One More Round

First fight

2010-05-25T12:50:00.001-07:00

Ok, so its not offical yet, and i pray writing this doesnt jinx it like the 3 other times ive had a fight, and had it fall through. My coach took my info and says there is a fight card for June at Metropolis. Its Muay Thai, not mma, which is good, less attacks to worry about. Well anyway, dont have the particulars yet. Im very excited, trying not to be. I hate getting pumped for something only to have it fall through. I have been training non stop for about 8 months now so i want to test my skills against other like combantants. I am hopeing to fight at 145lbs or in the range. I currently stand about 153 in the morning and 154 at the end of the day. Not a big weight cut and its good to be the bigger fighter anyway. im in pretty good shape but need to up the cardio a little bit so i can be confident that my gas tank is full.

Wish me luck.

Newcomers and skinny jeans

2010-05-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so as we have talked about I'm training in the mixed martial arts and its going well. On Thursdays i take the night time MuayThai class and on some night I stay for the Advanced Muay Thai. That last class is invite only, you cant just walk in and take it without being up to par. Well my coach Rich, he and I have formed a good relationship as i normally take his morning(11am) muay thai class as well. Since I'm a little more advanced than the average student and since i am at the gym so often i tend to get "new guy" duty.
I take this as both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because its pointing out to me that i have learned enough to actually be depended on to teach others. It also points out to me that my had work has been noticed. Now it is a curse because sometimes i have to work with some real......lets just say different people. Last night in particular, a kid came in with his buddy to try out the gym/class. He had on a black wife-beater shirt with black skinny jeans and a flat billed hat. Now if you ha vent seen skinny jeans yet, go to your local bookstore, find Rollingstone magazine and bam there you go. I guess its a style of jeans that looks like a second skin because its soooooooooooooooooo friggin tight. I mean its like saran wrap on the legs. Well this kid had some awful tattoos and he couldn't be more than 25 years old. He was kinda scrawny but didn't look non athletic. Oh yeah he and his buddy were drinking those giant Monster drinks. Not the regular sized energy drinks they were drinking like a liter of that crap.
Well these guys did the normal, borrow gloves and hand wraps from the gym and they joined the class in our regular 10 min of jump rope, then jumping jacks and squats and such. I didn't focus on them much because i was hoping i wouldn't have too...... wrong. Once the warm up was over i was assigned "skinny jeans" YEAH! Well i understand that kicking like we do in muay thai is a learned skill, not everyone can walk in and grasp the hip motion. But damn kid stop kicking with your feet and why do you flail your arms about? I worked well with skinny jeans, he tried hard but he was not seeing how the little hints and tips i tried to show him and help him with, would actually save his ass in a fight. Oh well. That's a part of new guy duty you kinda get frustrated with watching someone just screw up.
I know I know i should be kind, I was in my second class where i was paired up with a younger mom maybe early 30's that wasn't athletic at all but was hoping to find a place where she could start the process of getting that body she most likely had before her kids. She tried hard, she giggled a lot, she did well though. There is a difference between the two newcomers, skinny jeans, well he should be able to pick up on how the movements went and should be a little more inclined to imitate instead of nodding his head in acceptance and then doing the opposite.

I rant because i have to use my class time to teach them just how to stand, i ask them right or left handed? They sometimes stare at me like????? why??? Now it may be that the evolution of man is pushing out the coordination gene. I mean how much coordination between your hands and feet do you need to type on a keyboard and click a mouse button? I do feel sorry for some people though, if ever presented with a violent situation their response would not be a good one. Also during these classes ones partner has to hold pads or help train the other person. so having a newcomer hold focus mitts or thai pads for me is a frustrating experience. They aren't coordinated and are scared about getting hit so my mitt work is slow much more deliberate and most times not very good since I'm trying not to hurt them.

Well skinny jeans survived, he asked a few questions about working out there but seemed very scared of getting hit in the nose since"he has sensitive membranes." Really Really this is the shit I deal with! I guess this is just fuel for the fire. I pity the first person to actually step into the ring/cage with me cause its all coming out.

Lets change gears

2010-05-05T04:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know it has been forever since i have posted and for those of you that followed my blog im sorry to have left such a void in your life. To those of you who barely read my blog and only enjoyed my witty comments directed at hapless leadership, well you might enjoy the direction im going to take now.

For some time now 7MONTHS, I have been training in the mixed martial arts! Yes yes to those of you who are unfamiliar or under educated in the combat sports, MMA is type of fighting used in the UFC. No I am not in the UFC. NO i do not fight every day. Mostly I train in Muay Thai or Thai boxing, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Yes sometimes I spar with other people. Yes i punch and kick them and yes they do the same to me. So I am pretty sure if peaked some interest at least in my families eyes. Well im actually pretty good at what im doing. At least im good for only having formal training for 7 months. I have not competed, had a fight, yet. I want to and we have tried to get me on fight cards but to no avial. That doesnt bother me too much. I am pretty content to train and get better each day i do. This is something i truly love to do. It is fun for me to test my abilites against other men and to push myself past my limits.

I train at the OhioMMA academy. www.ohiomma.com This is the gym of former UFC and current Strikeforce fighter Jorge Gurgel. Former UFC Middleweight champ Rich Franklin also trains there and UFC welterweight Dustin Hazelett. I do not boast that i am training with these men, I am simply stating that I have trained on the same mat at the same time and every so often in direct connection with these fighters. If anyone has questions as to who these men are or what happens at the gym please ask or go to the website.

My goals in MMA are not to make it to the UFC, im turning 30 this year and I have no real pedigree to speak of. Im not a college wrestler or world class BJJ practioner. I am a simple man who enjoys learing all he can about mixed martial arts. I have had some amazing coaches in the past few months that have directly impacted my life and my fight game. Im in the best shape of my life despite often having black eyes(Irish sunglasses), a busted nose or fat lip. I have never been as strong or as well conditioned. The ARMY has never pushed my body this far. My real goal here is to become the best FIGHTER I can be and to test myself once or twice in the ring/cage.

In the following posts i hope to chronical my quest for new levels of fitness and ability. I will talk abotu gym issues and the time my training has taken from my family, which truly isnt much since most of my time is spent during my lunch time from work. If you have questions, about anything at all, the training, the gym, fighting, please leave a comment and let me know!

SSG AWESOME Part Duex

2009-07-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

So, this post will be harsh. For those of you feint at heart please stop reading. For those of you easily offended I do apologize but im gonna exercise the crap out of my first amendment rights.

OK... crack of the knuckles..... pop of the neck, now im ready.
353rd ... let me put this in terms you dysfunctional crap-tastic tards can understand.... basically YOU SUCK! Ok now to put it in terms the rest of the educated population will appreciate.
The 353rd trans company is like a head less retarded chicken. Just running around the barn yard untill it dies. It keeps running into shit and bleeding all over the place all the while blaming the farmer, or in the Units case anyone higher ranking than them.

We left Iraq with some fan fare.... a General came by to visit our company just to point out the fact that our Commander and First Sergeant were given article 15's and permanently removed from their positions. I smiled the whole time. Just one big haha you dipshits didn’t see this coming back in F'nn cold Minneacrappasoodia?????? Yes thats right Minneacrappasoodia..... that’s how you say Minnesota. I would rather call it Southern Canada, but they pay taxes, so we will let them in the union on a temp basis..... .one more damn word about Kirby Puckett and your out!

Okay so after a One star General flew up to the shit whole Qwest just to laugh in the face of the slow moving often mistaken for "special" Bison, it was off to Kuwait. Now keep in mind every time we had no information or something went wrong along this mistake ridden journey well whatever higher command we had, they were blamed.................I wonder what they would say if asked about the situation?
So in Kuwait, we sat around, sweated, eat crappy fast food, and waite for a bus ..... that somehow... and i quote " is lost" No shit, our unit lost the bus..... 2 hours later it showed.... huh? i wonder if someone just didnt coordinate the times right...... in this unit... nah couldn’t be.

So we are back at Fort Dix, now this place is the arm pit of the ARMY world. This is the post where career army fold come to finish out their "I suck" life. 353rd You are home! This post is perfect for the 353. We landed with another unit.. they shared the plane and the multiple stops across "THE WORLD" with us. yes like 3 stops all over Europe... .you tax dollars at work.... well this unit has since DEMOBed and went home.

YES YOU ARE READING THIS CORRECTLY. Two units get off a plane. They live in the same barracks and have to complete the same DEMOB process, a normal intelligent person would assume they would both go home on the same day..... FUCK NO! it takes them 5 days it takes us 8. Oh our command tries to explain that its the JRC or its the numbers but I call bullshit. I have spent well over 3 days here at Fort Dix doing nothing.... nothing. i have been able to workout, go to the PX, sleep, read magazines, and pretty much wander around. So a portion of this time I spent at the JRC on days where the unit had nothing going on. I looked around. There were plenty of workers in their getting paid. There were no 353 soldiers demobing. HUH? kinda makes a soldier get ... I dont know pissed, angry, frustrated, psychotic maybe!

SO here we come to the going home process.... well Its 8:33am on a Sunday.. the unit/JRC has known how many of our people would fly for at least 3 days and I dont know my flight time or if I have one. The organic unit knows! FUCK YOU BISON. I guess you family is more important than mine. I guess the fact that you produced the shitty leaders the world has ever seen, I guess that gives you the right to first dibs...... Oh and by leaders I am not limiting this to just the Commander and First sergeant, No we will address the rest of you ass clowns in a second.
I just want to go home, and you sorry excuses for turds in a uniform cant do that right.

Ok so now we come to the people of the 353rd. Well some of you are pretty cool. If you think this pertains to you …… no your wrong. There are so few of you that make the cut its pathetic that you who are reading this actually thought it was you….. Ha ha ha ha you suck!!!! Some of you are nice people and good soldiers. But the rest of you … that’s another story. Lower enlisted.. You are the laziest, slowest, dumbest, most unmotivated group of soldiers(wait scratch that) people, you transcend the uniform you are so lazy and stupid. You are so far down on the food chain that if the army didn’t give you chow you wouldn’t eat. You few who wont get out of bed to get food although you havent eaten in 12 hours, you who refuse to learn new games or ways of playing those games for fear that your brain might be activated to do more than breath and keep you standing. Those of you who would rather be so naive, so selfish and self centered that you have a complete misconstrued vision of the world that it makes people disgusted to hear your voice. Those of you who are so socially and psychologically fucked up that you should not be in the ARMY, You all can kiss my butt, we have tried to motivate, to inspire, to be the example for you overweight, lazy idiots but you think you know everything. Hope you all fail in life.

The NCO’s that suck…… oh this should be fun…. .well you human stains know who you are. Those of you good NCO’s and again I stress how few of you there are. Please don’t take this the wrong way. But you NCO’s are just horrible. I mean you cant perform the basic functions of your job. You claim to be ready for promotion but you couldn’t fucking put a TOW BAR on. Yes im talking to all those of you who actually physically cant do the job y our assigned to do. Hell just because I know you are all retarded im not even gonna expound on the fact that as NCO’s you should be teaching how to do your job to the lower ranks. We wont go their because we already know you cant do the job yourself so how could you teach. You cant back up a trailer, you cant hook up air lines, a towbar, change a tire, lower a spare tire, fix anything mechanically on the truck and god forbid you as Staff NCO’s learn to write a counseling statement correctly.

Lets get into the fact that you are willing to screw those who you have served with over hurt feelings and your inability to deal with conflict. WOW all of you all of you pieces of shit please stop trying to get promoted please stop trying to act as if you know your job….. Cause you don’t. its simple, I see it, my more educated colleagues see it, hell even your lower enlisted soldiers point out your incompetence. I liken you NOC’s to that smelly nasty stuff that forms on the bottom of a dumpster. You are those weird people who let odd growths just continue to expand on their face never once going to the doctor till the tumor is the size of a football and you cant see. Then I get to see your picture on the internet and laugh at you. You as NOC’s should be the ones facing the adversity and shielding your soldiers from the carnage. NOPE not you, you guys just let it all play out and have 3 hour counseling sessions and “talks” that make people want to stab you in the eye with a pen. I mean most of you dingle berries have no respect from your soldiers. The soldiers don’t have to like you but they should respect you and they don’t. Hell if I was you I wouldn’t respect myself.

Lets discuss how this unit treated me. Well I was a squad leader with a group of soldiers that for better or worse seemed to work together. We didn’t have infighting and we seemed to rise to the task. Well normally you commend the leader who can step in and command a group of diverse soldiers in hard circumstances. Not this unit. Because I was unorthodox and because I spoke my mind and refused to let stupid shit persist I was black listed. I was banished to the TOC where I could do no harm. This unit took a respected NCO and pushed him aside to lessen the waves. You have on multiple occasions asked me to perform duties below my rank and below my level of experience and expertise and I did so not because I agreed with you but because im a good soldier. I bitch like all soldiers do and I try to have the wrongs righted but I always do as I am told because that’s what soldiers do. Once I returned to the platoon from the black hole of the TOC I was treated as an outcast because you didn’t know how to deal with an NCO that speaks the truth. You didn’t want to make a decision and give me my squad back so you became a laughing stock by just allowing me to have influence with no responsibility. You claimed to move people into certain positions because of their date of rank but you neglected to notice you are hypocrites since I out ranked all of your squad leaders. Oh yeah you forgot that, I outrank all your squad leaders. I happened to be one of your only E6’s that had written NCOER’s before. You continually made decisions that circumvented the fact that your black sheep(me) was supposed to be returning to the platoon to take his squad back over. Please explain why you would move a well respected NCO(not me this time) out of a squad leader position when you had a squad leader who was un-liked, un-respected and unqualified for the job. You have leaders that refused to take criticism or advice, that had no real world leadership experience which was evident, and these leaders somehow were protected and allowed to injure the careers of other hardworking knowledgeable leaders.

In summation this unit has soldiers that are lazy and undeserving of accolades. It had leaders that are inept and incapable of making effective decisions. These sorry excuses for USARMY soldiers tarnish the uniform they were. As leaders you should be willing to shoulder the blame, make the decision and stand tall under hard criticism. Yet you fail. That is a keyword when someone google’s the 353rd. Failure. It presents itself in many forms in this unit. From the NCO’s and soldiers that continually fail to perform or uphold thestandards that we hold so true in the ARMY. It rears it head when one watches the unit perform even the simplest of task as formations, awards ceremonies, and basic mission planning. Simple mistakes are allowed to go un-noticed until they reach such high consequences as downgrading awards and causing UCMJ actions against good and deserving soldiers. Again failure is your watchword, disappointment your guiding light.

353rd YOU SUCK.

Postcards II

2009-06-02T03:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who took the time to send a postcard! I took them down today and counted. I had a total of 289 post cards.
Magic eye: 11
Naked baby butts: 3
Cincinnati theme: 35
Handmade by family: 32
Pete Rose signed: 1

I hope to have more classifications and numbers for you at a later time but the total number is something i wasnt prepared to see. Thank you all.

I AM AWESOME

2009-05-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

Caution, adults only.

Well our moronic and incompetent command has proved me right once again. Yes these horrible wastes of the term “soldier” ,“human”, “leader” well they have all been removed of their positions due to various forms of retardation. In blog posts past I have made reference to our company commander our company first sergeant and our company truck master. Well these three mounds of shit are no longer in charge. People are actually happy in the company now.
I called it, I told you so, I was so right its not funny. If your looking in the history for my past blog posts, well from random demeaning comments I deleted the posts. If you don’t agree, that’s fine but don’t attack without giving me a chance to confront you.

Anyway, our horrible piece of shit ex truck master… we he did something that no man, regardless of affiliation with the armed services or not, should do. We all knew he was a big pile of dog shit, he was a bully who used his rank and his intimidating demeanor to push people into bad decisions and to keep anyone, who had a opinion other than his, quiet. He was horrible back when we were in the states, he was an alcoholic, our commander knew this. This truck master has had multiple DUI’s, but yet our genius commander still thought he would be a good choice for one of the most important positions in the company.
That just proves how stupid our company commander really is. Well thank god our ex truck master was removed, he wasn’t just removed from his position for his despicable action he was moved to a whole other base here in Iraq. Oh and to further prove how bad our commander was he still saw fit to give this truck master, this worst excuse for a human, a decent…… no no a wonderful NCOER, or in civilian talk yearly review.

Our company first sergeant after a career spanning over 20 years in the military, both Marine Corps and ARMY, well he thought he was above the law and tried to smuggle a partial IED home in his footlocker. Oh that’s not the best part, he was a party to well over thousands of dollars of stolen/embezzled funds in the form of government property. He figured, and we all know this, that if he could get it, it was his. He did this with another NCO, acquiring, that’s ARMY for stealing, anything and everything justifying himself by saying it was “for the soldiers.” This person, just flat out thought his rank would shield him from any regulations or consequences. Guess he was wrong. I called him moronic before. WOW I am better than I thought I was. For those of you who lack sufficient intelligence, im speaking to anyone that doesn’t know what a moron is…. My commander…… it is a offensive term that insults someone’s intelligence, or is in reference to their impaired social skills. I would say believing that the law doesn’t apply to you makes you a moron.

Now to our wonderful commander. Well first lets paint an accurate picture of the formerly highest ranking person in this unit. He is my hight, bald, shuffles his feet cause I assume he is to damn gay or lazy to pick up his damn feet, he has what I guess are ticks cause he BARKS LIKE A DOG. No shit, he barks when he is nervous. I can just see him now sitting in his room all alone, barking up a fucking storm. He must be driving the stray dogs wild. Im not being mean, ask anyone, this guy, the leader that should be inspiring us to be better leaders and the one who has the final say in all decisions, well when things get rough, he sounds like a damn pet store. I cant tell you how unnerving it is to be sitting at a desk working or reading something and you hear this shuffling……. And then…. AARFF…. This guy also just gives off a weird vibe. You know that vibe you get from the creepy guy staring at you in the store. Yeah this is that guy. Well he has been removed for EO complaints…… and what we believe to be many other things. I mean he should go down for how crappy of a commander he was, but sadly there isn’t a law against incompetence. Now EO complaints, you are wondering what those are? Well this guy likes to make weird comments about sex and women and sexual topics in the presence of anyone. One would think a high ranking officer would understand the use of tact, and the rules and lines that limit and regulate sexual harassment and. I mean the ARMY has mandatory briefings every year. This guy saw fit to bring up sex around women, around lower enlisted soldiers. He is a sad excuse for a commander. Oh one of the best parts is the fact that he really doesn’t think he has done anything wrong! This asshole who has had many investigations involving him, has had many EO complaints listing him, has had tons of people trying to explain to him how inappropriate his comments are and how stunted, retarded, lacking his judgment is, HE THINKS HE IS RIGHT IN WHAT HE DOES.

WELL I called it, early on in this deployment I called for the removal of these idiots, these poor choices for leaders, these inferior, faulty, defective, substandard, and oh yes abysmal human beings, and it finally happened. Its interesting to see how people have responded to the elimination of these leeches on our company. People are walking around smiling, they seem happy and vibrant and upbeat. I cant say I like this unit as a whole, I think there are some core issues that plague this unit. Every unit has issues but some foster and breed inferior leaders such as these.
The soldiers of the 353rd Trans Co. have done an amazing job and I commend them. The soldiers had nothing to do with the career ending problems that the command has created for themselves.

I TOLD YOU SO! If people would just shut the hell up and listen to me the world would be a better place. Oh yeah Captain R.,SFC P., 1ST Sergeant T. if your reading this and I hope you are.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott

Mail

2009-05-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Ok well blog readers, if you have been sending mail via postcards or packages, June 1st is the stopping day. Yes the wonderful day is finally upon us. I love all the postcards I get and the packages from the school, and boy scout troops, and Blue Star Mothers and my family, they have made a huge difference in this deployment.

Please pass on this information as I know some people who do not read this blog, send postcards and packages. Please let everyone know that the letters and postcards will all be coming home with me. I have sent the letters and address labels from many people home already. I plan on carrying the postcards home with me on the plane.
Thank you again to everyone that has supported me from the very beginning to now.

Planning ahead

2009-05-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so im sorry i havent posted in a while, things here have been blah and pretty negative and im not gonna post about that here. I want to keep myself upbeat and posting about all the major problems my unit is having will not do that. SO looking forward to coming home. As my close friends and family know i will be adding a deck to my house as soon as i get home. I put out the call now to all those manly friends and family memebers who would like to help in this adventure to be ready and able. Not to say our womanly friends and family arent more than invited to participate. Sorry if that sounded bad. I hope to be home during the last week in July so this is when i plan on doing material purchasing. The first weekend in August is when the deck goes up..... unless im not back yet. Either way come rain or snow or howling winds that deck goes up. I have a design picked out and I have sent it to my father. I am going to post a link to it here now so if you want to get a picture for yourself you can. http://www.decks.com/deckplans/deckplandetails.aspx?plan=2L084&page=2

What I will need is a few experts at woodwork for this. I wont rely on you to do the whole deck but to advise and direct the hands that will be ready. I want to be involved even though i know im a novice when it comes to carpentry. If tools are need, I can get them, if extra lumber is needed just let me know. I am hoping to have about 5-7 guys/girls able to help, it will be more than a one day build so all 5-7 are not needed on the first day but the second day all hands on deck are called for. If you can, go to the link to see what im envisioning. I want to keep the deck low to the ground and with no railing. I want to keep the feel of openess. I want the off shoot that shows the grill to run right up against the house and come out about 6-7 feet. I plan to put a new stainless steel grill there. I havent decided on wood choices yet. Any suggestions. Please save the dates and be ready to work. If its coming home party or this i would rather have people able to help with the deck. Its something that will make my summers end at home much more enjoyable.

The fence around the carport will be finished so no worries about kids running around in the street and chasing after them. I will provide food each day and beer after each days work. Yes thats free food and free beer.................. now your ready to work arnt you. Any relatives that would like to come into town for a weekend and see the boys and help out you are more than welcome. This will be the weekend to do it.

Thanks again to everyone for everything. I will post more as time permits.

My boys are the best.

2009-04-14T03:23:00.000-07:00

Roman moved up to a big bed, and Shamus learned to climb out of his crib, almost at the same time. The boys are closer now than ever. I think Shamus is making his case for a big bed of his own. Let me know what you think? If anyone has a twin bed they want to get rid of let us know.

Marissa Update

2009-03-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

So Jessica informed me that Marissa got all good marks. Also since i was home she has had all green days except one. Now for those that arent familiar with todays classroom system green means the child had a good day, yellow means some minor issues and so on down the line. This is a great job for Marissa. She had been having trouble adjusting to a new school every year. This improvment is something I am excited to hear about. Marissa has lots of energy and I am very proud to see how well she is starting to perform in school. For the family that is lucky enough to see Marissa please make sure to mention to her about how well she is doing in school. When i was home on leave she was very proud each day to tell me that she had a green day and tell me how good she had been. Its actually makes me emotional thinking of how well she is doing. I wish everyone could she her scamper down the street to the bus stop each morning. She has so much life in her, its amazing to see her so happy now. Marissa has many friends at school but her best friend is a little girl named Naydia or something like that, i cant spell, sorry.

Well if anyone deserves a great birthday it is Marissa, she has really stepped up her game since i came home and I can only hope things continue. Please remember to send your love and well wishes as our little girl turns 7.

And remember to mention how well she is doing in school, I am just beaming with pride. I know how bad i was sometimes at that age and I can remember having all that energy and sometimes not knowing how to control it all. Marissa has made me so proud, I am counting on everyone who reads this blog to be my arms and voice to hug her tight and tell her how good of a job she is doing.
Thanks

Happy Birthday Marissa

2009-03-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

So Today is Marissa's birthday. She is 7. If you get a chance or have a second please call or write Jessica and wish Marissa happy birthday. She is such a wonderful young lady. I am very proud of her. She is reading so well. Marissa is growing up way too fast for me. I can remember when she was a hyped up little 4 year old running around outside on her power wheel. Marissa loves to read and loves to read to people. If you ever get a chance to watch the kids, ask Marissa to read to you. Im sure you will be as awestruck as I was. Marissa loves Hannah Montana and cool clothes. She seems to be 7 going on 17 but I understand she is just growing up. Marissa is having a Birthday party coming up and if anyone would like to send anything or attend please contact Jessica or myself via email and we will get you the details.

Happy Birthday Marissa. I miss you very much.

Packages

2009-03-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Ok so its the time when we start packing and preparing things for the long trip home. yes i know I still have months to go but we are packing what we can in prep for all the small moves we make to get ready for the big move. If you were preparing a package I am sorry, but please dont send it. Unless its something i can eat like tuna, we just wont have room and will end up throwing it out. Sending items that you want me to have or anything else besides postcards is something i have to ask you the wonderful people who supported me, to stop. I cant bring everything home and sending all the items home by mail is quite costly. I have more than enough and that which i cant use or eat is being shared with all the soldiers of the 353rd.

Thank you to everyone who sent anything. Keep the post cards comeing. They are great.

Leave

2009-03-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well, Im back in Iraq now. Yeah it sucks but getting home to see Jessica and the kids was amazing. I cant believe how big my boys have gotten. I am stunned at how well Marissa can read. Shamus is saying all types of things. Roman can actually keep a converstation and he can state his feelings, sometimes very sternly. Seeing Jessica was the best I could imagine. Its an odd feeling to have one person hold so much of your emotional being in just their touch. Being home and spending time doing the things fathers do was just what I needed to recharge my batteries. I didnt do anything to crazy on leave, i got to spend my wifes birthday actually with her. That is something i havent done during our relationship. I went to Ryans pub in Hamilton,which was great. My best friends Dustin and Richie joined us. We all had a great time. Jessica and I had a wonderful night out for dinner. I got to grill out, only once but it was enough to make me miss it very badly. I got some major things accomplished. Thanks Mom, Thanks Dad.
Dad came over and gave Jessica her Birthday gift... a new over the range microwave. Yes its friggin awesome. It makes cooking so easy and it just fits perfectly into our little kitchen. It made a difference in just the few days i was home to enjoy it. I got to see Marissa off to school each day which is a great thing. I got to make dinner for my family again and sitting down at the table held more joy in it than I would have ever thought.

Thank you to all those who helped Jessica out during the first part of my deployment, Thank you to all those who will help during the second part.

Photo update

2009-03-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

This is from Ireland, we had an hour or so layover. So here are some photos that i havent been able to upload while I was in Iraq.

House help

2009-02-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

Ok so everyone if you want to help Jessica out please check out her blog. She is painting some rooms of the house and needs just a little help. You know someone to keep the boys entertained or someone who can pick up a brush and finish a wall.
http://armystrongwifeandmom.blogspot.com/2009/02/painting-painting-painting-and-more.html

Go here and catch up on her new email and stuff. Please leave comments if you can help. I get to come home on leave soon and she wants to have some painting done for me to see. thanks

Economy$$$$$

2009-02-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

Ok so I didnt think i cared much about the stimulus plan and the economy, mainly because i cant worry much about it since im over here. Also because i have a good job, i have disability from the VA, im doing ok. I planned ahead, we have decent cars, we have a low fixed house payment. SO WHY AM I SUPER PISSED? Well i guess its because we have over 500 of the supposed smartest, most powerful men and women in the country fighting over two views of a giant math problem. YUP thats all it is. Its math. Yes i k now my thinking is simple but if you think of variables and laws and all that stuff my teachers talked about but i didnt care to listen too because i could get a C+ in the class just by showing up on test day well its all math. Okay so your thinking im gonna break it down for you? Well im not gonna give the fat cats in Washington the answer............ Wait yes i am.
Okay so the houseing problem, right? Well if the government is gonna spend billions and its gonna stick its finger into how much CEO's get paid it damn well could purchase the mortage companies or at least legislate the crap out of them. Forcing them to lower all interest rates and clear cut any old debt. If they are gonna take away the free market at least do it right. Now I didnt say i agree with all this or I want it to happen, its my idea of how they should do what they are already gonna do. If they are gonna spend billions on weird pork projects lets put that money directly into the economy pay your military better. Military spending got us out of the great depression. Spend it on the people who actually buy American. ARMY, NAVY and the rest of the uniformed services we buy american, we buy houses, we have kids who need clothes. Yes maybe im biased but there are millions of soldiers and sailors and airmen out there who love to put that money directly back into the economy. Also you dont need a huge partisan fight to pass that bill. Who doesnt like to vote for a pay increase for the military?

Now the car industry.... well i say screw them. Now we have a free market economy. the unions are the exact problem here. When we demand fair pay for good days work thats what we should get and give. Unions squeeze auto makers for higher wages than the market can stand. That leaves prices to go up on product and then people start to not buy high priced goods. There will always be other car makers. Maybe this is what we need to get our automobiles to actually go green. If thats what we all say we want then why dont we stop buying cars untill any new car we buy is either hybrid or electrical? Not what you wanted to hear huh? Well tough, if the government is gonna regulate pay and bankers are gonna give out bonuses of millions then lets make them do it right. Spending by the government is not what i want but they are gonna do it for the next four years so lets push them to do it right. Construction, good, schools, good, banks, bad, state funds, good, millions for stupid honey bee insurance, really bad.
If the government is gonna spend spend it wisely, spend it on jobs only Americans have. When you give money to states, make sure they spend it on more policemen, more fireman, higher pay for teachers. Better roads, more public transportation like light rail.

Maybe im crazy but I like tax cuts, we wont see much of them, but i thinkif you give Americans money well we spend it. we buy stuff, But you have to couple that with some spending to clear away some of that crazy debt. If they have debt the average Joe is gonna pay his bills but if you can help him get past the debt Joe American will buy a new car.

who knows.

Packing up the tree :(

2009-02-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

So I packed up the tree and all the ornaments. I took a picture but the internet is very slow here to its not letting me upload that pic. It was a sad day but it meant that the end is getting closer. I want to ship the tree and stuff home so I will always have it. The ornaments will forever dress our tree and each one will remind me of the wonderful people I have at home supporting me. Thank you all for the amazing gifts and ornaments.

As for an update on whats going on here, well nothing new. Still working in the TOC, still working out everyday. I have gotten used to spending my days alone, my roomate Soap, well he has been at another base for quite a while and even the times when those soldiers are back in the area, well they are on the road quite a bit. I have gotten really good at video games and I spend a little extra time in the gym. Im hoping to pass the rest of the time pretty smoothly. Not much to say sorry.

I try to follow the news from back home. The economy, well i see that it sucks. SOrry for anyone who has lost a job in this horrible time. If your young enough, well the ARMY is hiring. No joke, military jobs are recession proof. Well the stimulus passed. Hope it works.

Ten Year Reunion

2009-02-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

So I just saw a post on Facebook about my highschool classmates starting prep for the ten year reunion. Well i asked if they could make it after I get home. I would hate to have a ten year reunion and miss it by a week or so. Anyway, I actually want to go. I am super pumped to see everyone again and find out how everyone has progressed. I know I have tons of stories and would love to here others.
A word to my friends; You are all going. Yes Dustin thats you, and Richie, dont even think of finding an excuse.

Well I wont bore those who have been to their ten and twenty year reunions but I cant wait to explain again my finger getting shot off, my IED/Purpleheart story. I wont mind giving the play by play to those who have no idea what WAR is really like. I guess I want to educate people to what the troops really go through.
Thanks for the support.

Once again the troops come in last.

2009-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Well im sure you all heard about how the ARMY actually made a good decision this time, to give each soldier two beers to drink during the superbowl. Well not us. Yup my command, from my company command on up has allowed this ARMY directive to be circumvented by some bullshit major or other weak minded officer. Well I hope they are happy.
I read an article on ABCnews.com today about how the suicide rates are up in the ARMY. Its pretty clear to me. Take soldiers away from their familes time and time again, run them around without any sense of order or clear mission and take away from them any morale boosters they could possibly have. Pretty easy to me to understand why some soldiers with weaker than average minds would just end it. I mean I am not allowed to play football, but the officers of my battalion can play football. Yup you heard me right our companies officers were ordered to do physical training with the other officers of our battalion, what it consisted of was at its core football. Passing and catching a football. Its soldiers cannot play though.

What hypocrits. Well im sure my commanders have stopped reading my blog by now, but if they still read it. I will say this. The way you handled the order for no beer during the super bowl and the way you handled the leave policy and the way you handle no sports. Well you should be ashamed of yourselfs. The way you handle bad news is to pass it out yourself, you get people together you tell the group you explain the situation, you let the soldiers bitch to you so they can see you care. My superior officers.......scratch that those officers appointed over me, lets say that, nothing about my command is superior to anything or anyone. I have spoken to so many soldiers on these issues and we all seem to agree things could have been handled differently from the start. At least they could have the balls to explain the situation and the orders to the soldiers. But that would "make sense" and the ARMY has stopped doing that a long time ago. Im proud of my service and proud of what I have done in my time. I will not re-enlist and this deployment is to blame. If i were weaker I am sure I would have thought of just ending it all as so many soldiers do. Maybe a command will take a long hard look at this situation and how the troops respond to them, maybe they will see how the way they mishandle these important situation overshadow any good things they could possibly provide.
Maybe im a disgruntled employee, if so then people should disregard my words. Or maybe im right and people should understand what I say. Either way I dont care what they think, I have less than 6 months here and im counting the days.

Not Rocky but im trying

2009-01-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

So, as I have said in previous posts I am boxing as a form of cardio now. I ordered some gloves and hand wraps, to ensure i dont break my hands on the heavy bag. Well i have a set of hand wraps and i was working out today, just hitting the heavy bag and doing some shadow boxing. Well there is a KBR guy that works out by boxing and he just so happens to work out the same time I do. Well today he was showing me a few things. It was great he took me threw a couple of jump rope drills to improve my heavy feet. I feel like Rocky in Rocky II. I have heavy slow feet. The guys says i have great punches and power but i plant my feet to long and i dont dance enough. The drills he put me threw were very difficult but mainly due to my lack of rythm and coordination. I got better by the workouts end but i was spent. We agreed to do more drills the next time we both were in the gym. Its fun to actually have someone who used to do Gold Gloves boxing training me. I feel good knowing im getting better each day. Now im no Lennox Lewis or Tyson but I will work till i feel i could step in the ring for real. I wont ever do it but i want to know i can. Wish me luck, im gonna need it.

Nothing stays nice

2009-01-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

So, im very angry, and well happy also. Angry because i went to the gym today to workout, i planned to run and do some light boxing work. I hit the heavy bag most days and do a little shadow boxing. Its great cardio and fighters are some of the best athletes in the world so why not take something from them. Well two weeks ago the gym had two heavy bags. That was great, no waiting and i didnt feel like i was hogging the equipment when i was using it. Then this past week, one of the bags was taken away. I dont know why, it just disappeared. I assume it got busted and they removed it, but who friggen knows. Well back to today, i walk in and i start my run and i look over to see if anyone is using the heavy bag, and guess what? The lone heavy bag is missing. SO i finish my run and ask the attendant. Well first the attendants are FN's or dudes from other countries. Yup not americans, most are Indian or Thai, or some weird cant speak a lick of english group. Well I ask and he says it got busted. That prompted me to ask"will it be fixed or replaced?" He just smiled and put his hands up. Big thanks dude.

So nothing ever stays nice here. its always miss used and overused and no one cares because its not theirs.
Well im HAPPY today because i spoke with Jessica and that was awesome. I love you Jessica.

Mom and Dad

2009-01-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

Mom and Dad, thank you both for your packages! I got them today and loved them both.
Dad the coffee cup is spot on! I needed a good one for my TOC duty, the memory stick will stay with me for a long time, the tuna is huge, i mean huge thanks.
Mom, tuna, awesome, the coffee is great and the tooth brush, i was just changing mine and i wished i had a powered toothbrush. thanks
I guess parents do know best. It may seems odd but i will be sporting my Samsung coffee mug for the rest of the deployment. It even matchs the Starbucks thermos i got from Bob Castellini. Yes thats the owner of the Reds and my father the biggest Pete Rose fan, on the same page.

Thanks Mom and Dad

Edit

2009-01-08T11:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, so on the ornaments its really a top five, sorry. Also i need to add that number two is really a two parter, 2a is the party animal(dad) 2b is the spiderman (Ryan) forgot to add spidey. its the coolest looking ornament as it hangs down as if spider man is on one of his webs, pretty cool.
Also Since my sister feels left out she needs to know that she is older and thus out of the running for being chosen. Sorry but your old so tough.

Answers

2009-01-08T02:07:00.000-08:00

Okay so i know i should wait for more questions, but i will answer my fathers 10 and keep on giving answers as the questions come in.

1, We have laundry service on post, they even fold it.
2, Doesnt matter on tuna, no oil, packets are easier(no extra water to drain)
3, Jessica sent me sticky tack for the postcards,
4, 8X20 about 8 foot tall
5, have a calendar, not marking days,
6, No prison break, they dont show everything on AFN, no need to call in that favor yet
7, "We got the money, we got the rings, we got everything!"
8, I have a top three: 5-Pictures(Mel) 4-Bengals ornament(Jon Mark) 3-Elvis(Jon Shearer)2-Party animal(Dad) 1-Hand made ornaments ( Jessica and kids)
9, Yes to the fourth of July but its just another day for the Iraqi's(no camping)
10, Evan or Neal? I pick ....... Lauren!

Ground hog day

2009-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

So in the middle of all the Holidays fun this year has been pretty much the same for me. I have a quiet job here in the TOC. Kinda boring but it passes the time. By no means is this awesome but its safe. So life is getting into a routine here. I try to workout everyday, i have been doing boxing workouts to change things up. I love it but im very sore. So not much to report, Soap just had a birthday, actually its today. I am trying to read my Peter Rose book. I have been eating a lot of tune lately, i might take the tree down sometime next week. It will be sad but i want to make sure i can send all the ornaments home to save them for next year.

I love the post cards! Keep them coming. SFC Withrow and I got some great packages from work. Thanks PLANES! Its cold here, actually it has been freezing the past week, warmed up today but i sense another cold spell soon. Sorry there isnt much to report but without going on missions I kinda dont see much of anything new.
Jessica and I are going to buy a dog. Dont know if it gonna be while im away or right when i come home. Its going to be an Irish Wolfhound. They are huge dogs, they were bred to hunt wolfes in Ireland. They are great with kids and love to run but arent very dangerous so im excited. It should give me someone to run with when i come home.
If anyone has questions they want to ask, about anything Iraq, the weather here, needs, wants, plans when i come home, just leave a comment and i will answer them all in a big post. Nows your chance.

thanks again to everyone.

2009, Its our time to shine

2009-01-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

Well happy new year everyone! Thank you all who supported me during 2008. I know God has been watching over me. I had a pretty boring new years eve, I worked out, and went to bed. I work in the TOC now so for the next month I will be in operations doing..... well lets just say operations stuff. It will be very much like my job at home, up at 4am in work at 6am and dealing with truck problems all day. Trust me I am the guy that likes that stuff. Anyway as with most people i made a resolution. I have three kids growing at an alarming rate and I want to be the best dad I can be for them. A part of that means being in shape so i dont kick the bucket early before they do all the wonderful things i know they will accomplish in their lifetimes. Well, hell i want to live to see the day they get out of the house. No wonder Bill couldnt wait till i went to college. hahaha. Mom you will have to read that to Bill. Well Jessica has made the same resolution. We have gym memberships at home which Jessica tries to get to but has difficulty. Well i have plenty of time here to get to the gym but Jessica not so much. That is where the John Updaters and family and friends come in. Well if anyone hasnt made a resolution yet, here is one I think would give you the most satisfaction. Make your resolution... to help Jessica out as much as you can till i get home. Now i know this sounds crazy but think about it. Everyone wants to give to charity or volunteer to help people in need. Well she is in need... not in the homeless or no food sense of in need but in need nonthless. She needs your time, time to give her a chance to improve herself, to get a break from the nonstop stress of being both MOM and DAD to three wonderful, full of energy kids. I know not everyone has tons of time, but there is easily 25 people out there that are able to give an afternoon one day a month to Jessica. Well if each person donated one afternoon, doesnt have to be just weekends or weekdays but both, well she could work out 25 out of 30-31 days a month and no one has to be driving to hamilton more than once. Now if you all think long and hard im sure you have one afternoon to spend with two/three wonderful kids. We have all the tools to keep the kids happy and entertained. We have a play room, we have toys, a playground in the backyard, we even have parks only a 5 min walk away.
Now i wont beg, i wont stoop to that level, but i do hope everyone answers my request. Jessica and I are checking email everyday so dont say you cant get ahold of us. If you have a day in your calendar, drop us an email and please dont back out. This 2009 should be amazing for me, i get to get in shape, finish my tour of duty and come home to the best family in the world. I cant wait for the day i get to see everyone again. Please make that day everything i think it can be. If you want to send packages aftert the holiday season has subsided, a few items we use everyday here are;
Tuna / Squeeze Mircale whip / almonds / tortillas / NO candy!
Now Im gonna be depending on my family and friends to come through on this one so dont let me down, you havent yet. Again if you want to help others more during this 2009 year, make your resolution to help Jessica. Roman, Shamus and Marissa will love having you around to play with.

Thank you all. I hope to see you all again only 10 pounds of fat lighter. haha who knows.

Thank you all!

2008-12-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone. I might not mention you all here but thank you. To the classes that send gifts and coffee and letters, to the friends of the family that sent ornaments and snacks, to the folks at Ugive.org, I want to say thank you. I have such a wonderful support network. Dad thank you for the tortillas, and jelly. Everyone thanks for the tuna, we eat about 4 cans a day. The tree is full of ornaments. They are wonderful. Thank you to the Castellini's. Yes i said that right, thank you for all of the Reds gear. Im super pumped for the next season. Cant wait to get back to the ball park.

Thank you to Planes. I always knew i worked for an amazing company but i would have never expected the outpouring of support they sent. SFC Matt Withrow and I both work at Planes Moving and Storage, and we recieved two huge packages or items that will come in handy for the rest of the tour. What we didnt need we shared with our soldiers. You at Planes have helped not only Matt and I but the whole 353rd. Thank you to all those who organized, planned, and donated. We cant wait to come back and see everyone.

Thank you to everyone who sent cards and pictures. You were all in my thoughts and prayer on Christmas. The post cards are great, its something new and fun each day. I have at last count 127. So we are on our way to the goal 4192.

Thank you to all those who have supported me so far, everything is working wonderfully. The tree, the saddle blankets, the ornaments, the coffee, the snacks.

Thank you to everyone. I love the ornaments, they will hang every Christmas on my family tree. Each ornament will remind me of those who sent it, and the support and encouragement you all gave me in this time of hardship. Thank you, I cant say it enough.

I gotta vent, read carefully!

2008-12-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

So its been awhile since i vented about how things really are. If things about the transportation company im in make you mad, stop reading. See im working through things and the Combat stress people say people like me should focus on the the stuff we can control and not the stuff we cant. SO.... I follow this advice and I pretty much stopped focusing on everything that happens here. YUP..... since the GOAL here is to set a record. See the company's goal.... and by that I mean not the company's goal since not one fucking soldier voted on this goal. Well the goal is to beat the numbers set by the unit we replaced. Now lets hear some backstory on the unit we replaced. Well they were active duty and they were in country for 15 months. So we would have to beat total miles driven and amount of ARMY shit hauled in 10 months.
Yes you got that right we are expected to get behind a goal that requires us to put OUR...not their....our lifes in danger more than is required. Im not asking not to peform our mission, but to have a chance to perform our mission safely. Yes, SAFE, the word everyone uses around here but none adhere to. I have seen drivers come in from one mission at midnight or later only to get 4 hours of sleep and then get up at 4am, 5am, 6am or the like and go back out on another mission. Ask those in charge questions about it "they got cat naps." Now no matter what, someone has to accept these missions, someone has to make the choice to keep our people on the road everyday for over 6 days straight. I have soldiers that have been on mission for a week straight. What i dont understand is why when these issues are brought "up the chain" (big crock of shit) nothing is done about them. I have a theory, well im gonna catch hell for this theory, those charged with keeping soldiers safe, those who pride themselves on trying to keep soldiers from harm, and bringing everyone home, those are the ones accepting missions that consistantly pushs soldiers on missions without suffiecent rest time. If a soldiers gets up a 3:30am and is on the road driving or loading his truck or whatever and doesnt get back to his CHU till midnight well i would consider that person not safe to put back on the road for at least 8 hours. Oh wait you need to know the ARMY's idea of rest. Well basically any time you are not driving, thats considered rest time. SO the second you step out of the truck, your resting. WHAT CRAP! I know the ARMY is tough and we love doing the tough stuff, but those "tough" times normally have a widely agreeded upon goal. Like defeating the Nazi's or defending south Korea. What makes it even better is that every 10 days or so we have 2 days of nothing going on. Now we as dilligent soldiers use these "down""off" days to maintain our equipment. This can take easily a whole day. If we dont take the time to fix as many problems as we can find, and that little problem causes a truck to be swapped or heaven forbid a "MECHANIC" to have to fix a problem outside of their normaly duty time, look out! Yes we get yelled at if we ask a maint. person to fix a truck that is going on mission. If we bother the mechanics after 4:30pm, yes you read that correctly, truck drivers .... work all day. Mechanics, 6-4:30 and they get one complete day off a week, well if we bother them our truckmaster yells at us. I guess the truck master, the guy who is supposed to help us complete the missions, i guess he is no in charge of Maintenance section also. I guess he has all reaching power.
Oh yeah HQ people get a day off a week too. The people who never leave the wire, the people who work inside all day from 8-5, they get to take a day off a week.

Now you may ask how are all of these missions getting done? Well soldiers are getting it done. My soldiers are doing an amazing job. Yes its what they signed up to do, but none of them want to set a record. None of them will gain anything by driving more miles and hauling more shit than any other unit. No some people in our unit may reap rewards from setting such high numbers but PVT. Joe Snuffy doesnt get anything to show for his hard work. Now they may get a medal for their work, but is one medal enough if someone gets hurt? Is it enough if a soldier dies? I have medals and i would gladly trade my purple heart to have never been hurt in combat. I would give up all of my medals if it kept my soldiers out of harms way. Now im not saying we should come to Iraq to do nothing, but i feel we do a lot more than our share. I have heard we are the only true transportation company around. I think thats a way to show off plumage. We have other units that are trans companies. If Trans units can drive gun trucks why cant gun truck units drive some 915's. I mean our security has three times the time off as we do. Does that make sense. Thats like the mail room guy getting more paid vacation than the CEO.

Okay so lets sum up here I have to focus on the stuff i can control which is not much. My soldiers are on mission a ton so the chances i get to see them i try to give them as much free time as i can so they can unwind. Our company is running missions like crazy and though i agree being on mission is better than weeks of nothing to do, we ned to make better choices about how many missions we send our soldiers on, about how many TEAMS, we actually plan our missions with.
Oh yeah i wont even go into the team idea. We plan on the basis that every person will be good to go and every truck will run forever. If you have 100 people ready to help you move and your trying to make sure your going to maximize each one, you dont have all 100 start moving everything at once. You go in shifts and work each group only so much before you give them a break so they dont break anything. See I work in the transportation buisness everyday. I think i might be the only one here who actually knows how a trucking company should run. YEAH this isnt how it should run. The civilian company i work for is amazing, they perform more missions, over more terrain everyday with fewer people. How, they plan and prepare for problems, they realize things breakdown, people breakdown, and they understand how to adapt to new ideas and other peoples views.

Yup i guess i have rambled on here for a while, what i am really saying is that things here are running, and i think running smoother than they might, but it is all because of the soldiers. While the leadership wont listen, the leadership must believe that they are infallible, while all of this is happening our soldiers, the amazing men and women of the ARMY are getting the job done and they will continue to do so. I pray that all of these decisions that make no sense, that all of these missions that dont have to be taken, that all of these choices are worth it, when that first soldier gets hurt or dies. I know its morbid but now i think that is the only way we will see a change. I have stopped trying to make a change here, I am over qualified for this TRANSPORTATION unit. I may have never run a company like this in Iraq, but i have day in and day out been knee deep in two great transportation companies. One ARMY one civilian. I have spoken with people from both of these companies and they all laugh at how things are done here. I have spoken with officers in the ARMY that are Trans. officers and they cant believe what i tell them.
Now i may catch hell for this, wait im sure too but understand this is one of the ways i was told to vent my frustrations. I do as im told, i go to combat stress, i do the group classes, the hour sessions and i give 100%. I try to be a good NCO and I do what i can to take care of my soldiers. If i have offended you ..... sorry...no............ tough shit.

Please have a great Christmas!

Dont forget

2008-12-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

Dont forget Jessica has a blog too, i know she doesnt post as often but when she needs something or has some important info she does post it.
http://armystrongwifeandmom.blogspot.com/

She posted about holding off on the sweets a while ago. Thanks again to all willing to help.

Item update

2008-12-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

Well as Christmas draws near, i want to thank everyone who has helped my family and I during this crazy 2008 year. Thank you to everyone who has sent packages and cards. All of the items you have sent have reached myself or my fellow soldiers. From cookies to cameras everything has helped. I love it all.
Many people have asked for an update on what they can send in future care packages. Well, let me say the things we dont need. Candy, gum, cookies, sweets and the like. We love them, we have eaten them and getting in shape is hard to do with so much of them still on the shelves. We love them dont get me wrong but we have plenty for the rest of the year.
Yes Soap and I are trying to eat healthy. The tuna everyone has sent is awesome, trust us we love it, I try to eat it for lunch everyday. So things a person could send if they are in the mood to send a care package. Cereal, healthy stuff, not coco puffs. Now we are very partial to Lucky Charms but it might just be the Irish in me. If anyone has ideas of healthy snacks that would help. since veggies dont travel well, i cant put those on the list.The jerky is great, one thing we find ourselves drinking is energy drinks. Now we know these are not the best but the one i love is the Sugar free ROCKSTAR. Its in the white can, my wife knows. we have powdered drinks and those are great but our shelves are stocked. If someone knew of a good powered tea, a healthy green or white tea that we could make, that would be great.
Christmas was good to me this year, and its actually not even here yet. I hope Xmas is good to my kids, Marissa, Roman and Shamus ... I love you all. Jessica i miss you, I love you.
I love the post cards, i need to recount them. I know im close to one hundred. I have a couple of doubles and thats pretty amazing considering how far away some cards have come from.

ANyway thanks so much, I hope everyone has a good Christmas and a happy new year. I got a rosary and holy water from Lourdes. I got some cool soldier type nut crackers. The ornaments are awesome. The books are cool, the christmas cards and pictures are very sweet. I hope to see everyone next year. The COFFEE is the best. Soap and i will be reviewing some of the interesting blends that we have received. I make a pot everyday and each pot is because of one of you. A person that cares and supports their soldiers. Thank you.

Oh Christmas tree!

2008-12-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

"Its the best tree we've ever had!"

Well, its tradition in the Buckley family and i am not one to break tradition.

Turn what you love into what you do!

2008-12-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

Well, with ample amounts of time to think about the future, i have decided to try my hand at homebrewing. Yes when i come home it's brew time. I first started this thinking a year or two ago when i happened to be in Grandma Katie's bathroom and I picked up a booklet about the family history. It turns out a great great grandpa of mine used to own a brew company in Covington. Yes i know making one batch of the sweet nectar of the gods isnt the same as mass producing the drink that makes grilling out so much fun.

I will take this slow, but i am for sure gonna find my own perfect beer and brew it all I can. I recently purchased a book about home brewing. It seems to be pretty easy. Just like making dinner, with just two weeks in between. So if anyone out there has brewed their own beer before, and you have tips, shoot some my way. I was thinking of names..... I was thinking BUCK beer. Or it could be called "nine fingered ale." Who knows lots of choices.

Anyway i still have quite a long time before i can make my first batch so for now i will be reading all i can, and who knows maybe one day you can walk to a bartender and ask for a BUCK light.

Ground Hog day

2008-12-13T02:10:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday was kinda like ground hog day, pretty much the same as most of them. Not horrible, not fun. Just living in Iraq. Same basic stuff, Soldiers not making smart choices and it getting them into ...not hot... but warm water. People being lazy, people being pissed off about something and take it out on someone else. People being hard to find. I went to Maint. today to try and find a truck, i had to drop off one that needed fixed. Well thats about it. Been listening to my ipod on my tv. I am a lucky person, i brought a cord that allows me to play my ipod through my tv so i dont even need speakers. Its awesome. Well, with Sopczak gone for two weeks.. he relocated to another post for a short time, mission dictates, things are pretty boring. I dont have someone to talk to all the time that understand my background. No big deal, just means i try and read more and listen to music a little louder. So its frickin cold here. We grilled out a few nights ago. It was nice but cold, just a small weber grill a few burgers and dogs, nice.

Thanks

2008-12-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

So quick thanks for the few Xmas packages i have recieved as of yet. Thanks to my Little Bro Neal, Love the poster, love the ornaments and the football.

Shearer Family- awesome package, love the Elvis ornament, the king lives! Love the jerky, I love Grandma Jeans Raindeer.

Mom- the magazines were great, love the Cincinnati one. The ornaments are great and the game is spot on! Thanks

Jessica, you did amazing, best gift i could have gotten. i love the Xbox360 and games, it will help pass the hours without you. the magazines are great and i love the pciture frames. It must have been one major project. Now i need pictures to fill them.

A few thoughts

2008-12-09T00:08:00.000-08:00

So, things are picking up here mission wise, and while im not on the road, I am seeing certain things that bother me. Many are being addressed by our higher ranking officers and NCO's but it still bothers me. I do want to say that this deployment from the living conditions aspect is bar none the best. I coudnt have imagined any better conditions.... wait, we have a water shortage, which doesnt make sense because when i do the math we should have more than enough water to do anything we want. We have no flushing toilets at our pad. Now im not complaining but merely commenting on how the ARMY manages its resources. It would seem that in 6 years of being in Iraq, we could have solved the water problem. Relying on Iraqis to fix everything is retarded. These people are king of rigging shit. Just look at their cars, everything is rigged.
Now also, the bus system here on the COB. Well who ever is in charge of it must have a GED because any educated person would see the need for more buses. Why does one base have a great efficent system and one have such an unreliable system. I mean we wait for over 30 min for a bus and when it gets there its more than half full so some people are forced to wait. Now i know we can walk to chow, its truly only about a mile or so, but thats besides the point, they offer buses and they claim to have done the math and have accounted for everyone. Well bullshit. I like my walk to chow, but the air is much colder now and with rain setting in more often, the mud is impossible to get away from, so this walk is much more of a hassle than a stress reliever. I guess i expected more from the ARMY.
Now i will say the ARMY is doing good things, i mean they are taking away reenlistment bonuses for my MOS. Oh thats a good idea when the ARMY is losing people left and right, lets decrease their incentive to stay. Bright idea.
I guess i needed to put my thoughts on paper...... well on something that reminds me of paper. So if you dont like what im saying ... tough.... if you agree, thanks

Thank you everyone for the post cards keep it up, i think im at 70.

Charlie Hustle

2008-12-03T22:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, PETER EDWARD ROSE has sent me, little old me, a postcard. Postcard number 59 is from the all time hit king. The only post card i got this morning is from the only player to be voted to the all star game for 5 different positions. My 59th postcard has the real signature of the best baseball player to ever swing a bat, to ever run out of his helmet, to ever head first slide into first base.

I dont know how it happened but I think I need to thank Joe Hansbauer. Thank you.

Thanks to everyone who has sent postcards. Now i have found that there is one other person getting postcards in the same numbers as I. Now she is getting mostly Minnesota postcards, I still want to crush her numbers so if you have a second, drop me a postcard from any gas station, state capital, theme park, or even a national park. I love them all, I will keep them all, trust me, each postcard is special. I read each one and my CHU mate Sgt. Sopczak and I talk about each one. He cant believe i got a post card with a Cow's butt on it that says Dairy Aire. I love the ones from the different places people visit. Aim Small Miss Small. I love the Cincinnati postcards, it makes home seem that much closer.

If asked though to choose a favorite card, I would say the handmade postcards from my sister. I even saved and put on the wall the envelope she deocrated when sending a postcard she thought might not make it. The cards she creates show such effort that emotions are hard to hold back when i see them. Everyday when things are down i can look to my wall and see the love people send but seeing those cards can lift any horrible day. Thank you to Mel and Joe you have embraced what the SUPPORT THE TROOPS truly means. Thank you to UGIVE.ORG, Thank you to the Indian Hill class of Kerry Daus, Thank you to the religion class Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Thank you to WEBELOSI den of Pack 106, Thank you to the Rumbaugh's, Thank you to Dad, Thank you to Mom, Thank you to Dustin and Chelle, Thank you to all those who i have not named, I love the cards. Just hearing what you happened to be doing the day you send the card out is more than enough to transport me away from this place, if only for a minute.

Thanksgiving.....in Iraq

2008-11-27T05:20:00.000-08:00

So today is Thanksgiving and although it truly sucks because im not home with my family i had to make it the best i could. Hey im a Buckley thats what we do. Well first we got to sleep in.... now my wife will be surprised because at home sleeping in for me is maybe 6:30 but here i slept till 8 oclock in the morning. I got up a few times to use the latrine or check that it was indeed daylight but i always went back to sleep. That was nice.I felt refreshed when i finally got up and i made some damn good coffee. It was Folgers, but thats the best we have right now. Again if you like the Java and have an interesting brand or one you are partial to please send it. If we get enough variety we will write our reviews. We love coffee. Anyway, my ususal breakfast of a protein shake, two cups of coffee and a Nutri-Grain bar. Yes maybe not as big as you would expect but im not trying to put on weight over here. Once we started moving about Soap and I had to prepare some things for his convoy so we hopped in a Gator and ran down to Maint. to get some dispatches. This is a lot of fun for us because it is such a change from our last tour. Now keep in mind we would still have walked the mile to maint. if need be but having an ATV to take us is awesome.

Once this task was done, we stopped int he TOC and I got into the mix of handling the days platoon buisness. SSG Gudim and I run the platoon while our platoon sgt. is up at another base. So there were a few things that needed to be worked out. Well after all that it was CHOW time. So today being Thanksgiving and us being hungry well we ate. The chow hall did it up this time, we had turkey, ham, mac and cheese. We had rolls, stuffing, and sparkling grape fruit cocktail. Yeah no alcohol. We actually had a good meal. It was nice. Well the rest of the day proceeded about the same way, small things coming up and decisions being made to make sure they get taken care of. Gotta love it.

Postcards from.......not the edge

2008-11-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

Well here are the postcards i have gotten. Thank you to those who have sent packages and postcards.

I really want to thank those who are sending them on a regular basis, you know who you are. Those who arnt, or who promised to help at home and havent well you disappoint me. I dont want to bash or hate on anyone but the same few have helped Jessica and the same few have made the effort. Maybe this war isnt as popular as it was my first tour but that shouldnt matter. Your efforts to help are pitiful at best. I understand in this busy world people have tons of schedules and plans but i could care less. When i was leaving almost all i came in contact with said" if there is anything we can do just let us know" Well i let you know. I gave everyone an inside track on how to help. If you read my blog then you would know this is not the first time ihave asked for help. Worst thing is that i had to ask more than once. If any of you have the sticker or magnet on your car that says you support the troops and you havent made the effort to help with your time then i ask you to take it off. Supporting the troops is more than buying a magent. It is more than send one postcard and feeling like you have done something. If you are not physically able, I understand, but many of you are and you have no idea of the time you waste. Time that would mean the world to my family if you offered it up.

Nope you all just sit by idly and put off making your effort to help. Well Holidays are here and im sure the excuses will fly. Please if you honestly arent going to try, when i come home, dont be there, dont say anything, not even thank you. My family needs me know and i cant be there, that means i need to rely on my extended family to help. In generations past this wouldnt be a problem but now we have such a self absorbed world that nobody will take the time for anyone else.

Again to those who have given their time and made the effort, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I ask that you put pressure on those who you know can offer help. Peer pressure works more than most people know. Dont be afraid to say something to these liars. My wife means enough to me, that i fi have to push away the fakes in my family and cut the ties, I will.

Please dont test my resolve...... you wont win.

thank you

The children are our future.

2008-11-20T05:13:00.000-08:00

Well that title is true. The children are the reason we are here. At least I hope that is a part of it. I figure after a few generations of Iraqi kids grow up with freedom, things will have changed for good. If these kids can run and smile and play soccer now, they couldnt when i was here the first time, well then I am fine fighting this war. I think the benefits of war takes 2X times the years the war is fought. That means when these 7 year olds are 21 we will see the true impact of what we have done here in Iraq. Just think if we had to live with our kids playing in war torn streets. There are more reasons than oil for this war.

Common things

2008-11-15T05:38:00.000-08:00

The first picture is of a MRAP. Its short for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected. Its basically an SUV that is armored to the gills. The second picture is an ASV or Armored Security Vehicle. Its only purpose is to protect.

These vehicles are just two of the multiple trucks that are used to secure our routes and convoys. If anyone is worried about security on the convoys now, just compare the trucks above to the truck below. The truck below is not the exact same as the one i got blown up in but its very very close.

Bueller...Bueller....Bueller

2008-11-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

So today was a sort of day off. WOW the first real day off since i got to Iraq. It came with surprise, but we made the most of it. Today Soap and I were as productive as we ever could be. We recieved our pantry and with that we organized and expanded our food area. We bought a TV and used our insider information to recieve a converter and power strips (220) so we can create a astehtic, safe living area, when it comes to power cords running all over the place. I helped my soldier, SPC. Helm clean out our truck and PMCS it. He and I also organized all of our truck equipment to create a more squared away apperance. Soap and I also ran AFN, or Armed Forces Network, the ARMY version of television in our CHU. So now we have a TV, we also hooked up the XBOX we were given by a fellow soldier that had two. One thing we lack is a DVD player that has A/V output but we are doing fine without. We recently cleaned our CHU, which we like to do regularly. We will also be making our regular trip to the post gym tonight. I would say today was what we needed. Oh we also dropped off laundry and I was able to change the sheets on my bed and drop them off to be laundred as well.

I tend to think the ARMY believes its soldiers will, when presented with a day off, spend it lying around doing nothing productive and basically waste the day. Which is why I believe our horrible command gives us so few days off. Well without trying to prove anyone wrong, I feel that my day was my most effecient day in Iraq.

Thanks to all

2008-11-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

Well i must say the support i have been show has been great so far. I wanted to give some updates. As for things to send, Magazines are the best because we are usually behind on when we get a chance to see them, we dont have a good selection, and we can transport them with us. Actually anything to read, that is current. As for food, candy... we have enough, thanks to all who have sent some, we love it but we find almonds, preztels and healthy snacks are the hot item. Sopczak and I have decided to eat as healthy as we can .... barring the cheat days, thats when we eat the awesome peanut butter cookies and other snacks we have gotten.

I want to thank my cousin Quinn's WEBELOS troop who sent a care package. You guys rock. Sopczak and I will be writing letters soon. Keep up the great work you guys.

If you want specific ideas, Mens Health, Newsweek or Time, Rollingstone, and Sports Illustrated or ESPN.

COFFEE We have bought a coffee maker and we both love coffee. I love Kona coffee, the Hawaiian type, any interesting types would be great, we like to brew a lot for our fellow soldiers, it makes for great converstation. I guess Coffee itself is the converstation starter. I have asked Jessica to send me a photo album for the pictures i am hoping to get of my kids, so if you happen to be lucky enough to see Roman, Shamus, and Marissa take a picture develop it and send it.

Movin on up

2008-11-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

Okay so living in a CHU is tough when you have a ton of stuff and people send you great snacks and food and things to make life easier. Get that people send things to make life easier and it makes the living tougher because you have no place to put it all. PROBLEM solved. Thanks to SSG Ulrich Sgt. Sopczak and I have a pantry/shelf system that allows us to organize our food, snacks and even gum. We are able to get things out of boxes and onto shelfs where we can see them. I want to repay SSG Ulrich for his time and dedication. Its hard to find something for someone over here since we all have access to the same limited items. If anyone wanted to thank SSG Ulrich for his unselfish act i would be very grateful. He built this using tools he brought from home and during his only day off this week. He choose to spend his own free time cutting wood and measuring everything just right so we could live a little better. He has built many many pairs of bed risers for our soldiers, mine included without being forced too. He has a talent that I do not have and he has been a great asset to our platoon.

If you would like to thank him you can send him mail or packages or a thank you post card at the same address I am at. Just subsitute his name for mine and leave out the last for of the SSN number. I know he will enjoy your support. To give you a little background, during my 4 day leave while at Fort Dix SSG Ulrich was able to be home in time for his 4 baby girls birth.

Thanks to all who support all of us in the military. We thank you.

On the homefront

2008-11-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

Hello again, i want to put out a request to all those who want to help. My wife Jessica needs a little more time to herself. I know my two boys can be a handful for just one night and Jessica does it everyday. I agree with Jessica that she needs some time away from the boys, and not just to go to the store for food. She needs time to shop for her own clothes, she needs time to be by herself at our house. I know its tough for anyone to watch our boys and now the boys seem to be attached to each other. Shamus doesnt like being without his big brother Roman. Please if you want to help call or email, she might not respond, dont feel like she doesnt want your help, she is busy and some people the boys are used to so its easier to set it up. If you can make it out to our house or you have room to watch the boys please let jessica know.

Please, many people said before i left that if we needed anything to let them know, well here is one thing we need. with the Holidays coming up we will need family more than ever, these holidays will be very rough for both the kids and jessica and i trust that my support structure will be there for me in the end. Family and friends, this to include cousins, uncles, aunts and the like please find the time in your schedules to offer help. Thanks

You've got mail!

2008-10-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Okay i know bad title but i had to think of something. Anyway, no internet in our CHU's but its coming soon. im on mission right now so i have a little time, I have started to receive mail, its sporadic and i am sure it will all get to me. I want to thank Beth Gottefried..... sorry if i spelled it wrong, i dont have the postcards infront of me. She has sent three postcards so far and they are my first 3, I think its a good start. Thank you to Dad i recieved the Red Coleman, it is perfect. Thank you to Patti, John, Ryan, and Kerri, oh and what the heck Erin. I got the jerky, its friggin awesome. Thank you to Rachel and Michael, they have been an amazing support even though we have never met nor spoken. I recieved the three packages you sent and my soldiers and I thank you. Everything will come in handy, very handy. I know my CHU mate Sopczak has already started cleaning while im away on mission.
Thank you to mom, the cards are great, coming home off mission to an always uplifting message is one of the best ways to motivate and inspire a soldier. Thank you to Jessica, my wonderful wife, the package you sent was everything i asked for. The pictures were great. i love the shoes and the card was perfect.

Anyone reading this please take pictures of Jessica whenever your around her. I dont have enough pictures of her and its impossible for her to capture those moments that im missing. Jessica can print them and mail them but she cant take them. Thank you.

Thanks to everyone who has sent mail but it has not found me yet. I am sure it will. I will keep letting those who write or send, know that the time they spend is not wasted. I will either write back or thank you here. my hand writing is very bad so this might be the best. Thanks again for all your effort.

SSG Buckley

Some items

2008-10-05T00:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, well some items that will help while im here.
Baby wipes, (lack of water means little showers or not even a shower)
3Mhooks the sticky ones that you can stick to a wall,
good hangers for clothes,
collapsable stool/chair, like the camping stools that fold up
pledge and dusting/cleaning items, we have lots of dust and would like to clean our little home
Carpet of any sort. it might be hard to send so if you cant no problem we have hard floors that can get cold. maybe a couple of bath rugs or different things,
A small to mid size cooler, but that is a luxury

I hope everyone is doing well, I cant wait for the first letters so please send them. If you send packages please number them so i can tell if a package you have sent did not make it.
I will try and take pictures and upload them once we get internet. It should be too crazy expensive. We are gonna try and get a TV so we can watch sports. Dont know how much that will cost? Anyway Books will never hurt, if you do send books i like true military, or leadership style books, Colin Powel, John McCain, and those types would be interesting to read about.

If you would like to get a letter or you think i dont have your address you are correct. please if you send a package, enclose a note with your address so i can be sure to have it correct.

Thank you to all those who support me. While we get set for the next 9 months please understand your letters mean more than you will ever know. If you want to write to others soldiers and not just me here are a few names of my soldiers you can put the letters in the packages to me and I will hand them out or you can address the soldier themself

SGT Adam Kopel
SPC Josh Helm
PFC Larry Wilder
SGT Audria Jacobs
PFC Terri Heishmann
PFC Travis Brierly
SPC Adam Yates
SGT Mellisa Bares
SSG Ed Hystad
These are my soldiers and they will be my responsbility the whole time we are here. They will save my life just as much as i save theirs. Please know they should mean as much to you as i do.

Thanks to all

APO

2008-09-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

353rd Transportation Company
ATTN SSG Buckley, John 5605
COB Q West Base Complex Iraq
APO AE 09351

Kuwait, this sucks

2008-09-29T03:03:00.000-07:00

Kuwait, is hot and sandy. Not much else. We have been here for a little while now and let me tell you it kinda sucks. I mean its 1000% better than my first time in Kuwait, but it still sucks. Mainly because this time i miss home a lot more. Last time the war was on my mind, this time making it home to my wonderful, beautiful, amazing wife is all i can think about. I post this using a Kuwait'i run computer shop where i paid 5$ for an hour of computer/internet use. wow the ARMY really takes care of us. It costs the soldier $ to do anything. If we want to call home, we have to buy a calling card. If we are lucky to have a Military post in our zip code you can make a DSN call for free but its a limited time, and how many of us get that Luxury? NOT ME. So i pay the money and im posting with my time. I miss my wife most of all. My best friend here Jon Sopczak, is helping me pass the time. the training isnt so bad, we got new body armor that is a million times better than the old one. I continue to miss my kids and friends, most of all my wife. I just miss being able to talk to her and hold her. Its weird but such a simple thing can take my stress away. Now that I am without i find i miss it much more than ever. We hope to be making my jump up north to Iraq in the next 5-7 days. This is a good thing. Instead of a 50 man tent the likes of which we are housed in now, i will be living with my best friend Soap, in a air conditioned 2 man trailer. My own slice of home. I can decorate the trailer how i see fit, i can spread out my stuff and not worry about infringing on others space. I can put up pictures of my children and wife, i can organize my gear so i can find everything. Anyway, Kuwait sucks, i miss my wife, but i am handling it well. Jessica will be posting my address in Q-West on each one of our three blogs so please read. i hope once we get to Q-West i will get regular internet so i can post pictures of where i have lived and some of the things we have done. Please everyone who reads this, i ask that you make a continued effort to help Jessica with the children. I praise my mother, father, and jessica's mom for their help in watching our kids while i was on pass at fort dix. I also want to thank Jeneen and Mel, for all your time and support. To those who havent been to the house to spell Jessica or who havent offered to watch the kids so she can shop for herself, or even spend time by herself, please do so. NO Dont offer just do it. If you have the time and ability just find out when she will be home and show up and be there. I know my wife is strong and pround and wont ask for as much help as those three kids will require, just force her to spend an afternoon shopping or to go see a movie or get a haircut and petticure..... or however you spell it. push her out the door. If she wants to spend time with marissa let her take Marissa shopping but not the boys, I want to see Jessica with more help. Those who have helped THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart, for those who said they would and havent, I am not mad just waiting. Please take this as a huge gift and sacrifice and i know you will be filled with joy after spending time with our children and doing such a un-selfish thing.
To Jessica: I love you, stay strong, i am proud of you. I miss you, and i will be home before you know it.
To Mom's and Dad, and those who are helping, THANK YOU keep up the amazing work. I know its tough but i means the world to me.
To Dustin, thank you very much, we can sit back and crack a cold one at YOUR place when i come home.
To My kids. Be good for your mother.
To my wife again, i love you. i miss you, i am proud of you and i believe you are amazing and wonderful. I LOVE YOU

What lies ahead.

2008-09-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

Pass is nearly over and i have begun to look forward to the future. I run through the accounts of my last tour and then i have to bring myself back to reality and remind myself this tour.....this war will not be like the last. Not that i long for combat or i wish for the chance to shoot, but the last war was much more romantic than this is shaping up to be. I use that term with some artistic license. Romantic in the sense that the soldiers still had a sense that what we were fighting for was just and right. We believed we were fighting a evil dictator who was going to use chemical warfare, and who would use his army to put up the best fight since Vietnam. Now we are set to deploy knowing the fight is limited and very controlled. We are treating this conflict as a business venture. We incur some sacrifice but that is always swayed but the financial windfall most soldiers incur. If i could tape conversations about what people are going to do when they come home or why they are going to Iraq this time, more often than not you would hear about a major purchase set to be made. I fall into this same category already planning out the money i will make during this deployment. We fought the first time because we felt we wanted to defend our freedom, we fought the first time for our family and friends, for those who died on 9/11, this time I fear we fight for the paycheck.

Does that make us Mercenaries? My first time at war we all did the math to find out how much cash we would make, but the talk of what would be purchased or how much the money meant was very secondary to the reason for the war. Yes the first war was romantic, we went with flags in our eyes and the stories of WWII in our heart. We all watched the amazing movies depicting great American battles in all previous major wars. We believed or maybe hoped that our chance at war would give us those same stories. Maybe we had a false belief that they would make epic movies about our battles and our stories. Who knows maybe in time their will be that great war epic about Iraq.

Maybe I should enjoy the diminished combat, maybe i should be happy to have such a limited amount of time in the war zone. I hope this time we can replace that quest for our great story with conquest of ourselves. I know i return to Iraq looking for a closing chapter on this part of my life. I return to this war torn land with the hopes to return home like the rest of my buddies did the first time. I want to enjoy the return to the states. I want to experience the joy of leaving Iraq under my own power and on my own terms. My stories were formed in my last deployment, now i search for my summary, for my closing chapters so the novel that has become these past 5 years or so will finally be finished and can put on display for all to see.

True Romance

2008-09-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we have pulled out of the FOB, which means we are back at the barracks and that means hot showers, porcelain toilets, and PASS! If you don't know what pass is then you haven't read my wife's or my family blog, which i do encourage you to do. I think it will give you (my readers) a 360 view of this deployment. Anyway being back in the barracks means i have one day to wait to see my wife. Jessica is driving out here to Fort Dix to spend 4 days with me. I haven't been this excited in a long time. This wait and how i feel has just reconfirmed how much i love my wife and why she is the perfect one for me. I guess its just the gut feeling of needing her around. I feel like she is my drug and without her i am in constant withdraw. So these four days will need to be my "fix" if you will for the next 10 or 11 months. As for what we plan to do on pass, we want to have a nice dinner, we want to spend time together and we just basically want to forget what happens at the end of the four days.

That being said, what happens at the end of those four days is the hardest part. The good bye. Not the good bye like last time because we knew there would be one more chance to see each other. This will be the last goodbye, a physical goodbye, for a long time. This will be the last time i kiss my wife for approx. a year. That i think will be the hardest part for me. I love my kids don't get me wrong, but the kind of love i have for my children is completely different than the love i have for Jessica. I am IN LOVE with Jessica. I feel that my soul mate has been found. No matter how much we fight or what its about we both seem to always find a way through. We may have hard times and we may have easy times but the toughest times are the ones spent apart. I have spent over a year preparing to leave my wife and kids on this deployment and i feel they are ready. As ready as the can be. I feel that i have not prepared myself. I am not ready to not touch my wife's beautiful face for a year. I have done time away from Jessica before, a two week stint here and there, but never this long. Time away from Jessica, is like time without breathing. I feel very alone without her. I have never felt in all my life that i needed someone to help me through. I feel that now. I need my wife, my Jessi, to help me through the rest of my days. I hope it is not taken as a weakness or as trivial. I do not say this to anyone but the computer screen, i do not toot my own horn in how i have found my "one" i write this to put what is in my heart and what is in my soul on paper for all eternity. Never have I, and the never is for sure, felt so amazed by one person. Jessica has weathered the storm of kids, moving, custody battles, marriage, poverty, a husband that has PTSD, her own demons, and then a deployment. She has done all this with smiles on her face and a drive for the next day. I have, and i admit this with humility, underestimated her. Never again with that happen. I have always known Jessica could handle everything put in front of her, but never did i completely allow what would come at her to be unchecked. I have always put secondary plans in place to protect her. I have not done so now and i am glad i didn't. She has done wonders.

While this deployment is just getting started i pray i do not speak prematurely, but no matter what happens next I will always support Jessica in everything she chooses to do. I want to chastise, those who have underestimated, not believed in, or just down right passed over MY Jessica. She would has proven you all wrong. Those of you out there who ever doubted her, this includes myself, should be ashamed. She is smarter, stronger and has a better constitution than any of us. She will make things work. If she cant she will go down fighting. That is all anyone should ever ask of a person. To continue trying no matter what the cost is a sign of someone worth supporting. I love Jessica with all my heart, i wish i had more ways to show her how much she means to me. I took stock of myself when i decided that Jessica was the one for me. I said to myself and her that i would make every dream of hers come true. I felt that she was never given the best situation to succeed and because of that she never got what her heart desired. I was not about to let such a wonderful person go through life without being happy. She received this news well and unlike most, she didn't ask for the moon, though if she did, I would be at NASA now. She asked for a house that she could call her own. Something she had never lived in. An actual house with four walls not attached to anyone else. She asked for her children to always be at her side. Meaning having majority custody of Marissa and any other children we have. She asked to be able to raise her kids herself without have to rely on daycare for help. This meant she would not be working. She asked for a car that wasn't a bucket. Yes the ones previous to the one she had now all were buckets, any way you slice it they were bad. She asked to have a chance to repair the damage that three kids can do to the body. That is it. Please note that no where did she ever ask for riches or outlandish vacations, or unrealistic materials. I promised her her dreams and I have come through on every one so far. I do not intend on stopping. Jessica is my soul mate, she will always be my soul mate. I don't care if she reads this, that is not why i am writing this, I am back at the barracks counting the hours till i see her. I have trained hard over the past 3 weeks with the hope of earning my chance to see my wife. No touch will be as sweet has hers, no kiss as soft, no voice as calming, no embrace as welcoming. I want my Jessica here but i dread the four day. I do not want that fourth day to come. I know what that means, if i could spend forever on day 1 i would.

I love you Jessica, I will come home I promise.

High speed training

2008-09-10T04:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, we have been doing a lot of training, i mean quite a bit. we have been running convoys and using high speed Humvees. we we use the latest equipment we all get excited. I have had a few issues with how they set up our training. I hate when the command has no real vision for how the execution of the missions will go. I almost think they have no real idea of what they are doing. i do understand that i have to respect my commanders and those appointed above me or those who outrank me, BUT when in the civilian world i do all of their jobs combined everyday it makes it hard to sweep all of their mistakes, misjudgements and out right stupid decisions under the rug. these people cant plan out a whole day of missions and when things go wrong or break down they are unwilling to adjust their plan to fit the capabilities of those performing the missions.

Now i had a run in with those people in operations and well lets say it got heated and i got pissed. I think when all was said and down they saw how fucked up all this extra training was becoming. Pushing soldiers to their limit, when even the command says before the training starts that" we know this training is irrelevant" makes it hard to motivate your soldiers. I have found my ways to motivate and my soldiers continue to impress me. I just wish the ARMY would have a better way to evaluate and (replace,retraining, dismiss,or just remove) get rid of bad leaders.

But since the ARMY fails in that aspect i guess i am stuck with leaders looking out for their own agendas, looking out for only their careers, and basically using the soldiers a tool to prove their own worth.

All in all i liked some of the training, but with it being unrealistic, its hard to get too excited. I am excited that its almost over. I get to see my wife in two days. I get to have four days of freedom in which i will rest up, spend time with my beautiful wife, and try and prepare mentally for the jump across the pond. I have some pretty cool pictures of our training. i will have more soon. Oh yeah the Hurricane/ Tropical storm came in a gave us a soaking.

Deployment mustache

2008-09-02T05:36:00.000-07:00

Yes we all kinda grow a mustache, it looks horrible on me. i know! Its gone, it might come back as a joke or as something to do besides sit around. Here is a photo

Black Hawk Down.......for truckers

2008-08-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

I am on the right

Okay so the ARMY in its infinite wisdom has no real idea of how to training each type of unit that deploys so it employs the strategy of lets train them all like "door kickers" or what most would understand as infantry. Yes even us truckers have to train for the worst. If anyone reading this remembers the Matt Maupin story... well that is why we train. If you don't know his story just Google his name. Anyway we have spent about the last 7 or so days doing infantry tactic training. We worked on individual movement and squad movement. We worked on mounted"in Humvee" IED defeat training and also dismounted IED defeat training. We also worked on MOUNT training. Now mounted and MOUNT training are different. Mounted is training while using vehicles. MOUNT training is urban warfare training. Its kicking in doors, room clearing, searching detainee's and all the extras that come with it. This training is the stuff in the commercials. Its the stuff younger soldiers join the ARMY for. Its the stuff that wears down the older NCO's as its very physically demanding. Well i had planned to get more pictures but i spent most of the time during the training employing my squad and killing the enemy. Yes my squad did the best i could have ever expected.

For being truckers at heart my soldiers surprised me beyond my wildest expectations. They responded to orders without question or hesitation. They were able to communicate through the fog of war. They pushed past their preconceived limits and found a sense of teamwork i didn't think would be achieved stateside. I was in charge of my squad of people plus 4 soldiers from my platoons 3rd squad. These soldiers also performed beyond belief. They were integrated to our squad and we all never missed a beat.

Keep in mind all of this training is in full battle rattle. Full body armor full gear, mask, magazines for our weapon, elbow pads, knee pads, helmet, weapon and buttpack with food, wet weather gear, full camelbak, gloves, ballistic glasses. If you add all that up you easily have an additional 70-80 pounds onto the average soldier. Now imagine carrying that weight as you run, jump, crawl, go up stairs, spin, maneuver,and communicate all at the same time as pulling security, searching a house, throwing a smoke grenade and shooting.

The MOUNT training was the best. My team did two "lanes" one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The lanes consisted of patrolling a street, clearing houses, searching the locals, dealing with unruly locals, killing the enemy and taking some prisoner. basically walking down a city street and handling anything that comes at you. I was able to shout and move my soldiers up the street and they killed the enemy. I did a little Rambo maneuver with another soldier but that's okay.

The second day my whole platoon had a rescue "mission". If you imagine black hawk down the movie but mostly the beginning. My squad had performed so well the first day of training that we were commended by our first Sargent and even the Observer trainers that taught the training. Because of that performance my group of 10 soldiers were picked as the assault element of my platoons mission. 1st platoon was to find a high value individual and rescue him, then escape with him to the landing zone. All inside this hostile town. Well my team did great, we had a battering ram for the front door, two search teams and a combat lifesaver team. We killed or captured all the enemy inside the target house, we got the HVI and we got out all within the 30 in time limit the platoon was given. The whole platoon did great. Our security force outside did a great job handing anyone outside the building. We all were commended for our tactics and handing of the ever changing situation. I was mentioned again by the OC's( teachers ) and by my company commander as someone who went above and beyond during the training. I don't want to toot my horn but i felt i found a new part of myself out there during that small simulated battle. I was able to maintain my bearings during the fog of war. I felt good about my decisions and my ability to direct traffic during a hectic stressfull situation.

Its amazing how the training that is so far from our actual job can teach us the most about ourselves. I thought this training would be a great way to get a good evaluation of my squad i never expected to be able to evaluate myself. I do feel that sometimes i might need to reign myself in from the inner push to handle any and every situation that "I" feel isn't going right. Though i did understand that the voice inside me that tells me to take charge is appreciated by those who fall victim to the fog of war, or in civilian terms cant handle stress.
Again far right.

21st century...... not so much

2008-08-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

Well here in the ARMY we have those soldiers who still cling to the old ways of doing things. Making phone calls home and writing letters. As much as i love letters and the phone i do understand email is taking over and a computer is a must have to help pass the hours of boredom. Well my Platoon Seargent finally came out of the dark ages and got a laptop. Its funny many of our older soldiers have purchased a laptop during our time here at Fort Dix and in the following weeks they keep exclaiming how much they love the new technology.

Yet we havent totally come out of the past just yet. We are out here in the FOB at fort dix and we are in tents. yes they have a wood floor but a tent is a tent. Its hot during the day and cold at night. we make the best of it. We organize things the best we can. I dont mind the close proximity since we acutally have more space in the tent than in the room. i do mind some of the amenities. Port -a - Johns. yeah they suck. Oh well we make the best of it. And it could be worse.

Army training! Sir

2008-08-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

Okay so we have been training now for quite a while and while some of it is redundant and .... well stupid so is very helpful. I will elaborate on both.

The stupid is the training we do most of the time. Since the war is still being fought training doctrine keeps changing and each place in Iraq, each command, hell each company does things a little to a lot different. This makes for a ever changing standard. That is hard to train for. We keep hearing "oh you wont use this at all in Iraq but you have to train on it anyway." What sense does that make? Or we hear " this isnt how your will do it over there but learn this anyway." I find all this does is create a false muscle memory for our soldiers. I dont want my guys learning the wrong way to conduct a TCP "traffic control point" or the wrong way to pull roadside security. These "bad habits" can lead to soldiers being out of place or even in harms way if something were to happen. Oh well is what im told, "just check the box and get out of here." Well i understand that but i still dont like it. I vent here because that is the only place i can.

The good training is something like what i did a week or so ago. I went through CLS or Combat Life Savers Course. Basically you learn to be the first line of medical aid when a soldiers goes down. Medics are really a thing of the past or for the infantry. We dont have a medic in our company... at least not an ARMY one. SO the CLS learns how to give an IV, learns how to do a "needle chest decompression" and bandage and splint many types of wounds. Its a great class, tought at a fast pace and one really never hopes to use what they have learned. Yes I did have to stick someone in order to give them an IV. I did very well i think. I also got stuck by another one of the students. He was one of my soldiers a Sgt Kopel. He has a permanent shaking problem so watching the needle shake as it inched towards my blood supply was a little un-nerving but we got through it. We also did some weapons training on some of the heavier weapons such as the 240B. This is a cross between the M60 and the M249. Great weapon, great stopping power and heavy.

I like training but wearing our IBA's (armor) and just walking around or sitting in the sun is really not what i expected from an ARMY that has been involved in combat operations for 5 or so years. our lessons learned are being cut short by budget cuts. Pretty sad when soldiers are still going down range to the fight. Write your congressman or woman and ask for more military training dollars. It will keep our force stronger so you can sleep better.

Don't Forget About These

2008-08-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. This is Jess. I want to make sure everyone has links to my blog and our family blog. There I keep updates on what the kids are up to and what's going on with me. I also post there if the kids or I are in need of anything. Please check them out and check back regularly. Thanks so much!

My Blog http://armystrongwifeandmom.blogspot.com/

Family Blog http://notsonormalfamily.blogspot.com/

You can also find the links to the blogs to the right of this screen under All in the Family. Thanks!

All quiet on the Western front

2008-08-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

Okay as we sit here with much of our training completed, I have quite a bit of time to think. So I want to expound on the things that make deployments hard and easy. I cant really list all of them because my mind doesn’t work like that. So here we go.
I have a harder time when the training slows and leadership has no real idea of what to do so they have us do stupid things. No I know I shouldn’t bash my leaders but sometimes making me do the same thing over and over again doesn’t make me any better. One reason why is you can only make training so real when you have to prevent any type of injury and you have very limited resources. So it becomes very bland. Now when training is specific and very realistic with plenty of assets soldiers including myself become must more focused and receptive to learning. When a soldiers interest is peaked or their mind is challenged they will participate more and are more than willing to give 100% of themselves to the process. When you dumb down….. If you will….. Training soldiers turn off their receptors and continue to go through the motions without recognizing any missteps or faults along the way. This creates bad habits.
MOB and deployment becomes harder when family doesn’t understand exactly what mindset the soldier has to try and remain in to keep their training effective. I try and keep my brain actively engaged during any and all training so as to increase my combat knowledge. I feel this gives me the best chance to be an effective leader. When it comes to explaining the combat/warrior mindset or battle mind to civilians or “regular” people its about impossible. Most Americans never have a job where the person to their left and right might depend on them for life and limb. Yes our jobs at home are stressful and our co-workers depend on us to pull our weight but no one is killed or is maimed if someone forgets to fax something or fills a form out wrong. I am not knocking civilian life. I am a civilian most of the time. I am just saying that soldiers when they are truly using their battle mind have a hard time hearing about your “bad day.” We care but we can understand why you don’t just fix the problem. If you are tired, go to bed. If you want to do something or need to go shopping do it. No matter how stressful or much of a hassle you think you have in front of you it will be nothing to us. Not that we have more to do, just that a soldier has to be ready 24 hours a day for change to happen. With that being said, that bad trip to the store could have been prevented by prior planning. If you know you have to go to the store and you have certain variables that will make that trip more difficult, and you have the ability to eliminate those problem variables, to a soldier it’s a no brainier. Make the decisions ahead of time and adjust your fire so your trip is easier. We care we just don’t want to hear it.
We love to hear about your day, write it in a letter, send it in a post card. Even though you can send us an email or call us doesn’t mean you shouldn’t send a letter. This holds true all the way out the family and friends line. People need that physical communication. Phone conversations are good but its instantly forgotten once something more difficult is presented to us. A letter can be reread and passed around. It can be carried in a pocket for when times are boring, difficult, stressful, or just bad. That one letter you may write or card you may send might be delivered at just the right moment to make a difference. Never ever think sending a letter will be forgotten. Those days when mail call is held and everyone of your buddies walks away letter in hand smiling because they know its form their girl or its from their parents with some cash or its from a buddy that you wouldn’t ever imagine would right, and you walk away empty handed. Well those are the days that break most men. To see the happy face of your best friend and know you have to wait for the next day to feel like that. Its horrible. Please make soldiers lives better, buy an envelope and stamp and write that letter. Just tell them you are thinking of them, tell them you care, just tell them hi.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2008-08-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

I look surprised.

Well, we qualified yesterday. That was rough. Not the actual shooting but wearing the IBA ( armor) all day. From 0430 am to 2230pm or from 430am till 1030 pm, I did not open up or take off my IBA. I was in full battle rattle all day long. very seldom did i get more than 30 min of rest time. It was a very good day. I zeroed my brand new weapon with its brand new optics both of which i have never held before. I zeroed my weapon with red dot optics and with old school iron sights both on my first time out the gate. Many soldiers did take some second, third and so on chance but i felt good my soldiers put out never ceasing effort.

We did NBC qualification, daytime qualification and even limited visibility qualification. That limited visibility qual is basically night time black as hell dark shooting. Which i surprisingly did very well at . 28 out of 30. My qual scores were the highest they have ever been, but i did feel comfortable and confident with my skills on my new weapon. I had a blast, i lost about 6 pounds in sweat, i even broke in my body armor. Gotta love a good day. It was hard, it was long, it was hot, it was even painful, but it was worth it.

Crawl, Walk, Run

2008-08-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well i have been at Fort Dix, now for a week and its not too bad. We did our first major training today. We packed and repacked and repacked our Large green footlockers. We configured and re figured and disfigured and all figured our body armor and uniform. I think we went through 10 different ways to set up our IBA (body armor). I am loving all this ARMY stuff. I truly love the time i spend here and doing my job. I enjoy taking care of my soldiers. I feel that my only job is their welfare. I am an NCO. For anyone not ARMY savvy or just interested in what an NCO truly is please Google NCO creed ARMY. If you read that and then apply that to what i have said over the past months and what i will be saying over the next year then maybe you can get some insight to who I am and what the ARMY and its soldiers are truly about.

Today we had a class on our new weapon the M4 carbine and the M68 optics. I have never fired this weapon system before and am very excited about it. It is a very light and easy to carry weapon. Our armor is starting to break in and when combining the armor and weapon tactics we can see the little hints and adjustments to make the armor fit better and our mission just that little bit easier. I found out that the gloves I was issued don't work in the heat. I will be wearing the ones i was given, they will work perfectly. I found out that the ballistic sunglasses the ARMY issues just give the sweat a nice channel to your eyes. My Wiley-X's i bought will be very handy. I found out how to make the body armor sit in a better position so it doesn't weigh on my shoulders but on my hips. I found out that just having a half size off in boots wont be something i can "live with."

I got some great training today on how to better position my rifle, my self, how to hold the pistol grip better and even aim better. All the old ARMY ways that i have used for 10 years are being thrown out and new techniques are being shown and i like them. After 10 years of training soldiers and myself to follow certain techs this is taking some getting used to but i like it. The armor makes you sweat and can be uncomfortable but once you understand it will save your life, its not so bad. I am still right next to my best Friend Sgt Jon Sopczak. He and i spend almost every day all day together, just like our first tour. I have some pictures of our packing, our confusion and how we looked today. There will be more and our look will change. By no means is this the last time you will see my in armor.

The beginning

2008-08-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I am at Fort Dix and its okay. The hotel waiting in Buffalo before we left was okay. I roomed with a best friend of my Sgt. Sopczak. He and I lived next to each other during my first deployment. We are very close so being far from home and without our families was much better together. We did a little drinking but that's kinda what soldiers do before they deploy. We never left the room though.

Now that we are here its really not too bad so far. It is a little hot, our room AC was frozen over to begin with so that took some time to thaw. I found out today i have to get glasses because i cant see. My left eye is the bad one but oh well its just for the ARMY.

We also got our body armor today. Yes the piece of equipment that is supposed to save our life. Its a heavy heavy vest with multiple extra additions since my first tour. Until it breaks in it will be very uncomfortable but i imagine once we get used to it the weight wont be so bad.

Address While at Fort Dix

2008-07-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the address for John while he is at Fort Dix.

SSG Buckley John 5605
Doughboy Loop Building 6038
Alpha Company MRB 353 Trans CO
Fort Dix, NJ 08640-9001

399 and a Wake up

2008-07-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so its finally here. That day no one wanted to come but everyone knew they couldnt stop. I had to get on the plane today and say good bye to my family. That is the hardest thing to do. My wife, mom and dad were on hand to do the good bye's. Lots of tears, lots of hugs, lots of kisses. I had to leave no matter how much no one wanted me to. Its not too bad. I have done this before and i know that it will be over before we know it. We had a decent day at the airports. the flights werent too bad, short but cramped. I miss my wife more than ever. Its hard to explain to someone how you feel. I love her and miss her but she will have to be strong, i will have to be strong.

Thank you dad for the amazing video. Thank you mom for the ride to the airport. Thank you Jessica for everything you do.

Just in time

2008-07-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

Well,

Its the last day home. All the items people were sending me have arrived. They all fit perfectly. Its amazing how some things just work. I have been home for the last two weeks and it has been the best. My basement was finished in so my wife has a perfect place for my boys to play. My basement was done previously but a flood actually blessed us with the opportunity to redo and move up into some much more our style. Thanks Ken and Jeff and everyone at Tumblison Construction Services. They were family but besides that we felt like regular customers. No corners were cut, no detail missed. Thanks again. Now its just packing.
Yeah packing is the hard part, all you do is put clothes and stuff into bags but it makes the end seem much more final. When the uniforms go into the duffel there is no more waiting, no more hoping it just might never come. Its here. Im fine with it I guess but i know my wife hates seeing me pack. I always wonder if i should pack this item or that, I never really know what to expect.

Well i wont blab just yet...... wait yeah I will, my Brand new Dell laptop has made all this prep for not. My charger stopped recharging on Friday. SO i had to call dell and since im under warranty they will ship me one. What time will it arrive you wonder. Ohhh about noon on Monday the time I land in Chicago. yes that mean i take my laptop with me to Buffalo but my charger will not be with me. just my luck...

Oh yeah also once my basement was finished it was about 7-8pm at night all is quiet and I flush our toilet upstairs and what do I see? Water coming out from under the base of the toilet. Yes my toilet was leaking. So I had to shut down the bathroom, the only bathroom in the house, and I had to run to Walmart and get the wax ring to re-seal the toilet to the drain pipe.

Its all fixed. I rock. I will miss my basement, my wife, my kids and everything I do on a normal basis.

Farewell............To Arms!

2008-07-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was a special one for me. My father, mother, and sister organized a huge picnic party to send me off with flare. It was great. i want to thank everyone first off for being there despite the heat. I want to thank everyone for taking the time to offer your support. I also want to thank everyone for all the care package items i saw. WOW you all did an amazing job. Its like you all know me very well or something. The Jerky in all forms will be enjoyed more than you know. The wipes are some of the most handy things to have in combat. Huh that's weird one thing the ARMY doesn't issue to the individual soldier is TP. I cant wait to use each and every item. Just what i saw will make a huge difference.

The party was great. I got to see my whole family. It was a like a family reunion if the family started with me! I saw all sides of my family enjoying corn hole, I saw Roman, Jacob, Brayden, and Shamus, all Buckley boys all together for the first time. The next gen was there in force. I finally got to see my little sister Lauren. The twisty's will be great in a pinch.

I got to see my father and my wife's father together for the first time ever. My parents finally got to meet my wife's parents and not just through email. I got to enjoy the company of my favorite relatives all at once.

Like i said"when i come home we will do this again but with a lot more beer."

Thank you again to everyone who came and supported me. thank you all for the care package items. Thank you mom, dad, and mel for your effort and time. Thank you to Father John and Sister for your prayers.

Its sad that war is the reason we all come together but I feel proud to know I have a family that will support me through anything God might put in my path.

Thank you and I love you all.

Not just the magnet on the car!

2008-07-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

I want to say in this post that true support is not just that magnet most people have on their car. No just because you have the yellow ribbon it does not mean you support us troops. Nice try but there is a lot more to it than that. I am not saying also that you have to spend all day and night and tons of cash buying everything a soldier might need, either. I am saying that true support means doing at least one thing that requieres your time and or money. Maybe its sending a package to a name you can get from the VA. Or its writing a letter to your co-workers nephew that is in Iraq. That is the real support the soldiers need. Your car magnet may help you sleep better but it does nothing for us, the soldiers.

I want to talk about a couple that has truly go above and beyond in their support. Many people are doing amazing things for me and i love you all. I want to put a spotlight on these people for a reason. I wont use any names but this couple is from NewMexico and came across this blog on just a chance. I would like to believe God sent it to them. Maybe they needed it or maybe God thought I needed it, but either way they have changed my outlook on the rest of humanity. These wonderful people have sent me items that will make my life easier, more enjoyable and all together better once I am in Iraq. The couple took my list that I posted on this blog and went crazy. The pictures i post here will be from the Camera/Camcorder/MP3player/voice recorder/webcam they sent. I have already found it very handy in preserving the events that are preceeding my departure. They also sent many other items that trust me will be a part of my everyday uniform and life.

I would consider the best item i have recieved is a knife sent to me. The gentelmen of this couple is retired military and he parted with something that i consider a priceless item. This knife im sure has come in handy in many situations, i know that if i ever need its services it will be by myside. Thank you to this couple. They have never met me, they have never even spoke to me outside of email. All things happen for a reason and this is a great thing. I am interested in the reason. I may never know it, but im sure it will come to me.

I want to say thank you again. godplezur@aol.com Thank you!

Last month

2008-07-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so its this month that i leave. Yes July is finally here. That is both good and bad. Good because i can finally start the preparations that have been eating at me. Bad because well that means each day is another day closer to that big jet plane. Yeah they song leaving on a jet plane, or big ol' jet air liner, what ever you choose yeah i listen to them all. Its weird all i want is to leave and get things over with and all everyone else wants is for me to never leave. I guess a big part of me wants to finish what i started last time. A big part of me wants to get the fight on again and kick some butt. A big part of me wants to do what i have been training for for the last ten years. I want to do my job and complete my mission. No matter what happens i have chosen this life and i don't regret any of it. I know it is horrible to be away from your family and the chance that i might not come home alive is always there but i feel the best when i can say i am a soldier in the United States ARMY. When asked i will stand on the wall and defend against all enemies forgein and domestic. Yeah if you think about it soldiers don't care why they fight, if America had to fight a war against Canada for maple syrup or whatever i would do what i was ordered to do. When things break down like that this war makes much more sense. We elect these people to office meaning we trust their judgement and we gave them the power to send us to war. Why do we then complain about the choice they make? I am a soldier and a father and a husband but only one of those is at the will of someone else. I choose to be soldier to follow orders without hesitation for reasons that might object with my own beliefs or reservations. I hope i come home unharmed but i would rather if something were to happen that it happen to me instead of my soldiers. I take 10 or so people to war ages ranging from 21 to 45. I am expected to bring each home in one piece. Its a huge task when a man steps back and looks at the task as it applies to life. During this next year these grown men and women will look to me to make decisions that could get them home or get them killed. I trust in my training i trust in my experience. I trust that God, man, and all those in between have given me the skills i need to be the great leader these soldiers deserve. I hear "but your only in the reserves" or " your not infantry" Well that may be true but the enemy doesn't discriminate who they kill by branch of service or MOS. The terrorist kill Americans. All Americans. I seem to keep babbling on here not really having a point to this post. i guess i just need a sounding board to get these things off my chest. I hope this last month is the best i can make it. I am going camping, having a big party, spending time with my friends and family. Please if you support the troops make that magnet on your bumper more than just an after thought. Support the troops actively. Vote for who you truly feel will do the best for the whole country. That includes those of us who are called day and night to defect the country. Keep in mind as you go to the polls that the job of the president is to be our commander and chief. That job should not be taken lightly. This person has the ability to send our men and women across the world to fight and die for his will if he so chooses. Please make sure when you vote this man you vote for has worn the uniform before. That will be the only way you know that when a soldier goes to a forgein land and dies, it is not in vain.

2008-07-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

Go west young man

2008-06-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

I have been out at training in Yakima, Washington. Yes i said Washington. The state not DC. Without bashing the ARMY or what we do this was a wasted mission. We trained a lot of soldiers but none of the problems we have encountered were worth the training.

First the drive out here took 4 days. Four days in a day cab Freightliner with an empty trailer. Bouncy doesn't describe it. The drive wasn't too bad but it was long. Once here at YTC (Yakima Training Center) we set up and got ready for an inspection by civilians on our tankers. This had to happen before we hauled fuel. Well it just so happened that our first mission couldn't start until we had enough tankers cleared. Guess who was in charge of the first mission?Yup me. I was in charge along with one of our brand new Lt's. Here is some back story. We weren't running missions with our own platoon. each platoon had sent a squad of soldiers about 10 or 11 to make up four teams that would each handle a specific leg of the missions. So i had a new LT and only 10 out of 30 soldiers that i knew. Needless to say all hell broke loose. Nothing we could have foreseen or avoided. 4 tankers leaked once fuel was pushed in, 2 tankers came back dirty( as in had sediment that would cause bad fuel, and our Humvee broke down.

That's not all! Oh yeah it gets better, still on my mission we find out Congress hasn't passed a certain bill and now all of our funding has been cut. Yes we had no money for fuel. So at 9 o clock at night after getting up at 5am the LT and i are trying to find out how we can repair the Humvee, repair the tankers, get our soldiers to sleep( we had to leave at 3am) and find a way to purchase fuel so we can keep our tractors running. Well we came up with a plan but none of our plan was used. I will just say other factors took over. The factors that took over were corrected later and that will never happen again. We made it back, it wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect but it was accident free. I was patted on the back for my job well done, then i slept and got up and did it again.

So on the cutting of funding. i want to speak about this for a minute. We actually lost a ton of funding. We stayed in a hotel once on the way out here, well that's gone, the ARMY credit card used to rent a van to drive people out here was blocked, our fuel cards were cut from $20,000 to $10,000 without warning. Now the unit is half convoying home and half flying and the convoy is praying the fuel cards they have will get them home. Congress please get off your fat ass. We need to train and we need money to do so. I understand there are a million things that get added to a bill but, Military funding should never be compromised, not while we are at WAR.

Okay thats my rant. I should be back this sunday. I cant wait to see Jessica and the boys.

Last Tango in Paris

2008-06-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, its not the final days at home but im leaving for 20 days and thats enough to make me sad. yes i said it sad. I hate leaving. Who likes it? I hate it but it is a part of who i am. Anyway we had a great time this weekend. I played with my boys and watch an amazing MMA fight. I spent time with my wife, i grilled some amazing steaks. 4 Steaks to be exact. More on the fun with the boys in the family blog. Anyway, I am leaving to go to Buffalo MN and then drive to Yakima Washington. That's 3 days of driving. That's all the fuck on the west coast. Yeah, your tax dollars at work. Why are we driving all the damn way out there to train. Guess what we arnt doing any combat training just driving. I can drive anywhere. I can do all the driving they want me to do at home. Why do i have to drive out to Washington state to drive? Yes i want to get to know my soldiers but this will only piss them off to leave home for the better part of a month to do training they could do close to home. I wont complain much more. I just feel this type of training is why soldiers leave the ARMY. I love the ARMY but i do understand it is retarded at times. Thanks

Ferris Bueller's day off

2008-05-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't skip school, and all the fun happened on Sunday but i think knowing no one had to get up Monday morning for work allowed a ton more fun. We started early in the afternoon and went well into the night. I took this weekend as a chance to have some real fun and cook some good food. I made my own burgers with the same ingredients as last time but we had more burgers to make so i upped the amounts. I had fresh corn on the cobb. I shucked it myself. We had some grilling bean. I also made some Bacon wrapped shrimp. Yes you heard me correctly i found some jumbo shrimp and center cut bacon. I skewered them and grilled them with butter. Oh yeah they are even better than your imagining. Well after the kids went to bed the adults enjoyed time. I loved hanging out with my kids all day and my friends all night. We had great stories to tell. We listened to great music from Vannila ICE, to Billy Joel, to the Eagles and even Bell Biv Devoe. Yeah we were having a great time. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Pack it up pack it in, let me begin, i came to win battle me thats a sin.

2008-05-20T18:23:00.001-07:00

Yes, House of Pain Rocks!

I begin the packing process now. I picked up my gorilla tote from my unit today. Its just an over sized footlocker. We will be filling these with items we will need in Iraq but wont need before. This is where we pack; desk lamps, rugs, ball gloves, paper, sheets for a twin bed, pillows, the stuff that is odd to carry over seas but we will still need. I have amassed some good gear so far. Thank you to all who helped. Still have a ways to go. Hopefully I can collect all I need. I am an over planner so I'm sure i will pack and repack twenty times. I can only hope that all i pack is used. i hate extra unused gear. It just extra weight.
A few other things i will be taking are gloves, decent socks, an electric razor, a digital camera. I hope to post while in Iraq with pictures of everything.

Thanks again.

Office Space

2008-05-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

New laptops are here! The cases and fun stuff are here. Huge thanks to the parents DAD and MOM, Jessica loves her new computer. Thanks to Jerry (Mr. Smith) for the computer messenger bag and ammo pouches. It all fits perfectly. Trust me I intend to put all of it to good use. Its helped out with getting ready to go and all the blogging.

Its 69 days left and I am sitting at my desk this morning with no desire to complete any task that i normally do. I guess the looming all encompassing task that awaits is starting to make all else seems trivial. Yes i know i cant blow off work but when people complain about promotions or emails or that people are drinking too much sugar or creamer in their coffee i want to scream. I know i have complained many of times about people who use the wrong tense in their emails, or who leave the subject line blank or the voice mails i get where some jerk listened to the whole recording only to hang up once it actually started to save their message. But Damn people, i know gas prices suck, i know they are high, but did any of you stop driving? did anyone take a bike instead of hoping in their SUV? NO. Don't complain about the things that your not willing to change. If you want someone to use the correct grammar in an email you should correct them in a nice way. maybe they are too damn stupid to know they are looking like a giant dork. if you want lower gas prices, WALK. I hate how my price of bread has gone up 30cents in 3 months but you know what i don't care. I can sacrifice in many other areas. How many of us complain about gas but have cable. There is $40-80 bucks a month. How many of us drink beer? I cant imagine how much that would be but i can easily say its $100 bucks a month. So there..... there is 140 bucks for the average American of luxury that they could, but wont, give up to ease the pain at the pump. Stop complaining. i know we all do it out of reflex but as anyone who has had a major life changing event happen would say, its not that important. Raising your kids to be good people, being kind to your fellow man, providing a roof and food and love.. those are what matter. Those are the values and constants that should permeate our thoughts..... not whats the current price per barrel.

Okay there was my rant about gas and the trivial pursuit of man.

Thanks again we love everything.

76 days

2008-05-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

So I have 76 days left and if you count today as already done 75. I made some changes to the blog to spice it up a bit. I added links to the items I hope to have before i go. I racked my brain and tried to think of what would have made my life easier last time i was in Iraq. Some items i had like the Wiley-X's (thanks dad) and they worked great, some will be new like the gloves, but i know i have used things very similar to all of the items and they will be better than taking nothing. Again i am not asking that anyone purchase these items. If you choose to do so i appreciate that beyond comprehension, but if it comes July I will buy each of these myself. I have also added a few fun things. Please note the poll, the different colors, and even the quote at the bottom. More to follow. thanks again to all who read.

Last Drill

2008-05-05T17:03:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend was my official last drill weekend for at least a year. I was both happy and a little sad. Happy because drill weekends can suck very bad. A lot of drill weekends are boring. The ARMY doesnt always have lots of money or ways to train soldiers on a basic Saturday and Sunday drill. Many weekends you spend your time just walking around trying to look busy. Happy because now the answering of the same question "when you leaving" is over. Sad because i will miss the soldiers and friends i made at the 705th. I have been in the same platoon and the same company, hell even the same squad for over 10 years. There are only a handful of people left at the 705th who where there when i first walked in. People have transferred units, gotten out of the ARMY or just stopped coming altogether. I will miss the soldiers i have trained. i have seen many of them click off years and get older. I have seen many drink too much and puke. i have seen many find out that being a good soldier isn't just showing up to drill. I have had yelling match's, i have had my butt chewed out. You name it Ive done it at the 705th. I went Christmas parties with these people, grill outs, weddings, funerals, and the occasional ambush. I have laughed, cried, fought, and hugged. I have bleed next to them, done things I'm not proud of next to them. Now even though a few will travel with me, i leave the 705th behind. Sgt. Groman thanks for listening, i have seen you grown from a 19 year old wide eyed kid to a 21 year old NCO. Good luck in all you do. When i come home I want my first steak to be grilled by you. SFC Cook, thanks for helping save my life. Thanks for showing me a different style of leadership. Sgt. Fisher WHODEY!
I still have a few days where i will need to return to the 705th but there will be no goodbye's or goodluck's. Guess i will have to change my license plate?

Here we go again!

2008-04-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

Yes as im sure you know i am being deployed.....again. Yes back to Iraq, 12months, driving truck, hauling fuel. That should answer some of the basic questions i get. Why me.... I don't know. Bad luck, Karma, maybe its fate. When i left last time i wasn't done. I had some fight left in me. I consider it to be much like a referee stopping a fight after only one good punch. This time though, i get "one more round."

No im not excited or happy about going back. I am ready and able to finish the job i started 5 years ago. I do not want to go back. Do not confuse my dedication to duty for a desire for combat. If i could put down my rifle and walk away i would. I cant, that is not me. I am not the guy who lets others stand in harms way. I may not be kicking in doors, or jumping out of planes, but each soldier in modern combat is 100% equal when it comes to danger.

I leave behind a lot as i travel this time. My wife Jessica has the monumental task of taking care of 3 kids by herself, all while praying each night for a phone call or email that proves i lasted one more day. My boys Roman and Shamus are too young to understand anything more than "dads at work" but a lack of understanding doesn't shield them from the pain and anger of not having their father around. Marissa will understand the basics, im gone, to war, im fighting the bad guys. The real understanding will elude her for many years.

I will not MOB till later July so we still have time to see everyone and say the good byes and do the fun things we all want to do for the ... possible last time. I will be at the family reunion, i will have a party at my house before i leave to give one last chance for family. I do train for quite some time in June so it will not be as easy for me to prepare everyone as i would have hoped. I will MOB at Fort McCoy, its in Wisconsin. We train there for some time then we are off to Iraq. No, i don't know any exact dates. Last time Fort. Knox was very close to home so many visits were made by family. McCoy is 9 hours of driving so a weekend trip is out of the question.

Here are a few reason why this blog will exist. 1. To provide a lasting history for my family and children to remember what those who wear the uniform have done. 2. To keep family and friends informed of mine and other soldiers wish lists and needs lists, care packages are the greatest thing a soldier can get. 3. To allow for my own thoughts to be expressed to the world without censorship.

If i post a list or URL of an item it is not me asking for anyone to purchase this item. It is a way of silently answering the question i get all the time "what do you need?" "is there anything i can do?" I love you all, some things are just out of my hands to control. Last time a family sent me a personal DVD player and very warm socks and gloves. This family did not know me. They sent the package addressed to a soldier's name they got off a list of deployed soldiers. They sent letters and other items like DVDs and small items. When i look back its not the monetary impact it had, it was easily a $250 dollar care package, but the emotional impact. They just cared enough to find out what soldiers want/use/enjoy and felt that they cared enough. They didn't say if they supported the war. I didn't care. Their (the couple) son i think he was 10 or so wrote a letter describing his hero, who was his grandfather that had fought in WWII and how he wanted to be a hero like him. The political views of the war had not tainted this child's view of those who will stand up and fight when asked to. I do not ask that anyone do this because i chronicled this story, but i ask that for any soldier if you feel as these people did, please send the package. Your soldiers do not ask for your money or gifts, if you send a letter, it can have the same impact. Understand that there are many fighting men and women without a great support network like I have. Last time my abundance of letters and packages was distributed amongst all of my close buddies. We all enjoyed the classroom letters, the food, the magazines, and the wedding notes. There will be much to follow but all i ask is that you read with your mind open and an ARMY pt shirt on. If you don't know what that last comment truly meant just call my father.