Transition To Self Reliance...

Some folks are born made to wave the flag...

Oooh that Red, White, and Blue...

And when the band played Hail to the Chief...

Ooo they point the cannon at you...

Out to the blue once again... Nothing getz you going in the morning like a Blackhawk ride... When those chopper blades hit you with that air blast... And the crew chief comes out and motions you forward... You can almost here the Revival... So I took a lil trip up to Kirkuk... Remember Kirkuk... The multi-ethnice city that holds the key to all the oil in the north... Old friends like Kurds, Sunnis, Turkomen, and Shi'a live there... all trying to be equally hostile towards each other... But I went there to none of that affair... well not directly... You see they brought in this Genius Oil Colonel Guy that owns like a oil refinery in Brazil... speaks spanish, pocho, and a host of other languages... So I get to show him around the country... He has friends in high places and will report back what he sees... I need to get this guy my resume... hmmm Let's call him Pinky... So when you are flying with somebody of Pinky's stature you get nothing but first class air... We were able sit in the front seats... not squished in the back with coach...

So we get to FOB WARRIOR, Kirkuk... Arrive at our first meeting... And wouldn't you know... Must have known I was there... In walks 4-Star General Casey (MultiNational Forces Commander, about two steps from the President) ... Now this is a leader... First thing he does is walk around and shake everyone's hand and asks them what they do... When he got to me and I said Reconstruction of Oil Infrastructure in the 101st AOR... He said... You better get that Oil flowing... I just stood there with a dumb look on my face... Anyways... He gave a brief to us... About the state of Iraq and where we lie... He reiterated that this isn't our country... It is up to them if they want to take it to the next level... We as American's always do a good job... We work hard and want to get the job done... He said that can be counter effective in Iraq... They start expecting us to do it for them... So he told us... Let it go and gave a quote you will see at the end of this entry... Another one of his points was to chill... Don't rush to failure... That Midnight Crisis project at work... doesn't look the same in the morning... A leader doesn't jump up and down and say WHAT IS THE STATUS NOW NOW NOW... and demand an answer that takes time... Trust those under you to get the job... I like this guy already... I must admit though... The Army does give a lot more responsibility to officers... My only grip is they don't trust their younger enlisted... When I need something done... M-Lo is already one step ahead... I don't have to ask 10MILLION times for something... Just let him run with it... I LOVE AIR FORCE ENLISTED! Get that smile off your face M-Lo... and get your Captain a Mocha... por favor

Ohh... yea so my address was on the last entry... So if you want to send something to me or the childrens of Iraq... please do... I will post the address once in a while... so you don't forget me... hehe...

So there is a lil wager going on between M-Lo and I... On how many Care packages we get... We are not including Mysteria R-Dl... This girl already has about 20... not kidding... I have 3 and M-Lo I think has a close 2... but there are ruminations of more coming his way... So to all that call me family or friend... We can't let the Llama M-Lo win...!

Better to let them do it imperfect their way than do it perfect our way...

-General Casey