Army Terms to Know part II

OD: Olive Drab
OEF: Operation Enduring Freedom.  The Afghanistan campaign.
OIF: Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Numbered for different movements/phases from the invasion (OIF 1 in 2003) until September, 2010.
OND: Operation New Dawn. September 2010 to present.
BDU: Battle Dress Uniform
DCU: Desert Combat Uniform. Chocolate chip or tri-color desert versions of the BDU.  Used until 2005.
ACH: Army Combat Helmet also known as a Kevlar.
ACU: Army Combat Uniform.  The current daily uniform; lots of velcro.  A fire-resistant version is issued for deployments
ACS: Army Combat Shirt.  Moisture-wicking and worn without an undershirt.  Generally limited to missions and guard duty.  Rank and name moved to right shoulder to not interfere with body armor.
UCP: Universal Camouflage Pattern.  Same digital fractal as the Marines, but with different colors (tan, foliage green, gray) adopted by the Army for all-terrain use in 2005.  Not perfect, but cheaper to produce and works ok in many situations.  In Afghanistan (and rumored for the whole Army after we leave Iraq), it has been replaced by
OCP: OEF Camouflage Pattern also known as Multicam for non-military sales.  It's a non-digital, 7-color blended pattern with greens and browns that looks a bit like bird droppings.  It always performed better than UCP, but was cost-prohibitive to produce when first designed.
MRE: Meal Ready-to-Eat
IBA: Individual Ballistic Armor
IOTV: Improved Outer Tactical Vest.  Better protection than the IBA on the neck and sides with a quick-release for emergencies.  Also, more comfortable in my opinion.
Smoking: A noun for Corrective PT.  Exercise as punctuation or memory enhancer to discourage under-performance, negligence, or disobedience.
Moondust: The fine, powdery dust that's made from tracked vehicles and trucks on gravel/dirt roads.  It collects in drifts (sometimes ankle-high) in intersections and turns.  Kicks up in clouds when walking or driving through.  Worst place to be smoked.

Toy wearing tri-color DCU, me wearing UCP ACU.

Dexter and the Equinox

Image from BillWardWriter.com

I am at season 3, episode 6 of Dexter.  Which, until the 6th season starts sometime this fall on Showtime, is precisely halfway through the series.  I don't have much to say that Sarah hasn't said already, but I like it.  It's well written and well cast/acted.  I've never really followed series on the 'specialty' channels before, but thanks to netflix and loose application of copyright laws here in Iraq, I've been able to get into this one.  I'm trying to pace myself and only watch one a day, but confess I binged and watched half of the second season all in one night.  Suspense!  I can't imagine waiting a whole week between installments.

Internet access has lasted much longer than previously anticipated, but there will periods coming up in which I'll be incommunicado.  I haven't got physical mail in a while, but emails are still a prompt and reliable alternative.  Send something to my gmail account and I'll get it eventually.

Happy Equinox and a pleasant fall to everyone.

Army Terms to Know

PT: Physical Training
MP: Military Police
CP: Control/Command Point
SAW: Squad Automatic weapon.
FOB: Forward Operating Base
CHU: Container Housing Unit
MWR: Morale, Welfare, and Recreation
R&R: Rest & Recuperation. 2 weeks mid-tour vacation.
DFac: Dining Facility aka Chow Hall
IRAM: Incendiary Rocket Assisted Mortar
CONEX: CONtainer EXpress; the steel shipping containers.  Can be moved by air, train, truck, or sea . They’re used as mobile storage for everything from explosives to linens and can be converted into offices or living spaces.
Woobie: Poncho Liner
Joes: E-1 through E-4; basically everyone below a sergeant/team leader.
Ugandans: Defense contractors who serve as security around base and the dining facilities. I believe the company they work for is actually American, but the guards are all African (cheaper to hire/outfit). I can’t be sure they’re actually Ugandan, though; that’s what I was told.  They're friendly, but their English isn’t always the most clear.  They carry AK-47s instead of M4s and M16s like US forces do.
Mounted: To be in an armored vehicle
Dismount: A person on foot.
Outside the Wire: Beyond the concertina wire and other defenses surrounding a base.  Basically outside a controlled/safe area.

ADVrider Scramblers

Photos from MeridianKnight at ADVrider.com

ADVrider.com is a website and forum for people who like to ride their bikes on long trips, sometimes in locations where roads are fewer and less maintained.  The forum is a place where riders can get together and plan trips or discuss modifications and pre-, mid-, and post-ride maintenance on their bikes.  Suspension improvement and tough baggage are most common.  They have an epically long-running thread on the Triumph Scrambler with lots of pictures, advice, and ride reports.

Photos from ChrisLX200 at ADVrider.com

Ten Years

I was in 8th grade, posing for a life-drawing in 1st period art class when the first plane hit.  We learned about it the next period in social studies.

It is strange to think of all that has happened since then, both on world scale and in my own life.