It's amazing how paper work, authority, and governmental-contractor management can seem to create a world of it's own. I have been dealing with the civilians here on my FOB trying to get a guy a piece of equipment, and it's the convoluted nature of it all is amazing. Keep in mind, you don't see "Halliburton" mentioned as much as you have thought, hearing from the great mind himself, Michael Moore(gag). Rather, Halliburton's Iraq work is done mostly by a subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown, and Root (as we call them, KBR), who then subcontracts various work to various other subcontractors.

Meanwhile, they of course need civilians running around telling soldiers that they are not authorized to get Item X because they don't have DA Form 37234337-dagzulualpha-to-the-number-of-pi.

....in come the south and southeast Asian folks from "Prime Projects International".

Needless to say, understanding each other here doing logistics and supply work can be challenging, assuming the usual situation of the moment: a KBR manager, me (the customer), some guy from some island I've never heard of before(FYI, all Prime Projects International personnel in the future shall collectively be known as "Fez") , and usually some active duty guy over seeing the rest of us, are all trying to be on the same page while not being in the same place. It happens, eventually.

I find that to deal with the whole craziness of it all at the weirdest of those times is to first sit down, have at least one hand holding up you head, and simply start laughing. It makes for a nice short break, and apparently the Asian workers apparently think it's funny too. Why did I choose supply again?

....and yes, this was a picture I have used before already. My camera had to be resent. So there.