunkers for ammo) that I suspect still have ammo. Saw the old "Camp X-Ray," which was originally built to house Haitians seeking asylum, then was used to house detainees, before being replaced by Camp America. X-Ray was broken down and disused, like lots of buildings here at Gitmo - when they're not using a building (or whatever), they just leave it there and the elements take it back. Also saw a couple of the beaches, which are mostly rock. Had a pic of me taken at the stairs going down to "Girl Scout Beach." Had dinner at the Jerk House and crashed early, I'd had 2 long days.