Explanation

I'm back from JRTC. The entire time we were there was pretty uneventful. For all the hype I was pretty disappointed, although the PEHA was nicer than I thought it was going to be (hot showers!). Before you laugh at me for getting killed, I wasn't really killed. I was some ridiculous "admin" kill by an OC.

A lot of you are probably wondering why I don't post very much about what’s going on during my deployment. The truth of the matter is, soldiers don't have freedom of speech. I don't have the right to complain about my chain of command, the training, or anything regarding what we do without falling under some code of UCMJ for "conduct unbecoming". On top of that, it seems like writing about anything from the kind of pen I like to use, to which pant leg I put on first, to the kind of toilet paper used in the latrine is some sort of OPSEC violation that is potentially detrimental to our troops (don't ask me how, the logic escapes me). I know the Army reviews Soldier Blogs, including mine. I know this not only because I had to sign my Blogs onto a Soldier Registration sheet, but also because I was awoken after 2 hours of sleep the day I returned from Christmas Break to talk to my Battalion Commander. I am NOT trying to draw attention to myself here, nor am I trying to make myself a target for someone in my higher that thinks I'm a threat. I've read a lot of articles and books about Soldier Bloggers who have been demoted and or given Article 15's simply for writing in their Blogs, and the last thing I want is to become one of these individuals. It is for these reasons I don't really talk about anything here.

I'm sorry to all those who thought they could get a play by play from me as I travel to Iraq. The Army is a world all its own, and those of us in it are not afforded the same freedoms as civilians. To prevent myself from being made an example, I will continue to talk about nothing. Sorry to all those who expected more.