Adam

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: , ,

Railguns…

 Iraq, Technology  Comments Off
Feb 182008
 

So I never really understood what railguns are. I recently read this news byte and thought it was pretty interesting. I copied the essential elements out of the article I found off the Army’s newsfeed, which is taken from major newspapers around the nation. I meant to get the source, but forgot before closing out.

The Navy’s railgun is basically a long tube lined with two copper alloy rails. When charged by an enormous pulse of electricity, these rails exert a tremendous force that sends an inert projectile out at incredible speed.

And the more juice generated, the more muzzle velocity the weapon has and the farther and faster the projectile can go. Continue reading »

 Posted by Adam at 2:52 pm

Nicknames

 Humorous, Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 152008
 

I was thinking about the many aliases I have gone by and decided to type up a short list.

I can’t remember the early days
Edenman
Spider

College years
Wafro
Sideshow Bob
Adam O
Big O
Small O
O-Boy
O-Player

Continue reading »

 Posted by Adam at 9:06 pm

In Memoriam

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 102008
 

Unfortunately, I received a Red Cross message this morning notifying me that my father’s mother has passed away. My family had already sent me e-mails about her passing away, but Red Cross is delivered through a Soldier’s chain of command and takes a couple extra hours, but will reach the Soldier. It’s good since I didn’t have access to internet that day and I know I can count on the Red Cross to notify my family if anything happens to me.

In memory to my grandmother, I’ve decided to collect some thoughts about her. This allows me to express myself and proves cathartic.

Virginia Ochylski passed away Tuesday, February 5, 2008. She is survived by her son, two daughters, and seven grandchildren. She married Henry Ochylski, who served stateside in the Army during WWII. Continue reading »

 Posted by Adam at 5:12 pm  Tagged with: ,

Super Bowl in Iraq

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 052008
 

Super Bowl XLII has come and gone.  Being in another country tends to make it a bit more memorable though.  Seeing as how the game started at 0200 and ended four hours later, I decided to let my Soldiers come in late (or the NCOs had that arranged and I allowed it).  Nonetheless, I set the example and came in on time.  I had just gone to sleep after work yesterday and again after the game.  No different than an all-nighter.

For the lead up to the game, We had a little cook-in.  The motor sergeant slapped some steaks down and did some grilling.  It was too cold outside, so the grill was moved inside the bay where we work on vehicles.  But it doesn’t have the best ventilation, so smoke filled it up quickly.  The TV was inside the break room, which is self-contained inside the bay.  That kept the smoke out.

For who was there, the food and a decently sized TV drew a good number of Soldiers… at first.  But the first half of the game was a little stale and the second half saw a definite drop.  Our commander came down, picked up some steak, and then went back up to the company command post.

Yeah, the game really didn’t get so good until the last quarter with the multiple lead changes.  I’m happy for the end.  There would have been a lot of debate and bitter feelings about a perfect season with rumors of cheating.  So now the Pats just have to accept the most disappointing way to end a season and go for a fourth Super Bowl next year.  And now the brothers have something to share.

2LT Adam Ochylski

 Posted by Adam at 4:43 pm  Tagged with: ,

Kenya Parable

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 042008
 

Kenya has been under a lot of stress lately.  An election gone wrong and two candidates fighting over the result.  In the meantime, the country has torn itself apart.  It reminds me of a parable from the Old Testament.

Two women came to King Solomon for judgment of a dispute.  It was over a child and who the mother was.  Both claimed the child and King Solomon saw a way to clear the dispute.  He offered to halve the child in half and give each of them the child.  While one agreed, the other turned down the offer.  King Solomon realized the woman who turned down the offer was the true mother because she feared for the child’s life.

This seems to be the same scenario.  Except this time, neither candidate deserves the election as they are too consumed by their differences to save the people.  Well, I hope that is an accurate summary of the parable and application to the real world.

Now in Chad some rebels have taken the capital, the president is in hiding and loyalist forces have begun measures to retake the capital.  Zimbabwe got anything coming?  Maybe Nigeria?

Looks as though the new AFCOM is going to have its hands full.

2LT Adam Ochylski

 Posted by Adam at 2:54 pm  Tagged with: ,

A New Milestone…

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 022008
 

A new milestone has been reached. I won 100 straight “Medium” difficulty Spider Solitaire games. I’m now at work on “Difficult” and won 15 straight. Damn, I’m good. Now, it’s not like I play and finish straight out. I get a new game, save the game and then go through it. If I can’t get it done the first try, I open the game from the beginning and go again. It’s hard to do it right the first time since it really just comes down to luck of the draw.

Bottom line, I can win every game given enough time and attempts. It also shows just how much of a perfectionist I am. I don’t want to blemish my record.

On another note, the news you may have heard about some undersea internet cable being cut is a reality here. Internet traffic is being restricted even further than usual to sustain operations. I have noticed some slow down in the regular sites. It would probably be more significant if the administrators hadn’t taken the measures they did. When we came in, they were talking about a commercial internet provider coming in. That hasn’t happened yet though and it looks even more unlikely with the cut. If someone did come in though… they could make a fortune off of us. The standard package is said to go for $60. Given the number of ready and willng troops being paid tax free money (yay combat zones!), it’s a lot of disposable income.

2LT Adam Ochylski

 Posted by Adam at 6:13 pm  Tagged with:

The last couple weeks

 Iraq  Comments Off
Feb 022008
 

Things have begun to pick up here. I’ve picked up additional duties as Battalion Safety Officer, yearbook representative and other catch-alls. So it’s been pretty busy. Otherwise, I’m getting pretty good at semi-regularly updating my blogs.

I’m also getting extra practice in English classes as I edit awards my NCOs type up. That seems to be a big thing that officers do; write up Article 15s and correct grammar. Unfortunately, I was too lenient with my NCOs. I would let certain phrases or poorly constructed sentences through and the commander had to get on me about that. You know, I was thinking, “These soldiers have over 30 combined years and have written awards before… surely they must know something about them.” Apparently not. I shouldn’t have deferred to their experience over my common sense. I wish I was five years older with ten more years Army experience under my belt.

To help correct the grammar and spelling issues, I am planning a little class on Army writing to make sure we don’t repeat our performance. It would be a lot easier to do this back in the rear… more time to plan it and a place to hold it. It’s going to have to be informal here. Army writing is pretty simple though. We actually try to break sentences down to the most basic components. Subject, linking verb, predicate. No fluff or superfluous writing. Clear and concise active voice. I prefer the Army’s method.

I’m also giving classes to the Soldiers getting them ready for redeployment. Whether I like it or not, I influence them as a role model. Hopefully I’ve gained their respect enough in this short time that I can make an impact on them. Sometimes the most dangerous times a Soldier has is the first weekend he’s home and cut loose from all the restrictions. I’ll let them know what I’m doing, that I’m being responsible. Part of my role as an officer to provide the example of the “right,” or more mature I suppose, behavior (along with the senior Non-coms). I’m pretty much a straight arrow, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

2LT Adam Ochylski

 Posted by Adam at 6:11 pm

Out for a stroll

 Iraq  Comments Off
Jan 302008
 

…outside the wire. It was just on some patrols around Baghdad and it was a great experience. Finally got to see what the city looks like. The biggest thing is that there is a lot of trash out there. One area we went through had some rubble from a building. The inside of the building was hollowed out and basically converted into a makeshift trash container. The other soldiers who have been going on this same patrol route say it looks better though. So work is being done to alleviate the problem, by military and civil authorities. They also have trash containers along the road to drop off garbage as you go… I guess… but some of those are hanging off loosely and trash was tossed in the general area. Stray dogs would be eating the trash and some were lying in it looking half dead. Cats would run around outside keeping out of the way. But the people were healthy and dressed well. The large households here probably house a lot of family members together. That’s in keeping with the strong tribal bonds they share.

The children were happy to see us as we drove through. I saw one sullen face and a vulgar hand gesture. For your education (and George W. who insulted Australians with this), don’t give the bowfinger, aka two-finger salute. It’s basically a peace sign, but with the palm inward instead of out to viewer. Confused? Look up V sign on wikipedia and you’ll see it there. But the kid I saw in Iraq gave us the finger. I just wanted to share the two-finger salute story. Continue reading »

 Posted by Adam at 6:31 pm  Tagged with:
 Older Entries  Newer Entries
© 2012 CynicalMedia.com Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha