Laggin and a Draggin thru February

Ugh, is it March yet? Please?

I know I haven’t been updating as frequently as I would’ve liked to, but when you throw a crazy amount of paperwork at me, and then send me on mission? Yeahhhh I’m gonna be catching up on my procrastination for a couple weeks!

It is official, the end is coming closer and closer. Here’s how I don’t need a calendar to know this:

1. People are bickering and picking fights with one another wayyyy too often.

2. I’ve been tasked with putting together and MCing the company’s end of deployment award ceremony.

3. I’ve sat thru a briefing where I had to be told that I “am not supposed to physically harm or threaten” my significant other, that I ”can’t have sex all the time” and I must let my “significant other be in charge until reacclimated.”  When asked one of my Soldiers replied, “I’m 24, I’m single and I’ll let the physically harm part of it come from my pants.” Army boys are fucking geniuses.

It will be wonderful to come home to CT, but sometimes I get ahead of myself. I’m trying so hard to focus on the task at hand and get all 43 of us out in one piece, but at the same time looking forward to what is a bright future. My personal life has always been lived on a whim…with a couple of minor scheduling conflicts coming up (like, um, a deployment to Kuwait?), but now that I’m trying to set myself up for success, I’m really having trouble focusing out here. I’m lucky to have friends, family and a wonderfully supportive girlfriend to not only ease the transition, but force me to realize that there is plenty of time to figure things out…just one step at a time.

I’m currently looking for a temporary summer sublet in the New Haven area. If any of you know of anything…hook your boy up.

I’m going in for my seventh tattoo in April as well. I have plans on doing it at the same tattoo shop in Groton that did a few of my other pieces. If I can’t slate it there, my boy Bones in Vegas said he’ll do it if I’m willing to do it every other day. That doesn’t really fit into my plans, but if I can get him to do the outlining immediately, I can come back over May and July (when I have to report to duty and prove I haven’t killed myself/gone crazy) and color/shade/alter it. I plan on this being my Sistine Chapel. Something I can add and touch up, but never recreate anywhere else on my body. It was originally a sleeve from the neckline of the top of my right shoudler to my right wrist, but I’ve redesigned it so that it wraps around my right shoulder blade and bicep all the way to a half-inch above the elbow. I’m eventually going to get out of this uniform, and don’t want to wear long sleeves the rest of my life. Not in the professional world.

Oh wow. BIG DEVELOPMENT: I’ve been selected by the brigade (a total of two battalions, which is a total of eight companies, which is a total of 1500-2000 Soldiers) to be interviewed by Dan Rather on our specific job in Iraq! Wow. Friday morning he’ll sit down with me, the ‘regular Soldier’ and talk all things regarding my job. CRAZY.

edit: I have to meet with a public affairs representative to discuss what I can and can’t say on the air. Clearly my first question will be something along the lines of, “Do I get a trailer?” or “Do I get a makeup girl?”

Back to reality: I’m just excited to come home. Once we’re thru February, it’ll just be a matter of time before my replacements show up and we start teaching them everything we’ve done over the last year. And then….time to get those wheels up and that plane in the air. My head is spinning.

Mike

Looking to the Past to Examine the Future

I’ve followed the bloggings of my college buddy Christian for a long time (alwaysandnever.wordpress.com). A little history: Christian and I met back in the winter of 2003, when I was a young, naïve 19-year old who happened to move in with a couple of buddies of his from high school. We shared the same major, shared the same interest in drinking til we puked and I immediately became one inside the ‘circle’ of about 10-12 close friends from UConn who are now spread from Los Angeles to Boston…Syracuse to Tampa and everywhere in between. Out of everyone, he is probably one of two or three who knew how truly destructive and bizarre I could get in college, but he is also one of the people who I’ve never had a bad time with.

In his last post, he examined how his 22-year old self would punch the current 26-year old version right in the mouth. How different of people they really became. It got me to thinking about myself: was I really that different? Have I changed all that much?

There are some areas where I’ve made huge leaps and strides in. Responsibility. Maturity. Never having to left paycheck-to-paycheckity. All these ‘itys’ add up to what I think has turned out to be a pretty solid guy. I still have a ton of shortcomings, to include my sometimes-short fuse (which, as all of my friends know, used to be a LOT worse), my world-class ability to procrastinate and my inability to enjoy the present, instead of worrying about the future all the time.

However, bouncing between Las Vegas, Los Angeles and now Kuwait for the last three years has taught me that it really isn’t all about me anymore! There’s more out there than what’s going on right in front of my face, and it is important of me to be aware of that fact. I think it is a heavy reason why I was never able to really trust in a relationship before: because I was always worried that I was the one doing something wrong, or I was the one who was screwing things up. Now, I find myself being able to trust and open up a lot more to my family and friends. What a great feeling.

The whole purpose of me deploying to Kuwait was to find myself and what I was capable of handling under extreme amounts of pressure and stress. That, and once 30-35 of my guys started signing up to take on this task, I couldn’t let them do it alone. It just isn’t in my nature anymore. They expect a lot out of me. It is up to me to give them someone to follow. Yeah, I go ballistic every so often and yeah they get on my every last nerve, fighting about the dumbest thing., but they know I’m here for them…and the fact that I can recognize that in myself is a damn good feeling.

On the personal side of my life, I couldn’t be more excited or happy in anticipation of my great return to the east coast. Between what I hope is a new and exciting relationship and being able to reconnect my family and friends that I have been away from for almost three years, things are going to be different solely because I intend on making them that way. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: 2010 is MY year. And I’m going to make it my year with only eight months remaining.

Saturday Night’s All Right for Working…wait.

AS I sit in my office for what is now the 43rd Saturday of this deployment, I can’t help but smile while the world around me continues to become more and more hectic. As recently as two years ago, I’d have anger issues so deep that a brain tumor was near certain. However, being in Kuwait has really gotten me to change my tune…and for the better too.

It used to be that any little thing set me off. Now I barely react to things that other would consider major. I guess this deployment – and some of the things that have taken place out here – have really put things into perspective. It isn’t all about me. Everything isn’t life-or-death. There is time to breathe and still accomplish your goals. I’m still trying to balance the serious with the unimportant, but I’m getting there. I’m still pretty impatient…and as things progress in my personal life, I find myself getting more and more anxious to get home to the States and move back east.

Thinking of cutting out of work early to head to the gym. I know later I won’t feel like doing a G-D thing. UConn/Texas and Villanova/St. John’s tonight. Excited to watch the Wildcats continue this monster start to the Big East season they’re having. Not so excited to watch UConn get absolutely slaughtered. I’m hoping Kemba shows up. He seems to be the key to that defense clicking. Thoughts, Christian?

Motivation Comes in All Shapes and Sizes

In the Army, they have something called ‘going on profile.’ It generally refers to a Soldier who sustains an injury of some sort and has to be put on specific orders to take medication and limit physical exertion based on the nature of the damage. The time I’ve spent in the gym on jiu-jitsu and hand-to-hand combat took its toll. Fighting bigger people is good for your technique, but has become really, really bad for my body. I’ve been sidelined for about a month from running, jumping, climbing trees and any serious activity. I kind of hid from it solely because I don’t want to fall behind…but I sure as hell got out of shape and got lazy.

Now that I have PLENTY of motivation to get back in the gym and get back into, well, um, decent shape (aka 185-190), I plan on skipping out on work more and more often to get in the gym and push myself these last 60 days to at least build a solid foundation for when I come back to the States (PS If you know of any highly recommended gyms in CT, let me know…I’ll be looking almost immediately). I decided not to test my limits, but to just work hard, and see what came of it. I started at the track, where I put up a 14:50 2-mile. Impressive, since I haven’t run since before Christmas. I can probably break 14 within the next two months (when I have to take my last physical fitness test of the deployment), so I’m going to set 13:58 as a goal.

I’ve never been a lifter. But I’m trying to get on a regiment to just feel better about myself in general. Even with these scrawny little arms and this deceptively large frame, I can do push ups all day. Same with situps. Now, I want to SEE results on something other than a test!

If anything, spending hour after hour in the gym (and on the basketball courts, where I’m trying to get back into playing shape) is chewing up the time I have to spend here on this deployment. I’ve got the paper trail in the office handled and a pretty good system in place…now I’m just waiting to meet my replacement and start walking him/her through the process. Sigh…I remember the first time I stepped off the plane and realized, “Holy SHIT, I’m in the middle east.” It was about 2 AM, buses lined the TARMAC to take us to our home for the next year. It was pretty intimidating. It took a few hours to get everything rolling, and I definitely couldn’t sleep I was just trying to process everything at once.

Then we stepped into the area that now houses our offices and trucks, and I still couldn’t get a hold of myself. One of my buddies said that I kind of walked around with that glazed over look that was half-shock, half-exhausted. And I was. Trust me. I remember meeting my replacement, processing everything he was explaining to me, and having a couple weeks to pick his brain and learn the ropes. I recall being incredibly thankful that I had someone with a good head on their shoulders to take me thru, because once they turned everything over to us, we hit the ground running. That day, I promised myself I would leave things better than I got them, and make sure MY replacement was in good shape.

Speaking of good shape, I’m cutting out of work early to go to the gym. I need a new playlist for it…any suggestions??

Operation Exxon Valdez…a Day that Will Live in Infamy

What a difference a day makes.

The last few days have been super productive for the guys. Fixing trucks that have had problems going on five or six months. Cleaning up the barracks. Shipping stuff home and getting ready for the big push this ‘home stretch’ is going to require of us.

And then it happened. The Exxon Valdez. Part Deux.

There are always upgrades and updates that have to be made to our trucks. One of which are our lights. It is going to be so tough going back to the States to drive around after the lights that we get here. If someone was to stand in front of one of these trucks, lights on and everything, and walk towards us with their arms spread apart…it would look like the second coming of Jesus. Or an alien. Actually I’m not sure there is a difference. Anyways, a couple of my trucks still need to get these super sweet new lights. So as we took them to the shop today, and parked them for the crews to work on, one just starts spewing gasoline. Everywhere. The shop floor. My boots. Everywhere. As I was walking back to my office, I noticed that the smell still stuck around. Yeah. Gross.

So as I begin to think the worst about one of my trucks, a mechanic comes into my office. “My bad sir, forgot to reconnect the fuel line.”

Nice. And I ruined a pair of boots.

C’est la vie. It is about time that SOMETHING like this went wrong. Let the paperwork begin!

All work and no play??? Yeahhhh, about that.

I tend to complain about work  a lot on this thing, but that is because I try to occupy as much time as possible out here keeping my mind off the ticking clock as we work our way back to the States. Honestly, though, there are a lot of opportunities to get away from the grind and take your mind off things. The Army has something it refers to as Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR). It covers the gyms, the concerts and the various programs/events/tournaments that are put on by the post. Everything from Guitar Hero Karaoke to Deadlift Competitions to that insufferable Kellie Pickler (awesome to look at, not so awesome to listen to) coming for a concert on post. You name it, we’ve done it. Spades tournaments (won one a few months ago), poker tournaments (won two of the four I’ve played in), dominoes tournament (won one of those too, no big deal or anything). There really is a TON to do here on post.

I’m kind of in a weird position where I work. I have a lot of freedom that the other officers don’t have because I don’t have all of the additional details they do. You’d think that to be a blessing, but a commander not assigning an LT additional duties generally says something about your ability. My case, however is a little different. When I first found out I was officially being deployed to Kuwait, I knew I would lead a transportation platoon that would be out on the road for long periods of time. I just wasn’t sure what capacity I would be in. Every truck convoy needs a security element (gun trucks) to escort along the route. Being a trained and qualified logistics officer, my commander from Nevada told me that my platoon and I would be meeting a company from Arizona, and joining with them to drive those gigantic trucks. Been a great time, but my commanders don’t want my guys to feel any sort of pressure when it comes to ‘re-integrating’ with the Soldiers from Nevada that we’ve seen very little of over the past year.

In truth, I couldn’t have asked for a better platoon. These guys are ridiculous. Fun, hard-working and mature. Can’t ask for much more than that out of a bunch of truck drivers. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in this war. They make me look good…and I bend over backwards for them.

Now, as I was saying, I don’t really have a lot to do for either company (Arizona or Nevada)…which gives me an inordinate amount of free time. Instead of getting myself in trouble, I decided to start a company basketball team. The championship game takes place three days before we leave Kuwait, so I figured it would be the perfect way to get some of the guys together from both my platoon and the Arizona company (in a transportation company, you really stick to your platoon, since that’s who you spend all your time on the road with. Even after 10 months, my enlisted still don’t have a lot of interaction with the other joes) in a competitive environment. I’ve decided to stress my best asset on the basketball court in the hopes of making this a fun team that has potential to make a deep run – coaching. That’s right. I show up to every game in a polo and jeans and set plays, run rotations, the whole nine yards (pictures coming on Edit…I promise!). What a wonderful opportunity. We’re 3-0 after a RIDICULOUS 58-57 triple overtime game the other day and things are looking up! Game #4 is tonight and we went from a small following of 4 or 5 in the company to about 30 strong. CRAZY. I can’t believe the support the company has given us and now I have the luxury of playing my best players since people are COMPETING for spots. I love it! And even if we lose every game the rest of the way, I know we’ll come out better, because those who want to be there will stick it out and the negative trash will go by the wayside. A great time.

Currently cleaning the office to keep my mind off the time that I need to pass to come. Operation Cat Out The Bag is officially complete. Although I’m not sure why she’s STILL so secretive

Ciao

Nostalgia!

I spent a good part of last night going through my regular routine. Meeting with my top guys. Throwing bones. Listening to music. My Soldiers like to call me Mr. Rodgers because when we get back to the barracks, they know I’m the first to throw on jeans and a polo. With the temperature dropping recently, I’ve been wearing hoodies. A lot. My favorite is that cashmere one I’ve had from the GAP and I get made fun of for it constantly. But when I wear it with my headphones, glasses and Dodgers hat…I look like I’m about 70 years old. Will add a pic on the edit…because even I had to laugh at it.

Things are starting to pick up again. At least for me. With a lot of guys out on the road and me pretty much grounded from any more missions to take care of the endless amounts of paperwork, I find myself buried in my office for hours at a time. I won’t lie, all my office is missing is a window with a view. Nice big desk. Nice comfy chair. Surround sound system. War is hell? Again, pictures on the edit.

Having something to look forward to (like my prolonged escape to New England) is a blessing and a curse. At the beginning of this deployment, I promised myself I wouldn’t count the days…but it is very difficult not to. Although, I suppose I would be counting them down anyways since Jon (the LT across the hall from me) has a “take-a-number” deli-style counter on his door that I am forced to stare at any time I have the door open. Back in April, I was not only way in over my head, but this deployment seemed like it was going to last forever. Now, we’re in a flow, we’re awaiting replacements and everyone is just trying to stay as busy as possible. It just boils down to everyone being excited to go home and sometimes emotions get the better of us. I have two goals in these last two months: Keep the drama low and prep the incoming guys as best as possible to give them the start they need to succeed over the next 10 months. I can’t thank the guy I replaced enough for the head start he gave me. I hope I get the opportunity to buy him a beer or seven when I visit northern California after this is all said and done.

Time to wrap it up and get back to the grind. Until tomorrow…

1. Q – Cartel

2. Heart of the City (Jay-Z)

3. Satellite (Guster)

4. Falling Down (Atreyu)

5. A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (This Providence)

Jetsetting Male, 25, Housebroken Needs Place to Live…in CT!!!

Yesterday was absolutely a productive night! I am so excited for this spring and summer that I can barely contain myself, and I definitely am walking around with a semi-permanent smile. My co-workers are scared. My Soldiers are scared. They know I’m happy. So much to look forward to, the first of which is that I won’t be required to work for the unit after we get back to Las Vegas. Which means that when they dismiss us from the ‘reintegration briefs’ (which will only take a couple days), I can pack up and head to CT to make up for all the lost time with family and friends. Of course, the caveat to the situation is that I have to fly back to Vegas once-a-month and spend my ‘one weekend a month’ helping the unit get built back up.

Soooo, I’m only allowed to spend the time at home if I am willing to spend one weekend a month in Vegas? I dunno, you really might need to twist my arm on that one.

Which makes my current life plan look like this:

Early April – Get to Vegas, get our parade, take pictures, find out I’m fit to return to civilian society. Find myself a car.

Apr 10 (or so) – Pack said car with everything I own (which is really three boxes of clothes, a flat screen TV and my golf clubs) and hit the 15 E with Vegas in my rear view and CT in my sights.

Apr 17 – Mystic Mile tuxedo night.

Apr – August – Bars. Beaches. Foxwoods. Whatever I damn well please. :0)

Right now, I’m not really picky about where in CT I end up. As much as I love Mystic, I don’t need to be THAT close. Part of me wants to check out a new side of CT. I still have family in Cheshire (where I originally grew up before moving to Groton). My grandparents have this gorgeous 2-bedroom outside Avon that I have gone to since forever. Wouldn’t mind being closer to that. And of course, Groton/Mystic provides me with endless options to satiate the clear gambling problem I have as well as keep me close to family and friends.

As far as potential, 2010 is starting to look as good as 2004 did. Hope you’re there to join in on the fun.

Buy Stock in the Tazdaq, because bebe we’re soaring!

I have to admit, it has been a long time since I’ve paid attention to what day of the week it is. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve turned on the TV at 6:30 pm and been disappointed to not find Jeopardy because it turned out to be a Saturday. This is what my life has been reduced to. Over the next few days, I’m going to upload some pictures to sort of give a ‘tour’ of my life here in Kuwait. My room. My office. My unnecessarily long walk to the office. And other points of interest. I think you guys would be surprised to how good we have it here:

-Taco Bell, Subway, Baskin Robbins, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King

-A pool, a day spa, indoor basketball courts better than my high school gym.

-Wireless internet. Pillowtop mattresses. 24-hour card rooms/pool and ping-pong tables and gyms.

So don’t go feelin’ too bad for us over here. We could be doing a lot worse than we are. Currently, the office is kind of frazzled, with guys who aren’t used to doing paperwork being forced to do it. Of course, I’m already looking forward to editing a ton of mistakes, and then getting them rejected for all the errors I miss because I’m going blind staring at the same stupid mistakes over and over and over again. It is probably the best prep I could hope for if I ever want to become a teacher.

Speaking of which, the applications will be in next week: Kelly has talked me into drinking the alumni Kool-Aid and I’ll be applying to UConn after deciding on UNLV, UCLA and PC at long last. UNLV was obviously my 1st choice, but a 1-year program close to home? Might not be such a bad gig…especially if I could take a run at a free tuition like I’m looking at in Nevada!

Last night was very interesting. Internet was out in my building, so I turned my attention to playing dominoes, chess and gin with the guys. As much as I love playing with those guys, they are starting to learn to be patient with me at times…as there are always a million questions that need to be answered. And they all know that work comes before play, so if a break is necessary, it is awesome knowing we’ve got guys that are willing to respect not so much me, but their boys who are looking for the help that they might one day be asking for. But once the questions were put the rest, the dominoes, trash talk and fun started flying. Nights like that really do make you feel like a big family. After the internet came back up, I went back thru my old boring routine, and continued to hash out plans for the future. All I’m gonna say is that I am now VERY excited for 2010 to start. :0)

And now playing:

1. Run to the Hills – Iron Maiden

2. Paris is Burning – Dokken

3. Every Rose Has Its Thorn – Poison

4. You Can’t Always Get What You Want – Rolling Stones

5. Start Me Up – Rolling Stones

6. Hold My Hand – New Found Glory

(Yeah, it was a classic rock kinda day, except for the last one, or course!)

Oh, you know, just your average Kuwaiti Wednesday

Less than three months from going home means that there is a LOT of work to do while still pushing missions into Iraq AND getting ready for a new unit to come in and take over. In general, I’m a disorganized person and having to work on at least four projects at once to keep my attention is almost disastrous. I’m taking this opportunity to test my newfound organizational, time management and scheduling skills - and seeing that there are 43 guys relying on me to get the home, I should probably pass!

I’ve spent the last few days doing “Life After Kuwait” counseling. Do you have a job to go back to? Do you want to try to look for work in the military? Do you want to extend your commitment and do another year in the Middle East? And my personal favorite, “Do you have any outstanding warrants in Nevada or any reason you may run into legal trouble when you step off the plane in Las Vegas?” Truthfully, I’ve been blessed with a crew that is not only well-behaved, but surprisingly well-adjusted for a group of people that are constantly asked to work 20-hour days with little to no thanks from anyone outside of me. As you probably can imagine, an atta boy from a 25-year old officer isn’t exactly the most motivating factor in the world.

But we get by. Weekly BBQs, spades and dominoes til all hours of the night,  rock band battle royales. SSG Babb’s spandex-only Rollerblade team. Just your average Wednesday in Kuwait.

I often get asked what the hardest part of getting deployed is. The long hours? Nah, it isn’t like I have anything better to do. Being away from home? Nah, I moved out of CT three years ago and have done a pretty damn good job surviving on my own ever since. The constant threat of attack while on mission? You get pretty numb to it after a while. For me, it is the complete and utter loneliness that starts to kick in around month #3. Being an officer, I don’t have a lot of options for face-to-face social interaction. A unit of 250 Soldiers might only have 4 or 5 officers, tops. Being 25 and single, I don’t really have a lot in common with the married-with-children type folk . Just not my cup of tea and thus giving us really nothing but work to talk about. And I HATE HATE HATE social situations that involve work conversation. So the toughest part? Finding a way to laugh and joke around and smile every once in a while without ever losing the control that I’m in command of this platoon, and that makes me in charge. I think I failed miserably the first few months, but have come around to garner that respect. Hence why I’m still able to throw bones with the guys til 2 AM, and still get on their ass for showing up late to work when I was there 45 minutes early to help prep for the day. I joke around I don’t do a lot (as made evident by my current quest to get #taxdollarsatwork to become a trending topic on twitter), but in reality, this job is a fucking bear, and it requires everyone’s 100%. Sometimes, I have to fake it, and I won’t lie, I’m TIRED. All the time.

I’m gonna end every journal with 5 songs I’m listening to. Those of you on twitter prob already know em, since I’ve been posting #nowplaying updates out of bordemn at least once an hour. But here we go:

1. Hold My Hand – New Found Glory

2. Fields of Athenry - Dropkick Murphys

3. Say Anything – Cartel

4. Bad Days – Something Corporate

5. Emaline – Ben Folds Five