Pass The Brass

Hey All!

SPC Surefire reportin in, it’s been a while I know. Things have been busy…sorta.

Well, as everyone knows my laptop took a spill and is now gathering dust. I plan on gettin it fixed when I fly home for leave. Until then, I just have to use these internet cafe’s. Whatever.

Anyway, we’ve had a few commo blackouts in the past month, so I haven’t had too much opportunity to get on here. But things have been goin ok for me. Still rather boring….but the tensions are rising. Think of the “bad guys” as being a hibernating kind of animal….or a tourist rather. They only like to come out when the weather suits them. So now that it’s summer(sorta) and the rain is gone(for the most part), the “bad guys” are back in action. Now they are gettin down to business and hookin us up with a more “active lifestyle”. Read: More booms.

I’m still kickin it up in the gun and enjoying all the “extra” body armor I get to wear. I feel so snug…like I’m getting an all day hug. It’s all good. I know I’m that much safer….riiiiight.

OH HEY! Here’s some cool news for everyone. I finally got to shoot a series of weapons for the first time in my life. The weapons are as follows: Glock 17(9mm), AK-47(7.62mm), and the PKC Machine Gun(7.62mm). The reason we got to fire these weapons was a testing range for the Iraqi Police armor. We put up two ceramic plates, two steel plates…and a humvee door armor panel(aluminum…ooOOOOoooo). You can guess which panels passed the test.

I aint been blown up yet(thank you God) and I aint been shot at(directly), so I’m still relatively safe over here. All yer prayers are workin. Tanx a bunch!

Anyway…hope everyone’s doing great back in the states. OH, and thanks again to SK, and Stoicmom, and Kat in GA and all my other letter writers. You’re all angels.

God bless!

Here are the Q’s and A’s to a short interview that Bob Walsh sent me.

1. “Sure Fire”, Can you tell me how PasstheBrass.com got started?

Passthebrass.com (PTB) was originally the brainchild of my brother Chad, the owner of Passtheammo.com (PTA). The original intent was to simply catalogue my experiences in the military. The reason the name is so similar is because it was also originally designed to be a sister site of PTA. What I didn’t know was how regulated the whole thing would turn out to be.

2. What do you feel you get out of blogging? What do you think the people who read your blog get?

I never really thought that I would get anything out of blogging except the satisfaction of my family and friends knowing what I was going through. The good times, the bad times, all that nonsense. As it turns out, blogging is one of the best ways to vent any emotions one wants. I use blogging to try to help people see what I see in the military. To sort of go through the motions without actually having to join. And I hope that that is exactly what my readers are getting from my postings.

3. What’s been the reaction of your fellow troopers to you blogging?

There’s two parts to this answer, cuz there’s two parts to my “fellow troopers”. There’s those enlisted and alongside me in the lower enlisted ranks, and then there’s those in authority. The former, thinking that what I’m doing is genuinely funny and unique, while the latter sees the security risk as well as the other risks associated with free information. It’s all understandable, but kind of a sick irony when you think about it. Goes back to the whole “join to protect free speech, and give it up when you swear in” bit. Just technicalities I’m afraid…everyone’s got their rules they have to follow.

4. Do your commanders know, and if they do/did what would be their reaction?

Oh my command knows for sure. I’ve been noticed at both of my duty stations I’ve been assigned to. My previous station saw my site as only a potential risk of Operations Security(OPSEC) whereas my current station actually saw my darker humor as a negative picture of the Army. I’ve caught some flak for the site. The command group is only trying to maintain the standards that have been so long in standing with the United States military and I am not one to try to break them down. I just want to be able to show people “how we do” with my personal taste added. It just points back to the quote, “People sleep peacefully at night because rough men stand ready to do great violence on their behalf.” - George Orwell

I’ve actually been blogging since October 2004, which you will see by my first post. I removed a years worth of blogging, after some hardcore crackdown by the higher ups. Well, I’m storing it offline at least. I decided to start fresh, and to stick to the rules a bit closer.

5. I see more than a few of your commenters are talking to each other as well – did they know each other before you started blogging?

My blog has become a small hub where a handful of people from around the states enjoy my material and have come to enjoy each others conversation. The only people on the site who know each other are my friends and family from back home. Other than that, everyone else has come to meet each other through my site as well as other milblogs. A warm feeling indeed, to be able to help others meet new and interesting people through my writings.

6. I see your brother Chad handles the mechanics of keeping your blog going. Good way to go for deployed bloggers?

My brother has a side business building websites, and he does them for a hobby as well. So he enjoys moderating the place, as well as giving it any upgrades or maintenance it might require. But it’s nice knowing that if theres a problem with the site, he can get it back in working order. He has a bit of a head start over what most other brothers might bring to the table. Hahaha!

7. Any suggestions for other soldiers who want to blog?

First: Follow the rules of the road. Anyone and their mother can access the Internet, including our enemies. Try to stay within reason and not give out any secrets, huh? Anonyminity has been known to help with very successful blogs (AS). I myself tried it out…to no avail in that I started off with my full name on display. Also, don’t bother listing company names and such, as it will usually lead to you getting found out. HAHA!

I have also found that brutal honesty and core feelings are a big hit with the public. People like to see how we soldiers really feel sometimes. All they see are our products. The mainstream media never shows them our personalities.

8. Can I/Should I use your real name and rank? (I just added this to the list since you emailed..)

I’d rather you stuck with my handle, “Surefire”. I’m still tryin’ to maintain a little anonyminity.

Promotion

Thats right, folks. Sure Fire finally got his long overdue promotion. He is now Specialips Specialist Sure Fire. So he’s happy about that. So now I’ll have to salute my little brother, as I pin him down for weggies. Ah, who am I kiddin. He can probably take me down, these days. I miss the good ol’ days of chasing him around the house, cos of his backtalk, and ending up in a brutal wrestling match on lawn in the sideyard. I swear, my older brother and I would chase him down, sit on him, make him eat dirt… and he’d still be talking smack. He never did know when to shut that yapper. But that was our job as older brothers… to always remind him of his inferior status.

House

And better yet, SF just bought a house! Well… together we did. The clown probably doesn’t even know it yet, because he hasn’t been checking his email. The one labeled URGENT - We Need Your W2! So, since he probably checks this site before his email, maybe he’ll know to hurry up and fax that to us ASAP!

Update

And as you can all see, he still hasn’t had very much access to “the internets“. But I guess he had some time today, to email the news of his promotion. Also, a feller sent him a few interview questions for a book he’s writing on milbloggers. As soon as I can get SF to answer those, I’ll probably post the Q’s and A’s on here.

And on my lunch break I checked the computer where I was signed onto messenger to find this message waiting.

SF Says: I got promoted…could you throw a nice little post up on PTB for me? Tanx bro

SF Says: and tell Jame I can’t wait to see her

SF says: tell her that I miss her SOOOOOoooOOoooOOooOOOOoo bad….yah that

SF says: and spice it up or something

SF says: put a nice little spin on it for me

SF says: thanx again dude. Hey I miss you guys

SF says: See you all in May

So I’m going to try to spice things up a bit, as per his wishes… Lemme see here.

“Dear Jamie,

I like you. Will you be my friend?

You smell like a basket of roses, and garlands of fresh herbs.

I don’t know how to put this but I’m kind of a big deal. People know me. I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

Also, I would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party.”

And thats the best I can do. Granted I didn’t exactly write that using my own genious. I won’t lie to you, Ron Burgandy did. He’s a real man.

I’m Chad Coleman, signing out. Stay Classy, San Diego.