Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Obama Tells Troops, ‘Our Task in Iraq Is Not Yet Over’
By HELENE COOPER and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: August 31, 2010 NYTimes
WASHINGTON — The United States may be bringing troops home from the war in Iraq, but there is a “tough slog” ahead in the war in Afghanistan, President Obama told troops in Fort Bliss, Texas on Tuesday.
Speaking just hours before he is to deliver an Oval Office address commemorating what is supposed to be the end of combat in Iraq, where some 50,000 troops will remain until next year in a mainly advisory and training role, Mr. Obama nonetheless warned that the American mission is not yet accomplished. Mr. Obama told the troops that his Oval Office address “is not going to be a victory lap; it’s not going to be self-congratulatory. There’s still a lot of work.”
Mr. Obama’s address tonight is meant to convey that he has kept one of the central promises of his campaign: withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq. But he is tiptoeing a fine line between taking credit for the withdrawal and echoing the “mission accomplished” tone that President Bush struck so famously seven years ago, and that came back to haunt Mr. Bush in the ensuing years as Iraq fell into further chaos.
Mr. Obama called Mr. Bush Tuesday morning from Air Force One as he was enroute to Fort Bliss, White House officials said. The two spoke “just for a few moments,” Benjamin Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told reporters aboard the plane, declining to give any additional detail about the conversation.
In rolling out the promises-kept theme on the Iraq withdrawal, Mr. Obama is trying to reconcile his record of opposition to the war, and to the troop surge ordered by President Bush which many military officials credit for stemming violence in Iraq, with his role as a war-time commander seeking to credit his troops with a mission accomplished.
While there were “big debates about war and peace” across the country, the president said, “the one thing we don’t argue about is that we have the finest fighting force in the history of the world.” He got shouts of approval from the assembled Fort Bliss troops for that line. (The event was covered by a small pool of print and television reporters.)
“The main message I have tonight and the main message I have to you is congratulations on a job well done,” Mr. Obama said. “The most pride I take in my job is being your commander in chief.”
On Afghanistan, Mr. Obama said that he is convinced that under the command of General David Petraeus, the latest American military commander in Afghanistan, “we have the troops who are there in a position to start taking the fight to the terrorists.” But he warned that there would be heavy casualties.Earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned against “premature victory parades or self-congratulations” as American combat operations in Iraq drew officially to a close, and at the same time said that the success of United States forces in Afghanistan was only “possible,” not inevitable
In remarks to the American Legion in Milwaukee, Mr. Gates sounded a restrained, sober note about the state of America’s two wars.
In Iraq, he said, the most recent elections have yet to result in a coalition government, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is beaten but not gone, and sectarian tensions remain. He said the 50,000 United States troops still in Iraq would continue to work with Iraqi security forces, who only last week faced a flurry of coordinated insurgent attacks across the country that killed at least 51 people.
“I am not saying that all is, or necessarily will be, well in Iraq,” Mr. Gates, who is one of Mr. Obama’s most influential advisers, told the legion.
In Afghanistan, he said, the Taliban are “a cruel and ruthless adversary, and are not going quietly.” Their leadership, he said, has ordered a campaign of intimidation against Afghan civilians and is singling out women for brutal attacks.
“I know there is a good deal of concern and impatience about the pace of progress since the new strategy was announced last December,” Mr. Gates said, referring to Mr. Obama’s decision to send to Afghanistan 30,000 additional United States troops, who have finished arriving only this month. Total American forces in Afghanistan now number nearly 100,000.
But in an attempt to draw a parallel between the current fragile stability of Iraq and what might be possible in Afghanistan, Mr. Gates said that the intensifying combat and rising casualties in Afghanistan were in many ways reminiscent of the early months of the surge of United States forces ordered in Iraq by President George W. Bush in 2007, when American troops were taking the highest losses of the war.
“Three and a half years ago very few believed the surge could take us to where we are today in Iraq, and there were plenty of reasons for doubts,” said Mr. Gates, who helped make the surge decision as Mr. Bush’s defense secretary at the time. But “back then, this country’s civilian and military leadership chose the path we believed had the best chance of achieving our national security objectives, as we are doing in Afghanistan today.”
He added: “Success there is not inevitable. But with the right strategy and the willingness to see it through, it is possible. And it is certainly worth the fight.”
Despite his cautious tone on Iraq, Mr. Gates cited what he called dramatic security gains. He said that violence levels this year remained at their lowest level since the beginning of the war in 2003, that American forces have not had to conduct an airstrike in six months and that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia had been largely cut off “from its masters abroad.”
In Washington, a senior intelligence official told reporters that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is estimated to have just 10 percent of the strength it had during the peak of its manpower in 2006 and 2007. The official declined to provide the actual figures that the estimate was drawn from, and he said he expected the group would have a core of fighters inside Iraq for “a long time to come.”
The senior official, who declined to be identified because he was discussing classified intelligence assessments, noted the sharp reduction of violence in the country and said that attacks in Iraq had been lowered to a “tolerable” level.
He said that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps continues to provide “equipment, training and a refuge” for various militant groups in the country, and that Iran’s support for these groups was almost certain to continue as the United States reduces its military presence in the country.Mr. Gates said the gains had been purchased “at a terrible cost”: 4,427 American service members killed, 34,268 Americans wounded or injured and untold losses and trauma endured by the Iraqis themselves.
Mr. Gates’s voice seemed to choke as he then said: “The courage of these men and women, their determination, their sacrifice — and that of their families — along with the service and sacrifice of so many others in uniform, have made this day, this transition, possible. And we must never forget.”
In Afghanistan, Mr. Gates promised that the United States would take a hard line against corruption in the Afghan government. He also echoed Mr. Obama and senior military commanders by saying that the president’s deadline for the start of withdrawals of United States forces from Afghanistan next July would be a gradual beginning, not a massive departure.
“If the Taliban really believe that America is heading for the exits next summer in large numbers, they’ll be deeply disappointed and surprised to find us very much in the fight,” he said.
By HELENE COOPER and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: August 31, 2010 NYTimes
WASHINGTON — The United States may be bringing troops home from the war in Iraq, but there is a “tough slog” ahead in the war in Afghanistan, President Obama told troops in Fort Bliss, Texas on Tuesday.
Speaking just hours before he is to deliver an Oval Office address commemorating what is supposed to be the end of combat in Iraq, where some 50,000 troops will remain until next year in a mainly advisory and training role, Mr. Obama nonetheless warned that the American mission is not yet accomplished. Mr. Obama told the troops that his Oval Office address “is not going to be a victory lap; it’s not going to be self-congratulatory. There’s still a lot of work.”
Mr. Obama’s address tonight is meant to convey that he has kept one of the central promises of his campaign: withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq. But he is tiptoeing a fine line between taking credit for the withdrawal and echoing the “mission accomplished” tone that President Bush struck so famously seven years ago, and that came back to haunt Mr. Bush in the ensuing years as Iraq fell into further chaos.
Mr. Obama called Mr. Bush Tuesday morning from Air Force One as he was enroute to Fort Bliss, White House officials said. The two spoke “just for a few moments,” Benjamin Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told reporters aboard the plane, declining to give any additional detail about the conversation.
In rolling out the promises-kept theme on the Iraq withdrawal, Mr. Obama is trying to reconcile his record of opposition to the war, and to the troop surge ordered by President Bush which many military officials credit for stemming violence in Iraq, with his role as a war-time commander seeking to credit his troops with a mission accomplished.
While there were “big debates about war and peace” across the country, the president said, “the one thing we don’t argue about is that we have the finest fighting force in the history of the world.” He got shouts of approval from the assembled Fort Bliss troops for that line. (The event was covered by a small pool of print and television reporters.)
“The main message I have tonight and the main message I have to you is congratulations on a job well done,” Mr. Obama said. “The most pride I take in my job is being your commander in chief.”
On Afghanistan, Mr. Obama said that he is convinced that under the command of General David Petraeus, the latest American military commander in Afghanistan, “we have the troops who are there in a position to start taking the fight to the terrorists.” But he warned that there would be heavy casualties.Earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned against “premature victory parades or self-congratulations” as American combat operations in Iraq drew officially to a close, and at the same time said that the success of United States forces in Afghanistan was only “possible,” not inevitable
In remarks to the American Legion in Milwaukee, Mr. Gates sounded a restrained, sober note about the state of America’s two wars.
In Iraq, he said, the most recent elections have yet to result in a coalition government, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is beaten but not gone, and sectarian tensions remain. He said the 50,000 United States troops still in Iraq would continue to work with Iraqi security forces, who only last week faced a flurry of coordinated insurgent attacks across the country that killed at least 51 people.
“I am not saying that all is, or necessarily will be, well in Iraq,” Mr. Gates, who is one of Mr. Obama’s most influential advisers, told the legion.
In Afghanistan, he said, the Taliban are “a cruel and ruthless adversary, and are not going quietly.” Their leadership, he said, has ordered a campaign of intimidation against Afghan civilians and is singling out women for brutal attacks.
“I know there is a good deal of concern and impatience about the pace of progress since the new strategy was announced last December,” Mr. Gates said, referring to Mr. Obama’s decision to send to Afghanistan 30,000 additional United States troops, who have finished arriving only this month. Total American forces in Afghanistan now number nearly 100,000.
But in an attempt to draw a parallel between the current fragile stability of Iraq and what might be possible in Afghanistan, Mr. Gates said that the intensifying combat and rising casualties in Afghanistan were in many ways reminiscent of the early months of the surge of United States forces ordered in Iraq by President George W. Bush in 2007, when American troops were taking the highest losses of the war.
“Three and a half years ago very few believed the surge could take us to where we are today in Iraq, and there were plenty of reasons for doubts,” said Mr. Gates, who helped make the surge decision as Mr. Bush’s defense secretary at the time. But “back then, this country’s civilian and military leadership chose the path we believed had the best chance of achieving our national security objectives, as we are doing in Afghanistan today.”
He added: “Success there is not inevitable. But with the right strategy and the willingness to see it through, it is possible. And it is certainly worth the fight.”
Despite his cautious tone on Iraq, Mr. Gates cited what he called dramatic security gains. He said that violence levels this year remained at their lowest level since the beginning of the war in 2003, that American forces have not had to conduct an airstrike in six months and that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia had been largely cut off “from its masters abroad.”
In Washington, a senior intelligence official told reporters that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is estimated to have just 10 percent of the strength it had during the peak of its manpower in 2006 and 2007. The official declined to provide the actual figures that the estimate was drawn from, and he said he expected the group would have a core of fighters inside Iraq for “a long time to come.”
The senior official, who declined to be identified because he was discussing classified intelligence assessments, noted the sharp reduction of violence in the country and said that attacks in Iraq had been lowered to a “tolerable” level.
He said that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps continues to provide “equipment, training and a refuge” for various militant groups in the country, and that Iran’s support for these groups was almost certain to continue as the United States reduces its military presence in the country.Mr. Gates said the gains had been purchased “at a terrible cost”: 4,427 American service members killed, 34,268 Americans wounded or injured and untold losses and trauma endured by the Iraqis themselves.
Mr. Gates’s voice seemed to choke as he then said: “The courage of these men and women, their determination, their sacrifice — and that of their families — along with the service and sacrifice of so many others in uniform, have made this day, this transition, possible. And we must never forget.”
In Afghanistan, Mr. Gates promised that the United States would take a hard line against corruption in the Afghan government. He also echoed Mr. Obama and senior military commanders by saying that the president’s deadline for the start of withdrawals of United States forces from Afghanistan next July would be a gradual beginning, not a massive departure.
“If the Taliban really believe that America is heading for the exits next summer in large numbers, they’ll be deeply disappointed and surprised to find us very much in the fight,” he said.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Recently, Max and I escaped to Yosemite for a couple days. We decided to hike one of the suggested hikes - I chose the Yosemite Valley Floor hike - it was a 13 mile "moderate" hike and seemed reasonable to me.
We took the shuttle from the Ahwahnee Hotel to where the hike would start. Max explained that he felt the views would be so much more breathtaking if we hiked up and not just around. He thought that the Upper Yosemite Falls hike would be a good choice. I agreed with his opinion and didn't think much about it...until probably close to 2 hours into our straight up the mountain hike...which, in the hike guide, was labeled as "strenuous." I might have wondered, once or twice, what I had been thinking...
I think that despite wearing all black clothes in 90 degree heat on a strenuous hike, I did quite well. Max carried a full backpack and thrived up the mountain...but, let's not forget where he had been all last year. Heat and mountains were a part of his everyday life.
We finished the hike in about 5 hours. The shuttle driver back to the hotel explained that we'd have to switch shuttles to get door-to-door service. From my comfy seat on the shuttle, I hear the driver mention to Max that another option would be to walk the ten minute walk from where he would drop us off to the hotel. Max thought walking sounded great. I sat in my seat and wondered why in the world he would want to walk more. Needless to say, we switched shuttles.
I recommend this hike, all said and done...but, here are a few statistics about it from a review from yosemitehikes.com:
Distance: 7.6 miles (12 km) round trip from the Lower Yosemite Falls trailhead; 9.4 miles (15 km) including Yosemite Point
Elevation at trailhead: 3,967 feet (1,347 meters)
Elevation at top of Yosemite Falls: 6,526 feet (1,989 meters)
Elevation at Yosemite Point: 6,936 feet (2,114 meters)
Elevation gain: 2,600 feet (790 meters) to the top of Yosemite Falls; 2,969 feet (890 meters) to Yosemite Point
Hiking Time: 6 - 10 hours. Don't double-book hikes on days when you've got this one on your schedule.
Why hike to the top of Yosemite Falls? It's the mother of all stairmaster workouts, but with one-of-a-kind payoffs you won't get in a gym: panoramic views of Yosemite Valley; the only place outside Sentinel Dome where all of Yosemite Falls is visible (though you can't actually see it all at once unless you've got Exorcistesque peripheral vision); the chance to walk through the spray from upper Yosemite Falls; the chance to photograph Yosemite Falls and Half Dome in the same frame; and from Yosemite Point, closeup views of Half Dome that you can only beat by climbing North Dome.
Difficulty: High. It's a long, steep climb from the valley floor to the valley rim, and we rate it an 8 out of 10. Consider this question: would you climb the stairs all the way to the top of the Empire State Building? Well, in the course of your hike to Upper Yosemite Falls, you'll climb the equivalent of just over two Empire State Buildings
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Increasing Role and Influence of Military Spouses
By TIM HSIA
NYTimes (A Soldier Writes Commentary, 8/13/10)
I am leaving active duty this month, and the biggest fan of this change is my wife. The decision to leave the military did not come easily. During required counseling sessions with my battalion and brigade commanders, these senior officers sought to persuade me to stay on active duty.
Peers and subordinates also sought to persuade me, many citing the troublesome economy as a good reason to keep a steady job. But the counsel of commanders and soldiers, despite their good intentions, did not equal my wife’s influence and her recommendation that I leave. She no longer wants to deal with the hardships associated with deployments and training missions.
As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have continued, the military has become more attuned to the concern of the families of service members.
The first lady, Michelle Obama, has sought to provide more support for military families, and the vice president’s wife, Jill Biden, has played a cameo role in the television show “Army Wives.”
There is also a highly readable blog by and for military spouses, SpouseBuzz.
In today’s military, military spouses play an active role not just in their spouses’ decisions but also in decisions that affect their spouses’ military unit. They are involved not only with the local military community, but also within the military command structure.
Family Readiness Groups
Each unit has a Family Readiness Group (F.R.G.), which is composed of the spouses of soldiers. The role of the F.R.G. is to help families adapt to the military lifestyle and to provide spouses with information regarding their loved ones during deployments.
The F.R.G. not only sponsors picnics, coffee hours, weekend trips, and video chats to loved ones overseas but also liaises with commanders in order to keep up the information flow to military families. One of the main responsibilities of F.R.G. leaders is to provide guidance to commanders to ensure their policies take into account not just the soldier, but also the concerns of their families.
Initially F.R.G.s were simply informal wives clubs, but the military has moved to institutionalize these groups in order to better serve military families, and also to ensure these groups encompassed every military family within a unit.
My wife and I found the F.R.G. to be of great assistance when I was assigned to a base in a remote part of Germany. The F.R.G. helped to prepare our move there by providing a slew of information such as what we would need upon arrival, currency exchange rates and travel tips.
When the F.R.G. is inclusive, it thrives. However, there are instances when the F.R.G. can serve as a detriment to a unit, and also hinder the military operations of a deployed unit.
In one F.R.G. there was so much division among the spouses that it threatened the cohesion within the rank and file of the unit. One commander’s wife threatened to have a subordinate fired during a heated phone conversation. Because of this threat and other issues posed by the F.R.G. leader, the commander said, “the need to deal with challenges involving the unit’s family support group nearly every other day” took away time he “could have been using to focus on the war.”
The advice of military spouses is not just limited to the realm of the unit. For example, the military chain of command from the Joint Chiefs of Staff has embraced Greg Mortenson’s educational efforts in Afghanistan partly because “of the popularity of ‘Three Cups of Tea’ among military wives who told their husbands to read it.”
Social Pressure
A supportive spouse has almost become a prerequisite for soldiers who aspire to a high rank. I have yet to serve under any officer or senior noncommissioned officer who is single. The vast majority of career officers and NCOs are married, and being single can actually be detrimental to one’s career because one’s subordinates and their wives can unfairly cast the single service member as being out of touch with the demands and needs of the military family.
For married service personnel, it is often frowned upon when one’s spouse is not closely affiliated and identified with the family readiness group. As a soldier rises in the ranks, the roles and responsibilities s expected of his or her spouse also greatly increase.
There is an expectation that spouses married to someone in a senior leadership position should also be leaders within the F.R.G. and military community. Spouses who hold down demanding nonmilitary career jobs have told my wife and me that they felt they have been pushed outside of a unit’s social circle when they did not devote enough time to their F.R.G.
I have tremendous empathy for military spouses because of the demands placed on them by a military that has been constantly at war.
These spouses must bear not only frequent deployments but also being stationed in remote bases. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in his retirement ceremony best summarizes the demands of being in the military, professionally and personally:
“Service in this business is tough and often dangerous,” he said. “It extracts a price for participants, and that price can be high. It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal and professional cost of loss by limiting how much you commit, how much you believe and trust in people, and how deeply you care.”
The military lifestyle is not easy on marital relationships. I can easily recall my wife’s birthdays because they are marked by significant military events: the day before we moved to Germany, the day before a deployment, or during a deployment.
Additionally, while the suicide rate of service members has received much attention, another troubling rate is the increasing divorce rate of couples in the military. One of the saddest things to witness during a deployment is witnessing a fellow soldier’s marriage fall apart.
My wife made me promise during the last deployment that I would never again be separated from her for such a long period. I am thankful that I am living up to this promise.
I am keenly aware and grateful for the thousands of other military spouses who are patiently and anxiously awaiting their loved one’s return from a deployment. Many Americans are grateful for the troops serving overseas, they should also be thankful for the spouses who support these troops. These military spouses also deserve our thanks.
This is Capt. Tim Hsia’s last regular post for At War. An active duty U.S. Army infantry captain, he launched A Soldier Writes in August 2009 after a chance meeting with Times correspondent Stephen Farrell in January 2008 during a military operation in the Iraqi province of Diyala.
By TIM HSIA
NYTimes (A Soldier Writes Commentary, 8/13/10)
I am leaving active duty this month, and the biggest fan of this change is my wife. The decision to leave the military did not come easily. During required counseling sessions with my battalion and brigade commanders, these senior officers sought to persuade me to stay on active duty.
Peers and subordinates also sought to persuade me, many citing the troublesome economy as a good reason to keep a steady job. But the counsel of commanders and soldiers, despite their good intentions, did not equal my wife’s influence and her recommendation that I leave. She no longer wants to deal with the hardships associated with deployments and training missions.
As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have continued, the military has become more attuned to the concern of the families of service members.
The first lady, Michelle Obama, has sought to provide more support for military families, and the vice president’s wife, Jill Biden, has played a cameo role in the television show “Army Wives.”
There is also a highly readable blog by and for military spouses, SpouseBuzz.
In today’s military, military spouses play an active role not just in their spouses’ decisions but also in decisions that affect their spouses’ military unit. They are involved not only with the local military community, but also within the military command structure.
Family Readiness Groups
Each unit has a Family Readiness Group (F.R.G.), which is composed of the spouses of soldiers. The role of the F.R.G. is to help families adapt to the military lifestyle and to provide spouses with information regarding their loved ones during deployments.
The F.R.G. not only sponsors picnics, coffee hours, weekend trips, and video chats to loved ones overseas but also liaises with commanders in order to keep up the information flow to military families. One of the main responsibilities of F.R.G. leaders is to provide guidance to commanders to ensure their policies take into account not just the soldier, but also the concerns of their families.
Initially F.R.G.s were simply informal wives clubs, but the military has moved to institutionalize these groups in order to better serve military families, and also to ensure these groups encompassed every military family within a unit.
My wife and I found the F.R.G. to be of great assistance when I was assigned to a base in a remote part of Germany. The F.R.G. helped to prepare our move there by providing a slew of information such as what we would need upon arrival, currency exchange rates and travel tips.
When the F.R.G. is inclusive, it thrives. However, there are instances when the F.R.G. can serve as a detriment to a unit, and also hinder the military operations of a deployed unit.
In one F.R.G. there was so much division among the spouses that it threatened the cohesion within the rank and file of the unit. One commander’s wife threatened to have a subordinate fired during a heated phone conversation. Because of this threat and other issues posed by the F.R.G. leader, the commander said, “the need to deal with challenges involving the unit’s family support group nearly every other day” took away time he “could have been using to focus on the war.”
The advice of military spouses is not just limited to the realm of the unit. For example, the military chain of command from the Joint Chiefs of Staff has embraced Greg Mortenson’s educational efforts in Afghanistan partly because “of the popularity of ‘Three Cups of Tea’ among military wives who told their husbands to read it.”
Social Pressure
A supportive spouse has almost become a prerequisite for soldiers who aspire to a high rank. I have yet to serve under any officer or senior noncommissioned officer who is single. The vast majority of career officers and NCOs are married, and being single can actually be detrimental to one’s career because one’s subordinates and their wives can unfairly cast the single service member as being out of touch with the demands and needs of the military family.
For married service personnel, it is often frowned upon when one’s spouse is not closely affiliated and identified with the family readiness group. As a soldier rises in the ranks, the roles and responsibilities s expected of his or her spouse also greatly increase.
There is an expectation that spouses married to someone in a senior leadership position should also be leaders within the F.R.G. and military community. Spouses who hold down demanding nonmilitary career jobs have told my wife and me that they felt they have been pushed outside of a unit’s social circle when they did not devote enough time to their F.R.G.
I have tremendous empathy for military spouses because of the demands placed on them by a military that has been constantly at war.
These spouses must bear not only frequent deployments but also being stationed in remote bases. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in his retirement ceremony best summarizes the demands of being in the military, professionally and personally:
“Service in this business is tough and often dangerous,” he said. “It extracts a price for participants, and that price can be high. It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal and professional cost of loss by limiting how much you commit, how much you believe and trust in people, and how deeply you care.”
The military lifestyle is not easy on marital relationships. I can easily recall my wife’s birthdays because they are marked by significant military events: the day before we moved to Germany, the day before a deployment, or during a deployment.
Additionally, while the suicide rate of service members has received much attention, another troubling rate is the increasing divorce rate of couples in the military. One of the saddest things to witness during a deployment is witnessing a fellow soldier’s marriage fall apart.
My wife made me promise during the last deployment that I would never again be separated from her for such a long period. I am thankful that I am living up to this promise.
I am keenly aware and grateful for the thousands of other military spouses who are patiently and anxiously awaiting their loved one’s return from a deployment. Many Americans are grateful for the troops serving overseas, they should also be thankful for the spouses who support these troops. These military spouses also deserve our thanks.
This is Capt. Tim Hsia’s last regular post for At War. An active duty U.S. Army infantry captain, he launched A Soldier Writes in August 2009 after a chance meeting with Times correspondent Stephen Farrell in January 2008 during a military operation in the Iraqi province of Diyala.
Friday, August 13, 2010
I have to laugh because Max has worn his dress blue uniform more in the last month than in the past 4 years we've been married. First, there was the ball at Ft. Lewis. Since he has been on leave while in San Francisco, he has attended some events to which he has worn his dress blues. Last night, for example, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spoke at the Marines' Memorial. Dropping Max off downtown, he certainly stood out in the crowd at rush hour while crossing Sutter Street.
Last month, the weekend I flew to Ft. Lewis to meet Max when he returned from Afghanistan, I was struck by all the people in uniform - it had been quite some time since I had been on post. Living in a non-military city for a year, I almost forgot what it was like to see people in uniform on a daily basis - picking kids up from school, in the grocery store, in a restaurant, on the sidewalk, etc.
It sure was nice to see all those uniforms back home!
Last month, the weekend I flew to Ft. Lewis to meet Max when he returned from Afghanistan, I was struck by all the people in uniform - it had been quite some time since I had been on post. Living in a non-military city for a year, I almost forgot what it was like to see people in uniform on a daily basis - picking kids up from school, in the grocery store, in a restaurant, on the sidewalk, etc.
It sure was nice to see all those uniforms back home!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Toddler adjustments
It took two weeks after a whole year apart, but our toddler has finally warmed up to having his dad back home. From the moment Max returned, he had our son smiling and laughing...it was just when he tried to hold him or especially when he tried to change his diaper (poor Max!)....Ollie wanted nothing to do with his dad.
So, we took it one day at a time, and now, not only does Ollie run to Max; he asks for him if he's not nearby and yesterday, he only wanted Max to change his diaper (lucky Max!).
Of course, we figured there would be some adjustment. I'm just glad it's smoothed itself out. Also, I'm wondering how long this daddy only changing diaper thing will last... :)
So, we took it one day at a time, and now, not only does Ollie run to Max; he asks for him if he's not nearby and yesterday, he only wanted Max to change his diaper (lucky Max!).
Of course, we figured there would be some adjustment. I'm just glad it's smoothed itself out. Also, I'm wondering how long this daddy only changing diaper thing will last... :)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Last week at Ft. Lewis, Max had a rehearsal for his unit's welcome home/change of command/awards ceremony. He said we should "come by and check it out," and asked if I could bring some paperwork he had forgotten that morning. So, my friend Kristin and I did...we didn't know it would be a 2 hour rehearsal...at which there were no other civilians.
There were several soldiers in uniform standing near us watching the soldiers practice what would be a major event the next day. We befriended one of them who was standing near us after we asked him how long he thought the rehearsal would last. This, of course, began a whole series of other questions we had about what we were watching...all of which he politely answered.
We didn't know anything about him other than his last name, "Brown," which was on his uniform.
I explained, as the rehearsal was wrapping up, that I had to give my husband some papers he asked me to bring. He asked who my husband was and when I told him, he said Max was his Company Commander. We all had formally introduced ourselves by now.
When Kristin and I saw Max after the rehearsal, we told him that we met Jarrett Brown. Max smiled and said, "Staff Sergeant Brown, he's in my company; he's receiving a Silver Star tomorrow."
A Silver Star is the 3rd highest military decoration there is - The Silver Star is awarded to a person who, while serving in any capacity with the U.S. Army, is cited for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force, or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
We stood with Jarrett Brown for a while at that rehearsal and he didn't mention a thing about his award...even when we asked him what kinds of things would take place during the actual ceremony.
Needless to say, at the event the next day, Kristin and I found him and congratulated him. We even forced him to take a picture with each of us. His family wasn't able to be there for his big day so we felt like we needed to be those embarrassing family members who don't stop taking pictures.
Staff Sergeant Jarrett Brown received the Silver Star for heroic action last August in a firefight in Afghanistan. As he was awarded his medal, his acts of heroism were explained in detail. You can't begin to imagine all that this brave man did.
I feel privileged to know him.
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