Photo By Sgt. Marshall Thompson | Staff Sgt. Miguel Osorio, S-4 NCOIC for Task Force 61st, purchases an ice cream sunday...... read more read more
After working long hours at Logistical Support Area Anaconda, many servicemembers look for rest and relaxation in the darkness of the Sustainer Theater. LSA Anaconda is lucky to have the only fully functioning Army and Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES) Reel Time movie theater in Iraq.
"For being in a war zone, it's an awesome facility," said Angel Santana, Sustainer Theater manager, who arrived in Iraq in early January. "I didn't anticipate it was going to be this way."
Santana said that even though the theater is remote, it functions just like a normal theater would in the States. It even gets some first run movies. Most recently, "Freedomland," starring Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore, opened at LSA Anaconda the same day it did in the rest of the world.
The turnout was a bit lower than Santana would have liked because the uniform status was raised and most people don't like to go to the movies in full battle-rattle.
On a normal day, however, servicemembers come to the theater throughout the day to buy a sandwich at the Subway or ice cream at the Baskin Robbins.
Santana said they also offer pizza made fresh in Germany and then shipped down to Iraq. The concession sales are so good that the Sustainer Theater has some of the highest sales of all AAFES theaters, Santana said.
"You can get ice cream in the dining facility, but you can't get the whipped cream," said Staff Sgt. Miguel Osorio, S-4 NCOIC for Task Force 61st, explaining why he purchased an ice cream sundae. "This is special, there's a cherry on top. It makes you feel like you're home. Then you step outside and the alarm goes off."
If an alarm goes off while Soldiers are in the movie theater, a yellow light flashes followed by instructions. The theater is more than a symbolic comfort to Soldiers; it's also one of the largest hardened structures on LSA Anaconda. This makes it a safe place to wait out a mortar attack.
"It's a sanctuary," Osorio said.
Mohammed Raphy, a supervisor at the Sustainer Theater, said that he feels safe in the building even though he hasn't told his parents in India that he works in Iraq because he doesn't want to worry them.
Raphy, a two-year veteran of the Sustainer Theater, said he loves his job and likes helping Soldiers to relax and feel safe.
But for Air Force Staff Sgt. Robert Knight, a weapons loader with the 332d Expeditionary Air Maintenance Squadron, it's just "a nice change of pace."
"When the movie starts, it makes you feel like you're at home," Knight said. "It's a really neat place."
Under Saddam's regime, the theater was a venue for worship services and propaganda films. Now U.S. servicemembers and civilians can watch Hollywood action on a big screen.
"The action you have on a big screen is unbeatable," Santana said.
On top of the silver screen appeal, service-members also get local information and news from News Reel Anaconda.
Decades ago, it was common for theaters to show news reels before movies. The advent of live television news replaced the need for news at the movies, but at Anaconda the tradition is still alive.
"The News Reel is something really neat," Santana said. "It has great information and important telephone numbers."
In the end though, Santana said it's important just for the Soldiers to be able to relax a bit.
"It takes them away from the stress and the daily worries," Santana said. "They can come in here at all hours of the day to relax, grab a bite to eat and chill out."
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2006 06:46 |
| Story ID: | 5653 |
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| Web Views: | 235 |
| Downloads: | 52 |
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