Things I miss now:

• My wife Leslie
• Laying on my couch with my wife watching TV
• Being able to walk into the kitchen and get something to eat

I’m pretty sure I’m going to have many more things I miss when I get outside the country.  Until that time those are the top three.  I can not wait to get back to Fort Worth on Friday.  It has only been a little over a month-and-a-half since I left, but I really miss the city.  I am excited about hitting up the Air Force vs. TCU game this Saturday.  They had a disappointing loss last Thursday against Utah.  The only way I can describe it is a missed opportunity.  They could be in the driver’s seat for a BCS bowl game, instead I’m hoping BYU can beat Utah and there’s a three-way tie for the Mountain West Conference.  I have no idea how they break that tie.  It should be a good game that will be overshadowed by the BIGGEST GAME TO EVER HIT NORMAN OKLAHOMA!!! IT’S THE RED RAIDERS OF TEXAS TECH INVADING NORMAN TO PLAY THE SOONERS OF OKLAHOMA IN PRIME TIME ONLY ON A—B—CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC.  How was my impression of the ESPN hype machine?  Did I even come close.  It’s a big game, but I know there have been a few #1 vs. #2 games when Nebraska came to town.  This game doesn’t match some of those old games.

Things I’m not going to miss about Arkansas:

• Golden Corral for dinner every night
• Our higher command treating us to “heater meals” for lunch
• Certain Staff Sergeants who do what they want

The story goes a little like this.  Apparently our orders for our time at Fort Dix were a day short.  This certain Staff Sergeant decided that he didn’t have to come back to Arkansas with the rest of the unit.  See, he didn’t think we were on orders because we are currently getting paid like we are on 14 drill weekends in a row.  I’ve never experienced something as convoluted as getting paid in the reserves.  Maybe foreign nationals entering the United States legally is more convoluted, but I think the system of paying soldiers in a reserve status is pretty bad.  I digress.  He thought that he could go back to his job because he didn’t want to “sit around the office in Arkansas.”  When our plane landed at DFW (29 miles from my house), a certain Staff Sergeant bought his own plane ticket and headed home.  I can only speculate he did it because he missed his momma’s nipple.

A few days later he finally called the unit, after repeated attempts to contact him by our leadership.  He learned we were under some other type of order and after a few days returned to Little Rock.  This Staff Sergeant never admitted he was wrong by flying home.  He did what he wanted to regardless of his rank or leadership role.  At this point, I’m going to try and watch what I say because it will be all opinion.  The above are facts as I know them.  I’m finding the reserves is even more full of people with rank who don’t take any pride in their position and haven’t earned their rank.  When I was a Sergeant on active duty in the late 90’s, I loved it.  I took pride in my team, my soldiers, and my job.  Being a Sergeant in the United States Army was the single most rewarding job I’ve ever had.  To see this Staff Sergeant bring shame upon the NCO Corps, his rank, and himself, made me sick on the inside.  He will forever be filled away in my head of how not to act when I’m in a leadership role again.

BTW – This certain Staff Sergeant is not deploying with us now.  Our commander found a way to summarily kick him out of the unit.  I hope some bad paperwork finds him.  Any public affairs units getting ready to deploy and you’re getting a Staff Sergeant, shoot me a line.  I’ll fill you in.  I’m taking it upon myself to make sure everyone knows what sort of leader they are about to receive.

I’m going to write later on this week about the good training we’ve had this past week.  I realize I’ve been airing some dirty laundry this past week, but it’s all part of the deployment process.  Other than having to see him again, it’s been a good week in Arkansas.  I am in the middle of writing a story about SSG Brian Raley and how much he likes the game Rockband.  I’ll post that when it’s done tomorrow.  I have a funnier piece I may post I did last week, but the writing was very weak.  I may show it once something better is up.

This post is tagged 343rd MPAD, A few of my favorite things, Assclowns, Golden Corral Challenge, Leslie, Rockband, SSG Brian Raley, TCU Brainwashing, Things I won't miss