Private Contractors Hoard Water From US Soldiers in Iraq
We’ve all heard stories of how US soldiers in Iraq have been forced to travel in Humvees lacking armor protection; however, the shortage in military supplies includes basic necessities.
Many soldiers stationed all over Iraq lack adequate supplies of drinking water. Commanders have been forced to steal water from the private contractors to meet the basic needs of their troops.
An Army training document on preventing heat casualties state that in hot desserts, a soldier can lose up to four gallons of water per day. A 1957 field manual, states “in hot deserts, you need a minimum of one gallon (of water) per day” for survival. Army Staff Sgt. Dustin Robey explains, “We were rationed two bottles of water a day…We were on missions, I ran out of water.”
Faced with water shortages, US soldiers have turned to drinking untreated water found inside raided houses resulting in high rates of dysentery. Eventually Robey’s commander led his troops to the Baghdad International Airport along one of the riskiest routes in Iraq to “steal” water from civilian contractors. At the airport, Robey discoverd pallets of water that were not being distributed to the troops.
Robey’s story is not unusual. Private Hannah describes, “My sergeant told my lieutenant we didn’t have enough water and he said go find some.” Hannah’s troop also found water at civilian contractor facility where, “We’d just run out and start grabbing cases of water and start throwing them in the gunner’s hatch.” Soldiers can eat Subway and Burger King, but they can’t get clean water. The contractor to blame was KBR.
KBR has no formalized training employess involved in water operations. At Camp Ar Ramadi, soldiers’ sinks and showers were supplied with untreated wastewater. Former KBR employee Ben Carter explains, “That water was two to three times as contaminated as the water out of the Euphrates River…You’re standing in what’s essentially a sauna of microorganisms. Your eyes, ears, anyplace there’s a cut, a person would be at risk of containing a pathogen.”
In 2007, private contractors outnumbered US troops in Iraq. There are many things wrong with the system of using private civilian contractors in military conflicts, but putting such contractors in charge of military personel’s basic neccessities is irresponsible. If we can’t provide the basic neccessities to our troops in the Iraq War, then they shouldn’t be there.
Image by jamesdale10 on Flickr under a Creative Commons License
Via: KHOU
I have been stationed in Iraq for almost a year and a half and this story is as far from the truth as I have ever heard. Just about anywhere you turn on a FOB or Camp and you will see a water point. When we go on patrol we are required to carry a certain amount of water with us and we usually take other drinks as well. Jennifer Lance is just another example of poor journalism. Without the private contractors I would have to be eating Army chow! Maybe, you should write a story on something you know about like your childrens freedom. When is the last time you were in Iraq Jennifer?
What a croc. Running out of water six years into Iraq? I find it hard to believe. I myself was over there in 2005 and had plenty of water. Perhaps this company or platoon just was replacing their stockpile. Our supply guys would have to go and get more from a more centralized site. I know because I went with them several time. I would say this is just a case of lazy supply people who didn’t want to go as often to get it.
secondly, why are you blaming kbr? what proof do you have that they are responsible for the water over there? So some guy says their water is two to three time a contaminated as the Euphrates River, again, proof? Most of those kbr guys are hard workers trying to make a living and support their families. Most that I interacted with would bend over backwards for the soldiers.
I dont know where you have obtained this information but I can assure you it is far from the norm. In 27 months of combat time that I have served in Iraq I have never once been forced to conserve water. On the contrary I have had more than I knew what to do with. If these soldiers are having trouble its poor leadership on the low side of the chain not the top cause there is plenty to go around and all you have to do is ask for it.
This is so awful! Please what can we do back home that will help the soldiers? Our new pres must know- he’s a man of action right?
Jennifer Lance: Next time before you report/blog a story you might want to check on a few things first.
Such as contacting the US Army & US Marines public affairs branch, as well as KBR’s public affairs branch.
Another useful thing to do would be to try and confirm if the people you’ve spoken to are actually current of former members of the military, and if so did they actually serve in Iraq.
Why do I say all this you might ask… because this story is ridiculous to anyone who has actually been in Iraq. A fine example in the lack of journalistic integrity, and failure to research facts that is so common now in the “internet age”.
I’ve been deployed to Iraq numberous times both as a soldier and as a private military security contractor. I’ve operated out of or traveled through just about every FOB/COB in Iraq, and I can say with 100% certainty “There are no drinking water shortages in Iraq… NONE!”.
“Eventually Robey’s commander led his troops to the Baghdad International Airport along one of the riskiest routes in Iraq to “steal” water from civilian contractors.”
Route Irish is one of the SAFEST routes in Iraq, it was one of the riskier routes back in 2003-2005… but those days have long since passed.
Regarding stealing water from KBR:
The normal “water yards” are designed and intended for the US Troops to walk/drive in and pickup bottled water, or bags of ice from the ice trailers. Each FOB/COB has a large excessive amount of water pallets in their water yards, getting clean drinking water hasn’t been a hard thing to do since 2003.
There are also water bottling locations such as the one at VBC where KBR purifies water, then bottles it, and then finally loads up flatbeds(large convoys of 18-wheelers) with water to deliver to FOBs/COBs without bottle water creation points.
The only detail you got correct in your article was the fact that the water used for showering or washing your hands is not potable, and MAY contain pathogens.
If I seem to be coming off abrasively its because I’m sick of reporters & bloggers selling lies to the American public about whats happening in Iraq.
Unlike your sources for this story I can provide the information & documents to confirm my service, as well as put you in touch with the LMCC/ADOC and Army/Marine public affairs officals who will confirm that your story is BS.
My email was entered into the system when I filled this out, contact me if you are interested in the truth… then update and correct this trash you wrote.
i was a spc. in the US army i just got out yesterday for med. reasons i have seen first hand (showerd) in the dirtyest water i have ever seen in my life and had to steel water my living conditions in iraq were below army feald standerds the higher up knew and did nothing i have had to steal water and have run out of water more then once in a tank when it’s 130 degres out side it’s an extra 20 to 30 in the tank with no water life sucks i’m glad some ones talking about it by the way i had disintary 4 times in 4 months thanks for bringing this to the publics attantion
Hi,
Wanted to briefly discuss “your” article about “Contractors Hoarding Water In Iraq”. As one of the folks that helped to put together the original story that KHOU in Houston put together, I would have appreciated seeing some credit given to KHOU. It is flattering that Jennifer thought enough of the story to pass it along, but not credit KHOU anywhere is really not fair. On top of that to include “Written by” after her name. Do you guys understand how much KHOU spent to put this story together and to make sure that they were as fair and ACCURATE as it could be.
Additionally there is no proof that KBR was “hoarding water”. That is why the media gets a bad name. Unless you have some independent proof that the were doing this you ought to change your headline. If KHOU did this, they would be sued! If your going to re-purpose a story then you have to keep it true to the original report.
Please keep these thoughts in mind when you folks publish the work of others. I could go on, but I’m holding back.
This article is nonsense. I ran convoys 3 and 1/2 years as contractor and nobody had to steal water. The stuff is stacked on pallets at many “water points” on the various bases. I used to run water from one base to another and what I used to find very annoying is all the bottles of water where someone would open one, take one swallow then leave it. I’ve seen thousands of bottles of water half full, 3/4ths full laying around in latrines, mwrs, on the ground, etc. I didn’t care that people wasted water to go along with all the other waste, I didn’t like throwing 20 straps for 18 pallets of water per trailer for 20 to 35 trailers per day in 115 degree heat in the shade when there was no shade. If the soldiers weren’t getting water then the base commanders should have been made aware of it and rectified the situation. As to the polluted water being used for showering and handwashing I have my doubts as I used the same water and suffered no ill effects. In fact some Dfacs had soldiers making sure everybody washed their hands (especially tcns) so that people wouldn’t get sick. There was a place to wash hands outside or inside every dfac at evert base I visited and I was at nearly 50 of them. AS a personal aside, when I was 25 years old in 1975 I picked up a copy of Vegetarian Times, the one with Men of Trees Richard StBarbe-Barker and the veg Marine captain doing feats of physical fitness. I immediately bagan a meatless diet. I did it not for health reasons, but it was the first time I had heard that it takes 10 pounds of grain to make 1 pound of meat and if this grain were made for human consumption the would be no hunger. What a bleeding heart I was. Now I know that if you filled a supertanker sized ship with grain and shipped one every day to Africa, the bureaurats and kleptocrats would steal it, sell it for pennies per bushel and buy themselves more Rolls Royces. I wouldn’t even but frozen foods because of the waste of enery. I still avoid meat but mainly because I don’t want carrion rotting on my insides causing a malodorous effect upon evacuation.
The main problem is using non-military people. Armed Forces are more responsible then paid contractors anyday. In my service time, only military people could be trusted and that was over twenty years ago.
As far as KRB, they have shown they are below standards on many issues, and have caused the deaths of many soldiers. Take them out of the equation and things will improve. The money they are being paid is the only reason they are there, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them profiting from stolen or “misplaced” supplies.
Lets waterboard them to see what they know. Dick Cheney says it is o.k.