Archive for November, 2008

Well, it seems we now have a SOFA with Iraq.  A Status of Forces Agreement, means for all intents and purposes, our withdraw timetable has been set and our presence is at the discretion of the government of Iraq.  SOFAs are agreements between our government and a foreign government on the status of our military in their country.  We have SOFAs with Germany, Italy, and South Korea for instance.  It sets what we can and can’t do, how our forces stand legally, etc.  So basically, Obama’s 16 month timetable is moot as its all up to the Iraqis as to when we will be gone – “no later than December 31, 2011.”  I gathered from reading that in the areas where the Iraqis already have full responsibility the withdraw from those areas must be complete by “no later than June 30, 2009.”  I am no legal expert, so I could be reading it wrong, but it looks like there may be quite a few shortened Iraq Tours next year.  What that doesn’t say is whether or not those troops will be shifted to Afghanistan.

On a political note, I hope Obama does not get credit for something that obviously was accomplished by the Bush Administration and the Iraqis.

Anyway, here are links to some good information on the SOFA:
The SOFA document – English Translation
The Mudville Gazette – Iraq SOFA Approved (They have had some good coverage on this)

Up here in Alaska there are only three cellphone providers available.  Two are regional (ACS and GCI), and AT&T Wireless.  My wife and I had T-Mobile.  T-Mobile had been our carrier since I switched from Cingular several years ago.  The problem was that T-Mobile is in a roaming state no matter where I was at.  It didn’t affect our billing or our calls out very much, but on the incoming side we were having all kinds of issues.  Voicemails and texts would sometimes come hours after they were left, the phone wouldn’t ring, and other issues with the constant roaming.  It got to the point where we decided just to switch carriers, and we decided to go back to AT&T because we could carry our phones anywhere an not have to worry about roaming, phone number, etc.

I hope everyone (or the one of you reading) had a good Thanksgiving.  We decided to cop out and go simple by going to the DFAC and paying a few bucks.  There are only three of us here after all.  My family and I filled our bellies and it was pretty good.  In Army tradition, all the officers and senior NCOs had to serve the troops, and the DFAC was decorated pretty nicely.  We had turkey, ham, roast beef, all the trappings, egg nog, and a bunch of different desserts. Even my picky three year old daughter was stuffed. It was my wife’s first DFAC experience and she said it was pretty good.

Yesterday, we were told that we could no longer use any kind of external media (government issued or personal) on any DoD computer system anymore.  This is more than an “inconvenience” as a lot of our daily work is carried out via thumbdrive/External hard drive.  Its the best way to transport documents, carry classes (I carry all my CLS materials on a thumbdrive), etc.  Not to mention the Army has been pushing paperlessness for at least a couple decades.  With the announcement yesterday, we have been sent back to the 80’s where we have to carry around large books with documents, make tons of copies, and carry laptops around just to get any work done.  Of course, as is the norm with the army, it was never explained why this came about.

I saw this and thought it was funny, especially the spider on caffiene. 

A few of the faces of the heroes that had given their all to protect our freedom and country.
Friends Lost

Well, I have dates now and I will be headed back downrange very, very soon.  Completely different area than last time, and a completely different mission as well.  So, my faithful few, you can expect the posting to go back to combat related perspectives again, and hopefully be more interesting than the last few months of stuff has been.  Interestingly, the way my orders work out I will have been home just past my “stability” year (an Army Urban Legend if there ever was one) and it wouldn’t have worked out for that if certain things hadn’t aligned themselves just so.  So that’s the big news.

I saw this on FOUND Magazine.  Thought it was sort of a statement on the economy in a weird sort of way.  If only it were that easy to swap careers.

In the interest of posting information about businesses, people, and entities that support the troops and veterans of military service, I am going to re-post an e-mail I received earlier.  I didn’t know such a program existed, but it sounds like an excellent way to open you own business (assuming making pizza is your business).  Anyway, I’ll let the e-mail and website speak for themselves as professionals are a lot better at getting their point across than I am.

Little Ceasar’s Veteran’s Program

To provide honorably discharged veterans with a business opportunity when they transition to civilian life or seek a career change, and thank them for the sacrifices they and their families made for our country

I’ll be honest, the letter smacks of marketing, and I hate marketing pitches, but because its related to Veteran / Troop Support I decided to go ahead and post it.  Take a look at it, someone you know might be looking for just this opportunity. The bulk of the letter is after the jump.

Well, wasn’t this a historic election. Not my man, but I recognize the historical importance of this election. Now I will have a “wait and see” attitude and see if the president-elect can pull off what he says or if he’ll be a party puppet.  We will look back on this election long in the future and see what change this brought to our nation.  Hopefully, its for the better.