I guess it is about time for my monthly (more like quarterly) update. Things have been fairly routine for the last several weeks. I wish had had something new to talk about, but really my job hasn't changed much. It is probably fine, though, that I haven't experienced much excitement here lately. I tallied up all the patrols and CA missions I have executed in the last two months and I am pushing 60 total. With 5.5 months remaining, I hope I will be able to look back and see tangible results from my team's hard work... regardless of the number of missions and patrols under our belt.
I did something pretty cool last week. I completed final payment on a few projects as the Battalion's pay agent. The first was an improvement project for a water treatment plant that supplied a rural area. The problem was that the station didn't have a chlorine dispensing rig, but the project was finally completed and the village has a clean reliable source of drinking water. I carried 17,550,000 Iraqi Dinar (about $15,000) in cash to the final QA check in order to complete the contractor payment. I had the HUGE stack of bills in my cargo pockets and didn't reveal that I had the money until the end of the engagement. You should have seen the looks on their faces when I started pulling all that money out of my pocket! A week later I was conducting a final QA inspection for a similar water project in a different location. The final payment here was 15,210,000 Iraqi Dinar (about $13,000) and again I was carrying all that cash in my pockets. A lot of the same government officials were present for this final payment, so now they all think that I am the man holding all the money. The Battery Commanders from my Battalion introduce me as the "project guy" or the "money guy" to their local leaders. Supposedly my name "Captain" Gandy is becoming known throughout the Tikrit District... in a good way. My Battalion Commander says that I am stocking up on "wastah" - that is the phonetic spelling for the Arabic word for clout, power, influence, etc. If the truth be told, I am fairly well pleased with being known as the money guy... because it will likely heighten the "assurance" of my team's safety while out in town. Even the bad guys know not to bite the hand that feeds it.
So things have been going swimmingly until today. I was scheduled to commence my R&R (rest and relaxation) leave today, but all the flights from COB Speicher to Kuwait have been grounded due to the weather. I had been afraid of this, because the weather reports for the last five days or so were predicting rain, storms, dust, and fog for this whole weekend. Lastnight, I arrived at the terminal at 2030 to see if I could catch the 0200 flight to Kuwait, but all the seats were filled. Therefore I had to wait until my reserved flight departed. I checked in for that flight at 2200, but we weren't briefed until around 2300 regarding the check-in and departure times. They always have R&R travelers check in 4 hours prior to the scheduled departure time. So I just stayed at the terminal because the scheduled departure was at 0725 (check in at 0325). I caught about an hour of rest, but mostly did alot of reading. I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch cover to cover. [Side Note: It is a pretty captivating book written by a former professor at Carnegie Mellon who was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and only 3 to 6 months to live. The entire book is a philosophy on life and basically a message to his young children that they might know about their father once they are old enough to understand. I recommend it to everyone.] At 0700 all the R&R passengers were bussed out to the runway to wait for our plane to land. All night there was lightning and thunder with a little bit of rain (although not enough to make mud), but by morning it had passed. They skies were slightly overcast, but visibility was fairly good. At 0720 we got the call that the plane wasn't going to be in until 0820. Then about thirty minutes later, a fog set in. Another delay was called in for a 0840 arrival, and then the wind kicked up and the dust storm was upon us. The plane passed overhead a few minutes before the dust kicked up, but was unable to land due to the fog. At that point our mission was put on a weather hold. We went back to the terminal and then after about another two hours of waiting, the mission was finally cancelled. So at 1030 I called my buddy to come and pick me up so I could shower, shave, and brush my teeth. Apparently this is the standard experience when trying to fly out of Iraq... 14 hours of waiting with little to no sleep without the pay off. Oh well.
I don't mean to complain, but shouldn't our combat-ready Air Force pilots be able to handle a little reduced visibility? I guess someone high up realized that landing "blindfolded" is an unnecessary risk at this point of operations in Iraq. I can understand that, but it sure is annoying. (I AM READY TO SEE JENNA AGAIN!!!!!) Please keep me and Jenna in your prayers... and especially that I can get out of here in a safe and timely manner.
Well, I guess that is about enough. I just took some pictures from the roof of the Civil Affairs Battalion Headquarters building. Shot a little video too, so enjoy!
God bless,
Jonathan
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