Family Update

Thanks for all your kind emails and calls regarding Lori's auto accident. She's doing better Saturday morning as the kids stayed overnight Friday at various friends' houses. She's sore, but thankful that she's largely unscathed regarding serious injury. If you need a primer on the entire situation, just email me.

It's time to get back to Wisconsin. My service at Centcom is finished at month's end. I'll be so glad to get back home. I look very forward to settling in and enjoying the fall colors and some bonfires in the back yard. But once the magic of the Christmas season's snow is past, I will want to bring Tampa northward for sure. I'll admit, I've been softened by a collective 9 months out of 17 in this climate. What do I want to be when I grow up? Snowbird!

Thursday marked three months since the Kiels joined me in Tampa. (I took the above photo outside my apartment the day they arrived. There's the now-totaled van with the "Sears X-Cargo" topper-boy those were heady days). They headed back seven weeks later in August. It's been a long six and a half weeks since then. The three month marker hit me a bit as I realized life's passing me by until I get home.

Thanks to my friends and colleagues at Centcom as well as the good folks at Bayshore Baptist for being such strong supports even though they may not know it. They all welcomed my family when they were here and we've made many lifetime friends. Lori, we'll have to resurrect our Christmas card program we jettisoned a while ago.

I'll stop prattling on now, but thanks so much to the Florida, Midwest, and Worldwide AF Historian contingents of Kiel friends. HF1

CENTCOM Coalition Reps In Solidarity Against Terrorism

On Friday, September 12th, Coalition military members lined Bayshore Blvd. at Bay to Bay Blvd., otherwise known as "Patriots' Corner" where a dozen volunteers wave U.S. flags at MacDill AFB workers headed home on Fridays around 5pm. The Coalition people came out to commemorate when NATO declared its solidarity with the U.S. on 9/12/01.

Hello Belgium and others!

New Zealand!

Not to get political, but dozens of Obama enthusiasts with signs hooted and shouted happily at the traffic. The community-organizer fans placed themselves on both sides of the Coalition troops. I'm happy they can exercise their rights to demonstrate in our country. I'll exercise my freedom of speech to call them self-important opportunist lemmings, unaware that the Coalition folks were there supporting our country in comemorating 7 years since 9/12/01, when NATO invoked its defense of a member clause for the first time ever. It looks like these folks understand history as well as their candidate speaks without a teleprompter.

One of the Coalition officers told me to stop by American Legion Post 139 on Dale Mabry Hwy where they all were headed for a BBQ cookout with the Legionnaires of Tampa. I enjoyed a cross cultural event, speaking to officers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Italy. There were many others there too. I sat with these three gentlemen from Kazakhstan and one from Poland. Two of the Kazakhs had served in the Soviet Army in Afghanistan in the 1980s when Kazakhstan was part of the U.S.S.R. Talk about a fascinating conversation! I really felt proud to be part of Centcom with these folks working with us. What a great time! HF1

I Just Clicked "Send"

This is for friends and family who've visited down here in Tampa and have heard me at one time or another talk about having "to do some homework now." My class, LW545 Studies in U.S. Military History, is DONE! I loved the material, but it's been so labor-intensive. I just completed the 2-hour final and feel great! Of course the 2-hour limit killed any sense of coherance in my arguments. I hope my 93% going into the massive final can hold above 90%. I feel like that sea wall in Galveston. It's lookin' bad. Oh well. HF1

I (don't) Like Ike

Hurricane Ike is the next huge storm to bear down on the Florida Straits this season. While I like that Ike (President Eisenhower at right), I don't care for this Hurricane Ike that will really mess a lot people up by next weekend. You'll notice the cone is set to miss Tampa, although they can turn at a moment's notice. What's one to do? It's summer and it's the Caribbean and Gulf. Deal with it! HF1

Hurricane Season!

Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm (for now) Hannah are packing a one-two punch in the tropics this week. Tampa looks safe for now. But Gustav will shred whatever locality unfortunate enough to be at landfall. HF1

6:15 PM, Finally

For all the excitement, Tampa has finally gotten a little rain from Tropical Storm Fay. Originally, she looked to be bearing directly in on Tampa. But what a difference a day and a half makes. Of course it's a blessing not to have a huge storm hit, but I thought it'd be a little more intense. The Weather Channel guy in Naples made a valid point that despite some discomfort, overall Florida is blessed by this slow moving storm that's filling up drought-plagued aquifers. Areas farther south have flooded a bit such as Everglades City, Naples, and over on the Space Coast. But all's well from SoHo in Tampa. Check the latest radar image here. Cheers all! HF1

The Bucs Come To MacDill

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished their training camp and came to MacDill's gym complex for a walkthrough ahead of their Sunday Night Football game against the Patriots. The first photo shows me with none other than "Chuckie" or Jon Gruden the head coach who came right by me. Fortunately he was saying, "Thanks for all you do and God bless you." We usually see other God-prefixed utterances flying out of his mouth on game day...



Fan favorite Derrick Brooks delighted the fans and kids.

Journeyman QB Brian Griese good-naturedly came down the line, exuding a down-to-earth demeanor with the fans.

Fan favorite and returning Buc Warrick Dunn posed with many airmen including these guys.

All in all, a nice time before getting on with the day. HF1

Good Times w/Friends Old & New

My Reservist friend Ray visited Centcom on some annual training. We had a blast working at the HQ and getting to know another Centcom troop, Carlos. The three of us enjoyed many stories, laughs, and all parted ways this week. HF1

"I'm Thirty-Seven, I'm not OLD..."

Ever since I got hooked on Monty Python skits, I've been waiting for this day. I can truly identify with Dennis the Constitutional Peasant. If you're not familiar (!), click here. Otherwise, leave me in my peaceable geekdom on my birthday.

Baseball? It's convenient to leave that topic alone when things are going badly. The Brewers and Rays lost a rare chance to directly help one another this weekend. Conversely, the Red Sox and Cardinals advanced on the two. Is Ted Simmons getting ready to take the helm yet? Do you doubt why he was brought on board? Clue: American Family, State Farm, and other companies sell this...

My sister Maggie visited Jacksonville and Orlando this weekend and we met for a dinner at the ESPN Club on Disney World. This place is classy, with no less than six TVs in the men's room... Maggie finally got to show me the fun that can be had at Jellyrolls' dueling piano request bar.

And finally, bright guy got a $30 parking ticket for misreading (sure) the no parking signs near the apartment. Duh. But you really should see the madness of on-street parking in this area. It's like trying to find a parking spot on Breese Street the morning of a Badger game.

Take care all and we'll talk soon. HF1

Tampa Rain Dance Successful

Well, not even 14 hours after yesterday's post about rain-poor Florida, and I've gotten some results. I got caught in a glorious 30-minute downpour halfway through a run this morning. I'm here barely three days and I bring RESULTS! Now, it looks like another long dry stretch is on the way. The locals figure the rain is wonderful, but the mosquitoes and love bugs (see last May's post about those Neenah-lakefly-like pests here) will now be out in force. P.S. I still didn't see Travolta...

Friday Update & Some Background

Greetings folks. Two days in and it's comfortable being back on the job here in Tampastan. My office, lodging location, and coworkers are about 95% unchanged from 2007. I have to knock out some required inprocessing classes Mon-Wed and then it's really back to work.

Florida has really been dry. If you haven't seen the news, it's been over 30 days since some areas have seen any precip. The authorities arrested a suspect in the case of those terrible fires ravaging the Space Coast. Tampa is also very dry, with the locals doing rain dances to stretch our 30% chance of rain into greater odds. Speaking of odd and dancing, perhaps we could snag John Travolta to do the rain dancing. He'll be across the bay in St. Petersburg visiting Scientology world headquarters sometime soon. What would Olivia think?

For anyone interested in what's going on in my Centcom worldview, here are some solid links of authors and news stories that cover this often tense part of the world.

Start with Centcom (U.S. Central Command's) website. It's greatly improved over 2007. Take some time to look through the tabs about the mission, the humanitarian work, and the geography.

There are a few articles about the temporary commander, Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey and his recent trip to the region. I've been fortunate to sit in on some of his staff update meetings. Like many general officers, he's got a 200 terabyte mind and a good relationship with his people.

Gen. Dempsey is in command until Gen. David Petraeus takes over late this summer or early fall.

AFRICOM, or Africa Command, is the U.S. Government's new plan to merge military and diplomatic resources by fall 2008 to quietly help African nations train their people to resist Islamic militant terrorism spreading into Africa. Here is AFRICOM's official site. Here is a short article by reporter Robert Kaplan of The Atlantic magazine that overviews the new organization. There's a lot of work to do, but it's going to happen.

Well, I have to get back to work on a short paper for my course through American Military University. Take care! HF1

Arrival in Tampa

I have safely arrived in Tampa and am working at Centcom. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes. The mailing address is up and running for those interested in writing snail mail style. Take care!

8106 Condor Street
PSC 3500
MacDill AFB FL 33621

HF1

Goin' Home!

Hey there! I'm sitting here in the Tampa airport awaiting final boarding to St. Louis. It's been a great run and I thank both of you for reading the blog. It's been a hectic final week. I plan to post the photos from the final week in a few days. I've had a lot of fun with my buddies and Ray Cleveland who came down for some annual tour at MacDill. Talk soon. HF1

Monday Update

This is Ballast Point Park along Hillsborough Bay in South Tampa. I drive past it each day but finally took some time Sunday afternoon to take a stroll there. You can see downtown Tampa, the phosphate plants, cruise ships, freighter ships, and MacDill Air Force Base all from the pier at Ballast Point.

Here's me at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, there it is. So what, Timm and Charlie? It's just the Bucs. For any football fans reading, Gruden has gotten all bad press so far. The fans are hungry and the team's PR machine seems to make all the wrong moves.

Greetings. Not much to report other than it's another week closer to coming home. Thanks for those of you sending emails and snail mails. There's nothing like a word from a friend or loved one.

I thought about changing the quote atop my blog recently. Despite its currency, it's been there for two years and other great snippets like "no liquidos caliente" (on my lawn chair) are out there. But then someone like the bishop in the Netherlands comes along last week. In something that could've come out of The Onion, the holy man urged Catholics to refer to God as "Allah" to ease relations with Muslims. Check it out here. Then check 2nd Peter chapter 2 for similarities.

Barack Obama's campaign announced it will cut back on debates and appearances. Bravo, in the sense that all this nonsense starts way too early now. I think the decision reflects that the more Obama talks, the more his numbers sink. He may be on the cover of GQ and appear on Vanity Fair's best dressed list. But it's what falls out of his mouth when he speaks that marks him as a novice who was working in Springfield, Illinois as an ineffectual state senator just three years ago. He recently characterized U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan as nothing more than, "air raiding villages and killing civilians." Each day he proves himself more inaccurate and makes Hillary look more presidential. Think "Nobama '08."

Chevy has this ad running that brags about the new trucks that use "corn-based ethanol" like it's the be-all end-all of the energy crunch. Land sakes folks, ethanol is bad policy and it's showing more and more. We've driven the price of corn through the roof. Corn affects almost every processed food and is the most popular feed for livestock. Have you wondered why almost everything has gone up lately? Am I just cranky? Well, maybe, but read here. And now some experts believe Wisconsin, drunk with an ethanol buzz (soon to be a hangover), may be at the tipping point of too many ethanol plants. Read about that here. It can be boring reading, but this ethanol fad is bad in the strategic sense, to say nothing of the fact that it burns dirtier and reduces your mileage.

And Neenah made the TV news in Green Bay and in Chicago by way of a man who plans to make Elvis the theme at his funeral someday. Never mind focusing on the life of the person and God's presence. I have Elvis on my iPod, but I won't have "Devil in Disguise" playing as a theme at my funeral. And who says Americans aren't cultured? Go Neenah!

And fantastic news: My friend Rob, who I posted about on August 6th, has gone through two cancer removal surgeries and is doing better than expected. He began his new teaching job at Liberty University this week despite having surgery late last week. Thanks for all your prayers.

Have a good evening! HF1

Cypress Point Park

Check out that Tampa map here and locate the Cypress Point Park marker on the NW side of town. I took my audio recorder and copy of The Last Battle to read and send on CD to Emma to Cypress Point Park. It's a great place to watch a sunset and contemplate much. In fact, there's my mobile reading and studying headquarters in the photo above.


This photo shows the making of one nasty storm. This one hasn't pounced yet, but it's getting there.

What can you say about this one? As you might guess, it looked WAY better in person. Click on the photo for a closer look. I think it's the Michigan cloud.

And here's the disheveled looking author. The lovely little knick on my head represents my first Centcom combat wound. A concealed anti-coalition militant bookend leapt at me from a top shelf as I sought some office supplies. It turned out to be a real gusher. I was happy no one was in the men's room when I applied first aid. How would I explain that? HF1

Life in Tampanistan

Recently Lori's awesome Aunt Kathy emailed to see how it's going. I sent her an email with a narrative. I thought rather than regurging again here, I'll just print what I wrote to Kathy and the others. Sure, it's plagiarizing, but it's my own material.

One update from today is visiting the Kenyan and Georgian (former Soviet republic, not Atlanta) coalition officers today. I'm carving out as much time as I can to visit with these foreign officers. There are endless amounts of interesting topics to talk about.

I even cleared up another meaning of the word that got Don Imus fired. It's news again because a teacher was suspended for using it recently. I thought it meant something entirely benign to Brits, judging from BBC shows on PBS. So, I asked a British corporal passing by in the hallway and, after the awkward chuckle, he confirmed that I was right. Click on any of the highlighted links to read what I'm talking about, or just move on and read my email to Aunt Kathy below:

No, can't stand FL as a place to reside. Nice place to visit knowing I am a foreigner. Nice folks. The church I joined has been great and I've been to some weeknight fellowship/coffeeklatsches at homes and felt very accepted. Enjoying the access to briefings sitting behind the Centcom commanders and seeing what the news channels can only guess at. I think the war is lost more in our American heads than anything on the ground. The surge is extremely effective, but not enough for push polls and America's collective ADD.

I got to attend some very neat social and official gatherings recently. I should just blog that because I keep typing the same stuff to friends and family. Had a great time honoring a retiring 40-yr Marine general after work today. Can't explain it well, but seeing all the folks (generals, civilians, contractors, low-lifes like me, and others) who are tightly-wound during the day enjoying each others' company at this reception this evening gave me a warm patriotic sense of duty with these folks. Easy to get caught up in the "work" but I live for the moments like this evening.

Been introducing myself to the Coalition officers when I can. I have regular coffee time with two Germans on Thursdays to share friendship and practice my rusted German. The Kenyan officer asked me to stop by and accept token gifts for my school geo classroom. And I see the Koreans at the Tuesday lunchtime Centcom Bible Study with the Jamie Farr-look-and-sound-alike chaplain. Have spoken briefly with officers from Denmark, Pakistan, UK, Canada, Aus, NZ, Mongolia, Moldova, etc. Once in a lifetime conflagration of wonderful experiences.

Well, gotta go and get to my grad class book review assignment. I have that due Sunday online as well as a term paper due in mid-Sept. I'm taking a class called "The Non-State Soldier" about terrorists and the deterioration of states etc. The material when coupled with the gigabytes of info I peruse for my Centcom summaries and chronologies can make for some dark dreams. I have a video iPod on which I have loaded the dolphin scene from Ace Ventura, the VW pimped-Autos ads, and other whacked out comedy short clips to save my sanity when it gets near the edge.

To prove how once in a lifetime this is, I've begun regularly...shhhh... working out. I run thrice a week and do three sessions of spinning class at the base gym. I know, I've gone all native but the iPod makes running on Tampa's Bayshore Blvd a treat (at 4:30 am to avoid the heat). See attached photo (I took the photo at a church member's apartment social last week).

Really going this time. Lots of love and laughs!HF1

Photos Around Tampa/St. Pete

I thought I'd share a bunch of random photos from the past two and a half weeks. For geographic reference, please click on the map of Tampa here, when I describe each photo. You can click on any of the photos to get a closer look.

Here's me at MacDill Air Force Base, near CENTCOM, looking north across Hillsborough Bay at downtown Tampa.


Baseball fans, especially Jack, here are A-Rod at third and Derek Jeter at short at the Yankees-Rays game July 15th. With all the retired and relocated people here in Florida, the Yankees had more fans than the Rays!


The peanut gallery in row UU way back in right field. I'm with Ken Griffey Jr., who took a day off from his duties with the Cincinnati Reds. Kidding, that's actually Ken Lafayette, another temporary historian here from Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. Next time we go to stadium and pro shop, Ken has agreed to don a Reds hat for a picture. Uncanny.


If you find the "Dr. Meadows" pinpoint on the Tampa map, this photo is taken from the 16th floor looking SE down Bayshore Blvd. on the east shore of the Interbay Peninsula (I like geography so bear with me...). Dr. Meadows, a retired physician at the church I attend had some of us up for some fellowship and a great view. I do my morning runs in part along that sidewalk below. It's considered the world's longest at 4.5 miles. To view a short news clip on Bayshore, click here.





Here's Geek Boy 1 at Picnic Island, along the SW shore of the Interbay Peninsula, and directly W of MacDill AFB. (Again, bear with me...) I experienced skeeters and a view all the way to St. Pete while picking up some geocaching finds. [username herrforce1 for fellow cachers]


And the best... Locate Davis Islands on the map (SE of downtown Tampa) and find the tiny airport. I saw this looking directly west. I noticed the impending behemoth of a storm coming in while poking around the park near Peter Knight airport. Tampa puts on at least two to three magnificent storms per week all summer. As long as those hurricanes stay away, I can sit under the overhang and watch the natural awesomeness of these storms.

My Tampa Environs

Here's a look at a Google Earth view of my Tampa existence. Click the photo to enlarge it. HF1

Out And About

Geocachers among you, I got an opportunity to get out last Sunday and today to get some fresh air and hunt some caches. The Tampa area has quite a few and I've been doing about a 50% success rate. Neenah folks, go out and try to find my latest hide back home called "Neenah Riverwalk" beginning at Shattuck Park (Waypoint # GC13HT3). The photo shows me standing beneath the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway at the corner of MacDill and Bay to Bay (Just in case you want to plot it out). I had just found the "Free Parking??" cache.

Random Thoughts (The reader "Anonymous" should log off now. This will be boring):

People always on the lookout for good MP3 jogging tunes (Some of the audience just fainted at my having typed that statement), I have found a few more gems: the B-52s' Private Idaho, the Moody Blues' I'm Just A Singer In A Rock 'N Roll Band, and the Spencer Davis Group's (Stevie Winwood) or Chicago's I'm A Man. I'm always looking for new ones. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Have you seen the Geico Caveman commercial where he's minding his own business going through the airport? Every time that airs, the background music intrigues me. I searched it successfully on Google's first hit. FYI, the song is titled "Remind Me" by the Norwegian pop group Royksopp. I'll have to hit iTunes. Eccentric, yes. But I know at least Ray and O-Ring will use the info to its full value. HF1

No Shuttle For Me!

Two Fridays ago a colleague and lifelong Floridian urged me to step out to Bayshore drive on the elegant east side of the Interbay Peninsula and watch the streak of the space shuttle. He said it's pretty cool and I would clearly see it from Tampa. I headed out half an hour early to walk the mile to Bayshore and noticed a westbound thunderhead bearing down on Tampa. So, the storm system, while producing enraptured meteorologists, blocked my view of the Space Coast. However, with a clear west sky, the entire downtown shone under the most brilliant double rainbow I've ever seen. Of course the photo can't do it justice. So taken was I that before long, "plop.......plop....plop...plop..plopploploploploploploplWALLOP rained down. I made haste for shelter at a Panera Coffee shop until I could safely hop through a labyrinth of covered sidewalk establishments back to my dwelling. The photo looks northeast from Bayshore Drive toward downtown Tampa and Davis Island. HF1