Month 8 Day 14

Notebook Entry
79 reports given, Combined Staff Meeting, next Regimental Combat Team here, Don’t ask don’t Tell Training, Everyone Gone, Data Transfer Agent

Journal Entry
Had the combined staff meeting in the morning. This is the first one where Maj Hesco in his new capacity as the COPSO [Current Operations Officer] has come over here. He wondered why we couldn’t put our secret presentation on the Afghan’s NIPR [Non-secret] computers. He also made me assemble the whole presentation for him. I kept trying to get out of the way and let him do it, but I would here him mutter Lieutenant under his breath and then ask me to splice the whole thing together. It wasn’t that hard, it was just took about 45 minutes of my time while he sat over my shoulder. I had to do some fancy saving to make it all work. I was able to do it, just in the nick of time, but when he brought it over Capt Brawny couldn’t get the projector to work. It gave me a bit of perverse pleasure to see Maj Hesco fail in front of the [both regimental combat team's commanding officers]. Maybe if you knew how to do your job, and made it over here on time, and didn’t depend on Captains and Lts to do everything for you, then this wouldn’t happen. Ah incompetence catches up with you…

I did the repeal of Don’t ask don’t tell training over the internet at lunch. It was a little bit funny because Capt Brawny sat there and did it on the other computer at the same time as I did and cracked homophobic jokes the entire time. I had to remind him what a bisexual was and what the difference between a bisexual and transsexual was. It is all a little bit funny to me because there are already gay people in the military, we just don’t talk about it.

I tried to meet up with my guys but the S1 and S2 were both gone. That was not good for training, but it was a bit nice for me.

I told Maj Valquist about the leave stats again, I showed him numerically how we were already in violation of the policy and yet we are about to send a bunch of guys on leave. I also showed him how the leave percentages had not improved. It just seemed stupid to continue to spend time and money on something that didn’t work. That in addition to the fact that we have had two Marines and a Linguist Kabul for 3 days. He said we could talk about it with the General tomorrow.

When I got back, the major told me that I would have to start planning the range and the movement out to Fiddlers Green and Kabul. Basically told me to start doing the S3’s job too.

I then had to stay up until 2100 so we could do a mission essential task list review. Once we were done I was told that I could not leave until I watched the music video ‘call on me’ I bunch of scantily clad women doing a faux workout routine that consisted mainly of hip thrusts. I am not morally opposed to this, but I really would have liked to go to bed.

I just don’t know what to do. I really don’t spend any time doing anything but work. I spend 15 min talking to Suzan, 15 min typing this, and 15 min working on the book per day. I am not going to cut any of those things, so the only thing that I can cut are my other responsibilities.

I am being given a million things and doing none well.

The Training team eats with much of the Afghan staff because the Marines from our higher headquarters are afraid of food poisoning