SITREP 31  03 JUN 05 

GENERAL SITUATION:

JMC is wrapping up, and we were advised that we (the American monitors) will depart Tillo HQ on 20 JUN 05. The UN continues to
 manifest its near total ineptitude, incompetence and lack of anything approaching organization at senior level. The command
 elements for the UN Military Observers (UNMOs) have lost any faith they might have ever had in either the professional abilities
 or the veracity and integrity of the administration & logistics (Ad/Log) component of the organization or the the management
people who control them. If the staff sections are in such a dismal state of disarray, the senior leadership must take the blame as
 well.  As a result, the deployment of all operational components is on hold until the mess can be resolved.

Let me state once again that it is the permanent UN bureaucrats who are responsible for this sorry state of affairs, not the
military personnel who have been brought in to run the operations side of things.

Just by way of providing a frame of reference, JMC went from nonexistent to operational in about four months, cost a total
 of approximately $45,000,000 US for the entire 3 ½ years of its operational life, and was the most successful peacekeeping
operation in modern history. With six months of official life, and probably a year of preplanning time, the UN has managed
 to deploy about six UNMOs without any of the Ad/Log support needed to function. Although I do not have the exact
 figures for UN expenditures to date, I would guess that they have already exceeded the total expenditure for the entire JMC
 operation to produce the square root of stuff-all. And please do not judge me too harshly for not having these figures at my
 fingertips; I sincerely doubt that those in the UN responsible for accounting for them could do much better!

JMC OPERATIONS:

My colleague, Nick Burrows trained the senior Nuba area UNMO command element, and one other team while I was on leave.
 The second team was one which is ultimately destined for the Abeyei sector (not in our AOR) and was mistakenly sent to us
 by the UN. I suppose that the thinking on the part of the UN was that if they couldn’t send the correct people they would send
someone else; the training could not hurt, and they would not have to look after these people themselves. As the political status
of the Abeyei area has not as yet been resolved, it is extremely unlikely that these UNMOs will be be sent there until July at the
earliest. They are getting some good OJT while they await a final disposition of their status in any case.

We are anticipating the arrival of at least two more groups prior to the termination of JMC operations. One is scheduled to
arrive on 05 JUN 05, but it has been demonstrated that flexibility in planning is necessary when dealing with the UN.

With definite termination and departure dates, the most dedicated are experiencing a certain amount of “short-timer’s” syndrome,
although the level of professionalism here is such that the mission will be diligently and well carried out until its end.

MICHAEL’S WORLD:

Priority One is getting as many UNMOs trained in what time remains.

Upon termination of my duties here I will be spending approximately five weeks in Germany while I satisfy the IRS requirement
 that I remain out of country for 330 days out of 365 in order to get the tax benefits that accrue when one does this. Karen and I
are indebted to our good friends in Germany, the Muellers, for providing a furnished cottage for me during this period.
Many thanks, Susanne and Ingolf.  So I am hoping to see all of you soon. Until then take care. And that’s it for this week in the
Sudan and what will the second to last of these SITREPs.  Michael

SITREP 32  10 JUN 05

GENERAL SITUATION:

The UN bureaucrats continue to demonstrate that they would undoubtedly screw up the order of march of a one truck convoy.
 With well over a year to prepare for this takeover, they will probably not be able to deploy Military Observers (MO’s) as they
do not have adequate accommodation and food services, any medical support, or properly configured vehicles ready.
Nor do they seem to have plans to remedy the situation in the immediate future. Their MO’s are thoroughly frustrated and
disgusted. The Senior MO for the entire Nuba AOR is forced to hand write, and hand carry, all his paperwork as he has neither
computer nor internet access as yet. Their vehicles came through with tubeless street tires (which cannot be repaired locally)
 and full power accessories (windows, etc) which will not long survive the repeated soakings which attend fording rivers and flooded
areas. The failure to install snorkels on the air intakes has already necessitated the rebuilding of an engine with less than one hundred
 miles of service as it aspirated water through the intake into the cylinders the first time it had to ford a river.

This is the bang you are getting for your one billion bucks budgeted for the first year of UN Mission,Sudan (UNMISUD),
and largely paid for by the American taxpayer.

JMC OPERATIONS:

With five more days to operate, and ten days until the departure of all the operational personnel and most of the support staff,
 the mission goes on unabated. There is virtually no “short timer’s” mentality to be seen anywhere. People will be working right up
through the last operational day.  As it seems that none of the Egyptian Force Protection troops will arrive prior to our departure,
Nick Burrows and I will have three more days of training to carry out for the UNMO’s. Hopefully, I will be able to get out to
Sector 3 one more time to visit many of the folks with whom I worked for the last ten months. This will depend on the weather
 and my being able to get away from Tillo for a day.

MICHAEL’S WORLD:

This will probably be the last Sudan SITREP, as I am not certain that we will still have internet access in another week.
 Also, most of the time will probably be taken up with matters of minimal interest (admin, farewells, etc) to you the readers.

There will be an after action report (AAR) at some point after my departure. This will deal with matters which for reasons of
operational security I would prefer not to discuss until the mission shuts down, and will cover a number of items already
 discussed in greater depth.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of you who kept in contact with me during this deployment. Your interest,
concern for my welfare and safety, news from home and prayers are appreciated more than I can properly express. Knowing the
vast support net to which Karen could turn if necessary enabled me to carry out my work without much of the worry that
 would otherwise have attended a separation of such long distance and duration .

I would also like to thank Ellen Brandenburg of Thornapple Australian Shepherds who kindly and voluntarily posted
all of these SITREPs on a page she devoted to me and my work on her excellent web site. Her web site rivals her breeding
program in excellence, and that takes some doing. Thanks again, Ellen.

So until I see you all again, take care and keep well. That’s it from this end.  Michael