Mosul Dam

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I tried to find a link but I think its gone, but during one of the previous campaigns in Iraq, a buddy of mine from OCS did a weekly  blog on the AJC (Atlanta news paper) about his time and what he saw.  It was really neat to follow - I believe he is also now a LTC.  He was an E-7 Ranger before he went to OCS -made it look easy.  You should see if your CT online paper would be interested in doing something similar?

 
Sapper PE said:
  BUT... the major difference is that the air actually feels hot.  I mean, not sticky like you are used to with humidity, but actually hot, like, you are walking through the jet wash all the time, especially with the wind that CSB so aptly identified.  In fact yesterday, when I took those pics, there was a mild sand storm going on, that's why you don't see any blue skies, and it wasn't rain clouds making it hazy and drab.  It was dust.
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This is why the Midwest and east coast feel so evil to me. It's so sticky all the time. I'm used to a hot day feeling like opening an oven door. 

Are you allowed to update us on conditions at the dam? We're nerds, you know. 

 
Well folks, this deployment is over.  I'm at Fort Belvoir out processing right now and heading home permanently this weekend.  Let me just say that this was an enormously complex mission with every agency you can think of getting involved from the White House, the State Department, the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and everybody all the way down the line.  With that many different agencies involved its a wonder we were able to get anything accomplished at all.  Unfortunately, there are other complications, such as war, coup attempt in Turkey affecting shipping of equipment, foriegn military forces needing to understand our needs, us needing to understand the constaints of the various combat units... etc.  Anyway, all that made this a real big challenge.  Regardless, I've done my part and because the mission kept getting delayed, and by the time I would have been a full time resident at the dam, I would have only had a few weeks till redeployment, so USACE decided to cut me loose early and go ahead and bring on the next OIC.   Honestly, I'm really happy to be done with this.  I didn't really get along well with the District Commander, he made things more complicated than they needed to be.  But it is what it is.  I'm heading home and looking forward to it.

 
so did they get any physical work done while you were out there?  or all just logistical

 
Last edited by a moderator:
snickerd3 said:
so did they get any physical work done while you were out there?  or all just logistical
Click to expand...
Well, yes and no.  The bulk of the work hasn't really begun, but they've been doing some.  It will really start in earnest next month and ramp up to full grouting production in October.  Which is about 60 days behind schedule.  However, our dam safety experts assure us that it will not cause failure as long as we get to grouting before the rainy season, which occurs through the winter.

 

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