Thursday, March 26, 2009

Work.

Specialist Fardette and I created an Anti-Huffing Spot, check it out.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Things don't always go as planned.

Things don't always go as planned. I learned this when I was in kindergarten when I intended on jumping out of a tree and landing on my feet. My bright pink cast on my arm was an everyday reminder that things don't go as planned (for 6 weeks anyhow).

18 years later, I still get reminded that things don't always go according to plan. I am not a country fan, but there is a song that sticks out in my head by the man of country, Garth Brooks."Unanswered Prayers" which contains the lyrics "Some of Gods greatest gifts are all too often unanswered...Some of Gods greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." I often think of this song when things don't go as planned.

SPC Johnson and I got a reminder this all week. On Sunday we got to the Helipad at 0600 to wait for our flight to Camp Taji so we can cover some stories out there. Apparently dust storms in Iraq hinder travel. The dust was rather thick in the morning. We could not see the sun, nor could we see the blue of the sky. We waited, waited, and waited some more. No flights left. We spent 18 hours at the helipad before we called it a day and went back to our comfortable beds and went to sleep.

We finally made it to Taji on Tuesday. We were ready to go on a mission with an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team on Wednesday. We were under the impression that they would be conducting a controlled detonation of explosives found in a scrap yard. Most of the munitions were already spent, so they posed no threat. I was looking forward to seeing a controlled boom.

Then, we were scheduled to go on a patrol early the next morning. We got a knock on the door after I had already fallen asleep to tell us our mission had been scrapped. Needless to say, this is how our week went.

This mission served as a reminder for me that things don't always go as planned.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

You know you are in the 211th when...

1. You know more about SPC Anderson's husband than your own spouse. -Logue

2. Every time you hear a female voice, you think it is your commander. -Fardette

3. You have asked "Is there a whale in here?"-Logue

4. You get nagged at by your boss for NOT blogging. -46R's

5. You have been gone from your family for 5 months and have only received 2 weeks of combat pay. -Heise

6. The patch on your left sleeve doubles as a sniper target. -Fardette

7. You think "Alperinism" is a word

8. When coffee CAN cure your problems.

9. You laugh when you hear the words "Live the legend" (sorry SSG Edson)

10. You wake up to your neighbors snores/grunts at 2 a.m. -Logue

11. You're surrounded by questionable people. MAJ D.

12. in response to #11 You're a questionable person yourself. -UNKNOWN

13. No one here is from where you're from. SFC Q

14. You have a great sense of pride when you tell people you're the commander of the 211th MPAD. in response to number 12

15. You're XO was not only in the Civil War, but he documented it.

16. You're the only member of the original 211th MPAD still here. (I am thinking SFC Burke put this one up)

17. You think bad thoughts about the phrase "It's better to have it and not need it....then need it and not have it..."


If you have any questions or additional comments, please feel free to ask 1SG Martinez.