Military

April 9, 2019

My Return…

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Cannon on the Chancellorsville Battlefield, Virginia Canon 7d MkII, Sigma 17-50 mm, f/8.0, 45mm, 1/80, ISO 100

So, I’ve been away from blogging for a while now.  I’m disappointed that i didn’t complete my 100 Birds in 2018. Some things came up in my personal life that did not give me the time to write like I had planned last year. I have found a new found motivation to write through the course I’ve been going through the last four months and want to be able to maintain the skills I’ve gained and or been reminded of.  I’m going to keep writing about wildlife and natural resources, but I want to expand that into leadership in that field and possibly how veterans and military personnel can benefit from nature.

I’m a current Army officer in the National Guard and was selected to attend Command and General Staff College in Fort Belvoir this winter.  The course had an impact on my family and my civilian job, however, I hope that the skills and concepts I learned here will help me be not only a better officer, but a better leader and father when I get home.  

Command and General Staff College is the intermediate level education that U.S. Army officers take when they reach the rank of major.  Students are given instruction in military operations from the strategic, operational and the tactical levels. Additionally we take classes in military history, leadership, and the Army’s force management processes.  This course is supposed to give us a basic understanding of the higher levels of the Army, as well as set us up to become more effective organizational leaders and planners.

For me, this was the first time I’d been in an academic setting since I graduated college in 2004.  I hadn’t written a graded paper since them, or taken a written test either.  At first it seemed pretty daunting, but as I learned what the school was looking for, things got less stressful on that front.  The thing that never got less stressful was the need to participate actively and vocally in class.

This was my biggest hurdle.  I’ve never been one to talk a lot in an academic setting.  I take my notes, answer questions when asked, and struggle through the mandatory speaking assignments.  It’s especially difficult for me as a part-time Soldier trying to sound as knowledgable and “Army” as my active duty peers.  I think I’ve gotten better over time, but I still struggle getting the terms and style right. (my oral exam is next week…guess I’ll see how much I’ve really improved.

However, that’s just an academic test.  The real test will be how I use the skills I sacrificed so much time and effort to learn and understand.  I think that’s why I’m writing this blog post…to maintain the skills that I used here and to help me continue to tie ideas and thoughts of my work and passions to the proven theories I’ve learned here.

March 8, 2018

“The Things They Carried”

So, I just finished the book “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. This is one of the best written books I’ve ever read. Ever.

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Bald Eagle (1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Sigma 150-600 C)

I spent my 20’s going from naive college kid to war veteran to young adult making his way up through the federal personnel system. I’ve always thanked my military service for who I have become and the opportunities my service has given me.

It opened doors to my career. Gave me leadership experience others my age hadn’t had the opportunity to get. It gave me a view of the world many of my peers could never imagine. But I never saw what a lot of my fellow Soldiers saw.

Sure, I saw death. I saw the results of war. I was a truck driver, leading convoys, doing the best job I could.

See, I deployed in 2003-04. IEDs and convoy strikes were just starting to become common when I rotated out. We traveled Iraq in unhardened vehicles delivering beef jerky, MREs, and bottled water to places all over southern and central Iraq. Luckily, every person in my Company came home. We had a few who came home injured due to freak accidents, but no one died or was wounded from enemy contact. We were lucky, I was lucky.

There was a chapter (Ghost Solders) in this book that resonated with me though. It was where Tim had been wounded for the second time and had been relegated to duty in the rear. When his unit came in for leave, he’d felt left out, not a part of the team anymore. That’s something I’d never felt. See, I’ve always known my service mattered. I did what was asked of me. I still do. But I also see the pain in our veterans that have seen such terrible things. I know people who have taken their own lives because they couldn’t process the things they saw or did. It’s hard for me to relate and tends to leave me feeling like I’ve not seen enough.

I’m not a war monger, hoping for the next war to prove my mettle. I think all war is wrong and not the way to solve the worlds problems. War is scary and brings the worst out of humanity. If it can be avoided, it should. But if it’s inevitable, we need to provide the help our veterans need.

Tim O’Brien found writing to deal with his war. I found my work to deal with mine. However, thousands of veterans haven’t found a way to deal with their war. As a country, as a populace who counts on these veterans to protect them and their way of life, we owe those hero’s the help they need to deal with their war, the things they carried.

Thousands of veterans take their own lives every year. These are people who gave their all for their buddies, their units, their country. It hurts me to the core that they couldn’t find the help they needed before it was too late. There are resources out there…but most are too prideful to take advantage of them.

All I ask is we ask someone if they are okay. If someone looks like they are struggling talk to them. Tell them they have resources. The VA, civilian, it doesn’t matter. If someone needs help, get it to them.