We're recycling Camp Bucca

Lt. Col. Leah Moore of Monona is 6,714 miles from home at Forward Operating Base Bucca, aka Camp Bucca, in southern Iraq. She is the base deputy commander. When not deployed she works as the Wisconsin National Guard deputy surgeon in Madison, and commands the guard armory in Portage.

At FOB Bucca, there are several permanent infrastructures originally built to sustain Army forces and missions. These include a brick factory capable of producing up to 1 million bricks per month, an ice plant capable of producing up to 45 tons of ice per day, and a Waste Water Treatment Plant with the ability to sustain a population of over 50,000 people.

In addition -- and most importantly -- we are also currently overseeing the completion of a new water treatment facility capable of producing 2 million gallons of water a day. FOB Bucca is located above the largest aquifer in the region. The new water treatment facility is able to drill down to the water, retrieve it, and then treat it so that it is drinkable. While deployed here, our goals are not only to see through the completion of the construction of this water treatment plant but also to complete several projects that will provide local cities/villages direct access to our water, waste plant, brick, and ice factory assets in the near future. We also intend to provide the vocational training required to sustain these assets after our departure.

As far as the future of Bucca -- based on our location and established assets -- there are many potential uses. As of yet, a final decision has not been made on which if any of the uses will come to fruition. Regardless, we work daily not only to sustain normal operations incumbent to running a FOB (i.e. logistics, engineering, housing, safety, and contracting operations) but also to prepare the Base for its re-missioning (whatever that may be).

The challenge is to keep what we need now, anticipate what we may need in the future, and reallocate the difference to help out our fellow forces and minimize waste and cost. So far, we've identified and reallocated over 8 million dollars worth of supplies and equipment that may have otherwise gone to waste. We are very proud of our work and success here.

- LTC. Leah Moore


New York Times photo at left depicts a portion of Camp Bucca's detainee facilities months ago. Thousands of detainees have been moved north to other facilities for release or transfer to Iraqi custody.


More from Moore: LTC. Moore, who works full time in the Wisconsin National Guard medical office in Madison, was among the experts quoted in Sunday's Wisconsin State Journal article on new efforts to combat suicides by military personnel and veterans.

Acknowledgements to sources in today's Wisconsin State Journal article on USMC Cpl. Kevin Rodrick

Personal note of thanks to everyone who helped in the reporting of today's Wisconsin State Journal article on members of the military who take their own lives:

Special thanks to the family of USMC Cpl. Kevin Rodrick for their courage and forthrightness in making sure Kevin's story is heard, and for their sincere desire to make his story part of the solution.

Kevin's mother, Kathy, praised the Marine Corps for its concern and assistance after her son died Aug. 15. But she confronted a psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration about doing more to prevent suicides.

"He said, 'I'm sorry ma'am to tell you this has been happening more and more often,'" she said.

" 'Well then let's fix it,' " she told him. " 'You can't help Kevin, but you can help someone else.' "

"These guys don't know how to ask for help," she said. "They've been trained not to ask for help. We need to change that."

The Rodrick family sent us several wonderful photos of Kevin, including several that you can see in the print or online versions of the article. Here you can see three others. That's Kevin, above, on a transport aircraft in theater.

The image at left shows Kevin with his twin sister, Karen, who is a veteran who saw up close the ravages of that war on military personnel and civilians alike while on duty in Afghanistan .

In the bottom photo, that's Kevin at center in the background, preparing for a mission.

Those of you who are overseas are no doubt aware of the command's latest efforts to prevent suicides.

Here are some resources for those who would like more information and for anyone who wants to help a buddy or family member. The national suicide prevention hotline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you are a member of the military or a veteran, press 1 after you connect.

The gist of what the experts are saying is this: the military teaches its warriors to be tough and self-reliant. In order to be as tough and self-reliant and you can be, you need to know when to reach out for help.

For what it's worth, here's my definition of suicide: A permanent solution to a temporary problem. And they are all temporary problems.

-Steve

Iraq colonel's daughter in Wisconsin wants to aid 32nd

West Salem High School senior Catey Greenwood plans to let members of Wisconsin’s 32nd Infantry Brigade know that they are not forgotten. Read the story in the Coulee News.

Greenwood’s efforts are part of her senior exit project. How did she get become aware of the deployment? The brigade's deputy commander is her father, Col. Mark Greenwood, the News reports

“I’m hosting a support group for teens whose family members are currently overseas and we are also creating care packages to send over to the 32nd Brigade by Christmas,” Greenwood said.

- Steve

Madison's million-gallon airman breaks record in Iraq

From Air Force Staff Sgt Jason M Klingbiel of Madison, who is deployed 6,400 miles from home at Sather Air Base, west of Baghdad.

Things are going well. Right now, I've been here in Iraq approximately
110 days, and have issued around 1,074,000 gallons of fuel - far
exceeding the previous record. The only "drought" in aircraft that
comes to mind was during the dust storm that hit this area the first
week of July, where the sky was practically orange from the dust in the
air, and it pretty much grounded most all the air traffic.

My replacement will be arriving soon. With new equipment, I can say
that we did receive a new R-11 fuel truck, but I imagine the need for
new equipment won't be great, especially with the eventual withdrawal
from the area.

Aircraft variety has definitely been one of this place's positive sides.
In addition to servicing our own aircraft, I have worked with aircraft
registered from the former Soviet republics including Kazakhstan,
Armenia, and Georgia, occasionally still wearing traces of their former
Aeroflot striping or the outline of the red star of the Soviet Air
Force, all chartered to air freight companies throughout the Middle
East. When the Royal Air Force left here back in July, they contracted
for an An-124, the Russian counterpart of our C-5 to airlift their
helicopters from here.

As for off-duty time, I've found myself most frequently visiting the
morale tent, to converse with family back home online. While there are
an assortment of other options, one classic piece of advice always comes
to mind - you can't breathe dirt or dust for that matter, and there's
certainly days here where there's a lot of dust in the air.

- Jason Klingbiel

Detainee count is down to 9,000, fewer than 1,000 at Bucca

One of the main jobs of Wisconsin National Guard troops in Iraq is "detainee ops," running military detention camps at camps Bucca, Taji and Cropper.

Under an agreement with Iraq, detainees are being released or turned over to the Iraqi government. Several news agencies are reporting a milestone has been reached.

Fewer than 9,000 detainees remain under U.S. military control, down from 27,000 in 2007, according to a statement released by the military yesterday.
Of those, 3,572 are held at Cropper, 4,585 are at Taji, and 790 are held at Bucca, once the largest detention center in the world. Wisconsin National Guard soldiers have been moving the prisoners out of Bucca.

Iraq officials maintain control over who the U.S. releases from detention camps. U.S. troops are in charge of guarding and transporting detainees, after the Iraq government makes its decision. So it wasn't a reflection on U.S. troops when, in an AP report that came out Sunday, an unnamed Iraqi investigator claimed that the suicide bomber in the deadly Aug. 19 attack on the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad had been released from Camp Bucca.

Will the released detainees reignite sectarian fighting? One of the Iraq experts at the Army War College Strategic Studies Institute says much of the answer lies with the Iraq government.

- Steve

AFP photo - A U.S. soldier helps an Iraqi
prisoner disembark from a bus prior to his
release in Baghdad's al-Dora district in April.

I'll take my Iraq trailer over my Kuwait cot

From Nick Druecke at Camp Taji, Iraq, roughly 6,339 miles from home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

The best time here would have to be when you get down time. It's always a happy day when you're told just to stay in your room and wait for further instructions, but the instructions never come. That's usually a pretty rare occurrence.

Since we don't get days off, and we're here all year long (minus two weeks of mid-tour leave), stress levels can get pretty high. People you see every day begin to wear on you, tempers get short, and things begin to get murky all around. So days off are awesome.

The worst for me was Kuwait. It's like going on a long vacation, driving all day, and getting a flat tire ten miles away from Disneyland. The flight from Ft. Hood to Kuwait took just under 22 hours of flying, and when you get off the jet after a day of traveling the stress starts to hit. People are cranky, sweaty, and smelly from the jet, and we still have to in-process, and find out where our cots are located. You will be sleeping here for the remainder of your stay, which for us was a month long. It's only supposed to take a week or so.

You're exposed to a whole other world of weather and germs, so everybody gets sick at the same time. The entire company stays in a large tent, and your'e literally sleeping a foot away from a buddy on both sides (which is great for spreading germs). You have a shower trailer outside, and some Porta-Johns, and let me tell you that sitting in a Porta-John when it's 130 degrees isn't a pleasant experience. The chow hall is about half a mile walk away, and its hotter than hell outside.

Oh and don't forget the dust storms, if you've never been in one consider yourself lucky. It's like hurricane force winds, but instead of rain getting blown around it's sand, and it goes everywhere. EVERYWHERE! You literally can't see three feet in front of you, and I think there were four or five of them in the time we were there. Iraq isn't nearly that bad, at least once you get settled into your rooms. We were in surge housing for a while, which is pretty much the same thing as the tent in Kuwait. But hey, they don't pay soldiers to stay in hotels, they pay us to fight, and that's what we're doing here.
Live from Iraq, Nick

Suffer the children in the cribs of Camp Taji

From Nick Druecke at Camp Taji, Iraq, roughly 6,339 miles from home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Our living quarters are glorified trailers. I think I already bought this up on a note once, so I'll be brief on this subject. They literally are trailers, three rooms to a trailer, and two men to a room. Unless you're an officer - go figure - the college boys are pampered. They live in larger trailers, only two rooms to a trailer, and one man per room. Suffer the children I suppose.

I would say the rooms I live in are roughly 10' X 10' but you also have to put in two beds (twin), two nightstands (broken), and two closets. So really you only have about three feet of walking room between the two of us. If your roommate is messy, your area is messy. That is unfortunately the case for me, no chance of a change in that department either.
Live from Iraq, Nick