LAst days in Iraq and PATTON???

October--November

Okay, so it has been a while since I updated you guys on what was going on.  A lot of that has to do with some transitions going on, and the rest is due to the fact that I have been so busy; I haven’t really had any desire to do anything but sleep, skype with Gretchen and Elise, and relieve stress in any other way.  I have been playing Assassin’s Creed on Xbox, and usually I don’t waste people’s time talking about a video game, but this one has been incredible.  I bring this up because it has helped me reduce a lot of stress, which has been very useful in the last month.  Another experience that I got to have was meeting the ground crew for the Air National Guard F-16 squadron that we have here.  A couple of months ago, the head logistics Col of the Iraq Air Component (USAF Col) and I were talking about career progression, the RAS program, and Bolling AFB...(he was stationed at Andrews and he knew almost everyone I knew over there).  

 I really like this Col, and if I have to extend for a longer time period here, and he offered me to go work with him, I would do it in a heartbeat.  Anyway, he mentioned that there were some F-16’s coming in, said that he would like to take some of the J4 staff out there to see them.  As busy as he is, we thought that this was just a nice gesture, but the other day (as I was packing up my computers and other office equip), he showed up and said we could go out there in the mid morning.  I really respect him for that, because like I said, we were all busy, and he found the time to do that for us...like I said...GREAT guy!!

            Most of you know that I basically work for a strategic-level-glorified “Two men and a truck.”  Our two men are various staffs at different levels and our trucks happen to be more than “one”, because you need more than one to get all of this stuff out of here.  I have also been put in charge of prepping and staging a nightly brief for the general.  On top of the brief, now I have been tasked to do a summary of that brief, so the General can pass info up to his bosses.  

 IT really is not that hard as long as people are reporting right numbers, but lately the stats have not been adding up and I have been put under more pressure to make sure we get the most accurate information.  There was one point where the 2 star general and his deputy were hovering over me making sure that I was using the correct numbers…micro management at its finest.  Now, if I make one tiny mistake I have to go through the whole thing with my boss (Lieutenant Col) to make sure that it is PERFECT. 

  I feel like I am back in high school walking through an Algebra problem with the teacher…not a Captain in the USAF.  That’s okay, because from other historical military experiences, it was the anal-retentive micro-management of leaders that paved the way to success…I have to accept that under such heavy scrutiny and pressure, leaders HAVE TO make sure that something is done right.

            So, it is “MOVEMBER,”

2 weeks after the genesis of "Ricky Joe II"

which means I am growing a mustache…”Grandote con un Bigote.”  My poor attempt of growing a mustache is just another activity to pass the time, and I have been looking forward to Movember since July, when I shaved the “beginning of deployment ‘stache.”  It is hard to believe that I have been here now for 5 months; time has gone by pretty quickly, and I am excited about being back for Christmas.  We will have to be creative to make Thanksgiving fun and enjoyable, and we have more resources here in Kuwait than we had up in Iraq.  The worst part is with the transition, we had to say “good-bye” to some of our fellow comrades who were going home or getting re-missioned to another location.  Good-bye to the Ghetto Canal All-Ranks Club,

It's not a party until a table breaks in half!!

Good-bye to the College Football Meat-A-Palooza, and Good-bye to Iraq as a whole.  We still get the loud booms and gun fire in Kuwait, but that is coming from the training range. 

            My new “digs” come with several roommates…something that I am not very used to.  We live in barrack-type settings that have a set of 3 bunk beds in the room…intended for (up to) 4 people.  Right now there are three of us, but I did have the room to myself for a good 4 days.  We wake up in the morning (6am) to Reveille followed by the theme song from “Patton.”  The 3^rd Army resides here (Patton’s Army), and I am assuming that they got the rights of Jerry Goldsmith to play that song every morning.  At first it was kind of cool, but after several days, it has kind of reached that level of annoyance.