TDY Gouge - Qatar

Al-Udeid, Qatar - I also spent several days as a transient at Al-Udied in Qatar. That place just went up after Sept 11th. It's so new, on the rotator out, NOBODY could tell me where Al-Udied was. It wasn't until I was in Bahrain that anybody had a clue. They still have a lot of stuff to work out. Persco/billeting was a disaster. We had to fight to get our flight from there to Seeb--calling ATOC several times per day. They also use the 3 beer/day rule, but it's 7 days a week. They serve from 0700-1300 and 1900-0100. Services are ok, they have a tent with about 8 rooms with TV/VCRs, and a couple with DVD/Playstation 2s. They also have a snack bar, one TV which they occasionally show movies on, and a dart board. The bar has lots of board games and 4 TVs showing 2 different stations. There are 2 volleyball courts there. Transients sleep 12 to a tent on cots. Not sure how nice the permanent tents are. There is officially no travelling off base, however I did hear one guy trying to rally people to go on a trip to a shopping center once (not sure if it was an opportunity or a petition). Check out Al-Udeid updated maps and satellite photos. Also, read more about the base.

~Beer tent ... 0700-1400 and 1900-0200 (3 beer daily limit). The beer tent has both a sports tv section and a news section. A tv/movie tent plays tv shows and movies 24hrs and has pingpong and pool tables. Weights and conditioning facility (acceptable). Three chow halls, one by OPS/Flightline, two in tent city. If the food at the main chow hall in tent city isn't to your liking, do a touch-n-go and head to the smaller "american" chow hall which serves hamburgers, hotdogs and cold cuts. A miny BX is open 0900-2100 daily. There is also a barber and beaty shop if you need to get a "slappy". To go downtown, you have to get the OSI briefing and a qualified driver (not going to happen for transient crews). If you need flight meals, you have three options. In all cases, you need an AF FORM 2039 filled out by your AC. The OPS/Flightline chowhall will allow carry out. They also can provide you with box nasties. The meals consists of two pre-fab sandwiches (usually turkey or ham with cheese) two bags of chips and a cookie. You have to get your drinks from the chowhall fridge. If you so desire, MRE's can be had from the main chowhall in tent city. For billteting, expect a field tent with cots. PERSCO can hook you up with a foam pad and blankets and pillows (it sucks).

~Update to the Deid. All the tents are gone. All of the living quarters are white double wide trailers with 15 12x12 rooms down each side. Most TDY rooms have a phone, but dialing CONUS is blocked. If you are deployed there, you can receive calls from outside lines though. All rooms have a cable tv connection; tv's not included. All rooms have bunk beds. Whether or not you have a room mate is up to your squadron. The gym in the compound is mediocre. It is packed in the evenings. I recommend the Ops Town gym. It's smaller, but you can get a quiet workout. The chow hall in compound is open 24/7. The food is ok; the taco bar is great! The Ops Town chow hall has certain hours of operation. Be prepared, the lines get long. Beer is from 0900-0200 everyday- three beer limit. They have also started serving mixed drinks. There are also coffee shops around base. Couldn't tell you what transient services are like because I deploy there on a regular basis.