On-Line Life

So what is your on-line life? With the advent of on-line gaming, social networks, chat rooms, and surfing there's so much on-line now that we use to define ourselves. Currently I've got a Facebook account, MySpace account (that was on the wane though), and a couple of blogs. While I've created all these things I do realize that there's a lot of information out there that people can read or see about me. If you're a frequenter to those site you know that I'm married, have kids and even know my dogs name. I've made friends all over the world, and yes, some enemy's but have never actually met any of them. So what did I do before all this? What has access to the internet created in me that I didn't have before? Not much actually, read on... When I was younger I always had a hard time making casual friends. I always had one or two that I felt close to and their still friends of mine today. Folks like JC Tallman, David Day, Dave Stock, Jay Fox, and Tim Strickland are some of the ones that have been my closest friends and I still keep in contact with many of them. The level of friends that I'm talking about is the casual friends, the ones you had because you where a member of a group, or organization. Those are the ones that I've always had issues with. There's probably a few reasons for this, first tend to shy aways from groups because I don't feel I need them to identify myself, and secondly me devotion to the people I felt where close to me. That's a little vague but let me explain using a different type of relationship. Being that I'm a guy I have real problems having girls as friends without wanting the relationship to turn sexual. Whenever I have a girls as a friend, there always reaches a point in the relationship where I want more than mere friendship. Even as a teenager I wanted girls as girlfriends not casual friends. Those that I did have as girlfriends I wanted to become even more; in other words I fell in love with every girl. This inability of mine to see what the relationship potential actually was caused me to drive a lot of very nice girls away. For guys however I have this same desire to be the best friend possible but since love isn't in the equation there's no desire to make it any more than that. So what does that have to do with my on-line life? I now have more casual friends than I know what to do with but it's been difficult to realize what type of friend they really are. Lately Facebook has been occupying a lot of my on-line time. I really like the game applications like Homeworld, Mob Wars, and Knighthood. I never got involved with other on-line gaming schemes like World of Warcraft, so this is rather new to me. What I've found though is a whole world of casual friends. Maybe one or two might turn into the close friend category but chances are thin. I'm liking things the way they are though, here's a group of people whom I have something in common with but there's no responsibility to any of them for anything other than playing a game. I know that last sentence seems shallow on my part but this type of relationship is the norm on the internet. When I was younger (before the internet) friends where made be meeting people. Normally this was by working with them, going to school or church together, or living next to someone. We also used to have "pen-pals" that could have been anywhere in the world but only the most outgoing people put the time in to write the letters. Now we have a world wide web of users that have replaced the "pen-pal". social networks like Facebook and MySpace have created an easy way for anyone to meet folks from all around the world. I now have friends in Australia, Great Briton, Hong Kong, Japan, and elsewhere. You name it and I've probably have talked with someone from that country. 30 years ago when I was in high school, to have this level of world wide contact was unfathomable. Even if you had a few pen-pals it wouldn't be anything close to the variety on-line social network give us. Yes there's some whack-O's out there but for the most part people are what-you-see-is-what-you-get. I know that most of these people I'll never actually meet but I sure do enjoy their company. I also know that if I travel around the world that I at least know someone. So what's in the future for us? In 20 years are we going to have virtual relationships that are taken to the next level? Will we have virtual marriages between folks that never really meet? I don't think it'll get that bad but I will say your on-line life will probably play a bigger part in your social life as the internet matures. Who knows maybe you will meet the love of your life half a world away. Not me however, my best friend and the love of my life is living with me now. we didn't meet on-line we met in person, shooting pool in a bar, like normal people do.

Leadership Funk

For those of you that where wondering, I've been in a little bit of a funk the past year. Last June I deployed for 4 months; during that deployment I had to deal with the death of a co-worker which made for some of the worst times in my professional career. While I realize now that the deployment was going poorly from the start, at the time I felt that his death was the catalyst for all the bad karma we experienced. What I've come to realize is that it was poor leadership at all levels, including mine, that let the deployment go sour. While I do put the majority of the blame for all the problems we endured on our commanders shoulders all of us in leadership positions had a hand in the declining moral. Even though we had a bad apple, it took a team to make us all feel like failures. Where I failed was not recognizing where the problem was and therefor was not able to help in fixing the problem. I'm not sure what the solution to that problem was other than time but now if I ever see it happen again I'm going to do my damnedest to stop it. This spring I was able to experience a deployment with a different leadership package. Initially I wasn't supposed to go but at the last minute I had to go to replace someone with personal issues the prevented him from going. I was very concerned about having to go and re-experience all those problems again but I really didn't have a way to "not go". This time however the experience was totally different. First; we didn't have a traumatic loss to deal with so that was one huge issue we didn't have to deal with. Secondly; we had a much more charismatic commander who had the best interest of each of us and the mission in mind. His leadership abilities and skills trickled do to all of us an the lower levels empowering all of us to do our job better. The entire experience for me was a 180 degree difference for me with respect to the previous deployment. I actually came home feeling better than I left and the experience changed my attitude about whether I can continue doing this job. It pulled me out of the funk I was in and has motivated me to stay around a little longer. The moral to all of this is simple; if you are in a leadership position you must be a leader. Don't let your team fail because of outside influences, and no mater what, maintain your strength. I know that we had some huge influences that created our problems but had we all handled them better we could have turned them into positive influences instead of allowing them to be negative results.

Starting College

Well I've finally and officially started college. I'm registered with the American Military University pursuing a BA in Human Relations. The university is all on-line and geared towards the military. I chose this degree because one thing I think I'll enjoy this type of work once I'm a civilian. I feel that it's close enough to the First Sergeant and Flight Chief work I've been doing that I should enjoy it very much. I've done my first essay, here's what I wrote: ___________________________________________________________________ Why did I decide to attend college now? I’ve done a lot of thinking about this question and have come up with several answers; broadening myself as a senior NCO leading to a possible promotion, preparing myself for my upcoming return to the civilian job market, being a positive role model for my college age children, and lastly, to rid myself of this feeling of incompleteness since I haven’t gotten my degree. There are a myriad of other reasons but these are the ones I feel are most important to me. Let me take a closer look into each of these reasons to better explain my motivation. There are many responsibilities associated with being a senior NCO but none are more important than being a positive role model and mentor. We are expected to give career planning guidance to the young the NCOs to include education expectations regarding promotions. The Air Force has recently changed their promotion criteria for the top two enlisted ranks to include a CCAF degree requirement. Without this degree Master Sergeants (like me) will receive such a low promotion score that it takes them out of the running. Some folks don’t care about getting promoted but the point is to be able to show the folks that are working for you how they can be successful in the Air Force. The “do as I say and not as I do” mentality doesn’t work very well and doesn’t make successful Airmen. Another door a degree will open for me is that certain jobs within my career path are offered only to the most promotion eligible NCOs. Jobs such as Chief Instructor, Chief Evaluator, and Flight Chief don’t open up too often and when they do you need to look good on paper in order to be considered. So as you can see not only will the degree make me more competitive for promotion, but it also bolsters my credibility when I’m counseling one of my young Airmen about their education goals. There are several other advantages to having a degree while in the military but the military is only a short phase of my life. Let’s take a look at what college will do for me after my military career is over. The civilian job market isn’t anything new to me; I didn’t join the Air Force until I was 25 years old so I had a lot of experience prior to my military enlistment; but that was several years ago and I’m a much older man now. Knowing that I’m soon going to have to complete a resume to search for a job, I need to make myself look better on paper in order for me to get an edge for a job that pays well enough to support my current lifestyle. If I hadn’t joined the service, more than likely, I would have worked my way up through a company towards a middle management position similar to job I have in the military now. Unfortunately I don’t have the luxury of working my way up the corporate ladder; I need to start in the middle. With a degree and my military experience, I should be able to start at a job as a manager or some type of supervisor at a higher than normal pay grade. Without it, I’d be lucky to start at an entry level position at the lowest pay bracket; a position that would put a lot of pressure on me and my family. This would also put me closer in line with my civilian peers in my age group and life experience level rather than having to start at the bottom. For me though, the most important thing having a degree will give me is allowing me to actually do something that I enjoy rather than just getting whatever job I can get. I’ve gone 22 years now doing something I really enjoy and I don’t want to have to go back to doing something just because it’s the only thing I could find. Work and career is only one aspect of why a degree is important to me. As you can probably figure out I’m not a very young person, In fact I’m 47 years old and have three children. Andrew, my oldest, is a senior at Denver University studying Computer Science, Isabella is 19 years old and pursuing a Political Science degree at West Texas A&M, and Krystina is graduating high school this year and will be attending Angelo State University this fall in pursuit of a teaching degree. I mentioned earlier how important it is for me to be a positive role model to those that work for me and I also feel this is important when it comes to parenthood. I don’t think I’m going to beat Andrew to a degree but he doesn’t need any motivation, my daughters on the other hand look to me leadership in all aspect of their life so I want to show them that attaining a degree is important and achievable. They’ve heard me talk about going to college and how important I feel it is, but I’ve not demonstrated this to them with my actions. This is a problem I need to fix. I mentioned several reasons why I’ve decided to start college mostly pertaining to my career or my family, but what about my internal reasons? What inside me finally motivated me enough to take this step? The answer is simple; I’m tired of procrastinating. I need to get this monkey off my back and get it done. It sounds so simple but I know how difficult it’s going to be, which is why I procrastinated so long; I was dreading the work. I have successfully put up a roadblock to my advancement; I’m not talking about promotion in the military but advancing me as a person. For a long time I was comfortable with who I was but I’ve reevaluated my purpose in life and found that this roadblock has to go. No longer am I going to sit around and blame other people for my inadequacies. This is just the first of many steps I’m taking to make myself an even more successful person. Why did I decide to attend college now? Very simple; I’ve reached a point in my life both professionally and privately that the reasons to start, outweigh the reasons to wait. Having a degree will help me professionally, help my family, and help me during my transition to civilian life. The most important reason however is because it’s something I’ve been putting off for a long time and I want to finish it so I can work on the next challenge life throws at me. We all have to find our own motivation to overcome the roadblocks in our lives, hopefully now you better understand mine.

Latest Knee Surgery

Well yesterdays knee surgery went well. Dr DePrange found a tear in the meniscus that was easy to repair. I'm not sure how it happened since I'm not that athletic but I'm pretty sure it happened while I was deployed. One thing I know contributed to the problem was getting knocked around during an approach into Baghdad. We were trying to land and I was standing behind the pilot scanning for threats when we flew through the wake turbulence of a departing IL-76. I got slammed into the circuit breaker panel and ended up on the floor. My knee was the first thing I noticed but that's also when the back problems started. I think I posted a few things earlier about this incident so I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm glad though that we found something and it's now fixed. Next week I see a new doctor about the back, hopefully we get that fixed as well. I'm going to be on leave for a few weeks to help with the recovery of the knee. My plan is to start walking as much as the back can endure. Since I've been back I haven't exercised much and it's showing. I've got to loose this excess weight so I'm going to take advantage of this time off to work on it. Athena is going to be my walking partner; I'm sure she'll love it. I know this isn't my normal type of post but I've found that by writing things out helps me focus and prioritize my thoughts. It's kind of funny how that works; I've never been the type of person to keep a journal or diary but I'm really enjoying this. What's really interesting is that I'll have an idea in my head but when I try to write it out it changes and evolves into something better. It's like I take a bunch of random thoughts and writing it out channels them into a workable plan. If you you find your that type of person you might want to give this "blog" thing a try, it may help. (If you do let me know, I'll enjoy the read).

Affecting world events

Not many people get an opportunity in their life to affect world events. I'm not talking about the "Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." Andy Worhal type of affect, but real and tangible things that will affect the world for years to come. Recently I've had two events in my life that have the possibility of having that long lasting affect I'm talking about. A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to transport an investigative team to a refugee camp in northern Africa. They here there to see first hand the effects of a long period of strife in the region and how it's affecting the population. The people in the area used to be mostly agricultural based but recently a guerrilla war has forced the people to concentrate around semi-secure camps and have stopped farming. Basically they have stopped producing for themselves and become totally reliant on government and foreign aide. They're economy has taken a downward spiral from total self sufficiency to total dependency. The team I took in was there to see first hand the effects of the war and hopefully a means to reverse the process. The teams approach to the situation was fairly unique in that it was not singularly focused but in fact took into consideration three basic human needs; defense, self sufficiency, and a feeling of community. One of the head guys referred to it as the 3D approach but other than defense I can't remember what the other two Ds where. Defense is pretty straight forward, but the other two where more difficult for me to comprehend. In a nut shell the where trying to build self sufficiency by providing a defense thus encouraging the families to go back out to the farms and out of the refugee camps. Also, the team was trying to get the government to allow us to go in to do more civil engineering project, road, bridges, rail, that kind of stuff. The feeling here was that if the people saw that the rest of the world felt strong enough to come in to do these types of things to improve their quality of life they would feel more like a part of the global community. The total goal of this project was to encourage people to want to be part of the global economy and not part of the terrorist network that seeks to undermine the free world. I'm not sure how this will all turn out but I know it's a work in progress and hopefully we'll all benefit from it. Secondly, recently I was on a crew that took the President of Iraq to a meeting with our President. I have no idea what they talked about but I'm sure it wasn't a social call. Iraq and the whole middle east is so much in turmoil these days, hopefully the meeting enabled a quicker end to some of the conflict over here. Any time there is conflict it destabilizes the entire region. As I've said before conflict is a necessary thing for humans, but in order for us to become better we also need to resolve our conflicts. Hopefully this meeting resolved something so this war/occupation can end sooner rather than later. Everyday someone out there is doing something that affects the world as a whole. Most of the time it's something small such as transporting a VIP. While these things on themselves are nothing, the end results could be everything. We all do this everyday, it could be the bank teller making a transaction for a global relief organization, a taxi driver taking an important underling to a back room meeting, or a world leader making nice with another leader; all of us do our part to affect everything else.

Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." Translation: "Therefore, whoever wishes for peace, let him prepare for war." (Vegetius in De Re Militari) This is a very interesting comment that most pacifist fail to comprehend. War, although unwanted, is what happens when peace breaks down. If you have peace then guess what, at one time you had war. I know there will always be those that feel war should be avoided at all costs and to some point I agree, but to not prepare for war, that's opening yourself up to conquest. How many of us out there have not benefited at some level from war? The United States would still be British if it hadn't been for the Revolutionary War. For that matter we wouldn't have country's at all if we didn't have war. People tend to get wrapped up in the minutia of war and not the results. Yes the atrocities associated with destruction are horrible but the outcome may be worth it. In every war people are fighting for what they believe in, what they feel passionate about. We have wars because not everybody feels the same way about all things. True peace can only be achieved by the removal of free thought or the eradication of man. Anything else and the best we can hope for are long periods of peace. Peace can only be assured by strength. Sometimes your strength is restraint but many times you have to show the bully on the block that your serious. We use all means to prevent war, diplomacy, negotiations, treaty's, and yes, ignoring are all tactics we use to avoid conflict, but those tools are only useful if your enemy knows you'll take things to the next level. Empty or hollow threats have never and will never protect you, they're as transparent as air. Vegetius has it right but here's my take on it: Thrust peace on your enemy, or they will thrust theirs on you.

Baby killers?

For those of you in the non-American world; don't believe what your seeing on your local news. The US military isn't the baby killing murderer's they're portrayed as. Come on, do you honestly think this to be true? These are human beings that have volunteered to support they're country. Get a clue folks, educate yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's a rule of thumb for you, if it sounds to convenient then it's probably not true. Instead of taking what you hear as the gospel do a little research and dig for the truth. When I'm overseas I watch Fox New, Sky News and CNN; this gives me a pretty clear and objective viewpoint to almost anything happening in the world. Try this next time you hear that we're "evil" so you can make up your own mind. Stop letting yourself be brainwashed by someone else agenda!

The Ugly American

I just finished watching the season finale for "The Amazing Race". I love the show but it does highlight one aspect of our nation most of us don't see; that's the ugly American. The ugly American is arogance and niavity all rolled into one person. The person who thinks that in order for them to be understood by someone who doesn't understand English all they have to do is speak English with an accent. The person who acts like an ass in public because the place he want's to go is closed for siesta. The "I'll get you to do it by throwing a few US dollars around. People who get drunk instead of drinking socially. People who can't eat anything but hamburgers. The bermuda short wearing flowered shirt fat guy taking picture of locals because THEY look different! In all my travels I contantly strive not to be that guy. Sometime's I'm the tourist which is ok, but I'm never the ugly American. Please, if your traveling outside the country, take a little time to enjoy the culture you're visiting, be respectful, be patient, try to blend in.

Thank god for the moderate!

What makes one group think they’re right, or think your wrong? No matter what you believe or what you do someone in the world thinks just the opposite. So who’s right and who’s wrong? We are living in a world being molded by extremists, is this bad? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, it is reality though. If you go back and look at history extremists have made profound changes on the world that still affect us today. Martin Luther King, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, even Jesus could all be extremists in there own right. Is extremism bad, no not always but it sure isn’t accepted well. Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement in the 60s took hold and today even mentioning his name bring reverence from both white and black people around the world. Genghis Khan brought the “Silk Road” to the west feeding the European culture for centuries. Alexander the Great laid the framework for the Roman Empire resulting in all they’re technological advancements. And lastly the life and teachings of Jesus still affects the lives of billions of people to this day. During they’re time they where all considered extremists, in these cases though these were extremists we’re all reaping the benefits of now. Are we living today with an extremist like this? Who is our next Alexander or King? Today people label anyone who opposes their point of view as an extremist. There are Radical Republican’s, Liberal Leftist, Creationists, Evolutionists, Muslim Extremists, and Christian Coalition. There are pacifists, war mongers, eco-warriors, and realists. No matter you believe people have created a label for it. If you where to ask any of these groups who’s right they’ll vehemently say they are (and in some cases kill you for questioning them). For the rest of us 98% of the population we fall somewhere in between all of these groups. I’m a Republican but I agree with the right to choose group, I’m a warrior but I really don’t like war, and I’m a Christian but I respect your right to practice whatever religion you want. You can look at yourself and probably same something similar. So I’m guessing that since 98% of the world in somewhere in the middle we must all be moderates to some degree (there I go again with a label). We live in a world of moderates reaping the benefits of, and having to fix the problems created by, extremists. Thank god for the moderate!

O Captain! My Captain!

I ran across this poem while my daughter was researching a project for school. It's pretty cool that someone thought highly enough of Lincoln this close to the time of his death to commemorate him like this. The reverence portrayed reminds me of how people are now starting to remember Ronald Regan's presidency. Read and enjoy!! __________________________________________________________________ (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) "O Captain! My Captain!" is a poem by Walt Whitman. It was written in homage to Abraham Lincoln after his assassination in 1865, and was first published the same year in an appendix attached to the latest version of Whitman's continually expanding anthology, Leaves of Grass. The poem consists of three stanzas, its layout appearing like a ship approaching its destination, and begins with the famous O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won; Full poem I. O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring. But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red! Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. II. O captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up! For you the flag is flung, for you the bugle trills: For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths, for you the shores a-crowding: For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning. Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head; It is some dream that on the deck, You've fallen cold and dead. III. My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will; The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won! Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.