We were cleaning out the baby's new room and I found my over night bag from my time in Iraq. The back pack is impressively large as you can see.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I couldn't let this pass without sharing
We were cleaning out the baby's new room and I found my over night bag from my time in Iraq. The back pack is impressively large as you can see.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
New Post.... As unbelievable as can be
Well, I have waited about a year to post on the old blogsite again. Do I have a good reason for waiting so long?
Not really.
Sure, work has been pretty intense this last year with a huge range of experiences and types of work I have been doing during that time.
Let's see, how can I update all of the people who have kept up with my site, or still look from time to time?
I guess the best way is just to go ahead and jump into it.
The last time I wrote on this blogsite, I was about to go off to Huntsville, AL for a contracting class. Enroute I took a couple of days of leave and was able to watch a Georgia Tech Football game, and catch up with friends from school. The class on the other hand was terirble. It was Construction Contracting, which is one of my technical profeciencies, and the level of teaching was terrible. But I was able to get my contracting warrant from the experience and that is a big deal in my community. Well, it's a big deal anywhere, because it put me in the group of people who can legally obligate the government in an agreement. It's been pretty interesting. To date, I abligated close to $3.5 million in contraction actions.
The next big thing that happened is that my supervisor, LCDR Mike Comstock went to Iraq for 6 months. That left me as the only military in the Facilities Engineering, Acquisitions Division (FEAD), with a new PWO and base CO both of which felt that having a military person in change of this very important division of the public works department was crucial. So I stepped up and became the acting FEAD officer. That was a very trying time, as the entire division was understaffed, the work was ramping up, and the demands of my bosses continued to increase. To tell you the truth it was exciting, and while I can't say that I did a great job, I kept it all afloat and juggled the balance of executing construction which I was responsible for, and providing the leadership for the people who work the Division.
During this time Kristin and I found out that she is pregnant. (Still expecting as of this writing.) I was promoted, and commited to another five years in the Navy. (There was a healthy retention bonus in it as well.)
Now for the recent past; In June I changed jobs. I moved from the FEAD when LCDR Comstock came back from Iraq and became an Assistant Public Works Officer (APWO). This means that instead of executing construction projects, I am the person who works with the customers to coordinate and drive their requirement for a project in the first place. So far it's been pretty easy compared to running the FEAD. (Knock on wood, as I rap on my head.) Working with the different people on base is a lot of fun, and educating them on the hazards of trying to get facilities projects executed in the militay realm. It's been very interesting, and I am sure will continue to be interesting.
In the last month, I have been able to go to Hawaii for a Junior Officer's conference. That was interesting and all said and done actually productive. The senior management in the Civil Engineer Corps is still very concerned with the retention of junior officers and there was much talk about that. Right now it doesn't look like there are enough people to fill the future ranks of middle and senior leadership. Time will tell how the retention strategies work in the long run.
Ronan is doing great, he is very verbal and active. We have had him in swimming lessons for most of the summer, and he seems to love playing in the water. That is great. He is actually starting an active, organized preschool this fall. He's very excited about that because they get to do so many really neat things.
Kristin is about to give birth. I think within the next couple of weeks.
I am doing quite a bit of outdoor adventuring. I am going to climb Mt. Fuji next week, and the second week in October I am going to do a 24 hour, 72km hike up in the hills west of Tokyo. Thatr promises to be an interesting thing. Who knows if I will even finish the hike in 24 hours.
Besides the endless computer problems that seem to be plaguing our house, that is about it for right now.
I will update again in the near future, I promise.
~Josh
Not really.
Sure, work has been pretty intense this last year with a huge range of experiences and types of work I have been doing during that time.
Let's see, how can I update all of the people who have kept up with my site, or still look from time to time?
I guess the best way is just to go ahead and jump into it.
The last time I wrote on this blogsite, I was about to go off to Huntsville, AL for a contracting class. Enroute I took a couple of days of leave and was able to watch a Georgia Tech Football game, and catch up with friends from school. The class on the other hand was terirble. It was Construction Contracting, which is one of my technical profeciencies, and the level of teaching was terrible. But I was able to get my contracting warrant from the experience and that is a big deal in my community. Well, it's a big deal anywhere, because it put me in the group of people who can legally obligate the government in an agreement. It's been pretty interesting. To date, I abligated close to $3.5 million in contraction actions.
The next big thing that happened is that my supervisor, LCDR Mike Comstock went to Iraq for 6 months. That left me as the only military in the Facilities Engineering, Acquisitions Division (FEAD), with a new PWO and base CO both of which felt that having a military person in change of this very important division of the public works department was crucial. So I stepped up and became the acting FEAD officer. That was a very trying time, as the entire division was understaffed, the work was ramping up, and the demands of my bosses continued to increase. To tell you the truth it was exciting, and while I can't say that I did a great job, I kept it all afloat and juggled the balance of executing construction which I was responsible for, and providing the leadership for the people who work the Division.
During this time Kristin and I found out that she is pregnant. (Still expecting as of this writing.) I was promoted, and commited to another five years in the Navy. (There was a healthy retention bonus in it as well.)
Now for the recent past; In June I changed jobs. I moved from the FEAD when LCDR Comstock came back from Iraq and became an Assistant Public Works Officer (APWO). This means that instead of executing construction projects, I am the person who works with the customers to coordinate and drive their requirement for a project in the first place. So far it's been pretty easy compared to running the FEAD. (Knock on wood, as I rap on my head.) Working with the different people on base is a lot of fun, and educating them on the hazards of trying to get facilities projects executed in the militay realm. It's been very interesting, and I am sure will continue to be interesting.
In the last month, I have been able to go to Hawaii for a Junior Officer's conference. That was interesting and all said and done actually productive. The senior management in the Civil Engineer Corps is still very concerned with the retention of junior officers and there was much talk about that. Right now it doesn't look like there are enough people to fill the future ranks of middle and senior leadership. Time will tell how the retention strategies work in the long run.
Ronan is doing great, he is very verbal and active. We have had him in swimming lessons for most of the summer, and he seems to love playing in the water. That is great. He is actually starting an active, organized preschool this fall. He's very excited about that because they get to do so many really neat things.
Kristin is about to give birth. I think within the next couple of weeks.
I am doing quite a bit of outdoor adventuring. I am going to climb Mt. Fuji next week, and the second week in October I am going to do a 24 hour, 72km hike up in the hills west of Tokyo. Thatr promises to be an interesting thing. Who knows if I will even finish the hike in 24 hours.
Besides the endless computer problems that seem to be plaguing our house, that is about it for right now.
I will update again in the near future, I promise.
~Josh
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