Priorities, Poles, and Wackiness

So we got told to put up a flag pole outside our compound. The flagpole is supposed to be used to fly an Iraqi flag, signifying the Iraqis are now in the lead as a part of the new bilateral security agreement that goes into effect on 1 January. Somebody with a bunch of rank decided it would be a nifty and splendid idea to put up a flag so everybody would know Iraqis were in charge. So as is the Army Way, we overengineered the hell out of the project and micromanaged it to the highest levels possible. Apparently it was absolutely critical that this flagpole be up and operational by 1 January. Magically, almost overnight, a flagpole and ten bags of cement appeared up at FOB Mahmudiya.

We had to put the pole up with an Iraqi flag to symbolize the shift of power to the Iraqis. The silly thing is, I live on an Iraqi Army compound, and I'm surrounded by Iraqis who already know this.

The interest in the status of my pole began to garner a lot of attention. I got somewhere in the neighborhood of four phone calls a day inquiring about its status. "What's the status of the Iraqi Security Agreement Symbol??!?!?!" they would ask. Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, and Majors all called to see what was up with the pole. "We have to provide a daily status of it every day by 0900" they would say.

Wow. Is that all that's going on? Heck, we may as well pack it up and head home if a pole is all we have to worry about.

Nobody inquired this much about the power cable we needed to give power to our CHUs; it took us over a month to get that thing. Power cables are something I would think were pretty easy to come by in Iraq, what with all of the infrastructure repair we are doing and what not. The cable also "didn't make it on to the LOGPAC" on more than one occasion. Guess cable isn't important, or it didn't have the oversight of a bunch of people who didn't have a whole lot to do.

But flagpoles... That's sort of an uncommon item. Somehow they got that 30 foot pole here in about three days.

Even the Iraqi Army guys asked us why we were putting up a pole outside our compound. Even they know that flying an American flag is forbidden (as it shows we are occupiers). We told them it was for an Iraqi flag, and they gave us the confused dog look. But we put it up, to show that there were Iraqis here on the Iraqi Army compound.

Somehow this is supposed to get me home faster.

In an effort to capture the silliness of the moment, I took a picture of the fellas 'raising the flag' to satiate inquisitive minds. I had to provide a real-time visual status of progress. So we had some fun with it. I don't think the Marines had to contest with this level of goofiness of their event on Iwo Jima, and my hat is off to all of them for what they did there.

Hope you are well. Check out the New Years post below, too. Have a good one, and thanks for reading.

Ron

A confusing New Years wish/Rant

So long 2008. Personally, I have mixed emotions about it. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself today over the new year, for the following reasons: One, I have a cold, so I don’t feel too good about 2008 right now. Two, this year brought me orders to Iraq, more family separation, I sold my boat, and I lost a bunch of cash in the market.

The year also had me questioning some beliefs. Specifically religion and my political beliefs, to name a couple. S’cuse me while I rant…

Let’s go with organized religion first. The whole reason we are here (other than global resource issues) is because people are fighting over what they believe, and they are using religion to pervert people into doing horrible things all “in the name of God.” I’ve never much believed that God (in this case the Christian God) has or chooses to intervene in life situations. I believe God gives us talents, abilities and opportunities, and it’s up to us to make the best of them and take advantage as we see fit. If we don’t then the world passes us by. Guess that makes me a “free choice” guy. Chalk it up to part faith (God won’t give me more than I can handle) and destiny (this is what’s supposed to happen, so I should have faith that I will make it through). Religion for me is personal; I don’t go beating people over the head with it, and I should probably spend more attention and effort to my relationship with God.

Given this perspective, when I see extremist religions-- Islamic, Jewish, Christian- whatever-- I get turned off. Particularly here I have seen the damage of what extremist religion is capable of, and in seeing that, I question my own faith sometimes. I doubt “God” says we should lop off heads of non-believers, or send suicide bombers into crowded markets as a test of faith and promise of Martyrdom… How does God let it happen? And even further, how do I know I have the right God? Are the Islamic guys right? Or maybe the Jewish faith has it right. What about the American Indians? So many different religions, all with different ideas about how things should be. Who’s right?

Second, politically, I am a right-leaning guy. I always have been. No big government, freedom to succeed or fail, individual responsibility, and Government shouldn’t be a charity. Personal responsibility. If a guy works hard, he should get what he or she earned. Benefits for those who participate. No free chicken. All that’s well and good, but Americans take too much for granted and take advantage of systems. Americans are sheep who believe everything they see on 24-hour news networks and read on the internet. Sometimes I think there’s more corruption in the American political system than there is in Iraq. This line of thinking has led to a deeply divided political system run by a self-created elite with few original ideas, whose agenda is power base protection. That’s not what I signed up for.

Hi, my name is Ron, and I’m an angry cynic.

At this point I’m for anyone and anything that will shake us up. Maybe it is time for change. We have to do something, and hopefully the thing to do is return to the things that made our country great: Hard work, new ideas, personal responsibility, education. Just don't touch my guns or mess with the 2d Amendment. And don't make my Army a social experiment again.

The positive: The Skeptical Optimist viewpoint. I am in good shape, I get to do a job where I can see effects of my efforts in seeing an Army and a country grow, I am surrounded by good people who are positive and also want to make a difference, last year I got a masters degree, I got some pretty good training, I get to see the world and gain appreciation for my own country and family, I am living fairly good over (we don’t have it the worst), and nobody really shoots at us. Yet.

Iraq is a country in between two generations. Generation One is the old school Saddam way of thinking; the consolidation of power at the individual level and the desire for “Machismo” that brings credibility, and then more power. Generation Two is the new Government, personal responsibility, warrant-based arrests and fair trials by unbiased judges, a representative form of government, and a country struggling to pull itself up from twenty-plus years of war, sanctions, and hardship. But it has potential.

Somebody briefed in a Counterinsurgency seminar I attended an indicator of “how we know we are winning in Iraq.” The answer was when Muqtada al Sadr, Shiite extremist goofball who is hiding in Iran, starts complaining about Israel and the Palestinian problem and not ranting about Iraq… This is true now: On 27 December he released a statement in the Al-Amara News Network where he rants against Israeli actions in Gaza. Sure he blamed the US, but he’s not solely complaining about Iraq. In addition, the fact that all three ‘big’ news networks no longer maintain correspondents in Iraq says something too. No media coverage = We won. It took a while, and we made a lot of mistakes, but maybe we did win. Arrogant, I know. We just have to finish cleaning up the mess. We’ll see/Inshallah, depending upon your religious affiliation…

So 2009 starts tonight. Lots of new things on the horizon: A new bilateral security agreement placing Iraqis in the lead (news flash: we’ve been doing this since we got here), a new US president, an eventual trip home for me in the 3d Quarter, a new job with an incredible organization, Hailey starts 6th Grade, maybe a new boat or a new house, some new friends, some new challenges, a whole bunch of new perspective, and a whole lot of work to do.

This has been a confusing rant, and even after reading what I wrote I’m not exactly sure what my point was or if I got it across. Maybe it boils down to this: You can’t have the good without the bad, and 2008 was the bad time.

Inshallah/We’ll see…

All the best to you and your family, hoist something with alcohol in it for us, and have a Happy New Year.

Thanks for reading.
Ron

Christmas

Twenty years ago today I spent my first Christmas away from home. I was 18, and was serving as an Infantryman with C Company, 3d Battalion, 502d Infantry, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, KY. Our block leave was suspended because we had Post Guard. We would get leave for New Years, but not Christmas. During the day’s Guard Mount I was chosen as the “Super Numerary” or something like that. It meant you didn’t have to pull a traditional 24-hour guard shift, and instead you went to the museum for about four hours and stood around in your dress greens and looked spiffy. Your job was to look like a 101st Soldier and help visitors, none of which ever needed any help. It was meant to be an award for at least looking squared away. What it really was is a way to get out of doing work.

I went to the museum on the 24th and pulled my shift. Not many came to the museum on Christmas Eve. We closed the place up and I went back to the barracks. I had only been at Campbell for three months, and most of that time had been spent in the field. I was a bit bummed about not being able to go home and see my friends who had just finished their first semester of college, and I wanted to get caught up with them. I also was a bit sad that I was going to miss our own family traditions that year. The Battalion was going to have a Christmas day service, so I figured I’d go. It was sparsely attended; maybe a total of 15 were there, and I hadn’t met anyone before, except for the Chaplain. The service was simple, nothing spectacular. Regular scripture followed by regular Christmas hymns. After the service as I was getting ready to leave, I was introduced to a Major and his family, and they asked me what I was going to do for the rest of the evening. I told them I was off to the barracks to do what soldiers do- watch TV, play video games, and buff floors.

The Army is family, and the Major proved it to me that day. They invited me over for dinner and opened their house to me. The Chaplain brought me over to their house in the nice section of post (they don’t put nice houses near Infantry barracks) and fed me like there was no tomorrow. They welcomed me like I was one of their own. I enjoyed it a lot, and it made me feel a little less far from home. I don’t recall his name, but I always remember that Major and his family at Christmas for what he did for an 18-year old kid who had never been away from home.

I am lucky in that the 20 years I have been associated with the Army, I have only spent one previous Christmas away from home. (Birthdays, Anniversaries, and other significant holidays—that’s a different story). This one will be spent with a different kind of family. I got pretty lucky with the team I was assigned to; we all get along, we all believe in what we are doing, and we all are here for the right reasons. Today (Christmas Eve) we had to go to a meeting at FOB Mahmudiya down the road, and tonight a couple of our interpreters, Adam, Moe, and Sam, cooked us dinner: Lamb Kabobs, fresh vegetables, Hummus, and flatbread. It was very good, and it’s the first fresh veggies we have been able to get for a while. It was a very nice gesture on behalf of the guys who enable us to interact with the IA. They aren’t Christian, but even they understand the meaning and importance of Christmas and holidays with family and friends.

Later, the fellas will be playing Rock Band on PS2 for the better part of the evening. Some will hit the gym, some will sleep, some will be observing the Iraqi interrogation of a recently nabbed bad guy. This is the local family this year, spending another night in Iraq. It’s not my traditional family, but if I was going to spend it away from them, I’d want to spend it with Soldiers.

It is somewhat ironic to discuss peace in a war zone, but that’s why I’m here, to bring peace to a country and ultimately prevent bad people from doing bad things to my home. To you and your family, I wish you peace and Merry Christmas. Not far from here about 2000 years ago, Christ was born. Sometimes it’s hard to keep that in perspective, but the message of Peace is what Christmas is about.

Hope you are well—Merry Christmas.
Ron

Matt's Question

Matt,

We have a good relationship with the coalition unit. Without saying too much, we work with the IA Brigade Commander and staff, and the coalition unit works in various capacities with their subordinate units. You have to have a good relationship with them. I put as much work into my relationship with the coalition unit as I do with the IA. One, they are your supply line and link to civilization. Two, your plans and the US unit plans must be synched, else you are just spinning your wheels.

Anything above Battalion, though, and it becomes "those !@#$% Brigade/Division guys, they just don't get it!" Because they don't. This is a Company Commander's fight. In my opinion, the Brigade Combat Team (BCT) doesn't do much in a Counterinsurgency (COIN) fight except get in the way. The staff is too big, it is inefficient, and too far removed from reality. It is another layer of chiefs who don't have land or tribes.

Don't get me started on Division.

Anybody else?

Answers!

Rick-
Good question. I asked my Iraqi counterpart what he thought of "the shoe guy." He was embarrassed for Maliki, he was embarrassed for his country, and he was sorry it happened. From what he said, it was a shameful thing to throw shoes (or throw anything) at an invited guest, and it was shameful that he did it in the presence of the guy who invited him to the country.

Most Iraqis I have dealt with, from dirt-farming poor folks with no car, no electricity, and no shoes all the way up to business owners and Iraqi Army officers say the US presence is a good thing. Of late it has kept people honest. Usually the extremists will be the ones ranting for the US to withdraw. But they won't do it to your face.

Iraq is an interesting place in terms of relationships and things said. You can say the wrong things to your neighbor-- really bad things, and the next day reconcile an dit is like nothing happened. But if you don't reconcile in the right way, you will never be forgiven.

A lot of the media you get is Baghdad focused. And Baghdad is like New York, LA and Chiicago all combined; you get the best of the best and the worst of the worst.

Hope that answers it. Thanks for reading.
Ron

What do you want to know?

Been a busy couple of days, and I was feeling like we are making some head way. My Iraqi Brigade Commander bit on a few of the suggestions I had thrown out there for him, and the staff was plugging along to make them happen.

Then he decided to go on leave. He doesn't tell me when he is going to be back, mostly due to his concern for his own personal protection. In fact, he really doesn't tell anyone when he'll be back. But things never run as smooth as when he's here. Typical of any organization, I suppose. Oh well; we continue to plug along.

Hard to believe there are only 7 or so more days until Christmas. It doesn't feel much like Christmas here. In fact, every day feels like a Tuesday... It's not Monday, as we are here and have been doing this for a while. It's not Wednesday, as we are just getting into this. It won't be Friday until, well, a long time from now. Just plain, old, mashed potato-sandwich-bland type of boring.


This quasi-stagnation and interruption of Iraqi momentum has left me with not a lot to write about... So what questions do you have? What do you want to know about? Send me a note or hit the comments button and I'll answer it.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your holiday shopping, and take care.

Ron

An Army from Nothing

If you look at the Continental Army of 1776-1783, you see some similarities between them and the Iraqi Army (IA) today. I say this with some caveats: The Iraqis are fighting the counterinsurgency; back then the Americans were the counterinsurgency. The Iraqis are a fledgling Army, struggling to fill big shoes, fight a very different war, and stay centered despite being pulled in many directions from many different agencies and people.

But both Armies started from scratch, particularly since Paul Bremer dissolved the Iraqi Army and Ba'ath Party affiliation (the only bureaucrats and guys who knew how to run stuff in the country). George Washington's Army had no equipment, no logistics, no training, no barracks, no training area. They scrounged, begged and borrowed everything they had. They endured harsh weather, and they built the Army out of nothing.

Such is the same with the IA. Today after a clearing operation/hide and go seek mission for insurgents, we visited one of the Battalions that was in on the search. They have a building in the middle of town with some barriers around it. No aid station, no dining facility, no plumbing, electricity sometimes, no heat (not to mention AC), and the "barracks" they do have are tiny, cramped rooms with waaaay too many people living in them. Most of the buildings leak. The architectural style/theme of everything they are building seems to be rubble. They make the best out of what they have, and on the whole, it isn't too bad. They don't complain about it-- they just do it. And they have been doing a very good job of it-- our town has enjoyed relative peace for a substantial amount of time.

We get asked for vehicle parts, wood, boots, and barrier material almost every day. While the goal is to exercise the infant Iraqi Logistics System, sometimes it's better to throw them a bone and let them taste success. The IA soldiers and leaders I talk to are genuinely appreciative for everything America has done over here. Most are excited about their new future. Some are impatient, but nowhere near the quantity you would think.

On another note, here is a story about the coalition unit that we work with.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gaNB-PUaA-f81WAERLWIUhKCnBGAD951ATP80

Iraqi soldiers are sometimes funny. A lot of what they do is image-oriented. Like having four different guns sticking out of the top of a truck, but two are broken, and only one has ammo. One guy had an American Army Wet Bulb thermometer designed to measure true air temperature on a tripod strapped to the back of the truck turret, as if it were some magical device that would keep him from getting hit by direct fire or an IED. He didn't know it was a thermometer, but a credit to his reasoning is that no one else knew it was a wet bulb thermometer. Funny, in a strange Iraqi sort of way.

12 more shopping days...

Hope you are well-- take care.
Ron

Who is the REAL enemy?

Here's a pic of us on a joint patrol with the Iraqi Army. Note we drive around in these super armored MRAP trucks designed to prevent blow-up stuff from hurting us, and they have F-350s...

Spent the past couple of days out and about. We visited a couple of companies in the Brigade on some battlefield circulation patrols, and today we observed a “clearance” of an area called the “SAC” or Sa’id Abdulla Corridor, which is an area west of Mahmudiya full of former bad guys. The Mahmudiya-Yusifiya-Lutifiya area used to be known as a “triangle of death” but due to the persistent efforts of US and Iraqi forces, things are quiet there now, although there are some bad guys who stop off there in and around Baghdad. We caught a couple of guys today, which is a good thing.

Bad things still happen, though, and there’s lots of people who have been affected by bad things. Today we visited a house pretty much in the middle of nowhere, in this very agricultural SA corridor. In it was a woman and what’s left of her family. She had lost two of her sons and her husband to the Army of Islam, an extremist Islamic group that operates around here. In her hysteria, she brought us into her house and took us to a room that was empty, except for their three pictures in cheap frames carefully hung on the center of a wall with some cheap plastic flowers around it. It was the best shrine she could provide, especially since two of the bodies were never recovered. I don’t understand extremism.

At times, though, the job is also intensely frustrating. Particularly when it involves getting COL Moshen to commit to a hard time, like what time will we leave in the morning. He keeps strange hours, and frequently stays up until 4AM. Not sure what he does, but it usually involves meeting with sources. Yesterday I confirmed an 8AM start; we waited until 8:45 until he rolled out of his quarters, his personal security detachment (PSD) scrambling about, and off we went. An 11:00 roll out time turned into 11:40 the other day. He hasn’t made a SP time yet.

I theorize that part of it is due to the requirement to maintain what a CGSC (Command and General Staff College—the past year I spent at Fort Leavenworth) friend would call “Machismo.” COL Moshen is a mix between a Godfather/Mafioso, a police chief who cleaned up a town, a warlord, and a wise middle-aged man. He smokes incessantly, frequently holds court amongst those who require favors of him, likes American history, and watches Tom and Jerry cartoons (think I’ve mentioned that before). He is seldom short for words, and there is drama in his presentation. He fought in the Iran-Iraq war (towards the end), he was in the Gulf War, and he was in the Army in 2003 when the US invaded. He may be 0-3, but this time I think he really believes in what he’s doing.

Other frustrating moments about this job include trying to get information from him to report to higher. The American Army, particularly our higher Headquarters division, is an information monster. You wouldn’t believe the type and quantity of raw data that we have to report. Not sure what decisions, if any, are being made with the numbers, but it is incessant. Consequently, most of the Iraqis of course don’t track all the crap that we ask for. I’m fairly certain the guy who’s asking for all of this crap has no idea of the man-hours that go into compiling the data and attempting to validate its accuracy.

On many days, I am frustrated more by my own higher command than I am of my Iraqi counterpart.

We have a slow day tomorrow. The fellas went on a Logistics run to Disneyworld (big American base by the airport where peole live good and never leave the installation), and I stayed back to compile more useless data for higher. Tomorrow I’m going to sleep in (maybe until 7:30) then go to the gym, then do some reading. Speaking of the fellas, here we are in our "we made it to Iraq" picture:

Again, hope you are well, and thanks for following along.
Ron

Pictures of Patol Base Deason

Finally, some pictures of Patrol Base Deason. This one is of the CHUs (mine is on the far end). We stole the sun tarp from someplace in order to have some shade come summertime. We also stole the picnic table.

The above picture is of our new dining facility. The smurfs in blue to the right are the Indian Patrol Base Construction Team, guys who are contracted to build things around the camp. They are working on the kitchen, to the right of the new mobile home-type building. These two buildings replace the ones burned up by the fire on 30 October.

The last picture is of a boy we met when we visited one of the subordinate battalions. This boy is now an orphan, and he lives there on the Iraqi compound. His father was kidnapped by al Qaida in Iraq, and they attempted to ransom him in order to get the boy’s uncle to work with AQ. The uncle refused, and they killed the father, and then they broke into the boy's house and killed the boy’s mother in front of him. Al Qaida then killed the uncle and told the boy to never come to the area again, and sent him to Mahmudiya (where we are) to live on the street. He has two sisters with another cousin, but he can't go live with them because al Qaida will come for him there. Since then, the Iraqi Army battalion has adopted him, given him a place to live and food to eat, and they are making sure he gets to school.

Security has improved, but there are still extremist groups who are trying to make a comeback, and they do it through extortion, kidnapping, and coercion. People now trust the Army, and they have been turning in extremists and passing leads on to Iraqi soldiers on the street.

This really hit home with me. He is the same age as my daughter, and I can’t imagine the trauma the poor kid has seen in his short life. But the soldiers in the unit proudly displayed him before the Brigade Commander, COL (Colonel) Moshen (the guy without a hat). They want to do good things and see raising this boy as an opportunity to try to mend some of the trauma the country has seen. The boy said he wants to train to be a soldier so he can bring peace to his country. It made me think of how much I take for granted.

Off to work. Take care and thanks for reading.

Ron

Life on Patrol Base Deason

Sorry for the long delay; meant to get to this sooner, but I have been keeping busy, which is a good thing.

It’s a little cold here this morning—foggy and 47 degrees. Deason is named after a Staff Sergeant from the 101st Airborne Division who was killed in combat operations in 2005. It’s about the size of a football field. There are anywhere between 80 and 100 people who live and work here, most of which never leave the walls.

We live in CHUs (containerized housing units). Each CHU has three rooms, and there are two guys to a room. In the CHU you get a bed, a locker, and a nightstand. Mine currently still does not have power. We are waiting for a cable. Not sure what's so special about this cable, but we have been waiting for it for a while. Perhaps it holds the workings of world peace, and once connected we can all go home.

We have a new chow hall (as you may or may not recall, the old one burned down on 30 October), and it has a TV in it with Armed Forces Network (AFN). Unfortunately, this too has been down for the past couple of days. Sportscenter in the morning was nice to watch; hope they get it fixed. We get a hot dinner, and sometimes we get a hot breakfast. Lunch is either an MRE or scrounging on whatever is in there—breakfast cereal, peanut butter and jelly, chips, or whatever people send. There is also an internet café-type place that has a couple of phones and some computers that are specifically for recreational use (this is where I work on the blog—you can’t do blogs on Army systems due to bandwidth requirements).

We have toilets and showers, but we have found it difficult to sustain the infrastructure to maintain a complex system built by a bunch of hard working Indian guys. None of us are very good plumbers. First off, the materials they have available aren’t exactly great; and the craftsmanship is very creative, so you have to understand the mind of the guy who put it together before you can fix it. Power surges happen frequently, so surge protectors are a must, especially since everything is wired for 220 (and in some cases, 240…) We have a hot water heater, but it doesn’t work very well (80 dudes and one hot water heater = no hot water) so if you get a shower, it is not exactly warm. The gray water goes into the canal behind the compound and eventually runs into the Euphrades about 30 kilometers south of here. The black water (toilet waste) goes into a septic tank and we pay a guy to come and suck it out (and he probably goes and dumps it into the same canal our grey water goes into…). It’s sort of like one big RV.

Our office (we call it a team house) has a logistics office, and operations and intelligence office, and a big room we use for anything that doesn’t fit into those categories. IF we ever get our AFN antenna up, our TV will go in there, and we have a couple of refrigerators for munchies. There is also an Army computer we can check email on. I share an office with Doc; it has one of the two secure internet links we have for the team (only work stuff on these computers). I also currently have the only phone, but we are hoping the commo situation will improve soon.

Overall, it isn’t bad. I have lived in worse, others are living worse (but not many), and frankly I’d rather live here than on Disneyworld, which is our nickname for the huge bases that others live on. Too much traffic, and too many flagpoles and people who want to tell you how to do your job.

The other day I went to a big meeting with my Iraqi counterpart, Colonel Moshen. At the meeting were about 250 Sheiks and local leaders in the community. They discussed security (which isn’t bad in Mahmudiya, compared to other places) and the Sons of Iraq program, which the Iraqi government now owns. It was interesting to see how Iraqis get business done. The great part is that they were working through issues without trying to kill each other or blow each other up- at least not overtly, anyway.

Today’s travels take the team and some of the Iraqi staff to FOB Mahmudiya for a joint meeting, then I will attend another meeting with COL Moshen. I could write a book on him; More on that later.

Thanks for reading; I promise to get some pictures of Deason up soon. Take care.