2023 Year in Review

 

Highlights:

• The Dunham street gang added the Marina Variety Store and Sunrise Bistro to its Thursday morning group breakfast spots. 
• March 14-16 participated in the Yorktown volunteer trip to visit the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington, NC; the Airborne Museum in Fayetteville and the U.S. Army Basic Training Center in Columbia, South Carolina.  See separate blog:                       
• Yorktown Volunteer Trip 2023 

• March 18 we celebrated our anniversary at Maison.
• March 20-24 attended the Foreign Affairs Counterterrorism Training at the Department's Foreign Affairs Security Training Center in Blackstone VA.  This course is required for all active Foreign Service personnell every six years.
• March 31 - April 9 Credit One Charlestonn Open volunteering as a Tournament Ambassador.  Ons Jabeur defeated defending champion Belinda Bencic 7-6, 6-4.  This photo and brief article appeared in the Daniel Island News during the tournament.

• April 19-23 Went out to San Francisco to attend the Serra Hight School 50 Year Alumni Club reunion.  We went together with Ken Colombo and his wife Quay.  Having graduated in 1961 I missed my 50 year reunion in 2011.

• We also got together at the Basque Center for dinner with classmates Stan Johnson and Joan Maher.  On the weekend we visited my cousins the Ken, Bob and Jim Porter, Sue Meehan and Sissy Gillott.  My former Peace Corps buddy Jack Colbourn and his wife Kathy met us for dinner at the West Coast Cafe, Italian restaurant in San Bruno late Sunday before we caught our late flight. 
• May 13 we attended the Charleston Jazz Summer Samba featuring Brazilian music by artists Duda Lucena, Heather Rice and Alva Anderson.
• June 6-9 Jeffrey and Sharon visited us from Atlanta.  Instead of accepting an offer to stay with us they stayed in a hotel "The Dewberry".  Expensive hotel near Marion Square.  I guess they wanted to be independent and not impose on us.  In retrospect I think we should have paid for the hotel.  We did have them over and went out to dinner at the Isle of Palms but they pretty much did sightseeing on their own.  
• June Residential Elevator completed installation of new elevator.
• June 26 - September 28 TDY Assignment to American Embassy Malabo Equitorial Guinea.   See separate blog: 

• TDY Malabo

My last inspection trip with the OIG was to Geneva at the offices of the USUN in 2019.  In November 2023 I decided to leave the OIG.  I actually regret that I didn't leave OIG earlier but, even though I wasn't travelling, I still did all the financial management survey work for each cycle (Fall, Winter and Spring) and continued doing consulting work at the CGFS Charleston office.  I also did a lot of training for new inspectors and was considered the financial management expert in OIG/ISP.  I did arrange an orientation and provided training for two Management Inspectors for a week at CGFS Charleston before leaving.  I still missed the benefit of travel.

Looking for something different I always felt that I could do the Management Officer job at an embassy.  I approached both the Africa (AF) and NEA (Near East Asia) bureaus about the possibility of a transfer as a Retired Annuitant (REA).  Fortunately for me AF was receptive and I was able to work with HR to effect a transfer and retained my grade.   The rest is history as I ended up in Malabo for three months.  The OIG was not pleased that I would leave them for another bureau as they gave me quite a send off thinking I was retiring.  See the separate blog for more about my experience.  I did decide to retire for good the next year.  While the pay, perdiem and extra allowances were good I figured that it was time considering 35 years of service and a comfortable Foreign Service annuity.  

• Well I came home just in time to help Doris recover from her replacement knee surgery which she had on October 7.  She had  quite a difficult time getting over the surgery as she was basically confined to downstairs and walk with either crutches or a walker for about eight weeks.  She has a nurse visit three days a week to assist with exercises and start walking.  
• Doris started Physical Therapy (PT) with Imagine PT in December but  had an issue with being able to bend her knee to 120 degrees as recommended after three months.  Consequently she had to go back to Dr. McCrosson and get a Manipulation to allow her to bend her knee to the recommend level.   Continued PT with Imagine helped her to gradually walk on her own and eventually was able do stairs even though the elevator was a God send.  
• I did resume my volunteer duties at the Yorktown on Tuesday morning and was happy that I was able to take three months off and get back with my colleagues on the 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. shift at the information desk.  

Will Doak (Navy), Dick Prevette (Air Force) and Tom Simons (Navy)

 

• David came for his annual visit over Thanksgiving and joined us for dinner. 
• Doris was making good progress through the end of the year continuing with Imagine.
• David came for Christmas and had a wonderful dinner at Grill 225 to celebrate his birthday on Christmas Eve. 

U.S. Events:

World Events:

Movies:

95th Academy awards Everything Everywhere All at Once Best Picture; Best Actor Brendan Fraser, The Whale; Best Actress Michelle Yeah Everything Everywhere All at Once, Best supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once; Best Supporting Actress Jamie Lee Curtis,  Everything Everywhere All at Once.  Best Director Daniel Kwan, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Super Bowl 57

The Chiefs defeated the Eagles 38-35.  The Chiefs were trailing 24-14 at the half.  Patrick Mahomes was named MVP.  Andy Reid the Chiefs coach spent 14 seasons with the Eagles and never won a Super Bowl.  He finally earned his ring after seven years with the Chiefs.

World Series

The Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games.  It was the first world series title for Texas.  The MVP was Corey Seager who won for the second time.  Three time world champion manager Bruce Bochy won his fourth world series and tied Walter Alston and Joe Torre.

TDY Assignment to Embassy Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Temporary Assignment to the American Embassy in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

I had left the OIG/Office of Inspections after  working there 16 years post retirement for a couple of reasons.  First, I was not getting any opportunities to travel out on inspections because the management division was fully staffed.  Secondly, I felt it was time to do something different if I was going to remain with the State Department.  Given my fond memories and great experinces in Africa with the Peace Corps I approached the Africa (AF) bureau about the possibility of taking a short term assignment as either a Management Officer at a small embassy or Financial Management Officer in a large one.  With the summer turnover of staff and newly assigned officers coming to posts there is always a critical need for tempoary staff, especially Retired Annuitants to fill these short term positions.  I ended spending three months (June 26 to September 28).  

                American Embassy Malabo

Staff Apartments

The embassy was a "lock and leave" post with only 12 official American Officers and no Marine Security Guards.  There were over 100 local staff most of whom were Local Security Guards.  Equatorial Guinea is the only country in Africa whose official language is Spanish which dates back to the 1700-1800s when Spain invaded the country.  Over 70% of the population speaks Spanish.  Most local employees speak a Central African tribal language and some from neighboring Cameroon speak French.  I regret that I didn't study Spanish more before going out to post, but I did enjoy speaking French with many of the employees.

My job as Acting Management Officer (MO) was to fill the position temporarily until the permament officer arrived at post. As MO I was responsible for managing adminstrative functions including Human Resources, Finance, General Services (GSO), Facility Management and Information Management.  I reported directly to the Deputy Chief of Mission, Ryan Palsrok.  As it turned out the previous Management Officer, Kevin Coats had actually just returned to post after a med-evac, was still at post when I arrived, however, the GSO position was vacant.  So for three weeks I had an overlap with Kevin while he supervised GSO which was great for me to get access to all the systems and to have a direct turnover of responsibility from Kevin to me with his guidance. 

The new TDY SGO, Chip Wollam was not due to arrive until  August 10 so I wore two hats for most of the time.   Chip was a very experienced GSO having served in several AF posts.  He had also served as an officer in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.  

We also had a TDY Information Management Officer (IMO) for about five weeks, Randy Lea who I served with in Rabat.  He covered for IMO, Eleanor Wah who was taking leave and training.  Eleanor had been acting MO for an extended period before I arrived and was very helpful in getting me oriented and prepared for the assignment.

The new MO, Alice Caruso, was an experienced officer coming from Tunis for her first MO tour.  Before coming to post she was on home leave and also completed the financial managment course at FSI.   She was not due at post until the end of September.    

I lived in one of the six three bedroom apartments on the compound.  It was quite comfortable.  There was a food truck on the compound where I ate mostly rice, beans and chicken for lunch every day.   I  made my own breakfast and dinner in the apartment.

We had a couple of options for eating out at restuarants mostly on the weekends.  Besides a couple of restaurants downtown and a local hotel most of the other eateries were located on the Paseo Maritimo a two mile stretch along the waterfront.  Myself Chip and Randy used to go out on Sunday afternoon to walk the Paseo and then have dinner at one of the restauarants. I attended mass in French at the Cathedral every Sunday as well.  

 Paseo Maritimo

Sea Bass was a popular fish.

Cathedral Santa Isabela

Downtown Malabo suspected site of 
former U.S. Embassy 

For exercise besides walking the Paseo I played tennis with the Ambassador for about the first six weeks I was there. David Gilmour was an experienced AF Ambassador having served in Togo and Chad.  He was also an excellent saxaphone player and played with and taught several local musicians.  The only other exercise was on the stationary bicycle in the  gym.  

Chip and I at Ambassador's Representation

Ambassador's Residence

                                                                                                     event celebrating American Music

There are several oil companies in Malabo engaged in oil and gas development and production among them Chevron, Mobil and Marathon.  On Friday evenings embassy staff were always invited out to the main oil refinerery at Punta Europa for Happy Hour drinks and buffet dinner.  I don't believe I missed one Friday night the whole time I was there.  

I was only able to travel out of Malabo a couple of times to see some of the country.  Chip, Randy and I visited the Moka wildlife center located along the coast about 50 miles from Malabo.  After visiting the wildlife center we took a hike into the dense forest in the rain. 

  

Yorktown Volunteer Trip 2023

Our tour on March 14-16 included the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington, NC; The U.S. Army Airborne Museum in Fayetteville, NC and the U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Center near Columbia, SC.  We overnighted in Wilmington and Columbia and travelled a total of 550 miles in three days.

The Battleship North Carolina was the most highly decorated American battleship of World War II. North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater of operations earning 15 battle stars.  It was commissioned in April 1941.  

 

One of nine 16" gun mounts 

One of three Vought Kingfisher Scout Float Planes used  for aerial reconnaissance  

The ship was equipped with a battery of
 sixteen 1.1 inch anti-aircraft guns 

The ship also had 18 50-caliber machine guns

 

We received an initial briefing from a docent.

We were divided into groups and led on a tour

We toured nine levels of the ship

Including the Bridge

        

Crews Quarters

Radar room

The engine room

The rammer loads six powder bags into the gun.  The primer man then inserts the primer in the last bag which provides the spark to ignite the powder bags that fired the projectile out of the gun.    The men then closed the breech and turned on the ready light to signal to the turret officer that the gun was ready to fire.  The entire process takes only 30 seconds.     

Chow Line

"Scuttlebutt"  was the drinking fountain on the 

Vegetable Prep

                                                                                         ship where sailors would exchange rumors on                                    the voyage. 

All 36 volunteers on the trip

On arrival at the U.S. Army Airborne Museum in Fayetteville

 in front of the statue of Iron Mike.  

Paratrooper suspended in air at the entrance

The Airborne Trooper.  The inscription on the base reads "Iron Mike, in honor of Airborne Troopers whose courage, dedication and traditions make them the world's finest fighting soldiers". 

We witnessed a reenlistment ceremony upon arrival

The exhibits included scenes from WWII, Korean War, Vietnam,
 Afghanistan and the Global War on Terror.  Operation Torch  (November 8-16 1942) was an allied invasion of French Africa. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to engage in the fight against Nazi Germany on a limited scale.

Established in 1918, the 101st Division was first constituted as an airborne unit in 1942.^] During World War II, it was famous for its role in Operation Overlord (the Airborne D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944),  Operation Market Garden; the liberation of  the Netherlands; and its action during the Battle of the Bulge around Bastogne, Belgium. During the Vietnam War, the 101st Airborne Division fought in several major campaigns and battles.  In mid-1968, the division was reorganized and redesignated as an airmobile division; in 1974, as an air assault division. The titles reflect the division's shift from airplanes to helicopters as the primary method of delivering troops into combat.  At the height of the War on Terror the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) had over 200 aircraft.

Airborne lands in Anzio and makes the way to Salerno

The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam known as Red Hats were technical advisors
to the Vietnamese Airborne.  They also fought along with their Vietnamese 
counterparts in Hue and the Tet offensive.

M.A.S.H. units (Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals) used in the Korean War were not practical for the jungles of Vietnam.  M.A.S.H. units travelled with the fight, but Vietnam was a different kind of war.    This was jungle fighting or guerilla warfare with many battles being relatively small and Huey helicopters were the primary source of travel.   The ratio from Killed In Action to surviving wounded in WWII was 29%, and in Vietnam 19%.  Forty-two per cent of Americans wounded in Vietnam were able to return to active duty.   

Examples of Airborne Poster Art

On the way to Columbia we had to stop at the world famous Bucee's in Florence, SC.

 

For dinner we had a choice of going to the Golden Corral buffet or the Bonefish Grill.  We selected the Bonefish.  With my fellow volunteers Paul Watters, Navy Pilot; Don  Bonamarito, USMC and Major Stoney Bates, USMC.

On arrival at Fort Jackson we were met and escorted by Drill Sergeant Gipson.

    Fort Jackson, is the U.S. Army's main production center for Basic Combat Training. The installation trains roughly 50 percent of all soldiers and more than 60 percent of women entering the Army each year.  Accomplishing that mission means training 46 weeks a year over 45,000 basic training and 12,000 additional advanced training Soldiers every year.  

Army Infantry trainees lined up to prepare to climb the Victory Tower.

Trainees on the rappelling tower

Victory Tower

SGT Gipson told me that 25% of trainees are foreign born.  A 2002 Executive Order made noncitizen members of the armed forces eligible for expedited U.S. citizenship.  Sixteen per cent of the U.S. Army is female.