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