Captain VO's Blog (again)

Photo's

2008-05-16T12:43:00.004+03:00

Two pictures, one of me getting ready to roll out with the Dept of State Folks (don't I look happy) and one of a fellow Civil Affairs Soldiers, SFC Sundermeyer, with some of the Manuver Guys, out on mission.

A Day in the Life...

2008-05-11T20:11:00.001+03:00

Many of you have asked what a “typical” day is like and what I actually do here. This being Iraq, and the Army, there is nothing typical or routine but I will take a stab at it.

I generally wake up at 0600 partially because it is light here at 0500 but also because the older I get the less I seem to sleep. I shower pretty much every day because I can. Showers are built into a 20 foot shipping container. Each “container” has 6 stalls and 6 sinks and a H2O heater, which gives us plenty of hot water. Water is brought in by truck at night into gravity tanks that support the showers/sinks. Gravity--it’s not just a good idea, it’s the law. I have no idea where this water comes from nor do I dwell on it as there are signs everywhere saying not to drink it or get it in your mouth.

I take the 5 minute walk to the office which can best be described as a fancy shed built by Iraqi labor constructed of 2”x 4”s & plywood. The building has full electricity and AC and I do my best to keep it at temperature conducive for running a small butcher shop. As the Company XO I am lucky enough to have my own office which is nice, however I secretly think they did it to isolate and contain me. I have four, yes four, laptop computers which allow me to stay connected to the Secret network, the military unclassified network, the Department of State network and of course my own which allows me to play iTunes and use Yahoo IM. Thank you Mr. Yahoo for inventing Yahoo Voice Chat!!!

I ate breakfast one time and found it to not be the most pleasurable experience so I opt instead to drink 18 cups of coffee and graze on anything from Girl Scout cookies, dry Ramin noodles, beef jerky, all manner of nuts, cold individual Campbell’s soup and anything else I find laying around.

During the course of my day I provide overwatch to the Solders that provide the administrative, logistical and technical (IM, phones, radios) support to the company. For the most part these folks do not need me bugging them and I am basically there to support them, put out fires for them and ask annoying micro-managing questions. I also oversee the Operations portion of the company. This gets a little grey. Basically I oversee the planning, tracking, coordination and operations of the various Civil Affairs Teams we have on the ground. It is in capacity I make the most “friends”. I also try to assist “fusing” the work the CA teams do at the Nahiya (city) level with the work being done by the DoS folks at the Qadah (county) and Provincial (state) levels. If any of you know what this means please help me so we both know. On top of all that I try to get out a couple times a week to see how the teams are moving, to get a better understanding of the battle space and to work on that “fusion” thing. Lastly I try to comply with the many exciting tasks and orders we get from the various higher headquarters we support. Much of what I do is the equivalent of nailing jello to the wall.

I try to eat a couple times a day at the luxurious Dining Facility. They actually do a pretty good job but I think I got tired of the food here after my first 5 days.

I generally get out of the office at about 2200 and go straight to bed. Then I wake up the next day and do it all over again.

Sunday is High Holiday in that I try to sleep in (which is about 0800 for me) and wear my PT uniform (shorts & T shirt). I usually don’t go into the office until 1200-ish and then spend the rest of the day trying to catch up. I also spend a good part of Sunday morning talking about going to church, however I have yet to make it.

So there you go, that’s pretty much my day in a nutshell. Hope everyone is doing well and this gives you a little insight.

VO

Yogi Berra was right

2008-04-29T18:59:00.002+03:00

It IS like Deja Vu all over again. I went out for my first time to a City Council Meeting in a town I was assigned to in he past. The Mayor, Chairman and many of the councilmen are still the same. This particular area was an insurgent stronghold and they went through a pretty tough time in the past 18 months. Security is now getting better and things are returning to normal. The good news story is that the council and local government have remained strong and intact. this is a great credit to the council members themselves. They do this job with little or no compensation and at the risk of their own lives as well as their families. I wonder about the level of dedication of some of out government officials at home given those odds?

Civil Affairs units usually do not move around the battlefield on our own, instead we roll with the maneuver units that own the ground. This makes life easier in that we just need to climb aboard and not coordinate our own patrol, however there is a downside. The worst thing a CA bubba can hear is "Oh after the meeting we need to make another stop". This can be anything from sitting on a suspected IED, to rolling up a village, to clearing a route or in the case of yesterday, patrolling a village and meeting with the local Police Chief. Beggars can't be choosers so we generally need to Shut up and Color (another way of saying "suck it up"). Yesterday after walking up and down the same street four times I got to provide rooftop security for about an hour. This reminded me of two important facts. One, it is really hot here, and two, I am getting old. A six hour mission is a good way to get back into it I guess but it required an Old-Man-Nap after the mission. All for now.

VO

1 week down

2008-04-26T20:21:00.003+03:00

Well I completed my first week with no incident. It is weird to be back in the same place again. Almost feels like I never left. I hear folks talk about people and places that I knew 2 years ago and in many ways it is comforting not to have to learn a new area. I just need to dust of my old memories. In fact I actually ran into a civilian friend of mine that was here with 2 years ago and is still here. It was fun to catch up with him and I sent a photo of us to some mutual friends, see attached.

So far I have been attending meetings trying to get spun up on the current operations and situations. The most danger I have seen is a potential paper cut or carpal tunnel syndrome.
Of course good officer that I am, I already ran my first meeting, complete with laser pointer and Power Point slides.

I hope to get out some next week to do some "battlefield circulation" to get my "sea legs back".

I think we may have broken a hundred here today and truth be told I would take this weather over the current snow and freezing rain in Minnesota any day. Snow on April 26th? What's up with that? The older I get the more I seem to like the heat and detest the cold.

All for now.

Groundhog Day begins, and begins, and begins, and...

2008-04-22T04:58:00.001+03:00

Well I am finally at my final destination and have been working here now for about 48 hours. I took my own personal version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Planes, more planes, buses and helicopters) to get here but I have finally arrived. I love that it takes 1 day to go from USA to Kuwait but a week to go from Kuwait to Iraq.

I spent my first day unpacking and getting set up in my CHU (Containerized Housing Unit). This is basically a 22 x 6 ft shipping container that has been fitted with HVAC, power and lights. I share this humble abode with another Captain. Of course I had to immediately unpack everything and get everything put away. Having got the OCD issues under control I was able to start my life here.

I am the Company Executive Officer (XO) for B/407th CA. Civil Affairs companies are commanded by Majors (this may be because we need all the oversight we can get, I’m not sure), and by “doctrine” are not really authorized an XO, however due to mission requirements here and OPTEMPO, the Commander determined he needed one. So I oversee the daily operation of the personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics and communications/IM sections. The XO is often not the most popular person in the unit which pretty much is the story of my life anyway. This is a great opportunity for me but a tremendous amount of responsibility.

This position requires much more time inside the wire as opposed to out. Dear ol’ Mom will tell you this is a good thing. However I am quite sure I will be able to sneak out to take part in some of the fun stuff once or twice a week, much to the aforementioned ‘dear ol’ Mom’s” dismay.
It is good to see all my brothers and sisters form the 407th. They have been doing great work since they got on the ground and it is good to be back with them. I grew quite close to some of them during my time at the 407th and I am glad I will be working with them here.

That’s all for now, its 0500 here and I am hoping to get some work done before everyone shows up for work. Thanks again for all our kind thoughts and words.

BTW, Hello Piper, Hope you are doing well!!

VO

Here we go again....

2008-04-15T23:41:00.002+03:00

Having recently completed my training at Ft. Benning, GA I am currently in Kuwait awaiting transportation north. Temps here are 90s during the day. I am trying my best to get acclimated as quickly as possible and get used to consuming gallons of water every day.