Back in the Saddle Again

I think I'm getting the hang of it. It's an odd and in some ways redundant job since my forecast is good for the commander's situational awareness but someone else's forecast controls the assets supporting his people. My job is too coordinate and communicate. And to make sure my partner on the nightshift does the same. He's been out here before so he knows the drill as well.

If all goes well the guys we replaced will be drinking beer soon. Wish them a safe and quick (maintenance delay free) trip home.

Both because of how the war here has evolved and because of who I am working with the tempo here is a bit slower and more relaxed than where I worked last time. In part, we have caught or killed a lot of the worst actors and driven many of the others deep underground. Also, with the new agreement with the Iraqi government, there are more restrictions on who and how we target. It is interesting to watch.

The people I work with are fun to hang around. We were teasing one young butterbar officer fresh from his Specialties very intense qualification course about his age and the fact that he still lives at home. He doesn't, but he did grow up very close to where he ultimately trained and was stationed. So he did live at home for a bit and his mom did, in fact, drop him off at work a few times.

It is a funny atmosphere because a lot of the people are experienced Special Operations troops who are frustrated to be sitting in an Ops Center rather than forward with a team. So a lot of jokes and healthy complaining. There are a lot of movies and TV shows on one of the network drives. I had to promise that I would watch Boondock Saints before I left. The whole place fell silent when they found out I had never seen it.

They are adding a wireless hot spot to our compound. I'll have to check the range and speed of the connection to see if it will really be worth the monthly fee. Probably.

As for food, since people will want an update, there is no news. The Chaplain is dealing with the casualty and tending to the casualty's family and peers. That is and must be the priority.

With that, a good week to all of you. I'm out.