Kelly Smith Weblog Aficionado: Just a guy vs. Life

I went to Mass today.... I went to mass today in a small building that sits upon a Peninsula out on blue-green water in a lake in part of Saddam Hussein's old palace complex. Quite a mouthful, yet the sight that I saw was breathtaking. the entire back wall of the building has a huge glass where you can see the water. The sun was hitting on the water and it was one of the most beautiful scenes that I can remember for a long time. The homily was about how we should not promote ourselves above others. We should not step into the spotlight solely for the purpose of self-promotion or self-gain. I took this to heart, and I prayed about that....as well as prayed for the health, benefit, and welfare of my family. Luckily today was a calm day today. It is a strong contrast to how things have been for the past week. Church really made me feel a lot better today. God made me feel better today. God knows I needed him today. He offered himself to me yesterday in the form of my daughter writing...

Finally Here.... Well, I am finally here at my post. Not quite moved into my hootch where I will spend the next year, but I am at my post nonetheless. The facilities available are much nicer than what I was expecting, but they are not a consolation to the fact that I will not see my wife and kids for at least another five or six months. As soon as I get a camera I am going to post the pictures of my area that I am allowed to post. I heard a couple of mortar rounds impact nearby last night, and I heard sporadic small arms fire....kind of a sobering welcome to the new area. I guess they don't call it Slayer for nothing.

More bad news... Well, at this point I found out that I will be in this place longer than what I expected before I head to my assigned post up North.. The moral level of those of us who have yet to muster is beginning to dip low. There is only so much chow you can eat, DVD's you can watch, and weights you can lift before you become painfully aware of the cyclical monotony that you are trapped in. On top of that, a Junior Enlisted Soldier took it upon himself to adjust the air system in our tent and completely messed it up. I was awakened from a nap today by the sound of an NCO berating him. Aside from the loud voice that he used, there was an avalanche of profane invectives being heaped upon him as well. As I emerged from my nap, I realized that there was a sticky sheen of perspiration over my entire body. I was so hot and sweaty that my socks were moist despite the fact that I had removed my combat boots before I lay down. Most of the chew out session was over when I came ...

Smoked, Ripped and Chewed... In the military when a person is harshly scolded, or reprimanded they call it getting chewed out, or "getting their ass ripped". The final level of this stern evaluation is getting "smoked". Generally that happens to Junior Enlisted at the hands of an angry NCO. This includes pushups, situps, or some other exercise that makes the person NEVER want to run afoul of whoever is in charge of them at that particular time. Despite being an Officer, yours truly, Dkelsmith got (verbally)Smoked, and literally ripped and chewed....its been a long time since that has happened to me, but I think I welcomed the reality check. It went like this. I was making the long trudge from one side of this crappy Camp to the other in order to hit the chow hall before I went to the MWR. There was a group of 5 Junior Enlisted slightly to my left standing in a circle smoking. As I walked past one of them said, "Hey, what's up LT". I just said "Hey...

My strength and my weakness... The following Video is one that I shot right before I left MCS. It was supposed to be light-hearted, but something happened in the middle of it. So much for living up to the stereotypical hard-as-nails Soldier. But, then again, what kind of a person would not be emotional about leaving his family. Especially a family like mine. I suppose that some may wonder what the title of my post means. When I say my Strength and my Weakness, I am specifically referring to my family. Everything that I am, everything that I aspire to be, and everything that I will ever be flows from them. I wake up in the morning with my family being my purpose for being. All of my motivation, all of my pride, all of the perseverance I can ever muster is about them. They are my strength...however, at a time like this when I don't know when I will see them again I also realize that they are my biggest weakness. Without them I don't feel complete...I realize that I am n...

I'm Okay.... I just wanted everyone to know that I am doing okay. I am in an undisclosed location now, but I am doing well. I have limited internet access, but when I do get some I am going to post a video I shot before I left MCS Shelby. Take care everyone. Dkelsmith Last Beer before shipping.... We're not in Kansas anymore/it sucks here.....