University of Minnesota Athletics
J Robinson Journal From Iraq #4
10/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
#5
All Con
Well things are going well in Iraq with plenty of things to do. Chaplin Morris started the day off getting me out of bed at 6:15 and we headed to a bible study. I now know why I got out of the Army - this getting up every day at 6 is hard. You would all be proud of me though as I have been on time to everything. Seems that is the way it is done here.
Some of the things that are really different you begin to notice the longer you are here. The things that soldiers did 40 years ago are all done by contractors here. If you would want to know why; it is the Armies way to keep the number of troops down here. Our government does not count the security forces guarding the gate, the cafeteria, the haulers of the porta podies, the people that man the PX and all the other construction crews for building and road construction.
In Vietnam the soldiers built and maintained almost everything. Here the contractors do everything. The guards for the base are from Uganda. Our troops do not even guard our gates, the contract is with Triple Canopy a private security outfit. Not sure how good they are but they are everywhere.
The food is pretty good from my perspective, although the soldiers here are complaining about it. We ate at the NAVY mess this evening and it was T-bone steak and Lobster, a poor man's dinner...... Oh I forgot, you could have gotten shrimp to if you wanted it.
Construction here is all done by the Iraqi's and it moves at a snail's pace. The barracks needed to house some of the troops were suppose to be done 3 months ago and it is only 1/2 done, same with paved roads etc.
One interesting thing is the concrete slabs that they call "T" walls. They are erected to protect the living quarters and other buildings from bombers, both personal and trucks. They told me they cost about 750 a piece and so far they have bought over 8,000 of them. You can do the math. An interesting side note is the Iraqi's do not want them when we leave so we are not sure yet what we are going to do with them.
I believe you could stack them side by side and have prefab housing. Going to look into seeing what I need for a real estate license here to sell prefab housing units................................................just kidding.
Had a lot of meetings with different sections for the unit today, finance, aviation, support the river patrol, and those guys that do all the really good and cool stuff. Had dinner with them and the Chaplin and one has a son that is talking about going to the intensive camp next year. He didn't believe his father that I was here.
Probably the highlight of the day, I met with the Commanding General for about 30 minutes and then spoke to his officers' corp for about 1/2 hour on leadership, motivation and what it is like living with a Wisconsin Badger.
They were all very sympathetic and wished me the best.
I gave the CG the jersey for Farve and they are going to hang it in the Division area.
It is amazing the information the General knows. I mentioned that when I was in the Army one of my goals when I was going to be a soldier was to be a General. He asked if that was true and I said, yes, how did he hear that? General Nash just said "I have my sources." He took his 2 stars off and gave them to me and said, "I could be a general for the day."
You all would be really proud of how the soldiers are handling things. Since they have pulled out of the entire forward base, they are penned up on this base doing jobs they were not trained for, and wanting to do what they were trained for. Many of them talk about wanting to get to Afghanistan.
Finished the night with another combative class and had the most numbers ever show up. Danny Morgan (Marty Morgan's brother) was in the gym so got a chance to talk with him and he is trying to get the gym to build a punching bag support so he can teach boxing. He said to make sure I tell Jim and Olive (parents), Marty, Gordy and Jenny (sister) - Hello.
Tomorrow is another full day but we're taking a chopper somewhere later on in the day. Been trying to get a tank to drive or a helicopter to fly, but the General said the deal with Sue was none of that stuff, so they are making me be good. Heading south tomorrow. Hope all is going well there.
Chaplin Morris told me tonight that in the 96 hours I have been here I have spoken to over 1500 troopers. I have to admit I told them to use me as much as they wanted and they are. Most of the soldiers are very appreciative that people over in the US are thinking about them.
So far the 20 boxes of t-shirts, etc. that we collected for the Division are not here; but we have made a great list of how they are going to get passed out and the men and women are excited and looking forward to getting them.
Well it is time to head out. See you all next week some time........
Salty Dog aka Maverick is out of the building