Greetings, dear readers. We're well into the final
month of training here at sunny Ft Stewart. I would
complain about the dusty roads, but something tells
me it's more about getting accustomed to dust every
where than anything else. We have something like
ten days until the final big blowout exercise,
twentyfour hour operations and all that. It'll be
cool. With the exec gone, I've been given the duty
to fill his spot until we all link up again. It's
fun, it's a challenge and I'm learning(and am
challenged, which is good too). In that respect,
I'm happy. Tired, beating my head against the wall
from time to time but happy. Challenges include
keeping some of the staff on task (and off the
internet), coming up with folks who'll cough up
more commo stuff for us, making sure the companies
are meeting the right suspenses and otherwise
making plans to get our stuff packed, locked,
cocked, mocked and stocked.
What else has been on my mind....
Haven't been taking pictures lately. Mostly
because the training I've been part of has been in,
technically, a "secret" enclosure. Please don't
entertain any romantic notions of national secret
stuff here. Just a matter of troop movements and
planning and orders. Nothing that would break the
country wide open for AQI. But, it's still
classified and no cameras, cell phones, etc. The
training's been excellent and has benefited all of
us.
Living conditions. Apparently, we've had two news
stories in Evansville and a couple of congressional
complaints about the conditions. This is the sort
of thing (public complaining at the highest levels)
I find to be behavior unbecoming of a soldier. And
it tells me some folks just have way too much time
on their hands. First of all, everyone here at the
FOB, to include both battalion commanders, half a
dozen Majors(can't swing a dead cat 'round here and
not hit a Major), and everyone else are living in
the SAME CONDITIONS. What I don't understand is how
the senior officers can seem to put up with the
conditions, yet a staff sergeant and some other
enlisted seem to think not. I don't get it. Yes,
the tent heaters don't work perfectly. No, the
tents were never designed to be kept at 70 degrees
when it's 25 outside. Yes, I wake up to 45 degree
mornings, get dressed and move out. Yes, I don't
like it. I expect troops to complain - it's their
God given right. What I don't expect is for them
to allow themselves, friends and family to lodge
formal complaints about it. The only result of
those complaints and news stories is that my boss
and my staff now have more work to do to answer
all that, and still can't do much to adjust the
conditions. Keep in mind, we have more than
enough latrines, the tents are above 60 most days
and nights, we have so much toilet paper, we can
mummify half the brigade, and the chow is great.
Did I mention unlimited diet cokes from the dining
facility? For an ad hoc training FOB, this is a
very, very good set up. We have showers, we have
a chapel, a great DFAC, a PX, barber shop and a
free laundromat. Just know this - in three weeks,
none of this matters. Our living conditions are
not horrendous, they're adequate for our needs.
It's not a five star hotel. Nor do we have some
of the luxuries the rest of the brigade has (hard
stand buildings, wall lockers, dependable heat to
name a few). But none of that was guaranteed when
we signed the dotted line. Nobody's being abused,
nor is anyone here living in squalor. This is
nothing more than a training facility, not a
resort. Heck, we have free internet cafe too.
Granted, no WalMart, no mall and no running water
or toilets in the tents. None of that was
promised to us either.
Patience. I have good days and bad days. Most of
the time I'm fairly positive, calm and collected.
Sometimes I see red and sometimes I even fly off
the handle. Most of the time I manage to keep it
in instead of ripping someone's head off. I pray
most days for patience and appreciate others doing
the same. I think it's about managing my own
expectations. On one hand, I expects these folks
to do it right, do it professionally, etc. Some
times it doesn't happen that way. That's when I
tend to see red. So, if I expect things to go
wrong, I tend not to get as upset. Some days,
like today, I just decide to not let it get me
angry. I'm working on it.
Those are the big rocks. I have a bunch of other
stuff to stay abreast of, and I manage to do that
fairly well. Thank you all for your continued
prayers and help to Kim.
Enjoy!
