It's a Party in the USA.

On an airplane somewhere over the midwest, on my way back to DTW. Trips were a lot of fun, too bad they're over!

On Reading

I guess you can say I've become a pretty voracious reader lately. I've been focusing on military-themed books, maybe it'll help me find my voice for my own. I've been primarily focusing on GWOT-related books since the experiences of both wars are very relevant, and I'd like to see what other people were thinking when they went through their different parts of the fight, though I'm also aware that reading is no substitute for actual experience. I also think it's helpful to understand the thinking process of our recent past and present policy-makers.

Finished (started reading some of these last year):

- Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003-2005 (Thomas E. Ricks)
- Twice Armed: An American Soldier's Battle for Hearts and Minds in Iraq (R. Alan King)
- The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education (Craig M. Mullaney)
- Obama's Wars (Bob Woodward)
- House to House (David Bellavia)
- Waging Peace: A Special Operations Team's Battle to Rebuild Iraq (Rob Schultheis)

Started:

- Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda (Sean Naylor)

In the queue:

- The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq (Thomas E. Ricks)
- Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (Roger Fisher & William Ury)

Wishlist:
- Horse Soldiers (Doug Stanton)
- Lone Survivor (Marcus Luttrell & Patrick Robinson)

I was never much for reading during college, pretty much the books I read were for checking the boxes on my way to a bachelor's. I feel like I got turned back on to the whole reading thing around August last year when a friend recommended a particular book to me, wasn't able to read it until I came back from AIT but I picked up the original book version of Blackhawk Down, and everything went downhill from there.

"Geardo, Gear Nerd, Gear Queer, etc."

I've been called such things by some of the other guys in my unit for having high speed stuff, but here's the problem:

- Due to varying issues, supply can't get us some of the nice things we need, like new magazines
- Even then, some of the "nice" things we do have... really aren't that great

We don't get issued actual Camelbaks, we get issued some third party derivative. It's nowhere nearly as well-built as Camelbak products (small access port, thinner tube, non-QD mouthpiece, etc.) and it shows in the issues I've had. One day the drinking valve just fell out of the tube when all I was doing was standing and drinking out of the straw.

Josh and Emily Quellet's Wedding Reception

It was a long drive over to Lake Michigan, and I regret leaving late, but the reception was definitely a lot of fun. It was nice to hang out with a slightly different crowd, I knew some of the guys from playing airsoft but not great because of the geographic distance. If there's one thing I guess that's kind of amusing about airsoft, it's the nicknames and handles that people associate themselves with, and I got a chance to catch up with some people who I haven't seen in a while. "BoredKender" is in basic training for field artillery but his wife and kids were there, "Cover" was the best man, "Crazyrabbit" just got back from Afghanistan, etc. Most of us used to be on the same "team" but several of us ended up joining the military so we really don't play anymore.

Favorite picture from the night, the groom Josh "Lucky" Quellet with one of BoredKender's kids:


I'm sure whoever reads my blog also views my flickr page, but here's the rest of the set that I've posted so far.

Sunrise

I see the sunrise a lot when I'm doing Army stuff because I'm actually required to get up earlier, but I've been doing some thinking about it this week.

When the sun first cracks over the horizon, there's a certain period of time as it's rising in the sky where you can still look at it with the naked eye, and the sky is all these different hues of orange, pink, and light blue. Then 20 minutes later it's bright enough for you to put your sunglasses on! It's kind of nice to look at every morning - even on rainy days sometimes you'll still catch a glimpse of the sun rising.