He wanted me to inspect a refrigerated trailer that was full of food to be delivered to a local FOB (Forward Operating Base) that had apparently been tampered with.  We drove out to the trailer holding area and he showed me the trailer.  The rear latch, which was supposed to be locked, had apparently been completely pried off the door, allowing for free access to the back of the trailer.  Basically, in this condition anyone could come up and open the door and gain access to the food inside the trailer.  This problem was not detected till the truck arrived here in Mosul.  The truck originated in Kuwait, therefore at any time between Kuwait and here someone could have messed with the truck as well as the contents. 

The contractor asked what I thought he should do.  Opening the door, the refrigerated food inside looked unharmed, but how could you tell?  I told him there was no way to tell for sure that the food had not been tampered with and that I thought consumption by Coalition Forces or Civilian Contractors was unacceptable.  This trailer and the entire contents would have to go back.  He said he agreed with my decision and then informed me that the trailer contained over $30,000 of food.  That made me sort of sick to my stomach.  What a horrible waste of provisions.  Terribly tragic, but I would not feed this food to my family, so how could I let others eat it.

Hopefully no one is stuck eating MRE's for a month based on my decision!