Fobbits Need Ice Cream (Two)

Still around

2011-12-13T13:08:00.002+03:00

Just finished our rotation at NTC. I'm not sure what the point of coming here was. Our brigade was cut approximately half due to the troop reduction (probably the first serious thing that has made me seethe with hatred over a Presidential decision) and will be broken off into individual task forces spread across Afghanistan. NTC only trains brigades. Brigade SOPs and brigade level training was conducted for 3 weeks yet in about 2 weeks, our brigade will dissolve and we will not work with them ever again. We learned nothing - we proved ourselves to be the best CoIST in the brigade and did nothing but utilize our company and BN SOPs. That being said, I witnessed some really terrible shit that makes me glad we will not be working with our own brigade soon enough. A no cell phone/outside communication policy that resulted in more than one soldier missing the chance to talk to a loved one before they died. A restriction on red cross messages to immediate family only to prevent them from leaving "the box" and pictures of pizza boxes in the brigade TOC while at the company level, we were usually restricted to MREs or sometimes nothing. Sometimes I am so excited and proud to be a member of the military and other times I am so disgusted that I regret ever joining. I suppose everyone in the military feels like this at one time or another, and that I am not extraordinarily unique in this thought process.

Well I'm off

2011-09-10T06:06:00.002+03:00

Because the National Guard and the Army as a whole enjoy fucking soldiers out of money, we're doing two back to back AT's (2011 followed the next day by 2012) in order to not pay everyone BAH and the other entitlements we would normally receive on active orders for 6 weeks or so. Then we're off. I feel confident in the COIST team and I know we'll be able to perform whatever tasks the commander has for us. The largest part of our job is receiving intelligence and processing it to make it useful to the commander and higher headquarters. We're all college educated, anal retentive/borderline OCD neat freaks, so we fit well together. Not sure how the blog thing will work out this time. If anything, I'll keep a digital journal and then publish it all once we get back.

NYT Article

2011-08-17T03:00:00.003+03:00

So I read this article today: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/wanted-a-good-job-and-some-understanding/

Quite a good read. It makes me laugh too. The military and the government are always doing surveys and spending millions on how to fix veterans but they do not hesitate to keep troops away from their families for lengthy periods even when stateside. I ran the numbers and I was gone for training 1 day out of every 3 last year. This year has been even worse. Last year we had a month AT, two weeks off in between, a MUTA 12 (6 day drill), another 2 weeks off, another MUTA 12 then I was gone for 2 weeks for a school. I had two more weeks off, then was gone for a MUTA 4 (2 day drill) and a 7 day school. There has also been a disturbing trend towards having drills during the week instead of the weekend. Trying to get a job as a Guardsmen has been the hardest thing I've ever done. They ask for your drill schedule, see that you'll be gone at least one week a month, an entire month sometime in the summer and then either at the end of the year or early in the next, you'll be gone for an entire year. When you get back, you'll have a few months of nothing and then the cycle starts all over.

If I hear "we've filled the spot internally" one more time, I might get sick.

Old Navy

2011-07-02T17:42:00.002+03:00

So I have a wedding today. Yesterday the girlfriend and I went to Old Navy in search of some cheap "summer casual" wedding clothes. I found a nice polo, a pair of khakis and some black undershirts. As usual, my girlfriend found nothing to wear in the entire store. I noticed a tiny TV playing some military crap at the front of the store with a bin that read "t-shirts, boxers, and socks". We waited in line at the check-out and our cashier greeted us. She rang up my stuff and made small talk with my girlfriend. Right before I was ready to pay, she asked if I would like to donate $5 to the troops in order to get 10% off my purchase. I laughed and commented that I was a troop. This was apparently not funny. She looked at me and said "Well you can donate $2.50 too for 10% off." I laughed again. Explaining to this girl that absolutely none of these clothes or cash would go to troops that actually needed it would be an exercise in futility. Care packages and MWR packages go to people that spend the majority of their deployment time at the PX and Burger King.

The girl was stonefaced. "So because you think you're a troop you don't need to donate?" In my mind, I pictured myself smashing her face open with my fist. I could see her nose crack, her lip split and teeth come out. Luckily my girlfriend stepped in: "He's already donated 5 years of his life, with one of those in a combat zone."

The girl was unrelenting: "You can donate as little as $1 for 10% off!" I swiped my credit card and left with my shit.

Well done Old Navy. I'm not sure what reward you're giving your cashiers for pushing this 4th of July bullshit. I used to shop at your stores almost exclusively for my clothes. I will never shop with you again.

No more beret, a perfect birthday gift for the Army

2011-06-14T21:23:00.004+03:00

Berets are gone with ACUs. I've always hated it, but I've also managed to go three years without wearing mine. We wear PCs at training anyways since we spend very little time in garrison. It was great to read the report last night though, considering I am at a two week course where we have to wear it everyday. One less item for the packing list and now my right cargo pocket will be empty of a hat I never wear.

The velcro patches are largely irrelevant to me considering in a few months I'll be overseas wearing Multicam without any nametapes or patches anyways.

Good changes that have been a long time coming.

It's a secret handshake...

2011-05-29T01:19:00.003+03:00

Easily the best Army commercial I've seen in my brief 25 years on this planet. I think we beat the Marines this time. I went to the gym and ran after watching this I was so hyped up.

New Things

2011-03-31T03:14:00.003+03:00

So a lot has changed. I got promoted rank-wise, and I got very promoted job-wise. A few readers out there are Facebook/E-mail friends with my actual persona and I ask them to keep it "locked up" for now. I was asked to join the CoIST team (Company-level Intelligence & Surveillance Team).

What is CoIST? For those in the know, it's basically an S2 shop at the company level at an incredibly smaller level. Here is a link: http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/06/19/23048-coist-staffs-play-crucial-role-on-todays-complex-battlefield/. I was asked to join the CoIST team because I am both very intelligent and very hard working. At CoIST school we worked about 14 hours a day without breakfast or lunch and I still left every evening feeling like I could have kept working without being satisfied with my work.

I am also compassionate in a way that not many guys in the company/battalion/brigade/Army/planet are. I don't think we should kill everyone that has brown skin because of 9/11: I am very interested in the SWEAT-MS (Sewage, Water, Electricity, Academics, Trash-Removal, Medical, Security) of the places we deploy to. I am very passionate about connecting with Iraqis and Afghanis on a level where we trade information/compliance for these basic amenities. I think, like GEN Petraeus that like in Iraq, this is the key to success in squelching insurgencies and ensuring that the US and her allies are successful in the mission at whole and most importantly, bringing people home. It's crazy to think that I am deploying to fight in a country that we had first went to war in when I was in high school. I will be fighting in a country that we had first invaded when I didn't even know what a boner was in high school. Weird.

Still here

2011-03-07T04:18:00.001+03:00

Still alive. Busy with school and recently undertook the first vacation of my life. Will post an update this week.

New things

2011-01-05T08:06:00.002+03:00

So my updates are few and far between. It's winter and we don't train very much so there's not much to complain about. Our training tempo has also considerably slowed down for the holidays, no 8 day drills during Christmas/New Year's, go figure. I have a wonderful red beard growing out thanks to my Viking heritage.

The G.I. Bill issue got solved. All I had to do was declare a minor that covered every "elective" class I needed. So now I have 4 minors. That seems incredibly bureaucratic but it is the VA after all.

My tuition assistance (FTA) issue from last semester remains open in the amount of $2300. Apparently the two ladies in charge of it at the state level got deployed and the one dude running the shop just ignored all calls/e-mails for the semester since he was so overwhelmed with work. Seems like a reasonable course of action for a Sergeant in the United States Army. The S1 is working with me on the issue. I am not hopeful.

My bonus issue remains at the battalion level. I was recently asked to write-up a report on it to give to the incoming sergeant major. I got excited for a second then realized I was an idiot.

I met a wonderful girl who has been occupying most of my time. I haven't ever felt this way about a woman before and now I sort of regret extending my contract for Afghanistan, but it is what it is.

G.I. bill horseshit

2010-12-14T03:15:00.002+03:00

So I just received the most wonderful e-mail that a few of my classes for next semester will not be paid for by my GI Bill because they are not in my major. I replied that they are pre-requisites to apply for PA School after I finish my undergrad. Pre-reqs for post-grad work can only be taken the last semester of school, which is impossible, because my last semester is an 800 hour Internship mandated by my department in the field I plan to work in. It will be physically impossible to take 16 credits alongside it, and also there is a firm rule that you cannot take other classes or work another job during the internship. The VA rep is working the issue, but it doesn't look good. What a stupid fucking system. It's not like I'm trying to take underwater basket weaving or something, it's Microbiology, Advanced Biochemistry and Particle Physics. I'm definitely not looking forward to shelling out ~$3000 for these classes.

Pentagon study finds no problems with integrating gay soldiers

2010-12-02T00:11:00.005+03:00

http://www.stripes.com/news/pentagon-study-anticipates-smooth-integration-of-openly-gay-troops-1.127034

WASHINGTON — The military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” law can be repealed with little disruption to military missions and limited opposition from servicemembers, according to a report released by the Pentagon on Tuesday.
The document, the product of nine months of study by top Defense Department officials and thousands of interviews with troops and their families, dismisses concerns about a repeal taking place during wartime, noting that 70 percent of troops surveyed believe a repeal will have either a positive effect or no effect on their ability to complete missions.
“While a repeal of DADT will likely, in the short term, bring about some limited and isolated disruption to unit cohesion and retention, we do not believe this disruption will be widespread or long-lasting,” the report states. “We are convinced that the U.S. military can adjust and accommodate this change, just as it has others in history.”
The report’s release Tuesday coincided with the 17th anniversary of President Bill Clinton signing “don’t ask, don’t tell” into law. Since then, more than 14,000 troops have been dismissed under the controversial policy, which bans gays from serving openly in the ranks.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the report's release to urge the Senate to take immediate action to repeal the law, noting that the result “would not be the wrenching, dramatic event that many have predicted.”
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said the report for the first time provides top military leaders with “more than just anecdotal evidence and hearsay to inform the advice we give our civilian leaders.”
“This is without question a complex social and cultural issue,” he said. “But at the end of the day, whatever the decision of our elected leaders may be, we in uniform have an obligation to follow orders.”
As part of the research for the report, working group members met with gay former troops and received anonymous survey responses from nearly 300 active-duty troops who identified themselves as gay.
One gay servicemember interviewed said a repeal would “take a knife out of my back. ... You have no idea what it is like to have to serve in silence.” Another said fears of “people flaunting their gayness” are overblown because “that stuff isn’t supposed to be done during duty hours regardless if you’re gay or straight.”
Of the 115,052 active troops surveyed, 69 percent believed they have already worked alongside a gay servicemember, and 92 percent of those said it had a positive impact or no impact on their working relationship.
“As one special operations force warfighter told us, ‘We have a gay guy [in the unit]. He’s big, he’s mean, and he kills lots of bad guys. No one cared that he was gay,’” the report said.
However, 30 percent of those surveyed said they expect a negative effect if the law is repealed. That number rose to 43 percent among Marines, and 58 percent of Marines in combat specialties. Among soldiers in combat specialties, 48 percent expected a negative effect.
Gates said those statistics drew concern among the service chiefs, but he remains confident that with better training and strong leadership those fears will be proven wrong. The report said those percentages reflect attitudes “often laden with emotion and misperception” that can be changed.
Members of the working group said a number of repeal opponents requested separate bathroom and living quarters for gay and straight troops, a suggestion they forcefully rejected.
“Even if it could be achieved and administered, separate facilities would stigmatize gay and lesbian servicemembers in a manner reminiscent of ‘separate but equal’ facilities for blacks prior to the 1960s,” the report said. “We recommend that the Department expressly prohibit berthing or billeting assignments or the designation of bathroom facilities based on sexual orientation.”
Officials recommend “strong leadership, a clear message, and proactive education” to minimize the impact of a repeal.
The authors stated that top Pentagon leaders should issue new guidance outlining that “standards of conduct apply uniformly, without regard to sexual orientation.” Individual services should “provide adequate guidance on unprofessional relationships, harassment, public displays of affection, and dress and appearance.”
But the report does not recommend any new rules and regulations regarding harassment or behavior, stating that existing laws already cover those areas. It does, however, leave open the authority of individual commanders to punish “intolerant” troops to maintain unit cohesion.
In May, the House passed a repeal of the law as part of its annual defense authorization bill. Under that plan, the Pentagon would dump the policy for good by next spring, under direction from the secretary of defense.
But Senate Republicans blocked attempts to finalize that legislation in September, and the repeal has remained stalled there since the election.
Last month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., promised a vote on the issue before the end of the year, but Democrats will need at least two Republican senators to break ranks to advance the debate. So far none has publicly pledged to do so.
"With our nation at war and so many Americans serving on the front lines, our troops and their families deserve the certainty that can only come when an act of Congress ends this discriminatory policy once and for all," President Barack Obama said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. " Today I call on the Senate to act as soon as possible so I can sign this repeal into law this year and ensure that Americans who are willing to risk their lives for their country are treated fairly and equally."
On Tuesday, officials from the pro-repeal Servicemembers Legal Defense Network called the release of the working group’s findings a potentially culture-changing moment.
“This will be one of the best tools for repeal advocates to use in the Senate’s lame-duck session,” said Aubrey Sarvis, SLDN executive director. “We see this as both historic and very helpful.”
But hours before the Pentagon report went public, the conservative Family Research Council released its own poll of 10,000 active-duty and retired troops, noting that about 63 percent of individuals they surveyed opposed changing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law.
Officials from the Center for Security Policy, which jointly commissioned the survey, called it further evidence the military is not ready for a radical policy change.
Council president Tony Perkins said the results “should be a cause of concern for members of Congress.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee will host a pair of hearings on the report Thursday and Friday. The hearings will include testimony from the four service chiefs, who have expressed concerns in the last year over repealing the law.

Good. This policy is fucking stupid. You can die with this country's flag on your shoulder, but you can't tell anyone you like to suck some D or lick some P off-duty. How hypocritical. America: the light of the world and the home of liberty, unless you're a fag, right? The biggest opponents of integrating openly gay men and women into our military are ironically neither gay nor have they ever served in the military. Guess what? I'm the biggest lesbian I know. I love a big old pair of boobies.

It's a small world after all

2010-12-01T19:30:00.002+03:00

So I was in the library yesterday, doing some homework as my netbook had died. I usually avoid on campus computing as a rule of thumb, mostly due to the fact that the wait-time for a computer can be upwards of an hour. This is almost completely due to the fact that most people are buying shoes or looking at facebook instead of getting any work done. Anyways, I sat down at a computer and was halfway through my homework when I noticed a USB thumbdrive stuck in the computer. I opened it up, found some homework papers with a name, and looked up the guy's name on Facebook. Imagine my surprise when the guy's profile picture has him in a desert MARPAT uniform. I sent him a message with my phone number, called him a stupid Jarhead, and asked him why the Marine Corps didn't teach him to secure his gear. He shot me a text and came by to pick the drive up. Small world.

Post Office WTF's:

2010-11-19T23:15:00.002+03:00

So, I bought an extended battery for my phone and it came registered mail from Hong Kong. Save the Buy American shit, I looked forever and couldn't find an American company that made any. Anyways, because it came registered mail, I had to go to the Post Office and pick it up.

Try 1: I go in with my slip. My driver's license address doesn't match the mailing address. Without being told what to do to get my package, I am dismissed as the clerk waves me away with her hand and calls the next customer up.

Try 2: I immediately get back in line and show my military ID with my driver's license. It works with cops, it'll work here, right? At the very least, the lady will tell me what to do to get my fucking box. The clerk sees me at the front of the line again and rolls her eyes, and when I come up and show her my military ID, she tells me I'm acting like this is my first time picking up registered mail. Well, yes, it is. What the fuck do I need to get my box? I need an ID that has the mailing address that matches the mailing address of the package. Ok, so I have to go to the Secretary of State and come back the next day.

Try 3: I go in again, in uniform, this time with my driver's license address matching my current address. It's a new clerk. I figure, one federal employee to another, no problems, right? Wrong, I need TWO pieces of ID that match the mailing address, like the utility bill or a mortgage payment. Jesus fuck. Ok.

Try 4: I come back in with my water bill, and my driver's license. Again, a different clerk who takes the pick-up slip and hands me my box without ever asking to see any proof of ID. Holy dogshit.

Now I see why these fucks are $8.5 billion in the hole. I know I won't be mailing anything through these retards anytime soon. I'd rather pay $3 to drop my envelopes in a FedEx box than give my money to such an incompetent group of rude assholes.

My letter to my congressional representatives regarding the TSA:

2010-11-18T04:19:00.003+03:00

I sent the same letter to both senators from my state. I encourage anyone else appalled at how the TSA is handling airport security to do the same. I'm split 50/50 right now on flying: I would never submit to a full-body scan but on the other hand, I'd love to refuse the scan and opt-out for a full-body pat down in uniform in front of other travelers. I can't think of any bigger embarrassment to the TSA than a uniformed member of the military having his dick groped in front of grandma and the kids.

It's been a long time...

2010-11-17T03:01:00.003+03:00

Since I've felt such an infusion of pride in the Army and what we do. I feel like I did on the first day of Basic Training: that anything was possible. I read War awhile ago, and I recently caught an early showing of Restrepo on the idiot box. It premieres 29NOV2010 on the National Geographic Channel, but is available right now if you have Comcast and if you have On Demand.

I found this picture..

2010-10-28T03:43:00.003+03:00

And it seems very fitting. People who haven't stood shoulder to shoulder with someone on a deployment don't really understand how completely irrelevant sex, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation are.

The rift keeps growing

2010-10-25T19:00:00.003+03:00

I love this video. An old fat white guy that has unpaid interns do his work for him while he flies around in jets, reading speeches wrote for him by other unpaid interns, says that military service is not public service.

My friends embarrass me

2010-10-06T22:25:00.003+03:00

Things heard in class:

2010-09-22T01:50:00.001+03:00

"So, if you were told that 596 Afghan civilians were killed by NATO forces this year, how would you know if that's a lot? A little? What should we compare that to?"

"We should compare that to the amount of Afghan civilians killed in Baghdad for the same year."

"Why would we do that?"

"It's the capital of Afghanistan."

"No it's not."

"I'm pretty sure that it is."

"No, it's not. The capital is Kabul."

While this diatribe is going on between the professor and this shithead, I'm laughing hysterically.

Here's a great article on why shit like this is gradually causing a schism between veterans and everyone else.

Things that I love:

2010-09-15T01:37:00.004+03:00

I love that the VA is so fucked up and behind on the G.I. Bill, again, for the second year in a row.

I love whoever is in charge of our drill schedule that thinks the best thing to do before a year long deployment is to spend 4-7 days a month away from my family and job/school, especially when drills are only two weeks apart now.

I love being intelligent, hard-working, and perfectly capable of taking exams/quizzes/homework/labs weeks or months in advance in an attempt to combat said drill schedule, but being told no anyways.

I love that nerdy Bill Gates-esque professors and Femme-Dyke lab instructors who have never done anything in their life but hang out at college can destroy my academic career.

I love that if I was on the football or basketball team, these same teachers would be all over my cock to work around my schedule and accommodate me in making-up whatever I needed to whenever I wanted to.

I love that the government cares so little about the men and women who serve it that there is absolutely no law or requirement that prevents professors from doing this. The VA rep is powerless except to give me a post-it with the Ombudsman's phone number on it.

I love when I see people staying up all night and crying over the stress of an exam the next day in the library.

I love testing so well that I ruin the curve for classes, forcing professors to rework their grading scale to prevent people who were going to pass from failing.

I love often being the oldest student in the class, the most experienced, and the only one with a job.

I love knowing that when these coddled infants graduate, their complete lack of life experience and hands-on knowledge will make their applications to post-professional schools and jobs fall flat when put up against applications from people like me and other service members.

In the end though, I am reminded of LTC White's words: this is the life that I chose. Events like these made me glad I joined the Army. Without the Army, I would still be a fat, spineless child that would roll over on issues like this. I signed my DESP contract last month at AT, extending my ETS beyond our deployment so that I can deploy with my company. I am excited for Afghanistan and the challenge it will bring. It feels like I will be going home, where I belong, away from all this dumb college and work bullshit, full of uncompassionate backstabbers who have never worked a hard day in their life.

Cleaning house

2010-09-10T05:58:00.003+03:00

Sorry for all the Chinaman spam in my comments, hopefully no one was stupid enough to click on the links. Not sure if that's going to be a common thing, if so I may have to switch to a different blogging medium.

I should have a post up tomorrow sometime, sorry for not posting anything for 6 months.

Green Zone

2010-03-14T09:59:00.004+03:00

Well, as is par for Iraq movies, this movie was pretty terrible. It is based on the book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran. I read this book, in Iraq, actually. I thought it was pretty good.

First of all, it has Matt Damon. Strike one. Aside from Good Will Hunting, I can't think of any other movie Matt Damon has been in that doesn't have shaky-as-fuck camera angles. I am not in a position to judge any Hollywood actor on their acting skills, however I can judge a movie and its actors based on how much I want to throw up during chase scenes filmed by Michael J. Fox with a Fisher Price camcorder. Paul Greengrass directed the Bourne films as well as Green Zone, so I wasn't too surprised when my brain couldn't keep up with the "intense" action scenes that look like they just tied the camera to a car bumper and drove down the street.

Second, as usual, the uniforms are all dicked up as is the rank structure. Matt Damon is a CW2 in charge of a chemical corps unit. Some of his guys are clean shaven, some guys have full beards. One guy on the squad is about 400 lbs. There is no visible senior NCO or officer in charge. In one of the first scenes, Damon takes control of a cordon from an infantry lieutenant in charge of a platoon pinned down by a single sniper. CW2 Patton arrives on scene and appears to have the only M249 in country and is easily able to suppress and kill the sniper. I wasn't in Iraq during the invasion, but I think there were plenty of SAWs. Kind of exaggerated. Why don't these movies have military advisors? They could pay PVT Joe Snuffy from Fort Benning $100 to come over on a Saturday and show them how fucked up their stuff is.

Third, the plot. The theme of the movie is overall, how we fucked up the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq. The movie hints on how we fucked it up, but more or less beats around the bush. The book goes into much more detail: disbanding the Iraqi Army, letting 20 year old college interns attempt to convert Iraq into a democracy over night, and basically fucking shit up in general. This is pretty true, however, the movie ends abruptly after it tip toes around these statements, as every movie on Iraq does. There is no movie on OIF to date that continues the story to show how the surge worked, how the American military slammed AQI into the dirt and worked with the Iraqi people to turn them against the insurgency.

I wonder how many Americans actually know that we're doing so well there that we're drawing down, starting this summer? I went with a few buddies from school, and ran into a few guys from my unit in the audience. Catching up with them after, one girlfriend asked us, "So was it really like that? You got to hang out at the pool and drink martinis?" While discussing the upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, one of my buddies asked if we were still fighting there. When you hear crap like this, it's clear how these movies do so well with the civilian population. When you have no idea what's going on in the world, it's easy to be impressed by shitty movies with cool special effects.

The best part about this movie was that we saw it at some fancy new theater that gives a military discount to your entire party, and also has a bar inside.

2010-03-08T17:17:00.002+03:00

Another drill weekend come and gone. They were pressing people hard to see if people were going to deploy to Afghanistan or not. It will be interesting, as only 3 or 4 NCOs from our platoon will be going, and most of the Joes will not be. I await with anticipation to see who comes in to fill all these spots.

It always shocks me how wise my dad is, and how much foresight he seems to have. I was talking with him last week about my pay problem and he said, "Well, they owe you money and this deployment is optional for you, so they've got you where they want you. They're going to pressure you to go in exchange for that money or "forget" about it again if you don't go." This is pretty much what happened. I was told that if I wasn't extending my ETS to go on this deployment, I wouldn't "be in anyone's lane" for admin issues and that they would get to me when they could. If I was willing to go, they could make a call this (monday) morning and see about swapping the worthless tax deduction voucher out for a cash payment. How does my old man see into the future like this?

Our drill schedule got updated and the rest of the year starting in May are MUTA 10's or 12's. A MUTA is a Multiple Unit Training Assembly, or a 4 hour drill period. Most drills are MUTA 4's, or two full days of training. A MUTA 5 is 2.5 days..etc. When we mobilized throughout 2007, we had MUTA 7's which were Thursday night - Sunday night drills. Those were slightly manageable. A MUTA 10 is 5.5 days and a MUTA 12 is 6 full days. By law, an employer can't fire a Guardsmen or Reservist for missing work for training, but what job is going to keep a person on the books that will be gone for one week, every month for a year who then leaves for an entire year? I need to sit down with the VA rep here at school as well, to see what I can work out for taking class in the fall. I don't think I can get away with missing a week of class every month, and when I was just missing thursdays and fridays in 2007, I had to fight it out with a few professors who refused to give me make-up exams/homework until pressured by the VA rep and Ombudsman.

Speaking of the VA, I think the G.I. Bill thing is worked out. It turns out they still have me listed as active duty and deployed. Even though I finished my fall 2007 semester, they had me down as being deployed then, assumed I couldn't have finished that semester and charged that payment as a debt to me, then never told me about it until now. I guess it's true what they say about assumptions.

VA Shenanigans

2010-03-04T02:36:00.003+03:00

So I thought I had my GI Bill issue fixed, after an entire year of trying to get it upgraded from chapter 1606 to chapter 1607. I was told I would have a big back pay check coming, and my monthly checks would now start flowing.

Wrong. Despite having my bank information for years, they mailed a paper check. I bank with USAA which does not have a physical location, so I had to request some deposit slips from them to mail in this archaic, paper check. Before I could even get the check deposited, I received a letter that I was overpaid $2700 and that interest was already accruing on this balance, so I needed to give it back right away. I called the number for the VA Debt Management office and spoke to the nicest, most helpful VA employee I've ever had contact with. The lady on the phone told me they could start taking the debt from my monthly checks and that it would be paid off by February's check. I asked why this wasn't the default option and she didn't know why. She changed my preference back to direct deposit and that was that. So I thought.

Yesterday I receive 5 letters in the mail from the VA, all stamped 23FEB2010 which each individual letter dated 15JAN2010. One letter tells me I've been denied VA benefits. One says I've been accepted for chapter 1606 benefits. Another says I've been accepted for chapter 1607 benefits. One says my GI Bill is on hold because I've been deployed since 2007. The fifth says that I had a debt of $189 but now it's $0 (which would mean I had $0 owed when I called the VA).

What the fuck, over. Also, still owed $5000 from the National Guard, marching towards 3.5 years on that issue. A part of me deep inside knows that this issue will persist through the deployment, as filling out wills and power of attorney forms takes "priority" over getting paid.

EDIT: I should clarify a bit:

In November 2009 I received half of what I was owed: $5000 in cash less 25% federal taxes. The other $5000 was "given" to me in the form of a DoD form that says that the federal government acknowledges that I "overpaid" $5000 from 2006-2008 and that it is a "certificate to reduce tax liability." These were "emergency" concessions made by one of my state senators and my chain of command. Everyone is 100% convinced that this means I will get an extra $5000 back on my 2009 federal taxes. This is not what it means. Reduction of tax liability is another way to say tax deduction. As I am single, with no house, children, investments nor do I own my own business, I am only eligible for one standard deduction ($5700) and no more. Tax deductions do not stack to infinity and since the $5000 deduction certificate is less than $5700, I would lose money by using it. I have taken it to multiple independent tax preparers and corporate chains (H&R block, etc) and everyone has said the same thing. If I were to use this deduction certificate, I would be taxed on $700 more of 2009's income, meaning my refund would be less and I would lose money.

It's about time

2010-02-09T20:18:00.002+03:00

Civilian life is boring and I'm pretty much at my limit with it. I wrote a lab report for one of my classes, and in it, wrote the formula for force which is mass*acceleration: F=MA. Isaac Newton is credited with deriving this formula, but this is a universal truth. It has always been true and always will be true. I didn't cite this formula so I was accused of plagiarism by the lab TA. I say TA loosely, because the TA is not a professor nor does he have any degree at all. He is simply some kid that took this class before me and got a good grade in it, so he is allowed to teach it. I pointed out that it is not necessary to cite F=MA as it would be akin to citing 2+2=4. I was told to cite it. So I put in a footnote for it, then cited Newton in his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica and then cited the creator of the universe, whoever he/she/it may be for allowing such a natural constant like force to exist. This was apparently a mistake. I was told I am a troublesome student.

I had drill this past weekend. The CO informed us of an imminent deployment to Afghanistan in our future, sooner than expected. I wonder if I was the only one in the room who was excited to hear that. At least when we are on federal orders, I get paid. The National Guard's solution to my massive pay issue was to give it to me as a tax deduction. It sounds great except for the small issue that I'm single with no kids or house, so I cannot stack deductions up. So what I have is a piece of paper worth $0. I'm not sure if I'm even going to bother fighting this: it took 3.5 years to get this far. I don't think I have the patience or motivation to beg for this money anymore. This money was essentially stolen from me every month I went to drill, and now they are trying to scam me out of getting it back.

Speaking of scams, let's talk about the new stop-loss policy. Here's how it goes: If your ETS window (day of deployment - 180 to days to day of deployment + 365 days + 90 days reintegration training) is going to be during your deployment, you have two choices. You can not sign an extension and be immediately discharged from the Army, supposedly with a honorable discharge. There's no such thing as a free lunch, so that sounds way too good to be true. The second choice is to extend for a minimum of 12 months to whatever amount of months you need to ensure you will deploy for 1 year + 90 days before your ETS comes back around again. If you immediately sign this extension, you will get $500 a month extra on the deployment. If you hesitate and there are between 180 and 90 days to the deployment, you get $350 a month. If you decide at less than 90 days to extend, you get nothing but a handshake.

I thought about getting a job with Blackwater, but the job came to me without even leaving the military! Cash for war!

Untitled

2010-01-10T19:13:00.002+03:00

Work, class, work, class. The days all run together. I like it this way, though.

Got a 3.98 last semester, pretty disappointed. I had to piss really bad during my human physiology final and I rushed the last few questions. Got a BA instead of an A which drug the other A's down.

VA Medical is still terrible. Went for an eye appointment, found a lobby with 100 people in it the size of my living room; 90 year old WWII vets sitting on the floor like Joes on the back of a deuce and a half is really fucking pathetic. I had a 1500 appointment and they were just getting to the 1000 appointments. The receptionist told me they go home at 1600. I turned around and left. They called me and told me I skipped my appointment, so I can't get another one until I make another GP appointment to get a second referral. I tried to argue that I was, in fact, there and that there was no way I was going to be seen in an hour unless they bumped me in front of a bunch of other people who had been there for 5 hours already. I realized I'd much rather pay out of pocket for glasses than deal with that bullshit so I just hung up the phone.

VA Education is still terrible. Went an entire semester without getting my GI Bill, VA rep at my school called me a few days before Christmas and had me fill out yet another 22-1995 (change of school/change of rate) which I've done on a monthly basis since December 2008. Total backpay due is around $4000 right now, and will increase by another $4000 if it doesn't get fixed by the end of this semester.

I got paid, technically, for my 3 year overdue bonus. I will be getting it all as a tax voucher to use against my 2009 taxes. I'm sure it won't rollover the taxes I have due ($0) and it will just get wasted. My reinforcement for this thought is that it was supposed to come with my W2's on MyPay, but didn't. This is my surprised face.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

2009-12-25T12:57:00.001+03:00

Fragile, must be Italian.

Kleos or Nostos

2009-11-11T23:21:00.003+03:00

Can I have my $15,000 now? Can the people getting boned on their GI Bill payments get paid? Can the people getting fucked out of their VA health care get treatment and get paid? No? What's this you say though? There's a sale at the furniture store and Applebee's has free dinner! Let's call it even then.

It's amazing how many "friends" crawled out of the woodwork today to go to dinner at Applebee's or Texas Roadhouse. Hanging out with a vet is only worth it if free chicken fingers are involved, I guess. Welp, since I'm an uneducated low-income retard I better get off the magic internet box and get back to pulling myself up by my boot straps.

2009-10-28T00:24:00.002+03:00

Mid-terms have come and gone. Through no extraordinary effort of my own (nor a single extra minute spent outside of the lecture hall), I did well. The grade sheets posted outside the classrooms show that some people have managed to score as low as 2% on some tests. It seems statistically impossible, even by guessing all C's. Getting over 100% on my anatomy and physiology practicals felt amazing because it really affirmed that I am good with medicine and medical-like things.

Had my first VA appointment since coming home last week and got a lot of things done. Had an MRI on my knees, got some medicine to sleep better with, some medicine for knee pain, and scheduled follow-ons with psychology, physical therapy, ophthalmology, audiology, and orthopedics.

I try not to watch or read the news much, especially about health care and Afghanistan. The indecision by the leadership of this country depresses me greatly and puts me in a mood I try not to be in these days.

Repost

2009-10-08T22:13:00.000+03:00

"In the battle for Combat Outpost Keating, the men of Bravo Troop 361 Cavalry
lost every possession they had, save for the clothes on their backs. Following this blog posting is information on how to donate to the Combat Outpost Keating Relief Fund. These men havelost friends, their outpost, and all their belongings. One soldier who made it out wrote that "most people back home dont even know, no one gives a shit". Well, many of us do. And you can prove it by giving whatever you can. These guys need things like running shoes, and other essentials, as well as some comfort items like iPods and DVD players. The American Legion has kicked in $1000 to start the fund, ANY amount you can give, no matter how small will help us prove that we care."

Donations via American Legion

Forward Unto Dawn

2009-10-08T13:37:00.010+03:00

COP Keating: Is this what it's come to? Are we so strapped for men that 50 dudes with a bunker and some constantino wire at the bottom of a valley is considered a provincial strongpoint? Did we not learn from Wanat, 13 months previous and 20 miles down the fucking road, where 49 dudes were attacked by the same amount of Taliban and also forced to abandon their COP? How many times are we going to let this happen?

The worst part is that almost no other American knows about this. The volunteer drive by the American Legion and Tankerbabe to get those guys clothes and laptops and stuff was simply amazing. However, it only represents a handful of dedicated countrymen.

I sit in algebra with 40 other people. When we are given time to work on homework in class, I sit with the two Saudi guys in the class. We speak Arabic together. I feel more in common with these brown, bearded men then I do my own kinsmen. When the TA asks if we've seen such and such equation before, they shout out "Yes, in middle school!" The majority of the class has no idea what is going on. The Saudis tell me they loved our presence along their border and they were so happy to see us protect them in the first Gulf War. Everyone else in the class leers at us. I wonder how many of them could find Saudi Arabia on the map, or Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Nuristan province. Where is Kabul? Kandahar? Bagram? Mazari Sharif? How many of them can find America on a map of the world? I remember 12th grade geography where some people couldn't find our state on a map of America. Some couldn't find America on a map of America. You don't know where the fuck you are on a map, congratulations. Good luck in college, you've made it. The TA goes over an example problem. Four or five kids don't understand how she got 36 from 4 times 9. The Saudi guys laugh out loud. I hang my head.

I wanted to go on a great adventure, to prove myself, to serve my country. I wanted to do something so hard that no one could ever talk shit to me. In Athens or Sparta, my decision would have been easy. I felt as if I had been born too late. There was no longer a place in the world for a young man who wanted to wear armor and slay dragons.

-Nate Fick: 2 PLT CO, Company Bravo, 1st Marine RECON, OIF I (2003)

Are you sure?

2009-10-03T16:56:00.000+03:00

Welp, the first of the month came and went. Certification for 1606/1607 takes place at the end of each month of school, theoretically. Realistically, not only is my GI bill not upgraded, I'm not even in the system now. When I log onto the website to submit my certification, there's no option to certify at all. Whatever. Maybe by the time I have college-age kids of my own, the system will work and they can use my GI Bill since I can't. The VA rep from school sends out e-mails every week that start with "Sorry everyone" and end with "I have no idea when anyone will get paid."

Speaking of college, I'm not sure what happened to American teenagers while I was gone, but these kids are depressingly stupid. A guy in my philosophy class interrupted our presentation on universal health care to tell us that he would be disgusted if he had to wait in line to see a doctor alongside disabled veterans or people that made less money than him, or no money at all. My sociology professor took a vote on whether or not to hold class on fridays (a M-W-F class) and now instead of class, we have to submit 300 word opinions on the class message board about topics that the professor wants us to discuss. These opinions are public, but not personal, and anyone can view them. We have until Friday evening to post them, and logging in this morning, I see that half the class posted them late. I'm sure some will be posted tomorrow, or the next day, and they will be counted because when a vast majority of the class is mediocre, you can't fail everyone. Let's look at some, shall we? The topic for this week was to discuss the statuses you hold in society, such as being a male doctor of Norwegian descent. Keep in mind the minimum is 300 words and right on top it says to type your responses in Microsoft Word first to spell check and word count. Here we go:

Face book is a website that everyone gets on and that is something that I make sure I check every day as soon as I get on a computer I type in face book right before I do whatever else there was I had to do. Also on face book there is a status bored where people put down what they have did today or what they have to do or how they feel about something. But face book is known for people statuses. That is like the most important part on face book besides the pictures that people upload on there. Most people have like three statuses a day posted on face book but it be some interesting stuff on people statues. My roles that I take part in this statues is to it make sure I go post me a new statues up on face book and to make sure I look at other people statutes.

158 words of academic diarrhea in no way related to the question. I'm not sure how discuss your societal status means talk about the status option on Facebook.

With my mother and step-father my statuses was to study hard and get good grades. It was hard to do what they expected me to do. Till this very day it is the same but i do it! Now my roles are to go to class, study hard and get good grades. Also keep in touch with my parents, and continue to talk to my family. After all through high school, the different statuses of my parents it made me the person I am today.

85 words. Random. periods. are. random.

Some might call me OCD, but anyone can easily see I get my organizational skills from my mother. The status symbol that goes along with that, would be how everyting I own, in my room or car, is organized in a certain way. Along with this status there is a role. The role being that if someone uses my belongings or property and doesn't put it back in the certain spot i had it in, I freak out on them

80 words.

Peers? Not to me.

Online GI Bill advance payments? Now we're talking!

2009-10-01T05:52:00.000+03:00

It's almost like it's actually supposed to be! Go online and get your GI Bill money. Who woulda thunk it?!

Well played Secretary, well played. We'll call this a wash in exchange for the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. You still owe us for the fucking black beret though. If you can get it so that we can substitute the black/green fleece beanie with any required wearing of the black beret, we'll be in business.

Another day, another dollar...

2009-09-28T22:58:00.000+03:00

Especially with emergency checks being released! Hurray!

Just kidding. What a stupid fucking idea. Let's suck some government cock for doing their job two months late. This is like thanking the garbage man for picking up your trash after it's already decomposed in your drive-way. Is this what it's come to? Doing shit two months late and fucking over tens of thousands of people is considered the pinnacle of government success? How is this even supposed to work? Transportation issues have already been mentioned, as Jonn at TAH mentioned that the closest center to some colleges is as much as four hours away. My issue is, how is a college student supposed to get to the regional benefit center? This assumes every student goes to class in the evening. I have class from 0800-1600 M-F and the hours for the closest benefit center are 0800-1630 M-F; I'd never be able to get to the center anyways. I'd have to cut class to get down there, which is bona fide retarded. Mess my grades up to get money to pay for school. What kind of pollack shit is that? How about: sorry everyone, we know we boned you guys on paying you two months late and some of you are now dropping out of school, we'll get these checks direct deposited to you ASAP.

I expect nothing less than total failure from the guy that brought us common folk the Black Beret. Thanks for the debt and the gay hat, sir. Keep on fail...rocking.

On a sidenote; still no bonus or backpay. Only a few more months until the 3 year mark. We can do it! I should make a t-shirt or something.

Just medals and scars / And I brought home that flag / Now it gathers dust / But it's the flag that I love / It's the only flag I trust //

2009-09-17T04:38:00.000+03:00

So yep, if you've heard that I was silenced you heard correctly. I was told to stop posting about our deployment, (basically, the easiest way to not get in trouble for posting about our deployment is to stop posting about our deployment) but all the people I talked about are no longer in the company so I think it's safe to speak my mind about a few things:

1) My pay problem persists. Passed the 2 year mark of absolutely no money for drills/ATs and am now about 5 months away from the 3 year mark. Had the CO, 1SG and PSG really fired up about getting it fixed, then they all got promoted or otherwise left the company. My entire chain of command from team level all the way up to company commander is now different and I have to start over at square 1. As far as I'm concerned, I stepped into a time machine to 2.5 years ago. People have suggested involving senators or higher or getting a lawyer. I'm not too sure how suing the Army would work and I'm not at all comfortable with doing that. I consider myself pretty easy going and would really just like to stop paying my own way to come to drill. No drill pay every month means no pay from no drill and no pay from my civilian job. Ideally, gas and food on thurs/sun nights is reimbursed when I get my drill pay, except I haven't gotten it in 2.5 years. I also used to drive 600 miles round trip to drill for all of 2007. After bleeding out about $200 a month for a year, it became more cost effective to transfer schools and move closer to the armory. Again, if I was getting drill pay, it wouldn't be an issue at all.

For MUTA 7's (thurs night-sun night), this equates to 5 days of missed work. I work 3rd shift and have class right after all morning so Weds night is a no go unless I want to stagger into drill on 24+ hours with no sleep which I'm pretty sure is against an AR or three. No work thurs/fri/sat night obviously and we usually don't get out in time on sundays for me to get home and clean up for work. This is also two days of missed classes/extra homework/extra schedule juggling to make any up quizzes or exams (sometimes resulting in even more missed work) and overall makes it impossible for me to make rent for the next month. Rent goes on a credit card that is slowly building it's way to the destruction of my credit and if this continues for too longer, declaration of bankruptcy. Some of you are saying: Joe, where's your GI Bill cash? This leads to...

2) VA Education. The post 9/11 GI Bill is fantastic if you are coming off Active Duty or have been a reservist long enough to earn 36 months of active duty time through deployments or other activations. For me, I only have 18 months of active duty time and the REAP (CH. 1607) is more money for me. If I could get it. Previously, I had CH 1606 which is the non-combat veteran GI Bill that was right around $500 with my kicker ($506 exactly if I'm not mistaken). With 12+ months of deployment time, I became eligible for the 1607 benefits which is about $800 with my kicker. To get this, you simply (SIMPLY) re-apply for GI Bill benefits through the VA for the CH. 1607. You relinquish your 1606 benefits and receive 1607 benefits, supposedly.

I say supposedly because I applied the day after we got back stateside for de-mob. I received a letter about three months later telling me I would be getting 1606 benefits. I re-applied again. I heard nothing for 5 more months. I got a letter telling me I would be getting 1606 benefits deposited in a bank account that was not mine. I called the VA number on the letter for issues and waited on hold for 39 minutes. The dude on the phone told me that I needed to apply for 1607 benefits on the website. A frustrated sigh and then I try to tell him that the GI Bill money will be going into a bank account that isn't mine. He asks me for my new information. Again, I insist that this isn't new information, it is MY information, as the # on this letter isn't my bank account number. He takes my SSN, name, new bank account information, and then asks me to verify the bank account number and routing number. I tell him this is impossible because this isn't my bank account, it's a bunch of asterisks and the last 4 of a bank account number that I don't know. He asks if I need time to find the information in my files. Privately, I wonder if this guy is a fucking retard or something. Possibly some sort of robot programmed to treat anyone that calls like an asshole until they hang up or maybe even just a brick wall. He gives me 30 seconds; literally, he says he has to terminate the call in 30 seconds to help other veterans if I cannot find the information. I tell him I guess I'll have to call back. I wait on hold for 39 minutes and spend less than one minute talking to this guy, and solve neither issue. 5 minutes later, I had updated all this information on the GI Bill website with no verification needed at all. The VA rep at my school had some "bypass all the stupid assholes and red tape" button on his fax machine that got my GI Bill upgraded in under one minute, hopefully. Attendance verification is at the end of the month so we'll see then. I'll assume I'll be stuck with my pockets turned inside out like all the folks that took a crap shoot on the post 9/11 GI Bill and got boned.

3) VA Healthcare. You know, when I first started watching the universal healthcare debates and town hall forums, I thought, there's no fucking way America is 37th in healthcare. Then I met the VA Healthcare system. Holy fuck. When we de-mob'd, the VA met us and registered us in their NATIONWIDE system, and gave us our ID cards. In January, about 30 days after we had got back stateside, some lady gave me a PTSD screening over the phone and scheduled me to come in in March. When I got to the hospital in March, I was told I need to register before I can expect care. I show my ID and say I was registered at de-mob. I'm told my ID is old and they don't use that; I have to start all over. I sit and fill out paperwork for hours while the guy tells me all the ways I can scam the system for a disability check. I'm fairly certain there's enough shit wrong with me to get a check if I push hard enough, but I just nod and smile with the guy.

I see a doctor, who is just going to "screen" me for what's wrong with me. I have my LOD (line of duty injuries) sheet from the Army docs that show I need treatment for my knees, hearing, and depression. The doctor asks what I want from the VA more or less, and I tell him I just want treatment for all the stuff on my LOD forms. My knees kill me, I'm deaf as a motherfucker and I'm not adjusting to stateside living as well as I'd like. He tells me I'm overweight and that I'm a heavy drinker (I write on one of the forms that I drink 2-3 drinks 2-3 nights a week) and makes me an appointment in July. Remember, this is in March. In April, we get our full drill schedule and I see that my appointment is during annual training. I call and ask to reschedule sooner and am told that it's still 3 months away and to call back later if it looks like I still can't make it. The drill schedule is 99.9% set in stone and is given 6 months - 1 year in advance. I call in June and let them know I still can't make it, they reschedule me for a September date. I'm pretty pissed at this point and switch to another VA hospital that is further away but in a better city so I assume it will be staffed with better people. Wrong.

Arriving at the new VA hospital, I am forced to register again as the information from the NATIONWIDE system doesn't carry over. I am then given an appointment for September here also. Nothing is available sooner. This date was last week and was canceled. I am sent a letter with some code that I assume means I will get another appointment right away. Nope. Soonest appointment is in late October. I try to stress to the guy at the other end of the phone that I haven't seen a doctor since I've been back from Iraq and I've been back 9 months now. This is still the next available appointment. I don't know how bad my depression is because I keep pretty busy but it's always there. Trying not to think about it is about the best thing I can do. My knees are terrible. I used to be able to squat 500lbs, leg press 1000lbs and calf raise around 1500lbs. Putting 100lbs on the leg press the other day made my knees pop and hurt so bad I had to stop so I wouldn't throw up and then I had to leave the gym because I was on the verge of tears. My hearing is bad and during AT this year, something happened with my ears and I developed some mild vertigo and my hearing got even worse. The PA at the clinic on post looked at my hearing sheet with a shocked look on his face and a "wow." His treatment plan was to take it easy and go to the VA to get treated. Easier said then done, sir!

TLDR: No pay. No education benefits. No health benefits. News at 11.

Feels really good to get all those gripes out.

Good read

2009-09-12T04:44:00.001+03:00

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2009/09/inconvenienced-by-a-sf-soldiers-funeral-procession.html