Today's blog has two topics:
1) I turned 38 today. Pretty uneventful day; got up, ate chow at 0630, drew weapons, and went to "marksmanship training." Came home turned in weapons, ate lunch, and went to work reconfiguring my 70 pounds of equipment, as the previous configuration was choking the bejeesus out of me. After that, went to the gym, ate a salad at Burger King (wasn't bad, even though they screwed up the order--- how do you screw up a salad?) and then had a beer or two in the barracks. Pretty uneventful, but I kind of enjoyed the slower pace. Nice to be under the radar once and a while. I figured I already had a birthday present this past weekend; we got to go home for a couple of days, and I got to spend some unexptected time with Shannon and Hailey (and our menagerie of dogs and cats). Tomorrow is a bit of a birthday present too-- we get to shoot. Free ammo!!!! Woooo!!! I'm pretty sure it won't be as much fun as this place, though. www.darc1.com
2) Enlisted in the Army 20 years ago today. To me this date has significance. I have often said my enlisted time as an Infantryman from ages 18-20 defined who I was as a person. I spent a good bit of today reflecting on those two years. My Drill Sergeant, Sergeant First Class (SFC) Darryl Jordan, was an enormously loud and animated man. To date, I believe he is the loudest man I have ever met. But his dominating presence commanded everyone, and I learned how you present information is often more important than the information itself. My platoon sergeant at the time, Sergeant First Class (SFC) Booker T. Daily was a jerk, but he taught us the right things, and he taught me that the decisions you make between the ages of 18-25 affect you for the rest of your life. He told me that right before I went to see the First Sergeant about reenlisting. This profound statement along with my father's advice of 'if you don't go to college now, you never will' convinced me to not reenlist and to go to college.
I have met some fantastic people in the Army. I have made great and long lasting friendships. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't meet some pure boneheads, too. But I am lucky to have learned a little from each of them. By no means am I done, I still have four years to go before retirement, as they don't count college years for service, but the past 20 or so have been an absolute blast.
Hailey (my 10-year old) is playing in a softball tournament this week in Mesquite, Texas. Good luck, Sluggo....
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
"Chicks in New York are paying top dollar for this stuff..." --Bill Murray, Stripes
Made it to Riley, and we are in the middle of inprocessing. It is a lot of what you would think the Army is about: Hurry up and wait around. But there are some benefits to waiting, as yesterday we received four large duffel bags worth of equipment. What was missing was the small army of Sherpas to help us pack it around.
It was a surprisingly easy and friendly fielding, though, much different than the thrashing I received when we drew equipment as a private just about 20 years ago. Now I know why the war costs so much: The stuff we got is all new, and it is very good. Amazing, the leaps and bounds we have made in the technology, and how refreshing that we are now spending the money on stuff to make soldier's lives better.
Fort Riley is big, and it is surprisingly un-flat. Lots of good hills to run up and down. There is always a flurry of soldier-like activity- refreshing after being away from soldiers for a while. Right now we live in some pretty nice barracks-- you and one other guy share a kitchenette and a bathroom, but you have your own room, and the furniture isn't all beat up "like the good ol' days." No phone, cable or internet (I'm in a computer lab on post writing this) but it is relatively clean, comfortable, and air-conditioned. Soldiers today have it so good......... Makes me nostalgic of the days when I enlisted (20 years ago on July 28...)
We aren't here long and will be moving to other accomodations in the coming weeks. Once the rest of the team gets here we will hitch up and move to another training area.
Mailing address: Lots of folks asked, so here it is. It will be good for the entire time I am at Fort Riley.
MAJ Ron MacKay
D Company 101st FSB BLDG 7006
Class 54 URF 10521
Fort Riley, KS 66442
Lastly, today our Brigade Commander spoke with us. He is overall responsible for the training and equipping of everey soldier going over to Iraq and Afghanistan that will work on the Transition Team mission of advising indigenous forces. He put it in perspective when he said 'the process is somewhat dysfunctional and inefficient, but there is no other current solution.' We are it. We make our own luck, as Two-Face said in Batman. Our product is indigenous forces and institutions that are responsible for their own well-being. To some it sounds like a fecal hamburger, but I get excited about the job when it's put this way. I am excited to be a part of the mission and I look forward to the challenges. But I reserve the right to change this rosy outlook at any given time...
Take care.
Ron
It was a surprisingly easy and friendly fielding, though, much different than the thrashing I received when we drew equipment as a private just about 20 years ago. Now I know why the war costs so much: The stuff we got is all new, and it is very good. Amazing, the leaps and bounds we have made in the technology, and how refreshing that we are now spending the money on stuff to make soldier's lives better.
Fort Riley is big, and it is surprisingly un-flat. Lots of good hills to run up and down. There is always a flurry of soldier-like activity- refreshing after being away from soldiers for a while. Right now we live in some pretty nice barracks-- you and one other guy share a kitchenette and a bathroom, but you have your own room, and the furniture isn't all beat up "like the good ol' days." No phone, cable or internet (I'm in a computer lab on post writing this) but it is relatively clean, comfortable, and air-conditioned. Soldiers today have it so good......... Makes me nostalgic of the days when I enlisted (20 years ago on July 28...)
We aren't here long and will be moving to other accomodations in the coming weeks. Once the rest of the team gets here we will hitch up and move to another training area.
Mailing address: Lots of folks asked, so here it is. It will be good for the entire time I am at Fort Riley.
MAJ Ron MacKay
D Company 101st FSB BLDG 7006
Class 54 URF 10521
Fort Riley, KS 66442
Lastly, today our Brigade Commander spoke with us. He is overall responsible for the training and equipping of everey soldier going over to Iraq and Afghanistan that will work on the Transition Team mission of advising indigenous forces. He put it in perspective when he said 'the process is somewhat dysfunctional and inefficient, but there is no other current solution.' We are it. We make our own luck, as Two-Face said in Batman. Our product is indigenous forces and institutions that are responsible for their own well-being. To some it sounds like a fecal hamburger, but I get excited about the job when it's put this way. I am excited to be a part of the mission and I look forward to the challenges. But I reserve the right to change this rosy outlook at any given time...
Take care.
Ron
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Out of Time
My leave is now officially over, and tomorrow I report to Fort Riley, Kansas. There I will inprocess into post, get issued a bunch of new equipment, and head to Iraq for a recon. When I return, the rest of my team will have signed in and inprocessed and we will get to business.
The last week was a "week of lasts." I don't want to ever know what it's like to be on Death Row, but I would imagine it would be like my last week... Last time in my own bed for a while, last time in the local gym, last time to see a softball practice, last time to be in my house for about 14 months. Weeks like this are what makes being in the Army hard. The hard work, long hours, and austere conditions pale in comparison to the sinking feeling of leaving home. The only way to compensate for the feeling is to think of the future homecoming and to look forward to doing all of those fun things again with family. You can't have the good without the bad, and the bad is eventually replaced by the good.
On an unrelated note, anybody want to buy a truck? Seems I don't need it anymore. It will be at Fort Riley if you are interested...
The last week was a "week of lasts." I don't want to ever know what it's like to be on Death Row, but I would imagine it would be like my last week... Last time in my own bed for a while, last time in the local gym, last time to see a softball practice, last time to be in my house for about 14 months. Weeks like this are what makes being in the Army hard. The hard work, long hours, and austere conditions pale in comparison to the sinking feeling of leaving home. The only way to compensate for the feeling is to think of the future homecoming and to look forward to doing all of those fun things again with family. You can't have the good without the bad, and the bad is eventually replaced by the good.
On an unrelated note, anybody want to buy a truck? Seems I don't need it anymore. It will be at Fort Riley if you are interested...
Monday, July 14, 2008
Up and Running...
Hey, I'm bloggin'!!! I have decided to do a blog to keep family and folks informed about my next assignment in the Army. I also view it as an opportunity to engage in some strategic communication, as a chance to tell the public what their Army does for them. When I tell most civilians what I do, they look back with a blank stare-- It's obvious they have no idea what their Army does for them, but almost all tell me they appreciate what the services do for them (which is always nice to hear). My goal is to inform, update, and provide some perspective for what freedom and the American Way costs.
Well, it is the week before I head to Fort Riley where I will begin my train-up as a Military Transition Team (MTT) Leader to the Iraqi Army. I will lead a small team of Soldiers and we will live and work with an Iraqi Army Battalion. I like to think of it as a consulting job, along the lines of Lawrence of Arabia (hence the blog title). Our job is not to create the American Army, but instead to get the Iraqis to put an Iraqi solution to Iraqi problems. It's up to us to work ourselves out of a job.
The team is made up of Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs, or Sergeants) and some junior to mid-grade offficers (Captains). Each team member brings a specialty (operations, intelligence, logistics, etc) and a different skill set and perspective to the team. Since there are only 10 of us, we will operate with more autonomy (and probably austerity) than most conventional deployed units. I have been in contact with almost all of them already. Those who have already been in theater have a pretty good idea of what we will do, but most are excited, skeptical, and as clueless about what we are getting ourselves into as I am.
It has been said that MTT teams are the way out of Iraq by getting the Iraqis to be self sufficient in their own security. We as an Army have done the duty of advising in the past, but we seem to always forget to read our own history, and we end up having to re-learn all of the hard lessons over again. Hopefully by the time I get there, we'll have it figured out-- we'll see.
Almost all of this post is pure speculation, as I have never been there. I can only go off of what I have read and what others have told me. The only knowns are that I'm supposed to be at Fort Riley this weekend, and I am going to lead a team in Iraq. The rest is up for grabs. And that's what makes being an officer in the Army an adventure...
Take care.
Ron
Well, it is the week before I head to Fort Riley where I will begin my train-up as a Military Transition Team (MTT) Leader to the Iraqi Army. I will lead a small team of Soldiers and we will live and work with an Iraqi Army Battalion. I like to think of it as a consulting job, along the lines of Lawrence of Arabia (hence the blog title). Our job is not to create the American Army, but instead to get the Iraqis to put an Iraqi solution to Iraqi problems. It's up to us to work ourselves out of a job.
The team is made up of Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs, or Sergeants) and some junior to mid-grade offficers (Captains). Each team member brings a specialty (operations, intelligence, logistics, etc) and a different skill set and perspective to the team. Since there are only 10 of us, we will operate with more autonomy (and probably austerity) than most conventional deployed units. I have been in contact with almost all of them already. Those who have already been in theater have a pretty good idea of what we will do, but most are excited, skeptical, and as clueless about what we are getting ourselves into as I am.
It has been said that MTT teams are the way out of Iraq by getting the Iraqis to be self sufficient in their own security. We as an Army have done the duty of advising in the past, but we seem to always forget to read our own history, and we end up having to re-learn all of the hard lessons over again. Hopefully by the time I get there, we'll have it figured out-- we'll see.
Almost all of this post is pure speculation, as I have never been there. I can only go off of what I have read and what others have told me. The only knowns are that I'm supposed to be at Fort Riley this weekend, and I am going to lead a team in Iraq. The rest is up for grabs. And that's what makes being an officer in the Army an adventure...
Take care.
Ron
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