Saturday, July 10, 2004
The Fourth of July
In comparison, I think this war is more just than the Revolution. Let’s see: removing a genocidal tyrant or blowing some guy’s head off because I don’t like paying taxes without the right to vote. Still, I wanted to listen to Paul Harvey’s annual reading of the history of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but the net was too slow. Our company is celebrating by showing Independence Day (ID4).
One Third the Way There
Using the lowest common denominator method tells me that the difference between a quarter and a third is a twelve or in the context of one year - one month. Whether, psychologically, it is a good thing or a bad thing is not quantifiable.
More on Promotions
Back at Fort Dix, there was a big shake up with the team leaders, in two of the three squads, all but one of the sergeants became drivers and the Specialists became team leaders aka truck commanders (it was in this reorganization, that I was switched from a driver to a gunner). This was done because leadership decided that the most qualified, not the highest ranking, should be in charge of each truck. The newly appointed truck commanders were given a temporary corporal rank – a lateral promotion – soon after we arrived in Iraq. The sergeant gunners and drivers are still being paid as sergeants and I don’t have a problem with that. But the truck commanders are still being paid as E4s. This is because the promotions are based on slots held back at our respective armories. Now, back at the armory, we are training – when not screwing around doing nothing. Here, we are involved in a war, or at least as close as we are going to come to one for a while. We are doing now what we have been training to do for years. It’s wrong that these team leaders, who were put in charge for their leadership ability, not the number of points they accumulated, are still E4’s.
We now have Female Soldiers
Until recently, our company has been made up of only males. This is because our company is made up of Soldiers from combat arms units, that is armor, artillery, and infantry, and by law, females are prohibited from serving in combat arms. Now that we are MPs or what they call ILO (in lieu of) MPs, we can take on female Soldiers. At first, many of the males said ‘we don’t need no [insert words I’ve never heard females called here]’. But, it didn’t take long for the guys to start fawning all over them and share impressive war stories: “When we were in Falluja…”
In comparison, I think this war is more just than the Revolution. Let’s see: removing a genocidal tyrant or blowing some guy’s head off because I don’t like paying taxes without the right to vote. Still, I wanted to listen to Paul Harvey’s annual reading of the history of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but the net was too slow. Our company is celebrating by showing Independence Day (ID4).
One Third the Way There
Using the lowest common denominator method tells me that the difference between a quarter and a third is a twelve or in the context of one year - one month. Whether, psychologically, it is a good thing or a bad thing is not quantifiable.
More on Promotions
Back at Fort Dix, there was a big shake up with the team leaders, in two of the three squads, all but one of the sergeants became drivers and the Specialists became team leaders aka truck commanders (it was in this reorganization, that I was switched from a driver to a gunner). This was done because leadership decided that the most qualified, not the highest ranking, should be in charge of each truck. The newly appointed truck commanders were given a temporary corporal rank – a lateral promotion – soon after we arrived in Iraq. The sergeant gunners and drivers are still being paid as sergeants and I don’t have a problem with that. But the truck commanders are still being paid as E4s. This is because the promotions are based on slots held back at our respective armories. Now, back at the armory, we are training – when not screwing around doing nothing. Here, we are involved in a war, or at least as close as we are going to come to one for a while. We are doing now what we have been training to do for years. It’s wrong that these team leaders, who were put in charge for their leadership ability, not the number of points they accumulated, are still E4’s.
We now have Female Soldiers
Until recently, our company has been made up of only males. This is because our company is made up of Soldiers from combat arms units, that is armor, artillery, and infantry, and by law, females are prohibited from serving in combat arms. Now that we are MPs or what they call ILO (in lieu of) MPs, we can take on female Soldiers. At first, many of the males said ‘we don’t need no [insert words I’ve never heard females called here]’. But, it didn’t take long for the guys to start fawning all over them and share impressive war stories: “When we were in Falluja…”
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