Sunday, November 4, 2007

Re-enlistment: When the paperwork is done

The latest word on re-enlistment is the paperwork is filed, but it might be several weeks until it is completed. So no word yet, but maybe by Christmas.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

State Cross Country Championships

OK This is not about the Army, but I am also a dad and my youngest Daughter ran in the Pennsylvania AAA High School Cross Country Championships today. This is her first season in Cross Country and she is doing great. she was first finisher on her team in every regular season meet this year. She finished first once, second four times and fifth once--although there is a different scoring system that followers of the sport know and would be too long to explain here. In the post season, she finished ninth among more than 200 girls in the Lancaster-Lebanon AAA League meet; 39th in the district championship which allowed her to make the state meet; then 82nd today in the PA State Championship among the 300 best runners in the state. Her time today was 20:22. Her best time of the season for the 5k distance was 19:22.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Chemical Weapons Training Scheduled for March

I just received confirmation that I will attend 63J--chemical weapons systems maintenance--training phase 2 from March 9 through March 22 of 2008. I should be receiving a link soon to on-line phase one training in 63J. So I will have from receipt of that link until March 9 to complete phase 1. I'll be spending a lot of time on line between now and then.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Linking Viet Nam and Iraq

Today's Philadelphia Daily News has a 20-page section on Viet Nam. I am quoted in the lead of the first article in the section--partly about the Starbucks story below. Here's the link: PDNews

Saturday, October 27, 2007

New Training Schedule

I just received a revised training schedule for FY 2008. We will have two weekend drills in February and summer camp will be a couple of days longer. It looks like the additional training for deployment won't begin until later in the year.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Chemical Weapons Training

Not confirmed yet, but it looks possible that I will be able to complete much of my training on line. Instead of attending an 11-week school at Aberdeen, I will be able to complete an on-line course then complete the final phase in two weeks of resident school. That will get me qualified for the work at the technician level. Then another two-week course will make me eligible for the supervisor level--and the sergeant's list. If all goes well, I will start the on-line training in November.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Dog Tags

This weekend I got dog tags. My youngest daughter saw them on my bureau and said she would like a set. I found them on line in about a minute and ordered a set for each of my kids. And by ordering them this way, I could replace my actual Social Security Number with "SSN." I went through identity theft in the spring and I have no desire to repeat it.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

FRS Forward Repair System

Saturday morning our motor sergeant put me in charge of the most incredible toolbox this side of a NASCAR garage. The FRS is a self-contained, 18-foot long repair center moved around the battlefield by a five-axle all-terrain tractor-trailer. Dropped off the trailer and leveled on the ground next to any vehicle including an M-1 tank, the FRS has every conceivable tool necessary to fix anything on tracks or wheels. At one end is a 200-amp diesel generator and a 190 psi compressor system. At the other end is a 10,000-pound capacity crane with a 20-foot reach. In the middle are MIG, Arc and gas welders and cutting systems along with five 7-drawer tool cabinets. Inside are 1/2-inch and 3/4 drive air wrenches and sockets and hundreds of hand tools. It also has a full set of curtains, workbenches on a heating system. It comes with a 40-hour training course!

The irony is, I am the only guy assigned to the Echo company motor pool who is not a mechanic. Almost everyone else would like to have the FRS in their garage (although it is bigger than most garages). But while I wait to go to a chemical weapons course, I will definitely have something useful to do.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Not Like Viet Nam

During the Viet Nam War soldiers were pariahs in many parts of the country. Tonight, I stopped at Starbucks on Columbia Avenue in Lancaster on the way back from drill. The man in front of me in line was in his 40s. After he ordered two coffees he asked if I was having coffee, then bought mine also. He thanked me for fighting the war on terror. Nothing like that happened to me during Viet Nam.

Safety Meeting, Then Deployment Announcement

After morning formation we had a mandatory one-hour safety briefing for everybody. After the briefing, the battalion commander got up to say that, while he has no paperwork, the most likely timetable for our unit to be deployed is that we will move to deployment training in January of 2009, then "boots on the ground" in March 2009. He also said we may have as many as three two-to-three-week training sessions during 2008.

Morning Formation: Push-ups in Place

At this morning's formation, three soldiers were late including a staff sergeant. After calling us to attention and receiving the morning report, the first sergeant told the three tardy soldiers to "Drop and start knocking 'em out." (push-ups) He let them do about 15 push-ups before saying "Recover" and letting them return to their places in the formation.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Re-enlisting October 20

I will be re-enlisting on Saturday, October 20. To go to school, I have to be committed to more than one year. To get a security clearance to apply to school, I have to be committed to more than one year, so it's time to re-up. As things stand now, I should be going to school in April of 2008.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Hugo, Bill and me


Long-time friend Joe Chang is the editor of ICIS Chemical Business, a global chemical news magazine. He put me in this week's "Movers and Shakers" column with Hugo Chavez and Bill Clinton. Practical jokes go to a whole new level when you edit a magazine. (Click on the image if you want to see it more clearly.)

Catch 22 on School

It turns out I cannot go to school unless I get a security clearance and I can't get a security clearance without re-enlisting. I enlisted for one year on a new program called "Try One." But the current regs don't allow processing of a security clearance for a "Try One." So I plan to re-enlist as soon as the regs allow. Maybe in two weeks, maybe sooner.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

PT Test Plus 2 Days

I am still sore!! Yesterday I did the daily ride and had trouble hanging on. I gave up in Washington Boro at 20 miles. I ached all over and did a very slow roll for the ten miles home. This morning it still hurts to go down stairs. Recovering at 54 is clearly different than recovery at 24.

Rumors--Today's Army vs. 30 Years Ago

I wondered how different the rumor mill would be in the Army of 2007 vs. 1977. What effect would e-mail, the internet, and cell phones have on the spread of rumors? On Sunday we had a brigade mandatory class in dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (always referred to by PTSD). When the class was announced at formation, the rumors of our deployment increased, both in number and in absolute certainty. Of course, not all of the absolutely certain information agreed, but every bit of information was absolutely right. Nothing has changed.

Monday, October 1, 2007

I Passed the PT Test!!

On Sunday after morning formation, I took the annual Physical Training test with six other members of my unit. We will serve as graders at next month's drill for the rest of the company. The order of the events is push-ups, sit-ups, then the 2-mile run. The minimum for me to pass (at age 54)is 20 push-ups, 28 sit-ups (each in two minutes) and then 19:30 for the 2-mile run, which would earn 60 points for each event. The maximum possible score on the test is 300.
I did 31 push-ups in a minute, then quit. I could only have done a few more and thought I was pushing my luck given my recent injuries. I did 55 sit-ups and finished the last one at the last second. I could not have done one more. I was last (by 10 seconds) of the seven graders on the run with a time of 15:38. The scores were 72, 88, and 92 points respectively for a total score of 252 out of a possible 300.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

New Brigade Commander, My First Parade Since the 70s

On Saturday morning I was one of a half-dozen members of Echo Company to participate in a Brigade change of command ceremony. the last time I was in a large ceremonial formation was in the 1970s in Germany. I wondered if I would do something dumb, but I managed to follow all the orders. The formation looked very good. From what I remember from the 70s, they looked better than some active duty units.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Installing Motor Pool Computers

This weekend's drill began at 7 pm with a formation under a beautiful clear sky on a starlit night with a nearly full moon. After the formation I filled out the paperwork to get dogtags then walked to the motor pool. The motor pool is a little more than a mile away walking on the range roads that are closed to cars. It is a 3-mile drive around through the security check point. I am the only one who walks. and what a night to walk. 60 degrees. Moon bright as a searchlight. I listened to Letters 8, 9 and 10 of the Screwtape letters. Letter 8 is on undulation as the normal state of human life. Works for me. iPods are great.

When I got to the motor pool my squad leader asked me if I knew anything about computers. I said I did and spent the next 90 minutes setting up four rather old desktop Windows machine. No network. They are just used for shop manuals--much easier to update than the paper manuals. At 930 pm I walked back. We were dismissed for the night at 10 pm. I decided to drive home rather than stay in the barracks. I figured I would sleep better at home. And I spent most fo the ride talking to my friend Abel Lopez. We served together in Germany in the 1970s--tank commanders in the same platoon. Most of the phone call was about the many similarities and few differences between the Army in 1977 and in 2007.

Nothing Until November

the modern Army is high tech, but the flow of virtual paper is along the same lines as the days of quadruplicate e-mails. After filling out that 37-page application for a security clearance, I was told this evening my application was rejected. The reason: one-year enlistees are not eligible for Security clearances. Actually, it turns out that "being on a one-year" (to use the training NCO's syntax) also means I cannot apply for school. I am eligible to re-enlist November 17. For those who might wonder, I re-enlisted for one year at the advice fo my recruiter. If I enlisted for three years, I could not get a bonus. By re-enlisting for three years after serving 90 days, I can get a $10,000 bonus. It seemed like a good idea, but it does mean I may have to wait until April for the school.

Not So Supreme: A Conference about the Constitution, the Courts and Justice

Hannah Arendt At the end of the first week in March, I went to a conference at Bard College titled: Between Power and Authority: Arendt on t...