Time to Reflect About Life Here in Iraq

My Tour Guide Tab

As previously mentioned I have finally earned the coveted CMATT Tour Guide Tab. Those of you not in the military there are various specialty tabs that Soldiers are awarded for attending speciality training such as Special Forces (Green Berets), Ranger, Airborne, Sapper, etc. Our group here in Taji decided that we needed our own special tab which recognizes the qualities and attributes that one requires in order to be able to pull off the perfect tour of our facilities for visiting dignitaries. Speaking loud enough for all those to hear, being able to walk backwards with out stepping into one of the many holes and ditches, spewing out square footage, completion dates, cost of facility repair, number of personnel to be trained, etc. Training may not be as rigorous as the true tabs that Soldiers wear, but hey if your gonna brief generals and senior Colonels we need to have our ducks and numbers in order! Here I am showing off my tab to some of my peers. We for obvious reasons wear this tab under our pocket cover and only pull it out when giving a tour of our respective areas. Other such fictitious tabs are the Power Point tab which is only authorized for those J staffers whose main contribution to the war effort are their meticulously prepared Power Point presentations which Generals are briefed on each day. They are truly Power Point Warriors because without Power Point Presentations the American Army would come to a stand still. It is amazing that D Day was pulled off by General Eisenhower and the rest of our allies without the use of Power Point Slides especially those with the moving figures and objects!!

Since it's Sunday and my day off I slept in until 1000 hrs and then showered cleaned up my room, did some PMCS on my M9 pistol and will be heading off to the chow hall soon for lunch. I had my cup of Kona coffee with some of mom's oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies which reminded me of when I was a kid and used to help mom make those cookies, she always let me use the left over dough to make a huge cookie which was mine to eat later. It got me to think about what I have come to miss and not to miss during my first half of the tour over here in Iraq. So here goes in no particular order:

Things I miss from home/USA:

1. Carmens Spanish cooking-right now I would kill for a nice plate of arroz con pollo or un guiso de carne con patatas y guisantes or filetes
2. Ascension jumping into our bed late an night right after I turned off the light to kiss me good night not once or twice but at least 4 times, then yelling from her room Dad do you love me and not stopping until I say yes!
3. Sitting in our patio at night shooting the breeze with Carmen while sipping a nice glass of wine
4. Watching Javi play soccer with his club team or high school team
5. Sitting on my recliner in the living room reading the Wall Street Journal in the evening
6. Having to only get up and walk about 10 feet to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night instead of taking the 40 meter walk here in Taji
7. Our after dinner discussions at the kitchen table with the family where the discussion can go anywhere from work, politics, school and other topics in general
8. Working outside on Sundays on the lawn, sprinklers, hedges listening to the A's or Raiders play on the radio or talking to Carmen as she trims here rose bushes or gawks at her tomato plants which produce killer sized tomatoes. I have to keep reminding her that this is America the land of the Super Sized
9. Taking Lady our dog on a walk or mini-run to the park near our house
10. Spending 5 minutes peering into my wine cellar trying to figure out which wine I should open up for dinner that night
11. Taking a coffee break at Suns cafeteria with my co-workers
12. Sleeping on my select comfort mattress knowing that I will not have to worry about bed springs or a sore back the next morning
13. High speed internet
14. Going to the grocery store and spending 20 minutes walking down the wine aisle drooling at wines I would like to buy except that my cellar is full of wine
15. Swinging by my parents house knowing that I will be offered some snack or a liquid beverage of my choice and can spend 30 minutes shooting the breeze with them
16. Running down the tree lined Happy Valley Ave on my morning runs listening to my IPOD and enjoying the scenery
17. Saturday morning runs with the gang out in Los Gatos running around the Lexington Reservoir or going on one of Mimi's many loops
18. TIVO-enough said
19. Children running around the neighborhood
20. Betis games on TV
21. Going running with Carmen and getting a chance to be together for a change
22. Jamon Serrano with queso manchego and bread from Costco and those tostadas con aceite served on Saturday or Sunday mornings in our kitchen
23. Driving across the Dumbarton bridge as the sun goes down to the west
24. Doing the dishes with Carmen
25. My BBQ
26. Pulling up to the house after work and seeing that Carmen is already home
27. Javi doing the same stupid antics and things that I did when I was a kid and listening to Carmen say that he had to take after me because her family doesn't do those things
28. Driving Ascension on Sundays back to school on I-280
29. Listening to Michael "The General" Savage on my drive home
30. Walking by Carmen in the kitchen and purposely bumping into her or accidently sliding my hand along her back side knowing that she hates it and I just love it, right Carmen?
31. Pickup trucks with NRA stickers
32. Sushi on Friday nights
33. Dad's churros on the weekends
34. Dogging out my brother in law Pepe on the phone when his Real Madrid loses a game
35. The smell of garlic in the mornings when I go outside and grab the newspaper during the summer
36. Low fat cheese cream for bagels
37. Frys electronic store
38. The Wine Club
39. KRTY San Joses "Hot Country" although I try to stream as much as possible, because of # 11 below I usually am screwed
40. Carmen giving me a pellisco de amor which is a true oxymoron if I ever saw one


These are things that I don't miss from home or will miss from Iraq when I leave this place

1. Smell of smoke in the air in the mornings
2. My neighbors across the street who think it's perfectly normal in the US to play tacky ranchera music at 125 db and have our house shake off it's foundation
3. Those cars sporting the Vote for Kerry bumperstickers and not having a support our troops sticker on their car
4. Hybrid cars using the HOV lane driving 55 mph in order to get 65 MPG from their cars
5. Listening to Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi on the radio or TV
6. 0800 hrs concalls with the UK
7. Meetings that don't start on time because the Iraqi culture doesn't allow for timeliness
8. Dust everywhere and I mean everywhere
9. Lady whining at 0400 hrs because she has to go outside and drink water or urinate
10. My hootch shaking at 0200 hrs when the Artillery Battery is shooting off some serious rounds at the bad guys
11. Slow internet service
12. The same meals served in a 7 day cycle
13. No printed newspaper to read that isn't at least 4 days old
14. Having to pass through TSA security at the airports
15. Having to pay $50 to fill up my Ford Escape back home when here gas is free (well sort of)
16. Homosexual and gay diversity rainbows on vehicles telling us how great of a lifestyle homosexuality is and what all of us normal folks are missing out on, like AIDS, STD's and just plain bizarro behavior!
17. Having to walk outside of the building to speak on the telephone because the T-Walls block out all signal strength, it is not uncommon to see 3-4 of us walking around in circles in front of our building speaking on our cell phones, from afar we must look like a bunch of penguins waddling in circles
18. Cops with Radar guns, although the MP's here just got radars and are out on the loose, except unlike cops back home they don't have Krispy Kreme bellies
19. Waiting 2 minutes and 50 seconds for the traffic light to change on Mitty and Lawrence Expy, since we have no traffic lights here on Taji
20. Save the Whales, Amnesty International, Save Tibet and Peace is Patriotic bumper stickers
21. CNN and the main stream media
22. Having to stand in line at the post office to mail a letter or buy stamp
23. Morons who don't know how to drive
24. Being limited to either ACU's or PT uniform as my choice of clothing here in Iraq
25. The mud that sticks to your boots and will not dry off here in Taji, had NASA used this stuff for the ceramic tiles on the Space Shuttle, the one that burned up during reentry would have been spared
26. Iraqi Soldiers driving the wrong way on the road without any worry or concern at all while you are honking and giving them the finger for being stupid and driving like some of the people back home do
27. Triple flushing toilets here because the water pressure is non-existent and nothing seems to go down
28. Listening to the Iraqi's say in shalla "God Willing" for their plan to get something done, while I remind them that in shalla will not fill out a request form and submit it to MOD to procure equipment

That's it for now, I am going to drop off my clothes at the laundry and do some reading before Spanish soccer starts later this evening.

The Colonel

Hump Day and It’s All Down Hill From Here!!

If earlier the previous week I hit the 6 month mark, on the 23^rd I hit the equator or as we call it hump day on my tour here in Iraq. Since I arrived on the advance party I get to spend an extra 10 days here in Iraq. Two days later I hit the 9 month mark of my mobilization on active duty.



Flat Trevor and I at Phoenix Base in Baghdad.

On Monday my new boss and a few of his staff came up from the IZ to get a boots on the ground walk through of the logistics support and installations here on the base. I had a meeting and was putting out some contractor fires that morning so I caught up with them when they were in the National Maintenance Contract Vehicle Repair Site. They also visited the track repair and ILAV (Badger Site), before visiting the Depot. I gave the usual tour but spent some additional time on process flow and made sure that we got a chance to see the generator farm. I was able to make my pitch on additional funds without sniveling.

They left early in the afternoon and I in turn left late that evening. I was happy to be flying at night especially with the lower temperatures, it makes traveling more palatable. It was a straight shot to the IZ-Washington, and after checking in, getting my temporary hootch, I headed over to the MWR Internet Café to shoot Carmen a text page letting her know that I arrived safe and sound. I was bushed so I hit the sack early and as I laid down on the mattress, it became evident that it was in dire straits and I honestly believed that General George Washington slept on the same mattress during the Battle of Yorktown! I felt like the cork in a wine bottle and the springs were like the cork screw!

I ran around the embassy compound for a 6 miler that morning and off I went to Phoenix Base. I linked up with the AMC O-6 who is here as the adviser to the Iraqi Maintenance Depot and we met with the Brigadier General who is in charge of the Depot and his counterpart in the MOD. The meeting went well and we were able to discuss the MTOE, infeed of Soldiers and the officer fielding of the depot. That afternoon I met with the JCC-I group to go over several contracts that I have out there waiting to be awarded, trying to get a better understanding of the timeline that the Depot Integrator Contract will have once it is awarded. I paid a visit to my favorite bean counter in J4 and we discussed future spending and what PR&C’s are up in the air due to spending constraints. Before I knew it, it was cigar smoking time outside in the Pirates Cove and it was great to see the folks that I hadn’t seem in almost two months.

The next day I had to take care of some admin paperwork and on the way to see my task force Sergeant Major I ran into our groups General BG S. He asked me about the project and when I told him there were a few issues I was told, “grab a seat in my office and let’s talk when I get back in two minutes”. I told him the issues I had in reference to the Small Arms facility and that we would not be ready to open the facility during the date that we had announced earlier this year. While I explained the reasons why and some assistance that I needed from his group, he called one of the Majors who handles some of the logistics and for about 10 minutes let us know that he was not a happy camper at the slip in the start date and based on deliveries and in-feed of Soldiers we now have a new date. I now have a new date and will definitely be massaging and managing all the upcoming tasks and events to ensure that we meet the deadline! When the Major and I left the generals office we grabbed a latte and discussed what needs to happen going forward and what each of us needs from each other in order to pull this event off!

I had to chase down in the afternoon some vehicle density lists, weapon repair parts, discuss a couple of maintenance related projects that will impact the depot and some of the footprint that I manage. In between all this work I was able to meet some of the folks from our Division and get the latest scoop on whose doing what and what we’re doing up in Taji. That evening the J-4 and I ate dinner together at the DFAC and had a nice discussion on our roles and what his vision is pertaining to the Depot and what support I can get from the J4 shop going forward. Once again the gang was outside smoking cigars and a couple of us stayed late talking about politics and the future of Iraq.

On Thursday morning I ran and once I got to work I finished up the brief that I was planning to give to the J4 about the depot. I got called into a reorg meeting so I could assist in defining the PMO sections headcount and role going forward in the project. If approved I don’t think that I will benefit from the increase in headcount but the guy/gal that will follow me will. The brief went well and he’s going to be assisting me in getting the funding that I need for the additional items that are required for the depot. I did the usual rounds in the late afternoon picking up items to take back to Soldier here in Taji and left the base around 1930 hours. Packed, grabbed some chow, turned in my linen and headed over to the Pax terminal. I was booked for one of the late flights and with a full moon I opted to stay outside to wait for my flight. It was awesome seeing the choppers come in with the moon in the background. My flight left about 30 minutes late and Taji was the first stop so I got lucky. After getting back to the hootch and unpacking, shooting Carmen a text page letting her know that I arrived safe and sound it was time to hit the sack around 0030 hrs. It was nice to sleep in my bed!!

The Colonel

6 Months in the Box!!

Wow it’s hard to believe that six months ago I hit the box for my second visit to Iraq, this one coming 16 years after my first deployment. They say that time flies quickly when you’re having fun or some resemblance of fun!

Yesterday was our fuel delivery and much like previous adventures in receiving fuel this one was no different. SSG Gamboa was out of the AO so it was Major Youngs turn to participate in this team building, patience waning event that all of us love so much. The trucks arrived late due to the large number of vehicles that had to be searched prior to getting on base. As requested this time the company brought a portable pump with meter so that we could reconcile our numbers. I swung by the fuel farm late in the afternoon and they had only downloaded one truck. Our reading and their reading did not match and based on the appearance of their meter you could tell that hadn’t been calibrated since Christ was a corporal. We pay on what we received not what they say they delivered, so after she discussed this with their boss back in Baghdad, he said they would not pump us the remaining 65K liters of fuel. By the time they had cleaned up the mess they created it was past 1700 hrs and the gate was closed so we told them to stage the vehicles along the road and I would escort them to the gate in the morning, since it was Major Young’s day off.

I had coordinated with the RSU to get MP escorts because we knew that getting fuel into this base is difficult, getting it off the base ranks just below the Cubs winning the world series. I called the Iraqi Army letting them know to let these trucks past the bridge on their way back to Baghdad. I also prepared a memo for them to carry so that if stopped at checkpoints the police would know that they were allowed to be carrying fuel. We get to the gate and the Iraqi Sergeant waves the trucks through, the Lieutenant tells them to stop saying they can’t leave post with fuel. My interpreter and I approach him and show him the memo, but to no avail. The base commander has to give his approval in a memo and get it signed and stamped. I remind the Lieutenant that this isn’t Iraqi fuel but fuel purchased by the coalition and that the Iraqi Colonel as we would say back home doesn’t cut the chorizo in this instance, but I do. After he speaks with the Colonel we are cleared, and off the trucks head out the gate. I thank the US MP’s and head to my vehicle, but something in the back of my brain said “stick around this isn’t as easy as it looks”. Sure enough they move about 50 feet and stop again. I head back up to the gate and now there is an Iraqi Major who is telling them they can’t leave without the Colonels signed and stamped memo.

I was steaming before dealing with the Lieutenant and before I could jump all over this guy, it’s my interpreter who jumps on him telling him all that had just occurred. I don’t understand Iraqi but he points to his rank and I’m thinking he’s pointing out that 1) he’s in charge and that he doesn’t believe the LT or 2) that if he lets these trucks out of the gate he’s gonna get his ass chewed out by God knows who. His own Soldiers even told him that the Colonel had allowed the trucks to leave. So he calls the Colonel again and this time the Colonel says that the vehicles can’t leave without the signed and stamped doc. I tell him what he can do with him self, all the while reminding the interpreter to not interpret what I just said. The MP’s had hung around and offered to let these vehicles use the tank trail and escort them out another gate that is controlled by Americans and that’s what we did.

Much like the old Warsaw Pact countries who after living for 45 plus years in a communist dictatorship, change doesn’t happen over night, the same here in Iraq. The older officers who were in the previous regime can’t make or let me rephrase that, don’t want to make any decision that could have adverse impact, for fear that they will be punished severely. Even though that is no longer the case regarding punishment, it weighs heavily in the backs of their minds and they seem to be paralyzed by fear. I see it in my meetings with the Iraqi Depot staff, the day that the General is not there and I am asking for some type of resolution or decision to be made, no one wants to make a decision, it has to be the General. In our Army a Captain or Lieutenant would make that decision and life goes on. SSG Gamboa who is the NCOIC often runs the meetings when I am gone, or I will let him handle several sections of the agenda, and the eyes of the Iraqi’s shows bewilderment in that a Staff Sergeant is given broad responsibilities and gets the job done! The younger officers are more pro-active and they are excellent examples of the work that has been done by the coalition forces in the training they provided at the Officer Basic Courses. A side note on punishment handed out by the previous regime. The depot area has three jails and without getting into our headcount of Soldiers for obvious reasons, let’s just say that there is enough space in those jails to house well over 25% of the force. Can you imagine that ratio in our Army.

The good note today is that the Iraqi’s at the Depot have really been cranking out the work that has been delegated to them. Now that they are living at the Depot, the General has more of his staff with boots on the ground and it shows. Without me even asking today, they wanted to sit down and go over the action items from two weeks ago and provide me with the required docs and memos needed. We drove around the south depot and the General was concerned about the security of buildings and has already implemented some changes. I am impressed and that really made my day. Unfortunately we are still waiting on the Ministry of Defense for some decisions to be made, they are very slow, bureaucratic and think of your worst experiences at the DMV renewing your license or car registration and multiply the wait and hassle by 20 times and you’ll understand what I mean. I am heading down to Baghdad next week precisely to go over those issues we have here with the MOD folks and also with our HQ.

That’s it for now I am heading to bed early tonite since I have a 12 miler to do tomorrow, as I am gearing up to run the California International Marathon (CIM) here at Taji on 2 Dec. I asked them if I could enter and when they found out where I was located at and was planning to run the marathon here they said they would support us, so I am trying to convince a couple of my buddies to see if they want to run with me on the 2^nd as a group and complete the marathon. CIM will provide us with the running shirts and finisher medals.

The Colonel

Getting All Caught Up

As most of you have probably read in the papers not that you wanted to read it but it was forced upon you by the press Ramadan has finished up here and what occurs after that is a celebration that ranks up there with our Christmas or Thanksgiving. They call it the Eid ul-Fitr, and depending on whether you’re a Shiite or Sunni you get to celebrate and feast for about four or five days, throw in some travel time and you get the picture. This whole country shuts down big time. If you’re a Christian your screwed, where in the hell is the ACLU when you need them????? Oh I forgot for the ACLU Islam is good Christianity is bad, I keep forgetting I must have fallen asleep during those sensitivity training classes we had at drill!! Our Soldiers last class was on Thursday and we released them at 1300 hours and all of them except 2-3 made a bee line to the gates on post and headed for home. I don’t know who moved faster the Soldiers or the officers, because by Wednesday the Senior Officers Quarters was like the OK Corral empty, big time!

A few of us thought that maybe the Iraqi Army should continue with the fasting at least on the officers side of the house. From what I see you really don’t have to look at the rank of the officers uniforms, just look at their bellies the bigger the more senior they are. Dad you’d be a General here in Iraq!

Where as most of the US Transition teams are taking off because they have no Soldiers to work with, we are using this time to get caught up and concentrate on getting those small but vital things taken care of. Major Y has finished up on most of the PR&C’s, now getting them approved by the finance folks in the IZ is another issue. You gotta love those bean counters, most of our facilities have come well under the estimated cost and the amount that we got budgeted for those facilities, thanks to the team scrubbing and getting rid of things that the Iraqi’s probably don’t need for their depot. Do you get kudo’s , a pat on the back, nada, zippo. But God help you if the actual cost of the winning bid exceeds the cost that was budgeted and funded for that building. Who cares if you have already saved over $12M, the finance folks start drooling and begin going into a maddening frenzy and rant, “what do you mean you need more money, what are you building up there a Taj Mahal”? You need to relook at the plans and start cutting out fat, there’s no money for the difference. Excuse me, what happened to the money we already saved you? I guess their hearing aid batteries die and they can’t hear anything you’re saying. On days that I have already run my only stress relief is to ensure I bang my head against the wall a few times and I suddenly feel much better! They say laughter is sometimes the best medicine, so we all look at each other and then start laughing about the “guys in the IZ who have no clue what is really going on telling us how to manage your project and how to suck the proverbial egg!”

Tomorrow should be one of those days that will go by like lightening. Our NCOIC is down in the IZ testifying in a non-judicial punishment trial which leaves the Major and I. As luck would have it, tomorrow we’re getting another fuel delivery and as you read earlier, those are like a circus and take up a large part of your day, so the Major will be handling that. I in turn have to take one of our interpreters to the gate for his vacation and pickup two other interpreters who are coming off their break. Problem is that at the same time I have to be somewhere else to meet the PDSS (Pre Deployment Site Survey) folks that will replace us next year. I was one of the guys who did this for our group last December. Basically it’s like a recon where you visit the areas that you’ll be working at, speak with those who are there, get info, soft copies of docs, SOPS, pictures and points of contact. At least one of the other O-6’s will do his brief first, which should give me time to drop off and pickup the interpreters, they know that I don’t wait more than 5 minutes, so if they are late they’ll be sucking some pond water and will have to wait until I am done with the PDSS folks.

I plan on giving them an overall view of the project, showing them the north and south Maintenance Depots, walk through a couple of the buildings that are being worked on and then answer any of their questions. I spent 2+ days when I did the PDSS last year, they have 3 hours, go figure! Good news is that I finally earned my tour guide tab. A couple of the guys at another site here at Taji conduct so many tours that they decided to have the alteration shop make a tab much like a Ranger or Airborne tab that says Tour Guide. Since it has a Velcro backing they store it under the pocket cover, but put it on your left shoulder when they are giving a tour. Few if any Soldiers notice it and when they do they usually bust out laughing. The criteria is 25 tours or 50 General Stars (total number of stars that all the generals you have briefed have combined). I am way over 25 tours and right now am at 18 stars and may get number 19 tomorrow depending on who decides to show up from the IZ.

The hot weather has finally ended as of late this afternoon. The wind has shifted and right now we are at a nice 81 degrees which at 2200 hrs in unheard of. Our high was 94, for the next 10 days it looks like highs in mid 80’s and lows actually working themselves into the mid 60’s. It is sort of the same kind of weather that we get back in San Jose during the summers, except here we have the smoke and hazy skies.

Guess I have rambled on long enough this evening, damn I could use a nice glass of Cabernet or Pinot right about now. Here I am typing away listening to some Level 42, got the door of the hootch open and you can actually feel the coolness from outside. It’s almost like sitting out on the patio at night at home, but as they say almost doesn’t count except in horseshoes or hand grenade fights!

The Colonel

Finally Getting There

This was a quick week, for a couple of reasons, having Monday off eats up a day, but more importantly all of us have been busy here at the PMO. We have been submitting additional PR&C's for a couple of buildings that had not been approved yet by the finance folks, plus some additional generators, security and the 800 meter road that we still have to figure out the name for.

We still have some sewage and water issues, that I will be able to speak with our head engineer from the IZ who is coming up here next week and he can see for himself the issues we have, and if we get his okay then we will be able to make the necessary repairs to get running water and sewage on the depot.

Today we went ahead and inspected the Small Arms Facility with the Corps of Engineers, the Contractor and AMC. It was my first chance to do this and at least with the Corps of Engineers and the AMC reps I knew that if I didn't catch something they would. I had been going to the work site daily since I got back from Qatar because the contractor had been given a 2 week extension and I was getting calls from the IZ asking me about the status of the facility. Our punch list of deficiencies was not that long and except for an oversight between our plans, the Corp of Engineers and the contractors regarding an additional security fence the deficiencies were minor and should be taken care of by tomorrow COB. We are still waiting for the two large fans that are somewhere between Baghdad and here and the bridge crane motor which is also on its way. It's amazing what took place in these 120 days, the building looks a lot better and once we get the equipment installed this will be a great facility and will enable the Iraqi Army to fix all their weapon and weapon systems. I will try to add a couple of pictures these next few days so you can see what it looks like.

The other two parts of the puzzle have mixed results. The equipment that was ordered for this facility and two other facilities had been ordered in July and should have begun arriving in September. I had been working with the folks in the JCC-I office as to these dates and slippage in arrival dates. When I left for Qatar I told the folks at the office that more than likely the first shipments would arrive when I was gone. I got back and nothing, I checked with the Supply Depot because sometimes our shipments get routed there, but nothing. After bugging the JCC-I rep in the IZ since Sunday I finally got an answer that the shipment still hadn't left Kuwait. I thought this was odd since the shipper had said that they were planning to ship a truckload in late September. I was not a happy camper, as I have got a facility that is ready for beneficial occupation and now the equipment isn't here to install. On top of that two shipments are somewhere on the ocean and I more than likely won't see those until November/December.

The other piece of the puzzle is Soldiers. We have already started training the first group of Soldiers, another group start boot camp next week. Since HQ's wants to start repairing weapons in December they have asked if I wanted to divert some of the Soldiers graduating this week from boot camp to the Depot via a one time 3 week small arms repair course. We discussed it and the Aussies said yes they could run another course for some more Soldiers. This will enable us to get these Soldiers through the level 1 Depot training and they will be available to work on the weapons once we start operations.

Right after that it was off to church, clean the office, grab my favorite dinner, vegetable curry on rice and since it was Saturday I splurged and grabbed some onion rings. Right now I'm listening to the Denmark-Spain Euro 08 Qualifier, it's 1-2 for Spain with a couple of minutes to go. Tomorrow since I have off I can stay up late tonite and sleep in tomorrow. The game is over Denmark 1 Spain 3, that's a perfect way to end this blog. Guess I will go outside and shoot the breeze with the guys who are watching some college football outside and smoking cigars.

I just got mail delivered and my nephew Trevors "Flat Trevor" finally arrived after being in transit for almost 26 days. Rumor has it he was hanging out at BIAP for a week or so avoiding flights up to Taji by missing his show time, so he could chill out and not have to do any work back here at Taji. Now that Flat Trevor is on board, he'll be kept busy and will have some great stories and photos to share with his class back home.

Aupa Espana y ZHP!!

The Colonel

Taji Army 10 Miler Run

MSG Duncan, Chief and I

In conjunction with the US Army 10 Miler Run that is held every October in Washington DC during the AUSA Conference, most posts here in Iraq and Afghanistan held their own Shadow Run on the same day as the run held back home. Taji was no different and the run was scheduled for a 0700 hr start time. I had been worried that I would not make it back in time from my pass, but that no longer was an issue.

I had been training for this run by going longer on my daily runs, 6-7 miles, although I decided not to do any PT while in Qatar so I could get a total relaxing vacation. KBR were the guys responsible to set up the run. To their credit, they do a pretty good job and have great T-shirts for the runs. All I know is that when I get back home and show up at some of the races, the T-shirts will be noticed. The one thing that KBR could use some help on is correctly setting up a course as you will soon read about in the blog.

I had no clue who would be at the run from the folks I usually see at the runs. I did run into MSG Duncan and Chief from the COIN Academy. MSG Duncan is a fellow 104^th Soldier who was in my Battalion Task Force both at Fort Hunter Liggett and Ft Riley.

There were a couple of other folks there to include the 1^st Cav Divisions Aviation Bde Commander who I see in Church on Saturdays.

I was hoping to settle with a sub 77 minute run as my goal, since I knew that was in my reach. Anything less than 77 minutes I would not complain. I decided to run with my trusty camelback which I use for all my runs, that way I wouldn’t have to rely on the water points which leave a lot to be desired.

It was a cool morning about 78 degrees which was cooler than Chicago for the start of their death valley temps run that same day. The good news was that the cloud cover from the previous days thunderstorms were still around and that would mean less heat but unfortunately more humidity. Not wearing my hearing aids I did not catch the course description which had a couple of late changes due to force protection, since part of the run was originally to be held along the inside perimeter road, but was axed due to possible sniper activity. Why worry about heart attacks when there are snipers around!!

Off we started and I started in the mid pack and soon was passing runners who had started off too fast or should have been behind us at the start. Except for the few civilians all of us were wearing our respective service PT uniforms, so there was a literally a long gray line making it’s way down the road. I looked at my watch after about 7 minutes and starting eye balling the road ahead to see where the mile marker was, I kept looking and found nothing, after 8:30 I stopped looking and realized that once again KBR did not set up any mile markers. I am sure for 95% of the runners that wasn’t an issue, but for those of us who like to know where we are at and what our time is that is key. At about 14:30 I started looking again but to no avail. There was a water point, but with only one poor soul pouring water into cups you can imagine what a CF that was! Nothing like the 100 oz of water in the ole camelback to suck on! The wind was in our faces and coming crossways which kept us cool, but as we headed towards where I live and run at it became evident that the sun was getting hotter and these next few miles would not be a cakewalk. At about 3 miles based on my watch MSG Duncan and Chief caught up to me and I ran with them for about 2 minutes and realized that I had to put the hammer down and pick it up, so off I went. I spent the next mile picking off runners one by one and when I hit the magic 35 minute mark I was in overdrive and was on my way home, having picked up the pace considerably.

I kid you not it was getting real hot and what I noticed was that between that water stop around mile 2 there was nothing for the next 4.5 miles. I was thirsty even though I was sucking down the water and wondered what the others who had no water were going through. More than one person that I passed said after seeing me pass them and wearing a camelback “why didn’t I think of that”! At around 6.5 we turned into some minor head wind and there was a water stop. I picked up the pace a little bit more and was focused on a group of about 20 runners about 200 meters in front of me. At around 8 miles I had passed them up and could see the DFAC where we started from and was wondering how they were going to tie in a loop to get us to the 10 mile mark. When we turned the corner and headed to the DFAC I started wondering if this was the finish line or not, because my watch still had me out another mile plus at a 7:45 pace. But then I could see people walking and by then it was too late to get into the 200 meter rush to the finish. I hit the imaginary tape at 1:05:13 which I know for a fact was not a 6:30 mile pace, so I figured out that the course was approx. 8.5-8.7 miles long. Once again with no mile markers I had to calculate with my gut reaction on my pace. (Carmen a Garmin mini GPS for Christmas may not be a bad idea hint…hint). Judging from what I saw at the finish line I probably finished in the top10-15% of runners, not bad for an over worked 48 year old Colonel.

MSG Duncan came in about 3+ minutes behind me and chief another minute or slow behind him. We grabbed out T-shirts, stretched, took the photo and split. Although Sunday was supposed to be my off day, the general and the new J-4 were coming to visit Taji and I sure didn’t think me being off was too smart of an idea so I worked that day and took off Monday. Of course as luck would have it they never got to my office that day, so I could have taken the day off, but instead I got some decent work completed on the project.

As an after note I did speak to the KBR rep and told them that for their next race I would volunteer to measure out the course and mark the mile markers so that on race day the runners would have an idea what their splits are. So I guess that I will be busy later this end of the month walking and marking the 5km course.

The Colonel with the sore quads!!

Back to Reality

I was almost positive that I would not be spending most of my day 5 in Qatar and when I went to check the departure board it was 0100 hrs on day 5. I had already sorted all my items so I stayed over at the Top Hat and drank the last of my allowed beers for the day and then headed back to pack, turn in my linen and sign out of billeting and make the trek back over to the MWR site for the departure formation. I had thought in advance that we would be flying out relatively soon after that departure formation but I was in for a long night. We arrived and were told that we had a tentative wheels up time of 0600 hours, and I'm saying to myself 5 hours until take off whose on drugs here! We did roll call and then grabbed a last cup of joe and shuffled onto the bus for the ride to the military airbase. The bus ride took about 45 minutes and then it was grab your gear and wait out here. We did that they collected our ID cards and we were then called into the terminal and told to grab a seat and we would get out boarding cards issued to us later.

We must have sat in the waiting area for at least a good two hours, at least the Indians were beating up on the Yankees which made time go by quicker. We finally got our boarding pass and were called to the gate, we then went to another holding area to wait until the buses would take us out to the plane. I was hoping for another C-17 or even a C-141 because they are quicker and more comfortable. As the buses took us out onto the tarmac I watched as we drove by the C-17's and C-141's and when I saw the row of C-130's I knew I was in for a long and uncomfortable flight. As the senior ranking officer I hung in the back until everyone got on and took the last seat which means leg room and a place to lay your ruck instead of having it sit on your lap for a 3 hour flight. We took off at 0515, I fell asleep soon after we took off but it really wasn't a deep sleep, and woke up a little before we were above Baghdad. You knew that you were close when the plane started the corkscrew descent and it made the roller coaster ride at the Boardwalk at Santa Cruz seem real tame, and I think that a few more abrupt turns and the Soldiers would have started puking big time!

We arrived at about 0805 and I went through arrivals, booked me a flight for the next day since there were no seats available that day for Taji and headed to the bus stop to catch the shuttle to Stryker Village across the way from BIAP. I got there and really didn't know what to expect for billeting as I was tired and just wanted a place to rack out. I got off the bus and saw a KBR rep there and asked them where the billeting office was. He looked at me and with a huge smile and southern drawl said Colonel follow me and we'll get you squared away. He told one of the attendants to get me the keys to one of the VIP rooms and off I went with my gear following the attendant. I lucked out big time as instead of being assigned to a large tent where there were 16 cots for officers, being an O-6 I got a small connex sized room with two beds, a desk, mini fridge, wall lockers, AC and TV. It's times like these when it hits home that I'm a really a Colonel and at this rank we do get some upgrades, but damn it took me 25+ years of hard work to finally be able to enjoy these upgrades.

I racked out for about 5 hours and then did the shower and shave drill and took a nice stroll in PT gear around Stryker. This is a huge area and with all the tents looking the same you could easily get lost, especially at night since there are no street lights like back home. I had to laugh at the PX, they had TV's of all sizes from a 14" like the one I have to some 42 " screens, all along I kept thinking who in the hell has that much room in their hootch to store it? I picked up some items that we don't have in Taji and sure enough they had the condom shelve stacked with condoms, let see only 3 beers a day on pass, but all the condoms you could ever want. I love the Army!!

After dinner I went back to the hootch, watched some TV and realized that I didn't miss not having American channels in Taji to watch. At about 2100 hrs I called it a day since I had to get up at 0 Dark hundred (0300 hrs) to shave, pack the few items I took out of the ruck, clean the room, checkout and be at the bus stop by 0400 hrs to catch the ride back to the terminal at BIAP. I got there and the flight show time was pushed back 30 minutes so I figured that I would grab me some java, but the coffee shop was closed so it was back to the outdoor waiting area. Show time came we waited for about 30 minutes since the flight was pushed out some more and finally made our way to the choppers that had been sitting there while the crew and passengers went to the chow hall to pickup breakfast, since they were flying as of 0500 hrs that morning. Once everyone got back they started their pre-checks while we waiting on the tarmac under cloudy and dark skies. It looked like it was going to rain and sure enough you could see lightening to the west and the morning sun rise was undetectable due to the cloud cover. I am not a brain surgeon but knew that lightening and helicopters don't mix and sure enough we got the "weather hold" warning. I wasn't too happy but the good news was this crew was real tired and had to get back home and in order to do that had to fly past Taji so bottom line I was going to get a ride on that bird, the question was when. Some of the passengers on that flight were fellow 104th Soldiers so we laid down on the tarmac with our rucks as back support and shot the breeze and tried to catch some zzz's between lightening, thunder and some rain drops. About one hour later we were cleared and I was back in Taji in a short 13 minute flight. I was gone for 6 days and 9 hours which for those of us having gone on a 4 day pass to Qatar is a record for speed, as most are gone anywhere from 8-10 days! I wouldn't have minded another free day in Qatar but to spend another day at Stryker would have made me gone mad!!

As much as I miss my real home, I sort of missed by home away from home and it was good to be back home and in some familiar surroundings.


The Colonel

R & R Day Three and Day Four

Ziad and I

I finally made it to the Villagio Shopping Center and had chance to take a look around before I was to link up with Ziad. The mall is very new and not all the stores are open yet nor are the restaurants in the food court. With the painted sky above, the second floor facades lit and the architecture of the stores it really looked like one was walking down a European street. The mall was a mix of Santana Row with the design and Valley Fair with the stores, except for several small kiosks the stores were of a mix of the usual mall stores, plus some upgraded stores, ie Zara, Lacoste, Massimo Dutti, etc. The gondolas floating down the canals was a nice touch. Ziad showed up right on time and we both made the comment that we basically looked the same, he hadn't aged since I last saw him in Kansas, I unfortunately had mostly white versus the light grey hair of 7+ years ago.

We decided to go and eat and that was the probably the best way to get caught up with our lives. He took me to a Syrian restaurant and we ordered lots of small plates and then a main entree. It was quiet a sampler and I got a chance to try lots of Syrian food, grape leaves with rice and meat inside, artichoke pieces with garlic and olive oil, eggplant with some spices with garlic and olive oil, chickpeas and yogurt, pita with small pieces of lamb, some empanadas with lamb meat, marinated lamb brains, some meat rolled up in dough and fried-I called it Syrian Sushi because that is what it looked like. The main entrees were skewers of lamb, chicken, beef and mixed vegetables. We ate to our hearts content and talked about everything, kids, our better halves, work, politics, soccer (who would have guessed) and what's in our plans for the future.

Unfortunately all too soon it was time for me to head back to the bus for the ride back to post. We got the kodak moment picture which is above, said our goodbyes and if all goes well I should be here one more time before my year is up and we'll get a chance to see each other again. I reminded him that next time it's his turn to see me back in California. We'll see what happens.
On the way back there was a major accident on the road heading back to base so we got to see Doha au noit as we drove through neighborhoods which I don't think the driver even knew existed as he was trying to get to another road which would take us to the base. The trip lasted almost an hour. I hit the pub for my ration of beers and then spoke to Carmen and hit the sack.

This morning it was sleep in and do the laundry since I will either be leaving late tonite or sometime tomorrow and depending on how long I will be in BIAP waiting for transportation, it is better safe than sorry when it comes to having enough clean clothes to last for 3-4 days if necessary. I then headed off to the PX to take one last look at some souvenirs and then it was a visit to my favorite place the swimming pool. I was there for about 3 hours and took a well deserved nap laying in the shade. The water was nice and felt great each time when I got in. I ate a late lunch wolfing down a Chile Mushroom Burger and fries, not knowing when I will get another chance to eat something like that. Funny thing is that even though they have a DFAC here I have avoided eating there like the plague since when I get back to Taji that will be the only game in town!

I headed back to the room, showered got all my things on the bed ready to pack tonite if I leave late tonite, if not then I'll pack the ruck tomorrow when I get up. Right now I am at the MWR site chilling out reading my personal email, blogging and in a few minutes will grab a beer and some dinner here. In about 90 minutes they will post the departure formation time so I would rather eat so if I have to pack and clear quarters I can do so quickly.

That's it for now, if I don't leave until tomorrow I may post something but more than likely I will update you all when I get back to my temporary home sweet home Taji Iraq.

The Colonel

R & R Day Two and Then Some

I am finally starting to like this place, even though with Ramaden our chances of seeing some scenery off the base is limited, at least I am not in Taji working and with all the sleeping in I have realized that this is definitely habit forming. Today I slept in and after getting my coffee and bagle headed to the pool, where this time I made sure to put SPF45 on my belly to not get burned. After a couple of hours there I headed back to the room, changed signed up for the inland sea tour and another shopping mall visit for Day 3. I ran into a couple of the guys from my Division and decided to linkup with them later in the afternoon. I grabbed some lunch over at the food court and then we shot some pool and did the usual war story tradeoffs. I then headed back to the room changed and waited for our mall bus to arrive. As luck would have it there was a tanker that overturned at the main gate and with the fuel spill we were delayed leaving for 30+ minutes. So by the time we got there it was 1900 hrs and we had to be back on the bus by 2100 hrs. One of the guys I met on the bus, we decided to grab dinner first then check out the mall. The food court was alot like our food courts but with a more arab/indian flavor to it. I went for the curry shrimp with salad, vegetables, colored rice, Arab bread and some Iranian tea. It was nice to eat something local and varied for a change. The mall is the third largest one in Doha and was basically a typical western mall, except they had some definitely Arab stores but most was like ours. It gave me a chance to check out the jewelry, especially with two women in the house whose taste is about the same when it comes to earrings and other jewelry. Carmen reminded me of the type of jewelry she likes and I couldn't figure out if she was hinting at something or not. I must not have had my hearing aids on when she was explaining what she liked!

We got back almost at 2200 hrs and it gave me a chance to grab a a couple of beers and head to the room for the night. It was going to be a short night since I had signed up for the inland sea and sand dune tour. 0600 hrs came around pretty quick and I was at the MWR site by 0655 for the 0700 hrs meeting time. We all got into Toyota Land Cruisers and headed off the base and past the airport before turning out to the sea. We got to a section of huge sand dunes and the drivers let out some air in the tires and off we went 4 wheeling. The 4 wheeling was pretty tame if you ask me but at least it gave us a chance to see another part of Qatar that we had never seen before. We than arrived at the sea location where they had set up like a camp. There were the usual bedouin tents with AC, some open but offering shade, and tables and chairs under straw roofs where we could sit and go into the ocean and swim. The bouyancy in the Persian Gulf we were located in the Dalwhat Salwa Bay was incredible you could literally float and I must have spent 20 minutes treading water effortlessly.

We got a chance to play some beach volleyball and then had a nice Qatar lunch arab style sitting on cushions in an AC tent. Chicken, beef and lamb kabobs, three types of salad, hummis, pita bread, rice and some fruit. After lunch I headed back into the water where some of the folks decided to partake in smoking some Arab tobacco via the hookah! It was then time to get back into the land cruisers and do some more 4 wheeling and then head back to the base. The traffic was lousy and there must have been more roundabouts then they have in Chiclana Spain!

I was all coated with salt when I got back to the room so I took a shower discovered that there is that spot on your back where you sort of can't reach to put on sun tan lotion, well guess who got burned there, yours truely. So obviously I can't put any lotion on that spot so I am screwed until more than likely my skin peels there.

I guess that's it for now, as I am heading back to the room to change grab a quick snack and get ready for the Villagio Mall which is like the Villagio hotel where they have a canal going down the middle and there are gondolas, with the painted ceiling to look like a sky. I am looking forward to seeing my friend Ziad tonite and get a chance to spend a couple of hours with him at dinner in the mall.

The Colonel

R&R Day One

No alarm clock to wake me up this morning is what I was dreaming about as I laid in bed this morning oblivious to what time it was. I finally checked my watch and it was 0850 which was a nice way to start day one! I headed over to grab a Mocha (not as good as the ones back at Sun) a muffin and off to the swimming pool to rest, relax, knock off a few chapters of Laura Ingrahams "Shut up and Sing" and actually maybe even go in the pool and get my hair wet. I found a reclining chair and made sure I got most of it under the shade so I wouldn't get burned. So I put the usual SPF 45 on my face, legs and shoulders just in case I decided to go into the pool. It was nice and reminded me of Spain except there were no topless women around! ;>) Actually the female Soldiers can't wear a two piece suit unless they have a t-shirt on and us guys can't wear speedos!

I have always known that a high percentage of Soldiers tend to have tatoos, but what I saw today really blew me away. I think that average guy had 3-4 tatoos, the female Soldiers weren't too far behind either. Out of the 25 Soldiers there today, maybe 5 or 6 of us didn't have any tatoos! You name it they had it, eagles, Chineese symbols, flowers, barb wire, dragons and the best one was the guy who had the American flag tatooed on his arm. Each time he walked by I didn't know if I should stand up and salute old glory!

It was so nice to lay down and just relax and read, I did go swimming a couple of times and yest Ascension I did get my hair wet! The music on the PA system wasn't too bad, there could have been more twang but as long as I can understand the lyrics and the music isn't bad I don't mind. Unfortunately there was a 45 minute period of rap and I thought I was going to die, I couldn't understand much except the four letter words that seem to come out every sentence or so and the references to the female gender starting with the letter H.

I headed back to my room and got ready for the 1400 hrs signup which is where we have to go and signup for the next days activities. As previously mentioned with Ramadan all but two activities were cancelled. I really don't feel like going to an inland beach in SUV's through sand dunes to swim in very warm water with jelly fishes and have a BBQ in the hot sun. So it came down to going to the malls. If you would have told me last year that I would be looking forward to going to a mall I would have said that you were crazy. But yes I do want to go to a mall, not so much to go shopping but to link up with my buddy Ziad and spend the time at the mall with him and enjoy dinner. So tomorrow night I will be going to the Hyatt Plaza Mall.

I spent some time watching the movie Borat at the MWR site and then headed back to change to sign up for the sponsorship program, which is where a Soldier or Airman based here signs out one-three Soldiers and takes them to where they want to go for the evening. With Ramadan you have to be wearing long sleeves, long pants, no earrings for guys and closed toed shoes. When I got back to my room to change I realized that my stomach was sore, I took off my shirt and I was redder that a lobster. Putting one plus one together I realized that the shading they had at the pool provided shade but didn't keep out the UV rays, so I was burned below the area where I put suntan lotion on my shoulders and neck and face. Not good, although I have been putting moisturing cream on I will be sore tomorrow.

At the end even though I signed up not enough people left post so I stayed here and read, went to Chiles for dinner and am hear at the wireless area drinking a few beers and listening to the folks try Karaoke! Right now two guys are making Garth Brooks cry with their rendition of "Friends in Low Places", such a great song massacred!

That's it for now, time to give Carmen a call and see how things are back at home, then it's off to bed, as the sun and humidity have taken it's toll on me.

The Colonel

R&R Day Zero

As I mentioned in yesterdays blog, I didn’t hit the sack until 0600 hrs. I slept in until approx 1200 hrs and decided that with this being day 0 I might as well go check out this post and see what there is to see and do around here. I walked into the bathroom and was amazed at how nice it was! I guess that after almost 5 months up in Taji using porta-potties and taking showers where the floors are wet with water and slippery as hell this was nice, no this was really nice! My accommodations are better than most since I am a Colonel. We get our own rooms with TV/DVD and plenty of room. The rest of the Soldiers and officers share open bays and depending on what your rank is there are more or less Soldiers in each of the bays. The building we are in makes me feel like the movie Cocoon. It is a large warehouse that has AC. Inside the warehouse there are double decker connexes which have AC, two bed, two wall lockers, TV/DVD, a table with two chairs and some night stands. The lighting inside the warehouse is low so that the Soldiers can sleep at all hours of the day since there are some Soldiers stationed here who work nights and sleep during the day.

After showering and changing I decided to head out to the MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) Building which is a huge warehouse fitted out into individual rooms, large TV areas, and other sites. This is where we were briefed early this morning. They have DVD’s to check out, an USO area with books, TV, play station and other amenities. DSN Telephones which we can use to call back to the states and speak with our families. Computers to check up on email and free snacks.

In the back of the building they have a huge TV room, billiards (about 10 tables) a stage, wireless internet area, bowling alley, and what everyone wants a couple of restaurants where they serve beer and wine something that we are not allowed to consume back in Iraq. The scenario is much like a town with a main walkway with tables and a couple of establishments such as a wine bar, pub and restaurant.

After checking that out I decided to head to the PX and check out what it was like. Although the PX is smaller than Taji’s they have lots of smaller shops that sold jewelry, rugs and other souvenirs. It had the usual food court, with BK, Subway and a pizza joint. They did have what I haven’t been able to find up in Taji, one pound bags of sun flower seeds!

I then decided to take a walk instead of using the shuttle bus to go check out the pool and the Chevy’s restaurant. The pool definitely looked nice and more than likely I will swing by there tomorrow to lay in the shade and catch up on my reading. Since it was late and the DFAC had already closed I decided to eat at Chile’s. Having eaten at the DFAC’s since I have arrived in theater I decided to eat what I usually can’t. So I had the chips and salsa just like Carmen and I do when we go out for snacks back home on a Friday night. I then decided to eat their original burger and it tasted soooooo good, it was as if I had been transported back home and was sitting in the Chile’s on Stevens Creek Blvd with Carmen sipping my beer and she her margarita. It was a nice way to ease into this 4 day R&R.

I decided to walk back to the room and the first thing one notices here is the humidity, unlike back in Iraq where a bad day the humidity may get up to 30 percent here it remains at about 70 percent and it is muggy and just plain uncomfortable in the sun. Once again I should have taken the bus because although I was wearing my A’s cap my face was red and as Javier would say, I look like “Tomato Man”! I finally headed back to the MWR site where I called my friend Ziad who lives here in Qatar and spoke with him for a bit. He and I became friends on the Spanish Soccer Site and actually met for the first time when I was TDY in 1997 at Ft Leavenworth, he lived in Wichita, KS. We had linked up with another guy on the list Pedro who lived in Manhattan KS. We keep in touch via email and after almost 10 years I am looking forward to see him again, this time though he is no longer single but is married with two kids.

Tonite I grabbed my computer and hit the wireless site where I currently am now, grabbed some nice Kulkenny Irish Lager, ate one of my favorites for dinner-Nachos and listened on line to my beloved Betis play and actually win tonite. Once I get done with this blog I will be calling Carmen and then will sign out a DVD “V for Vendetta” and head home to watch it.

That’s it for now, I will let you all know of my adventure tomorrow on my official day one of R&R.

The Colonel