Jake's Weblog » Army

Home at Last

Jake — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 21:12:07 +0000

I’m actually typing this entry using the keyboard attached to my Linux box! After being gone for more than 1 year (w/the exception of two weeks leave last summer), I’m finally back home. Unlike when I came home for leave, I don’t have to worry about squeezing everything I want to do into a two week time frame. Now I just have to worry about getting my life back on track. For the past year I didn’t have to worry about what I was gonna do the next day. If I ever wasn’t sure, I could just ask somebody as the Army had my days pretty well planned out. Now I actually have to be responsible for myself again. It’s good to be a civilian.

Almost home!

Jake — Sat, 12 Feb 2005 18:19:38 +0000

1 more day to go! That’s right, tomorrow morning we’ll be leaving Ft. Dix, NJ and heading westward. After a breif stop in Indiana, we’ll on our way to Michigan. In about 30 hours or less I should be in my home state! I can hardly wait.

Back in the States

Jake — Mon, 07 Feb 2005 14:52:09 +0000

America, here I am at last. I actually got in a couple days ago (approx. 6am on Saturday), but I just haven’t gotten around to posting that here yet. Out-processing takes about 6 days and we’ll be starting that tomorrow. So, I should be actually home really soon. I’d like get rolling on Bugzilla Documentation reviews and such, but I’m not sure how much time I’m going to have here at Fort Dix, NJ during the next week, so those may have to wait until I’m actually at home. Of course, I may be really busy when I actually get there, so I guess that means the whole thing will have to be flexible. But anyway, I am happy to be back in the States.

Red Cross Drops the Ball

Jake — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 19:37:54 +0000

Recently, my Grandfather passed away. My dad sent a Red Cross notice to me of this event. I received a Red Cross message to this effect roughly 5 hours after my father sent it. My unit told me that they could not send me on emergency leave because the message did not specify that my presence was requested at the funeral and only said that I should call home. They said that if a second message was sent specifically requesting my presence, I would be able to go. I called home and relayed that message to my father. He told me that he did tell the Red Cross that I was wanted at the funeral, but that part didn’t make it to me. He then sent a second message to communicate this request. That message never made it to me (it was sent 72 hours ago). The funeral is tomorrow morning, so there is now no chance of me making it on time.

According to my unit, one possibility as to why I didn’t get the second message (and why I got an incomplete first message) is that the Red Cross determined that I was not close enough to my Grandfather in order to be afforded the opportunity to go on emergency leave. It’s beyond me how they could make that determination having never met my Grandfather nor myself. So instead of being with my family during this time of loss, I’m sitting in Kuwait doing absolutely nothing. That’s right, nothing. Our unit is simply awaiting a flight out so we can finish out-processing in the States. The only thing we have left to do in Kuwait is clear customs… and that can’t be done until just before you get on the plane.

Kuwait, Here I Am

Jake — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:17:54 +0000

Iraq is now just a memory for me. We flew out of Baghdad and into Kuwait the other night. After sitting here for a couple weeks, we’ll be USA bound. About a week in New Jersey, and it’s on to Fort Living Room. This deployment is almost over, yet for some reason it doesn’t really feel like it is. I suppose amidst all the insanity I’ve put up with over the last year from the Army, this almost just seems like more of the same. Perhaps it will sink in once we finally make it back to the States.