In a post earlier this year, I stated that night vision goggles were overrated. I was wrong and I apologize to anyone who has strong feeling for NVGs. It turns out, I just had the older version and I hadn't experienced the newer models. They are, needless to say, much cooler and better.
If you haven't talked to me for awhile, not too much has been going on in my life. I did get to have a small break in my routine. Sensing that we needed to add to our overall kickassness, our Section Sergeants arranged for sometime on the the range for us. This, however, was no ordinary go-to-the-small-arms-range trip. This was a trip to the range to control some AH-64 Apaches (now would be the time to google it). I was going to wait until I got my picture loaded from my camera but due to a USB cord malfunction y'all will have to wait. There is a really awesome picture of the chopper silhouted against the mountains and sunset. Oh well. Good things come to those who wait. But anyways, it was awesome. I was a little shaky on the radio at first, but I recovered quickly. There are few things more satisfying than saying "You're cleared hot" (Army terms for go ahead and start attacking the target).
That was a good time despite the fact that it interrupted my sleep schedule, but it was well worth it. Other than that, less than 5 months until I go on leave. Everyday that goes by I get more and more excited to come home for a few weeks. Work is going good. Nothing major to report. It was kind of a rough week in terms of guys getting hurt. We have a battalion that is attached to our Task Force from the 173rd Airborne Brigade and 4 of their guys were killed by an IED. Of the 15 paratroopers from our TF that have died, 8 have been killed as a result of IEDs. Its a frustrating thing when that happens. We are able to prevent a lot, but the ones that we can't have some devastating outcomes.
On a better note, the Cubs are within a half game of the Brewers and getting hot at the right time. Here's hoping they stay until the end of October, in which case I am going to need people to tape every Cubs postseason game so I can watch it when I get home. Less than 5 months now.
All the Way.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Time
Since I've been deployed, I have found myself (and others) becoming increasingly obsessed about time. What time to be a certain place, what time things need to get done, what time is it back home, how much time do we have left here? I have never been so concerned about the timing of things as I have been here. The kicker, however, is that you need to be slightly neurotic about time if you are going to have a properly functioning military.
In terms of needing to be a certain place at a certain time, time is not adjusted for any one person below the rank of Lt.Col. If you miss your flight, catch the next one. And learn to be there early. If you miss a link up point or are delayed in some way, it can cause operations to be FUBAR. If you don't leave by this time, the weather is going to prevent you from going anywhere. With zulu and local time over here, the time difference can really screw you up. Any instance in which a time is given, you always have to differentiate between zulu or local. If you don't, you might end up being 4.5 hour early or 4.5 hours late.
Its amazing how hard times for information can affect things in the big picture. If I don't have this report to a certain person by a certain time, then a certain task will not get done, and a certain person will not have the important information. Seeing the big picture is essential to getting things done. In some instances, things are forced to be flexible because of communication issues or more important matters have come up. But, if you are told that you have to do everything in your power, short of an act of God, to get things, you suck it up and do it. Again, you have to look at the big picture. As neurotic as it causes you to be, however, these hard times make life manageable. Each "checkpoint" that passes means you are closer to going off shift, which means one more day done and one day closer to going home.
Which goes into how much time you have left until leave or R&R. Currently, I have 289 more days left on my OEF VIII deployment. I have done 182, exactly half a year. And now, I have litte more than 5 months until I come home on leave. When I finish leave and come back into country, I will have a little more than 3.5 months until I'm finished here. Its stupid little benchmarks here and there that get you through the year. For me, I like to use sports dates. Like now, the release of NCAA Football 2008 marked my 6 month timemark. I know that start of the college football season will be my halfway point. The end of the baseball season will mark 2 months until I go home. The end of the college football season will be less than one month until R&R. The Super Bowl will be 3 months left and the start of next years baseball season will be one month left in country. Stupid little stuff like that makes life tolerable. You also start daydreaming about how much time in service you have left once you get back. A lot of people I know are either getting out or looking for something to keep them from getting stoplossed on their next deployment.
By thinking about going home, you also wonder what your friends and family are doing at that very same time. Luckily for me, I work nights, which means my schedule is pretty much on par with everyone back home because there is such a huge time difference. Hopefully, when I come home on R&R, my body won't be thrown too out of whack. You do occasionally catch yourself wondering what time is it back home. Several times early on in my deployment, I called at times that I thought were appropriate, only to discover it was the middle of the night back home. While nobody minded, I still felt kind of bad for waking everybody up.
I guess the main thing about all this is how much more aware of things I actually am now. I used to wonder how I was going to fill my free time in college (other than studying and partying, the order of which switched occasionally). Now, I value every minute of off time that I get. It will be interesting to see if life slows down or speeds by for me when I go home. Personally, I hope it does nothing but drag on.
All the Way.
In terms of needing to be a certain place at a certain time, time is not adjusted for any one person below the rank of Lt.Col. If you miss your flight, catch the next one. And learn to be there early. If you miss a link up point or are delayed in some way, it can cause operations to be FUBAR. If you don't leave by this time, the weather is going to prevent you from going anywhere. With zulu and local time over here, the time difference can really screw you up. Any instance in which a time is given, you always have to differentiate between zulu or local. If you don't, you might end up being 4.5 hour early or 4.5 hours late.
Its amazing how hard times for information can affect things in the big picture. If I don't have this report to a certain person by a certain time, then a certain task will not get done, and a certain person will not have the important information. Seeing the big picture is essential to getting things done. In some instances, things are forced to be flexible because of communication issues or more important matters have come up. But, if you are told that you have to do everything in your power, short of an act of God, to get things, you suck it up and do it. Again, you have to look at the big picture. As neurotic as it causes you to be, however, these hard times make life manageable. Each "checkpoint" that passes means you are closer to going off shift, which means one more day done and one day closer to going home.
Which goes into how much time you have left until leave or R&R. Currently, I have 289 more days left on my OEF VIII deployment. I have done 182, exactly half a year. And now, I have litte more than 5 months until I come home on leave. When I finish leave and come back into country, I will have a little more than 3.5 months until I'm finished here. Its stupid little benchmarks here and there that get you through the year. For me, I like to use sports dates. Like now, the release of NCAA Football 2008 marked my 6 month timemark. I know that start of the college football season will be my halfway point. The end of the baseball season will mark 2 months until I go home. The end of the college football season will be less than one month until R&R. The Super Bowl will be 3 months left and the start of next years baseball season will be one month left in country. Stupid little stuff like that makes life tolerable. You also start daydreaming about how much time in service you have left once you get back. A lot of people I know are either getting out or looking for something to keep them from getting stoplossed on their next deployment.
By thinking about going home, you also wonder what your friends and family are doing at that very same time. Luckily for me, I work nights, which means my schedule is pretty much on par with everyone back home because there is such a huge time difference. Hopefully, when I come home on R&R, my body won't be thrown too out of whack. You do occasionally catch yourself wondering what time is it back home. Several times early on in my deployment, I called at times that I thought were appropriate, only to discover it was the middle of the night back home. While nobody minded, I still felt kind of bad for waking everybody up.
I guess the main thing about all this is how much more aware of things I actually am now. I used to wonder how I was going to fill my free time in college (other than studying and partying, the order of which switched occasionally). Now, I value every minute of off time that I get. It will be interesting to see if life slows down or speeds by for me when I go home. Personally, I hope it does nothing but drag on.
All the Way.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Illumination and Attack Helicopters
Well, we didn't have any rockets red glare or bombs bursting in air (i.e. we didn't take any rockets), but FOB Salerno celebrated the 4th of July in its own matter. For me, there was really no change in my day to day activities. The only holidays I get excited about the opening day for baseball, my birthday (which sometime coincides with the opening day for baseball), the start of the college football season, the start of the NFL season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the College Bowl season. For the rest of the FOB, however, all sorts of activities were planned. This morning there was a 5/10k run. I am so glad that I work nights and don't get ordered to do those. Then there was a grillout at the new DFAC, but it was past my bedtime so I bypassed that. What I did participate in though was watching the Apaches do rocket runs on the large arms range. If you have never seen an Apache fire its rockets, its pretty cool. There is a small flash from each rocket, followed by a whoosh sound from the launch, and then the boom from the impact. The Apaches did several runs on the range (which is the best wakeup one can have and I say that in all seriousness). I wish I had my camera. Then, one of the firebases that is located on the other side of Khowst fired some illumination rounds to simulate fireworks. So, we didn't have the booze or a really nice grill, but we still celebrated the anniversary of us telling the British to take a hike in a unique way. Plus, now, the college football season is less than two months away.
All the Way.
All the Way.
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