US bases offered troops deployed to Iraq civilian comforts like gyms and internet

Evidence

Rumors bounced around that the second time would be a cakewalk. They flew right into Iraq and saw that in one way that was true. They were now stationed in the restive western Iraqi province of al-Anbar, but they reached their camp in Iraq easily. And once they got there, this is what they found: a cafeteria with hot food, Internet stations, hot showers, working toilets, a TV room, a gym, a poolroom, and cots rather than sleeping bags. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 258

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on how US base infrastructure normalized occupation for troops — parallels work on military base life.