Great Job Sun!!

A super big shout out to the gang back at Sun, which based on the earnings call from last week must have kicked some big ass this past quarter!! 9 cents earnings per share which beat the analysts expectation by 4 cents, another quarter with a profit. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication, rumor has it that the bonus isn't too bad either! I heard the party last Friday with the beer and munchies was a pretty nice one. Although I couldn't celebrate drinking beer I did have a non-alcoholic beer for all of you!

You all should be glad to know that we've been reviewing design plans on these buildings and have been able to reduce the amount of structural changes by a fair amount which means less cost and more savings for us taxpayers! Tomorrow we have more design reviews with the J-7 Engineer guys and if all goes well those will be approved by them which means monies will be obligated and the USACE can solicit bids for those buildings and get the construction up and running!

It was an interesting meeting with my Iraqi counterparts this morning. Besides all the usual stuff that goes on during these meetings I got a chance to discuss with them the meaning of responsibility and the importance of delegating that responsibility to others and holding them accountable. Culturally with the old regime responsibility was avoided at all costs because if you screwed up jail time or some serious punishment would be handed out in a heartbeat. Because of this getting the Iraqi Army and specifically lower ranking officers to take the bull by the horns is very difficult to do. When we need to have a decision made on the spot or in a short time frame they want to defer everything to their boss who is swamped up at the Ministry of Defense with more pressing manners than some of the decisions that we need to resolve at our level.

The temperature has been somewhat cooler, 114 versus 120 and in the mornings today it got down to 84 which is a nice change from the lower 90's. It makes running more enjoyable, and now that I have found a couple of decent dirt routes running has been a lot more fun. It's been quiet here of late as the artillery guns have been silent for almost a week, that plus the dust storms have kept the choppers out of the sky and from flying over our barracks.

The first few Soldiers from our unit here at Taji have left for their 4 day Rest and Relaxation at Qatar. I am curious to see how it went and what activities they signed up for. The good news is that you get 3 beers or glasses of wine a day while you are at the R&R site in Qatar, and can do whatever you want or not do anything at all but chill out while down there.

Happy Anniversary Carmen

Just wanted to give a nice big shout out to HQ6 AKA Carmen on our Anniversary, which was on the 27th but since I didn't get a chance to update the blog I figured better late than never! Wow hard to imagine it's been 23 years since we tied the knot and based on our calculations with us being apart this year it looks like we have been together on the 27th only 11 times out of the 23, mostly due to military maneuvers or Carmen spending the summers in Spain with the kids and her parents when the kids were a lot younger. And to think that when we married I told her that I was going to finish my three years active duty obligation and then do my time in the Reserves and get out, and that was a looong time ago when I was a butter bar. Look at the bright side I only have a couple more years left before I retire from the Army Reserves and then I guess no more excuses as to why we're not together for our anniversary! So Carmen just to remind you of what it's like to be with me here is a picture of us on our last weekend together before I shipped out to the box from Kansas!

Back to reality here in Iraq things are moving along regarding construction, with three buildings being worked on and us doing some design reviews on a couple more buildings. What is starting to get somewhat bothersome is the fact that there are now several parties trying to have their say into what is going on here and I feel like the poor native on one of the Tarzan movies that I vividly remember as a kid. Where they bend two palm trees and tie this guy up to both trees, and then they cut the rope and the trees swing back to their upright position and his body parts go flying in several different directions ouch!! A two star general back in the States wants a piece of the action, our construction guys in the IZ want a piece of the action, meanwhile I am trying to keep things lined up and moving forward. From the likes of it I will more than likely have to head down to the IZ soon to sit down with some the interested parties and sort out the designs and construction plans and get final buy in so I can move with a purpose and get these buildings renovated, built and equipped.

Training will be starting soon for the Iraqi's and the Aussies are doing a great job with constructing the classroom, developing the course instruction plans and training materials for the classes that they will be teaching. They have been a great help in getting things moving and doing lots of the leg work required to resolve issues and procure supplies and equipment.

One last item that makes me wonder why things in Iraq are so different than back home. Why is it that in our PX here (the largest one in Iraq) we can't buy a comb or some of the other needed items but the shelf next to the sundry items is loaded with condoms when General Order Number 1 prohibits us from having sex while we are stationed in this area of operations? Is something wrong with this picture? Or is it that since regulations prohibit me from running with my IPOD, the lack of background noise has forced me to begin pondering about some of the mysteries of life out here in the desert?

Things that make you go hmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Colonel

My Bad Hair Cut Day!

Well it was going to happen sooner or later and as usual it was sooner. I had to get my haircut and with the oppressive heat of late and the killer heat of August soon to arrive, I needed a little more than usual cut off the top. Off I went to the barber shop here on post and the guy who usually cuts my hair had the day off, so I had a new barber. Now I don’t speak the Queens English as my English is still laced with some Wisconsin accent. The barber I believe was either from Bangladesh or Sri Lanka and his English was not the Queens either. So somewhere between “cut the side with a size 2 and the top with the size 3”, he obviously understood something else. After the right side got cut I assumed that he would go to the left side, no not today….. as today was to be my bad haircut day! He decided to do the top and by then it was to late, the damage was done so I just held onto the arm rests and watched as the grey hair disappeared and so did most of my hair disappear and I soon felt like I was at boot camp 28 years ago! I got back to the office and the guys really laid into me on this one and needless to say I have been on the receiving end of some good ribbing! Luckily for me my hair should grow back soon and then I’ll make sure I get the usual barber to do the honors next time around. Looking at the good side at least I don’t have to use that much shampoo anymore and don’t need to gel or use a brush on my hair for the time being!

Things are picking up here at work, another one of the building refurb contracts was awarded yesterday which means soon there will be more construction on site and that is a good sign. They started on the Generator Repair building on Monday. Design reviews continue almost on a daily basis with the Corp of Engineers and they are really cranking these so we can move forward quickly. This week is our push to close the loop with contracting department on life support, security support, additional small builds, last minute buys etc. Once we close this up, we can then focus on all the work that lies ahead, and luckily we have picked up another NCO to assist us with all the work. I am still trying to get an officer assigned to help the PMO group because we can only do so much at a given time.

Finally hitting the road when it comes to running these days. I tend to run outside every other day since my leg doesn’t hurt when I alternate between pavement and the elliptical trainer. Last night I did 5 miles after work and at 2000 hrs it was 111 degrees out and by the time I got back it dropped down to 108. You wouldn’t catch me running in the mid 90’s back home, but obviously you have to change your mindset if you want to get out of the gym and clear your head while running outside. No IPOD’s allowed while running outside so I guess it’s back to the old school way for now. It’s interesting running along the gravel roads, especially when a couple of Strykers drive by kicking up enough dust and sand in the air that your covered in the stuff, but hey it could be worse, I remember we couldn’t run during Desert Shield/Storm from the time we moved out of port in December until late March.

Couple of key milestones, just went over my 6 month mobilization date yesterday and earlier this week hit the 25% completion with boots on the ground here in Iraq. Time flies when you’re busy, but still it doesn’t fly fast enough except when it’s free time, then free time seems to last a millisecond. Bottom line I really can’t complain, things are going relatively smooth, although like every project there are always hiccups and at a certain point you realize that there are factors which you can’t control and you just need make sure that it doesn’t get to you or you’ll go crazy!

Just got back from our weekly movie night out here where we live. They use a laptop connect it to a light box and with a portable screen pop in a DVD and we have our outdoor movies. We chip in with the non-alcoholic beer, popcorn, and other snacks and get a chance to enjoy an evening at the movies. Tonite it was Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and most of us who watched it were the older crowd.

The Colonel

Dora and Col TS

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to my niece Mae Ellen who lives in Milwaukee and is a Dora freak and let her know that Tio Arturo ran into Dora out in the IZ the other day while in the J-4 shop. See even us old timers know who Dora is and can appreciate a Dora moment out in the middle of Iraq during a busy work day! By the way she told me to tell you to take good care of your mono "Pichi", make sure you listen to your mother and Viva Er Beti!!

Back to reality the weather here has been lousy as of late! Hot, dusty very low visibility and a hot wind that feels like it comes from hell. Today we hit 115, tomorrow 117 and by the beginning of next week 122. Got up early 0530 this morning to run and it was 91 when I started and actually dropped down to a cool 88 when I finished the run. It's amazing that a 25-30 degree drop is noticeable out here in the desert. Well gotta go and hit the sack since it's late and tomorrow is another day to excel!!

The Colonel

Dust and Sand Not Good For Flying

Another fun adventure down to the IZ and back and one begins to wonder does it make sense to fly during the summer season? I was supposed to have flown down on a Tuesday night, so around 1745 hours I swung by the Pax Terminal and asked if flights were still on, since it was hazy with plenty of dust in the air and a somewhat limited visibility. The PAX desk said yes that at that time all flights were a go. So I went ahead to the Generator Farm to check out some of the equipment, ate dinner, went to the hootch to pack, and came back to work and finish up on a few last minute items. By then the visibility was very limited and I knew that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Sure enough when I got to the PAX terminal the dreaded "Weather Hold" was on the board and I knew that I was in for a long wait. So I grabbed a seat outside and tried to read as much as I could during the last few minutes of sunlight before it got dark. By the time it was dark the thermometer read 101 and I was sweating up a storm and sucking down water like it was going out of style. Lucky for me I ran into the head US Army Corp of Engineer here on post who happens to have some of his guys working the depot project. We shot the breeze and time went by quickly. After waiting over 1 1/2 hours they gave us the bad news that the flight was cancelled. I headed back inside and they were able to book me on a morning flight which was better than waiting another 23+ hours for a later one.

Back at the hootch I was dead tired so after a nice shower to clean off the grime and sweat I hit the sack in a heartbeat and was out like a rock. The next morning I went to work read some emails and back to the PAX Terminal to try my luck. Visibility was better than the previous evening but it still wasn't a clear and pristine sky. I checked in and was told "weather hold" but wasn't too concerned because you could see that the sun was making it's way through the sand and fine dust. While sitting outside in the shade I got a chance to speak with a couple of Army medics who were on their way to the IZ to take numerous biopsy and tissue samples for the Combat Support Hospital (CSH) down there to analyze and they in turn would bring back the results to our location. The one medic from Texas was on his third tour in the box and all he talked about was his upcoming 15 day R&R and how he couldn't wait to get back home to see his wife and two kids. The one good thing about flying with the military is that there are no TSA Nazis to give you a hassle regarding taking off your boots, inspecting your laptop, and Xraying your items. Hell all of us are loaded to the gills with our weapons and ammo, you see the M-4's, M-16's, M-9's, SAW's, knives, hand grenades. There is no fighting over bin space and many flights you end up with someone'g ruck or dufflebag at your feet or on your lap. It's no big deal since at times when we travelled heavy someone else held onto our stuff. Being a Colonel usually gets me the front row of the seating area of the Blackhawk which means I get a good view of the sky and some wind to boot. Since it was an early flight the air was cool and after one stop and a hot refuel where we have to get off just in case their is a fueling accident the flight was uneventful.

After landing, checking into lodging and getting the usual 8X9 foot hootch I took a shower, changed, ate lunch and grabbed the shuttle bus to go to Phoenix Base where my boss was. I did the usual stopping off at the various sections and saying hi and either turning in or picking up items that I had to take back up north with me. I enjoy the J-4 shop since I have a desk and computer to work with and the folks on the first floor by the Support Ops and LNO section are fun to hang around and make work go by quicker with their sense of humor and constant banter! Late that evening I spoke with COL A to see what part of the Depot Plan he wanted me to brief the following day, and what he was going to brief the Chief of Staff. As usual our discussion was done under the camouflage of cigar smoke outside. That evening I worked late and all I had to do the next day was update my slides, rehearse and finish up with some items that I needed to turn in. The briefing with the Chief of Staff went well and I think that the time we spent going over our project and getting his support will come in handy when it comes time for getting some funding approved for any unforecasted purchases.

While I was down there I was able to snatch about 70K liters of diesel for the Generator Farm which will come in handy, now we just have to figure out how to get it delivered to the right place. Fuel is gold and God forbid if the fuel truck happens to deliver to the wrong area like they did earlier. We had 65K that was supposed to be delivered to our depot, instead they delivered it to the supply depot and the Depot Commander refused to give it to us because "fuel is gold" and he has since then used it all up. I can't wait for the day when they run out of fuel and believe me they will run out of fuel, and come begging for some, I will get the opportunity to tell that Iraqi Colonel that he can kiss my fourth point of contact in both English, Spanish and using my usual hand and arm signals!

COL A gave me a hard time about leaving so early for the PAX terminal and started handing me a huge salami and some pistachios and cookies while joking that I would need it since I would get hungry waiting all that time for my flight! It was then time to go and pack, turn in the key and linen and head off and grab a ice latte on the way to the terminal. When I got there I was surprised at the number of passengers that were milling around waiting for a flight. I ran into a couple of 104th guys who were in the Task Force Battalion that I commanded during our Iraq Trainup in California and Ft Riley. They were heading to Diyala province where they work at supporting the Iraqi Police. Even though there were plenty of choppers landing and taking off, my flight again was put on weather hold because of the weather where I was going to land at. I expected another 1-2 hour flight delay, but a few minutes before our flight was originally scheduled to arrive, they said that the birds were on their way and before you knew it we were on our way up north. It was a non-stop flight but there was no beverage service (except for the water in my camelback in my ruck) or enternainment during the flight! :>(

Before I close a quick shout out to my fellow co-workers at Sun who shipped me two care packages with music, food, personal hygiene items, a cigar, more food, gum, etc. I really appreciated receiving the items and everything will be used. Thanks for goodies and I'll be sending some pictures soon!

That's all for now!

The Colonel