a mobilized year

My not so glamorous and exciting days far outnumber the “war fighting” days (the ones in which I’m out on a mission). Here’s a typical non-glamorous day:

I wake up at some time between 0500 and 0600. I’ll either workout for 30-45 minutes or I’ll work on Arabic, read emails and/or address some issue that requires my immediate attention. I typically eat around 0730 (I’ve skipped about ½ of my breakfasts as of late, since I learned that I gained 10 lbs since arriving here--mainly from eating mess hall food and the initial flood of wonderful care packages that I received right after I arrived here).

By mid-morning, we typically have our Battle Update Brief (BUB). This is where I (along with the other commanders) get briefed on recent intelligence updates (what’s happening and where it’s happening in Iraq, both at the political level and the tactical level), operational issues (new and/or updated operations orders/missions), and maintenance status (primarily vehicle focused). Based on the information I learn from the BUB, I develop and assign missions and communicate the relevant intel to various soldiers within the company.

After the BUB, I usually walk around the area to check on my soldiers who are at Navistar. I’ll typically stop by maintenance, commo, supply and the various staff sections. I check in to see how things are going, address issues that have come up, and generally just make sure things are running smoothly.

Once I’m comfortable with how things are going, I return to the company command post (CP). I give my guidance and taskings for the day to the soldiers and NCOs that work directly for me before I begin my project(s) de jouer.

I try to spend the majority of my day on issues/topics that are important to me (avoiding, when I can, getting mired in putting out “fires”—I try to delegate fire-fighting tasks to others). For example, some of the issues/topics that I have been working on lately have been researching requirements for obtaining awards for my soldiers, setting up a nonprofit to support some of our efforts in assisting local Iraqi kids and Iraqi poor, identifying key equipment needs and ways to get that equipment for my unit, counseling and motivating soldiers, reading and learning from other units’ after action reports (AARs), tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), and lessons learned so that I can be more informed and lead the company better.

Around 1900 or so, I head over to the mess hall to partake in all that that day’s smorgasbord has to offer. After my day’s indulgence, I roll back to the CP. I typically will work for another hour or two before going either to my tent to listen to the ol’ ipod/watch a DVD or to the MWR tent to get whipped at ping pong or read a newspaper or magazine. By 2230-2300, I’m usually ready to go to sleep.

So, how’s that for an exciting day?