What Kind of Man am I
What Kind of Man Could I Be
What Kind of Man Will I Be
What Kind of Man!!!!


Life, like the universe, follows rules.
There is an order of operations.
Do this first, second, third.
We know that God set these rules.
He abides by them.
If he did not, he would not be.
There are universal constants that apply to life
Throw in a little Free Agency and the race is on.
Example: In life; to solve your problems focus on serving others.
Others first then yourself.
Example: In science, First Outside Inside Last, Parenthesis first....
Order of Operation.

Follow?

So. I am in search how how to become the man I want to be. I can picture how I look, how I act, and what I do. I know that I need more structure. The military provided that for me and I thrived. Afterwards I found that I didnt do as well. Should I consider the Military again? Will the structure and my knowledge of the system help me to succeed? I dont fly as I should because I dont have the strength, desire, maturity? So would part of the solution be riding piggy back on the expectation of others for me and checking off each box of the sylabus? In the end would that be just painting over the rust?

Ya know though....Even considering the Army flying option is quite a step. I used to look at the guys flying and wonder if I would ever measure up. I wondered if I could ever do that kind of work or be that kind of leader. This is the first time that I can look at the process and say that "I can do it better than they can". Im a smart guy. I am well versed in politics, history, geography, (not spelling), Current world events, and I have a decent vocabulary.

I need to surround myself with good people and put myself in the proper environment. I also need to continue working out all sorts of other problems that have come up due my feeble attempts to avoid them hoping they will go away. Right!

So what do I do first?
Can I make use of tempoary solutions and add to them later?
Am I just scared of the unknown and worry about the future
so much that I need more structure and reliability?


Well...welcome to my ramblings. I suppose I would feel better if more people than just family read this. It wouldnt seem so....."out reachy" I guess. These are a list of thoughts really: they are not meant to flow together or fit nicely. And I dont care if my use of "colon's and semi-colon's" are incorrect....they are just fun to use!

So comment danngit. If mom and dad are the only ones...im gonna be peeved. (not that i dont appreciate their comments) You know what i mean

A little Vid for Aaron

Gen. Peter Schoomaker the Army Chief of Staff gave testimony to the Commisions on the Role of the Army Reserve and National Guard. It was pretty enlighteneing and heartening. He is not happy with the "Vollunteer" effort with regard to deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. I might not have labled that program correctly so let me explain. After 9-11 the Military called for Reserve and National Guard vollunteers to deploy with units. So take a transportation unit from XYZ state. Individuals from that unit have the opportunity to vollunteer to deploy with other combat units as long as that individual meets certain requirments of course with respect to combat readiness. Now...that transportation unit has lost some of its members so lets say that at a later date that unit is called up as a whole. Thats unit, not being fully staffed, must now call on soldiers from various other states. This happens quite a bit now a days with the current ops tempo. Some units have had to pull from some 5 or 6 states. This has lead to problems with unit cohesion, and readiness. A Marine comander stated that he could attribute actual casualties and deaths to problems related to cohesion and readiness.

Another topic was the amount of defense spending compared to GDP during wartime. In WWII we spent 45%, Korea was 15%, Vietnam was 6% and we are now at 3% of GDP. I was thinking that it might not be a fare comparison. Apples to Oranges. Gen. Shoomaker said it was far too low and advised that it should increase by 100% to 6% of GDP. So take our GDP nowadays and double Army spending....! WOW. I say its a good thing. At the current tempo and commitment the equipment is suffering. Gen. Shoomaker described it as "building an airplane while its in flight and people are taking parts off the wings.".

Our guard and reserve troops are now doing the same job as regular active duty troops. They are no longer a stratigic option and have become an operational necessity. Take two soldiers as an example. Both soldiers are in combat side by side for the same period of time. One is Army Guard and one is Regular Army. Lets now say that both are killed in action. There is quite a desparity in the benefits that the Guard soldier is entitled to when compared to the those of the regular Army soldier. Less life insurance, lower medical benefits, .........You get the idea.

Its just good to see that congress is looking at the immoral desparity in benefits between the Reserve, Guard, and Regular Army. Lets hope and pray that they DO somthing about it and take care of those folks that NO LONGER just do one weekend a month and two weeks a year. You have friends and family in the Guard and Reserve. Now is the time to take an interest, learn, and take action by writing to those that represent you.

NOTE: These are just my opinions on some of these issues while other points are statements on the record from military commanders. Some of these points do not apply to every individual Army unit. They do apply to the Army as a whole. I am VERY well informed. ( I watch CSPAN baby!!)

NPR recently aired a story about mental health care in the military and the army specificaly. The story covered 6 soldiers based at Camp (I Forgot) in Colorado. These soldiers were suffering from depression, and PTSD.

While serving in Iraq these few soldiers were outstanding, and respected performers. After returning home they began to suffer from their experiances. Because of the depression and affects of PTSD their performance suffured. Uniforms were untidy, they were late to formation, and a variety of other so called "behavior" issues presented themselves.

These soldiers asked for help by going to "Mental Health" and one soldier was told that he would have to come back in four weeks. This was after he told the nurse that was desperate to see somone now!

As these soldiers slipped into the effects of PTSD and depression their supervisors grew increasingly impatient and angry with their "Poor" performance. These soldiers were labled as "weak, malingering (faking it), and yellow". They were labled by their E-6 supervisors who also harrased them on a daily basis. These all knowing, un-educated E-6 supervisors felt that these soldiers were simply weak, and should get out of the military. They didnt think these soldiers were man enough to handle war.

The soldiers were forced out of the army eventually. All of them were diagnosed with PTSD and other mental health issues stemming from their excellent service in Iraq. Yet were they forced out on those terms and givin the proper benifits? NO! They were kicked out because of the behavior problems stemming DIRECTLY from PTSD! So no honorable discharge, no benifits at all!

Where were the officers? Who told these Staff Seargants that they did not have to follow Army procedures with regards to handling these types of sick soldiers? Why do we treat our Heros this way? The Army's needs and wants these soldiers to get the help they need and return to service. Not to be abused, harrased and kicked out.

And most importantly ....What are YOU going to do about it?

If you think PTSD is fake, or that these soldiers are weak, or that they are less of a man, then think about one of the un-educated, prick E-6's that eventually left the Army and his wife forced him to get help. At the end of the story he was seeing a therapist. This from the man that was disgusted with weak soldiers.

We need to re-evaluate who is truly weak.