Basra Chow

Kevin's unit has been at Camp Basra for about a month now. One of the biggest complaints that he's had since arriving there is the KBR chow hall. He has flat out told me that he would prefer not to eat than eat that chow! There has been many flies, and other bugs found in various foods. Well after he told be how awful the food was I got on the KBR website and wrote a letter!:

From: kbrwebmeister@kbr.com [mailto:kbrwebmeister@kbr.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 11:32 PM
To: FHOUKBR - WebmeisterSubject: KBR.COM FeedbackSubject: Basra Chow
Email: samstandring@aol.com

Comments:
Dear Sir or Ma'am:
My husband a SGT in the US Army is stationed at Camp Basra. Since his arrival to Camp Basra he has complained multiple times about the quality of the food there provided by KBR and their employees. Him and his friends have been served pancakes with flies in them, and the overall quality of the food is poor. My husband has mentioned numerous times that he would rather not eat versus eat the food provided. I would hope that KBR has higher expectations that this for the food that it serves to our military fighting in the Middle East. Also, I implore you to have someone investigate the quality of the ingredients, your employees and to review the QA policies and procedures that I'm sure your company currently has. Please review and feel free to contact me if you should need further information. Thank you.

Why am I telling you all this?? WELLLLL... I'm fancy-pants! I received the following this morning!!:

Dear Mrs Standring,
Thank you for your email below. I am the KBR Project Manager for the new Catering Contract in Basra, Iraq. I am sorry to hear that your husband has had a less than satisfactory dining experience in Basra. Please note that the actual food is supplied by the US Military whilst KBR’s contract, which only commenced in Basra on 1 Apr 09, is to cook and serve the meals. This is a huge operation, feeding up to 9,000 US and UK troops daily, and KBR continues to work extremely closely with the US Military to ensure that the correct standards are continuously met through rigorous QA procedures. Please be assured that food hygiene remains our highest priority. Your husband’s case has been brought to the attention of our Catering Manager in Basra and I can assure you that every effort is being made to ensure that this kind of unfortunate incident will not happen again. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any other queries.
Kind regards
Matt
Matthew Jacobs
Defence Services Project Manager

I didn't think that I would get any response so I am excited to get that much!

So after making my travel plans last night I was running around crazy today!!!! I found myself a bathing suit (goodness I haven't even put one of these on in quite some time! I also had to get a pair of shorts that actually fit, along with some of those travel-size shampoos and deodorants! =) I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off! I am just now getting the chance to sit down to relax, but somehow I still feel like I have so much more to do, and I don't know where I'll find the time. I still need to clean the house (for my house/dog sitter), laundry, pack, get a new ID card, see my parents, get bills paid- oh man and so much more!!!! I just really needed to sit down and get my bearings I was starting to feel very overwhelmed! But now that I've re-grouped I'm ready to get back to the grind! Oh.. did I mention I am in DESPERATE need of a pedicure... =( oh man. Maybe I'll get one after getting to SD? We'll see if I can get to it... Fingers crossed.