PRT-Rescue - Part 1
A few weeks before I left for R&R (that was some while ago - time is really flying by) the latest member of PRT-Baghdad joined us. How he got here is a bit of a story.
Recently, the US had to move its heliport from one part of the IZ to an area closer to the embassy (I guess the Iraqis wanted LZ Washington back). Anyway, on one of the last days of operation at the heliport, a couple of PRT-B members flew back into the IZ. While waiting for their ride, they were talking about the change in location with the folks in the control center.
What my colleagues discovered was that the airport cat, Mr. Snickers, was soon to be without a home. Apparently, the RSO (the guys that do a great job of protecting all of us) decided that a cat was not good for security and that Snickers did not have permission to move to the new LZ. What to do?
Well in great PRT-B "can-do" fashion my colleagues took action and decided to find Snickers a new home. It quickly became apparent that the NEC (New Embassy Compound) was probably not the best place for Snickers, so he wound up on Camp Prosperity with a nice new home outside the PRT building. 
Well, it's his home, but I don't know if he actually spends any time there anymore, but . . . .
It took Snickers a few days to get adjusted to us and a whole two days before he dared come all the way down our wing and visit the rule of law section. Even then, he wouldn't let us strangers get too close to him. But in time that's changed. For a cat, he's not half bad. He doesn't beg too much and he lets all of us know he appreciates us.
One thing about Mr. Snickers is, he's cute. Now that he's comfortable around all of us, he just relaxes wherever he feels like it. It's not too unusual to find him in one of the lobby chairs or in the front office crashed out. And when he's crashed out, he's particularly cute.
Mr. Snickers has a strange, very strange, effect on everyone. People (I guess myself included) just aren't normal around him. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this is with our chief of staff (I've been gored by a bull in my rodeo days and went diving with the sharks off South Africa and hiking in Patagonia on my last two R&Rs) Rich Houghton (who also wrote the definitive "Visitor's Guide to Baghdad's Green Zone" you can find here, which is well worth looking at). When Snickers comes around, Rich's tone turns from "Folks, you haven't been submitting your Contact Reports within 24 hours like you're supposed to!" to "Oh, look at him, he's so cute!" It's chilling, absolutely chilling to see a big guy like Rich turn into soft butter. You'd think Snickers was a puppy or something as opposed to a cat that goes partying at night around Prosperity and sleeping it off during the day with the PRT.
So that's our newest member - Mr. Snickers. I think he's fitting in nicely.
