Block Leave

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 292008
 

Well, I’m having to assert my position a little more now. My Soldiers have had time to get used to me, so now I feel like getting more hands-on. I usually go for this method. I come in easy and establish a rapport. Having achieved that, I step up my involvement to earn their respect and learn their job. It can get exhausting, having to pick up on the different jobs and work through the proper channels. People can be very territorial.

The weather here is warm… so the main roads are dry. But there’s still the side roads that are muddy. Hot water in the showers are still off and on. I need to hit up the gym more often. And I still need to find a house back at Bragg. Should be a buyer’s market out there, from the sound of the news that I do get.

I’m also considering what to do with Block Leave. I’ll have a whole month free… though I’m not sure if I do have the time for that. Being young and single with officer’s pay (untaxed when deployed), I do have a little bit I’d like to enjoy. One thing I’ll have to do is take some time off in a spa. I have to concede that I do have take care of my body. I’m getting old! I’m not as robust as I used to be! And being over here, I have had a couple of issues with my skin. I need to get back to that “dashing” standard. Continue reading »

 Posted by Adam at 4:56 pm  Tagged with: ,

Opinion: Human Prozac and Hillary Clinton’s Problem

 Politics  Comments Off
Feb 282008
 

prozacobama

I’ve seen Barack Hussein Obama—the self-termed “skinny kid with a funny name”—sobriqued as many things over the past few months: domestic insurgent, kafir infidel, hope monger, cult leader, the black candidate, a presidential candidate who happens to be black, Kennedy reborn, Senator Galahad, etc. None of these are adequate. The moniker that best embodies everything he represents to us, the American People, and in particular to this generation is Human Prozac (credit Kathleen Parker).

We like Obama because he makes us feel good. It is that simple.

Now, even though we’re young and naive, we’re not complete idiots. We know he is less experienced on the national scene than Hillary Clinton. We know that his health care plan is probably not as comprehensive as Senator Clinton’s. We know that his chances of pushing Congress to actually get things done are slim to none. We know that real life isn’t like The Little Engine That Could. We know that we don’t get anything done by repeating that mantra “Yes, we can.”

Yet, we’re willing to sweep all these considerations under the rug. Why? It’s because we’re desperate to have something make us feel good about ourselves. It’s because the defining moments of this generation haven’t. There has been no giant leap for mankind, no Miracle on Ice; most of us are too young to remember the fall of the Berlin Wall. In fact, the one defining moment of this YouTube-generation is something that reminded us of the evil side of the human spirit. The ensuing reactions showed us its fearful and hateful sides. Continue reading »

 Posted by Nicole at 5:42 pm  Tagged with: ,

Senators Clinton & Obama, how would you regulate the harvesting and retention of personal information by social networking sites?

 Politics  Comments Off
Feb 272008
 

There seems to be a lot of interest in certain issues revolving around facebook and myspace. Some of them strike me as naive, such as the claims that anyone can see all your data, since you can limit people who can see your profile to just your friends. That, and you have choice over what goes up. The only exception is when you’re tagged or receive a wall-post — there’s a delay between when that happens and when you might get around to untagging yourself or deleting the post.

The more substantial issue is that it’s very hard to delete your facebook profile and nearly impossible to do permanently. On the group, “How to permanently delete your facebook account”, they recommend first deleting everything and then contacting facebook and requesting account removal. Of course, you can deactivate your account, but this is apparently not a preferred option. It’s not clear to me from any of this whether deactivation is dispreferred because (a) while no one can still see your data, it still exists on facebook, which is unsettling, or (b) deactivation doesn’t work as one would think, and some data are still viewable to other users.

I don’t see why no one has explored what is to me the obvious way of getting your account deleted: posting a lot of pornographic or hateful material. I’ve never encountered any on facebook, and so I assume that watchdogs exist, perhaps based on user complaints. I guess not everyone would want their account associated with hardcore pornography and racist treatises, however briefly, but it would no doubt be fun.

 Posted by depaderico at 7:39 pm  Tagged with:

Military Jargon

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 262008
 

ALCON,

When I went outside my Consolidated Housing Unit (CHU) this morning, things were all FUBAR. Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED) had hit the Entry Control Point (ECP) and the Dining Facility (DFAC) had been bracketed (by indirect fire, i.e. mortars). My Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) should have Imminent Danger Pay (IDP) and Hazardous Fire Pay (HFP) tacked on to the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) and Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) now. Glad for Service member Group Life Insurance (SGLI). Need to get that Loan Repayment Program (LRP) done. So in accordance with (IAW) the Forward Operating Base’s (FOB) policies, I went to get Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in order to (IOT) comply with Army Regulation (AR) 670-1. I grabbed my Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) and hopped in the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) to get my Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) at the motor pool (MP). I thought about the other Lieutenants (LT) at the Brigade Medical Supply Office (BMSO) as I passed Casualty Collection Points (CCP). Military Police (MP) and Security Forces (SF) were busy elsewhere.

My platoon (PLT) was at the MP with the Platoon Sergeant (PSG), so I took Command and Control (C2) and had them use Individual Movement Technique (IMT) to the Command Post (CP). More service members (SM) joined at Service and Recovery (S&R). I had some wait by the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactile Truck (HEMTT) in case any Heavy Equipment Transports (HET) or Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) need help. At the CP, the Commanding Officer (CO) was gone… over at the Battalion Tactical Operations Center (BN TOC) getting the Battle Update Brief (BUB), but the Executive Officer (XO) had C2. He used to be on a MIlitary Transition Team (MITT) at War Eagle (WE) as Personal Security Detachment (PSD). We had ICOMs (name of handheld radio) to supplement the DSN (Digital Secure Number). I use SIPR lines since NIPRs are a no-go now (internet protocol routers). Continue reading »

 Posted by Adam at 11:50 pm  Tagged with: ,

A New “Surge” of Visitors?

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 262008
 

Sunday was a pretty slow day. So I took the time to e-mail a few people. So, I greet you to this blog. I do have to apologize, I am very good at not talking to someone for a good few months… and then randomly popping up to say hello.

I think that’s part of what I like about military though. You live the day in and out with a group of Soldiers that you grow very tight to, but then at the end of the mission you get reassigned or drift apart. Then you may not see the person for several months or years later. But that reunion, when it does come, is a very happy event because you’ve developed such close bonds with the people. And that regardless of the time spent apart afterwards.

It’s similar to “Fellowship of the Ring” or any other sort of saga where a group of warriors travel together to accomplish a common goal. You each fight for one other and develop those strong bonds. At the end, you go your separate ways. But you still remember the hardships and the good times with those comrades. It’s a bond that never breaks.

I guess I like to spend long, unbroken amounts of time with friends… but then take a break. Until I return and do it again. In other words, despite the lapses between communications with my friends, I do still remember all of you. I just seem to operate in those batches of times.

Well, that’s my excuse for why I tend to drop off the radar from time to time… why I am very bad at keeping constantly in touch.

 Posted by Adam at 11:45 pm  Tagged with: ,

Military Cliques

 Iraq  2,100 Responses »
Feb 252008
 

So I thought it over a little bit about Army life and I thought of another aspect of the Army. They love to set up cliques. There are the obvious splits between services, but it happens by rank as well, of course. There’s the division between enlisted and officers. Then each of those has divisions between senior and junior. Some of it is by regulations; where officers cannot legally have a relationship with enlisted personnel, to avoid conflict of interests.

Right now I’m at the time where we have the “Lieutenant Mafia.” It was also called the LPA (Lt. Protection Agency). We know we need to roll deep with an entourage.

Then there are pairings that go beyond rank. LTs have their Platoon Sergeant, CPTs have First Sergeants, LTC-CSM (Command Sergeant Major). So the Army definitely does like to classify people into groups. Part of it is to facilitate command, as with those teams between officers and NCOs (Noncommissioned Officers). Otherwise, it’s also just part of a standard hierarchical organization to maintain good order and discipline. Continue reading »

 Posted by Adam at 11:48 pm  Tagged with: ,

Furman Salary Comparison Tool

 Interesting  Comments Off
Feb 212008
 

Wandering around Furman’s massive website, I found this pretty interesting salary graphing tool.  It graphs the salaries of FU Professors against salaries of professors at other regional universities.

 Posted by Andrew at 8:05 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Video of the Navy Railgun

 News, Technology  Comments Off
Feb 212008
 

So, Adam posted a pretty good entry on railguns the other day, but I found this crazy video demonstrating the scary capabilities of the railgun the US Navy is developing.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_OjZyQ6LGE]

 Posted by Andrew at 4:38 pm  Tagged with: ,

An Orange Glow in the Air

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 192008
 

Well, this is the first dust storm I’ve been in. It’s all an orange color outside with the sand filling the air and each breath.

You know, I’ve always tried to rock the boat as little as possible. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to do that at work, and even more so as a leader. Sometimes you have to give them news they don’t like or a task they consider too hard.

It’s also reflects a lot better on you when you get to work on the task instead of belly-aching. We know it sucks, but what we ask for is accomplishable. If it isn’t, at least we’ve seen that you’ve been putting forth the effort and we don’t have to take any further action. In the end, it makes us both happier people. Continue reading »

 Posted by Adam at 4:51 pm  Tagged with: , ,
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