Almost 2 weeks

You may have noticed I am now posting some photos - I just figured out how to use the feature after all this time. This is one of me and my friends that I came here with from DC. We are in the Palace at Camp Victory and everyone gets thier picture taken in this chair.

I can't believe I've only been here almost 2 weeks, it seems much longer. I have my Friday morning briefing tomorrow and for the second week in a row we have been able to get the info in on time, so that is helping me out alot. We have had two groups of two investors in this week, so it has been busy. It's an interesting process we have going - we are essentially hosting potential investors into the country and taking them to different areas that they are interested in investing in - also setting up meetings with Ministers of Iraq to explore opportunities. Some people are actually going to invest here - which is amazing.

There is not much else going on right now. Did I mention that I don't even have to do my laundry? I just take my clothes to the laundermat and they do it for me and have it ready the next day. That is a great bonus. No cooking, no cleaning and no laundry!! But funny enough, I'm not on vacation. :-)

Weekend

Well, it's the first day of the three day weekend for those of you Federal employees back home. Usually I would be enjoying a four day weekend and possibly be visiting some of you reading this blog, but this week I didn't even realize it was a holiday until I saw something in the Star and Stripes paper - which is the local paper on military bases overseas. So, enjoy and be thankful for our past Presidents!

Last night there must have been some huge wind storm because it was very dusty and I couldn't sleep. So much dust was coming into the room it was unbelievable. It started to wear off as the day went along today, but I am thinking this is a warning of things to come this summer. I have heard it's even worse over at Camp Victory.

Had a good first week back actually and the briefing yesterday went very well. General Petraeus is happy with what we are doing, so that makes it much better when we brief him. Thursday night we had a number of Generals and Ministers in the Villa eating dinner. It was a big success from what I hear. Of course I didn't attend, my biggest contribution for the team was to help with the dishes afterwards.

Today was a slow day and it was nice just to work the regular 10 hours. We went to an Industry Trade Show that was being put on in the Al Rasheed Hotel - which is the famous hotel that was bombed during the Gulf War. It is on the verge of the red zone, they call it the orange zone, but it's technically still in the green zone. You might think going to a trade show is no big deal, but this was incredible as many of the State Owned Enterprises that we are working with were in attendance. It was a hugely successful event and there were over 200 businesses represented.

Tonight we actually had a chance to just hang out. We got a pool table and a foosball table here in the Villa now. It is supposed to be for when the Ministers and VIP's visit, but when no one is here - like right now- we can play. This Army Sgt - Kallee and I are the reigning champs so far in foosball. It's nice to have a little something to do that doesn't involve a computer or tv.

Hopefully tomorrow will be another slow day and I will be fully recovered to start all over again on Monday.

Happy Valentine's Day

Made it here on Sunday -no problem whatsoever. It is a 12 hour flight on the way over and the connection in Kuwait goes very smooth. I have observed that many people get stuck in Kuwait, but so far I have had good luck with it.

Things are going really well so far. I think I am able to get into more of a rhythm this time having passed the learning curve. I am now able to focus on the work more than where things are and who does what. The transportation issue seems to be a bit of a problem still, trying to find a ride to get to the Palace or to do errands. Sometimes I just work from the Villa – it’s got everything you need in the way of office space, but there can be a lot of interruptions as well.

I haven’t been to the big DFAC yet. I have been eating at the little one by the Villa or the deli in the Palace. It’s been working out much better as there are fewer temptations at the smaller facilities.

The weather here is the big news. Since I’ve been back, it’s been in the 70’s. Sunny, yet not too hot. Very nice actually – except for I don’t have a lot of summer clothes here. Might have to see how the online shopping works sooner than expected.

Well, as you can see, nothing too exciting to report. Hope everyone is well!!

Home Sweet Home

I am so happy to be back to DC. What an incredible experience down in GA. We got to shoot the 9mm one of the days. I have qualified before as an expert once and a sharpshooter another time in the Navy Reserves. This time we only got to shoot 10 rounds and we had to wait ALL day to do it, no lie! It was horrible - but on the bright side, I shot 9 out of the 10 targets. I have to say, I am sooo happy I never joined the Army. I know that it's good for some people, but it's not for me - it's grueling. If you ever meet someone in the Army, let them know much you appreciate all that they do - they have it tough, believe me and very little appreciation.

I will be in DC this week, working from the Pentagon and Crystal City. Heading back to Iraq next Sat and will be there for a couple months.

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.