There Must Be Some Kind Of Way Out Of Here

Finally!

2008-11-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally made it! Got past all of the "decompression" time at Atterbury (which was far more stressful than the uber-planners thought it would be...idiots), all of the processing (which was decent) and all of the petty personality issues we had thanks to processing and "decompression". We got back to Evansville yesterday, and the town had turned out to meet us. We hit Tri State Aero, got on to firetrucks and rode along US 41 and the Lloyd, all lined with well wishers to the armory, where there were more well wishers and family to greet us home. It was amazing, overwhelming and truly humbling. I can complain about a lot of different things, but the manner in which Evansville received us home is definitely not one of them.

You all can imagine what we did once we got back here to the house, so I'll spare the readership all of the details. I will throw this one out there, just for Diba: Kim had an open bottle of wine, from which she had been drinking most of the week. Maybe a glassful was left in it. So she asks me what I want, I respond with a glass of wine and start looking at the rack. She tells me there's an open bottle in the kitchen, which I then grab. On the way up the stairs, she asks me if I need a glass. I looked at Kim, smiled, said, "nope" and promptly drank from the bottle. Arr!

It's good to be home. I have plenty puttering around here to keep me busy, that's for sure. It's all good, and it'll keep me going until December. That's when we've decided to start the adoption process back up and then I "get" to go back to work. Until then, I finally get to really and truly decompress. Oddly enough, "decompression" at Atterbury is an oxymoron. I could go into all sorts of complaints and such, but suffice to say, it simply doesn't work. The whole time we were thinking, "just get us the hell out of here".

On a personal level, I find me reminding myself more and more often to not snap at folks. I vacilate between that and just listening and thinking, "so what?" So, some minor things to work through but nothing that's a showstopper.

End of this week, we'll be at my parents' house for Thanksgiving. Dad and mom both just had surgery, so we need to go up there and see them. Should be a good Thanksgiving. Mom said she'd fix a beef tenderloin.

Enjoy!

Back Home Again

2008-11-19T16:42:00.001-08:00

Back Home Again

So, we're back. The flight, which mercifully had only one layover in Ireland, landed yesterday late morning. Since then we've been here in Indiana being subjected to an arcane process known only as "demobilization" to the cognoscenti. We managed to squeeze four hours' worth of briefings into a ten hour day today, which was special. Tomorrow should be a little easier to manage, given we're doing medical and dental processing. Then we do administrative stuff, then turn some stuff in and then we get to go home home. At least it's clean and green and quiet here. Other than that, I could complain about a whole lot of things, but won't. Complaining just doesn't change things, and it's easier to get through all this if I'm not whining all the time. The process is a necessary evil, and so we go through it thinking we'd just rather be home. Of course, cooperating and getting through all this tends to make the whole thing work more smoothly, so we're willing to deal with it all, provided we keep moving - not necessarily fast, but moving. Moving is good.

Paul met me off the plane, which was cool. I hadn't seen him in a long, long time, so it was nice. Of course, the rest of the folks in my battalion just ignored me after that. Not sure what's up with that, but there's something there.

Not including today, which is Wednesday, I see Kim in four days. We're into single digits and under five. I can live with that.

Enjoy!

Guten Tag, sehr geehrte Damen und Her...

2008-11-08T02:23:00.001-08:00

Guten Tag, sehr geehrte Damen und Herren!

I thought that an appropriate greeting, considering I've been in Germany now for...five days? Something like that. I accompanied an officer to the hospital at Landstuhl, from which the Army moved him to Walter Reed. Nothing serious, but that was their decision. So that leaves me here in Germany, trying desperately to get back down range. It's not bad, as there's not mission, no stress and nothing to do. And it's awful, since there's no mission, no stress and not a whole lot to do. I have no civvies, so going "out" is not really an option. I left the borrowed running shoes in Landstuhl (good move Mark) and so here I am. For all that, it's not bad. There's a cafe open up next door (they serve Starbucks, and I can live with that), which is open until like, midnight. I might actually go there and pay the $10 for WiFi access today and do Warcraft for a few hours tonight. I mean, why not? Right now, I'm on one of the computers in the PHA ("Personnel Holding Area"), and am posting, so it's not totally uncivilized. The only problem, the only glaring hole in this entire setup is the arrangements to fly. See, it's all "Space A" travel, which is "space available". Nothing is guaranteed. Essentially the trip that took five hours to get here will take two to three days to get back, and that's just getting to Kuwait. Yay.

Everything notwithstanding, I have no complaints. Well, no legitimate complaints. I'm here, with others in the same situation, and as misery loves company, we're a sort of odd fraternity. It's all good. I was able to hit the gym a couple days ago, and am still at body weight on bench press. I can hit the gym here, providing I don't mind working out in boots. We'll see. This is a weekend, so doing next to nothing is acceptable now, whereas yesterday it was not.

I played the rank card yesterday, which I kind of feel bad about, but it was needed. See, they put all patients and escorts into the same housing in Landstuhl. When I went to "check out" yesterday, they said, "oh sir, you'll have to wait for your platoon sergeant." I snapped. "Hey sergeant, let's try this," I started, "how about, I'm a Major in the US Army and I'm leaving whether he's here or not? I have a commander who wants me downrange, I'm not a patient and have no intent upon staying here longer than I must. I don't wait for E7s." Strangely enough that worked like magic. They started hopping. I'll only play the game for so long, usually until the situation becomes stupid, then I snap. I didn't get upset, didn't raise my voice, so that was good.

So that's what's new in my world. Either I'll get back to Mosul, or I'll get to Kuwait and await the main body. Either way, I'll get back to the unit.

Enjoy!

Working Through

2008-10-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Alright folks, back for another round of blogging fun and excitement!! First, I must say this is odd, as I'm not posting from an office, rather from my can. See...apparently, in the new digs, so much bandwidth gets used up in the early evening that it's impossible to access something as basic as Google Documents. Strange, I know, but such are vagaries of the Mayor Cell. Or maybe it's Internet Explorer, which I have come to despise worse than before. Have I mentioned I don't like Internet Explorer? Just checking. So while I've been navigating to this particular site where I can FINALLY post, I've managed to watch the final episode for CSI season 4, courtesy of The Market. $40 for all eight seasons simply can't be beat.

The replacements are sort of here and we're reading in those who are. Those who aren't...well, they'll catch up. Mostly I'm not concerned too much, as one extra week won't make or break them. Also, I'm not too concerned, since my replacement and my NCO's is here. It's a childish and egocentric way to look at it, but it IS the Army.

This morning I finally was able to get in contact with Kim. Between DSN lines being goofy or busy and her cell phone being cantankerous, we finally got through to one another. It's the small things that count the most, I've found and being able to talk to Kim regularly matters a whole bunch over here.

The weather has taken a dramatic turn for different. We had thunderstorms through here over the weekend. Thunderstorms. With rain. Lots of rain. Gravel isn't too bad in rain, but sand and dust mixed with water makes mud. Marez is now a mudhole with guardtowers and a kickin' perimeter. The up side to all of this is it isn't hot any longer. Humidity has climbed to a massive 56%. A little more and this place might just begin to pass for Indiana in the spring. Maybe. If you take away all the Turks, Kurds, Iraqis, palm trees, machine guns, etc.

Not sure why I'm posting this, but it struck me as a pretty cool read, so take a look.

In the meantime, I'm watching CSI, preparing for November and training my replacement. Life is decent.

Enjoy!

Within A Month

2008-10-23T06:00:00.001-07:00

Within A Month

To everyone who follows my blog ramblings, I must beg forgiveness. I know it's been a while since the last post. Several significant things have happened since then, so I will attempt to bring everyone up to speed.

First, and most significantly, Dad had a birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!!

Next, my office assignment was moved and duties added. This is a strange effect, since it's a blessing and an annoyance all rather rolled up nicely in one neat package. See, I still have to do badge stuff at the badge office. AND I get to do more stuff here at the Mayor cell half a mile away. Joy! Rapture! The essential difference here is people walk in and out. A lot. Folks wander into my office and ask questions like, "hey sir, what do you think...left boot on the left foot...?" I especially enjoy that one. In any event, now I must actively wander between the two locations. To add insult to injury, I have to deal with Internet Explorer here instead of Mozilla Firefox. Yeah, I know, life's tough all over.

Lastly, we're close to three weeks from rotating out of here. Naturally, that's not the end to this nonsense, but it's close. Then, see, we get to do another ten days of "redeployment" nonsense to make sure the Army does everything it can for us (all good) and then listen to briefings (good thing I have books on my cellphone...might need to make sure those are up to date...I hear we have way many much briefings) and THEN we get to go home. I think. "Home" being defined as that place containing my wife and wine. Honesly, I should be more tolerant. After all, I know and understand the Army, like any large institution, will have its fair share of nonsense. I knew it before I joined. Still, I don't think it's bad to point it out when it crops up.

I continue to look at what it'd take for me to make money making wine.

And...we're still at a crossroads for adoption. Both Ethiopia and Russia are financially feasible, now it's a matter of where we want to go. Ethiopia is quicker, the child will be an infant, the fees are about half as much as in Russia and the visit is shorter. The agency has had no health issues with children adopted from Ethiopia at all, which is good. But we're also interested in Russia. To say we're torn would be a great understatement. Please pray for wisdom in this decision.

Enjoy!

Back in the Saddle

2008-10-14T22:31:00.001-07:00

Back in the Saddle

So, here I am back in Mosul, doing what I do best: dodge work. Just kidding. Mostly. I returned to find that I've been bequeathed with some additional duties, which correspond mostly to the responsibilities I'll have once we return to the Real World. Key words here are "additional duties". For those not fully acquainted with the military parlance, that simply means this is stuff I get to do on top of the list of stuff I already do. Normally I'd whine at this point and try to claim that my docket is so full I couldn't possibly get all of it done, even if we stayed another year. Unfortunately, such is not the case for me. I mean, I can't even TRY to do that, which kind of stinks.

The good news is here! Y'all need to check that link out. Basically we're at a high of 98 today and then tomorrow it drops to the mid eighties. That, in and of itself, is motivating!! I haven't seen the mid eighties as a daytime high here since we arrived, if then.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the others, who have included me in their blogs. Anjie, who contributes a lot to the comments here, included me in her blog. It's a great post and an excellent blog, so please take some time and read it. As a kid, I remember going to friends' houses and asking them to come out and play. If Anj and her husband lived closer to me, Paul and I would be showing up at their doorstep asking, "Anj, can you come out and shoot?"

Mid eighties...that's just simply outstanding!

Actually I begged off the morning briefing today and came directly to my old office here at the Badging Cell. Several reasons surround this. First and foremost, all of my archives are here and I have one last nut to crack before I can say I'm prepared to begin training my replacement (actually I have a ton of stuff to write up for him too, but I'm talking absolute minimum here). Also, because I don't have the foot traffic in this office that I do in the other one, I can actually get something done here. There's a lot to be said for that, to be quite honest. It's a yin and yang thing too - I like being around the others and the rest of the unit, but I'm more able to focus here. In any event, I'm here for the morning and plan on knocking out a plan or two. Maybe I'll get to smoke some, who knows?

Lastly, please pray for Kim and me. Over the leave, we reopened the adoption process with an agency located in Evansville. The current plan is to adopt a child from Russia. If all works out, the child will be 10 or 11 months old when we pick him or her up. Also, we have a better chance of adopting a boy, which will be a change on the grandchild front... *grin* In all seriousness, please pray. The costs seem insurmountable to me right now, and I know that if this is supposed to happen, we'll find all the resources we need. To that end, I've begun some research, but it's certainly not done. So, please pray: right direction, resources and just a sense of peace about this whole thing.

Those who would send us packages, please do not send anything! We're close enough to flowing out of here that we've been told to tell you all to not send stuff. Again, thanks to everyone who was able to send stuff, and those who wanted to do so!! Getting stuff is nice, but knowing folks are out there keeping us in their prayers and thoughts is amazing too.

Enjoy!

Getting Back To It All

2008-10-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Folks,
My sincerest apologies for the lack of posts this last couple of weeks. I've been home on leave as many of you know, and so that has been in the forefront of my mind. So, appropriately enough, this will be about the leave time and getting back. I'm still not really "back" to it all yet, as I'm stuck in Ali Al Salem, lovely Kuwait. Most folks don't like Ali, simply because it's Kuwait: way too hot, no cover, nothing but sand and buildings. Add to all that, it's a waystation for most of us, nothing more. For all that, it's not too shabby. I can get online here for a sawbuck and do stuff like this, allegedly they have a couple of gym tents and a couple MWR tents, which I might go find later (or not). In addition to the DFAC, there's a McDonalds, Pizza Hut and a Green Bean Coffee shop, so all of one's needs are cared for, almost. At this point, I'm figuring that I'll keep going on this odd body clock thing that I have, post, eat, shave, etc.

Leave was good. I didn't do everything I wanted to do, but the time was well spent. My parents came down, which was awesome! I hadn't played golf in years, so it was good to get out on the links. Plus, I don't think I'd seen them in a long, long time, so seeing and spending time with them was nice. Spent an evening with the Devines and the Kempfs, which was great (Joe - when do we do a minimarathon?)! My goddaughter came over and she, and Kim and some friends and I all went out, which was cool, and otherwise I just really enjoyed folks visiting, stopping in and just hanging out. I started 15 gallons of wine and got it all into secondary fermentation, so that's a good thing. Thanks to Kim needing practice, I got a couple massages, and we went out and played more golf. All in all, a pleasurable time home.

Most folks asked me what it's like for me, living in Iraq. I gathered a popular impression is that it's like Vietnam in the desert. It is not. Sure, it's hot, dusty, and all that. Yes, there are dangerous places there. Mostly we still enjoy most of the comforts of home to a certain degree. Some posts have more stuff than we have, some have less. We get shelled occasionally. Keep in mind, "shelling" is like one or two rockets and that's all. 90% of the time, that all hits away from where we stay and work. Outside the wire, it's more dangerous, but that is also a matter of degree. By no means is it a constant set of attacks on us, one right after the other. For all that, it's dangerous, so Soldiers keep their guards up and stay vigilant to the dangers around them. We do our part and keep the bad guys off the base, which is our job. I work most of the time, workout three or four times a week (more now that we have a PT test coming up), watch movies or play on the laptop in my off time, maybe smoke a cigar with others outside, and otherwise talk to Kim almost daily. The worst part is being away from Kim and other loved ones. The second worst part is the process of getting here and getting home. By necessity, it's complicated, which means we spend a lot of time on our tails. Usually I don't mind being here, but it's not home.

So, that's all for now while I'm in transit. I need to get some food, get cleaned up and crash for a bit

Before I sign off, I'd like to congratulate Matt & Laura on the birth of their son! You guys will be great parents!

Enjoy!

Home!!

2008-09-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, I'm home. I know this is the one thing that most folks tell me not to do, but that's how it is.

Several things have struck me with incredible clarity now that I'm here. First and foremost is just how quiet this place is. No generators are going in the background, no constant noise of armored vehicles moving, nothing. It's odd. Second, after living for months with what I consider to be a minimum of possessions, I'm struck with how much stuff we have accumulated and simply do not need at all. I'm tossing a lot of my own stuff out, just to be rid of the extra crap I know I'll never use again. Naturally this did not happen overnight, nor will it be solved overnight, but I can make progress regularly, I think. The more stuff I have, the more I must work to maintain it all. I don't like that. I also don't like to think of all the Army stuff I have in the garage, which THEY GAVE ME and I have never used. All I know is I just have to be rid of the majority of this stuff. This is the best one: the Army issues us all equipment, then tells us we're not allowed to utilize it in the manner it was designed to be utilized. Case in point is the black fleece jacket. Each of us in the Brigade received one as part of RFI. Yet, at both Atterbury and Stewart, First Army's standard was that we were only allowed to show ACU pattern as outerwear. I understand that as a means of teaching things to new soldiers. However, we're not new. Furthermore, the Army's cold weather clothing system is not all ACU pattern on the outside. So I'm confused, since we were issued equipment that the rest of the Army wears as outerwear, but we weren't, simply because we were mobilizing? But once we got to Iraq, we were allowed to wear it. The point is, we have way too much stuff.

Lastly, I'm struck by how strange it is to have nothing to do. That's not to say I am bored, but if I don't want to do anything, I have no requirements to do so, which is nice.

The trip here went smoothly, I spend maybe only 48 hours in transit, total, which is good. Half of that was in the sky, the rest of waiting, naturally.

So, arrived home safely and am happy, happy, happy to be home for a while.

Enjoy!

36 to 48

2008-09-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Alright, so it's getting close. Really close. This is so close, if it were Looney Tunes, Elmer Fudd would turn, face the audience and say, "Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits!" Then, naturally, Bugs would show up. See, that's close.

So, after last post, I am wondering how many folks I turned off with the Google search link. If that kept anyone away, I am heartily sorry. Those who know me and love me understand I have a wildly inappropriate sense of humor, such as it is. Naturally I laughed my tail off when I first saw that clip. Go figure.

So, I've been taking stock of the time here in Iraq, just to kind of review how things have been. First and foremost, to lay some concerns expressed by in-laws to rest, I have not yet managed to shoot myself in the foot (keep in mind, I pack heat daily, just like all the other folks here). Granted, my shooting coach is a former SF sniper with a ton of confirmed kills, so that might have something to do with it. Or, it might be because after 20 years in uniform and counting I have some shadow of a clue of what I'm doing. It's a stretch, I know. What else...oh, I'm benching my body weight and am back up to my high point on squats where last time I had to drop weight and relearn technique. No knee pain, all is good. And I'm done with ILE. Well, not totally, but close. Two of my assignments got kicked back for some odd reason (sentence length, I imagine). Honestly, I have no clue why, since they were sent to me in Evansville. Once I get home, I'll figure it out. Maybe. In any case, I'll have the military education for LTC done before I get home, that's the important thing. Other things....I've met Iraqis who have risked more for for the USA than many Americans I know. That's humbling. And I think I've grown up some, which is always a good thing.

Thanks are always in order, and I have a lot of folks to keep thanking. In no particular order, there's my wife (who ROCKS), Matt & Anj, Paul, Sarah & Carl, Brian & Joanne, Ron & Gloria (my parents, who also rock), one of the grade school classes at the church school where mom & dad attend (can you get me that address, I really, really, really need to write them a thank you letter), the Shaker Messenger, and all the folks who continue to keep me and my unit in their prayers. Thanks again! Please keep praying, as we're only close to the end, we're not there. Also, please pray for our families and keep them in mind as the end of the year and the holiday season approach. If I've left anyone out, you have my apologies.

Lastly, I have to tell you, I had a "Ron Moment" this week. First, some background. My dad is the master dissembler. Ask him to play any card game and the answer's the same: Oh no, I've never played that, show me how (and forget Trivial Pursuit). Then he wins. Earlier this week I was walking through the screening cells and saw some of the linguists playing cards. They asked me to play, and without skipping a beat, I said, "Oh no, I've never played that. Show me how." I won the first round and almost took them on the second one too. It was a classic Ron South moment. Naturally, the Kurdish linguist, who has never met my dad, fell for it hook, line and sinker. Yeah, it wasn't fair, I know.

I'm pretty pumped about going home for a while, needless to say. I can promise the phone will be on, but I can't promise I'll answer it, or be in a condition to do so. For all that, I do hope to see some of you when I get back.

Enjoy!

One week left

2008-09-14T04:15:00.001-07:00

OK, just one week until I go on leave. But I'll come back to this place, so it's all good. With that in mind, I figured folks would want to know what I plan to do with the time. So, in the spirit of that, I have some links! I already have a link to Kim's blog over there on the right hand side, so that's covered. Let's see...well, there's this, and this and this. And, of course, this. Don't worry, they're all mostly PG links. I'm supposed to view this as a "family" blog and so can't add a link to the other "activities" for leave. It's all good. Some folks think they know what the internet is for (NB: this is a funny link, but relatively inappropriate...you know me).

So, what's going on otherwise? Basically I'm preparing things for a temporary replacement. Essentially, I'm preparing the foundations of my continuity binder. The collection of knowledge and "5killz" I've accumulated over the time spent here. My intent is to give my replacement more than what I was given. Now, my predecessor did an excellent hand over, so I have my work cut out for me. Right now, the hand off consists of a series of "how to" guides, which are step by step instructions, with pictures, of how to do the different things I do in Access Control. I realize this is backwards for folks like me (ie, most AGRs), but knowledge and ability are no good unless I can pass them on to someone else. The idea here is not to horde information, but to make it public and available to lots of others, so I can go on to bigger and better things and crack the code somewhere else.

As usual, I'm working out. This was a tough week for that, as I woke up last Sunday with a knot in my right deltoids the size of Texas. Needless to say, working it out was not easy. My eventual solution was to get a whole bunch of hand warmers from supply and duct tape one inside my t-shirt just over the knot. Slow heat works every time for me, and a couple days and nights of that I was up and running again. Shaving becomes a whole new adventure when I can't tilt my head up at all. I had to ditch the Merkur for a week in favor of something that pivots on its own and doesn't need my undivided attention. Not to worry, I have plenty of time to continue mastering it.

Other than that, just tying up whatever loose ends I can, avoiding the ever present drama from 3ACR (I could write a book about the drama), and am otherwise ready to go home and spend some time with Kim. See, here's where I want to complain about the cav drama we have here. Problem is, complaining won't make it go away. To be blunt, it's just stupid: he said this to him or her, and they thought that, so we did this, etc. And just way too sensitive. Anyhow, it is what it is. It's helped me to understand mainly how to pull the drama and emotion out of issues and see what really needs to happen, and to understand what matters and what doesn't. Unfortunately, those lessons shouldn't come from any one institution's culture. I've learned, and have begun to put those lessons into practice, which is what it's all about. I go back to one of my original philosophies, modified: I don't care what patch or tab or spurs you have, if you can't help get my unit to a theater of operations and back again, all of those cool tabs and patches and spurs do you (and me) no good.

Enjoy!

2008-09-10T03:51:00.000-07:00

Midweek

Greetings and salutations. I stumbled upon a couple of good articles and figured I'd share.

First, another blog talks about the simply ridiculous media circus surrounding Palin. Personal politics aside, I agree with the author's point. Namely, that reporters leave out those facts, which are inconvenient truths.

Next, Atlantic Monthly has an article about the "Petraeus Doctrine". Great write up of something I consider to be the ongoing search for our professional identity as military professionals. Why I like it: first, it summarizes the essential issues well. Second, it mentions a white paper about the Field Artillery that's been circulating for some time. I happen to have a copy of that white paper, and it's also 100% on the money. Lastly, I think both Nagl and Gentile are correct. I think the Army needs to cultivate an Officer Corps that is both warrior and scholar (ie, they can think and shoot and lead). We are in a position, I firmly believe, where we as Officers must be able to conduct both combat and non-combat missions.

Also, the weather's beginning to break here. Thunderstorms have been rolling through and cooling things off a bit. Now, before you all get the wrong idea, this isn't the same thing as a Midwest thunderstorm. Here, the wind blows, it gets really cloudy and it might sprinkle. But, it doesn't rain down in sheets as we'd expect. The effect is relatively similar, as the temperatures drop and life outside becomes civilized (unless one attempts to light a cigar, then one must go inside to do so). Highs have dropped into the low hundreds, so the weather really is not too bad.

So that's about it. Shaved the grape again today too. I'm getting incredibly close between Somerset's and the Panasonic! It's impressive!

Enjoy!

Twelve and Two

2008-09-07T01:23:00.000-07:00

Today after Mass, I walked into the Badging office and Dixon had blues just blasting. It was then that I realized how much I miss listening to live blues. So, Kim, add that to our list. We might not hit it all this month, but at least it's on there.

This morning, responding to a couple of folks on Facebook, I realized how polarized opinion becomes around an election. Now, anyone who reads this knows that I'm just as bad as everyone else, which I freely admit. I have my own way of looking at life and freely allow others to know it. It's all good, it's the process that works for us here in the US. I'll be honest, I was amazed at the media response to Palin's family issues. That was plain silly. I mean really, who cares if her daughter is pregnant or not? Does her daughter's choice make Palin a quality stateswoman? Help me out on this one, because the whole affair smacks of a media circus, as opposed to focusing on the issues. We have had folks with similar qualifications running on both the Rep and Dem ticket in the past. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, both former state governors, come to mind. But no, we jump up and down about her family. This, ladies and gents, is why I don't have a TV here, and why Kim and I refuse to watch a whole lot of TV at home. I honestly can say I hate the media circus in general, and especially around elections. I wonder what the founding fathers would say about the media circus. Likely they'd comisserate, as I'm certain they had some of that as well.

This week, I've been finishing up with ILE phase 3. In fact, once I get back from lunch today, I turn off email and focus just on pushing through the End Of Course Completion Exercise. The intent is to get all of it finished today. Then, I can focus back on some of the smaller projects 'round here I've been neglecting. Once those are done, I should be pretty close to going on leave. My intent is to have enough of the "detail" stuff done before leave, so afterwards I can focus on assembling the continuity binder, brain dumping everything I know somehow (a page or two, nothing more, I assure you) and otherwise avoiding confrontations with 3ACR. I promised our CSM I'd be nice, so to do that, I have to avoid those guys, since they annoy me greatly.

I ordered the Sangiovese juice this week! Five gallons of pure, Italian, unadulterated Sangiovese juice. AND I ordered a Cabernet kit and a Merlot kit. The good news story is I stayed under my budget for these projects. So, I'll have 6 gallons of Sangiovese, 6 of Cab-Merlot, and 6 of Merlot-Cab in secondaries before I leave Evansville for Mosul.

Enjoy!

UPDATE at 1713 Mosul time: I am done with the *impressive echo voice* End Of Course Completion Exercise!! It was a whopping 16 slides. Before I panic, I'm going to go talk to another Major here, who finished this up a couple months ago, but I think his EOCCE was like 17 slides. As many of you know, I've been largely disappointed with the academic rigor needed to get through ILE by distance learning. On one hand, I'm complaining, on the other, I'm not. It will all work out, I'm sure.

2008-09-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Just so everyone knows, I owe my mother a call today. On one hand, this should be easy, since she's retired and has little to no schedule. On the other hand, until my parents retired to Holland, I thought retired folks didn't do a whole lot. So, it might not be as easy as I think. Plus, I have to find the number, which I'm sure I have somewhere.

*hours pass*

So I hiked back out to the office, placed the call and left a message. Mom, happy birthday!

Maybe I've been here too long (not) or maybe I'm just so close to leave that I want to think I've been here too long (more likely), but I just don't give a rat's butt about the Iraq issues any longer. It's odd, really, that my world view is now to the point where I want to do this job the best I can, build my good habits and go home. That it is now Ramadan means nothing to me, as the 'Beebs haven't stepped up their attacks in any significant manner. Granted, this isn't Baghdad, which might be different, since it has an entirely different threat picture. See, I had this discussion last week (was it last week? maybe the week before that?) with one of the cav guys, wherein I explained, using very short words, that I don't have the same Access Control policy as Balad, simply because THIS AIN'T BALAD. It's Mosul. Lookie here. See us up in the north? Where it's got that pretty blue color? Yeah, that's mostly Kurdish. They hate Turks and sometimes Iraqis. And even though we, as a country, screwed them royally two or three times, they hate being under Saddam more than they hated us screwing them. They're mostly alright. See Baghdad? See how it's all orange? Yeah, they're Shi'as. Between us and them are the Sunnis, who are the minority and used to rule this place. With terror, I might add. The AQI guys (NB, Sunnis, BTW) spend as much time shooting the Shi'as (ie, the REST of the country) as they do the Americans and the Kurds (most unwise). So, whereas Baghdad and its environs have the civil war and AQI to deal with, we have some AQI remnants to deal with. Different threat picture. QED.

All that to explain it's been quiet 'round here. Still. Some folks stand on the soapbox and cry out, "oh no, it's Ramadan, they'll hit us a ton more this month!" Fine. So they'll what? Shoot at the runway twice a week instead of once? Help me out on this here. Let's be real. These folks are fasting all freaking day in triple digit heat. I don't know about any of you all, but I don't know many folks who'll be up to doing much of anything in those conditions. Heck, jump school wasn't that bad.

More good news: I am now two writing assignments away from finishing ILE. And I've seen the assignments, they're cheesecake assignments. So I'll be done with that whole gig pretty soon. Go me.

This week I sent Kim an email detailing all that which I wanted to consume while at home. Needless to say, a glass of Arrogance was something I asked her to facilitate. Good thing for me the Gerst still has it on tap. NB: Evansville folks. If they have stopped carrying it, please let me know. Those of you who know me understand the solemnity with which I ask for this information.

Well, I've managed another blog post. Life is good and getting better.

Enjoy!

I think It's Dad's Fault

2008-08-31T02:49:00.001-07:00

Today at lunch I had an interesting experience. As is my sometimes practice, I was sitting with a group of folks from the Mayor Cell. We're an eclectic bunch, us Mayor Cell types, and attract a rather eclectic selection of people from all over the FOB, for as many reasons as there are people in our little clique. One of the soldiers sitting with us complimented me saying that, three days ago, when I was walking one way and she and another soldier were walking another, I really impressed the other soldier by stopping and talking and generally being me. Apparently this other kid had expected a Major to act like some sort of ogre, and just be unreasonable and stuffy and that kind of thing. So I got a compliment, so what? Thing is, I get this often. Enlisted soldiers are surprised when I talk to them instead of at them, they're confounded when I ask a question and stand there, looking at them, waiting for them to answer (NB: I call that a "conversation", or at least part of one). So I began to think about this and it's led me to a couple conclusions.

First conclusion is maybe they have a skewed vision of what Majors are really like. I mean, most of the guys I know are Officers, and a few are Majors, and most of them are pretty decent fellows. So, maybe the Majors they know in the Regiment are normal folks and the enlisted folks just don't know them. The only problem with that line, I've met some of the other Majors, to whom I'm referring. I don't particularly like them either. The talented ones are way overworked, the untalented ones are immature. Some of them still look at us down their noses (NB: we ignore this, knowing if we, as Mayor Cell and BDOC sat down on the job, the Regiment would be hard pressed to manage without us), and some talk to us like we're equals. Most of them are the latter group, not the former. So, all that to say there might be something to the compliment giver's point of view. Their view of Majors isn't necessarily skewed, but it is limited, unfortunately, to a very few who aren't all that great to start with. I take some issue with this, as I really don't like to see my peer group have that poor of a following among the enlisted. Let's face it, there are more EMs than field grade officers. Most of those EMs are willing to work their tails off with a simple "please" or "thank you" and just treating them respectfully. The Army does a great job a stripping our dignity in certain circumstances. Those of us with rank can get a lot done simply by allowing soldiers to maintain what dignity they have.

Second, I blame most of this on my Dad. See, when we were kids (NB: my use of the first person plural in reference to myself indicates I'm speaking of Paul and of me, because we were usually together all the time as kids), Dad would sometimes take us to his school and we'd goof around, he'd work or do whatever, and we'd go around with him when he'd make his rounds. It was pretty cool. The best part was that he'd talk to EVERYBODY in that building - cooks, janitors, teachers, parents, crossing guards, everybody. And you know what? Every one of them were treated with the same amount of respect and dignity. That's a big deal. Now that I'm in kind of a similar position, I find myself (and Paul) doing a lot of the same stuff we saw Dad doing. Thing of it is, regardless of the setting or industry or nationality, treating folks with respect and dignity goes a long, long way. Thanks Dad.

This week has been like trying to take a drink from a firehose. For the most part, that's due to one company bringing in hundreds of new workers, and two other companies preparing to get out of here. Both of these activities involve me intimately, as all of those folks have badges and I'm in charge of the stinking badges. But, September's around the corner and things are a'movin' and a'shakin'. All of this is good.

In other news, more cigars showed up. This time I decided to buy some singles and try new things: 5 Vegas Classic, 5 Vegas Gold and 5 Vegas Series A. I know the Golds are very good, and am looking forward to trying the other two. I'm hoping the weather breaks a little more over the next couple of weeks. Those who are native to these parts say it will. Not that I can't deal with triple digits, but like shovelling snow, it gets old.

Other than that, I have started the third and final phase of ILE, your tax dollars hard at work, thanks.

13 and 3

Enjoy!

2008-08-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

Kind of midweek

Alright folks, don't get accustomed to this. Most of you know why I'm posting. Let's hear it. Exactly. I have other work that needs to be done, hence the post. I am, if nothing else, predictable.

This week, we have lots and lots of workers coming here to work and then next week lots and lots of folks leaving. Why do I care? Because the former group needs to be badged, which is what I do here. The latter group all have a badge I must collect. Contrary to the opinion of the LTs in the 1-8, badges are controlled items. They're a big deal, and quite frankly, I don't fancy allowing some forgetful Turk to take one home on a convoy with him. So, this week is going to see me being detail oriented and moving about quite a bit. That's all good, as I have nothing else to do.

This morning I submitted the history essay for ILE. This means, among other things, that I am now unofficially two-thirds of the way done with ILE. I'm absolutely pumped about that! The end, as they say, is in sight. In light of that, I thought this was interesting, in terms of looking at the types of conflict to expect in the next 10 to 15 years. And I found this article too. All good stuff.

Part of me feels bad for skipping PT this morning, but I really don't. Kim was on the line and we were both fairly much awake, so it was all good.

Short post for now, so that's about it. I'll beat on KBR more tomorrow and sooner or later, they'll have the details hammered out.

Enjoy!

2008-08-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

14/4

Just so everyone knows: MY WIFE TOTALLY ROCKS!!!

The temptation now is to post and leave that as the entire blog posting, but those who know me understand I'm far too loquacious to not expand on that particular fact. A few weeks ago, I ordered a new razor, a Merkur Heavy Duty safety razor. So, since Amazon's too much of a wuss to send that to an APO, I had it sent home to my wife, who rocks, and who is NOT too much of wuss to send it here. With it, she threw in yellow and purple Propel (excellent!), some pics from class and a card. That, my friends, is why my wife rocks. She sends me cool stuff without complaining. Along with that arrived some books from Jeff - dude, you are an intellectual oasis in a desert of Maxim magazines my friend! Thank you very much!! And lastly, a couple of DryMistat tubes I had ordered showed up. The other two tupperware containers I have here are now field expedient humidors, all for the low price of nine bucks each. Why, do you ask, do I need two more humidors? Because, with the same birthday money (thank you Mom & Dad), with which I purchased said razor, I picked up two bricks of decent cigars (personally, I like the torpedos, but that's a lot of cigar, should have gone with robustos, live and learn). Now, just for the record, fifty cigars is a lot of smokes. Ergo, the need for more humidors. The circle is complete - now all I need is for the weather to break, at least under 100, so I can sit out on my veranda, enjoy a cigar and read. One more thing to add to the "Leave List".

Did I mention that Kim is awesome?

This week has been good. My morning routine is improving, if nothing else. I'm nowhere near as consistent as I'd like to be, but that will come with time. All that said, tomorrow morning is an "A" day, so I'll be back at the weight stack. As long as I get a couple of days on the elliptical trainer, I'm good to hook.

Work-wise, we continue to work at the whole impregnable fortress image. I have two dudes to put on alert, which I'll have done in a day or two. I've made progress on the essay for phase two, and today should see me making even more progress on it. In fact, my goal today is to have the outline stuff entirely done - Germans, Russians, Modularity and the discussion and intro sections. That means I can start putting this Frankensteinian essay together and run some voltage through it to see if it can walk on its own. Once that's all done, it's on to phase three baby!

Many folks here obsess about an AFN hookup in their CHU. I do not. Personally, I don't watch a whole lot of TV at home, and what little I watch, I have on an 8 DVD set here in theater (all eight seasons of CSI baby!). All that said, I'm happy to be missing the drama surrounding the presidential race right now. For all that, I manage to keep up somehow. Needless to say, I enjoy the commentary of Day By Day.

Enjoy!

2008-08-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Surprised

The variety of tasks we undertake here as a unit never ceases to surprise me. This assignment - to be a Mayor Cell for a base - is one that ARNG units are uniquely suited to do. After all, the Regulars don't exactly have a career outside the military to draw on.

I have my leave dates, and am preparing myself to visit home for a while. Today I sent home the first of a couple of footlockers. The intent is to get some of the extra gear and stuff home from here. Extra in the sense that I know I don't need it, and can't imagine keeping it here. Ultimately, I will send as much stuff and equipment home through the postal service as I can. I have absolutely no intent of dragging multiple duffel bags through customs, dumping and repacking several times either on leave or redeployment. One of the facets of military life I've never truly been able to understand is the "necessity" for multiple inspections of the same items more than twice in a row in less than 24 hour period. So, in order to avoid this particular personal hell, I am sending home most of my stuff.

So, in December, Kim bought me a new pair of Danner THXs. Great boots - comfy, light, and generally well constructed. Eight months of wear later, the insoles are destroyed, all the eyelets are pulling out from the leather, one of them is cutting laces and there's a half in long gash in the instep of one of them. Needless to say, I'm slightly disappointed. OK, I know Danner has outstanding customer service, I'll send them the old boots and ask them to hook me up. Well, what do I wear in the meantime? My old Danners, of course! Ahh, but the insoles are destroyed in them too. No problem - bought new insoles, Sole insoles. Absolutely love them! Granted, I don't have the oven to heat them in order to mold them to my feet, but beggars cannot be choosers. Need great new insoles? Get Sole.

In the course of getting stuff done today, my NCO and I stopped at the "big PX" on the "other side". My intent was to buy foot powder, among other things. Imagine my surprise when they were sold out. Yeah, I don't get it either. I know AAFES isn't really trying to make money, and I know we only have 100+ temperatures here for 7 or 8 months a year, so WHY would they carry extra foot powder in stock? Needless to say, I am becoming very much acquainted with online resources for normal, everyday items the PX is either unable or unwilling to stock. Dear readers, if you care to send a couple or three containers of Gold Bond (or your fave brand) of foot powder, I guarantee that I will get them to the Chaplain's stock and make them available for other soldiers. I'm ordering some right now. *edit* Actually, found the second thing of it I had in my can, so all is good. Still, AAFES needs to figure out it's either get on the ball or we go online.

On that particular note, thanks tons to Brian and Joanne! The tuna fish lunch thingies are awesome! Mom & Dad, the TOC finally has the coffee urn set up and running, they are happy! Good things to send, one of which I learned from Anj, is trail mix - the kind with nuts and M&Ms totally rocks! That, of course, is just my own unedited opinion. Others don't like trail mix, but it fits well in the office, so I'm all for it. Again, thanks to everyone who has sent and keeps sending stuff this way. You all have been simply outstanding! I can't say how cool it is first to jut get mail, and second to get stuff in a box that I just can't get here (due to time or AAFES, or both).

Leave dates are just over a month away, which is a good thing.

Enjoy!

2008-08-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Procrastination

Nothing is better to ensure a blog post than procrastination. You see, I know I haven't posted in a long time. I also know that posting has been an item in my to do list for just as long. So, while I sit here in the office, with forms in front of me to sign, I think to myself, "what a PERFECT time to post to the blog". Just ask anyone who knows me - nothing like putting off something else to get yet another thing done that should have been done a long time ago, as I procrastinated doing it then. Don't try this at home folks, I'm a trained professional.

So what's happened since my last post? Well, I turned 40, which was extremely cool. I talked to Paul, commisserated and solved the world's problems. Well, we complained, not sure we really solved anything. Kim sent me some boxes of stuff - extremely cool stuff - which I just loved! I still have that "40" confetti all over my CHU floor. That's love folks.

Today's been a good day. Got a lot done today (reconciled a company of ~ 650 badges to zero discrepancies....that's no small task considering it's run by Turks), had a great dinner with another company (my neighbors, actually) and am sitting here, writing and listening to Pat Metheny. Granted, it could be better. I could be at home, with Kim, Dave or Brubeck on the stereo, a bottle of MY Pinot Noir...maybe some Scrabble...could be very much better. But, I'm here and looking at roughly five weeks until I get to play Scrabble. Not that I did a whole lot of that before I came over here, but that's Iraq for you - never know what changes are wrought in the space of a scant few months.

This week's been interesting. I told you I just...sorry, "we" (didn't do it alone)...got a company of 650 souls to be down to zero mistakes on badge accountability. So what? So each of those badges gets a person onto the base. Getting the picture? Throw in the fact this company tends to move employees from base to base and not tell us, not get badges changed, etc, and life becomes more interesting. They're not bad people, they're not stupid, just ignorant. As humans we tend to focus on ourselves. Not true? Hmm...I think I have an apple here somewhere to test that theory. Anyhow, considering the second, third and fourth order effects of our actions and decisions requires stretching, it's work. So I run a company and need widget fixers in Tal Afar. Too easy, I'll move them from Mosul. Tell someone? Why should I do that? It's MY company. See what I mean? It's not unlike dealing with the kids I taught at LC, except I really can't speak the language this time. Tomorrow I think I start a new project and continue an older one. I don't want to look at another roster for a few days.

That's been about it. Oh, one more thing - broke 200 on benching. That was fun, felt that all day. I still don't look any bigger though.

Enjoy!

2008-08-03T00:54:00.000-07:00

Seventeen

Today, dear readers, is my seventeenth wedding anniversary. To quote Kim, if we add in the four years we knew each other prior to being married, we've known each other 21 years. We are now legal! I still can't believe she's put up with me that long...

Today is also a Sunday, which means you all get a post whether I want to write or not. Thanks to server issues, I'm posting in someone else's office instead of my own. No big deal, just incredibly inconvenient. This week has been a tad stressful, I'll admit. Companies are coming and going, which will end up issuing or terminating thousands of badges. Doing all of that in an accurate and timely fashion is no mean feat. My troops are up to the task, of that I have no fear. I do have some minor concern that the ACR isn't really paying attention when I say, "no, we're not doing an inventory, as half of the badges are going in or going out". We'll see how that works out.

Yesterday, we had a German come in to try and get a brown badge. Now, this dude's been in before, in May to be exact. He had a bad attitude then - bad enough that I was tempted to give him the option of taking the badge I was able to get approved for him, or no badge at all. So just in case he didn't get the message the first time three months ago, I wrote the response in German and attached it to the application. Oddly enough, I still cannot issue him a brown badge, that's the rules.

Other than that, most of my existance is coping with what comes my way. I hate being reactive, as it means I give up the initiative, but right now have no choice. Companies are still negotiating this and that, which means my planning is in a holding pattern until they make some decisions. It is what it is, which means we'll wait until we can see how the situation looks and make a plan to meet the goals set for us.

Enjoy!

2008-07-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

It happens even here.

Last night, another officer and I went to a local vendor (a "Haji Shop") to look for DVDs. Honestly, I was looking for CSI episodes and struck the motherlode. Anyhow, I'm perusing the goods, when the vendor (a Turkish fellow) says to me, "Sir! Hello sir! Do you remember me?" Now, it had been a full day, I wasn't exactly tracking, and I suppose my face showed it. The vendor saw that and repeated, "Sir, I am Ahmed, CJ's brother! You remember?" To which I finally replied, "Oh, from two or three years ago?" At which point, this dude lights right up, "Yes! Yes! You remember!" "Um, actually, I don't, I have a twin brother you see..." So Paul, CJ and Ahmed say hello, for what it's worth. AND I picked up eight seasons of CSI for $40, which isn't bad. Naturally, if any of the DVDs don't work, I can bring them back to be recut....

Things are shaping up around here for near and long term plans. Near term, I met with some folks today and I think I can tackle the next month for the four or five companies involved with little to no hiccups. Long term, I have to decide if I'm sending anything via connex or not. At this point, I'm thinking to send all of my extra stuff home via USPS. First, because I can claim the postage on my travel voucher and get it back, second because I want it sent to my home, not Camp Atterbury, and lastly because I don't want the customs apes at Atterbury pawing through my stuff.

Hey, Carl and Sarah, thanks TONS for the package!! Used the mug this morning, and I think I have a new favorite mug. This one is nice!

Folks, that's all the news here from my end of the world.

Enjoy!

2008-07-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

Weekend of Firsts!

Hello everybody! True to form, this has been an excellent weekend. Actually, Sunday was a good, good day. Basically I slept late (0630), drank some coffee, read a book, skipped a briefing (the LT just reads the slides anyhow), grilled steaks (later that day) and PT this morning kicked butt.

So, the firsts. I think I posted a month or so ago that I was tired of grilling meat that had no flavor, no prep, nothing. As a result, I had ordered a pound of kosher salt and some steak rub from Penzy's. Unlike other online merchants (ie, Target, et al), they ship to APOs. THEN, last week I scored some decent steaks at the PX. Last night we cooked them up. The result was very, very good! The salt did the trick, as it usually does and the rub is just fantastic on top of all that. It was good to be back at a grill, fussing over steaks. So, the experiment worked! The other first - just went over my own body weight on bench press, which for a guy with my build, is kind of cool.

Work-wise, things are progressing well. Odd thing, I get into these emotional ruts, where I just don't want to be here at all, work through it, write or watch DVDs or read a book - basically change things up a little - and life gets better. Currently, I have three or five relatively decent sized balls in the air that I continue to juggle. My intent is to concentrate on one of them at a time, until I get rid of them altogether. This includes, of course, the LAST ESSAY I need to write in order to be done with Phase 2 of ILE. I might, just might, have to do this in the evenings. We'll see.

[rant] One fact of life, to which I've resigned myself, is that those celebrities who visit Iraq seldom make their way far enough north to see us here in Mosul. While this shouldn't surprise anyone, I'm left to wonder why any politician would make his way all the way here just to ignore US troops. Oh wait, that's right, now I remember. Obama was never in the military. So, if visits determine votes, it looks like Dane Cook will carry the "stationed in Mosul in 2008" demographic. [/rant]

That's the update for this morning. Life is progressing inexorably to that date in September when I will go on leave!

Enjoy!

2008-07-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

It's Friday Already?

We have been very busy this week. Not "frantic" busy, but busy enough that I'm not counting the minutes as they pass. That's all good, but it also means that my already rather long Master To-Do List gets longer. Folks 'round here tell me to grow accustomed to that state of affairs. To be honest, leaving loose ends for my successor to tie up bothers me, hence the need to get the list done. I know, I know, we don't RIP anytime soon, it's the intent I want to maintain though.

Apparently, according to my Bride, my brother made his way to Evansville to pickup the truck. Just so it's somewhere in writing, the truck has a Rhino liner in the bed, in-dash CD player, AC, cruise control, V6 engine and still looks pretty decent (for an eight year old vehicle). Paul, have fun teaching the girls to drive a stick! Oh, the tires are new too.

So, last night I went and did the Turkish dinner thing with some folks who had invited several of us from Badging. Normally I beg off of these, as being polite, charming and witty after dealing with ten hours of "can I please have this" and "why can't I have that" is an effort. But, I needed to go and so I went. It was good. Food was great, company was great and we all had a pleasant time. I watched two guys play two, almost three rounds of backgammon inside of ten minutes. These guys are cutthroat backgammon players! They don't even stop to count the little points while they're moving.

Unfortunately, I've not been writing for pleasure as much as usual. Oddly enough, I can tell. One viewpoint of why to write is here. Enjoy the article!

Short post, I apologize! Like I said, this has been a full week. So much so, I am looking forward to Sunday, just to catch up on projects I've had to let go for immediate need items.

Enjoy!

2008-07-20T01:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday Reflections

Greetings once again from Mosul, vacationland of the north! Today is Sunday and true to form, it's time for another post. Why do I mostly post on Sundays? Easy - the contractors who work for me get today off. This means nobody is here to be screened or printed or pick up a badge, or arrange for a badge, etc. I can sit in the office, literally, all day and not see a single soul. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a good day. Why? Because the other six days of the week, my door is a revolving door for all sorts of requests from the mundane badging type to the incredibly unique (yesterday, I turned travel agent, went to the transportation yard to wave my oak leaf around and get a Turk on a convoy to go back to Q-West...not something I've ever done before). So Sundays I do no PT, usually clean the office, restock my supply of bottled water sitting inside, clean the CHU, catch up on projects that I've had to set aside thanks to folks walking into the office and asking odd sorts of favors. Like can I help a Turk get back to Q-West, that sort of thing.

Here's what I need you all to do before reading the next section. Look to the right of this post at the links. I should - should - have a link to Kim's blog. Click on that and read her latest post. When you're done, hit the "back" button and keep reading.

SO I was talking to Kim on the phone yesterday morning (more about phone calls later) and she mentioned this yard sale thing my mother-in-law (MIL) was going to do with her. My bride, the love of my life, knows how much I abhor conducting yard sales, which is perfect, as she likes doing them. It's like eating olives, so there's a balance. Anyhow, Kim was mentioning how hot it was going to be and that sort of thing. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I replied with, "OK, so do that, then wear some hiking boots, jeans, a t-shirt, a long shirt, go to the garage, grab my old kevlar helmet wear that too..." Kim responded with, "I get it, I get it." And we laughed about it. Honestly, the only way I handle this heat is I don't really have to be out in it all day long. Aside from that, I drink all the freaking time, I mean all the time, I'm in good physical condition (this is key, by the way), and there is almost NO humidity. I'll happily take 120 in this environment for 95 in Evansville, any day. Any. Day. The humidity in Evansville is horrendous. It's bad enough that while I like living there, I would not have chosen to live there.

Before I forget, this is an excellent article on COIN and where it fits in our spectrum of professional skills. Be advised, it doesn't place COIN on the same pedestal as the rest of the Army. Granted, it's important, but his thesis, in my opinion is accurate.

A quick note on phone calls, as that seems to be a topic that's on my mind. The difference between here and Evansville (which is in the Central Time Zone) is eight hours. That is to say, when it's 0800 here, it's midnight the night prior in EVV. When it's 1600 here, it's 0800 the same day in EVV. Evansville is eight hours behind me. As I've outlined in the past, my day usually starts at 0530 or so when I call Kim. I work, or am on task with something vaguely relating to the military, from 0800 until 1800 or so almost daily. Given also that I'm not the only dude on this base with family on a different continent, and getting a working phone line either DSN or via internet, can be a chore at times. Usually Kim and I get pretty decent reception through the internet most mornings, but we've had pretty cruddy connections too. Calling Kim daily isn't a chore or a duty, it's what I do. I made a commitment almost 17 years ago, and that's what takes priority on calling home (never mind the fringe benefits associated with that effort). I will not stay awake past 2200 to call (can't really get out easily, as I've tried) and I most certainly will not roll my butt out of bed at ungodly hours to do so (ie, 0300). Folks, I live and die by email. I can chat on yahoo or Skype, I've done that with folks in the evenings, which works wonderfully for me (lower bandwidth than calling, so it's easier to do reliably). Phone calling is not an easy task, trust me, between the time difference and the duty day's hours (which have extend to 2100, from time to time). I will answer all emails, trust me. Yahoo chat is far easier than trying to get a spawar phone in the evenings, or a DSN line (which is not always available) or talking via internet.

Off the soapbox.

Anyhow, life is going well. This afternoon I'll either jump into database work, or work on a research paper for ILE. Likely it's going to be the paper, as I have a hankering to get it in the can. That's my day!

Enjoy!

2008-07-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Beginning of Wisdom?

This week has been progressing well, I think. I've actually been completing things on the "to do list", which is nice. Instead of randomly going at it, I took the slide that I briefed last week of "all the stuff I'm going to accomplish this week" and stuck it in front of me on the desk. This way, I figure it's a focus help. Plus, I decided to get more into the game and really worked the GTD piece of my uber-list and have been working off that too. It works for me.

Commander and I were reflecting earlier today, figured I'd share some of the observations here. When I first arrived in country, and even before that at the mobilization site, I was all about "soldiers are like this" or "soldier are like that". Really, it's not about soldiers, as much as it's about people in general. We've begun to notice that all the dumb stuff we whine about back home (ie, "brigade did this dumb thing" or "brigade has that silly plan"), is the same on active duty, and in the Regular Army. The leadership in the RA feels just as mercurial as the leadership in the ARNG. And honestly, they're really not all that much better than we are. Sure, they do this stuff every day, and I'll give them credit that they deploy on an every other year cycle. For all that, the quality of soldier isn't dramatically different than the quality we bring with us. Please don't misunderstand me, my intent isn't to tear down the RA and say they're some low quality soldier or some such. Quite the opposite. My point is, they're not that much better at this than we are. People can give me countless examples for and against this entire point, but I see it daily. So, the beginning of wisdom...people are people. Large organizations are all fraught with the same leadership issues. Soldiers are soldiers, regardless of who owns them. Higher HQ are no better or worse deployed than at home (ie, they all do the same things, make us wonder, "why did they do that", etc). And ultimately, most people show up day in and day out with the intent of doing the right thing, based on their understanding of the situation at hand.

Have I mentioned that I am married to the coolest woman in the world? Package arrived yesterday with TWO COLORS of Propel powder in it!! TWO! Purple and Red! I intend on doing a blog entry that reviews the various and sundry drink mix powder packets (mit Bilder) sooner or later.

So...four weeks until I get my leave date. Then, maybe another four, maybe another two until I go home on leave. What this tells me, in simple terms, is that in two weeks, I MUST purchase the anniversary present and have it sent (For the record, I'm working with a handicap on this one. See, normally, I could poke through Kim's stuff to make sure I don't duplicate previous gift efforts. In this case, I don't have that luxury, so I must rely on my really lame memory of what I think she might have in, around or in the dresser), the wine kits I intend to start and rack while on leave, and whatever else I think I need to get my butt home. Essentially, I'll need to pack one of the duffel bags with as much extra crap as possible. The rest goes into boxes and the footlocker, which I send home at the end of October.

Speaking of wine kits, I have my eye set on the Sangiovese these folks sell. I cannot remember if I've linked them before, I think I might have though. The plan, for those who are late in arriving to this here blog, is to make a batch of the Sangiovese, and rack it to secondary before I am done with leave. Also I will do a Merlot and a Cabernet and blend in the secondary. THEN, in January (follow me now), I get a Sangiovese, Pinot Noir and a Merlot from Kamil, and do two batches of a Tricorno. How freaking cool is that? Naturally, this will require new equipment (BIGGER FERMENTERS, ARR, arr, arr). Sadly, that means I'll have started 15 gallons in September and another 15 in January. Oh, and the 15 from September should be ready to clarify and package when we get back in December, not to mention drink. Got to fight the deep fight when it comes to making wine. Now, should any of you have any concerns at all about us having not enough wine in the rack, feel free to get us some. If you're not, that's cool, since I packaged 15 gallons last December. Most of it should still be there. Should. I plan on competing all three of those batches too.

That's the update for now.

Enjoy!

2008-07-11T00:57:00.000-07:00

Milestones...or Has It Really Been That Long??

Hello everybody! This has been a tough week. One of the soldiers in the section helped me out by giving me a cold, so I've had the sniffles all week. Today is the first day it seems to be lifting. Between Airborne (excellent stuff, by the way), more Sudafed and literally drowning the cold (no shortage of free bottled water), it seems to be working. And today is Friday, which means one more week is close to being done. As much as I'd like to truly enjoy the journey, the cold, hard fact is that I miss being home and hanging out with my wife.

On to the milestones. Yesterday was the 10th, which officially is the 7th month of the deployment. Pretty cool. Five to go. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm kind of stoked about that. Milestones...let's see, it's 3 weeks and 3 days until my anniversary. That's right, we'll have been married 17 years come August (I'm pretty sure my math is right on that one). I figured this one out the other day and keep thinking, "wow, Kim's put up with me for a long time!"

Thanks go out to lots of folks right now too! The Third Reformed Church's 3rd - 6th grade class, you guys are awesome!! Thanks for the pictures and letters, I owe you a real written response! Be warned, my handwriting is marginally better than my father's....but not by much. The Shaker Messenger Store, thanks for the soups. I'm more than a little nonplussed, as I have access to legitimately great bread, and can scare up a hotplate, but I'm short on the appropriate sized kettle. However, I see this as a challenge. I figure, once September or October hit, I'll be jonesin' for some decent soup and so I have a few months to scrounge said kettle. Good thing I know the Turkish Godfather. Last milestone: according to this, it's eight weeks until the Boilermakers take the field again. Now, for those who know me, this is an odd statement. Everybody knows I don't follow sports. Being over here, it's almost as if anything that reminds of home or good memories becomes something we latch onto, and so for me it's the whole college football thing. Who knows, I might actually follow the season this year. Here's the evil plan: get a TV, have it in the office, hook it up to one of the several AFN satellites on the rooftop and viola, college football Saturdays in the comfort of the office! Or even better, since we're eight hours behind on some of that stuff, I can very likely watch it on Sundays, which means NO INTERRUPTIONS! See, this gets better all the time! Nothing like a late Sunday morning, some nonalcoholic Bitburger Pils and a college football game.

For those of you who might be wondering, I do find it interesting that the Iraqi government is calling for a timetable on withdrawal of US forces here. Honestly, I'm not so sure the GOI understands how really fragile the current level of stability really is. My very limited perception on this whole scenario is that the GOI is like a 16 year old kid asking for the keys to the family car in the middle winter in Michigan (read, "deep snow") and saying something like, "no honestly, I know exactly how to drive in snow." NB: I believe both Paul and I have used this line in the same circumstance. Between an overconfident GOI and possibility of a Democrat in the White House in 2009, I can see this region descending back into the chaos it knew in the past, once we begin to significantly pull out of Iraq. It is what it is. Before we descend into arguments over politics, let me make my position clear: I am in 100% agreement with the philosophy outlined by Robert Heinlein in his book, Starship Troopers (awful film, excellent book, he'd never have approved that film were he alive..here's a very good treatment of that whole philosophy). I am under the impression that Obama Barack has never served in the military. If that's true, in my opinion, he has no business being President of the United States. Period. I fail to see how he can better show that he is able to place duty and honor and country before himself outside of military service. That, dear readers, is the distilled essence of my political views. I realize they are unreasonably narrow in some cases, I'm willing to accept that limitation.

That's about it for now. Coming out of the head cold tailspin is nice, needless to say. I could write about all the stuff here on my desk, but why? That's boring.

Enjoy!

2008-07-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

Another update! When I viewed my own statistics on this here blog, I realized that two or three updates a week would up my total for the month considerably. I'm concerned about finding enough to tell on here which doesn't 1. violate OPSEC, and 2. bore / frustrate / shock the readership. Some thoughts on the first one. Acknowledging this has been stated in the past, my section controls access privileges to this base. As a result, we talk to a lot of Iraqis and other people who work here (like, all of them). Not everyone is an angel and not everyone is a saint, we get plenty of both. Naturally, the interesting stuff, the really "sexy" stuff centers around those who are less of a saint. You know, the former Republican Guard, former Ba'ath Party folks who think they're now past all that, and so on. Some of those are in process still, no surprise there. That's what makes life interesting around here. That and employers (like AAFES), who can't seem to tell us where all their employees are. That's a comforting thought. See, to the military mind, personnel accountability is way high up there. To someone like me, "losing" people simply is unthinkable. Usually that sort of situation receives the reply of "How the &*#@ do you lose your people??", then I usually follow up with, "No, never mind, don't tell me. Just find them. I'll be back in three days, please have them found by then."

The 3ACR's priest is back from leave. The priest who had been here as a substitute was great! At one time he was in the OHARNG, which means he has a personality outside the military. The "normal" priest we have is fairly vanilla. I'm fairly certain he's a good man, but the substitute, well, he preached with personality. He was a real mensch. Reminded me of Fr John, honestly. So, now we're back to the vanilla homilies. I think I need to end up as a deacon for no other reason, than for folks to hear more homilies that aren't vanilla, kindergarten level, regurgitations of the readings. I was really happy at Holy Redeemer between Fr Jason and Fr Paul...then I deployed. Since then, the last month was the first time I've seen a priest who wasn't Philipino, AND one who could make the message of the readings really come alive. Kim would say I need to really watch what I say about who preaches how, and I'm certain I mostly agree with her...to a point...sort of. I really have a very hard time with dumbed down, watery messages disguised as homilies. Church tradition and the writings of the saints are so full of great stuff, why bother with "acceptable" preaching?? Most of the saints we revere today we're exactly agreeable people in their time. Keep in mind, Christ offended people, not by being rude and crude (Diba, take note), but by being the Son of God and preaching the Truth. It's really that simple. Challenge us! The message of Christ is going to be a stumbling block for many and that's OK - heck, the Eucharist was when Christ first practiced it, and He certainly didn't make it any more palatable at the time! Thus endeth the rant. Needless to say, I was less than impressed with Father's message this morning. I know, I know, we don't go for the message, but the Eucharist. It's still nice to have a priest, who can stand up there and say things like, "God doesn't love us with a cheeseburger love".

The focus here is the key to getting through it all. Most of the time here, I've existed only in the "now" and been mostly happy with the flow of things. As stressors build, as some of the really dumb stuff continues, the challenge to me is to continue staying in the "now" and focusing on results instead of the minutae of daily existence. So, knowing that, I'm looking to shift my focus back to the now and not be so wrapped up with what is or is not. I know I need to write more on my own, just to take my mind off things. Plus, I think a few nights of nothing but gaming or just vegging out watching DVDs would help too. Anything to set the day aside and let it go is good. Thanks to Kim and some others, I have plenty of DVDs. I picked one up this week on Amazon for like $5 including shipping. Got to like that!

Goal this week: roll out of bed early enough to lift M-W-F (which I have been doing), talk to Kim (ditto) and run T (which I have not been doing). And to focus on positive things.

Enjoy!

2008-07-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

Alright, time to update y'all back home. This has been an interesting week.

We continue to try and educate the infantry, and we're not being successful. Not sure what it is, to be honest (not using pictures, probably). I normally would think that a Major telling them, three times, "your battalion exec signs here" would suffice. I know, it's not outside the wire and it's not kicking in doors. For all that, these folks aren't helping me to help them. I've finally broken down and told their Ops guy. We'll see what happens. Note this is the same unit, whose misguided LT I had to set straight about combat arms and active duty time, so I suspect there's some underlying prejudice about the Guard and such.

Oh, I lost my temper in a most spectacular manner yesterday with a friend of mine over something pretty stupid. That was fun. Not real happy with myself over that. I've apologized, but it's still something I'm frustrated with myself about.

And then we had the air conditioner drama. That was an illustration in typical contractor BS around here:
AC in my office had been on the fritz for 5 days. I'd been able to nurse it along by turning it off every night, when I left for lunch, that sort of thing. Awaan (DPW contractor) came to replace it, so there was a shiny new one on the wall. Guy asks me to sign the paper, since it was installed. I look at the AC, and the power cord not only didn't reach the fuze, but it wasn't wired in. No electricity was going to this shiny new AC unit. So, essentially, it didn't work.
So I tell him, "No, I will sign your paper when the AC works."
Him: "But it does work."
Me: "No, it has no power, so it doesn't work."
Him: "We are not electrician."
Me: "OK, go get one and f*****g fix the AC. THEN the AC will work and I will sign the papers."
Apparently, he can understand English when I do what he wants. He then grabbed one of my linguists, made his case to her, she translated to me. I answered her with the same message, "Hey, as soon as the unit has power and is running, THEN it works. Period. I'll sign all sorts of papers for him then."
Linguist: "You're not happy about this?"
Me: "No I'm not happy. The job is not done."

I then walked into my sergeant's office and handed him my pistol ammo. After that, I didn't trust myself to keep a calm head. The kicker here is they get paid by the Army for each service call. This was one call, that they turned in to two. According to a soldier in our unit, they did this to a couple dozen soldiers on the post that day.

Here's what it's boiled down to for all of this: Do it right. Attention to detail is the key to success. The measure of success is in the follow-up. The Colonel was right.

Oh, for those of you following Bama-bama-bo-bama, you'll enjoy this one.

Please pray for my patience.

Enjoy!

Savior, Thy Name Is Braun!!

2008-06-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

Oh happy day! Oh coffee sweet! Oh caffeine rush divine!

Yes dear readers, the 220V coffee grinder I ordered has finally arrived! Now, several folks, realizing my desperate need in these dark times, sent me ground coffee. For that, my friends, I am eternally grateful. Now, however, I am aptly prepared and fully able to take advantage of the fifty pounds (Fifty. Pounds.) of goodwill sent here by the eastside Starbuck's. Please note that other coffee is actually more than welcome here!

So this last week has been interesting. Not because of the folks coming through badging per se, but because of the incredibly welcoming environment, in which we find ourselves. See, temperatures are beginning to hit levels that are consistent with the desert environment. To wit, we have been experiencing highs of low teens. That's 110 to 115 for you folks at home. That's mighty hot. I know, Paul will happily pop on here and tell me it gets hotter. Yup, got that. Not complaining, just a statement of fact. So, machinery, like people, doesn't like to run at full capacity in hot weather. Odd how that works. Generators have been going out on a regular basis 'round here, which includes those generators that power my office. Normally I'd say, "such is life" and be done with it. The problem is that we have this one server that people access from other parts of the country on a regular basis. Random power outages disrupt that, which means it shuts down. That is bad. The power guys came by and tried to explain it all to me. I was nice. I listened (or tried to). At one point my statement was simply, "make it work and keep it working." Add to that, the A/C in my office is female. It randomly blows hot and cold air, it blatantly ignores the setting I have on the thermostat, and works well when the repair guys show up. QED.

On another positive note, Matt and Anjie (ok, Anjie mostly) sent me a box, which arrived here this week. The really eerie thing is that the very day prior to that, I had a serious jonesin' for purple Propel drink mix. I open up the box and lo, verily my jonesing had been a prophecy! Inside were three different colors of Prople (EXCELLENT!), a box of Menergy (energy drink mix, not sure the brand), a tub of hershey kiss cookies (very excellent) and some other stuff. Anj, Matt, thank you tons!!! The drink mixes by themselves were great, everything else on top of all that is fantastic too! In fact, I now have a cat to guard my ammo at night.

See? Cats get into the darndest places!

Enjoy!

2008-06-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

Most of March, all of April, May and June. That's practically four months. That is, I believe, the longest single span of time Kim and I have been apart since we've been married. I remember when a friend of Paul & me told us she and her husband had never spent a night apart since they married. We both kind of thought that was odd. My first thought was, "what do they do on drill weekends?" Then I realized they don't deal with drill weekends. I have been in this profession all of my adult life. For all of the time we have known each other, the military has been part of what I do and am. Kim and I really don't know anything else. Our friends have different arrangements - the whole normal, no drill weekends sort of thing - and that just seems a bit, well, different. Someday that will change, I'm sure. I just wonder if we'll go six or seven months before Kim looks at me and says, "Umm...yeah. I need a weekend off. Can you go, you know, camping or something?" Although I kind of doubt that.

So what's going on? Well, some Turkomen workers are fixing Gina's air conditioning unit. This is the second day in a row these gents have been out here. Since they fixed my A/C yesterday, I'm pretty happy to see them here. I got billeting to give one of our linguists permanent housing, which is as it should be. Got a briefing ready, so I can brief some guards tonight. And I wrote up stuff about badging for my replacement, whoever that is. It's been a full day.

Kim, who still thinks I'm one great guy, sent me four pounds of ground coffee! THIS is why I married her!

July is coming up fast. One more month down, which means we're that much closer to home. I know I should have a more Zen outlook to this whole thing and really focus on enjoying the journey. Even do the whole, "see God in others and His daily manifestations" thing of The Rule. It's not always an easy choice to make. So, aside from just praying for my patience, please pray I might enjoy the journey more.

Enjoy!

2008-06-17T00:26:00.000-07:00

Dad, my apologies, Happy Father's Day!! I was laid low by some lower GI issues Sunday and into Monday, so I wasn't up for much.

After talking this morning with Kim, I think we're both at the point where we want this to be over, but we're not quite violent about it. Add to that, I think we're both to the point, where we accept that yes, it sucks being apart, and things will generally suck until I RIP/TOA and go home. Leave will be nice, but it's all about the longer term. We both stay busy enough to ignore the suckage, but have yet to truly embrace the suck.

Last week and this week and probably next, the Regiment is doing a physical check on all badges. This is good, as it gives me a solid baseline for the database. It's bad, because I have senior NCOs in my face asking, "hey sir, why isn't this whole thing perfectly updated all the time?" Hmm...good question. Let me think...maybe because it's a 20K item database, which is constantly growing, and in order to update it (read, "clean up from previous owners") I have to dedicate manpower that I don't own (or I can stop badging, which folks don't want). See, I can go in and terminate something, but that doesn't mean much if it's not done for real. Doing so has taken one of my soldiers probably about two weeks working several hours "overtime" on this (his initiative totally). So it's improving, but not at one hundred percent. Add to all of this, this job isn't "sexy". It's inside the wire. There is NO CHANCE of me receiving a CAB if I do this job. This means that most officers who are here and are combat arms won't want to do this. Me, I have no issues with it. I became very comfortable a long time ago with the fact that if I don't get a CAB, that's OK (it's all about vision and mentoring and being a professional, not about collecting hardware for my chest). The Army was very free with them up until the last 18 months or so and then started tightening down on the standards of winning one. Back to the original point: there is very little overt glamor in this job. It's all behind the scenes. The coolest part of this job is knowing that we are able to find, on the average, about two to four "juvenile delinquents" a week.

I do, however, have a mini fridge in the office now, so there might be a few folks who want this job. Having a fridge is sweet! Finally - cold water, cold diet cokes, I can store breakfast foods, steaks for the weekly cookouts, the mind boggles at the possibilities! All I need now is to get one for the CHU.

Enjoy!

Picture Time!!!

2008-06-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

Back again everybody!! OK, time for pictures. I've decided to try and give somewhat of an introduction to the area, and what we have here little by little.

Not really. These are random pictures and thoughts to go with them. They are, however, all related to what I do here.

OK, this first image is the Turkish flag. We are close to Turkey, so many Turks work here. And they put their flag on almost everything they own. There's one slight problem, which is, Mosul is really in Kurdistan (OK, it's on the border of it). Kurds and Turks don't like each other. If the Turks flew their flag as much in Mosul as they do here on the FOB, they'd be shot at. A lot. It's a lot like having two rival gangs living on the FOB.

This is me at the combat patch ceremony. Chief Smock is "patching" me. Velcro patches make this sort of thing possible. It was kind of cool, so I won't make fun of it. And the Chief is one of the best Officers I've met. Him "patching" me was really an honor.

This is inside the badging compound. The white door on the right, there in the shade beyond the red roof thing, that's my office door. Those concrete barriers beyond that are new. The Engineers put those in. Go Engineers! Folks are happy about the barriers, both for the blast protection they afford, and because they help add some privacy to the area. My people all live & work in this compound, so those were sorely needed.

This is the other side of the t-walls. Here is where I really need Kelly's help. I'm thinking of just a BIG "See Rock City" sign to paint on here. I really don't want to go with a military (or Turkish) motif, so what do you think?

This is Starbuck's coffee. I like Starbuck's coffee (I like Kempf's too Joe, but I cut my teeth on this stuff). One of the Starbuck's in Evansville sent us fifty pounds of this stuff. Fifty. Pounds. That, in and of itself, is incredibly cool. If this picture were larger, you'd notice three key words on the bags: Whole Bean Coffee. Not only did they send us coffee, I'm told they sent us a grinder too. OK, life is good. The grinder was (key word here) 110 voltage. EVERYTHING in this country is 220. So far so good? One of our soldiers plugged it into a wall socket and proceeded to burn it out (*cough* Berlin *cough* transformer *cough*). I've also been told it was this soldier's third appliance he's burned out. Third. One I can understand. Two, maybe he just didn't get it, but THREE? Anyhow, I found a place online and ordered one for 220. Life must go on.

I had originally wanted to use this as a lead in to discuss Starbuck's coffee as the Evil Empire and such, but I just don't feel like it. I mean, let's face it, Starbuck's did for coffee, in general, what Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company did for the craft brewing industry in the USA. Do I think that everything they sell is great? By no means. I prefer Intelligentsia espresso to anything available outside of Italy (Black Cat blend is the best, period), and Starbuck's espresso is plain old bland (personal opinion). Plus, I was mail ordering the stuff before anybody had ever heard of it, so I think I have some street cred on this one. Besides, Intelligentsia has better stickers.

So those are the pictures. I'm real nervous about taking pics inside the wire, as some of the stuff is legitimately not allowed to be photographed, let alone posted here. But, I will attempt to continue to capture appropriate images of Marez for you all.

Enjoy!

2008-06-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody! This is the post from the office, the intent being to update all of you on happenings here. I promised Kim I'd post pictures, which I will do either later tonight or tomorrow. There'll be something for almost everyone in that post - I plan on soliciting professional graphic design advice (Barton, stay tuned!).

The past week has been pretty decent. Temperatures are low for this time of year, so it's stuck under 105. Not complaining, just observing. I have had to take pains to make it a "drama free" week. Invariably, anytime a large group of people is stuck in one place with a limited amount of things to do, drama ensues. Mostly, it's been drama from outside the unit, which means I get to go to the office, shut my door and the problem is solved. See...I know how to do things like unplug the phone, or simply turn email off. Handy skills to have in today's world. Suffice to say, most drama is just that. It's all for show, there's nothing substantial about it at all, really. So, I listen, pretend to look interested and then walk away. I have established Badging as a Drama Free Zone. Which reminds me, I need to get the Sharpie out and write that on the wall. NB: My walls are white. I forget things. SO, in order to combat this particular issue, I have taken it upon myself to write myself reminders for important things. For example, next to the door, on the wall at eye level, I have written, "Remember your CAC." Otherwise, I forget it in the computer, walk half a mile to chow and remember I left the stupid thing in the office. People come into the office, see my signs and giggle. I must admit, it is an attempt at humor, to some degree. The intent is also to break away from the military monotony of this existence. I mean, let's face it. Very few people in the Army actually write things on their office walls. That's outside the norm.

In his blog two years ago, Paul had made mention, more than once, of the friction between Active and Reserve Component soldiers. Thankfully, I have not had much of that at all. Mostly, I think, because I control a commodity everyone needs, which means I can stay above that nonsense. Plus, I tend to ignore it. After all, if folks really piss us off, we have "technical difficulties" with the badging equipment, or maybe the application is "lost" down at enrollment, or any number of other pitfalls. Yes, it's childish, but it works: message sent, message received, attitude goes away. Yesterday, I was explaining the rules to an infantry lieutenant. He was a nice kid. Operative words here are "nice" and "kid". I was already in a bad mood, as my staff (an E4, E5 and E7) had explained all of the details once to him, and he wouldn't listen to them. That irks me. Fine, so I talk to him. He kept dropping terms like "active duty" and "combat arms". Finally, I had my fill of it. I told him, "LT, I have more active duty combat arms time as a Major than you have in the Army, so let's get past that." It's true too. He kept arguing too, which is what I didn't understand. I finally turned it into a one way discussion: here are the rules, they're MNF-I policy, that's how it will be. I felt bad for jumping his ass about it, but polite discussion failed. On the positive side, I never lost my temper, never shouted, never raised my voice. So, it was good all in all. And he said "hello" to me today and was happy about it, so problem solved.

Such has been the highlights of my week. Lifting and running have progressed well, as my knees aren't in pain during squats any longer and I'm just at an average 10 minute pace on the treadmill. Slowly but surely, I'm speeding that pace up.

When I saw it, thought several of you would appreciate this one.

And what would a post of mine be without media references to the war? Have some public story on AQI, which I found interesting.

Finally, ILE update. I am very close to being done with the coursework for phase two. That will leave two essays to write, which should be fairly straightforward, then it's on to the third and final phase!

Enjoy!

BDA

2008-06-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Alright, last night was Al Del Mar and Dane Cook and some other guy. They were outstanding. Not just Dane Cook, although he was absolutely fantastic!! They were all good. Last set of comedians we had were lame. Not partially, but all the way. These guys packed the house and then some! Dane Cook was just...wow! It was a great show.

So yeah, the show rocked.

The group I sat with is a loose collection of folks who all live in the cans around mine. We hang out and chat in the evenings, maybe go work out (randomly), sometimes play cards, drink near beer, etc. It passes the time and we enjoy it. I don't do it nightly, but often enough to not be a stranger. All of us work with my unit somehow. We got to talking tonight about how much the 3ACR folks hate the National Guard. It all kind of started when one of our NCOs walked a female soldier back to her can (a friend of hers is attached to our unit and so she comes over to hang with us, as we're infinitely more fun than the cav). Anyhow, her 1SG noticed she got walked back by someone from outside his pack and came unglued. No "thank you for walking my female soldier back and keeping her safe". Anyhow, we got to talking about the bias. In my meditations, it struck me as a manifestation of the need to prove something. Like we or they have to strut and talk badly about the other just to show we have our "street cred". This is kind of anathema to the kind of person I think I am. Most people I deal with on a daily basis here, regardless of unit or component, tend to heed what I tell them. First, I have the advantage of being a Major, and that cannot be ignored. Second, I know I'm smarter than the average bear, and provided I stay in my lane, I sound like I know what I'm talking about. Third, I refuse to kiss ass. Lastly, I'm not here to prove anything. Really, I'm not. The Old Man put it best: be professional, be polite, be prepared to kill. I show up, I'm professional, I'm polite, I stick to the rules and ensure that folks don't walk into the Badging Cell and start doing their own thing. The other advantage I have is I can usually refuse to badge people if folks get too ungodly stupid (it's the ace in the hole). Usually, folks walk out of our offices with a solution and thanking us after walking in with a problem. To me, that speaks volumes. And the Regimental Commander's interpreter went through the exact same badging process that everyone else did. It's rather a great equalizer.

More to the point, I didn't go into this deployment with any sort of great or grand need to come back with a combat action badge. As the Army has grown very tight on the qualification requirements for this award, this requires me INTENTIONALLY placing myself in harm's way, which smacks vaguely of Catch 22. Honestly, I have no intention of leaving the wire without some operational need to do so. My job is not to go out, leave my post, and tool around just so I can brag about...something. My job here is to run the Screening and Badging Cell. And to enable and empower staff coordination. It's a small world, but it's MY small world. We keep dangerous people off the FOB, which seems like a pretty big deal to me. It's not sexy, it's not super dangerous, I don't get to smell the wolf or shoot people up. And I sign my name more on any given day than I ever did getting into the Army. It is, quite literally, the poster child for an almost invisible job. But if nobody did it, things would be pretty messed up. Strangely enough, I kind of like it.

Coming full circle, I have absolutely nothing to prove. Nothing at all. I'm not ashamed of what I do, nor do I think it's unimportant. I have no need to be acknowledged by someone I don't even know as some sort of hero person single handedly conquering the Islamic hordes.

A glass of wine would be nice, though.

It's all about humility, which is, in it's essence, truth. You know what the truth is? The truth is that nobody on this FOB is any better than the other. Nobody has a corner on the market for being God's Gift To The Army. Most folks are here to do their job, do it well and go home in one piece.

For what it's worth.

Enjoy!

Post then bed...but wait, first I need to...

2008-06-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

Looking at my track record, I was so proud to figure out how to beat the NIPR firewalls and post from the office, but still average a post a week. I should be ashamed of myself. And I am. I feel pretty bad about it. You're not buying that, are you?

Didn't think so.

So, I spent an hour on the phone with Kim as she's driving north to visit my parents. That is one tough lady. She won't claim that, but she is. She has this cold and is still making the 8 hour trek northwards. She also has the bone marrow transplant, the voluntary career change and a couple college degrees under her belt. AND she puts up with me. That's tough. That's double tough.

A quick update and then I must get some sleep. Tomorrow is a run day, and I honestly want to run. The experiment I'm kind of doing here is to find out if I can adequately prepare for (at least) the APFT's 2 mile run just on a treadmill. Last APFT I ran was last month, here, with nothing but treadmill runs and hit 16:33. Now, for a 39 year old, that's not bad. Cool thing would be to break 16 minutes, which I think is attainable. I know it's boring. But hey, they're "good enough" for world class marathoners, so they might be good enough for me. Add to that, I don't want to spend hours running outside. Outside around here is not nice - it's hot, dusty, dry and seriously lacks non-gravel covered surfaces. I would say people shoot at us, but when I run, the habibs tend not to fire rockets - too early in the morning (going back to a basic tenet of mine: the "insurgents" are human, all humans have patterns, it follows then that the insurgents operate in patterns).

Today I spent in meetings, which means I walked a lot. Don't mind walking, as it keeps me from sitting on my butt all day. It also means I deal with all the aforementioned annoyances. It is what it is. The meetings were productive. I should be able to add something to my continuation binder as a result and make life that much easier for my successor. It's all about coming to a consensus and documenting it.

I was asked what I'd do if I were king for a day. One thing is replace the Regimental CSM with someone who isn't bipolar. Honestly, it feels as if we spend too much time cleaning up after he kicks this or that vendor/random local national off the FOB. I can say nothing nice about the man, so I won't say anything. The other thing I'd do is give us joes here a means to have an adult beverage once in a while. Ration card it, something. A glass of wine every so often would be nice, and would give this place that much more of a civilized air.

I'm just about halfway done with phase two of three for ILE, which is CGSC with a twist (read COIN and COE and Joint Forces stuff). Plan is to blast through phase two this month. That'll set me up well to be done with this whole ILE nonsense by the end of August. As someone who is a professional educator, I like their distance learning approach, but their assessments are amateurish at best. It is painfully obvious to me these assessments were designed by people who have NO background in education, let alone tests and measurements. I mean they're awful. CLOZE exercises and simple fact regurgitation to assess understanding of some truly complex theories. I'm just really disappointed. Not too badly disappointed, of course, as this makes it easier for me to get ILE done with. Since I need to graduate from ILE to be elligible for LTC, it's all good. Disappointing, but good.

Not much new going on here. Dane Cook is supposed to perform here tomorrow, so I'm definitely going to that (shoes? F*** shoes!). That'll be cool. Oh, it's June, which means May is over. Which means we're halfway done with the deployment overall. and I'm that much closer to leave.

Again, not much new happening. Thank you again for the prayers! Keep 'em coming. And call Kim. :)

Enjoy!

2008-05-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

After watching Sin City last night (intense film...VERY intense), I checked emails and shot a longish one off to Paul. In it, I mentioned this deployment helping me to gain some perspective.

Part of that perspective is really how important family is. Immediate family is something I think we tend to take for granted, I know I have been. Kim & I both would get home and spend a lot of time unwinding. Really, that's not all bad, but spending too much time doing that is, I think. We both have discussed our need to unwind and our need to spend time together. I think the statement we've shared is, "why do we spend so much time unwinding alone". The other perspective is day to day issues. One of our officers put it best, when talking about one of the organizations on post. They go to the ops synch meeting and weekly run down a list of stuff they've done in the city, which rivals (if not exceeds) what the rest of us are doing. The officer made the remark, "these dudes know they don't have to prove anything to anybody." That struck a chord with me. Why do I need to prove anything to others? Regardless of what I do over here, provided I'm improving it, leaving it better than when I found it, doing the right thing, I have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone else.

St Benedict talks about humility in his Rule. Humility, one author states, is the acknowledging truth. The truth is, none of us here are better or worse than the others. Truth is a powerful thing. Humility is accepting truth, living it. Oddly enough, regardless of what vibe I pick up from the Army culture or the culture of the Officer Corps, I am happier, more effective and get farther with people with humility than with the facade we're taught to show as Officers. Funny how that works.

Perspective. A lot of things aren't worth being angry about. I complain about the SpecFor folks, but really, they don't rate it. People being ignorant don't rate me being angry. It's all about perspective.

Enjoy!

Lost It Today

2008-05-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, apologies to all for not updating sooner. It's not for lack of anything to post, just being basically lazy. A little bird told me I ought to post, indeed that a post was...ehm...awaited. So, here it is. It's bound to be long. I'll labor valiantly to not whine too much.

So about the title. I've been doing well controlling my temper, taking life one day at a time, generally having a "mind like water" and all that sort of thing. I've actually been happy. But small things have been building up recently and I lost it today. Not a ranting and shouting lost it, but I did get pretty angry. Wasn't really over something small, but I think in the long run it could be considered small. As with all things, I took the situation (which I shall not enumerate here) as a minor blow to my pride and reacted poorly. Kind of childishly. At least, that's how I reacted in my own mind. I think the email I sent was not too harsh, but still I could have done some fact finding before losing my cool. A little part of it is a general tiredness. I'm a tad tired of the Special Forces folks. They're special...see? So when they come to my office, they really need a "special" deal. I'm about ready to call the arrangements "SpecFor 1," "SpecFor 2," and "SpecFor 3", just to show folks it's really not all that special. Thing of it is, I see these guys coming a mile away. Who else looks like a freaking NFL linebacker and packs a Glock? Who else argues that they need to have ammo in their (largely unused in the DFAC) pistols while they're in the DFAC? Who else (besides privates who just plain forget) just won't wear unit patches while in their uniform (but rank and nametapes are just fine)? See what I mean? To a certain extent, it's not really "special", but "standard". They all meet it. Sometimes I just want to say, "Yes, you're special. Now get back on your short bus and go home." Honestly, that's unfair, as most of these guys are good people and great Americans. Some of the stuff they do just makes no sense to me, which just makes them part of the Army, I suppose. One of the contractors who works closely with me spend over thirty years in the special forces community. He's not here right now, which means I don't have access to his wisdom and wit, which I could really have used today.

So, if you're following the news (which I do not), then you'll know the Iraqis have a major offensive going on in Mosul right now. I know this, as I basically read about it in the orders and summaries I read daily. They have made the statement that AQI is on the ropes and failing. Or they might just have gone to ground to ride it out. Either way, we don't get shelled as much (and when we do, it's always about a mile and a half east of here), which is fine with me. Also remember a lot of the news from Iraq is about Baghdad. That's a long way south of here. It's practically a different country. Many folks 'round these parts claim it is. The point is, it's still a war, the terrorists are still out there and the ISF is actually doing better than I thought it would.

I still don't want them on my FOB.

This last month, folks have really come through big time!! Belle sent some cigars and snacks and DVDs, thank you again! Kim sent a TON of DVDs and books and a card that ended up in a ziploc baggie. I know I married her for a reason! Kim is just awesome. I'm still amazed that she is doing the whole new career thing. Really, that just blows me away every time I think about it. Thank you all again for the prayers and support. Please pray for my temper and attitude. I don't like walking about with a chip on my shoulder.

While I oughtn't provide political commentary, I can't help it. Side note: the BEST part of not having a TV here is not having to stomach the political race BS going on back home right now. Making big deals of little things seems to be the play of the month, even I'm doing it. So, thank you goes out to Chris Muir at Day By Day for this one. Dad will like it. Dems won't. You've been warned.

More links for you all. How about an independent check on the war here in Iraq? You know, kind of like an Iraqi Mythbusters (NB: this lends itself to all sorts of great spinoffs). Here it is. All good stuff and worth a look.

Last link, but not without commentary. As someone who has had the honor and privilege to commission Officers into the US Army, this one hit home for me. I always knew USI supported us above and beyond the call of duty, and here's one more thing I can point at as proof.

OK, last item. So I was doing squats last week and my right knee started to hurt really, really badly. So I figured it was the knee and tried it again. Nope, still hurt. Hmm. Started some research and figured out it might be my technique. So, based on some information, I changed technique and dropped some weight - it being easier to concentrate on technique with 45 pounds on the bar instead of 120. It was all good. I'll keep working it slowly to make sure.

That's all for now. I could write a diatribe about the girly men MPs who take freakishly long showers, but I should not have to do so. Simply saying, "MP" is enough. Heheheheee.

Today is Memorial Day, so, in the spirit of Henry the Fifth, I should point to my scars and say, "these wounds I had on St Crispian's." Lest we forget.

Enjoy!

Take a stand, please!!

2008-05-12T11:18:00.002-07:00

Originally, after having dealt with a slightly awkward situation, this post was going to be a rant about the Army. I know, say it isn’t so. So here it is, Bottom Line Up Front: We lack leaders who are willing to stand up and be adults about things. In my mind, adults take responsibility for things, they “own” things. So here’s what happened. This guy brings some people in to be badged. In the process of doing so, mentions that other individuals in the group really want to be badged a “higher” color than they get. So I did the whole, “hey, understand you have a tough situation having to deal with these guys” thing. Honestly though, it boils down to one thing: being an adult. At some point, somebody, probably me, will need to look these individuals square in the eye and say something like, “Gents, I understand you want this particular color of badge. That’s not policy in this theater of operations. You can rant and posture and throw tantrums, but doing so won’t change your badge color. Simply put, that’s how the situation is. Nobody here can change that for you.” To be honest, I was really nice and understanding about it. I wouldn’t like having to deal with the whining about badge color either. So there it is. I seek to help shape leaders to stand up and be adults. To take responsibility for their actions. It’s an “old school” approach to leadership, I realize that, but we can no longer afford to have leaders who won’t do so.

Tomorrow I hit the weight stacks again!! Strangely enough, I’ve missed it as I’ve tried to allow the rib to heal (I tripped over a jersey barrier at night the first week I got here, then lifted through like two weeks of constant pain, wondering what the deal was). So back at it, now that the PT test is over.

I checked out the comments, followed one of the links and was inspired to get literary. So, here’s some Shakespeare, in a vain attempt at bringing the literary value of the blog up some:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Oddly enough, I got this from a Steve Martin movie years ago...the whole thing was a ton of vignettes from Shakespeare.

We would not die in that man's company That fears his fellowship to die with us.

Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!

First and foremost: Mom, happy Mother's Day! I am well (gained 3 pounds since December) and am (reasonably) healthy. I'll call tonight, hopefully late enough that I don't wake you folks up. Or I call tomorrow morning.

About three weeks ago, thanks to the incessant dust around here, I decided to have the head shaved, the grape scraped, the melon polished. You understand. After some research, I even dumped some money into an electric shaver, just for my melon. First, since Paul has no hair, I knew I'd look alright without any. Second, I grow tired (and have some cultural aversions here) of paying for a haircut with a very awkward head/neck massage. Don't get me wrong, love massages, really, really, really am uncomfortable with MEN massaging me. Needless to say, I'm spoiled, what can I say? So, at $5 a pop (including tip), I figure the shaver will, literally, pay for itself well before the end of this deployment. I took a self portrait last night so here it is, for your enjoyment. I even smiled.

Today we get our combat patch (Shoulder Sleeve Insignia - Former Wartime Service in the parlance of the military). I promised Kim I'd try to have someone capture a couple of pics for me. We'll see how that goes.

Sarah, 1SG B is a great guy! Jake just needs to find his rhythm (?), that's all. He'll build, he'll get there. Blue was great to work with in ROTC, can't imagine Jake having many better folks to be around than Blue and his team.

I promise I will attempt to get more pics taken and posted. The challenge with that is to discern what I'm allowed to click and not, etc.

Enjoy!

On the other foot

2008-05-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, when I was in the US and my brother was in Mosul (NB: ironic, isn’t it), I would read his blog and think, “Why in the world doesn’t this guy update more often?? Doesn’t he realize we want to know what’s going on??” Strangely enough, I find myself thinking, “Why in the world don’t I update more often?? Don’t I realize that people want to know what’s going on??” Two excellent questions, which I hope to answer satisfactorily, if not succinctly. First, the flow of my day can tend to prevent more frequent updates. I shall elaborate. I crawl out of bed around 0515, start coffee, get on Yahoo (cheaper than Skype) and talk to my wife. She, for whom I have forsaken all others, gets that exclusively (to quote Westley the Farm Boy, once I start making exceptions and calling other people in the morning, word gets out then it’s work, work, work all day long). Around 0600, I go hit the gym. Usually. Then, clean up, eat and head to the 0800 update briefing. This is every day. Sunday through Saturday. Every. Day. I can’t even borrow the gag from When Harry Met Sally and change what I wear. After the update, I might have other things to do around the ops center (“BDOC”) or not. Once I get done at the BDOC, I walk to badging. There I spend the morning, do lunch sometime middle of the day, then dinner around 1800. All that time in between might be spent doing personal stuff (ie, sneaking off to the PX), badging issues (ie, explaining to yet another Iraqi Army officer why his kingly rank of captain doesn’t qualify him for the same badge I give general officers), addressing staff issues (ie, listen to US Army folks voice concerns I may or may not be able to fix), going to meetings (ie, sticking pencils in my eye) or working on badging projects. Once I get done with dinner, say, 1900, I’m anywhere between medium rare and well done, depending on what the day held for me. Usually, if I’m anywhere more cooked than medium, it’s movie and/or computer gaming. Sometimes I’ll start a post in the office, save it to Google docs (don’t tell the Army their firewalls don’t catch blogs or documents sent through Google…it’ll ruin the access I have to Small Wars Journal, oddly enough) and post it the next morning. Oh, there’s another reason. EVERYBODY is online in the evenings, which means very limited bandwidth. So I’ll likely post in the morning while I talk to my bride.

Folks ask Kim, who relays to me, that folks wonder what goes on here. Those who go outside the wire spend a lot of time preparing to do so, and well they should. Folks like me spend as much time as possible keeping the inside the wire safe for them. That’s what I do, I help keep the wire safe by making sure the wrong people don’t have access inside. Outside the wire, well, some folks patrol, some will do civil affairs stuff (build schools, hand out humanitarian supplies, things of that nature), just depends. Sometimes the enemy will get energetic and actually launch rockets or mortars, but usually they’re quiet. When they’re not, it’s typically VBIEDs in town, which is off the base. Personally, my spidey sense is tingling about some of that, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Not yet.

So last week, I had this thing which reminded me of another thing. Another guy and I were setting up a biometrics system at a gate (I think I mentioned this in a previous post). We discuss this with the sergeant in charge of the area, he decides and we set it up. One of his troops was kind of upset and says, “But sir, once the hajis get here, they’re inside the wire, what if they make a break and run into the FOB?” I just looked at him like he spoke Chinese. I just didn’t get it and walked off. Now I know why - ROE, or Rules Of Engagement. See, in my book, someone running onto the FOB in an uncontrolled manner constitutes a hostile act, which means I can shoot him. Each of the guards has a rifle with a close combat optic on it, there is absolutely no way they could miss. What if, indeed! So here’s my rant that this inspired - we have become so concerned about the ROE that we have, in my opinion, trained our soldiers to not consider deadly force. That my friends, is a problem. Now, I don’t think we need to be rampant killers, the environment doesn’t call for that. What it does, however, call for, is for us to be prepared to kill when needed. Like when some crazy haji tries to run through the gate without stopping. In our mobilization training, we received plenty of ROE training, at least plenty of briefings. We also received some decent training on establishing PID, or Positive Identification. Can’t shoot unless we have PID. For all that, we need more hands on training with deadly force engagements. More controlled environments and exercises that force soldiers to engage targets, even with blanks, in order to force them to come to that conclusion and KNOW that when they do pull that trigger, it’s a righteous shoot. Troops must have absolutely no doubt about when they must engage with deadly force and why, and all of that MUST be trained into us until the correct choice and subsequent engagement is a reflex action. When we were at Airborne School, they taught us the five points of contact. It was constantly drilled into us, so when we stepped out of the aircraft at 1850 feet, we knew that we knew how, when and why to hit so we walked (ran…) away from the landing. I have no doubt the instructors spent far more energy on drilling that stuff into us than we did at learning it. The point here is simple - we as an institution MUST spend more time and effort drilling this into soldiers, not in briefings, but in every single exercise we do from the time we hit the mobilization station. None of us should have left that place if we had any doubts about using deadly force. The last doubt a Soldier should ever have is when he or she is allowed to engage the enemy. Ever.

Let me make one thing clear, before the pundits start - I believe in ROE. I think, no I know, they are necessary. Note I’m not commenting on the rules themselves, and I won’t. We are professionals. ROE and adherence to them is one of the many qualities, which set us apart from thugs with guns (among other things - Harrington has a book about why the military is considered as much a group of professionals as doctors and lawyers…which we are).

*ahem* So much for the soapbox. Hey, thanks go out to a ton of you!! Mom & Dad, thanks TONS for the box!! Dave, Cinda & Shanna, thanks TONS!! I’m starting to hand out cleaning products to folks, who give me odd looks, realize what I gave them and then they thank me a day later. It’s kind of funny. Mom & Dad, I will have to give you a email or call or something soon. Have a special request to talk to you about this week. Dave & Cinda, the New Yorkers are awesome, thank you!! Strangely enough, I can’t get that periodical here anywhere. Go figure.

Yes Sarah, it does sound like you that Jake has to take the oldest to Kindergarten round-up…good to know you guys are all still doing well. How’s Jake doing on mission? Blue taking care of him?

Enjoy!

A good, good day

2008-04-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

Today has been a good day. Today is a good day. Right now, today, is one of those moments I have had to stop and savor, for the sake of preserving it. Life is good today. It's 2011, I'm still in the office (odd) and it's a good day.

Just wanted to share that.

Lots of things happened today - a random morning explosion or two (off FOB, way off FOB actually), which was different. I had to track down a lieutenant for a signature today and 'splained him what the toughbook laptop I issued him does, in conjunction with the iris & fingerprint scanners. It's cool, and I mean really effin' cool. Not "oh, McDonald's came out with a new flavor of ice cream" cool, I'm talking track the enemy and make a difference in the war cool. We do some pretty cool shit, and capturing biometrics is one of them. Amazing stuff, really.

OK, so got some stuff in the mail this week. Dave, Cinda and Shanna - thank you TONS for the box!!! I am set on dusting wipes and swiffer dusters for a couple of months! Not to mention coffee! You guys rock...not just a little, but both hands rock ("too much rock for just one hand")!! Got a new keyboard in, as I'm tired of having to clean the damn thing out. This is it. Takes a little getting used to, but for $20, I'm happy. Got to watch out. I'm sitting here in the office half singing along to a Dave live CD set, one of the best I've heard in a LONG time. Course, it was recorded in August 2000...has a live version of Minarets that is excellent! This is too good to not mention (Kim will understand this once she sees the set list): 41, Grace is Gone, Watchtower, Minarets, Lie in our Graves, Bartender, Rapunzel. Just to mention a few. Full set list is here. For anyone looking for an excellent live CD set of DMB, get this one. Naturally, I'll be burning copies to send to Kim soon, now that I've let the proverbial cat out of the bag.

So, this week we've begun to see temperatures over 100. Oddly enough, it's not bad. Hot, but not bad. More to come, I know. I’ve found once I walk to the compound from the TOC a few times, I know what to expect and it’s tolerable. At night it cools off enough to be enjoyable. Naturally, if we’re indoors, we all have A/C, which also makes it very tolerable.

The 'beebs were busy this week - had some VBEDs this week at unexpected times. Mostly in the city. So far, they're trying to hit the more forward deployed forces. Personally I'd like to think that means the forward folks are doing good things and being effective. Time will tell, naturally.

Got a laugh out of Sunday funnies. Tell me what you all think of this one.

Kim's been asking me to figure out how to post pictures here. I'll figure that out in May. Basically, I'm trying to buy time so I can get some good pics to send. I might even try to slip one of me in there. We'll see. For now, I'll take what I can and then sort out what I can post.

Wind is pretty heavy tonight. As we have a camouflage net suspended between our cans, using, among other things, 2x4s, it means the damn lumber will rattle, squeak and rub against the can. Now, if this were a mobile home, I’d worry about a tornado. This is not that luxurious. It’s a connex that’s been outfitted with (meager) insulation, linoleum flooring, wallboard and a HVAC unit. Oh, I have a couple of windows. And a door. I like my door. Anyhow, I’ll probably have to break out the earplugs tonight.

So, besides adding some cleaning supplies to the “send ahead of me next time” list, I’ll have to add 110 to 220 and 110 to Asian plug adapters. Not a transformer, oh no. All of my stuff, without my trying to buy it this way, switches. This is cool too. The laptop switches voltage, the cell charger switches, the MP3 player charger switches, the camera charger switches. How cool is that??? I was amazed when I started to look. Anyway, the token 110 to 220 plug adapter I keep in the toilet kit is overused, so I splurged at the PX and bought a couple more. How's that for perspective? Most folks want to hear about the explosions, while I'm more interested in plug adapters.

That's it for tonight. I need to get to the can and rinse the dust off.

Enjoy!

Story Time!

2008-04-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

You know what? It's finally happened. My intent with the blog had been to share what life is like here on the FOB (seeing as how I'm a FOBbit and all) and generally keep folks up to date on what's going on. But it's happened. I'm crossing the line into using this to disseminate, to some degree, what happens to me day to day. First, some information. I am in charge of badging. What that means is, all of the non military types who work here MUST come to my folks to get a badge. In the process of obtaining said badge, I must eventually approve it and sign off on it, literally. That's a goodly amount of responsibility, which I don't take lightly. People may or may not be assigned privileges (PX access, eating at the chow hall, etc) based on their contract. So far so good. So one of the reps gets into a pissing contest with one of my soldiers. An aside - I don't take this lightly. Normally I try not to throw the oak leaf around, but when a civilian starts to mix it up with one of my soldiers, move over. Anyhow, this guy's being a jerk and doing so in email no less (most unwise). So, my specialist sends me the email chain. I read it. I respond. Hey, I have no issue giving full access to folks to whom it's entitled, but I must have a contract, period. No contract, no privileges. Finally he comes back with the basic statement, "oh, I suppose you guys need the contract that shows this support relationship." You think??? Maybe?

It keeps life interesting.

I especially like the Iraqi Army folks. We have some pretty hard and fast guidelines on badging these folks. It's written that way. So this dude comes in for a badge renewal and I change his badge color. Another aside - most of these folks associate badge colors with a certain level of respect or influence. It's like, the "better" the color, then the more important they must be. Honestly, it's all about the regulation and the contract. Anyhow, this guy is PISSED. Not just garden variety, either. Walks off after stating, "I talk to general about this." You do that. Comes a call from the general's office this morning (fast service). Boss & I go up there. Seems they have checked with the folks in Baghdad (NB, this would be the folks I talk to daily) and they refuse to give this cat his original badge color back. I recall mentioning that yesterday, oddly enough. So we had that minor drama to contend with, which helped to break the GHDE (GroundHog Day Effect).

Sometimes I swear I'm back in my high school classroom listening to arguments about the length of prom dress hemlines.

One person demanded - demanded (this was a civilian, mind you, which implies that I am armed and he is not) - that I give him a brown badge. Went on and on about how waiting 45 minutes while he's searched going from one FOB to the other is such a burden to him. It was embarrassing. And it hit me just as I returned from a meeting or lunch or some other event that had absolutely nothing to do with his 45 minute wait.

We all get upset, this I know. Throughout this deployment I have begun to learn how to both choose to not grow angry all the time and to understand that a distinct difference exists between those things I can, ought and should change and those things, over which I truly have no control. Some complaining about the latter is to be expected. Going on a rant about it is something I have had to work at avoiding. Human nature is to pick out the traits in others which bother us the most in ourselves, and I am no exception. I know I don't like it when I go off about silly stuff, and really don't like it when others do the same.

Enjoy!

ACUs and Working out

2008-04-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Second post this week, I must be on a roll. Actually, I woke up late (0530), still called Kim...this is a good story...and decided to use some time to post. OK, calling. So I get internet hooked up despite habib's best efforts at poor customer service (you'd think that in dealing with a customer base that's ARMED with LIVE AMMO, they'd be more circumspect...apparently not), get yahoo phone paid (Skype didn't want to take my money), and FINALLY get a headset (yet another item to add to The List), I call my wife. Now, being that we're all sharing some form of satellite internet here, we have limited bandwidth. Oddly enough, some of the joes still think it's OK to hog it with online gaming. So, thanks to the g@m3rz, I can't call at night. Or post. Or access the internet. No worries, I can get up at 5 and call my wife. Honestly, it's a better time anyhow. And I need to get up and work out. On a good day now, I get up at 5, hit coffee, call Kim, then go hit the gym. It works for me.

Speaking of working out, instead of a treadmill, I decided to get on an elliptical trainer. It was really a matter of convenience - the BDOC "minigym" is closer to the can than the "big gym" and that's what we have in there (besides a ton of weights, which is very nice). It. Kicked. My. Butt. I can go a decent half hour on a treadmill. The elliptical was a challenge. Different muscles, different cadence, just different. Good, but tough. I know a guy who has to train on an elliptical, as his knees won't take running. I was skeptical at first, but am sold. Definitely won't do it each time, but it's a good, viable option, especially since I don't plan on doing marathon training here.

Great thing here - the Quartermaster has a sew shop. It's great! I take a set of ACUs in, tell them which velcro is worn out, show them the ripped crotches (the new ACUs were poorly made) and they fix all that. For FREE. FREE. Pretty cool. My next project involves adding MOLLE straps to the issue assault pack, so I can attach a better set of pouches to it. We'll see if these guys are up to it. Oh yeah, Dad, get this - a whole shop of men sewing. And the Army trained them to do it. Figured you'd like that one...

ACUs, the mighty ACUs. For me, this uniform is a collection of dichotomies. First, when we had the BDU, we had a ton of buttons. Folks then would sometimes remove buttons and replace them with velcro. No lie. Personally, I took two buttons off of each set of trousers - the forward cargo pocket button. Usually I would have stuff hanging down against my legs in the field and would end up with bruises thanks to stuff rubbing against the buttons. Then, the Army comes out with the ACU, and folks want buttons back. Apparently we can't make up our minds. Now, I realize the camo pattern doesn't really blend with ANY environment we operate in, but that's OK. I like not having to maintain, literally, two sets of uniforms, field gear, helmet covers, hats, etc. One set is good. I do wish the Army would figure out that we need a goretex parka with a zip in fleece liner. I know we can get all that commercially, but as an issue item, it would be nice. True, it makes sense, but the field gear I've seen recently has been leaning greatly towards common sense items. Right now, I prefer the ACUs, velcro notwithstanding. Not having to iron, starch, and sew on patch sets is a HUGE boon. And having boots that we don't have to spend time polishing, also most excellent. Keep in mind, I can do both of those things with the best of them, and folks who've known me can attest to that. Problem is, it all takes time and it all ends up with the soldier serving the uniform instead of the other way 'round. Can't have that.

So, we've had dust storms (which are most unpleasant) the last two days. As a result, enemy activity is way down. I hate to quote Paul here, but the enemy is a fair weather fighter. Fight when the weather's bad, and they have their heads down due to blowing dust and sand? Nope, can't do that, it's too uncomfortable. Oh, they're dangerous, make no mistake. But they are neither soldiers nor professionals.

Enjoy!

Buzzed on Mass or Full of the "holy spirits"

2008-04-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

So, everything was set and I was going to Mass this morning. Then, after planning on a laundry drop off, a meeting and a small project to complete, I figured to skip it. Two other guys I know both asked me to go to Mass with them and so I went. And wouldn't you know it, Father asks me to be the Eucharistic Minister. Keep in mind, I had the audacity to be the last man in, not the only person in the church. No biggie, I'll serve (must be something about me). So, we get to the Eucharist, and Father pours the entire pitcher of wine into the chalice, figure NINE OUNCES or so. It was full. So I serve. The holy blood. After everyone had been through, there are, oh, a good seven ounces of wine in the chalice. Did I mention it had been very full? Took me three guzzles to get it down...almost tripped on the way to my seat. Yeah, I know. It's holy blood under the appearance of wine, I get it. Still and all, it was the most of anything under the appearance of wine I'd had in a month or two. Needless to say, this morning was a happy morning. I almost asked Father if I could take it back to the can and enjoy it with some MRE cheese and crackers.

We've begun to focus down on what we're supposed to be doing, I think. I know I changed my scope in terms of synchronizing the staff. Bottom line, it's all about following up and being able to do so. A staff huddle does us no good if nobody captures the issues and follows up on them. Essentially I've begun to settle into something of a routine enough to stop and look up, right and left and realize where we're going, what I need to do to help us get there.

What else this week....hmm... Random happenings, pretty much. Folks keep coming by our cell to ask us if we can renew their identification cards, which we cannot. We can help them with a post badge, but it's not the same thing. It's funny. Some folks take "we can't do that" as the equivalent of "we can do that, but we're just not going to do it for you." In fact, I might start to answer that way. I especially like the "but I need " kind of folks. This one person called, talked to my tech and said, "well, if we can't get the Iraq wide access [also totally out of my control], then just down grade the badge to this other color." I had to stop and scratch my head on that one. So I looked at the tech and said, "Cool. I'll withdraw the request, downgrade her and we're done" (which is now my standard answer). It's sad, really. I didn't know that what we did was the same thing as a McDonald's drive through.

I know I promised to post more often. Currently, if the internet in the can is down, I don't post. Speaking of which, it was down the first half of this week, and it's been up, finally, for the last three. So I'm happy, relatively speaking. Once my headset arrives I'll get to call Kim from the can instead of waiting for a line somewhere else. It's the little things that count.

The next challenges: get a dorm fridge, a normal chair (instead of this small plastic foldy one), and an air purifier (cut down on the dust in here).

Enjoy!

April's Here!

2008-04-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

This approach to posting is new for me, so please be patient. Much has happened since my last post, and I need to be sure to cover it all. But first, why the approach is new for me. The Army, in its infinite wisdom, does not allow us to reach blogs via their network. So, in the interests of "fair play", I am writing this post on Google Documents, then will post to my blog from the CHU (aka "my can", where I sleep and have personal space) and cut and paste appropriately. This is assuming, of course, that whomever is playing Warcrack in the CHU isn't on and thus not hogging bandwidth. See, all I really need the net in the can is to talk to Kim (Yahoo Messenger will do VOIP calls now, as will Skype, couldn't get Skype to take my credit card...their loss) and post to the blog. Anything else, I do offline or here in the office. Plus this makes it look like I'm working and that's all good.

So, I'm finally here in Mosul. Life is pretty good, internet only took like three days to get hooked up, and I'm beginning to learn the tricks and tactics of FOB living, it's all good. Most folks ask Kim what life here is like, so here's my attempt at explaining. Ever see the movie Groundhog Day? I didn't either. But, I'm told that Bill Murray's character wakes up every day and relives the same day over and over again. That's life on the FOB for us. The stuff that makes it different is the folks with whom I interact. Otherwise, the weather is fair - mid 80s for a high and 50s at night, some dust storms now and then, chow is good (otherwise unremarkable, but it is good), and most folks understand we're running a marathon here. Nothing requires us to be in a hurry unless lives are in danger, otherwise we keep a steady pace. Not slow, just steady.

Another question folks have been hitting me with is, "what can we send you?" Short answer is my wife and a couple cases of Cabernet Sauvignon. Unfortunately, neither of those items are authorized in theater according to GO #1B. Before I hit y'all with the list, please remember this is MY version of this. Also keep in mind, we do have a PX, and I've been to it maybe once in the last two weeks. I'm that busy. For the address, contact my wife.

Swiffer pads. These are, in a word, a godsend. Send boxes of these.
Swiffer duster. Again, a godsend.
Swiffer wetjet. Tough to get, as everybody wants 'em (cue Van Halen music).
Pledge wipes. The lemon scented ones. See a pattern here? The dust is awful.
Wet wipes or personal wipes are OK. Not jump up and down great, as I can get them almost anywhere.
Hand sanitizer. Big bottles, not the gallon sized. Iraq is a dirty place, and this stuff is used constantly.
Magazines. Better than books, as they change monthly. Remember, breaking the Groundhog Day effect is good.
Starbuck's coffee or Kempf's coffee. Either works. This falls into the "tastes of home" category.
Toiletries. Send them if you want to do so. I'm pretty particular, but my comrades in arms tend not to be. If you are going to send generic stuff, go to www.adoptasoldier.com and use their guidelines and addresses. This is a great resource for anyone who wants to build the habit of sending stuff over here to anyone and everyone.
Coffee mugs. I have yet to see a coffee mug for sale 'round here. I mean an honest to goodness, ceramic coffee mug.

The other question I've been hit with is, "what's going on over there?" Fighting. Rebuilding. Fighting about rebuilding. Rebuilding the fighting to rebuild and fight again. We don't get a whole lot of contact on the base itself, thank God. We can hear stuff going off, but it's not the same thing. Still and all, this is a combat zone and for some reason, some of the "natives" feel we're better off dead than rebuilding their country. It's crazy, really. The US has dumped, literally, billions of dollars into the Iraqi infrastructure (most of it was their money, but it briefs well) and the "insurgents" still want to kill us. I know, I know - it's about power and influence. Don't let the religious mumbo jumbo fool you, it's ultimately about power. Mostly we (the US) are building and getting the natives to rule themselves. Honestly, that's what's happening. I encourage any of the skeptics to pay close attention to the body counts over the last several months and tally the Iraqis killed in the news versus soldiers. My money is on more Iraqis killed. One friend emailed me, as she was having her class do a project about the war here and admitted to not being able to find good, solid information about what's going on here in the mainstream media. While this might represent the issue well. Or this. Odd thing is, for all my posting that the mainstream media is not covering this war in good faith, folks will not believe that. So where can you go? I'd try Michael Yon's blog, and the Small Wars Journal blog. Those are two very accurate sources of information on Iraq and Afghanistan.

That's all for now. I will begin to post more often, now that I'm in position.

Enjoy!

Oklahoma Ain't Got Nothin' On This Place

2008-03-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings and salutations. We're here in the Middle East finally! Actually, we've been here for several days. Why not post? Good question. First and foremost, there's the issue of security and tracking moves and all that. Next, it was a matter of allowing some of the other battalions to not be around the TOC as much, so I could basically have a NIPR connection long enough to post and not annoy someone else who wanted to do something important like check stock prices.

So, we're here. And there's dust everywhere, which makes sense (even in places that are uncomfortable). Needless to say, I'm growing accustomed to it all. Actually, I refuse to believe I'm here. I continue to claim we're actually in the Nevada desert, and all these Arabs are imported.

Yeah, right.

OK, so communications. So far, it's all blog and email for the general populace. With family, I've been calling home using AT&T prepaid cards (great stuff to send to folks over here, by the by... if anyone is willing to send a ton of cards, email me and we'll discuss details). For all of you who check caller ID and refuse to pick up if you don't recognize the number: it might be me. Yup, I have no clue how the number comes across on your end. So...give some thought to NOT checking the damn caller ID. Unless, of course, you don't care to talk. Yes, I know. It might be a telemarketer. Or Avon. Or the Landshark. Or someone who hasn't called in years. Like a friend of mine in Massachusetts, this experience is tempting me to begin blocking caller ID on my calls when I get back home.

Most folks ask us what we're doing here. Basically, we're waiting to flow forward. We have some training and stuff we do, which is good. Me, I'm working on CGSC, which is a very good thing. It's all on CDs now, so knocking it out is fairly easy. Apparently, with deployments being the norm, more and more Regular Army officers began doing CGSC via correspondence and the graders at Leavenworth couldn't keep up with the grading (try teaching high school...). So, "they" reworked the correspondence course, trimmed up the writing requirements and such and repackaged it for those of us who have internet connections that are less than 100% reliable. My goal is to finish the whole thing before I get home. I'm also working out, which is another good thing. I haven't done squats in a long, long, looooong time. Needless to say, standing up from a sitting position is something I feel each time now! :)

We're looking forward to getting forward and becoming familiar with the jobs we're supposed to be doing. By and large, we're professionals, regardless of how many careers we juggle, and this is no different than anything else - want to get where we're supposed to be and do what we're supposed to be doing, period.

That's about all that's fit to print. I could tell you that we're still sleeping on cots, in tents with a lot of my closest friends and that it's hot, but that's rather par for the course. As usual, thank you for the thoughts and prayers.

Enjoy!

He Wrote The Book. Literally

2008-03-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

Was trolling through SWJ and found another article. I know, I know, it's in the WAPO (which means annoying pop-up windows). So...mom & dad, give it a read please - it's written by an Army officer. To wit, it's literally written by one of the authors of the newly publish US Army Counterinsurgency (COIN) manual. He discusses what else this country needs to do to continue the successes in Iraq and to up the ante in Afghanistan. Good reading, actually - mentions our success in Iraq (NB: This is a continuing theme with me - hate to hear from friends and relatives the litanies of how poorly the war in Iraq is going. I know it's dangerous and challenging, but that doesn't mean we're not gaining on the enemy.). And it's balanced - he mentions what the country will need to do to gain on the enemy in Afghanistan (personally, I'm not so sure we can really and truly halt the opium production in that country, but I'm pessimistic about that).

Other than that, we continue to wait. Will let you all know when we're there!

Enjoy!

All the news that's fit to publish

2008-03-06T17:29:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a catch all post...just so you know.

First, news from abroad. Found this article through Small Wars Journal today. It's in the Financial Times. I know I don't usually peruse that periodical, and I think Jeff might be the only one (maybe Busch too...) who might. In any event, it goes into some detail about a major shift in Muslim thought vis-a-vis AQI. Interesting reading just for more background material.

Next thing, packing. Paul never mentioned a multifunction phone. I have a Samsung Blackjack, and it basically rocks. It's the reason I'm on the internet now. Bottom line, I can store a good dozen books on it, a couple gigs of music, write, email, text message, call and connect to the internet either on the phone itself or use it as a digital modem. Oh, and best of all, it can connect to telenav either with an extra (bluetooth powered) GPS or with the new Blackjack 2. Best gadget in my inventory. Not sure if I mentioned it yet, but going anywhere without a field jacket liner is asking for trouble. I know the fleece jacket is hip and cool, but nothing compares to the field jacket liner.

News, news, and more news. Seems we made the news in Evansville again. In all "personal interest" stories, just remember that there's usually more to any given story than one is told. So, viewer beware of first impressions - don't rely solely on one source of news.

We're back at it here in the deep south. Pass is over, and I know I'm still wishing I were on pass. We had a ton of fun, slept a lot, ate some great meals, drank some great wine and basically just enjoyed being together. No offense folks, but I'm glad Kim came to me and not vice versa. We needed the time alone.

That's it for now. Please keep our Soldiers and their families in your prayers.

Enjoy!

The List

2008-03-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Greetings and salutations, good readers! I'm finally posting the packing list Paul sent. It's edited for content, of course, to some extent. I'm adding in my own twists where appropriate, and intend on revising later in the cycle to make it more user friendly. Essentially, I don't want folks to go through what I did, which is to wait on brigade to issue a packing list that wasn't detail oriented (it's the same one used for Afghanistan...).

Always carry with you when you go somewhere overnight (think of this as your "carry on bag"):
o poncho liner (don't care how damn hot it is, you will NEED this) Not sure if I have room, but will try.
o shower shoes Chaco sandals
o pt shorts & t-shirt
o running shoes (optional)
o shaving kit (I recommend an electric razor, but you like spending time screwing with your hair so....)
NOTE: if you can get travel size stuff for body maintenance, pack that, leave your main stuff in your duffel bag
o laptop (if you leave, take your NIPR laptop and your SIPR geek stick with you) Due to space constraints, this is in a pelican case in the primary duffel bag
o something to read (book, magazine, bubble gum wrapper)
o towel (just like "Hitch hikers Guide", always bring a towel....wisdom man, wisdom) Packtowl. Same thing.
o couple of extra tan t-shirts
o couple of extra socks
o some kind of plastic bag to stuff dirty crap into (like the kind you get at the PX type of bag)
o hard core travel mug (for me this was my constant tie to back home outside of pictures)
o playing cards
o travel cribbage board (OK, that's for me....)
o two DVDs. NOTE: if you partner up with a few other guys you end up with a pretty robust traveling DVD library if you all don't bring the SAME two DVDs. Hard drive with like, two dozen movies ripped onto it. "Magic DVD Ripper" is excellent for this - a feature film will end up as a 1GB wmv file. The external drive is about half full with movies.
OPTIONAL: extra uniform. These take a crap load of room, so it's really your call.
OPTIONAL: snivel gear. I recommend finding a way to attach your gore-tex parka to your carry on somehow, at least until March/April time frame.

Primary duffel bag:
Whatever you do, your sleep system GOES ON TOP.
Couple of uniforms
Rest of PT gear (pants, etc)
Extra snivel gear
Extra pair of boots
Under-roos & t-shirts
Socks, lots of socks Socks & t-shirts bundled in three day groups. Makes unpacking easier
Barracks bag Actually, we need two of these, due to the laundry services at Buehring and farther north.
Extra towel (always carry a towel...I can't say that enough) Full sized towel here, extra towel I sent ahead with the C bag.
PILLOW (this is a tough one - but a high tech guy such as yourself must have some kind of high speed insta-flate pillow right?) Absolutely. Thermarest makes an excellent camp pillow. Sent the full sized one ahead with the footlocker.

Everything else that CSM tells you to carry is B bag or container type crap - it really is (like ruck sack, canteens, fleece pants, civilian clothes, BBQ grill, etc)

Paul's golden rules for OIF/OEF travel:
- Expect to sleep where you stop when in military transit (hence the woobie in the carry on bag)
- Expect to wash your ass where you stop when in military transit Which would entail handy wipes in the carryon.
- Expect military transit to take longer than you expect, even longer than the schedule dictates.
- Try and shove a few energy bars into your carry on. Chow isn't regular or good while in transit.
- ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS take care of nature BEFORE you get on a C-130.
- Expect your duffel to arrive late, if at all.
- CARRY YOUR LAPTOP WITH YOU - ALWAYS No space this time, otherwise I would. Still might, and then just shove books into the pelican case.
- Once in IZ, if traveling back to or through Kuwait, leave the shootin' iron and live ammo with your supply folks in IZ. Trust me, there are no fire fights in the MAC system (despite what the grunts think). And the ammo scares the Air Force guys, make them think there's a war going on and they really don't like that message. They think this whole gig is just an extended ARTEP. Plus the Kuwait dwell guys from 76 IBCT don't have a lot of storage space and if they aren't from your battalion, they really don't care about your sensitive items.
- Travel in a C-130 with your SAPI plates IN. Yeah, they are heavy, but a jump seat in a C-130 has no back support... This time, SAPIs and IOTV are in the B bag. Easier to pack.
- When entering a C-130 for transit, be at the head or tail of the line. AVOID THE MIDDLE. The front has leg room (no seats opposite you) and the back has leg room. Every where else sucks. This is the single area where I actually pull rank from time to time. I know, selfish. And I feel guilty until I realize that I have spent the last 20 years getting this rank.
- If you are staying in Kuwait longer than 3 days, buy a pillow at the PX. When you leave Kuwait, pitch it.
- If you are staying in Kuwait longer than 3 days, seek out a camp chair that someone left behind (trust me, they will be there).
- Large zip lock bags are your friend...
- Once you get somewhere, always memorize dining hall location and hours and where you can plug into NIPR and SIPR.
- During initial deployment and redeployment travel, if you can get away with one duffel and your carry on, do it. Remember that you hump everything, ie you carry everything that you bring with you. This one simple fact alone (plus the fact that I am real lazy) brought me to a "light" realization. When I deployed to Operations Desert Storm, I fit ALL my field gear (including body armor and brain bucket) into two duffel bags and a carry on bag. So far, it's all in two duffels and a carry on. Plan on keeping it that way.

Remember you aren't packing combat optics or stuff like that, nor are you expected to conduct combat operations the minute to hit the ground anywhere. Also, this is a mature theater, so you aren't in need of stuff like stoves or even extended amounts of rations (or dehydrated water for that matter). Combat optics and NVDs go on the M4 while in transit - first, it just looks freakin' cool. Second, easier to keep accountability of it.

That's about it. As usual, comments and such are welcome. Other thoughts:
* Nalgene bottles are excellent, crush proof containers for all the "tangle" stuff - chargers, headphones, etc.
* No travel mug yet, but I do have photos in a travel frame of Kim & me.

Enjoy!

Pressure Relief Valve

2008-03-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

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!

Mind Like Water

2008-02-14T17:59:00.000-08:00

Salutations from Georgia! A few more weeks and we're out of here! While this has been a far more mild winter than usual (no snow = big change), I'm not really going to miss the lack of privacy. Admittedly, getting to Iraq will take a little longer yet, and we're still living in tents once we arrive in Kuwait, but still and all, we're all looking forward to the facilities in theater than here.

The challenge this week is choosing to not let my head explode with every little thing that comes along. Our neighbors here on the base are doing their big final exam this week, and so keeping up with what their subordinate elements are doing with my facilities is an interesting challenge. Ultimately, no issue exists, just encouraging the neighbors to coordinate first is an educational process for everyone (NB: which is the odd element here. I mean, we're military. We always must coordinate for facilities, regardless of where we find ourselves. Why this place would be different escapes me).

For those who are home: today is Valentine's Day. Don't wait until you're away to let your Valentine know you're thinking of them!

Upcoming blog idea I have is to post a packing list. Regardless of all the net searches, and all the folks I ask, very little soldierly wisdom on this topic is posted. Even my brother couldn't produce a written list of advice (not upset, just an observation, packing for this gig has been very frustrating with the current utter lack of guidance and insight). So, look for that in future issues.

Spoke to a good friend about some marital issues he's been having, which are being magnified by the deployment. Please pray for him and them.

Thank you again, for your prayers. As usual, keeping the pride out of the way of being a good, calm, positive, effective officer is the key for me right now.

Enjoy!

A month to Go Time

2008-02-09T21:08:00.001-08:00

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!

Good morning, dear readers!!

2008-01-25T11:38:00.000-08:00

The intent today is to update you all on life here in "sunny" Georgia. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the coldest winter I've ever spent is the one at Fort Stewart, having sent my snivel gear forward. Which is, ultimately, my own fault. At first, I ranted about the "packing list" the sergeants major came up with, which directed us to send it all forward. Yeah, bad idea. Thank God, I have a wife who loves me, appreciates me and supports me. So, she's sent me my field jacket liner (oddly enough, nowhere on the official packing list), my winter boots (the gore-tex lined ones) are on the way (also should have sent those forward) and my REI package of a pair of gloves will arrive shortly too. Oh, and she sent me my underarmor thermals, so life is improving. Last night we had temperatures in the upper 20s, no heat and so this morning was chilly. Folks 'round here tell us that days begin to warm up quickly after January, so maybe in a couple of weeks, my feet will be warm during the day. It's all temporary, but just uncomfortable enough to be distracting.

Training has been good. We hit base defense, we're moving now into operation center based exercises, probably two or three weeks' worth of them. This will be interesting, as we're really trying to run two separate functions out of our company. We've been in contact with our counterparts in theater, and what our "trainers" are expecting us to pull off makes as much sense, according to them as, "a cop mowing a lawn in the middle of a domestic disturbance call." Nonetheless, we will do our level best.

I've had to really be careful and watch my temper and my mouth. Already I exploded on a lieutenant, who didn't deserve it. Granted, he had given me a couple real flip answers during the day, and then I saw red at some point, but the flip answers didn't deserve the intensity of my response. I apologized, beat myself up and such. Kim and I talked it all out, so I have some decent self talk going on to help out with it all. Learning to get beyond the immediate slight discomforts, the trainers who seem to not think, coworkers who have annoying habits (I do too, so it's not entirely one sided), senior NCOs who can't close doors behind them, etc, is the essential challenge. Learning to get beyond the immediate annoyances is the real work here.

All that said, it's still not too bad. It doesn't rain all that often, and when it does, the entire task force is indoors for most of it, so that's no biggie. The chow is still good, the DFAC is still open 24 hours a day and we have, literally, a virtual unlimited supply of Diet Coke and coffee. So,no real complaints. According to the weather man, temperatures are supposed to rise through the weekend, maybe I'll start getting out on the running track in the afternoons, pending training exercises. Would be a nice change of pace. That's life for now. We all are looking forward to the four day pass in March and finally getting into country, where conditions will be better.

Enjoy!

Moin moin!

2008-01-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

One of the best things about being here in Georgia for the
winter is the weather is just like being in Germany.  The
major difference, of course, is the lack of beer, any beer.
Regardless of that, it's generally been very cool, not too
bad warm, damp, foggy, kind of rainy, and generally cloudy.
All in all, a very pleasant Berlin winter day.  Speaking
of which, there's something about that, that once it's in
one's soul, never really leaves.  This is the weather I
really like. Many of you who know me know I like to ski
from time to time, don't mind snow (aside from removing it
from my driveway by hand), and find a white winter to be
very pleasant.  All that said, north German winter is
something I never really lose. Part of it is never having
to freeze my butt clean off.  Part of it, I imagine, is
association with good memories.  I met some good friends
and had some great times with them during north German
winters.  I proposed to Kim during a Berlin winter.
Good memories.

When we arrived here, the Army wasted no time in giving us
all a smallpox vaccination.  One of the side effects
(temporary)is fatigue and fever, which is what I've been
blessed with. Needless to say, sleeping isn't a problem
right now.  Thanks to that, choosing to not let dumb stuff
bother me is.  So, please pray for patience for me.  I'm
ready to basically shoot a couple of the other officers who
work with me and have 11 more months to put up with them.

Jeff, you'll appreciate this: starting tonight, I'm weaving
yoga into my evening routine.  Granted, the floor is a
little dirty (no, please don't send me a yoga mat.  I can
get away with doing yoga, but not on a mat that's some
fru-fru color), but wearing something like 40 or so pounds
really strains the lower back.  Yes, we have the new IOTV,
which fits a whole lot better, and that helps.  Still and
all, I really need to go through the routine every day
until the back stops hurting.  Little by little is the way
to make it all work.  What'd I'd really like - this one's
for Jeff - is one or two poses that help to build shoulder
muscles.  Beginner and intermediate stuff, of course.

Mom, did I tell you the SmartCafe is a great item?  Well,
it is, thank you.  I even like the Jack's Blend coffee. 
Only challenge: the coffee bag is paper.  I will probably
have to transfer it to something more substantial sooner
or later.  A one liter Nalgene bottle comes to mind,
simply because it's crushproof, watertight and fits into
the category of "cool guy gear".  I love my Nalgene bottle,
which is currently used for extra pens, rechargers, phone
cords (ear buds, etc) and other such miscellaneous items
that tend to get lost in a backpack.  So later tonight,
I'll probably crack my way through the local firewall and
hit REI for another one. That and I just want to order
something.  Heck, I haven't spent money on anything since
I left Indy, so I'd like to do a little spending.

Chapel is in an hour.  Somehow they got a priest who was
willing to come out here and say Mass, which makes me happy. 
Also, the chaplain had a ton of St Barbara medals and some
Miraculous Medals, so I stuck Mary in the wallet and Barb
in my pocket.  Spiritually, we're taken care of pretty well.

Time to get my head into the game.  Enjoy!

Greetings from sunny Georgia!

2008-01-08T16:56:00.001-08:00

We're here, we're on the FOB, we're training, we're learning and all
is, oddly enough, pretty good.  Chow is plentiful, tasty and hot.  On
that note, I've never eaten so much meat for breakfast and dinner in my
life.  I'm beginning to think that going on an Atkins style diet would be
relatively easy, given the variety of chow we get here.  The weather
started very cold - apparently 20 degree nights here in Georgia is
pretty chilly for these folks - but is now unseasonably warm.  I look for
things to even out after the thunderstorms this weekend to a nice sunny
62 during the day and a very sleepable 30 or so at night.  The tent has
plenty of room for all of us in it, hardwood floors and is heated.  Hot
showers, hot water to shave with (will change my routine to showering
and shaving in the evenings) and relatively private latrines.  I would
write about the PX trailers here, the barber and the Internet Cafe, but
I don't really have time to hit said PX, don't yet need a haircut and
the Internet Cafe is still not operational.  Give it a few weeks, I
think.

Things happen every day, and every day things get a touch better.
Honestly, I don't have a whole lot to complain about.  We spent six weeks
as a battalion between two AT periods doing nothing but running our own
field operations, tracking training data, reacting to last minute
changes, scrambling for more ranges and resources and life was fast.  Here,
we just run operations.  Sure, we have connexes to load, and a FOB to
manage, which takes time.  But to get right down to it, life isn't too
bad.  Naturally, I don't want to go out and train in the rain, but even
that is temporary.

After chatting with Kim, I have to thank you all for calling her up,
dragging her tail out to dinner and other things.

Not much to post this time, other to let you all know that my routines
are messed up, which means I'm beginning to wake up and force myself
into some sort of a routine, if for no other reason than to add some
illusion of control to my time and my days.  I hate the rush in the
mornings at the sinks, so the next experiment is to shower and shave in the
evenings.  If that proves to be a fight for space, I may have to beg Kim
for an electric razor.  We'll see.  Paul told me the sink space was at
a premium in theater, so, as with all things, it's a wait and see,
adjust and tweak sort of thing.  The cots we have are pretty wide, Kim's
sent me my thermarest sleeping pad (another post will deal with the gear
I left behind this time and why I'm a dumbass for doing so), so it's
pretty comfy.  It's been a long, long, long time since I've lived out of
a couple of duffel bags, so I repacked a little today and my space in
the tent should be very orderly and livable, which is a good thing.  Mom
gave me this nifty cool thermal cup with a french press built into it,
along with a pound of coffee.  Put a little coffee into the cup, tote
it to breakfast, fill it with hot water, and presto, great java.  Mom,
you done well, thank you TONS!!

Training starts for us in the headquarters later this week in earnest.
Even that will be a good change of pace to cleaning up after tenant
units.

When it's all said and done, one more day gone gets me one more day
closer to Kim.

Enjoy!

Time For Reflection

2008-01-02T18:52:00.000-08:00

We are calling this evening many things. The clever plan we thought we had for storing some of our equipment wasn't apparently as clever as it had been briefed, so some are busy preparing to track the stuff down tomorrow. Some are just hanging around in the barracks or here in the offices just hanging out. I, as you all can see, am writing. As I will not likely get another chance to post anytime soon (or at least until Kim's first package of stuff arrives), this is a good time to cover some items I've not yet covered.

First, thanks to friends and family who've made this time valuable to me. It's been challenging for me to stay focused on being present with you all, while at the same time not thinking about the road ahead. Dad said it best when he looked at me one day and said, "you're already in Iraq." Most of all, thank you Kim for being around and sticking to me like velcro. I know I wasn't always appreciative of it, but thanks for being more insistent than I about sticking close.

Next, thanks to everyone for offering to do stuff. This is where I grow practical. We all know that at some point in time, I'm going to call or write home and say, "hey, it'd be great to have this or that or the other." Most of those calls will go to Kim and she can farm them out as she sees fit. Most of that sort of thing will be me complaining about stuff, and can't really be actioned anyhow. Here's what I really want you all to do: take care of Kim. Drop by and have a cup of coffee with her at Borders, or go see a movie, or go have a beer, or whatever. Not all at once, and if I were you, I'd definitely call first (although there are times when with her it's just easier to show up and grab her). The grass will need to be mowed in the spring and summer, and I'd just as soon pay someone to do that than have someone dealing with it (so, recommendations are welcome). There's some odd settlement crack in the master bath that needs someone smarter in houses than I to look at it and figure out if it's serious or not. The carboys need to be rinsed well. All the crap I have just laying around in the garage should be boxed up for now. Kim, pick out the best four buttondown shirts I have and give the rest to charity. Same for the t-shirts. Grab the ones you never see me wear and give 'em to Goodwill. Or make Chiara do that. Oh, and someone should tell Kenny Lucas I have a ton of malt he's welcome to take, Brad gets the Gewurtztraminer kit in the brewery and there are no less than a dozen (yes, a dozen) dry beer yeast packets I'd like to donate to either the Ohio Valley Homebrewers (or whomever asks Kim first). They're not going to be viable when I return anyhow. Anything that gets Kim out of the house, does some little task, anything like that, is all greatly appreciated.

Oh, and I think there's some ice cream in the freezer to be eaten. I know there's some incredible espresso beans - around three pounds of them, whole - to be used. No, it's not Starbuck's, and I hate to think of them going bad. So, three pounds of Intelligentsia Black Cat Blend whole bean espresso to anyone who asks. Honest, you drink this stuff, you won't go back to anything else. I would offer my burr grinder to those who would BORROW it, but it needs to be back in its place by Dec 2008.

Lastly, thanks for following the blog. I'll keep updating and posting. All is well here in sunny Atterbury, and we're basically tying up some loose ends waiting on buses for Georgia. Aside from that, we're getting our collective heads back into the game, looking forward to the training and what we think we'll need coming up here in the next thirty to sixty days.

Don't know exactly what to expect, but it's game time.

Enjoy!

What's Really Important?

2007-12-31T18:28:00.001-08:00

So here we are at my sister-in-law's house, eagerly awaiting the midnight hour, so we can drink bubbly, then go home and sleep. In two days, we will head to Indy, do the "send off" (which I think is really more for those sending us than those being sent), and flow south to Georgia. With time being of the essence, my thoughts begin to turn to wondering about what's really important. I told a buddy of mine today, "dude, there are three things I really want to do - drink wine, chase my wife and play online...the things I really can't do in Georgia or Iraq." Aside from that, I've enjoyed the time with family this last week. Family has prayed over me, have taken special time to really express how much they appreciate me and otherwise put up with my dumb ass more than normal. All in all, an enjoyable time. With a "line in the sand" having been drawn, I began a while ago to take more note of those things which are really and truly important. Time with family is important. Not that I would have spent more time with them in the next twelve months if I were to be here at home, but just the thought that we can't get together at a moment's notice changes things.

Anyhow, time with family is important. Thanks to everyone who's made this time valuable.

Tools O' The Trade

2007-12-27T21:47:00.000-08:00

One school I did not attend, and intend on doing so, is Information Operations. I was originally slated to do this for the Brigade, and now am not. No hard feelings, and I don't think hooking into the school will be all that tough. For one, it's not "sexy" or about maneuver, so the Infantry, such as it is, is absolutely not interested (save our commander, from whom I've learned a ton about IO). It is, oddly enough categorized as "targeting", which makes it a Field Artillery function. Round peg in a round hole.

Now, why would I mention all this? Easy. It seems friends and family are beginning to receive attention from the Mass Media (thanks to their own talents, not mine), and so I'm offering what little Information Operations wisdom I have to (hopefully) help.

Let's get one thing straight. The difference between Info Ops and Public Affairs is that PA must tell the truth. *grins*

First: Never do a media interview that you don't want to do. If you're not on your game, tell them "no". Or give them a different date. If they really want the interview, they'll come back. Heck, if it's such a slow news day, they'll headline the weather for goodness sake. This leads to Ultimate Rule Numero Uno: YOU are in charge of the interview. Always, always, always.

Second: ALWAYS DO TARGETING. What can this media outlet do for me and my organization? What message do they typically send? What can I tell them that will both help them sell papers/airtime (let's be honest, the media's about selling, not truth) AND get my intended message out? This leads to lemma 2A...
2A: What're the talking points? No matter what, ALWAYS have three to five bullets written down that you want to get out no matter what. These are the talking points. Now, typically we prepare talking points for each Center of Influence we deal with, but that's deeper IO stuff.

Third (and Lastly): Find that comfy middle ground between you and the media. Let's face it, the Army isn't the only organization with skeletons in its closet. It stands to reason, therefore, that we must let some of them out in order to satisfy what passes for a "free press" in this country. The same goes for any organization. Some middle ground exists between what they want to know and what you're authorized to tell them. The answer of "I don't know" works better than "I'm not at liberty to say", the latter of which leads them to think there's more out there (kind of like Scully and Mulder).

Never forget, nothing is EVER off the record.

Enjoy!

Responses and Reactions

2007-12-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

Warmest Holiday Greetings!

We're all home on Holiday Exodus, so life is good. I didn't want to go anywhere originally, but the "not more than 125 miles from the armory" rule the military slapped on us makes me want to almost get off my butt and travel to someplace odd...Petaluma, for example. And not tell the Army. Just to do it.

Thank God I'm too comfy and lazy to do that.

First, thanks for all the great input and comments! Liz, not sure my masculinity can handle buying and toting tampons around on the FOB. On the other hand, the armor has plenty of little straps, so I suppose tying them on would be easy, not to mention fashionable. The Army, in it's infinite wisdom, issued each of us a really snazzy med kit - plenty of gauze, bandage, tape, tourniquet, etc. It's far more advanced than the simple traumedic bandage we used to tape onto the suspenders and call good. Add to that, the armor itself is pretty impressive. I'm covered from groin to jawline with shrapnel protecting goodness, including kevlar on top and ballistic eye protection. All in all, not too shabby for a desk jockey. Having looked ahead at the horseblanket for Georgia (it's what I do, I'm the Plans Officer), I notice they have 14 days of combatives planned. How cool is that? After a month of living in a tent with 100 other guys, I'll definitely be ready for the combatives pit: "YOU, the one who snores a lot, into the Octagon!!"

Lately, I've been following Michael Yon's blog, which is just fantastic! Very down to earth. Most recently, he posted two items of note, both written by GEN (Ret) McCaffrey. Basically the general offers a professional AAR of how the war is going to date. Before any of you follow the link and read it, keep in mind, it's not all roses and light, nor is it all doom and gloom. It's fairly balanced and well resourced. When I started reading the list of sources for the AAR, and it included company commanders and battalion executive officers, I figured it was going to be spot on. I mean, how many generals take the time to sit and listen to captains and majors who are out there getting the job done? I was very impressed by the AAR. So, here it is. Just so you all know I'm balanced, McCaffrey posted a piece in the WSJ too. Here's its text. I will warn some of you that it does not paint Rumsfeld in a favorable light. Honestly, I'm OK with that. Not being too fond of politicians in general, I'm not too concerned when another soldier says, "hey, this guy didn't do what he was supposed to do." Maybe it's me, maybe it's the professional culture of the Officer corps. I'd like to think it's both. I have no time or energy for politicians nor their games.

Enough soapbox.

So....next two months we're going to be in Georgia. Considering the alternative (Atterbury), I'm actually looking forward to it. Yes, the living conditions will be less favorable than in Iraq. Honest, in Iraq, I'll have my own room, heated, air conditioned and will be able to sit down to eat any time of the day or night. Georgia will be far warmer than Indiana, will likely be rainy, but at least it'll get us into the right mindset. I know I'm looking forward to it. Most of us, I believe, are ready to move on from all the individual level tasks we're forced to accomplish (set a claymore...I mean let's be honest, NOBODY uses claymore mines in theater) and begin building the collective competencies we'll need to function overseas. The feedback I've read about this training is that the reservists who go through it find Iraq to be far easier than the training they had had. I have no doubts we'll be more than ready to fight alongside our regular Army counterparts when we arrive.

All that said, I don't know how often I'll be able to post. Most likely, I'll email the text to Kim, show her how to log on, cut and paste and let that be that. I do know we'll have very limited email capability, so be patient.

Thank you for your prayers, please continue to pray that I keep my cool.

Enjoy!

Vacationland USA

2007-12-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

Greetings from sunny Camp Atterbury! I'd like to say lots of folks swarm here for fun and excitement and the great tourist attractions, but that wouldn't exactly be the truth. We have snow and wind, and some sun, and plenty to keep us busy.

Was thinking about that again today - the days have plenty to fill our time with, between preparing equipment to go forward, preparing ourselves as soldiers with training and such, and just accounting for it all. Right now it just feels like another AT period, being here at Atterbury. In fact, one reason the Big Army gave us for not conducting all the training here over the next few months was that we're so accustomed to this place, we would be challenged to take it seriously. That and Indiana in the winter is absolutely nothing like southwest Asia. I don't see it. I mean, there'll be dunes, wind storms that bite right into one's exposed skin, extreme temperatures...plenty of similarities. Naturally, the fact it's all based on ice and cold instead of sand and heat might have something to do with it. More to the point, my wife texted me that she misses me. I miss her fiercely, but it doesn't hit me as often as I think it does her. Thank God for text messages and Cingular's $29.99 unlimited texting plan. It's nice to be able to just reach out and pop a quick message out when I'm sitting in a meeting I don't need to be in or attending the same class for the third time and know that she's at the other end of that connection. It's a good feeling.

On a personal/professional level, I've been successful in not losing my temper in the last several days. It's a challenge for me, as constant change has rubbed me the wrong way in the past. In my journal this week, I noted that living on this mortal plane implies that we live in a state of constant change. To live is to be in a state of change. To stop changing is to not grow. To not change is, for all intents and purposes, to die. Change can be frustrating. Our rosters change, our operational plans change, we change our minds, our socks and our tires. So when I stated thinking about it earlier this week, there was an eiphany, call it God, Allah, Yahweh, a Higher Power, whatever (flash to Gross Pointe Blank for that one), but it was pretty clear: I have to accept the fact that things change, let my mind be like water, and not take it personally. Been much happier since then.

One slight frustration and I'll sign off for the night. I've noticed, the Internet has very few sites where one can find a list of things to bring on deployment. I'm not talking about uniforms, military equipment and the like. I'm talking about a no shit, here are the things that will make life exceedingly more comfortable on the FOB in theater list of things. I am fairly certain we won't be needing toothbrushes and toothpaste (although I know Kim would happily send them to me if I asked). For example, I searched the web for a few hours and finally found someone's blog, who mentioned he had purchased a hot pot for use in his can while on the FOB. Now, as someone who loves coffee, this held out hope for me. I have a camp stove, and am certain I won't be able to find the fuel cells for it (they're surface ship only too, so please don't air ship them). This created a challenge - how to heat my water for coffee in the morning. Knowing that the possibility of getting something like that on the FOB was encouraging. See, it's that sort of thing I think folks need to know. To quote my brother, if I want to know something like this, I know others will too.

That's all for this evening. I need to extricate myself from my perch, kick everyone from the day shift out of here and get to sleep myself.

Enjoy!

2007-12-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday!

This has been a very, very busy week, so my apologies for not posting. Normally, I maintain that "busy" is a state of mind, and somehow I still think that's true. On the other hand, when I'm at the armory until, oh, 1800 a few nights in a row, I tend to categorize that as "busy". Not frenetic or frantic or panicky, just...busy. I'd like to write that I've finally rolled up all the training data we have from the last five months, everything's scanned and on CDs and ready to go. It is not. There is one small binder of rosters I forgot, and have to hit on Monday. No biggie, but it keeps me from brushing my hands off as if we don't have to track anything. Which we do, so it's not as if I'm out of a job.

Spent a lot of time on the phone this week with friends. One dear friend and I spoke, and he asked me how Kim and I are doing and how the process is going. This is a common question. Kim and I are doing better than we expected to be doing at this point. We're trying to keep life here at home pretty much the same as it has been, which is nice. Not knowing what's coming up or what to expect tends to cause some trouble for us, me being focused almost solely on the deployment causes some trouble for us, but otherwise, we're doing well. We've been married sixteen years, and have developed some great coping skills, and we have built up the habit of talking things through. So while we have occasional blow ups (more often now than normally thanks to the mobilization), we're good at talking through things. And the Battalion support group has done an excellent job of giving us information on what to expect relationally while we're going through this, which helps too.

How the deployment process is going...interesting question. Most of it is as smooth as is can be, given that about two to four dozen people are managing it all for the other 3900 of us (this is where Paul rolls his eyes and makes the claim of being able to do it better). The Army has outlined the process in general with a couple of manuals, no surprise there. The folks who are in charge of the process overall are also pretty good at keeping us informed about changes, products they need from us, that sort of thing. All that said, one would think it's a seamless process. I mean, we've done this before, right? It is not completely seamless. It's like playing a card game and the rules tend to change each time someone picks up or lays down a card. The big rules don't change, rather the little ones...like which card is wild, that sort of thing. All in all though, it's not as bad as it sounds. Not surprisingly, open communication is really the key to making it work as smoothly as possible. The mantra of "fluid is too rigid" continues to apply.

Today I have wine to bottle. Was going to do it last week, set everything up and realized I had no corks. Tough to bottle wine without corks. Granted, I could have used 12 ounce longnecks or Grolsch flip top bottles, but wine really needs wine bottles. Now I have corks and can bottle and label. We'll run some other errands today too, that sort of thing.

One quick note about Thanksgiving, since Aunt N was good enough to reply to the post! :) Everything went well. The guests were happy, the bread was great (I did three loaves of french bread) and visiting was mostly good. I did, indeed, overimbibe after the guests left, which I suppose is my right. Had to bite my tongue when someone likened Iraq to Vietnam, which is, in my opinion, completely untrue. The body count alone attests to this, along with the fact that the "insurgents" are mostly Iranian SF and Hezbollah trained Muslims from elsewhere in the Arabic world. Add to that, Iraqis have begun to point out the "insurgents" to coalition forces and I begin to wonder if the Iraqis really want us out of there. True story and all that information is open source...nothing CNN would publish, of course. Anyhow, I kept my peace.

Enjoy!

2007-11-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

So...it seems I have much to learn...about the Army, about deployment and about blogging. OK, let's take it from last to first. Blogging...a good blog, according to Tim Ferriss' "Four Hour Work Week" requires an update around twice a week. Obviously, I haven't done that, so mea culpa. Loyal readers, I promise to make efforts to update this. My concern is that I will post something I ought not post, you know, something like saying, "LTC So-and-so is a Doody Head". That's not cool to post, so I'll watch out for that. The other thing I don't want to post is something along the lines of, "I hate First Army/My Brigade Because Of One Particular Odd Thing That Has Nothing To Do With The Deployment In General." Well, that's not acceptable either. I don't want to go off on tangents and rants about stuff that's really just me venting and not helping me to become a better Officer or helping you all know some of the stuff going on. To be honest, the brigade I work for is pretty decent, as far as Guard brigades go. Overall, they want to do things right, and I respect that. The leadership shows up daily with the intent of doing the right thing regardless. Like all other Army units, we have issues to work on, but who doesn't?

So one learning curve is the deployment. Basically, I'm to the point where I know I have to write down what I want my wife to send me every other month and every month, starting in February. This includes my copy of Outside magazine, body wash, deodorant, etc. That sort of thing. Then I'm trying to figure out what to pack (which is pretty obvious...I mean, uniforms, equipment, coffee, what else is there?), what to put in each duffel bag, paint the bags appropriately, that kind of thing. Right now, it's still at the "academic" stage. I'll probably go get the yellow and black paints, the stencils and mark my bags this weekend. Right now, the "big rocks" in the pile are to get the plan for next week put together and get a couple more loaves of french bread baked for Thanksgiving. I hate rolls, and since dinner is at my place this year AND we've been given "responsibility" for rolls, I've chosen to bake bread. Essentially it's easy enough to bake when drunk, so I'm covered in any state of mind. And the house will smell great for a week - freshly baked bread, espresso, and turkey. The challenging part here is to keep my mind like water, and to encourage the other Officers and leaders around me to do the same. Most of the time, I'm the one being encouraged.

My apologies for the short post, but I'm out of steam writing-wise, and I have to get up kind of early. Be well, enjoy the post and I promise, Kelly, to post more often! ;)

Drama Free Zone

2007-11-09T16:53:00.000-08:00

One week in from the field and I'm ready to return. Not because I hate spending time in MY bed, with MY wife, drinking (literally) MY wine. Nope, I want to go back because it takes our companies and gets them busy on Army operations instead of the "high drama" of home station. I hate drama. Please, dear readers, do not make the fatal mistake of thinking high drama is limited to the female gender. Oh no, men are more than capable and willing of generating, participating in and feeding the phenomenon known as "high drama". Before I go on a real tirade and start naming names, let me define "high drama". From where I sit, "high drama" is that behavior which places self far before the whole (if it considers the good of the team at all), goes against all the Army stands for, and forces those in charge to spend 90% of their time addressing. Usually "addressing" the high drama doesn't really involve a true solution at all, it usually just involves paying attention to the NCO or Officer who is demanding the attention.

For those of you who have two year old children, this behavior should sound familiar to you. Unfortunately, the Drama Queens I have the privilege to deal with are commissioned officers and senior NCOs in the US Army.

This is the challenge of leadership - to turn the focus of the Drama Queen back to the good of the whole instead of being self centered. The Benedictine in me (the saint, not the liquor), would go to the individuals in question, gently remind them once, maybe twice, then boot them clean out of the brotherhood. I'm not kidding, read the Rule sometime, Abbots are charged with some pretty serious responsibility and authority, both spiritual and temporal. So, the solution, I think, is to remind everyone of this at the next Monday meeting (which, thanks to Vets' day will be Tuesday, which I consider to be a far more appropriate day for a Big Meeting than Monday). Maybe remind everyone that the success of the whole - both company and battalion - is more important than looking good individually. Maybe remind folks in general that we're a battalion team and that "battalion" really isn't out to screw anyone (well, I won't go that far, nobody in the battalion proper, anyhow).

All I know, some of these Officers and NCOs have some serious individualism to get past before we go downrange. I also know, I have to help that process.

Enjoy!

PS - oh, go visit my wife's blog!

2007-11-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

Over. Finished. Done. Through. Curtain call.

We have all sorts of terms to use to signify that we've completed whatever it is we might be working on. In all reality, nobody is really and truly finished...we just move from one project to the next, constantly in motion. This is especially true in the Army. Today we came off of our second three week training period in the last three months. The intent was to prepare us all by reteaching us all the basic Soldier skills we're supposed to already know, document that particular fact in mind numbing detail and then further prepare us to move on to the next stage in training, which would be crew and section level training (this isn't anything classified - the Army is very structured with training, starting at individual level and moving through each organizational level up through brigade). I was placed in charge of tracking and validating the training documentation. Essentially I'm the Access Database guru in the battalion. Not only am I not done, I'm not even close. We're still taking the paper documentation and entering it into the database, so I can collate, structure, poke, prod, pull, stuff, shake, post and push it to whatever reporting form my headquarters wants. I'm not complaining - I like playing in Access, and I constantly have yet one more thing I can do to make it better. The tough part of this whole thing is the scope of the operation and what that means to things like, oh, Access databases that track training documentation for each and every Soldier. Normally we just send company level units to Iraq. Nothing bigger at once than 150 joes. Sometimes a battalion might go, which usually hits the 550 Soldier mark, on average. This time, we're kicking a brigade out the door, which is dragging over 3,000 souls with it. That's a lot of people. I don't think I know that many people. When I taught high school, I managed to know all 140 or so of my students, but never 3000. So we have a few hundred soldiers (maybe more, maybe less, that's something I can't say) in our organization. Each of us (yup..."us"....I don't get a Get Out of Jail Free card for this) have to train on three groups of tasks or briefings ranging from how to clean my rifle to the care and feeding of insurgents. Then, some of us have a fourth grouping. Oh, and some are legitimately on duty orders doing something that requires a specialized school (Electronic Warfare is a good one), which has to be tracked. Then, some of those extra duties are compatible with other extra duties, so those folks tend to get tagged with two or three or four schools on top of everything else. Oh, and all that needs to be tracked. Thankfully, my tracking responsibility ends with the first four sets of stuff.

So where am I going with all this? Basically this: there's never an end.

There's another point I need to make here. That is this: Mobilizing a military organization is a necessarily complex process, whose complexity increases exponentially for each level of command involved. Let's say, for example, that mobilizing a company has a difficulty rating of 2. That means a battalion's complexity might be on the level of 8 (which is 2 cubed), and that of a brigade might be 512 (which is 8 cubed). The scale is about right, but I think the exponent is more of a power or 6 or 7, not three. For you folks who aren't "math people", imagine organizing a trip to Europe for an entire high school, or just one class of juniors (assuming a high school of about 3000 kids, of which there are a couple in my area). Now, besides the itenerary, you get to plan and resource the lodging, transportation, ALL of the food, ALL of their clothes (this is simple for the military) and provide ALL of the luggage and ancillary equipment. I won't get in to weapons, ammo, legal issues, learning to drive in Europe (where nobody usually shoots at folks driving), etc. That's basically what Indiana is doing right now. It's a huge undertaking.

All that said, it's tough enough dealing with a battalion. I'm not alone in doing this, of course, but it's still a lot of work. A battalion of even just 300 souls brings with it a complexity of personal issues and needs that are challenging enough on their own, let alone the complex issues which arise from the daily tedium of preparing for military operations. It's a big job and I'm glad I'm not alone in working on this. To be honest, for all the tough training and conditions our soldiers have had to endure this last month, they're in pretty decent spirits. We have enough veterans, who know that this stage is very temporary and that living conditions actually improve in theater, which helps tons.

Still, I'm glad we're past the first training phase and can work on the documentation and prepare for the next part of this operation. We have a lot to do yet, and not a whole lot of time in which to do it.

All The "Official" Stuff

2007-10-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome one and all! This being the first post, I need to lay down a few guidelines, ground rules and explain what all's going on here. New readers ought to come here and read this.

First and foremost: I am a copycat. My brother had a blog while he was deployed, and it worked remarkably well for him to reach the wide audience of our family and friends. It was easier than mass emails, and allowed for remarkably witty banter. That said, since it's now my turn to go to Iraq, this is the blog.

Everyone needs to know this very important fact: I am an Army Officer. This means there is all sorts of stuff I can't post. As I don't believe in reprinting Army Regulations in my prose, go to Google and type in "OPSEC" and read about it (or go here). Having said that, thinking that I represent the Army's opinion on anything is like assuming a penguin speaks for whatever zoo he or she lives in: it's patently ridiculous. But, people being people, if anyone wants to think I speak for the Army, go ahead - you've been told. I don't, but folks tend to believe what they want to believe. Which brings me to my third item.

My background. This is the disclaimer, which means if anyone doesn't like what I write, go somewhere else (I suggest Craig's List "Best Of", which I find amusing). I am a (relatively) orthodox Roman Catholic and actually agree with Holy Mother The Church on many points. I am willing to discuss them academically, but that's my limit. I am, thanks to my Dad, on the right side of moderate in a political sense. Thanks to Dad, I have a healthy DISrespect for the mainstream media. These two points mean that quoting the NYT, WAPO or CNN here is a bad idea. Moreover, trying to quote death counts to me isn't kosher either. I know the stats and know that the war we are fighting in Iraq has both a KIA and WIA count that's far, far, far lower than any other conflict we've fought, regardless of the drivel the mainstream media is trying to feed us. Oh, and I have a rough sense of humor, if you haven't noticed.

Last item: I chose the Profession of Arms willingly. I do not consider myself a victim for being deployed. In fact, I've been wanting to go ever since I called a buddy of mine and notified him he was going to Afghanistan four years ago. Based on feedback I've received, I'd like to think I'm a halfway decent Officer. That being said, I could care less why we're in Iraq. We are, and that's that. I'm more than willing to discuss it academically, but this is not the forum to rant about "Dubya" or rave about what the Democrats think they're going to do if they get elected next year- or vice versa. We're there now and it is what it is.

Enjoy!