It’s been quite a while since I’ve put anything up here, but I’ve not had a whole lot to say. To be absolutely honest, I’ve just kind of fallen into a groove of work and sleep lately. It’s not really healthy for me either, one of the mountains I have to climb is learning to be confident and communicate with civilians. But today I’m not going to write about me.

No, today I’d like to comment on the tragic events that transpired yesterday at Fort Hood. This whole scenario is ridiculously horrific, to the point that if it wasn’t being reported on the Today show I’d never believe it wasn’t some twisted training setup that could never happen. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I probably didn’t know anyone who wound up in the room with that gunman personally. But having been trained to help prevent US casualties, and having had that responsibility put on me in a war zone, I feel like I did know them.

It’s terrifying that something like this could happen. It’s horrible that no one had taken steps to ensure that the gunman had begun to receive some measure of attention and monitoring, or better yet to remove him from service. The worst part is that sometimes things don’t change until a problem presents itself; well Mr. President, Mr. Chief-of-Staff-of-the-Army, here’s a problem. How do you check on the people who check on us grunts? How do you ensure that people receive attention based on the warning signs that they show of having issues?

I assure you that the fast and easy answer, tightening security coming onto post for soldiers and DoD ID holders, is not feasible. Trying to search 1,000 cars coming onto base at the end of lunch hour is not feasible. And it would have taken having every car entering post searched the day he brought his weapons onto base for that to even have a chance at preventing this. It comes back to paying attention to your people.

I have no idea how they will move forward in the investigation. I have no idea how people will cope and move forward in Fort Hood. But I know how I will move forward: saying a prayer for the fallen, and working even harder in their memory.

So, as you know I’m serving our country in the Army.  And as a general rule, I try to avoid commenting on the social and political climate of our country, because I represent the Army when I do so, and that’s pretty much impossible for one man to do. But this… this has just driven me nuts. I don’t have cable in my room to watch the news, so I first heard about the “Tea Party” tax protests here.  Honestly? Speaking for myself only, I’m glad to see that people are actually exercising their voices in public for a change and letting the government know that they arn’t happy.  After how eerie it was not having any rallies or protests (for the most part) against Bush while he was in office, I was kind of worried that America had lost part of it’s roots and was just gonna let anything happen. But then I got to the following paragraph near the end of that article:

‘My piggy bank’
Other protesters also took direct aim at Obama. One sign in the crowd in Madison, Wis., compared him to the anti-Christ. At a rally in Montgomery, Ala., where Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” blared from loudspeakers, Jim Adams of Selma carried a sign that showed the president with Hitler-style hair and mustache and said, “Sieg Heil Herr Obama.”

Now that right there… again, speaking only for myself, I fought for people who are villinizing the president? Seriously? There MUST be a more constructive thought in the head of Mr. Adams of Selma than that.  I honestly feel bad for our president.  I mean, if you step back and look at the situation he stepped into, he’s got an uphill battle all the way around.  The world doesn’t like us, we’re in an economy slump, and we’ve got the biggest defecit in the history of our country.  I’m not even going to touch the battles we’re facing in the middle east right now, partly because I really can’t and partly because it’s all already been said.  And to top all that off, he’s the first non-Caucasian to hold the presidency, promising change.

Now, that’s not to say that I don’t have issues with the way things are currently.  I’m not really impressed with the bank bailout plan, but that’s got nothing to do with my feelings twords our president.  He’s just one man, trying to keep america the leader of the free world.  He’s just trying to pick the best options that are placed before him by the people who work for him.  I’m kind of scared that people are going to blame how well the country did on his skin color (which is racist as all hell) and we’ll be stuck with old white guys in the Oval Office forever.

So do the country, hell, the world a favor: Please, stick to constructive criticism when complaining to your government representatives.  I promise you, it’s gonna get more things changed than calling him or her a nazi.

Happy New Years people. I’m officially back from the giant sand box known as Iraq. However, I still seem to be lacking a few things I thought I would just automatically recieve when I got back. Such as a life. Being without any gaming consoles, movies and even basic transportation, I’m pretty much stuck in my room, on the internet. But thank GOD for Cable Broadband. No one who hasn’t been deployed can know the pain of having an internet uplink that loads an average webpage in, oh I don’t know, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Another thing I missed out on: regular health care. So now I’m getting all kinds of poked, prodded, blood-drained and possibly drilled to ensure that I’m in good health. It’s not fun… on the flip side, however, I’ve not had a head cold since I joined the millitary. Either there’s something that’s actually good for me in the food here, or I’m really blessed. Well, probably the second one, considering I came home in one piece with no missing parts.

I’ll stop rambling now, but I’ve got an idea of my next post: reasons not to join the army. It’s probably gonna be an ongoing thing, as there are so many mechanisims in the organization that don’t work right that I can forget them untill the shortcoming smacks me in the face again.  But to kick it all off, don’t join the army reason 1: because then you don’t have to decide if you want to stay in the army.

Now that I am officially set up, I’m happy to begin my terrorism life/millitary blogging here. I’m me, and if you don’t know me yet… well, you will soon. MrTrip and I occasionally reside in the same town, and since I crave power need an outlet and he want’s to keep me some form of sane, he’s graciously allowed me to write about my experiences in the millitary here. A lot of it plays into life itself. Because if you’ve ever lived in an isolated area with a group of about 100-200 people you see every day(or even been to middle school), you know how civilization can quickly dissolve into petty bullcrap. Complete with themed dances. >_< (Thanks for Salsa Night, Army Health and Welfare committee, it was just like being home… in 11th grade, at homecoming!)

Seriously, Army life isn’t so bad. Well, with a war going on it’s got decent perks, anyways. And that’s not to be disrespectful of my brothers and sisters in arms who have given their lives. But think of it in terms like this: I’m getting offerred 13,000 tax free dollars to keep doing this work for another 4 years. I have a High School Diploma, some millitary training, and that’s it. I don’t work anywhere near the danger zones. And I still get goodies from home, I have a fat life insurance plan, and best of all, I’m learning how to be a leader. Leadership is where the cash is, people. The only trick is to not become a power-crazy ass.