Wednesday, October 14, 2009
More bloggers
48 Mondays: a reserve PAO
ultdusta: with post titles like "Pink Tactical Girl Bike" and "Rotting Testicles"
aaronbedy: another PAO, who is an attorney on the outside
A Chop In The Sand: the name says it all
And the granddaddy of cynical Navy IA bloggers, The Augmentee, has come back online after going on hiatus for a few months.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Calling all three of my readers...
Given the types of google searches that bring the occasional reader to these parts, I'm sure that you have $0.02 to give to the man. And just a touch of a personal note to add: a young Commander Harvey once asked me how I would improve a certain evolution (the details of which I ought to refrain from recording, more for my sake than for his). I gave him my recommendation, and within 15 minutes it had been implemented. If you have anything constructive to say about improving the IA process, don't ever claim that the Navy didn't give you a forum to air your recommendations before a person with the power to make it happen and (in my experience) a proven willingness to act on a good idea.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
In memoriam
Another sailor was assigned the duty, but Darren accepted it instead because his friend’s wife was experiencing complications from pregnancy and Darren told him he would take his place. ... He persuaded his mother to mail about a dozen boxes of clothes to him in Afghanistan so he could distribute them to farmers he had befriended.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star. Godspeed, AOAN Tate.
Update: July was not a good month for CSTC-A: on July 6 another IA to CSTC-A, EOD2 Tony Michael Randolph, was killed by an IED.
Another way to stay in touch
When you deploy, your life is put on hold. While you live and work in a different world, everyone else moves on with life back home. Your family and friends keep moving, and this sometimes means it's just not possible for them to stay awake until 2 a.m. to receive a phone call. Calling Iraq or Afghanistan is seldom an option.
Google Voice provides a solution to some of these problems. Service members can set up an account before they deploy. Or if they're already deployed, families can now set up an account for their service member. Loved ones can call to leave messages throughout the day, and then when that service member visits an Internet trailer, all the messages are right there. It's like a care package in audio form.
I signed up for an account when I came to Google, and it's already making communications much easier here in the States.
I just applied for an invitation. We've been planning on using skype to stay in touch, but free calls and free voicemail over the internet sounds like a good plan too.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A couple more bloggers
I've received my orders to Afghanistan. I'm not sure how much I'll write about my time, but for now I'll keep gathering links to the stories being told by other IA sailors.
Update: Forgot to mention Deploying in a Sea of Sand and Ron's Rants.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
"We could not have fought this conflict without the reserve force"
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hello, everybody
USFF IA Website MIA
Monday, June 8, 2009
He who plans early plans twice
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Sad update to Memorial Day post
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Reservist sues Newark Public Schools over lost job
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day
Monday, May 18, 2009
Two New IA bloggers added to the bloglist
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Navy IA among the Camp Victory victims
Sunday, May 10, 2009
IAs not Going Anywhere Soon
Taking those IA billets "out of hide" took a toll on the readiness of the Navy's deploying commands over the past few years. Though officials have started to get sailors to volunteer for these assignments as regular tours, they still need bodies to fill the billets. That's why, Ferguson said, he went to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and then-Navy Secretary Donald Winter to halt the drawdown.
Sailors and airmen should continue to expect supplemental assignments to Iraq and Afghanistan for the next several years, even after more U.S. troops arrive to support missions in Afghanistan, the top U.S. military officer said Monday.
"As long as we have the Army and the Marine Corps dwell time below 2-to-1, the Air Force and the Navy need to provide that capability," Mullen said.
The [Navy] budget calls for an end strength of 328,000 sailors, including 4,400 temporary Individual Augmentees paid out of contingency accounts.... The Navy number represents a halt to downsizing.