It's a Girl!!

Congratulations to Jr and N! Alina Isabel is beautiful.

She's gonna have to wait another four months for her little cousin to be born, another little princess. Apparently, my seed only produces little girls!

Kickem' out or Keepem' in?

So I was listening to the Laura Ingram show on the ride home yesterday (Bigguns, don't pass out) and she quoted some statistics about incarcerations and arrests of illegal aliens in 2005. ~350,000 arrests and 55,000 detained illegal aliens, none of whom were deported. Why are we continueing to pay for incarceration of these thugs and why are we releasing them back to the streets of America. My wife applied for her permanent resident status in OCT2005 and is still waiting for approval. She's been told that she will be deported and she will not be allowed to submit another application for residency if she breaks the law while her status is pending, yet the gang bangers and petty thiefs in our jails get to hang out in America all they want. There are leagal ways to come into our country, but the system is bogged down and inefficient. Spend some money to speed this up, institute work programs, even make an exemption for law abiding illegals to convert legally in a 5-10yr period, but don't continue to allow criminal aliens to stay in our country. If you're really gungho about this you can sign up for Michelle Malkin's petition. I know you libertarians think this will crush the economy, but at some point you have to put your foot down and enforce the rules.

Evolutionary Man

I guess as my first order of business I should explain my title. The older I get, the more I realize that I know much less than I thought I did. I guess that's why I feel like I am an eternal student of life. One of dad's friends told him that in life you are always paying tuition. My child support, a BMW car payment, etc. Money does talk, and in general, the higher the cost of tuition, the more likely the lesson will be learned. Thus far, my life's mistakes have made for a pretty good series of classes. From some of these "mistakes" have come my greatest joys though.

One initiative I'd like to seek out on this blog and in life in general is to find ways to better myself as a man. It would be nice to take some classes without paying so much "tuition."

Jefferey Marx's book Season of Life hit a note with me. The emphasis on developing compassionate, honest and just men is not a new one, but certainly our society needs a nudge back in the right direction. When Michael Vick, OJ Simpson and Ray Lewis can do the things they do and have anyone in society blame thier deeds on anyone but themselves, we as a society have crumbled. It's not enough that these individuals fail to stand up and admit to a wrong, accept punishment and move forward. Our society allows this to happen. We'll partially excuse their actions because they lacked a father figure or the stresses and pressures of the media and fame were to blame. Enough already. Some women may be offended, but the term "stand up and take it like a man" needs to be heard a little more often. When your child fails at school or breaks the law, a good parent won't blame the teacher or police man, but will make that child admit to their wrong and accept the punishment.

I feel the need to reach out and take hold of at least the community around me to stress these values that are so lacking in our country's youth. Finding an outlet for this with an already busy work and family life is the real challenge though. Then again, maybe I'm just idealizing and maybe I'll soon go back to worrying about it but letting "someone else" take care of it. And thus, Rome fell.

I'm Back Baby!

It's been a while, but I've finally managed to get on a non-military internet service that does not block blogging. I guess a lot has happened in 7 months. Right now I'm spending some time working as a hospitalist/intensivist at a detainee hospital in Baghdad.

The war looks like there is no end in site, at least no clear way out without global criticism. Perhaps we will just have to take it on the nose on that one though. All in all, the Iraqis all want a safe home for their families. It really would be a shame to fully pull out, leaving a trail of caos in our wake. Then again, this will only become a strong country through internal struggle with a well define central government, military and security force. They are a long, long, long way from that.

Early Mornings

Sleeping in a tent with thirty other men is a unique experience. I seem to have gained some prominence as the king of flatulence (at least on my side of the room,) and am reported to shake down the thunder at least once a night while asleep. While this title is not the most endearing, at least I'm not the late night computer guy, who plays music videos at 2am and repacks his duffle bag at 3am. We even have a bull at the far end of the tent. He's a good guy, despite being an ex-marine, but can escalate a game of old maid into a potential fist fight. He also happens to be the loudest snoorer of the bunch. Our age varies from 20-55, so the parade of morning bathroom visits usually starts up about 2am. The tent is pitch black so flashlights are needed to navigate your way through the maze of bunks to get to the outhouse behind the tent. Flashlight etiquite is often lacking, leading to the dog with a flashlight around it's collar phenomenon. We have a wookie (seriously, probably the harriest guy I've ever seen,) an elf, a sailor (the only naval asset in our unit), a pro-athelete (he used to be one of Lance Armstrong's training partners), a heavy metal guitarist (well, that was before he became a physician), an ultramarathon runner (125 miles was his furthest run), and a guy named bubba. All in all, it's a colorful bunch. We spend a lot of time gripping and laughing, mostly at each other, and are in general a happy lot. All the same, though, it will be a relief to flatulate in the confines of my own little sleeping unit in a couple of weeks.

Boots On the Ground

I cannot emphasize enough just how easy it is for us to take our freedom for granted. I left the country several days ago. We drove through lush green meadows, over flowing brooks and ponds, through elm, oak, fir and spruce. Memories of baseball games, track meets, hiking trips, picnics, friends and family rushed over me. I'm a lucky man to have been blessed with so many wonderful memories and I cherish the fact that in our country we have the opportunity to pursue so much. Just before I stepped on that plane, I paused with one foot still on the ground. I wanted to savor the feel of my country under my boot.

Today my boots stand on a gray, brown landscape, foriegn and desolate. It will be some time before I get home again, but I am proud to join my fellow soldiers. Morale is high with 24 soldiers reenlisting just today. I know we are ready for our mission and will serve with honor, integrity and the utmost professionalism. Like it or not, we are on the world's stage. Not only our mission, but the way we conduct our mission will lead to success or failure. In 363 more days I'll return home, hopefully with a 100% successfull mission completed, and surely to a warm welcome and to that firm, comfortable step.

Humble Pie

So we got a chance to practice our hand-to-hand combat again today. As most of you know, I've never been much of a fighter, but this was supposed to be a controlled exercise, so I gave it my all. I was holding my own, practicing my drills with men about my size while we were learning new techniques. Then they divided us up for these three minute, full speed, full strength matches. Lucky me, I get a thick staff seargent who was a prior wrestler, grappling instructor and worked as a bouncer for the past several years. I think my enlisted guys live for days like these, when they finally get a chance to legally inflict some pain on their superior officers! Needless to say, I lasted about 90 seconds before being placed in a submissive choke hold. It really was great training and my partner was a great sport and felt that I had held on much longer than he had anticipated I would. My revenge will come. I think I'll put him through an hour long lecture on the coagulation pathways. A much slower and more agonizing submission.

God's Army

I experienced a new first today. About 20 fellow catholic worshipers and I slapped on our body armor and kevlar (helmets for you non-military folk), grabbed our weapons and marched, in formation, to easter mass today. Our commander was kind enough to provide cadance the whole way there.

On another note, training has been great over the past two days. The team is coming together very well and we are learning a great deal about how to accomplish our mission in a safe manner. We even saw a patient with simulated leishmaniasis today.

Patience is a Virtue

Be all that you can be! An Army of One!! We do more before 9am than most people do all day.

I think my unit didn't see these commercials. While medical units are not highly touted for the usual gungho bravado of the "regular army," my unit seems to be plodding its way through knee deep mud on a daily basis. For someone who is used to either running his team or his clinic this has been very frustrating. I've resolved this with a simple 30 to 3 rule. If I get 30min of training completed while only waiting around for 3hrs, I consider it a success and go about standing in the next line....

Predeployment

This publication is unofficial and unsanctioned. The material herein is solely the opinion of the editor and it's participants. It is intended for private use only and in no way represents the views of the US Army, the AMEDD or TF21. In an effort to maintain some operational security, names, dates, times and places may often be omitted.

Having said that, please feel free to comment away. I'll take you through my journey during this most historic time as I fulfill my obligation to my country and to my fellow soldiers. Seen above is our able and well respected commander, COL J, TF21 served the country during a brief deployment to New Orleans during the Katrina Relief Efforts. COL J and I are seen here in our portable Emergency Room in the New Orleans Convention Center.

Our mission during the hurricane relief really was essential in setting the tone for the unit. We were able to deploy, accomplish a mission with a great deal of success and very little error, and redeploy in <2 months time. Team cohesion began down in New Orleans, especially for those of us only recently assigned to the unit.

Initial Entry

Just trying to get this thing started. Mahalo to Bigguns for the blogger.com info.

Training in Wisconsin should be great preparation next week before my real adventures begin in the Kuwaiti desert in two weeks.