Non military stuff first:

Cubs are out...should have known. It wasn't that the dodgers were that good....the cubs were just that bad. when your pitchers walk every other person that comes to bat and your infield scores 6 or seven errors, you are going to lose. It wasn't Lou's fault, it was just bad baseball by a good team who got wrapped up in the 100 year thing. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but it's a theory. Second Why in the world was Jamie Moyer taken out of the game after four innings? I dunno, but I think that he could have gone into the sixth and then the bullpen could be called in at the seventh. Then agian, the phils lack of run production that game kinda helped the Brewers cause, so it wasn't entirely the pitchers fault. Good game though, here's to a clinch and trip to LA!

Military Stuff:

Spent some time in the field this week, nothing too difficult, just an excerise to help get us used to working in a field eniviroment, but we did some good training there. the class learned to high crawl and low crawl, move tactically, did the land nav testing, day and night. A word about the land nav. I got humbled that night. I'm used to working by myself when doing a land nav course and this is really the first time when I wasn't doing a stx lane that I worked land nav in a group and even in a STX lane you get shot at within 50 meters. So trying to find a point when working with a group of people at night was a whole new world for me. So we plot the points and move out, but either lack of concentration on my end or a sticky compass, prolly lack of concentration, we get off the azimmuth so bad that our NCO guide had to walk us to the points. So, general rule of thumb...pay attention when doing land nav. It's something I should know from ROTC, but I guess cockiness got in my way of actually paying attention, so just when you think you know something, you get humbled, and I did. Rightly so. So take the lesson learned, and drive on. Btw, IMT is GREAT PT!! ^_^ drag yourself in the dirt with an IBA and full battle rattle for about 50 yards and you'll lose a couple pounds. Lol. Ok, that's all for now y'all. Take care, and God Bless!

I love my Job

ok, I need to recant what I said about the new ASU...while that individual picture was terrible, that is NOT how it will normally be worn, some things like the tucked in pants will be optional, the normal  class "a" does not look that bad, I still think we should have kept the patches, b/c they're so cool, but in general, the new uni isn't bad.
The Combat badges are optional and will be worn on the right side of the abdomen sorta, so essintially, this is the same as the dress blue. I still hold that this was not the best way to spend the army's money and that there was few things wrong with the Current uniform setup, but once agian this is prime example of the Army trying to reinvent the wheel, there was nothing wrong with the BDU's, and now we have the ACU's that have a wear out date of 4-6 months and have so many stitchings in them that they shred and rip constantly, but oh well. So, I am not going to scathe the new uni anymore...or as badly, b/c I have been proven incorrect in my statements.

Secondly...there is a sad story in the Army Times about a Marine who couragiously gave his life save his comrades...and has been denied the MoH by Secretary Gates. This marine was wounded in the head, saw a grenade land beside him, and in his final moments, tucked the grenade into his body, and aborbed the blast. According to eyewitness accounts, sworn statements, and approval for the award by the Marine Corps and the Dept of the Navy, this was the truth. Not to Gates. He hired forensic experts to critically examine the accounts, and they said that it was luck because of the nature of the wound. Other accusations toward Gates have been launched saying that his illegal immigrant background, or a friendly fire being the cause of his wound or whether or not he had the presence of mind to consiously grab that grenade. So instead of a Moh, he gets the Navy Distingued Serivce Cross. His family said they would not accept the award becuase they and the DoN firmly believe he deserves the MoH. This is an insult to a brave marine who saved lives by his actions and Robet Gates is calling everyone who had their boots on the ground, a liar by this unprecendted action of calling in outside opinions. Way to build faith in Personal Courage, Selfless Service, Duty, and Integrity. I don't know if i should say that b/c he is a superior officer, but this is something that needs to be expressed and heard, and eventually he will get the MoH...it'll just be a little bit.

Now onto more non-military stuff. GEORGIA WTC???????? 41-30?!?!?! HOW IN THE WORLD DID BAMA SCORE THAT MUCH?? oh I know why, FREAKING PENALTIES!! I have consolation in one thing...USC is not overrated, but the PAC-10 sucks, and USC proved it by a loss to OSU where they just looked terrible. Florida lost to Miss St. An SEC team that is unranked. So when people say Georgia was overrated, I say we at least lost to a top ten team and we were coming back in the 3rd quarter and we lost by 11 points. Not a bad loss, to a VERY good Bama team, but still...I'm a bulldog...I'm gonna be stubborn and still say that UGA is still a top ten team and they will prove that they STILL deserve to be in National Title talk later on in their brutal schedule which is nothing new in the SEC.

Second GO FIGHTIN PHILS!! NL EAST CHAMPS  2008!!! RYAN HOWARD MVP WHOOO!!! Now we'll see if October will last in the Phils history. If I ever believed in the phils to win the NL and the WS...this IS THE TEAM TO DO IT!!  We are themost dominant, powerful, fastest, and we DESERVE and WE SHOULD win the NL. Look at who is playing, LA is at the front of the back, Milwalkee other than CC and Prince have consistency issues, and the Cubbies are really the only real theat in the NL. They have a great lineup up and down and have alot of potentional to be WS champions. As far as the AL goes, GO TAMPA BAY!! They are an extremely talented team and I love the fact that a team with such a small payroll is in, and the team with the BIGGEST PAYROLL IN THE MLB is out! Ah sweet justice. Now Boston did win the wild card, but they struggled severly with Tampa Bay being the upstarts in the AL east, so I think TB has an advantage over them if they play in the first round. Don't get me wrong, Boston has been one of the best teams in October in recent years, but they are withouut the bat of Manny Ramirez, and like it or not, he WAS HUGE last year, and in the Dodgers getting into the playoffs. Twins and Sox are still going at it, and I really don't know much about LA other than their lights out closer in K-rod and Vlad Guerreo, but like the NL west, the AL west is the worst division in the AL, as much as I love my Mariners, THEY SUCK. Oakland, please, and I almost forgot about Texas, so It'll be a challenge when the face one of two teams in the wild card in the Sox or Twins. WHAT I hope to Happen would be a phils-rays WS, but in my gut...I think Chicago will plow on into the WS, Take on Boston, and take them out in a seven game series, and I hope my heart is wiser than my gut b/c I really wanna see Philly and Tampa duke it out. Think about it, two teams that have struggled mightily in recent years, flying at each other trying to get their first world Series ring in about 28 years? Great for the game, and great for both cities. I know Chicago hasn't won one since 1918, but I gotta be a homer here, sorry Chicago. You beat my eagles last night so this is my revenge.

This is the Army's brilliant new concoction....an ugly uniform to end all uniforms. the Grand majority of soldiers I have talked to hated these things, and you know what pentagon? THE SOLDIERS ARE RIGHT??? I can't wait to see one of the joint chiefs look into the mirror wearing this and realize all he needs is a red nose and he'd have the ranger bobo clown outfit. Seriously DoD, we are in a freaking war and this is how you spend your money? By making recruits buy ANOTHER uniform when they have already bought A'S, BLUES, AND THE PIECE OF CRAP ACU's? what about oh idk, a better rifle to replace the M16, or maybe put more funding into Body armor or robot research and design. I dunno, just hazarding a guess here but those things seem to be more important than making the army look like the nutcraker rejects.

Ok, first the correct pronuciation of this acronym is chuh-bowl-lick. Second, sorry I haven't updated this thing. Been kinda busy. Finally, the adventures.

Aside from all the PC crap that the army makes you ie POSH and EO stuff, we have had some really good discussions and training these first few weeks. We have a great group of NCO 's working with us from a reserve unit that is serving as our instructors for the Non-chaplaincy stuff. Before I go there, I should say that I am the guidon bearer for my class. NOT a fun job in heavy winds. So every time we get ready to march, I charge up to the front of the formation, screaming my head off, and jam that pike end into the ground with a very motivated KA-BOOM! Yay me. Now for the fun stuff. We went to victory tower which is the rappell tower, cargo net, rope bridge etc, on big complex of fun. We roped off a 40 ft tower and I jumped down with two bounces off the wall...needless to say I hit the ground pretty hard but it's fun and I always do that (and also b/c my NCOIC challenged me to do it in no more than three) ^_^. Only bad thing is I still have a rope burn from crawling down one of the obstecles. (it was a rope extended at a slight downgrade about 25-30 feet long). Other than that it was fun. Marched there, marched back.

Day after we had NBC or as it is now called CNBR (Chem, Nuke, Bio, Radia) training. Which includes being able to put on the gas mask in less than nine seconds, not an easy task, not hard, but not easy either. so we learn all about CNBR and then it's off to the gas chamber! We line up, put on our masks, and shuffle into this tiny building about 50 ft(2) or so, and they line the 25 of us around the walls, and the NCO's are huddled around a canister and all I can see coming out that canister is smoke. Keep in mind this is the second time I have done this, first time wasn't as bad, I could barely feel it, but I guess they wanted us to get REALLY familiar with the CS gas becuase it was thick. About five of us line up at the exit, before we go, we rip off our masks and TRY to get out certain things like name social commander etc. and then WALK out of that as we are choking up, tearing up, snotted up, and looking like a freaking wounded duck coming out b/c we're all flapping our arms coughing and belching, AMV here we come lol. But seriously, it wasn't that bad, it sucked, but no one likes it.

Next is first aid which was alot of fun becuase not only do we get a full Combat lifesaver Course on speed, doing all the bandages, treatments, (normal first repsonder care in the civilian world, maybe paramedic level) but we also got to stick each other with saline locks which was cool to learn that some combat units go out with saline locks already in their arms in case they get wounded so that the medic just needs to hook up the IV and bam life saved. ALSO learned that 90% of preventable battlefield deaths are from bleeding. So if you get shot in an extremity...guess what Tourniquet!! then IV. So yeah really cool stuff that the army is doing to save lives and keep the soldiers alive and doing as little damage as possible given the situation.

Next week is land nav and the field and that should be fun...wonder how many people are going to get lost...the army system of navigation is simple, but it takes a bit to get used to...like 10 digit grid coordinate...GZ 32456783...32 and 67 are the grid squares, 45 and 83 are the n/s, e/w limits of that square and a 10 digit is accuarate up to 10 meters I believe it is.

Ok, now misellanious, most of the guys here are pretty cool, no real trouble makers or anything, most people know what they are getting themselves into, but in my platoon... there are two individuals that grate on my nerves...one guy is kind of a whiner, nice guy, but woe is me just grates on you for a while, and another guy that reminds me of the fat guy in Full Metal Jacket that everyone has to watch and baby. very annoying. Other than that, the NCO's and Officers here are amazing. My NCOIC is hilarious in the weird way that the NCO's are, and my SGL is pretty cool, old DS so he knows his stuff and don't care what we think of him as long as he trains us the right way and that we get the training we need. He's not here to hug and to be buddy buddy but to make sure the when we get down range, our soldiers are able to come to us without reservation. So he's good. Anyway, that's all I have for now, I'll see you guys later. OH! if you want to send me something to make me happy...I'll pm you guys how about that.

Laters, and God Bless

GOD STRONG

I would just like to say, that in-processing for ANY military engagement....DOES NOT CHANGE!!! Forutunately, I am an officer so I don't have drills in my face screaming at me...btw I have never met a nice DI on duty...until today...SHE SMILED AT ME AND OTHERS AND PLEASANTLY SAID HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!...dear lord I expected armegeddon right there...anyway more later. Watching Dallas lose which is always a fun pastime