Weblog not to be used for the other use.

This is cool. Okay, so like I knew I'd be getting something like $250/month extra for hazard pay while I'm in Iraq, but from what some of the others in my platoon have been saying, we get the following:

Hazard Pay (~$220)
Defensive Fire Pay (~$100)
Seperate Rations (~$250)
______________________
The total extra pay on that being about $570

Also, we'll be paying NO Federal taxes, which for me is about $250/month right now.. so that brings my total extra pay up to like...

$820-ish... That's a lot of green, yo. I am most pleased.

Also, I'll be a Specialist in 3-7 months, and at that point I'll be making something like $125 more per month.


So yes, I no plan to use money as toilet paper. Okay, not really... I'm sure it'll burn a hole right through my pocket. The sad part is that I can't really use it for about a year, so right now I'm forced to actually save up for things. Still, beats being dirt poor like I have been in the past. Heh.


Oh, and can I say how cool it is that It's the Cards vs. the Red Socks for the World Series? I don't normally like baseball, but that's a really cool match-up. I don't know who to root for. Most of all, I'm pleased that the high-priced Yankees got spanked. In yo FACE!

Go St. Louis! And Boston!

So far pretty much all we've done at my unit is battle drills- mostly convoy battle drills. We get ambushed, we jump out of the Humvee, take up a good fighting position, and return fire. Or if it's a sniper we return fire and keep driving. Or if it's an IED (improvised explosive device), we go to a security halt and the breech team (which consists of me and one other dude) get's to go investigate it. Stuff like that. In any case, it involves a lot of jumping out of the Humvee, which is hard on the knees. And while we're IN the Humvee we're on one knee, pointing our weapons outward to pull security. So after a few days of this, my knees are now sore as hell. I mean heck. (My parents might be reading.) And this is me officially complaining.

My Hummer crew is the best though. We've got the whole brotherhood thing going on, like in the war movies.. complete with nicknames. I'll introduce you:

Driver- SPC Hunte, aka "Ducksauce"

VC (vehicle commander)- SGT Millhouse (who needs a nickname for that?)

Air gunner- SPC Hill, aka "Nasty"

Left side security 1- SPC Byrd, aka "Birdman"

Left side security 2- SPC Marsh, aka uh.. well we change it like every day. He WANTS to be called "Scorpion", but we're like "eh.. no." I'm petitioning for "Swallow", since he won't shut up about the "Scorpion" thing. (and ya know, we've got the bird thing goin')

Right side security 1- PFC Reeder [that would be me], aka "Rooster"

Right side security 2- SPC Addison [My room mate], aka "Goose" (He didn't like "Crow", so he got stuck with "Goose")

And yes, I am the lowest ranking person on board. But I did get to be vehicle commander for like 5 minutes once, since SGT Millhouse died in an IED explosion and Goose got one in the forehead and I was the closest one to the radio. Ducksauce quickly relieved me though.. and got us lost on the subsiquent drive home.


On a completely different line of thought, can someone who loves me please comment on this so that I at least know the comment feature works? If you try and can't, let me know.

So a long time ago I wanted a cell phone. I went to sign up and everywhere I went they wanted a $500-$600 deposit because I had no credit. I ended up getting it through my dad, as his credit allowed him to get one with no deposit. So a few years later, after paying apartment rent for a year as well as making payments on credit cards and such, I find that I once again need a cell phone. And what's this? I STILL have to pay a $500 deposit! I'm not super poor anymore, but I can't afford that at the moment.. and I kind of need a phone like now. (And don't even suggest getting land line. I spit on that notion.) So it's going to take me about another two weeks before I can afford to get one... a large-ish bummer.

Now.. why is this? It's clearly because they hate America. The cell phone company I want to go with is even a company that caters mostly to the military (Alltel). They know that if I don't pay my bills they can just report it to my CO and I'll be in a humungous amount of trouble.. so what have they to worry about? Clearly they are part of a vast left-wing conspiracy against capitolism, the military, and most of all...... FREEDOM.

What will we do about these freedom-haters? We must take action to prevent their influence from spreading. If you'd like to help, donate to the cause. Please send me $500 so that I can uh.. use it against the vast cellular empire.

And that's a memo.

And uh, speaking of Bill O'Reilly, how about that? He's been accused of sexual harrassment. I kind of respect the guy (even though I don't always agree with him), so this bums me out. Of course, he might be innocent. He's a pretty good candidate to target. It irritated me listening to the radio the other day.. like no one even entertains the notion that he might be innocent. And he could be, yo.. of course he might not be as well. That'd be a bummer. As soon as you have influence on people you have a responsibility to never screw up. Unfortunately, people lose sight of this. People like Rush Limbaugh and Bill Clinton, for example. I hope Bill O'Reilly hasn't done the same thing. Though.. if he has, I know I won't lose sleep over it.

*gets distracted by something nifty* I'll post again soon. I promise. Maybe.

My name is Benjamin Reeder. I am a soldier in the U.S. Army, a student, a fighter, a lover, a clown, a philosopher, and a thug (often referred as Henchman #3).

This blog was inspired by Cat, who always seems to have an interesting thought in her head to put down in her journal, and my cousin Elliott, who fills his blog with tons of pictures of his escapades with his fellow Marines in Iraq.

My hero is the Earl of Sandwich, originator of the sandwich, which we all enjoy on an almost daily basis today. He invented teh sandwich so that he could eat and gamble at the same time. A true hero.

I'm short on time for the moment, but this should serve as a good introduction. More to come in the very near future.