SGT Pyramid led the pain session again today and showed that he can actually be personable SGT Pyramid led the pain session again today and showed that he can actually be personable. The reason his mask slipped today was because he had been chewed out for something fairly minor and seemed to want a bit of commiseration with his fellow soldiers. Frankly, I am all for it. The PT session we had today was the ...
Today was a cascade failure of epic proportions. For those who pine for a bit of clarification, a cascade failure is when a seemingly unimportant task goes undone and results in a catastrophic failure farther down the timeline. This is the origin of the old "for want of a nail the kindom was lost" saw. It is very difficult to determine the exact beginning of any real life cascade failure due the inextricably linked causal chains that infl...
In my day I have had a fair amount of interaction with the gay community (for a straight guy in the military anyway) and I have several observations. Before I make them however you should know that I do not base these observations from any sort of moral judgment. What you do behind closed doors with another adult is your own damn business as far as I am concerned. Additionally it has been suggested that I turn in my membe...
Happy Mom's day:) Without you I wouldn't be able to even think of doing any of the things I am doing.... Love you mom.
Disclaimer : Long post about largely military specific things ahead. You have been warned. Over the years I have made an informal study of the way different Military Intelligence units form a unique gestalt personality. Oh sure there are some commonalities shared between different M.I. Units across the globe but each has a different flavor much like the UNIX ’s do. Most of the units I have been in will slowly evolve their personalit...
Some call me… Some call me…. Satan? Last night I had occasion to wonder if I have developed some sort of persuasive power over others. Over the course of the last 15 years or so I have spent a lot of time drinking with friends most of them men. During this time a disturbing pattern of behavior emerges, whenever I am around someone who is drinking they seem to be pushed to drink far beyond their normal tolerance levels. I know I have pushed some of them into this ...
Apology : Ok so it has been 20 articles since I worked on Deadly Charisma. Sue me. I find that it takes me around 4 times as long to write these pieces as it does to do an "op-ed" or "news" piece so I will likely only have time for them on the weekends. Maybe I will get some done when I am in Maryland and Estrogen Lass is working. With that said… The Answer Man Following the incident with SGT Moroni and The Fall , 1SG Gregarious had appar...
Waking the Dead Waking the Dead After a few days stay in the hospital following The Fall Doctor Feelgood decided I was able to go back home. Since my clothes had been cut off of me by the paramedics SSG C very thoughtfully brought in a set a NY Jets sweats from his home. The thing is SSG C is about 5’10 and 175 lbs. I am not. In short I looked like a spandex clad pickle preparing for high water conditions. Fortunately I was still drugged to the gills and di...
Marx didn’t know shit about medicine Marx didn’t know shit about medicine So there I was half-naked on a hospital gurney wearing nothing but that ridiculous shift they love to give you. I firmly believe that the reason for this garment is to prevent you from having freedom of movement. I mean who is going to be gallivanting about the hospital scenery with their ass hanging out? Me that’s who! Especia...
The Fall The Fall I gleefully plotted the fall of Knuckles. Well that is a bit of an overstatement. While it was true that the back of my mind knew that I had to give a good account of myself to him in order to continue my climb up the ladder of dominance in the unit I never actively plotted any of what actually occurred. My self destructive nature simply played into his desire for acceptance by someone he perceived as a leader. The synergy this generated would damn near...
Deadly Charisma (Part 4) Deadly Charisma (Part 4) The Fall (or) Legends of the Fall II: On the Balcony with the Drunken Man-Ape. Golden Path and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t even end up as a sandworm to boot. SSG C deemd me worthy of enough of his time for me to relate my experience with not only our Guardrail collection system but several other systems as well like the U-2 , EP-3 , and ARL aircraft. He was mightily impressed by all of this ...
Deadly Charisma (Part 3) Like I said, I knew I was fucked. There was no way I was going to survive a one year tour of this place if I had to work for some gung-ho “Hooah!” spouting jackasito! Understand that I had run afoul of “his kind” before and it there had been some rather bloody and under-handed battles fought for ascendancy. The difference was that in this unit here at Ft. Hood I would not have my usual advantage : The Mission. You see in all my previous assignments I had been invol...
Deadly Charisma (Pt. 2) As everyone returned from Exodus the company decided to forgo the PT session on the actual day of return. Instead we all simply met in the company’s back room at 0900. In come the troops, the first one that caught my eye as a slightly chunky white private with her hair done in cornrows (against Army regs as being faddish) PVT Hick , the second was a short and skinny little blonde kid who had obviously frosted the tips of his hair bleach white (same problem as...
DEADLY CHARISMA (Pt. 1) One of the reasons I wanted to start writing here was to help straighten out some of the jumbled memories I have accumulated over the years. Of particular interest to me, (and no one else in all likelihood), are the memories of the last 4 years or so. This time frame encompassed vast changes in my life and psyche. I will be publishing this bit of time largely under the title of Deadly Charisma in serialized bits for easy consumption and to avoid lengthy posts rem...
Want to annoy a Sergeant? Tell them that it is their soldiers who hold most of the power and the majority will lose their freaking minds… Here is why. The army has mounds of information and advice regarding leadership and the application of leadership theory. A great deal of this is badly written, overwrought, or simply outdated but there are a few keepers amidst the hogwash. One of the things that always stuck with was ...