Alright.... my Internet ran out on the 20th of this month... I've been anticipating a move to a new location any day now so i didn't spring for the Internet because its sold on a month to month basis.... right now I'm in the MWR and this sucks... The milbloging OG's had it rough.... but they are old school and I'm new school... we do if from our rooms bitches...
about that... i just found out that i may have a week long lay over in an other then permanent home... so my noninternet having ass may be extending the duration....
the June 30th deadline for the power transition IAW the SOFA is still on schedule but we still don't know how it will affect us.... we probably wont be told until the 2nd of July while getting yelled at for doing something we are no longer allowed to do.... (I love the Army)
and lastly, after a couple of request for a week long photo/blog post that covers an entire week, I'm now giving it serious contemplation... couple things though... one it will be watered down... anything that's incriminating or violates OPSEC i wont be able to discuss, publish or even hint too... I also currently don't have a camera.. i blow my up trying to get it too close to a controlled det.. about a week and a half ago... so i need to buy a new one... i may do that soon but only if theres one i like.... That leads me to this... i wont have my new camera until after the SOFA bullshit.... we don't even know if we will be allowed outside in the city after the 30th... so it could end up being me eating, sleeping, working out, and all the fun and bullshit that goes along with being so full of time that you cant even find things to consume it... but hey once i get my camera i will have a better grasp of whats going on and if i still think its a good idea... thanks all, bare with me not having Internet... ill get back in the swing shortly...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
FILLER
I didnt get the reaction i was expecting from my last post... a couple emails... but by in large i thought it was funny... i guess it was uninteresting to others... well here you go, some pictures... the internet has been to random for me to get into a writing grove...
Me doing a "im going to shoot you pose with an AK.... you really cant tell what kind of weapon it is from the pic... its an AK
Me posing with an MP5... i have a video of me shooting it but i cant load it because the interent sucks here... MP5's are fun though....
RPG with no rocket... i unfortunatly wasnt allowed to shot this... even though we did find 2 RPG rockets later on that night... it would have been a blast to have been able to shoot them... instead we blow them up and my camera in the process...
This is the view from where we have to pull guard at this rinky dink JSS.... i know the picture isnt that great but try to appreciate the level of frustration i endured tring to get the camera to line up with the rear and front sight post... it started out a seemingly easy task.... 20 pictures later my frustration and determination was rediculously high... being that i put so much effort into a picture that isnt really that great, i though it deserved to be posted...
The raiderettes.... they came to see us... i dont paticularly like the raiders but i went anyways... in this pic im quizing them on raider knowlegde... they passed, but had they been cowboys cheerleaders i think i would have stumped them...
Me and a couple of my soldiers with the girls...
I took this picture purely to demonstrate my love for football.... it had nothing to do with with the girls... come on guys im married...
This is the other team leader in the squad and my roommate.... this is his ganster pose... the funny thing is that he will never ever forget this day... this day he will remember when his 70... but i cant tell you why...lol
One of our trucks is about to tip over.... we tied it off to another truck and luckly got it unstuck with out tipping it over...
This is by far my favorite care package letter from a kid... ive seen tons of them but this by far takes the cake... theres an on going debate to weather or not hes saying service or survive... but there is no doubt about the whore... hey austin.. if this ever its back to you... i got you buddy.... im tracking man.... you are my hero bro...
Hey what do you know... and EFP... the ones Iran stopped selling us.... this must be the second one this year... ( reread the the efp post comments if you dont get it) anyways... this efp was incased in strophome... all that shit around it is the styrophome... the disk is about the size of a dinner plate... this would have been nasty... good thing it was found before it went off...
Me doing a "im going to shoot you pose with an AK.... you really cant tell what kind of weapon it is from the pic... its an AK
Me posing with an MP5... i have a video of me shooting it but i cant load it because the interent sucks here... MP5's are fun though....
RPG with no rocket... i unfortunatly wasnt allowed to shot this... even though we did find 2 RPG rockets later on that night... it would have been a blast to have been able to shoot them... instead we blow them up and my camera in the process...
This is the view from where we have to pull guard at this rinky dink JSS.... i know the picture isnt that great but try to appreciate the level of frustration i endured tring to get the camera to line up with the rear and front sight post... it started out a seemingly easy task.... 20 pictures later my frustration and determination was rediculously high... being that i put so much effort into a picture that isnt really that great, i though it deserved to be posted...
The raiderettes.... they came to see us... i dont paticularly like the raiders but i went anyways... in this pic im quizing them on raider knowlegde... they passed, but had they been cowboys cheerleaders i think i would have stumped them...
Me and a couple of my soldiers with the girls...
I took this picture purely to demonstrate my love for football.... it had nothing to do with with the girls... come on guys im married...
This is the other team leader in the squad and my roommate.... this is his ganster pose... the funny thing is that he will never ever forget this day... this day he will remember when his 70... but i cant tell you why...lol
One of our trucks is about to tip over.... we tied it off to another truck and luckly got it unstuck with out tipping it over...
This is by far my favorite care package letter from a kid... ive seen tons of them but this by far takes the cake... theres an on going debate to weather or not hes saying service or survive... but there is no doubt about the whore... hey austin.. if this ever its back to you... i got you buddy.... im tracking man.... you are my hero bro...
Hey what do you know... and EFP... the ones Iran stopped selling us.... this must be the second one this year... ( reread the the efp post comments if you dont get it) anyways... this efp was incased in strophome... all that shit around it is the styrophome... the disk is about the size of a dinner plate... this would have been nasty... good thing it was found before it went off...
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
SUICIDE BOMBING CONTEMPLATION
The art of suicide bombing is very intriguing to me…. Specifically the recruiting element…. I mean come on, who cares about the fag blowing himself up…. I’m interest in the guy who talked him into it…. that’s what I want to contemplate….
So, how does this shit work…. How would one get into this line of work…. If your good at it, it seems like it would be very rewarding and fulfilling… seriously, talking someone into blowing themselves up is the ultimate sell…. If you can sell that, you can sell anything… in a world where education isn’t put at the top of the priority list, I’m forced to assume that there is a natural ability factor that plays into it…. But how does it start…. How does any of it start… ive played the initial recruiting conversation in my head a few times and it always plays out with me saying no…. maybe I just suck at suicide recruiting…. Here’s how I see it in my head….
Me and a buddy are outside somewhere by ourselves smoking stogies and talking about whales or something…. Its always outside in my head for some reason… just go with it…
Recruiter… hey buddy I want to talk to you about something, how you been?
Me….. It’s another day bro, just living life…. What’s up?
R…. I’ve been thinking…. You know you would make a great martyr….. I think you have what it takes….
Me…. Oh yeah, thanks bro… what is that, like a ship boat captain or something….
R…… no man…. Its doing gods work…. Bro you rid the holy land of the infidels….
Me…. You mean like a soldier?
R…. yeah man… a soldier of God….
Me…. Sounds pretty cool bro…. but I have a job….
R……. no man…. Your not getting it…. You kill yourself in Gods name but you take the infidels with you for God….. And then your rewarded by him in heaven….. Its in the good book man… its legit…
Me….. Ummm…. Why wouldn’t God just do it himself man…. couldn’t he like make a massive flood or something and kill the infidels….
R…… No man, a flood would also kill non infidels and damage trees and shit… God loves trees bro….
Me…. Oh… yeah your right I didn’t think of that…. Well what about a massive thunder storm…. It could last for weeks and he could only target infidels…
R…. no man God already thought of all this…. He wouldn’t do that because he would inconveniences a lot of others…. Listen, after you do this you will go to heaven and God will reward you with 70 virgins….
Me….. Really?
R….. yeah bro………. Really.
Me….. What would I do with 70 virgins……
R…… what every you want bro….. they would be yours…..
Me…. So, would I own them all, or would I just be married to them all…..
R….. I don’t know man…. It doesn’t specify……
Me…. Well that’s kinda important bro….. I mean, I’m married to only one women right now….. I can barely handle her bitching….. Let alone 69 more of her….. Fuck I would probably commit suicide again….. But if I own them…. I could be like, look number 34, you need to go clean the living room…. Stat….. and she would have to cause I own her…..
R…… really bro…. really
Me…. Yeah… I’m just saying….
R…… your reading way to far into this…..
Me…. Well now you got me thinking man… would God give me a big house, I’m mean cause if I’m still living in a 3 room house with 70 chicks, heavens going to be hell bro…
R…. no man, God wouldn’t screw you like that….
Me…. I don’t know if I like the idea of them ALL being virgins too man… could I like mix it up a bit… you know some veterans, some rookies, some young, some old, and nationalities bro…. would they all be Arab…. Or could I like have 70 different nationalities….
R......................
Me….. don’t look at me like that man….. Its important…. I don’t want to have to train 70 rookies and have to put up with the “ you want me to do what’s” and the “ I don’t know how do that’s”…… it would be nice to have a few vets who could do the training for me…. Plus when I’m in the mood for experience, Id have it bro….
R…. you’re a fucking retard….
Me………… …………..
R…. bro, your doing this for God not yourself…..
Me….. Then why is there a fucking reward…. Why don’t you do it…..
R…. cause I’m the fucking recruiter bro… if we all were recruiters then there would be no recruits……
Me….. (I say nothing but think to myself) that’s sound logic….
R…… hey man, it’s a way of proving your faith…..
Me…. Well I can still make it to heaven without blowing myself up man….. And to be honest with you, I’m not that gung-ho about the lack of answers on the virgins thing…. If that’s my reward, you’d think there would be answers to some of these questions….
R……. maybe I was wrong…. Maybe you wouldn’t make a good martyr….
Me…. Well maybe fucking not….
It would go something like that I think….. Then I start thinking…. They couldn’t just become recruiters… there would have to be some kind of training or cheat sheet that they get…. Much like telemarketers…. When I was 15 I was a telemarketer and it was a blast…. Most people hated that job, but I loved it…. They gave us a cheat sheet that had “good” rebuttals to anticipated questions and concerns….. There were like 25 different rebuttals….. You would just read it right off the sheet…. Most telemarketers hated getting yelled at over the phone…. Or when someone would try to make them feel like shit for calling during certain hours, they would cry (girls)…… I fucking loved those calls….. I would have fun with it…. Why do I care if some fag yelled at me for calling him…. Id try to keep them on the line as long as I could…. I wouldn’t even try to sell them at that point….. Id just try to make them angrier without getting myself in trouble…… there has to be a suicide bomber recruiting cheat sheet…. I wonder if they have suicide bomber recruiter seminars…. Train the trainer kind of thing….
This is akmed shiek ballsonchin…… he has successfully recruited 54 suicide bombers…. He’s going to talk to you for a few about what it takes to be a real suicide bomber recruiter…..
Lol….. I know there’s a lot of other ways to get people to blow them selves up….. I know they kidnap family members and threaten to kill them if you don’t do it and they prey on the ones who have recently suffered severe emotional events…. But those are lame…. That’s to easy….
I also think that our government could be missing out on a massively untapped resource…. I say offer these recruiters (the good ones) complete immunity and have them work for us…. Like I said before, if you can sell blowing your self up…. You can sell anything….. I say hire these guys to be recruiters for the army… nobody likes that job anyways…. The numbers would probably go up and it would increase our readiness….. I’m just saying…..
So, how does this shit work…. How would one get into this line of work…. If your good at it, it seems like it would be very rewarding and fulfilling… seriously, talking someone into blowing themselves up is the ultimate sell…. If you can sell that, you can sell anything… in a world where education isn’t put at the top of the priority list, I’m forced to assume that there is a natural ability factor that plays into it…. But how does it start…. How does any of it start… ive played the initial recruiting conversation in my head a few times and it always plays out with me saying no…. maybe I just suck at suicide recruiting…. Here’s how I see it in my head….
Me and a buddy are outside somewhere by ourselves smoking stogies and talking about whales or something…. Its always outside in my head for some reason… just go with it…
Recruiter… hey buddy I want to talk to you about something, how you been?
Me….. It’s another day bro, just living life…. What’s up?
R…. I’ve been thinking…. You know you would make a great martyr….. I think you have what it takes….
Me…. Oh yeah, thanks bro… what is that, like a ship boat captain or something….
R…… no man…. Its doing gods work…. Bro you rid the holy land of the infidels….
Me…. You mean like a soldier?
R…. yeah man… a soldier of God….
Me…. Sounds pretty cool bro…. but I have a job….
R……. no man…. Your not getting it…. You kill yourself in Gods name but you take the infidels with you for God….. And then your rewarded by him in heaven….. Its in the good book man… its legit…
Me….. Ummm…. Why wouldn’t God just do it himself man…. couldn’t he like make a massive flood or something and kill the infidels….
R…… No man, a flood would also kill non infidels and damage trees and shit… God loves trees bro….
Me…. Oh… yeah your right I didn’t think of that…. Well what about a massive thunder storm…. It could last for weeks and he could only target infidels…
R…. no man God already thought of all this…. He wouldn’t do that because he would inconveniences a lot of others…. Listen, after you do this you will go to heaven and God will reward you with 70 virgins….
Me….. Really?
R….. yeah bro………. Really.
Me….. What would I do with 70 virgins……
R…… what every you want bro….. they would be yours…..
Me…. So, would I own them all, or would I just be married to them all…..
R….. I don’t know man…. It doesn’t specify……
Me…. Well that’s kinda important bro….. I mean, I’m married to only one women right now….. I can barely handle her bitching….. Let alone 69 more of her….. Fuck I would probably commit suicide again….. But if I own them…. I could be like, look number 34, you need to go clean the living room…. Stat….. and she would have to cause I own her…..
R…… really bro…. really
Me…. Yeah… I’m just saying….
R…… your reading way to far into this…..
Me…. Well now you got me thinking man… would God give me a big house, I’m mean cause if I’m still living in a 3 room house with 70 chicks, heavens going to be hell bro…
R…. no man, God wouldn’t screw you like that….
Me…. I don’t know if I like the idea of them ALL being virgins too man… could I like mix it up a bit… you know some veterans, some rookies, some young, some old, and nationalities bro…. would they all be Arab…. Or could I like have 70 different nationalities….
R......................
Me….. don’t look at me like that man….. Its important…. I don’t want to have to train 70 rookies and have to put up with the “ you want me to do what’s” and the “ I don’t know how do that’s”…… it would be nice to have a few vets who could do the training for me…. Plus when I’m in the mood for experience, Id have it bro….
R…. you’re a fucking retard….
Me………… …………..
R…. bro, your doing this for God not yourself…..
Me….. Then why is there a fucking reward…. Why don’t you do it…..
R…. cause I’m the fucking recruiter bro… if we all were recruiters then there would be no recruits……
Me….. (I say nothing but think to myself) that’s sound logic….
R…… hey man, it’s a way of proving your faith…..
Me…. Well I can still make it to heaven without blowing myself up man….. And to be honest with you, I’m not that gung-ho about the lack of answers on the virgins thing…. If that’s my reward, you’d think there would be answers to some of these questions….
R……. maybe I was wrong…. Maybe you wouldn’t make a good martyr….
Me…. Well maybe fucking not….
It would go something like that I think….. Then I start thinking…. They couldn’t just become recruiters… there would have to be some kind of training or cheat sheet that they get…. Much like telemarketers…. When I was 15 I was a telemarketer and it was a blast…. Most people hated that job, but I loved it…. They gave us a cheat sheet that had “good” rebuttals to anticipated questions and concerns….. There were like 25 different rebuttals….. You would just read it right off the sheet…. Most telemarketers hated getting yelled at over the phone…. Or when someone would try to make them feel like shit for calling during certain hours, they would cry (girls)…… I fucking loved those calls….. I would have fun with it…. Why do I care if some fag yelled at me for calling him…. Id try to keep them on the line as long as I could…. I wouldn’t even try to sell them at that point….. Id just try to make them angrier without getting myself in trouble…… there has to be a suicide bomber recruiting cheat sheet…. I wonder if they have suicide bomber recruiter seminars…. Train the trainer kind of thing….
This is akmed shiek ballsonchin…… he has successfully recruited 54 suicide bombers…. He’s going to talk to you for a few about what it takes to be a real suicide bomber recruiter…..
Lol….. I know there’s a lot of other ways to get people to blow them selves up….. I know they kidnap family members and threaten to kill them if you don’t do it and they prey on the ones who have recently suffered severe emotional events…. But those are lame…. That’s to easy….
I also think that our government could be missing out on a massively untapped resource…. I say offer these recruiters (the good ones) complete immunity and have them work for us…. Like I said before, if you can sell blowing your self up…. You can sell anything….. I say hire these guys to be recruiters for the army… nobody likes that job anyways…. The numbers would probably go up and it would increase our readiness….. I’m just saying…..
Monday, June 1, 2009
DRAWING A BLANK ON THE TITLE
alright.... I haven’t posted in a while... i don’t count the pic post, those were just fillers.... i know what the problem is.... i usually write my post in my head days before i actually put them in type..... 99% of the time, what every is occupying my mind is what i try to write about... the problem is that so much has happened in the last few weeks that i cant complete a thought or idea in my head before something else happens and forces me into something else.... does that make sense, i don’t know.. it does to me... so what im left with is fragments of ideas and thoughts that are never fully conceptualized.... for the last two weeks i have been trying to write one long post that encapsulated everything.... i couldn’t get it to flow... i couldn’t get the sequence of events right, and i never really finished them in my head beforehand.... i could write the beginnings of most of them but i would get stuck somewhere in the middle... so fuck it...
bottom line.... my squad moved to a new temporary home.... a sequence of unfortunate events compiled with an already bad inherited relationship with the boss of our new home left us catching the short end of the shit stick at every turn.... everyday something new is being thrown on the shit pile and we just cant seem to burn the shit fast enough metaphorically speaking.... the situation is very fluid.... in a week im sure our situation with be much different because if i go back the last 3 weeks each one is filled with numerous twist and turns.... its just one big rollercoaster ride.... i guess all deployments are though....
i also get frustrated when what im thinking about is something i cant write about.... fuck.... there is so much i just want to let out but i cant.... two many eyes see this and i cant have certain things fall in the certain hands... incriminating myself or others isn’t productive in any facet.... but truth be told, there is a lot of stuff i want to talk about.... i fell like im talking to a buddy when im writing... i don’t see any of you who read this when im writing.... if i did i probably wouldn’t tell you anything.... its weird because im not the type to talk about things with people... im a pretty guarded person across the board, but here its like thinking out load kinda....
sitting here tonight, looking back at the past 7-8 months.... man this shit flying.... time is like smoke and mirrors man.... just yesterday i was hating life in Kuwait... now im staring down the finish line.... i feel bipolar sometimes.... or maybe not bipolar, maybe its like i have multiple personalities.... my mood, emotions, and believes seem to change on a whim.... that’s not something im use to... i get bogged down with the stress sometimes and i bitch about this and that some days... then others... i feel like i joined the army to come here.... im getting the extra money and all my needs are being met... so maybe i shouldn’t complain about the stress... i wanted this and now its here so i shouldn’t bitch....
sometimes i think of just starting this blog thing over..... new blog... new name... no pictures.... no identifying info.... that way i may be able to write with a little more freedom.... no link on my wife’s page, just a clean slate... start over and don’t tell a soul..... i haven’t decided yet.... but if you don’t see me on here for a while that maybe the case.... i don’t like feeling paranoid... i don’t like feeling like my chain of command reads my blog.... i don’t like feeling like people are waiting for a slip up.... reading this just waiting for me to write something they can use against me... everyday i find out that someone i work with knows about my blog, and has been on my page.... my squad leader has known for a month or two now and didn’t say a word to me about it until a few days ago.... and he said a lot of others know about it too.... i don’t like that at all....
maybe i will finish out the deployment then switch... i don’t know...
sorry it took so long for me to post.... ill try harder in the future but promise nothing.... till next time NUGHT OUT.....
bottom line.... my squad moved to a new temporary home.... a sequence of unfortunate events compiled with an already bad inherited relationship with the boss of our new home left us catching the short end of the shit stick at every turn.... everyday something new is being thrown on the shit pile and we just cant seem to burn the shit fast enough metaphorically speaking.... the situation is very fluid.... in a week im sure our situation with be much different because if i go back the last 3 weeks each one is filled with numerous twist and turns.... its just one big rollercoaster ride.... i guess all deployments are though....
i also get frustrated when what im thinking about is something i cant write about.... fuck.... there is so much i just want to let out but i cant.... two many eyes see this and i cant have certain things fall in the certain hands... incriminating myself or others isn’t productive in any facet.... but truth be told, there is a lot of stuff i want to talk about.... i fell like im talking to a buddy when im writing... i don’t see any of you who read this when im writing.... if i did i probably wouldn’t tell you anything.... its weird because im not the type to talk about things with people... im a pretty guarded person across the board, but here its like thinking out load kinda....
sitting here tonight, looking back at the past 7-8 months.... man this shit flying.... time is like smoke and mirrors man.... just yesterday i was hating life in Kuwait... now im staring down the finish line.... i feel bipolar sometimes.... or maybe not bipolar, maybe its like i have multiple personalities.... my mood, emotions, and believes seem to change on a whim.... that’s not something im use to... i get bogged down with the stress sometimes and i bitch about this and that some days... then others... i feel like i joined the army to come here.... im getting the extra money and all my needs are being met... so maybe i shouldn’t complain about the stress... i wanted this and now its here so i shouldn’t bitch....
sometimes i think of just starting this blog thing over..... new blog... new name... no pictures.... no identifying info.... that way i may be able to write with a little more freedom.... no link on my wife’s page, just a clean slate... start over and don’t tell a soul..... i haven’t decided yet.... but if you don’t see me on here for a while that maybe the case.... i don’t like feeling paranoid... i don’t like feeling like my chain of command reads my blog.... i don’t like feeling like people are waiting for a slip up.... reading this just waiting for me to write something they can use against me... everyday i find out that someone i work with knows about my blog, and has been on my page.... my squad leader has known for a month or two now and didn’t say a word to me about it until a few days ago.... and he said a lot of others know about it too.... i don’t like that at all....
maybe i will finish out the deployment then switch... i don’t know...
sorry it took so long for me to post.... ill try harder in the future but promise nothing.... till next time NUGHT OUT.....
Thursday, May 21, 2009
IRAQI PICTURES CONTINUED
Just a couple rounds used to make IED's with.... they were found, and we blew them up.... thats not what i like about this picture or why i posted it.... after looking thru hundreds of photos from this deployment, it donned on me why this place feels so different then home... im from Florida, so im use to the heat, sand, and palm trees... its the colors... almost every where you go in this country, everything is a bland pastel color.... the ground, the wall, the buildings, everything.... the little color that there is in the country sticks out like a sore thumb... you'll see in a later pic...
The drivers from team rock posing with their trucks the day before we left...
You know i wish Iraqi's didn't act so gay about their mosque's.... i really wish i could go into some of them and just check um out... they're pretty cool looking buildings.... i don't know.... like if a non believer goes into your mosque the whole Muslim fate will be doomed in spite of you for allowing it... or maybe its because im not worthy... but really, what would Allah do if i went into a mosque... you think Allah would shun a man of fate because he let a Christian into a mosque.... really... if thats the case Allah sucks....
You can see with this pic what color does to this country.... it looks out of place... this is the equivalent to a convenient store back in the states... when you just want some snacks and drinks for the road.... or a pack of smokes... Iraq's go to there neighborhood shopkeeper to get them... these little shack stores are all over Baghdad...
This is the voluntary teabag.... pants on variety.... lol.... Walters is a retard
Me and Walters doing a little fight promoting... hes a heavy hitter but im in his head... i can scare him with intimidation.... i also have the intellect and game planning ability in my favor.... he has about one and a half rounds in his tank before hes too tired to hold his hands up.... ill coast thru the first two rounds.... the third round im going to destroy him...
These are the EOD guys company shirts... i don't know that they were sanctioned by the company, but the Enlisted guys love them... i think its funny...
This is the toy store... if you need a big stuffed giraffe, this is the place to go... right under a bridge on the median... lol.... warning, the selection sucks...
Playing army in traffic.... cross your fingers and hope no one has a bomb in their car.... those make for sad face days....
Look at the colors.... wow... in a county devoid of bright color, this is the spot to completely transcend the pastel reality... i wish i could have a bright yellow garbage can...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
RANDOM IRAQ PICTURES
well, i have a shit ton of pic from this deployment but it takes so long to upload them here that i avoid it.... I'm going to start slowly posting pic post... i really enjoy taking pictures. i also have a bunch of videos, but those will have to wait until i redeploy and have normal Internet.... this is the first batch...
this is deployment bear.... sometime before my first deployment i was packing to go to the field and my boys were helping me... Mikey, went to his room and grabbed this bear and told me to take him with me so that i would remember him... since then this bear has gone everywhere... if my family isn't there with me, the bear is... deployment bear has been to every field problem, NTC, WLC, deployment, and everywhere else that Ive gone... for a while he lived in my truck... i hung him from where the rear view mirror would have been and when i wasn't in the truck he would hold my head set.... now he lives on my bed, but I'm thinking about moving him back to the truck...
this was just some glass house mout training.... i like the pic so I'm posting it...
.JPG)
i really don't know whats going on here... i see the one guy sleeping.... i don't know... what do you all think...
me and a couple of my old soldiers.... they were both gunners and it was cold that night/morning.... so i made them wear that gay head thing... the picture makes them look alot cooler then in real life... they actually looked really stupid...
this is the same guy that was sleeping in the other picture.... i guess he can sleep thru anything..... or doing anything...
this was a close up of one of the hands at the cross sabers.... Iraq has alot of cool sculptures and architecture.... i think this stuffs pretty cool...
i just liked how the mosque was the back drop for the military trucks.... it kinda feels symbolic to me...
playing the hurry up and wait game in between missions....
one of the soldiers in our platoon punched his computer screen and cracked it.... he was being a dumb ass... the computer was broke and to my knowledge unfixable... so he decided to put an axe through it and buy a new one the next day.... lol....
this is Walters... I'm trying to develop him into a leader... hes a crazy, crazy infantryman.... i try to control his but its impossible.... the worst part about it is hes so damn likable and funny... i cant get mad at him....
this is deployment bear.... sometime before my first deployment i was packing to go to the field and my boys were helping me... Mikey, went to his room and grabbed this bear and told me to take him with me so that i would remember him... since then this bear has gone everywhere... if my family isn't there with me, the bear is... deployment bear has been to every field problem, NTC, WLC, deployment, and everywhere else that Ive gone... for a while he lived in my truck... i hung him from where the rear view mirror would have been and when i wasn't in the truck he would hold my head set.... now he lives on my bed, but I'm thinking about moving him back to the truck...
this was just some glass house mout training.... i like the pic so I'm posting it...
.JPG)
i really don't know whats going on here... i see the one guy sleeping.... i don't know... what do you all think...
me and a couple of my old soldiers.... they were both gunners and it was cold that night/morning.... so i made them wear that gay head thing... the picture makes them look alot cooler then in real life... they actually looked really stupid...
this is the same guy that was sleeping in the other picture.... i guess he can sleep thru anything..... or doing anything...
this was a close up of one of the hands at the cross sabers.... Iraq has alot of cool sculptures and architecture.... i think this stuffs pretty cool...
i just liked how the mosque was the back drop for the military trucks.... it kinda feels symbolic to me...
playing the hurry up and wait game in between missions....
one of the soldiers in our platoon punched his computer screen and cracked it.... he was being a dumb ass... the computer was broke and to my knowledge unfixable... so he decided to put an axe through it and buy a new one the next day.... lol....
this is Walters... I'm trying to develop him into a leader... hes a crazy, crazy infantryman.... i try to control his but its impossible.... the worst part about it is hes so damn likable and funny... i cant get mad at him....
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
ILLUSION OF CONTROL
I don’t know how others do it... its not something that’s openly talked about among soldiers... how do other people deal with being daily placed in situations where at any moment they could die... do they just suppress that fact, or do they just not realize the gravity of the situation... I know what I do... I think mitigation... I do the things that we are trained to do to lessen the chance of getting hit... I'm always focused... I'm always thinking... when out on the road, I'm paranoid... I try to think like the enemy... I try to see things from there eyes... tactical things... I look for our vulnerabilities.... I think that if I can recognize them, then I can mitigate a potential attack... but in the end, all I'm doing is creating an illusion of control... this illusion of control is every where... I'm the TC (truck commander) of our lead truck in our convoys... the TC is in control of their truck... he controls the driver by directing him when to turn, to veer right or left, speed up, slow down, go, stop, everything... he controls the gunner.... stop traffic on the left/right, clear traffic in front of us, change sector of fire to the 3,6,9,12, watch this guy, watch that car... use your horn, use your laser, spot light this, barrel on that, everything.... he controls his dismounts.... change radio freq to this, watch that guy behind us... help us back up, fix the radio, dismount.... this is the job of the TC... he is constantly thinking and ensuring that his truck is doing the right thing... it kinda seems like mental busy work... always checking then double checking... the soldiers in his truck rely on his guidance... all of this creates a false sense of control for the TC, cause in the grand scheme of things, I really control nothing... I could do all the right things and get everybody in my truck killed... I could do all the wrong things and everybody lives... there is no "do this and you will live"... everything is based off recent trends... nothing is guaranteed....
I respond to an EFP attack that enters thru the TC door and rides the dash board all the way to the drivers door.... for the next week I'm subconsciously trying to sit as far back in my seat as I can... its like I'm unknowingly afraid of my dashboard now... them we respond to another EFP that enters the TC door and rips the TC and drivers seats completely off... it rides along the backs of both the TC and the driver... now for the next week I'm trying to sit as close to the dash as possible... I respond to attacks and the only thing I see is the blood... its like everything else is in black in white but the blood is in color, and it covers everything.... I responded last night to an EFP attack that hit the TC and driver.... it’s like being hit by a missile... blood was everywhere... I looked inside the truck and the smell was deadly... it was a hot, explosive/blood/death smell... it was sickening.... blood doesn’t bother me.... it never has... but when I look into a truck that’s covered in blood, all I see is my truck... all I see is my soldiers and I... I see where we sit and who would have died had we been the ones to take that route first... I look around the area... I try to answer the unanswerable... how do I stop this from happening to us... its impossible.... stepping back and looking at the scene I see 10-15 different places where they could have attacked from... the gravity of it all sets in... Im at the grace of luck... does god have a say in this... maybe... I cant say for sure... i can say that i don’t have a say... i can scan, i can look, i can do everything right... but that doesn’t stop it... trying to find an IED/EFP in Iraq is like trying to find the proverbial needle in the hay stack....
when you do a job like PSD or other convoy operations like this, you can go months with nothing happening to your convoy... you don’t see any action what so ever... you get the Intel reports the morning of the mission, but they are really vague... they are picture less and come a crossed with a news report style writing.... they pretty much just cover the facts of the situations... when you read these for months and see nothing you become desensitized to the chaos an attack creates... you read that an IED struck the driver side of the last truck in a convoy and that one soldier died and 2 were wounded... that’s it... you read these 1000 times over... but when you see the truck and the blood, and the faces, it has a bigger impact... its not just words on paper anymore... its people...
it doesn’t help that this war is fought on two fronts... you have the soldiers on the ground.... we patrol the streets and give our lives, but have little said in what we can and cant do.... the other front this war is fought on is in our government and the upper echelons of our military... our TTP's (tactics, techniques, and procedures) ROE (rules of engagement) and EOF (escalation of force) are dictated on this front.... its very frustrating.... hearts and minds isn’t the preferred tactic of us on the ground... it feels like we are handcuffed sometimes by the higher ups... i don’t like placating to the Iraqi’s at my own expense... now I'm not arguing the long term affect hearts and minds can have... the short term is where we suffer... preventing us from being able to fully utilize our assets and to mitigate risk at the expensive of Iraqi's is what there plan forces us to accept.... hearts and minds forces us to give in and risk our safety and security by enabling freedoms to the Iraqi's that put us in tough situations.... back a few years ago the notion that civilian traffic can come close to your convoy was unheard of... they knew better... anything closer then 50-60 meters was considered a hostile act... now we are told we are to allow civilian cars to break into our convoys and to let there traffic flow with us... we aren’t to inconvenience them... when we have to stop and cordon off something... anything... we are to allow the traffic to flow along side us.... sometimes we have to sit on a site for 3-4 hours.... so for 3-4 hours we give the enemy time to put a big bomb in a car and drive past us and blow up... this isn’t a tactic the enemy isn’t familiar with.... this decision is decided by the higher ups... my contention is that if you want me to stand on the road for 3 hours hoping no one wants to blow me up today, then you stand with me... if your going to assume the responsibility of the decision, then you should reap the consequences of it as well...
Feeling like you have no control is a scary feeling... especially when you’re charged with keeping others alive..... having to explain the circumstances surrounding a death of one of my soldiers to a wife or a mom is terrifying to me... ultimately i make the decisions that decide weather they live or die... what i have trouble coming to terms with is that right and wrong decisions are decided after the fact.... in the moment, there is no right or wrong, there is no text book answer.... you make a decision... the situation plays out.... then when everything is done, when reflecting on those decisions, you are able to see what was right and what was wrong.... right and wrong tactical moves are largely hindsight determinations...
my current assignment allows me to see almost on a daily basis the devastating affect IED's/EFP's have... its crazy... when you get hit, its like being caught in a tornado.... you let it run its course and then if your still around you try to pick up the pieces..... i hate rolling up to a convoy who was just hit and seeing the faces of the guys on scene.... seeing the blood from the ones who were flown out.... it angers me... i hate seeing the faces of Iraqi's when i make them wait... when i don’t let them do what they want and i restrict them... i could care less what we are suppose to do, if i don’t want to let the traffic flow then i wont... ill take an ass chewing if it comes to that....
being in Iraq this time around feels like I'm standing in a pitch black room with all of my friends and family... all we can see is each other nothing else.... every once in a while someone else in the room that we cant see sucker punches one of us.... the sucker punch kills, and dismembers routinely... as soon as they appear they disappear right back into the darkness of the room... all we know is that now one of us is badly hurt or dead and we cant see who did it... all we really want is for someone to turn on the fucking light... but the light never comes on... we are left standing and waiting for the next sucker punch... this goes on for a year...
this is the driver side door after an EFP attack...
inside the door you can see the chaos an attack creates inside a truck... you can also see the blood stains... these pictures really don't do it justice... having a panoramic view of everything and experiencing the smells makes these attack 100 times more vivid....
this is the entry point... that's about the size of a bowling ball...
in the end, we control nothing.... these images remind me of that fact...
I respond to an EFP attack that enters thru the TC door and rides the dash board all the way to the drivers door.... for the next week I'm subconsciously trying to sit as far back in my seat as I can... its like I'm unknowingly afraid of my dashboard now... them we respond to another EFP that enters the TC door and rips the TC and drivers seats completely off... it rides along the backs of both the TC and the driver... now for the next week I'm trying to sit as close to the dash as possible... I respond to attacks and the only thing I see is the blood... its like everything else is in black in white but the blood is in color, and it covers everything.... I responded last night to an EFP attack that hit the TC and driver.... it’s like being hit by a missile... blood was everywhere... I looked inside the truck and the smell was deadly... it was a hot, explosive/blood/death smell... it was sickening.... blood doesn’t bother me.... it never has... but when I look into a truck that’s covered in blood, all I see is my truck... all I see is my soldiers and I... I see where we sit and who would have died had we been the ones to take that route first... I look around the area... I try to answer the unanswerable... how do I stop this from happening to us... its impossible.... stepping back and looking at the scene I see 10-15 different places where they could have attacked from... the gravity of it all sets in... Im at the grace of luck... does god have a say in this... maybe... I cant say for sure... i can say that i don’t have a say... i can scan, i can look, i can do everything right... but that doesn’t stop it... trying to find an IED/EFP in Iraq is like trying to find the proverbial needle in the hay stack....
when you do a job like PSD or other convoy operations like this, you can go months with nothing happening to your convoy... you don’t see any action what so ever... you get the Intel reports the morning of the mission, but they are really vague... they are picture less and come a crossed with a news report style writing.... they pretty much just cover the facts of the situations... when you read these for months and see nothing you become desensitized to the chaos an attack creates... you read that an IED struck the driver side of the last truck in a convoy and that one soldier died and 2 were wounded... that’s it... you read these 1000 times over... but when you see the truck and the blood, and the faces, it has a bigger impact... its not just words on paper anymore... its people...
it doesn’t help that this war is fought on two fronts... you have the soldiers on the ground.... we patrol the streets and give our lives, but have little said in what we can and cant do.... the other front this war is fought on is in our government and the upper echelons of our military... our TTP's (tactics, techniques, and procedures) ROE (rules of engagement) and EOF (escalation of force) are dictated on this front.... its very frustrating.... hearts and minds isn’t the preferred tactic of us on the ground... it feels like we are handcuffed sometimes by the higher ups... i don’t like placating to the Iraqi’s at my own expense... now I'm not arguing the long term affect hearts and minds can have... the short term is where we suffer... preventing us from being able to fully utilize our assets and to mitigate risk at the expensive of Iraqi's is what there plan forces us to accept.... hearts and minds forces us to give in and risk our safety and security by enabling freedoms to the Iraqi's that put us in tough situations.... back a few years ago the notion that civilian traffic can come close to your convoy was unheard of... they knew better... anything closer then 50-60 meters was considered a hostile act... now we are told we are to allow civilian cars to break into our convoys and to let there traffic flow with us... we aren’t to inconvenience them... when we have to stop and cordon off something... anything... we are to allow the traffic to flow along side us.... sometimes we have to sit on a site for 3-4 hours.... so for 3-4 hours we give the enemy time to put a big bomb in a car and drive past us and blow up... this isn’t a tactic the enemy isn’t familiar with.... this decision is decided by the higher ups... my contention is that if you want me to stand on the road for 3 hours hoping no one wants to blow me up today, then you stand with me... if your going to assume the responsibility of the decision, then you should reap the consequences of it as well...
Feeling like you have no control is a scary feeling... especially when you’re charged with keeping others alive..... having to explain the circumstances surrounding a death of one of my soldiers to a wife or a mom is terrifying to me... ultimately i make the decisions that decide weather they live or die... what i have trouble coming to terms with is that right and wrong decisions are decided after the fact.... in the moment, there is no right or wrong, there is no text book answer.... you make a decision... the situation plays out.... then when everything is done, when reflecting on those decisions, you are able to see what was right and what was wrong.... right and wrong tactical moves are largely hindsight determinations...
my current assignment allows me to see almost on a daily basis the devastating affect IED's/EFP's have... its crazy... when you get hit, its like being caught in a tornado.... you let it run its course and then if your still around you try to pick up the pieces..... i hate rolling up to a convoy who was just hit and seeing the faces of the guys on scene.... seeing the blood from the ones who were flown out.... it angers me... i hate seeing the faces of Iraqi's when i make them wait... when i don’t let them do what they want and i restrict them... i could care less what we are suppose to do, if i don’t want to let the traffic flow then i wont... ill take an ass chewing if it comes to that....
being in Iraq this time around feels like I'm standing in a pitch black room with all of my friends and family... all we can see is each other nothing else.... every once in a while someone else in the room that we cant see sucker punches one of us.... the sucker punch kills, and dismembers routinely... as soon as they appear they disappear right back into the darkness of the room... all we know is that now one of us is badly hurt or dead and we cant see who did it... all we really want is for someone to turn on the fucking light... but the light never comes on... we are left standing and waiting for the next sucker punch... this goes on for a year...
this is the driver side door after an EFP attack...
inside the door you can see the chaos an attack creates inside a truck... you can also see the blood stains... these pictures really don't do it justice... having a panoramic view of everything and experiencing the smells makes these attack 100 times more vivid....
this is the entry point... that's about the size of a bowling ball...
in the end, we control nothing.... these images remind me of that fact...
Friday, May 1, 2009
NUT TAPPING
constant fear, constant paranoia, never feeling relaxed and never letting your guard down.... that’s life in my new platoon.... everyday, every waking minute, your watching.... waiting... anticipating.... you never know where its going to come from.... who it will come from, or when it will happen, but your ready.... always ready.... and it still happens....
its like walking thru a mine field some days... its a psychological mind fuck... you can try to avoid it... you can insist that your not a part of it... nothing works.... no matter how ready you are.... how prepared.... how focused you are on stopping it... you cant...its bigger then all of us....once you realize that you can realize this... its actually brilliant... every aspect of it... its like god himself sanctioned it and now its blessed by his hand... once you accept it as inevitable, and only then... you become able to understand how magnificent it is....
Its powerful and gentle, its infuriating and calming, and its really painful... you go from thinking impulsively to thinking rationally.... you transverse many complete spectrums throughout the course of its wrath.... its actually amazing....
Nut tapping is the act of hitting someone in the balls intentionally and for no reason... lol... ok give me a minute to explain.... I know what your thinking... to most of you, its unheard of... but in our world... its just something we know we have to deal with... at any giving time, any day, someone, anyone can and will for no reason lightly tap you in the balls and watch you collapse to the ground in pain.... they will then start laughing hysterically at you because you are completely helpless and furious, but you cant do anything about it.... you cant move... this sounds evil... you might even be having a hard time connecting what I wrote above to what im writing here... your probably thinking.... how could anyone think this is amazing, or brilliant, or that god in someway has had a hand in this...
If this is indeed what you’re thinking.... you haven’t experienced this from both side, multiple times... you have been subjected to it on a constant basis.... because of that you probably haven’t devoted much thought to it.... therefore, you can’t see or understand how awesome nut tapping is....
I dont know why... and i cant intelligently explain it... but someone getting hit in the balls is one of the funniest things in the world... its one of those rare things that it doesn’t matter how many times it happens or how many different ways... it doesn’t matter if its the same every time... it never loses its humor... how many things can we say that about... honestly.... tell someone the funniest joke you know 100 times and see how funny it is the hundredth time.... but you hit someone in the nuts 100 times... its still every bit as funny as the first time... its really weird... someone breaks his leg and is in a lot of pain and cant move... NOT FUNNY...SCARY.... but someone getting whacked in the balls, hilarious... WHY??? I don’t get it...
another amazing aspect to the nut tap is this... as soon as your hit your knees buckle... your legs lose the ability to support your own body weight... you fall to the ground... you are outraged immediately... the only thing you can think of is how you want to kill the person responsible.... on top of all the pain... you have 10 guys standing around you laughing so hard they're having a hard time standing up on there own... some of them may even fall over because they’re laughing so hard....lol.. this just makes you more enraged.... but you cant move... you try impulsively to get up and go after the fag who did this to you, but as soon as you slightly move one of your legs... or your hips, sharp pains shoot thru your body... so you lay motionless... helpless... its at this point you transition into phase two of your recovery... this where a higher powers influence is felt... phase two recovery time is directly correlated with your state of mind... once you reach phase two you realize there’s nothing you can do... you close your eyes and you block out everything around you... you start to control your breathing and start thinking rationally again... the impulse is gone... your calm.... you have to be... you cant recover until you allow your body and mind to relax... you lay there for 3-15 minutes (as long as it takes you to get over the fact that you were attacked without provocation)....
another beautiful element is that the tap it self is very light... your not trying to pop a ball open, or bust his sack... accuracy is key... as long as you can get a direct unsuspecting hit... your good... you win.... he’s down... its crazy how the slightest and easiest of taps can render someone completely helpless for up to 15 min.... that’s crazy...lol, its awesome...
our squad hasn’t gone a full day yet without someone falling victim to this epidemic... some have tried to say that they aren’t playing... they think that if they don’t do it to anyone, it wont happen to them... oh, not true... everyone is in play... you can posture all day long... all year long for that matter... if you don’t want to hit someone back... that’s your prerogative... but that doesn’t mean your not getting hit... this mentality may seem like a dick move by the attacker (pun intended), but everyone at some point will embraces the nut tap...
now after reflecting on our little game I noticed that its gender specific... ive tried to think of a way to incorporate females into the game on some level... im not talking about a mixed gender game... my wife would leave me... but a game that females could play amongst themselves.... the problem is that females don’t have the equipment... I had a hard time coming up with where a female could hit a female to leave them completely paralyzed for a short period of time while on the ground in pain.....
Throat punches..... I think it would work... now all I need is a group of females to test my theory.... if your a female and your reading this.... give this a try.... call all your girlfriends, and schedule a girls night in... have a group of 5-7 of your girls come over to your house for the evening... don’t tell them a thing about the game... its more fun if they just find out about the game on there own... pick your target, and start stalking her... this tactic is used in nut tapping and works well.... being that she will be new to this game she will be really easy to set up... get up close to your target and engage her in small talk... once the moments right point to a picture on your wall to your right or left... she will look at it, and walk right into your trap... once she take her eyes off of you, strike her in the throat... right in the middle of the neck... watch as her legs buckle underneath her and she falls to the ground... then start laughing hysterically and taunting her.... you could say things like "I got you good fucker" or "ha-ha in your face fag"....
this could be the start of a very good game and friendship building, cause lets be honest... if you friend cant take a unprovoked throat strike and walk it off afterwards without getting butt hurt... how much of a friend could they have been... im just saying...
its like walking thru a mine field some days... its a psychological mind fuck... you can try to avoid it... you can insist that your not a part of it... nothing works.... no matter how ready you are.... how prepared.... how focused you are on stopping it... you cant...its bigger then all of us....once you realize that you can realize this... its actually brilliant... every aspect of it... its like god himself sanctioned it and now its blessed by his hand... once you accept it as inevitable, and only then... you become able to understand how magnificent it is....
Its powerful and gentle, its infuriating and calming, and its really painful... you go from thinking impulsively to thinking rationally.... you transverse many complete spectrums throughout the course of its wrath.... its actually amazing....
Nut tapping is the act of hitting someone in the balls intentionally and for no reason... lol... ok give me a minute to explain.... I know what your thinking... to most of you, its unheard of... but in our world... its just something we know we have to deal with... at any giving time, any day, someone, anyone can and will for no reason lightly tap you in the balls and watch you collapse to the ground in pain.... they will then start laughing hysterically at you because you are completely helpless and furious, but you cant do anything about it.... you cant move... this sounds evil... you might even be having a hard time connecting what I wrote above to what im writing here... your probably thinking.... how could anyone think this is amazing, or brilliant, or that god in someway has had a hand in this...
If this is indeed what you’re thinking.... you haven’t experienced this from both side, multiple times... you have been subjected to it on a constant basis.... because of that you probably haven’t devoted much thought to it.... therefore, you can’t see or understand how awesome nut tapping is....
I dont know why... and i cant intelligently explain it... but someone getting hit in the balls is one of the funniest things in the world... its one of those rare things that it doesn’t matter how many times it happens or how many different ways... it doesn’t matter if its the same every time... it never loses its humor... how many things can we say that about... honestly.... tell someone the funniest joke you know 100 times and see how funny it is the hundredth time.... but you hit someone in the nuts 100 times... its still every bit as funny as the first time... its really weird... someone breaks his leg and is in a lot of pain and cant move... NOT FUNNY...SCARY.... but someone getting whacked in the balls, hilarious... WHY??? I don’t get it...
another amazing aspect to the nut tap is this... as soon as your hit your knees buckle... your legs lose the ability to support your own body weight... you fall to the ground... you are outraged immediately... the only thing you can think of is how you want to kill the person responsible.... on top of all the pain... you have 10 guys standing around you laughing so hard they're having a hard time standing up on there own... some of them may even fall over because they’re laughing so hard....lol.. this just makes you more enraged.... but you cant move... you try impulsively to get up and go after the fag who did this to you, but as soon as you slightly move one of your legs... or your hips, sharp pains shoot thru your body... so you lay motionless... helpless... its at this point you transition into phase two of your recovery... this where a higher powers influence is felt... phase two recovery time is directly correlated with your state of mind... once you reach phase two you realize there’s nothing you can do... you close your eyes and you block out everything around you... you start to control your breathing and start thinking rationally again... the impulse is gone... your calm.... you have to be... you cant recover until you allow your body and mind to relax... you lay there for 3-15 minutes (as long as it takes you to get over the fact that you were attacked without provocation)....
another beautiful element is that the tap it self is very light... your not trying to pop a ball open, or bust his sack... accuracy is key... as long as you can get a direct unsuspecting hit... your good... you win.... he’s down... its crazy how the slightest and easiest of taps can render someone completely helpless for up to 15 min.... that’s crazy...lol, its awesome...
our squad hasn’t gone a full day yet without someone falling victim to this epidemic... some have tried to say that they aren’t playing... they think that if they don’t do it to anyone, it wont happen to them... oh, not true... everyone is in play... you can posture all day long... all year long for that matter... if you don’t want to hit someone back... that’s your prerogative... but that doesn’t mean your not getting hit... this mentality may seem like a dick move by the attacker (pun intended), but everyone at some point will embraces the nut tap...
now after reflecting on our little game I noticed that its gender specific... ive tried to think of a way to incorporate females into the game on some level... im not talking about a mixed gender game... my wife would leave me... but a game that females could play amongst themselves.... the problem is that females don’t have the equipment... I had a hard time coming up with where a female could hit a female to leave them completely paralyzed for a short period of time while on the ground in pain.....
Throat punches..... I think it would work... now all I need is a group of females to test my theory.... if your a female and your reading this.... give this a try.... call all your girlfriends, and schedule a girls night in... have a group of 5-7 of your girls come over to your house for the evening... don’t tell them a thing about the game... its more fun if they just find out about the game on there own... pick your target, and start stalking her... this tactic is used in nut tapping and works well.... being that she will be new to this game she will be really easy to set up... get up close to your target and engage her in small talk... once the moments right point to a picture on your wall to your right or left... she will look at it, and walk right into your trap... once she take her eyes off of you, strike her in the throat... right in the middle of the neck... watch as her legs buckle underneath her and she falls to the ground... then start laughing hysterically and taunting her.... you could say things like "I got you good fucker" or "ha-ha in your face fag"....
this could be the start of a very good game and friendship building, cause lets be honest... if you friend cant take a unprovoked throat strike and walk it off afterwards without getting butt hurt... how much of a friend could they have been... im just saying...
Monday, April 27, 2009
ARMY AWARDS
OK, it just came down the pipe that our BDE will be giving blanket awards to everyone who deployed... this to me is bullshit... it goes against the nature of individual awards... in the army you have unit awards, and individual awards.... giving a blanket award to everyone for individual accomplishments are asinine and kind seems like an oxymoron... what it amounts to is, they don't want to go thru the nut roll of everyone submitting individual awards with individual bullets... they assume (rightly) that most would fuck it up and have to redo them over and over again... still i think they should be made to do their jobs... and that's it, ITS A LEADERS JOB TO WRITE AWARDS.... if they don't know how, make them learn...
that's not my only problem with awards though... that's just what has fueled this fire.... across the board the army award system is fucked up.... their is only a few awards that haven't been tainted to the point that they lose their integrity, and prestige... The Medal Of Honor, Purple Heart, Soldiers Medal, and a few others are taken seriously... now the Purple Heart is boarder line... i don't want to take away from those who have earned it and have giving blood and flesh for this country... but at the same time some get them for bullshit...
right now if your an officer or an E-7 your getting a Bronze Star for this deployment... it doesn't matter what you did.... that's your award.... well to me that award doesn't mean shit to me now... it has lost its integrity..... I think an individual should be assessed on what they did... that should be a determining factor... but its not... it doesn't matter what you did, or do... all that matters is your rank... E-1 thru E-6 will get an ARCOM.... the same ARCOM with the same bullshit bullets.... this infuriates me.... i don't think that my soldier who goes outside the wire on a daily basis, puts himself at adverse risk hundreds of times, and subjects himself to the heighten reality of the fact that the ultimate sacrifice could easily be realised at any moment should get the same award as a soldier who pulled a 8 hour MWR guard 5 days a week for a year.... REALLY.... they get the same thing... they get recognized the same.... the E-7 who doesn't do anything (believe me there is alot of them) will get a better and bigger award then my soldier... its bullshit...
now i don't care about my award.... awards mean nothing to me... but i don't like it when my soldiers get fucked... i wish they would let me write the awards for my soldiers and recognize them for what they did individually.... that's fair and makes sense...
CIB VS. CAB.... lol... i hate this shit... the CIB (combat infantry badge) is only for infantrymen who have been engaged or engaged the enemy... its been round for a long time and has a storied history.... infantry was the only MOS that can get the CIB... the void for other MOS's was there... an infantry man and a combat engr. standing next to each other on the battle field engaging the enemy didn't get recognized the same... for the longest time only the infantryman would get an award reflecting the fact that he was in combat... that's why the CAB was enacted... its intent was sound... recognize those who arnt infantry for being in actually combat.... but its intent was lost as soon as it came into existences.... these fuck-tard faggot cooks, and finance, and admin guys, and supply guys... all these fuckers get CAB's.... Most CAB's arnt earned... a fucking supply guy who goes on a log jam 30 truck convoy.... he's in the 22nd truck and the third truck gets small arms fire (three rounds) off the door.... he gets a CAB... the whole fucking convoy gets a CAB because "the convoy was attacked"... bullshit... small arms fire on an unarmored truck is like throwing snowballs at a civilian car... its not coming thru... so this fag who is 500 meters away from everything gets a CAB... well now i feel like my earned CAB isn't worth shit... its the same with the CIB though... an infantryman deploys and spends the entire deployment in the training room... doesn't leave the wire once... he get a CIB... I've seen it.....
then you have these CAB hunters... mostly officers... they try and try to go on convoys and hope something happens so that they can get a CAB... as soon as they get one they stop going out... these fuckers are all over the place... they don't want to be in combat... they want a nice shiny award saying they've been in combat... its bullshit....
i don't wear mine because of this.... even though i earned mine i don't like being grouped with others who haven't.... i remember about a year before i deployed this time i was back at ft. Riley... i went to the chow hall and when going thru the line i see a SPC cook with a shiny CAB on his cook whites... it disgusted me... now i don't know this guys back story and i cant say he didn't earn it, but it was the principal... he walked around all the other cooks with a sense of superiority.... i could see it on him... that was the day i took my combat patch off and stopped wearing that as well... i never felt that i needed a patch or CAB to validate my experience or to prove to others my worth.... i know who i am and i know what I've done and been thru... i don't need to prove to everyone else that I've done my job or that I'm experienced....
i know I'm just ranting here, but i really don't like the way I'm recognized or the way others are... i don't like that others who have combat patches and CAB's or CIB's feel they are better then those who don't... there is a false sense of superiority the wearer feels... its just not me...
that's not my only problem with awards though... that's just what has fueled this fire.... across the board the army award system is fucked up.... their is only a few awards that haven't been tainted to the point that they lose their integrity, and prestige... The Medal Of Honor, Purple Heart, Soldiers Medal, and a few others are taken seriously... now the Purple Heart is boarder line... i don't want to take away from those who have earned it and have giving blood and flesh for this country... but at the same time some get them for bullshit...
right now if your an officer or an E-7 your getting a Bronze Star for this deployment... it doesn't matter what you did.... that's your award.... well to me that award doesn't mean shit to me now... it has lost its integrity..... I think an individual should be assessed on what they did... that should be a determining factor... but its not... it doesn't matter what you did, or do... all that matters is your rank... E-1 thru E-6 will get an ARCOM.... the same ARCOM with the same bullshit bullets.... this infuriates me.... i don't think that my soldier who goes outside the wire on a daily basis, puts himself at adverse risk hundreds of times, and subjects himself to the heighten reality of the fact that the ultimate sacrifice could easily be realised at any moment should get the same award as a soldier who pulled a 8 hour MWR guard 5 days a week for a year.... REALLY.... they get the same thing... they get recognized the same.... the E-7 who doesn't do anything (believe me there is alot of them) will get a better and bigger award then my soldier... its bullshit...
now i don't care about my award.... awards mean nothing to me... but i don't like it when my soldiers get fucked... i wish they would let me write the awards for my soldiers and recognize them for what they did individually.... that's fair and makes sense...
CIB VS. CAB.... lol... i hate this shit... the CIB (combat infantry badge) is only for infantrymen who have been engaged or engaged the enemy... its been round for a long time and has a storied history.... infantry was the only MOS that can get the CIB... the void for other MOS's was there... an infantry man and a combat engr. standing next to each other on the battle field engaging the enemy didn't get recognized the same... for the longest time only the infantryman would get an award reflecting the fact that he was in combat... that's why the CAB was enacted... its intent was sound... recognize those who arnt infantry for being in actually combat.... but its intent was lost as soon as it came into existences.... these fuck-tard faggot cooks, and finance, and admin guys, and supply guys... all these fuckers get CAB's.... Most CAB's arnt earned... a fucking supply guy who goes on a log jam 30 truck convoy.... he's in the 22nd truck and the third truck gets small arms fire (three rounds) off the door.... he gets a CAB... the whole fucking convoy gets a CAB because "the convoy was attacked"... bullshit... small arms fire on an unarmored truck is like throwing snowballs at a civilian car... its not coming thru... so this fag who is 500 meters away from everything gets a CAB... well now i feel like my earned CAB isn't worth shit... its the same with the CIB though... an infantryman deploys and spends the entire deployment in the training room... doesn't leave the wire once... he get a CIB... I've seen it.....
then you have these CAB hunters... mostly officers... they try and try to go on convoys and hope something happens so that they can get a CAB... as soon as they get one they stop going out... these fuckers are all over the place... they don't want to be in combat... they want a nice shiny award saying they've been in combat... its bullshit....
i don't wear mine because of this.... even though i earned mine i don't like being grouped with others who haven't.... i remember about a year before i deployed this time i was back at ft. Riley... i went to the chow hall and when going thru the line i see a SPC cook with a shiny CAB on his cook whites... it disgusted me... now i don't know this guys back story and i cant say he didn't earn it, but it was the principal... he walked around all the other cooks with a sense of superiority.... i could see it on him... that was the day i took my combat patch off and stopped wearing that as well... i never felt that i needed a patch or CAB to validate my experience or to prove to others my worth.... i know who i am and i know what I've done and been thru... i don't need to prove to everyone else that I've done my job or that I'm experienced....
i know I'm just ranting here, but i really don't like the way I'm recognized or the way others are... i don't like that others who have combat patches and CAB's or CIB's feel they are better then those who don't... there is a false sense of superiority the wearer feels... its just not me...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
BLACK DAY
well its about time that i play catch up a little bit.... today is our black day.... we get one of these a week... it means we are off and cant be called in (i don't believe that though).... so far however, we haven't been called in and no one has fucked with our off days.... I'm still wary and wont fully put the guard down until I'm really comfortable with the routine.....ROUTINE...lol.... i don't really know that we have a routine.... depending on how you look at that it could be considered a pro or a con...
the section i now belong to is EOD security... its really not a bad gig at all... whenever something happens in sector, we go out to assess, interrogate, or destroy whatever it is that we are going out for.... we get to blow shit up almost daily :).... the calls we go on are always different... it keeps things new and exciting....
during the week we are either primary or secondary.... while on primary we pull a 24 hour shift in the CP.... during that time any thing that happens, our team responds to it... as soon as we roll out the secondary team assumes primary in the CP until we return...if another call comes thru while primary is out in sector secondary takes it....once we get back, secondary then goes away... this happens all day long....some days we have nothing happen and don't go anywhere, other days we are out 5-7 times that shift.... the average so far though is about 2-3 missions per primary shift, and less then one mission per secondary shift.... not bad at all... each mission last about 2 hours, so we spend an average of 4-6 of our 24 hour shift on mission most primary days.... while at the CP during our shifts, we do what ever we want as long as we are with in ear shot of each other in case a call comes thru... we watch movies, play xbox, volley ball, horse shoes, Internet, wrestle, pranks, fight, sleep, whatever it is we want... the freedoms that allude most in Iraq, are prevalent in our section... we work hard and play hard and no one on the outside looking in messes with us....
as soon as our primary shift ends we immediately assume secondary.... while on secondary you have alittle more advantages... one, your allowed to hang out in your own room.. while on primary you cant, you have to be in the CP.... two, you can also go to the PX, MWR, gym, and other places like this while on secondary so long as you sign out and take a radio with you.... and three, you get to take showers.... you obviously cant on primary... this is all well and good but as soon as primary gets a mission, everything you were doing stops... you now have to get in uniform and get to the CP to assume primary....
we play this game 6 days a week.... 24 as primary, 24 as secondary, 24 as primary, 24as secondary, until that 7th day... that day is our black day... it is suppose to be the day that we are untouchably off.... this is my third black day since I've been here and so far i cant say that this isn't true.... i will later go to play basketball and maybe make a PX run... other then that, black days only mean no missions...
in a nut shell, that's my new job... i like the guys I'm working with and the missions we run.... so far we've responded to IED's, rockets, VBIED's, bomb making parts, post blast, RKG3's, and other shit... the way the job is structured allows the time to fly... its a pretty sweet gig..
OK quick back story to these pics... this was the first mission i went out on with my new team... we responded to a VBIED ( a VBIED is pretty much a car that's packed with explosives... it drives to its destination and detonates...) the car was mangled, and taking to this junk yard.... while we were there on the ground, something happened.... i was scanning the tree line and all the sudden, BANG..... one shot fired.... at first i didn't know who fired or from where... all i knew was that it was loud and close... i quickly took cover behind a near by car and started to assess the situation.... i look around and i saw that no one else was taking cover or paying the shot fired much attention.... BAFFLED, i was.... i remember saying to myself "what the fuck is going on".... i look up and see a crowd of soldiers stand around a PVT with a scared look on his face... the others around him were his NCO's.... they were all smiling from ear to ear... i get up and walk over to them... this is the conversation that ensued...
ME: what the hell happened?
SOME NCO: (smiling) nothing, he just got alittle scared.
ME: scared? what the fuck did you shoot at?
PVT: sgt. a dog tried to attack me....
I look around for a quick second, and see no dog..... now I'm smiling...
ME: was he big...
PVT: roger sgt. he was coming at me...
ME: did ya get um...
PVT: negative sgt.
ME: did he disappear.
PVT: negative sgt. hes under that car over there....
ME: oh...
I go and look for the dog and sure enough hes chained and under a car...
ME: hey killer, hes chained up....
PVT: roger sgt. he was coming at me...
ME: did he bite you.
PVT: negative sgt. but he had his mouth open....
ME: oh... was he yawning...lol
PVT: negative sgt.
ME: how close was he to you when you fired....
PVT: like two feet...
ME: oh.... and hes a big dog I'm guessing
PVT: roger
ME: lol... so how the fuck do you miss a big dog that's two feet away from you bro..
PVT: i don't know sgt...
ME: lol, did you give him a warning shot...
PVT: negative sgt...
ME: alright man I'm just fucking with you relax...
he was at this point still worked up... alittle excited, alittle afraid... i thought it was funny and so did his NCO's... he didn't get in any trouble, but i bet he will have a hard time living this down back at the fob with his platoon....
ok back and to the right is where the dog was chained up... this red van to the right is the car the dog hide under after almost getting shot...
this is a side view after the shot was fired... i tried and tried to get the dog to come out for a picture but he refused.... i throw pop tarts and muffins at him but he wouldn't budge...
the section i now belong to is EOD security... its really not a bad gig at all... whenever something happens in sector, we go out to assess, interrogate, or destroy whatever it is that we are going out for.... we get to blow shit up almost daily :).... the calls we go on are always different... it keeps things new and exciting....
during the week we are either primary or secondary.... while on primary we pull a 24 hour shift in the CP.... during that time any thing that happens, our team responds to it... as soon as we roll out the secondary team assumes primary in the CP until we return...if another call comes thru while primary is out in sector secondary takes it....once we get back, secondary then goes away... this happens all day long....some days we have nothing happen and don't go anywhere, other days we are out 5-7 times that shift.... the average so far though is about 2-3 missions per primary shift, and less then one mission per secondary shift.... not bad at all... each mission last about 2 hours, so we spend an average of 4-6 of our 24 hour shift on mission most primary days.... while at the CP during our shifts, we do what ever we want as long as we are with in ear shot of each other in case a call comes thru... we watch movies, play xbox, volley ball, horse shoes, Internet, wrestle, pranks, fight, sleep, whatever it is we want... the freedoms that allude most in Iraq, are prevalent in our section... we work hard and play hard and no one on the outside looking in messes with us....
as soon as our primary shift ends we immediately assume secondary.... while on secondary you have alittle more advantages... one, your allowed to hang out in your own room.. while on primary you cant, you have to be in the CP.... two, you can also go to the PX, MWR, gym, and other places like this while on secondary so long as you sign out and take a radio with you.... and three, you get to take showers.... you obviously cant on primary... this is all well and good but as soon as primary gets a mission, everything you were doing stops... you now have to get in uniform and get to the CP to assume primary....
we play this game 6 days a week.... 24 as primary, 24 as secondary, 24 as primary, 24as secondary, until that 7th day... that day is our black day... it is suppose to be the day that we are untouchably off.... this is my third black day since I've been here and so far i cant say that this isn't true.... i will later go to play basketball and maybe make a PX run... other then that, black days only mean no missions...
in a nut shell, that's my new job... i like the guys I'm working with and the missions we run.... so far we've responded to IED's, rockets, VBIED's, bomb making parts, post blast, RKG3's, and other shit... the way the job is structured allows the time to fly... its a pretty sweet gig..
OK quick back story to these pics... this was the first mission i went out on with my new team... we responded to a VBIED ( a VBIED is pretty much a car that's packed with explosives... it drives to its destination and detonates...) the car was mangled, and taking to this junk yard.... while we were there on the ground, something happened.... i was scanning the tree line and all the sudden, BANG..... one shot fired.... at first i didn't know who fired or from where... all i knew was that it was loud and close... i quickly took cover behind a near by car and started to assess the situation.... i look around and i saw that no one else was taking cover or paying the shot fired much attention.... BAFFLED, i was.... i remember saying to myself "what the fuck is going on".... i look up and see a crowd of soldiers stand around a PVT with a scared look on his face... the others around him were his NCO's.... they were all smiling from ear to ear... i get up and walk over to them... this is the conversation that ensued...
ME: what the hell happened?
SOME NCO: (smiling) nothing, he just got alittle scared.
ME: scared? what the fuck did you shoot at?
PVT: sgt. a dog tried to attack me....
I look around for a quick second, and see no dog..... now I'm smiling...
ME: was he big...
PVT: roger sgt. he was coming at me...
ME: did ya get um...
PVT: negative sgt.
ME: did he disappear.
PVT: negative sgt. hes under that car over there....
ME: oh...
I go and look for the dog and sure enough hes chained and under a car...
ME: hey killer, hes chained up....
PVT: roger sgt. he was coming at me...
ME: did he bite you.
PVT: negative sgt. but he had his mouth open....
ME: oh... was he yawning...lol
PVT: negative sgt.
ME: how close was he to you when you fired....
PVT: like two feet...
ME: oh.... and hes a big dog I'm guessing
PVT: roger
ME: lol... so how the fuck do you miss a big dog that's two feet away from you bro..
PVT: i don't know sgt...
ME: lol, did you give him a warning shot...
PVT: negative sgt...
ME: alright man I'm just fucking with you relax...
he was at this point still worked up... alittle excited, alittle afraid... i thought it was funny and so did his NCO's... he didn't get in any trouble, but i bet he will have a hard time living this down back at the fob with his platoon....
ok back and to the right is where the dog was chained up... this red van to the right is the car the dog hide under after almost getting shot...
this is a side view after the shot was fired... i tried and tried to get the dog to come out for a picture but he refused.... i throw pop tarts and muffins at him but he wouldn't budge...
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