Busy, busy, busy

Jon sent me an e-mail at 2200 (10:00 p.m.) as he was leaving work. He did not have time to post to the blog and so I am posting this note for him. His one comment to me as he signed off was, "the good thing about this work is that I'm never bored and have less ability to miss you..."

I don't think he has posted this either but he did want my mom (Helen) and our friends Kristin and Rani to know that their packages arrived. They were waiting for him when he returned from his trip last week. He appreciated getting the actual OC Register article along with lots of munchies. He also appreciated the books. He does share the goodies with his fellow workers. He and his roommate go through the boxes and keep their favorites and he shares the rest with the other Marines. In some of my predeployment materials I had read that you should always send your Marine enough stuff so he can share. I think that "earns him extra points" in the office. :)

Sheryl for Jarhedjon

When in Rome...

There was some interest, before I left the US, regarding how much interaction I might have with residents of this country, what opportunities might be presented through these relationship, if any, and the possible long-term potential of friendships forged over a year long period. I can reasonably comment on this aspect of my deployment here based on experience thus far: almost no interaction, no opportunity exists, and there is absolutely no long-term potential. This has positives and negatives. We utilize only the real estate and structures that we occupy, which minimizes a plethora of impacts we could have on the existent culture. It is this country’s stated desire that all measures possible be taken to minimize these impacts. We have the reputation world wide of pretty much showing up and setting up shop and operating the way we want to (we take Rome with us, instead of doing as they do in Rome when we get there), and this is generally true of our operation here. I spend maybe 12 minutes a week face to face with a citizen of this country, and always in a setting in which conversation is both impractical and inappropriate.

That being said, there are fairly large contingents of personnel here from around the world who are participants in the mission of Coalition Forces (CF, I know, another acronym). It is possible that friendships could develop with any number of these persons, given the context, routine interaction and the requisite time and interest by both parties. I’ve seen and talked with some of these folks, including a few that have attended the same church service. There is certainly potential in this direction, something that could be pursued further. I think it would be tremendous to get into or initiate a small group with people from different cultural and national backgrounds. No solid ideas yet (as to who or when we’d meet), it depends on what ‘doors open.’

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Amazing

I’ve mentioned the band practices I’ve been participating in, playing trumpet until the tuba mouthpiece gets here… Well, a couple week back we had mentioned our mouthpiece problem to a member of the Navy Construction Battalion (CB or Sea Bees, as they like to be called) here, and he referred us to a machinist mate Petty Officer Heard who said he could make one. All we had was a bass trombone mouthpiece for him to model it from (the tuba mouthpiece is about 15% larger), and to tell you the truth, we were not very hopeful (though I immediately stopped work on the wooden one that I was carving). Well, he finished it this morning, and it is a real piece of art. Made of bronze. More to the point, it works great. It is just an amazing thing.

Of course, the miraculous provision of a mouth piece through the amazing talents of a dedicated Naval professional has created a new set of problems. We discovered that the tuba specific pieces for the quintet numbers we were working on for Easter are not in the folder with the other tuba music. Can we get some more/replacement music in time? If I’m ready to play tuba music and the sheets get here in time, who will play the 2^nd trumpet part, which is also integral to the piece? Switching between the tuba and the trumpet, at my age and ability, anyway, is a practical impossibility. What to do, now that we have a one-of-a-kind amazing bronze tuba mouthpiece, that is the question. Amazing how the solution to one dilemma so often creates more dilemmas.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Running on MT

I don’t know what phase of the ‘separation’ process I’m in as a result of this deployment, but whatever phase it is, take it from me, it is not a fun place to be. It does not help that I’m getting over this cold/flu thing (thanks for your prayers and Sheryl’s blog post, I am doing much better today), but that aside, I feel lethargic, I lack motivation, the next 11 months seem like a LONG time, and life seems like drudgery. I’ve had days like this before this deployment, but these days were accompanied with a present expectation that whatever factors were causing the BLAH would soon change. This expectation worked to produce HOPE, which not only changed my perspective; it also worked to change my attitudes and behavior within the less-than-idyllic circumstances. Despite all the positive things that are IN FACT blessings in my life (significantly detailed, in fact, in earlier entries in THIS blog), the factor that is causing this particular BLAH seems to be consistently blocking the initiation of the present expectation, which predictably short-circuits the conditions which precipitate hope.

Writing/reading that first paragraph was threatening to the Independent, Self Sufficient Jar Head (albeit REMF) that I am (most of the time) convinced that I am. I have to reassure this aspect of myself that it is still intact, as capable as always. I have to acknowledge that there is room for competency and engagement (even joy?) in the midst of BLAH, that the two can co-exist. This is tough for me to do, as I do not even prefer multi-tasking in the physical realm, let alone the emotional… hmm, better not say ‘realm’ here, as that implies some structure and rules, let’s just say ‘area’. That’s probably a safer word than ‘slurry,’ which is a little closer to how it feels. Anyway, I received the 2^nd post card from my son today, and even that made me sad—that I wouldn’t see him for so long, that… well, better stop now, this list could go on for a long time, and I haven’t even mentioned Sheryl yet… You get the drift (sorry, Joshua, it’s a snowless drift).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Getting a cold

Jon couldn't post today but did send this note to me, "I have a sore throat, stuffed up nose, feel miserable kind of flu bug, I started to get it on my way back from my trip, and I’m trying to get over it now. By trying to get over it, I mean sleeping 8 hours or maybe a little more each night, which means working less, but I already feel a little better, which has a direct impact on my work." Please pray for healing. Thanks.

Sheryl for Jarhedjon

Light Show

The other night, while waiting for transportation back to my home base, some flights that were scheduled to depart prior to mine were landing, disembarking / embarking passengers, and then leaving. These rotary wing aircraft are the medium and heavy lift workhorses of the Marine Corps, and are doing a GREAT job out here (I’m sure that doesn’t just happen, the crews and pilots must all be top notch). It was really quite the attraction watching them land and take off, not only due to the efficiency with which all was accomplished, but because of the ‘light show.’ During the ‘touchdown’ phase of the landing, and during the ‘lift-off’ phase of take off, a sort of static-electricity (I’m guessing, here, have no clue what it was) charge appeared to envelop each blade. Of course, since the blades are spinning at a fairly substantial speed (a little understatement, here), this created the appearance of a glimmering, shimmering, flickering disk. This phenomenon is probably not observable during the day, this was a moonless night. Individually incidental enough in nature to leave one in doubt as to the certainty of it having happened, the repetition of the occurrence (I watched several choppers through this evolution) confirmed it. Anyway, I wonder if anyone reading this blog can explain what it is that I was seeing, as it is something totally new to my experience.

I’ve got a visitor coming to see me at my base this week, much in the same way I visited some folks last week at their base. Switching roles. As for me, I’d rather be the scrutinizer than the scrutinized.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

REMF@FOB

Time for some more acronyms. These are old acronyms to me, having known of them for years, but this was the first time I had associated them together and applied them to myself. “REMF” is translated as Rear Echelon Malingering Fellow” (actually, the MF stands for something beyond gutter-franca, but the words I’ve used will adequately, if not considerably more politely, convey the meaning), and FOB (not a trinket, a chain, or a watch-pocket on a vest) is a Forward Operating Base. The base I am at used to be a FOB, but is fast losing that distinction due to the considerable rise in security and stability in the immediate vicinity. The base I visited earlier this week has yet to loose the distinction. To the personnel at the FOB, guys like me who show up for a day or two are REMFs, and they would just as soon have us malinger in our rear echelon area than have us cluster around THEIR area and make their jobs more difficult. Which, I will admit, REMFs typically do (we typically DO malinger in our rear echelon areas, and we also typically—whenever we actually do go to a FOB—make their jobs more difficult). However, I was assured by the folks that I contacted while at the FOB that the things we accomplished while there were extremely helpful and encouraging to them, and I learned quite a bit as well that will help give me focus in some of the tasks I am doing here.

I think the things I need the most out here are things that no one can give me: more hours in a day (either to get more work done or to get more sleep, and of course, sleep would win), a bit more joy in every experience (I feel blessed to appreciate all the blessings I experience—and I DO experience a TON of blessing, but I’m still working on discovering what joy really is), and a diminishing of the sense that I am being daily distanced from the essential core of Sheryl and Joshua’s lives and existence. I thank you for all you ARE giving me, and doing for me through your care, your prayers, and your thoughts, and more.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

All is well with Jon's trip

Jon surprised me this morning with a call from the location of his recent trip. Thanks for praying for his safety. He'll only be there two days, so it's pretty quick. However, he said that his time there has been very productive. He travels at night so his sleep gets messed up the day after he arrives. This morning he had a really bad headache, so please pray that when he returns to his "home base" he'll be able to get back on schedule quickly without the headache to go along with it. Thank you.

Sheryl for Jarhedjon

One month down

As of tomorrow, Jon will have been at his current place of work for one month -- only 11 to go. Jon also received the good news that he should be able to get two weeks off in the summer to come home to visit us. Yippee!!! It will be great to see him for two weeks after 6 months of separation. Of course, then we'll still have 6 more months to go, but hey, it's better then nothing.

Jon probably won't be able to post for a few days, so I'll try to post something of interest. Do you like the new picture? I thought it was time we saw a different look for our jarhed.

Sheryl

Weaponry

Jon was swamped with work today and was unable to post to his blog, so I'm filling in for him. I know some of you wouldn't mind if he took a break, but he is "on a pretty good run" and would like to have a post every day. So here I am posting for him.

Jon is going on a short trip to a different location in the same country. To prepare for the trip he visited the armory. For those of you interested in weaponry, you might find this quote interesting. "I checked out an M-16-A-4 (rifle) for my trip, everyone says not to travel off base without one, as the side-arm I carry (the M-9 Berretta 9mm pistol) is [not very useful] should I actually need a weapon. They gave me a 'combat' load of ammo, 120 rounds (I only have magazines for 90). I also went to supply and picked up some new sapi plates (clay plates that go into the flak jacket so they will be 'bullet' proof), including side sapi plates (which I didn't have before). For the trip I'm switching back to my thigh-rig (holster worn down low like a western/cowboy fast draw holster) for my 9 mil instead of the chest rig (as in the picture in the chapel) so I can wear my flak no problem."

Jon is safe and expects to be fine on this trip. You can pray that I won't worry about him.

Sheryl for Jarhedjon

Avalanche...

I (once again) want to thank every single one of you who has taken the time out of your busy days and busier lives to sit down at a computer and type me a Moto-mail. Writing a letter or typing an email is thankless enough, I suppose you might expect a 75% return on personal emails, perhaps a 25% return on personal snail mail, but when the expectation of a return message is a big fat zero, and yet many of you STILL are making a point of encouraging me in this tangible way—I can only say, “THANK YOU,” again, from the bottom of my heart. I am SO encouraged, I feel VERY supported, and affirmed for my service. I received eight, EIGHT separate Moto-mails today, and one snail mail card (from Judy—thank you for your note, my intention is to write you back), and four of the ‘mails were more than a ‘page’ long. The Admin Chief from our unit was just shaking his head as he handed out the mail, I think even he found it hard to believe that so many people care about me—or care enough about me to write me in such a meaningful way.

Nicole, my Mom pointed out (and rightly so) that some of your competition has been without access to a computer for at least the last two weeks, and I should point out that another niece of mine posted to my blog before I even left the States J Seriously, I know how hard it is to write one-sided letters. Helen ‘just’ wrote me about the weather, and due to the speed of Moto-mails, I was able to inform a bunch of other folks out here from California about the snow down to 1,000 feet and the 18 hour shutdown over the Grapevine last weekend. It really helped us connect back to home, as practically everyone from California has sat on the Grapevine, on one side or the other, in such a shutdown. My days out here are practically all the same, hearing what is happening in your day brings meaning to what I’m doing here—GWOT is all about providing a secure enough environment to provide even some of the basic freedoms that we experience in the United States, like freedom of choice within the bounds of responsibility, freedom of speech and movement, etc. to folks in places where these freedoms are unkown.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Baskin Robbins

OK, I can hear the protests already, “You’ve been holding out on us, you never told us you have ice cream there…,” and it is true: I have been holding out on you, and we do have ice cream here at the DFAC. Baskin Robbins, no less. We don’t have 31 flavors, we have (usually) two flavors and a sherbet (I’ve never really put sherbet in the same category as ice cream, call me a purist…). Last night, Saturday night, the DFAC got a shipment of A&W in (they usually have quite a selection of soda, but it’s kind of a rotating door except for Coca Cola and Sprite, it’s hit or miss), and Sunday being the night I allow myself a bowl of ice cream, I was hoping for a perfect mix: A&W AND B&R vanilla ice cream. I had to really restrain myself, as Saturday night they had mint chocolate chip, and I was really tempted to go for the instant gratification rather than hold out for the long shot odds of having the makings for a real honest to goodness root beer float. But hold out I did, and it was definitely worth it.

The tricky part was actually fixing it. The only cups they have in the DFAC are 8oz paper coffee cups, not very conducive to Marine-sized root beer floats. I cast my eyes around for something that would work, and saw a bunch of two liter water bottles in the cooler. I stepped outside the DFAC for an instant, dumped the water, cut off the top with the handy CRKT my little brother gave me (see, Greg, I’m putting it to a very lofty purpose), had the ice cream guy put in two dollops of B&R, added two cans of A&W, and I was THERE. Man, what a deal. It was so smooth (yes, Sheryl, I insured the ice cream was fully integrated with the soda before I commenced to swig). And this was all made possible by YOU, the United States Citizen taxpayer. Thank you very much! This was the 3^rd anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, don’t know if that had any significance to MY celebration, but true, none-the-less.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

A short posting from Sheryl

Jon didn't have time to post today -- probably because he took a break and surprised Joshua and me with a call this morning (he usually calls Sunday morning). His last note to me before heading "for the rack," was that "the Chicken Cordon Blue was great" for dinner. He sends a big thanks to Joshua for the post card that arrived today, and Moto mails from: "Nicole (who forgot to sign her name she was so tired, but I knew it was her from, among other things, her address), Sonny (who somehow got the same Motomail printed and delivered twice on the same day), Cory (for Tom, Anna, & Peter), and Brad (for himself and his family)."

Jon is starting get into a good routine at work and it seems that his learning curve is leveling off so I think he feels more confident and satisfied with the work he is doing.

All for now, Sheryl for Jarhedjon.

Moral High Ground

Before I take off on a rant (which I am probably likely to do sooner or later), I’d like to thank niece Nicole, sister-in-law Brenda, long-time friend Brendan, younger bro Greg, cousin James, and former classmate Ruth Mossman for an all time record six Moto-mails yesterday. Nicole’s was the first Moto-mail that was in 14 font instead of 9 font, making it easier to read (and making it LOOK like it was double the length, to boot), don’t know how she worked that out… Brenda, thanks for sticking it out through being timed out 3 times, I can appreciate how difficult it is to say it just the way you wanted the third time around (even without the frustration factor), and congratulations on officially joining the family BMW Classy Biker Trash Club. James, it’s tough enough living up to my Commanding Officer’s expectations, let alone your daughters, but please tell her I’m giving it 110%. Brendan, thanks for the Bob’s Bluff memory—and for following my blog and your support—Happy St. Paddy’s day (from the O’ side of my family), we’ll have to put a day aside in a year or so for a game of Empire Builders. Ruth, thanks for passing on the info, and for your prayers and support.

Freedom of speech and expression aside for a minute, have you ever read a book that never should have been written (at least by that author)? Bought a product that failed to function as advertised? Been to an art gallery that had something on display, but it wasn’t art? Listened to scientific evidence that was really biased entrepreneurial genius funded by money with an agenda? Watched a drama that turned out to be a Soap Opera? I believe that there is such a thing as truth, and that truth can be boiled down into little bits and pieces, each piece being appropriate for its time and season. Sometimes these ‘truths’ are contradictory: “too many cooks spoil the broth” and “many hands make light work” are examples of this. If I paint something that represents how I see or interpret the world, I suppose you could call that art or expression, but if I paint a picture and say, “this is how my brother sees the world,” I am one step removed from art, truth and expression, as I’ve wandered into the realm of opinion, interpretation, and judgment. I think there is a moral line that can be crossed in terms of what can be expressed and what should be expressed. How is that moral line recognized or defined? Good question. What do you think?

Semper Fi, Jon G.

One of the Guys

As much as I love the structure of the military, it has its drawbacks. One of the structures in the military that I like the most is the rank structure—it allows everyone instant knowledge of who is senior to who, who renders a salute to whom, who can socialize with who, and a general understanding of what is required or entailed (in terms of demonstrated leadership, mission accomplishment, expertise, authority and responsibility) to achieve each specific rank. It is amazing how satisfying and stress reducing it is to wake up every morning knowing where you fit in the world, what you need to do to stay competitive with your peers, and how to act towards everyone else you interact with. There are plenty of people who are not successful in the military, rarely is it a case of these people not knowing what they needed to do or how they needed to act to be successful, it is usually a case of them deciding not to act in accordance with that knowledge.

That being said, the rank structure in the military is extremely annoying. Besides the fact that all the branches of the service should decide on one structure and one set of symbols so all the civilians, contractors, advisers, foreign military personnel, etc., could more easily figure the silver-is-senior-to-gold and stars-are-senior-to-oak-leaves things out, it is just tough to be ‘one of the guys.’ The best that one can attain to is ‘one of the non-commissioned officers (NCO’s),’ ‘one of the staff non-commissioned officers (SNCO’s),’ etc. Now that I have achieved a certain rank (mostly by the simple virtue of years of service), I can’t just ‘drop in’ on some folks with whom I have a professional relationship and see how things are going. They are doing the same thing I was doing twenty years ago, and in most cases doing it better, faster, and more efficiently, but they defer to me, call me ‘Sir,’ and generally make it clear that I am not ‘one of the guys.’ Not that I ever was—I guess that’s part of the problem, but also a topic for another blog…

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Card deals...

Instead of writing further on some of my views regarding US involvement in GWOT, I was pointed to an article written by Orson Scott Card (author of Ender’s Game and numerous other books of outstanding merit) by a Marine Major who distributed it to us, his fellow classmates undergoing a professional military education (PME) experience. My views are startlingly close to Card’s, who deals with a whole range of topics in his weekly column. You can check out Card’s views on Iraq and find links to his point of view on other issues at http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2006-01-15-1.html.

Every day the trumpet practices get more and more fun. I’m still a long way from trying out for the 5^th grade band (something I did once, so I know what I’m talking about), but every day the note-on-the-page-to-mind-to-finger-to-push-the-right-valve communication gets a little better. I’ve been queried as to what good it does to play the trumpet when I’m going to switch to tuba soon, and this is the best answer I can give (seeing as the valve combinations per note for the tuba is the same as for the trumpet, of course several octaves removed and on a different scale). Speaking of the tuba, a Navy Lieutenant currently practicing French horn with us introduced me to a steel machinist in his Construction Battalion who is going to make me a mouthpiece from brass, so hopefully I’ll be able to transition to the tuba sooner rather than later. We’ll see. Additionally, his efforts provide adequate excuse to scrap my sorry efforts to carve one out of the heart-wood of a section of a local sapling (which attempt I might keep for a conversation piece—how I arguably might have turned a tuba into a woodwind).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Pulling My Weight

Today was the hottest day so far in the balmy spring weather we’ve been having here (topped out at 84F). Of course, we are doing all we can to prepare for the onslaught of summer—which isn’t much, when you get right down to it. The monotony today was relieved a little by an incident which is reportable—but not really reportable. Here’s what I mean: Sunday the headquarters element that I work for was soliciting humorous anecdotes for inclusion in a family-oriented newsletter (with a two-day deadline). Today I got an email from a former associate of my boss that I maintain professional contact with, and he said, “I remember (favorably) serving with your boss, does he still say the ‘blank’ word a lot?” On getting the email, I said to my boss, “So & So remembers you favorably,” and my boss says, “Oh, yeah, I’m a real ‘blank’ pleasure to serve with.” I thought it was pretty hilarious, considering my boss had no idea what So & So had said… And you have to take my word for it, my boss IS a pleasure to work with, he was selected as the Marine Corps’ Officer of the Year for his occupational specialty last year. It was not my preference to serve my country in THIS country, but as long as I AM here, I am blessed to note that I am here with the most competent officers the Corps has to offer.

It is now (due to bandwidth considerations enforced by my command) no longer possible for me to access my blog on a daily basis, though my intent is to post via email daily whenever possible. I will probably only have the opportunity to actually view the blog and respond to comments once a week, so please be patient. This is one way I can pull my weight for the Marine Corps effort over here—reduce my use of bandwidth to free it up for operational and vital administrative use. Each of you can help me pull my weight through your understanding of the necessary delay. Thanks.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Bank Error in Your Favor...

WELL!! I’d like to thank my brother Greg, Mike (a lawyer, but I’m thanking him anyway, and you DID get my rank right), my Dad, and Ruth (from Rift—from whom I received 2) for today’s Moto-mails. These Moto-mails were to three separate addresses/unit numbers, but all but one of them (Greg’s, which was printed off on the 9^th) got to me within 48 hours from when they were printed off, and I think the one anomaly was the result of the past weekend (I don’t the post office here does all their normal activity on Sundays). It is very meaningful to me that each of you took the time to include me in the routine of your day, even if it was to tell me that you had nothing special to tell me J

Remember the Community Chest (or was it Chance) card from Monopoly… Well, a ‘bank error’ in favor of all the Service men and women engaged in GWOT would be for the criminals/terrorists/disrupters of the peace around the world to find that suddenly they were broke. Given the short term survival-oriented priorities of so much of the world (out of necessity), and the instability, lack of credibility, or diminished buying power of legitimate monetary or economic currency (vice black market barter, strong-arm tactics, and corruption), for the illegitimate manipulators of power in the world to loose one of their major motivating tools would be a tremendous enabling factor for those working towards stability, security, and enfranchisement. If you want to pray for something that will work to increase world peace and personal freedom of choice, pray that the ways of the wicked will leave them destitute, and all their evil intents will result in fruitlessness, and their jar of oil will supernaturally prematurely dry up. Pray with discernment, as we certainly have those with wicked ways and evil intent on our side as well, and perhaps we all benefit in some ways from the wealth and industry of the wicked. We are called to be peacemakers, I’d venture to guess that the prayers of God’s people (‘indirect’ involvement) will always prove more significant than active participation (guys like me who are over here, trying as we might).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Engaged & Disengaged

A friend from 10^th grade (RVA in Kenya) pointed out that Moto mail’s drop down menu did not have an exact match for the address I gave. I checked the addresses on the Moto mails I have received, and in every case but one (the most recent Moto mail from Joe), the address on the Moto mail envelope WAS different. Thanks for pointing that out, Ruth. The 2^nd line (after the 1^st line, my name) can read either 1 MEF G2 or 1 MHG, the rest is the same (Unit 42540, FPO AP 96426-2540). If Moto mail gives you the option, 1 MEF G2 may get to me a little faster (from when it is printed at the local post office to when I get it in my hands), but the difference is a matter hours, not days. Thanks to Joe, who has written the most often—I really appreciate it, frequent reminders of your thoughts and prayers are very encouraging. Thanks also to my niece, Nicole, who gets the award for the longest Moto mail so far (written from a Starbucks Internet Café, which just to think of a Starbucks starts my mouth watering and my brain cells yearning for a venti caramel machiatto)—It was very cool to get an insight into your day, discover that you are indeed a reader after the family tradition, and at the risk of upsetting my other nieces and nephews (but hopefully starting a ‘longest Moto mail to Uncle Jon competition), I will facetiously admit that you are my favorite Niece.

Last Sunday, as I reported in my blog, it was very meaningful for me to be engaged in worship. However, there was a sense of something missing, of my engagement in worship not being complete. I initially looked inside myself to discern why: lack of preparation for worship, an inability to turn my thoughts from myself and my work towards God and His work, a hardening of my heart, something like that. Some of those things are probably always true, sometimes to a greater extent than at other times, but God’s grace is not dependent upon me. I realized that my sense of disengagement while engaged in worship here is because I feel a void where the Community of SCPC (the people of my church) used to be. That is not to say there is not a Community here that God has provided—I simply have not engaged with it yet. This is, I’m sure, partly a question of time—please pray that the sense of being disengaged, even isolated from God’s Community, will quickly dissipate, through continued interaction, further involvement, or God dealing with me as needed that I may worship Him in spirit and truth with my life.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

NastyGram

Regarding the ‘opinion piece’ I did two blogs back, I just read a report in Stars and Stripes that in Sept 2005 the advisors to the President approved the concept for regional domestic infrastructure reconstruction teams here, but security is a major issue—DoS would like DoD to provide security, but DoD states they cannot concurrently staff a training mission that is fundamental to the military exit strategy and a new mission, and recommended DoS contract security from the private sector. This exposes an apparent two year gap between the implementation of the political military agenda and the implementation of the requisite political non-military agenda, which I maintain should have been concurrent, and which time gap I argue exacerbated to the point of unmanageability the long-term security aspect of the political military agenda.

On the “Home Front” (literally), Sheryl and I received a ‘NastyGram’ from our ‘Homeowner’s Association’ requiring us to paint some trim and awning supports on our mobile home. We received this notice one week before I shipped out, with only two weeks to fix it. I requested an extension of the deadline; no way I could address it, and left it in the very capable hands of a good friend, Ralph C. Ralph and Sheryl have decided what needs to be done, and I think they plan on doing more than the minimum required by the HA. If you could help in this, it would greatly relieve my concerns for Sheryl having to handle stuff like this while I’m gone, and also minimize the guilt I feel over saddling Ralph with more of a bite than he thought he would have to chew when he so kindly volunteered to handle this for me.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Heart Felt Thanks

I'm sending this 2nd blog out in the same day with a very motivated JarHed "Ooorah" thank you for a banner mail day. 5 Moto Mails and 2 packages. Wow. Thanks to:

Sheryl, 2 packages (as yet unopened, I can't wait).
Mom, 2 Moto mails (dated March 6 and March 8).
Kristin & Rani, Moto mail (dated February 21, must have got lost on the way).
Sandy and Sonny, Moto mail (dated March 6).
Marcus, Moto mail (dated March 7).

I am so thankful. You all are awesome, I am so encouraged by each of you. I especially needed it after that 1st trumpet practice today :)

Semper Fi, Jon G.

What About Us?

Some of you DID want to hear some of my views, so here goes:

I think that a tremendous amount of pressure has been put on DoD and the Secretary of Defense as it relates to the military and security concerns of the Global War on Terror (GWOT). I’m not saying there are not concerns, but that perhaps there are others that should be sharing the hot seat with the Sec Def. I don’t think the United States would have fared any better under similar circumstances.

Consider the political goal: Regime change. Has that happened yet? I don’t think so, that’s why we’re still here. We could quibble forever regarding what indicators would actually show a regime has been established and empowered, but NO ONE would say the current regime is there yet. Compare a few things, both real and hypothetical: how long it took the US to develop its constitution, and this while not facing insurrection and the threat of civil war; the domestic reaction to a cessation of all banking transactions and the prohibition against the use of the existing currency; the disbanding of all civil service posts and the structures that provided community services, to include police departments, fire departments, electric/power/waste & water facilities, and education institutions; the concurrent cessation of almost all commercial activity related to government and banking, such as real estate transactions (industrial or residential), the regulation of taxes, identities, or vehicles (IRS and DMV), etc. A foreign power shows up, starts restoring some of the physical infrastructure—but no political (city, county, province, or national) power structures are provided (people fall back to family, clan, tribe, etc. power structures, which have been de-legitimized for decades by the previous ruler; the ‘freedoms’ that we now have, the ability to make a choice, also means that we have to start paying for gas, power, waste disposal, stuff we never had to pay for before (but which was often withheld as a political tool of suppression). Furthermore, two years after our deliverance, none of the services mentioned above are back in place, and the majority of the population is trapped on level one of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Personally, I think the good ol’ US of A would have succumbed to crime waves and vigilante gangsterism a whole lot faster than this country did. Where are the other persons in leadership in the US, who voted for use of the military as a means of accomplishing the political goal of regime change, and who should be sharing the hot seat with the Sec Def—when the deteriorating security situation is not the result of poor leadership or mission accomplishment on the part of the military, but MAJOR holes in the domestic rebuilding and regime emplacement strategy.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Little Things

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth mentioning again—the little things are the things that seem to make life liveable. Either in the omission or in the commission. I was going to start practicing the tuba today, so I went over to the Chaplain’s office to break it out and start playing—and we discovered there was no mouthpiece. It is a beautiful, antique style tuba (I’ve never seen valves like this, with floating valve caps, pretty cool, and with four valves, too, I’m guessing so you could change the key of the instrument, sort of like with a 4^th valve a Baritone becomes a Euphonium), but utterly useless without that mouthpiece. The Chaplain wondered if there was a metal lathe around here that someone could make a lathe on, but decided to just order one from the States. We should get it in about three weeks, and in the meantime, I’ll get started on an extra trumpet they have here. I found out that the Chaplain gets all these instruments from the Defense Reutilization Management Office (DRMO), basically the trash dump of the U.S. Government and DoD.

As I was eating chow this evening, I observed an officer bowing his head and thanking God for his food—and I realized that for the last few evenings I have forgotten to do the same. How could I forget something like that? With the establishment of a new routine, I guess, ‘someone’ out there is trying to disassociate me from my old routine, especially the parts of it that helped to tie me to God and a grateful attitude towards Him for his constant grace in my life. Just as God cares about me, so I’d like Him to know that I acknowledge His care of me. I’d also like to thank YOU for your prayer and support, which is surely directly tied to the many ways God is giving me the strength to carry on and even be blessed in the midst of this separation from the ones I love so much.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Joyful Noise

The last couple of days, I have been sorely tempted to use this blog as an opinion platform. In part, this would postpone or eliminate the complicated process of figuring out how I am doing over here, the equally difficult task of communicating that in a meaningful way, and perhaps provide a more complete picture, for you who are not here, of some of the gaps (there are a lot of them) between what is “common knowledge” in the US and what is “ground truth” here. I keep having to say to myself, “Self, you started this thing with a specific purpose in mind, it was a good purpose, and people are counting on you to stick to your purpose. They are reading this blog for a specific reason, to find out how you are, not what you think.” Of course, many of the things I say in this blog are my ‘opinion,’ say the quality of the food, but in this case, my opinion represents my experience, and it would be fairly ridiculous (or meaningless) for someone to tell me that the food that I ate did not really taste as good as I thought it did. This blog exists because of you, the reader, so if I start to stray from what it is YOU want to read, then put my feet to the fire…

Though there are simply not enough hours in the day out here, one of the Chaplains is trying to put a band together—and he actually has a tuba he needs someone to play. It will probably be relaxing (though we’ll have to see if this is overcome by the associated frustration) to get out of the office and practice for a half hour a day, and I’ll evaluate with the Chaplain after a week or two to see if it’s worth continuing (I played tuba in high school more than 20 odd years ago). We have enough instruments to get a quintet going, I think the Chaplain said, so we’ll see. I wonder how far the practice room is from the rest of the base? By the time I walk out there and back for a ½ hour of practice, I might have burned up a full hour.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

MOTO MAIL

There is a service available (currently, only to Marine commands) that has been established for reasons of… well, whatever the reasons, the effect is a dramatic improvement of morale, particularly for those Marines who don’t have daily access to email (the majority of Marines out here). Here is how Moto-Mail works: go to their web site at www.motomail.us, apply for a free account using my name and rank and the address below (which is also my regular snail mail address), and then type in a soft copy (electronic or email version) of your message. The limitations are: text only, no attachments, and not more than would fit on one full 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. Hit the “SEND” button.

I MEF G2
UIC 42510
FPO AP 96426-2510

Your email letter to me is then electronically sent, like an email, to the military post office closest to my location here in country. It is immediately printed out in a secure already-sealed envelope (in the way old monthly pay stubs used to be distributed) by a sort of teletype machine. Then your email is delivered to me as a letter with your address at top left and my address dead center, just like a letter. Thanks to Sheryl, my Dad, my younger brother Greg, and my father-in-law Joe, I can now confirm that Moto-mail is up and working the way it should, and I am getting Moto-mails within 24 hours of them being printed in country.

As Sheryl has said in her blog, I really enjoy receiving Moto-mails, and I feel that I can contribute to a reduction in the use of government bandwidth and email resources by encouraging folks to use this method of communication with me (which is why none of you have my deployed email address, much as I love and appreciate all of you). The bad news for you is that there is no such free service that goes from where I am back to you, the service only works from the US to here, or from one post office within country to another post office within country (a lot of deployed Marines that know each other but are not in the same command stay in touch this way). Ain’t technology great?! Especially as I have plausible deniability when it comes to a timely response…

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Daily Routine

I’m finally settling into what will probably become my daily routine. Roll out of my rack at 0600 and hit the ground running (after sit-ups and pull-ups), a short 3 miles on the hardball around base. Got to watch for gravel on the roads, rock bruises can keep you from training for a week, and running shoe soles are nothing like boot soles for protection… Shave and shower at the shower trailer not far from my hooch, suit up in the uniform of the day, sling on my weapon, and head to work (about a 5 minute walk). Grab my first cup of coffee of the day, and begin TCCCCOps (The Conduct of Complex Coordinated Computer Operations) as directed in support of our mission here. Grab my second cup of coffee. Continue TCCCCOps. Take a short break to clear my head, walk around the building, maybe do some pull-ups to get adrenaline and olive drab blood flowing through my coffee arteries, maybe stop by the gidunk for a snack, and get back to work. Continue TCCCCOps. Take a break from TCCCCOps to write/type Sheryl and Joshua a note, update my blog, and continue TCCCCOps (after drinking another cup of coffee). Oh, I forgot to mention that every cup of coffee (and all the other liquid I’m drinking, because, like a good Marine, I’m staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water as well, and though this is confusing to my system, what with all the liquid and diuretic being shoved at it, between the caffeine and the constant distending of my bladder, there is no way I could fall asleep at my post) carries with it a price tag of at least two trips to the port-a-john outside our office. This is not a bad deal, actually, as the port-a-john graffiti is getting more prolific and hilarious every day, though regrettably the majority is not appropriate for posting on this blog… Go the chowhall and enjoy the very sumptuous and plenteous fare at around 2000 (that’s 8:00 PM for you civilians), log in another hour or so of TCCCCOps, head back to my rack, and call it a day. Saturdays and Sundays are a little slower, but the hours and the events are pretty much the same. Pretty glamorous, eh?! Well, it is, actually, with all the prayer, support, and encouragement that is coming my way. Thanks for your support.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

1st Sunday in Lent

There is an awesome place of worship here on base called The Chapel of Hope where I was able to attend services on Ash Wednesday and today. Some of the personnel in the congregation I knew and recognized from the trip here, others I did not know, but they are the physical manifestation of the Body of Christ for the remaining 50 weeks of my stay here. There are three options for Sunday worship, liturgical, contemporary, or Gospel, and I can’t say that I could expound sensibly on the differences between the three; I attended the liturgical at 0915, and due to the provision of God’s grace was able to partake in the sacrament of communion. What a blessing.

I was contemplating something meaningful that I could “give up” for Lent, and a cynical (“old nature”) voice worked hard at convincing me that I am already “missing” or “sacrificing” enough right now, thank you very much. Fortunately, I “know” enough church history and about some of the origins of the traditional and church calendars that I was able to ignore this voice. I “know” enough about my own selfishness, self-centeredness, and pride, to see through (or partly through) the “It’s all about me” or “I’m the center of the universe” argument. Of course, this “knowledge” is not mine, but God’s grace—for which I am so thankful. So I am “giving something up,” and though it isn’t much, in the big scheme of things, it is something that several times a day brings to mind the 40 days of preparation the Lord spent in the desert following his baptism and prior to the beginning of his official public ministry. I thank Him that HE was able to deny temptation and through the ministry of the Father and the Spirit take the hard road.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Back on Track

The last couple of days have been extremely hectic, many thanks to Sheryl for keeping everyone updated in my stead. The “old” crew is getting ready to leave, the “new” crew is trying to take over, so the reality is that there are twice as many people trying to use the same number of office assets and occupy the same limited office space. To make the situation worse (which I did), I lost two days of work on a three day project by trying to save 40 minutes of work by merging two data bases. There were some common sense steps that I could have taken to avoid the catastrophe, but occasionally—when under stress or when other factors are brought to bear, like lack of sleep, the pressure of a deadline, environmental factors (like temperature, dust, candle power per square foot, etc.), sense is not so common. Thanks for those of you who were praying for me, I was able to recover a positive mental attitude in record time, and with the help of a Marine in my shop, we were able to repair the damage in an acceptable time frame.

One thing that seems sort of out of kilter over here is that since getting on the bus back at Pendleton, I’ve not spent 5 continuous minutes on the news. Here I am in a place that is constantly in the news back home, but not only do I not have the ability to ascertain if what has been said in the past is even partly “ground truth,” I do not even have the time or the means to determine if what you back there are currently hearing is actually what is going on over here. The capital city might as well be the moon, it seems so far away from here—to me, at least, as I’ve only been two places in this country, and both places I got to by air. There appear to be some pretty barren (not to say, flat—some areas are pretty rugged) expanses of desert between just about any two spots on the map here, and generally only one way to get between those two point on the ground. The weather is still very moderate here, not far from what southern California weather is this time of the year.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Jon is still swamped

Since Jon is so busy he wanted me to post for him. However, because he is so swamped I haven't heard anything new from him to post. So I thought I'd post a picture for him in all his Marine Corp splendor.

Please keep him in your prayers as he works on a big project. Thanks.

By the way, Jon really enjoys when people are able to post comments on his blog. He will usually post a responses, so be sure to go back and check out the day you posted a comment to see his answer.

Sheryl

A post from Sheryl

Just got a quick e-mail from Jon and he is swamped with work so is unable to take time to post to his blog.

In a note from Jon yesterday I heard about his new room. It is a "two-man room about 7 feet by 10, single beds in it, kind of double gym-type wall locker to put my clothes in, two chairs (cheesy plastic lawn furniture, which is still pretty good when you can get it, beats sitting on the floor or a stool), and a fabricated 3 x 2’ foot table (plywood and 2x3s) with a small bookcase mounted on it between the beds. My room-mate seems like a cool guy, and we worked together to clean up the room before we moved in all our stuff today (he beat the carpets, I swept, and together we took the furniture outside and dusted it all off). Everything in the room was coated with this fine loamy dust which is not surprising, as this same dust pretty much covers every surface -- EVERY SURFACE -- here. If it doesn't have dust on it now, not to worry, it will."

Jon is also getting his room all fixed up in true "Jon Moran form." Jon has managed to scrounge various items -- board for his bed, new mattress, old bookcase with one shelf, unclaimed linens -- and has plans for or has already put them to good use. There is no such thing as "junk to be thrown away" when it comes to Jon. He has AC in his room and it works -- well, once every two weeks. Jon and his roommate are going to be able to rent a small refrigerator to keep cold drinks in there room, so he was pleased with that. I'm hoping he can borrow a digital camera and send pictures back soon.

Well, that's the news that I have to share with you. Thanks for continuing to pray for Jon. If you want a quick update on Joshua and me, my blog is http://2006marinewife.blogspot.com/.

Sheryl for Jarhedjon

Perspective

My expectations for the standard of living (from a physical creature comfort standpoint) here were based on past experience in the field—sleeping in a tent (if I’m lucky), sleeping on a cot (if I’m lucky), enjoying a three minute shower in an “expeditionary” shower tent every other day (if I’m lucky), eating one hot meal a day and the rest MRE’s (if I’m lucky), working in a dusty, hot (cooled to maybe 90 degrees for the sake of the computers) gloomy work place (if I’m lucky), getting maybe six hours of sleep a night (if I’m lucky)—I’m sure you get the gist…

In the week since I’ve been here, it’s been amazing how quickly my expectations and actions have conformed to the situation. I’m now hoping for a bigger room with more furniture at some point; I just changed in my old mattress for a new one, as my old one had popped about eight springs along one side, and I managed to find a piece of ¾” OSB to replace the sagging springs on my bed frame; I am complaining about having to walk 200 yards to a mobile-home (sorry, coach) type structure that is outfitted with a slew of showers with plenty of hot water, sinks and mirrors for shaving, etc.; I’ve had so many choices at chow that I find myself deriding the chowhall managers if they only have two dessert options instead of three, or fail to have the pecan pie (which is particularly good); my work environment, while dusty (by clinical standards), is well lighted, moderately cool, and more adequately equipped than some places I’ve worked in the States; and I’ve been averaging more than seven hours of sleep a night.

Of course, I am one of the fortunate here—outside this camp, where the majority of service men and women in this country are, is an extremely more austere and dangerous environment. Please do not take my situation and assume it applies to the majority of folks over here—I feel particularly blessed. Thanks to you all for your prayers and support.

Semper Fi, Jon G.