At Home Dad: With Five Baby Mommas!!

On the Thursday before Easter in 2007, I called Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Askew, the recruiter for the 28th Combat Aviation Brigade, and started the process of re-enlisting in the Army.  That chapter of my life will end in just over a month.

Earlier this week, one of my Conservative friends asked me what I was going to do now that I was no longer working and was leaving the Army.  I told him I was going to be a stay-at-home Dad receiving a government check:  Social Security.

He quickly said I earned my government check from working and it's not like I had kids with five different women.

As soon as he said it I burst out, "Yes I do!!  My six kids have five Baby Mommas!"  In addition to my two biological daughters, I have a step daughter, an adopted daughter and two adopted sons. They are all legally my kids, but they all have different mothers.  My six kids really do have five Baby Mommas.

And that is my post-Army career.

Facebook After Terror Attacks, A Big Thumbs Up

In 2001, when Islamic terrorists attacked America, I was frantic for two days trying to get in touch with friends who worked in the area of the World Trade Center.  Some worked on Rector Street, less than two blocks from WTC.  Others worked near Wall Street less than a mile away.

None of my friends were hurt in the attacks, but for two days I had no way of knowing that.

Currently, I have friends in Brussels.  When I heard of the attacks on Brussels, I did not even try to make the futile phone calls I made on September 11, 2001, I got on Facebook.  Within an hour, the first of my friends updated her page to say that she and her entire family were fine and that she was going to her son's house to see her granddaughter.

In November, I did the same with the Paris attacks.  Although phone service was swamped with traffic, several friends updated their pages.  One of my friends was SCUBA diving in Turkey.  I remembered thinking when Cedric when to Turkey that the trip could be dangerous.  When I say his SCUBA update on November 15, I was thinking 'I'm glad he decided to leave Paris in November.'

Thanks Mark Zuckerberg.  I love your invention.

My Final Flight on an Army Helicopter

Returning to Flight Operations after the trip to Johnstown:  Sgt. Jay Rocourt, crew chief, 

and pilots Chief Warrant Officers Rich Wienches and Greg Gallerizzo.

In February I flew to Johnstown and back on a Blackhawk helicopter.  I thought at the time it would be my final flight, but I was not sure till this month.

It was a smooth, uneventful flight across Pennsylvania on a beautiful Winter day.

I had a great view of the entire mid state during the flights to Johnstown and back.

These photos show the crew performing post-flight maintenance, and refueling.

And this is the Crew Chief Jay Rocourt in Johnstown telling the Base Commander with complete sincerity that the pilots were performing post-flight maintenance when they were actually at the local Subway getting lunch.

"I Solemnly Swear My Sleep Bag is Green"

This afternoon I finished turning in my Army field gear, all the stuff we use to carry ammo, equipment and food, as well as the our tent and sleeping bag.  More properly our sleeping bag system.

Of the more than 100 pieces of field gear the Army gave me since 2007, I turned it all in except two ammo pouches.  I had to pay for them.  Today I got a Turkey Hill money order for $41.26 to reimburse the Army for my missing ammo pouches.

My other discrepancy was my sleeping bag system consisting of five pieces: two sleeping bags, two carry bags and a cover.  I had all of the pieces, but they were green.  They have been green since 2007 when I received them.  They will continue to be green until they wear out.  But my clothing record says my sleeping bag system should be black.

Sooooooooooo.  That's a problem.

In fact, I had to write a statement swearing before two witnesses in the presence of an officer that my sleeping bag is green.

Which I did, "I Solemnly Swear My Sleep Bag is Green".

This form I filled in is a Department of the Army form 2823.  It is a sworn statement about anything.  Usually loss.  The supply clerk told me he helped to fill out a sworn statement for a soldier who lost the 'scope sight on his rifle.  That was serious.

During the 44 years I have been in and out of the Army, I have never filled out a sworn statement before.  I never lost a truck, or a tank, or a machine gun.

At this second-to-last drill weekend, I finally filled in a sworn statement to attest to the color of my sleeping bag.  It is green. I swear!

A proper end to a long career!

 

Tasks, Conditions and Standards--How to Do Everything!

Tasks, Conditions and Standards is how we learn to do everything in the Army.  If you are assigned to be the machine gunner in a rifle squad, the first thing you will do is get to know your machine gun:  the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).

Before you fire the SAW in combat, you will go through many different Tasks, Conditions and Standards blocks of instruction to learn the weapon, maintain the weapon, fire the weapon and fix the weapon.

Are you an Army cook and you need to fry eggs?  There are Tasks, Conditions and Standards for that. A scientist friend pointed that in the computer world this is algorithm thinking.  Break down every task into steps, clearly define the steps, evaluate.

A complex operation pulls together dozens and dozens of different Tasks, Conditions and Standards and turns that into one smooth operation.  The posts I did recently on Tank Gunnery represented hundreds of individual bits of training from how to zero each of the three weapons on the tank, how to drive with the hatches open and closed, how to determine range, how to maintain the tracks on the vehicle, etc.

When we pass the tests at the end of Tasks, Conditions and Standards, the Army says, "We got Skillz!"

After Army--Back to Bicycle Racing

I never stopped riding when I joined the Army.  In fact, I rode 5,100 miles on Camp adder in Iraq and organized a bicycle race.

But I pretty much stopped being a bicycle racer.  From 2002 to 2007, when I re-enlisted, I rode 10,000 miles a year training to be just pretty good as a racer.  After my re-enlistment, not to mention breaking my neck in May of 2007,  I rode less.  And I did not ride with enough intensity to actually compete in races.  I still raced once in a while, but the peak of the racing season is May and June when I miss five weekends out of eight for Drill and Annual Training.

As I right this, I feel like a racer again.  Friday evening I renewed my racing license.  Yesterday, I rode south 50 miles with more than 5,500feet of climbing, then rode with my son for a few miles, then rode to my bike shop, Bikeline of Lancaster, to talk about a new bike.  My current race bikes date back to 2002 and 2003.  By May, I should be riding a new bike.

Today, it was supposed to rain beginning at 11 am.  So I had to ride in the morning.  I rode 35 miles giving me 100 miles for the weekend after 100km yesterday.

And this morning I signed up for the last Battenkill road race: 68 miles including several miles of dirt.  May 21.  I need more training.

Official Word Today: I Am Done May 3, 2016

It's official.  My Army career ends on May 3 of this year.  I first enlisted January 31, 1972, and have finally hit my Army expiration date.

I have drill this month, next month and my last official event will be the Aviation Ball, April 30.

I will miss being a soldier, but it is time to move on to something else.