Fair Winds and Following Seas...

Although I am surrounded by the Army, today's post begins with the traditional farewell for departing Sailors. Today I sent home one of America's true heroes and a great friend, my Chief. He's finished his tour (plus a voluntary extension) and it is with mixed emotions that I took him to the airport today. I will miss him dearly but I am very happy that he is heading home.

Chiefs are the folks that really get things done in the Navy - the bridge between the Officers and the Crew. Chief often told me that his measure of success was not the accolades he received, but the honors afforded to his officers and Sailors. I can tell you without hesitation, he's the finest Sailor and friend with which I have had the pleasure to work in my 19 years of service. The things he was able to accomplish were phenomenal and everything he did was with a smile and a helping hand. No kidding, on his last day here, he was still teaching things his comrades. I could create an entire blog devoted to Chief with his anecdotes, antics, and depth of knowledge, but that would not be his style. He's been all about mission accomplishment, not praises and honors.

Well, Chief, you stand relieved. You have earned your trip home to family and friends. We have the watch.

Cheers, Pearl

Chief receiving his Bronze Star Medal for meritorious combat service.

I told you Chief was resourceful. On danger of losing some sympathy points for being in Iraq, here is a picture of Chief's farewell cookout of steak and lobster. How and where he was able to have such a feast I don't know. When I asked him such questions his usual response was, "Are you asking me a direct question?" I learned that some things are better if they are just enjoyed.

Stars and Stripes

When I was home on leave, a fair number of people, when hearing my stories from Iraq said, "Well, we certainly aren't getting that in our news." And, it's true. As I read my online news sources, they are for the most part only about the tragedies in military and civilian deaths. If you want to get the stories that don't make CNN Headline News or the Fox Report, might I suggest "Stars and Stripes."

The same Stars and Stripes that has been around for generations during war and peace is still published daily overseas. With the advent of the Internet, now anyone can download the same paper we have access to here (truth be told, I read my copy on the computer anyway). I'm not trying to say that Stars and Stripes has better news than AP or Reuters and the editors make a big point that they are not run by the military and therefore don't have to print only approved stories. But, one thing Stars and Stripes brings the other news sources don't are a group of reporters who are here with the military writing stories about the military. Sure there are the reports about death and destruction, but there are also stories about mud, reconstruction, civil affairs projects, etc - the kind of story that wouldn't even make the bottom of the 7th page in newspapers back home, but are all about what we are doing here.

So, I don't mean to endorse the Stars and Stripes as the be-all-end-all newspaper, but I think you might find something you haven't seen before to give you a complete picture of life here in Iraq and elsewhere.

(Here's the link http://estripes.osd.mil/ - click on the edition you'd like to read and wait for the download in PDF format)

Cheers, Pearl

Mud

I was a little premature on the sun drying things out this week.

You may remember this photo from a previous post:



Here's the same scene after it rained twice this week:



When I first arrived here I was fascinated by all of the dust everywhere. I thought that all this place needed was a little rain to clean everything off and it would be so much nicer. I was wrong. A little rain makes this place even less enjoyable than it already was. I think the only rain that would make a difference would be something only Noah would appreciate.

We haven't had a normal, everyday torrential downpour to beat back all the dust, but rather two days (Wednesday and today) of light steady, all-day-long rain. Given the volume of dust and dirt here, plus the hard strata under the dirt that doesn't allow the rain to soak in, all we get is some of the most amazing mud I've ever encountered. If you'd like to recreate this at home here's what you'll need:

Normal dirt
Finely ground dirt
Water
McDonald's chocolate milkshake
A five-year-old
Magic

Give the first three ingredients to the five-year-old and let him at it for about 30 minutes or so. Once you have some world class mud, spread it out and then pour a generous layer of the milkshake on top so you have a mucky, nasty layer with a covering of slimy goo. Now comes the magic. Somehow, you have to give this stuff a coefficient of friction of zero (a little physics lesson here) so it is slicker than, as my wife's grandmother used to say "goose grease," and also give it the most remarkable adhesive capabilities so that it sticks like glue to anything it touches. Here's the part that puts things into true perspective: We have it nice here because there are actually some paved roads and sidewalks. I talked with one of my subordinates who's off at a remote location. He said being there is like living on the set of M*A*S*H without the martinis!

Cheers, Pearl

Happy Birthday, Son!

Today is my son's birthday!

My "baby" is thirteen now and my daughter got her learner's permit to drive while I was home on leave. I am now the father of two teenage children - how did that happen?! In addition to the other presents I sent home, I also told him this would be the last birthday I'd miss (I've been gone for two of the last three years in addition to other deployments). While nothing in the military is 100%, I'm pretty confident this will be the last time I have to call home from deployment and sing the out-of-tune birthday song over the phone.

He seemed pretty excited about the gifts he's received so far. As is the custom at our house, he got one present this morning with his breakfast (pancakes with festive sprinkles) and will get the others tonight with his cake and lousy singing. Well, I know there'll be cake; I don't think my wife and daughter will do the off-key "Happy Birthday" but that's okay because he got it from me this morning and I'm sure he got it at the large family gathering over at my dad's.

So, a good day all around. My son is growing into a fine young man and the sun came out here for the first time in a couple of days to begin drying the mud from yesterday's rain (segue to my next post).

Happy birthday, Little Big Man - Love, Dad!

Cheers, Pearl

Tigers Move to #1

GO TIGERS!!!

NEW YORK (AP) -- Memphis replaced North Carolina as the No. 1 team in college basketball Monday, the Tigers' first appearance in 25 years at the top of The Associated Press poll.

Kansas, the nation's only other undefeated Division I men's team, moved up to No. 2 while the Tar Heels dropped to fifth after their loss to Maryland. Drake and Baylor were two new entries to the rankings, joining the Top 25 for the first time in a long time.

Memphis' only other appearance at No. 1 was as short as possible -- a one-week stint in 1983.

"We've got one extra day than the last time," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "That team went to No. 1 on a Monday and lost that night. We get to enjoy Monday and Tuesday and until we play at Tulsa on Wednesday night."

North Carolina was ranked No. 1 in preseason and for the first 10 polls of the regular season. The Tar Heels lost 82-80 to Maryland at home on Saturday and Memphis (17-0) moved up one spot with 49 first-place votes and 1,777 points from the 72-member national media panel.

Kansas (18-0) advanced from third to second with 23 first-place votes and 1,751 points. Tennessee and Duke moved from sixth and seventh to third and fourth. They were followed by North Carolina (18-1).

Drake, which came in at No. 22, is ranked for the first time since the final poll of the 1974-75 season, while No. 25 Baylor was last in the rankings in February 1969.

Although this is Memphis' first No. 1 ranking since that 64-56 loss at Virginia Tech on Jan. 10, 1983, Calipari had his teams at Massachusetts there for a total of 14 weeks over the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.

"My 1995 team had the same camaraderie and synergy this team has but this team has it with more guys because we'll play 10, 11 guys where that UMass team was basically five guys," Calipari said. "It'll matter to these guys. I've coached at UMass and here and at those kind of places, non-BCS schools, most of those guys were not silver-spooned not McDonald's All-Americans and they take pride in it because it's a notch in their belt to be able to say `You guys didn't think I was that good."

Calipari was honest that there is a bigger target for him than being No. 1.

"For me as a coach the only rating I worry about is April 7," he said, referring to the date of the national championship game. "If you said to me I could have the No. 1 ranking or a No. 1 seeding, I'd take the seeding every time. For your players and the school, though, this is huge."