Mow the lawn in neat, straight lines
Fix the loose piece of trim in the bathroom
Make three batches of my "TigerGravy" spaghetti sauce (and freeze)
Fix the flag holder out front and hang the Red, White, and Blue
Finally go sailing in the boat on Cayuga Lake
Videotape me reading as many bedtime stories as I can
Get current on BSG episodes with Lisa
Hang the baby swing on the tree limb out back
Paint the front door the right shade of "forest pine" green to match the shutters
Eat, drink, and be happy
This is just a sample of the list of things that I need to do and things that I want to do in order to leave with piece of mind. Most of us don't think of what we'd need to do - or want to do - if we knew we were going to be away from home for a year.
Whenever we take a long roadtrip, Lisa and I clean the house top to bottom before we leave. When we come home frazzled and tired everything in the house is in order when we walk in the door. It helps in the transition from travel and cuts down on the chaos.
This ritual is exponentially bigger as I head to Iraq.
The list contain those jobs we take for granted. The list contains the practical odd jobs that need to get done. The list also contains mental and emotional to-dos I need finish in order to leave with piece of mind.
With 36 hours to go the list is getting shorter:
One more bedtime story for TJ
One more family run around town
One more cook-out of bratwursts
One more night in my own bed
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Why I Love The Army. Reason #419
Only in the Army can you get a haircut like this and have people give you compliments (and mean them).
I remember my first Army haircut. You know, the one where it all comes off - thick, shoulder length hair that ends up in a pile on the floor. You instinctively reach up after its all over, and its over within seconds, to find stubble. After it grows back "they" make you cut it again.
Now I reach up, feel stubble, and think, "good haircut."
I feel better going to training looking the part. It sets the tone and expectations for the rest of the unit. Once I get into Iraq I'll look like this most of the time.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Farewell Ceremony
On August 2nd, 2008, we held our farewell ceremony at the Reserve Center.
Ceremonies are important and necessary. They allow us to reward individuals, celebrate special occasions, and provide a touchstone to the customs and courtesies we have in this organization.
This ceremony was just what it should be; short, to the point, attended by loving families, and followed by good food. We had six guest speakers; the battalion commander, the brigade commander, a local fire chief and three local and state politicians. And still we kept the whole thing under 30 minutes. It was attended by our families and the press.
The one recurring theme for all of the speakers is the importance of family to the Soldier. Nothing could be more true. Wherever the winds of politics push an administration, for good or ill, and Soldiers go into harms way with or without the support of the public, one thing remains strong - the need for or family to support us.
The family takes on so much in our absence. Spouses take over all of the household duties; mowing lawns, changing diapers, paying bills, and countless other menial tasks. The truth is that they could do all of this on any given day if their partner was running late, or out of town for a few days. However, not having that partner by their side day after day for months on end makes the work more apparent.
Children probably face the biggest hurdles. A parent is far away. They may not know much, but children know enough to know that "war" is dangerous - people die in wars. On Active Duty posts the support system is larger and better integrated into daily life. Not so for the kids of Reservists and National Guardsmen. For example, my daughter is the only child in her school whose parent is deployed. In fact, she may be the only child in the entire school district. How prepared are her teachers? I know that I personally struggle with the emotions of being away from my two children over the course of the next year.
And so we need a ceremony like this to say good-bye in some official way. Even though we were not going anywhere until next week, our families were there - and there were hugs all around, tears, and laughter.
A lot of the details of the ceremony were captured by the press on TV channels WTVH, and WYSR, on the web, and in print.
Ceremonies are important and necessary. They allow us to reward individuals, celebrate special occasions, and provide a touchstone to the customs and courtesies we have in this organization.
This ceremony was just what it should be; short, to the point, attended by loving families, and followed by good food. We had six guest speakers; the battalion commander, the brigade commander, a local fire chief and three local and state politicians. And still we kept the whole thing under 30 minutes. It was attended by our families and the press.
The one recurring theme for all of the speakers is the importance of family to the Soldier. Nothing could be more true. Wherever the winds of politics push an administration, for good or ill, and Soldiers go into harms way with or without the support of the public, one thing remains strong - the need for or family to support us.
The family takes on so much in our absence. Spouses take over all of the household duties; mowing lawns, changing diapers, paying bills, and countless other menial tasks. The truth is that they could do all of this on any given day if their partner was running late, or out of town for a few days. However, not having that partner by their side day after day for months on end makes the work more apparent.
Children probably face the biggest hurdles. A parent is far away. They may not know much, but children know enough to know that "war" is dangerous - people die in wars. On Active Duty posts the support system is larger and better integrated into daily life. Not so for the kids of Reservists and National Guardsmen. For example, my daughter is the only child in her school whose parent is deployed. In fact, she may be the only child in the entire school district. How prepared are her teachers? I know that I personally struggle with the emotions of being away from my two children over the course of the next year.
And so we need a ceremony like this to say good-bye in some official way. Even though we were not going anywhere until next week, our families were there - and there were hugs all around, tears, and laughter.
A lot of the details of the ceremony were captured by the press on TV channels WTVH, and WYSR, on the web, and in print.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Final Battle Roster
"As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want." - Donald Rumsfeld
It's hard to believe that it has been over six weeks since I posted last. Just to catch up; five weeks ago I was still sitting behind a desk trying to anticipate the next issue while playing fireman to numerous little "fires" that break out and need putting out. Three weeks ago I took two whole weeks off of work to travel with my family all over the eastern seaboard. We hit Arapahoe, North Carolina; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; and finally the west coast of Florida where my mother-in-law lives. For this past week I have been climbing out from underneath all the emails I ignored while I was away.
The Battle Roster for my company is published. A Battle Roster (BR) is the list of names of the Soldiers who are deploying. It lists their name, rank, job position and job competency, and what unit they are coming from (if not organic to my unit). Filling a Battle Roster is not as easy as it should be and has been the cause of many heated email exchanges and phone coversations.
In March, my BR was solid and I looked forward to taking a lot of the veterans on the roster so that they would mentor the new "kids". I needed officers, the one thing my company is serously lacking is commissioned officers within the ranks. I was relying on the the veterans who had two, three, up to five tours going back to 1990 to provide the initial leadership until we got going - collectively as one unit.
By May, reality set in. I lost two solid Non-commisioned officers to retirement. I lost another to age - he will turn 60 while we are deployed. I lost two more Soldiers to medical issues and a final Soldier decided not to re-enlist. Six gone before the summer started. Six to backfill, plus find over six officers.
These issues are not mine alone. I share this headache with a faceless Major S. at Ft. Bragg, NC, who sole job is to populate the vacancies on the BR. He shares his headache with Big Army, who has the responsibility to fill anything left over.
I back filled some of my vacancies in the junior enlisted positions with my own Soldiers. Young men and women who volunteered, even begged, to go with the company. This dedication amazes me every time I see it. I understand that some are just looking for the adventure and some are looking for a steady paycheck. However, there is a war on and Iraq is still a dangerous place to volunteer to go to.
From May until July back filling and filling my senior leadership positions was harder. I was given officers who I never met. I had one office who I knew volunteer to go but got tied up and lost in the bullshit bureaucracy that is Big Army. I was forced to push some NCOs outside of their comfort zone into positions of greater authority and responsibility.
Why does all of this cause me concern? The reason is that I believe in building strong units and teams prior to entering a hostile zone. That strength comes from working together over time. Since we are coming together for the first time in three weeks I have apprehesion over the performance of the teams as they start.
As we speak I am still trying to get to "final". I write this with the full knowledge that "no plan survives first contact" and that even as I will eventually leave the US with my teams set, that those will change again when we get into Theater.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Adult Supervision
"It's easy to be a clown until you're put in charge of the circus."
The unit is going through Annual Training. This is one week of briefings, classes, training, qualification, and personal file updates necessary before we mobilize. This training is more important than you realize as you go through it. To have someone sit down with you, one on one, and review your record and make updates as necessary gives you piece of mind when you are far away.
For instance, last time I went away I was engaged and had only one child. My life insurance and other legal paper work reflected that. Obviously, now that I am married and have two children this week allows me to change my insurance, update my will, and make sure that me and my family receive the benefits we deserve when I am away.
Due to turn over and the work load on the full time support at the unit, the plan went through one or two drafts before going "final". I helped plan and coordinate some of this training. Plans are good and necessary however, all plans require execution, and no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Today I found myself "executing" more than I thought I would. Maybe because I had to, or maybe because I can't not get involved. At the end of the day I found myself standing in front of twenty NCOs and officers conducting an "azimuth check", going over what we accomplished, and reviewing the plan for the next few days. And then I dismissed everyone.
WTF?! Since when did I get to be the one with the most brass?! When did I turn into the adult? - I hate adults! I used to be the smart ass LT sitting in the back of the room singing out of tune and now I'm leading the chorus? Who checks on this? Now, I know as I write this that I can think of one young Captain and one soon-to-be ex-Major who are asking the same thing. I'm sure there are others waiting to chime in.
After spending almost twenty years kvetching about how everyone else is doing it wrong its about time I "man up" and do it right.
The unit is going through Annual Training. This is one week of briefings, classes, training, qualification, and personal file updates necessary before we mobilize. This training is more important than you realize as you go through it. To have someone sit down with you, one on one, and review your record and make updates as necessary gives you piece of mind when you are far away.
For instance, last time I went away I was engaged and had only one child. My life insurance and other legal paper work reflected that. Obviously, now that I am married and have two children this week allows me to change my insurance, update my will, and make sure that me and my family receive the benefits we deserve when I am away.
Due to turn over and the work load on the full time support at the unit, the plan went through one or two drafts before going "final". I helped plan and coordinate some of this training. Plans are good and necessary however, all plans require execution, and no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Today I found myself "executing" more than I thought I would. Maybe because I had to, or maybe because I can't not get involved. At the end of the day I found myself standing in front of twenty NCOs and officers conducting an "azimuth check", going over what we accomplished, and reviewing the plan for the next few days. And then I dismissed everyone.
WTF?! Since when did I get to be the one with the most brass?! When did I turn into the adult? - I hate adults! I used to be the smart ass LT sitting in the back of the room singing out of tune and now I'm leading the chorus? Who checks on this? Now, I know as I write this that I can think of one young Captain and one soon-to-be ex-Major who are asking the same thing. I'm sure there are others waiting to chime in.
After spending almost twenty years kvetching about how everyone else is doing it wrong its about time I "man up" and do it right.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Why I Love The Army. Reason #670
At 1700 (5:00pm to the civilians reading along) the official Army day is over the and the flag comes down from the one and only flagpole on the post. When that happens two bugle calls sound. The first is, Retreat, a signal that the flag is about to come down. The second is, To The Colors, the bugle sounds as the flag is actually coming down.
On Friday afternoon I was golfing nine holes on the Ft. Dix Golf Course with my friends Justin, Dennis, and Stacy when the five o'clock hour struck. With each bugle call there is a ceremony that is performed by every Soldier who can hear it. For Retreat you come to the position of attention and face towards the music. For To The Colors you salute if in uniform or remain at attention if not.
The four of us grumbled a little as Retreat sounded, but as a group, there on the eighth tee, we stood at attention. And as I quickly looked around the course I noticed the foursome in front of us stopped. As did the twosome on second tee. In fact, the whole course stood still until the Colors were down.
I love this organization that stands on its ceremonies and that those ceremonies are respected by everyone, even when no one is looking or its convenient to look the other way. We pass them on. We keep our standards high. And we keep our respect for who we are as Soldiers in check.
On Friday afternoon I was golfing nine holes on the Ft. Dix Golf Course with my friends Justin, Dennis, and Stacy when the five o'clock hour struck. With each bugle call there is a ceremony that is performed by every Soldier who can hear it. For Retreat you come to the position of attention and face towards the music. For To The Colors you salute if in uniform or remain at attention if not.
The four of us grumbled a little as Retreat sounded, but as a group, there on the eighth tee, we stood at attention. And as I quickly looked around the course I noticed the foursome in front of us stopped. As did the twosome on second tee. In fact, the whole course stood still until the Colors were down.
I love this organization that stands on its ceremonies and that those ceremonies are respected by everyone, even when no one is looking or its convenient to look the other way. We pass them on. We keep our standards high. And we keep our respect for who we are as Soldiers in check.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Back To School
Fort Dix, NJ in the late summer - how refreshing.
Yes, I am in Ft Dix, NJ attend the third phase of a military education course called ILE, Intermediate Level Education. The completion of this course (on Friday) is part of the boxes that need to be checked if I want to make the next rank of Lieutenant Colonel. I do.
The course material is good. The course load, managable. The first two phases were a lot of fun and I am fortunate to have some of those people here during this course. No, you don't go through all three phases with the same people. Its the luck of the draw with fellow students and instructors. This group is a little more work oriented than team building oriented. Ok, fine - at least there are some interesting folks and no know-it-all jerks. The days start at 0730 and runs to 1630ish with homework most nights.
To be honest, I just want it over with. This is basically a pass/fail course and there are no real recorded grades. In other words the super smart and the coat tail riders get the same certificate at the end. I am somewhere in between the smart and the riders - at the higher end of the bell curve.
I do most of my work as soon as I can fit it into my schedule in order to free up as much of the weekend that we have "off" in the middle of the two weeks here. My fellow students, many of them, are shocked to learn that my three page paper was 80% complete on Thursday night when it isn't due until Monday. I wanted my weekend off to go visit Pat, Amy, and Megan who live fifteen miles down the road. It's not that I'm an over achiever, it's just that I want to have fun without a deadline hanging over my head.
Yes, I am in Ft Dix, NJ attend the third phase of a military education course called ILE, Intermediate Level Education. The completion of this course (on Friday) is part of the boxes that need to be checked if I want to make the next rank of Lieutenant Colonel. I do.
The course material is good. The course load, managable. The first two phases were a lot of fun and I am fortunate to have some of those people here during this course. No, you don't go through all three phases with the same people. Its the luck of the draw with fellow students and instructors. This group is a little more work oriented than team building oriented. Ok, fine - at least there are some interesting folks and no know-it-all jerks. The days start at 0730 and runs to 1630ish with homework most nights.
To be honest, I just want it over with. This is basically a pass/fail course and there are no real recorded grades. In other words the super smart and the coat tail riders get the same certificate at the end. I am somewhere in between the smart and the riders - at the higher end of the bell curve.
I do most of my work as soon as I can fit it into my schedule in order to free up as much of the weekend that we have "off" in the middle of the two weeks here. My fellow students, many of them, are shocked to learn that my three page paper was 80% complete on Thursday night when it isn't due until Monday. I wanted my weekend off to go visit Pat, Amy, and Megan who live fifteen miles down the road. It's not that I'm an over achiever, it's just that I want to have fun without a deadline hanging over my head.
Visiting Pat and Amy is always relaxing. After 25 years of friendship its easy to
chill out immediately upon entering the door, going to their fridge, and popping a beer. Today went to Six Flags Great Adventure and rode a bunch of rollercoasters until the heat drove us back to an air conditioned house.This trip to Ft. Dix is a benefit in disguise because I am meeting after classroom hours with some of the people who occupy the offices and sections who will help us mobilize later in the summer. A dinner here, a bottle of Grey Goose vodka there - I am not opposed to greasing the skids to ensure a smooth training experience to keep the distracting bullshit to a minimum.
Taking personal charge of our mobilization has consumed more of my mental time than the course work. Maybe its a good thing the course is pass/fail.
On the unsettling side, TJ turned one year old while I was down here. The little guy isn't aware its his birthday, or that daddy and mommy were both working. However, he's a Rock Star and will get a Rock Star's party when I get home. I got him a Superman onesie with a red velcroed cape from Six Flags. I can't wait to see him in it. Also unsettling was that the tempature rose to the high 90s back home and Lisa had to call a friend of ours to put in the AC. Great, the hint of a year to come where I am too far away to be helpful.
On the good news side, I read where an old work buddy of mine just returned home safe and sound from 17 months in Iraq. Yea, Kurt! That reminds me...
I am also reading Malcom Gladwell's, The Tipping Point, just for kicks. Kurt gave it to me and I misplaced it. Yes, it's a very interesting book.
So that's it for now. Hope all is well where you are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
