Rich Receives Hero Award from Commander

Rich receives a coin from the Corps Commander today on a surprise visit to our camp. Rich is responsible for the reconstruction of hundreds of rural schools in Dhi Qar. He's a Park Ranger back home in New Hampshire.

So this was my day: I worked on some reports to follow-up on my hospital visit this week. Somebody set off a cache of UXOs today before lunch, unexploded ordinance. The trailer rocked, it was a little disquieting and everyone was quiet for a moment. There are never two in a row if the Coalition is setting them off. I haven't heard from my Italian partners since they announced this week they will start pulling out of Iraq in September.

There was an email for me that this morning at 7am a group of villagers over-ran the health care center job site and threatened to kill our Iraqi contractor if he continued the job. There were resolutions worked out twice before now between the contractor and the village mullah. In Suq Ash Shuhk southeast of Nasiriyah, an agreement was worked out with the Mayor to help us get our work done in his town. That's the one where my Italian friends were hit by an IED two weeks ago.

Saw to it that one of our contractor's working on a police station up north got set up for payment on his invoice. Sent another email to our railroad station contractor looking for his invoice. Reviewed a revised scope of work submitted by the elevator contractor for the hospital. Sent a note to Baghdad updating them on the progress of our prison contract, and found out the "definitized" means the contractor locks in a schedule and a price for a cost-plus contract (exciting stuff). The prison will be a $45million facility built to British standards. Phase One is what I'm working one, the perimeter security ...and I cleaned up my office a little in case the General's entourage came back to visit, thus ensuring they wouldn't come near here. The day flew and I'm looking forward to a sleep-in Sunday tomorrow.