One Down More to Follow!!

Well Rich and Brett some good news that you all can appreciate from North Carolina and Australia!!

Finally the first building of the new Depot was completed and turned over to the US Government Rep--me! Last Wednesday late in the afternoon the US Corp of Engineer Rep. George C, Larry F. the senior AMC rep here on the ground, the PM for the company that refurbished the facility and I had our final walk through of the 4 buildings that comprise of the Small Arms Facility. The work on this started in late May and here we were almost 6 months later finally getting to move into the facilities. This was the first facility to be worked on and we all learned plenty of lessons, from difficulties getting supplies delivered due to curfews, holidays, damaged bridges, etc. Vendors not coming through on their contractual agreements, sub-contractors not having a sense of urgency in getting things done on time, sub-standard equipment being sent back, etc.

I was not able to get a good picture of the facility so I will go up the water tower tomorrow to take some nice pics which will give you all a better idea of what these facilities look like. Now we are waiting for the company that is supposed to have delivered all but the long lead items to ship the remaining items to us, so that the USACE can have a contractor install and set up the equipment that has been purchased for the site. At the same time we are ordering the electroplating equipment and the target optics and accoustic equipment for the firing tunnels. Since this equipment is very technical it made sense for AMC to have their small arms subject matter experts on the ground to measure and order this equipment. The contract guys in the IZ are working with the supplier for the equipment to light a fire under their asses so we can get this equipment now, they are only 1 1/2 months late and I finally got fed up with the "we are loading the truck this week" only to ask them the following week where in the hell is the truck and find out the damn thing hasn't even been loaded yet. I have asked that these guys get negative reports so that when they bid again for another project that info is available and this lousy performance will cost them points in the past performance category.

I have a one star general that is keeping the heat on my fourth point of contact to have this up and running by mid January and right now with the equipment delay, the fact that the Depot Integrtor Contract that was supposed to have been awarded in late September, then late October, then 10 November and now 30 November has not yet been awarded. With the Aussies leaving soon and no DI contractor yet there will be no left/right seat battle handoff so I will get the training package ad will have to hand it off to the Training Advisor that I just hired when he gets here in mid December.

At the PMO office we are working in getting the weapon repair parts that were left over from the Saddam days inventoried and brought over to our facility so that we can use them to begin repair of the Iraqi weapons thus saving us taxpayers money by not having to purchase these repair parts. On top of that the Aussies have used the Iraqi Small Arm Techs in training to triage the captured weapons on hand and conduct a quick inspection and segregate repairable weapons that we will work on later, and those that will be destroyed by the MOD. Once we get them sorted out and annotate the serial numbers then we can process these get them ready for repair work. I have the Iraqi's working on the internal process of moving weapons from one depot to another, maintaining inventory and serial number accountability, storage and security requirements, daily handling/storage and the return process of weapons back to the Supply Depot. This is the point where they need to step up to the plate since the depot is theirs, I am here to make sure it gets built and that they do the necessary work and develop the required SOP's to ensure the depot can operate. I am no expert in the Arabic language but have come to the conclusion that the phrase Ascension and Javier remember all to well from their childhood "move with a purpose" and "sense of urgency" is not found in Arabic and this has caused me to age what feels like 5 years and what non-gray hair I had on my head to become gray! But those stories will be told when I am back home with my family and friends enjoying a nice cold one or a glass of wine!

Time is starting to fly quickly as evidenced by the fact that lots of people are now on their 15 day R&R and you begin to sense that we are on downward slope. For those of us who still haven't gone on our 15 Day R&R you can see what it has done to those who have already returned. As the day they leave approaches nothing but nothing will ruin their parade, they are upbeat and on the day they are leaving they are all smiles and laughing, knowing that even though it is a big hassle getting from Taji to BIAP to Kuwait and finally on the freedom bird, they will be home with their loved ones in 4-5 days time. When they get back they seem to walk taller, their bags under their eyes are all but gone and they have huge smiles on their faces. I still have a ways to go for mine but Carmen and I are both counting down the days until my R&R and the chance to see each other again! Besides I haven't gotten a good night kiss from Cheenie since April nor have I seen Javi doing his best rendition of some of the stupid antics that I am accused of having taught him when he was younger live and in prime time, it just doesn't have the same effect on the web cam!

This Thursday I am shutting down shop early for Thanksgiving. SFC D are expert cook ordered 3 turkeys and we will be having our own Thanksgiving BBQ. I told him that I would help with the cooking and as the saying goes fun will be had by all!! It's been a long while since the last time I worked on Thanksgiving. I think it was in 1990 when we were rail loading our equipment for deployment from Ft Riley to the desert. I remember eating at the DFAC with my parents, Carmen and Ascension, then changing into BDU's and working until 0 dark hundred at the rail head! I guess that we all have a lot to be thankful for, as we all now it could be worse than it is.

Things over here in regards to the Iraqi military is starting to change as the transition is ramping up and soon will be in full force. Our leadership in the IZ has put the IA on notice that most of the services that the US Army has provided will be transitioned over to the IA once the current contracts expire. This is good news for us taxpayers and I believe is necessary in order to the get the IA and Government to take ownership and financial responsibility for services that are critical to the success of Iraq going forward. This affects two areas that are near and dear to my heart, the generator farm and the fuel for the generator farm. Currently we are funding the operation and maintenance of the generator farm to include repairs of poles and high voltage wires. The new 6 month contract that is being solicited has a training program funded to train the IA or MOD representatives so that in six months when the contract is over, they will have been trained and the battle handoff will have taken place. The generator mechanics will be trained by the DI, so that all aspects of operating and maintaining the facility will become an Iraqi responsibility. As for fuel I have a blanket purchase agreement for lets just say a lot of fuel which is earmarked for the depot. We have some units that are on the grid who are consuming more fuel then they are providing based on the paltry fuel allocation amounts that MOD approved. Our HQ has already notified MOD of the requirement to allocate fuel to the generator farm and that failure to do so will cause units to be removed from the grid. This next week unless we receive fuel from one of the key units I will have the honor of having our contractor shut off power to that units electrical grid. Maybe when MOD gets some calls from some PO'd IA generals about having their power turned off , they may do something about it. I guess we'll see in about a week!

Looks like the weather will start cooling off more later this week, highs will drop to low 70's and lows will actually be around 45. So far no rain but the humidity is starting to rear its' ugly head and the mud factor has increased and it seems everywhere one goes we are tracking mud around.

That about it for now, thanks to all of you who have dropped me a quick email note, it's good to receive some email from all of you and I really appreciate it!

A couple of quick shoutouts, to Ray L thanks for the box of tea and Halloween goodies, to my sister in law Mari Censi gracias por las revistas de vino que me mandastes el otro dia. No sabes las ganas que tengo de beber un buen vinito tomando unas tapitas!

Mom make sure when dad gets back home you work him hard so that he gets that new knee rehabilitated as soon as possible so he can chase you around the house just like the good ole days!

Carmen un dia menos!!

The Colonel