Letter of Appreciation

Hey, cool things do happen.  BG Wolters, the Deputy Commanding General for Political Military Affairs (US Embassy) presented SSG Commisso, IT1(SW/AW) Jurek, and I with Letters of Appreciation for completing the installation of ISAF-Secret in the US Embassy.  An LOA will help IT1 Jurek with promotion points and on her Chief's Board.  It will also help SSG Commisso on his SFC board.

 

This was a PAINFUL installation (rhetorically and physically, I managed to get my hand stuck in a cooling fan -- there wasn't a lot of blood, but when that little fan flung it on the wal...... yick).  The political and material hurdles were hor-ree-bull.

 

Anyhoo, it's nice to get kudos.  The general said the LOAs were for perserverance.  Apparently, we're the third group to try this install.  Others tried and quit.  The general said we had faced several hurdles that would have made most people quit, but we perservered.

 

He did relay a story that he came down to check on us and heard my looooooooooong string of four letter words after I cut my hand on the cooling fan.  He peeked in and saw SSG and I in our t-shirts, covered in ductwork dirt, and looking pretty sleep deprived.  As soon as we saw him, we briefed him that everything was under control, and we were making progress.  He said that kind of attitude wins wars.  While I appreciate the sentiment a bunch, from SSG, IT1, and my perspective, it just keeps us from getting clobbered by birds (colonels) and stars (generals).

 

Anyhoo, here's a couple of pix.

 

Cheers,

Jody

--
"...wrap your arms around your body armor, give it a big embrace, and LEARN TO LOVE THE SUCK!"
  -- Sergeant First Class Jenkins, 13 JUL 08