24 October 08 - Random Pic

I decided to follow the random picture tag trend. This is the fourth picture of my fourth picture folder.















This is a random marketplace or bazaar. It's empty because we'd just conducted a raid on a bad guy's house. Usually they're bustling with people.

23 October 08 - 3 Things about me

The original is "8 Things About Me," but honestly, I don't think I even watch 8 TV shows EVER, so we're going with 3.

3 Favorite TV Shows:
The Office
Survivor Man (Man vs Wild isn't hardcore enough, it's all staged)
Mythbusters

3 Things I did yesterday:
Cleaned my rifle
Moved - for the fourth time in a week
Planned a foot patrol mission

3 Things I look forward to:
Going home (it's been almost a year)
My baby (I can't wait)
Calling my wife

3 Favorite Restaurants:
Black Angus
Brick oven pizza
Wendy's

3 Things on my wish list:
A complete house renovation
A holster for my gun
A better choice for president

16 October 08-Thankful Thursday

So now that I've had a WHY-ny Wednesday, it's time for a Thankful Thursday.

• The internet-Man it's nice to be able to keep up with my friends and family back home. I don't know how soldiers did it with a letter a month or two months. I've also started online classes so I can finish my Bachelors. Without the internet here, I'd be pretty stretched for ways to continue my education
• Sleep-If you've red my last post, you've seen that I haven't had much of it in the last few days. It was so nice to finally get a full nights sleep.
• Gratitude-I was told thank you today. I don't get that often here, so it felt real nice. I think I'll make it a point to be more grateful, because if I don't see it, it's likely that others don't either.
  

15 October 08 - Whiny Wednesday

I've been trying to be really positive in my blogs lately, but I feel like I could use a little venting. So, without further ado, I give you WHY-NY WEDNESDAY:

• WHY do things always get really really busy as soon as you're put in charge? I've been second in command of my unit for some time. The man in charge just went home on leave, so I'm in charge now. It seems that as soon as he left, things got crazy. I've been incredibly busy for the last few days and I'm not sure what's so different. Some of the absolute strangest things have been happening. I wish I could give examples, but if I told you I'd have to kill you.
• WHY do people who are supposed to "support" you always back out when it's convenient for them? My three man team got stuck pulling guard duty for a detainee for 20 hours while the hundred man unit that is supposed to provide "needed support" said they were too busy to help. Now I understand that they have obligations, but when I've had four hours of sleep in two days and am still pulling guard duty while I can see a dozen guys with nothing to do sitting around a fire thirty feet from me smoking and joking, I get kind of aggravated. It took me another day and a half to catch up on all the work that I missed while I was pulling guard. Hopefully tonight I can catch up on the missed sleep.
• WHY do people who have no idea what they're talking about insist that you're doing your job wrong? I'm the expert in my field, not you. Let me do my job. I don't tell the cook how to make spaghetti, why should he tell me how to run my operations?

Please, don't get me wrong. I love my job and feel a lot of gratification from it. I just have a limited audience to vent to here, so I'll vent into cyberspace.

08 October 08 - Thankful Thursday (on wednesday)

Today is a special thankful Thursday. I'm grateful for:

• My best friend - Your support has been constant. It's been a mainstay for this entire deployment.
• My confidant- When nobody else will listen, I can talk to you
• My hero - Your strength in times of difficulty has been an example for me.
• My inspiration - Even at your weakest you exceed my strengths. I can only hope to be half the person you are.
• My wife - You are all of the above. Happy Birthday.

02 October 08 - Thankful Thursday

It's thursday again:

• Midday naps. I don't get them often, but man it's nice to relax and have a little nap.

• Weight rooms. Good exercise is a great stress relief. There's a great weight room here, so I get to release a lot of stress.

• Honest people. The army has a tendency to attract liars. It seems like every local I encounter tells me what he thinks I want to hear rather than the truth. It's like a breath of fresh air when I talk to somebody and they tell things how they are.

• Good interpreters. They're hard to come by, believe me.
  

25 September 08 - Thankful Thursday

Check it out. Two in a row. So what am I thankful for this week...

• Salad - I will never grow tired of a good salad. Army food is never very appealing, so a good salad is just about the highlight of a meal. We only have good veggies once in a while, so it's a rare treat.
  

• V8 - Besides salad, the army's veggies are always so cooked it's just about impossible to get any nutritional value out of them. V8 is a huge help.

• IPOD - Army life can be summed up as energetic outbursts of activity surrounded by what seems like endless waiting. Having an IPOD helps that time go by.

• Care Packages - Hint, Hint.
  

18 September 2008 - Thankful Thursday

So everybody these days seems to do this thankful Thursday thing. I've been hesitant to join the craze. However, I've noticed (and some of you have pointed out) that I've been venting a bit in my blog. So I figured that some expressions of gratitude couldn't hurt. Here goes:

• My job: There are over 200 MOS's (jobs) in the military that I could have picked from when I joined. I'm incredibly grateful that at 17 years old, I at least possessed the intellect to choose mine. I've had incredible experiences and have done things that I'll never forget. Not every soldier is able to say that he likes what he does. I'm glad that I have that privilege. There's nothing better than seeing the results of your work.

• Blackwater: These guys often get a bad wrap. Yes, some of them have done some stupid things, but so have members of every community/corporation. The ones that I've worked with have been incredible. Their professionalism, respect, and hard work have contributed greatly to this area.

• Care packages: It's just great when you get a little reminder in the mail that your family and friends haven't forgotten you. (No, this is not a plea...but it wouldn't hurt)

That'll do it for this time. Wouldn't want to list everything that I'm thankful for all at once.

15 September 08 - Control Freaks

Everybody, I'm sure, knows a control freak; they're everywhere. The army is no exception. In fact, if I dare say so, the army has more. It breeds control freaks.

Here's my tribute to the three major control freaks that I most recently encountered:

To the cook who won't let me eat dinner until exactly 5:00 - The foods sitting out in self-serve bins, silly! You'll do less work by letting me serve myself some food than by standing there trying to act like your important enough to tell me I can't eat yet.

To the man who refuses to pass on my request for air support for soldiers taking fire because my request has spelling errors in it - Get your act priorities together man! Your obsession over having absolute control over every report that goes up could cost people their lives.

To the man who won't let me step outside the base gate to help people who just got in a car wreck - They're hurt and they need my help...yours too. Don't try to interdict and stop me from doing my job and my responsibility as a human being just because your afraid of the boogie man.


Sorry about venting. I'm just getting tired of people trying absurdly hard to exert control over me when they have no logical reason to do it.

13 September 08 - It's a girl!

No this is not a repeat of my previous blog entry. My sister recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The two chose not to find out what the baby was before it was born, but they had a sneaking suspicion that it would be a girl.

Congratulations!

03 September 08 - It's a girl!

Nikki had her ultrasound yesterday. We found out that we're having a girl. I was pretty convinced that we'd have a boy, but I'm just excited that we have a healthy baby. I'm not sure how the doctor could tell it's a girl. It still looks like a little alien to me.


Nikki and I are both really excited for the baby. We're hoping that the army will be gracious enough to let me go home for the birth, but we'll just have to wait and see.

30 August 08 - MasCas

We had a Mass Casualty Exercise yesterday (mascas for short). Though the exercise itself is useful, it's a pain in the neck. I knew that there would be one during the day, but the specific time was withheld for suprise's sake. And, of course, I forgot it was going to occur.

I was in the middle of writing an important report when things started "exploding" outside. I knew that it wasn't actually mortars or rockets because the explosions were too small, but I was just concerned enough to remember to go to my post. I threw on my "battlrattle" (helmet, armor, rifle, pistol) and went to my fighting position. As I sat there, I remembered that we were having the exercise, so I relaxed and settled in (they always take a while).

An hour and a half later the all-clear was given and I went back to my report. I'd just showered and put on clean clothes right before starting my report, and I returned to it filthy from having laid in the dirt for over an hour. Of course, just to make the exercise a little more inconvenient, the power had gone out for a moment in the exercise, shutting down the computer I was working on and losing all my work.

Moral of the story - save often.

25 August 08 - Politics in War

Yes, I realize it's been a while since I've updated my blog. I've been around and well, but I was subjected to what is called a communications blackout. Basically what that means is that no soldier is allowed to call, write, or email home until the "blackout" is lifted. The reason the blackouts are instigated is usually because a soldier somewhere got hurt or killed, so the army doesn't want anybody writing home until the family of the casualty is informed. Unfortunately, the blackouts apply to all soldiers under a single Task Force, meaning that if a person who I don't know and have never heard of and is 100's of miles away from me gets hurt, I can't call or write home. The logic is sound, but the method is horrible. Case in point - I have known only 2 of the last 20 soldiers that were involved in incidents that sparked blackouts, meaning that I wouldn't have anything to write home about anyway. Second, hearing that there's a blackout only makes people wonder. Everytime somebody says we're in blackout status I think, "Who got hurt?" If I was told nothing, I would be none the wiser. Third, I tell people that I'll try to call on certain days, so when I don't call, they start worrying and wondering if I'm all right.

Also, since I'm on my soapbox, what's with all the political games we play messing up successes, no matter how small, of soldiers. For example, not too long ago I was part of a group that captured an insurgent who was high on a "wanted list". Not a week later this individual was let go because of a political game with corrupt officials. I have a hard time tolerating my work being undone because the man I captured has dirt on a governor or mayor or some scumbag politician who bought his position with dirty money. It's hard to fight a war for people (meaning politicians) and those who put them in power (meaning voters) who are trying to fight a war devoid of adverse consequences. I am often aggravated by news articles condemning the war because there was a bombing or a firefight that resulted in the death of civilians. Well guess what, I don't like it either, but when insurgents run into a house and shoot at soldiers from it, they blow it up. If there's somebody inside, sorry. But we're not going to, nor should we have to, leave terrorists alone just because the person housing them might get hurt. People die in war, and they're unfortunately not always soldiers. Until the average politician, voter, or any person can accept that we'll just run in circles playing a political game that we gave the misnomer "war".

Sorry about the rant, but I had to get it off my chest. I don't claim to have a golden answer that will make all our problems in the middle east go away (I don't believe a win-win solution for all exists), but at least I'm doing the best I can until someone by some miracle finds it.

19 August 08 - Mobile Phones

My life here would be a lot harder if not for the mobile phone. I have a cell phone of my own here and it's a great asset. I can call my wife, my mom (except she's never home), or just about anybody I want. However, the mobile phone has one issue in the middle east...it's not that mobile.

For example: My phone works in only three locations on my FOB. That means if I want to talk to anybody, I have to be inside three points that are all about the size of a phone booth.

Also: In order for anybody to get a hold of me, I need (of course) to be inside one of my invisible phone booths. Since the phone booths are off the beaten path, chances are that I won't be reachable unless I'm already using the phone, in which case I probably don't want to be bothered by another phone call.

Finally: (This doesn't really apply to the mobile factor) The network here goes down on a regular basis. I'll never know if the phone will work until I wander to my phone booth and try it out. Usually it does, but for the last 4 days or so it hasn't.

Despite their shortcomings, cell phones are great to have here.

15 August 08 - Range Day

Today was a nice, slow day. We had a range day. That's when we go to the shooting range and ensure that our weapons are all still zeroed (sighted in). I got a new sight for my M4. It's an ACOG. My old sight was a CCO, which has no magnification. The ACOG, however has 4x magnification. End result - I was more accurate and could acquire targets faster.

I wanted to see how much faster, so I tried out the army's 15 meter simulated qualification test. In this test you are given 40 rounds to try to hit 20 small targets that are 15 meters away twice each in 2 iterations that last 2 minutes. It basically simulates shooting at 40 targets for 4 minutes. It's not difficult, but it's a good way to see how accurate and fast you are. In order to make it a bit more fair (since I had magnification), I situated myself 25 meters back instead of 15. It didn't matter a bit. I hit all 40 targets in about 2 minutes, getting a perfect score in half the allotted time. Normally it'd take me at least 3 minutes, but just having that magnification greatly simplifies things.

12 August 08 - Goats and Money

Have you ever been asked to watch a man's goat? Today I was added to the short list of americans who have. A midget came to the FOB today and asked me if I could watch his goat for him. I'm not sure why he chose to ask me, but all I could say was, "Sorry, we don't do that hear." After a moment of reflection, the guy looked up at me and said, "Ok, then can I have 400 dollars?" I laughed out-loud. My interpreter was giggling a little bit too. I had to ask, so I said, "What do you need 400 dollars for and why do you think that I'd give it too you." He said, "Well the americans are here to help right? I need 400 dollars so I can buy some guns."
I asked, "Do you have a permit for those guns?"
-"No"
-"Then I guess I can't help you."
At this point I thought that the conversation was over, but I was wrong.
-"Can I have 400 dollars anyway?"
-"What do you want it for, now?" (I couldn't resist.)
-"I'll think of something."
I tried to think up an answer that he could clearly understand, but just couldn't. I opened my mouth to speak a couple times, but nothing came out. He just kept looking up at me with puppy eyes. After a bit I just succumbed to the irresistible urge to laugh. I just laughed, shook my head, then walked away. I didn't know what else to do.

11 August 08 - Cobras and Scorpions

Today was basically my day off. Didn't do much, just designed a little logo for our team. We're all pretty big fans of GI Joe, so we decided to branch a bit off of that. So here's the new team "logo".















For those of you who are not familiar with GI Joe, the cobra design is from the bad guys on GI Joe. I added the M4's. The logo "Knowing is Half the Battle" is of course GI Joe's logo. It's a little crude and will take some reworking, but I think it looks pretty good.

I had a copy of Adobe Photoshop on my computer for over a year, but never really got around to figuring it out until the idea of a logo was suggested. I've been fighting with photoshop, but did managed to create this. Given more time, I think they'll improve.

Now for the scorpion. The other day one of the interpreters here found a scorpion.














He gave it to a guy who's know on the FOB as being the "Steve Irwin" around here. He played with the scorpion for a couple hours. We all reminded him what happened to the original Crocodile Hunter, so he relented and backed off a bit. (By the way, not unlike Steve Irwin, our man was actually stung by a scorpion a few weeks ago, and just like the Hunter, the sting and the resulting week in the hospital didn't even phase him.) I managed to tease the scorpion a bit. Here's a clip from my taunting him.



One suggestion, when videoing a scorpion, use the zoom to get close instead of just getting close. Otherwise, you'll find out like I did that an angry scorpion moves pretty quick.

Other than making logos and torturing scorpions, things are egoing pretty much the same as usual.

09 August 2008 - Crash Pics

09 Aug 2008 - Crash!

So I was sitting in the office today when I heard screeching tires followed by a distinct BOOM!! I've heard screeching tires outside on the highway a lot, but I never heard the much anticipated crash afterwards. So I went outside just in time to catch a giant cloud of dust to the face.

Turns out that a truck tried to pass a car that was going too slow, hit a car in the oncoming traffic lane, and was slammed back into the right lane. The car that the truck was trying to pass had no time to react, so it slammed into the truck, literally climbing up on top of it. The two now-mated cars slammed into the HESCO barrier that separates our base and the highway just outside my office, creating the giant cloud of dust that I swallowed.

Nobody was seriously injured. There were some cuts and bruises and one guy may have had a broken foot, so we told them all to go to the nearest hospital and get checked out by a doctor. I took some pictures (I'll post them later) "for records' sake".

So that's the latest and greatest.

08 Aug 08 - 7 years and counting

Well, today is my seven year anniversary of my enlistment into the United States Army and Army National Guard. A lot has happened in those seven years. But looking back, I don't think I'd trade them for anything. This deployment and the year before it, I dare say, have influenced me more than the others (those are the years that I was in the army and married). In a way, you're married to the army and to your wife. Over those last couple years I've been doing a lot of thinking and I've come to realize that a married soldier is basically a bigamist - and bigamy is really difficult. Living with one wife is time consuming and can be challenging, but living with two (actual wife + army) is especially difficult. (This is in no way a knock on my wife, she's the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.)

I've been told that wives eventually get used to having their husbands married to them as well as to the army and that Nikki will eventually get used to the pace of the army.

I don't want her to get used to it. I like her the way she is.

So I recently came to the conclusion that I can't live with two wives. It's too difficult. So I'm going to have to keep one of them and divorce the other. And, you know, even though I've had a longer relationship with the army than Nikki, and even though the army writes my checks and Nikki spends them, I get more out of my relationship with Nikki. So, I'm going to have to divorce the army. Unfortunately, the army doesn't accept divorces. Instead there's a bit of a prenuptial agreement - we go for eight years then decide if we want to continue our marriage. So I'm going to have to finish my eight years (one more to go) and end the deal.

Don't get me wrong. I love the army. It's been a great experience. I've learned things and gained experiences and friends that I would never have been able to without it. But it's taxing and time consuming. Perfect for the single type, not for the married.

Sorry for the rant, but I had to braindump. I feel better now.