Tuesday, April 01, 2008

6.0mi, 52:54, 1 APR 08, Bagram, Afghanistan

Day 50 of the campaign.

iThink: "Johnny Hopkins" (alas, not heard much these days at Homewood Field...)

WX at 2330: 59 (15) DP 30 (-1) BP 29.97 (1015) ENE 10 RH 33

Odometer 2: 53.7mi

Z3.

The last few days have been singularly unpleasant at work if partly because of unexpectedly high workload. I was so intemperate that I was seriously about to go choke someone out today.

One of our soldiers was promoted today - and I ws very gratified to tell him that. That said, I had a discussion with him about how things were happening that should not happen, like officers having to do basic administrative tasks that were in the purview of others to do.

I did tell El Gato this morning that I was going for a run, come hell or high water. No way around it. I didn't care how late it was, but I was going for a damn run. We went for an easy run starting at about 10:45 at night...which by itself is not a big deal considering that we had been doing bare-knuckle planning most of the day.

It's hard, often thankless, and sometimes stultifying work, but there is a certain pleasure in doing planning that gets acknowledgement from senior leadership for its correctness. It's what the professor of military theory at the School of Advanced Military Heresy described as the difference between knowledge and mastery. I have no doubt that I work with some of the right people to achieve some of that mastery - rather than the clumsy knowledge of a mere courtier.

I don't make any pretense about what my eventual future is in the Green Polyester Industry; my conscious decision to leave the command track was the right decision for me. It does validate the prediction I made at the age of 22...that my greatest contributions to the Nation's defense would not be made as a commander.

Damn, that run was therapeutic. I was really getting crotchety today.

Splits
SGMT AGGRG SEGMT PERMI AVGPC DIST
3.00 27:26 27:26 09:09 09:09 3.00
3.00 52:54 25:28 08:29 08:49 6.00

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