Hi family,

Well, here I sit in our semi-empty ACE wanting nothing more than to start working. Maybe if I start working, I'll suddenly realize its time to come home. There is no real plan for us. We just show up and kill time. The 4 ID guys just walk around us as if we weren't here. You'd swear they were just moving to another part of Iraq instead of going home.

Its not really an issue that they don't have a schedule or lesson plan. I'm certain we'll change most of it anyway. But still, it would be nice if they took a minute to go over their products. Just a smidgen of info would be good. Hell, I'd rather be sleeping or cutting my toenails. Anything but plodding in here for twelve hours of deciding whether it's been long enough to go have another smoke or to just pass out in my chair. One night I slept for almost two hours and no one said a word. Actually, that's mostly what they do on night shift.

I have stuff to actually do tonight, but of course, this would be the one night they decide to have something to do. The problem is they only have their real work info on one computer.  Yes, that's right. Just one. It's all on a hard card. All I'd have to do is have an oops with some water and their whole year would be gone. Insane in today's tech era, but true. The thought has occured to me. It would save a lot of headache.

You see, we get the dubious honor of making the changeover to our brilliant, yet broken software/database. What this means is we will database all our reports in a useless blackhole. The fun doesn't stop there though. Then we get to save the useless files as useless .rtf files and then resave them as a semi-useful text file. All this because some retired so-and-so is a consultant for a company in senator so and so's state and these so and so's convinced an army buddy of the first so and so that the current products created and used by soldiers for free weren't good enough, so they should produce special software that doesn't work and isn't compatible with anything.

Now in theory, this software will put us in synch with the rest of the intel world. But in reality, it disconnects us from anyone above us. Ironic, huh? And how much did all this cost? Well, lets just say Ferrari and leave it at that.

Never fear loyal taxpayer. We shall persevere. Even if it doesn't work, we'll still use it to hold our papers down when the sand storms come. And the super-hardened, i.e. super-expensive, boxes will make great suitcases for our stuff when we leave. Well, they will if we bungie cord them shut, because the latches break after three uses.

In other news, I'm spending lots of time wishing I was anywhere but here. I wonder how anyone could come here and even vaguely think morale is good or that these soldiers believe in this mission. I guess generals and politicians receive special conditioning that allows them to ignore anything not involving their careers, because they think everything is hunky dory. I don't think I've seen a group of soldiers or leaders care so little.

People watch movies, read magazines, and sleep at work. They look like shit. Uniforms ragged and dirty.  I've seen a guy walking aound for a week with no patches. I guess he finally got new uniforms, but just hasn't bothered to get them sewn. Three days ago, he told his SGT he'd do it.  Could you imagine this in the rear? I'm beginning to think I'm in the Twilight Zone and this is the 60's the hair is so long.

And no one says a word. But morale is "good." And people are "motivated." What a joke.

I can imagine what will happen when everyone else gets here. Everyone will immediately not give a damn. I can't wait to see all our uptight garrison weenies staring in horror at what I'm sure was once a fine-looking division.

I've forgotten where I was going with all this. Oh yes, my high hopes for the year to come. What insanity. God help the army if they try to make me stay in and come back here. They'll think the guys at M.A.S.H. were model soldiers.

Well, until next time, please send real toilet paper. I hate not knowing if the brown under my nails is...I'm joking about the brown, but real TP would be nice.

Junior/me