Reunion at Pam's House

Today, reunion weekend started with a long drive.  We drove all day to Kentucky and had dinner with Pam Bleuel.  She returned from Iraq six weeks ago after extending her tour to 18 months.  Pam and her husband Mike have three college-age daughters.  In Iraq Pam and I would talk about the joys and difficulties of having college age girls, and the obvious difficulty of being 6000 miles from home.

She posted a picture of us here.

As I expected, Pam's kids are polite, funny, and delightful to be around.  Pam was as tough as motorcycle racing leather in her job training soldiers for convoy security duty in Iraq.  She is a math teacher in a local high school when she is not on active duty in the Army.  Two of her of her former students dropped in while were at Pam's house and told funny stories of Pam scaring local kids who did not do their homework or misbehaved in class.  Like most strict teachers, she has a loyal following of students who love her.

Nigel thought dinner was wonderful.  Two of his favorite foods were on the menu:  barbequed chicken and garlic croutons.  He had thirds on chicken.  He even skipped dessert for another piece of chicken.

Getting Ready for the 1-70th Armor Reunion

Tomorrow I will be driving to Georgetown, Kentucky, with three of my kids on the way to the reunion of the 1st Battalion, 70th Armor.  It's the unit I served with in West Germany from 1976-79.

The reunion is in Chattanooga, but we are stopping for dinner tomorrow with Sgt. First Class Pam Bleuel and her family.  She also has three college age daughters, so dinner should be fun.  Pam extended her tour in Iraq for an additional six months to continue training soldiers in convoy security.  Almost as soon as she extended, she started working at a desk--which did not make her happy.

Next month she will return to work as a math teacher in Georgetown, Kentucky.  I can't wait to make bad jokes with her again and meet her family.

Tattoo Intro on NYC Bike Trail

Yesterday after an all-day conference in NYC, I rode the Hudson River bike trail from Lower Manhattan to the George Washington Bridge.  What an awesome place to ride.

On the way back from the GW, I turned of the trail at 79th St. riding toward Central Park.  While I waited at the traffic light where the trail turns onto the streets, a guy riding in an expensive-looking suit rolled up behind me and said, "No shit! First Armored.  I served with them in '69.  I hated Fort Hood."

We rode a few blocks together.  He told me he was a draftee, served two years and got out.  Judging by the Upper West Side place he lived, he did really well for himself after making $148 a month in the late 60s Army.

As I rode on toward the park, he thanked me for my service, and I thanked him for his.  I am sure I get a lot more thank you's than he ever got.  When I got the tattoo I was hoping for this very kind of thing, running into other soldiers who served--and ride bicycles.

My Weird Work Life

I am in New York City today for an all-day Word-of-Mouth marketing conference.  We are at the end of the second session on creating buzz.  It reminded me of the biggest change in the Army between my first enlistment and my current enlistment.

Back in the 70s and for time immemorial before that, the only people who spoke to the press in the Army were the Generals and designated officer spokesman.  After 9-11 the Army lets any soldier talk to the press.  the only restriction is that they not give future mission info and they stay in their lane.   It turns out people belief young soldiers and leaders and mistrust high-ranking officers.

Anyone who served in the in the last century knows how different the perception of soldiers is now versus the old days.  The Army itself has a much better public reputation than at any time since World War 2.

One big change between the post-Viet Nam army and today is the whole "I hate the Army" sentiment tht was so much a part of the old Army.  To have friends, you had to hate the Army.  I don't think I have heard the old acronym LIFER since I have been back:  Lazy Inefficient F##kup Expecting Retirement.

People who fit the LIFER description still exist--we are govt. workers after all.  But the acronym is not used to describe almost everyone who re-enlisted.

 

More Milblogs on my Site

Today I added several blogs to my connection list and will add more soon.  Since I can't write about the war first hand, I will keeping adding blogs from those who do.
 So in the right column in addition to the New York Times "At War" blog and David Marron's Thunder Run I added the Helmand Blog-Afghanistan by a Royal Marine Major, the FaST Surgeon blog by a Doctor serving in Afghanistan, The Gun Line, Free Range International, and Fire and Ice.

And on a COMPLETELY different note, my friend Kristine Chin and her husband are about to ride across Iowa again this year on a tandem bicycle.  Last year they borrowed my tandem and had a van carry their gear.  This year they bought their own heavier tandem and are carrying all their gear for the entire 400 mile ride across Iowa called RAGBRAI.  Last year she posted daily about butt pain and her love for pork chops.  This year she is again riding with less than 100 training miles.  Should be interesting.  Her blog.

Pennsylvania's Top Sergeant

This morning I drove to Fort Indiantown Gap early to meet Command Sergeant Major Nicholas Gilliland.  In December of 2009 he became the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Joint Forces - Senior Enlisted Leader by TAG (NOT The TAG, dammit!!!) Major General Jessica L.Wright.

He is not just the Command Sergeant Major of the State of Pennsylvania because he is the top non-commissioned officer over both the Army and Air Force National Guard in the Keystone State.  So he is the CSM who is the JF-SEL for PA to use the acronyms

I will be writing about him in the next week or two.  It turns out his career in the PA National Guard began with my current unit--the 104th Aviation.  So when the top NCO in the state traces his career back to your unit, it's sort of like the kid in my high school class who retired in his 40s after becoming a Microsoft millionaire.  He went to work at Microsoft in the 70s when it was a start-up and got stock bonuses.  Microsoft stock may have its ups and downs now, but in the 80s and 90s, it only went up.

When I met CSM Gilliland, I could understand why 2-104th Chinooks could fly all over Iraq for a year without an accident.  But more on that later.

WTF! Great Comments by my BFFs on Acronyms

I got some funny comments on my last post about acronyms.  If you haven't seen them, scroll down to yesterday and look at the comments.  The are ROLF LOL funny.  And since many of you would be in my BFF category if we were still in high school, I can tell you that the sudden popularity of that acronym and my Army background led to a very funny exchange between my youngest daughter and I.

Three years ago when she was sixteen and I had just re-enlisted, Lisa referred to her best friend Claire as her BFF.  At the time, the Army was flooding back into my mind and I was not yet texting or on Facebook.  Lisa played three seasons of sports since the sixth grade.  This meant she rode the bus with middle school then high school boys to away games.  So she knew all the vocabulary I was hearing again.  When I heard BFF I knew the last letter was for friend.  Claire had been Lisa's best friend for years.  In an unofficial Army acronym, the F in the middle can only refer to one word.

'WTF?' I thought.  Was Lisa using Army acronyms?  Should I be worried.  So I said, "Lisa does BFF really mean Best F--ing Friend?"  She looked puzzled, then amused.  "Dad.  Best Friends Forever.  LOL."

OMG did I ever screw that one up!