You will inevitably meet folk of higher rank who are drunk beyond return on their own--what I call--"self-rankteousness". No regard for respect of the human being in the uniform, what a person has done, nor the soldier's effort to do good have worth nor meaning. Cold hard obedience is all that matters, even if what is demanded of you bares no coherence in reality, and sacrifices the subordinate soldier at the altar of power tripping or in some cases, genuine hate. If you run into the self-rankteous soldier described above, escape if you can. If you run into a soldier who constantly beats their chest and declares, "I don't give and fuck" then by all means run in a direction opposite him/her!! That is probably a red flag. Otherwise, as much it depends upon you, be at peace with him/her.

In the extremely short time that I've been enlisted, I have run into many of the end result of what some "drill privates" aspire to and eventually become: self-rankteous douchebags! The endless mind-games, and abuse of one's rank and authority to satisfy...whatever it is that fuels their strange sense of "respect". Usually a grossly diminished sense of integrity.

Finally, you don't have to like nor inwardly respect who is over you, but they will demand respect for that little piece on their chest. It's okay, give it to them outwardly. Let their ego and insults go, though it be difficult and acquiesce is all I can say. But never kiss ass for nobody. Even if you are thrown in the front leaning rest, use your hate for their wrong as fuel to push and stand your ground within.

It is beyond naïveté to think that all soldiers have good intentions, and vice versa. Apply the board of education to the seat of knowledge seasoned with wisdom, patience, charity and the sheer will to persevere. Shun the self-rankteous douchebag!

I got off the phone with my Unit Administrator and apparently I have been charged, rather than paid for having missed a mandatory weekend drill (battle assembly).  I am PISSED and here's why.  Apparently following enlistment, reserve soldier's have a 90-day grace period in which they are not obligated to attend weekend drills.  I knew no such fact.  But in all fairness, I new that the drills were taking place, but I was not informed that I was a.  getting paid to attend drill yet,  b.  that they would be mandatory prior to basic combat training, and c.  that I would be charged/fined for not attending a drill.  So here it is, I'm off on the wrong foot. I only got around to starting in-processing at my unit last Wednesday. I'm really annoyed right now.  So I'm gonna give my recruiter an ear full today.  

Lesson learned.  Address all nagging feelings when something feels incomplete and don't depend purely on anybody when given information.  Research EVERYTHING for yourself because in the end, you take the fall for it and you HAVE to shutup and put up.  And conversely, when I become an NCO (non-commissioned officer) or officer, I will make it a point to make sure those under me are well informed as much as it depends on me.  It will not be fair that they get punished for my failure to divulge something that needed to be known.  In battle, this gets people killed, especially in light of how people get killed anyway even when everything is done right.

This weekend has been very fun. I got a chance to hang out with my favorite cousin, Ashely. She's a cadet at West Point military academy. She came down for Spring Break with her sorority sisters--Gammas--for a nice long week partly on a cruise and on land in the Bahamian islands. From what I was told they apparently had a wildly fun and exciting time. I spent the last two days of their break with them here in South Florida. It was seven girls and me; six of them West Point cadets, and one an officer. We talked often about the army and what we plan and hope to do. They had a good number of questions for me about having enlisted and what I'll be doing. I explained how I'll go to OCS later to be an officer, since I can't do it now (and definitely will be doing so after serving a year--at least I hope I can.) Anyway, we seemed to click immediately and really have fun together these last two days. Next year we plan to hang out together for Spring Break. We just have to figure out where. It should be fun....if I don't get deployed. (On a side note, I really need to call my unit to see what the schedule is for deployment. I kinda doubt I'll get deployed right after basic training, but we'll see. I'm learning as I go.)

Oh! And I'm still sore from the hard run that Taneshina and I did yesterday morning. OMG! lol

The other thing that I wanted to blog about earlier today is the matter of enlisting over going in as an officer.  So far I've had the chance to speak with a few people besides just my recruiter about my options.  With good reason I was advised to go the way of officer because I have a four year degree.  But one of the first things my recruiter asked me about when I mentioned that I've graduated from college is whether I have college loans and how much.  Let's just say that I have A LOT.  Given the amount and where I am in my life, it actually might be more financially sound to enlist and go for Officer Candidate School later on in my enlistment term.  This is the advice I obtained from my recruiter and one of my fraternity brothers that enlisted a couple years ago based on what I explained about my situation.

Staying positive and prayerful.