Through the Eyes of "Joe"

Student Government Sits Back and Does...Nothing.

2009-10-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

If worthless had a coat of arms...

Those of us in college are plagued daily by the dreaded campus police. Lets not get off on the wrong foot. The campus police here are actually real cops who actually went to a police academy and completed all the prerequisites that a police officer should.

At Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches Texas, we are faced with a growing school and a genuine lack of accommodation. Our college grew 800 freshmen this year. Lets not forget a growth in Sophomores and up as well.

The campus has quite a good quality of campus living. It is mandatory for freshmen to live on campus unless they are over the age of 21. I came in as a sophomore last year. I lived in a circular shaped building called Steen Hall. My room was shaped like a slice of pie.

Community assistants are the ones that are responsible for the upkeep and enforcement of housing rules. They are promised free housing and a room to themselves. Last year we had another huge growth in students and I was placed in a room with one of the community assistants. His promise that he received by the school housing department was rudely broken. I soon moved out and got my own apartment with some freedom. I felt that I had the insatiable desire to drink like most war veterans usually do. Alcohol is not permitted on campus.

Today, what I am trying to discuss is the inaction of our student legislation. The Student Government Association has become a complete and utter farce. Their discussion meetings likely include the importance of new coke and snack machines on campus. This is basically the consequence of having a group of young liberals take control of such an "esteemed" organization.

Today our campus living has gotten so unsatisfactory that students are practically spreading disease. Some are quarantined off in their rooms in hopes that others won't get sick. Swine flu is spreading the campus as well as a plethora of other things. Students are forced into 2 man rooms with not 3, but 4 inhabitants. I was in Iraq the last time I experienced this level of substandard living. This is causing an influx of disease and angry parents. The Air Force gets paid an extra stipend per month for this kind of living. Is this a breach in contract? Shouldn't students be promised descent living when coming to a major federally funded university? Is not the Student Government Association not at the least bit responsible?

Another issue we face is the immense amount of teenage cars flooding campus. Everyday I'm forced to walk to walk nearly a mile to my first class. I don't want to sound like a cry baby, but I spent 4 years in the Infantry...I don't like walking.

With an influx of nearly 1000 students to the campus of SFA...parky has literally disappeared. But, for those of us who pay the school to park. Teachers are given prime parking location without the threat of getting a parking ticket from the campus police. Is it just me? Or is it a source of income that the school gets from a reasonable amount of cash from the campus police. It's no big deal to see a line of about 100 cars with little purple (our school colors) tickets finely placed under the security of their windshield wipers.

I guess the reasonable solution to all this is to push for student rights. I've always been anti-union but perhaps the best thing for students to do is gather together and protest. Any ideas where to begin protesting? Perhaps outside the home of the Campus lead dean and president, Baker Patillo? Since the student legislation isn't interested in making college any better for these students...I guess perhaps I should act in their place. I'm seeking advice from anyone that reads this. Any help could benefit in the progression (or the return of) student rights.

Thank you and God Bless

How to Effectively Cut the B.S.

2009-09-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

Drama...

Remember being a "joe" in the Army? Barracks life was quite an experience but it also set me up for success in college life because I knew drama was unavoidable. This is my advice for soldiers new in college.

1. Remember that you are likely older than everyone else. Don't forget that the freshman class is still 18 years old. If you think you're on the same level as these people you are wrong. You don't me to elaborate on this. Jumping out of planes, helicopters, and kicking in doors will force an 18 year old kid to grow up quickly.

2. Keep people out of your personal life. I had one person email my girlfriend telling her to stay away from me. It wasn't by no means effective but it brought out a new level of anger and drama to into my life. Imagine some guy telling your wife, fiance, or girlfriend to stay away from you. It would likely cause many bitter hearts and upset lots of people around you. It's best keep your personal life as distant as possible. I even took the liberty of changing my phone number, my address, and my the rest of my contact information. Drama is often jealousy fueled.

3. I remember a few guys that in my platoon that had serious ego problems. If you hang in a Greek crowd, political group, or even just a click of friends, you're going to a plethora of these guys hanging around. Being a combat veteran, take my advice, beating them won't solve anything. It will create more dissension among people in your organization. Us veterans love a fight, but stay away from solving drama with your fists. It might have worked in the Infantry, but it's not the answer in college life.

Now, if I can continue with modern events:

Texas has legislation in the works to legalize people with concealed handgun licenses that would allow them to carry it on school property. I'm all for it. But, what if a CHL gets int he hands of the wrong person? I can see both sides to this argument. As you know it, if everyone had a gun, everyone would be more polite.

There still is a chance that someone carrying a gun could hurt a lot of people.

What are you opinions on this?

P.S. I'm glad people are following my writings...If you have anything you would like me to cover. Please leave a comment. And I'm running out of pictures. So send some if you would. Thanks

SFA STUDENTS BEWARE!!!! SUNRIDGE APARTMENTS!

2009-09-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

I have an announcement to all students of Stephen F. Austin State University!

Sunridge apartments are a total and complete scam!

But why would I write this gripe without backing it up?

1. Sunridge apartments are located at 4502 N. University Street in Nacogdoches, TX. They look quite tempting on the outside. They are equipped with a deep pool and a small workout center. It's quite appealing to people just driving by but let me give you the truth. I HAVE STAYED IN KOREAN WAR BARRACKS BETTER BUILT!!!

Upon moving in, we immediately have air conditioning problems. Nacogdoches is humid and miserable in the summer. It stayed broken for about 2 weeks before maintenance decided it was the right time to fix it. Needless to say our electric bill was low that month.
If you pay a deposit, you will lose it. The mission of the apartment staff is to find a reason to keep your money. You're better off giving them some damages to repair just so you get your money worth.
The doors were literally falling off the hinges. Yes, without regular use, my bedroom door fell off the hinges. They wouldn't even fix this. I had to do it myself. Good think I'm a handy man.
Leaky faucets. EVERY SINGLE FAUCET LEAKED! This took about a week for maintenance to fix
Rent is expensive...of course in this economy everything is expensive. But, when you add your deposit plus any extra fees they give you (pet deposit) it adds up to about 750-780 a month for a 2 bedroom dump.
Veterans beware. They are not GI Bill friendly. As you know sometimes the GI Bill has glitches and you have pay problems. If you are late paying rent for one day, it's a 50 dollar fine. Every day after that it is and additional 10 per day. So say your GI Bill cash comes 3 days late, you pay 70 dollars extra. Then you pay an additional 15 dollar fee if you decide to use your card (convenience charge). The apartment only takes check or money order.
The only businesses I know that only take check or money order are usually internet scammers.
Parking...it sucks
The pool has been moldy on occasion.
OOOOBER energy inefficient! Even for the bottom floors.
I found a syringe in my water heater closet...it was likely loaded with HIV and Heroine...

This is a warning for those that decide that it's appealing. DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE NICE PAINT ON THE OUTSIDE! In my opinion, Sunridge is the worst decision you can make. Especially if you are on a budget. But if you love fixing things and paying extra, Sunridge is the place for you!

Disclaimer: This is all my opinion, and it does not reflect the opinion of all the prisoners sentenced to Sunridge. Thanks.

Good News and Bad News

2009-09-01T16:36:00.001-07:00

Actual picture from the mission:
That's me trying to get my face shot off...

So I'm glad to here that I have some followers here on blogspot!!

This story was by request:

I'm not sure what the exact date this all went down but it was toward the end of our deployment in Iraq. Companies A and B of 5th battalion 20th Infantry Regiment had already taken quite a beating and there was plenty of dissension among the lower (E5 and below) ranks of our unit.

I was in Bravo company. All the companies had their own sense of pride and individuality but all of us in the Battalion all had a collective pride. Stryker soldiers (in most cases) often pride themselves as the Army's new elite urban warfare specialist. I've heard of some of our old platoon sergeants (no names) bragging about teaching the Rangers on how to properly enter and clear a room. Though there was a small grudge held between the Ranger and the Stryker soldiers on Ft. Lewis, Stryker units are still under normal Army. They are by no means special or "elite." I just wanted to emphasize the mental state of a Stryker soldier.

This story begins with the rehearsals for an air assault mission. We repeatedly were in full kit "learning" how to properly load a Chinook helicopter for a special air insertion mission. Needless to say, the mission never happened. We did patrols and raids for about 3 more weeks. Jesse Williams, on my first day back from my two weeks leave, became my squad leader. I was his Stryker driver. Aaron Vice was the vehicle commander. That same day back from leave, my squad leader was shot in the head and later died from his wounds.

Briefly after the sudden loss of such great leadership, our platoon was forced find new leadership to fill his absence. A soldier (my old roommate actually) became our squad leader. His name was SGT Casey Merriman. Casey wasn't too familiar with running a weapons squad and had some difficulty adjusting to controlling a rifle team. I even once heard him tell me that he thought that being a rifle team leader was the best job in the Army and it defined a real infantryman. If you look at the stats (if there is any) you'd know that our weapons squad and vehicle crews were the ones in the platoon that caused the most damage, kills, and effectiveness.

Casey soon went to being a team leader or squad leader somewhere else and Aaron Vice, our vehicle commander became our squad leader. Aaron Vice came in as a college graduate, he was automatically given his E4. He was psuedo-tossed into leadership right after basic training. Growing up in the Army was quite interesting. Being a college graduate, Aaron Vice was expected to be better than the rest of the soldiers in our platoon. He definitely was above average.

Finally, it was time for the much anticipated "air assault" mission and the anticipation was augmented by layouts and rehearsals. Robyn Tippler, Aaron Vice, Gildardo Cebreros, and yours truly all loaded the Chinook anticipating a massive gun fight on the ground preceded by gun fire while we were on the birds.

The flight lasted about 25 minutes and was really unnecessary but after several brave souls were lost in IEDs and sniper fire in the battalion, command deemed it necessary to fly into this remote area. The area was a small village surrounded by palm groves and swamp flats.

We "landed" in a plowed field with the back ramp of the Chinook open. We were told to move out of the chopper quickly and move to our points of security. SGT Vice and I was seated facing each other toward the cockpit so we were the last few to exit the bird. As I approached the edge of the chopper I took the one step out of the chopper and fell about 3 feet onto my face with my old school PVS-7B night vision device. The device was shoved into my face as for that was what I landed on. I couldn't see and somehow was lost in the chaos and had some nice Iraqi vegetation connected to my head (I think it was tumbleweed).

Next, after all of the chaos started looking more like muddy water, my platoon sergeant found me and placed my with my 240B machine gun in a nice puddle of homemade Iraq butt tar to pull security...it was nice

We moved to a position on top of a roof. As a weapons squad, we were tasked with providing over watch and support by fire if anything went down. Needless to say, first platoon took all the action but the mission was still interesting. It was actually my first mission on the ground...permanently.

As the mission progressed we moved from rooftop to rooftop in search for a hint of insurgents. The Sniper section got bored and decided to blow off the rest of the mission and nap the whole time. I can only imagine the money that was spent as the choppers flew low for close air support. I imagine it was a multimillion dollar mission. It lasted about 4 days which was good. They planned on it being a week long mission.

Aaron Vice alleviated a lot of the ridiculous orders that came down from the platoon sergeant. Too bad he could not alleviate his order to put me in Iraq crap water pulling security on a floater.

The sad part of the story...easily millions of dollars spent on this mission, and we found 1 hand grenade. NO WMD's....

Isn't it weird that junior a E5 in the Army can do so much better of a job than a senior E6? I think it's strictly because a junior E5 connects with his men better. Generally all the E6 squad leaders on our platoon thought they were untouchable. I'm glad most of them left on orders to Drill Sergeant as I left the active Army. I wouldn't want young potential minds ruined by there ignorance.

Why Democrats are the Party of Racism

2009-08-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

It's just a bumber sticker...that only a few million people have...

If you read the title you're likely thinking that I'm crazy. Basically, this title is actually quite easy to prove. Did anyone know that President Lincoln was a conservative republican at his time? Didn't he write the Emancipation Proclamation? Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson both thought that slavery was wrong and that it would eventually die. If you don't believe me (and I hate using Hollywood as a source) watch Robert Duvalle in the movie "Gods and Generals."

Not to mention the 13th amendment which banned slavery, the 14th amendment guaranteeing equal rights, and the 15th amendment which guaranteed voting rights where all products of the Republican party.

The Brown v. Board of Education took place in the early 50's. It was a a great step for civil rights. The greatest thing about Brown v. Board of Education is that the chief justice on the matter was Earl Warren (R). Earl Warren had previously served as the Republican governor of California. In fact, the co-founder of the NAACP was Republican, he once said, "Every right that has been bestowed upon Blacks was initiated by the Republican party." (I took most of this information from http://www.nationalblackrepublcans.com/)

On the contrary, it took The Democratic party around 100 (yeah, 100) years to pass more civil rights legislation. This legislation was under the Kennedy administration, in fact, you can actually say that most of his legislation is due mostly in part from his Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson (who actually was a moderate democrap from Texas).

So now, several years later, we are exposed to the threat of reverse racism on the part of the Democratic party. It's weird how things shift like they have, but when the Democratic party starts looking into its history and it's current ideals, they are going to begin questioning their future. The Democratic party has never really stood up for their people. Can anyone of us think of an effective democrat? Not even Roosevelt is credited with bringing our "Republic" out of the great depression. Everyone knows it was mobilization for war that brought our great country out of the dust bowls and the poverty. If there is one think I can say:

I'd like to thank the National Black Republicans for the inspiration to write this. They are a serious threat to the Democratic party. In order to overcome common sense, the Democratic party now has leaned on the complete opposite for growth. This is the reason for the rapid movement toward control and socialism (for those who don't know, socialism is communism's whore sister). I'm glad that the campaigns for the 2010 elections will begin soon. A lot of these latte liberals will be losing their constituents rapidly. Does anyone else see a return to common sense politics?

Perhaps the main problem with the Republicans is that they allow the left to label them the party of "no" or the party of "can't." I think it's time we label the Republican party as the party of patriotism, common sense, and of course, equality. Fellow conservatives should educate our liberal counterparts on the history of their political party, their motives, and how they will steal our freedom. Please don't forge to mention the importance of our Constitution.

Remember fellow conservatives, it is your civic duty to vote.

P.S. I will now be labelled a proud white radical for writing this....all because I love America, Jesus, and my 9mm Pistol.

Tax the rich, feed the poor, till there are no rich no more.

2009-08-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

Why raising taxes on the rich won't work...

Let's think about this one! In fact, let me put you in the shoes of a small business owner. I'll create a scenario for you to better understand why this liberal tax method only hurts us instead of help us.

Your narrow minded college professors have likely been teaching you that people that make more money should pay more. Well, you should ask yourself what is considered a lot of money? And, you should ask is it really fair? Your professors probably told you that the rich pay more because they are greedy and the poor need it; among other things, it's just their ploy to coerce you into seeing things their way.

Imagine yourself an owner of a local magazine. You have ten employees whom you pay a decent salary every year, in fact, you have been using the same great employees for the last ten years. Lets say you pay a decent amount of taxes and you make about $100,000 before taxes from your earnings.

I don't want to get crazy with numbers so let me keep it simple. Your taxes were just raised from 15% to 20% because the new administration is concerned about redistribution of wealth.

This means you need to make up for the loss in capital somehow, right? So what do you do? Do you start advertising in hopes that more people will buy your product/magazine? Or do you make up the loss by making budget cuts and creating a more "efficient" working atmosphere?

First, we all know that business owners don't spend more money when they are making less. Why would a business owner risk making his debt higher by spending more than he is actually able to? (Someone should tell our current administration about this.)

What happens is the complete opposite of wealth distribution! That employer lays off employees in order to curb the cost of his taxes. He then spreads the work load, makes difficult hours, and creates a more stressful work environment through the lay off of employees. This attributes more to the national unemployment rate.

Now that this simple equation is over, we have simple results. First, the wealth was redistributed back in the hands of the business owner. Next, the poor is now poorer due to his/her newly found unemployment status. Finally, the middle class workers are left picking up the slack due to the liberal class warfare between the rich and the "poor."

So when somebody tells you that "rich" people should pay more taxes because they make more money, you should tell that person what the possible outcome may be. Just because your professors don't make $250,000 a year doesn't give them the right to teach one sided politics.

Remember that you have the freedom to become successful. Why should you be punished for being the one individual that decided to stick out from the rest? Was it really your fault for becoming independently successful and wealthy?

The solution to this is simple:

1. A flat tax (like 10% or something, right?)

2. No tax write offs

3. BYE-BYE IRS! (not really needed anymore if everyone just pays the same percentage)

If everyone is paying the same percentage, then no one can say they are paying more or less than one another. Flat taxes are fair and simple; they don't require a HUGE and unintelligible tax code that even the people who write it don't understand.

If it's common sense, then your professors probably lack it. If it's biased and unfair, it's likely that's what your professors are preaching. Remember fellow Americans, we are a country totally based off the idea of equality, no matter what race, religion, or financial status.

The Growth of a New Party

2009-08-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

I'd like to point out groups that are highly un-engadged in our national politics but still remain to have a lack of common sense and compassion for the people.

If any of you have had a freshmen level Political Science class than you should know that there are three political subcultures that dominate America:

Traditional: This subculture is often emphasizes the whole idea behind, "If it works, don't fix it." Most people with this ideal back up their claim by stating that America became the most powerful country in the world in such a short time because we have kept this ideal. Texans are mostly traditional in our political subculture, and we don't really accept change (especially when it's proven to be a bad change) to well. Traditional people often vote less, protest less, and seem less engaged. But, lately the traditional folks have been coming out and being "silent no more."

Independent: This subculture is actually self explanatory. The idea is to keep big government out of the peoples business as much as possible. Texans are very much independent too. Texans generally don't want government interference in business, healthcare, energy, or their rights. Independent people usually vote conservative and are a little more loud publicly. They show up more often to protest and make more noise than the traditionalists. The only change that the independent subculture wants is the dis-involvement of our bureaucracy in the affairs of the people.

Moralistic: These people seek the growth and involvement of the government in our personal lives. They like the idea of government run healthcare, wealth redistribution, and government run energy. They often claim that the private sector (the American people) are too incompetent to run these simple things on their own. They seek government control of crime by limiting the rights of guns. They seek government involvement in housing and mortgage. They believe that government should take responsibility for the short comings that the private sector can't fix by itself. A strictly moralistic government would likely have a HUGE bureaucracy

Moralistic is what our modern day lefties tend to follow. Is it Un-American that they question the ability of the American people to manage themselves? In my opinion, NO. Strictly because it's the American way to question the status quo and argue your view. Do I think that the American people need the government to step in and fix our "shortcomings?" My answer to that is definitely NO.

So, when you go out and decide you want to do some liberal bashing, remember that the Democratic party is in a sense the party for the government. The Republican (true republicans) are the party for the people. I have a hard time explaining this to college Obamatrons because it just seems that they are so ill-informed about modern politics. I hope some of our lefties out there will read this blog and become more informed about where their party stands. I think if more liberals were political informed they would change political alignment.

Recently, the libertarian party has grown quite significantly among fellow Texans that I associate with. I think that it's because they are fed up with the everyday politics between Red and blue. I thought this was kind of ironic because I had always told my friends that I was Libertarian with some small Republican views. Perhaps the common sense movement begins locally for me? Libertarians are very independent oriented.

Soon to come! MY AIR ASSAULT MISSION IN IRAQ!!! VERY INTERESTING!

Roll Over in Their Graves

2009-08-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

I've always gotten mixed signals from all the HBO series' that they have been putting out. "Sex and the City" (despite all of its awards) advocated for women to be more open about sex and be more independent. Many of us men look at "Sex and the City" and hope that it doesn't pollute our significant others with shallow ideals. "Sex and the City" got major popularity because it empowered women by infusing tacky ideals along with simple fashion. Sex sells, it's been proven. But what's so amazing is the ability for TV shows like this to cause political blindness in our youth. And it's not just "Sex and the City."

It doesn't start with HBO's almost liberal agenda. What about Showtime? How about series' such as "Hung" and "Weeds?" Especially on "Weeds" when the drug dealer brother in law advocates against the War on Terrorism in season one, then he attempts cutting off his toe to avoid the Army. Showtime has miles to go if they want to display equal political views. I think HBO definitely hits a more unbiased display with their release of shows like "Band of Brothers," "Generation Kill, " and "John Adams." And John Adams would roll in his grave if he knew the direction our country is going today.

Has anyone noticed our other major regular TV networks? Liberals have always advocated for civil rights, equal representation, and making sure the majority doesn't trump the minority. It's a shame that TV, radio, and paper based media take sides on political matters. What ever happened to just reporting the news, or objectiveness? MSNBC, CNN, and HLN are turning our youth into Robots...or for that matter..Obamatrons. Never will the media's political views be more greater than ours (or those of us who fought and did real civil service for our country).

I came back from Iraq an anti-war and raging radical liberal (like most of them...). Shortly after my return, my time in the Army was finished, and it was time for life in the real world. Soon I worked, went to school, and lived on my own. After living in the real world my political views started shifting toward common sense. I started taking a deeper interest in our country's founding fathers. Especially John Adams. I think this goes for college students as well. Seems that they follow what the surrounding majority is doing at the time, but when it comes time for graduation and a real job, their political views magically switch. Could this be because they are actually having to work and be a part of society? Or is it that they're no longer under the influence of their old liberal colleagues? If you want to learn how to properly take advantage of your country, just ask the Young Democrats.

John Adams fought legislatively for his people. He had a genuine love for his countrymen, and he believed it was paramount that he represented his people accordingly when it was time for our call to independence. He even defended British soldiers on trial for breaking up a riot during time of British rule. This gave credibility to his cause as a patriot. John Adams joined the cause for Independence with an open mind. He was careful where he got his advice, looked at everything objectively, and still stuck with his ideals.

When it comes to getting advice, am I wrong for advising you to look for multiple sources of news and information? Getting all of your news from one source will likely manipulate your views in one direction. I know people that automatically think that since I support conservatism, it makes me racist, radical, and un-American. Challenging authority and thinking independent has always been the American way. The only thing un-American is manipulating the constitution, threatening individual rights, and hindering the right of property. Taxation is not patriotic. Patriotism is putting people, freedom, and property first.

GOOD NEWS!

2009-08-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

This is why you don't hitch hike...

So our readiness/training NCO told me that I came out on the TPL (troop promotion list) for promotion.

Texas has a weird rule were they won't promote prior service enlistees before a years worth of drills. Seeing as how promotion is often a re-enlistment tool, I might actually get this one. I figured it might be a good idea to get some of that (worthless) NCO time before I get my commission as an officer. Though my brief time as a corporal doesn't really count, I think it would be a good experience (plus better pay) to push the paper work through for promotion.

Sorry, I promised we'd discuss more about the training I did with the Royal Army, but I figured this would be a great blog on those who are about to enter the National Guard:

Basically the state of Texas has a rule, if you come off active duty and enlist in the Guard, you are on hold for a year. Which really means:

1. It's really difficult to get schools during that year (except NCOES schools)

2. Promotion is out the window, unless you're available for a lateral promotion to corporal

3. You got more experience than most, but you're still the "new" guy in the unit.

4. It's time for a new beginning, you can start from scratch and sometimes this is good

5. Get to know your training NCO, hopefully he's a good guy

Those are some points and some pointers. Basically, you'll be flabbergasted by how easy it is for you to be disappointed by the performance of the National Guard in general. As for me, I'd rather have a platoon of men who where fresh off of 4 years of active service, than a platoon full 10 year veteran National Guardsmen.

There are some good points of being a guardsmen coming off active duty! As blank as it my seem, I'll display a few points for you:

1. You are not alone, others are coming off of active duty as well

2. It's a good time to show the National Guard regulars how the real Army works

3. There are few good men that never served in the real Army (a few)

4. Some will listen to the training and advice you give them.

When I got to my unit, a few of us were asked to give classes on room clearing/searching. For some reason everyone at the unit had already knew everything on the matter. Giving the classes was like teaching a bunch of "professors." The reason we bothered teaching the classes is beyond me. Remember, infantry in the National Guard don't typically fulfill the infantry role on deployment. Most National Guard units deploy for convoy security or FOB protection. I'm sure that my unit did clear a few houses, but I imagine they are lacking on the whole ambush and raid thing...

I think it's a good recommendation from me, join a National Guard unit with some specialty. Hence, Austin has C. Co 19 Special Forces Group (HALO) as well as a new Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol unit. Despite having to go the Special Forces route in training, the LRRP you unit requires only Airborne qualification and a little of motivation.

The Right Stuff

2009-08-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

August, 1st 2009

So I just got back from Annual Training yesterday and let me just tell you something:

1. Waste of Life

2. Waste of Ammo

3. Good Pay!

4. Privates in the Guard are shit heads

5. Can you speak "American?"

The British Territorial Army came to Texas to train with us for two weeks. We were told it was going to be the British Royal Marines. What we got was the British Armies second string defense. All had civilian jobs and were quite successful. We'll talk more tomorrow about the brilliant British antics I experienced. Today we discuss the behaviors of active duty privates compared to the behaviors of those who never experienced active duty and are privates in the National Guard.

First, most of us that experienced the Active Army experience were hazed (some more than others). It wasn't odd for us privates in the active army to get harassed in the middle of the night by a drunken squad leader on a power tripping binge. As an infantrymen in an "elite" Stryker unit, it was a regular appearance to see privates lined up in the hallway of the barracks covered in sweat because someone had a messy barracks room. My personal favorite was when we were forced to do pushups and sit ups (among other things) in the barracks showers while freezing cold water was running (we had cloths on). After that, we low crawled outside to the old tank across the PT field. It was the day after we had a snowball fight with an adjacent unit that shared our PT field.

National Guard newbies never got that whole experience. I think the whole idea of group punishment built quite a nice brotherhood in my active duty platoon. Todays National Guard privates are plagued by the idea that they make more money than the service gives them, so they can act however they want at their unit. I'm officially for group punishment in the National Guard. Hopefully a good group smokin' will get all the lower enlisted on the same page.

Annual Training

2009-07-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

"And you thought those bloody Yanks were gonna take all the fun huh?"

Tomorrow I leave for annual training. I may not be able to write daily on the matter, but I will take notes and remember to give you'll a day by day account on how Annual Training went.

For those of you who don't know what Annual Training is:

1. It is for National Guard members (reservists too)

2. It lasts for 2 weeks

3. It is typically held during the summer

4. It's kind of a big deal (for "citizen soldiers")

5. It's usually done in other units and becomes a big joint event.

6. Your pay will somehow be messed up during or after training.

7. Everything that can be done against "Joe's" favor will be ignored.

Our annual training will be conducted largely at Camp Bowie, Texas. I believe some might take place at Ft. Hood, but that's all just hear say...It will also be a joint effort between my Texas National Guard Unit and the British Royal Marines. As for myself, I'll running the ranges and doing logistics. I opted out of doing the 12 and 18 mile road marches for an easier job. After all, I am in our scout/sniper section so I think I do deserve a break.

Remember I might not be able to blog about this daily. I will for sure take notes and pictures for my readers. So I'm apologizing in advance for my absence. I promise to make it up to you.

Way of the Gun

2009-07-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

Do you have permits to carry those?

If you've ever been on facebook or used other social networking sites, you'll notice that a favorite among movie buffs is "Boondock Saints." I don't want to make this blog primary around that movie, but it just seems that every guy in the world is now Irish after that movie came out...even with last names such as Pierre, St. John, Rodriques, people say they have some significant amount of Irish in them. To me, this wasn't the case till after that particular flick came out. Don't get me wrong, "Boondock Saints" was a great cult classic, and has a huge following, but "Way of the Gun" just hit a home run with me.

"Way of the Gun," starring Benicio Del Toro and Ryan Phillippe, is a work of art. The best thing is, it will make you like the bad guys. The two megastars both play the antagonist role of villains that you grow sympathetic to.

To make a 90 minute movie short, the two kidnap a surrogate mother and hold her ransom to the future owners of the child; the problem lies beneath the fact that the future owners are criminals on an even larger scale. Several gun battles and intense action scenes are the forte of this flick. The movie makes you feel like you are in a no name border town battling it out for control over a 15 million dollar jackpot.

Even better, the movie displays proper room clearing and bounding trained in the Army. Plus, it made the Colt 1911 pistol popular again. If you can get past the foul language and the excessive violence of the movie, you'll learn to appreciate the pure "modern western" feel that this movie has. I recommend that everyone sees it. And puts it on their top 10 movie list.

All quiet on the classroom front.

2009-07-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

July 14th, 2009

What Iraqi classrooms look like after "Shock and Awe"

One of the deciding factors why some of us (especially me) join the Army is that they tell you that you'll be able to go to college while serving out your enlistment.

The recruiters don't lie...they just don't seem to say the truth truthfully. There are some jobs you can get in the Army that will allow you to attend college, but before we get into that, we need to discuss a few things.

The first thing to consider is time, hence, what job will afford me the most time for college? Your recruiter will tell you that your NCO's and officers will encourage you to attend college classes while in the Army. The truth is, they DO encourage you to do such things, the Army is all about bettering yourself. BUT, at the same time they are telling you that you can do such classes, they won't give you the time. It's a hit and miss situation. Instead of attending an EMT class or perhaps just a simple English class if you were one of those "non English speaking soldiers" you'll likely be stuck training or doing some senseless weapons cleaning. So the following is a list of jobs that typically don't give you a lot of time for extra activities:

1. Cav Scout

2. Artillery

3. Forward Observer

4. Armor (or tanker)

5. Engineer

6. Infantry (you won't even have time to shit in this job...trust me.)

7. Arabic translator (you won't be in US a whole lot with this job.)

If you so decide to choose one of these jobs, try and stay away from Stryker brigades, Airborne, or light infantry. You won't get much time for extra school as it is in the infantry, but these particular specialty units train VIGOROUSLY. Your best bet if you want to go to college is to not join, or just join the Nation Guard or Reserves. But seriously...don't join.

Being an RN (registered nurse) is an automatic commission as an officer in the Army. It's like skipping ROTC, OCS, or any other means of commissioning..

Be that guy.

2009-07-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 13th 2009

Can we get any more Krunk (with a K)?

Yes, be that guy! That guy that lies to the cops whenever they bust up your party for being too loud.

I was at a party with a few friends from the ROTC department in my school; it wasn't big, but we were having SOOO much! The night began with beer pong and ended up with one of my colleagues being violently thrown around by the FIVE OH...

It obviously was a school night and we should have known better, but it just seemed like a Friday night, hence the drunken adventure begins! After beer pong we chilled out and knocked a few back while listening to tunes. The tunes got collectively louder, and so did the laughter and bullshitting of the small group of friends I chose for the night. Soon the cops were banging on the door. Then the banging got repetitive, so a member of the household decided to make a mad dash for his room and lock his door. The other inhabitant went to his room to act like he was asleep.

By and by we always get that FEAR of getting caught underage, or contributing to the delinquency of minors (which is actually a serious crime). But, one brave sole, decided to crack that door open and face those evil protectors of conformity outside. He also just happened to be the smallest one of the group. Sure enough, he told the cops to "wait" while he goes to find the owner of the house. Lets just say the cops don't have a good sense of patience. The door must have been cracked open about four inches when the cop decided to somehow pull my acquaintance out of the doorway. How he fit through four inches of door is still a mystery to all of us.

So finally, after hiding one of the underage girls (18) I decided to make my rounds outside to face those evil doing uniforms face to face. The first thing I see is my friend basically crying on the cement walkway outside...(like a bitch..). The first cop asked me if I was the owner of the house; I said "no, they passed out about 20 minutes ago."

He then proceed to interrogate and manipulate himself into a flurry of information he didn't need. Like he asked, "What do your parents do for a living?" Seriously!? What does he need to know that for? I wouldn't be surprised if he was wondering what color my shit was and what I had to eat last week...

Finally, the owner of the place comes out and decides it's necessary to give his 10 cents on what went down for the night. He has a problem with stuttering...at least when he's nervous. I decide to interject with, "I'm sorry officer, we are soldiers back on deployment and we are just trying to cut loose a little for the night..." Did I lie??? OH HELL YES! I got back from Iraq in 2007...this occurred in 2009. In fact, of the people at the party, I was the only one that had ever even been deployed. The others were just all ROTC teenagers.

The lessons learned here:

1. Cops are really gullible

2. Cops are overly violent

3. Having fun on a school night is a crime

4. Love they neighbor, by letting him listen to your extremely loud bass

5. Hide the minors in the 55 gallon trash can.....lol (didn't happen but I considered it)

So keep in mind, fraternities like to party, but some have rules, like no kegs at a fraternity function....totally gay...some also have rules like you can't drink while wearing markings or "letters" from your fraternity. Which is like saying, "If I drink in my house in my fraternity jersey, am I gonna get caught?" I say to hell with the rules and do what you want. Even if the police are a deciding factor...

The GI Bill and it's total uselessness...

2009-07-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

So anyways, we need to discuss the proper use of your GI bill funds. They are changing the way it works in August (next month) so you need to be smart with how you use it.

I pay roughly 5 thousand a semester for college where I am at. Plus, with the new GI Bill, I'll be taking a pay cut of 200 dollars. So this poses a great question, do you opt out of the new program for the old one or do you take the new one?

Beer Pong, the best way to spend your GI bill cash!

Well, seeing as how the new GI Bill is going to pay tuition directly, I'm opting for the new program instead of the old seeing as how my tuition is so high. But for those of you who have a scholarship, it really wouldn't make a difference if your tuition was paid for. Why would you want to double pay your tuition? Now, if you have a scholarship and opt for the new GI Bill, is there a possibility that you might get reimbursed? I have no clue yet...

For those of you that go to college in an expensive neighborhood, or an area of higher cost, you might get paid more than your standard GI Bill rate. This is a subject you should seriously study and inform yourself on. I'm still trying to understand myself, so if there are any inconsistencies in this advice, please let me know.

Keep in mind that your GI Bill payment is nearly NEVER on time...The Army is quite consistent about keeping the money they owe you away from you, and they are quite hesitant about fixing their pay problems. The Army HATES giving money to it's veterans and soldiers...especially bonuses (took me 8 months to get mine, I had to call my senator but that's another story).

Now, for the good stuff. The Do and Don'ts of the GI Bill:

1. Rent and utilities first

2. Pay a small amount of tuition each month

3. Go out to eat rarely

4. Drinking and partying is more expensive than you think

5. Remember certain things like drink specials...(we have big ass glass night)

6. Come out positive every month.

7. Dates are cheaper with a movie and cooking at your place

8. Ride your bike or do things that are close to home, it saves gas

9. Think "efficiency."

10. Meal plans...they could be expensive..or they can be cheap...do the math

Tomorrow (or the day after) is going to be an awesome blog...I'll be writing about parties and how we do it down South. Just remember, Hooaah loves YOU!

In the Center of Attention

2009-07-11T18:10:00.001-07:00

Saturday, July 11th 2009

Am I too trashy for this really "adult" girl scout?

So now the much anticipated submission of "How to steal your friends girlfriend." Isn't it funny how that a new freshmen in college could be 23 years old or even older? The cool thing is that typical freshmen girls go for those older Pseudo-senior college level guys. Being the older freshman puts you at a great advantage. I got lucky enough to be that college Sophomore that was 23 years old, I turned 24 half way through the year. My freshmen year was spent at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico...lets just say i didn't get that traditional college experience. Girls tend to think they are above men their own age. I don't think it's true, I just think it makes them easier.

Girls typically cling to fraternities. In fact, some times men seek membership into greek organizations just to meet college girls. My roommate, who chooses to stay anonomous, was a 25 year old freshmen that capatolized off freshmen "fraternity clingers." He broke lots of teenage hearts but at least he got what he wanted out of it.

One of the greatest achievements of the United States Army Infantry is that it turns ordinary people into social giants among typical men. All the partying and socializing within the unit you're in gives you ample practive for the civilian world. Being in a platoon of men with all different interests is like living already in a fraternity. Plus, being a veteran sometimes puts you at the center of attention. So here are a few tips on picking up girls that already have boyfriends:

1. Cook something good

2. Say something funny

3. Be honest (no girl is interested in someone who brags either...)

4 Try and treat her better than her current boyfriend (don't be a pushover though..)

5. Invite her to something special with some friends (don't invite her boyfriend)

6. Make sure you have friends unconnected to the current boyfriend, you'll need them.

7. Tell her she's awesome and funny, but stay away from hot and sexy

8. ABSOLUTELY NO BASHING OF HER CURRENT BOYFRIEND!!!...she'll come to his defense even if he's the spawn of Satan's little brother on steroids...

9. She's not going to leave her guy for a one night thing. If you know she's interested in you, make sure she knows that you are interested in her too.

10. Segregate her from her friends that think you're a "home wrecker."

Anyways, I didn't write the book on "home wrecking," but these guidlines seem to work for me. And for the record, the girl I'm with now is not pictured above. The girl I'm with now I "stole" from a guy in my fraternity that wasn't treating her good enough. I plan on keeping her around as long as I can. Oh yeah, and two of the people pictured above are now officers in the Army

So now you have it. Go to college and steal girlfiends. Have a great time.

To be Greek or not..

2009-07-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

July 10th, 2009

I hate to be that guy that seems to be long winded in sharing his life story. So I'll keep it short:

High School

Military School

Active Army and Iraq

Junior College

University (present)

some wear pink, we wear military red and white...

Now that you know all that information about me, please don't steal my identity. The next thing I'd like to tackle is the purpose of this writing. This is an intense informative about the pros and cons of being a veteran in a fraternity or other Greek organization. I don't write gripes, I write realistically. I don't write objectively because sometimes being objective means being politically correct, the best thing is to write from experience.

Keep in mind, that if you are a combat veteran, you will be significantly older than your rush peers. Some will be your age, but they will just not have your experience. Your military leadership and experience will be some what less then existent or useful in a fraternity (well, at least my fraternity) . Remember, being in charge of a twenty thousand dollar machine gun and team doesn't translate well with the guy that's in charge of "study hours." If there is any advice I could give you, take your experience to Blackwater or Triple Canopy. At least those guys won't ask for a monthly membership fee.

I promise my post tomorrow will be more "up beat." Tomorrow I write about girls and fraternities, and how to effectively steal your fraternity brothers girlfriend...