What, really, did you expect?

I really am not very good at keeping this updated. A lot of that is because I am overly dramatic in my style of writing. I demand from myself a certain amount of flair. Also, I do this thing called the Army. Some of you might have heard of it. Keeps me pretty busy though.

I shot some stuff up hardcore yesterday. Was good fun. Wish I had a picture of my target. Sure it was CQC (Close Quarters Combat) training so I was pretty close to the target. The farthest being 25m and moving up to 5m. But regardless, my target was lit up with headshot after headshot. Really was cool to turn in my target afterwards. Would not have minded being able to keep it, but it felt good to hand that in, almost as if it were my application to kill if you follow.

Not much else going on right now really. Sitting in my tent. Well, I am working on learning Arabic. Thats cool. Especially considering at 0530 the call to prayer plays here and the loud speakers are right over our tent. It is fascinating really, the language. Well, I guess the culture as well. Just the way they live and the history they have. Not sure what about those things really intrigues me, but it may just be as simple as a desire to go for the other guy. It is very possible that it is all because of the conflict of Ishmael that I feel the way I do. Talk about getting the shaft, that kid got screwed pretty much as hard as you can. What did he ever do?

Moving on I guess. Or not since I am done for now. I will try to update this more frequently if I can, but not sure how often. Oh, one last thing. My phone is completely shot. So if anyone wants to send me a replacement I wont argue:)

And it begins...

Guess im gonna do this blog thing, cause there isnt much else to do and all…

So recently; since my day is occupied more and more by nothingness and less frequently by actual soldiering , I have had a lot of time to sit and think and discover. My battle buddy here is an armorer as a civilian. So he is very familiar with weapons and specifically rifles. So a lot of the time I have been spending has been me looking at rifles, scopes, schools, and recently the qualifications for a Scout Sniper. The reason I mention will follow shortly, though to some it may seem obvious.

You see, I am getting so burnt out with the Army and what they have to offer me. More and more the issues that are being addressed are those that concern specifically the senior leadership. You can see it all around but the greatest example can be seen when a soldier makes a mistake. I am not talking about a soldier just plain screwing up. I am talking about an honest mistake. It because clear to me after I did something similar and was corrected. You see. When someone doesn’t know something and they therefore act or react incorrectly because of this lack of knowledge, it should be the action of those responsible to correct the soldier, not by disciplinary means, but by educative means. Disciplining and adult, a grown individual, a proud soldier, does not usually produce the desired effect. More often than not, instead of correcting the action, you scorn the individual. This is for two possible reasons. One, you have embarrassment. Nobody likes to be embarrassed, to be called out on something they did incorrectly. It’s uncomfortable and potentially scarring. The other reason that usually presents is the lack of a real correction. In the event you do something wrong, it should be made clear what was wrong. But of equal importance is the correct action. Without that information, it is likely the soldier will make a similar or even the same mistake in the near future.

So since I went every which way in that paragraph and don’t really feel like going through to find where I should be, I will leave it and continue on with what I am getting at.

Scout Sniper.

So, silly as it may seem, I am beginning to feel strongly called to this particular job specialty. For one reason in particular.

“We're looking for individuals that can operate on their own.”

I am a loner by nature. I have great difficulty working in groups. Not that I can’t and not because I don’t like to, though that is the case from time to time. But because of my inability to trust others to accomplish their part of the job. That is the single greatest issue I have faced in the military. It can be blamed in part on the issue I mentioned previously. Of senior leadership looking out for themselves before their soldiers. I cant trust them to take care of me when I need them to. Yet I am still required to be at their heels ready for anything.

Screw that. If they want my loyalty. They will earn it. Its not a benefit of rank, the only benefit of rank is pay. Everything else is earned. And there is no easy way to earn it.