The deployment of the 19th Detached Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Warfare Defense Battalion in Kuwait will be completed in the first ten days of April. Il-76MD aircraft of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry arrive in the Al Kuwait airport every three hours carrying equipment and personnel. The flight schedule for the coalition forces is much tighter. British and American Boeing-747 and Hercules planes land or take off every five minutes. The airfield is surrounded by a mass of military equipment and thousands of soldiers waiting to be flown to military bases farther inland or to the front. Unprecedented security measures have been taken. The military fears not so much missile attacks from Iraq as terrorist acts. The Ukrainian military personnel arriving on each flight stay here less than an hour to unload equipment, after which their convoy heads off to the point of deployment.
Camp Arifjan, where our battalion is stationed, lies 125 behind Kuwait’s northern and 180 from its western border with Iraq. It lies amid the desert fifty kilometers from Al Kuwait and seven kilometers from the Persian Gulf. The scorching heat has not yet set in, but temperatures of over 35 C and sandstorms are soon forecast.
The host country has created comfortable living conditions for the Ukrainian battalion, providing windproof tents accommodating 28 beds each, and electricity and air conditioning in each tent. The remaining amenities, that is, portable toilets, sinks, and air-raid shelters, are located outdoors. Notably, all of the above are available in the quantity that eliminates the possibility of standing in line and crowding. The military camp is equipped with two more things that are a novelty for our military, a laundry with automatic washing machines and showers with round the clock hot and cold water. Mind you, this is in a country where there are neither rivers nor lakes, and fresh water is produced by desalination plants.
There are no problems with food either. Our military gets three meals a day. The only shortcoming is the absence of appetizers. Everything else is in abundant supply. Our soldiers’ menu includes fruits, vegetables, juices, and even ice cream. On the whole, the place is almost like a resort. Why almost? Not so much because of the weather, but because the war is so near, whose possible consequences on Kuwaiti territory our boys will have to eliminate.
Air-raid alerts are commonplace here. They sound throughout Kuwait when a missile is fired from Iraqi territory. Thus far, none of these missiles has caused many casualties in Kuwait. Some Iraqi Scud missiles were intercepted by Kuwaiti or allied air defenses, with the remaining missiles falling harmlessly in the desert. By all accounts, Camp Arifjan is one of the safest military camps in Kuwait. First, it is quite a distance from Iraq. Second, only rear and auxiliary units, which are not the primary targets for the Iraqi Army, are located here.
The officers and men of the 19th are satisfied with their living conditions. They say they expected something much worse. Incidentally, because the host country made adequate provisions for the battalion, its strength has been reduced. The battalion left behind a mobile bread plant, bathhouse, laundry, mobile kitchen, and their respective service staff. The strength of the battalion will come to 450 men operating over 100 items of equipment.
Currently, the Ukrainian soldiers are completing the engineering installations. Military exercises will start when the key units have arrived. When complete, the battalion will be put on heightened alert to do its main duty, that is, come to the rescue of the Kuwaiti people if need be.
