So this morning I was on my way to teach class and as I was waiting for the elevator, I saw something that kind of blew my mind. There on the couch and sofa in front of the elevator was one of our janitors and some woman I had never seen before and she was going over a multi-page (like 7+ pages) document and discussing his performance. "What you're really stong at is..." was all I heard and frankly, I don't want to know more. I mean, what comes next? What you're really good at is emptying...
Last week I had to take the Defense Language Proficiency Test. This is an annual requirement for military linguists. We take the test to show that we have maintained our level of proficiency in our language. The results of this test are used in a variety of ways for or against the linguist. - We receive extra pay if our scores are high enough. In the Army, you can receive up to $300 extra every month if you can score high enough in three different languages. - We can...
I've been stationed on a number of bases during my Army career. Each of these bases has had a level (or lack of) security that varied from base to base. When I was a student at DLI, it was an open post. That meant that the gates were never closed and anyone could walk/drive/bike on and off post as they desired. At the same time, Ft Ord (just a few miles away) was a closed post. This was the home of the 7th Infantry Division and they had full time gate guards. I don't know who had that d...
So, I posted my very first blog earlier today and my score has risen to 35. Woohoo! I really have no idea what the score means or if it's going to go in my permanent record, but it's a thrill to see it skyrocket!!! I guess I could read the explanation on the JU homepage, but that will have to wait. I was talking with a buddy today about some of the shining beacons of leadership we've had the misfortune of crossing paths with in the past. I'm sure you've all had similar people to deal wi...
On Friday, July 2, I went to my first funeral since being selected for the duty. It was a small service at the cemetery and the family only requested Taps and a flag presentation, so it was only a two person job. On Thursday, I met with the Senior Airman that volunteered to work with me and we talked through our duties and then practiced a little. The SRA's only duty, really, was to "play" Taps and salute. The military realized years ago that it didn't have nearly enough real buglers ...
Just an update on my gate guard post from last week... My wife went to Army Community Service (ACS) a few days ago to check out the part time job listings. Apparently, the guy there tried to sell her on applying with the security company that is providing gate guards. He said they are starting people at $19/hour and that she could start immediately. Now the ACS guy might be misinformed. I hope that they are not hiring just anyone off the street and putting them on the gates right away....
I've decided that I will keep track of all the funerals that I go to during my time on the detail. Today, I had a service in Watsonville. It was another cemetery service, and like my first, was just a two person detail. I again arrived early, in order to see the layout of the area. I met with a very nice man and woman who were there as directors. They showed us to the plot and described the particular details. There was a Mass being held at the time in the church right next to the cem...
Easy for those with CLEAR and CLEAN minds. 1) What is a four-letter word that ends in k and means the same as intercourse? 2) What is it that a cow has four of and a woman has only two of? 3) What can you find in a man's pants that is about six inches long, has a head on it, and women love so much that they often blow it? 4) What word starts with f and ends with u-c-k? 5) What four-letter word begins with f and ends with k, and if you can't get one, you can use your hands? 6) What is ha...
I put the answers to the quizzes in the comments sections. Congrats to all!
OK, here's another quiz. 1) How long did the Hundred Years War last? 2) Which country makes Panama hats? 3) From which animal do we get cat gut? 4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? 5) What is a camel's hair brush made of? 6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal? 7) What was King George VI's first name? 8) What color is a purple finch? 9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from? 10) What is the color of th...
When I go to other people's blogs here on JU, I see at the top of the page a title bar with the JU symbol and a small font saying "Blogs for the Average Joe" under it, and also the title of the blog site. In the corner is a RSS button. But when I go to my own site, I never see this. Is this because you never see your own title bar, or am I missing something. I've gone to manage/edit site and I see nothing that looks like it would add this title bar (keep it absent). Can someone please po...
PT III We left behind three rucks and our antenna. We found out in the morning that the parachute had caught on the antenna and broken two of the elements off. We set off (towards the drop zone!) to find our OC. Ironically, our OC was fast asleep in the back of his truck, just meters away from the edge of the drop zone. We told him what happened. He told us to head down the road back to the TOC and let them know what happened. We headed down the road. The whole way, Church was s...
PT IV P-Ro woke me up the next morning. He had already gone off with the OC to collect our gear and we were getting together to inventory it all. We were also expecting a visit from our company commander. We found a spot to check our stuff and eat some breakfast. It didn’t take long for our commander to show up. We were interrogated for a while and asked to make sworn statements. Our OC was questioned, too. He then went off to measure how short the drop had been. We found out late...
PT V When the convoy finally stopped we got off the trucks and immediately moved out towards the site we had pre-selected on the map. We spent all of one night there. Late that night, Frydaddy and myself, went to sleep. We got up an hour before dawn and P-Ro and Church went to sleep. Right after first light, Frydaddy came to me (he was on guard and I was on the radio), and told me that he could see a two man enemy recon element. He said they were heading right at us and if they didn’t...
PT VI Well, this was the morning of the enemies ‘Big Attack’. We got word about 15 minutes after dawn that the enemy was moving but the battalion was holding them. A short time after that, one enemy T-62 broke the lines and moved right to the TOC. As it rolled up, we fired at it, but M-16s are no good against armor. The battalion had no anti-tank weapons inside the TOC area, so the only thing that slowed the tank down was when the ground guide (safety guy that walks in front of the tan...