31 Dec - Sunday

This is my last post of the year...I could not resist. I hope everyone has a great New Years Eve followed by a year full of many joyous memories. Okay, time for some culture. The last couple days in Iraq and tomorrow are part of a celebration called Eid, pronounced eed. Every year a week long event is held in Mecca, the event is called the hajj. The hajj is a type of baptism that consists of lots of prayer and walking, google-it if you want more details. Every male should make the hajj at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it. The easiest way to tell if someone has made the hajj is by their head garment. If there head garment is all white they have not made the hajj. If there head garment is black & white or red checkered they have made the hajj. A black & white head garment signifies you are from a country with a Presidential rule (i.e. Libya or Egypt), a red checkered head garment indicates you are from a country with a monarch (i.e. Saudi Arabia or Jordan). Now, Eid happens at the end of the hajj and is the celebration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael. During the three day it is expected that Muslims visit their family and friends; first their parents then the rest of their family and friends. Well there you have it...a little culture for 2006. I hope you enjoyed this years lesson. Stay tuned for more culture in the coming year. Good night.

30 Dec - Saturday

As 2006 comes to a close I can not help but wonder what adventures loom on the horizon for me in 2007. The past 40 days have been filled with all facets of the emotional spectrum. From the sleepless nights prior to my departure from home, to the secure feeling of connectivity to my family and friends from the middle of nowhere, to the sadness of losing my grandfather and seeing school children with so little, to the excitement of getting a few surprises on Christmas eve. The last part of 2006 has definitely been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. But let me not forget the hi's and low's of family and friends back in the States. My wife and the kids for starters - as the stress of the Holiday season approached I headed out of town for 6 months, but they spend Christmas in Phoenix with family. My parents, dealing with the loss of a parent, a son going to war and yet they celebrate the 1st Christmas of a new grandson. We could each go on and on about the peaks and valleys we have experienced throughout the year. But when all is said and done the one thing that always gets us through life's challenges are the people standing by our side; and right now for me that is all of you. The e-mails, cards, and packages enable me to keep my chin-up despite the isolation and struggles associated with my current job. Thank you...until tomorrow.

29 Dec

Well I think I earned my "vehicle off load" qualification today. We took delivery of several new vehicles today. Not a big deal right...try pushing a few 4x4 trucks off the back of a flat bed. Not only were the batteries dead on several of the vehicles but some were just about out of gas, not just on E but on the bottom of the E. I guess the American manufacture figured there was enough oil and gas in this part of the world that there was no reason to fill the tanks with fuel, at least the engines had oil in them. We also got 2 fire trucks...I may get to add fire chief to my resume by the time I leave Iraq. The way I see it, if I can handle flying a Ch-53E a fire truck should be no problem. Not much else happened today being that it was Friday and the end of the year is only two days away...enjoy the weekend.

28 Dec

In the spirit of the "can do" attitude today was another successful day. I am not sure but I believe we broke a law or two today...at least we would have if we were in the US. The Logistics Manager that I "advise" drives the minivan pictured above; I would say it is about as long as a typical US minivan but not as wide. Do to a shortage of vehicles and the desire of the workers to start working we loaded the van and headed to the construction site. There are enough seat for 8 maybe 9 people in the van...well we had 19 people piled into the van. Despite the tight quarters the passengers, the local workers and Iraqi Soldiers, seemed as happy as could be. I know the Iraqis have a different definition of personal space then Americans but I think this invasion of space was a little too much even for them...I have no doubt the 8 miles walk to the construction site played a big part in the "closeness" factor. We had another productive day...the last two of the seven buildings are making great progress, and other then some repairs that need to be completed by the hired maintenance contractors the rooms within the buildings are looking good. That's all for tonight.

27 Dec

With Christmas now over, it's time to get back to work. What I failed to mention yesterday was that the employees hired to assemble furniture for the new buildings finally finished. After inspecting their work it was clear that some things needed some additional attention...most of the discrepancies were corrected on the spot. However, there were numerous items that were damaged and will be replaced in the near future - the company does not receive one penny until the contract is fully completed and signed off by my CO. As far as today, Wednesday, Dec 27th I have been here for almost one month and each day is a new adventure...at least I am not stuck behind a desk working on Power Point all day. On my way up to the construction site I heard a new crew was scheduled to arrive to help move furniture and organize the rooms for the opening of the new building which is scheduled for next month; I thought to my self, "This ought to be an interesting day." I must say I was presently surprised, the workers that arrived today were top notch. They were from the local area and if I could hire them as permanent workers I would. We have seven buildings that need repair, cleaning, and organizing prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony. With the help of these new workers we were able to complete 70% of the set-up in five of the seven building before they called it a day. These guys are awesome, they are in ready for work at 0800, they take a 20 to 30 lunch break and keep on going until 1600 or as long as we need them. I believe this crew will enable us to make up for the lost time caused by the previous crew. As darkness settled on to the desert floor it was time to have dinner with the senior Iraqi officer. Tonight I, more accurately Jessica, supplied the desert for the evening. Jessica's homemade toffee quickly became the talk of the evening after our Host took a bite. Unfortunately for him this "desert delicacy" is only "in season" in the winter for this part of the world, for it would not hold its shape more than 5 seconds in the sauna like heat typically associated with the Middle East. I guess that means more for me..... ;) Have a good evening.

26 Dec

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Let me take a second and apologize for not getting this message posted in a timely manner. Communications were down for over 20 hours the last few days so getting on the Internet and/or making phone calls has been a real challenge. Obviously the comms are back up so I will hurry up and bring you up to date on my life in Iraq.
As I mentioned yesterday, Christmas came for me one day later than normal. As you can imagine there are no Wal-marts or Targets near by...ok - don't say it Gary jr - I know what you are thinking - you are the Target... Anyway, my point is instead of exchanging bags of sand among the personnel at my location we decided to focus our energy and give to those who need it most. Over the last few weeks the staff at my location collected donations and pooled together surplus and leftover items to distribute to the local primary school (grades 1-6). On December 24th we conducted a pre-operation brief and on the morning of the 26th we set out to deliver the presents.
There were numerous precautions taken to ensure our safety during the operation. We had undercover intelligence personnel on the streets surrounding our area, there were road blocks set up along the only entrance and exit into the school. Additionally, there were armed guards roaming the perimeter inside and outside the school grounds. And as if all that was not enough protection we were all fully suited up with our gear, weapons and body armor. We arrived at the school, situated in the center of a Muslim community, around 10:00 and quickly set-up shop. The medics established a first aid station to provide aid to the sick and injured children while myself, the senior Iraqi Officer and the LtCol's met with the school staff prior to visiting the classrooms.

About 2 minutes into our meeting with the school staff it was clear to us, by the rise in noise level from the children, that "Santa and his elves" had arrived. As the Col's conducted their business I accompanied a Sgt to the classrooms to begin handing out the goods. In a nutshell, every child got a tooth brush, a small tub of toothpaste, a bar of soap, come crayons or markers, a coloring book, and a toy or game. Every class received pretty much the same type of items except the 4th, 5th and 6th graders received pads of papers instead of coloring books. Additionally, each class received a nerf football, a soccer ball and a frisbee. Next, each child received a treat; either a candy bar, rice crispy treat or a package of peanut/cheese crackers. And to top it all off was a handful of candy to get them all bouncing off the walls before heading home for lunch.

There were a total of about 170 students with a 55% to 45% split in favor of the boys. The classrooms were simple, one chalkboard, and 3 rows of 5 desks with each desk being able to seat 2 to 4 students; each desk looked like one half of a picnic table. The rooms have no heat or air conditioning but they do have overhead lighting. The school had 6 classrooms, each grade has one classroom except for 5th and 6th grades which are combined into one room because there are only 26 students and only one teacher. As you can imagine, the town and the school are very poor - the scene reminded me of Tijuana, MEX. It broke my heart to see the conditions of the school bathroom and to imagine what these kids must go home to everyday - I am sure it is not milk and cookies. Some of the kids spoke a few words of English while others nodded and smiled when I handed them their items...if only I could do more.
The 1st and 2nd graders were very polite and calm in their actions, they were all cute and adorable. On the other hand the 5th and 6th grade boys were loud and pushy; I guess boys will be boys regardless of their nationality. The joy we presented to them will probably be the talk of the town for weeks to come but hopefully this visit is only one of many. We have already discussed what we would like to do for our next visit. Some ideas include fixing their bathrooms, getting space some heaters, pouring a basketball court and grading a section of the field and installing soccer posts. The wish list keeps growing.

Christmas for me this year was not full of presents or parties, or family or close friends but nonetheless through the gift of giving and a walk in the moonlight I have been able to experience Christmas like never before.

Several people have asked me what it is that I need - to be honest I have everything I need; I have food, shelter and heat/ac. If you would like to send something send something for these kids - they need more then what I can give them. If you would like a list of things to send please e-mail me. I think I have said enough for today...Happy Holidays.

25 Dec - Christmas

Merry Christmas to all...I hope everyone had a joyous and relaxing day with family and friends. My day was filled with food, football and an everlasting memory. To start, the above picture includes all four Marines from my location, three of the twelve Army soldiers, one civilian contractor and the senior Iraqi officer from our duty station - he is the one with the mustache. I had a lazy morning, only one short meeting prior to lunch. The noon feast included turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce - the kind from a can, mashed potatoes, asparagus, a variety of salads and several delicious deserts. And to top it all off we had eggnog to celebrate the day. Around mid-afternoon a group of us - pictured above - chose to work off our high calorie lunch by playing football. I am happy to report all players walked - or limped (Army player) - off the field - if you can call "packed sand" a field, under our own power. In the true spirit of the Holidays our eyes were bigger then our stomachs as we over indulged at dinner which consisted of the leftovers from lunch and T-bone steaks for those craving beef. Although the day was relaxing and enjoyable it was not until I stepped outside in the dark that a wave a peace and harmony came over me for a brief moment. Tonight when I moved past some of the buildings in my area, the brightness of the moon in the clear night sky seemed to light my path, and for just a few seconds - with mounds of sand off in the distant in front of me and the brisk breeze at my back, I almost felt like I was a Sheppard on a journey to the manger. But the feeling passed when the headlights from a parked car appeared a few yards away. I quickly returned to reality when I was greeted by one of the Iraqi soldiers when he politely said, "Happy Merry Christmas, Major." Later that night when I was reflecting on my day it occurred to me that even in a war torn country there exist peace and harmony if you know where to look. I will not soon forget that peaceful moment and I believe that memory may just follow me every Christmas when I look up into a clear night sky and think about the Sheppards and Kings who made the journey across the desert some two thousand years ago. Lastly, although Christmas is celebrated on the 25th, my Christmas came on the 26th...tune in tomorrow to find out why.

24 Dec - Sunday

Day four with the furniture builders...they are starting to monopolize my time. I arrived at the work site about 10:20 AM to find that they were almost done putting together the 50 desks. The one thing I have noticed is the average Iraqi citizen is not comfortable working independently. By that I mean they seem to be uncomfortable working in a room by themselves. For example, instead of two guys moving an un-assembled desk into a room and assembling it - I am sure you know how easily a particleboard desks can break - they insisted on assembling all the desks and drawers in one room where everyone is working and then moving the furniture down hallways, around corners, and up stairs after they assemble the desk. Only one desk was broken but I have not fully inspected all the desks as of today but that will be accomplished prior to their departure. Additionally, I have noticed that if I want to speak with the head sub-contractor and I pull him aside to have a sidebar conversation or ask a specific question the rest of his party / workers follow. I hear this "being followed by the crowd" is typical for the Iraqi culture - their definition of personnel space is definitely different then mine - I guess I will have to adjust. Speaking of culture - every time I meet with an Iraqi Officer or the Logistics Manager I get a hug, it is the Iraqi way of saying "Welcome my Brother"...apparently I have more than two brother in this world. It is a little different from what we in the US are accustomed too but nonetheless...when in Rome... So if I hug you or stand 3 inches from you when we are talking do not be offended it's just my new Iraqi culture coming out.
On to a more festive topic...
In true Christmas spirit I received mail today - at 2:20 PM by helicopter. This was the first mail I have received since my arrival - not counting e-mail. For whose packages I received I will contact you later - for those who sent mail but I did not receive it yet - do not worry - the delay is on this end. You see, I am in a remote location and the last delivery of mail by truck, which is the normally delivery method, arrived last week. Which meant if the mail you sent did not reach the Iraq address by the 17th I probably would not see the item until after the New Year. And since it takes about 2 weeks to get mail to the Iraq address and I did not get a good address until about the 5th of Dec it was unlikely I was going to get much before January 1st. I guess Santa was looking out for me.
Tonight we had our Christmas party, he had cigars and played poker all while watching football - does it get any better than this for a bunch of guys? Tomorrow is the Christmas lunch followed by a football game in the afternoon. I will let you know how it goes.
Merry Christmas to all and thanks again for all the Christmas wishes via the mail and e-mail.

23 Dec - Saturday

Good news...I am on the recovery side of my illness and my "brother" the Iraqi Logistics Manager returned from his leave last night. I work side-by-side with the Logistics Manager but when he is on leave I work with his 2nd in charge who is a Captain in the Iraqi Army. When I am not working with the Logistics Manager, I have an interpreter/translator with me so that I can interact with all Iraqi personnel - military / civilian. The Logistic Manager speaks and understands English pretty well and we are of the same mindset when dealing with the Iraqi workers. As a native Iraqi he is able to clearly communicate what needs to be completed and the proper way to accomplish the task. He does not take any crap from the workers - not that I do either but when the conversation is communicated to the workers in their native tongue from the original speaker the workers seem to nod and comply much quicker. On a more personal note I feel much better today; however, I kept close to the office while the Logistics Manager keep a close eye on the sub-contractor/workers at the construction site. Tomorrow I will take a drive up to the building site and address and issues that need attention - it is now clear to the furniture builders that they will be hear a few more days; they have already been here for 3 days.

22 Dec

By the time it got dark yesterday the workers were able to put together all 23 TV stands - some had a few broken pieces but nonetheless they were all together.
Day two with Iraqi workers. Today started off with more "issues" to overcome. First, there were no screws for the 250 school desks that needed to be assembled, each desk needs 6 screws, let us see how they will fix this problem! Second, it took them all day to put together 22 of 50 desks and there is still another 400 pieces of furniture to assemble plus move the furniture to the correct rooms. I think as the day went on the workers realized the task that was in front of them. After jumping through some hoops during the afternoon, I was able to get one of the small generators turned-on, a back-up generator, which supplied enough power to run only one specific building. As darkness was approaching and the temperature began to drop the workers agreed to move into the "working" building and continue to build desks. They agreed to work late into the night - they quit working at 7 PM...if its not one excuse its another. I keep reminding myself Rome was not built in one day. To top all this off I was sick the entire day; I had "Saddam's revenge"...a distant relative of Montezuma...from Tijuana, Mexico; I had some bad water and I will leave it at that. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive.

21 Dec

Oh...boy what a day. Well apparently inshallah (see yesterdays post) meant today because the workers for the furniture build showed up at 1100 unannounced. And the punches keep on coming...they show up with 7 guys, of which only 5 are workers, to put together 85 desks (particleboard type) 90+ office chairs, 250 school desks - chairs with flip-up desk tops. Additionally, they need to move 12 washers and dryer, 50 small refrigerators, 10 large refrigerators and put together bunk beds. Through my calculations it should take at least 3 days for a 10 man working party to put together all this stuff - a week with only 5 workers. These workers were planning to spend about 20 hours to complete all the work. And to add to the confusion these workers were not told that electricity was not available - even though the contractor that we hired was told electricity was not available to the site. So now what - well lets get them a generator to help them out - a disaster in the making. After we got them a generator we turned our backs to address other issues. First they stripped the covering off the electrical cord that was connected to the generator and were about to...get this...plug the power cord from the generator into one of the wall sockets in the building in order to provide power to all the electrical sockets in the building so that they could charge all their dead batteries. Had we not stopped them I believe the building could have caught fire or at least charred the socket they were about to plug into. It took great inner strength not to "butt stroke" the guy with my rife who was trying to plug the generator cord into the plug socket. His answer to, "what the h@$* are you thinking," oh..we do this all the time. Good thing I do not speak Arabic cause if I did I would have been in his face...thank goodness for translators. I can see it now, over the radio to the LtCol, "a...sir, the building is on fire can you stop by when you get a chance." I would have fired the guys on the spot but I was not going to put together all the furniture - I have other issues I need to deal with and building furniture is not one i am willing to take on right now. Talk about patience...I may use all mine up here in Iraq. I have found that you have 2 types of workers here - those that want to work and those that give you excuse after excuse about completing a project; I got the latter of the two with this bunch. Needless to say we have keep a close eye on them since. On a pleasant note I was able to reschedule our dinner with the construction managers / workers for tonight.
After we got the furniture workers set-up for the night we rendezvoused with the construction mangers at their location for dinner; we arrived around 1800. The construction crew consisted of the project manager - from India, the mortar / cement manger - from Iraq, the electrician - from Iraq, the medical tech - from Georgia, and the public relations director - from Georgia. All in all quite a diverse team but they have been working on projects in and around this area for the last year. They all work for a British Company that was hired by the US to build / refurbish the existing buildings and add a few upgrades. They are doing a great job. Anyway dinner was very good, we had soup, chicken, rice, pita bread and some kabobs. After dinner we found ourselves playing ping-pong. The project manager - a small Indian citizen (I will leave his name out for security reasons) is quite the player - I would not be surprised if his contract came with a "ping-pong" requirement. It was a very nice evening and a good change of pace; it was good to sit down with them in a social setting vice always at the meeting table. I must go and prepare for tomorrows challenges and obstacles that are sure to be accompanied by our furniture workers - I am sure my level of self control will be tested. Till later....

20 Dec

Today - Wednesday - was another day of meetings and preparations for upcoming projects. A group of Iraqi workers were scheduled to arrive in order to put together and move some furniture - they failed to show. No word on why they did not arrive but apparently that is the norm in this area...who knows when they will show...apparently Ellah. When I asked about when the workers will show the response was inshallah - (en sha la) meaning "god willing." That response seems to be the normal response to every situation...Will we all make the 1200 meeting tomorrow - inshallah, will we get dinner tonight - inshallah, will it rain tomorrow - inshallah. Anyway, we had a dinner scheduled with some of the mangers / workers from one of the construction sites but a last minute change prevented us from getting together...maybe after the 1st of the year...inshallah - great now I am saying it. When one door closes another door opens - we had dinner with the senior Iraqi officer - good food as always. Good night.

19 Dec

On Tuesday we took a walk around the buildings that are under construction. Have you ever wondered how they make the flat roofs that you see / hear about in this part of the world - if you want the answer read on. Here in Iraq, and I imagine the rest of the Middle East, they make their ceilings out of cement, just like the rest of the building. First they frame out the roof, put a couple of I-beams across the roof and build a ceiling with 2x4's packed tightly together - imagine a pergo/wood floor on the ceiling. Each piece of wood ceiling is held in place by another wood cross beam which is held in place by another 2x4 that extends from the floor to the ceiling - for those 2x4's not long enough to reach the ceiling, a can, brick, or barrel is used like a wedge or spacer to make up the difference. Once the ceiling is in place they pour cement on the wood and use re bar to help tie-in the ceiling to the existing walls. It takes about 6 days for the 10 inch thick cement to fully dry before they put down a layer of tar and then 80 lb slate tiles (about 2x2 foot) to finish off the roof. Each tile is carried on the back of the workers up a makeshift ladder onto the roof - and I thought a bag of shingles was heavy! I wonder if this would pass Mike C's inspection - Mike is a neighbor to my parents and he is a building inspector for the county - Hey Mike I think these roofs would give my dad's deck a run for its money. Anyway, I am sure the EPA would not approve of the burning barrel of tar used in this process. There is a lot of effort that goes into the interior of the buildings as well.
Some of the workers are very skilled - all the floors in the buildings are tile which has been hand laid with precision - there are no lasers here to help with accuracy. Additionally, all the bathrooms and showers have 12x12 tile throughout - not an easy job but the end product will last for centuries to come. As a matter of fact one could say we - the US - are actually paying for the damage we caused...kind of ironic. These buildings have sustained bomb damage and other then a few holes in the walls and roofs the buildings have stood the ultimate test...I wonder how they would do in a CA earthquake? I hope this little construction class was entertaining.

18 Dec

There are some great advantages to being out in the middle of nowhere. For one, at night you can see all the stars in the sky. There are no street lights or other man made lights protruding out from the surrounding buildings to offset the view - no reason to bring attention to to ourselves at night. As you can imagine the stars are countless on a clear night and the only light that provides any shadow is from the moon...when its out. With that said there is one problem, it is dangerous trying to walk around in the dark without a flashlight. Recently our afternoon meetings have spilled over into the evening and with the daylight at a minimum during this part of the year we have found ourselves caught in the dark more than once. If the sky is overcast you can barely see your hand in front of your face let alone the obstacles that are set-up around the compound. I know...I know just use a flashlight, I agree but at 2 o'clock in the afternoon I am not thinking about keeping my flashlight on-hand; and finding our way back to our living area is often a comical adventure especially in the mud. It's not like we are from the Air Force and scared or the dark - it's just that I can't remember the last time I could not see my hand in front of my face when outside at night. Speaking of night...have a good one.

17 Dec - Sunday

Another day another few dollars - almost too few if you ask me - but that topic is for another post. Only 8 days until Christmas - this is your last chance to get some sand...anyone...I can get you a good deal...just let me know.
Today I spent more time with members from the Iraqi Army (IA) working through the planning process for an upcoming event; the meeting went well. Following the meeting I helped the senior Iraqi logistic officer, a Captain, prepare the weekly staff brief to be given tomorrow. Although I am pretty savvy with Microsoft Power Point I had some difficulties working with PP in Arabic. For starters they read right to left.
?ti si...sdnuos ti sa ysae sa ton si tI
We managed to work through the language barrier and submitted the brief on time for translation into English. For evening meal I had the pleasure of joining the senior Iraqi officer for dinner. It was another good meal with plenty to eat.
Have a good week...I'll type ya later.

16 Dec - Saturday

Today I had the opportunity to shoot a couple of rounds. And by opportunity I do not mean at the enemy but rather at some stationary targets on the firing range. It was a good chance to shake off about 4 years of rust...I did well but just about anyone can hit a stationary target in a non stressful situation. The remainder of my day was spent in a couple of meetings training my Iraqi counterpart on the procedures and thought process that the US military uses in its planning process. The Iraqi's seem eager to learn and although they are unfamiliar with our process they seem to have already thought through several of the concepts we discussed but in a slightly different manner.
Part of my job here is not to force my/our way of thinking on the Iraqi's but to assist them in getting the job done. As an individual I could quickly asses - plan - and implement a solution to the daily problem/situations we face. But my job here is not to "give them a fish" but to help teach them "how to fish." However, I must keep in mind that my way of fishing is not the only way to fish. I am here to offer suggestions, and if they want - amplifying information as to why I make those suggestions, and to allow the Iraqi's to proceed as they see fit. Even though our policies, procedures and problem solving approach are among the best in the world we, the US, did not come by these techniques overnight...and neither will the Iraqi's. Some of our military is fighting the door-to-door battle which is very important for the "near" fight. I, however, am helping with the "long" fight which will allow us, the US, to step back after giving the Iraqi's the tools and confidence to "fish" for themselves.
I think that is enough for today...write ya later.

15 Dec

The holiday season is fast approaching; it's hard to believe I have already been here for 15 days. A Christmas tree has been placed in the dining facility - well...at least it looks like a Christmas tree. Can anyone tell me what it really is? As I mentioned before Fridays are pretty slow but, like working on a farm (Suddenly Farms), there is always something that could use some attention. Got to go - I will type later.

14 Dec

After we conducted the walk-thru of all the new buildings on today it was clear that there is about a month of work needed to get the new facility ready for occupation. I will not bore you with the details but the end result was the crappy job done by the original contractor will be repaired by another contractor who is already working on a seperate project in the area and is doing great work. Here is a picture of the facility that was built. Apparently the Air Force helped them out with the design - similar to the way the Air Force builds their bases around a golf course the Iraqi's built their facility literally around a soccer field. Speaking of soccer fields, we played another game of soccer with the Iraqi's - I still can not believe some of them play with their bare feet - it just goes to show how dedicated some players are to the game of soccer. Well that is it for today - have a good one.

13 Dec

Wednesday was another day filled with coordination between logistics and contractors. We have several "repair" walk-thru inspections that needed to be schedule so that we can wrap up some of the building projects. Additionally, we had to move, count, and restock some other items to ensure we are on-track for the 1st of the year. Tomorrow will be a busy day as we conduct our first walk-thru. Oh and speaking of soccer - myself and another Marine had the opportunity to play soccer with some of the members from the Iraqi Army. In order to remain safe we wore our helmets and flack jackets; needless to say grass is not abundent here so we end playing on the dry dirt - kind of like cement. I was having a tough time playing in my running shoes but since half of the Iraqi's were playing with their bare feet I felt it was best to count my blessing and keep my mouth shut. We let them win 4 to 2...hopefully they will envite us back. I was just kidding about wearing our helmet and flack to play soccer - its not that dangerous here...knock on wood. Catch ya later

12 Dec

Today we had the US General pay us a visit to inspect the progress of our site. Needless to say he had an entourage with him. His visit took up about 5 hours of the day. Prior to his visit I had a 3 hour staff meeting and after the general departed I had another 2 hour meeting. At the end of the meeting we were able to catch the 2nd half of Iraqi semi-final soccer game against South Korea in the 15th Annual Asian Games. The Iraqi's won 2 to 1 and advanced to the final round; the gold medal game is on Friday. That's all for today.

11 Dec

Sunday night / Monday morning we got a little rain, not the downpour we expected...thank goodness. I had the opportunity to travel around my AO (area of operation) today. One of the vehicles we were traveling with got stuck in the mud. It took us 40 minutes to get the vehicle out of the mud and back on the dry road...it will definitely be interesting when the heavy rain hits. At least it is not 140 degrees outside. The mud here is like the red mud from Georgia - it clumps together and sticks to the sole of your boot. After a few steps you have about and inch or two - about 2 to 3 lbs added to the weight of your foot. Don't get me wrong its nice being a couple inches taller but everyone is in the same situation so the its a mute point except for the extra weight...and for what I am already carrying the could extra pounds matters. On a more festive note our Christmas dinner arrived today - see attached picture. We call him Chrisdin (short for Christmas dinner). That all for today - catch ya later.

10 Dec

Sunday started very early for me; I was up at 01:13 to receive 8 trucks of stuff. For those of you who do not know, I am working logistics for the next six months. Needless to say it is safer to transport stuff at night so at "O'dark thirty" or "O'dark thirteen" in this case I was up standing in the cold helping with the offload of stuff. I finally got to sleep around 03:45 and was up by 10:00 to avoid throwing off my entire sleep schedule. We spent the day organizing the stuff that arrive early that morning. Additionally, we spent several hours preparing for a weekly brief that is given every Monday afternoon. At 18:45 a myself and a few of my fellow US military brethren were invited to dine with the head Iraqi Officer. There was plenty of food; we had fish, chicken, rice, bread, and many fruits and vegetables. For desert we had chi tea and cack, a biscuit type cookie - it was pretty good; the wife of the senior Iraqi Officer made it for us - but it does not compare to Jessica's toffee. All in all a good day. Because of the small group that we have out here we do not have any church services and I could not find the "catholic" channel on the tv. I have decided not to venture outside of my location in search of a church so...does my situation qualify for special disposition from Sunday services??? Have a good week and I will write later.

9 Dec

Saturday in Iraq is busier then Friday but still slower then a typical workday. My job assignment has me working with a variety of NATO and coalition units from across the globe. I am definitely getting the opportunity to broaden my horizon as I get the chance to learn different cultures. The rain has not hit us yet but I am told when it does several of the roads turn into marshes and swamps - great I get to play in the mud.

8 Dec

Friday in Iraq is kind of like Sunday in the States. Not a lot gets done because the Iraqis attend services at the Mosque from about 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and not much else happens before or after that time. That is not to say that I am not working, I am just not working as hard because there is little host-nation support during the day.

7 Dec

I am getting a better feel for the part I am playing in the "big picture" here in Iraq. Although as I said before, I can not go into details on this blog as to what I am doing in Iraq I can say some of the things I am not doing. Rest assure I am not on the front line driving around the streets of Baghdad or kicking in doors looking for key personnel. I am not standing watch at the front gate checking/inspecting vehicles. All-in-all I am in a pretty safe location - sometimes even safer then the Baghdad palace where the US Embassy is located.

6 Dec

Made my way to my new position and unpacked. Let's just say I am not living the life of a king - more like a peasant. At least I have a roof over my head and food nearby. It gets cold here at night and the rainy season is about to start. However, I hear the cold and the rain are better than the 140 degree heat during the summer.

5 Dec

I got a job - not the job I thought I would have but it is a vital job nonetheless. That is all I can say in this format.

4 Dec

I check-in today but they are not sure where I will be working or what I will be doing - I should know tomorrow.

3 Dec

Arrived at my final destination at 0400 local time - went to bed.
Got up and walked around the compound. The compound is actually one of Saddam's palaces - very nice. Gold and tile every where - nothing spared as you can imagine. The entire palace is now the US Embassy with military personnel working in and around the area. I will check-in tomorrow.

2 Dec

Stayed up all night and got plane ride to Baghdad. Once in Baghdad I slep 6 hours got up and watched Army-Navy game...Navy won. I got on a bus to my final destination.

1 December

Arrived in the Netherlands at 0600; connecting flight did not leave until 3:30 PM so a few of us went into downtown Amsterdam. We walked through The Anne Frank House, Ann Frank from the book The Diary of Anne Frank. Very surreal - I would recommend you visit her house if you are ever in Amsterdam. Our next stop was the Heineken Brewery - could not pass up the opportunity to drink one (or a few) last beers before arriving at my final destination. Van Gogh and Rembrandt's House will be on the list for my return visit - and the brewery of course.
At 3:30 we got on the plane for the last leg of our flight
Arrived in Kuwait at 11:00 PM

30 Nov

Departed FL arrive at Newark and had dinner with Mom and Dad before getting on a plane for Amsterdam.

27-28-29 Nov

Spent a few days in FL getting ready for my trip overseas; wish me luck.

27 November

Departure Day - I left CA early Monday morning enroute to FL to complete 3 days of paperwork before heading overseas.