Iraq War Pre-Surge: Why Write About It?

[November 28, 2025]  My wife asked me yesterday, shortly after enjoying our Thanksgiving Dinner, why I was writing about the Iraq War, and pointedly asked, “Why are you focusing on this Pre-Surge?”  She noted that nearly everyone was focused on the “fight,” or just the “surge.”  And that is a good question, and one I’ve asked myself for many years.  As a side note, my wife is known to help me be a better person, and frequently challenges my weaknesses (somewhat frustratingly so), and fortunately without too much embarrassment to me.  I think the answer is not easy to write about, not because I haven’t given it some thought, but because it forces me to admit that the part that I played in it was of a lesser role.  True, the argument that I could have made is that combat requires preparation of the battlefield; where a great commander positions his forces correctly to an advantage and puts the enemy into a weak place, so when the fighting happens, we are in position to overwhelmingly destroy our enemies.  And, yes, my part was the Engineer part of the classic preparation of the battlefield.  The answer is more complex than that, but I think this is the crux of why I’m writing about the pre-surge time.

Also, and perhaps to a greater extent, my direct experience was to be in the position of Facilities Chief of MNC-I, which was at the time, the position that oversaw all large construction, prioritizing construction, planning, design, funding, and placing all the effort into position for maximum use of our resources.  I had future plans to write a book on the pre-surge even before my departure from my second of three combat tours in Iraq.  I also had plans to write about the “Surge” also and show how the pre-surge was a crucial element in the former’s success.  My boss at the time, COL Juan Fernandez, a great friend and wonderful commander encouraged this plan to write about it in book form and volunteered to help me as needed.  But, about a year or so ago, I changed my plans and will not write that book.  Life does tend to get in the way, but more importantly, the finer details of that time have been lost in my memory and I don’t believe I can do it justice any longer.  I may change my mind, but at this point, no book is on the horizon.  So, why am I writing about the pre-surge in these articles?  The short answer is, “I was there.”

Indeed, I was there about six months prior to the official announcement by President Bush that a “surge” was to be the new military strategy.  At the time, we didn’t know whether it would work, but we did know that what we were doing at the time, a small force both as occupier and attacker of those creating havoc in the country.  The surge would eventually work better than we’d hoped.  But the road to get there was long and painful.  The good news for me was that by the time of President Bush’s announcement of the surge, I knew all the key players in the Coalition, and they knew me.  I would then work another six months in preparing the battlefield from an infrastructure point of view, based on MNC-I’s Commander LTG Ray Odierno’s plans to bring the fight to the enemy.  Those six months, roughly between the end of December 2006 until I departed the country in early July 2007 were the most challenging time of my life.  The workload was insane, often 100 hours a week.  Fortunately, those I worked with were there to do everything they could to make the pre-surge a success.  And, my boss, COL Fernandez did what any good commander would do, he gave me plenty of rope to get ‘er done!

There is another reason that I’m writing about the pre-surge days from early 2007, and that is to let my grandchildren know about what I did and why, during the Iraq War.  Better that they read it in my words than to read about it in the biases of those who were not there, yet are called “experts of the Iraq War.”  One of the greatest regrets many combat veterans have is that they did not tell their kids or grandkids what they did during the war where they fought.  I’ve known many veterans and while some never wanted to talk about their battles, including battles after the war with the Veterans Administration, they are consistent in wanting to eventually tell someone about what happened to them and their battle buddies.  I’ve taken up this regret head on.  So, with that in mind, I’ll write about the war from my perspective and any analysis is my own, and my biases I will try to expose.  What I write is based on direct personal knowledge.  Fortunately, I kept a diary/logbook that is a blow-by-blow of what I did every day.  In the future, this logbook will be one of my pictures.  And I do have about 900 photographs to add to a photo book during that year in Iraq.  Digital cameras were just making a great and new way to take lots of pictures, and then, at some later date, sorting them out.  I’ll make this narrative and photos in what we call a tabletop photo book.

And here we are, the reasons I’m writing about the pre-surge.  My wife, once again, being someone who can see inside my soul, thinks there is another reason.  She believes that to write about my experiences in Iraq is necessary for me to come to grips with the loss of so many friends that year 2007 and to deal with all the internal devils that I harbor.  Maybe that is the case.  I truly don’t know.  I’m still going to record what I did, to the best of my ability and I am fully aware that much of it can be dull – or boring, as I used to say as a kid when I didn’t like something – and these articles might just turn people off who want to read about the Iraq War.  The pre-surge certainly is not something that will make headlines.  The pre-surge is not thrilling, not an adventure, not even a great story but it is a great experience that very few will ever have and I did use the time as a window into myself.  I learned the limits of what I could do, physically, emotionally, and intellectually, because I was pushed well beyond my personal limits and this was a good thing; I was tired but I did not break.  And that was one of the many successes I had in 2007.  For that, I’m proud that I fulfilled my responsibilities in the key role in the pre-surge Coalition Engineer effort that led up to the “surge” and reduced the violence in Iraq.

————

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).