Basically out of the army.

In case you didn't know, I'm basically out of the army now. I'm technically still on leave until the end of this month, but i'm out of hawaii, and i'm not going back. now i have the difficult task of reintegrating with civilian life. its turning out to be much harder than i thought it would. for now i'm staying with my grandparents in NJ, and it looks like i might have a job up here soon. for now i'm just waiting though, hoping things work out soon.

one side note - i was on facebook today when i thought about how odd it was. I'm sitting there feeling connected to everyone there, i mean i can see what they have been up to, what they think about things going on in their live and everything. but it's all a facade, i'm not really connected at all. one second i can read about my friends activities, and the next i can close the page and be sitting here alone, with those "connections" miles and miles away. so close, yet so far.

well, lets see what happens this year. maybe it'll be better than last year. i'm not holding my breath though. and considering everything i went through in the last year (i'm talking about you afghanistan).... that's saying a lot.

Back in Hawaii

As most of you are now aware, I am now back in the states. I got really busy for the last few months of my deployment because I moved up to team leader. That really just means I add a bunch of admin work to my existing workload. It wasn't too bad though, for the most part. Either way, I hope to forget most of the past year as soon as I can. Afghanistan doesn't deserve anything from us - no help, no money, and especially no soldiers. As soon as we leave, they will go back to living the same way they have for thousands of years. Literally. Anyway, now that I'm back in Hawaii, we will have a lot of time off to recover from the past year. As things stand, I will be getting out of the army next summer. I will stay here in Hawaii until then. So........ all of you guys need to come visit before then!

oh yeah...

i came home last week for r and r. the trip sucked. really, really bad. it took me 6 days to get from my base to my house. 6 days of no real sleep, and being uncomfortable, and dust. but, now i'm home and feeling good. i've mostly just chilled here, doing nothing, but i'm totally ok with that. my brother came in for the weekend, so our whole family was here for the weekend. that probably won't happen again for a few years now, since my brother is most likely deploying right around the time i come back for good. anyway, i'm thinking about putting some money into the stock market now, and i'm looking for tips. well? ok, so i head back to afghanistan soon ( i can't post when exactly, but it's soon) and i'm not looking forward to it. thankfully i only have a few more months over there, so hopefully it'll continue to go by quickly. oh yeah, i also got promoted to sergeant right before i came home, so treat me with respect!

SGT Deej

the same.

well things are pretty much the same here. only right now it's been quiet for a few days. anyway, some of you (cough, ryan) have been complaining that i don't post often enough. well, unfortunately, due to my job and being in the army, i can't say much. so these blogs would be pretty boring. i'll let you guys know as soon as i get home though, since my r and r is coming up kinda soon. and not too long after that we'll be going home. so if you want to know more, just message me, because i can't really post on here for the whole world. sorry... lolzor.

here's an update, happy?

Hey, i'm alive and deeply miss you all, particularly my mentor and best friend, Ryan Doan.

also, things are getting rough over here, so keep praying for the safety of all of us, and the families of those soldiers who have been killed.

killcount for my base: 38 Taliban dead so far.

flights

well this is my last post before i leave, all my stuff is getting put into storage today, so i will lose my internet. anyway, so far my flight has been changed twice on me. i can't post the date i actually leave, but it was supposed to be very soon. i think it'll still be this week, or next week, but they don't even know yet. i'm hoping i leave sooner though, since i don't really have any clothes left, and no sheets or anything, lol. plus i'm renting a car, and each day is starting to add up...

as for updates, i have no idea what to expect once i get on that plane to head out of here, so i might have access to internet all the time, or i might only get a chance to get on once a week. maybe less. right now i think i'll have pretty good access to internet and everything, but when things inevitably change, who knows where i'll be put. if you guys want my address, just sent me an email or a message or whatever and i'll get it to you as soon as i can. (right now i don't know what it'll be though) so i hope you all enjoy your summer, and have fun on my birthday for me!

hero photos

well just a few days ago we took our "hero photos." that's just army talk for the pictures they show when we die. apparently we become heroes then? lol, on a better note, we start wearing our multicam uniforms (hence the new background) next week. so no more acus! it'll be a change at least, i don't know that they're much different though, aside from the pattern. now comes the fun of packing all of my gear into just a few bags. i have to do that by tuesday so i can bring it in to work and dump it all out, just to repack it. my supervisors want to make sure i have everything, just like it was in elementary school... i swear you get treated like you're 7 years unless you're an officer. whatever, i still have excuses to not have half of my stuff, so there's no point in me even doing that layout. i do, however, need to pack so this will stop me from putting it off too long.

i also found out my new permanent (tentatively) date when i leave. i can't post it on here, but it's in early april. by my birthday, i'll be somewhere that is not the US. i might be in afghanistan, or i might be somewhere en route. i'm not sure what exactly is going on from when i leave till i arrive in afg. well, that's all i know for now. check back later for one more post before i ship out.

deployment

yep, that's right. i am home on block leave visiting friends and family before i start my tour in afghanistan. i'll be heading back to hawaii in just a few days when i will try to fit all of my gear and clothes and just stuff into three bags. not fun to carry, i'll tell you that. anyway, i've not been told an exact date for when i'm leaving, but even if i knew, it would change anyway. that's the army for you, haha. i think it's safe to say that i'll be in afghanistan soon though, and that's when (they say) the fun begins. i really don't know what to think yet, but it will be an experience. obviously i'm not looking forward to it, but i'll try to make the best of it, and with the help of all my great friends (hint, hint, if you're reading this, that's you) writing to me through either actual mail or some type of online writing, i should be ok. so... as you think about me, or the military, or our nation or anything like that, keep me and my teammates (and everyone else serving overseas) in mind and please pray for us.

quick admin note: i've been told that people like to read my blogs, so i will try to write about what's going on, but i'm not sure how much free time i'll have and if i'll even have internet. on top of that, there are a lot of things that i can't talk about. with that in mind, i'll do my best to keep everyone informed and up to date. now it's you're job to keep me informed of your lives!

graduation!

well, i graduate on tuesday, around 1300 or so. then i finally get out of arizona a few days later! i'll be home for two weeks for hometown recruiting, and then i'm off to hawaii. over the next few days we'll be finishing up our paperwork and turning equipment back in. i'm sure there will be way too much waiting, and standing, and stupid crap, but it's ok. i'll be gone in a few days!!

AIT

I had originally planned on continuing my journal entries through AIT and on if I could, however, upon arriving at AIT, I soon found out that most of the classes here are classified. So basically that’s the end of my entries. Feel free to ask about AIT and whatever you want, I’ll try to find a way to answer your questions!

Feb 6 (Sat) - Day 77 – 2300

We got up around 0400, but didn’t actually leave until 1200. Then, we drove about 15 min away from base, and got right onto the runway where our private plane was waiting. When we got out, we loaded right onto the plane, which was kind of cool. I felt like a VIP. The planes were commercial planes, but with only military personnel on board. Once we got on the plane, we flew to Dallas, TX and stopped to get fuel and change the crew. After sitting there for about an hour, we flew to Tucson, AZ. Then we sat and waited on our buses for a second plane to get there.

After about an hour long drive, we finally got to Ft. Huachuca around 2000 hours local time (HLT) (it was 2200 EST though), and proceeded to fill out a lot of paperwork until about 2300 HLT. Then we got to our bays, which have about 35 guys in them, and we unpacked until about 0130 or so. Yeah, it was a long day.

Feb 5 (Fri) - Day 76 – 2130

Graduation!!! We got up and sat around for a while, then got bussed over to where we were having graduation. The ceremony was pretty cool, and it was really short. After that, we started marching back to the company. It started raining pretty good about halfway there, so we started running back in formation. Finally we were released, and my parents and brother and sister came and got me. We didn’t do very much, but I spent a lot of money and wasted time. We went to Applebees for dinner, which was really good, and a great way to end my time with my family. Now I have about 12 more hours until I leave Ft. Jackson. I can’t wait.

Feb 4 (Thurs) - Day 75 – 2200

The morning was really cold, and I would know since I stood out in the woodline with about 1200 other soldiers for almost three hours waiting for family day to start. After all that waiting, the DSs popped a whole bunch of smoke grenades and we all ran out onto the field yelling and screaming. Then we got formed up and our families came and got us. I spent the rest of the day with my family not really doing anything (since we weren’t allowed to leave post) but it was awesome to see them again. Tomorrow is finally graduation, and I can’t wait to get done with this! I have to stay one more day though, because I don’t ship out to AIT until Saturday.

Feb 3 (Wed) - Day 74 – 2000

Nothing but a lot of frustration today. We got our phones, then they got taken away. We almost got smoked as a company because one person was talking in line for dinner. But we did get some info about going to AIT. I’ll be taking a charter bus to the airport, and then there’s a very good chance I’ll be flying in a government plane (like with the air force) but only a small chance that I’ll fly commercial. Either way is fine with me I guess. I also packed most of my stuff, I’m just waiting to get a garment bag and a bigger backpack. Tomorrow is family day so that’s pretty cool. The morning should suck though, we’ll just practice something for a while…

Feb 2 (Tues) - Day 73 – 1800

This morning we got to sleep in until 0600 and sit around until breakfast. Then we started outprocessing, which consisted of us looking over a lot of paperwork and then turning it back in. That’s it. Right after lunch, we ran through a graduation ceremony in the Solomon Center (our main gym) in case of rain or whatever. After that, we turned our weapons in!!! I feel so free! I was really getting sick of cleaning that thing all the freaking time, let alone having to carry it everywhere. Now I’m just sitting here deciding what to pack now and what to leave for later. One more day… and actually, we get our personal bags and phones tomorrow sometime, so it won’t even be a full day.

Feb 1 (Mon) - Day 72 – 1900

We did our inventory over again today. We drug all of our equipment out and set it up all nice and neat. Then we sat there. For several hours we just had to wait. The only redeeming thing was the DS put a radio on and it was on a rock station, so that was awesome. After lunch, we started putting everything away, but then the captain came in so we had to pull everything back out. That was annoying, but eventually we finished.

After that we bought our pictures of ourselves. It was super lame though, the took one picture of us in reception and photoshopped our PCs (patrol caps, like a hat) on, and then cut our faces out and put them in our Class A uniform. It looked terrible. That’s it for today.

Jan 31 (Sun) - Day 71 (Week 11) – 1730

Went to church again this morning. Then we sat around all day, and part of the time we cleaned the bay. In the afternoon we got our t-shirts that we ordered before victory forge. I got our platoon shirt and one other shirt. Right after that we got our phones for like 15 min. it’s kind of annoying that we never got our phones for very long, but it’s almost over. Three more days to go.

Jan 30 (Sat) - Day 70 – 1800

Literally all I did today was clean my weapon. It was so boring. I gave up a few hours after lunch and tried writing more of a story I’m working on, and that helped pass the time, but it’s been a very slow day. I’m getting more restless each day, but I’m trying to do what I need to so I don’t get smoked. Tomorrow is Sunday so hopefully we’ll get our phones. That’s really all I’m looking forward to for tomorrow, lolzor.

Oh, and I’m really upset right now. The winter X Games are going on right now and I’m missing them. Also the Pro Bowl is tomorrow and I doubt I’ll be able to watch it. I just hope I get a chance to see the Superbowl.

Jan 29 (Fri) - Day 69 – 1730

Well yesterday we turned in all of our equipment that was issued to us, and today we got to clean all of it and double check the numbers. I’m glad to finally get rid of that stuff. Now if only we could get rid of these rifles…

Anyway, I did a lot of work today and I’m exhausted now. Every day brings family day and (gasp) graduation closer, but it still seems so far away. I hope the next few days go by quickly, but I don’t really know what we’re doing. Whatever we do, I’m sure it won’t be that exciting though, haha.

Jan 28 (Thurs) - Day 68 (Red, White, and Blue Phase) - 2030

Victory forge is finally over! We woke up this morning to freezing cold temperatures. No joke, it sucked. We waited around for a while until almost lunch time, and finally came back to the company this afternoon. We turned in all of our equipment today, which is a huge relief. All we have left is our weapons now. Tonight we had our rite of passage ceremony. It was cool, the whole battalion was there and we put on our berets and shook the DSs’ and the company commander’s hands. But then when we got back to the company they smoked us. Just as a hazing kind of thing though, we didn’t do anything wrong. Well, basic is almost over now, less than a week left. Hopefully no one does anything too stupid…