Training Day 77

Sunday...

Language: I prepared for my quiz tomorrow.

Marathon: I spoke with the Hooah's mom, who has run several marathons, and she recommended that I look for a local running club. Fortunately, there is such a local running club (online even!) and some of it's members are organizers for the big marathon. I'm hoping to run with the group on Wednesday and kick it off from there.

Military: So on the really long car ride today back to base I read the entirely of Blackhawk Down. It was a good book. It showed things from multiple perspectives and did a good job providing background for what was going on at any particular moment. I can't say the pacing was off because the book is a retelling of an actual event but I can say that some of the extra commentary seemed really out of place. Most of it did an excellent job of establishing how everyone involved was a person and not a statistic.

From a military standpoint, there were several lessons to be learned here. Many of them had to do with the importance of bringing all your gear and obeying protocol rather than being cocky and winging it. The relationships between different units was interesting. There were even some practical tidbits in there for your average ground pounder to use. However, I think the really fascinating bit was watching how the different international factions and big wigs responded.

They won the battle. Unequivocally. When you accomplish all your mission objectives and the casualty ratio is, conservatively, 27 of theirs dead for every 1 of yours, you've done well. However... the American public had lost it's stomach for casualties. Politicians were worried about their polls sliding and looked for scapegoats. Therefore, rather than press the advantage that America had won through that battle, the politicians abandoned the war. I think that would be the most tragic bit of everything: To just throw away everything those soldiers had fought and died for. We still haven't learned the value of waging an all-out war and seeing it through to the end...

Also interesting was how the Somalians, despite getting the Americans and UN to leave the country, ultimately lost. Without the American muscle, the UN was ineffectual (as always). When the UN left, there was no one left to try and help Somalia rise out of Third World status with a functional government. The Somalians all thought the world was still waiting with baited breath to see what happened to their little country when in reality the world had moved on in a matter of weeks and left them to their own self-destructive devices.

Whoops.

Now that I have read every book on the Commandant's Reading List for Private through Lance Corporal I can now focus on my MCIs... or read other books. I already have a few in mind. Then I can always start on the Corporal list.

By the way... I hate the Army's bureaucratic BS. Besides reading about just how much it screws troops during wars, it also screws my friends when they are sick. I guess I'm just too used to the Marine philosophy of "Just get it done."

Personal: I had a really good talk with the Hooah's mom this morning. I enjoy talking to my elders and it's even better when they can witness a situation and comment on it without being directly involved. It helps things make sense. She had a lot to say that I'm applying to my life now and I think it's going to work out for the best.

Really long car ride today... Really long. Thankfully, I had my book so it wasn't too miserable. However, the Hooah still got really sick half way through it. She's been sick for over a week now and it caught up with her today in a really bad way. In a "I can't get my eyes to roll out of my head" sort of way and I was the only one providing care. Fortunately, she started feeling better when I got some water into her and then I made sure she got back to her barracks and the attention of her on-guard soldiers. I wanted to take her to the hospital for acute dehydration, malnourishment, and a fever but the Army doesn't like anything that breaks the routine.

Yes. I am annoyed. For various reasons. And I've determined that it is time to just assault through.