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Episode 25: July of 2005
August 6, 2005 9:36 a.m. (Baghdad Time)
Al Asad, Iraq
By LCpl Sincioco
Revised on August 18, 2005
"The greatest revolution in our generation is that of human beings, who by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."
—Marilyn Ferguson
Introduction
The month of July is the busiest and most exciting, and also a most sad, month. No other month compares, except maybe the month of January. I got awarded a NAM in the beginning of the month. Went to Qatar a few days later. Bravo Co's advance party for the new rotation arrived. And, Alpha Co's advance party left Iraq.
January was a transitionary time, so was July, and August will be too. I've had three roommates leave in the past two months: Cpl Williams, LCpl Salazar and LCpl Schuster. Their racks did not stay empty for too long. In fact, all three racks have now been occupied by their replacement from Bravo Co: LCpl Flaherty, LCpl Kleman and PFC Healey. For three weeks, Salazar's rack was occupied by Sgt Bui. Schuster's rack was occupied just hours after he left our Tin Can by PFC Healey.
PFC Healey
Strange things do happen. I've chronicled several times how I end up befriending people I don't like at first—maybe it’s because I find it a challenge. PFC Healey, is the exception. I took it upon myself to rectify some of the mistakes I made with my previous roommates, one of which is to shake their hand as I met them. The moment I shook hand with Healey we instantly clicked. I think it's just his personality, the easy going type. He reminds me an awful lot like LCpl Mummey, his expressions and the way he reacts to things—his wackiness. With one big exception, he is a computer geek and proud of it!
A few minutes later, he was showing me pictures of his family, his girl friend and everybody from back home. The last person that did that with me was LCpl Smith way back in January.
"I'm surprised you have all of these pictures in print," I remarked with a subtle hint that as a data guy it should be in digital form.
"They're digital pictures, I just got them printed," he replied picking up on my subtle hint.
Healey came prepared for this deployment. They were allowed to carry 3 sea bags, so they brought a whole lot more stuff than we did. He brought his bose speakers, bose headphones, a laptop and a Nintendo 64 to name a few. Yeah, I like Healey, he seems to have such a refined taste in electronics despite how much he is making as a PFC.
"I am organized," he boasted. "I don't just copy people's MP3's because I want everything organized and in high quality," he continued.
"I'm the same way," I told him.
He showed me his MP3 collection. I almost laughed because he organized his MP3s exactly in the same way I do. He had folders by Artist, by Album, followed by carefully named tracks. Most of his MP3s are 320kbps. And I thought I'm the only weirdo in the Marine Corps who prefers to have everything in the highest quality the technology would permit. 384kbps is actually the highest quality I've seen, but one has to set a practical limit.
Healey told me he had just turned 19 before coming out here to Iraq. When Schuster asked how old he thought I was, he replied "22."
I laughed.
LCpl Kleman
My other new roommate is LCpl Kleman. His relationship with PFC Healey is that of an older brother. He wakes up Healey to get ready for work every night. When Healey and I are listening to music and it gets too loud Kleman tells him to turn it down and Healey comply without even so much as an objection. Kleman is 24 years old and has an Associates Degree in Computer Science. He borrowed my copy of Visual Studio .Net one night and by the next morning he was already asking me how to access a database using ADO.Net. Hey, I like this guy!
LCpl Flaherty
I like Flaherty for all his subtleness and yet therein lies a genius awaiting to be discovered. One night he asked me if I knew how to model, or simulate, magnetic fields in the computer.
"If you can figure out the Math, I'm sure we can model it," I replied.
"I'll do some research and we'll get together in the future," he replied back.
The next day, he asked me if I could create a program that could create a new language based on the phonetic of an existing language. I asked him to explain what he meant and we ended up talking for over an hour about Star Trek, Science, Math and my favorite topic: Computer Science. I got him so enthused about Computer theories, compilers, game development and how Windows work that his eyes were glowing with excitement.
"We're going to be together for 7months, Sin. Teach me programming," he requested.
"Sure," I said.
Realize that Flaherty is 3 years in his major in Computer Science and has taken numerous programming classes. I was just as equally fascinated that I could fascinate him.
"Do you have a flashlight, Sin?" he asked one night.
"I sure do," I replied proudly dangling my LED flash light.
"No, not those, the regular flashlight," he said.
"What's wrong with these?" I asked.
"You'll see," he said with a grin.
And from the look of that grin I knew what was running in his head.
"You were one of those students who blew up the Chemistry lab in high school, weren’t you?" I asked.
He just grinned and smiled.
You'll Miss Us, Really!
Unlike Alpha Co., I seemed to get along with most of Bravo Co.'s people immediately, my new roommates especially. Cpl Gonzales often observes me and Healey interact with disdain. In the following days after Schuster left, he would tease me about it.
"Man, he's never going to replace Schuster," Cpl Gonzales would point out.
"Oh, I know. Schuster is one of a kind," I'd joke back.
"These guys [Bravo Company] are never going to replace us [Alpha Company]," said Cpl Gonzales.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You wouldn't have as much fun with these guys as you did with us," he argued.
"Take these three guys for example, they moved in it and we got along right away. When we all first moved in this room, we didn't get along nearly as well."
"You need some conflict in your life, Sin."
"You get enough of that at work, why want it in the Tin Can?"
"One day, Sin. One day, you'll wake up and realize you'd rather have us than these guys."
"Yeah, right." I laughed.
"When I’m back in the States and watching Smallville Season 5 while drinking beer, I’ll think of you, Sin.”
"Why, thank you, Corporal."
Cpl Gonzales, just like Schuster, was trying to make sure that his legacy was secured after he leaves. But, as I have observed, the new guys are a lot different. They seem more smarter, more mature in general and better prepared for this deployment than we were. Whenever I say something good about the new guys, I usually piss off the old guys. But, since I'm staying here for the next rotation I do have a vested interest in making sure my relationship transitions smoothly from the Alpha Co. (the old guys) to Bravo Co. (the new guys).
Sleeping Pattern, Or Lack Thereof
For over a month now, I haven’t really been sleeping. It’s more like, I take naps. Even when I was in Qatar I could only sleep for 6 hours—I just wake up automatically. So, I usually stay at work for 16+ hours, only going home to shit, shower and shave. I would sleep for 2 to 3 hours, get up and go to work or do something else. Then when I get exhausted, I would take another 2 to 3 hour nap and repeat the same cycle daily.
Time Flies By
What do I do with all that time? I program, I play chess, I talk to my new roommates, I go to the chow hall, I program and, well, program some more. And despite all the time I have, I still feel like I don’t have enough time. There are so many things I want to do or accomplish in any given day. The days just past by so quickly. Some can’t understand why I extended here for another rotation. I freaking love it here in Al Asad. I wake up and go to work and once my shift is over, I’m free to do whatever I want, which usually means I stay at work.
First Sergeant Holt
I got called in the 1stSgt Holt’s office one day. My first thought was, "Fuck!" You don’t want to be in the First Sergeant’s radar if at all possible. He’s the guy you see if you want some ass-chewing, a Page 11, or an NJP (neither of those are good). Without really coming up with any reason why I would be in his radar, I went to see him in his office. As it turned out, he just wanted me to swing by so he can speak to me about developing a Marine Tracking Database for Alpha Company. "Whew!" I thought. After our meeting, he asked me how long it would take to develop it.
“I’ll have a working version by the end of my shift at 1500, First Sergeant,” I replied.
“No way! You really are the man, Sin!” he replied enthusiastically.
Such is the life of a programmer in Al Asad. Things may change significantly in Rotation 2 and also once we move to a bunker. I won't hold my breath.
Rotation 3
One time, I was talking to Corporal Alfaro on the phone.
“You guys staying for the next, next rotation [rotation 3]?” I asked.
“You’re freaking out of your mind, Sin!” he replied.
I laughed.
“I think Sin wants to spend the rest of his enlistment in Iraq,” Sgt Williams once joked.
This dreadful and wretched place, we affectionately refer to as Iraq, is not so bad once you get the hang of it.
“If I was founding a country, I don’t know why I would have stopped in Iraq. I would have kept going,” Schuster once naively remarked.
“Schuster, you obviously don’t know the history of the Middle East,” I replied.
Online University
One of the advantages of being out here in Iraq is that I can go to school. Sure, you can go to school when you’re back in the rear, but it’s actually better to go to school while you’re deployed. Why? Because having nothing else better to do, you’ll be forced to focus on school work!
In the month of July, I extended my GI Bill from $30K to $50K. And with some guidance from my NCO and SNCO, I applied to Grantham University so I can take online courses. The Marine Corps will pay for the first $4500 per fiscal year (October), and the rest I can use my GI Bill. Online courses are expensive, $250 per credit. So a three-credit class is $750 dollars. Just the first two classes I signed up for, the Marine Corps picked up the $1750 tab. Hey, you give to the Corps, the Corps gives right back to you.
While it is entirely possible for me to get my BS degree in Computer Science before my 4 years in the Marine Corps is up, I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. The problem is once we are back in the rear having fun will surely takes precedence over school work, which is why I’m toying with the idea of staying here for rotation 3. Plus we do a lot of time-sinker activities when we are in the rear, such as formations, field-days, formations, and did I mention formations already?
But oh, to get your degree while you’re in your first enlistment that’s almost unheard of. Even better, to get your degree while you’re Iraq, that would be something else. Just imagine, when people ask where I got my degree. I could say, more importantly, where and when I got my degree. To be able to say, “I got it while I was deployed in Iraq.” That would be something—something to be truly proud of.
Well, I could dream, couldn’t I?
Considering I get very little sleep, it is amazing how much I dream.
Have a good day everyone, and never stop dreaming.
—LCpl Sincioco
United States Marine Corps,
8th Comm BN, Support Co., Data Platoon
"All the things one has forgotten scream for help in dreams."
—Elias Canetti
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