Mundanity

So, my neighbor got the iPod Touch he ordered today. That was really fast. He wasn’t there when it was dropped by our desk so I grabbed it and hit behind our growing stash of Rip Its. That involved rearranging the Rip Its some, which drew more attention to them. A little while later, someone asked about the mass of Rip Its, and as my neighbor proudly explained how we grab two from the chow hall each time (and how he won some bets that were paid of in Rip Its), he noticed a box there.

He was very happy to have his iPod. He showed it to everyone in the JOC. I threatened to draw all over the touch screen with my Sharpie, but decided it would be a bad idea. He has some great prank war stories and that would escalate real fast. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the fight scene from “Anchor Man,” but something like that. Except we really do have grenades.

After my shift I hung out for a while chatting with my partner. He was telling me about his son who went from driver to general manager of a store for a pizza chain in 9 months. He scored a 99 on the management exam. When asked by one of the larger division managers if the son was gunning for the regional manager’s job, the son responded that he was after the division job. The son is being flown to a large corporate event where he is being recognized for running one of the most successful locations. He was recently moved to a new poorer performing location, which is either a vote of confidence in him or a sign that the regional manager really was feeling threatened by this young fast burner.

I also learned that my partner was the first Air Force Weather guy at Baghdad International Airport during the initial invasion. He flew in with the initial SOF assault force and fought his way in with them. He’s a quiet guy and said that by the time the follow guys from a more prestigious unit arrived, he had already transmitted a bunch of hourly weather observations from the secured field. But those guys got the credit as the first in. It happens. He knows and has some great pictures back at home from those early days before there were rules.

I was in my Junior year at Michigan bored in some engineering class while my partner was invading Iraq. When that hit me I realized in a new way just how long we’ve been at this. It also gave me a new respect for all the young lieutenants, junior NCOs, and junior enlisted. It can’t be said enough that they knew exactly what they were signing up for when they raised their right hands. They volunteered anyway. I don’t care what your politics are, I hope you realize how lucky we are to live in a country that can produce such people.

We had a promotion ceremony for one of the young troops today. That Private First Class is now a Specialist-4. Still pretty low on the totem pole, but one promotion away from being an NCO. All of us, from the lower enlisted to the senior offices, stood at attention as his promotion order was read aloud. We all clapped and let him say a few words. Then back to the war for all of us.

I’m definitely feeling more confident in my little contributions to the war. I’m picking up on subtle forecasting issues and it’s almost second nature again to consider all the moving pieces when analyzing weather impacts. Over our internet chat tool that we use to coordinate weather forecasts and observations across the various locations here I saw a minor mutiny by some of the conventional weather guys here in country against the forecasters back in the states. The guys in the states were arguing that certain forecast conditions clearly imply certain impacts while the guys here said that nothing is clear and that aircrews in particular need to be spoon-fed the details. I watched amused and fought the urge to type that if they wear pajamas to work (e.g. flightsuits, one piece uniforms worn by pilots) then they need to be spoon-fed everything.

I was annoyed at flyers at the time because there were some that apparently tried blaming non-existent weather issues on why they didn’t want to fly. Ordinarily I wouldn’t care, but that could have impacted my guys. I had some choice words that while said aloud, were not typed into the chat tool. The demonstration of my vocabulary did get a shocked look from a female officer who was walking by though. I looked at her and said, “pilots,” and she just nodded back knowingly.

Unfortunately, internet and phones have been spotty lately. I'm trying to call home for Mother's Day but may be late. I will email.