Unsung Heroes

Jeremy our Corps of Engineer Project Engineer and I

I know from what is published back home in the newspapers and online the press really doesn't make to many references to all the infrastructure work that is being done here in Iraq, instead they dwell upon the death and destruction by the idiots who think they're gonna get some nookie nookie on the other side by blowing themselves up and killing infidels.

As I have tried to make the similarity of what we are doing in post Saddam Iraq and what happened in post WWII Europe under the Marshall Plan, there are many infrastructure projects and improvements that are being made to make Iraq a better place for its citizens. Jeremy is one of those guys whose job it is to rebuild schools, hospitals, and other facilities that affect the average joe. He completed his third year here in Iraq and the picture above was his going away ceremony. I have known Jeremy since the second day I hit the ground in the IZ and was told that he was the Project engineer. Since that time we have had good times together seeing the work being accomplished, have gotten into our fair share of arguments regarding time lines, construction delays, changes in design, holdups at construction services etc. But at the end what made the two of us work closely together and respect each others opinions and ideas was that fact that we have a large mission at hand and one can not operate or function without support from the other. Jeremy for 2+ years worked daily in everyones favorite Baghdad neighborhood "Sadr City" building and refurbishing over 7 schools and 2 hospitals. He once showed me pictures of before and after and seeing the girls and boys faces all lit up sitting in their new school really made you think why we must see this through for the youth of Iraq to have a future and be able to live in a free and democratic country. Jeremy has seen it all, his vehicle has been shot at, partially destroyed by an IED, one of his female engineers was shot and killed by terrorists on her way home from one of the projects. Her crime working with coalition forces trying to rebuild schools for children.

If one year here seems like eternity, imagine three years in Iraq going outside the wire daily to oversee construction and design of buildings that he was managing. Jeremy should be on the freedom bird heading home right about now and is heading back to his home state of Oregon and will finally get to drive his 2005 F150 Pickup which has less than 2000 miles on it since it's been in his parents garage for the past three years. Jeremy thanks for everything you have done on the TNMD Project and more importantly for your work reconstructing the schools and hospitals to make this country a better place for it's citizens.

Sunday as I mentioned we had some Iraqi and coalition senior officers come and visit the Depot. I counted a total of 9 stars which should be 28 stars so far as I work my way up to that coveted 50 star mark. It was the first time since I have been here at the Depot that Iraqi Senior Military leadership visited the depot. It gave my Iraqi counterpart BG S a chance to speak with some of the decision makers about the depot, what issues we have here, where we need their assistance in making things happen at the MOD so that approvals on manning, parts, Soldier in-feed can occur. They liked what they say and seemed appreciative of what we the US taxpayers have purchased for them. While the Iraqi's went ahead and were discussing the depot I got a chance to speak with the coalition one star about the same issues and the expectation is that most of our message was received and now it's wait out mode for us.

You can tell we're getting closer to Thanksgiving as a bunch of the folks here just headed out on their 15 day R&R or will be heading out in the next few days so that they will be home for Thanksgiving. I will be somewhat challenged later this week as Major Young is headed out on Tuesday for her R&R and SSG Gamboa heads out this Thursday for his 4 day pass in Qatar. For planning purposes the 15 day pass usually means you'll be out of the loop for approx 21-24 days and the 4 day pass 6-8 days with travel. I would never had let both of them go at the same time but Major Young put her R&R in while she was at her other unit and I wasn't going to make her change it since she like most of us have made reservations at destinations away from our home of records. That being said I will get my chance to do some busy and dirty work for the period that SSG Gamboa is out, getting a chance to once again deal with vendor deliveries, shuttling the translators to chow or to the front gate as they go or comeback from their 5 days of monthly vacation, and with what ever else pops up.

That's it for now as I am heading off to the gym to work out for a while and burn off some of that DFAC food!

The Colonel