Who works on their vacation? I mean realy!

Ok, due to my deployments, and generaly just not having the time to take off of work due to exccessive work loads now that I am back, I ended up with 115 days of vacation.

Thats right, 115 Days.

Now, at the end of the fiscal year, Oct 1, The Army takes all your leave back except for 60 days. Any thing over 60 is Use or Loose. Simple, either take leave or loose it on the roll over.

Anyway, yesterday morning I go into work and ask the Firts Sergeant when is the soonest I can sign out and take some time off. He tells me, right now! Takes me inside and has me fill out the proper forms for leave and thats that, 30 whole days off.

This all took place about 0700, about 1000 hrs my commander calls me at home. He proceeds to tell me that he wants me to relax and enjoy my time off. BUT,, I need to come in to the office first thing in the morning. Oh yeah, enjoy your time off by comming into work.

Not quite sure how that is supposed to work!!

Thats not too bad, I don't mind going in and finishing up one of the cases I am working on. What realy gets me is I am supposed to be on vacation and they want me to come in not just first thing in the morning, but a couple days a week to continue working. WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!

Obviously, some one needs to look up "Vacation" in the dictionary.

va·ca·tion Audio pronunciation of "vacation" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (v-kshn, v-)
n.

vacation

n 1: leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure, or relaxation, especially one with pay granted to an employee.
2. A holiday.
3. A fixed period of holidays, especially one during which a school, court, or business suspends activities.
4. Archaic. The act or an instance of vacating.


intr.v. va·ca·tioned, va·ca·tion·ing, va·ca·tions

To take or spend a vacation.

Anywho, I am going to try and enjoy this as much as possible, however, I am off to work now.

Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer.

The Lion

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.

Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)

Vacation used to be a luxury, however, in today's world, it has become a necessity.

Unknown

Ok, my job in the Army is often times customer service oriented and sometimes you just get tired of it you know. How many times can you fake a smile or a laugh?

Any way, the real reason I am writting this post is about my new job. As you may have read before, I was chossen to stay behind on this deployment so I am now what is refered to as "Rear-D". My job in rear-d is something of an issue with me I guess. Being in the Army you meet a lot of Soldiers that should not be in the Army due to some physical or Mental condition. I put Mental in bold because as rear-d I have met a lot of them. Here is where the issue begins, my new job is to proccess some these Soldier's chapter packets to remove them from the Army. Most cases I don't mind, actually in most cases I feel good about getting rid of some of these "less than desirable" individules. The tough part is when you get that one Soldier, the one who got hurt in Iraq or Afghanistan or durring some kind of training getting ready to go to one of those two countries. I get the packet and read thru it only to find they are being separated from duty due to the fact that they can no longer perform their duties like they could due to the injuries they sustained. I understand not letting them go back to war but we should be trying everything we can to creat jobs for these Soldiers especialy when they realy want to stay in and continue to serve. I have seen the deep depression in their eyes when I hand them thier new orders to clear instalation and be removed from active duty. This part realy hurts. I suppose that you have to take the bad with the good but no where does it say I have to like it one bit. I have recently sent out a memmo requesting that some sort of support jobs be created for the injured Vets. Some way to keep them in the technical capacities in wich they served so valiently. I hope that it gets sent up to the right people. I hate to see a Hero be tossed to the side like that. That has already happened to many times in the past not to draw attention to it now and try to correct this grave mistake.

America's veterans embody the ideals upon which America was founded more than 229 years ago.
Steve Buyer

Because all of us believe and understand in the fabric of the common bond of why we call ourselves American is to care for the men and women who wear the uniform; and when they take off the uniform, we care for them when they are veterans.
Steve Buyer

It is unacceptable that disabled veterans in Illinois rank at the bottom of the list when it comes to disability pay. We owe our disabled veterans more than speeches, parades and monuments.
Dick Durbin

Taking care of our veterans requires more than just funding.
Sam Graves

Ok, so my wife has this friend that for one reason or another cheated on her husband while he was deployed. As if that is not bad enough, he finds out about it and she flips out because he is upset over it all. She files for divorce and he says no way in hell am I signing those papers. Or at least that is what we thought, turns out she never actually had him served. The whole thing was a game, just to keep her boyfriend thinking that she was leaving her husband.

Bad enough right?

It gets better.

Now the boyfriend is the one I say is a littel off his rocker, My wifes friend's husband deployed again the other day and of course she is right back at her boyfriends house. Now that she is staying with him, she has had to give up all her email login info to him as well as all her messenger log in info so that he can read her mail and messeges before letting her get on the computer. PSYCHO!! She for some reason does not see anything wrong with this, HELLO is anyone home, I mean how possesive can you get before crossing the line. Hell I been married going on ten years and never once have I even known my wifes log in let alone read any of her mail. Shit, I don't even stick my hand in her purse to get anything out, if I need something from her purse I hand it to her to dig it out. My only question is why does this woman not see that this truley is un-healthy, and if it was just her I would probably just tell her that she is stupid and move on but there is a small boy in the middle of it all, her son. My concern being that when she finaly tires of this FUCK-TARD, that he will not be so willing to let it go. My concern is that the boy is safe. He is a great kid and he plays with my little girl alot, they have been around eachother their whole lives, all 4 years of it,lol. Now don't get me wrong, I know that the "FRIEND" is also to blame here, if not mostly, but why the hell does she not see this POLE-SMOKER for what he realy is.

WTF

When I came home from my last deployment I found that my next door neighbors had left the island for a new duty station while I was gone. A new couple had moved in with their new born baby boy. Fresh out of Advanced Individul Training, (AIT), this was his first duty station. We never realy talked much, being that he was new I think the fact that I was an NCO kept him away. Anyway, I came home the other day and my wife informed me that all day long he had been loading a U-Haul truck and they were moving. He hadn't been here more than 4 months. I never did see him that day or the next due to my work schedule but my wife finaly caught up with him. He came over yesterday while I was at work and gave a box of canned goods, a couple of fans, and some other misc. stuff that he could not fit or keep in storage to my wife. Sandra convinced him to sit for a moment since we never realy got to talk and he explained that the reason for the sudden move was that he had to send his wife and his new born back home to live with her parents because he had to go to Iraq. Four months out of school, fist duty station, here is your weapon, see you in a year. Sometimes I hate the way things work here. What made me think of this this morning, was that he told my wife that the reason he brought that stuff over to our house was that we were the only people he even kinda knew. Outside of work and his unit, he had not been here long enough to make any friends. I wish I had done more to get to know him. I know he has to be scared out of his mind right now, no family, no friends, just sitting and waiting to go to war. You see, agian it comes back to the new Soldiers, they are the ones I feel for the most. I pray brother that you come home safe to have many wonderful days to play with your son. I am sorry that this ugly times we are in will make you miss alot of your sons firsts. They are truley special moments. Just remember, if you can send them or not, write letters every day, call as often as you can, keep a journal even, these are the things that will help you keep your mind clear and come home to your family.

my prayer for you

PSALM 91

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress
My God, in Him I will trust.
Surely He shall deliver me from snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover me with His feathers,
And under His wings I shall take refuge;
His truth shall be my shield and buckler.
I shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at my side,
And ten thousand at my right hand;
But it shall not come near me.
Only with my eyes shall I look and see the reward of the wicked.
Because I have made the Lord, Who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, my dwelling place,
No evil shall befall me, Nor shall any plague come near my dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over me, To keep me in all my ways.
In their hands they shall bear me up, Lest I dash my foot against a stone.
I shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent I shall trample underfoot.
Because I have set my love upon Him, therefore He will deliver me;
He will set me on high because I have known His name.
I shall call upon Him, and He will answer me.
He will be with me in trouble; He will deliver me and honor me.
With long life He will satisfy me and show me His salvation.

I know that it has been a long while since I have posted anything on here and I am sorry but things have been extremely hectic around here over the last few months.

Anyway, as a lot of you know, I have not been home for more than a few months and it is great being able to spend all this time with my family, especially my children. I do however feel a little guilty, sad, sometimes down right mad. No, I don't have Post traumatic Stress Disorder or anything like that, It is just that in the time I have been home I have sent several of the Soldiers in my unit back to war. These Soldiers are friends, family even, and what gets me all mixed up inside is the feeling that while I get to stay home with my family I feel like I am abandoning these men and women. I feel selfish. I should be standing next to them on that airfield, hugging my family, wiping their tears. Not standing on the airfield waving goodbye to them, telling them to come keep their heads down, watch your ass, and come home safe. A lot of the Soldiers that have deployed recently are brand new "Joes", and I guess that is what gets me the most. Their first time out, first time leaving the family and friends, I remember I was scared shitless my first time and I am sure they are too. You can see it in their eyes when the reality of it all finely hits them. It upsets me because I don't know if I trained my guys enough, I am sure I did but that feeling of doubt always rises. Did I do a good enough job? Are they really ready for this? Will they all step off that plane when it comes home? If I had deployed with them, I could watch over them, continue to train them, teach them.

I only pray that I have done all I could for them, they listened, learned, they are hardened, ready.

Dear God, please watch over them, may they be shielded by your light, may they strike true with your force, keep them in your hands, they will talk to you often asking for guidance, please show them the way. Keep them keen of eye, pure of heart, Please bring my brothers and sisters home safe....Amen