4 day pass

Man just got back from a great 4 day pass back home. I was able to see allot more people than I expected but was also able to do some quality relaxing. It sure did bring to light that it is the simple things in life that you usually end up missing. Things like just sitting on a porch with your best friend drinking coffee and not really talking about anything but yet talking about everything while waiting for a stove to be delivered ( I bailed before that happened because I wanted a nap ). The simple fact of jumping into a car and having the freedom to go anywhere you want without having to ask permission. The fact of being able to go anywhere at any time at night and being able to find stores and restaurants that are open past 8pm. Ice cubes in all my drinks was very cool, literally. Being able to sit around and not have to worry about when your next hard time was ( a particular time you had to be somewhere) and not worrying about getting attached to some sort of detail ( work party/group for a particular task ). Hell , just driving down the highway playing music without headphones on and the windows down was wonderful ( a huge thank you to all that let me borrow their cars :). I do have to say that having not had a bad hangover in quite a while I sure did notice how I did not miss them.

The first night home was kind of strange for me.I always feel as if I am some sort of time traveler when I travel a far distance in one day, especially when I do it and I am in the Army. One day I am in a classroom wearing a uniform getting a class on when it is okay to shoot people and the next day I am at home having drinks ( with ice) with all my friends. The first night out I felt more like a bystander on the fringe of the crowd than I did a participant. Everyone was sitting around just like always talking about the previous workweek and stuff they were planning to do this summer. And I was just kind of sitting there absorbing it all feeling out of place. Part of it is that it is difficult to really explain what it is like in the Army to a group of people that have never been in. After years of this I have decided that it is not possible and the best you will be able to do is share a few funny stories and have a laugh. That is one reason I am glad to have this blog as I feel it helps to explain the military and what we do a little more clearly than a typical bar conversation.

Where as the pass was awesome and a much needed break it was actually kind of cool to get back. Most of us just want to get over there and start doing our job. This is something we have been training for and working towards for over a year now and all the training is now becoming redundant. Not to mention that the big Army stupid bus apparently rolled into town while we were gone. Apparently the active duty Army unit that is stationed in the barracks around us is not fond of a deploying National Guard unit in their midst. Not just any Guard unit but an Airborne Guard unit. We all think that it is beret envy as the unit here is a leg (non Airborne / not cool enough to jump out of airplanes ) unit. The regular Army wears black berets, Airborne units wear a maroon beret, Rangers wear a tan beret and Special Forces wear a green beret. The Army wearing black berets is something fairly new. A few years ago some general in the pentagon ( probably a leg ) decided that everyone should be allowed to wear a beret not just special units.The command Sergeant major that is stationed here has started nit picking all our soldiers, apparently he does not like when we choose to put on our berets before going outside and when we decide to take them off as we go inside. Basically you have to wear headgear when you are outside and take it off when you go inside. I guess the fact that we put our berets on as we are walking outside and taking them off as we enter buildings as opposed to coming to a complete stop either as we enter and leave to do it annoys him.He went so far as to go to our CO ( commanding officer ) and complain to him as to when exactly we should put our berets on, bottom line Stupid Army bus.

So the pass went great except when I finally got to the Seattle airport. They lost my bag and my bag only out of the whole flight. I found this to be somewhat suspicious as I had allot of newly purchased Army gear in my bag to include a pretty fancy brand new combat rifle sight for my M-4. The M-4 is the standard issue rifle in the Army these days, it is basically the same thing as an M-16 which the Army has used since Vietnam except it now has a shorter barrel and a collapsible stock. It also has rails that cover the barrel that you are able to attach different types of accessories to the rifle such as fore grips, flashlights, bi-pods and that sort of thing. The Army issues us a combat sight for our rifles but I really do not like it and chose to buy my own, besides I can use it on my rifle at home so it is not just a one year use item. Anyways after not seeing my bag on the carousel I had to go to the baggage claim desk to find out they had no idea where my bag was. After I explained to them that I was leaving for Iraq in several days and that I was really, really, really not happy that they did not know where my bag was and explained to them how much money it was going to cost for them to replace the items it miraculously showed up in their computer as still being in Michigan. I had to go pick it up from the airport today and to my surprise everything was in there which I was pretty happy about.

So that about sums up my four day pass experience I will try and put in another entry before I cross the big pond. If not it may be several weeks before I am able to access the interweb again. Until next time..........