Keith Outten
07-16-2008, 5:54 AM
Hello all,
You know one of the things that I have not really mentioned but most likely should have mentioned long before now is one of the support mechanisms that I found when I first started deploying years ago. Lots of times when I deploy many of you remind me that if I need anything just to ask and I do think that is great of you. But as many of you know, I don't ask for much. Now two organizations that really do a great deal of supporting the Soldiers is www.anysoldier.com and you can sign up to sponsor Soldiers deployed or you can just chat back and forth with them as well. In fact I am pretty sure that at least one person on this distro list was encountered that way. Now the one that I find absolutely amazing and I get requests for when ever I deploy is www.freedompens.org. Now what freedom pens does is send .. well pens. Now these are not normal pens, each pen is hand crafted by a hobbyist and they are amazing. I first discovered them when I deployed in 2005 and since that time any time I deploy I request a box to support my troops and me where ever I am. I can tell you that when I was on the MiTT team and we had to do combat patrols just to get supplies freedom pens were all we had cause if all we needed was office stuff like paper, pens etc ... we just went without rather than endanger ourselves for 4 boxes of pens. I put in a request for pens right when we got there and they sent us a big box and then another box about half way through the trip. Three days ago I got another big box of freedom pens and started to distribute them to my troopers and I can tell you the word has spread like wild fire. Since then I have had leaders from other sections asking for some, which of course I gave them cause I planned for that. I have given the address to several officers who are intent on ordering them for their Soldiers as well. From a personal point of view I can tell you nothing makes me happier than pulling out a hand crafted wooden pen when I am deployed and knowing that someone made it for my bothers and sisters in arms, you know people just like me. Now I can tell you that some of the pens I get often come from several really good pen artists. There is a woman named Ruth, who sent one of my officers last year a personal set of 2 pens engraved with his full name and rank. I found that to be a very nice personal touch. We just got a bunch of pens here in Afghanistan from Richard J. Komp, Willis Holland, and Rod Torgeson. Now what is interesting is that Willis was one of the people who made the pens I first received in 2005, I also received some pens from him in 2007 and now in Afghanistan the box had a few of his pens as well. So overall in the last 3 years his pens have deployed as much as mine. So if any of you are really wanting to do something to support then go to the websites above and help out people like Keith and Jackie Outten (Freedom pens) to support troops in general. I can tell you that for over 4 years I have not deployed or re deployed without a freedom pen.
Now here is a bit of humor for you or at least something some of the people I work with find funny. I recently, same day I got the pens so about 3 days ago, got an IPOD Nano. Now I grew up as video games and computers became popular so I am a bit savvy about these kind of things for the most part. Well I had no problem setting up the software on my computer, or initializing or converting/loading the music I have on my laptop to IPOD format. I even had no issues getting pictures that I want on it and suspect that I will be able to load movies on it without incident either. So here I am reveling in my new trinket and it dawns on me .... I have no idea how to turn the thing off. I look at it, and of course, there is no power button anywhere. I look through it's digital menu and there is no power off option either. I remember a friend telling me that some just turn themselves off if you leave them alone for like 10 minutes so I put it down and walk away for about 30 minutes. I pick it up listen to the IPOD and yep ... it is still playing music. I poke about it a bit more and Josh Curtis comes on shift and we talk a bit. I tell him that I cannot turn off my new IPOD and he tells me that it is most likely in the instructions but reading them would be breaking the Guy Code. Cause for those of you who don't know, men rarely read instructions, that is why if women came with a manual we still would be lost, cause we don't read instruction manuals or if we do it is just enough to get what ever it is started ..... you can all insert your own puns there. Now this does no apply to work related instructions, cause guys don't like getting fired either. So anyways I'm thinking several of my troopers have IPODs so I could just ask them how to and right at that moment I just realized I became my mother. What I mean by that is that when my mom got her computer first she was asking my brother and I constantly what to do and how to set it up. Well we had no problem helping her, but we found it a bit odd cause some of her questions seemed really basic stuff. Karma loves to bite you in the butt when you really are not expecting it. So I had finally encountered a techno device that I really had no idea how to activate one of it's most basic functions. So I went home last night and just grabbed the instructions book and found all I have to do is hold down the play/pause button for like 5 seconds and it pops right off. So yes I broke the Guy Code by checking the instructions with more than a cursory glance, but given the option of doing that or being my mom ... um I went with breaking the code.
Stay safe all,
Jamie
You know one of the things that I have not really mentioned but most likely should have mentioned long before now is one of the support mechanisms that I found when I first started deploying years ago. Lots of times when I deploy many of you remind me that if I need anything just to ask and I do think that is great of you. But as many of you know, I don't ask for much. Now two organizations that really do a great deal of supporting the Soldiers is www.anysoldier.com and you can sign up to sponsor Soldiers deployed or you can just chat back and forth with them as well. In fact I am pretty sure that at least one person on this distro list was encountered that way. Now the one that I find absolutely amazing and I get requests for when ever I deploy is www.freedompens.org. Now what freedom pens does is send .. well pens. Now these are not normal pens, each pen is hand crafted by a hobbyist and they are amazing. I first discovered them when I deployed in 2005 and since that time any time I deploy I request a box to support my troops and me where ever I am. I can tell you that when I was on the MiTT team and we had to do combat patrols just to get supplies freedom pens were all we had cause if all we needed was office stuff like paper, pens etc ... we just went without rather than endanger ourselves for 4 boxes of pens. I put in a request for pens right when we got there and they sent us a big box and then another box about half way through the trip. Three days ago I got another big box of freedom pens and started to distribute them to my troopers and I can tell you the word has spread like wild fire. Since then I have had leaders from other sections asking for some, which of course I gave them cause I planned for that. I have given the address to several officers who are intent on ordering them for their Soldiers as well. From a personal point of view I can tell you nothing makes me happier than pulling out a hand crafted wooden pen when I am deployed and knowing that someone made it for my bothers and sisters in arms, you know people just like me. Now I can tell you that some of the pens I get often come from several really good pen artists. There is a woman named Ruth, who sent one of my officers last year a personal set of 2 pens engraved with his full name and rank. I found that to be a very nice personal touch. We just got a bunch of pens here in Afghanistan from Richard J. Komp, Willis Holland, and Rod Torgeson. Now what is interesting is that Willis was one of the people who made the pens I first received in 2005, I also received some pens from him in 2007 and now in Afghanistan the box had a few of his pens as well. So overall in the last 3 years his pens have deployed as much as mine. So if any of you are really wanting to do something to support then go to the websites above and help out people like Keith and Jackie Outten (Freedom pens) to support troops in general. I can tell you that for over 4 years I have not deployed or re deployed without a freedom pen.
Now here is a bit of humor for you or at least something some of the people I work with find funny. I recently, same day I got the pens so about 3 days ago, got an IPOD Nano. Now I grew up as video games and computers became popular so I am a bit savvy about these kind of things for the most part. Well I had no problem setting up the software on my computer, or initializing or converting/loading the music I have on my laptop to IPOD format. I even had no issues getting pictures that I want on it and suspect that I will be able to load movies on it without incident either. So here I am reveling in my new trinket and it dawns on me .... I have no idea how to turn the thing off. I look at it, and of course, there is no power button anywhere. I look through it's digital menu and there is no power off option either. I remember a friend telling me that some just turn themselves off if you leave them alone for like 10 minutes so I put it down and walk away for about 30 minutes. I pick it up listen to the IPOD and yep ... it is still playing music. I poke about it a bit more and Josh Curtis comes on shift and we talk a bit. I tell him that I cannot turn off my new IPOD and he tells me that it is most likely in the instructions but reading them would be breaking the Guy Code. Cause for those of you who don't know, men rarely read instructions, that is why if women came with a manual we still would be lost, cause we don't read instruction manuals or if we do it is just enough to get what ever it is started ..... you can all insert your own puns there. Now this does no apply to work related instructions, cause guys don't like getting fired either. So anyways I'm thinking several of my troopers have IPODs so I could just ask them how to and right at that moment I just realized I became my mother. What I mean by that is that when my mom got her computer first she was asking my brother and I constantly what to do and how to set it up. Well we had no problem helping her, but we found it a bit odd cause some of her questions seemed really basic stuff. Karma loves to bite you in the butt when you really are not expecting it. So I had finally encountered a techno device that I really had no idea how to activate one of it's most basic functions. So I went home last night and just grabbed the instructions book and found all I have to do is hold down the play/pause button for like 5 seconds and it pops right off. So yes I broke the Guy Code by checking the instructions with more than a cursory glance, but given the option of doing that or being my mom ... um I went with breaking the code.
Stay safe all,
Jamie