13 Mar

There is more good news with the arrival of our new neighbors. No more mid-night deliveries for me and my crew. Our neighbors will now be acting as the receiving agent for all the deliveries to our area. Therefore, they will receive and park all the delivery trucks and we will off-load our items the morning after they arrive. Other than a slew of meetings today was pretty dull. I think I am getting burned out with all the meetings and constant baby-sitting of the Life Support Contract workers. I am very frustrated with the manager of the service workers; when an individual tells me they are going to do something I expect them to do it. And since there is nothing I can do about it, I become very frustrated. Although I have raised my voice in a few conversation I ensure that I keep my cool and finish the conversation on a positive note. However, there was an incident the other day that I did not get the chance to observe because I was in a different location.
The senior Iraqi Officer became extremely frustrated with the manager of the service workers and hit him twice; first with an open front hand and than with an immediately back hand. The manager fell to the ground and the entire room became empty instantaneously. This conduct is atypical behavior for the Iraqi Colonel but I am starting to understand his level of frustration. Had I witness this event, I could confidently state, "I have seen all types of leadership techniques." We joke in the military that, "the beatings will continue until moral improves" I think the Iraqi's are taking this too literally. Although I would never strike an individual out of frustration I can now see that physical harm is one type of "motivation technique" - one I will not employ but it is a technique. Had I seen this event first hand, it may have made my trip to Iraq worth it. That's all for today.