FOB MAPS - and lack there of...

For those that do not understand why you are having a difficult time finding images of the FOBs and areas they are near.

The reason is security, the strictest that can be had, I am sure there are older images of cities such as Bayji, and maybe good educated guesses on where exactly the FOB is located in the city, but as far as internet searches and the like, I believe all military installations in a HOT zone are blacked out for security.

I have posted a map of iraq and 2 images of BAYJI from a sat view, you will notice that a large portion of the city has an OVERLAY that is blurry and a totally different image of the same area, far older and in a different season of the year even.

I hope that answers an earlier poster who seemed to have frustration with finding maps or layouts of FOB Summerall.

edit: images are in the photo album for 101st airborne

Comments

[Dan Lickness]

A site we found that is helpful is a blog site

101dayswiththe101st if you google this site you will find

photos and articles about the troops

at Summerall

[Melvin Rolon]

Just googleit. Get on Googlemaps. Enter Iraq, follow MSR Tampa north. With Tikrit as a reference, you'll find Baijy and FOB Summerall. The pics are old, before the invasion. But for anybody who had the privilege to stay there as a "guest" , will know the area real quick....<><...Former residence...OIF 3...

[Heather Howard]

Hi. I don't know if any of you have checked out Shelby Monroe's site... http://www.101dayswith101st.blogspot.com. She is a freelance journalist embedded with the 1st Brigade of the 101st. She has been to Summerall and other areas so if you check that out you may find some pictures and articles of interest.

Also, I am going to be doing basically what she is doing. Her main objective is to inform people back home of the good that the soldiers are doing as well as the daily tasks they perform. It has motivated me to do the same thing. I've got some assistance and will be taken care of by a man named Bill Roggio, who has written for the likes of The Washington Post and The Weekly Standard. He does his best to send embedded reporters over there and helps provide them with things like body armor and pays for a flight, etc. I am hoping to get over there by the end of May, but that's being ambitious. He runs this nonprofit organization so donations are tax-deductable. If you would like to help out or know anyone that would, then please go to his site at http://www.longwarjournal.org/donate.php.

I am hoping to mainly embed with the troops at Summerall and would be more than happy to help maintain this site and update about the troops and I will also post lots of pictures so you can check for loved ones over there. But in order for this to happen, Bill needs donations and support from those who care. Thanks!!

[kim]

Glad to see there is a site out there dedicated to the soldiers at Summerall. Just checking to see if this is still the best way to get information about that FOB. Thanks for any insights. God bless our troops.
Kim

[Abby Payne]

Hey everyone! I am with an organization called Soldiers' Angels. What we do is send weekly letters/cards, and at least twice a month care packages. If anyone at FOB Summerall is interested, please contact me and I can try my hardest to get things sent to you guys that you would all like to have or use or have fun with. My e-mail is soldiersangel24@yahoo.com Feel free to e-mail me anytime and I will get back to you as quick as I can. Thank you guys for all you do! You are all amazing. We couldn't be the nation we are without you men and women by our side. We love you and thank you!

abby

[Jackson Thatcher]

The comment that you can't find pictures for security reasons is a bit lame since Saddam had a Helo Base built right on the edge of Baiji and that is where Summerall is located. This is not a surprise to the local insurgency who mortor shelled the base nightly for weeks after Saddam was executed - so don't worry, no national secrets at risk here. If you Google the earth and scope out Baiji, you can just make it out at the edge of town with the desert to its back. Our son spent a year there 2006-2007 though he spent as much time outside the wire as in.

[RakkasanDad]

It's really a shame as to what has happened to this site and a disgrace to those units that have served at Camp Summerall. There is no longer any information here that many friends and parents relied on.
I'm getting the feeling it is being run by someone in rear D or associated with the army, which was not the intent of the creation of this site.

[Randy Pfender]

Hello everyone,

My son, PFC Jonathan Pfender died as a hero on Dec. 30, 2005 in Baji, Iraq. As a very concerned father while he was stationed in FOB Summerall, I checked this website daily. Since is death, I have only visited it a few times, but I am very disappointed in it's lack of content. I am very upset that nobody has picked up this responsibility to keep the information flowing. I wish everyone involved in the war and especially at FOB Summerall the bst of luck and I send my prayers. I can only hope that some appreciative parent of a loved one will begin to write again.

Thanks,
Randy Pfender