Arizona – The Minutemen Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) has been informed by commanders of the National Guard troops stationed on the United States—Mexico border that they will not be permitted to distribute care packages during the holiday season to 156 National Guard personnel stationed on the border. The event dubbed Operation Christmas Stocking was originally cleared by field command, suddenly on Monday of this week MCDC was notified that because of political reasons which involved orders from Governor Napolitano and high level commanders the offering of holiday support was nixed.
After several attempts to appeal to the sympathies of unit commanders, a statement released today by Major Paul Aguirre Public Affairs Office, AZ National Guard states “The National Guard is very appreciative of your thoughtful offer during this holiday season. However, based on operational, safety, and security reasons we will be unable to support your request to … distribute your care packages to our soldiers and airmen”.
The care packages were organized in an effort to demonstrate appreciation to the National Guard troops, from states other than Arizona, who have volunteered for the assignment to secure the border from terrorists, drug cartels and illegal crossings rather than spend their holiday season with their families in Michigan, Tennessee and North Carolina.
“We are grateful to the members of the National Guard who understand the importance of securing our borders and therefore we wish to demonstrate our appreciation for their sacrifice during the holiday season,” stated Chris Simcox, Founder and President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. “Soldiers are always sent care packages while stationed on the front lines in combat and the US-Mexico border is the front line on the War on Terror.” It is a shame they are punished by the politically motivated discriminatory acts of Governor Napolitano and the open borders lobby in Washington, D.C.”
MCDC now has 156 cares packages that were to be delivered to Sasabe, Arizona on Saturday. The care packages include store bought cookies and candies, sunscreen, skin lotion, chap stick, long underwear and various other personal items to help our troops cope with the Sonoran desert region where they have been assigned.
The The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) describes themselves a “peaceful, law-abiding citizen-led initiative organized to stand watch at our borders, report illegal activities to the proper authorities, and build border fencing on private lands using private donations.”
[Source]
I want to know what security concern prevents these Soldiers and Airmen from getting care packages for Christmas? There isn’t any security concerns for the Christmas care packages sent to Afghanistan (does anyone remember that we’re also there?) and Iraq. Why is it a concern in this case?
This is absolute insanity! Someone, please, stop the madness. Security isn’t a concern at all. It’s just someone being a heartless asshole. I think it’s safe to say that every member of the National Guard would rather spend their Christmas with their families instead of on the border.
Found from Read This.
Not to let the title of this entry deceive you, I’m still in Manas. But, I’m almost there. Not much left to go. Everyone hauled their checked bags down to the terminal today to have them inspected and be prepared to be, well, checked and get our tickets and briefings. Tomorrow, those of us with weapons will be turning them in to be checked at o’dark thirty in the morning and then we get to have fun sitting around the terminal waiting for our flight.
It’s hard to believe it, but I’m almost there. I have absolutely no idea what to expect when I get back in the States and to be honest, I’m dreading it a little. I’m coming in on a Friday, so there might be some stuff for us to do and then the weekend comes. I just don’t know what I’m going to do. I really don’t have any clothes to wear, as my best were shipped to Chicago (I thought about taking mid-tour leave but decided against it), so I’m going to feel like a bum.
I think the feelings of being alone without a vehicle or anyone I really know will be a little overwhelming. I’ll probably just do a lot of laundry, because I’m just that lame.
So, I’m thisclose to getting home. I’m excited. While, it’s been nice to do whatever I wanted, which is something rare in the Army, I want to get home more than anything else. I’ve been told it should only take about a day to get home, but that’s if everything goes according to plan, which it easily may not. I’ll have to see.
To some extent, I’m not looking forward to spending a weekend back in Georgia. I’m not going to have much to do. My car is at home in Chicago, all of my television shows and movies are in a trunk on their way back, and virtually everyone I know is now deployed. Everything I could do that’s on post is a long walk. The only television show I have back in my room at the barracks is Everybody Loves Raymond seasons one and two. No internet and no way of getting it, since some asshole stole my computer and modem right after I deployed.
Really, I just want to do my reverse-SRP and then go on leave like as soon as I can. That, of course, may not be possible if we aren’t able to complete everything on Friday or don’t get back on Friday. I can’t imagine we’d be able to get everything finished and have our leave forms approved all in one day. I can’t see us being able to go on leave until the early-to-middle of that following week. We have to get our leave approved, we have to go to finance, we have to go to medical, and we have to go to dental. There might be a few other things we have to do, too, but those are definately the important things.
Even so, I can’t tell you how excited I am about coming home. But on the same token, I’m also sort of dreading it. I have to reorganize everything, clean, unpack, etc. I really am not looking forward to that – at all. At least it sounds like my roommate is trying to tidy up a bit before my arrival, so that aspect may not be too bad. It’s just a matter of taking everything out of my closet and out of the bag I have and the trunk. And I won’t have much of anything until I get my trunks that I mailed to my mom’s house and the trunks I mailed back to base.
I won’t sit here and lie, either. That’s not the only reason I’m dreading it.
I’m also dreading it because I know things have changed since I’ve been gone. To me, it feels like time has come to a stop. Like, since I’ve been gone, nothing has happened in the States. Time in the United States, in my mind, has froze, and it will not start again until I step foot in Baltimore. But that’s not true, and I know it. New things have been built, other places have been torn down, new businesses have opened, others have closed. Everything will be different. While it will be the same in some ways, everything will have changed. Maybe that doesn’t make sense to you, it does to me. I might not be articulating it that well, but there really isn’t any other way for me to put it.
Anyhow, we’re taking our checked baggage (minus our weapons, which won’t get checked until the day of the flight) to the PAX terminal tomorrow to have the military dogs sweep over it and to turn it in and to find out what time our flight is. This means any sleep I do get is going to be uncomfortable because I will be sleeping in my ACUs with my hair in a bun. I may not even sleep at all. I also won’t be able to shower at all, that’s for sure, as all of my shower stuff has to go in one of my check on bags (and even if I could carry it on with me on a carry on, I can’t, because they don’t allow any bath products larger than three ounces in your carry on).
I hope this isn’t as stressful as it’s beginning to seem like it’s going to be.
Filed under: blah blah blah
It seems that I am destined to be alone. I will probably be eternally single and I will probably end up being the crazy cat lady that has no friends or family (or family that speaks to them, anyway). It could just be the holidays, but I don’t know. Only a certain person believes they are going to be doomed to the life of singledom at the age of 23.
I’ve had my fun. I’m not afraid – or ashamed – to admit that I’ve been with my fair share of guys. However, my promiscuous days are over. They were over when they stopped being fun. I’ve had my fun, I’ve sowed the wild oats – at least in bed – and now I want to settle down with one person in a healthy, functioning relationship.
I’ve read in magazines (great source, I know) that guys love the chase. But when I make them chase me, they won’t. It’s like they instantly lose interest in me, as if I’m not worth the chase or something. Or they do something that causes me to lose interest and then all of their attempts at pursuing me are annoying instead of endearing.
This deployment really hasn’t helped matters. It’s completely isolated me from the rest of the [western] world. It’s not like anyone really looks to get into a relationship with someone out here, you know? There was a guy I was interested in while I was in Afghanistan, and while things started off well, they quickly deteriorated. (It’s a long, drawn out soap opera that I’m not going to get into – probably never in this journal.)
I don’t know. I know I’m not that hideous of a person. I’m not that confident when it comes to the Looks Department. On the one hand, I know I have a nice body and a relatively attractive face, but on the other hand I don’t believe it, either. Maybe it’s like Bruce Springsteen said in “Thunder Road”: You ain’t a beauty, but hey, you’re all right.
It also doesn’t help that I only seem to be attracted to assholes. I would say it’s that whole “something I can never have” deal, but…these guys don’t seem like people worth “having”, at least personality-wise (I mean, come on, they’re assholes). The guys who are attracted to me and I know it, I don’t share their feelings. What’s wrong with this?
But should I settle with a guy who is attracted to me simply because he’s attracted to me? That doesn’t seem like a very good reason to date and eventually get into a relationship with that person. It has to be a two way street, you know?
To top everything off, the guy I was somewhat involved with in Afghanistan left me jaded. I really don’t feel as though I can trust men anymore, even the genuine ones. I’m always waiting for them to bail on me and I always question their motives, even if their will really is good. I don’t just question it, I interrogate it. No one would want to be under such intense scrutiny for very long and I can’t blame these guys (the few of them that come to mind) for eventually bailing. But then, you think, the ones who really do care about you will put up with the bullshit and convince you that they’re truly genuine, won’t they? Or does that only happen in cheap romance novels, on television, and in the movies? I’m beginning to think so.
Maybe it’s just being alone on the holidays that have got me in this mood.
My mom just sent me two of those email cards. At first, I was pissed off about it because I usually can’t view them. I decided to try this time and see if I could and was able to. They were both such sweet cards, I ended up feeling bad for sending her an email that was kind of like yelling at her for sending them (I couldn’t view them when I was in Afghanistan). Then, to make things worse, I started to cry like a baby. Right in a room full of people. Much to my fortune, no one noticed and I was able to stop before anyone did.
My Christmas thus far has been relaxing…and it has also sucked. It wasn’t until I saw those e-cards that I really thought about it being Christmas day and how I – and so many other people who are in my same situation – aren’t at home with their families. It’s kind of depressing. I did laundry – how pathetic is that? Who does laundry on Christmas?! Well, I went with a friend, so at least I wasn’t alone.
I was planning on staying in Georgia for a week when I got back before going on leave, but I think I’m going to try to go on leave right away instead. I don’t think it would make much sense for my mom to send me my clothes when I’m only going to be bringing them back up to Chicago with me (then back to Georgia). I just can’t imagine wanting to stay in Georgia for very long when I don’t have to. Also, I’m under no illusion that it will be anything like this, if I stay there for any period of time before going on leave, they’re going to make me work and go to PT and all that jazz…not into it.
Anyway, I hope everyone else is having a better Christmas than I am. Hopefully, I can get home in time for New Year’s so I can just get completely shitfaced.
This picture was taken at the Ministry of Public Works in Kabul, Afghanistan (by yours truly, of course). I had gone on a convoy down to Kabul with a group of people from Public Affairs and Psychological Operations. I was there just to tag along.
I had a lot of fun. Originally, we were supposed to go down in humvees and I was going to be a gunner, but at the last minute they decided to go in SUVs, instead. They still let me come, though, and I had an awesome time.
On the way down there, the last vehicle got a flat tire. We all had to stop while they fixed it, we had to get out and pull security. Eventually, they got the spare on, but it didn’t have a lot of air in it. Fortunately for us, we had broken down near a tire shop, so we went there and got the spare filled with more air. So, we’re all standing at this tire place, which looks like an abandoned building with tires and an air pump, really. Out of nowhere, all of these kids come out asking for stuff. Candy, water, you name it, they want it. They even asked for my pair of $75 sunglasses! Guess there isn’t any harm in asking, right?
When we finally made it to Kabul, we ate at ISAF headquarters and it was delicious! The food there was so much better than the food on the base. Afterwards, we go to the Ministry of Public Works so that the people from Public Affairs can interview the Minister of Public Works about some road they had built. The rest of us wait around outside, goof around and take pictures.
When the interview was over, it was time to head over to the US Embassy and pick up one of the Psychological Operations guys, which was their purpose for tagging along on the convoy. We learn there that there was a threat to the route we were planning on taking back, so we waited around while they got directions for a new route back. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour. (No picture taking this time, we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the embassy.)
We get on the road finally, only to get lost. We somehow end up in an airport and we actually drive down the runway. Yes, this is true, they actually let us onto an airfield. No one spoke good enough English to get us back on track, but we finally found someone at the airport when they saw three vehicles driving down their runway and came to see what was going on.
We made it back to base safely about an hour and a half later. I took a shower and went to bed almost immediately, only to be late for work. Thankfully, the people at work were understanding about this, since I worked the night before the convoy and was expected to come to work that night, as well.
Not exactly Christmas yet, but close. This will be my first Christmas that I won’t be spending with my family. I thought it would be more depressing, but I’m not that upset about it. I’ll probably spend it sleeping anyway, though I will be home a lot sooner than I thought.
Honestly, everyone kept saying that Manas was a horrible place, but it really isn’t. I actually like it a lot better than the base I was on in Afghanistan. Granted, their PX (or BX, rather, as it’s an Air Force Base) is a lot smaller than the one on the base I was deployed to, but they have a pretty good selection of stuff. There is a computer lab, a place to make phone calls, a place to watch movies, and even better – the dining facility is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week (something the base in Afghanistan didn’t have), althouh there are only certain times they serve hot meals. Still, I can go get a soda and/or a snack whenever I want, which is nice.
This is honestly going to be like a vacation. So long as I report to where I’m supposed to when I’m supposed to, I can do whatever I feel like. I can’t complain about that at all. Yeah, I knew people in Afghanistan and it would be nice to spend Christmas with them, but I would also have to work in Afghanistan and that would blow. I honestly don’t mind being here (at the moment – this could change).
We’re staying in tents, but they’re heated and I was provided bedding, so I didn’t have to unroll my woobie (blanket type thing). Also, the people I’m staying with are people I came here with and am probably leaving with and they’re a lot more considerate than the people that were staying in our transient bay back at the base in Afghanistan.
I can’t wait to get back to the States, though. I’m close!
I’m in the US Army and currently deployed to Afghanistan. I’ve been here for eight months and this is my last full day (well, night technically) of work here. I’ll be coming into work tomorrow for the hail and farewell ceremony and then we’ll be trying to get on a flight out of here.
Needless to say, I’m quite excited. When I first got here, time seemed to move so slowly. I never thought I would get out of here. But the time has come now. I’ll miss some of the friends I’ve made here, as they’re all from another post, but I’m so glad to be going home!
Filed under: uncategorized
This is my new adventure in open blogging. I already have a journal on another site, but it’s a closed journal. I don’t know exactly what I want to put here, nor do I know if I’ll really want to keep two journals, but eventually I will figure it out.
