Jul 15 2008
Qayyarah West (a.k.a. “Key West”)
Another one of the plates I began on July 9th, 2008. This one depicts the “contingency operating base,” at Qayyarah West, often called “Q-West” or “Key West” by troops and contractors. The contingency operating bases are reformulated, consolidated bases that were once called “enduring bases.” Though all the bases are highly fortified and becoming more so every day, the pentagon prefers to describe them with the word the word “contingency,” because it sounds less permanent than “enduring,” which replaced the term “permanent.” The language gets lighter as more and more concrete is poured.
As with the other plates I began on this date, I removed the cover of this one to prevent condensation from dripping back down onto the culture. Generally, cultures are stored upside down to prevent this from happening.
