A blog? Why?

So, I've decided to create a blog in the hopes that I will be able to keep more people updated on my life instead of using all of my time to respond to emails. Perhaps this will answer some of your questions (plus my employer strongly encouraged me to do a blog).

And now... a little background...

I work for the Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) department of the American Red Cross (ARC) as an Assistant Station Manager (ASM). No, I cannot take your blood. No, I can't teach you CPR or first aid. No, I do not have contact with prisoners of war. No, I am not the one who determines if the military is treating detainees humanely. I can probably tell you where to find out all that information. My primary base of knowledge lies solely with the ARC as it pertains to communications within the United States military. Confused? Allow me to explain a bit more.

Technically what I do is called emergency communication messaging. Basically, someone (either the servicemember or a member of his/her family or friends) begins an EMERGENCY message for a servicemember by calling the ARC. This generally happens due to severe illness, death, and birth of immediate family members. It is verified BY LEGITIMATE VERIFYING OFFICIALS in the USA and then it is shipped to myself and my co-workers in Iraq (and many other places, I'm just going on my experience here). We then take those messages and pass them on to said servicemember's command or the servicemember him/herself. Yes, we have been called the Angels of Death... but someone has to do it. This allows the military time to focus on its primary mission - which is not dealing with what's going on at home. We weed out the emergencies from the non-emergencies and do all of the verification so the military doesn't have to do so.

I began training for this job in OCT2007, deployed NOV2007, and returned MAR2008. I absolutely loved being there.... so I requested to return and now I'm going back. This chronicles my life...