Religious Talks

First off, I don't know what is going on with the internet, but it is making me angry because I keep losing my masterpiece here. I have to re-write this wonderful reading material from my memory. And if anyone knows me well you know my memory is faulty at best.

I got the opportunity to brief the Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force in charge of the religious climate within the Air Force. I thought the whole briefing and the following discussions were good. We talked about how people need to set an example for their people by leading by example. Understand that religious diversity is not bad and that we all must have tolerance for each other and what we bring to the war fighter. No two people are alike yet we expect the warfighers to look the same, act the same, to accomplish a common mission with a common goal. It has always been tough to get people to work together that are from different environments. I think maybe the way is not break people down when they enter the Air Force to rebuild them back up the Air Force way, may not be all that good of an idea. Each and every time I give people the authority with the accompanying accountability to accomplish a goal that may look to high to achieve, they exceed that goal. That is good for them as well as the mission. Empower people and they make themselves proud and their bosses. Whew!!! Sorry. That hurt my head.

Also today I had the pleasure running around this base trying to get all of the pieces of construction I've been setting up together so that when I leave..... The next guy will have a pretty good idea where this base stands with the construction projects. I know that this isn't very warlike but with everything I do here this is just one of the things that keeps me busy. All of this construction is good for the infrastructure of the base and the surrounding communities. It also applies to the other bases this Wing is responsible for within Iraq. This kind of work is like the Department of Commerce and Department of Public Works within a city back home. But I also have include the military necessity or military defenses capabilities. I know this is very warlike but it is the hardest for me to gather groups together to make things happen, when they need to happen, without losing any body that is in close contact with the enemy. We all understand about making sure it is the right thing to do and the proportion of firepower must be measured against the risk to the friendlies closeby but the sensors we have available to us to make sure that no friendlies are nearby is truly star wars like. This is a good thing.

And I don't know if the pictures are working out. I don't get the normal confirmation that a photo has been placed in my blog. But here goes anyway. I found today's picture from our photo files and think it is one of the best pictures I seen here. It's a picture of Balad, Iraq. If you notice the square just left of center that is our base. The Tigris River can be seen running along as it snakes its way south and east. The picture is from an aircraft that flies really high and takes pictures, I'll let you guess. But the picture shows that there is green along the Tigris and the green is really spreading out and into the farmlands. This is a good thing. And that is that.