Pressure Relief Valve

We are finally on pass! Kim is here in Savannah with me, we have succeeded in finding the World Market, Barnes and Noble, Starbucks (not that difficult, considering the reach of the "evil empire"...not going to beg forgiveness, as Jeff already knows it's a question of trading time for decent coffee...if anyone knows of fantastic local coffee in Savannah, email or call...otherwise...), Outback (again...if you know a fantastic, inexpensive steakhouse, call), and Best Buy (I left my laptop power supply behind, or it got ganked, or something). Essentially, we've four glorious days together to enjoy the time. Good thing I'm accustomed to operating on six hours of sleep or less.

On a more practical note, training is over. This, in and of itself, is a sobering statement, especially considering that the only time in the Army training is "done" is when we go into combat. The other part to this is the realization I will be celebrating Easter Vigil either in Kuwait or Iraq. Not that we will never train in either place, but the cold reality is both locations are part of a proving ground, of sorts. I have no misconceptions of life as a fobbit - unless I go out of my way, I will not be required to leave the wire at all. Life in Mosul, despite AQI's claims and what might be reported on CNN right now, is relatively safe, according to the folks we're slated to replace here shortly. Don't want to make any decisions on that right now.

Paul, just spent the last couple of weeks with Will. He's back in command. He's an outstanding officer and commander - tough, wily and energetic. Glad he's on our side. He literally kept the OPFOR off our tails for a full week just being in charge of base "defense".

I've learned a ton over the last few weeks as the XO, while the XO proper has been forward. Great lessons, which boil down to some basics:
1. There are no new leadership techniques or lessons. We've already learned the basics, it's just a matter of applying them to the level we're at. To wit, running a staff is not a whole lot different than running a squad, just different ranks and individual tasks.
2. No leader can afford to never get his teeth bloody. Jim White taught me this one and it continues to pay dividends.
3. The essence of military professionalism can be summed up by: be professional, be polite, be prepared to kill. Unfortunately, the words are not mine, but they're true.

In an earlier post, I "dropped the dime" on Paul vis-a-vis the packing list. He has since responded to me directly and I have a packing list I will post here (with my own annotations, of course). One would think this packing thing is simple, and it is...once one is "down range."

That's all for now. I have some web surfing to catch up on and watch my wife sleep. Oh, and some wine to finish.

Enjoy!