The Range

What other job is there that mixes up the monotony of work by going out and shooting 210 rounds from an assault rifle?  Not many I can think of.  While I didn't join the Army to be a ground pounding infantry grunt, I definitely enjoy the Army aspect of what I do and being right there with the guys who do that every day.  The downside of the range yesterday was that it's still as hot as thouroughly cooked fried chicken outside.  (Well, not really - you'd probably still get salmonela if you only cooked your chicken to 106 degrees, but strap our Army required body armor on, which adds ten degrees to get 116 - now you're really close to a cooked chicken.) It was a hot one.  (See photo of guys shooting.  Yes, I know we're close to the targets.  We're practicing our CQM or Close Quarters Marksmanship - turning right or left to acquire a target at closer than 25m and shooting quickly.)

The range rounded out the last of our required training here before we head north to our home sweet home for a year.  (See photo of me and my platoon sergeant, Phil, out at the range.)  We had a few classes to educate us on the latest things going on where we're going and how to use some of the equipment we'll be getting when we get there.  For the most part, I think it's designed to help get us in the right mindset and prepared to go.  Now we're really just waiting for our time to go.  It should be within the week so the next time you hear from me, I'll be in Iraq.

Sometimes, political and legal issues like abortion seem much simpler in principle than in reality.  One of my Soldiers found out that his wife is now newly pregnant.  Now, she's in college on scholarship, preparing to get back into the Army as an officer so this kind of comes at an inopportune time for that plan.  The thing that bothered me was that he wanted her to get an abortion.  Now, logically, she sees that it's not good timing, but emotionally and spiritually, she wants to have the baby.  He said that he would support her in whatever decision she makes, but his preference would be for her to abort.  I can't tell him what to do, but I did counsel him on the impact that abortion would have on his wife and his relationship with her.  It seems that all he sees is the difficulty this introduces at this stage in his life, where he is deployed and she is in school with no support network in the vicinity.  Of course, I'm not saying it's easy, but this is one of those real situations where the right answer is very hard.  If you think of it, please pray for him.  I am praying that God will put it on their hearts to go through with having the baby and that God will wake him up to the responsibility he has as a husband and a father to be... that God will show him that he needs a savior and a guide and a source of strength larger than himself.  It would be a terrible mistake to cut off a life based on its inconvenience to personal plans.  Having children is part of being married.  Birth control is not guaranteed.  This incident doesn't make me question my stance as Pro-life, but rather forces me to acknowledge its complexity vice the simplistic view I had before.  When you put skin on it, it's not as easy, but then again, no one ever said that what was right would also be easy. 

I had my birthday a few days ago. I'm 27 now.  I feel old.  Some of you are laughing and others of you are agreeing with me.  The difference is whether you are older or than 27 yourself.  Life is what you make of it.  So I'll sit at Starbucks on a base in the desert and beat the heat with an iced latte.  Don't feel too bad for me, but you can just a little bit.  I miss the US.  I miss my family and my friends.  But I remind myself that that's why I'm here - I'm doing my part to preserve what we have in the US and spread that to others.  The freedoms that we enjoy and the security that we have won.  I hope that along with that I can spread the freedom that lasts for eternity, that sets free the souls of men and women who were born into a prison that they cannot see, hear, smell, taste or touch.  There is only One who holds that key.