CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq – If you have done any traveling by plane from Contingency Operating Base Basra lately, you may have noticed a few improvements at the passenger Terminal.
“We have the ‘Fritz 6’ Hotel that was built in the back, inside the departure lounge,” said Ken Crawford, the passenger terminal manager for SkyLink Arabia. “It’s named after Sgt. 1st Class John Fritz; he was the one who designed and built it.”
Fritz is a member of 3rd Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment from Illesheim, Germany. The mini-hotel has cots to allow up to 18 people to sleep while they wait for a flight or during a long layover at COB Basra, according to Crawford.
“We replaced the old flimsy chairs with the metal airport-style chairs in the terminals,” he said.
There is a new floor in one of the terminals. “The floor for the second lounge will be replaced in two weeks,” said Crawford.
Monitors have been installed in the main arrival terminal and both departure terminals for passengers to watch DVDs supplied by personnel who have left them there or dropped them off before redeploying. A wall was built between the inbound and outbound passenger areas with a door, allowing for less noise in the main area.
Additional changes are planned for the near future as well. “We met with the people from the wireless internet, so we will have access set up here in a week or two,” said Crawford.
