The 5 days spent here with the CALL team went by pretty quickly, but in truth, like many things Army, it was 3 or 4 days of training crammed into 5. By Friday, some of the briefings started to overlap and blur together. I also found myself standing pretty often to avoid falling asleep during these one-on-ones, which would be pretty embarassing.
Part of the reason I'm tired is that at night, I've been spending my time knocking out required computer-based training that are prerequisites for deployment. There were about 18 course modules, taking between 3 min to 3 hours each to complete. Some of these I could speed through without even really listening to all of it, since they are aimed at the lowest common denominator -- courses like Equal Opportunity, Sexual Harassment, Heat Injuries, Army Values etc. But, I paid more attention to the stuff like SERE training (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape), which was new to me and is about techniques and principles of what you need to do if you become missing/separated/captured. I also paid attention to the cultural awareness and tribal history materials. Did you know that the word "Kurd" means "warrior" in the Kurdish language and that they have been basically screwed over and betrayed by all of the major powers in the area over history? From the Ottomans to the Brits to the Sunnis to Bush Elder, they've always gotten hosed, so knowing this is helpful when negotiating or working with them. Since they're primarily in the North, I probably will not be dealing too much with them.
The other thing that has been sucking up my time is migrating files and settings to my new computer, a nice little Sony Vaio that only weighs about 3.5lbs. I would gladly pay money (and probably should have) for someone to do this process for me. Instead, it's taken literally hours and in the end I still feel like shooting myself and the computers. But, done or not, I'm shipping the work computer out tonight so I don't have to deal with 4 separate laptops (I get two military ones -- one for unclassified use and one for confidential communications).
I got my collection plan today after giving input to my analyst on Wednesday. I need to look through it, but I think it has a little of everything that I asked for.
I picked up a bunch of books and pamphletts to demonstrate CALL's value and which was also interesting to myself. That has made my baggage now weigh a ridiculous amount, but at least I still only have 2 bags -- a computer bag + a big parachute bag (about 50 lbs). Next week, I'll be drawing about 4 more duffel bags' worth.
Fist thing upon waking is to check for your blog. I had a very restless day and night until I got more news. Suffice to say that I had a new taste of fatherhood. As never before, my very existence hangs on it...your well being, your activities and safety. You do well to heed the SERE principles. To that I might add one more: to always anticipate and participate the next scene. The engaging is great for now, but it must ALSO FOR THE NEXT MOMENT. For example, on Sarah Chang's violin performance, her smile soon becomes relevant when the next line of music comes to the ear. She wss obviously always one phrase ahead, anticipating and engaging the pathos of the next line. So, I see the great discipline/survival as vital and indeed critical in any endeaver--be it the subtlety of music or the ferocity of the battle field. That said, I'll utter my admiration for all sodiers and salute them all, including you, my son. The preparation and the readiness seem beyond human capacity. My prayers will follow you most definitely. May God's mercy and grace be with you!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Dad