Second Command

I got confirmation today that I will be getting a second command. I will be taking over Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 4 Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), 1st ID. The time line will be quicker than initially expected. I may change as soon as the mid/end of November. I suspect that I was chosen because of my demonstrated ability to maintain accountability of property. With over 200 Soldiers and 3-4 times the amount of property it will be a challenge. The Army is all about change. Officers do not stay in the same job very long. We move from job to job quickly to expand our experience with different situations. That can work to both our advantage and disadvantage. I have had a fantastic time as the Bravo Company Commander and will miss the Soldiers. I will not be moving far and will still get to see all of them and the results of their hard work. The new command will bring new challenges and will allow me to have influence over an additional group of Soldiers. I am honored to continue to have the opportunity to lead American Soldiers.

Almost Done

TPE inventory is just about done. We made it out of FOB Bernstein on our second attempt. We were supposed to go straight to FOB Summeral to wrap things us, but ended up at Speicher. We got lucky yesterday and caught a flight to Summeral that went up in the morning and returned in the afternoon. All that remains is for the other unit to submit some paperwork to adjust some of the serial numbers. They are trying to get that done today. Leadership (especially theirs) is anxious for me to sign. I am taking my time and will not sign until everything is correct. All of our systems are set up and operational. We are being slow getting all of our other stuff set up. SSG Mertens described it best when he said "I feel like I just bought a house and I am trying to move in, but the old owners still have all of their furniture there and are still living there". Needless to say we are ready for them to go...

Stuck

Maintenance issues with our Chinooks last night prevented us from being way ahead of schedule on the inventories. We found out at 0300 this morning that we would not be leaving for our 0100 departure. We should be able to get back on schedule today. The inventories went much better yesterday. The SSG that owns everything now had the location of every item listed on the paperwork, so even though the equipment was scattered in three separate locations it was easy to go down the list. He also had everything that was not in use lined up in order. That made the inventory last only 2 hours instead of the 4 hours it took at the other location for the same piece of equipment. Only one more location left to inventory the rest of the items. We have already identified items that we will not need, so we can start turning them in.

Update 19 SEP 09

Well the inventories continue. They are not going as well as they could, but could be alot worse. We have plenty of time to get the paperwork in to fix the issues before I sign the books. That is the outgoing unit's responsibility. They have motivation to get it done since they can not leave until I sign for everything. The Relief in Place (RIP) has not officially started yet. Still plenty of time to get it in order. I hate inventorying commercial of the shelf equipment. Everything that came with the item is listed on the hand receipt for it right down to the warranty card! That makes the inventories last forever. One of the Navy guys that works with us mentioned that the ARMY is crazy when it comes to inventories. In the navy I guess everything is attached to the ship and that it becomes part of the ship. It is not inventoried separately. He says we make it too hard. I would agree. Must maintain accountability of the equipment that tax payers pay to provide us with. We just take it a bit far. The weather has started to break a bit. We got here at a good time.

CP Discription

Our Company CP (Command Post) is in the projection house for an outdoor movie theatre. It is a two story structure with the orderly room and supply down stairs and three offices upstairs. Me, 1SG, and the XO will be up there. We have two windows in the office that face the movie screen. So we are in the projection room. Not too bad. Not a whole lot of space, but plenty for us. The movie screen is a large brick wall that at one time was nicely painted white. It is in rough shape now. There is a good sized patio/deck area outside the front door that has benches and a very stout picnic table. It will be a nice place to hang out once the weather cools a bit. Still not bad in the morning. It has shade over. Right now the office space has lots of clutter. We are making the other unit take all of their junk with them, so we can have everything nice and tidy. I will take pictures at some point.

Arrival at Speicher

We left Tagi late last night and after a tour of central Iraq finally arrived at COB Speicher. Yes it is now COB not FOB. It is now a Contingency Operating Base rather that a Forward Operating Base. Lots of changes since the last time I was here. Our BDE TOC is located in the building that used to be the G4 and Property Book Office the first time I was here. I did not even recognise it at first. Lots of new construction. I got settled this morning about 0230 and was up at 0600 to get breakfast and to get a Relief in Place (RIP) briefing from the Company Commander of the company we are relieving. We are ahead of schedule already and have not even started yet. There is plenty of time to get everything taken care of. After that we went out to the UAV facility at the airfield to see how they are set up. Speicher is a HUGE place, so it was about a 10 minute drive to get to their location. They will also live there and they have all of their own facilities. (chowhall, PX, MWR) Speaking of facilities the chow hall is very nice. I better do lots of PT or I could come back weighing about 250! Spent the afternoon and evening giving guidance and signing some paperwork. Looking forward to getting a good night sleep.

Tagi

I am currently attending the COIN (COunter INsergency) academy in Tagi. I have not been able to post because I could not find a computer that did not have all of the buttons for the blog in Arabic. This one is working, so I figured I would post my activity. We arrived a few nights ago on a CH-47 Chinook. The flight from Baghdad was uneventful and went well. I will be moving on shortly. We have been attending long hours of PowerPoint classes, but have received some useful intent and guidance from numerous commanding generals at all levels. I think my latest count was 13 stars all together.

Baghdad

Arrived last night via crowded C-17. Felt a little cooler here than in Kuwait. The time is already flying by, I can not believe it is Friday already. When we got to BIAP, there had not been any arrangements made to move everyone and our bags to the transient area. We had to hang out for about an hour at the terminal to wait on a baggage truck and a bus. Not too bad considering it was midnight. The MWR facilities are great here. This computer room has 40 computers in it. Much better than the 20 that were here last time and the 8 or so the first time. Soldiers that stay here probably hardly ever have to wait to use a computer. Even if it is busy they probably only wait a few minutes. Speicher should have similar facilities.

Hot

Today is going to be a hot one. It should start to cool down in another month or so. Everything is going well. My jet lag is complete, but I started having the nasal infection coming on this morning that I have gotten every time I have been in Kuwait. The fine dust is nasty. My eyes have been fine so far. Not having any dryness.

Up early... again

Second morning in a row that we have been up early 0400 yesterday for our range and 0300 today so that we could run a close quarters marksmanship range for a couple of the other companies. It went well except for one heat injury. The Soldier from a sister company had not been drinking enough water and the heat finally took its toll. He got an IV and drank some water. He was stable when we brought him back to Buehring. He will be fine, but he had a strange uncontrollable shaking in his arms. We are to the point where we are going to have to start making up training to do. Soldiers can not just hang out and relax before they head north... there must be something else they can learn! We will cover escalation of force, weapons safety, and cultural awareness just to name a few.

Training Complete

Zero confirmation went well this morning. Looking forward to heading north to get into a routine.