Life in Bahrain
I have many moms asking me, hows life in Bahrain? So I thought I would put a few things together, post it and update, make corrections as I remember something. Well aside from the very hot sun, nice beaches,museums,malls on and off base,the sand storms , which reak havoc on the weapons some carry :). Here are a few thing that might help.

New Arrivals
1. 2 or 3 weeks of training and classes to learn Bahrain customs,laws and the Navys do's & don't's
2. Not allowed off base til the training is complete.
3. No family housing. Non military persons were removed after 9/11. ("09" spouses allowed back )
4. Lower rank personal(I'll check the rank) must live on base in barricks. Others live off base in rental units.

Duty
1. Shifts are 12 hours long.
2. No uniforms are to be worn off base at any time only civ's (civilian cloths)
3. Unlike the States, there week is Sunday - Thursday weekend is Friday and Saturday.

Misc.
1.They buy cell phones on base at the mall or Nex. They can call you for about 10 cents and send texts for 10 cent per text. (Tho in Bahrain they go by BD'S Bahrain Dollars).
NOTE: They CAN NOT text to some cell phone services. The ones I know are Nextel,Verizon and Sprint.
2. Everything they need can be bought on base at the mall or Nex. Even computers,tv's, music,movies .....everything......
3. Drinking: 18 is the legal drinking age in Bahrain on and off base.This goes for the military personal also with one Navy rule in order to buy/drink liquor or whiskey you must be 21, but at 18 they can consume/purchase beer and wine.

Mail
1. They have a on base post office. Which is closed I belive on Monday's.
2. On packages/letters you send DO NOT write Bahrain,middle east or Manama anywhere on the outside of the mail. This may make it arrive to the town P.O.(Manama) instead of onbase. The military ships its own mail but if it does not arrive to the state side base to be shipped to your sailor than its put on a internatial mail flight and sent to the town P.O. Your sailor will have a p.o. box with a FPO address on base only use the address he/she gives you and your return address. It will look something like this.
*Rank Name*
PSC ??? Box ???
FPO AE 09840-2800



http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/home.asp
http://www.bahraintribune.com/index.asp
https://www.cnic.navy.mil/bahrain/index.htm (This one is the base news)





Sailors on a Liberty Tour

U.S. NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, Bahrain -- The Oklahoma City rock band "Hinder" peforms outside the NSA Bahrain's Freedom Souq June 22. The hundreds of attendees included service members assigned to NSA Bahrain and from visiting ships USS Peleliu (LHA-5), USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52), USS Curts (FFG-38) and USS Dallas (SSN-700). The event was sponsored by the NSA Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Anderson Bomjardim (Released)