Random thoughts.

These are just random thoughts so they'll probably jump around a lot, sorry.

A lot of the people in the Army are old. Really old (for the military). And low ranking for their age. I regularly notice Specialists and Privates (basically the same rank as me or lower) but they look like they are in their 40's easy. I think you can enlist in the Army up until 45 or so. Seems they are taking just about anyone they can right now including convicted felons. Some of the sergeants look like they are in their late 50's / early 60's at least.

I can see why no one wants to join the Army though. They are here for a year at a time and I'm already itching to leave after 3 months. Actually I was itching to leave after about a week of being here but I'm definitely ready to go now. Suicides are higher now than they have ever been in the Army. That's probably also because they have lowered their standards a lot because they need people. Some people that shouldn't have made it through boot camp are here now and can't handle it.

AFN (Armed Forces Network) is our TV and radio station. They port in all the US channels via satellite like CNN and MSNBC and some sitcoms from the networks, but they don't air any commercials from back home. Instead they create their own. They are mostly cheesy and ridiculous. Most are just reminders for us for things about OPSEC (Operations Security), drink lots of water, don't use hot plates in your room, etc. A surprising amount is basically propaganda trying to entice the Army members into re-enlisting and staying in the Army.

I really really miss fast Internet. I probably miss that more than anything other than my wife. It is extremely unreliable here as well. It is currently down in my room so I am typing this from the Hot Spot, our recreation area. The WiFi here is even slower than in my room. I spend basically all my free time on the Internet both here and at home so not having a fast connection is really frustrating to me.

There are some silly rules in deployed locations and some things that don't make sense. For instance we are told we can only take 3 - 5 minute showers and are supposed to turn the water off between lathering and rinsing, etc to conserve water, as it all has to be hauled in by truck. However, we waste hundreds of gallons a day making sure all of our vehicles are nice and washed and clean. We are in Iraq. It is a desert. Before you even get the truck back to the parking lot it has a layer of dust on it. Also we had a Combat Dining-in the other day which is a big event with food and games and things, basically a morale booster. But the main theme of the event was a giant water fight with water guns, water balloons, fire extinguishers, etc. If we can wash vehicles and have water fights why can't I take a longer shower or leave the water on while I brush my teeth? Silly.

Any of you that know me, know that I am generally very quiet and introverted. This almost always results in people thinking something is wrong with me or that I am angry or grumpy. It's a good sign that I am really quiet when even a young Iraqi who speaks maybe 10 words of English comes up and asks me what's wrong or why I don't talk. Iraqis seem to be very social, especially around meals, so maybe it stands out even more in their culture. I just thought it was interesting that even the Iraqis notice that I don't talk much.

Also being quiet has been a big challenge here, as I am regularly paired up with a new person every few days, usually sitting in a truck or standing in a building together for hours and hours at a time. I don't even know how many times I've heard "You don't say much, do ya'?" over the past three months. I have yet to come up with a good response to this that isn't insulting to the other person, so usually I just smile and nod.

Relatedly, anyone reading this should probably read this article, which does a great job of explaining how I work and why I'm sure some of you have thought I was angry or grumpy or rude at some point. Sure, I could have actually been angry or grumpy or rude I suppose, but normally it is due to the above. I am generally an extraordinarily laid-back person and don't get angry easily. One of the guys I hang out with here even jokingly blamed me for him almost getting in a fight with someone because I wasn't around, and my presence has a calming effect on him he says, as I don't react to anything. I couldn't even get into a fight with the trainer during my ASP baton training, as I kept talking him out of the fight instead.

The most combat I have seen in Iraq (other than the flies) has been playing Call of Duty 4 every day in the Hot Spot. We have a network of a dozen computers where we can all sit down on a network and shoot each other. It's great fun. Also it's funny to see a room in Iraq full of people wearing military fatigues armed with M16s and M9 handguns sitting at computers pretending to be at war in a computer game. There is probably a joke there about the Air Force being the "Chairforce" but I will not make it.