Two COAs diverged in MDMP
And sorry I could not choose them both
But be one decision-maker, long I stood
And looked at one as long as I could
Till it was come my time to brief
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was feasible, distinguishable too,
Tho as for that, the acceptability there
Had worn them really about the same
I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Sometime, many orders and orders hence,
Two COAs diverged and I -
I took the one less travelled by,
The throwaway COA didn't make a difference
Robert Frost please don't haunt me for this
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Due to my weird-ass self giving up TV for lent in 2003, I have no memories of watching the invasion of Iraq
I do, however, remember seeing B-52s flying over when I visited England in that timeframe
What a strange era. I was so trusting of government.
I began college in the fall of 2004 at a very conservative school. We were told by professors that it was a just war. A necessary war. One professor, in 2006, scoffed at the insurgency, saying it couldn't even manage to get the 18 US troops KIA per day that Vietnam had
We were so disconnected. One of my friends came back from a deployment with his reserve unit. One Sunday at Mass, the mic popped during the priest's sermon and he dove for cover under a pew. He emerged shamefacedly laughing it off. We all thought it was "cool"
Always good to remember that the US Army "broke the Klan's back" in the early 1870s. But the compromise to end Reconstruction 1876-77 and begin "Reconciliation" allowed them right back in, and the terror and intimidation began again
When we say "institutionalized racism" we mean a world where a traitor can become Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court in the 20th century and use that position to ensure the continuation of segregation. He was 1 of 3 ex-Confederates to serve on SCOTUS after the war
Until you realize and accept that 1865-1964 was a continuation of the Civil War via an insurgency from outside the political system (KKK, paramilitary violence, lynching) and inside it, you cannot hope to understand the United States of today
Realizing I haven't gotten out into the woods for a while, which is probably why I feel this pent-up stress. Life builds up and crashes on like a wave rolling up the beach. If you try to take it on, it will just knock you down. If you flow with it, it's easier. Nature is my flow
I've come to love hiking because it allows me to center on the minimums: food, water, footing. In a world where I'm constantly surrounded by people, to be responsible only for myself is a rare blessing.
Army command time and staff life are battles of give & take, protect & defend. They shouldn't be, but some leaders only know micromanaging. So, you fight for your people. But fighting saps the kindness. Makes you, well, an angry staff officer