Another Planet

Hello, Hello,

The dust kicked up big time today. We were in Ramadi at a meeting when the sky started turning orange. It does this every once in a while. It's like those movies that have people living and working on Mars. Really feels like another planet sometimes. Good news is typically this means the temp drops a few degrees. It's pretty much been 100+ this week, but today must have dropped down into the eighties.

Ya, the excitement is picking up here a bit with the Brigade leaving and more pressure being put on the bad guys in other parts of the country. Path of least resistance. I believe the Provincial team next door will be standing down for the weekend, however, I don't believe that will be the case for us. Everyone is definitely paying more attention to movements and security. We have fresh Marines watching over us, so don't believe they will let us down.

Glad to here everyone is doing good. So am I. I've got more things to read than I will ever get around to and have movies stacking up as well. Nights have been getting later since the new Team Leader arrived (just trying to get him up to speed). Plus I have three new team members to train in, so the work goes on...

AMANDA

For those of you who don't know---Amanda W-- my mailing address is
Dawn Jungberg
PO Box 373
Towner ND 58788

So things are going good. The house is coming along. We are still not in the house. Soon... The kids are ready for school to be out and summer to be here.
Not much else happens in Towner, so nothing new to report.
The report on Cip is that he is safe. Can't wait for him to come home and spend time with the fam. And play some cards.... He is putting in alot of overtime, working very long days, with very little time off.
So I will type more later when I find the time. LOL!!!!!
Dawn

Imagine you are in a development office for a medium size city with a staff of less than ten people. Now imagine a state-wide development office located right next door with around 50 employees. Now imagine the city police commissioner sending 40 of his most qualified troops to support your development effort, meanwhile the state law enforcement office takes over the primary task of economic development in the state development office.

Welcome to the "Civilian surge" - minus the civilians...Last week we finalized our agreement with our new partner in crime - Task Force Ramadi. This is a curious bunch of 0-5s and 0-6s (approximately 50 of them) who's main task is taking over the management and daily operations of Camp Ramadi in the wake of First Brigade's departure. They hold down the fort until RCT1 (Regimental Combat Team One) of the First Marines Expeditionary Force (1st MEF) is ready to assume these responsibilities.

For the ePRT, this means my economic team went from one (me) to four! This has actually been a very welcomed event for me, however, others are a little put off by the pure numbers. My only concern is that when they leave in September, the volume of projects may exceed my capacity for adequate monitoring and follow-up...

Changes...

On Friday I said goodbye to almost a third of our team. They had all put in their year (all three military reserve or guard component). It still amazes me how well people cope with this kind of a disruption in their lives. Two of the guys (yes, they were all men - only two women on the PRT when I arrived - more later on that)were in their late fifties/early sixties, and the other about my age (a couple of years older). Two light-Colonels (next promotion full-birds) and an E-8 (Master Sergeant). For those not familiar with military rank, these are career people. And because they also have lives in the "real" world (although it's hard to get more real then when you're dodging bullets and bombs/bombers), they bring the experience of their specialization to the table as well. Very valuable people. One has a background in banking, the other is a trial attorney, and the last was a administrator for a city council in Virginia. Here those specializations translate into finance, law, and governance. Very applicable. All three of these individuals volunteered for this duty. Granted, they made a little more money by serving in a combat zone (hazardous duty), and I believe they wont have to worry about taxes for the income made during this tour, however, their only break was a 14 day R&R about half-way through the year=long tour. Don't think you'll ever read this, but thank you Jay, Morris, and Emery. Safe travels and hope to run into you down the road again someday...Cip

Chow Hall

Made it to breakfast today. Once or twice a week is all I'm averaging. Its a bit of a hike, especially if the ground (fine dirt/clay) is moist (smaller more sure steps). On the off days, we tied our hunger until noon with poptarts or fruit acquired during the previous day's meal(s). Snacks are available at the Post/Base Exchange (mini-Pamida). If you have access to a microwave, you can also buy dinners and such at the P/BX. The chow hall (DFAC-havent bothered to figure out what it stands for in military terms) typically offers "main line" or "short order" options for both the noon and evening meals. Main line might be fish, chicken or beef dishes and sides, while short order is hot/corn dogs, burgers, fries/onion rings. There's also a pretty impressive salad bar with a large assortment of condiments. So there's really nothing to complain about concerning availability or variety of food considering we are "camping," if you will. In fact, even have a Subway (small - runs out of food all the time - last time I checked the only meat options were crab and tunafish), a Greenbean Coffee House (trailer), and Burger King is suppose to be on the way...The Americans have definitely arrived!

Cip new mail

Ok here is cip's mail

Cip Jungberg
Postal Det 5 EPRT
Unit 42369
FPO AE 96426-2369

There you go Carl!!!!!
Dawn

Howdy all - Back in Ramadi

Tomorrow will be my one month anniversary here in Iraq. Its seems as though very little has been accomplished in this time frame. However, I am beginning to understand why things seem to take infinitely longer to come to fruition. Everyone here, with the exception of myself is totally incompetent. Ok, maybe there is a war going on and the majority of the infrastructure lies in ruin, but you would still think a 100 kilometers could be regularly traversed in less than three days. In other words, one of the most time consuming activities in the region is travel. My solution from this point forward - travel as little as possible. To date I have spent approximately a week (five work days) waiting on flights, etc. This was to travel to Ramadi (approximately 100 kilometers), back to Baghdad, and back to Ramadi. Of course travel is almost strictly limited to helicopter flights (Marine Corps, Army/Catfish Air, and Dept. of State or RSO). The vast majority of these take place at night (remember there are bad-guys/girls out there), so when you do finally get on a flight, you don't even get the benefit of the view - just the feeling of being snatched from the ground and whisked away in the dark, while the rotors pound through the disposable hearing protection...In the next entry I'll cover a visit to the DFAC (chow hall).

Much love and respect,
Cip