Center for the Intrepid

On January 26th, a severely injured military service member rehabilitation facility was officially dedicated at Fort Sam Houston, TX. To say the $50 million, privately funded center is "state-of-the-art" is understated. It contains just about every possible modern capability to help rehabilitate service members who have sustained serious injury such as a loss of limbs or disfiguring burns. The 65,000 square foot facility is accompanied by superb housing to allow family members to reside nearby for periods when they are most needed. While the facility is impressive, it's made even more so by the manner in which it was funded through private donations to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. This is not a plea for donations to that cause, but simply recognition to what is being done. To their credit, Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton attended the opening ceremony, along with more than 3000 military and civilian leaders and personalities. Unfortunately, much of the credit for creation of this facility has been lost in the media, which remains obsessed with reporting wartime political debates and casualties, than it is in reporting service member rehabilitation efforts. Once again, those doing all the hard lifting are being overlooked by way too many Americans.

Senator Warner

From the media today I read:

Senator John Warner (VA) is critical of earlier reports given him and his colleagues in Congress, about the status of the Iraqi Army. He said it was his understanding based on positive status reports in the past provided to him by senior military leaders, that the Iraqi Army's growth and development was much better than what it (apparently) is today.

Super Bowl Time...and it's not about football

If you go to NASCAR.com you will quickly become aware of the fact it's only a few weeks before the Super Bowl of Racing at Daytona. I've always wondered why in NASCAR the biggest event of the year for many is the first one, instead of the last one as is the case with other sports. I guess its popularity relates to the roots of NASCAR which began growing in 1947 when the Daytona race was held on the beach road course. Today, the track is a modern 2.5 mile oval, with seating for around 170,000 screaming fans. Add TV and Internet live coverage and you have something special. Another one of NASCAR's oldest tracks is Martinsville, but in this case it's a half-mile paper-clip shaped arena, and although it seats less than half of what Daytona does, the fans are equally rabid. I have my tickets in hand for the April 1st Goody's 500, and also the Subway 500 in October. Short track racing like in Martinsville, Richmond and Bristol seem so much better to watch in person since you can span the entire track and pit areas at a glance, and most times you miss nothing. At larger tracks like Daytona, your view is much more panoramic, but since I've never been there in person, I'm really no expert in that regard. Still, my eyes will be glued to the TV on February 18th for the Daytona 500. The REAL Super Bowl!

Jan-Feb issue of Army Engineer Magazine

From time to time, I remind subscribers of the publishing schedule for Army Engineer Magazine. Of course, all know it's published six times a year…every other month. The first issue of each year is January-February, and that sequence carries on with following months. The objective is to have each issue mailed to subscribers during the first week of the second month of a specific issue…for example, the Jan-Feb 2007 issue will be mailed to subscribers during the first week of February. Some may wonder why the magazine could not be mailed before a two-month series starts…for example, mail the Jan-Feb issue in December. Such is possible, but in order to make that happen, the entire schedule for editing, printing and so forth would have to be moved up by two months at some point during a publishing year, in order to re-set the schedule. Given the fact that the magazine is put together using a "one-person production department", and that at first two issues would have to be developed back-to-back, such is not realistic. The key is to publish six issues a year on a consistent schedule, and that's what is being accomplished. So, subscribers can expect to get their copy of the January-February 2007 issue of Army Engineer during early February, consistent with the intent of scheduling explained above.

The next six months are critical

"The next six months are critical." How many times in the past few years have we heard that phrase…lots of times. Well, tomorrow we're to learn officially about the latest strategy for success in Iraq. Then again, most of that "new" strategy we've heard before from the mainstream media, as portions thereof have been discussed at length on nightly TV news, talk radio and the Internet. What most Americans will focus on regarding the President's words tomorrow night, will be any increases in troop deployments. I don't want to go through the various points of view on this matter, because no one really knows what's going to result. It all depends on how optimistic or pessimistic you are.

Averages

Things average out over time, so I suppose we're due for some colder weather over a majority of these United States pretty soon. I sure hope so. One thing the unseasonably warm weather has brought me (again) are moles. I have to say these animals are (next to squirrels and deer) one of my least favorite air breathers. Portions of my yard now look like an exploded minefield. Heavy rains and warm temperatures have brought lots of worms to the surface, and right behind them come the moles. My quest to end their worthless lives as fast as possible starts with mashing down their winding trails to find the active borrows, then insertion of mole poison to hopefully win my seemingly endless war against their invasion. I remember when we were stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, our neighborhood was held hostage by the critters, and the sound of gas lawn mowers cutting grass during the summer was over shadowed by curses shouted as mower blades "cut dirt mounds" instead of grass. We tried every remedy we could think of to get rid of the moles…nothing worked for long. So, here I sit in January, waiting for the ground to freeze to give me temporary relief from my enemy. Averages, help me out!

Hope

I guess I need to join the long list of people today, who are placing thoughts about 2006 and 2007 online. No real reason why I feel a need to do this, except for the fact that I can.

2006 is over…enough said. 2007 has begun…what lies ahead. Nothing but "hope" I guess.

I hope politicians in Washington DC realize they were elected to do something besides point fingers. I hope we see better results from our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan early in 2007, and that the military is better resourced to execute the missions they are asked to do…especially the Army and Marines. I hope those in the media wait at least until a year from now before reporting extensively on the 2008 elections. I hope we see some really cold weather and snow along the east coast this winter, and that all global warming predictions turn out to be false. I hope the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl…not that I'm a big fan, but just a person who thinks that would be pretty neat. I hope Dale Earnhardt, Jr wins the 2007 Nextel Cup. I hope my garden tomatoes grow better this summer, than they did in 2006. And, I hope every Army Engineer veteran alive today gets a well deserved "thank you" from everyone with whom they come in contact.

Hope is a wonderful thing.