CONUS Replacement Center (CRC)

I am down at Fort Benning, Army Base in Columbus, GA. I flew down here yesterday with three other people who are working on the Task Force with me. We will be here until Friday, preparing for all that we will need during out time in Iraq. This is something that ideally you should go to BEFORE you get into the country, but we were not able to get a place in the course until this week. It is VERY interesting here. I believe I can now relate to what my father must have gone through when he was drafted into the Army. This place is right out of the 40's-50's. The barracks were probably built around then and nothing has changed. The people who are going through this class are definitely diverse. We have active duty military - mostly Army, reserve and guard (once again primarily Army), civil servants - like myself, and contractors. One of my workmates summed it up by announcing "it's a NASCAR environment". One of the briefings we attended stressed the need to wear closed toe shoes and no sleeveless t-shirts!

They process anywhere from 400 to 500 personnel a week through this place. We have like 458 people in our group, so you can imagine that there is a lot of the "hurry up and wait" going on. They ask that you do alot of the paperwork before you get there, but you still have to go through the class where the people who didn't do it ahead of time are going through it, so it doesn't really save you anytime at all. I didn't do anything in advance and now I'm glad. Some of the training they have here includes : Online training classes on cultural awareness, sexual harrassment, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Anti-terrorism training and more. We will be going through a full medical and dental screening tomorrow.

The barracks I am in has 4 people to a room. I started off with only one other roommate, she is going to Afghanistan, but we got one more tonight, who has just returned from Iraq and is heading back home to California. We have bunkbeds and I'm lucky, I am on the bottom bunk and have no one on top. The guys had a huge snorer in their room and didn't get any sleep last night. I was asleep before my person came to bed last night and didn't notice snoring, but now I hear it. Nothing too loud though, so I am lucky in that respect. The bathrooms are down the hall and there is a tv room across from where we are in the next bldg over that looks like a prison lounge.

I started my workout this morning. There is a small gym across from where we are and I am planning on going there at least once day. Since there are so many people, they stagger the groups and I am sooo lucky - I get to go in the 0900 group each day. The earliest is 0600 - yuck. Well, needless to say, after staying here I will not complain at all about the Villa in Iraq - the conditions there are actually better than here in GA, and the food is much better as well!!

Back Home

I am back in America and it seems weird that I could be in Iraq one day and 1/2 way around the world the next. Isn't it amazing?!! Got home Thursday morning around 7:30am - realized I had given all my keys to my friends so they could water my plants and check my mail - thank you so much by the way!! And I was locked out. Luckily my friend was just on her way to work and was able to get me the keys. Because I slept for like 10 out of the 14 hours on the plane, I was not that tired, so I went through my mail, unpacked my bags and did some laundry. It is so nice to be home and to be able to relax for just one day. Suprisingly last night, I slept the entire night through without waking up once. Today (Friday) I am back to work. It was nice to see all my friends at work and to go out for happy hour afterwards. I am off tomorrow to Fort Benning in Columbus, GA for a week long course on what to expect in Iraq. As usual with the military/government, this would have been nice to have completed BEFORE going to Iraq. I've heard that it is a typical "hurry up and wait" Army situation, so I am prepared for the worst. I will be going with three others from my work, so at least I will know some of the people there.

January 21, 2008

It’s been a good couple days. Friday was a busy day. Briefed the General in the morning for my second Friday briefing, then later in the afternoon I had my first actually, in person sighting of General Petraeus. We went to a military ceremony called a Change of Command for the Joint Contracting Office. The Air Force General that retired is going to be the second in charge at the organization that I am currently working at in DC and the Navy female Admiral that relieved him is a Navy Supply Corps Officer – which is what I do in the reserves, so it was very interesting. All the main guys were present - of course I really didn’t know any of them except the guy I’m working for right now. He is a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Business Transformation which means he must be appointed by the President to have his position. The Ambassador for the State Department was there and that’s the first I’ve heard of him as well. So, it was a star studded event.

Friday afternoon we went over to the other base called Camp Victory. That is where we flew into originally, it’s right near the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). It is where the majority of the military troops are, where all the operations originate from. We departed here in a big grey, armored, RV looking thing called a Rhino. It is accompanied by an entourage of humvees. I thought we were really heading out into Iraq – to the “red zone”, but we went down this road called Route Irish (not sure why) which is about 6 miles to Camp Victory. Just recently it has become very safe, but some time ago, it was very dangerous and the place where a lot of IED’s have been set off. So, it was a good trip – uneventful. We spent one night and ½ of Saturday touring around and checking out the place. It is a totally different atmosphere over there. Thousands of military personnel and most of the operations are done out of either trailers or this Palace that we have taken over, called Al Faw Palace. It is a beautiful building with a moat all the way around it. Unlike the Palace in the IZ we could take tons of pictures, so I am working on getting them downloaded.

Last night was our first night off since we’ve been here. A lot of the bosses are out, so it is not as hectic although there is a ton to do, we are able to get it done quicker without all the interruptions.

The last few days have been beautiful here as far as the weather, cool but sunny. Today was a bit gloomy, but still not freezing. It gets pretty cold during the night though, still making the middle of the night trips out to the unheated bathroom – but at least there is a hot shower. After hearing that the troops in Camp Victory just got out of tents and into trailers since being here, I have nothing to complain about.

We went to this bizarre on the compound today and bought a ton of movies, so hopefully we will get to watch one tonight. The next few days are going to be very busy as we prepare to come back home.

January 16, 2008

It’s been a while since my last entry. Some of you might say – how was your weekend? Well, there are no weekends here. The only slight break we get is that people in the Pentagon and DC are off for the weekend and are unavailable, but things keep moving here. I am settling into my job and have met most of the people now, but most of them are not receptive to providing me with information, so my job is quite challenging. Making slides and preparing briefs is the last thing that people who are busy and making things happen want to do. I think the military and the government in general has fallen into the trap of spending more time preparing and disseminating PowerPoint slides instead of just doing the work. You could get rid of half the people (myself included) if you didn’t have all this reporting. Can you imagine how it worked back in the day during WWII – sorry I can’t move forward until I have this PowerPoint briefing in the field on my laptop. Anyway…..

So, I was mentioning the Galley (Navy term) here…..it is a very dangerous place. Imagine going to the all you can eat buffet everyday. I have been here long enough now that they are beginning the repeats, so I can see that it would get old very quickly. There are several places to eat, but most of the food is the same. I usually go to what they call he main Dining Facility (DFAC). When you walk in there is a main line with things like meatloaf, fish, chicken, (Sunday was crab legs and steak) mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, peas, carrots, corn and always corn bread. Then there is a specialty grill that has the hot sandwich of the day or stir fry of the day like a tuna melt, Monte Cristo or rueben sandwich. Then there is another line that usually has a themed item, taco bar is popular as well as Indian bar and one time there was pizza bar. Then is the salad bar – last week they had the good green lettuce, but yesterday they just had the iceberg. I am trying to have a salad everyday. Then there is a cold deli line – cold sandwiches (I haven’t tried that yet), followed by the potato salad, macaroni salad and other things. Then in the back they have the short order line where you can get hotdogs, hamburgers, grilled cheese, French fries. I have only been there once to get a corn dog. They also have a soup section with 2-3 soups. And if that’s not enough, there is dessert…..pies, cake, Baskin Robbins ice cream, soft serve ice cream, cookies. So……you can see what I mean about the Galley being a dangerous place.

The weather has been sunny here, but still cold.

You may have read in the papers that the Secretary of State was visiting yesterday – I didn’t have a sighting – didn’t even really know about it until the end of the day. It was interesting though that we had reports of 5 rocket attacks into the Green Zone yesterday. I heard the alarm for two of them, once while I was in the Galley ("Incoming, incoming") and the all clear when I was inside the Palace. I think because it has been so safe since I’ve arrived that I have formed a false sense of security – and I still need to remember that people are shooting at us.

11Jan08

Today was a big day. My only job here is to gather information and put it into presentations for dissemination. Today we briefed the General – General Petraeus. I stayed up until 11pm working on the slides and was pretty nervous about it and I wasn’t even briefing. He was actually on video, so I didn’t see him in real life, but it was fascinating to observe the entire process. There is a lot going on here for sure. Ours was a good news story as we have closed the deal on privatizing a cement factory and that will be the first privatized company in Iraq. A major feat when you consider all the factors, and there are several more in the works.

We are averaging 14-15 hour days right now. Everyone says this is how it will be with no days off. I know that a lot of people over here have these hours – it’s pretty brutal. It’s making my three jobs back home seem like a walk in the park J

I found a desk today to work from –it’s quiet, comfortable and has an ergonomic keyboard - perfect! Right after I got all settled in a guy comes over with his boss and they start talking around me like I’m invisible - about how the guy is going to move into the cube tomorrow. Good news is he is going on leave for three weeks, so I can work here while he’s gone.

I am getting assigned new living quarters as well, so I will be curious to see what number 3 in 5 days is like. I do know that I have to make the long march in the middle of the night to an outside bathroom, so that isn’t so great, but I think it has internet access which is a plus!!

Big news today was that it snowed!! I came out at 0700 to go to work and it was snowing HUGE snowflakes. It didn’t last long and continued to rain, but they were saying that it’s quite unusual to get snow here.

Well, the galley is dangerous. I will tell you more about it later, but I just have to say that my stomach is a little shaky right now. Lucky I brought he immodium.

Keep your comments coming - I like to read them!!

09Jan08

Well, we are getting into a rhythm of work now which is good. I think it’s much better to be busy here. Surprisingly, we have most all the comforts of home, there is access to the internet, some American tv and tons of food. Everywhere you go they have a dining facility (DFAC). It is possible to make healthy choices, so that’s what I am trying to do. Haven’t had a chance to get to the gym yet, transportation is still an issue as well as finding time. I have heard that we are getting a few gym pieces here in our villa, so that will be awesome. I was just told that I am moving back into my old room and they have the heating and water situation worked out. I find that hard to believe, but I have no choice in the matter and people are not sympathetic to your situation as they have been there themselves, so I may have to get some warmer cloths.

General observations and random info:
*It is quiet here in the villa and in the Green Zone in general – not what I was expecting.
*The Embassy (Old Palace) is fascinating; there are so many organizations there. The state department people dress up, some men wear bow ties with their suits, and women wear skirts. Luckily I am in khakis and sweaters, I hope it stays that way – I prefer casual.
*You cannot put toilet paper down the toilets in the villa as it will clog the plumbing, so you have to put it in the trash, just imagine!
*It is cold here, sunny but cold – the weather says it’s supposed to snow here today, I don’t think that will happen though.

Day ??

I have been assigned to work in Baghdad for the next 4-6 mos with my government job. I departed DC on the 5th of January and will be here for three, then back to the states for a week and then back to Baghdad for an undetermined amount of time. I am keeping a blog of my travels.

8 Jan 08 - This is the first minute I’ve had to myself since leaving DC on 5Jan08 at 950pm. The hours have been long – we have spent a lot of time getting oriented, doing administrative stuff and going to meetings. It is much bigger than I ever imagined, although I think after being here a while one might find it rather small. The main area that I work in is the Embassy (Saddam’s old palace) and the villa (where we live).
So far the coolest thing was on the way here. We flew commercial air (United) to Kuwait and then a contracted flight took us into Baghdad. Once we arrived, we had to go about 7 miles to get to the International Zone (IZ/Green Zone) where we will be sequestered until we leave. There are a few ways to get there, you can take this prearranged “taxi like” big armored vehicle (which I have not seen yet) called a Rhino, or you can go in armored SUV’s driven by contracted guards (that work for our group specifically called the PSD) or we could take a helo. Well, someone on the team was being very nice to us newbies (4 of us) and arranged for us to go by helo. It is only like a 5 minute ride, but it takes like over 20 to drive. The helo was absolutely awesome. It was totally dark and we were flying right over the Tigris and then into the IZ.
My first night was a bit of a challenge. I took the strategy of staying up as much as I could during the trip as we would be arriving in the evening and I figured we could go straight to bed. It would have worked out fine except by the time we got to the villa, got moved into our rooms (I got one to myself w/o a roommate), had a mandatory meeting, and found a shower that worked, it was like 130am. I was tired and knew I would get a good night sleep, but sometime during the night, my window a/c unit that doubles as a heater, shut off and I woke up around 2:15am freezing. So, I put on more clothing and got another blanket, but that didn’t really help and by the time I had to be ready at 0730, I hadn’t slept a wink. So, needless to say, my first day was tough not to mention we didn’t end until 1030p that night.
The next day was much better as I was able to move to another room with heat and with a working bathroom right outside the door.
Pam