my guys are funny. today was painful. very, very painful. when we got here, our commander made it a policy to do whatever we could to make it easy on the guys we were replacing to go home. he didn't care if they gave us dirty or broken equipment. they'd been here for 8 months, worked hard and we were fresh. he figured we could take the load. so now we've been here for a year, our replacements are here, and it'd be nice to get the same treatment. no such luck. the guy who's leading the bunch is well within his rights to be such a nit-picky individual. when he signs his name on the line and assumes control of this operation, he's the one responsible, so i understand his wanting everything to be just so.

but at the same time, he needs us for alot of things. what goes around comes around. there are alot of hints and tips and tricks that we're not obligated to mind meld and give to him. we've worked hard to make friends and contacts in the area, and they're under no obligation to warm up to the new guys like they did to us. the question though is what to do. for alot of the hints and tips and tricks i wouldn't feel right not sharing that stuff, or at least trying to. from what i've seen, alot of the new youngsters really want to listen and learn from us, but the boss might blow us off. he's a bit of a know-it-all. i think if we have alot of one-on-one conversations they'll appreciate what we're giving them. and all we're obligated to do is try, right? "you can lead a horse to water..." but the friends thing is another issue. i don't want to sour relationships with anyone because of this guy. and the reality is that i'll probably be back over here again for some reason or another, and bump into some of these same guys again. and i want to pick up these mutually beneficial friendships where we left off. it's nice to know that you can count on some guys to cover your back when you need it, and that's not speaking figuratively.

it's funny. i had volunteered to stay an extra six months with these guys to help them out before i really met them. i guess someone was looking out for me when the word came down "no."

wow, i got WAY off topic there. anyways, back to the reason why my guys are funny. in an earlier post i mentioned how i keep saying that people needed to be more upbeat and cheerful around here, and move with a purpose. everything that we're doing now is so that we can go HOME! but instead alot of them focus on the negative and grouse. so my saying has been "you know, if getting kicked in the crotch every morning for the next month until we go home was a requirement to get out of this godforsaken place, i'd take my kick with a smile and say "thank you, can't wait until i see you again tomorrow."" or something to that effect. well, today when things were really starting to get ugly, one of my guys pipes up "hey, ssg mac? that kick in the nuts you were talking about? can i pick that instead?" then later on after we got chewed on by higher-ups for awhile for not having things "just so" someone said "well, today's kick in the balls is over, can't wait for tomorrow's." see? they do pay attention...