So, um, it's been awhile...

Wow, I just checked out my blog for the first time in weeks and see that my last post was 4 April. 4 April?!? Sheesh. Didn't realize I'd been away that long. I could spin a long story trying to make an excuse for why I haven't updated, but I don't see a need for that. Bottom line is that I've been busy preparing for our imminent departure from the sandbox and life has been hectic. I'm a few short weeks away from returning to Lincoln, and morale is very high, both for myself and the troopers in our unit. I'm sure most all of you know by now, but in case you hadn't heard our Squadron received a bundle of good news in that we're coming home to Nebraska about a month earlier than planned. My new goal is to be home by the 4th of July, and as it stands right now that should be doable. I can't discuss any hard dates with you all due to OPSEC, but rest assured that as soon as I can you all will know.

Life here at Anaconda just seems to keep chugging away. We've been busy getting our replacments set up for success, and now that they are here we're trying to show them the ropes and make a clean hand off of our operations. So far the process has been smooth and efficient. I'll share with you all a couple pictures, just to prove that I'm alive.

Receiving my end of tour award from our Squadron Commander, Lieutant Colonel Apprich.
Chief Regan gave each of the soldiers in his section a cavalry saber as a thanks for all our hard work over the past 22 months. Thanks to Mr. Regan for his gift!
Posing in front of our t-wall. Tradition mandates each unit to paint a t-wall concete barrier to mark the time they spent in Iraq. I think ours turned out just fine.

Spring Break

March is a common time for colleges around the U.S. to give their students a mid-semester break to relax their minds and get away from classes for awhile. This time is usually referred to as spring break. For example, my girlfriend Nicki took a trip to Colorado last week, to spend time with her friends and get away from lovely Nebraska for awhile. You wouldn't think that I would be enjoying a spring break trip this year, knowing my current location and situation, but alas, you would be wrong. I'm leaving Iraq a few short days from now for my own spring break trip to exotic Qatar. The Army has this slick little pass program set up for soldiers in Iraq who need a few days away from it all. Soldiers are flown to an Army base in the country of Qatar for a 4 day pass. Soldiers are allowed to wear civilian clothes, sleep in, swim at the pool, take trips to tour the local countryside, and even drink real beer (limited to 3 drinks per night). Our Brigade wasn't planing on sending Soldiers on pass during our time in Iraq for various reasons, but after the news of the extension hit, they decided it might be a good idea to give some soldiers a break. Especially those who took their RR leave during the early months of the deployment. So long story short, my chance to take pass is here, and just happens to fall during the spring break time period, so I guess when everyone is remembering their trips to Cancun or Vegas or wherever, I can drop in that I flew to Qatar. Should be a good time. Hopefully I take lots of pictures while I'm gone, and I'll be sure to update you all upon my return.

(For more info on Qatar, check out here or here)

I'm still alive

First things first - I apologize for the month long void of any new posts. "The Man" is still keeping me down and isn't allowing me to access blogger at work, so my ability to update this here journal are severly limited. However, that is no excuse for a lack of posting. A sharp decrease in output, sure, but not a good reason to just quit updating you all. Anyways, now that we have that out of the way...

Life in Iraq is humming along at a decent pace. The shock, frustration and denial stages of the Iraq extension news have past, and we've all come to embrace the suck, as the folks over here would say. March is here, and this should be the toughest month to complete. Most of us can't help but be reminded every time we look at the calendar that we should be going home this month, so that's an obstacle that is tough to overcome. We're soldiers though, so we'll press on and do what we do. (That's the party line, at least). Anyways, nothing too new to report. I'm still working out and lifting weights 5 days a week. I've become more intimate with my PlayStation that I ever thought possible, and I'm currently neck deep in the planning stages of fall semester 2007 at UNL. It's been tough setting up college plans thousands of miles away from home, but the good people at UNL have been flexible so far and have shown a willingness to help me out, which is good. Hopefully it all works out well in th end.

That's about it from here. Hopefully everyone back in the rear is surviving the deluge of snow and what not. I'll try and update this thing once a week from here on out, if everything works according to plan. Maybe even throw some pictures up, if I can. Stay tuned.

Throwing salt on an open wound

So news of our extension has most likely made the rounds back home, and I'm sure most all of you are aware of the extra 4 months of fun in the sun that I've been blessed with. One of the first thing that comes to mind after hearing such news is that we'll all be missing 4 more months worth of exciting and fun events, some of which we were really looking forward to. I, for example, will be missing my Dad's wedding, my brother Jacob's high school graduation (after missing brother James' graduation last year also) and another couple months of summer fun, all of which I'll never get back. To top it all off came news today that one of my favorite bands of all time, Rage Against the Machine, is planning on reuniting for a show at this summer's Coachella music festival in Indio, California. The performance will be the band's first gig together since September 2000. I can say with 99% certainty that I would be making the trip out West if I was going to be home. I could also parlay that into a visit with my cousin Amanda, who is attending college in San Diego. Instead, I'll be here in Iraq, doing good things for my country. The sacrifices of war - they are plenty. Thankfully I have this blog to vent to.

Yo Adriaaaaaaan!

It's here. My Rocky five disc box set arrived in today's mail, just in time. SPC Fleck went on a trip to Baghdad recently and returned with a copy of the new Rocky Balboa movie on DVD. So now I've got to knock out the first 5 flicks and prepare myself for the 6th. Good times.

Two days away from Cotton Bowl kickoff. I plan on posting thoughts on the big game some time tomorrow, if everything falls into place. We're planning another watch party in the Colonel's office, although this time with an added twist. Should be a good time. Stay tuned.

Christmas time

Today is Christmas day, although being over here in Iraq it pretty much feels like every other day. Now that we've crossed the threshold into our 10th month of duty here in the desert, the routine day to day schedule has turned into a groundhog day type situation: it's the same darn thing, day after day after day. On special occasions (like Christmas) you need to throw a wrench into things in order to make it feel different, more important. Our unit's favorite wrench is a good bar-b-que party. On the evening of 24 December our unit had a Christmas grill out to celebrate the holiday. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Grillzila, breathing fire, ready to devour whatever cut of meat we throw it's way. Awesome.

Soldiers mingling about during the Christmas party. We even had a tree set up, with lights and candy canes and everything. Aren't we festive?
Everyone gathered around the plasma to enjoy holiday classics. Currently playing in the above picture is the outstanding Christmas Vacation. Right after this we watched It's a Wonderful Life. Good times.
Here is my choice cut of meat for the night, a thick and juicy 1.9 pound t-bone beauty just before it's tossed onto Grillzila. Delicious.
Grillzilla brought her A game for the festive event. My steak was cooked to perfection.
SSG Johnson, SFC Kerchal, SGT Kane, SFC Washington and myself, gathered around the table enjoying our food and taking in a holiday classic on the screen.

Close-up shot of your favorite Army man, getting ready to devour half a cow.

The remains of my fierce battle with the t-bone. Notice the high quality fork, sans one blade. The t-bone may have won the battle, but I sure as heck won the war. Terrific.

Carrie Underwood

American Idol winner and country music star Carrie Underwood made the trip across the big blue sea to come visit some troops in Iraq. She made a stop at Anaconda yesterday and SGT Kane and I were lucky enough to see her perform. Her show took place inside our movie theater, which seats less than 800 people. Due to the small size of the venue, the powers that be decided to distruibuite tickets to the event. Only those servicemembers who were fortuante enough to get their hands on a ticket would be able to see Carrie perform. Our base is home to over 20,000 people, so our odds of grabbing a ticket were slim. SGT Kane and I were optimistic we would somehow score one of the tickets, but I don't think either one of us figured we would both be lucky enough to snatch a ducket. A few things fell into place (thank you SPC Fleck and SPC Benes) that made the whole thing possible. Unfortuantley, the theater lighting is not very condusive to concerts and picture taking and what not, so most of my pictures didn't turn out all that well. I have another source for pictures though, and if that comes through I'll post some more later today. Here is a picture taken after the concert with Carrie, Kane and I and a couple other servicemembers.

Thanksgiving

For thanksgiving today, a few of my co-workers have set a precedent of putting out a "what I'm thankful for" post on their blogs. Of course, it would be rude of me to not follow suite and please my fans with a similarly themed post. However, I think it would also please my fans to see me put my own personal sarcasm spin on it. Because if you can't have fun with things (sappy thanksgiving posts are given no special favors) then shame on you.

What the Hammer is thankful for:

• To God, who makes this all possible for me. Thank you for keeping me safe and out of harms way in the most dangerous place on earth. I am grateful.
• I appreciate our chow hall, for going all out with an awesome Thanksgiving day meal. I felt like I was back at the farm chowing down ... until I scooped up some mashed potatoes off of my plastic plate with my plastic spoon. Kudos also for feeding me a steady diet of corn dogs during the week. Delicious.
• I'm thankful for Huskers Illustrated and their ability to keep me up to speed with all of the latest and greatest in Husker news. To be honest, I'm probably more knowledgable about Husker football this season than in any season I can remember.
• TV shows on DVD. I'm not sure who came up with the idea of putting TV shows on DVD, but whoever he/she is - you're my hero. The Wire, the Office, Sopranos, etc. You have kept me entertained and entranced during my time in Iraq.
• Sports. I could write a whole post about my unhealthy/passionate allegiance to grown men playing games, but the important thing is that between college football, NFL, MLB, college basketball, golf, etc. - I am never short of articles to read, games to watch and topics to debate in the office. The deployment would be crawling by without your assistance.
• Twizzlers and Salted Nut Rolls. My mid afternoon snack just wouldn't be the same without the help of these two wonderful snacks. Gracias.
• An awesome job. I sit at a desk in a hard building with a/c. The only injuries I have to watch out for are paper cuts. Things could be much, much worse.
• My 5th gen 30 gig iPod. Music is my life blood, and the iPod has blown my mind with it's ability to meet my every musical need. I commend you Apple. Now, if you're iPod phone is as cool as it sounds, I will really, really owe you big
• Last but not definatley not least I'm most thankful for Nicki, my rock of a girlfriend. She has to deal with my phone calls at all hours of the day and is forced to put up with an Army boyfriend who (once this deployment is over with) will have spent more of our relationship away from home in the Army than he has at home with her. Thanks for putting up with it all Nichile - you're the best.

Well, that's all I have off the top of my head right now. Hopefully everyone is able to spend the holiday with loved ones and if you're traveling to do so, stay safe on the busy roads. From the sound of it NE will be blessed with unusually warm weather and no snow, so go outside and toss a football or something and enjoy that weather. I've added some photos from today's thanksgiving blowout at the dining facility below. Enjoy.

Props to Benes for taking this photo at our Thanksgiving meal today. The look I'm giving is the universal "oh crap, Beans is taking my picture" face. Nice.

Pretty much the same photo as the one above, except not as dark so you can see more of the chow hall. It's not usually decorated like this with the fancy ice sclupture centerpieces and everything - they really pulled out all of the stops for us. This time around I'm rocking the "geez Beans, another picture?" face. Smooth.

me = internet celebrity

Stop what you're doing and click here right away for a pulitzer-prize worthy Q&A session. Jason Siffring and the boys over at Big Red Network have made internet celebrites of yours truly and my co-worker and workout accomplice, SGT Kane. Kane gives you all of the dirty details of how this article went down, so head over here for his take. Now that I'm famous and all I think the Army should send me home right away so I can begin a high-dollar publicty tour and start taking offers from publishers for a book deal. After that we can pursue my dream of becoming a graduate assistant on Billy C Coach Callahan's staff.

Video game craziness

While some of my peers in the soldier-in-Iraq-with-a-blog business cover hard-hitting news stories like the shift of power on Capital Hill, I tend to favor less publicized yet just as worthy subjects. Today's post is a perfect example.

Video games are something that everyone in almost any walk of life is familiar with. The younger generation has grown up with Nintendo, Sega and Sony PlayStation. The older generation had Atari and other ancient forms of pixelated pleasure. Even the oldest of folks have had their lives touched by video games - maybe by walking the aisles at your local Best Buy trying to pick up that hot new title your grandchildren have on their Christmas wish list. Well, with another holiday season upon us, video games are once again a hot commodity. This holiday season is seeing an unusually high amount of video game lust, thanks to the launch of two new gaming systems - the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. I've seen a few articles on the national scene covering the legions of dedicated fans of both systems literally camping out in front of their local electronics retailers in hopes of getting their pasty white hands on these hot new gaming systems. The Nintendo system is looking to have larger launch numbers of their system (meaning more Wiis will be produced and available for purchase) thus making them desirable, but not quite as frighteningly desirable as the PlayStation 3. Camping out in front of the local Best Buy or Wal-Mart for a new gaming system is nothing new. However, I think the dedication, shortage of PS3's available (which has sometimes led to violence) and passion displayed by some fans is unprecedented. A man in Connecticut was actually shot while waiting in line for his own PS3. I read this article today in the Lincoln Journal-Star about local Lincolnites who are camping out at Best Buy for the new system, and couldn't help but chuckle after reading this paragraph.

Back a few tents, 43-year-old Chris Wear was crossing fingers. He had not realized until 10:30 Wednesday night that people were already camped outside of Best Buy.“I was like, ‘Oh crap,’” he said. “I threw everything in the vehicle and ran out the house.”He arrived 36th in line. The rumor was that Best Buy had only 34 systems to sell, but that six more might be arriving Thursday night.

Wow. In most cases you would hope that a 43-year-old man would be doing other, more important things than camping out in front of the local electronics store for a gaming system - say maybe working for a living to support his family, or something like that. I would like to think that he is showing this dedication in order to suprise his children with an unexpected Christmas score, but I get the impression this is more likely the sad story of a man with nothing more exciting in his life than the launch of a new PlayStation. My only hope is that 20 years from now you all won't be reading my name in the Journal-Star as some crazed fan waitin for the latest and greatest technology.

Note: I don't know the aformentioned Chris Wear, so Chris if you read this understand I'm not trying to poke fun or question your priorities. I'm just trying to make a point and write a compelling story.

Haircut day!

Yesterday was haircut day for yours truly. Here are some gorgeous before and after shots. (Special thanks to SSG Johnson for taking these beautiful pictures - he operated this photo shoot like a true pro)
I grew out my hair a big longer than usual. The ladies Nicki isn't a fan of my longer hair look, but since she isn't here I can grow it out as long as I please. Within reason, of course - the Army (like Nicki) isn't too fond of long hair either.
Shazaam. $5 later, and back to the Army high and tight. Awesome.

I'll throw this out there - what do you all think is better:

• SGT Hanseling with long hair.
• SGT Hanseling with short hair.

Post votes in the comments section.

Thank you, Salted Nut Roll

The Pearson's brand Salted Nut Roll. What a delicious snack. I've always been a fan of nut rolls. Many years ago, I remember my mom buying a couple nut rolls at Pac N Save (she was a big fan herself) as a reward for a productive shopping trip. The legion of Salted Nut Roll fans is what I would consider a fairly small niche group in the candy bar world. You don't see too many magazine advertisements, TV commercials, or catchy advertising campaigns for the Salted Nut Roll.

Anyways, a kind soul in SSG Johnson's life has been sending nut rolls over here in care packages for awhile now, and SSG Johnson has been kind enough to share a nut roll or two with myself and a couple other lucky souls in our S-1 shop. I have come to admire the Salted Nut Roll even more so recently, due to it's sudden re-emergence in my life. Not only has SSG Johson been receiving Salted Nut Rolls, but king-size Salted Nut Rolls. Until now, I didn't even realize that a king-size version (two full-size nut rolls in one wonderful package of goodness) existed. Now I do, and I am thankful. So today, I offer this blog post as a way to say thanks to the Pearson candy company, who has been producing this delectable snack since 1933. Your Salted Nut Rolls are a highlight, a bright spot in my dreary Iraq existence and for that I say thank-you. Thank you Salted Nut Roll, for everything you do.

Big weekend

• Ok, so AFN has come through and are broadcasting the Husker - Longhorn battle this Saturday. We'll see it live on Saturday night at 7:00 pm. We're planning on continuing our bar-b-q tradition, as the 7:00 pm time slot is much more conducive to grilling out (versus the painful 2:00 am last week) and should make the whole experience that much more enjoyable. SSG Johnson and SGT Kane are doing steaks, and SFC Kerchal is planning some type of bacon-wrapped sirloin strips masterpiece for him and I. The more convenient kick-off is also bringing the fairweather fans out of the woodwork. Should be a few more Husker fans milling about the building, and we may possibly have some competition on the grilling front also. Our section tends to be a little anti group activity, so I'm sure we'll stick to our normal MO and seclude ourselves in our office - diehards only. Hopefully the crimson and cream can fight through all of the buildup for this huge Big 12 matchup and deliver a knockout blow against the mighty burnt orange. We're all cautiously optimistic that the Big Red will deliver the epic win. For those of you who are attending the game, make sure and yell a little louder for me and all of the other Husker faithful deployed over here - I would give my right arm to watch this sucker live at Memorial Stadium.
• This is shaping up to be a big weekend on a couple of other, albeit not nearly as important, fronts. After a way too long two week or so absence from the movie theater, I'll be getting things back into high gear with a couple of flicks over the next two days. Tonight I'll be catching "The Marine", starring WWE superstar John Cena. Can't wait! Friday night brings the highly anticipated "The Departed" to the Anaconda big screen. Can't wait to see that one. Then we have the game on Saturday, of course. All in all, shaping up to be a nice couple days for SGT Hanseling.
• We're less than one week away from our 7 month anniversary of time spent in Iraq.
• Give it up for the Seward High boys cross country team. The Bluejays picked up an impressive 2nd place finish at districts this week, and will carry that momentum into State this weekend, looking for a top ten finish. My man Jacob Hanseling came in with an outstanding individual 13th place finish, which earned him a medal. Good luck at state bro.

weekend thoughts

A few rambling thoughts from this weekend...

• Stoked about the Husker's getting a big road victory against the Mildcats on Saturday night. Our defense played well and made the Cats one-dimensional, which was the key. From listening over the radio, sounded as if Josh Freeman made some plays and could be the real deal down the road. Right now though, I'm content with coming out of Manhattan with a W. Now we have to focus on our biggest game of the year - the mighty Longhorns of Texas this Saturday in Lincoln. Cross your fingers that our good friends over at AFN pick up the game and allow those of us over here in the desert a chance to root for our Huskers live, on TV.
• We mixed it up a little bit this week during the Husker game, adding a little bar-b-que action to our weekly festivities. Click here for SGT Kane's excellent post on the whole grilling experience. It was something else - eating cheeseburgers and listening to Husker football under moonlight skies at 2:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning in Iraq. Can honestly say I never thought I would be in that situation during my lifetime.
• My roommate, SSG Johnson, and I have put together the ultimate football fan's paradise in our room. I'll see if I can't grab some pictures next week. We have three TV's, with two at the foot of Brad's bed and one of the foot of mine. All three were tuned into three separate college games on Saturday night, and earlier tonight all three were tuned in to three separate NFL games. One of the loveliest site these eyes of mine have ever seen. It's a little overwhelming at times, trying to keep track of all three games at once, but definitely a position I love being in.
• We received (drum roll please) a whole bunch of RAIN this past week. It hadn't rained in 4-5 months, so the sound of rain drops hitting the roof of our building late last week was an odd sound, to be sure. We were given quite a show the first couple nights - lightning, thunder, the whole works. Apparently we're about to dive head first into the rainy season, which will turn our camp into a soggy mess, from what we've been told. Should be an interesting couple months. Funny how we go from absolutely no rain at all, to buckets and buckets of rain.

one-thousand

1,000. I have now (somehow) crept over 1,000 hits since this blog came into existence way back in the day (which was a Wednesday). I will not use this opportunity for some sick self congratulatory post, boasting about my addictive/awesome writing style and how you, my loyal readers, just HAVE to visit twice a day. However, I will use this post to say thanks to my Uncle Mike, who inspired me to create this blog. Mike's own blog about his time spent discovering himself in Antartica was a joy to read, and his pictures were great as well. So, if you happen to read this - thanks Mike. I couldn't have done it without you. Cheers.

Dry spell

SGT Kane has been harassing me over my lack of posting lately and I have finally relented to his onslaught of verbal abuse and physical intimidation. I apologize to you, my loyal readers and fans, over my lack of content the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, I have come across a bit of a dry spell, content wise. My daily routine here in the desert has been a shining example of mundane office work, with weightlifting and spirited PlayStation 2 battles sprinkled in for good measure. We're a third of the way through the month of October (our 7th month in country). That's a positive thing, for sure. I've been relying on Husker football to keep me going so far this fall. (Editor's Note: I use the term "fall" loosely, as we're still cracking 90 degrees on a daily basis. Supposedly cooler weather is on the horizon, but I'll believe it when I feel it.) I've also been inspired by my co-workers and their post-deployment vacation planning to start some getaway preparations of my own. My travel partner Nicki loves to hear about my big plans. So far the #1 spot on our list of destination possibilities is Las Vegas. I'll have to make sure and leave the ATM card at home for that trip. Would be a shame to blow my hard earned Army savings in a few days. I'm sure having my better half by my side will eliminate that possibility. In other positive news - my fantasy team put together a tremendous performance on Sunday, and I actually have a good shot at earning my first victory of the young season. As the commissioner of the league, I must say I'm disappointed and slightly embaressed with my lethargic 0-4 start, so getting a win this weekend should earn me a little more respect amongst my fellow owners. While we're on the topic of football, I'll mention that I was able to view my beloved Huskers in all their crimson and cream glory this past Sunday on AFN. My fellow Husker fans and I here in the S-1 shop were able to take a break from our brutal Sunday work schedule to take in the Big Red's battle against the Cyclones of Ames. I was proud of our performance in a hostile and unpredictable environment. Always good to grab wins on the road during confrence play. My youngest brother Jacob was actually in attendance, taking in his first Cornhusker road game. Lucky for him, it was a win. Looks like I'll be going back to my old middle of the night radio schedule for this Saturday's game versus Kansas State, as the pay-per-view 6 pm broadcast pretty much eliminates the possibilities of AFN broadcasting the game. Hopefully we can continue our winning ways and take care of business in Manhattan. I will attempt to be more proactive in my blogging over the next few weeks. I will do my best not to let you all down.

Before ... and after

Alrighty folks, sorry about the delay since my last post, but things have been a little busy around here lately and my blog has been forced to suffer the consequences. Since SGT Kane went on leave I've had to take responsibility for some of the things he usually handles, so my plate has been a little fuller over the last week or so. The good news is that Kane should be back in about two weeks. The bad news is that Kane won't be back for another two weeks. Hopefully I can keep the ship afloat until his return. That saying is so true - you don't really know what you got till it's gone.

On a side note, my beloved Cornhuskers are traveling West to take on the mighty Trojans this weekend, one of many mammoth college football matchups slated for this weekend. The good folks at AFN are broadcasting a live telecast of the USC/NU matchup for us to see. What a treat. I will have to make a small sacrifice of sleep, as the game will kick off at 4 a.m. local time, but that is a small price to pay for such an occasion. Go Big Red!

Today's photos will show off a little before/after action. We've been in Iraq for about 6 months now, and we've made a few small changes to our surroundings in that time. I'm working on a project that will give you an even better idea of what Iraq is about than what I've already shown you through this blog. Stay tuned for the details. Here we go...


BEFORE: This a shot of the business end of our office. SFC Kerchal's desk is in the back left, SGT Kane's is the back right and at the time SSG Johnson and I were sharing the desk off to the right.
AFTER: SFC Kerchal and SGT Kane are still in the same spot. SSG Johnson now has his own desk, off to the left, while I'm now all alone at my desk to the right. As you can see, we've put a lot of work and effort into showing our Husker pride to all who visit us.

BEFORE: This was the desk that SSG Johnson and I were sharing. This setup, combined with our shared living quarters, was just a little more time together than any two soldiers should have to share.

AFTER: I still have the second chair, but now it's just for guests who come to bask in the glory of my brilliance. Or at least that's what I tell myself. I've used the extra space to expand my empire somewhat, and I enjoy my hidden spot in the office.

Back in the saddle again

Some of my readers may be wondering why it has been such a long time since my last update. Well, do not fear, all is well here with me, but I've been away for awhile and that is the reason behind my break in posting to this blog. The general rule of thumb in the military is that you can not discuss specific details of events to be held in the future, but once an event has passed, it is then acceptable to discuss what is now in the past. Therefore, I wasn't able to share with the world that I was returning to NE for a 2 week long break from this lovely desert home of mine, but now that I'm back from NE and enjoying the heat and sand once again, I can now say that I've been back home visiting family and friends. I had a lovely time (as always) and enjoyed every minute of my vacation. I was able to visit with tons of family and friends while I was back, but I'm sure I missed a few people that I would have liked to touch base with. Fear not, people who I missed - come spring of 07 I will be home for good and we can hang out as long as we want. Hopefully in the next couple days I'll find time to share with you all a few pictures and comments on things I was able to do while back in NE.

1-167 RSTA

I encourage you all to check out the new link that I've posted to the right. The 1-167 RSTA (my unit) has been working on creating a unit web site for awhile now, and the web site is starting to finally take shape. The main attraction, for me at least, is that the RSTA Review newsletters that I've been emailing out to all of you are now posted and archived on this site, for easier access.

One issue in particular that I will point out is the 1 May, 2006 edition, with the feature article on my section, the S-1. The article starts on page 4 of the previously mentioned newsletter.

Non-alcoholic beer

I'm always brainstorming ideas for things I can write about here on the blog, and one topic I haven't touched on yet would have to be non-alcoholic beer, or NA beer for short. Since we are U.S. Military service members serving in a hostile part of the world, one simple pleasure in life that we are denied is access to alcoholic beverages. All alocholoic beverages of any kind are prohibited in a "combat zone" such as ours. However, one way that soldiers such as myself are able to get around this rule and still enjoy in the pleasure of a beer every now and again is in the consumption of NA beer.

My section sergeant, SFC Kerchal, and I have tast tested a handful of different NA beers during our time in the desert, and we've seperated the haves from the have-nots, based on taste. NA Budweiser was by far the worst we have tried up to this point. A handful of others have also dissapointed. Becks and St. Paulies have been favorites so far. The dining facilites stock NA beer, and every once in awhile we'll have a NA beer with dinner. Little things like the NA beer are not neccessary, but serve as a decent reminder of what home is like, and also allow service members to kick back and relax for a bit and feel like a regular person.

Below is a picture of SFC Kerchal and I enjoying a can of NA Amstel in the office.