R&R in Qatar

Well after 5+ months in the box it was time to take some well deserved Rest and Relaxation in Qatar. The US has a base here called Camp As Sayllyah (CAS) and I had put in my pass during the first week I was in theater for 1-4 October.

This is perfect timing for my R&R, we graduated the first class of Iraqi Soldiers that will be working in the Depot on the 27th. The Australians had taught the first phase of training (23 day training cycle) and we had a nice ceremony, gave out diplomas, honor graduate and some other awards. The Iraqi Deputy Commander spoke, as did the Aussie Senior Officer and myself. The Soldiers were happy to have finished phase one and to then have 10 days of vacation. With them being gone, these next 10 days were more a refit for the Aussies and to prepare the OJT instruction and materials, take care of paperwork and for us finalize some logistics issues, and continue to get the Depot ready in terms of life support and the upcoming refurbishments.

In order to get you to Qatar the Army has to get you to the closest AF Base. Although I am closer to Balad, since I was in Baghdad when I filled out my pass form, they listed BIAP as my departure point. I booked a chopper flight early in the week for a flight on the 29th towards evening since it's cooler and safer to fly at night. The night before I go and check on flight times and the SGT says I am good to go but on the manifest they have me going to Liberty not BIAP. I told him nicely that I had checked BAIP, he goes and looks at the paperwork which did say BIAP. Unfortunately Thiele-Sardina means "Murphy" in andaluz and there were no seats going to BAIP since that was the 6th stop and that leg was full. But he would see if I could get on the later flight and for me to check the next morning. Ditto same problem and there are no seats on the later flight, but Victory has a shuttle that will take you to BIAP Pax terminal so I figured that was better than not flying last night.

At church yesterday right before I had to go to the pax terminal Father John's sermon was about our guardian angel and that we need to constantly communicate with them so that they can help us out when we need them. That was probably a good sermon to have to right before my pass. I checked in for the flight to Liberty and once we got on the tarmac we were told that the chopper had mechanical issues, so we spent about 45 minutes laying down on the ruck sack looking at the gorgeous moon and stars above. It's somewhat strange that here out in the middle of Iraq that for 45 minutes you can forget where you are and just admire how peaceful this world is. I finally got going and I arrived with no problem to Liberty. After waiting for almost an hour the shuttle bus arrived and took me to BIAP. While driving between the two bases which are connected, we must have passed numerous fuel and supply convoys that were waiting to pull out with much needed supplies. The road network is perfect for women who are at full term in their pregancy and want to go into labor, there are more pot holes and ruts than in all of San Jose (which was rated this year as the worst city in the US in this category) on that stretch of road.

When I check I was expecting the usual you have to come by tomorrow at 2100 or 2200 hours for your checkin since my pass started on 1 October and they try to get you their late the day before or on your actual start day. Instead the Sergeant says there are no scheduled flights but there may be one that leaves at 0200 so stop by at 0100 and will let you know. So with the temps in the mid 80's it felt great sitting out in the screen covered waiting area until 0100 hrs. I stopped by the desk and she told us that we were lucky that the flight was a go, but they had to unload cargo, refuel and load additional cargo. At 0200 we were on the C-17 which is the first time I flew on this plane, it is huge and unlike the C-5 where the seating compartment is above the belly of the plane here you sit in the belly but the fold down seats are much more comfortable than a C-130 or C-141. We had to help the crew roll back a ways a 13 ton 750KW generator that had been loaded too far forward. The four of us Soldiers besides the two generators had the plane to ourselves. It was a quick and quiet 2.5 hour flight to Qatar as we all fell asleeps right away.

We arrived in Qatar, went through customs, waited for our LNO to come pick us up and after the mandatory briefing, linen pickup, the sun had come out (0545 hrs) I hit the sack at 0600.

All in all I was happy to have avoided staying an extra day in BIAP, today the 30th is then my 0 day which means tomorrow is the start of my first day of R&R. I guess I can thank my guardian angel for squaring me away last night and early this morning.

The Colonel

Just Another Sunny Day in Taji

I had just finished my 6 mile run this morning when the sun started to rise and after a mad dash to the room to grab the camera I was able to snap off this shot looking to the east. What you see in front of you is junk, trashed Iraqi Army equipment from Desert Storm and OIF piled into that area waiting to be moved and recycled. It has been rather enjoyable as of late running in the dark of the morning, as temps are now in the mid to low 70's. It's relatively quiet except for some birds that gather along the canal and are singing away, that and the hundreds of bats flying about along the trail (dirt road) make for some interesting running.

Today was one of those non-stop days. I had known that some folks from the J-3 (Operations) and J-6 (IT/Communications) were coming up to Taji but they did not send me their arrive info on the secured computer. So I went about getting as much stuff done this morning as quickly as possible because once they arrived it would be none stop discussions and tours. LTC T the J-6 arrived a little after 0900 hrs. So we discussed the internet project that I was trying to get funded so I can get connectivity, a service contract and all the hardware and software required for our headquarters bldg. We walked through the building, he picked my brain with all types of questions and options that I had available and based on my answers he will finish completing the packet with the estimated cost of the equipment. All I kept hearing was Dell this and Dell that and I reminded him that Dell wasn't the only option and what about Sun, so the wording on the bid will say Dell or other comparable brand. Hey might as well try to get some revenue going for the homeboys! Luckily for me I an not the one making the final decision on what to purchase so I can still put a plug in for Sun and not have to worry about going to Leavenworth after this tour!

The J-3, COL A and his MSGT L from the USMC called and we scheduled the inbrief and tour of the depot for 1245 hrs. He just took over as the J-3 and wanted to see the depot, so I gave him the standard brief with updates and then we went to the depot. We drove through the south depot and then stopped and checked out a couple of the buildings being worked on at the north depot. After explaining all that was going on and the coordination he was surprised that we did all that work with so few people in our shop. I reminded him that we tend to work longer hours here at the Depot than the folks down at the IZ, and because there are so few of us we tend to work closely together amongst other agencies here because if not we will fail miserably!

I had several other meetings with the Air Force guys at the RSU regarding the generator farm. SSG G was having fun at the fuel yard receiving fuel from our contractor and I am sure that I will here the adventures of what hoops he had to jump through to receive the fuel. I have asked HQ's for monies to buy a fuel meter reader for the fuel intake site so that we can have an accurate picture of what we are receiving in terms of liters, instead of dipping, measuring the tank and asking God for guidance as to what we really think we received from the contractors. The meter reader cost $8K and the finance folks (sorry Carmen) said no that it cost too much. I reminded them that it would probably pay itself in the first 4-5 deliveries by giving us the accurate amount of fuel received but they didn't want to hear it. I felt like telling them that next time we have a delivery they need to get their asses out of their chairs and air conditioned building and come down and do what we have to do, and rest assured we would get that pump FedEx'd to us quicker than a New York minute.

Sunday was my off day and I really enjoyed it. I slept in until 1000 hrs., called Carmen via Skype. Then it was clean the room and after showering go to the PX. I went in APFU (Army Physical Fitness Uniform), that PT shorts, shirt, running shoes and weapon. It was so enjoyable going incognito where no one knows who you are and not having to salute every 10 seconds. The PX folks are trying their hardest to keep the shelves filled with items especially toiletries and food, but when you have so many Soldiers it becomes a losing battle. I hit the subway sandwich shop for a late lunch, I know that back home I am not a Subway guy and would rather go to Quiznos for a sub, but when all you eat is DFAC food, that footlong Italian sub with the works sans mayo tasted pretty damn good. When I got back I read some of the magazines and then it was 1800 hours and that's when soccer starts in Spain, so I tuned into the Spanish radio station and enjoyed listening to the matches. Late that evening I opened up some of the brie and crackers and various dips that I have and enjoyed my dinner with some alcohol free beer. I was craving for a nice Pinot Noir or Chardonnay but that will have to wait a few more days until I get to Qatar for my 4 day R&R pass.

Tomorrow looks like it will be the first day since late June that the high for the day will not be in triple figures. Well it's almost 0030 hours I since I don't run on Wednesday mornings I will get an extra hour plus of shuteye which I need. Even with vitamins and working out, this job takes it's toll on you and with the heat, being constantly on the run and being multi-tasked by the end of the evening I am usually ready for the sack by 1100 hrs. That's it for now, thanks to those who have emailed me as of late, Suzy, Tom, Sheila and Brian from Sun. It's nice to hear from you all back home, keep working hard as quarter ends on Sunday and need to get that stock up there and get the bonus!! Take care and will update you all later this week.

The Colonel

Dog Days of Summer No Longer

Apologies for not having written anything all week long but between getting up at 0530 to go out and run and not getting back into the hootch until past 2100 hrs free time is rare and that usually means skyping with the family or reading my running and wine magazines until I fall asleep in bed. Then it's up at 0 Dark Hundred and the start of another day.

You can tell it is now autumn here in Iraq. We are still hitting the 100's but the Sun isn't so direct bearing down on you anymore. The evenings are now more enjoyable and when I hit the trails before 0600 on my runs it's in the mid 70's. Today it actually reached a nice 72 degrees. We should start seeing 90's as the high and start reaching into the 60's at night. Something tells me when we are in the dead of winter these 70 degree mornings will seem like heaven, since that 40 yard walk to the showers and rest room when it's in the 30's and 40's will be a eye opener!

We've been busy obligating the remaining 2007 monies for the construction project, the last three days 10 additional buildings were funded at a cost of $25M for the upgrades/refurbishment or new construction like some warehouses and the blast building. That basically means that by the end of the month work will be ongoing in at least 15 buildings here at the Depot. As I always tell people that Thiele-Sardina means Murphy in Spanish and sure enough the one refurb that will impact the depot the most was misrouted and sent to another agency for approval and now they are trying to get those monies back where they belong. That funding will enable us to tear down the old buildings, fix the front entrances, guard houses and do a massive cleanup of this base. You can not imagine the junk that is laying around here on our part of the post and elsewhere. Old combat tanks, trucks, train cars, tires, artillery cannons old jet engines, you name it it's here! On top of that in the outlying areas here on base, people stop and throw their garbage into the quasi trash dump. One of these days I will post some pics of the equipment that is worth a mint in scrap metal, unfortunately the bureaucracy here hasn't decided in the process or given the green light for the Ministry of Defense (MOD) to sell this junk. Part of our depot will contain a DRMO and DeMil yard which will sort out the equipment for the MOD to then sell the scrap metal and the monies from those sales can go to the treasury and be spent on the countries infrastructure.

This week we will be moving into the new joint Iraqi-US PMO headquarters at the depot. I will be in meetings with my counterparts to review their organization and align it to the manning roster that will be required to operate the depots buildings.

Its almost 2200 hrs and I can smell the fine aroma of cigar smoke that is coming from outside vicinity of the poker table so I guess I will be taking a break to go over and partake in some nice conversation while smoking a nice cigar. The only thing missing is a nice cup of brandy or some port wine.

Talk to you all later!

The Colonel

Hot Wings on a Saturday Night

Well it's finally Saturday night and I am now back in the hootch finishing up on my dinner from the DFAC. Saturday nights is Chicken Wing night, and that is usually an uplift and a great way to end the week. Tonite it was not different, some atomic hot wings, vegetable curry and those nice greasy onion rings which is great for the ticker and the arteries!

Our staff here at Taji has increased this week, as the Major that I interviewed several weeks ago and hired finally arrived at Taji on Tuesday and she has hit the ground running. Major Y is a 104th Soldier who was working in the J-4 section in the IZ and with her business background and the fact that she has a lot of experience handling all the purchasing paperwork she is a perfect fit in our group. Beside with a deputy I can start concentrating on the more strategic decisions that need to be made and let more of the day to day and tactical work and decisions to her.

Wednesday we had a site visit for the DPW (Department of Public Works) contract that we are trying to get set up at the Depot. With barracks, work offices, buildings and equipment that needs to be maintained to include water, sewage and electrical infrastructure. The visit went well and with the AMC guys busy on a road trip I got the chance to give the tour and walk through of the facilities.

We are getting set up in our joint Iraqi-US PMO building which is located on the depot grounds. More than likely next week we will begin to work out of this building during the day while still keeping our offices here on the coalition side, as the internet hasn't been installed yet in the new building.

Yesterday and today were busy days with me training up the new Major on what we do, what she is responsible for and getting her set up with her internet account, vehicle and introducing her to the persons that she will be dealing with on a daily basis. We submitted today to finance 4 purchases for equipment, equipment installation and refurbishing and upgrades of 8 warehouses.

Yesterday I closed down the shop early since we were having a BBQ by the billets, our cook SFC D who was the BBQ King at Ft Riley was in charge of the grilling and as usual he did not let us down. The steaks, burgers, dogs and ribs were out of this world, all the salads that the Soldiers got in their to go boxes from the DFAC were served and we had a great time. Later that evening we had our outdoor movies we saw the movie "Blades of Glory". It wasn't like home but with a non-alcoholic beer and a nice 5 Vegas Gold Cigar in the warm evening breeze it felt really nice. The BBQ gives us a chance to see the other folks that we trained with at Riley, since their schedule is different then ours and they head off to work before we do and we arrive well after they are back in the dark.

Tomorrow is Sunday which means I can sleep in and enjoy a relaxing morning breakfast and do some reading and the usual cleanup of the room.

Time to sign off and listen to the soccer games on Spanish Radio.

The Colonel

Life is a Bowl of Dust

Dust and more dust seems to be the story of late, for three days that's all we had in the sky and the picture above was taken at around 1745hrs and that's about all you could see of the sun.

We are still moving forward with the development of the Depot. The power is on and everyday brings more progress. Unfortunately there are still issues with the power grid and some of the work that was done when the electrical grid was built. Until we can get the warranty work completed we can still not do a full fledged infrastructure test. I missed the water geyser that occurred when the pump house was turned on and water began to flow into the pipes, as we mobilized to see where there were more water main problems the flow of water stopped. From what we found out later the main water line coming from the coalition side was turned off cutting off the water flow. We are still not able to inspect the sewage lines due to the water issue.

I was glad that the NCOIC SSG G came back from his 4 day pass in Qatar. They say that the NCO Corps is the backbone of the Army and that was driven home while he was out for the 10 days, since you lose at least 2 days traveling to and from if all goes well weather wise. He manages the 6 interpreters that we have working for PMO group to include translating for the Aussies in the classes they are giving the Iraqi’s. With him out I had to take over some of the admin work involved like driving them back and forth to chow and work when the Aussies couldn’t. I had to go out again and escort some trucks from the south gate to our depot so that they could drop off some supplies. Coordinate lots of the day to day activities with the coalition team that supports us, work with the Iraqi’s on life support issues etc. He had a great time and filled me in on what to see and not to see when I go down there later this fall. Except for my 15 day R&R this will be the only chance I get to leave Iraq while I am here so I am looking forward to those 4+ days in Qatar and the almost 8 days away from the daily grind up here.

The other day I had to assist the Iraqi’s with picking up some vehicles from the Supply Depot Class VII yard for initial issue. The 40 jundi have been using two Chevy Silverado Crew Cabs as their only mode of transportation and if you want to see something scary check out how many Iraqi Soldiers you can fit in one of those trucks both in the cab and bed, it’s scary! These vehicles were ordered and sat in the will call section for a couple of weeks while 1) we tried to get fuel for the vehicles, 2) coordinated drivers to drive the vehicles from the Supply Depot, and 3) ensure the guy who could sign out the vehicles was there. I called ahead to CPT Nap the Ops guy and told him although it was getting close to lunch hour that we would be over there in about 30 minutes. We arrived at it was 1125 which in our world means jack, but here you are on the edge of the start of their lunch hour or is it hours and hours and hours! I walk into the office with one of the Iraqi Majors and let the Iraqi Captain know that we are here to pickup the truck. He looks at the clock, then his huge gut which is probably growling because he had more than likely finished breakfast a couple of hours earlier and announced we were too late and that it was their lunch period. I smiled and said to his interpreter that we had called in advance and are here to pickup the vehicles that we have in will call. He says that’s a no go and in a cocky manner of fact say that these had been on will call for almost 3 weeks and why the hurry now. I have been told that at times I am an excitable guy and I was livid as I reminded him that if the Iraqi Supply Depot soldiers wouldn’t siphon out the fuel from these vehicles to power the depots vehicles I wouldn’t have had to get fuel for these trucks and please stand up when speaking with a senior officer. He’s yelling at the interpreter to tell me something, I’m yelling back at the poor interpreter telling him what he can tell the Captain, and the verbal tennis match goes on for a couple of minutes and by the way my guys are not going to wait until 1400 hours which really means 1430 hours because nothing ever gets done here on time. The US Depot Senior Advisor comes outside to see what all the ruckus is about and when I explain what’s going on he basically toes the Iraqi line on this one and says you're lucky we have assets today to assist if not you might not have gotten these vehicles for a couple of days, my jaw hit the ground in awe while listening to him basically say that the Iraqi’s can do whatever they please instead of holding them accountable for failing to follow standard procedures, and their lack of urgency and not taking care of their customers in a satisfactory manner.

We got them to handle the will call at 1300 hrs which was a victory of sort and some poor Iraqi Soldiers missed out on their long siesta, good for them!! I went out to the yard at around 1400 hrs to check up on how things are coming along and find out where the forklift we are supposed to draw is since we need it to move some supplies. They are trying to get one of the vehicles started, obviously no one ever went to the yard to prep or ensure the vehicles would be ready for the customer to pickup. Batteries dry, no fuel as it was siphoned dry, and all of us who have had diesels before know what a pain in the fourth point of contact they are when they run out of gas. Long story short after 90 minutes of struggle they are able to start the vehicle and move it with the gas I got from the Generator Farm.

The next day I swung by to look at the other truck and it was missing a roof, when I asked them where it was, come to find out it was issued like that, no tire jack, or tarp on the back, etc. And oh by the way none of the trucks now start. I let the folks back in the J-4 know that the vehicles the TNMD was supposed to be issued are basically inoperable, and we need another issue so we can turn these in and get vehicles that are operable. I have to hand it to my guys, they were so desperate for a vehicle that they accepted anything they could get their hands on, I advised them that isn’t how its’ supposed to work and when we draw the replacements all equipment will be on hand and the vehicles will start ASAP and have the roof on!

Now that summer is coming to an end since I have been outside a lot these past couple of weeks I am finally used to the weather, as evidenced the other evening when I had to go to the depot to linkup with one of the engineers. It was about 1815 hrs., about 98 outside and I just drove down the road with the window open no AC and it felt like a normal day and I was very comfortable. That’s scary!!

Well that’s all for tonite, got to get up and run about 10 miles tomorrow to make up for the run I didn’t get in today since we had to be at work by 0700 due to a contractor visit, but that’s another story.

One big shout out to Ascension my daughter who finally hit the big 21 on the 10th and can legally drink! That’s not to say she never got a six pack of her favorite Class VI beverage thrown in one of the boxes that she was taking back to school after spending the weekend at home compliments of the Senior Quartermaster in the family!

The Colonel

100 Years of Real Betis Balompie

Just a quick note today the 100th anniversary of the founding of my beloved Real Betis Balompie Soccer team from Sevilla Spain.

Viva Er Beti Manquepierda!!

Arturo

Let There Be Light!!

As I left off last week, we finally received our first major shipment of fuel, but nothing is easy over here. Unfortunately for me the NCOIC of our section was in Qatar on his pass so I was left to fend for myself and it was a zoo. I got the email from the vendor that his trucks were going to see if they could make it through the bridge site. I got a call at around 1230 stating that the fuel trucks were at the Southgate. So I grabbed one of our interpreters (A) and we headed off to the gate. Once you arrive there you have to be in full battle rattle and there is nothing better than standing in the sun when it’s 114 out and can feel the beads of sweat rolling down your back. Getting these guys on post was a different experience and off to the generator farm we headed. Once we got there I see the guys pull out instead of a hose a plastic tubing 4” diameter much like the ones we use back home to catch water from our gutters at the end of the spout. I asked the driver where was his hose and he told me what I was seeing was his hose. No clamps to tighten the hose to either the discharge or receiving end. So it takes about 45+ minutes to figure out a way to rig it using rubber from the inner tubes. Obviously until the pump on the receiving end begins to really crank there is fuel spillage and at .85 cents a liter I’m not a happy taxpayer. The stick for dipping the fuel is broken and there are no markings on it, so calculating total fuel received was not going to be an easy chore. Just like back home right? The first truck is almost empty when I get a call that another contractor had arrived with a shipment of consumable items we needed for our work shops, and he didn’t have the proper credentials to make it to the south gate and instead I had to meet him at the first manned gate there is on the edge of the Iraqi side of the base. Definitely not a good sign when these are the places that the terrorists target for their VBIED attacks. Full battle rattle, locked and loaded I get waived by the south gate guards, then the US guards and finally the interpreter and I arrive where the driver was.

I get out and he’s talking all the while he has a his 9mm mag and pistol in one hand waving it around as if this was the norm. Here I’m thinking to my self yeah the mag is out but does he have a round chambered and why does it seem to be pointing away from him and towards us? The order is in the back of the van and the bag carrying some of the supplies is broken so some of the bottles of oil are strewn about the floor and here we are trying to pickup the bottles so I can begin to inventory the items before transferring it to my vehicle. After 25 minutes counting the items, discussing future deliveries and moving the product I am flying down the road trying to get back to the south gate and generator farm. The US guard stops us, inspects the vehicle and asks me whether I was from Taji, figuring that this dumb Colonel was stupid enough to drive a non armored vehicle outside the wire, I smiled and told him that I was based out of here and had just gone to the first gate for a delivery pickup.

Back to the generator farm and they were still downloading fuel and it was obvious that all 5 tankers would not be downloaded prior to the gate closure time. The drivers were hungry so I gave them some MRE’s and water and told them which MRE's had pork. Once the third vehicle was empty I had to escort them back to the southgate and in order to get them out the guards inspect the fuel trucks to make sure they dumped their entire load and are not trying to steal the fuel to sell elsewhere. Since the rigged seal on the hose worked only so well ;>) there wasn’t enough suction so one of the tankers probably had 50-75 liters of fuel in it. I asked the guard at the gate where he could drive up a ramp to unload the fuel and was there a collection point for the fuel, they said no, just pull into the gravel parking lot which has a slight rise and dump it there! I’m sure the EPA would have loved it. Lesson learned for next time, bring jerry cans to catch the extra fuel so the Iraqi trucks in our depot have fuel. Got the fuel downloaded from the other two trucks, reverified by inspecting the storage tanks total fuel delivered, told them where they could park for the night and we got them dinner.

The next morning which was Sunday my sleep in day and my “take the entire day off” day was screwed since we had to get them out early and notify the units at the bridge that they were coming through. So after getting them out I took the rest of the day off and got caught up on my reading and cleaning the room.

With the fuel the generator farm began to power up amid all the testing and preparations and on Monday the zone which had been inspected and all electrical substations and transformers were good to go was powered and on the grid. The north depot had some issues with transformers not being grounded properly, so I had the electricians fix the three transformers that fed the three buildings I needed most, and Tuesday night after just over 100 days up here in Taji we finally had power! The Iraqi soldiers were happy campers that evening as they could finally sleeps in AC billets instead of sweltering 90+ degree heat at night. The timing was perfect as the Aussies had been using a small 60Kw generator to power up the building where the depot classes had just kicked off on Monday. These are our first group of Iraqi Soldiers going through depot training, we started with 42 prior to them going to boot camp and had 40 after boot camp, we lost one due to medical issues, so these 39 are the trailblazers. The Aussies constructed temporary classrooms and work areas for the small arms, generator repair and welding courses that they are teaching.

Now I’ll have to start setting up my office at the Depot which should facilitate Depot discussions with my Iraqi counterparts on a daily basis. Unfortunately until now they work out of Baghdad and come out here once a week to for our meeting and just leave one officer out here to manage things. We have lots of items to work on, plus are expecting shipments to arrive next week and all the supply paperwork has been prepared on our side, they will now have to do the same.

Before I sign off for the day a couple of shout outs, one to Ray L a good friend from back home and retired Naval Officer sent me a nice note with some candy, and Tia Carol and Uncle John who sent me a nice card. Thanks

The Colonel

Challenges Ahead

As the saying goes "nothing ever comes easy" and that seems to be the motto around here as of late! The big push here has been getting the generator farm (15 1MW generators on line). Thanks to the 1st Cav Division they paid the monies to have RMS start up the generator farm which has been dormant since December 2006 because of lack of fuel. At the same time the generator farm was being checked out, they were also high potting and checking out the 11KV lines that run to the various parts of the post, the transformer boxes and inspecting the lines.

We had been approved for our first fuel delivery but as the motto goes that still wasn't a reality. As you all probably read several weeks back a bridge that is located along the main route between Baghdad and Taji was partially destroyed and that has created a huge chokepoint along this route for various meetings. All traffic going north and south now has to use the same lane at the bridge site and this is a four lane road (2 lanes on each side). Additionally the bridge site is protected by the Iraqi Army (IA) and unless they are made aware of certain deliveries or convoys the wait there can be several hours long and many vehicles get turned back. Our fuel delivery was tied up because of this bridge. Then the contractor didn't send us the required info to get them past the bridge. When we finally offered them US Convoy security support, the issue was his drivers didn't want to be seen with American troops, then it was the drivers didn't want to go to Taji and he would have to switch out drivers. At that point I picked up the phone and called the contracting officer and told him this contractor wants American Greenback and now it's time to have him walk the walk! And if there was any other delay in the fuel I would request another vendor and this guy can go to hell! All this unfolded when the 7 day vehicle curfew was imposed to prevent any violence during one of the pilgrimages to a shiite shrine. Now I thought us Roman Catholics had a lot of religious holidays but these guys take the icing on the cake!!

As RMS has continued to inspect the various power generation equipment they have noted numerous deficiencies from the work of the company that built the generator farm and installed the high and low voltage lines through out the base. Unfortunately for us until some of these deficiencies are resolved we will not be able to start pushing power out to the grid. Stay tuned more to follow next blog.

The first shipments of equipment that were purchased for the Small Arms, Generator Repair and DPW facilities will arrive next week. I had originally thought that I would have to sign for the equipment and then get it added to the Depots Property Book as a US Army asset. Instead I have been advised that since this equipment was brought for the IA by US funds that it can not be added to the US Army property book but instead the IA will have to sign for the equipment after I approved the receipt of the material and sign off on the DD250 which will then allow the Army to pay off the vendors who shipped us the equipment. Property Accountability in the Iraqi Army leaves a lot to be desired because signing for property means taking responsibility for something and in the old regime if you were responsible and something went wrong than you were screwed with either prison or an early meeting with the grim reaper. So getting them to not get so uptight when it comes to taking responsibility for property or actions is trying at times. I will be letting them know what will have to happen prior to arrival of the equipment and ensure that they get their property book set up properly to annotate their new property.

SGT A who was loaned to our group in mid June left our group since he was redeployed to another location in Iraq. He has already been missed since he was here for over 8 months and knew all the ins and outs as to how to get things done, who to contact etc. Good news is that I hired from the IZ Major Y who had come up here earlier to interview for the Deputy PMO slot. I told her to finish up what she was working on at J-4 and to schedule her arrival here NLT 10 Sept. Her arrival should help since I will be able to hand off some of the day to day activities and concentrate on some of the longer range items that are sticking their ugly heads out and keep me up at night. AMC has sent us three new individuals to support this project, and this should help us since we will be required to do the technical review for the equipment that the bidders will purchase as part of the contract they bid on.

Well that it for now, the big question is when I post my next blog will we have power in out depot area?

The Colonel