Dispatches from the Front

Hello friends,

I had the opportunity to visit the country of Qatar a few weeks ago for a vacation, and what an amazing country it is! The capital city of Doha is as modern as any city in the United States and the downtown literally looks as if it is being constructed in front of your eyes; I have never seen so many cranes! Naturally, I took some pictures to share with all of you.

"The Giant Oyster" at the edge of the Persian Gulf in downtown Doha

My favorite part of the trip was not having to be anywhere at a certain time, but I did get the opportunity to take a cultural tour of Doha. We visited an area called the Old Souqs, which is a large group of shops in a very old part of town. I visited a Falconry for the first time. The birds were beautiful, and I didn't realize that the sport still existed.

Admiring a display at the Falconry

The shopping in area malls was uneventful, as most of the stores were European and I couldn't find anything that I could wear over here! The portion of the tour that I most enjoyed was the trip to a traditional vegetable market. The rich colors were beautiful, and I was mesmerized by the earthy aromas, heightened by the fact that I haven't seen a truly fresh piece of produce in a few months!

Enjoying vegetables with my friend Robert

I returned to work refreshed, and was also pleased to discover that I have been given a redeployment date sometime in January, so I am now looking forward to the swift passing of autumn and winter.

As usual, thank you for your support and affection. I look forward to seeing you all in January!

Yours,
Paul

Hello friends,

Recently I visited Taji, Iraq with a team from the J4. I won't bore you with details of our work there, but I must tell you about the heaps of scrap metal everywhere! There are miles of tanks, boats, artillery, and other military vehicles and pieces that are waiting to be scrapped, totalling millions of dollars in scrap metal alone. The challenge is that while one Iraqi ministry owns the vehicles themselves, another owns the land, so neither can agree on who should receive the money from the scrapping. There are also no facilities here that can handle that amount of work, so the vehicles continue to sit, and are now covered in graffiti.

I had to ensure there were no obscenities behind me when I had this picture taken!

There is also a huge plot of land known as the "ammo boneyard" where demilitarized rounds are waiting to be cut in half so that they can't be used by terrorists as casings for explosive devices.

It was a very interesting trip. Good friends, rusty metal, and a week outside of the office makes for a very good time!

Until next time,
Paul