My day started early today (well, early by the nocturnal standards of my life in theater - I rarely make it to bed before 4 a.m.). My peaceful and colorful dreams were interrupted by the klaxon sound of my cell phone - Army business, of course. When I hung up, I noticed an eerie silence in my room. A few seconds of analysis led to the answer...my air conditioner was not running. This is a bad, bad development in the austere desert environment. It turned out that the air conditioner was not working because the electricity was off. This is not an uncommon occurrence. All of our buildings and housing are powered by large, gas-fueled generators that require intensive maintenance to keep working. Periodic power shut downs are common as the local maintenance teams work on the generators.
No problem, I thought to myself. I would just use this as an opportunity to go into work a little early and get a little more done. Maybe even get ahead of some things, right? Wrong. I stepped into the shower, turned the handle, and discovered that the water was off as well. This is also a common occurrence here. Our water is trucked in daily by large tanker trucks that go from place to place on the post topping off the various water reservoirs that feed the pipes.
Note: This daily water ration has taught me a great deal about water conservation. As we have a finite amount of water to use every day, everyone has an obligation to be aqua-frugal. The practice of "combat showers" is enforced here. That is as follows: turn the water on, get wet, turn off the water - soap and shampoo - turn the water back on and rinse - turn the water off again.
Now, I am OK with the power going out and I am OK with the water being off - the two together...not so much. Maybe I've just gotten entirely too comfortable with my meager creature comforts. I should probably just think about my brothers who were here in 2003 and often went weeks without a shower. Nah, I'll just bitch about it on my blog.
So, I end up doing some basic personal hygiene (wash face, shave, brush teeth) with a one-liter bottle of water. Works well enough. Since I couldn't make coffee - another creature comfort I rely heavily on - I figured I would just stop off at the Green Beans Coffee and grab a MOAC. The MOAC, for those of you who are wondering, is short for the Mother Of All Coffees. It is a lovely invention developed by the good people at Green Beans Coffee. It consists of a 24-ounce cup of their house coffee with FOUR shots of espresso dumped in. It is a smoker that is guaranteed to wipe away even the most well-earned fatigue.
Approaching the Bean, I carefully listen for the sounds of generators - I don't know how far reaching this power outage is, after all. Good - the power is on here. I walk inside and ask Haseem, the Pakistani coffee guy for a MOAC. I leaf through a copy of Stars and Stripes as he loads up the espresso for brewing. The next thing I know, we are standing in the dark. The power outage has followed me to the Bean. After a few minutes, I throw in the towel and leave.
Luckily, I was able to get to my CP (Command Post, you civilians) and brew some rich, black Starbucks. It was a shaky start, though. I hope for better things tomorrow.
Mahalo for now. It's midnight and that means it is time to head over to the gym.
Cheers!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
It's All Connected
Twenty years ago today, the Iraqi Army rolled seven hundred tanks south across the Kuwaiti border and conquered the small Gulf state in two days. A few days later, the United States led a coalition force into Saudi Arabia and launched Operation Desert Storm in January 1991. The longest air strike in the history of aerial warfare was followed by an impressive land invasion that pushed the Iraqi forces back across the border in just under one hundred hours. U.S. forces remained in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in an effort to maintain the peace and stability of the region.
This U.S. presence in "The Kingdom" raised the ire of a young and rich Saudi who had funding Mujaheddin fighters in Afghanistan and had helped them (with a little help from the United States Special Forces and CIA operatives) push the Soviet Union back across their own border. The Soviets had invaded Afghanistan a decade earlier. As a part of his efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bin Laden formed an Islamic militant organization called Al Qaeda. Following the war, Al Qaeda sought to move elsewhere around the globe to bring Jihad against the enemies of Islam. At the time of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Bin Laden - then living in Saudi Arabia again - offered the assistance of his army of Mujaheddin fighters to defeat Saddam Hussein's forces. The Saudi leader, King Fahd, declined the offer, preferring to allow the American-led coalition take the lead.
This angered Bin Laden. Aside from the perceived dismissal at the hands of his king, Bin Laden hated the idea of Western infidels living as guests on Saudi Arabian soil. He saw the American presence as disgracing the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia - the land of the two mosques. His outspoken protests resulted in Bin Laden's banishment from the kingdom.
He set up shop in the Sudan and, later, back in Afghanistan. He directed the efforts of Al Qaeda in the 1990s against the United States and its interests abroad. The 1993 World Trade Center bombings, the 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and, finally, the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Of course, the September 11th attacks resulted in the United States initiating the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 and the Global War on Terror. By extension, the Bush administration initiated the March 2003 invasion of Iraq in which Saddam Hussein was driven from power and subsequently captured, tried, and executed.
Today, twenty years to the day after those first Iraqi tanks rolled across the Kuwaiti border, I sit here deployed not fifteen miles from where they crossed. I remember walking into work on August 2, 1990. My friend, Wes, asked me if I had seen the news. He proceeded to inform me that "the Middle East just exploded." He added that our world would never be the same. Standing there in a the hallway of a suburban police station, I doubt either of us understood just how right he was in his assessment of what had happened that morning.
This angered Bin Laden. Aside from the perceived dismissal at the hands of his king, Bin Laden hated the idea of Western infidels living as guests on Saudi Arabian soil. He saw the American presence as disgracing the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia - the land of the two mosques. His outspoken protests resulted in Bin Laden's banishment from the kingdom.
He set up shop in the Sudan and, later, back in Afghanistan. He directed the efforts of Al Qaeda in the 1990s against the United States and its interests abroad. The 1993 World Trade Center bombings, the 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and, finally, the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Of course, the September 11th attacks resulted in the United States initiating the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 and the Global War on Terror. By extension, the Bush administration initiated the March 2003 invasion of Iraq in which Saddam Hussein was driven from power and subsequently captured, tried, and executed.
Today, twenty years to the day after those first Iraqi tanks rolled across the Kuwaiti border, I sit here deployed not fifteen miles from where they crossed. I remember walking into work on August 2, 1990. My friend, Wes, asked me if I had seen the news. He proceeded to inform me that "the Middle East just exploded." He added that our world would never be the same. Standing there in a the hallway of a suburban police station, I doubt either of us understood just how right he was in his assessment of what had happened that morning.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Love Reign Over Me
This morning, I enjoyed one of the little recurring pleasures we have here - I watched a DVD on my laptop. Today's selection was Mike Bender's 2007 drama, Reign Over Me, starring Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler. One of the truths about being on deployment is that the one thing you have in abundance is time. That being said, this film was a very worthwhile way to spend a hundred and twenty-four minutes of that time.
The film is about two dental school roommates (Sandler and Cheadle) who are reunited years later in New York City. While Cheadle runs a successful dental practice, it is apparent that the quirky and disheveled Sandler, who doesn't initially remember who Cheadle is, suffers from some type of mental disorder. As the story progresses, we learn that Sandler's character lost his wife and three daughters in the attacks of September 11th. They were flying from Boston to Los Angeles for a family wedding when their plane was hijacked.
Cheadle sets out to help his old friend make sense of his life and get psychiatric treatment; two things Sandler is resistant to because remembering is far too painful.
Sandler's performance is amazing, perhaps the best I've seen from him. His portrayal of Charlie Fineman is touching and poignant. He brings an incredibly subdued humor to this movie. In contrast to his normally over-the-top laughs, this portrayal is not slapstick at all. I was reminded at times of a young Dustin Hoffman. Sandler may very well have finally made the jump from comedic movie star to serious dramatic actor.
Cheadle, as always, dominates the screen with his subtle command of his craft.
Several other great actors and comedians round out the cast - Donald Sutherland, Robert Klein, Liv Tyler, and BJ Novak to name a few - but there is another supporting character deserving of mention: the music. Writer and director Mike Binder uses a specific selection of music including Bruce Springsteen, the Pretenders, and Jackson Browne to show how Sandler, mentally and emotionally running away from anything reminding him of his lost family, has taken to almost obsessively latching on to the music of his pre-marriage youth. Even down to his ongoing collecting of vinyl records. In addition, Sandler's character is never seen without his noise-canceling headphones and iPod that he uses to block out the outside world when it become too much for him to bear.
An honorary mention should go out to Pearl Jam for their cover of The Who's classic, Love Reign O'er Me. They honor the legacy of this song with an exceptional version recorded specifically for this film.
All in all this film is a portrayal of grief, love, loss, and mental illness. It is about friendship and camaraderie; it is about reaching out to a friend and helping in a time of need.
The film is about two dental school roommates (Sandler and Cheadle) who are reunited years later in New York City. While Cheadle runs a successful dental practice, it is apparent that the quirky and disheveled Sandler, who doesn't initially remember who Cheadle is, suffers from some type of mental disorder. As the story progresses, we learn that Sandler's character lost his wife and three daughters in the attacks of September 11th. They were flying from Boston to Los Angeles for a family wedding when their plane was hijacked.
Cheadle sets out to help his old friend make sense of his life and get psychiatric treatment; two things Sandler is resistant to because remembering is far too painful.
Sandler's performance is amazing, perhaps the best I've seen from him. His portrayal of Charlie Fineman is touching and poignant. He brings an incredibly subdued humor to this movie. In contrast to his normally over-the-top laughs, this portrayal is not slapstick at all. I was reminded at times of a young Dustin Hoffman. Sandler may very well have finally made the jump from comedic movie star to serious dramatic actor.
Cheadle, as always, dominates the screen with his subtle command of his craft.
Several other great actors and comedians round out the cast - Donald Sutherland, Robert Klein, Liv Tyler, and BJ Novak to name a few - but there is another supporting character deserving of mention: the music. Writer and director Mike Binder uses a specific selection of music including Bruce Springsteen, the Pretenders, and Jackson Browne to show how Sandler, mentally and emotionally running away from anything reminding him of his lost family, has taken to almost obsessively latching on to the music of his pre-marriage youth. Even down to his ongoing collecting of vinyl records. In addition, Sandler's character is never seen without his noise-canceling headphones and iPod that he uses to block out the outside world when it become too much for him to bear.
An honorary mention should go out to Pearl Jam for their cover of The Who's classic, Love Reign O'er Me. They honor the legacy of this song with an exceptional version recorded specifically for this film.
All in all this film is a portrayal of grief, love, loss, and mental illness. It is about friendship and camaraderie; it is about reaching out to a friend and helping in a time of need.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sandbags and Cigar Smoke
Last night, we experienced an unusual drop in temperature. It felt like it was in the high-eighties, which is pretty nice for this part of the world. More importantly, there was no wind, therefore, no dust and sand. Lately, we've been beset by massive humidity in the evening hours.
The winds, called shamals, normally blow in across thousands of miles of desert. Sometimes, however, they shift and come in from the Persian Gulf, resulting in incredibly high humidity. We usually know when it is occurring because the smell of salt water precedes the humidity by an hour or two. This has been happening for the last two or three nights. It makes life difficult since the lack of humidity is pretty much the only thing that makes the 110 to 130 degree temperatures even remotely tolerable.
Last night, though, we caught a break. The temperature dropped and the shamals took a break from bringing us her sands or her humidity.
I took full advantage to the situation. I grabbed a Perdomo Habano-Corojo from my secret stash (a Pelican 1060 Micro Case turned field expedient humidor) and headed outside. I found a quiet and isolated spot outside the Command Post tent and lit up. Hard times demand simple pleasures. Sitting on the ground and resting my back against a pile of sandbags while the hum of diesel generators provided "mood music" in the background, I forgot about Kuwait, Iraq, the war, and about being deployed. Instead, I enjoyed a smooth cigar and looked at the stars that peppered the night sky.
As I watched the exhaled smoke drift away, I dreamed of home. Helping the kids with homework, helping Andrea make dinner, enjoying a glass of red wine, starting graduate school, watching Law & Order with Andrea, and running past houses in my neighborhood instead of past guard towers and concrete bunkers.
I was reminded about the two great benefits of hardship: it makes it much easier to appreciate what you have and it takes very little to improve on your situation with simple pleasures.
The winds, called shamals, normally blow in across thousands of miles of desert. Sometimes, however, they shift and come in from the Persian Gulf, resulting in incredibly high humidity. We usually know when it is occurring because the smell of salt water precedes the humidity by an hour or two. This has been happening for the last two or three nights. It makes life difficult since the lack of humidity is pretty much the only thing that makes the 110 to 130 degree temperatures even remotely tolerable.
Last night, though, we caught a break. The temperature dropped and the shamals took a break from bringing us her sands or her humidity.
I took full advantage to the situation. I grabbed a Perdomo Habano-Corojo from my secret stash (a Pelican 1060 Micro Case turned field expedient humidor) and headed outside. I found a quiet and isolated spot outside the Command Post tent and lit up. Hard times demand simple pleasures. Sitting on the ground and resting my back against a pile of sandbags while the hum of diesel generators provided "mood music" in the background, I forgot about Kuwait, Iraq, the war, and about being deployed. Instead, I enjoyed a smooth cigar and looked at the stars that peppered the night sky.
As I watched the exhaled smoke drift away, I dreamed of home. Helping the kids with homework, helping Andrea make dinner, enjoying a glass of red wine, starting graduate school, watching Law & Order with Andrea, and running past houses in my neighborhood instead of past guard towers and concrete bunkers.
I was reminded about the two great benefits of hardship: it makes it much easier to appreciate what you have and it takes very little to improve on your situation with simple pleasures.
Back in the Sand
Hello again, faithful readers. Regrettably, I am posting this, my latest entry, from my command tent in the blazing sands of the Arabian Desert. My days of enjoying time with my lovely wife and amazing children at our compound in Wasillastan are behind me. No worries. Our time in Alaska was incredibly well-spent and enriching. As with any vacation, there are a few things I would have liked to do that we were unable to get to, but overall it was fun and action-packed. More importantly, I accomplished the thing I most wanted to do, which was to spend lots of time hanging out with the clan.
I managed to fly in and out of nine airports in two weeks - Kuwait International, Leipzig-Halle in Germany, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Anchorage, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Atlanta, then Leipzig Halle and Kuwait International again.
The high point of the traveling was probably Dallas. The American Airlines' Admirals Club in Dallas allows Soldiers traveling on R&R to use their facilities for free. Joe simply walks up to the reception desk in uniform and presents his DA Form 31 (the ever valuable leave authorization paperwork) and boarding pass to the clerk and he or she is granted access to the inner sanctum. The high point for me was the private shower room. Fresh towels, soap, shampoo, and a shaving kit in a nicely decorated and freshly cleaned private shower. After spending more than half a day sweating in the heat at Ali Al Saleem Airbase in preparation for leaving Kuwait followed by another thirty-six hours of trans-Atlantic traveling, I was more than ready for the relaxation of a hot shower. The coffee there was excellent, as well.
The low point of the traveling was definitely in Atlanta. After we boarded the filled-to-capacity charter flight that was going to take us back to Babylon, we experienced one delay for an equipment malfunction (repaired on site) and a second due to heavy congestion on the runway. All in all, we sat on this crowded airplane for two and a half hours prior to take-off. Thankfully, the folks in charge didn't feel the need to let us disembark the aircraft and wait the two and a half hours in the comfortable and air-conditioned terminal. It was much more character building to wait it out in my cramped airplane seat with no air-conditioning.
Finally, we got airborne and worked our way back across the Atlantic and into Arabia. I spent the first half of the trip working on a paper for school. By the time we reached Germany, my laptop was dead. After that, I finished reading Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut while drinking cup after cup of black coffee and listening to the Ramones on my iPod.
It didn't take long to settle back into the daily grind of desert life. Bland food on plastic plates, my messy and hygienically-challenged roommate, waking up to the sounds of Blackhawk and Apache helicopter rotors, and, of course, walking through the blinding sandstorms that leave tiny particles of sand embedded in your eyes, ears, hair, clothes, and every exposed wrinkle. On the positive side, I brought back a little bit of Alaskan delight with me - six beautiful bags of Raven's Brew coffee, one of the most delicious blends of joe ever roasted.
That's enough for now. I've got to check out of the net for a while. Tonight is grilled steak and crab legs night at the DFAC (Dining Facility, the facility formerly known as the Chow Hall. That's another thing I missed during my brief stay in America...the art of knowing what day it is by the dinner menu!
I managed to fly in and out of nine airports in two weeks - Kuwait International, Leipzig-Halle in Germany, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Anchorage, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Atlanta, then Leipzig Halle and Kuwait International again.
The high point of the traveling was probably Dallas. The American Airlines' Admirals Club in Dallas allows Soldiers traveling on R&R to use their facilities for free. Joe simply walks up to the reception desk in uniform and presents his DA Form 31 (the ever valuable leave authorization paperwork) and boarding pass to the clerk and he or she is granted access to the inner sanctum. The high point for me was the private shower room. Fresh towels, soap, shampoo, and a shaving kit in a nicely decorated and freshly cleaned private shower. After spending more than half a day sweating in the heat at Ali Al Saleem Airbase in preparation for leaving Kuwait followed by another thirty-six hours of trans-Atlantic traveling, I was more than ready for the relaxation of a hot shower. The coffee there was excellent, as well.
The low point of the traveling was definitely in Atlanta. After we boarded the filled-to-capacity charter flight that was going to take us back to Babylon, we experienced one delay for an equipment malfunction (repaired on site) and a second due to heavy congestion on the runway. All in all, we sat on this crowded airplane for two and a half hours prior to take-off. Thankfully, the folks in charge didn't feel the need to let us disembark the aircraft and wait the two and a half hours in the comfortable and air-conditioned terminal. It was much more character building to wait it out in my cramped airplane seat with no air-conditioning.
Finally, we got airborne and worked our way back across the Atlantic and into Arabia. I spent the first half of the trip working on a paper for school. By the time we reached Germany, my laptop was dead. After that, I finished reading Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut while drinking cup after cup of black coffee and listening to the Ramones on my iPod.
It didn't take long to settle back into the daily grind of desert life. Bland food on plastic plates, my messy and hygienically-challenged roommate, waking up to the sounds of Blackhawk and Apache helicopter rotors, and, of course, walking through the blinding sandstorms that leave tiny particles of sand embedded in your eyes, ears, hair, clothes, and every exposed wrinkle. On the positive side, I brought back a little bit of Alaskan delight with me - six beautiful bags of Raven's Brew coffee, one of the most delicious blends of joe ever roasted.
That's enough for now. I've got to check out of the net for a while. Tonight is grilled steak and crab legs night at the DFAC (Dining Facility, the facility formerly known as the Chow Hall. That's another thing I missed during my brief stay in America...the art of knowing what day it is by the dinner menu!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The Land of the Midnight Sun
I thought the hardest thing to adjust to would be going from the 120 degree, desolate, flat deserts to the 58-72 degree, lush, mountains - but I was wrong. The strangest adjustment, thus far, has been the white nights. The white nights, or midnight sun, is the phenomenon common near the Arctic Circle in which the sun stays above the horizon for over twenty hours a day and nightfall is never darker than twilight. The most obvious effect is the lack of natural time sense. On more than one occasion, we've been sitting in our mountain cabin in the afternoon puzzled at why everyone is so hungry. A simple glance at my watch reveals the mystery - it's ten o'clock at night and we haven't had dinner! Of course, the positive side is that we have more than enough hours of daylight to do activities with the kids and to see the amazing mountain ranges that encircle us.
The landscape and the wildlife here are amazing. Bald eagles fly overhead and moose occasionally wander into people's yards. Local hiking stores carry ample supplies of large pepper spray canisters to help hikers and campers ward off bears. The accepted protocol for dealing with bears, besides avoidance, seems to be as follows: make noise so the bear is inclined to go the other way; if the bear continues to approach because he appears curious or in want of your food, make threatening noises that let the bear know that you "mean business"; if the bear is not dissuaded by your noises and charges, you should stand your ground as most bear charges are bluffs (most). Finally, if the bear does attack, your choices are to get into a fetal position to protect your vital organs or, and this is my favorite advice, fight the bear. Yes, folks, you read that correctly. The correct and appropriate defense against a bear attack is to fight the 1500 pound alpha predator and hope for the best. Obviously, I hope our vacation happens without a hitch, but if I did happen to find myself hiking in Denali National Park with my family and end up kicking a bear's ass - I'll have the best vacation story EVER.
I photographed this guy stealing nest building materials from other birds at Potter Marsh, a Coastal Wildlife Refuge located just south of Anchorage. The marsh has a boardwalk to make it accessible to pedestrians and allow people to view wildlife up close.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Music Across the Ages
My friend George and I have started sort of a music exchange recently. A while back, he posted some information about a new album by a band called The Hold Steady. I'd never heard them, so I asked him to load some tunes up and send them to me. What I got was a flash drive with a couple of dozen albums. Really good shit, too. Mostly guitar heavy, story-teller type stuff and jam bands. I decided to return the favor so, after I loaded the music onto my hard drive and iPod, I loaded up a couple of dozen different albums and sent the flash drive back to George.
A generation ago - when I was a young man in my early twenties - having access to that much music while on a deployment would involve having boxes and boxes of cassette tapes. That simply wasn't practical when space is a premium.
I still recall packing for our U.N. deployment to Egypt in 1987. I don't recall if I purchased a new Walkman for the trip, although I probably did; but I do recall sorting through my cassette tapes to ensure that I only picked the very best of the best. Stuff I wouldn't mind listening to over and over again.
Not to sound nostalgic, but those ancient music players had some great qualities. For example, if you dumped your Walkman in the water - like I did with my iPod when I fell into my canal a few months ago - all you lost was maybe the Walkman and maybe the one cassette that was inside. You didn't lose your entire collection of over five thousand songs, which is what almost happened to me. Luckily, I had backed my music up with an external hard drive.
Five or six of the albums George sent were unplayable my me because those cancerous jackals at iTunes blocked me out since I didn't buy the songs and, therefore, lacked the proper licensure. Guess what??? No friggin' cassette or CD ever refused to play for me because I couldn't produce a receipt form Spec's!!!
Anyway, it's good to have some new music. That becomes critical during the long and boring hours that these deployments can be made up of.
A generation ago - when I was a young man in my early twenties - having access to that much music while on a deployment would involve having boxes and boxes of cassette tapes. That simply wasn't practical when space is a premium.
I still recall packing for our U.N. deployment to Egypt in 1987. I don't recall if I purchased a new Walkman for the trip, although I probably did; but I do recall sorting through my cassette tapes to ensure that I only picked the very best of the best. Stuff I wouldn't mind listening to over and over again.
Not to sound nostalgic, but those ancient music players had some great qualities. For example, if you dumped your Walkman in the water - like I did with my iPod when I fell into my canal a few months ago - all you lost was maybe the Walkman and maybe the one cassette that was inside. You didn't lose your entire collection of over five thousand songs, which is what almost happened to me. Luckily, I had backed my music up with an external hard drive.
Five or six of the albums George sent were unplayable my me because those cancerous jackals at iTunes blocked me out since I didn't buy the songs and, therefore, lacked the proper licensure. Guess what??? No friggin' cassette or CD ever refused to play for me because I couldn't produce a receipt form Spec's!!!
Anyway, it's good to have some new music. That becomes critical during the long and boring hours that these deployments can be made up of.
Monday, May 17, 2010
What's In a Name?
I certainly named this blog accurately. Darkness has fallen on what is now the fifth straight day of sandstorms - or is it just the same long storm? The fascinating thing is how similar in their behavior the sandstorms are to the rains back home. Sometimes it is like a drizzle and other days it is torrential, figuratively speaking. Today, for example, was relatively clear most of the day, except for some heavy winds and sand around lunchtime. Two days ago, they wouldn't let convoys launch because the sands were so bad that the medevac helicopters couldn't fly out to rescue wounded if anything bad happened. Better to delay the missions than risk not being able to get help to them if they need it. I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings.
School starts again next week. Only two classes this time, so it should be significantly less brutal than last semester. In the fall, I have one CLEP-like exam and one more class and I'll be finished!
Peace!
A sandstorm blowing across Kuwait City last week.
School starts again next week. Only two classes this time, so it should be significantly less brutal than last semester. In the fall, I have one CLEP-like exam and one more class and I'll be finished!
Peace!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Of Heritage and Horror
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to watch some movies on DVD. By chance, two of the movies dealt with the holocaust. One was Roman Polanski’s Academy Award winning masterpiece, The Pianist. (Note: For those of you who haven’t seen this film, I recommend you watch it as soon as possible. It is that good.) The 2002 film, based on the memoir of the same name, follows Polish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman’s day to day life from the early days of the German occupation of Poland through the end of the war.
The other was 2008’s The Reader, starring Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet, who, by the way, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. The movie details a youthful affair between the two protagonists and how their lives cross years later in light of the revelation that Winslet’s character had been a guard at Auschwitz during World War II.Both movies explore the human experience during Hitler’s attempt at exterminating the Jews – in showing both mankinds’ ability to maintain hope in the face of the most adverse conditions imaginable and in its ability to savage fellow human beings.
While watching these films, I could not help but recall my visit to the Dachau concentration camp in Germany in 2005. We were at the end of a three-week training mission in Hohenfels, Germany. The visit to Dachau was part of a tour of cultural and historic sites.
Towards the end of our time there a group of Soldiers approached – each in his own way appeared disturbed by what he had seen. One of them, a corporal, asked me the question nobody in the civilized world has been able to answer for sixty years: “How did this happen?”
I told them to think about what they had seen and to remember that this is why we fight. Because men are still willing to prey on their weakest neighbors and commit unspeakable atrocities against the weak and the defenseless. We do what we do because we have an obligation, as free human beings, to travel to faraway places and try to make things right – or at least to protect the weak who cannot protect themselves. Bosnia, Somalia, Darfur… All places where human beings have descended into the evil shadows of themselves.
I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those American Soldiers in Europe when they stumbled upon the concentration camps. Death camps filled with the skinny, wretched victims of the worst mankind has to offer.
I can’t imagine what they felt, but I am proud to share my heritage with them.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Relief at last...
Finally, a moment to breathe. Last night - well, this morning really, thanks to the seven-hour time difference - two of my three classes ended. I'm still exhausted. I finished my last paper and submitted it around 0830, but then I had to attend an IG briefing at 1000. I walked to my room and managed a thirty minute nap. Of course, the briefer was late and we didn't start until twenty minutes after. When I finally got to sleep, it was only good for a couple of hours because I had to meet someone at my office for an investigative interview. After that, I figured I might as well stay up for the remainder and try to click back into a normal sleep schedule.
This week, I will drag myself back to the gym and try to tighten up before going on leave.
I'm very excited about my mid-tour leave coming up next month. I'm flying to Alaska where I'll meet up with Andi and the kids. I haven't checked it on the globe, but my suspicion is that I am flying the long way around the planet. I have to remember to bring my travel mug on the plane - Soldiers are not permitted to imbibe of delicious adult beverages while in uniform, so I will do what we warriors do best: camouflage!
We have a beautiful cabin rented about an hour north of Anchorage. A salmon filled stream runs through the property behind the house. It sounds like a perfect break away from this sand-filled spot in the middle of nowhere. We have some different activities planned to do with the kids, but mostly I just want to chill out and enjoy my time with my family.
My sister found some old pictures of me from when I was a young, 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper - lean and mean. Hard to believe I was ever that young...or that thin.
This week, I will drag myself back to the gym and try to tighten up before going on leave.
I'm very excited about my mid-tour leave coming up next month. I'm flying to Alaska where I'll meet up with Andi and the kids. I haven't checked it on the globe, but my suspicion is that I am flying the long way around the planet. I have to remember to bring my travel mug on the plane - Soldiers are not permitted to imbibe of delicious adult beverages while in uniform, so I will do what we warriors do best: camouflage!
We have a beautiful cabin rented about an hour north of Anchorage. A salmon filled stream runs through the property behind the house. It sounds like a perfect break away from this sand-filled spot in the middle of nowhere. We have some different activities planned to do with the kids, but mostly I just want to chill out and enjoy my time with my family.
My sister found some old pictures of me from when I was a young, 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper - lean and mean. Hard to believe I was ever that young...or that thin.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Hail Scholasticus!
I can almost see the finish line from here. Two of the three college classes I'm taking end next weekend. I might actually get a chance to breathe after that. Lately, my days are filled with company business during daylight followed by reading textbooks, writing papers, and taking online exams in the evening. Saturday and Sunday are usually my crunch time - that's when I hit the deadline for most of my assignments and the best days to atone for the week's procrastination.
Tonight is no different. Fueled by gallons of fresh, black coffee and an iPod filled with Black Flag, Lou Reed, and N.W.A., I will be reading and typing until dawn. In the morning, I'll crawl to the chow hall for eggs, Tabasco sauce, and more coffee; then use my new found energy to stagger across the compound to the trailer where my bed is. If I time it right, I'll stay awake long enough to undress before I fall into my Monday morning coma.
On the upside, one of my assignments this week was to watch Crimson Tide and then answer several essay questions about the leadership styles of the two main characters, played by Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. Not a bad gig, watching DVDs for homework. I expect to have my degree complete before the end of the deployment.
Next week, I'll celebrate by cracking open a book that has nothing to do with school and then find my way back to the gym. My trips to the gym have screeched to a stop until the end of the semester next week (I actually still have a week or two left in my Behavioral Management class, but once the work load drops to one class, the gym becomes realistic again), but my morning runs have stayed pretty constant. I've hit a plateau with my 5K time, though. I have to integrate some interval training and speed work into the runs if I want to break the stalemate.
Time to sign off and get back to the books. This has been a welcome distraction, but unless my professors start giving extra credit for blog entries then this is getting me no where.
Hellion Six, out!
Tonight is no different. Fueled by gallons of fresh, black coffee and an iPod filled with Black Flag, Lou Reed, and N.W.A., I will be reading and typing until dawn. In the morning, I'll crawl to the chow hall for eggs, Tabasco sauce, and more coffee; then use my new found energy to stagger across the compound to the trailer where my bed is. If I time it right, I'll stay awake long enough to undress before I fall into my Monday morning coma.
On the upside, one of my assignments this week was to watch Crimson Tide and then answer several essay questions about the leadership styles of the two main characters, played by Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. Not a bad gig, watching DVDs for homework. I expect to have my degree complete before the end of the deployment.
Next week, I'll celebrate by cracking open a book that has nothing to do with school and then find my way back to the gym. My trips to the gym have screeched to a stop until the end of the semester next week (I actually still have a week or two left in my Behavioral Management class, but once the work load drops to one class, the gym becomes realistic again), but my morning runs have stayed pretty constant. I've hit a plateau with my 5K time, though. I have to integrate some interval training and speed work into the runs if I want to break the stalemate.
Time to sign off and get back to the books. This has been a welcome distraction, but unless my professors start giving extra credit for blog entries then this is getting me no where.
Hellion Six, out!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
St. Paddy's 5-K
25:40 in the Saint Patrick's Day 5K - not my best, but acceptable.
Two of my Soldiers received medals this morning. One took 3rd place female in her age group and the other took 2nd place overall. Great job by both of them!
The temp this morning was fairly cool, although it was windy and hazy. Not a full on sand or dust storm, but a lot of sand in the air. That's nice for cutting down the glare of the sun in the second half of the run, but it can rough on the lungs.
Today, I'll be blasting those in the area of my CP with plenty of Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Saint Patrick's Day
Greetings loyal readers! It is time for my monthly entry and my monthly promise to post more frequently. This post may be old news to some of you, depending on who's receiving what emails from me.
We've been getting settled in here in the Gulf and learning what we need to learn in order to take over this mission from the unit we are replacing. The conditions are austere, but in the big scheme of things, this is pretty good living for a deployment.
My "driveway" during a morning sandstorm.
There's plenty to do for us to stay busy here - everything from fitness to martial arts to college classes. Today, I started one of three online college courses I'm taking this month. If all goes according to plan, I will finish my degree by the end of the summer. I've been trying to alternate my mornings with either running or spinning and then do something else in the afternoon or evening. I've been able to squeeze in a few P90X sessions (which, quite frankly kicked my ass) and a couple jujitsu classes (which also kicked my ass...does anyone else see a pattern here?).
Tomorrow morning is the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) Saint Patrick's Day 5K Run, or as we call it here: a chance to get a free t-shirt! What can I say? Our options are kind of limited. Thanks to the evil that is General Order Number One - the DoD's prohibition against alcohol in combat zones - my options are pretty much limited to running the 5-K in the morning and maybe knocking back a few O'Doul's after work.
Lest any of you get the mistaken impression that I am spending my days running 5-Ks and doing schoolwork, that isn't the case. The fact is that the Army frowns on Soldiers discussing mission details on blogs. Remember the expression, "I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you."? Well, this is "I'd tell you, but I'd have to go to prison."
Thank you again to everyone for their support.
PJO
We've been getting settled in here in the Gulf and learning what we need to learn in order to take over this mission from the unit we are replacing. The conditions are austere, but in the big scheme of things, this is pretty good living for a deployment.
There's plenty to do for us to stay busy here - everything from fitness to martial arts to college classes. Today, I started one of three online college courses I'm taking this month. If all goes according to plan, I will finish my degree by the end of the summer. I've been trying to alternate my mornings with either running or spinning and then do something else in the afternoon or evening. I've been able to squeeze in a few P90X sessions (which, quite frankly kicked my ass) and a couple jujitsu classes (which also kicked my ass...does anyone else see a pattern here?).
Tomorrow morning is the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) Saint Patrick's Day 5K Run, or as we call it here: a chance to get a free t-shirt! What can I say? Our options are kind of limited. Thanks to the evil that is General Order Number One - the DoD's prohibition against alcohol in combat zones - my options are pretty much limited to running the 5-K in the morning and maybe knocking back a few O'Doul's after work.
Lest any of you get the mistaken impression that I am spending my days running 5-Ks and doing schoolwork, that isn't the case. The fact is that the Army frowns on Soldiers discussing mission details on blogs. Remember the expression, "I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you."? Well, this is "I'd tell you, but I'd have to go to prison."
Thank you again to everyone for their support.
PJO
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
On Pass
I'm back at wonderful Fort Hood, Texas - The Great Place - at least that's what the sign at the front gate declares. I spent the past four days on pass. It was both a welcome relief from training and preparing to cross the water and a nice chance to spend some time with Andrea and the boys.
On Saturday, we stayed local and took the boys to the First Cavalry Division Museum here on post. They enjoyed it, but I think Matthew tapped out early with boredom. Nicholas, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of the tanks, trucks, and helicopters on static display outside the museum. Afterwards, we drove to the Belton Dam. While we were there, we spied a seafood restaurant called the Dead Fish Grill. It looked decent enough and the dining room looked out over Belton Lake, so we gave it a shot. It was an excellent choice. We had the peel and eat shrimp followed by fish sandwiches. All of it was delicious.
Sunday, we decided to drive a couple of hours north to Dallas. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Press Box Grill in downtown Dallas - the food was excellent, but the service was beyond terrible - then headed to the Dallas Zoo. We had given the boys a choice between the zoo and the science museum and they both screamed, "ZOO!!!" in unison. The zoo's high points included the King Cobra, Black Mamba, and the albino Alligators. To round out our time in Dallas, we returned to downtown and took the boys to the site of the JFK assassination. I explained to Matthew who JFK was, explained a little about the assassination, and pointed out the window Lee Harvey Oswald shot from. Then I told him just to file the information away in his brain so that when he learns about this in history class one day, he can dust off his memories and have a decent visualization of what they're teaching.
The next day, we headed south to San Antonio. Of course, we made the obligatory stop at the Alamo first. Unfortunately for the educational-minded parent in me, the boys immediately spotted the Ripley's Believe It Or Not and Guinness Book of World Records museums across the street. They begged, I gave in, we ended up spending some hard earned money and time looking at the World's Largest Twister Game and reading about the World's Largest Star Wars Memorabilia Collection (it's in England, by the way). We ate lunch at the Chart House, a revolving restaurant at the top of the Tower of the America's. It sits almost six hundred feet in the air and provides the diner with a revolving, panoramic view of San Antonio. After lunch, we wandered the Riverwalk for a bit, took a boat tour, and enjoyed a late dinner of Mexican food.
The last day of my pass began with every kid's favorite thrill - the falling of fresh snow. After remaining snow-free since 1989, Killeen, Texas received somewhere around two and a half inches of powder on Tuesday. The boys made snowmen and we ended the day with a massive, hour-long snowball fight between me, Matthew, and Nicholas. Afterwards, we ordered a pizza delivery and chilled out in the hotel room watching Animal Planet. It was close to midnight when my ride to North Fort Hood arrived and I was forced to say good-bye once again. It was sad but the sadness was offset by how much fun I had running around with the boys and enjoying some romantic time with Andrea.
On Saturday, we stayed local and took the boys to the First Cavalry Division Museum here on post. They enjoyed it, but I think Matthew tapped out early with boredom. Nicholas, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of the tanks, trucks, and helicopters on static display outside the museum. Afterwards, we drove to the Belton Dam. While we were there, we spied a seafood restaurant called the Dead Fish Grill. It looked decent enough and the dining room looked out over Belton Lake, so we gave it a shot. It was an excellent choice. We had the peel and eat shrimp followed by fish sandwiches. All of it was delicious.Sunday, we decided to drive a couple of hours north to Dallas. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Press Box Grill in downtown Dallas - the food was excellent, but the service was beyond terrible - then headed to the Dallas Zoo. We had given the boys a choice between the zoo and the science museum and they both screamed, "ZOO!!!" in unison. The zoo's high points included the King Cobra, Black Mamba, and the albino Alligators. To round out our time in Dallas, we returned to downtown and took the boys to the site of the JFK assassination. I explained to Matthew who JFK was, explained a little about the assassination, and pointed out the window Lee Harvey Oswald shot from. Then I told him just to file the information away in his brain so that when he learns about this in history class one day, he can dust off his memories and have a decent visualization of what they're teaching.
The last day of my pass began with every kid's favorite thrill - the falling of fresh snow. After remaining snow-free since 1989, Killeen, Texas received somewhere around two and a half inches of powder on Tuesday. The boys made snowmen and we ended the day with a massive, hour-long snowball fight between me, Matthew, and Nicholas. Afterwards, we ordered a pizza delivery and chilled out in the hotel room watching Animal Planet. It was close to midnight when my ride to North Fort Hood arrived and I was forced to say good-bye once again. It was sad but the sadness was offset by how much fun I had running around with the boys and enjoying some romantic time with Andrea.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
4 a.m.
I know it has been a while since I’ve posted, but we’ve been busy…crazy busy. The past six weeks or so have been a non-stop gaggle of training, chasing training documents, weapons ranges, and the monster of all of it – planning the logistics of moving this entire task force across the ocean with all the proper weapons, computers, radios, personnel, and other miscellaneous equipment needed to fight the conflict formerly known as the Global War on Terror.
Today started with an unexpected four a.m. wake up call from the Tactical Operations Center. Never a good start to a morning. Forty minutes and three more wake-up calls later, I just said to hell with it and got up. Luckily, I just got a fresh re-supply of my favorite coffee, so I brewed a pot, hit the shower, and started the day with full-tilt crisis management. It all seemed to work out in the end, but Chapter Two will come later when I try to crush the skull of the miscreant who started the whole thing by passing along unverified and incorrect information.
Other than that, things are going well. I manage to squeeze in enough time to run or hit the gym every day and I can usually end the day with a little reading time. Depending on my levels of exhaustion, I might only get to a page or two, but I try to stay religious about it. Mike W. was kind enough to loan me Inside Out – Personal History of Pink Floyd, written by long time Floyd drummer Nick Mason. I also picked up a dog-eared copy of Jon Ronson’s book, The Men Who Stare at Goats – which details the efforts by U.S. intelligence and Army Special Forces to explore the psychics and mind-control. The Grant Heslov movie by the same name is based on this book.
Anyway, that’s all that is new in the world of Central Texas Army life. I’ll post up some more soon and I promise to update this more frequently if I can.
Friday, January 8, 2010
This morning the high plains of Texas greeted me with a balmy 19 degree Fahrenheit temperature and 24 MPH wind gusts. It made for a very pleasant walk to work this morning. We are still in-processing, so I won't bore you with the details.
I'm becoming very agitated with the coffee situation around here. The Chow Hall coffee is crap, which is to be expected, and the PX only stocks that Maxwell House garbage. I bought a can anyway because drinking it will make a suitable penance for not packing my own stock of Starbucks or Peet's. Part of me believes this weather is nothing more than the violent tantrum of an angry coffee god.
Por mi culpa...por mi culpa...
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