Trip Report - Baghdad!

I just got back from Baghdad, what a great trip.

Don’t you hate it when people name drop? (Oh my, I just got back from Paris and have you seen what they’ve done to the LOUVRE? You haven’t? Oh my goodness, you MUST get there as soon as you can, I can’t TELL you how wonderful it is!). Well, something like that I guess.

But I did get a chance to go to Baghdad and had an eye opening trip. We flew down in a Blackhawk helicopter and he must have been flying about 200’ off the ground. They fly low and fast and when they bank hard, you are face down looking at rooftops. I made a mistake on the trip back and asked the crew chief if they’d leave the doors open. Well, I was in the wrong seat and got blasted by the airflow coming in; the guy next to me said my cheeks were being buffeted so hard, they looked like water rippling from a thrown rock. I thought about moving to a different seat, but that probably wouldn’t have been the smartest thing to do. I had goggles on, but if I turned my head they would have been ripped off, so I just stared straight into the wind and hoped they didn’t hit a bird.

My meeting was in the Green Zone downtown where we got the chance to meet some of our compatriots from other countries, all working to help build the Iraqi Army. My direct contact is U.S., but there’s a Canadian liaison officer, an Australian officer and I even saw a Macedonian on their team. We had lunch at the U.S. Embassy compound and that was another cool place. I’m scheduled to fly to many of the outposts in country and I think this is going to be an interesting tour.

My contact with the Iraqi Army is going to be limited, but I will still get a chance to work with them. I’m a cog, a paper pusher that watches the equipment and personnel being fielded and tracks to make sure it’s fixed, maintained, serviced, supported, etc. in support of the new Iraqi Army. The challenge is that their way of doing things are not the U.S.’s way of doing things. We try to force our system down their throat and it doesn’t always work. We could give them our system, shake their hand and walk away, but we’d leave them with unworkable systems they wouldn’t use, so we’re trying hard to find systems that works for them. We’re learning fast, but must go faster.

There is limited automation in the Iraqi Army; we are focusing on stubby pencil supply systems. Our concept of support is to push supplies to the end user before they ask for them. We know how many people are in each unit, where they’re located, how many vehicles we drive and other metrics. We know what part breaks down often, our daily ration cycle, wholesale/retail supply operations and much more because we’ve been perfecting our system for many years. Think about how much Target Corp has learned about warehouse management and distribution and then what would happen if they tried to force that onto a Mom and Pop grocery store around the corner. How much of Target’s gigantic institutional knowledge would even be relevant? We’re starting from scratch here.

Here’s one of the situations: we tried to help them feed their force. We were going to give them mobile kitchens, supplies, utensils, food and purification systems and then send them to schools to learn how to cook, how to provide sanitary work environments, operate generators, etc. These are basic skills, to us. The commander of the Iraqi force just shook his head and said bring me 30 sheep, we’ll kill one sheep per day and we’ll be happy. This was anecdotal, but characterizes their concept of support and we have to find something in the middle. It’s cultural awareness. So, we need to rethink how to give them a system they’ll use. It’s very interesting and I’m looking forward to learning more.

I have more traveling to do. There are regular air terminals set up and units in place to provide it. There’s not much ground movement allowed outside of convoys (using gun trucks) and those are highly regulated because of the IED danger. So, air travel is the key.

I’m in a routine now. If I don’t get up early to fly (listen to me, I’ve been out once) I get to the gym in the morning and try to work off the food. I have never been around so much food before. There are 3 full meals a day unless you get up for midnight chow which would be 4. The portions are huge, there are no shortages and they heap it on the plates. Last Wed was fish night, and I swear to God…Lobster or Prime rib, your choice. You could have both is you wanted. And, it was pretty good. There’s a dessert bar with Baskins & Robbins and we’ve been warned that 3 trips back to the bar might be overdoing it. I’m trying, but it’s hard. I probably shouldn’t have even said anything about this cause my cookies won’t make it, but its part of the routine and does break up the day. I’ll have to take some pictures at the holidays; they say the food is unbelievable at Thanksgiving.

Best wishes to all and keep up the good thoughts! More later!