27-07-2004 01:38									#361
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Army is lucky to have you Oerdin

	27-07-2004 02:33									#362
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Actually I'd dare to say that the States is lucky to have him and fellows like him. Unfortunately we also have bad apples

	27-07-2004 07:57									#363
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quote: Originally posted by Lonestar But the Marines hadn't even stormed Fallujah. They just encircled the city until someone decided to throw money at the problem. (i.e. have an "Iraqi brigade" go in)

They (the "Leathernecks") cleared about 2/3 of the city before they were forced to suspend operations. With the small force that they had it was a fair accomplishment, and it's too bad we didn't let them finish the job, as it might have put a real crimp in both the insurgency and the foreign terrorist problem.

	27-07-2004 08:46									#364
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quote: Originally posted by Barinthus Actually I'd dare to say that the States is lucky to have him and fellows like him. Unfortunately we also have bad apples

Word

	27-07-2004 08:51									#365
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quote: Originally posted by Sikander They (the "Leathernecks") cleared about 2/3 of the city before they were forced to suspend operations. With the small force that they had it was a fair accomplishment, and it's too bad we didn't let them finish the job, as it might have put a real crimp in both the insurgency and the foreign terrorist problem.

Yup

	27-07-2004 08:54									#366
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin They added a turbo charger to the engine and you get a standard GM four speed automatic instead of the junky three speed the regular humvees use but that's about it. It doesn't seem like they upgraded the cooling system at all. They did add AC which they didn't have in the regular humvee but the AC unit never seems to get very cold. It can hold the line at 80 but even at night it can't seem to get lower. Still, the AC is a god send when it's 125 degrees.

Waitaminute...automatic???

	27-07-2004 09:03									#367
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GM

We need to start buying Toyota

That sh1t never breaks

	27-07-2004 10:13									#368
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The military Humvees are manufactured by AM General Corporation which is the remains of the old automaker AMC. A few years back AM General sold the civilian rights for the Humvee to GM but AM General continues to make the military version.

	27-07-2004 18:10									#369
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How does this Humvee compare to the one you had in Kosovo in 2000? Seem to recall you mention the negative affects of all the added armor back then. And how about mechanical reliability compared to 2000 in Kosovo?

Then again Iraq is considerably more harsh an environment than Kosovo was (weather and other things).

Is this still the same Humvee you picked up in May prior to your time in al Kut? Or are their now enough of the new Humvee's so that your unit has all uparmored Humvees?

	28-07-2004 00:18									#370
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The other humvee stayed in Al Kut and this one came from FOB Anaconda in Balad. The current uparmored humvee design has been changed since I was in Kosovo but I'm not sure it's for the better. They did add front air vents for the AC unit while previously the AC only blow from the back seats and there is now an FBCB2 (a computer attached to the GPS so that it provides real time map data including the locations of friendly units who also have FBCB2s and details points of interest such as mine fields) and the turret design has been updated with a new lock. Other then that they are almost the same.

I suppose the over heating could be caused by the extreme temperatures here in Iraq but it really should have been designed to work in any enviroment from the get go. I don't recall my humvee in Kosovo having so many quality problems so the quality may have slipped (not surprising given that factory output has dramatically increased since the Army is replacing regular humvees with uparmored ones) or I might just have a lemon.

	28-07-2004 01:20									#371
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Set up a desert military hardware testing lab in the Death Valley or something!?!

	28-07-2004 06:27									#372
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That would take effort.

	28-07-2004 14:44									#373
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin Went to a town council meeting today here in Tikrit. As usual the council members sat around and *****ed about every little grip that passed their mind yet did absolutely nothing to fix any of those problems. The only thing they could agree on was that the US should give them more free money. I'm thinking the Iraqis are acting more and more like western politicians each day.

Personally I'd play hard ball with that sort of behaviour. First, they are the leaders. Ask them what they can do about the situation.

After they've thrown up their hands and said "Nothing! It's all in the hands of Allah!" explain to them that, in a democracy, the leaders are accountable. A leader who helps to make a situation better gets more power. But a leader who makes a bad situation worse loses all power.

Of course, Iraq isn't a democracy yet. But if you can convince leaders their arse is on the line, that it's performance related... you MAY just get some ideas back on where that free money might do some good.

Just a thought.

	28-07-2004 23:23									#374
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin That would take effort.

True. But as a taxpayer and a son of a veteran, I want my dollars used to make sure the military hardware we're giving to our troops to use is reliable and will actually help them instead of hindering them.

The way I look at this is that men and women who place their lives on the line for the country and for politicans' whims deserve the best. Yet we repriocrate their bravery and commitment with shoddy equipment and even lack of (not enough Kelvar bodyarmor a while ago) and our government cut on their benefits and so on. It's a disgrace.

	29-07-2004 01:14									#375
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The last few days have seen an increase in mortar attacks at FOB Danger. Most of them haven't caused damage but tonight one of them scored a direct hit on a humvee packed in front of the MWR building where the internet cafe is. I heard the boom and went outside to investigate only to find the mortar went right through the hood of someone's 1025 (no armored humvee). Sucks for him.

All in all their aim doesn't seem to be getting better. One landed on the wrong side of the river, two landed in the river, one over shot the base and hit on the highway west of the base, another landed in the lake on the base. Two have actually hit the base. One hit the humvee and another landed outside of a house damaging the asphalt. The insurgents have also planted two IEDs just south of Tikrit in the last two days and they put one antitank mine in a pot hole in the middle of highway 1. The IEDs and the antitank mine were found before they detonated because the insurgents used the wrong color dirt to bury them with; thus drivers noticed the odd colored fill dirt and called the Explosive Ordinance Disposal team (EOD). Not much damage but a marked increase in activity after a month and a half of relative calm.

We're working with the local city government to get the main highways repaved so that there will be fewer pot holes to hide mines in and we've increased the number of patrols doing anti-IED sweeps on major road ways. That's all for now.

	29-07-2004 16:34									#376
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One of my team members just left on his two weeks of leave so my team is now down to two people plus our translater. It's going to be hard to do my job with 33% less man power but I guess I will muddle through.

	29-07-2004 17:32									#377
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In other good news the Army has promised to issue my team a RF frequency jammer for my humvee soon. The jammer's job it to disrupt the singles which trigger the radio detonated IEDs which have become all the rage with the insurgents of late. We're also being issued a pocket translater device which translates simple words and phrases between English, Iraqi Arabic, and Kurdish. Since I already have a translater who lives with me and who goes on all of the missions with me it won't be especially useful but you never know when it might come in handy.

	29-07-2004 22:04									#378
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin One of my team members just left on his two weeks of leave so my team is now down to two people plus our translater. It's going to be hard to do my job with 33% less man power but I guess I will muddle through.

Well, there goes your internet time...

Was anyone hurt when the Humvee was hit outside the internet cafe?

	29-07-2004 22:08									#379
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin In other good news the Army has promised to issue my team a RF frequency jammer for my humvee soon.

The KEY question is: When will it be delivered???

From the news, I see a 1st ID trooper was killed by an IED in the last few days.

	30-07-2004 14:08									#380
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin --- The jammer's job it to disrupt the singles which trigger the radio detonated IEDs which have become all the rage with the insurgents of late. ---

But it won't protect you against the old-fashioned wire remotes, so don't feel too safe.

	30-07-2004 15:44									#381
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quote: Originally posted by johnj92131 Well, there goes your internet time... Was anyone hurt when the Humvee was hit outside the internet cafe?

No, the himvee was parked and no one was in it.

	30-07-2004 15:45									#382
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quote: Originally posted by johnj92131 The KEY question is: When will it be delivered??? From the news, I see a 1st ID trooper was killed by an IED in the last few days.

I can't say on the internet but it's not to far away.

	30-07-2004 15:56									#383
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BTW I'm having trouble with my translater. He's only entitled to one day off per week according to his contract and he's paid an extra $200 per month (for a total of $800) to live on base with us and to be on call 24 hours a work day. Since his wife recently had a baby I've been letting him go home 1-2 nights a week and I try to give him two days off per week. The translater hasn't always returned when he's supposed to though.

For the last two Saturdays he's supposed to come back to base so we can run a mission to monitor the sermons at a few of the more militant mosques in the Tikrit area. The translater doesn't want to take part in this mission because he claims it makes him a target for insurgents. Thus for the last two Saturdays he has been a no show. Last week I sat him down and had a talk with him and he agreed that I've been more generous with time off then I had to be and he said hr would be at work when he was supposed to be, however, this week he did the exact same thing again.

Now, I'm angry. I have decided to dock his pay for the day since he didn't show up. If he doesn't want to show up for work that is his option but I'm not going to pay him if he doesn't do the job. I have no doubt he will be upset about this but the locals seem to have very laxed additudes towards work and timeliness. The unemployment rate in Tikrit is around 15%-20% so it's not like he can easily find another job and since the average pay in the local economy is around $200-$250 per month even if he finds another job he is unlikely to find one with the same pay.

This guy has a very easy job which, comparatively, pays him very well yet he's still try to take advantage. I'm trying to be fair but I'm not going to pay someone who's not showing up for work when he's supposed to.

Last edited by Oerdin on 30-07-2004 at 16:01

	30-07-2004 19:53									#384
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin This guy has a very easy job which, comparatively, pays him very well yet he's still try to take advantage. I'm trying to be fair but I'm not going to pay someone who's not showing up for work when he's supposed to.

Hmm... I don't want to jump to conclusions on this... but from his point of view, there's a lot of unfriendlies who would be only too happy to top him.

Maybe he has an easy "job"... it's the possible consequences that seem to be the problem (at least from what you tell me he's saying).

Got no problems with you docking his pay... but make sure he understands why. Also, don't expect him to translate "everything". As a civilian there are many things he just will not do (and should not be expected to).

Aren't you glad you got that pocket backup system?

	31-07-2004 01:04									#385
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Cruddy has good comments.

While the translators job may seem "easy" and "well paying" given the labor he is asked to do and the salary he gets in relation to other local jobs. You need to wonder how many of the unemployed locals are fluent in English. Is it 50%, 25%, 10% or less?

And how many of them can you trust with tactical information that can effect your safety? I am "assuming" the army has done some kind of vetting procedure for its translators. (Yes, we know what "assume" means).

I thought the army was using many non Iraqies as translators, just to avoid having local translators and their families targeted?

Can you get a non local translator for your runs to the more militant mosques? Or can you tape the sermons for later translation?

	31-07-2004 01:10									#386
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We were forced to record the sermon today though the sound quality was some what poor. The military has a shortage of translaters so they hire locals to fill in the blanks though generally they use them in towns which are far from where they live. A few guys will only work in their home towns and one 18 year old I worked with in Al Kut got his mother shot by insurgents. That particular guy was really to young to be a translater. I kept telling him not to tell any of the locals his name or where he was from but he kept doing it any way. Thus the shooting.

	31-07-2004 09:45									#387
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Low and behold the prodical translater returns. I spoke with the 1sg yesterday and he said because there was a shortage of translaters to give mine another chance without docking his pay. Instead I'm going to give him a written warning instead of the verbal warning I gave him last week. I entend to spell out exactly what the contract requires us to do, what we've done above the contracts requirements to help keep him happy, and to ask him for suggestions on solving this absenteeism problem. I will also spell out that further absentices will result in his pay being docked.

IF he has a problem with one type of mission and he doesn't want to do that then fine. He doesn't have to though all of our missions have an inherent risk to them and I won't pay him if he doesn't work.

	31-07-2004 16:15									#388
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We went to various city ministries trying to get the ball rolling on this repaving project for Highway 1. We're eager to fill those pot holes so the bad guys will have fewer placesd to stick their landmines and IEDs but, true to form, none of the ministers had actually completed any of the work they said they would. Trying to get an Iraqi to get his work done on time is beginning to seem like squeezing blood from a rock.

After that we went to the Tikrit Dairy Company which is one of only a half dozen dairies in the whole country. Civil Affairs was following up on a business modernization grant which the dairy had requested but I took advantage of this opportunity to buy cheese from one of the few local cheese producers in Iraq. Sure, most of it was soft like cream cheese but there were two types of solid unaged white cheese which weren't to bad. Certainly better then that oily processed cheese substitute they call cheese in the chow hall.

I just found out that recommendations for metals and awards are due tomorrow so I will have to complete the forms for my two soldiers tonight. I just love how they give you 20 hours notice when they've know this was coming for the last three or four weeks. Still, I want to make sure I get my guys as many awards as possible since it will have a big impact upon them getting promoted or not.

On top of that I finally got a bunch of books I ordered from Amazon. It took nearly two months to get here but I should have time to read all three. They are all related to getting a job with the California Hiway Patrol so I'm hoping to study up for the interview and the written test so I can possibly state the academy this December. I'd be making $20k-$25k more per year then if I remained a Geologist plus my benifets and retirement pay would vastly improve. Since I've a new house to pay for I need to keep studying and getting into shape so I can land this job.

	01-08-2004 01:08									#389
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Oerdin, bear in mind that all of the California police-and-prison-type people have gotten spectacular labor agreements with recent California governors, but the joyride is coming to an end with the current budget problems and widespread recognition that those guys' sweet deals have got to be cut back. It's already happening.

	01-08-2004 01:12									#390
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Good luck and cut me some slack when I'm blazing down the 5 at a high rate of speed.