Thoughts on the Army

The Army, in its infantine..I mean...infinite wisdom decided that the IAG should be no more and we are now all moved into FUOPS (Future Operations). Sounds neat huh? Fine, a move is okay with me, except, it was about a week AFTER we moved offices and got new bosses that one of esteemed O-6's remarked, "we need to figure out what it is you guys do and see if it belongs in FUOPS or somewhere else." Blink, blink. Why not find out what we do THEN decide where to move us? Okay, logic aside...then began the month long "booger flicking" contest between every full-bird colonel on the staff. Everybody wanted the people from IAG, but nobody wanted the work we were doing. IN hte mean-time the transition teams who the IAG had existed to support, were all left in the lurch until the headquarters people got their collective "heads" out of their rear "quarters." (I think that's how the name started in the first place). Anyway, I was thinking the other day about how accurately the writer's of "M.A.S.H." actually got it when commenting about the Army, eventhough that was over 20 years ago. Here's a few random thoughts on what "M.A.S.H." had spot-on:
-Monochrome world: In one episode, Hawkeye bemoans the fact thay all he sees is green. Everywhere it's green green green. In the real world, it's tan. Tan desert, tan vehicles, tan uniforms, heck, even the buildings are tan!
-Food: The same thing, all the time. Powdered eggs, mystery meatloaf, bland...everything. Too true
-Practical jokes: Many an episode featured the antics of the surgical staff. There exists today the same need for a little insanity to keep your sanity.
-IDF (aka "shelling"): Yup, still scares the crap out of you.
-Roommates: There was always a less-than-desireable roomate in "The Swamp" and it still holds true today. Little privacy and someone always has a bad roommate story.
-Latrines: Just a short 1/4 mile away in the middle of the night!
- R&R: Always looking for that 3 or 4 day pass to Tokyo. Oh yeah, just got my 4-day pass to Doha and I am ready! Next post will be from Doha, Qatar, maybe with pics!