He is doing okay. He is in a barracks now with other officers. He preferred to stay in the enlisted area but as an officer he cannot, he said his boss told him "You have to act like an officer, too." to which he replied "I dunno, I don't think I can kiss that much butt in one setting." He will get in trouble if he is not careful. But as a "mustang" officer (thank you for explaining that to me) he doesn't have to put up with what the career officers do and he is actually treated with greater deference by generals.
He has Calamity Jane all fixed. I wonder if I should be jealous of Calamity Jane who is my only rival right now? Ha-ha. If his base comes under attack (I hate to think of that) he gets up on the roof of the headquarters or the barracks depending on when the attack happens and he and Calamity Jane make bad people sorry. He takes care of equipment and things while his partners with the slightly smaller rifles takes care of people. As for hitting something with Calamity Jane he uses special ammunition for smaller targets at long distances. If he is aiming at a vehicle or something large he uses regular ammunition. He says no sense in wasting special ammunition for large targets where six inches makes little difference. I know with special ammunition he can hit a white paper plate against a black barrel time and again at well over a kilometer. At under a kilometer I bet he could hit the Tabasco bottle.
Oh I read below about his use of Tabasco. Yes he uses it a lot, he thinks it is catsup. And he thinks jalapeno peppers are pickles. But I have to admit he rarely gets ill and seldom gets loose bowels from eating or drinking overseas. I think all the hot spices kill the germs. Here at home he goes through a large bottle of Tabasco every other month. I sent him everything he asked for I made a huge batch of the cookies he wanted and sent him a dozen packages of coppertop batteries. And the Tabasco of course. I mailed it all out Saturday to him.
He refused to comment on the media thing except to express his disdain for the media in general. He is concerned about Turkey he says if they back out we will have to change our plans in a hurry. He also said Maw Doose is spelled Ma Deuce and refers to the fifty caliber machine gun the M2. His is a bolt action fifty caliber rifle.
If we go to attack his headquarters will move with the troops but stay well behind the biggest fighting. I gather he is in charge of protecting the headquarters if some enemy break through and come near them as well as doing planning for special things. But he has a bad habit of going to "check on things" in the front lines and that is what worries me the most. That is what he did in Afghanistan and how he was wounded. He had to take that dratted Calamity Jane out and check on things. He got medals for it but he has more than enough of those things and I want him home all unscratched not a medal. I wish he was a little more afraid of things. I would trade all his medals to have him home with me. I do not know whether to hate Calamity Jane or love it. It gets him into trouble, but saves his life when he gets into trouble. Bah.
He said to tell everyone here hello and to "keep the faith" whatever that means. He is comfortable but lonely (GOOD!) and he says not to worry we can handle things with or without Turkey or the UN or even without Britain if necessary. He is sure that the bulk of Iraqi soldiers will not fight very hard or at all.
VICKY
