Where have I been to?

In answer to some kind peoples' questions, yes, I was able to see the Transformers movie thanks to the wonders of bootlegging. It was actually a really good copy, so I was able to see all the genius of Michael Bay's directorial skills. My review? Well, for a movie about them, there was not nearly enough of the Transformers themselves. I think I was looking for something more like the show where there were some human characters, but they were totally secondary. Also? I loved that one of the main people was a Captain in Qatar. I am going there in a month or two (on a 4 day R and R pass) so I will keep an eye out for robotic scorpions.

I also picked up a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but it was filmed to dark and the camera operator's thumb was over the lens for the first five minutes, so it was more frustrating to watch than anything. Oh well, I will catch it when I get home.




The return flight was a completely different thing than the way down. First, here is the plane that I was on.





Smaller, with windows, and with a tailgate that they left OPEN for the whole flight. Also, the view was amazing because they flew all of 50 feet up. Holy frick! This is not a picture from takeoff, this is 20 minutes into the flight. It was pretty awesome.

That is about it for that trip- I made it back safely, and it was back to work. I was sent back with the first two season of Boston Legal by a guy that works down there. Any fans out there?

=Pat

Where Have I Been?

Salerno! But not the nice one in Italy. The one in sort of Eastern Afghanistan. (Southern? The whole darned place is on a slant, so it is hard to tell) as opposed to... kind of middle Afghanistan like Bagram (which is near Kabul, which is the capital. Remember this for future Scavenger Hunts!)


It was about a half hour flight from Bagram on a C130, the plane of choice for people that jump out of planes. You may notice that there are no windows on the sides of this plane. What that means is that you sit in this steel box and stare at the walls while you bounce all over the sky. So, when we landed and I hopped out of the plane, it was a surprise that we landed on a GRAVEL RUNWAY. I later found out that it is just the taxiway that is gravel, but it was a shock at the time. What else did I have waiting for me? Trees! Woo hoo! This is actually an olive grove in the middle of the base. But my God, the humidity! This is not a desert like Bagram. In fact, it rained most days I was there, at least a little. Hey! I can see Pakistan from here! But do not worry, the bases there are quite safe. This is why they call them bases in Freeze Tag. Salerno is a Forward Operating Base (FOB) but it is really like Bagram lite. They have most of the same stuff, but smaller. Like this Subway shop... truck... thing. That is actually the whole place.

The 82nd Airborne Division Band was playing at the chow hall. No, our meals do not normally have musical accompaniment. This same band was playing at the 10K run I did and at the 500,000th Soldier to go on leave from Kuwait Ceremony. Apparently our fates are linked. But this time? This time they were playing TV show theme songs! On woodwinds! Including the A-Team song! Awesome. Da-dah dah dah... dun dun dun...
(To be continued...)

How Is Being In The Army Like Being A Little Kid?

First, as a kid, you don't get a lot of choice about... well, about much of anything, really. You are going to be told what to wear (UNIFORM), when to get up (MORNING FORMATION) and what to eat (CHOW HALL). You have to make your bed and clean your room (INSPECTIONS.)

If your family is going on vacation somewhere you do not want to go, (DEPLOYMENT) you don't really get much of an option about saying no. Few families are going to go to Afghanistan or Iraq, but the rule is still the same, and the only way you are getting out of it is to do a really good job pretending to be sick. This actually happens more than you might think. Faking a stomachache and licking your palms to make them clammy will probably not cut it. Also, they may send you to the doctors who are about as effective as the School Nurse used to be. You get two options- Motrin and Robitussin. If those can't fix you, you weren't meant to be fixed.

Actually, one of the biggest similarities has to do with how they punish you. First, they might just yell at you and any backtalk will just make it worse. (Choke yourself!) Thankfully in the Army there is generally not a wooden spoon involved (Mom, I am looking in your direction.) But let's say you really get in trouble and they bring you up on charges. At the lowest level, they can give you extra duty, where, after work you have to come back and clean common areas, paint walls or buildings or rocks, or whatever other ideas your temporary jailer comes up with. Kids know this as EXTRA CHORES. Also, they can take a part of your monthly pay. Did any of you ever LOSE YOUR ALLOWANCE for being bad? Does this all sound terribly familiar? Plus, if things are really bad, and you are making things worse by just being around, you may be restricted to quarters, aka GROUNDED.

On the positive side of things, as a kid they do give out shiny things when you do a good job like Gold Stars. This does not end when you enter the military- they have medals!

I think that this should be the next recruiting campaign for the Army. I think it will be especially effective for those who are nostalgic for their childhoods. What do you think?

So, what has changed?

1. We have a new main boss- the last one left pretty much the day that I came back on leave. Is this good or bad? I am not sure yet, but one of the first things he asked me is if I wanted to stick around for an extra year. I did the polite thing and did not laugh in his face.

2. We have Physical Training (PT) five times a week. At 5 am. In the interest of following along with the number five theme, I am going to take five fingers and a palm and smack whoever came up with this idea.

3. We have a mandatory work day of 0730-1930 every day except Sunday, which is 1400-1930. This? This I am fine with because I was already working those hours and more anyway. So, meh.

4. Lest you think this will all be complaints, I have some good news. Actually, it is great news. When I left, I was the only person in my whole shop. While I was gone, I got FIVE new people in. It is almost too wonderful for words. I am back to being the dumbest person in the place, but I guess that was true when I was here by myself too, huh?

5. It got HOT here. It is about 100 degrees most days. That is one thing, but it also causes the "100 Days of Wind" basically because the big bowl of the mountains acts like a convection oven so at about 11am, the wind starts blowing at at about 15 mph and just goes up from there. By 6 or so, the flagpoles are being bent nearly in half, and I even saw one of the flags get ripped right off of the line and take off towards Pakistan.

6. Remember General Order #1? The "no drinking, no sex" one? Well, it has been updated.

"Personnel are prohibited from entering the living space of the opposite sex, with the exception of personnel married to each other, unless for official military business. If entry is required for official military business, the door must remain open at all times.

Sex. Sexual relations in a deployed environment have a degrading effect of unit cohesion, morale, good order and discipline, and jeopardizes unit readiness as well as mission accomplishment. Therefore, sexual relations and intimate behavior between individuals not married to each other are prohibited."

Again, not something that changes my life, but I still find this to be very silly. Did they not watch Starship Troopers? That was the best army in the history of cinema!

What did that kid in Poltergeist say?

Ah Afghanistan! How I did not miss you one bit! Just a quick post to let you all know that I made it back safely, and thank you to everyone for making my trip home just fantastic. I can't wait to be back again, this time for good. See you in January, or so.