Albany on my Birthday

I am currently in Albany. Sitting on my couch with my honey by my side. It is my birthday. I am old. Ha ha. Today is my welcome home/birthday party (and my main girl Christa's birthday party too). I got back to Albany on Wednesday and I have done very little. I walked around in my underware all day long for the past few days. When we decided to go out to eat...T strongly suggested I put some pants on. Ruined my fun. Ha ha. But It has been restful and relatively peaceful. Today should be fun. I plan on getting very drunk and eating myself in to a stupor. I don't know what kind of shape I will be in tomorrow...but thats ok. I got nothing going on tomorrow. Here is a big shout out to my favorite sister and twin...Jeanne. She is getting older too...but somehow insists that I have passed her. This has been a tough year for her...physically and emotionally. But she is tough. I know she would have been alot better soldier then me. I am very proud of her. Much love sis! Have a happy birthday! Well I am off to go run down at the preserve. Enjoy your day!

One Year Ago - August 21, 2006

A year ago...I wrote this post, as I headed out of the country on my way to the combat zone. I have returned...but I will never forget the feelings I had that day.....Here it is again....on this one year anniversary of my deployment. Wow, where has the time gone?

Leaving on a Jet Plane - Elvis has left the Country
By the time most of you will read this, I will no longer be in the United States. Sometime in the next few hours I will be on a plane heading overseas. It will be the first time in my life that I have left this country except for trips to Canada and Mexico. I am both excited about this and a little nervous. I can't tell you when I will be back...or even if...I ever will come back. But its my goal. I really know how much I will be missed and I have promised everyone of you I would come back safe. But...just to cover my bases....I want to tell you how I feel at this moment. I have had so much to thankful for. I am healthy, I have a great family, and so many friends. Now I have my T...the love who waits for me. I just want you all to know how much I love you all. A man who has friends and a loving family...well he's got everything. I feel happier and more content then I have ever felt in my life. Its because of you. Each of you. Now I know you all think I am a little messed up in the head for doing this...and somedays even I think thats so...I have no regrets. However this ends...I know that I have made the right decision. When I was growing up, I got use to taking the easy road. All through my first tour in the army and through college, I never applied myself the way I should have. I was selfish and inconsiderate. But somewhere along the way, I started to change. Pehaps that was when I began working with people with HIV/AIDS. There I was taught and shown compassion. I started to realize that each person on this planet has purpose and meaning. Each life is precious...each person a gift from god. What I am doing is trying to use my gifts to bring a little ray of light to an area of the world that needs it right now. I want to do two main things:Support my fellow soldiers.Learn about and appreciate the Iraqi people.Some people do not think its possible to do both...but I know I can do it. Not sure how I will go about doing this, but hell...I got to try. I hope I can show both groups my sense of humor...my appreciation for diversity...and my compassion. I hope that I can make friends...as dear to me as all of you have been. I know if I get the chance...I will succeed. Or die trying.Good bye all. I love you all.

Looking back on that day....I am feel good about how things turned out. I am older...wiser...more experienced. I am a combat veteran and real proud to have taken this path. I am very happy to have had this chance.

In Green Weinie Limbo

I have come almost full circle. Back in March 2006, I wrote in this blog about how I was placed in waiting-for-orders status which seemed to go on forever. The Army wants you....so hurry up and then sit and wait...and wait...and wait. I am back at Ft Hood...waiting for orders that will get me back home. This coming weekend, big doings in Albany. The welcome Glenn Home and the Christa and Glenn's birthday bash. Lots of people are coming. All my friends...all Christa's friends....everyone. But I can't fully confirm that I am coming home yet...because I am still waiting for that precious piece of paper which authorizes me to move my ass up north. T is a little pissed at the Army right now. "How the fuck can these bastards get you all the way to Iraq and back but they cant get you from fucking Texas to NY?" Ha ha. Relax babe...I will eventually get there. I have a plan right now. If my orders don't come in time...I will go on leave. I have a plane reservation set for Friday just in case. I hope my orders come...because that will save me almost $500 dollars. So now I am just sitting and waiting hoping that everything works out. I love the Army...but I hate the Big Green Weinie. I should be use to it by now...but what the heck. It does give me something to rant about...and everyone knows how much I love ranting. Any hoo. I will keep you all posted.

Surging Forward...Falling Back

The so-called surge in Iraq has been going on for about 7 months now. Almost everyone that has an opinion on this subject says that the results have been very uneven and mixed. The initial purpose of the surge was to reduce the violence and killings in Baghdad and to stablize other parts of Iraq. The early results show that yes...violence in the capital has decreased, but the flip side is that the killings have increased in other parts of the country. Today there is a report coming out of north western Iraq revealing that over 250 people have been killed by a couple of car bombs in the last day. This is very bad news. The AP reported:

A U.S. general said the nearly simultaneous strikes against the Yazidis -- who have been attacked by Muslim extremists who consider them infidels -- was an act of "ethnic cleansing." An American military spokesman blamed the attack on al-Qaida. Zayan Othman, the health minister of the nearby autonomous Kurdish region, said the casualty toll had risen to at least 250 killed and 350 wounded as bodies were pulled from the rubble. That surpassed the death toll of 215 people from mortar fire and five car bombs in Baghdad's Shiite Muslim enclave of Sadr City on Nov. 23.

The carnage in Qahataniya dealt a serious blow to U.S. efforts to pacify the country, with just weeks before top U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to deliver a pivotal report to Congress amid a fierce debate over whether to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. U.S. officials believe extremists are attempting to regroup across northern Iraq after being driven from strongholds in and around Baghdad, and commanders have warned they expected Sunni insurgents to step up attacks in a bid to upstage the report.

It is stories like this that remind us of the nearly impossible mission we currently find ourselves in. All of our weapons...all of our soldiers...have not stopped the violence in the civilian communities. This is just the beginning, I am afraid, of a long bloody struggle...civil war...that will lead to more slaughter of both Iraqis and Americans. I don't know what the answer is. But the current road is not the path we can tolerate for very much longer.

School Daze

Saturday the 4th I reported to BNCOC at Camp Mabry, Texas. Camp Mabry is in the middle of the best city in Texas....Austin. The week has been real busy with lots of classes and evaluations and early morning PT. Ugggg. This Course is not the vacation I thought it would be when I first found out I was going way back in May. I am glad to be here still the same. Although, the instructors and school cadre do treat us like stinkin' Privates. We have to march everywhere we go and do silly things like stand at parade rest when we are in the chow line. Today, was real busy for me. I started the morning running the PT program. Then I was appointed the platoon sergeant for the afternoon and conducted a class later in the day. It makes for long hours, but it has been quite fun actually. We are learning about military leadership, drill and ceremony, communications and motivation, and lots of other stuff. Sitting in the classroom all day is tough, but we are managing pretty well. The barracks are fun. I am in a room with 13 other guys. I shower in the morning with about a hundred. So I guess you can say that I am getting real close with a lot of the guys here...ha ha. We are half way through with the class and I like all the guys and gals in my platoon. Tomorrow I have a military briefing so I better make this quick and get to work. Peace my peeps!

Solitude and Back to School

This week has been a restful, quiet week. No long plane flights, no endless boring briefings, no out-processing. Mostly I just made phone calls and worked out. I spent a lot of time alone. Just waking up late and easing into the days. I have enjoyed the solitude and It felt good to ease back into real life again. All of that changes this weekend though. Tomorrow I go back to school in Austin. That being, Basic NCO class which starts tomorrow at 1300. The army has what we call NCOES (Non-commissioned officer education system). There are several courses that the army requires in order for NCOs to get promoted to the next rank. In my case, in order to get promoted to Sergeant First Class (or E-7) I need to complete BNCOC (basic non-commissioned officer course). There are two phases, with the basic phase beginning this next week and phase II (which is job specific) held at a later date. I actually have taken this course before....15 years ago. But, the army thinks it will be beneficial for me to take it again. Of course I don't remember much from the last time anyway, so what the hell. At anyrate I am ready and looking forward to getting this started and over with so I can get back home. Plans are being made for my return....my man G has begun planning for a big homecoming/birthdays bash for me and Christa. He sent me the menu....un-freaking believable...god he can cook. In addition to that, I am planning a small little get-away for T and me and Eric and Wanda. Looks like a cruise up the east coast for about 4 days! Yeah...that sounds like a great time too. I think I will need a little extra PT to keep the weight off the next few weeks. Ha Ha. Something very exciting happened tonight. I went to Starbucks and there on the newstand was the NYT!!! Yeah...cool. And it was todays date. In fine print, under the weather, was a sentence that said...PRINTED IN AUSTIN! Thats right. The New York Times was published right there in Austin. HA HA. How effin cool is that. Austin....you are my favorite city in Texas! (btw, Austin has gone Democratic for several decades....a little dot of blue in a sea of red....they voted for John Kerry and Al Gore!) Anyway, I am off to read my NYT and then to sleep in preparation for tommorow. Check back with me later this coming week.