Saturday, February 27, 2010

First Post

When I first joined the active duty Army in May of 1985 and went to Heidelberg, Germany, my Sony Walkman cassette player (ask your parents about cassette tapes) was the height of portable electronics and any communications to folks back home was through a painful and convoluted process of international telephone operators or the much slower mail. Now, as I prepare to leave for a one-year tour to Tarin Kowt (TK), Afghanistan, I will be equipped with a Kindle and a laptop. I will be able to take around 1,200 books on my Kindle and have a whole suite of entertainment on my laptop as well as the ability to communicate with the world via this blog.

Not only have there been a lot of changes in the Army since I got out in late 1991, there are generation gaps between me and my subordinates, peers, and many superiors. After my 18 years in the corporate world it has been a bit of challenge for me to adapt to the military life after rejoining in March of 2009. I have also needed to readjust to not being in a position of relative power and influence as a Director of Contracts (my last civilian position) to being an enlisted soldier.

This blog will be my observations and thoughts of an 'old' soldier adapting to the 'new' Army before, during, and (hopefully) returning after a successful deployment to Afghanistan. My goal is to first, communicate with my family and friends, as well as anyone else who cares to listen, and, second, perhaps provide an unique perspective of a soldier's one-year deployment.

I will start off with an approximate 22-day countdown to when I am scheduled to deploy to TK and then begin the 365-day countdown once my 'boots are on the ground' - and I have internet access. Not having that access, mission necessities, and other issues may keep me from posting every day, but I will do my best.

This should be interesting.