Life in the IZ

Well folks, its been a couple weeks here in the International Zone, adjusting to and learning the new job, territory, people and of course challenges. I have also been trying to figure out where to take you in the blog by asking myself what kind of things would you guys all like to know about life here in Baghdad. I am aware that the picture for many is not clear, but I intend to be careful not to share any information that would compromise the safety, security and effectiveness of our operations over here. As you can imagine there are a lot of new things for me to experience here: life working in an Army National guard unit doing public works engineering and renovations, working and living in one of Sadaam’s old palaces, working side by side with many different nationalities that are represented here in the international zones from the Peruvian and Nigerian security, the Pakistani and Indian food service folks, the Italian, Australia,British military, and of course the local Iraqi people and contractors. The truth is, it is all very interesting, but not as excitement filled as you might imagine. Many days are spent doing the day to day business of our jobs, and working on not being too discouraged by the large bureaucracy that has taken hold here in Baghdad (not much different than Washington D.C. back in the states) but some days do lend them self to a good story to be told. So I will just try and share a few of the experiences that I thought where memories I will take back with me to the U.S.

The President is coming …..

Well as I am sure you all heard, George Bush made an unscheduled visit to Baghdad for his last time as President to meet with the Prime Minister of Iraq. Of course the headlines were not about that meeting, or visiting the troops but that of a local reporter who was trying to be the first man to hit a U.S. President with his shoe. Thankfully Bush is still pretty light on his feet was able to duck the two size 10’s that were hurled at his head. Well I am excited to report, our unit got to set security detail that night on the route the President traveled through the IZ to the Prime Ministers compound. I was fortunate enough to be part of the detail that secured the airfield where the President would fly out of. We all came into work that morning business as usual, and by lunch we where briefed we would need to report in later that afternoon, in full battle rattle (all that stuff you saw me wearing in training), and would be briefed on our roles in a security detail that was being set up. I was assigned to the airfield and was there a few hours before the President arrived in the motorcade, and had plenty of time to talk with various folks from the President’s security team, and the air crew, and got to for a very brief second, see Mr. Bush, rush from his car into the aircraft.

The opportunity was really quite exciting, but it didn't neccesarily start off that way. For some, the reaction was one of dread at first, as the thought of wearing our full battle rattle for some unknown period was a real downer, as we would likely be standing outside in the cold for many hours, but when we all showed up that afternoon, and were briefed it would be the President that this securit detail was being set up for, I am proud to say that all hands where excited and ready for the task, and honored to be chosen and trusted with such a duty. You see, I believe, despite the differences that can exist between people, either Army, Navy, or Air Force, Officer or Enlisted, Republican or Democrats, when it comes to the President and the United States, we are all proud of the privilege to serve, and getting a chance to serve the president directly was an honor. I am not trying to over dramatize that evening, but those who have been in the military or worked in a service environment, know that many of the hours spent serving are tedious, without reward, and sometimes in an environment of wondering why you are there doing what you are doing, complaining about work conditions and bureaucracy. The rewarding part comes on evenings like these when you see a team of men and women come together for a common cause, and serve with pride, and professionalism, that you hope still remains, but during long stretches of day to day ops, you may not directly see. Ultimately we are all proud to be Americans and rejoice in our differences, and celebrate our unity when the times call for it.

So we all did our job in a professional manner and kept the presidents motorcade safe. I would like to think had any of us been in that press conference room that evening, any of us would have been willing to take a shoe for the President, if that is what was needed.

The night the lights went out in Building 1 and 6

Often times in crisis, we operate at our best. Unfortunately crisis is often the result of something that was missed. This was the case of a recent renovation project that we were working on. The command I am at is currently primarily focused on the renovations of the buildings that the commands that are staying in the IZ are moving to as part of our IZ transition plan to turn things over to the Iraqi’s. Let me tell you the transition is occurring, and the timeline has been compressed dramatically over the past few months, so contracts are being put together at a abnormally fast pace, and we are all motivated to help aid in this transition. As it turns out, the buildings, that our command is moving to, renovations recently came to completion, when it was realized, that a number of electrical sub panels now had a much larger electrical load on them than originally designed, and the cables supplying them where not of sufficient size to support all the great new equipment we installed in the buildings. The contracting process here (and even back in the states) is just not fast enough to respond to the turn around a contract and get another contractor in the building to update the cabling in time for the end of the year deadline to move out of the Palace. As a result, two of the buidlings are without permanent power, one of which is the building the Commanding Officer of the unit is going to. Our boss in Installations, asked us if we could order and install the cable ourselves, and like good military men and women we are, we stepped up to the challenge and spent our Christmas Eve installing and connecting cables.

The photo’s seen are of the Installation's directorate personell pulling together to lift and install over 500 meters of cable throughout two buildings. It was an exciting and muscle burning day, as it took all the bodies we had in the directorate. Prior to this the command had small teams that daily spent their time out at various sites throughout the IZ monitoring contractors on various job that we have contracted. Normally we are the ones, watching the contractors work, inspecting for quality and compliance to the contract, so this was a nice change to get some hands on work done. It was an exciting day, one that reminded me of the good old days back in the shipyard, with crews of dedicated people pushing to get the job done. Comradery and morale are always high when the team has a common achievable goal, that they can all see the finish line ahead of them. Much like the Presidential security detail, this job drew us all together, and felt a feeling of pride as we accomplished yet another memorable task here in Iraq, and left most feeling good going into our day of rest on Christmas day.

Christmas in Bagdad

So you might be wondering, what was Christmas like here. Well it was quite pleasant and relaxing, with just enough holiday cheer. As mentioned in the previous story we spent Christmas Eve working all day on the cable install and walk away feeling content and tired. At the end of the day I hopped in the shower (a nice 10 min hollywood shower with plenty of hot water to sooth my muscles from lifting cable), headed out to dinner and went to the Christmas eve candle light service at the Chapel at the Palace. It was really nice, singing Christmas songs, and hearing great message from the firey Army Chaplain. We even got a special treat to hear some Arabic Christian Hymns, by some of the Arabic interpreters that work here in the compound. We did receive the full day off for Christmas to sleep in and do what we like. I choose to stay at my residence near the palace, sleep in, watch a movie or two, and enjoy a couple of fine meals at the DFAC. The pictures tell the who story of the DFAC, which was cheerfully decorated. I met up with my Battle buddy from Fort McCrady who works just down the street, and we enjoyed a great meal of turkey, ham, and all the fixings. We ended the day with a nice cup of coffee and a movie in the palace. I did get a chance to Skype with Abby and the girls, and talk with my mom and sister on the phone, it was nice to see and hear everyone enjoying the holiday. I am without a want or need out here in Baghdad, so I counted my blessings, to be safe, warm, and full as I celebrated a memorable day in a memorable place.