Just Another Sunny Day in Taji

I had just finished my 6 mile run this morning when the sun started to rise and after a mad dash to the room to grab the camera I was able to snap off this shot looking to the east. What you see in front of you is junk, trashed Iraqi Army equipment from Desert Storm and OIF piled into that area waiting to be moved and recycled. It has been rather enjoyable as of late running in the dark of the morning, as temps are now in the mid to low 70's. It's relatively quiet except for some birds that gather along the canal and are singing away, that and the hundreds of bats flying about along the trail (dirt road) make for some interesting running.

Today was one of those non-stop days. I had known that some folks from the J-3 (Operations) and J-6 (IT/Communications) were coming up to Taji but they did not send me their arrive info on the secured computer. So I went about getting as much stuff done this morning as quickly as possible because once they arrived it would be none stop discussions and tours. LTC T the J-6 arrived a little after 0900 hrs. So we discussed the internet project that I was trying to get funded so I can get connectivity, a service contract and all the hardware and software required for our headquarters bldg. We walked through the building, he picked my brain with all types of questions and options that I had available and based on my answers he will finish completing the packet with the estimated cost of the equipment. All I kept hearing was Dell this and Dell that and I reminded him that Dell wasn't the only option and what about Sun, so the wording on the bid will say Dell or other comparable brand. Hey might as well try to get some revenue going for the homeboys! Luckily for me I an not the one making the final decision on what to purchase so I can still put a plug in for Sun and not have to worry about going to Leavenworth after this tour!

The J-3, COL A and his MSGT L from the USMC called and we scheduled the inbrief and tour of the depot for 1245 hrs. He just took over as the J-3 and wanted to see the depot, so I gave him the standard brief with updates and then we went to the depot. We drove through the south depot and then stopped and checked out a couple of the buildings being worked on at the north depot. After explaining all that was going on and the coordination he was surprised that we did all that work with so few people in our shop. I reminded him that we tend to work longer hours here at the Depot than the folks down at the IZ, and because there are so few of us we tend to work closely together amongst other agencies here because if not we will fail miserably!

I had several other meetings with the Air Force guys at the RSU regarding the generator farm. SSG G was having fun at the fuel yard receiving fuel from our contractor and I am sure that I will here the adventures of what hoops he had to jump through to receive the fuel. I have asked HQ's for monies to buy a fuel meter reader for the fuel intake site so that we can have an accurate picture of what we are receiving in terms of liters, instead of dipping, measuring the tank and asking God for guidance as to what we really think we received from the contractors. The meter reader cost $8K and the finance folks (sorry Carmen) said no that it cost too much. I reminded them that it would probably pay itself in the first 4-5 deliveries by giving us the accurate amount of fuel received but they didn't want to hear it. I felt like telling them that next time we have a delivery they need to get their asses out of their chairs and air conditioned building and come down and do what we have to do, and rest assured we would get that pump FedEx'd to us quicker than a New York minute.

Sunday was my off day and I really enjoyed it. I slept in until 1000 hrs., called Carmen via Skype. Then it was clean the room and after showering go to the PX. I went in APFU (Army Physical Fitness Uniform), that PT shorts, shirt, running shoes and weapon. It was so enjoyable going incognito where no one knows who you are and not having to salute every 10 seconds. The PX folks are trying their hardest to keep the shelves filled with items especially toiletries and food, but when you have so many Soldiers it becomes a losing battle. I hit the subway sandwich shop for a late lunch, I know that back home I am not a Subway guy and would rather go to Quiznos for a sub, but when all you eat is DFAC food, that footlong Italian sub with the works sans mayo tasted pretty damn good. When I got back I read some of the magazines and then it was 1800 hours and that's when soccer starts in Spain, so I tuned into the Spanish radio station and enjoyed listening to the matches. Late that evening I opened up some of the brie and crackers and various dips that I have and enjoyed my dinner with some alcohol free beer. I was craving for a nice Pinot Noir or Chardonnay but that will have to wait a few more days until I get to Qatar for my 4 day R&R pass.

Tomorrow looks like it will be the first day since late June that the high for the day will not be in triple figures. Well it's almost 0030 hours I since I don't run on Wednesday mornings I will get an extra hour plus of shuteye which I need. Even with vitamins and working out, this job takes it's toll on you and with the heat, being constantly on the run and being multi-tasked by the end of the evening I am usually ready for the sack by 1100 hrs. That's it for now, thanks to those who have emailed me as of late, Suzy, Tom, Sheila and Brian from Sun. It's nice to hear from you all back home, keep working hard as quarter ends on Sunday and need to get that stock up there and get the bonus!! Take care and will update you all later this week.

The Colonel

Dog Days of Summer No Longer

Apologies for not having written anything all week long but between getting up at 0530 to go out and run and not getting back into the hootch until past 2100 hrs free time is rare and that usually means skyping with the family or reading my running and wine magazines until I fall asleep in bed. Then it's up at 0 Dark Hundred and the start of another day.

You can tell it is now autumn here in Iraq. We are still hitting the 100's but the Sun isn't so direct bearing down on you anymore. The evenings are now more enjoyable and when I hit the trails before 0600 on my runs it's in the mid 70's. Today it actually reached a nice 72 degrees. We should start seeing 90's as the high and start reaching into the 60's at night. Something tells me when we are in the dead of winter these 70 degree mornings will seem like heaven, since that 40 yard walk to the showers and rest room when it's in the 30's and 40's will be a eye opener!

We've been busy obligating the remaining 2007 monies for the construction project, the last three days 10 additional buildings were funded at a cost of $25M for the upgrades/refurbishment or new construction like some warehouses and the blast building. That basically means that by the end of the month work will be ongoing in at least 15 buildings here at the Depot. As I always tell people that Thiele-Sardina means Murphy in Spanish and sure enough the one refurb that will impact the depot the most was misrouted and sent to another agency for approval and now they are trying to get those monies back where they belong. That funding will enable us to tear down the old buildings, fix the front entrances, guard houses and do a massive cleanup of this base. You can not imagine the junk that is laying around here on our part of the post and elsewhere. Old combat tanks, trucks, train cars, tires, artillery cannons old jet engines, you name it it's here! On top of that in the outlying areas here on base, people stop and throw their garbage into the quasi trash dump. One of these days I will post some pics of the equipment that is worth a mint in scrap metal, unfortunately the bureaucracy here hasn't decided in the process or given the green light for the Ministry of Defense (MOD) to sell this junk. Part of our depot will contain a DRMO and DeMil yard which will sort out the equipment for the MOD to then sell the scrap metal and the monies from those sales can go to the treasury and be spent on the countries infrastructure.

This week we will be moving into the new joint Iraqi-US PMO headquarters at the depot. I will be in meetings with my counterparts to review their organization and align it to the manning roster that will be required to operate the depots buildings.

Its almost 2200 hrs and I can smell the fine aroma of cigar smoke that is coming from outside vicinity of the poker table so I guess I will be taking a break to go over and partake in some nice conversation while smoking a nice cigar. The only thing missing is a nice cup of brandy or some port wine.

Talk to you all later!

The Colonel

Hot Wings on a Saturday Night

Well it's finally Saturday night and I am now back in the hootch finishing up on my dinner from the DFAC. Saturday nights is Chicken Wing night, and that is usually an uplift and a great way to end the week. Tonite it was not different, some atomic hot wings, vegetable curry and those nice greasy onion rings which is great for the ticker and the arteries!

Our staff here at Taji has increased this week, as the Major that I interviewed several weeks ago and hired finally arrived at Taji on Tuesday and she has hit the ground running. Major Y is a 104th Soldier who was working in the J-4 section in the IZ and with her business background and the fact that she has a lot of experience handling all the purchasing paperwork she is a perfect fit in our group. Beside with a deputy I can start concentrating on the more strategic decisions that need to be made and let more of the day to day and tactical work and decisions to her.

Wednesday we had a site visit for the DPW (Department of Public Works) contract that we are trying to get set up at the Depot. With barracks, work offices, buildings and equipment that needs to be maintained to include water, sewage and electrical infrastructure. The visit went well and with the AMC guys busy on a road trip I got the chance to give the tour and walk through of the facilities.

We are getting set up in our joint Iraqi-US PMO building which is located on the depot grounds. More than likely next week we will begin to work out of this building during the day while still keeping our offices here on the coalition side, as the internet hasn't been installed yet in the new building.

Yesterday and today were busy days with me training up the new Major on what we do, what she is responsible for and getting her set up with her internet account, vehicle and introducing her to the persons that she will be dealing with on a daily basis. We submitted today to finance 4 purchases for equipment, equipment installation and refurbishing and upgrades of 8 warehouses.

Yesterday I closed down the shop early since we were having a BBQ by the billets, our cook SFC D who was the BBQ King at Ft Riley was in charge of the grilling and as usual he did not let us down. The steaks, burgers, dogs and ribs were out of this world, all the salads that the Soldiers got in their to go boxes from the DFAC were served and we had a great time. Later that evening we had our outdoor movies we saw the movie "Blades of Glory". It wasn't like home but with a non-alcoholic beer and a nice 5 Vegas Gold Cigar in the warm evening breeze it felt really nice. The BBQ gives us a chance to see the other folks that we trained with at Riley, since their schedule is different then ours and they head off to work before we do and we arrive well after they are back in the dark.

Tomorrow is Sunday which means I can sleep in and enjoy a relaxing morning breakfast and do some reading and the usual cleanup of the room.

Time to sign off and listen to the soccer games on Spanish Radio.

The Colonel

Life is a Bowl of Dust

Dust and more dust seems to be the story of late, for three days that's all we had in the sky and the picture above was taken at around 1745hrs and that's about all you could see of the sun.

We are still moving forward with the development of the Depot. The power is on and everyday brings more progress. Unfortunately there are still issues with the power grid and some of the work that was done when the electrical grid was built. Until we can get the warranty work completed we can still not do a full fledged infrastructure test. I missed the water geyser that occurred when the pump house was turned on and water began to flow into the pipes, as we mobilized to see where there were more water main problems the flow of water stopped. From what we found out later the main water line coming from the coalition side was turned off cutting off the water flow. We are still not able to inspect the sewage lines due to the water issue.

I was glad that the NCOIC SSG G came back from his 4 day pass in Qatar. They say that the NCO Corps is the backbone of the Army and that was driven home while he was out for the 10 days, since you lose at least 2 days traveling to and from if all goes well weather wise. He manages the 6 interpreters that we have working for PMO group to include translating for the Aussies in the classes they are giving the Iraqi’s. With him out I had to take over some of the admin work involved like driving them back and forth to chow and work when the Aussies couldn’t. I had to go out again and escort some trucks from the south gate to our depot so that they could drop off some supplies. Coordinate lots of the day to day activities with the coalition team that supports us, work with the Iraqi’s on life support issues etc. He had a great time and filled me in on what to see and not to see when I go down there later this fall. Except for my 15 day R&R this will be the only chance I get to leave Iraq while I am here so I am looking forward to those 4+ days in Qatar and the almost 8 days away from the daily grind up here.

The other day I had to assist the Iraqi’s with picking up some vehicles from the Supply Depot Class VII yard for initial issue. The 40 jundi have been using two Chevy Silverado Crew Cabs as their only mode of transportation and if you want to see something scary check out how many Iraqi Soldiers you can fit in one of those trucks both in the cab and bed, it’s scary! These vehicles were ordered and sat in the will call section for a couple of weeks while 1) we tried to get fuel for the vehicles, 2) coordinated drivers to drive the vehicles from the Supply Depot, and 3) ensure the guy who could sign out the vehicles was there. I called ahead to CPT Nap the Ops guy and told him although it was getting close to lunch hour that we would be over there in about 30 minutes. We arrived at it was 1125 which in our world means jack, but here you are on the edge of the start of their lunch hour or is it hours and hours and hours! I walk into the office with one of the Iraqi Majors and let the Iraqi Captain know that we are here to pickup the truck. He looks at the clock, then his huge gut which is probably growling because he had more than likely finished breakfast a couple of hours earlier and announced we were too late and that it was their lunch period. I smiled and said to his interpreter that we had called in advance and are here to pickup the vehicles that we have in will call. He says that’s a no go and in a cocky manner of fact say that these had been on will call for almost 3 weeks and why the hurry now. I have been told that at times I am an excitable guy and I was livid as I reminded him that if the Iraqi Supply Depot soldiers wouldn’t siphon out the fuel from these vehicles to power the depots vehicles I wouldn’t have had to get fuel for these trucks and please stand up when speaking with a senior officer. He’s yelling at the interpreter to tell me something, I’m yelling back at the poor interpreter telling him what he can tell the Captain, and the verbal tennis match goes on for a couple of minutes and by the way my guys are not going to wait until 1400 hours which really means 1430 hours because nothing ever gets done here on time. The US Depot Senior Advisor comes outside to see what all the ruckus is about and when I explain what’s going on he basically toes the Iraqi line on this one and says you're lucky we have assets today to assist if not you might not have gotten these vehicles for a couple of days, my jaw hit the ground in awe while listening to him basically say that the Iraqi’s can do whatever they please instead of holding them accountable for failing to follow standard procedures, and their lack of urgency and not taking care of their customers in a satisfactory manner.

We got them to handle the will call at 1300 hrs which was a victory of sort and some poor Iraqi Soldiers missed out on their long siesta, good for them!! I went out to the yard at around 1400 hrs to check up on how things are coming along and find out where the forklift we are supposed to draw is since we need it to move some supplies. They are trying to get one of the vehicles started, obviously no one ever went to the yard to prep or ensure the vehicles would be ready for the customer to pickup. Batteries dry, no fuel as it was siphoned dry, and all of us who have had diesels before know what a pain in the fourth point of contact they are when they run out of gas. Long story short after 90 minutes of struggle they are able to start the vehicle and move it with the gas I got from the Generator Farm.

The next day I swung by to look at the other truck and it was missing a roof, when I asked them where it was, come to find out it was issued like that, no tire jack, or tarp on the back, etc. And oh by the way none of the trucks now start. I let the folks back in the J-4 know that the vehicles the TNMD was supposed to be issued are basically inoperable, and we need another issue so we can turn these in and get vehicles that are operable. I have to hand it to my guys, they were so desperate for a vehicle that they accepted anything they could get their hands on, I advised them that isn’t how its’ supposed to work and when we draw the replacements all equipment will be on hand and the vehicles will start ASAP and have the roof on!

Now that summer is coming to an end since I have been outside a lot these past couple of weeks I am finally used to the weather, as evidenced the other evening when I had to go to the depot to linkup with one of the engineers. It was about 1815 hrs., about 98 outside and I just drove down the road with the window open no AC and it felt like a normal day and I was very comfortable. That’s scary!!

Well that’s all for tonite, got to get up and run about 10 miles tomorrow to make up for the run I didn’t get in today since we had to be at work by 0700 due to a contractor visit, but that’s another story.

One big shout out to Ascension my daughter who finally hit the big 21 on the 10th and can legally drink! That’s not to say she never got a six pack of her favorite Class VI beverage thrown in one of the boxes that she was taking back to school after spending the weekend at home compliments of the Senior Quartermaster in the family!

The Colonel

100 Years of Real Betis Balompie

Just a quick note today the 100th anniversary of the founding of my beloved Real Betis Balompie Soccer team from Sevilla Spain.

Viva Er Beti Manquepierda!!

Arturo