Project Management

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He lowered his altitude and spotted a fisherman in a boat below. He shouted to him, 'Excuse me, can You help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am.'

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, 'You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.9720 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.'

The balloonist rolled his eyes and said, 'You must be a Contracting Officer.'

'I am,' replied the man. 'How did you know?'

'Well,' answered the balloonist, 'everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me.'

The man smiled and responded, 'You must be a Program Manager.'

'I am,' replied the balloonist. 'How did you know?'

'Well,' said the man, 'you don't know where you are or where you're going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but, somehow, now it's my fault.'

Logar . . . .In the winter!

Random photos that are just too gorgeous to not share . . . . These are from the Logar province!

Dani's Going Away

After a year at Qalaa House as an ANP project manager, we had a party to say goodbye. Little did I know, less than 2 months later I would return - but this time to Kunduz. :-)

Chief's Visit to Shank Area Office

WOW! I'm really far behind on getting blogs out there. . . Since these photos were already loaded into the system, I figured I would post this blog officially.



Dani and the Chief of Engineers, Lieutenant General Van Antwerp.



Lt. Gen. Van Antwerp during our flight. So calm and relaxed.


During our trip we had an amazing lunch at one of the contractor's camps.

Focused.

The flight - the Contractor gave COL Magness a cloak. Thought I'd try it on over the body armor :-)

The feast!

COL Magness and the contractor - notice the cloak!

New offices at FOB Shank. Luxury!

Great ceremony to dedicate the new FOB Shank USACE facilities, but also to present the medals (including the purple heart) to several soldiers.

Presentation of Fleur de Lis to USACE NCO!

Purple Heart recipients.

Convoy brief by USACE's very own Force Pro.

Flight brief - fully geared.

The bosses!

About to land - and away we go!

Views of Kabul city.

National Police Training Center - Flagship project for ANP.

Here I am briefing the NPTC project layout, success and challenges.

VIPs in route - once again, chatting with LTG Van Antwerp.

Green valleys! The patchwork is beautiful from the air.

Successful day!

COL M and Dani

Town Hall with the Chief of Engineers

Lieutenant General Van Antwerp held a house meeting during his recent visit to AED-N.


Dani and Dave "preparing" for the house meeting. "Preparing" entailed Dani chatting with Dave :-)


COL Magness (AED-N Commander) and General Van Antwerp.


During the house meeting, General Van Antwerp presented coins to individuals nominated by their various organizations. I was honored and humbled to have been nominated.


Then we did a group photo. The group was too large to get onto one frame, so there is a series of photos below.

MeS Ribbon Cutting

ANOTHER SUCCESS! !
The MeS Resident Office team attended a ribbon cutting recently and shared some of their photos with me. What a great group of people, and a successful project!



Chuck (Resident Engineer) and Dan Nordstrom (Project Engineer) cutting the ribbon.


The group partaking in a meal to celebrate.




MAJ Jugan, the MeS Resident Office OIC.


Contractor employees enjoying their meal.

An Afghan gentleman. . . .