Iraq War Pre-Surge: Clear, Windy, Dusty, & Warm

[December 9, 2025]   There never was a time when Soldiers said the weather in Iraq was beautiful.  Typically it was clear, windy, dusty, and warm (or hot as Hell).  We paid close attention to the weather because it was a major factor in the speed of construction; the hotter it was, the less efficient we could get any construction accomplished.  And the hot weather was dangerous. Construction workers died from heat exhaustion or from accidents caused by the slowdown of their mental faculties, leading to a fall or death that would not normally have occurred.  There were deaths from insurgents and terrorists of course, who targeted our workers to generate fear and drive them from our worksites.  Generally, this strategy by the bad guys didn’t work because we paid good money in cash, and treated our workers well.  We also cracked down on corruption by those who hired the workers directly.  This corruption came with a bribe and we refused to pay it or tolerate bribery in our employment system (when we knew about it).  In the early part of the war, in the years 2003 and 2004, we didn’t know any better, but by 2007, we had gotten smart and learned how to stop such corrupt construction practices.  We still had it happen, but we knew what we had to do, and the workers seemed to appreciate getting paid a little better and not having to pay about ten percent of their pay to some unscrupulous shyster, masquerading as a good guy.  The main part of the construction effort in preparation for the Surge was from April through August.  Anytime after May was hot and that’s when we had the environment kicking us in the ass every single day.  We complained about the weather every day, and the weather was the same every day, just like Groundhog Day.

There’s also never been a project where an Engineer hasn’t complained about material shortages and on-time delivery.  Such shortages are magnified a hundred-fold in a combat zone where the enemy knows where you are, what you are doing, and why.   You become an easy target.  Material shortages began immediately as we started building facilities for the incoming troops and equipment.  There was no time to create stockpiles and most of the world was unable to produce, ship, load, and transport their equipment and materials to us as fast as we needed it.  By late April, we started to see some replenishment of supplies, and that is thanks to BG Steve Anderson and his R&S folks at MNF-I.  He had a small group of Colonels who were logistical geniuses; at least I thought so.  US Army Colonel Mary Whitworth, who had traveled with me to Iraq, was one of the few strategic logisticians, and she was great at getting anything from point A to point B, often before I knew I needed it. This is also the time we were getting smarter about Iraqi politicians and their military.  It was amazing how much more we could get done with better cooperation from Iraq politicians.  The solution?  Give them credit for getting large-scale construction completed faster and with less hassle.  They got the credit and we got more motivated and experienced workers.  This was important because the work normally done by Iraqis was substandard, requiring a high level of supervision by U.S. Engineers.  We also spent a great deal of time fixing Iraqi construction mistakes.  The Baghdad AOR was still an active warzone, and we regularly got incoming mortars and rockets.  Generally, this was a nuisance but if you were injured from one, it was not a nuisance.

During the first six months of my tour, in the last half of 2006, we were closing bases as the Coalition strategy called for us to slowly drawdown our forces, turn over the bases we had occupied to either the Iraqi army or Iraqi police, and ensure we were adhering to American environmental standards.  Going by these environmental standards was a self-inflicted and unnecessary distraction that took time, resources, and did nothing for Iraq.  Iraqis didn’t care about their environment at all, except as a way to extract concessions, usually in the form of money, from us. Four months after the announcement of the Surge, we were still holding Basing Meetings and looking to close bases, as a surge of troops were inbound.  The goal was to shutdown about one base a month.  This was dumb, at least in my opinion, but I know the MNF-I commander had to show the world we were still “planning to leave Iraq.”  It was a political necessity.

A regular problem for me was TF-134 (Detainee Operations).  Their commander MG Gardner wanted everything yesterday and had zero priorities.  That drove most of my Engineer friends crazy.  I told them not to worry, the answer would be to give TF-134 what they needed before they realized they needed it.  Since we were coming up on the hotter months of the year, just as the Surge would be starting, it was a no-brainer that there would be a greater need for climate-control systems to ensure we kept the outside high temperatures at some level of tolerance for the detainees.  This meant a greater power generation capacity for their generator farm, more concrete pads, and steel cages for all their equipment that might come in contact with a detainee.  We were going to order this equipment immediately, so that it would arrive (we hoped) in time. At Bucca (in southern Iraq), where the largest number of detainees would be held, there was a problem with the bidding among potential contractors.  All bids were well over our internal government estimate.  And this was not our only issue with the possible explosion in the number of detainees.  At Taji, just north of Baghdad, I was told about the possibility of 5,000 detainees.  I wasn’t sure if this was feasible to build these detainee facilities as we were building for many more at Bucca.  At the time, I found it humorous that TF-134 asked me to provide them with an estimate of the number of detainees I projected.  This was their job!  I had no idea how many.  If they wanted to get this information, then they were certainly barking up the wrong tree.  In early May, it was MG Gardner’s last day and I was happy that he was leaving.  GEN Petraeus told me that “We’re still figuring out the way ahead.”  Wow, that’s nuts, for us being at the point where we were. He then ordered the infamous Abu Garaib prison closed.

T-Walls were a big deal about this time because they were easy to make, easy to transport, and were a good protective measure.  Plus, our troops loved painting various artistic graphics on these T-Walls to show that “we’d been here.”  Of course, the rush to complete tens of thousands of them led to quality problems.  The quality issue was exacerbated by the material shortages of cement for the concrete mixtures.  We were starting to get inferior cement from Turkey, and this was tied directly to stress fractures in many of the T-Walls.  I worked closely with the contractors that made the T-Walls and told them we would only pay for T-Walls that were delivered and placed in a FOB that didn’t have cracks.  I would not pay for T-Walls produced at the contractors worksite. These T-Walls became something of a goldmine for the manufacturers, and so we sent Engineers out to witness some of the concrete pours into the molds to figure out why some cracked.  There were many reasons, but the fact we were checking on them, we had fewer problems.  Check what you consider important.  These were not American contractors but most from the Middle East and were not to be trusted.

The normalcies of life also continued.  On my daughter’s birthday, I called her at 0430 hours the early morning after her birthday (Iraqi time), which was the late afternoon of her actual birthday in Pennsylvania.  She was with her friends, so I didn’t spend much time on the phone and because I was using a satellite phone (probably an improper use of it but I didn’t care).  I also took my semi-annual APFT physical fitness test that morning and in a note to myself, I “survived and passed.”  This test was not required in combat but it looks good on paper when you write up your accomplishments for the year.  It shows dedication and the Army looks for dedication.  I also turned over several American flags to one of LTG Odierno’s Soldiers to be flown over Al Faw Palace.  I would get the flags back with a certificate of authentication attesting that it had been flown, the date, and a “signature” by LTG Odierno. Naturally, he didn’t sign them.  There was no autopen, so one of his Staff Sergeants had his signature down pretty good.  Good enough for me.  I used these flags as personalized gifts to family and friends.  It was a popular gift to receive.

In early May, I was looking at my year in combat coming to an end.  I’d depart in early July, and that was a real concern for my boss and the General Officer staff at MNC-I and MNF-I.  Yes, I was doing a pretty good job.  I think losing me at the end of the tour was more about losing a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge and my ability to pull so many people together from so many organizations, and do so quickly, that did make me an asset.  Plus, I got things done.  If GEN Petraeus or LTG Odierno wanted something, they didn’t have to tell me twice.  Usually I’d get a head’s up from my boss.  That gave me a day or so to study the problem and be prepared for when I was called in to discuss their requests directly.  There was no going through people to get to me, they spoke to me face-to-face.  That way, there were no miscommunications.  And, yes, I was looking forward to going “home.”  Actually, I was looking forward to getting out of Iraq.  The weather was still clear, windy, dusty, and warm.  I was starting to burn out and the long hours took a toll on me mentally and physically.  But in the states, I had no home.  I had no place to live, no car, and all my meager belongings were in a storage container.  My wife had divorced me after my first combat tour.  I had to stay at a friend’s house for a few days before I could get my feet back under me.  I also signed up on a dating website.  Dating when you’re 55, and just returning from combat, would be another adventure.

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Please read my books:

1. “55 Rules for a Good Life,” on Amazon (link here).
2. “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).