Henry's Web Log

As you’ve read about the transformation we’ve undergone in Basra, you know that a great deal happened here, all at once: we went from UK forces to US, all the contractors changed to Iraqi-based businesses, almost all of whom had not contracted with the military before, and the number of soldiers doubled or more. Coming up, we will switch from using US Dollars to a system based entirely on the Iraqi Dinari. A soldier who writes a check or who takes a portion of his pay in cash will receive Dinari. Contractors will be paid in Dinari, including the American contractors. The PX will only accept our “Eagle Cash Cards,” or Dinari. Everything, and this time, Tallil will lead the way, converting over in a few short weeks.

The purpose of this switch is to get US Dollars out of Iraq, and help the Iraqi Dinari be a more stable, viable currency. We’re putting a lot of money into the country, so let’s do it in their currency. Another move to their own independence, and the departure of US influence.

So I thought to myself, "Where else but the military can you force a change that is decidedly good for the long run, but certainly goes against our natural inertia?"
I certainly wouldn’t choose to carry Dinari in my wallet. "I’m an American! I get paid in dollars! But wait: if everybody does this, all at once, it won’t matter, will it? I can still get a haircut, buy a watch, or give the guy at the carwash a tip."

So what would happen in the US if we wanted to make some change for the good of the country, but for it to work, it had to be a sudden, dramatic switch? Say we need to abolish the complex income tax system. Throw it out and use a simple table where lower income people pay from none to a small percent of earnings, and the highly compensated pay a significant percent of their income to tax? We’ve seen lobbyists attack this idea, income tax preparation companies, tax lawyers and others who earn their living based on the complexity of our system. They have a loud voice, and they’ll sue someone because their rights are being violated. And many special interests would loose their protected tax status that their congressperson fought so hard for.

And that’s why we can’t seem to have the Metric System in the United States. It would take a sudden, simple change to unify the US with the rest of the world. Can you imagine? We’re the leader in the global economy, but we trade on a different system of weights and measures . We’re holding ourselves back, because too many people can fight for the status quo, afraid they might have to change their tools, or wouldn’t understand the speed limit. But if we could really take charge, just for 3 months or so, and say, “No. This is the way it’s going to be. It’s a little painful, but get over it, because we WILL all be better off.” Then there would be some amazing things we could do, and we wouldn’t sue each other silly trying to do it.

Many folks have asked how ACI, my custom software development company, is doing, and whether the recession and my deployment have affected us.

Certainly the economy and a deployed owner affects the company and interrupts our rhythm. But ACI has an outstanding team of dedicated professionals, and I'm very proud of several great initiatives they have cooking. We continue to make very good progress on the web-based refrigeration control and energy management for supermarkets that I was talking about last year.

We have a couple of developers serving with Kronos Federal Systems in Blacksburg, and SAIC has grown in Blacksburg. I helped a good friend become part of their management team recently, and prior to deployment, ACI worked on 2 separate web-based software development proposals with the SAIC professionals.

With me gone, our advisory board has done a fantastic job, and now Jim Wyers is on our team as Interim President. He has been a good friend since working with him at Virginia Tech Army ROTC, and in 2005, he became an ACI employee working on our Army software contract. He was delighted to come back, and is overseeing daily operations as well as business development.

The MatWeb material property database and search engine continues to thrive with steady growth and continued improvements to both the search engine and underlying data. Dale, Nils and Rob have recently added new premium features and are ramping up for summer engineering internships.

PC Drafter is about to launch its 10th year, and our new Fantasy Draft Software comparison matrix shows pretty clearly that we've got one of the best packages, yet very reasonably priced.

The bottom line remains strong. We have observed that customers are taking longer to commit, and some projects are on hold, but by and large, our team is fully engaged, and business is on the uptick. And when our team is not working on our projects, they are often undertaking education and self-improvement. We've also been brainstorming some new applicaitons and have a few exciting things cooking!

Personally, I've gone from about 90 hours a week to something around 75 and feel like life is suddenly much better! I've started an application for Systems Engineering certification through INCOSE, and am working on an improved security clearance. Both items should help our marketability after I return.

As the 10th Mountain Division bids farewell to Basra, the 34th Infantry Division is assuming the helm of the Multi National Division-South, right here in Basra. The 34th ID, Red Bulls, hails from the the Minnesota National Guard and has a long, distinguished military history. Among their notable events, the 34th ID was the first US Division to deploy overseas in WWII, and they fought with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy. Minnesota has a distinguished war history as well, with Company A, 194th Armored Regiment deployed to the Philippines in Autumn, 1941. The Wikipedia page for the Bataan Death March lists Minnesota as one of five commemoration marches that memoralize those who were involved in this horrific event.

Here in Basra, the Red Bulls conducted a simultaneous march with their home state, offering 10 mile and 20 mile options.

Having a compelling need to participate in all things aerobic, I donned my ruck and went for the 10 mile event! Two hours and forty minutes later, I was at the finish line, scraping the salt off of my face and neck!

The event was very well run, with the Red Bulls BAND playing at start point and the turn-around point. 86 of us were out there, and the weather smiled on us, with temperatures only in the low 90’s.


This is at about the 7.5 mile mark for me. Note the band, with their rifles under their chairs. I emailed my son Eric about the band, since he has been playing Baritone (Euphonium) for 3 years, and we’ve just become Band Parents ourselves! Eric will be in marching band next year as he enters High School.

General Petraeus succinctly captured the progress and challenges of the US military surge in Iraq, and afterwards, in his remarks published in the December 2008 edition of ARMY magazine (I get the news a little late here!). I found particular relevance in his observation:

"Security is necessary, but [it is] not sufficient. Certainly it is the bedrock, it's the foundation for everything else," he said. "When there are 55 dead bodies every 24 hours in Baghdad, you're not going to get legislation. You're not going to see markets open. You're not going to see kids going to school. Everything stops except for survival."
"You have to achieve that security, but . . . then it must be capitalized on," he added. "As you achieve a little bit more security, you begin a spiral upward instead of a spiral downward, where all of a sudden now you can ... get a market open, and then the people might provide you a little bit better intelligence, which means more effective raids and targeted operations, which means more bad guys off the streets, which means more local support, which means now you can get some Iraqi forces back on the streets. And you keep spiraling upward in a series of reinforcing activities, each of which capitalizes on the other."

Certainly it’s a good thing that we didn’t suddenly pull out of Iraq in the midst of gaining momentum, the upward spiral! And we do have some hard deadlines we’re meeting in accordance with the Iraqi legislation and at the request of our Iraqi partners, including a requirement to have combat troops out of the cities by the end of June.

The amazing part to me, though, is that the US Military, trained in the management of violence, is making a real difference in the economic stability of this country. In 2003, the objection was that “we’re not really trained to be economic development agents, we’re trained to kill” but the answer really is, “Who else is capable of pulling this off?”

You need a huge force to squash the violence, but do so in partnership with the host nation, and phase your own withdrawal so that more and more, it is the host nation that is taking care of itself.

“But we’re Americans! We want a quick fix! Isn’t there a pill we can take? Can’t we just get out of there?”

Well, no. We can’t. We’re Americans, and we’re trained to do the right thing.

I’ve been asked by family and new soldiers headed here what a typical day on the COB is like for me, or for troops in general. During the winter, when I was meeting convoys, there really was no typical day! Every day was different depending on what was due in, and I could be grabbing a nap between 10pm and 1am to get ready for a 2am arrival; or I could be in the office most of the day with reports and email. I usually mixed up my day, though, to keep it interesting and blood flowing beyond my posterior- I’d go check construction progress on our fuel farm (and take pictures, make corrections, etc), or head over to the container storage yard to check security. I was often escorting Iraqi truck convoys into the COB and mispronouncing Iraqi phrases!


My new work is a sustainment brigade representative (liaison officer, LNO) to the Division Headquarters, and that’s considerably more routine. I’m in the G4 office, which oversees all supplies, equipment, transportation, fuel, water, and property accountability in the Division. I say, routine, but of course it's a lot of problem solving, and every day is different. Perhaps the best way to charactarize is that every day used to be insanely chaotic, now it's just chaotic. I’m definitely up earlier, though, starting around 0500 or 0530. One big driver for me being up early is that Mr. Sun starts his day off about 0500 here, and that’s going to get worse before it gets better!
Breakfast opens at 0530, so having a custom-made omelet is my new favorite way to start the day. By 0630, I’m in the office getting set up for the first meeting. Usually it’s an update briefing via video teleconference. Next, there’s a daily G4 “huddle” where we go quickly through all the outstanding issues. From there, a bit of time to work the issues and take care of business. Lunch comes along as my first chance to see what the day has turned out to be: Hot? Dusty? Thunderstorms? Then it’s back in the climate-controlled HQ for an afternoon meeting or two, more email, and reports.

One of the other soldiers in the G4 is also a blogger! Take a look at the adventures of SGM Dave Crotteau . He had a heck of a time getting flights in April, but finally made it. His April posts also include good descriptions of the environment here, and he concurs that being here is absolutely the right thing to do! Interestingly, his daughter, Jacki, is about to deploy over here as well!

Several times a week we have a Brigade Battle Update Analysis where the LNOs always have a slide about recent activities, presented to the Brigade commander and attended (online) by every section in the brigade (about 120 slides! Break for dinner, then back to work, until 8 or 10pm, depending on how things are going. During the huge build-up, we were often at work until 11 or later…but things are much better now. Plus, there's two of us now. Maj Jim Reis is a huge help. In fact, it’s not unusual now to hit a lull between meetings and have time to go to the gym or the Internet café. That makes a world of difference in my morale!

Below is a photo of my workspace. I've "marked my territory" within the sea of cubicles with a partriotic banner made by the great Cub Scouts of Pack 145 .