GOING TO IRAQ - PART I (ORIENTATION)

Since I’m going for a 90 day or so tour in Iraq starting in late September, I thought I’d summarize my experience so far by commenting on the orientation tour that began this assignment.

The orientation itself was quite common-sense:

Iraq has two seasons - hot and hotter.
Always wear your body armor/helmet when outside camp.
Don’t get captured - it’s bad for your health.
The base exchange is well-stocked; if you can buy ‘em at Wal Mart,
you can buy ‘em here.

What was interesting about the experience were the attendees themselves. About half were military officers, the rest civilians. The officers were typically field-grade, and many were preparing for their second, and in some cases, third tour. They were serious, business-like, optimistic, opinionated, and yes, realistic. Much of the value of the orientation session came from listening to their discussions of what went well, what didn’t go well, and how to improve.

The civilians were even more interesting as a group. I don’t know what I did expect, but I didn’t expect what I saw. The civilians divided rather neatly into two equal groups: under 35 and over 55 - no “middle-aged.” In all other aspects, a more diverse population I’ve never seen. No two alike in terms of personal history, occupation, or field assignment. Two were women; one going to the field where weapons qualification was required (she qualified “Expert”), the other to an embassy assignment. One man was a former State Department contract worker recently back from Afghanistan. Two were retired Army, one officer and one enlisted. The retired officer was going on a technically-oriented field assignment; the retired enlisted man was going to the International Zone as an Iraqi culture expert. And then there was me.

One last item on the age gap. The younger group, as a group, tended to be quite adventurous and enthusiastic about ‘making change happen;’ the elders, me included, tended to be more business-like and less sanguine about our ability to change things.

With age comes wisdom, perhaps - or at least caution.