The Observation Post
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Press On
The Project Valour-IT drive is getting interesting. Those blasted Doggies are proving hard to catch, but it's only a matter of time. The Zoomies were going strong earlier today, but are falling behind as I write this. There must have been a late tee time at the golf course. The Swabbies are lagging a bit behind, but to be fair it's probably due to someone sounding "Sweepers, sweepers, man your brooms" over the 1-MC. Make sure you give that ship a good sweepdown, fore and aft, boys. Don't forget those ladderbacks.
To my fellow Jarheads, keep it coming. We're the smallest in both size and budget, yet we're giving the heavily-overfunded Zoomies a run for their money. Big Army, you're next. ¶ Tuesday, October 31, 2006 0 comments
The Project Valour-IT drive is getting interesting. Those blasted Doggies are proving hard to catch, but it's only a matter of time. The Zoomies were going strong earlier today, but are falling behind as I write this. There must have been a late tee time at the golf course. The Swabbies are lagging a bit behind, but to be fair it's probably due to someone sounding "Sweepers, sweepers, man your brooms" over the 1-MC. Make sure you give that ship a good sweepdown, fore and aft, boys. Don't forget those ladderbacks.
To my fellow Jarheads, keep it coming. We're the smallest in both size and budget, yet we're giving the heavily-overfunded Zoomies a run for their money. Big Army, you're next. ¶ Tuesday, October 31, 2006 0 comments
Monday, October 30, 2006
Interservice Love
As the Valour-IT drive kicks off, you can positively feel the love between the services. Soldiers, sailors, and zoomies all break out their wittiest rhetoric and proceed to lob shots at one another.
Argghhh! took this cute little potshot at John Noonan of OPFOR.
They also thought it would be cute to list the Marine team and our team leader (Villainous Company) in a hot pink font.
The Navy is not to be left out of the "snarking", as Neptunus Lex delivers a pretty humorous riposte to the doggies of Team Army.
If you haven't been by Project Valour-IT yet - well, what are you waiting for!?
Seriously, if you can think of a better cause please let me know, because I'm hard-pressed to myself.
EDITED TO ADD: We've already passed $10,000 in just the first day. At this rate, as the word continues to spread, we are well on our way to reaching our goal. Swing by Valour-IT if you haven't already, and throw your weight behind your favorite service. And if you have already, sit back and enjoy the interservice shenigans as Arrghhh, Neptunus Lex, OPFOR, Villainous Company, et al. "snark" each other for the next 2 weeks. ¶ Monday, October 30, 2006 3 comments
As the Valour-IT drive kicks off, you can positively feel the love between the services. Soldiers, sailors, and zoomies all break out their wittiest rhetoric and proceed to lob shots at one another.
Argghhh! took this cute little potshot at John Noonan of OPFOR.
They also thought it would be cute to list the Marine team and our team leader (Villainous Company) in a hot pink font.
The Navy is not to be left out of the "snarking", as Neptunus Lex delivers a pretty humorous riposte to the doggies of Team Army.
The race is on as the sojers have once again stolen a march on us in the dark o’ the night, what with their load-bearing equipment and muddy boots, brutally severe haircuts and pinched, shrewish faces all cammied up like.
If you haven't been by Project Valour-IT yet - well, what are you waiting for!?
Seriously, if you can think of a better cause please let me know, because I'm hard-pressed to myself.
EDITED TO ADD: We've already passed $10,000 in just the first day. At this rate, as the word continues to spread, we are well on our way to reaching our goal. Swing by Valour-IT if you haven't already, and throw your weight behind your favorite service. And if you have already, sit back and enjoy the interservice shenigans as Arrghhh, Neptunus Lex, OPFOR, Villainous Company, et al. "snark" each other for the next 2 weeks. ¶ Monday, October 30, 2006 3 comments
Project Valour-IT
Friends,
I apologize for the way I have neglected LFTS over the past weeks. I have been a sometime contributor at OPFOR, as well as getting back into the swing of things back in the real world. It does feel good to be back at work with ANGLICO and preparing for our next deployment.
Now that the lame apologies and excuses are out of the way, on to the business at hand.
Some of you may have heard of Project Valour-IT. If you have not, allow me to introduce you to an amazing project. Project Valour-IT was started by an organization called Soldiers' Angels. It's goal is to provide voice-controlled laptop computers to our wounded warriors. Many of these warriors are unable to use their hands due to wounds received in Iraq or Afghanistan. With the laptop computers provided by Project Valour-IT, they will once again be able to connect with family, friends, and comrades through the internet.
Numerous Milbloggers have teamed up to raise $180,000 for Project Valour-IT. I have added LFTS to the Marine team to assist in the effort. Please visit and make a donation to help my wounded brothers.
¶ Monday, October 30, 2006 0 comments
Friends,
I apologize for the way I have neglected LFTS over the past weeks. I have been a sometime contributor at OPFOR, as well as getting back into the swing of things back in the real world. It does feel good to be back at work with ANGLICO and preparing for our next deployment.
Now that the lame apologies and excuses are out of the way, on to the business at hand.
Some of you may have heard of Project Valour-IT. If you have not, allow me to introduce you to an amazing project. Project Valour-IT was started by an organization called Soldiers' Angels. It's goal is to provide voice-controlled laptop computers to our wounded warriors. Many of these warriors are unable to use their hands due to wounds received in Iraq or Afghanistan. With the laptop computers provided by Project Valour-IT, they will once again be able to connect with family, friends, and comrades through the internet.
Numerous Milbloggers have teamed up to raise $180,000 for Project Valour-IT. I have added LFTS to the Marine team to assist in the effort. Please visit and make a donation to help my wounded brothers.
¶ Monday, October 30, 2006 0 comments
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Movie Review
Please excuse my brief hiatus from the world of blogging, I've been spending a wonderful 3 weeks with Stephanie. You know, exscuse it or not, I loved every minute of it.
We were able to find some time to go view The Guardian with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher during that time. For some reason, I did not have high hopes for this movie. Maybe it's because I've never been a big fan of Costner, and I suspected that Kutcher was a bit of a "one-trick pony" who had reached his zenith with the Punk'd series. Color me pleasantly surprised by his latest performance.
The Guardian is pretty formulaic, if you work at it you shouldn't have much trouble predicting most of the plot points. As noted elsewhere, it borrows heavily from Top Gun, Heartbreak Ridge, and An Officer and a Gentleman - to name a few. Kutcher's character has much in common with Tom Cruise's Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (even down to the sunglasses, or "clamps" as they were known at VMI).
However, I have to say that I was impressed by Kutcher's portrayal of the young, maverick (OK, is using that adjective a bit over the top?) rescue swimmer. All things considered, he did a very solid job, and made his character very believable. You can feel the arrogance of the high school star swimmer, yet there is something else lurking beneath the surface that you can't quite put a finger on until Kevin Costner's character does some digging.
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by Kutcher's demonstration of his real acting chops, and I hope to see more of him in similarly dramatic roles. Having seen him in this movie, I think he does have a bit more to offer than Punk'd and My Boss's Daughter let on. Costner does a good job as the salty senior chief, and I can forgive the film's formulaic plot because it is such a fitting tribute to the real-life rescue swimmers. If you think those guys don't earn their pay, then consider this: I've been shot at a time or two, and I know for a fact that I don't have the cojones to jump out of a hovering SH-60 into freezing waters. ¶ Wednesday, October 18, 2006 1 comments
Please excuse my brief hiatus from the world of blogging, I've been spending a wonderful 3 weeks with Stephanie. You know, exscuse it or not, I loved every minute of it.
We were able to find some time to go view The Guardian with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher during that time. For some reason, I did not have high hopes for this movie. Maybe it's because I've never been a big fan of Costner, and I suspected that Kutcher was a bit of a "one-trick pony" who had reached his zenith with the Punk'd series. Color me pleasantly surprised by his latest performance.
The Guardian is pretty formulaic, if you work at it you shouldn't have much trouble predicting most of the plot points. As noted elsewhere, it borrows heavily from Top Gun, Heartbreak Ridge, and An Officer and a Gentleman - to name a few. Kutcher's character has much in common with Tom Cruise's Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (even down to the sunglasses, or "clamps" as they were known at VMI).
However, I have to say that I was impressed by Kutcher's portrayal of the young, maverick (OK, is using that adjective a bit over the top?) rescue swimmer. All things considered, he did a very solid job, and made his character very believable. You can feel the arrogance of the high school star swimmer, yet there is something else lurking beneath the surface that you can't quite put a finger on until Kevin Costner's character does some digging.
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by Kutcher's demonstration of his real acting chops, and I hope to see more of him in similarly dramatic roles. Having seen him in this movie, I think he does have a bit more to offer than Punk'd and My Boss's Daughter let on. Costner does a good job as the salty senior chief, and I can forgive the film's formulaic plot because it is such a fitting tribute to the real-life rescue swimmers. If you think those guys don't earn their pay, then consider this: I've been shot at a time or two, and I know for a fact that I don't have the cojones to jump out of a hovering SH-60 into freezing waters. ¶ Wednesday, October 18, 2006 1 comments
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Yet Another ANGLICO Blogger
Today I came across another blog by a fellow ANGLICO Marine, Mark Glesne's blog Truth, Life, and Political Honesty.
Mark is an 0861 Fire Support Man with 3rd ANGLICO in the Marine Corps Reserve. In civilian life he is a Marketing Specialist with a company in California. He completed a deployment to Iraq with 1st ANGLICO earlier this year.
Mark's posts lean a bit more to the right of center than my own, but they are very well written and insightful. Enjoy.
Truth, Life, and Political Honesty
¶ Thursday, October 05, 2006 2 comments
Today I came across another blog by a fellow ANGLICO Marine, Mark Glesne's blog Truth, Life, and Political Honesty.
Mark is an 0861 Fire Support Man with 3rd ANGLICO in the Marine Corps Reserve. In civilian life he is a Marketing Specialist with a company in California. He completed a deployment to Iraq with 1st ANGLICO earlier this year.
Mark's posts lean a bit more to the right of center than my own, but they are very well written and insightful. Enjoy.
Truth, Life, and Political Honesty
¶ Thursday, October 05, 2006 2 comments
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
The League of Disgruntled Majors
Now that my site has been officially added to the MilBlogs ring, I did some exploring of some other sites on the ring. If you click "Previous" it will bring you to The League of Disgruntled Majors. Although there's not a lot on the site just yet, it will be a good one to keep an eye on. Of particular note is the Manifesto posted by the Grand Poobah.
I have to admit, as a company grade officer and a still-active warfighter, I have often had malicious thoughts about various majors that I have come in contact with. Yet, I also felt pity for them. After all, who wants to be a major? They are the bitches of the field grade community. They shoulder some of the most difficult and least glorious burdens. They are almost universally despised or pitied by those beneath them, who frequently criticize them and ridicule them behind their backs. Of course they know this, because they did it too when they were still in that blissful status known as "company grade". Anyway, I would recommend keeping an eye on the League and its activities. Why? It's a League of Majors for God's sake. Can you imagine a more evil organization? It's like something out of a James Bond movie.
You know, there are only two ranks that wear gold rank insignia - second lieutenant and major. Coincidence? I think not.
The League of Disgruntled Majors ¶ Tuesday, October 03, 2006 8 comments
Now that my site has been officially added to the MilBlogs ring, I did some exploring of some other sites on the ring. If you click "Previous" it will bring you to The League of Disgruntled Majors. Although there's not a lot on the site just yet, it will be a good one to keep an eye on. Of particular note is the Manifesto posted by the Grand Poobah.
I have to admit, as a company grade officer and a still-active warfighter, I have often had malicious thoughts about various majors that I have come in contact with. Yet, I also felt pity for them. After all, who wants to be a major? They are the bitches of the field grade community. They shoulder some of the most difficult and least glorious burdens. They are almost universally despised or pitied by those beneath them, who frequently criticize them and ridicule them behind their backs. Of course they know this, because they did it too when they were still in that blissful status known as "company grade". Anyway, I would recommend keeping an eye on the League and its activities. Why? It's a League of Majors for God's sake. Can you imagine a more evil organization? It's like something out of a James Bond movie.
You know, there are only two ranks that wear gold rank insignia - second lieutenant and major. Coincidence? I think not.
The League of Disgruntled Majors ¶ Tuesday, October 03, 2006 8 comments
