Army Base Dormitories in Vietnam from Gecko | Armorama™

Gecko Models are to release a further model in their Vietnam War series.


This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/army-base-dormitories-in-vietnam-from-gecko
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These look great. I really like the figures of soldiers at rest.

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Can’t say I ever saw Conex box used as quarters in RVN (of course the minute I post this someone will come up w/a period photo) :slightly_smiling_face: They were used as bunkers, commo sheds, supply rooms, etc…used to get hot as hell during the day. The figures, bunks, lockers and fans (as well as the containers) would be useful in a lot of Vietnam vignettes.

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Well, fast forward to Bosnia whenever (1999?), and we lived in Co.Ri.Mec - or colloquially were known as Corrimecs, pretty much the same thing, save we were rammed in 4 per container, which is shown in the kit after a fashion, but Dear God; it was bloody claustrophobic.

That said we had air con, separate and efficient ablutions, and joy of joys, a functioning Sergeants’ Mess, brimful with alcohol. It also helped that the Regimental Sergeant Major (ie top soldier who ran the Mess and also the selection of civilian labour from the Bosnians), chose the most attractive applicants for duty in the Mess. God, that helped while away the months I can tell you!

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Alcohol in Bosnia? lol we were not authorized.

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We had similar in Iraq 2008-2009 (my last tour), but we called them CHUs (pronounced - chews), Containerized Housing Units. They had A/C, but not much more. Field Grade officers were two pax to a CHU. No alcohol though. :sob:



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I’m afraid to say Richard that we drank our own bodyweight in alcohol every night; we worked long hours and the respite was welcome. The co-located US SF contingent appeared to greatly appreciate the facility, and I became firm friends with some of them. In fact, I have a great pic of me flanked by two enormous Yanks, both chomping cigars. I used to advertise post-tour (and development of the pics) that they were my Close Protection Team. God, I hope they 're well, but of course, in the interim, we’ve had Iraq and Afghanistan. But they were great fun, coupled with the Madame Dracula-like charms of the 2 girls who comprised the bar staff. I miss them all!

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Yeah, that’s why I try to live by “never say never” cuz the minute you pontificate, someone will produce a photo proving you wrong. I just never saw a Conex used like this, usually if temporary quarters were required, they’d simply use tents. But I didn’t tour every base camp or FSB in RVN, so don’t know. The ones you show in Iraq seem a bit more livable (especially the A/C part). We’ll see if somebody has a Vietnam photo.

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Not my cup of tea, but still a interesting release, non the less. Now let’s see some figures of Bob Hope and Joey Heatherton, Ann Margaret and Raquel Welch.

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We were not authorized as I said, but managed to trade some things with the civilians who worked on base and wouldn’t you know it, some alcohol bottles were found just inside of our tent by the door one morning!

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I have seen almost exactly the same setup at the USSF detachment area in Songnam, at the Korean Special Warfare Center. I suspect they were convenient for clandestine encounters. :slight_smile:

As for CHUs, I guess I was “lucky.” We were one NCO per CHU in Iraq. We did have internet out of Syria, so there was that. Mine had no paneling and was pretty spartan, but Russian ammo boxes made great cabinets!
Barely visible in the center of the photo behind the gun trucks:

I just made sure not to have my rack underneath one of the concrete rafters - each end of every rafter had a block of C4 attached to both sides, all tied together with hundreds of meters of det cord.

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I cant say I have ever seen a CONEX used for accomodation in the Vietnam war in 30 years of research, collecting and talking to veterans. Never say never but I have never seen any evidence

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One of the more entertaining news/comment threads I’ve read.

You guys are awesome, I love hearing the stories.

As someone who really struggles to sleep if it’s hot and especially if it’s humid, I can’t imagine sleeping in one of these.

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Alcohol helped - apart from the inevitable 0300hrs call to the urinals, when one would accidentally wake up the whole Corrimec, and on occasion, find that upon return, one’s erstwhile comrades had decanted your bed outside the container.

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