Well, happy Turkey Day, people! Not much to report here… went over to a pal’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, dosed up on tryptophen and beer, and went back to the barracks where food-coma promptly set in. Fleming’s wife did a respectable job of the meal, and hey… it was home-cooked, which is a good thing.

Still twiddling my thumbs and doing details while waiting for school to start… turns out the reason for my delay was due to the people who inprocessed me at Ft. Sill. They failed to put a copy of my SF-86 (application for Security Clearance) into the proper file, and thus the company here at Huachuca mistook my paperwork for that of a boot-camp soldier. That glitch has been fixed, but for the time being, I’m still waiting for 12 DEC to begin the course.

Christmas leave is locked-in for 17 DEC thru 01 JAN, so I’ll be able to show for the regular circuit of holiday gatherings. Until such time, take best care of yourselves, and I’ll be seeing y’all soon.

Military acronyms 101 -
B.O.H.I.C.A. - Bend Over, Here It Comes Again

The chowderheads who processed me at the MEPS station when I reenlisted didn’t get me locked in for a class seat, so guess what? While I was on the list for this class as of Wednesday, this morning I was just informed that I’ve been bumped to the class that starts December 12th. So, for the next month, I can look forward to a bunch of shit-details and nitnoid classes with a pack of privates whom I’m not allowed to talk to, and instead of getting out of here in March (as I should have), I’m gonna’ be stuck here until April.

I’m not happy.
At least this holdover isn’t going to interfere with my Christmas Leave.

More later, as details develop.

Well, I thought class was going to start for me Tuesday, but it turned out to be more inprocessing stuff. Mandatory briefings, issue of field gear (helmet, sleeping bag, etc), and the standard Security Briefing.

What does this mean for this blog? Well…

I can talk about some of what they’re teaching us, but can’t give many specifics since the course curriculum is classified. I can talk about some of my fellow students, but can’t give names or post pictures of them, the instructors, or the cadre since that’s a violation of Operational Security.

In other words, I’m gonna’ have to dance around a lot of issues… what a pain in the keister.

I’m looking forward to class beginning tomorrow… at least it’ll keep me occupied during the daylight hours. Temperature here today was around eighty degrees, and I hope y’all are doing well. Take care.

Greetings from Ft. Huachuca, Arizona!
I’m just about eight miles from the Mexican border, and there are signs around post warning us about killer bees. It’s a nice post, most of the buildings are brand-spankin’-new, and the past few days have been really cushy. Being prior service, they have us quartered in a separate barracks (two-man rooms… cool) and we fall in separately from the kiddies fresh out of boot camp. Chow hall isnt’ bad, and our barracks is right across the street from the PX, Class Six, Burger King, the Post Cinema, and all those other amenities that make life pleasant.

So, I walk into the PX last night to buy a pillow and some bedsheets, and I recognize my old Company Commander from Germany walking out. Frank Gonzales, Signal Officer, who’s a Lieutenant Colonel now about to take command of one of the signal battalions here. He got a surprised smile once he remembered me, so I guess I left a decent impression on him from Deutscheland. Wotthehell… it never hurts to have a field-grade officer on your “I knew him when” list.

Anyhow, my class starts training Tuesday after the four-day-weekend, so I get a couple of days to sleep in before the party starts in earnest. Looks like I WILL get to take leave over the X-Mas holidays, so I’ll be seeing you folks then. Meantimes, take best care, and I’ll keep y’all updated.

Well, it’s all over except for the screaming, here at White Sands. Yesterday we finished the 8km road march, monday we did the houseclearing routine with paintball guns (a hint for those who are so inclined… you don’t want to be the first man through the door. I made it a total of eight feet into the room, caught three rounds in the belly, and had to sit out the rest of the exercise.)

Friday I fly from El Paso to Phoenix, and catch a bus from Phoenix to Ft. Huachuca to begin the 19 weeks of training for Intel Analyst. Nothing against New Mexico, but I will be quite happy to see this phase of my training end. It’s been a long sequence of nuisances, albeit with good food.

Until I find out where the terminals are at my next post, take care, babies!