24JAN10 – Mon
Here I sit in my plywood hut at COB Home drinking a St. Pauli N.A. and ready to make a rambling recap of the past ten days. The first week (15JAN-21JAN) was long but easy to sum up due to the daily monotony. The last three days are hard to even feel like explaining since I had little time for notes: my movement and settling into COB Home with my new platoon.
As shown in my previous post, "Notes and Quotes", I began to have a surplus of time sitting at the computer researching various things and trying to find information that could help me with my time as platoon leader. Other than a brief property management class that I took with the help of the S-4 shop and reading on the platoonleader.army.mil forums, there was very little I could do until getting to COB Home.
So along the way I became a master in the art of self-centered research.
This included checking out how my GI Bill entitlements will work, looking at different master's degree programs, drawing out the next 10 years of my life (no really, I did get this bored), and e-mailing my branch manager to see about the possibility of getting special schools when I get back from theater..
None of those things really got me anywhere, but when will I really have time for that kind of research for THAT many hours a day in the future?
Not often. So all is fine in the universe.
Anyway, I eventually got away from spending time at the BN HQ and got to going to the gym during the day. Basically, I just kept on a different schedule during the day than LT Bro just so I wouldn't have to sit in the office for hours. In doing so, I also was able to check out more of the base and take it in for what it is, and for what it will never be again.
The roads will no longer be called "Heidelberg St.", "Arizona Rd.", or "Victory Blvd.". There won't be reflective belts everywhere at night and soldiers jogging in PTs during the day. There won't be daily helicopter passes. There won't be tons of up-armored GMC, Ford, and Dodge Trucks driven by KBR contractors. There won't be loudspeaker announcements about controlled ordnance disposals, "There will be a controlled detonation in 15 minutes. I say again, there will be a controlled detonation in 15 minutes."
I digress.
I also feel this post has gotten long enough for now and pretty pictures should help make it better… so more on the movement here, arrival, and first impressions tomorrow. Or when I get to it. Maybe. Just kidding, I really will write about it eventually. Or not? The end.
