i'm leaving on a jet plane...

welp folks, i am headed for the desert for some incountry training and then onto another assignment in country...i may be 'out of the office' for a few days or weeks but i will update as i can. i have met some really great warriors here and should have atleast another 2 weeks together with them. hopefully a few of us will be able to stay together in country or atleast network while we are there. with today being Easter sunday, i want to say Happy Easter and encourage people to find 'the Way' in their lives. i know we all have things that get us caught up in the day to day hussle and bussle but eventually we all face situations when we need the help of something bigger than ourselves. i like many have had those days and expect more in the future. besides all that it is good to know that there is One smarter, faster and bigger than us, who keeps everything in order.....i have started to refer to the places i am as paradise just becuase it helps lighten things up. i got convinced yesterday this place was a little bit more like paradise than i thought when i finally got my 'cheeseburger in paradise' ;) ...took some time to call people back home and say some good byes before mailing my phone and other 'junk' home. to those i was able to contact thank you for your encouragement and prayers, i appreciate your support. to those i wasn't able to contact please know that i am thinking about you as well....as my wife tells me and kinda like our motto "keep on, keepin' on". i will do the same. but for now, "ho ho ho daddy's gotta go" i'm leaving on a jet plane...BE SAFE, sandboxrich
to my family & friends, i know you love me and please know that i love you!!!

quick up date

my wife suprised me! she and our daughter drove down to sc to spend about 10 hours w/ me on sunday. a great surprise! we had some good ole country cooking at the lizard's thicket...mmm...it must have been a bummer of a ride but our time visiting was great! i don't know if the average american realizes the willful sacrifice military families have been making for a long time...Please note: "willful"...we it because we believe in what are doing and are doing it because we are the kind of people who are willing to stand up for what we believe in and not quit when the going gets tough...rather we, the tough get going! we do not seek special favor or simpathy but we are appreciative for the occasional 'thank you' and especially the prayers of others. this is all for now, God Bless. BE SAFE, sandboxrich.

cheeseburger in paradise

30March-welp, here it is about week or more since i last wrote which means i have been busy. things here at fort jackson have been fairly fast paced. we’ve been working on our narmy skills (cross bred navy/army troopers). this week has given me a whole new appreciation for the life of an infantryman, aka grunt. the gear, which never seems to stop being issued, is pretty heavy. i relate it to walking around w/ my 13 year old daughter on my back all day. actually if it was only about walking around, it wouldn’t be too bad but you add in taking it off, putting it on, running, getting down on the ground, getting up from said ground, carrying weapons in your hands or your battle buddy’s weapons and i must admit it gets old fast. i have about four seabags full of …well…we will just leave it as ‘stuff’. i’ve met up with some pretty decent people. of course when ever you get a group of 20 or more, there are bound to be that …”that guy” mixed in with the group. lets see, i have been gone for a little over a week and i have missed my daughter’s thirteenth birthday, muay thai work outs, cutting the grass, washing the truck (which was strategically parked under a tree, sorry zach), evenings with my family and cuddling with my wife. instead i have been getting trained in individual weapons markmanship, heavy weapons, army pt (joy,joy), land navigation, combat first aid, evade/escape/recovery, marching (joy,joy) and that all important “how to put 10 pounds of crap into a 5 pound bag” training. i think i have eaten 14 hard boiled eggs, 8 bowls of oatmeal, 6 hoagie sandwiches, 7 mystery meat entries, drank 3 or 4 gallons of water and only 5 SMALL cups of coffee (not by choice). my family and i are working on getting into the ‘groove’ which takes a little while to do. it reminds me of some of the first deployments i went on. there are some similarities but to be honest there are more things that are not. especially the length of time and area of operations. over this last week, things have started to become more of a reality rather than a future ‘could be’. i have been fairly isolated from the news due to the amount of time we spend training and the fact that we do not have internet available in the barracks. i try to call home every other day or so but it isn’t like whipping out my cell phone as I drive home from work. when I do call, the last thing we are gonna spend our time doing is talking about the news and how the ‘new’ congress is trying to ‘goon’ up this fight by cutting money / setting time ‘limits’ and such. i know my wife has a big job keeping things working back home with our house, family and all the stuff that goes on with that and the last thing she needs to worry about is somebody cutting off her hubbys ammunition and fighting equipment/freedom. i am grateful for her ‘can do’ attitude and her ‘we will make it’ support. the last thing that i need to do is worry about my family and the home front. Baby, if you are reading this…thank you, i love you! as you all know, I ended up driving to MD and to ft. jackson. it was wonderful to spend a day in charleston, sc with my family. what a great city! we are really looking to retire in place like that. after spending a week in MD, in a hotel room by myself with plenty of privacy and a shower to myself, i ended up at the ft. jackson ‘ritz’…it is very spacious, room for about 50 grown men to sleep comfortably! large showers with enough room for 5 grown men to wash all at the same time, while 6 are using the sinks right next to them and 5 who are doing #2 and 5 who are doing #1.…image all this for free! actually i lied, we really have about 120 sharing those head facilities….but heck nothing builds camaraderie like showering naked w/ your battle buddies eh? the week end is here, we will work and likely have some time off on Sunday. i think i’ll look for a cheeseburger. BE SAFE, sandboxrich