And the Saga Continues......

Sometimes the best and worst part of your job is the people. I've been learning alot how to deal with people, from all sorts of life. I've been learning alot about how to assert myself and not let people walk all over me. I've also learned alot about how to see the good, the bad, and the ugly side of people. The military gives you many opportunities to experience this very challenging aspect of life. It's the main reason I named this website Desert Drama.

As like my last trip to Iraq, I dealt with more drama than I had my whole high school experience. I feel like I deal with more 90210 drama than war drama over here. In some ways I'm glad that is the worst of it, but other ways it's kinda embarrassing to admit that I've been involved or been in middle of something that seems so childish. But when you stick so many people from so many different backgrounds and make them work together, eat together, and live together, it's no wonder that things get stupider than MTV's The Real World. At least we don't have cameras constantly in our face and having our reality dictated by what a producer thinks will bring in the most ratings.

Some of the problems I dealt with, but not limited to, having to fight for my job to get done, banging heads with my roommate, reverse racism, being the lowest person on the tottem pole, jealousy, empty threats and intimidation factors, hipocrasy, the constant lack of common sense, disrespect, and dealing with others emtions especially because of the high rate of sexual frustrations.
One of my friends asked me if people seem to change who they are when they come over here. I told him no, I think it's more of people allowing themselves to explore aspects of themselves that for whatever reason they felt like they couldn't. I think the actions they display here is in them and it's in them even if they were in the US but there are factors that stop them. For example, we're in a country and we are away from everyone and everything that we know. Any daily responsiblities that we have back at home, we are exempt from while we are in country. The ratio of guys to girls is like 20:1. Then you get these older married women who want to explore. Their husbands won't know, they don't have to make sure their kids are taken care of, they don't have to live up to the reputation of everyone they love, they are free to do what they want. Maybe they've never had the college experience, maybe they've never had an abundance of guys checking them out, maybe they've never had so many good looking guys check them out, maybe their marriage is on the rocks, maybe they want it to be on the rocks so they can have an excuse, whatever the case maybe they feel like they have a get out of jail free card that expires when they leave here. And they take advantage. They become whores so to speak.
Do I judge them? Not really. I'm not in their shoes, I don't know the exact reason they do the things they do out here. In one aspect I think it's stupid because now they've created all this baggage and they're going to take it home and they're marriage is ruined. (But then I think their marriage is ruined in the first place because they feel they have to run ramped in Baghdad.) Another aspect I think it's stupid because they are trying to fill the holes in their lives and they pick guys where all they want to do is have someone to screw and the pickings are slim so the guys will say whatever the girl wants to hear until it's time for them to leave and the girls are dumped and crying their eyes out because they thought this guy was in love with them. But then I look at another aspect and I think it's great that they get this opportunity because maybe they'll learn something about themselves and not let these stupid guys dictate the way they feel.
It's funny to see how the drama unfolds here in the desert. The things I've seen, the shit I've been apart of, the emotions that fly, the shaddiness people seem to want to pull over other peoples eyes is so damn entertaining. The Real World should come over here and take some footage.

Day 194

The weather has cooled down from it's 140+ F degrees. The thermometer wouldn't read passed that and it was sitting in the heat all day. It gets down to the 40's at night and up in the 80's during the day. It rained one day so far. But soon enough it will be raining everyday and then the dust turns to mud.
Since the surge has been instated, the attacks by the enemy has been cut down by 70%. Not only do I get to see this through statistics but also through my job too. The less that my robots get blown up, the less that the IED's are being planted in the roads. Life is peaceful for the most part, but every now and then you're shaken with reality when a mortar hits. Most of the time they attack in the morning, but sometimes you'll hear one at night.
I'm up to 182 confirmed kills and counting. Those pesky house flies and mosquitos didn't know what was coming to them. I taught them never to bug anyone again.
I've been making plans to break out of baghdad. The monotony is getting to me. Day in and day out. I've been gathering together a team. It should be a surefire plan. I'm grabbing an intel person and a Macgyver person. I've got the ammo and the robots. What can go wrong? Let's put the Ft. Jackson training to test. Who's with me?

I wanna go back, I wanna go back to the good life.

So lately I've been thinking about what it's going to be like when I get home. I underwent alot of changes while I've been here. Some things I'd like to keep doing when I get back, like walking everywhere and I'm sure there's some other positive things that I'd like to incorporate. But there are many things that I'll be delighted to be done with when I'm gone. Like carrying a weapon everywhere. I know it's bad ass, but I really would rather not do it. Another thing is working through weekends. When did I ever become a workaholic? Maybe I confused myself, I know I used to be an alcoholic, so now I replaced one holic with another? That can't be healthy. And speaking of alcohol, I know I'm going to quit being sober all the time. Life used to be much more engaging, when I drank.
I'm also going to start looking like a girl when I get back to the states. It's been great waking up in the morning and not having to worry about what I'm going to wear, because well there's really only one style I can pick from. You can wear exercise gear in your off time here, but you must wear a reflective belt. Even if everything else is reflective, you must wear the belt. I for one like the belt. I can be seen at night, and not be worried about getting ran over by vehicles going 20 miles per hour.
And that's another thing, I've gotten used to reading speed limits in both metric and American.
The highest speed limit on base is 30 miles per hour. I will be like grandma driving down the highway going 40 MPH, because anything faster than that I'm not used to. In California, you have to go at least 80 MPH just to keep up with everyone.
When I go to the store in the states I might actually find what I'm looking for. Instead of like here where you go into the exchange and it has alot of crap, just nothing that you're looking for. I'm looking forward to sitting down at a nice restaurant and pick food that sounds appealing and it is. Or I'll just go to the local Mexican joint and order a California burrito. Or calamari tacos from South Beach. Yeah I miss that.

Comic Relief

Yesterday was pretty eventful. I had to fly out and do my job again. While me and my coworkers were waiting for our helicopter to land, some other helicopters land and about 12 people walk off of the heliopad. In the midst of the people in the crowd, I see a midget. I started thinking "What is a midget doing here?" You'd think I'd be used to seeing weird stuff around here, but then life likes to throw a midget in the mix and then you look like a dog that has heard a weird sound. I then started thinking. There had been flyers hanging up around base about 2 comedians coming into town and putting on a USO tour. One of them being a midget, Brad Williams, and Carlos Mencia. I found out later that the midget is a regular on the Mencia show. The show was hallirious. It was great to laugh that much in an hour and a half show. I'm sorry Steven, I know how you feel about comedians that steal other peoples jokes, but I'll have you know that I watched it out of desperation to escape the everyday mundane life that I have over here. And I'll have you know that I didn't have to pay for the show. I just had to wait in line for an hour and half in the freezing cold. But I was one of the few who were able to sit down in a seat and not have to be standing the whole time. Don't you judge me.
This is the second comedic show that I have seen here. The first one I saw was back in July with Dave Attell and Scott Kennedy. That was another hallirious show. That has been about it with who I have seen at a USO tour here in Iraq. I did happen to see the Red Skin Cheerleaders on the Helio pad a couple of weeks ago. They were wearing white, in the desert. It was irritating me. The dirt and sand get into everything around here and these stupid cheerleaders walk around in their white clothes getting them all dirty. I don't know I guess I have a pet peeve about keeping things from looking dingy and then running around in the dirtiest place on earth. It's like telling a kid that he can't have fun at Chucky Cheese and expecting him to just sit there and listen to you. It's a tedious battle that you're never going to win. Stupid Cheerleaders!
That's my little bit on comedy. I know. I'm not going to start a career in it. I just like to pretend every once in a while that I'm funny.

The Job

I have one of the most exciting jobs I ever had. I support the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, which in lamen terms is the bomb squad of the navy. My command supports a number of teams spread out across Iraq. My two main jobs are to transport robots and maintain the armory.
The robots are pretty exciting. The job requires me to fly in helicopters and transport robots to different bases. The different teams will notify me when one of their robots breaks down or gets blown up. Then I swap their bad one with a good one. I take it back to the repair facility and get it fixed so it can be ready for the next team who needs it. The importance of this job is to ensure that the teams have robots that are fully working at all time so they don't need to put on a bomb suit and walk down the lines to disarm Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). My favorite part of the job is getting away from the desk and flying for a few hours. Riding on helicopters is like riding on a roller coaster, but for a longer period of time. Plus I don't have to wait in line for hours to get on the ride.
My second job is to maintain the armory. Basically I'm incharge of issuing out weapons and ammo, reporting the status of the weapons to my higher chain of command, and setting up range times at the shooting range. It's not as involved as the robots, but still an important job.
My regular job in the navy is an electronics technician, so I'm not used to doing jobs like this, but I love to learn new things. It really beats sitting behind a desk all day, pushing paper and finding stuff to do to fill my time.
A collateral job that I have volunteered to to do out here is Mail Petty Officer (Mail PO). It's fun to be able to act like Santa Clause everyday. I go to the post office and bring back all the care packages for everyone at my command.
Then if anyone who's ever been in the military knows that your job doesn't just end there, especially being low on the totem pole like I am. There's other various jobs that we get tasked with, whether it's helping another department out or doing janitorial duties. It's the part of the job that sucks but is a necessary evil.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving over here. I'm gonna take a break in the story telling to wish you guys a good one. Being over here and realizing how much you give up to do your job, you start thinking about all the people and the things in your life that you are greatful for. I can't wait to get back and enjoy the good life again. One of the things I wanted to do before I left was to tell everyone of my friends how much I am gonna miss them. I don't know if they know how much they have made an impact on my life, even the ones who I barely get to spend time with. All my friends have something in their personality or have shown me some kind of love that I incorporate into my life. A small look in to my past, I didn't have the greatest childhood growing up and most of the time I look at it as a pretty shitty one. I also know that I could have had it a whole lot worse. But it's what I have to work with and I still find myself at the age of 27 trying move past all those issues. The main thing I'm taking from it is how can I learn from it and hopefully do the right thing for my future kids.
Everyone that I consider my friends has helped me to get out past all of those feelings and move on. And I don't think they know how they do it and I don't know if I know how to explain it to them. I try in my own way to show them love and try to give back as much as I can. So the thing that I am most greatful for is everyone who has been there to impact me in a way to become a better person. Plus I'm way thankful for my family too who support and love me and want to see me achieve all my goals. Having them give me the words to keep myself motivated out here and see beyond all the drama I have to deal with, helps me keep pushing forward till the day I leave.
I hope all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving. Eat alot of Turkey. And for all my friends that are vegetarian, eat a lot of Tofurkey. And may all your wildest dreams come true.

The dinner.

The Thanksgiving dinner was pretty elaborate, compared to the mundane food we eat everyday. The dining facitily really puts in the time and effort to make our experience as enjoyable as possible. Of course the food is no where as good as our friends and family can make it. They decorated the place up with streamers and goofy looking Indian center pieces. They had ice scupltors and food scupltors. It's a little slip away from reality of being in the middle of the desert. They did have sparkling bottles of grape juice, which some of us pretended to be guzzling down on chamagne. Some people acted a little too real with that. I think they were having flashbacks to the days when alcohol flowed freely and they didn't have worry about the consequences of consuming at the end of a hard day's work. Plus on these rare occasions we get to have pictures with guys like this. He looks important with a hat like that.

Lifestyle in Baghdad

So the living conditions are really comfortable here considering that we are in a combat zone. I live in a trailor. There's 3 rooms to a trailor 2 people to a room. It's alot better than when I came here last. I live in a tent with up to 16 other girls for six months. There are bathroom trailors with flushable toilets and warm showers with access 24/7. The bathroom trailor is about 50 yards away so it sucks when you wake up in the middle of the night needing to go pee. It's one of my comforts of home that I miss, having the bathroom 10 feet away from my bed. The dining facility is opened 4 times a day. It's all you can eat food. So you never go hungry here but it's the same old same old. At least we don't have to eat MRE's at all. You can even tell what day of the week it is by what they're having for dinner. It's one of those survival skills we learn in the desert.
So we have a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. Now for the Luxuaries. We have a gym on base that is 24 hour access. No membership fees required. There's a Post Exchange where we can do all the shopping we need. It seems to have a lot of stuff, but none of what you want or need. A movie theater that may not play the most up to date movies but it's there for your enjoyment. A phone center and internet cafe. Fast food resturaunts. Taco Bell, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Cinnabon, Popeye's Chicken, Mr. Green Beans Coffee. It's a no brainer that I pick the D-Fac to eat at but sometimes I have to fall back on these reliable sources to be open if I happen to miss chow because of the work I do. There's a Library somewhere. I don't know. And then there's an MWR building where you can go to with different events every night. Like domino tournaments, spades, and Salsa nights. They try there best here to the morale up.
I keep pretty busy here. Sometime I partake in some of these luxuries in my off time, but mostly sleep or read a book.
The thing that first came to mind when I saw what it was like over here is that they really bulid this place up. You see where a good portion of this War money is going to. And all I think is that America is never leaving this place. So a tid bit of information that I can give you no matter if you're Republican, Democratic, Liberal, or whatever. No matter which politican says that if they get into office they'll pull all the troops out of Iraq, know that they are full of shit. They're just trying to say whatever they can to get your vote. So if you're relying on the at one statement please reconsider. This place has been built up to be the biggest U. S. Embassy ever. Oh and also they maybe pulling troops out now, and I see it as a morale booster for Americans. But don't think that they have any plans to continue pulling troops out. I say this because I see more and more trailors and tents being put up for living purposes. We get access to the news over here. But I stop listening to it. I feel like the media is very distorted and I hate hearing about all the bad that's going on over here and how they report very little about what good is going on here.
I've had the same thoughts that alot of you have had. There's alot of days where I wonder why the hell are we all over here. I wish I had the answer. But since I've been over here I have also seen the acts of violence go down. I've been given information that makes sense to what the U.S. wants to accomplish. It looks like a huge mess, and it is. I'm pretty low on the food chain to know exactly what the intentions and the goals of our leaders are. But I hope beyond hope that they are doing it for the good of everyone. But who really knows?

My Final Destination

So we leave Kuwait in a C-117, I'm sure that's right. No, not a C-130, I know cause I've ridden in a C-130 and the plane we flew in was bigger than that. Just as uncomfortable but bigger. These flights are always fun for the first timers. The pilots like to do a combat land which for the adventurous folks, it's quite fun. But for the nauseous, I'm too scared to fly folks this is not going to ease your phobia.
We arrive late in the evening or early in the morning, all I know is my internal clock is all jacked up. The Commanding Officer had us all sit down in the conference room to explain a few things about why we are here to support his command, some ground rules for the base, and when we will be leaving home. At first he give us a date that is later than the year that we had all signed up for. (By now the group that I had travelled with from Ft. Jackson has dwendelled down to 12 of us.) The looks on everyone's face from the news is why did I voluteer for this assignment? That's the excitement of being in the military, you never know what news is going to be flying your way. Since that night the day that we are leaving country has changed a hundred times. The update of the last date is a pretty joyous one for all of us, but has been told to us that it's not set in stone. Basically be prepared for another change and it won't be as good as this last update. Just to let everyone know, I can not post specific dates. It's all about operational security and keeping the enemy unaware of our plans. So if I sound vauge it's because I have to be.
They give us until noon to rest up before starting work the next day. There are now 12 people to relieve the folks who have already been here for 4 months. And the command doesn't quite know what job they are going to have me fulfill. That's nice. It's seems like all my experiences when I get to a new command, they know I'm comming but they don't know what to do with me yet. The first couple of days I was here in country have been unproductive. Hey what do I care I'm still getting paid. I know that there are going to be alot worse days to come ahead. Might as well enjoy the slow days when they come. I'll leave off here and get into the details of my job and living conditions for another blog.

I have a dream......and it involves little people.

So the story continues....on to another land. So I left Ft, Jackson. My two Aunts and my brother came to visit me one last time and give me some family support as I sail the fair seas. I forget how long the flight lasted but we were able to take a pit stop in Ireland for 6 hours. One last time to let the alcohol influence my way of thinking for a year. {I think I might of made the decision to go to war while I was influenced.} When we got off the plane at 3 a.m. the flight attendants handed us a ten dollar voucher to spend at the bar in the terminal. Sweet, they're paying us to wait. Oh contraire, I get to the bar a order a drink, in which I selected a Scrumpy Jack, and the bartender tells me my voucher is no good here and the only thing I can get is a sandwich at the end. No thank you, I've been on a plane since San Diego, they've been feeding us every 3 hours, I want a drink Damnit! And I want this voucher to pay for it. Well of course I sucked it up, he had the Scrumpy Jack and I didn't. It's ok, I didn't become scrumpy after about 3 of them and I slept well on the plane.
We landed in Kuwait. My first thought of this place is that I felt like I was on the set of Star Wars were Luke Skywalker lived. Nothing but sand everywhere. In your face, in your eyes, in your ears, in your nostrils, and yes your mouth. Yummy!
There we had more training. Mostly, learning combat shooting techniques, convoy, and IED identification. They transferred us from a nice coushiony base into the middle of the desert, as if we weren't there already, with a couple of tents, some porta-potties, and MRE's. Meals-Ready-to-Eat. There were no showers, no sinks, no flushable toilets. Only the comfort of about a hundred or so strangers who we've had to come to trust pretty quickly in two weeks. We camped out for 3 days. One of those days was the 4 of July. I remember, I didn't have a barbque or fireworks. MRE and a flashlight, close enough. So I got my sober self to sleep on the floor of the tent with twenty other people. I've woken up from situations like this but usually because I was passed out drunk.
The training was tough, only because it's hot as hell and I'm suffering from jet-lag. You expect me to stay awake in a humvee with those conditions and the humming sound coming from the engine. Ambient doesn't have a strong enough dose to work faster.
After the practical training, we get back to the talk about lessons learned and kill us with more power point. Again they have to stress the Laws of War and Rules of Engagement. It's important, our leaders send us out here to fight their battle but if we are caught in a fire fight and don't act completely humane to such rational people, then we got to go through trial after trial to defend ourselves because we were ordered to go into Iraq, deal with a high stressed situation, just to have our lives on the line in the court of law. Not to mention that most of the troops on the front lines are just barely out of high school, not knowing what the real world is like and probably haven't really thought of what this job entails. They're doing it cause it pays better than Mcdonalds and you have the sense of comming out like a hero. Or you don't have the money to pay for college or healthcare. The government knows that and takes full advantage of the situation and lures in the crowd. Under all these conditions if you're caught making a mistake in a war zone, then you've got to deal with the Law possibly not having your back because American society doesn't like violence. I could go on and on about Law of War and Rules of Engagement and all the frustrations I feel daily with the way life is out here, but it gets boring reading about somebody crying about a situation they put themselves in. Yeah I put myself here. Why? Well I'm trying to make my way through life in an American society that loves captialism, making the rich richer by making the poor poorer. All I want is to live comfortably, get out of debt, save for a future and produce cool little people like me to make the world a better place. Plus drink beer on the beach in San Diego.

I'm Not Procrastinating!

So I know I've let a couple days go by and haven't continued my story. I want it to be known that I'm not Procrastinating. I have that habbit, but it's not the case this time. I've just been busy. Super busy. And probably will be the next couple of days. I do want to finish this and keep you informed. So I'll be continuing the regular scheduled programs ASAP. Until then chew Big Red, cause Ricky Bobby does. Very Nice! Anyways, I've been couped up at work way too long.

Put Me In Coach, I'm Ready

Ft. McCrady

So the whole point of training at Ft. McCrady was to get familiarization training for those just incase scenarios. Most of the people who come to Iraq are most likely not going to use it, but if they find themselves in the situation, hopefully they can revert back to the training to stay alive. So far I have not needed it. It's a good thing. Do I think it was a waste of time? No. I'm glad to go through it and get a new experience in my life.



Living Conditions.
So I have to tell you about the top of the line hotel accomodations they hooked us up with. The Ramada has nothing on what the Army can provide you.
Spacious living conditions.

My own personal space.

And a bathroom of.....well....it kinda makes you appreciate the one in the Arizona in Ocean Beach.

I had a bit of a flashback to the fonder days of when I first joined the Navy. Aww, Memory lane.

On to the training.

How much training can you get in two weeks to prepare you for war? As long as you have 14 plus hour days and good spirits then anything is doable. Do you end up prepared for war? Ehh? I can only say that its good enough for government work. I don't remember what paticular order everything happened but this is what they crammed into our hooah brains.

Weapons training.

I got small arms training. These are the guns that we walk around everywhere in Iraq with. A pistol and a rifle. My M-4 got alot of attention from like any NRA fanatic, well maybe because it lookes special with all the cool adapting abilities and it's not the normal weapon that gets issued out for military use. I had cute little nicknames given to me from the Drill Sargents, like J.I. Jane and mini Rambo. I still get random Army guys asking if they can take a look at it and then drool all over it. We got about a half a day on the big guns. We got to shoot about twenty rounds from each. It lasted like a half a second, but it was still fun. My favorite one to shoot off was the grenade launcher.

Combative First Aid training.

Look at how happy my dummy is that I relieved his chest from the pressure build up on his lungs. Who's next?

Land Navigation.
I am killer with a compass and a 8-coordinate grid map. My team was the first to hit all the way points and make it back in time and wait forever for the losers. They're the ones who are going to get their happy asses lost in the middle of the desert and die. J/K. Nobody is going to die. Just get lost forever.

Chemical and Biological Warfare training.

We got to see some pretty grumesome pictures of what happens when there's an outbreak. I just pray that I never have to experience this. Plus we had to learn how to don a gas mask in under 9 seconds. Right now I'm at about 45 seconds. Should I be concerned?

Urban Operations and Convoy Tactics.

In this topic we learned alot about how to bust down doors. We had to learn to deal with the Iraqi people. What to be aware of and how to communicate with out offending them. We had to set up routes on how to get into the city, where each vehicle is placed in the convoy, and what to do if we get hit by an IED.

Death by Power Point.
No military experience would be complete without trying to overload on the small attention capacity of the sailor's mind. Topics such as Law or War, Rules of Engagement, the UCMJ, Isolated Personnel Report, Culutral Awareness, Operational Security, and Anti-Terrorism Force Protection. Necessary to teach so we can keep our patriotic sailors out of the Judical system for doing something questionable in this Oh!-So-Fair war that we are fighting these days. It's kinda of ironic to read the headliner in the newspaper that says Military personnel charged for killing Iraqi people. Isn't that who we are at war with? I dunno.
After 14 days of intense, vigorous, lifesaving conditioning, WE were ready to be sent off to defend the Republicans accusations and make our momas proud. The Drill Sergeants have never drilled a finer group of Sailors who were now Soliders, ready to relieve the poor Army folks who really get screwed on deployments. I'm sorry but it's true. I'm glad I joined the Navy and not the Army.

I think shortening the English language down to one word might actually be the way to improving communications

I got to Ft. Jackson, South Carolina on a Friday night. We left a little earlier than expected. I was hoping to leave on Sunday so I could party my last weekend in San Diego. The military has a way of raining on my parade sometimes. When I got there I found out that we were actually staying on a little base called Ft. McCrady 3o miles away from Ft. Jackson in the middle of no where. We were so far away we couldn't even get delivery to this base. I know I tried because I got sick of the galley food. Galley meaning cafeteria for you civilian folks and D-Fac for you Army folks. They made sure that we weren't running away anywhere, cause if we did we were running for a long time.
Ft. McCrady wasn't that bad. Maybe because I was only there two weeks and it was so long ago that all the bad memories have slipped away or maybe since I've been here in Baghdad there are things that I dealt with that were a whole lot worse til I think, Ft. McCrady wasn't that bad. On the first Sunday we were there our brand new staff of Drill Instructors were introdued to us and gave us the schedule of events that were going to be striked down upon us to transform us from our cushiony Sailor lifestyle into the oh-crap!-Why-I-did-I-join-the-Army lifestyle. The Army thinks that it's perfectly normal to want to carry around sixty extra pounds of crap on their back every where, especially while marching and singing cadence. For some reason I don't think it's a lifestyle I'm going to incorporate into my personal life.
In our first briefing we found out what the meaning of Hooah was.
Hooah (hü-ä or who-ah) adj. U.S. Army slang term. Referring to or meaning anything and everything except no. Generally used when at a lost for words. "Hooah" can also be used as a question, usually as a tag question, as in "We're going to win this war, hooah?". The most appropriate response is with the exclamation "hooah!" Or it can be used in place of profanity when being given bullshit orders or receiving an ass chewing.
Other popular usages of hooah include:
-Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged
-Good copy
-Roger, solid copy, good, great, message received
-Glad to meet you
-Welcome
-Thank you
-Go to the next slide
-All right!
-Yes
-Squared away (He's pretty hooah.)
-You've taken the corect action
-I don't know the answer, but I'll check on it; I haven't the foggiest idea
-I am not listening
-That is really neat, I want one too.
-That is enough of your drivel; sit down!
-Stop sniveling!
-You've got to be kidding me!
-I don't know what that means, but I'm too embarrassed to ask for clarification
-What? (With a tone)
-Hardcore, tough
-I don't know what you said but I want you to think I was paying attention.
-I disagree but I'll do it anyway.
-I want you to think I care.
-I want to show you I can act motivated.
-Amen!
At first I faught conforming to using the word Hooah! But then I realized that I could be understood and not have to explain myself with one simple word. HooAH! Life was great. And the best thing about it, I could be cursing somebody out and they wouldn't take any offense to it. I got my frustrations out and they just excepted what I had to say. Hooah!

Ok I know this is long over due......about 4 months maybe 5

So I finally got off my butt, and I got this blog made. My excuse is that I've been in hidding for national security reasons or I got kidnapped by the talban. Choose which ever one that makes your imagination run wild. It's been interesting being here. It is my second time over here and I'd have to say shame on me. But I'm gonna start from the begining and fill everyone in on my time here.
It all started in a little town of San Diego. A year ago I decided to volunteer again to come over here to the hell-hole. Reasons, there are many but mainly to get my life on track to what I want in the future. Ironically I know, go to war to get my life on track? Well in my mind it makes sense. I got in a little bit of debt while going to school, so coming here offers a good way to pay it off and save money. Plus there's great career advancement opertunities that is opened by coming here.
7 plus months after I had made the decision to come to the land of opertunity, I finally left. In the mean time I partied my ass off and ate all the wonderful food that I wouldn't experience for a year. Thank you to all my wonderful friends in San Diego for the good times and the fun memories.
I spent a week in San Diego to process into operation "Get Your Arse to War". It was mostly going through medical and making sure that you were fit for war. I being combat trained had no problem with that. I am a fine grade "A" quality combative specimen. Thank you. {At this point in the war I think they'll take anyone who is silly enough to sign up} . Then after that they sent me to Ft. Jackson South Carolina. That's were I got my Hooah! training. They made a solider out of me. At this point I'm going to leave you with the cliff hanger.......What went on at Ft. Jackson? How do they turn a Salior into a Soldier? And what does Hooah! really mean? Stay tuned and all your dire questions will be answered as the Desert Drama continues by yours truly.