Talladega Nights-The Legend of Colonel Pichi

Colonel Pichi at Talladega

Yes that's me at Talladega Superspeedway and yes I am now a NASCAR convert after having driven 6 laps at the Superspeedway this morning. I remember growing up watching NASCAR racing on ABC Sports and Cale Yarborough number 21 was my favorite racer. But after high school I really didn't follow NASCAR that much and while in Germany I became a fan of Formula One racing which I still watch on TV when I get the chance. But today was something special. We finally took the long drive from Red River Army Depot in Texarkana to Anniston Army Depot here in Anniston Alabama on Wednesday. I was lucky enough to get to ride and drive in a Ford Explorer versus the bus. We drove through Louisiana, and when we got to Mississippi we stopped for lunch at a riverboat casino to eat at the buffet in order to give the Iraqi's a chance to taste some American cuisine. After lunch we visited and got a 90 minute tour of the Battle of Vicksburg site. I reminded Major Sanders from Alabama that us Yankees did prevail in this battle, and below is the monument dedicated to the Soldiers from Wisconsin who fought in this crucial battle. Old Abe the bald eagle is on top of the monument.

Wisconsin Monument with Old Abe

We then arrived in Anniston late on Wednesday and toured the depot on Thursday and Friday. I was most interested in the small arms facility since that is the first one that will be functionable at the TNMD. We spent about 45 minutes at that facility but I could have stayed there for a couple of hours since there was so much to absorb. We were also able to see their disassembly and reassembly site, their machine shop, turret shop, component shop and various other sites. The Iraqi's got a chance to ride in an M-1 tank as it did it's test drive, I passed on the chance having already driven a M-1 while I was stationed with the 1st Armored Division.

Last night we had a dinner at the Berman Museum here in Anniston and before dinner we got a chance to see all the art and military collections that were collected by COL and Mrs Berman. I was impressed at their WWII exhibits specially the weapons collection and uniform collection of all the main players in WWII. Dinner was excellent and I enjoyed the company of several of the key local community representatives, and once again the Southern hospitality was top notch.

Today being our last day the Chamber of Commerce and local community provided us with a chance of a lifetime, to actually drive a stock car at the Talladega Superspeedway for 6 laps. We got out there at 0730 and after some instruction changing into the driver gear and getting fitted with the helmet we received our final tips and it was gentleman start your engines. I was selected to drive number 11 and the local driver who was in the passenger seat was Jeff who had driven in NASCAR events but now is happy driving smaller venues on weekends plus working at the depot and being a mayor. Climbing into the vehicle was a chore and after getting my neck harness hooked up and being strapped in there was not much room at all to move around in. We got the green flag and after getting pushed out of the pits and shifting into gear away we went. I didn't get into fourth gear until I was half way around the 2.66 mile tri-oval and then when Jeff told me to get into fourth away I went. The first real lap on the track on turn one which is banked at 33 degrees was a little queasy on the stomach but after that it was pedal to the metal as I maintained my death grip on the steering wheel thinking "damn I'm going 165+ miles an hour and if I screw up I could really do some serious damage out here". My fourth lap was the fastest lap as I hit 167 mph and passed a couple of cars along the way. I guess that you're supposed to climb as high as possible in the curves but human instinct tells you otherwise. On the last lap I had Jeff pull the steering wheel to the right so that I was about 3 feet away from the wall and all I could think about was how much closer did he think I could get before I hit the damn wall!!
Before I knew it the checker flag was waved, I never saw the damn thing and the ride of a lifetime was over. I knew that I probably could have gone a little faster but for my first time I was a happy camper. I definitely have much more respect for these guys who do this for 500 miles at a pop going 180+ mph with 30+ guys on the track just inches behind each other. As I told the guys doing 80 mph at Taji along the supply depot road won't be the same anymore!!


After we got back it was more shopping at a mall and then I headed up to the room to do some Army work, then worked out and finally after more than a year got to eat some sushi at a restaurant nearby. Granted the ambiance and sushi wasn't as good as Kazoo's back home but it was a great way to wrap up the trip. We then had some wine and smoked some nice cigars outside the hotel while watching it lightening and thunder. Tomorrow we are on our way back to Jordan, so I will write some more when I get back to Iraq. Unfortunately for me my digital camera in NMC and there will be no more photos until I get back home and get the camera fixed.

The Colonel

It's Great to Be Back in the USA

As the title says, it's great to be back in the USA even though it is only for one week and then it's back to Iraq to finish up my tour! Last Saturday we headed to the airport in Amman and what a CF!! Just to get into the ticket counter area you have to pass a control point and there were a ton of people trying to get through and even though we had almost 3 hours the prospect of waiting in that line just to even get to check in was already starting to irritate me. Luckily for us they have a service for about $30 that will expedite you through the first checkpoint, through security checkpoint and finally to the counter so that you can check in almost immediately. I am usually tight with my money but even if the price was $50 I would have paid it in a heartbeat. We got through the first checkpoint quickly but the second one took a while longer, and what didn't make sense was after we went through it was obvious that would could avoid that checkpoint and they wouldn't have even noticed. The feeling that one had when we went straight to the front of the counter for the express line was heaven, the normal line must have had 150+ folks and it was moving as fast as Hillary moved when she was getting shot at by the so called sniper in Kosovo in 96!!

3 out of the 4 of us got checked in and Major Sanders the guy who set this all up was told that his ticket had been cancelled and instead he was booked on the Amman to NYC flight that took off over an hour earlier. Calls to SATO travel in the US and Bahrain finally were to no avail and finally they said stand in line and there may be some tickets left over! Our flight leaves at 1130 and at 1100 there must have been at least 50 people still in line checking in. I realized that the plane wasn't going to leave until everyone was on the plane. So I quick went through Customs and grabbed a sandwich and went through security checkpoint 3, and then 4 who stop me because I have a flashlight with batteries in. They confiscate the batteries but when searching my ruck which has everything in there but Carmen, they never find the 12 AA batteries that I always carry just in case, go figure!

Onto the aircraft and when I get to my seat in row 31 I realize that the seat cushion had been used by Royal Jordanian Airlines since they achieved their independence from the Brits!! If there was one inch of padding it was a lot, I looked around to snatch someone elses seat cushion and was shocked to see that all were the same. I snagged an extra blanket folded it and that gave me about 1/4 inch more to sit on whoopeee!! The flight was uneventful and we finally landed in Chicago. They told us what the time was there and I changed my watch accordingly, which was the incorrect time by an hour but hey after all they did say it was 1642 hrs when it was really 1742 hrs which would have an impact later. I called Carmen while we were still in the air over circling around O'Hare and told her that I was arriving an hour early.

We got through customs although 2 of the Iraqi's got stopped for the random checks at immigration. We finally got our luggage and I headed out the door and what a great site to see, my parents and sister Christina had made the drive down from Milwaukee to see me. I hadn't seen them since April 07 when they visited me a couple of days before we flew out of Riley for the box. Here all this time I thought I had an extra hour until my 2030 flight so we are chilling having some coffee and catching up on everything, when Christina says don't you have to get going, I tell her no that it's only 1900 hrs and I still have another 90 minutes until my flight leaves, she says no, it's 2000 hrs and you better hope security is not that long or you're in trouble!

Christina, The Colonel, Mom and Dad at O'Hare

I'm through security in a heartbeat grab a sandwich and before you know it, we're landing in Dallas and then it's a 3+ hour bus ride to Texarkana TX, and by the time I empty out my luggage and hit the sack its 0345 hrs on Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday we did lunch, took the Iraqi's around town, to a auto dealership where they got a chance to see up close Dodge, Cadillacs, GMC's, Saturns, Dodge and Jeeps. We later took them through several neighborhoods so they could see houses, we stopped at one of the guys from Red River house and it was gorgeous and huge. I didn't realize it that it was the first house I had been inside since I left home in January 07. We then went to Walmart so they could do some shopping. As good tourists they spent a bunch of money there to stimulate the economy since Congresses stimulation package is a joke! The still have few billion to spend until they catch up to what we're spending in Iraq!!

The next two days we spent at Red River Army Depot touring the various facilities. Red River is a wheel depot where they rebuild all of the wheeled vehicles in the US Army to include engines and transmissions that are sent separate for rebuild. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the depot so I don't have any.


I will keep you up to date as we travel to Anniston Army Depot in Anniston AL.

The Colonel

Good Friday in the Holy Land-Who would have ever thought!!

I had hit the sack late on Thursday night knowing that more than likely we wouldn’t be doing anything in the morning. It was nice to sleep in and then go to the gym for a quick workout on the elliptical machine. Speaking of which my left hip is a lot better as of late with the exercises I am doing plus not running on the roads, but instead on the elliptical trainer.

At 1315 Major Sanders, Col Alberto and I linked up with Saad, Tala, Zoorah, and we headed off to the Dead Sea which is located about one hour south of Amman. The drive was beautiful as you could really appreciate the geography of Jordan, lots of hills, valleys, terraced farms, olive trees, sheep, etc. We arrived at the Dead Sea and opted to go to the right and see the where Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.

Baptism Site Map

We had to get on a lorry with seats and they drove us to the site of the baptism. After a good 500 meter walk toward the River Jordan we finally came upon the site, according to the tour guide, it was discovered in the 90’s and like many sites located by rivers, nature took its course and the River Jordan no longer flows at the exact site. Here I was a Roman Catholic on Good Friday the day that Jesus was crucified standing at the exact site where 2000+ years ago Jesus was baptized. It was definitely something I will never forget.

Actual Baptism Site

We were able to continue to walk towards the River Jordan and there several of the folks in the tour had their baptism gowns on and jumped into the river. Most of us were content touching the river as if to say we were here. The River Jordan is only 7 meters wide at that location and on the other side is the Holy Land Israel and the “West Bank”. Up the hill on the West Bank you could see the Jew’s had several buildings and temples and the Israeli flag seemed to wave slowly in the wind.

The West Bank

What was somewhat out of place were the Jordanian Army guard posts along the River Jordan protecting Jordan from Israel. I could not see any Israeli guard posts from where we were at, but am sure not too far away from that location they exist. We hiked back to the lorry stop and then took the bus lorry to the start. From what I gathered they are starting to build up the tourism at this site. The Greek Orthodox Church completed building a Church at the drop off site, the Roman Catholic Church is currently under construction. There were several tour buses while we were there and with this being Holy Week what better time to visit the Holy Land, still Jordan could definitely improve their tourist infrastructure at this location which is one of the most coveted locations for Christians through out the world.

We then headed toward the Dead Sea resorts about 15 kms south of the baptism site, and stopped off at a Moveinpick Resort to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening. The resort reminded me of the resorts in Marbella or Santi Petri in Southern Spain. The swimming pool was huge and the ladies stayed there enjoying the view of the Dead Sea and the shade while us guys decided to swim or float in the Dead Sea. We changed into our swim suits and made our way down to the shore and it is very rocky and the footing is all stones, but after getting knee deep one only has to turn around and lay on your back and presto you’re floating big time. It felt weird being able to float without any effort, as ones feet stick out of the water while laying on your back.

Major Sanders and I Floating in the Dead Sea

The water is so salty I wet my mouth and it was awful. I still remember rinsing with salt water when I was a kid and had an infection in my mouth, that tasted nice compared to this. Lots of people put on some mud before getting into the Dead Sea, I preferred not to. We must have spent about 30 minutes enjoying the scenery and floating along. Before changing we headed into the pool just above the shore and were able to witness a beautiful sunset on the West Bank.

Later we got a chance to walk around the resort and check out the various sites and activities, they have 3 or 4 swimming pools, spas, cafes, etc. We then enjoyed an excellent buffet dinner of Middle Eastern cuisine and some Amstel Light on tap. Our table was on the terrace and it was so nice none of us wanted to leave as the conversation and company was perfect and time seemed to stop. But all good things must come to an end and we had to head back to the hotel knowing that the following morning we’re heading to the US on our tour.

The Colonel

TDY Day 2

Major Sanders and I on the C-17 enroute to Amman Jordan

We arrived at BIAP at 0645 and got into line to show our docs at the counter and met Seinfelds Soup Nazi counterpart here in Iraq, at the check in counter. Everything he looked at was not up to his standards, we had our entire packet prepared by one of our LNO's and thanks to him it was a quick 2 minutes while he was going over our paperwork. But some of the folks in front of us were getting beaten down by the Checkin Nazi and for a while I marveled as a contractor could literally bring a GS 12 or Colonel to their knees while scrutinizing their paperwork, country clearance, passports, orders etc.

After that mess I was glad to get the hell out of there and ran into one of the O-5's from our J-4 shop LTC Sower who was at BIAP awaiting transportation to Kuwait on his way home for good. He was part of the first cycle of our folks who had already completed their left seat/right seat and RIPTOA with the crew that replaced them. He was out there smoking a nice cigar and I was able to get caught up on the latest stories of what was going on in the IZ, since we are usually left in the dark up at Taji when it comes to our counterparts in the IZ. We grabbed chow at the DFAC then it was briefing time, turn in your gear that needs to be palletized and wait around for the aircraft to arrive. Once that happened it was grab your gear, go inside the waiting area and finally board the aircraft. We were lucky in that we were flying on a C-17 which means not getting squished by other folks and having plenty of leg room. Off we went and arrived in Amman Jordan about 90 minutes later. Then it was customs, buy a visa and off to the hotel where we checked in and linked up with some of the folks we were traveling with families. In our group it was three officers Maj. Sanders from the J-4 shop, Col Alberto and I. We had a cultural affairs rep with us and one secretary who was heading to Amman for a conference.

Our cultural affairs reps wife works and lives in Amman and his cousin works here also so they picked us up at the hotel and took us to eat and get some sight seeing. We ate at this Iraqi restaurant and I swear I gained at least a kilo. It was 5-6 courses with salads, beef, lamb, chicken, hummus, eggplant, pickles, dessert, chai, coffee and God knows what else to include beer which was great!! All throughout the meal they were doing the hookha.

We then headed downtown where we stopped and hit some of the local shops, then headed to the Roman Theater/Citadel which was constructed in 100 AD, then they took us up to the top of one of the hills here in Amman where there were more Roman ruins plus a great view of the city itself.
Standing outside the Roman Theater in Amman

Major Sanders and I pumping some iron in Amman

We got dropped off at the hotel around 1800 hrs so I hit the gym and then the indoor pool for a nice relaxing swim and later that evening we hit an Indian restaurant at the hotel and after I got back did some emails, chatted with Carmen on line and hit the sack getting ready for day three and our planned visit to the Dead Sea. We are expecting our Iraqi Military counterparts to arrive sometime today and will link up with them tomorrow at the airport when we fly to the US.
Sunset in Amman from my hotel

TDY Bound Day 1

Me in the front row of the UH-60

Iraqi landscape from the air vicinity north of Baghdad

Close to Baghdad

As the title says I am TDY (Temporary Duty) bound to the US of A, where I haven't been since 17 April 2007 when we left Ft. Riley Kansas. As I mentioned in another email, we are escorting 8 key Iraqi officers to several Army Materiel Command Depots in the US so that they can gain the necessary insight as to how our depots are run, the complexities of the depots and many other aspects of depots. As usual I will post info after the fact for OPSEC reasons. The adventure or as others call it "Boondoggle" started on the 19th when COL Alberto and I departed Taji bound for the Camp Liberty adjacent to the IZ and BIAP. At first it didn't look to promising when the day before our NCO went to the Taji International Helopad to confirm our flight and was told that we were scheduled for the 23rd. She told the rep at the airfield to recheck the original request and all that was heard was "ah shit I screwed up", and worst part was that it involved two Colonels who had to be at BIAP on the 20th to fly out. The Ops cell then created a mission and sure enough at 2400 hrs I was informed that I had a showtime and flight. So the morning of the 19th off we went down to Liberty. As usual I always run into someone at the Helopad and this time it was 1SG Gonzalez who was there shipping off one of his new replacements back to the US because the Soldier had arrived into country pregnant which is strange since when we deployed last year the female Soldiers had to take a pregnancy test at the Mob site and until the results were confirmed right there were not allowed to manifest on the flight to theater. Looks like he'll be on my lift also when we rotate out of theater. The flight was uneventful but at least it was daylight so I was able to get off a few shots. Which you are able to see above.

At Liberty we got checked in at the AMC office there and it was a normal workday and with the various computers they had there I was able to knock out those last emails and updates that were required before we were to head out the next morning. It is a small world and sure enough we ran into one of the O-6's and his CSM at the AMC offices and got to talk some shop regarding TNMD and the M1114 IROAN project that is taking place in Taji. While I was there CSM showed us an EFP Electronic Formed Projectile that has been so lethal to our vehicles and the US has confirmed that Iran is shipping these to Iraq for Al Qaida and the insurgents to use. Here is a picture of one that was recovered from a vehicle that got hit by the EFP and the good news is that no Soldiers were killed or injured in this blast.

EFP

Later that evening I had to go and turn in my weapon and IBA since I wasn't going to need these in Jordan the US for my trip. I was dead tired that night and hit the sack early knowing that our showtime for the flight to Jordan was going to be an early one. Luckily for me as always I packed my trusty poncho liner because the trailer was cold and it got a lot colder that night and I was nice and warm!!