First off, Happy belated Easter to everyone! One of the chaplains did come out to our patrol base yesterday, so we had a short service in honor of the Resurrection ( Read more... )

OK, so our platoon's FO (not the one who kept getting me in trouble- he's gone) and I had guard from 2am-5am this morning. I was on the phone with Christie from 5am until almost 6am, thinking I'd get to sleep until 10 or 11 or so. Nope! The 2 of us got woken up every hour for something stupid (medic needed to go to his guard duty, someone looking ( Read more... )

On Thursday night we had to react as QRF (Quick Reaction Force) for our battalion's scout platoon. They had received contact and managed to kill 1 and detain a bunch of others. By the time we got there, all we really did was transport the detainees back. It sounds quick and simple, but we were up all night ( Read more... )

I also finally finished Fyodor Dostoesky's "Crime and Punishment" today. It was a very good book, and very well-written, but it was also incredibly depressing at a lot of parts. I did like Raskolnikov's redemption, as well as the exploration of his descent into madness. I'm hoping to move into something more light-hearted for a while, that is, when ( Read more... )

Well, there's still no new developments concerning my OCS packet. I've been checking up on it as often as I can. However, in the meantime, I am re-enlisting for a bonus; it's not one of the news-making giant ones of the past (budget cuts), but it's enough to help with the bills. The best part is, once I am selected for OCS and commissioned after ( Read more... )

Well, I got in a really good upper-body workout last night before heading to bed. I'm still not back to where I want to be on some things (eg bench press), but I've made leaps and bounds on others (eg forearms, which I used to neglect pretty badly). I haven't done legs in a while due to all the dismounted patrols with heavy gear, and I don't know ( Read more... )

We did 4 really pointless missions in the last 72 hours and haven't really had a break. The first one, 2 days ago, was a loooooong walk through a supposedly hostile area. Since the locals all have cell phones, by the time we got to any houses, they were either empty or only had women and kids. Yesterday we had a shorter walk, but it was over ( Read more... )

I never even posted about this long-ass mission we had a week and a half ago. We drove a long way, down into what's known as the Sammrah Jungle. It's an area where the Tigris River used to flow many years ago, but the river cut a new, shorter course. I didn't get to see much of it myself, b/c I was in the back of an APC. Well, anyway, the Sammrah ( Read more... )

Well, I checked on the status of my OCS packet yesterday, and it's complete and ready to be sent in. However, brigade S-1 told battalion S-1 that the next selection board doesn't meet until October. That is unacceptable, as I need to be commissioned by November in order to apply for FLEP. I was walking away dejected, praying and asking God what on ( Read more... )

I got back to my regular FOB earlier than expected, and I have been short on sleep ever since. Lame ( Read more... )