Another thing, too. I will probably be changing blogsites here and getting a secure site. The army is looking down on some of these for various reasons, but I am required to register my blogsite w/ my commander. I will let him make the decision, although I will not necessarily be in Iraq, where it is required by the theater commander, but Im not gonna do anything to irritate my command. So it may be a little bit, but hopefully I will have an answer soon...

its been a long time since I have written but we have been very buzy here. We are gearing up for our final test, or lane, or whatever you want to call it. But either way, we are down to less than a week of training before we go to the Big Show. Lemme go back a little bit and recap what has happened. OVer the last week we have been doing training from trhe FOB, where I had to maintain a battalion presence since that is my position in the operation section of the staf. I manned the radio and watched ALOT of movies. Finally saw Team America: World Police again, along with about a dozen movies. That is one of the greatest movies made, and sure to become a cult hit. Here is some irony; my step mom sent me the book Hostage ( very good reading, in fact I finished it in 3 nights ) and low and behold, there is a movie w/ Bruce Willis in it. Read the book. The movie does it no justice. We then completed combatives, which was pretty cool and I learned some new things to use as a cop, and still be covered under incident resolution, the copper's use of force umbrella...

So back to land navigation. Me and my buddy took off to find our points after we plotted them. On our very first point we hit waist deep mud, and Im not kidding. Based on the way it has been down here, I very nearly stripped down and wanted to act like a big ole' hog and just take my uniform off and cover myself and just take a nap, but we had points to find. Our first point caused us fits and we were unable to find it, and not for a lack of looking. We kicked up a water moccasin, that really wasnt that big and we kept going, still looking for this damned point. Snakes do not bother me. Spiders, on the other hand, make me wet myself. Ask my sister. And there happens to spiders down here, called garden spiders, that are as big as an old 45 record. No kidding. The first one stopped me in my tracks, and of course, I wet myself. We bypassed that and then we kicked up the first snake. No luck in finding the point. We actually stumbled upon our fourth point, and worked our way around. While in this swamp bottom, I had a copperhead crawl across my foot. It was about 18 inches long and really pretty for a snake. I walked a few more feet and kicked up a big pine snake, about 2 and ahalf feet long. So Im like great, Im really gambling here. How long til I take one in the leg and have to get a ride on the helicopter? But, we persevered and found 6 out of seven points ( yes we back tracked and found the first point and blew off the 5th. There was no way the 1st point was going to win...)

So you have to take into account soldier's humor when they are in a strange place and have nothing better to do but knuckle under and ride the storm. WHich brings me to my next story: I was on the range the other day and had to use the porta john. I think every one at one point or another has had some type of intimate meeting with one. They are either ghastly, or they are pretty nice, such as the ones they have here on post. Remarkably clean. But you have to realize that certain comedians, who wind up with a pen or marker in their hand, seem to have a sense of humor; case in point. As I was attempting to "pass" the time, I had a chance to read some humor, and this has got to be one of the funniest things I have ever read. In great big letters was," Due to OSHA regulations, any turd over 8 inches long or weighing more than 3/4 of a pound must be hand lowered to prevent chemical splash." Hilarious. Soldiers ( and cops, for that matter) have got to be busy, otherwise they find ways of keeping busy, and it usually ends in pretty messed up situations. Trust me. I have had to explain numerous times, usually to my wife, on why I did something. Like, for instance, when I bounced a check to Pizza Pit and screwed up my credit. A 12 dollar pizza costing me 35 bucks, plus wayyyyy below the 616 or whatever is needed to be considered legit. Annie still laughs when I bring that up. At one point if it took my a quarter to go around the world, I couldnt get out of sight, but thats another blog...

this is for my wife...yes I know these are lyrics from my favorite band, but these pretty much hit home for...

I once met a young girl filled with fire, that saw through my front to this shell of a man
She knew Id be a handfull from the start, this strong willed woman had an angels heart
The holes in these wings dont allow me to fly, so you'd better brace yourself for a life of pain
And if fate is the path to this better life, somehow I feel youll never see the faces of change

Through thick and thin she stood by you
she held the key to my broken heart

I look back and wonder sit and ponder how I could have ever neglected you
From the blood soaked soil on the old ball field I gambled on a hand I wasnt ready to lose
But if the tables were turned and I faced the troubles tough times and struggles I put you through
Id of been there as you were through hardship and horror
My life and my love are pledged to you

Through thick and thin she stood by you
she held the key to my broken heart

Remember the nights she waited and wondered fused to a myth that had taken its toll
But this Godless man has mended his ways, never again will she be alone

I remember it well still I always knew that she was destined to be my bride
This woman had pride she was full of lifeI could see the passion in her eyes
She thought she found a man but fell for the devil
An evil monster in disguise. Now I'll honor and obey forever stay
true to you my Irish rose

I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Ill write more later..

Sl'ainte

Im sure everyone else's blood is boiling the same way mine is about the terrorist attacks in London. I will hate to be on the recieving end of what the brits are about to bring on the cowards who executed over 50 noncombatants on their way to work. This is why I look forward to my mission over there. We will not rest until they are free and Al Zarquoi, the murderer he is, I would like to have his head on a pole. I truly think we must do what they did in the old days: each terrorist we kill should have their heads on poles 100 meters apart. I also think we should do what Roosevelt did to the terrorist in the Phiilipines. That can be someones homework for this blog. Over 50 people killed, heading to work on bussess and trains, not expecting a thing. I hope Tony Blair has balls as big as the Iron Lady when she was in power. You did not mess with England or Great Britain, or whatever you would like to call them. You may not like George Bush for whatever reason, but thank God he has balls, balls enough to go after murderers and the sorts of them. I have never really been political until recent years, and I have had great conversations with my dad and step mom about the war. I have received e mails from people I havent heard from in years( Hi again, Mollie, great to hear from you and Im glad you have seen the light :) ) but appeasment and the united nations will not work. Well, the united nations are nothing but crooks looking to line their own pockets and are about as effective as a 90 year old man on cialis. IT AINT GONNA WORK NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO!!!!

Good lord, Im done with that. On to better things. Last night was like Christmas, we gou our new equipment. I got my new body armor last week and love it. Fits like a glove and yet allows me to breath out there in the heat. I got new boots, gloves t shirts, etc and love em. We are supposed to be getting the new Army ACU's ( Army Combat Uniform ) which is the digital stuff. Pretty sharp. We have hit the half way point here in Camp Shelby, the 5th ring of Dante's Inferno. This place sucks. It would be nice here, minus the heat, but I have to wait to give my thoughts on that. I just want to get incountry where the days count and I can get home.

Family update. John is doing fabulous at T Ball and charges the ball, dives and throws to first. He is a full foot shorter than his 'mates but has more energy and drive and wants to be out there, unlike the kids he plays with. Annies has been out practicing with John as well as Granpa has been, too , and it looks like it is paying off. John is getting really good at playing.

Adam is keeping mom's hands full. Annie was "in tow " the whole time they were at T Ball and kept her moving. God, to have Adam and John's energy would be something.

Take care. I will be out of the loop for awhile, at least until Monday. We are heading to the FOB (Forward Operating Base) to run ops out of there. No hardline phone, no connectivity, nothing. My cell barely reaches so I will stay in touch with family...

Sl'ainte

Since "moving" down south I have experienced repeated things: cockrocoaches the size of a dog, humidity that would straighten out a felon, and now: tropical storms. Yes I am sitting at the top of Cindy as she makes her way north. She should hit tonight and tomorrow and they are expecting 3 inches of rain between today and tomorrow. Never fails. plus there is one right behind her. Maybe I should buil;d an ark and grow gills.

Speaking of which, I was able to get to Biloxi yesterday and spen my one and only day doing, you guessed it: sitting in the air conditioning and watching TV. We had breakfast at McElroys and then headed over to Beau Rivage, a local casino. Some of our group went shark fishing on the Gulf. They nailed 25 sharks and kept 18, which we filleted and now have 72 of them. The chow hall gave us some worcestshire sauce and soy sauce for a marinade. I think we are grilling them out tonight. The casino was gorgeous and if I get some off time at the end of Purgatory, I wiil spend it w/ Annie, my beautiful and tolerant wife.

Any how, I only lost 30 bucks, but got to see some really nice boats down there, the smallest being 35 feet, the biggest about 90. really, really nice. Didnt see any fireworks, had to be back by 10 PM, so we missed everything. But oh well, so did my oldest, John. Annie wore him out up at the lake and he didnt make it past 7 pm. Fell asleep on granpas chest. Must have been a sight.

training continues. I am trying to zero a new scope and was up on the line and started to get bit by the heat. Pulled myself off before i had to be dragged off and flown to the hospital. I have been heat casualty before, when I went to my officer basic course at Benning. I ended up sucking up 4 and a half liters of Ringer's lactate solution. Spent the night in the hospital and have hated the heat ever since. It takes forever for you to recover from that and I have crashed one other time where I needed it. So of course I dread going over seas, but at least there is no humidity. So they say. Looks there is a baskin robbins on Navistar too. I started lifting again so I can get down to my fighting weight, but it will be a struggle.

We have started few different things down here: Road march stress fire, convoy ops, to name a few. Im pretty good with the 50 cal, but I have yet to get in the hatch and start hitting targets. I look forward to that. Everybody pull their weight over there and if there is a vacant seat on a platform going out, its gotta be filled. I plan on boning up on the 240B and the Mk 19, so I can jump behind them too if need be. We head out to out FOB this weeke so contact may be limited fo a little bit after Thursday, but I will catch up with everything.

Couple of side notes. My oldest starts T Ball tonight and his daddy cant be there. My heart is broken, but momma will make an outstanding fill in. Granpa and momma helped him with his hitting this weekend and he did out standing. Of course, I told him when he slides into home, he needs to go high with his cleats. Hey, there's no penalty box, right? Nah, I just said make sure you stop at first unless it goes over there heads, then run until ya make it home. he told me he wants me to be his coach for everything. I broke down when I got off the phone...

I received an e mail from one of my best friends. He and I were enlisted together and literally tore up DC with a few other friends. He went to Alaska and then Hawaii, and ended up in Louisiana. I talked him into going into OCS, and upon completion I swore him in as an officer in the United States Army. I have been bestowed no greater honor than that. He left for Armor basic and wound up with the 2nd ACR ( Armored Cav Regiment) out of FT Polk. I hadnt heard from him in nearly 2 years and I got an email prior to me deploying. He was deployed to Iraq and fought for the bridge in Al Kut last April. He got hit twice by shrapnel and was slammed off the center mount for the radios and Blue Force Tracker. Luckily his vest saved him on all 3 counts. He got out in August of last year and has been in degree completion at LSU so he can get his captain when it rolls around. He started to have hearing problems and went in and got checked to see what it was. No tumor, but Doc found a blood clot in his head. He was tested for and was not considered a candidtae for a stroke, but they looked at his heart. Turns out he tore some tendons in his mitral valve and just had surgery last week. Unfortunately, the valve was damaged beyond repair and had to be replaced. He is now considered non-deployable and will end up taking meds for the rest of his life. My own personal opinion, he is a warrior and always has been. I love him more than a brother and he is one of the greatest people I know. We have shared alot, most things that are not fit for this venue and should be regaled under the hypnotic effects of a favorite beverage, but he is a true warrior and will always be. A proven combat leader, he will find something else and excell at that. I have met his parents, and they are the most wonderful people I know and I am truly honored to have that privilidge. Hang in there buddy. Maybe we can open that tavern like we talked about and mesmerize everyone when I get back...

Sl'ainte