Almost Unemployed

As I write this I have less that two hours left in my duties here in Central Asia. The time is a bittersweet time; I look forward with intense anticipation and excitement to seeing my family again and reacquainting with friends, but I also will be sad to relinquish command of this great squadron.

Command is tough--deployed command has its own set of challenges through which all commanders must drive. Most significant in my mind is the inability to "decompress" and relax when "at home." It is a huge benefit for me (back at home) to sit with my wife and vent my frustrations and substandard performance peices of the day. While deployed, that decompression simply can't happen. For the past six months, I've felt like I've had to be a commander 24/7, never letting myself relax with other people.

That said, though, this 6-month period--apart from the seperation from my family--has been arguably the most rewarding 6-month period in my 16-year career. The sense of mission accomplishment, the direct impact on the lives of so many people in Afghanistan; it all has been an incredible ride. When I get in front of my squadron today and hand over leadership to my successor, I will be elated, sad, reluctant, and relieved all at once.

Finally, I could not have done this job adequately (let alone as successfully as I've been told) without His protection and wisdom. I am immensely thankful for that--as well as the prayers of you, The Reader. Thank you, and I will see many of you next week.

1 November

That's when I'm headed on the plane, folks! Like the Steve Miller
Band sang, I'm headed on to a "big ol' jet airliner" back home.

Not that I'm excited or anything...

Fulfillment...

Every boy's dream came true for me today. I got to drive this (it's a P-23 crash truck). Got to shoot the water cannons, too. For you spec geeks out there, drool over this:

The Oshkosh T-3000 is a diesel-powered, six wheel-drive truck with an automatic transmission. The operator controls consist of power-assisted steering, air or mechanical brakes, transmission range selector, and in-cab controls for operating the fire-fighting system. The water storage tank has a capacity of 3,000 gallons. The roof turret has a discharge rate of 600 to 1,200 gpm and an infinitely variable pattern from straight stream to fully dispersed. The bumper turret is electric joystick controlled with auto-oscillation. The discharge rate is 300 gpm and it is also variable pattern.

Sometimes, my job's pretty cool.

Seriously?

When the Nobel Peace Prize was first established in 1895 (through the Last Will and Testament of Alfred Nobel), Mr. Nobel ruled the Peace Prize would be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."

There is a significant problem with President Obama winning the award yesterday. He. Hasn't. Done. Anything. He was awarded the Prize on the "potential" of his future. Really? Why not award him the Cy Young award, then, too? How about an Oscar, too? Both of those could be awarded because of his potential. The Nobel Prize for Literature, though, he's not won--probably because he's actually written two actual, published books.

The Washington Post, in the words of Richard Cohen, put it another way:

In a stunning announcement, Millard Fillmore Senior High School chose Shawn Rabinowitz, an incoming junior, as next year’s valedictorian. The award was made, the valedictorian committee announced from Norway of all places, on the basis of “Mr. Rabinowitz’s intention to ace every course and graduate number one in class.” In a prepared statement, young Shawn called the unprecedented award, “[deleted] awesome.”

And again in a stunning coincidence, the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the Oscar for best picture will be given this year to the Vince Vaughn vehicle “Guys Weekend to Burp,” which is being story-boarded at the moment but looks very good indeed. Mr. Vaughn, speaking through his publicist, said was “touched and moved” by the award and would do everything in his power to see that the picture lives up to expectation and opens big sometime next March.

Perhaps Progress?

I love it. There are more and more articles coming out lately throwing in to serious question the enviro-activists' panic of global environmental destruction. Take, for instance, these gems:

1. Significant ice growth at the Arctic cap. Yes, growth.
2. This scientist believes Co2 doesn't cause global warming. Better hope Al Gore isn't funding his research...

I've long thought our ideas of global warming were suspect. Growing up with a meterologist as a grandfather, I've seen how average temperatures change sporadically up and down over the long term. Further, many "global warming believers" also believe the Earth is millions, if not billions of years old. With that in mind, we have only a hundred years or so of recorded data on global temperature. That, in any statistics class, is the textbook definition of "statistically insignificant."

You mean...

You mean to say the world doesn't like us any more now than it did before January 20, 2009? But...but...but...

This article makes a great deal of awesome points.

Not to toot my own horn, but I've said for years the minimum wage law is a hinderer to employment, and makes the working class worse off, rather than better. This article confirms much of what I opined.

Simply put, this is not a surprise.

Lastly, back on 27 Sep, I posted a link to an article that insinuates the data for "global warming" is either missing or cooked (as in "cooking the books," ala Enron). You mean the Southeastern US isn't drying up because of the environment? Gasp! I was really surprised to see the article was in the NYT!

Ah, October...

Fall is supposedly amongst us...though I was beginning to wonder when the temperatures here hit 91 degrees on the 30th of September.

But it certainly is fall, and with this first full month of fall (oh, how I love alliteration. Okay, so that wasn't entirely alliteration, but close enough, wouldn't you say?) comes the baseball playoffs (even though the Mariners aren't going to be playing anything other than a few rounds of golf), but more importantly, the bona fide beginning of hockey season (and the Blues have already beaten the Red Wings once and twice!)

Even the best college football team in the Montana University System is starting the year off well.

But the coolest thing of all is on (or about) 30 October, I will be relinquishing command of this here unit, and beginning my trip home. Sweet!

Unexpected Statistic

In my readings on the 'Net the other day, I happened across this little infographic. Canada? Really? And why, praytell, are we still buying from Venezuela, after this news, and this, and this?

Isn't one of the purposes of peer review and scientific review to find mistakes and holes in other scientists' work? Isn't that what makes scientific theory better, and our understanding of things better? If that's the case, why aren't we more outraged at this news about the supposed "global warming" crisis? Perhaps silence is speaking instead...

Finally, we're in the last week of September--today is day #150 of my deployment. Both those facts mean I will be boarding a plane soon. Hooray!

Research a Night Owl Can Love

Finally--scientific proof that staying up late is better than staying up late!

Yesterday we had a visitor to observe 9/11 with us.

You can read about it here.

I didn't see the man himself, but it's not every day you're within a couple dozen meters of a head of state.

9/11

Eight years removed from the most significant and violent act of my generation, we remain a nation at war. Though "we" are a nation at war, I argue that "we" at war only applies to the members of our nation's military, their families, and the few stauch believers remaining eight years after the fact.

Truth is, we (the remainder of the country not listed above) have too quickly reacquainted ourselves with our lives of convenience and ease. To a certain extent I believe that to be a good thing: it is good not to be so preoccupied with an enemy to be unable to live life to the fullest. However, to simply forget why thousands of our nation's finest and bravest men and women are putting their lives on the line every minute of every day is a travesty and a dishonor to the service-men and -women who are taking the fight to the forces of evil. They fight for us on the evil-doers turf, so the evil-doers don't take the fight to our families on our turf. Somewhere, we lost focus of what is important.

On this 9/11, I leave you to your thoughts. But know that even now, in the words of George Orwell, rough men stand ready to do violence on your behalf.

But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart
through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the
people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down and
sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on
earth-he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they
do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by
his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all
its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those
who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them
from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the
LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for
we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33:11-22

May God, who has so richly blessed us, continue to be with our Nation and our leaders.

DV Visit Pics

Way back in this post, I bragged on my fabulous wife and kids and the visit of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Schwartz. I also promised pictures. you've been waiting a while. Dear reader, wait no more.

Miscellany

This survey result is funny. Or scary. Probably both.

On the other hand, this is disappointing. I like George Will, but has the man lost it?

I've taken a liking to the Whole Foods store--and their opposition to the ObamaCare initiative is a good thing. Heck, maybe if their stance on this alienates enough hippie shoppers, I'll really like to shop there!

Nevertheless, it's September! This is technically the last full month of my deployment--since I'll be leaving at the end of October.

D.C.'s Falling Star

This article is great.

My favorite quote:

The Founders wanted government to be small, responsive to the people and
attentive to their hunger for liberty. They did not conceive the unresponsive
monstrosity we now have (the reason for so much anger at many town hall
meetings), that is unproductive (waste, fraud and abuse) and unattractive
(politicians who are careerists rather than true servants of the people). It is
a bipartisan affliction as we saw when Republicans controlled all three branches
of government and too many appeared to be out for themselves rather than the
public interest.

Soon it will be up to the Republican Party to capitalize on the Democrats' own failure--much like they did successfully in 1996.

One week down...

Today's milestone is the arrival of single-digit weeks to go--only 9 left as of this morning. Time is going by, sometimes more quickly than others, sometimes not. I am encouraged that next Tuesday is the first day of my last full month here. That will be nice.

Life continues to go well. We're all staying extremely busy--which is good, because it makes the time go by more quickly--but more importantly, we're all being (mostly) safe. The work our squadron does is extremely dangerous, so having no major safety issues is a very good thing.

I'm encouraged by the news from Afghanistan on the election last week, despite the claims begun over the weekend of widespread voter fraud. It looks like the turnout was good, and though the AAF (anti-Afghan forces) tried, they did not impact the democratic process as much as they probably hoped. Never the less, change for that country will not be from one election, or twenty. Necessary change there will be generations in coming.

CSAF and My Family

Well, well. Who would have thought the Chief of Staff of the Air Force--the top general in the service--would be at Beale AFB. Even more, who would have thought he would visit my family in front of my house? To top it off, my son (!) gave the wing commander "knuckles." How cool is that?

Pictures will be posted here when I get them.

"Green" Cars?

When you read about the fantastic MPG stats of some of the new cars (namely the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf), keep this in mind.

Oh, and the fact the Hummer has been shown to be more energy efficient over its lifetime than a Toyota Prius. (Source information can be found here and here (links are to PDF files)).

Just What am I Doing?

I suppose I really ought to use this page more effectively to communicate the goings-on in my little corner of central Asia--that's the reason I started it, right?

Yesterday, our squadron had a competition in the different disciplines our squadron performs. The quickest time in each of the categories (changing a tire, moving a can of water using a 10K AT forklift, running an obstacle course with a 50-foot length of refueling hose, and backing a trailer with a bobtail) won, with the least overall time winning. The leadership team (me, my deputy, my first sergeant, and my Chief) came in dead last. I think that's an appropriate result; the superstars that make things happen in this squadron aren't me or my team--it's the Airmen working the mission every day. They amaze me.

Today we had a visitor. He stopped in very briefly, mainly to talk to the Ambassador downtown. One of the airmen that work for me got coined by him though--so that was cool. I didn't get to see it, though. I was busy at the passenger terminal making sure it was cleaned up just in case he stopped through. His schedule was too full, though, so he didn't. Oh well. Semper Gumby, right?

The rest of this day was the last half of church, a nap, and after dinner my favorite event of the week: Sunday evening coffee with my senior staff at Green Beans Coffee.

This evening, I'll probably watch a movie: either Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or Airplane. Tough call.

Tomorrow starts another week--and another check of my Donut of Despair.

Until next time--keep it real, people!

Ponderings on a Sunday Afternoon

Two things to ponder today:

1. Isn't it interesting? All the years of the G. W. Bush presidency, the Left harped, nay, droned, on and on about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since January 20th? Nothing. From The Washington Examiner:

"Now, with Obama in the White House, all that has changed. Greenberg
presented respondents with a list of policy priorities and asked, 'Please
indicate which two you think progressive activists should be focusing their
attention and efforts on the most.' The winner was passing comprehensive
health care reform, with 60 percent, and number two was passing 'green energy
policies that address environmental concerns,' with 22 percent. Tied for
eighth place, named by just eight percent of respondents, was 'working to end
our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.'"

2. I'm glad he's not a Republican any longer. Arlen Specter needs to learn when to just shut his mouth. Claiming to not support any program that would further tax the budget, he was jeered. When will the Democrats and the Left realize the American Public are not the sheep they apparently assume they are?

On a personal note, today's temperatures are quite pleasant--into the second half of August, and things are nice.

What's Happening

First: simmer down now. Yes, two blog posts in one day, but I've something of utmost criticality to discuss and share.

The Office. Yes, the TV show.

What in the world is happening? I saw on AFN (Armed Forces Network--the DoD TV channels that provide American TV programming for servicemembers worldwide) the preview for the season finale of The Office. I haven't seen an episode for months! I could have started watching it here, but it comes on at 2:30 in the morning our time--and I am not staying awake that long to see a TV show--albeit a great one like The Office.

I think I'll need to rent the entire season from Netflix just to catch up...

Just one more thing I miss. In case you're counting at home:
1. My Family
2. My Friends
3. Toilet Paper
4. Paper Towels
5. The Office

Defacing Beauty

This is just wrong.

Happy August!

Welcome to August!

I am really looking forward to this month passing--the heat is really getting to be a drag. I shouldn't complain, though. A rundown of tomorrow's forcast reveals the following highs:
Here: 91
Home: 88
Tampa (future home): 92 (w/ humidity)
Baghdad: 106
Qatar: 105 (w/ humidity)

Nevertheless, I'm not a fan of heat--the return to the mid-80s or high 70s will be a welcome change.

Halfway Home!

First off, I apologize for not updating this recently. I truly am surprised it's been three weeks since my last update--it certainly doesn't seem like it's been that long. For any of you still reading this, I'm sorry for the lack of updates.

Secondly, I'm halfway home (not in distance, mind you, but in time). I hope the next three months go by as quickly as the first three.

Life continues to be extremely busy--the squadron has about double the workload as was seen last summer, transporting 6000+ personnel every week in to and out of Afghanistan. In June, we set a record by issuing 10,000,000 gallons of fuel for the month--pretty significant, when you consider how much fuel your car uses. At 20 miles per gallon, you could drive around the earth 8000 times with the fuel we give to aircraft every month.

Anyway, I hope it's not another three weeks before my next post. Again, you, dear reader, have my apologies for missing updates for this long.

Tuesday Link-o-rama (a day late)

This week, a three-fer about California.

1. Who Killed California's Economy?
2. Bright figure emerges in California politics
3. Michelle Obama's UC Merced visit cost school $1M

My future...

...is secure (for the time being).

Things looked a bit sporty for the past couple of weeks, but with President Bakiyev's signature it looks like we'll be here for a while.

It is interesting to see politics and how they play out personally. As interested as I've been in international relations and politics, I've never had a personal investment in them--until now. I'm glad things have worked out--it really is an enjoyable place, aside from the whole separation from civilization and family thing.

Ha! Support Groups!

This is not mine originally, but it was too funny to not post...



Support groups...ha!

Tuesday Link-o-Rama!

Merely links to articles I've found interesting and/or funny.
1. Apostrophe Abuse
2. The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotes
3. Forcing Prices Down Does Not Normally Increase Supply
4. You mean, we still have a reputation problem?
5. E-mails indicate EPA suppressed report skeptical of global warming

Read. Enjoy. Discuss.

Donut of Despair, Anniversary Edition

Time has flown by!

My Anniversary

Perhaps the worst part of this deployment is missing my second anniversary in four years. So this post is an open letter to the love of my life. You, my dear are too good to me. I've enjoyed the last 14 years tremendously, and I look forward to the rest (however many years with which we're blessed) with you. I'll call upon the lyrics of the late Stevie Ray Vaughn to finish this post out:

Pride and Joy
by Stevie Ray Vaughn

Well, you've heard about love givin' sight to the blind
My baby's lovin' cause the sun to shine
She's my sweet little thang....she's my pride and joy
She's my sweet little baby....I'm her little lover boy

Yeah, I love my baby....heart and soul
Love like ours wont never grow old
She's my sweet little thang....she's my pride and joy
She's my sweet little baby....I'm her little lover boy

Yeah, I love my lady....she's long and lean
You mess with her....you'll see a man get mean
She's my sweet little thang....she's my pride and joy
She's my sweet little baby....I'm her little lover boy

Well, I love my baby....like the finest wine
Stick with her until the end of time
She's my sweet little thang....she's my pride and joy
She's my sweet little baby....I'm her little lover boy

Yeah I love my baby....heart and soul
Love like ours wont never grow old
She's my sweet little thang....she's my pride and joy
She's my sweet little baby....I'm her little lover boy

Personal Commentary

Step 1: Read this.
Step 2: Note the reporting from the AP (about 1/3 of the way through the article):

"The Associated Press reported that a senior researcher with the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy Equipment Research Center, Yin Zhuo, said the collision was likely an accident. He said the American destroyer appeared to have failed to detect the submarine, while the Chinese vessel set its distance from the McCain assuming it was not carrying sonar arrays, according to the state-run China Daily."

Step 3: Recall the EP-3 collision over international waters in 2001. Also recall the Chinese official's statement:

"The US plane's nose and left wing rammed the tail of one of the Chinese planes
causing it to lose control and plunge into the sea."

Sarcasm Mode: ON

Why is it that it's always the United States military ramming into the Chinese?

Sarcasm Mode: OFF

Twitter!

Twitter! Twitter! Get your Twitter feed here! Manas has got their own Twitter feed now. Read this article for details.

Yep. Boring blog post. Sorry--I can't be witty all the time. As far as you know.

Clarification

Okay, okay, okay...I've been accused by some readers (who shall remain nameless, right my dear spouse?) that my room, which you can see in pictures below, is messy.

I want to tell you, nay, I need to tell you the top bunk is a storage area for all the stuff I brought that I can't store elsewhere. As you can imagine, there's not a lot of storage inside a room the size of some walk-in closets. Also, I took the picture only a couple of days after I moved in--so things were a little out-of-place.

There. I hope that explains what some could see as a mess of a room.

Picture Time #2

My "staff car" and the view from my office back to my dorm room. The window behind my truck is one of two windows in my office.

Picture Time!

The Finer Things

When we in the military deploy, we quickly begin reminiscing about what we miss about home. Some think about drinking water out of the tap, others about drinking any liquid out of a glass or cup. Many think of foods they miss, whether it be good burgers (gotta love In 'N Out!) or a really good steak.

Me? I miss toilet paper and paper towels.

Yes, that's right--do not adjust your screen. The TP and paper towels here are simply atrocious. The denizen manufacturers seem to switch the paper qualities of both. We have TP the thickness and softness of a cheap Wal-Mart paper towel roll. Such is the nature of the paper product, I think I'll pass on elaborating further--I'm sure all who read this understand the point I'm making here.

On the other hand--almost literally, as I'm about to tell you--the local paper product company makes paper towels the same thickness and durability as a cheap toilet paper. The result is a requirement to rub your hands together to get the paper towel off your hands after the attempt to dry your hands. Go ahead, go to your bathroom, grab yourself some TP, and dry your hands after washing. Try it; I'll wait.

Back yet? Not a lot of fun is it? Welcome to my world of paper towels.

When I get home, the first time I go to the bathroom, I think I'm going to cry.

Memorial Day

This time of year always wrenches at my gut--especially so after 9/11/01. Magnify that by a couple of factors of ten and you, dear reader, will get a sense of how this weekend impacts me while deployed.

Three years ago, I was deployed to Afghanistan. Memorial Day was significant, and the chapel service was heart-wrenching. I was proud to be associated with warriors who have given their all in defending our country or helping protect the denizens of other countries.

This weekend, though, my heart goes out to a family in St Louis. The Schulte family lost their daughter this week. On her way home, it was an honor to facilitate her travel back to her family. Lt Schulte transited through here on her way home due to myriad aircraft scheduling details. My squadron had the honor of transporting her off the aircraft to safe-keeping overnight, then back on another aircraft the following morning. Saluting the arriving airlift as it pulled into its parking spot, and saluting as she was carried off the aircraft and on an aircraf the next day will be memories that stay with me for a long time.

In some ways, I wish more people could feel the pride I have for my association with warriors of all services like Lt Schulte. If they did, perhaps Memorial Day would mean more than a day off and a reason to drink a case of beer.

God bless you, Schulte family, for your support to this country through your daughter, and may He ease your grief. May He also continue to bless our great Country and her people.

Semper Fi, Marines, and Godspeed

One of the neatest parts of my job is working with aircraft and the folks that load them. Today I had the honor of assisting load a C-17 headed down range "into the fight" with a bunch of Marines. When Marines walk around the base here, they're typically laughing, joking with one another, and generally enjoying their time as the transit our base--either going into the fight, or going home from it. Today was a different story.

I helped load warriors off to do their duty to God and Country, and it was a sobering thought when I realized there was a real possibility the Marines I helped load today may not walk back home, and instead they may be called upon to give all--going home in a flag-draped box. I think they knew that possiblity, too: when they boarded the aircraft, loaded with their weapons and wearing their body armor, there was no joking, there was no smiling. Each Marine had his game face completely on, ready for whatever awaited their aircraft when they landed at their destination.

It was my honor to serve those warriors, and it once again made this "Long War," as some call it, personal to me. I am reminded of Isaiah's calling in Chapter 6:
"And then I heard the voice of the Master:
'Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?'
'I spoke up, 'I'll go. Send me!'" (Is 6:8, The Message)

Semper Fi, Marines. God bless you and Godspeed.

Pics from Change of Command

Finally, here's a couple of pics from the big day (5 May for those you that are keeping track). One of the cool things the POL flight here did was put a former Beale R-11 refueling truck in the background. I thought that was pretty neat.

Pictures!

Left: a monument celebrating WWII victory (see previous post about Victory Day).


Below: Me, doing my best Lenin impersonation.












Below: The Parliament building

Left: A middle-class neighborhood between the base and Bishkek. Seriously--middle class!

Left: the flightline, with storm clouds coming in.

Happy Victory Day!

Victory Day is to citizens of the former Soviet Union what Veteran's Day, the Fourth of July, and Memorial Day is to those of us in the United Stats--all wrapped into one. It's quite a big deal. For good reason, too--the Soviet Union lost nearly 10% of its population during the first half of the 1940s. The US? We only lost .3% of our population. World War II (and Stalin, too, I imagine) devastated the Soviet population, a fact not lost on the current generation of Russians, Uzbeks, Kazahks, and certainly not the Kyrgyz.

Really! I am here!

First off, I apologize for the delayed post. Since I've landed here in central Asia, it's been a roller coaster of briefings, badge-getting, in-processing, people-meeting, and the change of command. Just typing it all makes me tired.

The upside is that the last week as absolutely flown by.

My predecessor leaves on the airplane for home tomorrow--Godspeed, Pete--and the regime will be wholly mine. I look forward to the challenge.

I did discover one of my duties here will be directly dealing with local immigration officials, ensuring our two countries do not have any significant problems. My staff and I will have lunch with a group of them every other week--with sporting events periodically.

I will try to be more consistent with my blogging.

L.M. out.

On my way

My sojourn has begun.

Though I am caught betwixt my family's "here" and my deployment "there," the persistent uncertainty doesn't bother me. The same cannot be said about my departure from home. It was terrible. I am supposed to be an experienced deployer, having gone through the gambit of spending months away from home in service to the Country. That experience--if it exists--is not germane to the arduous process of simply saying goodbye.

Danette, McK, M3, and my little H-man: I miss you all a lot, and pray the days pass quickly between now and November.

Friends and Family: I thank you for your support to my family I've left behind. I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Note: My goal is to update this blog every couple of days, but time will tell how that works out. Please check it often, and I'll do my part to update these pages as timely as I can.

God bless you, and the United States of America.