Observations from today

Today I made a few observations I would like to share:
1. German weather is merciless. I knew this but today it was proved beyond any doubt. It has been snowing off and on mixed with freezing rain for good measure these past few days. Today I had to go to the main post to get a humvee fixed. My team had not gone a mile when all the snow dissapeared. It appears that the only valley that it has been snowing in the whole darn country is the one in where we are camped. Go figure.
2. Since WW2, the Germans have decided to save/conserve everything. There are so many laws in effect to make sure this happens. As a result, we can not build trenches, cannot access watershed areas, and any area where new trees are starting to grow. The other thing is the deer. Picture if you will, a herd of deer, numbering in excess of 40, playing tag in the middle of a mock battle between us and the bad guys. We had to stop, take a knee, while a German consulted with the Deer Chief and asked him politely to move his herd to the watershed since the bipeds in armor weren't allowed to play there. He agreed reluctantly. Am I making this up, a little but I swear this is what it looked like the ranger mienster was doing.
3. Soldiers, when they are bored, get into philosphical debates. Todays debate was whether or not E.T. was a progenitor of Master Yoda. The discussion was rather heated. And aside from ETs glowing belly button, most agreed that is was possible despite Yoda being from a galaxy far far away. The proof: ET's parents did have a space ship, he was probably force sensitive since he made Elliot's bicycle fly (and Luke could barely lift rocks), he was short like Yoda, and he recognized Master Yoda during the Halloween parade. I think the jury is still out but hey, these are 19 year olds we are talking about. Please feel free to email me your thoughts on this one. Personally I think its bubkis.
4. Finally, given enough time, anything becomes edible. The 5 second rule goes out the window. And when all else fails, pass the MRE.
Ah yes, the life of a Soldier. I pray that you are all well, enjoying homecooked meals and most importantly, heat. With love from the middle of nowhere Germany.

Support network

Good afternoon all. The week is slowly progressing here. It snowed two days ago and was followed by freezing rain. Typical training weather, and typical German weather. No wonder the Army loves sending us here.
Katie had the flu this past weekend. She is feeling better though I am sure she still needs your support. I feel bad that I am not home to take care of her; being away for so long is another reason added to the 'not going to stay in the Army' column. As Katie knows I fluctuate on this topic daily. But today, knowing that she is alone and sick without me is definetly cause to not pursue a career in the military. Please keep Katie in your prayers, it is still another week till I get to go home.
I would ask that you pray for one of our officers. His wife lost her father yesterday. The Army is sending him home so he can travel with his wife back to the States. I know how hard it is to lose a loved one. What makes this harder still is that we are scheduled to go home in April. As Katie can attest, we are far away from our families and we miss them dearly. I am sure that they were looking forward to a happy time at home. Please pray for them during this time of loss.
Thank you to all for have kept in touch. Take care and God speed.

Hoenfels

Hello everyone. I am into the second phase of training and am that much closer to coming home. The next couple days will be spent getting our new soldiers ready for Afghanistan. And there is a lot to learn. Today was our first day and very quickly discovered that 3/4 of the company had never worked around a helicopter. Helicopters are our primary means of getting around the mountains down range. The new guys are learning the ropes rather quickly but they have to overcome a steep learning curve.
On Katie's blog she asked for prayers. She isn't sure if she wants to stay in Italy for the deployment alone without me and far from all of you, her support while I am gone. I can certainly understand this. Please pray for her; I am certainly doing so. Thank you.
To all, I wish you well. Can't wait to see you when Katie and I come home in April. Till then, take care.