tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75717886729148736672024-03-08T05:36:46.249-06:00The Thoughts of a G.I.I wish to share my thoughts and the stories surrounding my service as I prepare to deploy overseas in the coming months. Although the words you read are mine, I hope to capture the mind and soul of every member of the armed services. We all have a story, but some of the best are never told.American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-10287784912723507942009-11-20T19:52:00.002-06:002009-11-20T20:00:29.947-06:00Hello everyone,I have been given the privilege of blogging for the Houston Chronicle. I will still post here from time to time, especially posts that may be to strongly worded for the Chronicle. The URL for the new blog is:http://blogs.chron.com/lettersfrombabylonCheck out the new blog and remember to check back here from time to time.American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-68696193537169280992009-11-14T13:22:00.003-06:002009-11-15T10:10:37.206-06:00SharacracySharacracy- a system in which everything you own belongs to the collective; items to be excluded from the list of shared items include wives and girlfriendsAccording to a couple of our guys, that is the definition of a Sharacracy. It is a concept that they developed on the fly due to the fact that we all share everything we own. It is phenomenon that develops out of necessity. It’s is common to American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-29145601788890456552009-11-03T14:02:00.005-06:002009-11-03T14:32:55.672-06:00Team building is one hell of an experience. Being on the high school football team is one thing, preparing to go to war with a group of guys are two completely different monsters. Knowing that the receiver, running back and tight end are going to run the play correctly and knowing that your buddy is going to stand his ground and put rounds down range when the time comes is like comparing a Ford American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-79081192809676145372009-10-27T18:56:00.002-05:002009-10-27T19:05:02.929-05:00I should have posted this sooner! It's a sitiation report (sitrep) on how our brigade is doing here at McGregor. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/military/6679567.htmAmerican Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-46943620435114571822009-10-26T18:38:00.002-05:002009-10-26T18:43:33.541-05:00Soldiers always fight the war with ethics and morality and it is that war that comes to define the virtues of a professional soldier. There are thousands of instances where a soldier must make decisions that in any other setting would be mundane. However insignificant these decisions are, these instances cause us to evaluate and re-evaluate our belief system and this constantly challenges the American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-88268135546695981052009-10-21T20:40:00.004-05:002009-10-27T18:32:33.661-05:00As Infantrymen we have every God given right to complain and it seems that regardless of how much conditions improve we still find something to gripe about. Complaining is something that comes with the territory; it comes along with the long hours and low pay. I know people working at taco stands that make more money than some lower enlisted soldiers. When we were at Ft. Hood we were staying in aAmerican Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-42445939163359489762009-10-12T13:23:00.004-05:002009-10-12T22:36:21.986-05:00We have been at Ft. Bliss for a few days now. The weather is beautiful and, from what others tell me, the mock FOB (Forward Operating Base) we are staying at looks allot like Iraq. The Islam call to prayer even plays out over the loudspeakers five times a day to acclimate us to it. The flight in to Ft. Bliss was interesting as well. We were driven out onto the tarmac from some rear entrance at American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-52760847624040425602009-10-07T18:09:00.004-05:002009-10-07T19:08:11.708-05:00This post is going to challenge my ability to omit profanity, but here goes nothing. We have one last night of freedom before we report to Ft. Bliss for the remainder of our training. We have been at it for about a month now and most of the guys in our section are already foreseeing potential problems. There is a newly minted junior NCO in our section that everyone is having difficulty adjusting American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-52123141075856342462009-10-02T18:08:00.009-05:002009-10-04T22:12:33.584-05:00I am fortunate. I am very fortunate that this is my first deployment. There are service members that have seen the mountains of Afghanistan or the sands of Iraq numerous times. That type of selfless service takes is toll on the human soul. The soul however is the last element of a man that the world can see suffering. To the protected, the families being torn apart by combat tours are the sad American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-61866916092941661462009-09-21T18:13:00.005-05:002009-09-25T19:54:26.183-05:00It been a long week and the training is going well. I am at a cool marksmanship course but I'll save that story for another day. I thought I would share with you an email exchange with a buddy of mine, who happens to be a man of the law. Let me begin by saying that I had been debating the pros and cons of having a will and I was having a difficult time planning for the "what if" factor that comesAmerican Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-25595965330277684132009-09-13T12:44:00.004-05:002009-09-13T14:57:12.530-05:00The ominous cloud that has been following us all year finally caught up to us, both literally and figuratively. The day we loaded our gear and jumped on a bus to report to Ft. Hood, the sky opened up and sent the gift of rain to the parched Texas landscape.I can picture the war gods sitting up on their perch, laughing and giving each other high fives and planning their next prank. This whole American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-67556170876194801362009-09-08T17:33:00.005-05:002009-09-09T20:17:28.879-05:00Zero DayIt's Zero day; the day before we report to the armory. Tomorrow I will drive to my unit headquarters; load my gear onto a bus and embark on a truly one of a kind adventure. On my way in from Houston today I was so anxious that I felt like a little kid on his first trip to the amusement park. I want to ride the tallest roller coaster but I am scared out of my mind. I am not scared of the ride American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-16916830916390151052009-08-31T20:14:00.010-05:002009-09-03T20:55:18.807-05:00I finally made to my hometown after driving across the state and back. I grew up in a tiny south Texas town with the population of about 1200, dogs included. I enjoyed growing up in a small town, always saw the same faces and did’t have worry about a single thing. The biggest worry on a kid’s mind was getting up for school the next morning.We would play baseball out in the yard or basketball in American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-77063874355502384842009-08-22T10:07:00.012-05:002009-08-23T23:46:10.812-05:00So, I've been traveling around the great state of Texas with my cousins, Slim and Woody, visiting friends and family before I have to report for military duty.This feels like the point of no return. After this trip is said and done there is no turning back. Well, it's not like turning back was ever an option, but you get the point. Every nuance, every detail, every motion, every sentence seems toAmerican Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-47684593460370169292009-08-14T22:38:00.013-05:002009-08-17T09:28:14.501-05:00I called my cousin yesterday. I wanted to give him a heads up about my trip back home to visit before we report for the mobilization. I occurred to me that every single time I have spoken to him in the last ten months or so, it has been because we are trying to dispel some of the rumors we have heard regarding the deployment or we are both in uniform.The last phone conversation we had, we joked American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-45703078459429019552009-08-08T22:07:00.014-05:002009-08-11T08:18:33.686-05:00I have had a few friends ask me about the amount comedy, cursing and sarcasm that one is exposed to after they had read one of my previous blog post. I think they just wanted to hear a few stories about some of the crazy shit that is said and done. Telling a good story might get a laugh or two but that is not my intention with this blog.Storytelling might give people a peak at the characters thatAmerican Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-49769337960146351302009-07-29T18:14:00.003-05:002009-07-29T18:27:54.397-05:00Here is an article about how our upcoming deployment is affecting soldiers jobs. I am glad to see this topic covered in the media. (Thank you Lindsay Wise!)I have seen a couple of my buddies "laid-off" but we all know that all the extra military duties we have taken on in the past few months is part of the reason they have been cut loose. A few others have mentioned that their employers are American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-15282748104632141212009-07-27T11:02:00.012-05:002009-08-04T12:12:23.313-05:00My buddy and I were driving back home this weekend from our last "real" drill . We have one more drill in the chute but it will be dominated by a family readiness event. We were both sleep deprived and extremely exhausted. He was driving the first leg in route to Houston via I-10 while I tried to get some shut eye. The only thing I could think of was what the passengers of passing vehicles were American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-68391534974689964422009-06-30T00:00:00.029-05:002009-07-30T09:05:50.841-05:00God's message to me.I read somewhere that only men at peace with themselves could go to war for the sake of others. I wish I could remember the source or the exact quote but that concept has haunted me for the past few weeks. Every grunt experiences the moral dilemmas unique to the experience of war. Every grunt also contemplates the many scenarios that may unfold in his presence while deployed in a combat zone. He American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-69109307223424631322009-06-28T03:43:00.002-05:002009-06-30T13:02:24.769-05:00HERE WE GO!Well, if anyone had any hopes of the deployment being scratched, do not read the link to article. Those of you that have been relying in the RUMOR INTELLIGENCE, you need to read this. HAHA!!!http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6501078.htmlAmerican Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-6654393552141113652009-06-28T01:37:00.007-05:002009-07-01T21:15:22.722-05:00Are there Ghost in Iraq?Well, operating under my insatiable need for information, I have been reading every Iraqistan war book I can get my hands on. I need to prepare myself for what is ahead, right? Well the book I just finished reading was Paul Rieckoff's Chasing Ghost. This man is a true Patriot. The are no words that can describe the intensity and sincerity of his beliefs.His accounts of the fire fights and raids American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-14665594544090060362009-04-19T22:39:00.008-05:002009-07-04T22:52:28.316-05:00UnkownsEmotions are a bitch. One of the toughest things I've endured over the last few weeks is the feeling on uncertainty. When are we going? Where we going? What happens if one of us gets shot? How will I react if I get shot or hit by an IED. Will I pull the trigger when I am staring down the barrel of a Russian made AK-47. How will I react, that's the million dollar question. I am not scared of doingAmerican Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7571788672914873667.post-75062090342248231772009-03-27T02:05:00.011-05:002009-07-06T01:13:19.992-05:00The Path We WalkWe were all trying to hold back laughter as we stood by our cots as stiff and straight as we possibly could while avoiding eye contact with each other. A few seconds before we were busting each others balls and trying to get a few minutes of rest before our next hard time. Some of the guys were talking about our up coming graduation and the insane amounts of booze and nicotine they were going to American Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14114359224906127418noreply@blogger.com0