Footlockers!

So I spent 3 hours on the 29th maneuvering my belongings between a backpack, a small tub, 3 footlockers, my deployment back, my ILBE pack, and from under the rack. My tiny little living area no longer looks like a twister went throug it and actually looks a bit austere. One footlocker is mostly packed and ready to be sent to IL so that I don't have to worry about lugging it around everywhere later. Another footlocker is filled with items that I don't need at the moment but will as the time out here passes such as books and cold weather gear. The third footlocker and the deployment bag are mostly filled with snacks and food although each of those containers hold other objects. Pictures will be posted in a few hours of where I live in order to give a better idea of how I live. Life is getting a bit better as the move winds down and now I will get a 1/2 day every Thursday (supposedly). I'm also planning to begin my 'cutting' regimen (no flesh will be rent) with cardio and HIIT while eating a lot fewer calories. This should only last three or four weeks, but it should help drop my body fat %. That should start on Monday the 2nd or perhaps in two weeks depending on what I need for it. Pics to be posted soon.

Staring at the sun

Today started off cooler than usual. While walking back from breakfast (my dinner) I noticed that it wasn't that bright out despite the sun being up. I took a look over my shoulder and stared directly into the sun.

The dust in the air is apparently higher up today and dense enough to diffuse the direct sunlight to the point that it was actually pleasant to look at the sun. Quite like seeing a blank moon during the daytime. So beautiful, and so rare that I can look directly at it! Just a perfect orb of light seeming so much more peaceful than usual without its typical harsh rays and heat. I know that it will not last, but enjoying it in the moment made this day a good one.

Ah hot July

Disappearing World by Fair is a great album and topping off a nice night of work with some great catchy tunes. Aaron Sprinkle, you are a pretty chill dude and your music keeps me rocking.

This juggling act can be stressful, but well worth it! Now that I'm finding a decent groove (finally) I'm happy to say that I am quite enjoying this deployment.

Gym: I'm doing a few different regimens as I attempt to incorporate strength building with (H)igh (I)ntensity (I)nterval (T)raining and then throwing in calf and abdomen workouts every other day alternating. There is also a bodyweight conditioning program called Convict Conditioning that I am also trying to incorporate, and as this groove becomes a little more settled it should become easier to maintain that training as well throughout the night. I have also taken to eating healthier and being intentional about what I eat. I stick to proteins and vegetables with the occasional fruit. I also make sandwiches for an interim meal (thanks mom and dad for the constant supply of bread!) and have 2-3 protein shakes per day. I drink almost strictly water although I supplement that with V8 and I have soymilk with my cereal. Due to my pact with Mindy, I drink zero caffeine and have stopped drinking soda, gatorade, and juice. I am certainly feeling a lot better throughout the day and know that I am getting healthier.

School: I have finished my first two classes at American Military University and am currently in the middle of Introduction to Psychology and Microeconomics. I should finish those two up at the end of August and get started on International Relations and World Civilizations prior to 1650 in September. That will put me at 36 credit hours out of the 61 I need for my Associate's degree. If it is possible, I will be taking three classes at a time starting in November and do that for Nov-Dec and Jan-Feb. This should put me at 54 credit hours and allow me to take 2 more classes after the deployment in order to finish my degree. The school is regionally accreditted and should allow me a better opportunity to get into competitive undergraduate programs after I end my active service so long as I keep a high GPA.

Martial Arts: I was able to go through a one on one training program for the (M)arine Corps (M)artial (A)rts (P)rogram and received my green belt at the beginning of this month from Sgt Villazon. He is working on his black belt, and at the end of this month he said that we could work on getting my up through my brown belt. By the end of this deployment I hope to have my black belt and perhaps an instructor tab to help train other Marines. Sgt Fields has some kickboxing gear coming out here and he agreed to teach me a lot of techniques and train me to gain a lot more power in my strikes. He is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has had extensive training in Muay Thai Kickboxing. As a former soccer player I hope to build my kicks up quite a bit and follow on with Team Quest after the deployment.

God: My prayer life has skyrocketed to new heighths this summer and is a very active part of my day. I am currently studying the life of David and the book of James. My reading through the Bible is kind of intermittant as we are currently moving three battalions worth of people from our tents that we used to work in to the new buildings that my shop and I just finished wiring. I hope to be adding pics of that wiring to this post soon. I have CDs of sermons from my church in El Cajon that bring me a lot of encouragement and help me grow. I am also reading a book called "Battle Ready" that Tim Burk sent me that is particularly good. Blue Like Jazz is another book that I am currently rereading.

Work: We have all of the higher classification units moved over to the new scif and are waiting for word to move the rest of the scif ppl over here. As I am on the high side, I am now working in an actual room within a real building. There is air conditioning that is thermostat set so overcooling at night is no longer a problem. The servers are still rather loud, but a few of us are hatching a plan to put up some fake walls in order to buffer us from the noise. It is still dusty, but not nearly to the degree that it was. Seeing the ability to keep things clean, and a bit more secure/private, I am really hoping that we move into cans soon in order to enjoy such luxury 24/7. :-P I am finally able to drop into learning quite a few things about this job without the distraction of being fapped out, moving 3 battalions (although there is a little of that left), or dealing with turnover from another unit. Bit by bit, work actually gets better.

I am about 90 days out from R&R and when I return from R&R I should be about 90 days out from redeploying back to California. w00t! Then I'll just have to come back to Illinois to hang out with friends and family for a few days, pack up all my stuff into a Uhaul and drive back out to California to whatever apartment I will have found. Perhaps I can get a friend or bruddah to come back with me . . . If you are interested in such a road trip, let me know. :-)

btw, Mindy sent me a book, note, and a 2GB thumbdrive with tons of pictures of the family. It was awesome and I will especially treasure it for the remaining time that I have out here, and also regularly treasure it for the rest of my life. :-)

June, a busy month.

Quite busy indeed!

Near the beginning of the month I got off of BDAF (Base Defense Augment Force) after spending the previous month stationed out at the Main Entry Point. There I was able to search vehicles for contraband, weapons, and explosives, I directed the daily traffic into the base, I was able to work with the Brits and they let me revamp their personnel search and authentication areas. I also worked in a tower overseeing a new gravel transfer area. While in the tower I was visited by multiple people including the MHG CO Col. Reynolds. She was there a few times along with other 0-5 and 0-6 officers from the USMC, USAF, USN, RAF, Royal Navy, Tonga Navy, and the US Army. It was a ridiculous amount of brass and each time they would come up and ask how the system worked, what I thought of it, and how it could work better. It was all a lot of fun though quite warm and constantly wearing my flak and kevlar kept the heat up. I was also able to go out to bombstop (our first line of defense) and deal with foot and vehicular traffic outside the wire. In addition to all this I was able to help train the Afghan National Police how to patrol. We went out on 4 foot patrols outside the wire although we saw no action. :-/ Altogether it was quite a good experience.

In early June I learned that my cousin Jake had succumbed to his cancer and is now with the Lord. I (obviously) was unable to attend the funeral but I heard that it was very well done, and I heard what Pastor Tim Bertsche said as he presided over the funeral. He did a fantastic job! Very well done. He was quite honest and came from a Godly point of view. Jake led a difficult life and could be a difficult person, this leads to either a difficult and honest eulogy, or one glossed over and typical of eulogies done of people that nobody knows anything about. Tim was able to perform the former with grace, honesty, and a call to the cross of Christ.

So now I am attempting to get back into the system's mindset, relearning sharepoint, and helping get the new work facility ready to move into. I am also almost done with my first two classes that I am taking and willing be starting two new ones in a couple of weeks: Intro to Psych and Mircroeconomics. I am also back in MCMAP training and should be testing out for my green belt at the end of this week. The Sgt that is taking me through the course said that we could then move on to brown belt. If I can get a waiver from my command there is also the possibility of attaining my black belt and becoming an instructor, but time (and my command) will tell.

My main focuses now are spiritual growth, financial stability (and paying off all credit card debt), physical fitness, job proficiency, academic progression, and how to handle the near future. I am already 1/3 of the way done with this deployment and 1/2 way to my R&R! The middle of August should be my 1/2 point of the deployment, and I will be heading to central IL near the end of October. So far it is looking like the middle of February I will be returning to California, and the good thing is that Scribbles and I will have time to figure out where to live and how to live. The level of stress out here is quite high, but it helps the time to go by. Days are slow, weeks are fast. I really miss my family back home. It is strange to think about the fact that I've been gone for 18 and a half weeks already! That's like a semester! :-)

So I am off to chow.

11 Weeks

So far, so crazy. It's been 2 and a half months since I took off from California and plenty has taken place. Melanie has decided to move back to IL in conjunction with her trip out East for her Graduation for her Master's Degree. As far as I can tell, she'll be living with her mother for the most part. It'll be good for her to have a decent network of family and friends, and save money as the cost of living in IL is quite a bit cheaper! Keep praying for us as this deployment does make it a lot rougher on a marriage. The good thing about the stresses that have been placed on our marriage is that it is causing a much stronger desire to better myself as a person and a husband. I spend a lot of time each day attempting to weed out my deficiencies and learn how to grow into a better person.

I spent my first month and a half here learning all the systems and getting a decent understanding of our capabilities. I then got voluntold to report to Guard Duty on the first of April. After a few days of classes we did a machine gun shoot during which I was able to fire the M240G 7.62 Medium Machine Gun, the M2 .50 Heavy Machine Gun, and the MK19 40mm Heavy Machine Gun Grenade Launcher. Truly a fun day. Since then I was lucky enough to be assigned an Entry Control Point that is close to where I typically work and also only a couple hundred yards from my hooch. So I have one month down of guard duty and one more coming, so by June 1st, i should be back with my shop doing typical system's administration work. The nicest thing about my current post is that it is only an 8 hour shift and that gives me enough time to hit the gym most days. The wind is nice and strong this time of year, though with all the dust it makes breathing a chore. Monday, May 3rd, I start online courses through AMU. I have 6 classes worth of credit done already, and I should be able to swing another 12 classes while I'm out here. Then two more classes when I get back to Camp Pendleton and I should have my Associate's Degree finally. Not worth all that much, but will help transferring to a 4 year school a lot easier than a menagerie of classes and no degree. I still live in the 'transient' tent with 40 other guys on bunk beds. Certainly makes living a chore when half the tent is always sleeping, no personal space, and every morning there is a new thick layer of dust and dirt on everything.

Dad and Mom, my small group, Shannon, Melanie, Aunt Pattie, Aunt Dee and Uncle Keith, Bryan, and several others have all sent packages out to me already and they have certainly buoyed my spirits! Letters and motomail and emails have also come in from various sources as well. I keep all of those as I do like to read them more than once. I now have tentative R&R dates: Oct 22 - Nov 6. These could change quite easily but I'm hoping they stay about where they are. That is all for now.

6 Weeks

Today (Saturday March 27th) marked 6 weeks since I left the U.S. If I do that 4 more times it should be about time for R&R. If I do it 8 more times it will be about time for me to come home. As it is we are about to enter into 100 days of wind. Our spring that brings sand and dust storms and destroys not only any semblance of cleanliness but also tents, portajohns, and DoD personnel. I have gotten a lot done and read a lot of books and studies a lot and am working on getting school going. All I need at this point is TA in order to start taking classes online. I hope to leave the Corps with my AA degree and am 18 credits closer than I was before I joined. I am also getting interested in names. Perhaps kids will be in me and Mel's future before too long. It is just a thought for now, but there won't be much holding us back. Again, my one great prayer request for us is that our marriage will be strengthened by this deployment. Immensely. That is all for now.

Hello Afghanistan

Well, I have been here in Afghanistan for about 2 weeks, gone from home for three. Aside from the constant dustiness, it's not too shabby out here. Rather simple and we work at least 12 hours per day. Work is a bit slow and my focus is set too far ahead. I'm lowering my sights, attempting to just focus on the work at hand. Slightly hard when things at home are not really settled. Many things are stretching already, and of course they are the thing that I did not want to go through the stretching OF. But it'll be good. These things need to happen, especially for Melanie. She needs to be able to have some time to herself and sort things out on her own. Leaving her be while I have access to communications with her is quite hard for me to do. I'm a knowledge freak and always want to know everything that is going on. This worked really well for Melanie and me when she went to Ecuador because she always had new and interesting things to talk about or try to figure out. Well, now the quiet one is stateside going through regular days dealing with normal stuff, and the inquisitive one is in a new place with plenty to say and plenty to talk about but without an outlet. Luckily he (that being me) is not an emo little girl and is ratcheting his head on straighter.

This straightening is actually quite painful. I see a need. One that I know that I can fill, even from here. Yet the owner of that need wants to learn to fill those needs on her own (and rightly so.) Therein lies my problem. I desire to intervene and save her from what pain may come from the learning process, and yet I know in my head that I must let her do this how she desires as it is her experience.

Through this interminable period of stretching, learning, and growth, I understand that I need to accept a lot of new things and focus on this particular place that I am. I often forget to realize and appreciate how much easier it is for me than it was for Marines just one generation ago where the only correspondence was by letter and the mail was not always on time. Now I have email, motomail, packages, Google voice, Google talk, Skype, AND letters. Talk about taking things for granted! Though at the same time I use these avenues to escape the barren landscape and the lack of interpersonal interaction outside of the few people that I work and live with. My electronic hands have reached too far and pestered my favorite girl who is currently trying to "find herself" and finish her Master's and get a better job. So I've halted my advances and decided to let her take the lead. If she wants 'more comms' then I will be happen to indulge, if she doesn't, I'll have to learn to restrain myself.

So the actual deployment out here is getting off to a rather smooth start in stark contrast to the bumps that my personal deployment is taking.

I thought that it'd be similar to when I went to Sweden: Excited to go, enjoying the people I'm with, focused on the here and now. But what I failed to realize is that I was 1) Single, 2) had just spend 3 months living and working with the people I went to Sweden with, and 3) had a heck of a lot more to do with the native people, the church, the schools, my team, recreation, etc... Now I'm married but apart, only worked with the people 5 days a week that I came out here with, and am restricted in what I can do, where I can go, and who I can hang out with. I have things to do here and things that I am working on getting done, but I need to find some kind of recreation that I can delve into. I need to be interested in something out here.

Stupid preoccupations!