" The Frozen Chosen"

Over half of my life was spent working with members and families of the 10th Mountain Division.

They survive in every shade of the skin rainbow, every spectrum of the spiritual scale, the span of their diversity is staggering.

But they key concept is that they survive.

They survive life events that would cripple many people, for they experience more than just the births and deaths, marriages and divorces, graduations and new homes.

They start with boot camp, ten weeks when they leave home and do their initial training in the military.

This is not like going away to college because they can't call home whenever they get lonely, or need money, and they can't leave to go to a concert or a sporting event (or home to get their laundry done and a real meal).

Their days are filled with physical training that rivals that of the most extreme personal trainer, as well as education in a variety of disciplines.

And that is where most movies that portray the "Army experience" end. But it isn't truly the end, just the beginning.

After boot camp comes AIT - Advanced Individual Training. Depending upon the individual soldier's MOS (job description), this can last anywhere from four weeks to a year.

Now although this segment of a soldier's training is more like college, don't ever lose sight of the fact that a member of the military is considered on duty 24/7/365. They are at work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

That not only means that they work that schedule, so do their family members. Once they have signed on the dotted line, they have sacrificed their celebrations and personal life events to serve.

But the sacrifice doesn't end there.

Once the solider receives a duty assignment, they move there, often across the country, to a new home, new climate, unfamiliar faces.

This post is titled "The Frozen Chosen" because Fort Drum, NY has affectionately been renamed that in military circles - "Those who get Chosen, get Frozen".

Many of the soldiers stationed at Fort Drum have come from far sunnier climates where PT (physical training) gets cancelled for snow on the ground. In NNY, however, it is "business as usual" until the snow is above your waist.

They weren't aware when they purchased their vehicle that AWD or 4WD was a better option than a nice stereo package, and it makes driving from October to May interesting for them until they get acclimated.

But those are little things compared to the deployments.

Most of you can't imagine being separated from your friends and family for weeks, let alone the months these soldiers experience. They are allowed home for a "block leave" (approximately two weeks) every four to six months, and sometimes almost half of that leave is taken up with the travel time.

They work in areas of the world where contact by phone or technology is limited by resources and time differential, as well as any adverse conditions where they are deployed.

Still don't realize who these guys are? Just Google 10th Mountain Division and you will see the places that they are currently stationed (and have been continuously for years).

And now they have been called up, mobilized, and asked to do the unthinkable

They are now on call to be stationed in their own country, putting their lives at risk at the hands of fellow citizens to protect fellow citizens.

These are the brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces and cousins of those both wreaking havoc and being victimized by the destruction.

They are going to a duty station to deal with situations that they have seen in multiple countries around the world with primitive and oppressive conditions, but this is in their own country.

Once again, they are putting their lives on the line for their country, but now that life is at risk by their fellow countrymen.

If this isn't a wakeup call, that our heroes are being asked to serve once more under circumstances none of you would willingly face, then there is no hope for you.

Enough is enough!

You have dishonored George Floyd, you have dishonored your neighbors, your employers, your friends with the theft, arson, and destruction.

Will you now dishonor those who have willingly put their lives on the line for you at home and abroad?

Think about it!

A Slippery Slope: Flinging Poo and Other Wrongs

The title of this blog entry is in NO WAY meant to trivialize the current events, as they are horrendous beyond description.

However, none of this should have come as a surprise to anyone.

To say that you "don't understand" how these events could have deteriorated so rapidly means you simply haven't been paying attention.

We live in a society where individuals feel free to use social media to threaten, harass, and bully others. This is not limited to children/teens/young adults - even so-called mature adults participate in this.

Evidence? Look at the "name calling" that occurs after any election. Both the winner(s) and the loser(s) - through their supporters and proxies, if not personally - unleash unlimited vitriol and insults on those who supported the other candidate(s).

When even our purported leadership has a marked lack of respect for the individuals under their "guidance", why would we expect others to behave any differently.

Last time I checked, it was nobody's business if or how I voted, and to attempt to discover the specifics and to persecute me or anyone else because of it is inappropriate.

(Can you imagine being at a second floor level meeting of your peers and hearing the leader of the meeting say "If any of you support 'Candidate X' you can just jump out that window right now!"? I was there.)

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I work at an establishment that normally has what would be considered a middle to upper class clientele. We are under no obligation to provide restrooms because we do not serve food or beverage.

Over the past month, on an almost daily basis, the customers have defiled our bathrooms.

Would you like details? They have urinated and defecated on the floor, wiped feces all over the toilets and sometimes the walls, jammed the toilets with paper towel and then shat on top of that.

One woman even stepped over a garbage pail to enter and exit the bathroom first thing in the morning (the pail was in the door overnight to allow the floor to dry after cleaning). She decided to throw enough paper towel in the toilet to clog it, rather than using the garbage pail that she couldn't possibly have overlooked.

Not once has a customer approached an employee and reported that there was a problem with the bathrooms, or that they were sorry for the mess they left.

We employees have been left to discover the chaos when we have entered the bathrooms to use them.

Luke 16:10 (KJV) ~ He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

How is this applicable? If you can't be appropriate with the little things, you certainly won't be appropriate with the larger issues.

The ugly truth lurking below the so-called "good life" in America is that we have generations of people who either do not know how to do the "right thing", or just don't want to bother.

The minute it becomes an issue of choice, too many people will do the wrong thing and choose what will benefit them rather than do what is right.

Killing anyone is wrong. Taking anything that doesn't belong to you is wrong. Destroying or damaging someone else's property is wrong. Causing harm to others is wrong.

Until we recognize these simple values and take action to oppose wrong regardless of personal consequences, nothing should come as a surprise.