A view from Iraq

Got this email recently. Name withheld at request.

Tom:

I'll start out with the obligatory gushing. Bottom line up front,††

your stuff is great. It's like reading my thoughts, only they are††

developed, coherent, humorous and researched. You're a touch less††

conservative than i am, but i can live with that.

a brief introduction - I'm currently serving in Iraq. I work at a division headquarters. Because of my unique location, I got to see a lot more issues than most - specifically, the Iraqi government up close and personal, several contractors and the Dept of State side of the house, among others.

I've been reading your blog for about 6 months, and have read about††

everything else i can get my hands on for free. (I'm planning to buy††

your books when i get back, but right now i read escapist fiction.††

reading strategy/vision/tactical stuff just pisses me off)

anyways a few comments:

Today as I was driving around our FOB, a realization struck me like a††

lightning bolt. We desperately need the Sysadmin force. I've always††

agreed with this concept, but thought we could shoehorn it into our††

existing force structure. Not any more.

An example - contracting for the rebuilding of Iraq. Too fractured,††

no continuity and no real prioritization. We've spent $25 million on††

a sewage plant over the past year, still nothing. Why? 3 different††

battalion commanders in that AO, money flow changes daily and no big††

picture - As a commander, i love the autonomy, but we have to change††

our culture. The BCT concept is a decent solution for some††

warfighting problems, not working for the sysadmin stuff. From my††

perch, i see very little prioritization of rebuilding, it's killing us.

You need oath-swearing individuals to run reconstruction. Outsourcing††

the training of the Iraqi Police and governance consulting for the††

Iraqi government is a not good. Don't get me wrong, lots of well††

meaning good people here, but they do not have the same incentives to††

get stuff done, specifically an overriding dedication to mission††

accomplishment. There are too many mercs (not just the security††

contractors) and corporate consultants who do nothing. Kick them out,††

get the military in the business of training the iraqi government.

The Army is stuck on the the training center model of training. When††

you go to JRTC, the O/C's say they are all there to help, but we know††

the real deal. Their "help" is usually along the lines of "hey here's††

what you did wrong, boy you suck, here's some ideas how to do it††

better next time". We need to be actively teaching and mentoring††

these guys on the basics. I had to train a police captain how to take††

notes. This guy did not know how to take notes. How can i train him††

to run patrols and conduct operations if he can't take notes? That's††

the level we need to get to (sometimes). If they know how to take††

notes, great! next topic.

ok, enough venting for now. I only ask that you keep me reasonably††

anonymous.

thanks

Fascinating email huh? I basically concur with all his diagnoses, especially his take on not wanting to outsource security to the private sector. This guy has his head screwed on straight.

We wish this guy well and thank him for serving our country.