Week 5 - My Week in Iraq

Hey Everyone....I hope you had a fantastic week. 

Okay, I promise, this will be the last week I talk about the sewer (unless there is some spectacular development - like a catastrophic failure).... but for now, the sewer system is installed and working (WHOO-HOO!). As stated, the local Iraqis worked very hard on this. On the 'last day' they brought in "reggi" 

#1770

(I am guessing on the spelling) or "water-melon" as we know it - see photo #1770 to see the guys celebrating. And I got some Iraqi flat bread (BTW, I LOVE Iraqi flatbread.... I have had falafels and "iraqi burgers" and they are re-he-heally good). 

So... how do I tell the camp - and all of these soldiers who have been working here so hard - that the sewer system is FINALLY up and running? Well, here is how I imagined it.....in my mind:

The dusty, handsome, cowboy (me....in case the "handsome" confused you...) walks into the DFAC, where approximately 100 weary, war-torn soldiers are standing.... looking haggard and tired. The cowboy strides in - his dark shades hide his eyes - he slowly takes off his (very cool) hat - takes off his shades and glares at every one of the soldiers - briefly meeting each of their gazes and calmly but intently says... "You can all go potty now.... (more intensely).... the sewer system is working... you can (working up to a scream....) NOW flush the 'toy-toy'.... THE POTTIES ARE FIXED!!!).  All of the soldiers immediately jump up, cheer, and yell with delight. A banner gets unfurled that says "NO MORE LETTING IT MELLOW IF IT'S YELLOW" - A helicopter lands and the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders come out and immediately come over and hug the exhausted cowboy, lift him up and carry him around the DFAC.  The Ohio State marching band miraculously appears out of the sand - and instead of forming into the famous "Script Ohio" they immediately form into a script "Mr. Wide" with Jack Nicklaus dotting the I..... 

..........Yep  ....that's how it went in my mind. 

 Okay, here is what happened..... but, ...before I tell you that - let me explain a tiny bit about the DFAC. The DFAC here is not like it is in Baghdad - it is a small buffet line, where you start at one end - and pick up paper plates and plasticware - and then head towards the food. So, every day (and I mean EVERY DAY) the buffet line starts like this. Chicken (baked or fried), the next pan is ALWAYS white rice. The pan after that is ALWAYS 'mystery meat sauce' (or just 'mystery sauce' - but there is usually some type of meat(?) in there) and you are supposed to put that 'mystery sauce' on the rice. After that, there are various fried foods, or fruits, etc. Any rate, sometimes the mystery sauce is grey, sometimes it is red, and sometimes it is brown. Sometimes it is even edible. Many times, we wonder if the cooks are actually Al-Qaeda and they are secretly trying to poison us.

After you get your food, you sit down at one of the tables and eat. Then as you leave, you throw the trash and/or leftovers away.  Most of the time, in that order - sometimes, it is more humane to just throw the food directly in the trash versus eating it ....but I digress. Okay, so after that explanation of the DFAC, here is what happened....

I was really excited (as only a "facility guy" can be) about getting the sewer working. So I burst in the door of the DFAC - and there are about 20 guys sitting around. I am so excited that my brain is working faster than my mouth.... so I walk further into the room, hold my hands over my head..... everyone looks up at me....I blurt out, "WE HAVE SEWAGE!".......

and the response.....

dead silence..... crickets chirping..... awkward silence.

finally after a few seconds of that, someone says, "So THAT explains today's mystery sauce!"   Sigh....   

Speaking of inedible food, the one thing that the DFAC guys do that really scares me is their "leftover salad"....you see, we have a limited supply of food and so the guys try and be creative as to how they.... um... "repackage" the food for us. So it is not unusual to see last night's chicken and last night's potatoes mixed together in some type of "sauce"...but OCCASIONALLY - they really go a little whacky. The other day, they had peas, carrots, cheese, and fruit cocktail mixed in a mayo sauce - with apples lining the perimeter.... it really looked quite colorful. I was scared to taste it. We occasionally play "DFAC Roulette" where we challenge each other to see who can eat the most of one of these creations. Trust me, there is never a winner.

A couple of people (through cards and email) have asked about my "Easter" - well, I basically worked 13 hours that day - but, I did take about a half hour for a Bible study with one of the Chiefs (as in Chief Petty Officer - not as in "Kansas City") - he had a nice little devotion about resurrection - within ourselves. And how we should embrace the past - but not let it hinder our future. I have many non-Christian friends - and I think they would have agreed with this as well....but it was a nice "time away" ...I also got mail on Easter Sunday.... which was real nice. Thanks again to those who sent me cards and magazines - and if you did send me something, you should have received an email from me.

Also, this week, I  got to go back out to visit the Iraqi Marines. I wrote you about them previously, this is the Iraqi group who basically had to move into a garbage dump - and the USMC has been helping them out. Well, I am working on some plans for them (and asking for funding) to upgrade their "crib". Any rate, on the way, we drove by a place where a convoy was hit by an IED not long ago. (FYI -no one was hurt and in case you didn't hear, "mookie" is back in the area trying to cause trouble....it's in all the papers...) So the Marines were a little tense (I was too) as we were driving around the area. Trust me, your head is on a swivel in those situations.

It was really busy traffic wise - and if you have never driven down an Iraqi street - just think about this. You are driving along in a war zone - and all of a sudden - a little beatup truck comes zooming at you from a side street. He doesn't stop, he is looking right at you and speeding up....what do you do? Quick...you have two seconds....WHAT do you DO? (I know what I did-.... but getting into a fetal position and crying like a 12-year old girl shouldn't be an option for this exercise....). Obviously, there is no "right" answer. This time, it was just some local yokel wanting to get somewhere else. But, it is scary driving around out here. There is all of this traffic zooming along - people driving crazy, talking on cell phones, not paying attention (actually, this is sounding like your typical American city)...but it is a LOT scarier - everything is dirty, the cars driving around are all banged up, the roads are terrible, there are a ton of people walking around and there is junk (potential IEDs??) EVERYWHERE....

So OUR Marines (yours and mine) are driving along - and you know what they are most concerned about? A little girl who was running towards our group hoping to get some candy (we had none) and she was darting out into traffic. Those young men - who are battle-tested and hard as nails - did what they had to do to protect that young girl from oncoming traffic. I will tell you that the Marines - some aren't old enough to be that girl's dad.... were communicating all along the group of vehicles to ensure that everyone knew what was going on and manuevered their vehicles to keep that little girl safe from a couple of crazy drivers. You know what these guys did? They put their concern for that little girl ahead of themselves. (They were still looking out for the bad guys - they did NOT let their guard down, but their 'natural' instinct kicked in) and they immediately went to protect her - and probably saved her life.

#1878

I don't have a photo of the girl - I could only hear the guys shouting and see what they did (I was strapped up good on the other side of the vehicle) - but I went thru my pix after I got back to the office and found a photo of the area - the reason I remember the photo is right before they saw the girl, we were talking about the guy "selling" gas on the streets (look at the corner of photo #1878 - you can see some gas cans....that is the Iraqi version of a gas station). When they got back to camp - no one said a word about the little girl (well, there was one or two "choice" words about the parents - but that shouldn't count against the Marines) - but they just went on about their business.... as usual... no big deal. Another day for a US Marine.

I wonder how many more (thousands?) of stories that these guys - and other soldiers/sailors could tell just like this? How many times do we NOT hear about the guys going out of their way to help others? How come we are so quick to print stories about idiotic behavior or stupid mistakes or tragic accidents (trust me, they all happen - way too much over here)....but we NEVER hear about the humane side? I am not saying don't report that other stuff.... but, there is SO MUCH good stuff that these guys are accomplishing over here.....and when I hold up my hands and blurt out, "WHY ISNT THIS BEING REPORTED???" What is the response???

dead silence..... crickets chirping..... awkward silence....

Sigh....

I was going to include a couple of photos of the guys. I had really nice photos of the driver and the gunner. I sent them copies to send home. The guys are both in their early to mid 20's and they are both GREAT guys. But to single them out would not be right - as to me, they represent the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of US servicemen and women who have been here, or who are over here now, or who will be here long after I have gone.... doing their job...... quietly "helping others escape from the crazy people".... and professionally doing their jobs.... and without complaint. I have one word to say....

WOW

#1850

So instead of a photo of the US Marines, I thought I would give you a "taste" (probably a bad choice of words) of what I am facing with the Iraqi Marines... Photo #1850: what this photo is - it is of their kitchen, their shower, and their outhouse all lined up next to each other. The kitchen and the shower both have open drains - that go right out front. The outhouse has "a hole" that will need to be filled in eventually. But they see nothing wrong with this. The guys walking from the kitchen to the eating place have to walk right through the open grey water. The photo is taken from far enough back that you can't see anything yucky... but you can see the challenge I face in trying to get them to spend money and energy in cleaning up the place..... they don't understand.... "But, Mr. Wide - it just dries up and goes away - no problem!"

Sigh.....

Okay.... once again, my email time is up.....sheesh! Each Saturday, I worry - am I going to have something to share by next Friday? What if it is just another "boring" week in Iraq?? How many more stories can I tell about my HAT?!? But then, by the end of the week, something has caught my funny bone - or has struck me as just flat-out cool. Thank you, all who wrote and thank you, all for sharing my adventure. You know I am going to end this like I end every other email... so say it with me if you want....

God Bless America

Wade "Mr. Wide" Brower

مهندس  واد  بروير

Week 4 - My Week in Iraq

Hey!

Well, I had an interesting week....how about you? Remember the sewer project I was talking about last week? Well, it got awarded and we started working on it this week. My main job this week? To work with - and oversee - the local Iraqi company doing the work. Sounds like fun, right? (it is). Now for some reason, all of the Iraqi workers decided to call me - Mr. Wade. And it kind of caught on around the camp - since I am the Base Development Officer - everyone kind of knows me anyway - so they all call me Mr. Wade. Cool. Of course, when the Iraqis say it - it sounds like....Mr. Wide. Yeah... great......  A bunch of people calling me Mr. Wide - kind of like high school all over again (but I digress...).

So a couple of fun facts about working on a sewer line in Iraq. First....why do we need 3 trucks of sand delivered? We are in Iraq, for Pete's sake - there is NOTHING HERE BUT SAND! Why do I have to pay for sand? That's like going to the ocean and paying for salt water.....

Another fun thing....try talking to another engineer through an interpreter (smart enough guy - but he doesn't do "engineer speak") - so words like "redundancy" (two pumps - so one can be "redundant") translates loosely to "over and over and over again".....not quite what I had in mind. And "slope the pipe to grade" comes out "point the pipe down." So, imagine the fun I had with words like "the female end of the fitting" and "manhole." (Again, I invoke the "pastors, moms and granddaughter's clause" here - and that is as far as I am going with this.) So, I spent the better part of each morning trying to figure out what to tell the interpreter - and the rest of it trying to figure out what the interpreter told the Iraqi guy....

All right now....for those of you who have seen the pictures of me in my hat. First of all, I love that hat - so make all the comments you want (...I'm rubber and you're glue...) - but even the Iraqi HoN (pronounced like "hahn"  - not like "hun" - But HoN stands for "Head of Navy") got into it.  I was packing heat, had my shades and my hat on - and he walks by and says...."Who are you?  John Wayne?" (true story - he talks pretty good English) - and as he walked past me, I  laughed and (before I even thought about it) - I said "John Wayne wishes he was this cool..."  (the "talking-about-it-before-I-think" part proves I am related to all my grandkids...). I don't know if the HoN heard me or didn't pay attention (I hope he didn't hear - as he does command a bunch of people who are being trained to be marksmen....) but I wasn't trying to be a smart aleck (well, not much).

So then I am checking out of the compound and one of the Brits says "Nice hat" - I said "Thanks - the HoN thought I was trying to be John Wayne..." The Brit looked at me and said "Nahh....it looks more like you are trying to be Crocodile Dundee." Sheesh.. Everybody's a critic. I still love my hat. Alrighty then.... So back to the sewer project..... we are out digging a trench and all of a sudden, we hit a pressurized line. (see photo #1601) 

#1601

I don't know if it is water or sewer or what.... it didn't stink real bad, so I am assuming it is water. Well, who do you call when you hit a water line in the middle of a war zone??? There is no city or county to call to shut off the water. Anyway, the water is pumping out pretty fast - and the level in the trench is rising - we have a guy who is over at the parts area - but he doesn't know what size pipe we have (it is under water).  None of the Iraqi  contractors can figure out how to tell what size pipe it is. I am motioning and yelling to the interpreter to tell them to stick their hand in the water to try and figure out the size. Nope...none of them know how to do it.

Sheesh....

So, I roll up my sleeve, take my 54 year old body down to the water's edge (again, the smell is not REAL bad) and stick my arm up to the shoulder into the "water" - which by now has combined with all of the dirt and trash laying around....I grab ahold of the pipe and bring my arm out of the water with my hand cupped at approximately the size of the pipe. I show all these young guys standing around my cupped hand - and holler out "4 inches! It is a 4 inch pipe". They all smile and nod.

OOoohh. They didn't want to stick their hand into the water, huh??? So I made each one of them come down there and stick their hand into the water and feel the pipe (I wasn't being "mean" - I was having a "training event.") When each of them pulled their hand out - I said "size?" and they each replied "4 inch, Mr. Wide....4 inch." Bottom line is - if they were faking stupidity because they didn't want to put their hand into the water, that didn't work. But they did all take it good-naturedly .....and of course, they won't pull that again. :-)

 I like telling these stories (they are kind of funny) - but understand after all of the "bad press" I have heard about working with local Iraqis, I am not experiencing that. These guys, for the most part, work pretty darn hard (and in conditions pretty darn bad) - see photo #1562 - 

#1562

...and do they make mistakes? Sure they do - but for every mistake I have seen here, I have seen similar in the states....well, I take that back. There is one exception - the "safety rules" here would make the safety officers at my office in Ohio bleed through their ears. These guys wear no safety gear - no hard hats, they are barefoot most of the time (or they wear sandals) - while they are working (see photo #1609 - and look close - the guy is barefoot in the trench). 

#1609

Several times, I have had to tell them to watch what they are doing.... because one guy will grab a pick-axe and just start swinging - and the guy holding the shovel will just stand next to him - watching - as the pick gets closer and closer to his head.

#1652

Okay, Photo #1652 is taken at the end of the day (about 7 pm) after we started at about 0800. So this was a long day- with the wind blowing about 30 mph - and it was about 100 degrees outside while we were digging the trench. Sand would get delivered and dumped right next to me. At the end of the day, I come walking into the office and it's like Clint Eastwood in those old spaghetti westerns. (okay - a short, round Clint Eastwood - but you get the picture)..  I take my hat and hit it against my leg - and I look like Pigpen in the Peanuts comic strip with a cloud of dust around me. I take off my glasses and the only thing I can think of is the WWII movies - where Rommel is out in the desert and they take their goggles off and the bottom of their face is caked with dust.....that's me. One other kind of funny/interesting thing - I am working with some real characters - some of them young kids - and they do funny stuff.  But I was escorting one of the young guys to the worksite and he asks me "Brittania?" - I thought he was talking about the British soldiers that were around the camp and I pointed to them.....then he shakes his head no and points at me "Brittania?". I said "No. American." And the guy just started gushing like a fire hydrant...."Thank you, thank you, thank you, America, thank you, Mr. Wide.."..on and on and on - for about a minute. I felt kind of embarrassed as he was just so overjoyed that I was an American (the kid wasn't that old - so when we got rid of Sadaam - he couldn't have been more than a young teenager...).  I talked with the interpreter and asked why the kid was so vocal. The 'Terp told me the guy was just...happy to be free. And you know what?

that set me back for a second.......

Happy to be free. 

Cool. Me too!

Wow, how email time flies.... I feel like I barely get started telling a story and it is time to go..... Again, thank you to everyone who has written to me - I appreciate every email or Facebook comment and I love hearing from you all. Typically (since I am 7 hours ahead of you), by the time most of you reply to me, I am asleep. So my GREAT joy is to wake up on Saturday morning - get my cup of coffee and read through any emails that happen to come through. And if I haven't said it before, I will say it now.....

God Bless America

Wade   "happy to be free"   Brower

مهندس  واد  بروير

Week 3 - My Week in Iraq

Hey all,

First of all, let me remind you - I am here to share my adventure. Please feel free to pass this email along (along with my email address - wadeiniraq@yahoo.com) to anyone you think would be interested (don't put me on a spam list.... :-p ). I want to personally thank everyone who wrote back. I love getting your emails - it makes my day - and I try to reply to everyone - even if it is a quick "thanks for the prayers." You don't know how my face lights up when I log on in the morning and it says "12 new emails"....WHOO-HOO! Also, I did throw out my back last week - it was pretty bad. So thanks to all for the prayers and good thoughts. While there is still some minor pain, it is doing MUCH better. They were almost going to send me to a bigger camp - but I asked to wait to see if it would get better. It did.

Okay, quickly - about the packs of wild dogs. It is very sad - but there are vicious packs of dogs here....there are unkept dogs all over the place - but the packs that roam at night are the scariest. They are very loud and occasionally, they attack their own (if they are injured or hungry enough). I have some photos - but I have deleted them. It is too sad. Especially for a guy like me who loves dogs (have 3 of them) and I want to adopt every dog I see. Do me a favor....hug your puppy if you have one - pet him or her gently and speak lovingly to them at least once today. Because there are a lot of dogs here who will never get hugged or know a touch of human kindness or hear a soothing voice - and this is tough to see for man's best friend. Trust me, if you could see it in person, it would bring you to tears. 

All right then, enough of that....see, I told you it was sad. So, let's get on with the good stuff! This week's adventures. Okay, here's the deal - I can't give you specifics - but I can say this..... we are on a small camp that is holding many more people than it was originally built for. So, we have some inherent problems with....hmmm..... how shall I say this politely..... "outgoing by-products of a large group of people." Or maybe another way to say it is "Products Outgoing Of People".... That's too long to repeat, so let's use the acronym....POOP. So we have a real problem with POOP here. Matter of fact, we can spend hours a day on getting rid of POOP. When it was a small camp, you could have POOP tanks pumped once or twice a day.... but as you get more people (hence...more POOP) you need to pump it 5 or 6 times a day. Then, when it can't get pumped (such as the truck that pumps it breaks down or you have a pipe bust or an overflow), you have to shut everything down and you have several other problems that no one likes to talk about. The biggest problem is Smells That I Now Know are Yucky (or...acronym - STINKY). So I guess what I am politely saying is that I am responsible to help get rid of the STINKY POOP (by the way, I am assuming my grandkids are laughing hysterically right now - because this is definitely their type of humor....).

Well, to do that, I am setting up a new removal system in the camp that will make our lives a lot more user-friendly. So one of the things we try and generally do at the camp is to give some of the simple work to the local Iraqis. Okay, if I didn't tell you before, when I was in Baghdad, one of the military people who had been here for awhile suggested that I get a "Haji" phone (btw, Haji is an accepted term over here - an honorific title - means something along the lines of "traveler" especially when they go to Mecca). So I bought a Haji phone and got like 30 billion dinari worth of minutes (which i think is like $5.52....). Any rate, the locals can call me and we can talk....except for one problem.....they talk ARABIC!  So this guy from one of the local towns calls me and tries to talk English.  A couple of problems with this:  

1. His English sucks.

2. My arabic sucks (worse).

3. I am getting hard of hearing.

4. I can't figure out the darn phone.....so this isn't working. 

So I go grab one of the guys who speaks arabic.... and guess what....he is British. His English sucks worse than the Iraqi.  Okay, since he is English - I guess my English sucks worse.... either way, I now can't understand a thing either of them are saying to me.

The local Iraqis finally come to visit - now I thought they were going to bring one (maybe two) guys for a site visit. They bring 5! To look at installing a simple waste removal system.... sheesh! I've had multimillion dollar site visits where one guy shows up for a company - and he barely pays attention. Anyrate, I wasn't expecting all these guys - and I brought one vehicle... (and I have an interpreter and a force protection guy).... so all 8 of us pile into this little vehicle and drive to the site. We get out and it looks like the clown car at the circus - people popping out all over the place. So we do the site visit and eventually this local guy gets the award. Yay! We are helping the local population with jobs and training them on how to.....well...um... how to remove (last time I say it...I promise........) STINKY POOP.

So why am I spending time telling you about this? Well, this is one (real good) example of how cultures differ. One of the hardest jobs I have to do is to convince Iraqis that it is worth the money to get rid of their waste. They don't get it. Pump it outside - let it soak into the ground - it's gone. Why should I worry about it? Well, part of the problem is the flies and mosquitoes the waste draws before it dries up. Where do those flies and mosquitoes go once it does dry up? The other problem is that the soil is now contaminated - and if someone walks through the soil and then heads into the DFAC - well, you get the picture.... and before you know it, you have a sick camp.

#1449

Okay, what else.... some people have asked (since I work at a port) if I am around any boats. The answer is  "Aye" (that's from working with all of these sailors...). If you look at #1449, you will see me standing next to some Iraqi Navy speed boats (again, none of this is sensitive info). BTW, I am working with all of these sailors - and I have yet to hear one of them say "aye" or "aye-aye". (Unless they were imitating Scotty from Star Trek "Aye Captun...she's breakin up!") Nor have I seen any eye patches, wooden legs or parrots. This is really disappointing.... (and I hope you realize I am kidding). Actually, what I do see from the sailors is a lot of hard work and a real desire to get the Iraqi Navy on their feet before the US Navy has to leave. I don't know - nor do I care - what the media says or will say about the military leaving.... I just wanted you to know that these guys (and gals) have an INTENSE desire for the Iraqi Navy and Marines to stand on their own. The military folks I see are obsessed with training their Iraqi counterparts hard and doing everything they can to help the Iraqis do just that (stand on their own). Anything else you hear is an anomaly (which happens) or is just flat wrong. Again, based on what I see on the ground - not what I read in the papers....

#1395

Okay, another thing I get asked a lot is do I see a lot of guns? Yeah, pretty much. Just for fun, I attached a photo from the Iraqi Marines - now this is not normally how they keep their AKs - they were having a big inspection - so they pulled all the guns out to clean them - and then stack them back neatly into their cabinets.... but #1395 shows a pile of guns (literally). I was going to ask to pick up a couple of the guns and do a "RAMBO" shot - but as I said, these guys were expecting a big inspection and they were a little nervous.

#1411

Another "culture difference" is the military officer's quarters.... I have attached #1411 - but look closely. It has a bed in the back. Matter of fact, almost every office (including the BX that I showed you last week) has a bed - this is not for nighttime sleeping. This is for the after-lunch nap. It is expected that after lunch, all of the Iraqi guys go lay down for a quick nap. Actually, this is not a bad idea. How many times has someone scheduled a long boring meeting for right after lunch? Remember how hard it was to stay awake? This may be one of those things that I need to "bring back to the states" with me.... I am not sure if my office will be the same when I get back, but I gotta admit....I like the idea.

Finally, the weather....well, I have to admit - it has NOT been over a 100 degrees yet...(actually, in Celsius - it hasn't been over 35 yet....so that sounds much colder) - but we have had some sand storms. Now sandstorms here are like ice storms in Georgia - it shuts the whole place down - nothing happens. We had a sandstorm this past Wednesday - it wasn't as terrible as the one a few weeks ago - but it was nasty to go out in it. By the way, I did not put any type of red "filter" on my camera - the air was actually red when the sand was blowing.  

Sandstorm

The sand storm even made them quit pumping oil in Kuwait - and Kuwait is just a couple of feet away.... see the picture "Sandstorm" (go figure) and if you look in the distance there are several large cranes. Normally, I see them good enough to read the verbiage on the side - you can barely make the outline of the cranes here.

Well, once again I have run out of space and time. The few minutes you spent reading this represents my last 80+ work hours... so I hope you enjoy these (if not, let me know). As I have stated before, I am very proud to be one of the many people who represent our country over here - and like America, there are all different kinds of people working together and trying to help Iraq stay free. I will leave you with what one female Iraqi told me when I came over here. You (America) have made Iraq the light in the desert - a beacon to show the rest of the middle east how to be free. My mother was a Sunni, my father was a Shi'ite - but I am all Iraqi. Thank you for helping my country.  

She didn't specifically say the following phrase..... but I think she believed it.....

God Bless America,

Wade

مهندس  واد  بروير

Week 2 - My Week in Iraq

I was going to write about a pack of wild dogs outside of the camp - but it is kind of sad. And frankly, I don't want to be sad right now....so I will save that for another time....

So, I had a great week! (well, at least about as great as you can have working 80+ hours a week in a war zone....) How about you? It has been sunny and in the mid-90's for most of the week.

Okay, for those of you who don't know - (and I imagine that is most of you - as I had no clue....) - India is playing in the world cup....the "yahoo" web site I get is the "middle eastern version" - meaning there is a lot of specialized middle eastern stuff they put on the yahoo home page (which I access when I go to check my email). So I keep seeing this thing on the Yahoo page that says "MODEL will STRIP if India wins the World Cup" (now, this is about as racy as I am going to get - because my pastors, my mother, and my grand daughters are all reading this....) - but I am thinking....India SUCKS at Soccer and the World Cup is not for a year or two....This lady is going to be in her 80's or 90's before she has to bear it all.....but apparently, they are talking about the CRICKET World Cup. And India is the favorite. OOooohhh. Now I get it.

Okay, so I go get dinner at the DFAC and I am watching the cricket thing on Armed Forces Network (the only thing that is on). Now I know how my wife feels when I watch football... ...what are these guys doing??? A very friendly Brit comes and sits down next to me and asks me if I follow cricket.....I have no idea what I am looking at. The pitcher throws the ball in the dirt and aims for the batter's feet. The guy swings wildly and fouls the ball off to the side.....and...the crowd.....goes....BERSERK! The Brit looks at me (I have no idea what just happened) and is telling me something about a wobbly wicket or a googly gaggle - I don't know...all of the cafeteria workers (90% are from India) are whooping and hollering. What just went on? Why is everyone celebrating when the batter just fouled it off? So the Brit tells me India just won 274 to 277. (pause here....while I look at Brit confusedly...274 to 277??.).  So I say the only thing I can think of. "So it was a real defensive struggle, eh?" 
Anyrate, I think I will give up on cricket for awhile. I also got to go "visit" some Iraqi Marines this week. I volunteered to go help these guys because their US counterparts (i.e. the USMC) wants them to have better digs....and let's face it.....  Giving people better digs is what I do. So I go with our guys and these poor Iraqi soldiers - God bless them - they are living in tents and wooden shacks with no AC. They were sleeping on the ground - with no facilities at all, but USMC troops saw the conditions and took action. I will tell you right now...the Iraqi soldiers do this because they love their country. Don't tell me that they aren't sacrificing - or they are only working for the military cause there are no jobs. These guys are out their training, cleaning and doing the best they can with what little they have because of that love of country. You know what I thought of as I was walking around?  How George Washington had so few soldiers with him at Valley Forge - and putting up with terrible winter conditions and no food. I wonder if in 200 years, people will be talking about these guys and celebrate what bravery they have.

And you know what else? I am SO PROUD of those darn US Marines. They go over to the Iraqi Marine compound and work (physical work - digging, welding, lifting, etc. in this heat) and help these guys out. THEY DON'T HAVE TO!!! They could sit around in their air conditioned vehicles and hang around - but instead, they go out and work and solicit anyone to help that they can. 

#1409

So any rate, I am trying to help the Iraqis with an Infrastructure plan. They have no clue about sewer lines or keeping eating areas away from cleaning areas, etc. (let's face it - they are Marines - NOT civil engineers.) One of the photos I am including, #1409, is me with an Iraqi "captain" equivalent. 
FYI, we were standing in the BX and that is probably the nicest facility on the base. Now, there were a LOT of gross photos i could show you (again, see the comment above about Pastors, moms and granddaughters) - but I will show you one that is not that bad...#1380...this is the "2-holer" that the Iraqis are living with. (And yes, that is the way the toilet is supposed to be)...the beige tank in the back is not for flushing - that is for a sink that is on the side (heated by the sun...).  The waste goes straight into a hole. And remember....for them, this is an upgrade.

#1380

Now, one of the USMC lieutenants that took me out to the Iraqi compound is a really good guy - his first name is Dan. So I start calling him "Lieutenant Dan" (like from Forrest Gump) - and one reason I do this (as most of you know) is that I am terrible with remembering people's names. I thought this would be old hat for him - he probably has heard that a million times - but no...it is like a first. Well all of the other Marines pick up on it - and of course, Lt. Dan loves it - so now I am trying to come up with similar names for the rest of the Marines. But remember, these guys are taught to kill (and do it quickly and efficiently) - so they have to be good, respectful nicknames (which I would do anyway, cause they are good, respectful young men). And if I haven't said so before, I will say it again, what a great country we have that would raise up these selfless young men and women.

Okay, I wasn't going to include this last photo 

#1453

- but I wanted to show you (#1453) a pic with me and some of the Iraqi workers (they are working on the boat behind us). The little round guy on the end (not the little round guy in the middle...) - but the little round guy on the end couldn't speak much English...but he said (very proudly) "I am...The BUFFER!" I think you can see it in his face and stance. HE IS the BUFFER! And he was very proud of his work. You know what "the buffer" does? He sands the paint and primer off the boat. I took a copy of this photo and gave to him - so he could show his wife and kids. You know why I did that Because he is one darn proud buffer. Don't forget that. I know I won't.

Well, I have gone on for a bit longer than I planned....but I love sharing this with you all - and I hope you enjoy the stories. I will leave you with my "tasking" from Jeanette when I left for Iraq.....work hard, play hard, have a good time, stay safe and share your adventure with me. Yes, Dear.

God Bless America

Wade

Week 1 - My Week in Iraq

Good Morning everyone!

Since you are reading this first thing Friday morning (if it sends correctly) - it is probably early afternoon in Umm Qasr (UQ from now on - but I am 7 hours ahead of Eastern time). This is the first of my "weekly updates" from Iraq. Friday is our "down day" - meaning that we don't start work until about 9 or 10 am (we get "brunch" at 10!).

I hope you enjoy this update - but first a few admin notes (you will only see these this week..so the email is a little longer than usual.)

     
     1. This is my personal email account (wadeiniraq@yahoo.com). You are free to send me stuff (don't spam me....) as much or as little as you want. I pay for the service out of my own pocket. I will tell you that I read everything -as it helps to quell the "groundhog day" effect of being deployed.

   
     2. I have received many (many, MANY) OPSEC briefings and training sessions.  I will NOT be discussing anything that is sensitive or classified - such as troop movements, exact project details, etc. I will speak in generalities and occasionally make up a name (I will try and make it obvious...like "I met with Captain James T. Kirk yesterday...."). But understand, my goal is to tell you about my experiences here - not to give you exact details or insider info....as silly as it sounds, the enemy is out there - and they really do use the net to full advantage.

     3. Also, you are free to forward this email to anyone you care to. They are free to forward, yadda, yadda, or write me (and ask to send directly to them). This is as much for me as it is for you - I have this "need" to share my adventure with as many people as I can. I love it when people write to me and ask to be included. I will try and only send 3 or 4 photos per week (no guarantees) - but if you want to see more photos you can "friend me" on Facebook or write me and I may send you some.

     4.  Finally, this is my personal opinion. I don't represent the US Gov't, the Iraqis, the AF, yadda yadda. It's just Wade commenting on what he sees. Okay?  So with that, let's move on....

WHAT A CRAZY WEEK!

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I had so many ups and downs (literally and figuratively). I started off last Saturday morning - having a cup of mocha latte in Baghdad. The weather was about 80 degrees and sunny. I was sitting in a chair in the shade sipping the latte and watching the birds fly around when it finally hit me...... HEY! I'm sipping a latte in the middle of Baghdad! How many people can say that today?? If you look at #100_1258, this is me standing in front of an outbuilding near the "blue dome" in the Green Zone.  
Of course, that same day, there was a very severe sandstorm that happened at UQ. Apparently it even made the news at CNN! 

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So I took the trip from the green zone back to the Airport Complex - where i spent the next couple of days. 
Photo #100_1269 is me standing in front of the Al-Faw palace (one of Sadaam's palaces). By the way, the chow at the Complex DFAC was excellent. I can't believe we don't have a bunch of fat soldiers walking around....It was like eating at a Golden Corral - for every meal. Any rate, I finally get the call that I can start moving towards UQ. Now let me tell you, moving across the country in a war zone is not easy.....I got started really well - but wound up spending the night in a terminal - but (and here is the really cool part) - I got to take several rides in a blackhawk helicopter.....WHOO-HOO! I love flying anyway, but that was FUN! The photo #100_1298 was one of the "views" from one of my rides. The marshes are absolutely beautiful. Although I didn't get a good picture of one - there were a lot of little boats in those fingers of the marshes.

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Okay, so I arrive at UQ early in the week.  First (and most important) - I have my own hootch! And my own bathroom! At least for now. As stated above, I have my own internet - and I have a nice big office (it is not as cool as my "superhero" office back at "good ol RX" - but it is nice enough). I told the camp mayor (which was the job I was originally to do here - but I am much happier that I am the Base Development Officer - as I can just focus on construction) that as long as I had internet, hot coffee and a hot shower, I was good. Well, the internet I got - and frankly, for a war zone, it is pretty darn good. I can't get Hulu (bummer - they don't go outside the states) or Netflix (apparently too much bandwidth) - but overall still not bad and I can pretty much buy any movie (including newly released ones) really cheap at the local Haji shop. My hootch is REALLY close to the DFAC (dining facility) and the DFAC is open 24/7 so I can get up anytime and go get a hot cup of coffee (I am one of those people who occasionally get up at 3:30 in the morning and like to just enjoy the silence of the morning with hot coffee). And of course the shower....let's talk about the shower....here's the deal....I "share" the hot water heater with my neighbor. The hot water heater is (literally) smaller than a 5 gallon bucket. My neighbor came over and told me to do Navy showers (turn on water, get wet, turn off water, soap up, turn on water, rinse, dry off) and you have enough hot water for a shower. I am using the "dribble technique" (turn on water REALLY low and let it dribble over you for about 5 minutes)....I prefer that - so I can thank the Lord above for hot water (part of my morning ritual)....Any rate, bottom line is my accommodations are pretty nice - for a war zone. One of my jobs is to make the infrastructure "better" before I go home - and I am working hard to improve it and I am loving every minute of it....

Here at UQ, we have a little bit of everyone working here. We have US Soldiers/Sailors/Airmen, British Soldiers and Marines, Iraqi Navy, Third Country Nationals (TCNs), Locals, Contractors and a couple of Fed Civilians (like me). We get along really well - although to be honest, sometimes I understand the TCNs better than I understand the British....but that is probably just me: "he-ah half a bangah mate" translates to "would you like a sausage with your eggs?"....again, probably just me - but they are really good guys.

Several people have asked for my address.  Here it is:

          Wade Brower

          ITAM-Navy

          Base Development Officer

          COB Umm Qasr

          APO AE 09375


I am really doing fine with food/supplies, etc. So you don't need to send anything, but I would love to get letters or postcards (again as stated above - the biggest problem here is "groundhog day" - where every day blends into another - so anything you write or send is appreciated.) Since it is an APO address, it is relatively inexpensive to send me mail. The postal service doesn't come here everyday - so if you want to talk with me fast, email is the best way to go. I try and check it every morning and night before I go to bed. Also, the weather here is already in the 80s - low 90s - so the "season" to ship chocolates is past....it is really nice now (Jeanette said it snowed this week in Dayton....) but it is supposed to be in the 120s this summer.....so I don't plan on moving here for the weather....

Other than that, I want you all to know that I am safe, having fun and trying hard to make a difference. I hope in the coming weeks to "share my adventure" with you all....and if you have specific questions - please email and ask. I am working a lot with Navy people - and I see it here as well as when I worked with the Army (Afghanistan) and the Air Force (all over the USA)....they all make me VERY proud to be an American. You should be too...


God Bless America

Wade