Hitting the Road
Last week I journeyed outside of the International Zone for the first time since my arrival in November. Four of five days between December 6-10 I was out on site visits. Media were along on all of the visits but the nice thing is they were all day trips so I was in my own room each night.
The first and last trip were to the same location, Al-Qudas Power Plant, located north of Baghdad. Qudas is an exisiting power plant where we have an ongoing expansion project that is nearing completion. The $180 million expansion is the last and the largest power generation project for the Gulf Region Division.
The expansion included the installation of two General Electric Frame 9E Combustion Turbines, both capable of producing 90+ megawatts of electricity, and all the accompanying infrastructure including a new switch yard. It's a real success story in that the project is a partnership between the Ministry of Electricity and GRD. It was Iraqi designed and Iraqi built.
My first trip to Qudas was a joint GRD and Department of State visit. Our commanding general, Maj. Gen. Michael Eyre was visiting the site for the first time. Representatives from State's Iraq Transition Assistance Office were there, as well as a CNN crew. The nice thing about traveling with the State Department is we got to fly to the site (took about 7 minutes) via hueys. Here is a picture of me when we were in-bound.
Here is my at the project site. Over my left shoulder in the background you can see one of the GE turbines.
My second trip out to Qudas was with Ben Lando, the energy editor for UPI, and a broadcaster from the military's American Forces Network. We traveled by ground this time and it took close to an hour to get there and the travel was something else! But we got there safely and all went well. I know Tom was a bit nervous about me traveling, particularly when I was traveling by ground transportation, but it is always really rewarding getting to see the sites with your own eyes. We were both just praying a lot.
Ben Lando was embedded with GRD for three days and in addition to Qudas we visited the Baghdad Police College, which is in east Baghdad, and we went to Fallujah for the day. I coordinated his trip for him and the focus was electrical projects. At the police college we saw a newly constructed electrical substation that now provides the college with power from the Baghdad grid, as opposed to having to run on generators. In Fallujah we got to see some of the solar street lights installed on key road ways and drove past a power project. The risk level was too high for the security team to allow us to stop and tour the site, so we ended up doing a drive by.
While traveling with our security teams, we had a different team each day, I was just reminded of how grateful I am that people (our service members and private security teams) are over here providing protection and security for all of us. I don't know what their individual beliefs are but I will think of them as God's physical hands and feet, keeping me safe while on the road and traveling here in Iraq.
Thank you all for the continued prayers and support.
The first and last trip were to the same location, Al-Qudas Power Plant, located north of Baghdad. Qudas is an exisiting power plant where we have an ongoing expansion project that is nearing completion. The $180 million expansion is the last and the largest power generation project for the Gulf Region Division.
The expansion included the installation of two General Electric Frame 9E Combustion Turbines, both capable of producing 90+ megawatts of electricity, and all the accompanying infrastructure including a new switch yard. It's a real success story in that the project is a partnership between the Ministry of Electricity and GRD. It was Iraqi designed and Iraqi built.
My first trip to Qudas was a joint GRD and Department of State visit. Our commanding general, Maj. Gen. Michael Eyre was visiting the site for the first time. Representatives from State's Iraq Transition Assistance Office were there, as well as a CNN crew. The nice thing about traveling with the State Department is we got to fly to the site (took about 7 minutes) via hueys. Here is a picture of me when we were in-bound.
Here is my at the project site. Over my left shoulder in the background you can see one of the GE turbines.
My second trip out to Qudas was with Ben Lando, the energy editor for UPI, and a broadcaster from the military's American Forces Network. We traveled by ground this time and it took close to an hour to get there and the travel was something else! But we got there safely and all went well. I know Tom was a bit nervous about me traveling, particularly when I was traveling by ground transportation, but it is always really rewarding getting to see the sites with your own eyes. We were both just praying a lot.
Ben Lando was embedded with GRD for three days and in addition to Qudas we visited the Baghdad Police College, which is in east Baghdad, and we went to Fallujah for the day. I coordinated his trip for him and the focus was electrical projects. At the police college we saw a newly constructed electrical substation that now provides the college with power from the Baghdad grid, as opposed to having to run on generators. In Fallujah we got to see some of the solar street lights installed on key road ways and drove past a power project. The risk level was too high for the security team to allow us to stop and tour the site, so we ended up doing a drive by.
While traveling with our security teams, we had a different team each day, I was just reminded of how grateful I am that people (our service members and private security teams) are over here providing protection and security for all of us. I don't know what their individual beliefs are but I will think of them as God's physical hands and feet, keeping me safe while on the road and traveling here in Iraq.
Thank you all for the continued prayers and support.
That's my girl! Yea, I don't like it much when you are traveling over the road...and I'm not liking the fact that you are getting more time in type than I am in the air! But, my wife wears combat boots (the same size) and I am so honored and proud of the mission you are doing! Keep up the good work my love and keep your head and butt down!
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