Dispatches from the Front

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