Springtime in Iraq

Although we still have a little over a month until the official start of spring, it sure has felt like it these past 4-5 days. Highs in the low 70's or upper 60's with Sun except when the oil refinery smoke blows over the base. The best part of the rise in the temperature is when you get up in the morning and it's no longer 36 or 38 degrees and you have to bundle up just to go to the rest room or showers. It's been short pants and a light jacket. According to the interpreters March will be even better before it starts getting too hot in April and onward.

I have been delinquent in posting because I have been burning the midnight oil as of late and by the time I get back to the hootch, go to the gym and workout and shower it's almost 2300 hrs or later like tonite. It's a quick dinner then a few pages of the book that my sister in law gave me for Christmas/Reyes and lights out until the next day. It's hard to believe that it's been just over a month since I said goodbye to Carmen and the kids as they headed back to California and I to Iraq. Time flies when you're having fun or are busy, I'll let you try to figure out which one it is.

Everyday there seems to be a little surprise on the job site. Lately one of the buildings has been giving the contractor, USACE, AMC and I a headache. The South Depot Paint Facility seems to have voids under the building which we nor anyone else knew about, so in the past 7 days the contractor has found 3 decent sized voids which if not filled in or supported properly could be trouble down the road. Obviously if the contractor can resolve the issue without charging us additional funds then it's a "Big Red One" day, but if not then I have to get the old knee pads out of my duffle bag and beg the folks in the IZ to "show me the money" so we can fund the additional cost. Murphy I have discovered is also alive and well here in Iraq, his name is Fagur and he's been all over the place. We had to empty out one of the warehouses and move that material into a completed warehouse so the contractor could refurb the warehouse. They had already done cement and asphalt work around the warehouse, so the Iraqi's brought over a 5T truck to load up and make a couple of trips. Unbeknown to any of us the cement work had not yet cured the required number of days so the truck did some damage to the driveway. I was livid not at the Iraqi's because they did what we told them to do, but the contractor who didn't put up the required barriers and engineering tape to ensure no one entered into the area which still had not cured. I told USACE that it was the contractors fault and that they need to make sure that he repairs the damage and this time better mark off the work area.

The funny thing about this project is that several other projects are tied to either the maintenance portion of the depot or are using our footprint to set up their operations because we have the facilities or will soon have the facilities. The US Army as it rolls out the MRAP's (Mine Resistant Armor Protection) vehicle has a shitload of HMMWV's that have taken a beating for the past 4+ years. So as the Iraqi Army and police force continue to modernize it makes sense to repair these vehicles and sell them to the Iraqi Government. Those repairs are taking place here at Taji and they are using part of our footprint and once we have several of the facilities completed will have IA Mechanics working on those repairs at the Depot. Besides the vehicles there is an on the job training (OJT) program set up and after 90 days working on HMMWV's some of those mechanics will be reassigned to the Depot so that the Depot Integrator can then train them on more advanced mechanical skills and assign them for that training in the facilities which require automotive maintenance skills.

Because of the joint training plan and facilities we are getting a decent flow of visitors and press to our location, and that keeps us busy. Last week we had the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (GEN Cody) pay us and the HMMWV Repair Site a visit, the visit went well as I got a chance to show him the track and wheel depot and walk him through the Small Arms facility. I don't mind the visits since we get a chance to show the senior ranking officers all that we have done here at Taji, but it's the getting ready that we could all deal without. We usually laugh and call it Operation Gumby since we have to stay flexible and be able to change directions while in mid-stride. Seating charts, routes, schedules, etc. , the guys over at the RSU most who tend to be Air Force are really great in supporting us with these visits and are so used to the changes that they roll with the flow! It's sort of funny when you're discussing the logistics of a visit and you realize that while you are talking about version 7 some of the guys still have version 5 or 6 which only came out a couple of hours earlier.

Well I just stuck my head out the door and they said it might drizzle tonite and they were right, it's raining very lightly and it's supposed to be on and off the remainder of the evening.

Well it's time to hit the send button and call it a night!

The Colonel