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Mike Miller and I went to Aski Mosul yesterday to visit an ongoing project to repair a drinking water drinking plant. Aski Mosul is a small town northwest of Mosul on the Tigris River. Yesterday’s trip took two hours to get to the site. We spent about 15 minutes on the site. Then we took about 1 1/2 hours to get back to FOB Marez. Trips like that can be very frustrating especially when you see that the contractor hasn’t made any progress since the last visit.

This project started in November 2005 and was supposed to last 6 months. Almost 3 years later, we expect the contractor to finish sometime early next month. I’m sure you’re wondering why it has taken so long. So am I! Throughout the life of this contract, there has been a lot of interference by the provincial government. Representatives from the water department have directed the contractor to change pieces of work without getting the proper approvals from our contracting office. So every time that happened, we had to stop all work and get the proper approved modifications in place. I’ll be glad when this one is done. I hope we can finish it before I leave, so I don’t leave the mess for my replacement to fix! In the tradition of the Army, for the first 60 days after he replaces me, he can blame all of the bad stuff on me. After that, he owns it.

Yesterday morning, I visited a healthcare clinic we are building on the west side of Mosul. Since the summer of 2007, USACE has built 8 healthcare clinics in Mosul. Four of these clinics are fully operational and receiving patients on a daily basis. Three of the more recently completed clinics are not yet staffed, and the last clinic (the one I visited) is still under construction.

This clinic is in the Hai Nablis neighborhood, which has been a very unstable area for the last few months. Just recently the clinic was damaged by a VBIED. The explosion blew out numerous windows and damaged the ceiling tiles. Fortunately, there was no structural damage. Yesterday, everything seemed pretty quiet. I guess you can expect that when you visit at 0600! The construction contractor has a security guard stay on site to make sure no one breaks into the clinic at night. He was happy to show us around, even though we woke him up!

I’m not sure I would have been as cheerful as the guard was if I was woken up unexpectedly by an unknown armed individual. I know I wouldn’t be happy if I had his sleeping arrangement.

Obviously there’s no Super Wal Mart in Mosul to run down to and buy a new pillow at any hour, day or night.

Today I visited one of our current projects rebuilding the police headquarters near the town of Makhmur. The original site was devasted by an SVBIED (car bomb) in May 2007. The project includes two buildings, the police headquarters building and a traffic police station building. The project is managed out of the Erbil Resident Office, where Gary York is the Resident Engineer running the office.

Gary has been with USACE in Erbil since March 2005. We farewelled Tiffany in Mosul on Friday night. I sent out a picture of Tiffany with her embroidered Engineer flag, our standard departure gift. Gary replied to the email saying he liked the flag and that he was jealous. I told him he could get one of his own if he ever actually left Iraq!

On the way to the project, I snapped a picture of a field of sunflowers. I know it’s blurry, but I didn’t think the security team would like it if I asked to stop to take a picture of some flowers.

The project engineer, Engineer Nawzad, gave me a tour of the ongoing construction, along with Gary. In the photo below, I am leading, followed by Engineer Nawzad and Gary. We are in the courtyard of the main police headquarters building. From the look of the photo, I appear to be saying something really insightful like “Look at that dirt”.

The quality of the construction and the professionalism of the contractors are very high in Erbil and Dahuk. I always appreciate the opportunity to visit their projects. Earlier this week, I went to a new project in the Sommer neighborhood of Mosul. We went early in the morning before the contractor had arrived to get a look at the foundation work. After we returned to FOB Marez, the contractor called Nazar, the project engineer, to tell him that the Iraqi Army wouldn’t let him work on the site that day. We had to make numerous calls to get things cleared up for the contractor to get back to work.

That’s why it’s so nice to visit Erbil and Dahuk. We generally don’t encounter the security problems there. But on the other hand, we do have to worry about picking out paint colors.

Earlier this week, I visited a new project near the town of Hamman Al Alil with Mike Fellenz, the Project Engineer. Hamman Al Alil is a small town about 15 miles south of Mosul. The drive there was relatively pleasant and took a little less than 30 minutes. At Hamman Al Alil is an Iraqi Army Training Center. New Iraqi Privates, Jondis, attend a 5-week basic training course in Hamman Al Alil. The Iraqi Army also conducts advanced MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) training in Hamman Al Alil. When we arrived on site, a group of trainees was working on camouflage. Can you find the Jondis in the picture below?

There is an 8-person US Army Military Transition Team (MiTT) living on Hamman Al Alil. They have a secure compound in the midst of the Iraqi base. This is generally referred to as a FOB within a FOB. The MiTT is our customer for this project, so we went to link up with them. When we arrived at approximately 0900, the gate to the MiTT compound was locked. Chris, my Security Team Leader for the day, pounded on the gate and waited. The instructor with the camouflaging Jondis told our interpreter to keep pounding and the MiTT would show up eventually. He was right.

Once inside the MiTT compound, I was informed that the MiTT Team Leader (an Army Major) had been called on the radio and was on his way. Jokingly, I told Mike that they were probably waking the Major up, telling him some LTC was looking for him. He showed up about 5 minutes later in PT uniform. He explained that he had been working out, but from my observation, he must have been working out in a nice air-conditioned room with a soft pillow! I’ll let the Major remain anonymous.

He gave us a tour of the training base, and we were able to see several other groups of trainees. It does not appear that the Iraqi Army is having a difficult time recruiting right now. His translator says the soldiers get paid about $500 (US) per month. Another group of Jondis was busily washing blankets and hanging them out to dry. The Major explained that there had been some bedbug issues recently.

$500 a month and bedbugs. What more do you need?

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.