Had a thought last night. I see the destruction of human beings multiple times a day, and I have done so since 1995. Most people are fortunate enough to only see this maybe once in a life time, and then rarely up close and personal. I am still breathing, still moving forward, and still mostly sane.

Lucky, blessed, or just self-destructive? Guess I have yet to figure that out.

I had a thought the other day and it’s been kinda bugging me. I look at all the Vietnam vets and all the problems they have had. Most were draftees, and/or one tour soldiers. Most of the OIF/OEF soldiers are multiple tour soldiers, and multiple front veterans. This is something that hasn’t really been seen since WWII.

I have to wonder how anyone expected these soldiers to remain well adjusted individuals after so long in combat and the sudden life-changing adjustments that have to be made every 12-15 months. This is a big adjustment both coming and going, not just because of the experiences in combat, but the pure change in stance. Personally, I will have spent more time gone than not here very shortly and I know how hard it can be to adjust.

Anyway, it was just a thought I had and not a very complete discussion point on my part, but at least you know I am still out here now. At least for the moment.

A “New Dawn,” huh!?

So that’s the name the powers that be came up with for OIF now that we are no longer “engaged in combat operations.” First off, that name sucks! New Dawn sounds like some hippie festival in the California desert. And here I thought “Provide Comfort” was the cheesiest operations name to date.

Thought I would share a few pictures from my flight the other day. These were taken at about 6500 feet when we landed on a little plateau. The area had a herd of Dall Sheep on it, but they ran down the mountainside out of view before I could get any pictures.

Ok, well I finally posted up some pics from the last year.  Not as many as I posted from my last tour, but how many different pictures of helicopters can I post anyway?  I also haven’t posted any Twitter digests in a while, and I discovered I can only easily get the last month’s worth of tweets. Besides that, we are just getting ready for all the holidays and birthdays we have coming up.  I still got a couple of weeks leave to go, and I plan on getting the most out of it.

Also, I would like to join the other milbloggers out there in supporting the milblog cause.  I was silent on the Milblog Blackout, but not for any other reason than I was enjoying my time off, so now I will put in my two cents. Our personal freedom of speech as well as your ability to read the stories from those with “boots on the ground” is coming under attack.  While I fully support the need for OPSEC, I also feel its penultimately important the we be able to tell our stories, our way, with out fear of reprisal in order to get an accurate picture of this period in history for the future as well as the present. 

To that end, if you would like, here is the address to send a few bucks toward CJ Grisham’s defense fund, a quote from LaughingWolf, and the Army Times article about the situation.

Grisham Legal Fund
c/o Redstone Federal Credit Union
220 Wynn Drive
Huntsville, AL 35893

Please write “Grisham Legal Fund” in the memo line if you use this option.

Milblogs have been a vital link in getting accurate news and information about the military, and military operations, to you.  Today, many milblogs are gone and others are under attack from within and without.  Today, you have the chance to imagine a world without milblogs, and to do something about it.  Make your voice heard by writing your congressional representatives and others, and by making donations as you see fit.
The battle for freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas is fought on many fronts and in many ways.  Without your help, the battle may well be lost.

Mr Wolf

I wasn’t in Alaska a lot, but I followed her on the campaign and just liked the way she did business.  She seemed to be a pretty straight shooter and a real person, not a puppet in a suit. Even this whole quitting thing hasn’t really changed my opinion of her personally too much.  I don’t now how I feel about her professionally anymore, but time will see where all this latest controversy is headed.

Anyway, she gave her farewell speech and in true Palin fashion, she left quite a few good quotes for the media. For instance:

Our new governor has a very nice family, too. So leave his kids alone!

I have been in emergency medicine a long time.  I have seen a lot of things that would give most second thoughts about humanity as a whole.  However, the patients that have bothered me most over they years have always been the children. I have witnessed some horrible things done to children in my tenure, including using them as shields.

I dunno, I am no political analyst or super genius economist but could someone please explain to me exactly how Cap and Trade, Nationalized Healthcare, Bail Outs, etc is a good thing?  In my simple little mind, my simple mathematical ability doesn’t add up.  Here we are in a bad economy where the dollar only buys .68 Euros, people are losing their houses and jobs, and yet the government seems to think that taking more money out of already paltry paychecks to pay for these programs is a good thing.  Is there just no common sense left?  Its a simple formula: Little Money – Tax money = Less money/Spending.  In no way does Little Money – Tax Money = More Money/Spending except in the minds of the current leadership. I am actually getting worried that I won’t be able to pay my taxes, buy food, and keep the lights on after all this stuff goes through, and remember the Army pays my rent.

Ok, so June 30th came and went.  U.S. forces have finished moving out of major Iraqi cities.  We did not do it all at once, its been a more or less a phased withdrawl over the past several weeks unlike the media has led you to believe.  Iraq did not explode in violence when we left.  So far its been pretty much a non-event, although episodes of violence have risen just like expected.  The next few weeks will determine if the Iraqis were ready or not as the insurgents, Iran, and every other little group that controls some people or piece of land gears up and tries to see how far they can get against the new keepers of the keys.

It all started early in the morning in a busy market of a town near here.  A market usually patrolled and guarded by the Iraqi Police.  A market where the police usually prevent vehicles from entering so that occurrences of violence wouldn’t happen.  For some reason, this particular morning no IPs were to be found according to the reports.  A man in non-traditional clothing drove his vehicle into the busy market, parked it, and walked away.  A few minutes later his vehicle exploded, wounding more than 70 and killing 29 people – including women and children.  Innocent people going about their daily lives.

Was this a strike against coalition forces? No, none were anywhere close.  Was this a strike against the Iraqi Police or government? No, as I stated they were mysteriously missing this morning.  This was a strike by terrorist cowards against the people of Iraq in order to strike fear and hate into the hearts of the people.  It was an act of violence such as hadn’t been seen in this part of the country in a long time.  Why? Because it was an easy target and the people here believe differently than the people who blew them up.