Never Forget

This last week several polls about the war in Afghanistan were widely reported in the media. Net net, it was determined that roughly half of all Americans are tired of the war in Afghnistan and feel that it is time to walk away. According to the White House Press Office, the President is weighing his options.




As per normal, I'll share a few thoughts (This is after all my blog and I get to say whatever I want) WTF - that came out of nowhere. Seriously though - have we forgotten why we invaded Afghanistan?

Let me remind you.






Although polls are an accepted part of our political landscape, they should never be used to make policy. Divestiture of the Afghan problem would simply lay bare an area four times the size of Texas for Islamic Extremists to train and prepare for their next horrific attack on the free nations of the world and yes (even to the Obama haters) that includes the United States - this beautiful country we all love and that my family has bled for since the revolutionary war. I realize that most of you who read this blog are military or veteran associated and so, like me and mine, have a vested interest in what happens in these wars we have been fighting. I also realize that a few of you have no such association and it is to you this message goes.

War and what it brings (mostly to the young) is abhorrent to all civilized peoples and yet there are times when it is necessary to depose those who would seek to inflict tragedy on others. Young men woman must die. I know too many - as friends and sons and fathers and even one mother. It is a burden I carry with me each day as I wake and each night as I sleep but it is a burden I believe in. Their lives have not been in spent in vain. As of this morning eight hundred forty-eight young American men and woman have laid down their lives in this far away place so that you and I will never have to suffer the consequences of Radical Muslims who believe that our deaths (all of our deaths) is a requirement to stand faithfully in front of God. If we leave, if we do not bring hope to a land that is void of hope and thus a breeding ground for radicalism, we will surely consign ouselves to greater tragedies in the years to come.

Each of these service members stand proudly on a wall, they give their lives, so that we never have to count the thousands or even the tens of thousands on our soil again. Do you think we should base their sacrifice on a poll - plus or minus 3.5%

TIA

EARL

Back with a Vengance

Sorry for the long hiatus friends.

I needed time for me and for my family as a lot has been happening and I owe some call outs:

1) BBG had her charity event and she and her quilting supporters finished over 200 quilts for our wounded and injured as they are medevac'd through Landstuhl. They also raised over $7,000 for the veterans wheelchair games which will be held in Denver next July. I'd like to call out the nurses and staff at the VA who gave her their time, love and support in this effort. I won't name them "D, JS, and crew". You know I hate to be the butterfly. I'd also like to thank the woman of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) of which she is one. They are truly an example of friendship, love and support and stand for what makes America the greatest place in the world. They are the patriots who can trace their lineage to our war of independence and once again they have risen to the occasion. Jim and Nicks barbecue of Denver for showing true support and providing amazing barbecue at cost for the Phipps Mansion display and celebration of 180 quilts. You are all patriots and I will be there if ever you need me. You have earned it.

2) The armor company, EBS Composites Group, of which I am the COO and which has made some mind bending advances in body, vehicle, marine and aircraft armor in the last few months. It has taken every waking hour above and beyond my day job as an engineer. Soon you will hear our name lots as we are stopping rounds at half the weight and 30% of the cost of most of the industry. After all, why should our soldiers be weighed down any more than they already are and why should our government pay a premium to save the lives of the men and woman who stand on a wall in our names. This aint hype - last weekend I unloaded a full nine millimeter clip and a mag of 44s into a .7 lb AD panel, at point blank range, with no penetrations and multiple Ak rounds into a 1lb AD plate with the same result. The armor market's about to be turned upside down.

3) My herd of kidlets for suviving all of this without much parental support and most importantly I owe the world to BBG.

4) BBG has done all of this despite being physically crushed and dealing with PTSD that seems to be at its worst right now. She is a force of nature, despite her disabilities and it is why, 18 years ago, I married her. Her tenacity in the face of all of this makes me feel a little more insignificant and blessed every day. Now I just need to figure out a way to get her a cleaning lady.

Now that I've gotten all of that out of the way, I want to give you a heads up on tomorrow's blog:

It will be about the war in Afghanistan and the fact the pollsters say America is sick of being invloved in it. I'll share why this is a war we must fight and if need be why I would be willing to fight it for you.

TIA

Earl

Things that go boom in the night

It's an all nighter tonight.

I'm a business process engineer by civilian trade: O if only I could sell a couple of novels ;-) I enable people to do things in leaner and more efficient ways that enable businesses to turn strategies into tactics. Sounds cool if you like numbers. Otherwise - just another engineer.

Tonight I will stay up all night rebuilding a stochastic model of my division's financial performance for the next ten years, based upon efficiency gains that I have designed, so the senior leadership team can do it's long range business planning. The problem is that they are on another continent doing the planning while I am here answering their changing assumptions via e-mail.

Its my own damn fault - I took the day off today.

I took the day off so that I could do my process improvement and development work as a favor for a friend. Can't name him here - you know the drill.

One ripple in the wind..

and I hate to be the butterfly. You'll all hear about him one day soon. My friend is the closest thing to a mad scientist that you could ever meet. he is well educated, genius smart and the ideas flow from his mind like water from a hose - fire hose. He has also invented a new kind of body armor that is flexible, moldable, provides more coverage and weighs way less than the SAPI plates we've all had to put up with. It could even be used to up-armor a humvee at way less weight than is currently done (no more top heavy roll-overs) In a word - he's figured it out and I am privileged to help design the production processes that will get this to market one day.

It will probably take us awhile to do. There are government regulations, relationships to build, money to raise (lots of it) and a world of obstacles to overcome before something like this can come to market or ride a soldier's body through Baghdad or Kabul or line the body of a Border Patrol truck.

Its coming though. He does this full time. I work days off, late nights and weekends and never once has my family complained. they know I love it almost as much as flying or writing and eventually someone will come home and hug their kids or their parents and families because his invention brought them home and my processes made it manufacturable. They know there's a purpose behind this one.

Four young Americans died in two seperate IED attacks in Afghanistan today.

Tonight I'm pulling an all nighter because I took today off to work on armor.

Its worth it but I wish we could go faster.

TIA

Earl

Taking Chance

Many of you who have followed my little rants against the world for a while, know that I was one of the contributors to the NEA, Boeing, Random House Book - Operation Homecoming and a member of one of the two documentary films made about the book. I was very fortunate to attend book signings at the Library of Congress and around the country and to meet and interact with some of the greats in American Literature: Andrew Carroll, Mark Bowden, Jeff Shaara and Ray Bradbury and all of the brilliant young men and women who contributed to the book. Very cool stuff for an aspiring writer.

I never read the book in its entirety until I got a copy at the book launch and signing at the library of Congress a couple of years back. As I flew home from DC to Denver on a packed United Airlines 757, I read it cover to cover. It is a powerful read and as my story is a part of the collection it is even more poignant. The last thing I read was "Taking Chance" by LTC Michael Strobel. It's the story of his travels, escorting the remains of Marine Chance Phelps home to his family in Wyoming.

In this airplane full of harried business folks on their way home from a hard week's work, I cried as much as I cried when I got the 0330 call from a young Marine LCPL at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center as BBG was unloaded from the medevac flight out of Iraq.

Although I would love you to read the book to hear all of our stories this one is a must read and a must see. Below are links to Operation Homecoming, the documentary film about the book, and the trailer to Taking Chance.


Operation Homecoming:

http://www.nea.gov/national/homecoming/index.html

Muse of Fire - Documentary Film (Free DVD):

http://www.museoffire.net/Request_a_DVD.html

Taking Chance:



TIA

Earl

When you need it done right

I stole this post from Airman Mom, another milblogger who has a great site. You can check her out here:

http://airmanmom.blogspot.com

She made my day. I hope you like it.

A soldier was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was a vowed atheist and a member of the ACLU.

One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, 'God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give! you exactly 15 minutes.'

The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am God. I'm still waiting'.

It got down to the last couple of minutes when the soldier got out of his chair,went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The soldier went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.

The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the soldier and asked, 'What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you do that?' The soldier calmly replied, 'God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid shit and act like an asshole. So, He sent me.'

On a side note - I have another post ready for tomorrow but it was just too sad to talk about after seeing this. I'll post it tomorrow.

TIA

Earl

Fiddler's Green

The beautiful thing about the military is that you lose track of old friends, switch duty stations, walk into the briefing room and lo and behold - there they are. The years melt away and you fill the gap with stories of wives, children, and the myriad of other things that fill our lives.

I learned today that an old friend's son was killed in Afghanistan last July. I remember when he was fourteen and wanted nothing more than a day with his dad. He died, a cavalryman, saving his soldiers. This one goes out to his mother and father. Nothing we say can ever be enough.

Fiddler's Green (Cavalry)

Halfway down the trail to hell
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen

And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler's Green.

Marching past, straight through to hell,
The infantry are seen, '
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marine,


For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Flddlers' Green.

Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene,
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he's emptied his canteen,

And so rides back to drink agaln
With friends at Fiddlers' Green.

And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge or fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,

And put your pistol to your head
And go to Fiddlers' Green.


TIA

Earl

What Matters this Year

A friend once told me that what makes the New Year so great is that its new. In the span of a night, and a lot of bad booze, you can become a new you. It doesn't matter what you said or did the day, hell the year, before. That was then and this is now. You are new and so is the world. I used to believe it.



Sorry Virginia - there isn't a Santa Claus. There are no do overs and the big blue marble still spins at twenty six thousand miles an hour. We cannot stop and we cannot get off. Now, before you roll your eyes and dread the coming storm - its not coming!



We have had a hard few years since my BBG got medevac'd out of Iraq - I've told you all about it but what the hell, the juice has been worth the squeeze.



My wife and I have had adventures that most can never imagine (between you and I, you don't really want to). My daughters know that a woman can do anything - including combat. They know to never surrender, to never give up and that sometimes life hits you with an IED, RPG, or other unpleasant projectile. They know to stand up and be counted. My son knows the Marine Corps Hymn by heart and knows that honor is more than a word.



My children will grow up as Americans. They will know and honor the sacrifices made by those who came before and by those who will surely follow. I pray that don't choose that road but I know the way this works. Soldiers breed soldiers. It is a life of friendship and hardship and it seeps into your bones. It is a part of you.



besides



My oldest daughter wants to fly Hawks like her old man and my son wants to go West Point. Thank god the youngest just wants to be a cheerleader, a vet, and a princess.



Back to my point:



Its been a rough year - OK, four rough years. We are however alive and a little better than we were last year and there are many other young men and women and their families w ho need your help much more than we. This year, I am going to try and tell more of their stories and less of mine.



I hope you'll come back to read them. These young men and women have given so much and despite the thank you's that they hear in airports or the random books and letters that show up on their racks in Iraq and Afghanistan- many of them (many of their families) feel very alone. America's eyes and ears are on a failing economy. They are not on section sixty-one in Arlington. They are not on a friend of mine who can't seem to get his VA claim completed. They are not on the son of a friend who was rushed through the Army Physical Disability Evaluation System (PDES) and discharged with a check for four grand and no benefits.



The New Year is upon us and we're still spinning at twenty-four thousand miles an hour. The market's a mess, jobs are disappearing every day but none of that matters. Young men and women are standing in harms way. They are being blown up by IEDs, RPGs and other shitty things. They are dying.



That matters and this year is for them.



TIA



Earl