Meet Elvis and Ringo. These are two dogs who arecurrently serving our country in Iraq. I liked the picture of elvis with his ear down as he it shows his softer side. The pointy eared canine is Ringo and he's a proud dog.

Anyway, as my time winds down here at Ft. Bliss since I depart on Saturday I thought I'd share some of the interesting things I've learned while being here.

First, the acronyms. My goodness the acronyms there is nothing more to say about them than there's a bunch.

Second, the warrior ethos and the attitude of a well trained soldier are hard to beat. These men and women serving our country all have a story some happy some sad. There are soldiers who are here because they were called up by their government. They are serving proudly along side of the regular military. Without them we would be having a much harder time of things. There are soldiers whom I have met that need council. I have found myself in more than one situation where I was called on as a counsellor for a soldier who was having a hard time letting go of the war in Iraq, the men who fell at their hands and the men in our army who fell because of their orders. I have yet to hear a story of someone who was in the wrong but yet many still blame themselves. Next time you see a soldier think about what they might have gone through to protect you, your freedoms and the future of America.

Last, I have learned that I/we can be happy anywhere. No matter where you go in this world of ours there is positive to be seen, love to be shared and beauty to be seen. There are always things to do and if you can't seem to enjoy an area you probably are sulking from a predisposition which you imposed upon yourself before even arriving.

If you ever wondered why the military sends troops to El Paso to train for deployment and why large units like the 4/1 Cav are moving here, the answer is below. This is the new Dfac which is being built out at Biggs field. The climate terrain, and general environment of the new barraks for the troops are very similar to what they will experience over there. This is an extremely good transition point for our troops. We are blessed as a country to have such an extensive list of areas in the US where we can emulate practically any environment which our soldiers would encounter in the world.













I Just think these vehicles are really cool. Watching them drive is facinating. The two front sets of wheels turn simultaneously for maneuverability. This is one heck of a workhorse machine. 

They're not in camo! They're just hard to see.

This is Cpt. A on the right and Sgt. J's son on the left coming down from the rock face. They went up farther than Sgt. J or I. Anyway, I thought this was a fun shot.

Today was a god back to normalish type of day. This morning was NAF training (non appropriated funds) and I sent home the declaw I did yesterday. Then it was time to figure out what I am going to do for the rest of the week as all of the captains in the branch are off to JOC (junior officer council) in SanAntonio. So I get to be the trainer on Friday and the rest of the week I will work with the 91R's.

I was basically done with the day today at noon and did a little aquisition of training materials and some photography. I also found a cool museum on Biggs field. It is the NCO museum (next to the sgt. major's academy surprise surprise). It had a really good presentation of the NCO positions in the military since the revolutionary war. I enjoyed seeing the progression of uniforms and chevron rank structure changes.
So tomorrow I start at 0530 with a DFac inspection. Therefore tonight will be hit the sack early time.