Good to Go As of Late!!

Taking a Break After a General Officer Visit

Well it’s been a busy couple of days up here in Taji with construction and VIP visits. Monday I got a chance to visit the South Depot and take a look at the work that had been done the past couple of days and it was obvious that the contractors are working quickly to get as much of the outdoor work completed before the rainy season. The receiving yard is coming along well and it should be a couple of weeks before the new warehouses will be erected. The blast facility is basically on hold while the contractor procures the prefabricated facility, it was in the specs but somehow they thought they could fabricate it in Baghdad and when the USACE asked us if that was acceptable we said not only no but hell no. I am amazed at how a contractor won’t even blink an eye if they have to fabricate something instead of purchasing the same product but of higher quality. That is the problem we have with the jib cranes in the generator repair facility. The subcontractor instead of purchasing the cranes from a crane manufacturer decided to design and fabricate their own. For us Americans with all the litigation there is, if God forbid a crane malfunctioned due to design errors I don’t think any of us would even attempt in designing and creating 6 jib cranes. Well they did and the USACE told them that their design was flawed and did not meet the standards, so they submitted new designs were told no and have finally realized that they will have to go to a jib crane manufacturer and order the cranes. Meanwhile this has pushed the completion date to the right at least 30 days if not more! What’s the mantra again: “Nothing ever comes easy in this country”! True oh so true.

On Tuesday we had a visit from BG T the chief of the FMS (Foreign Military Sales) group based out of the US. He was here with 2 of his Colonels taking a look at some of the product that had been bought with FMS funds. These funds are from the Iraqi Oil revenue which is good for us US taxpayers. The more monies they spend on FMS the less we are paying and it makes sense as we transition functions for the Iraqi military to the Government of Iraq. The General who hadn’t been to Taji for just over a year got a chance to see all the changes that had taken place, both on the coalition side and more importantly on the Iraqi side. Besides showing him the plans and facilities for an upcoming project he got a chance to walk through a couple of the buildings being refurbished. He really liked what he saw and more importantly I was able to get some info from one of the Colonels regarding small arm repair part purchases and FMS funds.

On Wednesday we had our meeting with the Iraqi PMO staff and it went well and this time I did not leave in a PO mood. The General finally got a chance to brief the key MOD officials regarding the MTOE. It seems that when the SEC GEN of MOD had visited the depot last week all he did when he got back was talk about the depot and the changes that were taking place and that the MTOE needed to be approved since it was delaying getting Soldiers trained. From what rumor central and the Vegas bookies 2-1 odds have it, the MTOE has been approved and now we are just waiting for the actual docs to see how similar or different the doc is from what we discussed and submitted. I won't believe it until I see it with my own two eyes! Looks like more new recruits will be showing up and we pounced on the chance to ask them if they had ordered more mattresses, linen, blankets and pillows for these Soldiers as we had reminded them to do several months ago. They said they had requested it but that the items hadn’t arrived and SSG Gamboa reminded them that taking care of troops is key and there is no excuse for not having the items on hand when the new soldiers arrive.

That afternoon BG S my senior rater was visiting and let’s just say his visits are not up there on my top 10 fun things to do in Iraq list. The last time he was here I believe I lost about 2 of the 6 pounds I have gained over here in a 10 minute timeframe as he chewed out my ass for awhile (generator farm contract) , but then gave me a pound of it back and was happy at the end of the visit. I knew that he had just come back from his R&R since I had run into his aide down at the IZ. I had been in the small arms facility resolving an issue with the door frame and caging for the storage area. So I grabbed my notes, a short Vegas 5 Gold cigar and lit up and reviewed what I was going to brief him on. He showed up and was all smiles as I shook hands and led him into the small arms facility where they are already installing equipment and making some minor remodeling to add special doors, repair damaged floors etc. The bridge crane wasn’t complete the last time he was here and he loved seeing that. After a 10 minute walk through of the facility with changes we sat on the curb and talked about my evaluation, and I got a chance to let him know the status of the ancillary projects that are tied to the facility. He was a very happy camper and we hopped in the van and did a drive through of the north and south depots, and with all but 4 of the buildings being worked on he was impressed at all that had been worked on and the changes from his last visit. We took him to the helipad he was all smiles and shook our hands and told us to keep up the good work and away he went! It was almost 1645 and if we were back home it would have been a “hey guys lets go out and grab a drink to celebrate and the first round is on the Colonel” moment, but alas it was a "let's go back to work moment"! After the visit they dropped me off at the depot again where I had to discuss a few things with the engineers and finally take care of some paperwork back at the office.

That's about it for now.

I can't end this blog without mentioning my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks football team will be playing for the third year in a row in the NCAA Division III Championship Game AKA "The Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Virginia where they are facing the same team which has beaten them the previous two times Mt. Union. Let's see if third time is lucky and they bring home the Championship Trophy. Unlike Division I football this is the real deal where players pay their own tuition, actually graduate from college in four years with a degree that won't land them at a 7/11 pulling graveyard shift and the closest these guys ever get to jail is doing an internship at the State Prison in the summer as part of their Criminal Justice major!

Go Warhawks!!

The Colonel