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Patches has decided to make use of her kitty condo built by Gabe.  She gets up on it by jumping from Abby’s stuffed animal basket to the top of the dresser and then onto the condo.  She has slept on all levels except for in the hammock.  I told Abby that she’ll sleep in the hammock when she is old and fat and can’t get up any higher.  When my children were little, I would buy them elaborate toys.  What they liked most was the cardboard box the toy came in.  Now with the kitten I buy her this elaborate kitty condo, and just like my kids, she would be quite happy with a cardboard box.

Earlier this week, Tiffany, one of my Project Engineers in Mosul, went on a site visit with a team from 1-8 Infantry Battalion, including LTC Chris Johnson, the 1-8 Infantry Battalion Commander. Today, she sent out an email describing her trip. I asked if I could share her email on the blog. She agreed, so our guest blogger today is Tiffany.

From Tiffany:

I just received photos from my trip to Nimrud with 1/8 Infantry. We went there to visit two village Sheiks and an IA Commander to discuss issues and potential solutions. Two gentlemen from US AID, Nikki (Sgt Souffrant, their soldier) and I tagged along. I even had my own interpreter.

Nimrud is a farming community, and they are having trouble growing crops due to the drought, and selling them in the local market.

Of course security was a main topic of discussion. I went specifically to discuss two schools that they are planning to build there but as the meeting progressed (and due to time constraints), Col Johnson and Sheik Ali thought it would be best for me to look at the pump station and connecting tributaries, and provide recommendations for upgrade and rehab.

Afterward, we went to Sheik Ali’s house for a meeting with local farmers and lunch.

This trip was probably the highlight of my tour. It was absolutely awesome. I had the chance to see the inner-workings of the US army and local communities. I saw how US Army Leaders work with IA Commanders and village Sheiks to build relationships, and how they work together to rid communities of insurgency and enhance the lives of the people who live in their communities. The cultural experience was great. Honestly, I needed this trip. Before yesterday, my perspective of Operation Iraqi Freedom wasn’t very positive - actually, it wasn’t positive at all. This opportunity came at just the right time. It was great and I’m glad that I was invited.

Earlier this month, I took a trip to the town of Rabiyya. Rabiyya is an Iraqi town on the Syrian border. We are involved in an upcoming project to improve the border crossing in that area, also known as the POE (point of entry). In the picture below, taken from Google Earth, you can see the stark contrast between the development on the Syrian side of the border compared to the lack of development on the Iraqi side of the border.

Our project is to build a new immigration building. So we drove up to Rabiyya in our REVAs to take a look at the project site. In the past, this same drive would take approximately 4 hours because we had to avoid most of the major routes heading west out of Mosul. But because the security situation has improved, we were able to take a much more direct route and arrived in Rabiyya after driving for only a little over 2 hours. Unfortunately some Iraqi government officials from Tal Afar were killed by insurgents on this same road earlier this week. So the improved security comes and goes right now.

To get an understanding of the project, we basically walked the route an Iraqi would take if he were crossing the border into Syria. Here we are heading into the first check point for border crossing processing.

In addition to my normal security escort, we were supported by Eagle Troop, 3/3 ACR. They live at COP Heider right on the Syrian Border. It was pretty quiet this day because the POE was closed. Notice the lack of any traffic in the photo below. The large yellow arch is the actual border looking from Iraq into Syria. Compare how empty that is with the number of trucks lined up to cross the border in the first picture.

After spending about 30 minutes on the ground, we went back inside COP Heider, used the latrine, drank some GatorAde, and got ready to head home. We discussed the project with LTC Preskitt, the US Army Officer who runs the POE Transition Team (POETT). The POETT is a group of US Army personnel who advise the Iraqi Army unit responsible for running the POE. Unfortunately, the project is currently on hold while the Iraqi commander of the POE tries to get more funding to increase the scope of the construction project. After that discussion, we had the fun of another 2 hour drive in the REVAs to get home.

I have a dream. In this dream a construction project goes smoothly from start to finish.

On COL Pfenning’s last visit, we spent some time in Dahuk. I love visiting my office in Dahuk because I get to spend some time with Gee. He took care of me when I first arrived in Mosul last year and became a quick friend. Another fun part about spending time in Dahuk is interacting with Riza. I’ve mentioned him before, but in case you forgot, Riza owns the company (Riza Company) that provides the life support services for my office in Dahuk. He rents the house for the offices and living space, provides the cook, meets the security guard requirments, and everything else it takes to support the Dahuk office.

If Riza hears that I am in town, he will always stop by the office and insist that I go out to dinner with him. We almost always go to the Malta Restaurant in Dahuk. As with many other cultures, the Kurdish people love to give gifts. When I lived in Seoul, South Korea, I had to be careful about saying I liked something I saw. If Worker, my landlord, heard, he would buy whatever it was for me as a present. He would not allow me to refuse, and if I reciprocated, he would give me athank you gift for giving him a thank you gift.

Roza heard that this was COL Pfenning’s last visit to Dahuk, so he wanted to give him a gift. As we were standing in the office after dinner, I told COL Pfenning that he was getting a gift from Riza. COL Pfenning tried to decline, but soon came to realize that Riza is persistent. Fortunately, Riza did not want to give anything that violated any ethics regulations. But since Riza was giving a gift to COL Pfenning, he decied that he need to give a gift to CSM Seitner and me as well.

As I went up to get my present from Riza, I gave him a big hug, which he was not expecting. He smiled and laughed. Then I had him move him pistol from the back to the front for the dramatic effect in the picture. As you can see, the gift was a small rug decorated with the Kurdish Flag.

I had grown weary of Blaze’s game of walk and sit, and the internet advice was getting me nowhere. So, I returned to the font of all Dog Knowledge, the Dog Whisperer. In two episodes where a dog was refusing to walk, the Dog Whisperer started at a different rate of speed. So, as Gabe told Dale, “Mom actually ran!” True, it is a very rare sight. Blaze was taken so by surprise that he never had time to pull back and sit his butt down. After a bit of dragging, he was with me. My running slowed after a bit, but every time I felt him pull back, I picked up my rate of speed. It worked. One other motivation for ending my unsuccessful attempts at coaxing, bribing, and tricking him into walking was that his amount of time as baby of the family was short lived. Patches took over the baby spot and in this family only the baby is spoiled. So, as with all my other children, Blaze had to toe the line. When all else fails, go with the old stand by: “Because I Said So!”