Gone a Year Miss A Lot!!!!

Outside my Hootch by the Cigar Pit

The road and walkway to the showers

Good Ole Taji Mud

My parking spot outside of the office

Norse Avenue by the DFAC

Wow, it’s my one year anniversary as a mobilized Soldier! Hard to believe that one year ago I walked out of my house back home vowing not to return until my mob was complete. No more select comfort bed, that leather recliner next to the fire place where I always read my newspapers, walking “Lady” the family dog, no more chores around the house (Yeah). Since then it’s been Ft. Riley, Kuwait and Iraq with some unique stories and adventures along the way. As one can imagine it’s been downhill in terms of time remaining with boots on the ground over here and the one year mob is the last serious hump along the way at least as we can foresee. The bad buys and the man upstairs can always say otherwise, so you have to remain alert, focused and keep you head in the game until you’re on that bird flying over the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border!

On Wednesday morning I awoke and when I opened the door to step outside and go take the morning shower it was raining or better said pouring and there was water and mud everywhere! I had gone to bed around 2245 and it was still cloudy but you could tell rain was in the air, and it looks like after midnight it started to drizzle, rain then pour. As you know Taji was a part of the Iraqi Marshland but was cleared over 35 years ago and the water table is not too deep and this land is flat, so with at least 2+ inches of rain the water really can’t go anywhere. You get the picture. That is why gravel is spread on top of the ground so that you can avoid stepping in the Taji Mud which comes from the same family as superglue and plaster. There was no way in hell I was going to wear my Merrell's and get them covered in mud so it was on with the hiking boots, go take a shower then on with the boots again all the while getting some cross level weight training accomplished while walking. It was great driving to work as the back roads were a mixture of mud, mud and more mud so in about a 1/8th of mile the Durango was coated in thick mud, the windows were all brown and I was having a ball 4 wheeling my way to the main road. That wasn't much better and with the crown a could of non 4WD pickups had slid off the roadway into the ditch and were buried to the axle.

Outside the building there are large brushes that you wipe your boots on and by the time your done you have mud on your face, jacket, uniform etc. The buildings all lay out cardboard and you navigate down hallways on cardboard. If your lucky just outside your building you'll have a 3-5 inch deep puddle of water that comes in handy to rinse your boots and attempt to get the mud off. Those gore-tex boots are worth their weight in gold as you get to keep dry while not having to avoid the puddles and holes full of muddy water. A couple of us old timers agreed that the closest you can come to this stuff is at Graf (Grafenwoehr) Germany around early spring when the tank trails are just one big mess, as you head off to the gunnery range or do some maneuvers. It will probably be one week before the post dries up most of the way, and then we'll be back to square one next time it rains.

Things are picking up here at the Depot now that the Depot Integrator is ramping up their staff. We have already given them the green light to develop the curriculum, purchase all the equipment for all the Depot facilities and the technical/vocational building where the classroom training will take place. With some of our buildings scheduled for completion in late February and March getting the equipment here on time and installed is key. Unlike the other contractor who is well over 8 weeks behind their delivery schedule. The equipment installer is waiting for the remainder of the Small Arms equipment to arrive so that they can finish up that building, and move over to install the equipment for the DPW building. I am waiting for the call from USACE that we can do the final walk through of the DPW tomorrow and then if it's good to go I can sign beneficial occupancy of the building and turn it over to USACE who will then give it to the contractor so they can install the equipment.

We had two BG's visit on Monday and the visit went well and believe that we will be receiving more visitors both military and civilian who want to see what our taxpayer money is funding and how the transition is coming along for the Iraqi Army. Today a couple of us had lunch over at the Iraqi Army Maintenance Bn Commanders office. COL M is without a doubt one of the best IA officers I have seen since I have been here, he takes care of his Soldiers, works them hard and hold them accountable for their actions and gets the mission done. His lunches and dinners are very tasty and several of his Soldiers are cooks, they set up a bakery in the AO from scratch and his Soldiers and us eat like kings! Today it was beef and chicken kabobs, rice with raisons, salads, rice and meet wrapped in leaves, pita bread, some kind of tangy soup and plenty of chai tea and turkish coffee to keep us awake after eating like kings! I would eat there every day but when you're in a hurry you don't have time to wait and socialize 30-45 minutes before eating then do the same after. You lose about 2.5 hours for lunch and I just don't have that much time to lose, now if he only had a take out window that would be great!!

Well that's all for now, tomorrow more work, plenty of reports to do and we;ll be saying goodbye to a couple of our AMC reps who will be leaving us after since their 6 months are up.

The Colonel