In Remeberance

Taken November 2007

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the death of 1LT Forrest P. Ewens who was a senior when I arrived at Gonzaga in 2003. My first interaction with him was at Drill and Ceremony during the first weeks of ROTC. He was a light hearted, fun loving individual who took it upon himself to mentor and develop myself and two others (Annie Gerding and Seth Wilkin). He was killed when his all-terrain vehicle struck an improvised explosive device during combat operations in Pech River Valley, Afghanistan. Every day since I heard about his death, I have worn a KIA bracelet to remember him.

It's finally starting to warm up out here....last weeks averages were right around 115*. As odd as it may sound, sometimes it feels good to walk out of an air conditioned building and into that heat. The last few mornings on my way to the gym it has been unseasonably cooler though, probably around 80-85*. But that's at 5am so there's little time to enjoy it since by 715 on my way to chow its not as pleasant. Mother nature definitely tries to stay balanced out here....the clear, cool mornings have been followed by afternoon/evening dusts storms. Trying to decide if the morning calm is worth the evening storm....

I've gotten into a good rhythm, been at my new position for going on six weeks now and have already made a decent impact on the 'game plan' for getting equipment out of Iraq. Without going too into detail here, I was tasked out with creating a plan to relocate a FOB (Forward Operating Base) to assist in the draw-down of Iraq. After receiving guidance from my boss and Battalion Commander (BC), I put the plan together, briefed my BC who gave the thumbs up. After this point, I had to brief the brigade plans staff (5 Lieutenant Colonels) for approval to present it to the Brigade Commander. They gave the nod on the plan with small recommendations and the next day, I was at briefing the Brigade Commander and his boss, a Brigadier General. Long story short, the General wanted a copy of my plan to brief to his boss....not to toot my own horn but it's kind of a big deal.

Since transitioning to day shift, I've finally gotten into a good workout rhythm (P90x again), hitting the gym 6 days a week. Since I'm typically too tired after I get off work to spend time in the gym, I have been getting up around 5am, get to the gym by 520 and workout. This past week I added new pre/post workout recovery drinks as well. After my workouts I'm pretty beat up but it feels good. The new program I'm doing along with only eating specific foods (breakfast: egg whites scrambles with veggies and a few strips of bacon; lunch/dinner: huge chicken salad) will hopefully make a difference. I'm already feeling a difference in energy and whatnot, we'll see about the rest eventually.

It looks like Kyle will be heading this way within the next few weeks into western Iraq. I'm working on getting to where he'll be at some point in August hopefully for a few days.

Anyway, the upside to the heat is the family of birds that have been nesting just above my bed in the building's gutters has finally moved on relieving me of the constant chirping and scraping of claws as they scurry about. Yes, scurry. Birds here don't fly much and when they do, it's a very very short distance. As it has gotten hotter, it appears that the distance from the ground to the gutter is too great of a flight....fine by me! Of course, the downside is that the A/C in my work tent hasn't ran in 4 days turning our tent into a lukewarm oven. I was looking to shed a few pounds but seriously...not what I had in mind.

Sunday is Father's Day so Happy Father's Day Dad. I'll see if I can squeeze a phone call in somewhere. Things here have been going pretty well, staying busy and as always there are things to complain about but when Soldiers aren't complaining, something is wrong....