What the hell does Abi do all day, anyway?

As promised, here's my stab at explaining how the US Government gets consideration for its semi-monthly deposit into my checking account.

There's no typical day in terms of what I do at work, but my schedule has trended toward predictable, so I'll start with that:

• 06:10 - Alarm goes off
• 06:20 - $#!+, shower, and shave
• 06:45 - Back at the CHU, get dressed, catch up on FB and email
• 07:15 - Head to the DFAC for breakfast (2 English muffins with strawberry jam, a bowl of fruit, two orange juice boxes)
• 08:03 - Catch the bus to work
• 08:15 - At work
• 12:12 - Catch bus to get lunch (I always include a salad)
• 13:03 - Catch bus to return to work
• 13:15 - At work
• 19:42 - Catch bus to get supper (see previous post to this blog)
• 20:30 - Either go back to work or go to CHU, depending on what needs to be done
• 11:30 (at the latest) - lights out

Wash, rinse, repeat. I do get a 1/2 day off every Sunday morning. Kind of a mini deployment vacation!

Now, while I'm at work:

My job title is "Chief, Requirements Validation Division". I work on the United States Forces in Iraq (USF-I) joint staff. In particular, I work for the J8 (Comptroller). My job requires that I oversee a repeating 3-week process. Each week, a new iteration begins on Sunday. So, at any given time, I'm tracking issues for three iterations of the process. "So, what is this process of which you speak?" Well, I'm glad you asked!

Units at bases throughout Iraq have need of various services (security, base life support, aircraft maintenance, etc.). These services cost money, of course, and the J8 is the keeper of the dough. My job is to vet these "requirements" to ensure they are in keeping with the USF-I commander's strategy, policy, and objectives. I help the units get what they truly need, but I guard the resource (the money) by advising the commander's deputy chief of staff (DCoS)--the approval authority--on what is truly a "requirement" versus what is just a "desirement". I won't bore you with the nuts and bolts of the process, but all this takes about 3 weeks from the time I get the requirement until the DCoS makes his final decision.

The complicating factor right now is that units have, for so long, been in a pseudo-steady-state posture, and it was fairly easy to demonstrate why certain requirements were necessary to complete the mission. Now, however, USF-I has a target date of 31 Dec 2011 to be out of Iraq. In order to do this, we need to reduce the number of people (both US forces and support contractors) over the next 18 months. The rate of that reduction is critical, and tied closely to base closures and eliminating need for certain services. Forgive the analogy, but now, as the swamp drains, the alligators are fighting over the shrinking pools. Eventually, all the alligators will be gone, but I'm sort of an alligator therapist who helps the critters cope with the loss of habitat.

So there it is...clear as mud. I'm happy to entertain questions. Just post a comment and I'll elucidate.

Time to go to work (see above for details).