Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Can you tell me/us more about the feelings you have about being there as well as the other guys. Is it monotonous being there?
I'm at the acceptance stage. I see this as my reality. Sure, I want to go home, but I don't count the days. Actually, when I think about the end of the deployment, I feel apprehensive. I really do want to go home and be with my family and return to my job. So, how does an individual (the Army's term for individualist) like me become institutionalized? I guess I have had to accept this as permanent, rather than temporary, as a way to cope.
On the outside, most guys are counting the days. The DoD policy is one year, “boots on the ground,” so the first day we were here, it was, “364 and a wake up.” The “and a wake up” is appended to any measurement of time: “15 days and a wake up until I go on pass.”
Yes, the mission is very monotonous. I am very fortunate to have a job back home that requires creativity. Here it's sit, move, sit, move - though, I got to shoot out a tire on a truck the other day. The driver wouldn't follow my instructions to stop at our roadblock, so I shot his tire out. The driver wasn't a bad guy; he just wasn’t paying attention. Saying, "I got to shoot out a tire on a truck the other day," is just as it sounds. Yes, I got to perform a task for which I've been trained ... blah, blah, blah. But that’s not what made it notable; it was because it was a pleasant break in routine and a bit of a thrill. Of course, that doesn't mean that I'll come back to the US and arbitrarily shoot tires or anything else.
I'm at the acceptance stage. I see this as my reality. Sure, I want to go home, but I don't count the days. Actually, when I think about the end of the deployment, I feel apprehensive. I really do want to go home and be with my family and return to my job. So, how does an individual (the Army's term for individualist) like me become institutionalized? I guess I have had to accept this as permanent, rather than temporary, as a way to cope.
On the outside, most guys are counting the days. The DoD policy is one year, “boots on the ground,” so the first day we were here, it was, “364 and a wake up.” The “and a wake up” is appended to any measurement of time: “15 days and a wake up until I go on pass.”
Yes, the mission is very monotonous. I am very fortunate to have a job back home that requires creativity. Here it's sit, move, sit, move - though, I got to shoot out a tire on a truck the other day. The driver wouldn't follow my instructions to stop at our roadblock, so I shot his tire out. The driver wasn't a bad guy; he just wasn’t paying attention. Saying, "I got to shoot out a tire on a truck the other day," is just as it sounds. Yes, I got to perform a task for which I've been trained ... blah, blah, blah. But that’s not what made it notable; it was because it was a pleasant break in routine and a bit of a thrill. Of course, that doesn't mean that I'll come back to the US and arbitrarily shoot tires or anything else.
As predicted, it happened very fast - so fast that I could not use the "closed sites" of my TC's SAW. Instead, I looked over the top of the sites, but was still able to put just about all rounds on target. Though the 5.56 makes ice pick holes, they went right through the wheel rim and the fuel tank.
It’s pretty typical of Soldiers here. When we hear that something happened on a mission, the first thing that is asked, “Did you get to light ‘em up.” If someone misses an incident or is there but not in a position to fire, we are truly disappointed.
Quote
Friend 1: Do you know how to say, “Hello, how are you?”
Colin: We would say, “Peace be with you,” which is “Salam Alaikum.”
Friend 2: Dude, I could hear that on an episode of “Oz.”
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