I'll Pass on Djibouti Industry Day

The Navy wants to beef up its networks at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, headquarters for the Combined Joint Task Force -- Horn of Africa. So the service invited interested vendors to attend a two-day briefing there next month.

Based on the medical requirements to attend the event, I think only vendors truly desperate will attend.

To make the gabfest, vendors will need to have been administered a yellow fever shot, malaria pills, a TB test and have undergone a full examination by their primary care physician, the Navy said. It added a warning: Camp Lemonnier has limited medical facilities.

The camp -- and I empathize with the troops pulling a year tour there -- is an old French Foreign Legion post, located between the runways of the Djibouti airport and a French ammo storage facility.

The weather also may serve as a disincentive for attracting large crowds of widgeteers. The temperature on Tuesday was a crispy 104 degrees. I can't begin to imagine the temperature in July.

I don't think the vendor who whined about driving from Washington to Eatontown, N.J., for a Veterans Affairs Department industry day has any plans to make the Djibouti gig.

I'm just guessing.