New Years has come and gone and most of us are busy with paperwork in an attempt to keep on top of things before we leave in a couple months or so. I'm trying to get a few last minute awards written and/or rewritten in addition to my OER Support Form. The Army has a proprietary software program called Formflow which I'm certain is directly responsible for numerous incidents of violence against computers. As for my OER, we hit a small snag in that we aren't really sure what my official “job” is in the standard Army sense. I was mobilized to be a Field Artillery platoon leader. Well, that didn't happen. In fact, I haven't seen a single howitzer since I got here. I got promoted somewhere in the process and the FA Battalion didn't need me anymore. I ended up in a Support Battalion instead. I proposed that I be the Assistant to the Assistant S-3 or the Battalion Coffee Officer. I'm waiting to see what we end up with.
The standard Army Table of Organization and Equipment which dictates how the Army is organized is not relevant to many of the missions we are doing now. We need to create some sort of new unit structure more appropriate for the occupation with a standard training format to ensure troops are cross trained to handle the missions, equipment and weapons that are used extensively in theater. What we have instead is a collection of various task forces and ad-hoc quazi-units like mine where I operationally control several different entities while having no administrative control or responsibility for the soldiers, with some exceptions. The problem is that I usually learn about the exceptions after the fact when a crisis occurs, like the deadline for awards or evaluations. I have soldiers for several different companies within the battalion and many get switched out frequently which makes keeping track of administrative things more challenging.
To celebrate New Years Eve the Battalion had a Casino Night party complete with entertainment provided by our talented troops and faux champagne. It was quite the event and a lot of fun. The Battalion was activated back in November of 2003. As such, they had a whole year to reflect back on. I'm quite content with my six months and feel lucky I got the call late. Since we run things 24/7 here I grabbed a couple of bottles of faux champagne and visited some of the troops out of their posts. I have always enjoyed sharing holidays in the field with fellow warriors. We drank the fauxpagne with a couple of ING troops. I think they really appreciated the inclusion but didn't have any particular like for the drink.
It feels like this New Year's Day is ushering in a real transition. Within the unit you can feel renewed energy and optimism as the end of the deployment appears well within grasp. Within the country, from my vantage point on this isolated island of a base anyways, you can feel the anxiety and optimism, angst and hope that the coming election will lead to a tangible future. It has been widely reported that violence is expected to worsen as the election approaches and the insurgency becomes more desperate to disrupt voting. I get a few glimpses to what's happening outside our walls from the locals who work on base. It is amazing to see and hear the hardships they live with. The region still has 70% unemployment but you can make a hundred bucks, close to a month's wages for those employed, by planting an IED or shooting a rocket at the base. There are few options available them right now.
Thomas Friedman wrote a good commentary at what is really at stake here over the next month as demonstrated by the photograph of two election workers being executed on a street in Baghdad. You really don't need to say more but he does so eloquently.