Briefing the Army G-4 and my Commanding General in the Small Arms Facility
At the LZ after dropping off the visitors
Away they go, now it's time to get caught up at the office
Since I wrote last, it's been very busy at the Depot. The contractors keep on working some long hours and it shows as most of the construction is either ahead of schedule or on schedule. Except for two buildings the Generator Repair which has issues regarding the design spec for the jib cranes and the blast facility which had design issues with the pre-fab building, everything is running smoothly. I signed for the second building the other day, the DPW (Department of Public Works) which was finally ready for beneficial occupancy after the second walk through inspection. This is perfect timing as the contractor installing the equipment for the first three buildings has already installed the 6 pieces of large machinery in the small arms facility and they were eagerly awaiting for the DPW so they can start with that building.
There were a few surprises on one of the sites, the junk yard outside the depot is in the process of being cleared so that a road can be built which will be primarily used to receive and ship vehicles here at the depot. When the contractor was clearing some of the debris they came upon not one or two but three bombs that were dropped during the combat phase of OIF. So we had to call the EOD team and have them do a sweep of the entire area that was to be worked on, defuse the bombs and give us the green light for construction to resume. Things are back to normal after we got the EOD OIC to sign a memo stating that no other ordnance is located along the route.
Late on Saturday I got the email to have me check my SIPR (Classified Email) for a headsup on a visit to the Depot. Word was that the Army G-4 who also happened to be the highest ranking female general officer (LTG-3 stars) was going to be up here for a visit and that my CG also a LTG was coming up here also with the usual entourage. That was all they said, now I have been around the block a few times and my pet peeve is an email announcing a visit and nothing else regarding coordinating instructions. But as the saying goes when in charge be in charge so it was easy to get the wheels in motion regarding security, vehicles etc. The funny part was no one else was notified about the visit even the reps of the other locations that were to be visited. Once we got things rolling came the emails from the staff guys in the IZ. You'll need vans for transportation, don't forget to do a dry run of the route, don't forget those name tags so the generals and staff know where they will be sitting in the van, say positive things, no whining etc etc etc. We're up here scratching our heads laughing all the while asking ourselves how in the hell did they think we (LTC M an Air Force guy and I) got promoted to Colonel and Lt Colonel. Do you think in our combined 51+ years in the military we never did a dog and pony show for VIPS? Yeah like when they ask me how things are going I am planning to go into some tirade about how this sucks!! We're professionals and were going to get the job done regardless of what it takes. Some of the guidance made me feel like I was a 7 year old going to visit a aunt for the first time being told not to make a fool out of myself and embarrass the family!
As usual besides the pre-visit anxiety, the visit went off without a glitch, pickup at the LZ, coffee and muffins for breakfast, the slide show, the vans with name tags, the drive to the various sites, the walk throughs of the key buildings our bosses wanted to show them. The visit was great in that the G-4 got a chance to see all we are doing here at the TNMD and at the IASSI (Iraqi Army Service Support Institute) as part of the transition of logistics to the Iraqi Army both in training and in facilities. It was the CG's first chance to visit the Depot since he was here last August, and he liked what he saw. That's good news for me since a less than stellar visit would have meant some adult supervision would have been coming my way from the IZ, and that is the last thing I would have wanted.
I finally found what my dad always referred to when he spoke of someone who was worthless as "worthless as a tit on a boar pig"! My Iraqi counterparts staff consists of approximately 10 officers most are competent, a couple so so and there is one, Major K who could ruin a wet dream without even trying. The guy's a weasel and Javier when he was ten had more common sense and drive than this guy has. Anything directive you give him will not be accomplished and on top of that he has an excuse for everything, and of course it's never his fault. The unit has 39 Soldiers who still do not have their winter jackets as they were not issued one when they went through boot camp almost 7 months ago. SSG Gamboa who is on his well deserved 15 day R&R has told this Major what to do until he's blue in the face and 3 months later the Soldiers still don't have jackets but you know damn well the Major has his jacket. It was cold, windy and raining this morning and if you don't have a jacket to keep you warm and dry well you get the drift. So at todays meeting I asked the General what the status was, he looks to Major K for an update and wouldn't you know it, still no jackets and this time it's the American NCO who runs the clothing issue point fault! Up until then I was chilling for most of the meeting, but when he said that the interpreters looked at me because they knew how badly I wanted to jump up and rip his lips off for lying like a dog! Long story short no jackets and I told the General that if I were him I would personally take clothing records show up at the Iraqi officer in charge of the clothing issue point and force the issue of his Soldiers not getting their jackets issued to them 6+ months after the Soldiers went through boot camp, and not to leave until he gets the 39 jackets and don't waste his time sending the Major because couldn't figure out how to get his head out of his ass if he tried and to take Major K's jacket and give it to the Soldiers pulling guard duty since these guys are the ones doing the dirty work. I had already told the General the other day that Major K sits on his fat ass watching TV and eating all day and it shows, and as far as we were concerned my guys will no longer have anything to do with him. Stay tuned next week to see if those 39 Soldiers are still without jackets.
It's raining again today and Murphy is alive and well here in Taji. I was about ready to head over to the DFAC tonite to grab some chow to go since I had to finish some reports when one of the AMC guys said the Durango I drive had a flat. You already saw what the parking lot looks like from the other day, there wasn't much standing water but a shite load of mud. Of course I had to crawl under the vehicle to get clear off the mud so I could get the jack set up properly, then when it comes time to pull the flat tire off it won't budge. The interpreters who were helping me were trying their hardest to pull off the tire also but to no avail. One of the AMC guys said that on Dodges the tires sort of rust on and the best way to loosen the tire was to slightly tighten the lug nuts and drive in circles until you feel the tire come loose and that's what I did. At the end I was pretty much covered with mud on my pants and rain jacket. I grabbed my chow and must have looked pretty bad because a bunch of the Soldiers were looking at me like what in the hell was this Colonel doing, don't they usually sit on their asses and give orders all day!!
Well that's it for now, tomorrow is another day and there's more project management dragons out there which are trying to delay the project that I and the team must slay to stay on course!
The Colonel
There were a few surprises on one of the sites, the junk yard outside the depot is in the process of being cleared so that a road can be built which will be primarily used to receive and ship vehicles here at the depot. When the contractor was clearing some of the debris they came upon not one or two but three bombs that were dropped during the combat phase of OIF. So we had to call the EOD team and have them do a sweep of the entire area that was to be worked on, defuse the bombs and give us the green light for construction to resume. Things are back to normal after we got the EOD OIC to sign a memo stating that no other ordnance is located along the route.
Late on Saturday I got the email to have me check my SIPR (Classified Email) for a headsup on a visit to the Depot. Word was that the Army G-4 who also happened to be the highest ranking female general officer (LTG-3 stars) was going to be up here for a visit and that my CG also a LTG was coming up here also with the usual entourage. That was all they said, now I have been around the block a few times and my pet peeve is an email announcing a visit and nothing else regarding coordinating instructions. But as the saying goes when in charge be in charge so it was easy to get the wheels in motion regarding security, vehicles etc. The funny part was no one else was notified about the visit even the reps of the other locations that were to be visited. Once we got things rolling came the emails from the staff guys in the IZ. You'll need vans for transportation, don't forget to do a dry run of the route, don't forget those name tags so the generals and staff know where they will be sitting in the van, say positive things, no whining etc etc etc. We're up here scratching our heads laughing all the while asking ourselves how in the hell did they think we (LTC M an Air Force guy and I) got promoted to Colonel and Lt Colonel. Do you think in our combined 51+ years in the military we never did a dog and pony show for VIPS? Yeah like when they ask me how things are going I am planning to go into some tirade about how this sucks!! We're professionals and were going to get the job done regardless of what it takes. Some of the guidance made me feel like I was a 7 year old going to visit a aunt for the first time being told not to make a fool out of myself and embarrass the family!
As usual besides the pre-visit anxiety, the visit went off without a glitch, pickup at the LZ, coffee and muffins for breakfast, the slide show, the vans with name tags, the drive to the various sites, the walk throughs of the key buildings our bosses wanted to show them. The visit was great in that the G-4 got a chance to see all we are doing here at the TNMD and at the IASSI (Iraqi Army Service Support Institute) as part of the transition of logistics to the Iraqi Army both in training and in facilities. It was the CG's first chance to visit the Depot since he was here last August, and he liked what he saw. That's good news for me since a less than stellar visit would have meant some adult supervision would have been coming my way from the IZ, and that is the last thing I would have wanted.
I finally found what my dad always referred to when he spoke of someone who was worthless as "worthless as a tit on a boar pig"! My Iraqi counterparts staff consists of approximately 10 officers most are competent, a couple so so and there is one, Major K who could ruin a wet dream without even trying. The guy's a weasel and Javier when he was ten had more common sense and drive than this guy has. Anything directive you give him will not be accomplished and on top of that he has an excuse for everything, and of course it's never his fault. The unit has 39 Soldiers who still do not have their winter jackets as they were not issued one when they went through boot camp almost 7 months ago. SSG Gamboa who is on his well deserved 15 day R&R has told this Major what to do until he's blue in the face and 3 months later the Soldiers still don't have jackets but you know damn well the Major has his jacket. It was cold, windy and raining this morning and if you don't have a jacket to keep you warm and dry well you get the drift. So at todays meeting I asked the General what the status was, he looks to Major K for an update and wouldn't you know it, still no jackets and this time it's the American NCO who runs the clothing issue point fault! Up until then I was chilling for most of the meeting, but when he said that the interpreters looked at me because they knew how badly I wanted to jump up and rip his lips off for lying like a dog! Long story short no jackets and I told the General that if I were him I would personally take clothing records show up at the Iraqi officer in charge of the clothing issue point and force the issue of his Soldiers not getting their jackets issued to them 6+ months after the Soldiers went through boot camp, and not to leave until he gets the 39 jackets and don't waste his time sending the Major because couldn't figure out how to get his head out of his ass if he tried and to take Major K's jacket and give it to the Soldiers pulling guard duty since these guys are the ones doing the dirty work. I had already told the General the other day that Major K sits on his fat ass watching TV and eating all day and it shows, and as far as we were concerned my guys will no longer have anything to do with him. Stay tuned next week to see if those 39 Soldiers are still without jackets.
It's raining again today and Murphy is alive and well here in Taji. I was about ready to head over to the DFAC tonite to grab some chow to go since I had to finish some reports when one of the AMC guys said the Durango I drive had a flat. You already saw what the parking lot looks like from the other day, there wasn't much standing water but a shite load of mud. Of course I had to crawl under the vehicle to get clear off the mud so I could get the jack set up properly, then when it comes time to pull the flat tire off it won't budge. The interpreters who were helping me were trying their hardest to pull off the tire also but to no avail. One of the AMC guys said that on Dodges the tires sort of rust on and the best way to loosen the tire was to slightly tighten the lug nuts and drive in circles until you feel the tire come loose and that's what I did. At the end I was pretty much covered with mud on my pants and rain jacket. I grabbed my chow and must have looked pretty bad because a bunch of the Soldiers were looking at me like what in the hell was this Colonel doing, don't they usually sit on their asses and give orders all day!!
Well that's it for now, tomorrow is another day and there's more project management dragons out there which are trying to delay the project that I and the team must slay to stay on course!
The Colonel
1 comment:
Sir - Sounds like things have moved fast in the last few months. I'll email Brett so he knows as well. Have a good cigar for me, and tell BG Shallal and the guys I said hello.
MAJ STARNES
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