Life on the FOB - Al Taji

No, I haven't abandoned the blog! The kids and I left last week in a hurry to California after we got word that my Grandma had passed away. We just got back this evening. Here is an update from Steve. Exactly 3 months behind us as of today.

Here’s a picture of my class of 11 Iraqi 2nd Lts that after 3 months were reduced to 7 since 4 no longer desired to be pilots. By Iraqi AF policy all pilot candidates must attain a 70% score on the American Language Course Proficiency Test. After 3 months 7 of the 11 were around a 35% average – the 4 previously mentioned didn’t have the desire and would never obtain a 70% score no matter how much time they were given. They’ll go off into the Iraqi AF and do other things. For the others to reach a 70%, they’ll need another 6 months in my opinion. Time will tell if the Iraqi leadership will have the patience for that.

Iraqi’s are extremely social people and will surround you as if you were handing out cash. One day two female soldiers who contribute to an Army unit newspaper came over to the school house to get some info. My Lt’s gave them the standard “welcome.”

You can find almost anything on a FOB. Our unit found 2 vehicles that were basically left for junk and got them working. Here is one with a customized paint job – pictured is Maj Darin Williams, here at Rusty with me – he is out of the computer science department at the Air Force Academy.

Unlike Rusty which is very small, Taji is a large FOB and very spread out. There is quite a bit of MWR stuff to do. I played shortstop on our softball team; our average age was around 40 since we are an advisory unit. The rest of the base is much younger due to their combat mission. Before I left we were around 0.500. Captain John “Throw Back” Mancuso always had a cigar in his mouth while coaching 3rd base. Interesting note – the person at TAji that was the director of all the athletic events was a KBR contractor in his 4th year. He is finishing up his last months in the AOR and then will pay his last alimony check and return to his wife now living in the Philippines. He is getting paid a huge salary to be here – as are most American contractors. I’ve never felt like such a small cog in a huge machine like I do here in Iraq. Anyone who simply says that we can easily pack up and leave is extremely naïve. The amount of logistics and funding that go into this war is enormous.

I was also on our unit’s basketball team that reached the semi-finals of the FOB tournament. We lost by 2 to the team that won easily the championship game. We won 3 games and lost 1. This was the most fun I’ve had with athletics in 2-3 years. We picked up 2 Army guys (Chuck & Bird) – the rest were from our AF unit (SSgt Bookman, SMSgt Williams, Capt Troy Thomas, SSgt Terrance Johnson, & MSgt Scott). Bookman played small college basketball and TJ was recruited for football by major colleges – but chose the AF route. We played really hard so we had nothing to regret – a great time.

Here’s a picture of the group at Taji that attending the Latter Day Saint services with me.

This is the Iraq Air Force Academy schoolhouse; probably the nicest building on the Iraqi side. Fuel for running the generators was in short supply. They were turned on at 9AM and shut off at 3PM, so we taught during those times and quit in the afternoon when the rooms got too hot to teach in after the generators were shut off. We then went back to our air conditioned pods while the Iraqi’s returned to their barracks (no A/C). We aren’t just training the younger officers and cadets, but trying to advise the senior level officers. At Taji, there were 2 one-stars, 1 colonel and a Lt Col that we worked with. FOB Rusty, where I am now, provides a contrast to Taji – I’ll post a blog next week on that.