Today was the first day that felt like a complete waste of time. We were given time to start doing dome research for a report that we have to write, but there was no way do actually do the research. Each of our teams was assigned one laptop with a cell phone card, which get such poor reception that interent connection speeds are worse than dialup. There was also no wireless or hard drops installed so no one could use their personal laptops. We had one person per team doind something,and the rest of us trying to look busy. The class schedule has more of this coming. We cant get actual drops installed either because our class building is a temporary structure. Army bureaucracy is really frustrating at times.
BTW, Pt is still on for tomorrow, outside, even though the temperature is expected to be close to zero. We will only get a break if it is raining.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Pay Day!!
I had forgotten how much of a pay cut I took when I separated from the Navy. My first month's pay is in the bank now, and I am doing very well. As a single LCDR with no dependents and only a small mortgage and student loan to pay. I will be banking a lot of money in the next year. Nearly all of it will be tax free, since it will be earned in a war zone. Once I am in theater and getting hazardous duty pay and other special pays, I will clear close to 7000 a month. The Navy is taking good care of me for the inconvenience of being mobilized. I think that I could almost pay off my mortgage entirely when I get back.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Two More Weeks
These last two weeks have been draining. There was a four day weekend sandwiched in the middle, so ten days of lectures were compressed into eight days. I know I am just whining, but no one can make military doctrine interesting. Tactics yes, but not doctrine. Add to the dry lectures, getting up at 0500 for PT nearly every morning, and very few people were not struggling to stay awake. The short weeks are over for now, though, and everyone passed the module exams, so it is all right, for now.
PT has been a bit of a struggle. We have some older and slower folks in our class, and we are supposed to stay together, so running tends to be more up and down than forward, with a lot of going in circles to pick up the stragglers. The ruck marches are the best part of PT. My feet aren't quite tough enough yet. I still get blisters each time, but we are only walking, so there isn't a lot time wasted with stragglers. A long walk with with a weighted pack is good exercise.
I didn't plan ahead well enough to do anything interesting over the four day weekend, but there is a three day coming up. I am going to try to visit the Fugals in Kentucky. It is a nine hour drive but there is a direct flight between Raleigh and Louisville. I hope I can work it out. This is one area that the Army works differently than the Navy. As long as I was back to work on time, my Navy commands didn't care too much about what I did or where I went. The Army wont let me go more than 100 miles without a pass, though. Maybe they have more problems than the Navy, or at least more than the commands that I have been in. So far, no one has done anything to screw it up for the rest of us.
PT has been a bit of a struggle. We have some older and slower folks in our class, and we are supposed to stay together, so running tends to be more up and down than forward, with a lot of going in circles to pick up the stragglers. The ruck marches are the best part of PT. My feet aren't quite tough enough yet. I still get blisters each time, but we are only walking, so there isn't a lot time wasted with stragglers. A long walk with with a weighted pack is good exercise.
I didn't plan ahead well enough to do anything interesting over the four day weekend, but there is a three day coming up. I am going to try to visit the Fugals in Kentucky. It is a nine hour drive but there is a direct flight between Raleigh and Louisville. I hope I can work it out. This is one area that the Army works differently than the Navy. As long as I was back to work on time, my Navy commands didn't care too much about what I did or where I went. The Army wont let me go more than 100 miles without a pass, though. Maybe they have more problems than the Navy, or at least more than the commands that I have been in. So far, no one has done anything to screw it up for the rest of us.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
One Month Later
I have let a month go by without posting. I will try not to do that again. It is too dificult to catch up on events.
I am in training now, but all of my training is for official use only so I wont be saying anything about that, at least not directly. For this post, I will try to get caught up on the event of the last month.
As it turned out, a lot of the preparations I made ahead of mobilization weren't really necessary. I collected a lot of paperwork to justify this and that that was never asked for. It was just assumed. I arrived in Norfolk with about twenty other Navy officers. A handful were still on active duty, with the rest of us coming from the Reserve. None of the reservists got any more notice than I did. On that note, we were told that we just missed being covered by a new policy that will require no less than 60 days notice for mobilization. We will likely be the last group with so little notice. No one really complained of any real hardship in getting ready. For as little deliberate preparation that I had done since leaving active duty, it was remarkably easy to get ready. Fortunately, for what I couldn't handle myself, my brother Charles can.
Check in at Norfolk went pretty quickly. The staff was really good at managing our time and cutting us loose when there was nothing to do. Of the six days there, we had three days off. The only part that was even annoying was the medical check in, because I had to have four vaccinations, including small pox and anthrax. When it was time to head to Fort Bragg, I had two seabags stuffed full. That was just the beginning. When I head over the Iraq, I will have at least four seabags to haul around.
At Fort Bragg, we met up with thirty other Army officers. They had much better stories about the callup than we did. Most of them had more notice than we did. They got their calls right around Christmas. About a dozen were called out of the individual ready reserve. Some hadn't even drilled for up to ten years. One was called out of retirement. All of them have been a big help to us in aclimatizing to the Army. The Navy way of life is really different, and we are going to be in the Army until we come home.
Today, out first weekend is starting. I have to find a place to do my laundry, and hopefully, a little shopping. My next post wont take me a month to write.
I am in training now, but all of my training is for official use only so I wont be saying anything about that, at least not directly. For this post, I will try to get caught up on the event of the last month.
As it turned out, a lot of the preparations I made ahead of mobilization weren't really necessary. I collected a lot of paperwork to justify this and that that was never asked for. It was just assumed. I arrived in Norfolk with about twenty other Navy officers. A handful were still on active duty, with the rest of us coming from the Reserve. None of the reservists got any more notice than I did. On that note, we were told that we just missed being covered by a new policy that will require no less than 60 days notice for mobilization. We will likely be the last group with so little notice. No one really complained of any real hardship in getting ready. For as little deliberate preparation that I had done since leaving active duty, it was remarkably easy to get ready. Fortunately, for what I couldn't handle myself, my brother Charles can.
Check in at Norfolk went pretty quickly. The staff was really good at managing our time and cutting us loose when there was nothing to do. Of the six days there, we had three days off. The only part that was even annoying was the medical check in, because I had to have four vaccinations, including small pox and anthrax. When it was time to head to Fort Bragg, I had two seabags stuffed full. That was just the beginning. When I head over the Iraq, I will have at least four seabags to haul around.
At Fort Bragg, we met up with thirty other Army officers. They had much better stories about the callup than we did. Most of them had more notice than we did. They got their calls right around Christmas. About a dozen were called out of the individual ready reserve. Some hadn't even drilled for up to ten years. One was called out of retirement. All of them have been a big help to us in aclimatizing to the Army. The Navy way of life is really different, and we are going to be in the Army until we come home.
Today, out first weekend is starting. I have to find a place to do my laundry, and hopefully, a little shopping. My next post wont take me a month to write.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
In The Beginning
Every story starts at the beginning. This one started at 2:06 pm on Tuesday, January 8th 2008. That is when I got "the call" from NOSC Salt Lake City that informed me that I was being ordered back to active duty.
I have imaginged getting that call before. I always thought there would be a little bit of a chill, but I dont even remember being disappointed. I remember being in a casual conversation about a small business problem when the call came. I was actually a bit surprised by how matter of factly I accepted the news and how quickly I shifted into a serious planning mode of thinking.
I had notified my boss and the department director within an hour that I would be leaving and had a pretty good idea of what needed to be done to get ready. In the days since the call, this is what has surprised me the most. I had always thought that I would need at least a month to get ready, but two weeks is looking like it will be more than enough time.
The worst thatt I can say about this, is that it is a little bit inconvenient. I bought a house about a year ago, and I was looking forward to doing some work on it. I had already torn out my front yard with the intent of putting in a sprinkler system and some new trees and sod in the spring. I will have to leave that for my brother. He will be taking care of my home while I am gone.
It will also be vey interesting and I am starting to look forward to it. The mobilization code on my orders indicates that I will be attached to the Civil Affairs activities in Iraq, probably on loan to the Army. Civil Affairs is the military activity responsible for administering reconstruction and ensuring that military and civilian activities dont clash in ways that lead to hard feelings.
Wikipedia has an article on Civil Affairs that does a pretty good job of explaining what it entails.
Any way, a week has gone by. I have all of my bills taken care of. Nearly all of my paperwork is assembled. I only have my will and a power of attorney to complete. Most of my efforts for the next week will be consentrated on a handful of online training courses that are required for Individual Augmentees like myself.
I have never been very good at keeping a journal, and I dont really like talking or writing about myself, but my brother suggested this blog as a good way of keeping touch while I am gone. Whether I do or not, remains to be seen. As long as I have access to the internet over there, this will be a faster way to communicate than a letter.
I have imaginged getting that call before. I always thought there would be a little bit of a chill, but I dont even remember being disappointed. I remember being in a casual conversation about a small business problem when the call came. I was actually a bit surprised by how matter of factly I accepted the news and how quickly I shifted into a serious planning mode of thinking.
I had notified my boss and the department director within an hour that I would be leaving and had a pretty good idea of what needed to be done to get ready. In the days since the call, this is what has surprised me the most. I had always thought that I would need at least a month to get ready, but two weeks is looking like it will be more than enough time.
The worst thatt I can say about this, is that it is a little bit inconvenient. I bought a house about a year ago, and I was looking forward to doing some work on it. I had already torn out my front yard with the intent of putting in a sprinkler system and some new trees and sod in the spring. I will have to leave that for my brother. He will be taking care of my home while I am gone.
It will also be vey interesting and I am starting to look forward to it. The mobilization code on my orders indicates that I will be attached to the Civil Affairs activities in Iraq, probably on loan to the Army. Civil Affairs is the military activity responsible for administering reconstruction and ensuring that military and civilian activities dont clash in ways that lead to hard feelings.
Wikipedia has an article on Civil Affairs that does a pretty good job of explaining what it entails.
Any way, a week has gone by. I have all of my bills taken care of. Nearly all of my paperwork is assembled. I only have my will and a power of attorney to complete. Most of my efforts for the next week will be consentrated on a handful of online training courses that are required for Individual Augmentees like myself.
I have never been very good at keeping a journal, and I dont really like talking or writing about myself, but my brother suggested this blog as a good way of keeping touch while I am gone. Whether I do or not, remains to be seen. As long as I have access to the internet over there, this will be a faster way to communicate than a letter.
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