Pass The Brass

Now that I’m back for a few days and I actually have the resources necessary to update my photoblog, I’m gonna see what I can do to bolster that thing up to standard. But seeing as It’s been a bit since I’ve been able to add anything, things might be a little slow at first.

“Good things come to those that wait.”

**Update** Um…yah, I kinda…didn’t do this. My bad, dawg.

Apparently R&R is a very sensitive time for most troops.

Being away from “the norm” for so long we pick up habits that may end up causing some form of conflict with either family, friends…or just society in general. I myself heard all the stories and kept telling myself, “I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s just like any other vacation.” But I have caught myself choking on my own words.

There are so many things that soldiers will feel upon returning to the states. I’m not going to go into all of them right now. That would be a little more complicated than my current “One Year of Public High School Psychology” degree would cover. So I’ll just give you my perspective.

One of the main things they tell us before we return home for either our break or for good, is that reality is harsh. Thing’s don’t always go as you had planned. The biggest thing here is the reactuion you can expect from people back stateside. They tell us, “Don’t expect the hero’s welcome.” I for one never did. I know I’m nuthin’ special except to those I love. They are the only ones I ever expected any kind of overjoyed greeting to come from. I didn’t expect one of those scenes from the movies where we walk into the terminal after landing and having crowds of people standing and applauding with the confetti stuff flyin through the air and all these “Welcome home troops!” signs hanging all over. I knew I was going to come home and walk into an airport where people still bump into you trying to get where they’re going and not even bother a glance in your direction. I that back here it’s back to “Rule Numero Uno…don’t mess with tex-oh wait that’s not it. Rule Number One: Look out for number one. It’s back to survival of the fittest here instead of the “All for one, one for all” attitude of brotherhood in the sand pit. Not that everyone has that….but you can tell a big difference in the overall attitude of the place.

I walked into the same airport that I left back in December. Nothin changed. And yet…I caught myself feeling those very thoughts I didn’t think I’d have. I felt those little jabs of resentment that there was no Grand PooBah celebration. But who am I to say I deserve a greeting as such? Nobody. I did get the occasional “Thank you for serving.” comments which are more than enough. The fact that I got just one is more than enough. Do I deserve some kind of special treatment? Hell no. I may be a soldier but I volunteered. I’m just a regular guy like everyone else. Nothing special about me gives the “right” to have better treatment than anyone else.

Remember though…I speak for myself. There are too many to count in the Armed Forces that have displayed the courage and valor that I can only dream about. There are plenty of heros in the the military. Those are the one’s who deserve those massive greetings. Two specifically in our company. Those who have given more than time; More than a little energy. Those guys deserve the heros welcome.

I realized my selfishness and tried to put it away right then and there. My heros greeting wasn’t waiting at any of my connecting stations…it was right here at home.

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On the morning of May 26th, between the hours of 2:00AM and 4:00AM, in the year of our Lord, 2006, my brother and his wife had their firstborn. A baby girl.

All congratulations go out to him and his wife!

…and I’m an uncle again.

Well, it looks like I got the “OK” to go home for a few weeks. I’m lookin at the end of this month flyin in to my beloved home state of Idaho…may she reign forever. I’ll prolly end up spending most of my “vacation” working on my house, or some other odd job around the place. As I always say…”No rest for the wicked.” And as my PSG once said to me..”Why’s it gotta be wicked?” I understand that it is merely the job title…not the person themselves.

By the way, I recently had a command change over(battalion level) and I am now under the same battalion that covers the unit from Georgia that my good buddy Todd Spango is currently in. I don’t know if he ever reads my junk…I can recall multiple times him saying something to the degree of “I wouldn’t waste my time”…and our friendship grew even stronger. If yer readin’ this Todd…I’m still alive and well, and I’m hopin you is too.

Anyway, things are “straight swell” over here. The weather is just that right kind of temperature…to cook eggs in the dirt, and the bad men are out getting their tan on…as well as other not-so-nice on’s. But freedom will prevail…I always do. At least as long my pride doesn’t get in my way and trip me up. I keep those prayers flowin’ and I pay my guardian angel good money to stick around so I’m rather well off. Can you believe he wanted to just leave? Said he was too bored, but I told him I’d double the salary and throw in a nice set of sandals to boot. Everyone knows angels love sandals.

Ok, enough foolishness, lets get down to Words of Wisdom. Seen on the door of one of the troops here in Irak: “Don’t hold yer farts in! They crawl up yer spine and lodge in yer brain…and that’s where shitty ideas come from.” *not verbatim but I worded it with my “knack”.

Oh and here’s a fun one for all you folks on the “outside”(aka non military), SECURITY SECURITY SECURITY! Without it, you aint squat! You don’t need water! You don’t need food! You don’t need sleep! Hell, you don’t need friends! All you need is security!

So everyone make sure that your home security is where it needs to be…in the barrel of a .45cal semi automatic pistol. And buy those low penetration rounds that lodge in the villian so as not to go through any unwanted targets. Safety first kids!

God bless every one of you folks out there and stay classy!

Well we have officially reached the triple digits over here…and it still rains…while the sun is still shinin’ n’ stuff. This place is so weird.

Anywho…I finally got a good chunk of time where I can sit down on here and slam out some more of my semi-somewhat-divine wisdom(of sorts).

Things are different. I don’t wanna call it apathy, just because of what that implies or leads to. I don’t wanna think of it that way. But I can’t help but have this attitude that says how sick of this place I am. You may have heard the phrase “nothing is what it seems”, but that never really meant much to me until I joined the military and even moreso when I deployed to Iraq.

I have neither been shot at or blown up yet(counting my blessings), but somehow there are others who find that fact demeaning. There’s a term in the Army that is slowly gaining a “taboo” meaning and has been one that most “old school” personnel in the ranks use to a fairly large degree. A “cherry” can be many things much like the word “Hooah” can have multiple meanings. For the most part, a “cherry” is someone new to the unit. Only after proving one’s worth through one way or another will they drop the ridiculous title and gain a decent amount of respect. I have come to my own decision as to what the true definition of the word is.

The use of the title “cherry”, is akin to berating someone to “better” yourself. It’s extremely similar to making someone else look bad to elevate your own social standing…or personal, whichever applies. This term pisses me off pretty bad and there are those who know it and continuously use it to get on that nerve. No big deal. I deal with it.

But the use of the word in general has gotten to the point where it has become some childish bullying tactic that the weak use to make themselves better than others because they have nothing else to offer except “time in service” or worse…”Hey I got blown up and you didn’t so I’m somehow better than you.” If that’s what it takes to lose the title…hell I might go get it tatooed on me. Some of the brain in the Army has really altered my opinion on edumacation. I canot wait to get out and get myself a little degree in something so as to further myself from such stupidities as childish titles that the under-class use to bolster their ego’s over others “not as fortunate” as them.

*PS - I have a funny little picture in relation to this post that I will put up when I can.

If there is one thing in Irak that I have decided to “do this” for…it’s the children. Granted it’s a two sided coin here, but there is a pretty large majority of the one’s that I like.

As you drive around Bag-dad, Irak, you see some of the most beautiful children ever. And one of the most beuatiful aspects I’ve noticed of the Iraki’s is they have some of the coolest eyes ever.*picture to be posted when available.

But as you drive around, especially through the ghettos, you notice that there is a kind of class system going on. There are three classes. There are the well mannered children, those who just watch you go by and wave to you. There are the beggars, who come running out to the curbside to call out for chocolate, or anything else you want to give them. And then there are the hostiles…the one’s who throw rocks or just give you the bird as you drive by.

Of course my favorite are the first class of children. The one’s who watch in awe as you drive by in your armored trucks and tanks and such…the one’s who hang out the windows of the passing vehicles to wave to you. These are the children that give me the reason I need to help these people. These children are the balance to the equation of corruption and death in this place. Just driving by and seeing them smile or simply wave is enough to make my day.

Of course the beggars and the hostiles never get much in the way of gratitude from me. I’ll tell the beggars to go away and the hostiles…well they usually get the bird in return but uh….that’s somethin’ else.

The other day at one of our stations that we are working at, there was a little girl(10) and her little brother(7 or 8 ) who came up to our trucks just to talk to us. Iraki kids learn basic english in their schools, so they come up and ask the standard “what’s yer name”, “Where do you live” kind of questions. Cutest kids in the world. I don’t understand anything they say in Arabic due to my complete lack of interest in delving too deeply into their language. I was the same way when I first got to Korea, but a couple Korean friends changed my mind. But then again…this language is quite different to anything I’ve ever ran into. Not to mention, German has been the only language I’ve ever been interested in. …I think I kinda drifted off topik here.

In short…it’s the beautiful children in Irak that give me reason to better this place…to secure a future for them. It’s the old regime that I’m not too fond of…the corruption still lingers here.

Enough of the heartfelt thoughts…lets get down to sitreps.

Well, my new driver and I get along rather well. He’s an Army brat who’s been moved all over the Eastern US and a little bit of Germany his whole life, so he claimed Alabama as his state since he lived ther the longest. We share a common taste in good music, so we get along rather well.

The weather is hot as hell…and rising. It still rains mildly here and there, and that’s when the weather suxxors cuz that’s when it gets muggy and humid. Overall it aint too bad as long as you keep yourself well hydrated.

Missions haven’t changed too much, still same ole, same ole. Standards have chaged a bit though. We now do the same thing…slightly differently. I guess it keeps it interesting…not really. Days have gotten longer which just keeps us treasuring that down-time as much as possible.

My Rest and Relaxation date is still up in the air. “TBD” as the Army would say. I’m finding that the best strategy is just how they told us it was gonna be…when I’m sitting on a C-130, headed for Kuwait or wherever…then I’ll believe them. Hope to see you all soon.

***this post is half a product of all my superiors asking me how my site’s going…I feel like a shmuck everytime I have to say “it’s been a while since I’ve posted.” I’m sorry everyone…having no computer is pretty hard on me. Trying to run a semi-decent, somewhat-read blog is not too easy without the help of one’s trusty laptop. Thanks for reading!***