If you really want to know, why not get the story from someone who's there? Pay particular attention to the news about some reprehensible behavior by some Stateside scum:

Ok, so I have procrastinated long enough, so it’s time for another update. Here is the way things are as of 13MAR06…

OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom), OIF II, and OIF III reconstruction projects were originally slated to last for two years. We have basically past that time and are now “buttoning up” many of the jobs that were started in June 2004.

The projects in ------- and surrounding areas are winding down…

The clinics (5 of 9) have been “descoped” from Parsons, and will be sent out for competitive bids from local Iraqi contractors. This should have been the case from the beginning but hindsight being what it is, this is the best we can do right now.

The clinics are what are called Class “A” facilities. They are actually more like small hospitals with an x-ray room, lab, dental area, and a few beds for the more seriously injured. They are costing about $1.2 million each and that does not include the lab or x-ray equipment.

The hospital renovations (2) are almost complete. The Pediatric hospital now has a new water treatment facility, a new incinerator, a couple of new offices and examination rooms, and a fully repaired roof system. There were numerous leaks that threatened the stability of some of the upper floor exterior wall surfaces.

The Maternity hospital has all those things as well as a new elevator. Many patients had to walk up four flights of stairs to get to exam and treatment rooms, so this will help them to not have to strain too much getting to their appointments.

The schools (22) are complete. The only work we have now is just going back and checking the for warranty items. I am happy to report that there have been no major problems.

The Iraqi Police Academy which was finished a year ago is now out of the warranty period and no more work is scheduled at this time. However, there are rumors that this facility will be expanded to house 1600 students, up from the current 800. I am not sure who is going to oversee construction this project, but I will probably be gone by the time this gets in the works.

The DBE (Department of Border Enforcement) Academy was completed last August and we are now working warranty items. Sad to say there are many. Building foundations were not placed properly. Concrete cure time was minimal, so we are having major cracking problems with the interior and exterior walls. The only solution is to mud jack many of the buildings and affect the needed repairs. The problem here is that there is no technology in the area to do this. We are working on alternate solutions, bit we are limited in what we can do with the current technology. There are also major roof leaks near the expansion joints.

The Army Recruiting Center, which was completed last June, has had no problems other than some minor checking of the plaster walls. The subcontractor came in, repaired and repainted, and all is well again. This facility not only acts as a recruiting center for the Iraqi Army, but as a meeting hall for the PTO (Peshmerga Transformation Office). The PTO offers services for retired Peshmerga soldiers and their families.

The border forts, many of which were started in November 2004 are just now finishing construction. Winter of 2004-2005 was pretty severe, but there were many other problems with the prime U.S. contractor, Parsons. Without going into too much detail, schedules slipped severely, designs did not account for snow loads, and retrofits went very slowly. So far, we have turned over 35 of the original 45 sites to the DBE, with 4 more scheduled for handover in the next few days.

Police stations (7) are nearing completion as well. Most are between 80-90% complete with minor items to be addressed before final inspection. Mostly we are finding small things like cracked floor/wall tiles, broken glass, areas needing touch up paint, and minor cracks in concrete – again mainly due to improper cure time for the concrete.

The electrical substations (3) are 90-100% complete. There is a final inspection at one site today and it is hoped we will be able to turn it over to the Directorate of Electricity within the week. These stations will allow for more power to reach more people, many of whom only have electricity for 8 hours per day – four hours in the morning and four hours in the evening.

We are waiting to hear about one new project that I hope flies. It is a water supply project for the people here in Sulaymaniyah and the folks out in the city of C-----, about 30 miles west of us. C----- has only four main wells for about 40,000 people. They are in need of this project desperately. We do have a new clinic in the area and it would be nice to supply these people with a good source of water so that hopefully they don’t have to use the clinic for anything other than major injuries...

The “civil war” has not affected us here...as the vast majority of the attacks are occurring in the south and in Baghdad in particular. Attacks against Shia and Sunni by each other are more predominant and are getting most of the news time here. Many people that I know have lost family members and/or have been threatened themselves during this period of time and it is disheartening. I am trying to find out if there is a “patriation” or political asylum program in place or being thought about for those who have worked for the coalition since we came here. I believe there was similar program during the last days of Viet Nam whereby many “friendlies” were brought to the U.S...

While in Texas for R&R last time (Jan-Feb), I bought a house out in ----- in the old neighborhood where I used to live. I had given Power of Attorney to a friend to handle the closing, etc. since I was scheduled to return here before this could be handled. All went well until a few days ago when I got an email from this friend telling me that the house had been vandalized. Kids apparently broke into the house and caused some damage. I am not sure about the extent of the damage and have asked my friends to take photos and send them. Maybe that is something not everyone would want, but I have to know. Besides, photos will be good for insurance reasons and to aid in possible disciplinary action against the realtor. (Don’t ask about this because I am not sure of the details on this myself.) The fortunately thing is that none of my personal items were in the house, it’s all still in storage and probably will remain there until I get back, whenever that will be. The woman across street said she thought it might be the son of the woman who owned the house previously, but no one is sure. She did say she would keep an eye out and report any suspicious activity. It’s a helluva note to be here doing what we are and then to have something like this happen. Of course it is not as bad as some other stories I have heard. Many times crooks will watch the papers for funerals of fallen soldiers or contractors, and then ransack their homes when the families are at the funerals. This is despicable behavior by those who these people are defending or assisting in defending America...

To all of you who have sent packages for the children here and for me, THANK YOU. I cannot say it often or loudly enough. Your generosity is most appreciated. The school supplies and clothing items will be distributed as we have time and photos will be taken and included in further updates. We have just been too busy to get many of these items out to those in need. Without your concern, many of these kids would not have much in the way of writing tablets, pencils, erasers, crayons or coloring books. These items are going a long way toward winning “hearts and minds” here...I just wish that the spirit you have shown could be captured and bottled for those who need a bit of a push to show their compassion. Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart.

“Out here.”

Greg
Iraq

P.S. Photos:
Tin Can Man
This Toyota Land Cruiser is actually GREEN. It rained mud for three hours...
Me...





Thanks, Patti