When BG Lanza returned to the room a few minutes later, LTC Ignacio Perez, the 314th PAOC Commander and CPIC Director, called the room to order, but BG Lanza instructed everyone to relax as he said a few things. 

What he said next is what every commander hopes to hear about his Soldiers.  BG Lanza spoke about the achievements of each of the five Soldiers in the front row — how they were indicative of the entire unit — which he called “high-performing.”  When he finished his comments, he told LTC Perez it was time to proceed.  With LTC Leela Dawson, former 314th PAOC Commander, at his side, each of the five Soldiers was called forward to receive their much-deserved promotion.

The follow pictures from the promotion ceremony were taken by SGT Kellena Leech, 314th PAOC.

Shortly before they entered the CPIC conference room, the five Soldiers posed for a picture with their current rank -- waiting for the promotion to the next higher one.

BG Stephen Lanza shares some comments with the Soldiers of the 314th PAOC shortly before the promotion ceremony.

While BG Lanza lists some of the achievements of each promotees, SFC Benari Poulten captures the moment on video (to be posted soon).

Before they begin to promote Soldiers, BG Lanza shakes hands with LTC Leela Dawson, former 314th PAOC Commander.

After CPT Joseph Thames was called forward, but before he was promoted, BG Lanza asked him to face the crowd and reminded him of the gravity of this step in his career as he became a field-grade officer.

BG Lanza removed the captain rank and replaced it with major.

Next to be promoted was SSG Paul Roberts, one of the newest arrivals into the units.

Newly-promoted SSG Roberts salutes BG Lanza before returning to the formation.

SSG Jeremy Fowler may not look like it on the outside, but he is very excited on the inside about his promotion (and that nice tax-free pay raise).

See, I told you he was happy!

SGT Bryan Tull got a "thump" for good luck as BG Lanza promoted him -- to make it stick.

SGT Tull and BG Lanza pose for the "grip and grin."

SGT Autumn Hope stands at attention while BG Lanza formally makes her an NCO.

BG Lanza shakes SGT Hope's hand while the remainder of the 314th PAOC look on.

BG Lanza asks everyone in the audience to join him in congratulating the Soldiers promoted today.

After the ceremony finished, it was time for some handshakes...

...and some hugs. Congratulations to all five of these fine "high-performing" Soldiers from the 314th PAOC.

What a week!  In all my years in the Army Reserve, I have never seen anything like this.  Am I talking about the dust storms or the 130 degree heat?  NO!  I am talking about the SIX promotions in the 314th Public Affairs Operations Center in the past 48 hours.  Yep, you read that right.

The first five Soldiers were recommended for promotion during a junior enlisted board held here in the International Zone on July 7.  The enlisted Soldiers recommended were:

SGT(P) Jeremy Fowler
SGT(P) Paul Roberts
SGT(P) Bryan Tull
SPC(P) Autumn Hope
SPC(P) Roshonda Thurston

We are hoping to be able to announce their official promotion dates soon, but until then, they will have the (P) behind their current rank. 

As if that were not enough, we received word this afternoon that one of our officers, CPT Joseph Thames, was also selected for promotion — to the rank of major — so we will start using CPT(P) for him.

LTC Ignacio Perez, the 314th PAOC commander, said it best — there is nothing more exciting for a commander than to be able to promote a Soldier….so he has six times the excitement coming up in the next few weeks. 

If you know any of the six, join us in congratulating them and wishing them well as leaders in the next highest rank.  More details and pictures will follow when we have the promotion ceremony for each of these great Soldiers who continue to set the standard here in Iraq.

Oh, and in case you aren’t keeping track (because we are), that makes 16 out of 30 Soldiers in the 314th PAOC that have been promoted since we mobilized back in Birmingham, Alabama, late last year, and 18 out of 30 in the past 12 months.

“This is my routine. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My routine is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My routine, without me, is useless. Without my routine, I am useless…My routine is human, even as I, because it is my life.”

A friend of mine told me there are only three days of importance in Iraq: the day you arrived, the day you leave, and Monday because every day is Monday.

Today is actually Friday and it is our 180^th day of being officially mobilized. It is hard to believe it has already been six months and we are half way done. Sometimes if feels like it was just yesterday we arrived to the Middle East (it’s crazy even writing that) yet when I think about all that has happened in my life since that time it feels like a life time ago.

But yes, it is true every day is Monday here because for the most part I relive the same day over and over again. To most people my routine might seem sick or depressing; to know how scheduled and regimented my day is. But oddly enough in the five months we have been in Baghdad I have found a strange comfort in the monotony.

One way I have dealt with the repetitiveness of my life here, has been to count things. For example when I was working in the Media Escort section and driving all around the Green Zone I figured out I had driven over more than 3,000 speed bumps before I switched to a new section; or how many stairs it takes to get to the top of the palace (100 inside, 80 outside, 96 from inside back stairway); or how long it takes and how far it is to get to our office (six minutes from either going in front of or behind the palace and .034 miles); or how many hard boiled eggs I have eaten if an average is two a day (actually have lost count of that one); or what the ratio of men to women living on Prosperity is (last time I checked including civilian, there were 1,310 men and 150 women ). It is not uncommon for my fellow soldiers to hear me spew out some new number of something I have found to count. I know it may be a bit OCD, but I think we all either have or will develop some little tick to deal with Groundhogs-Day phenomenon.

It is amazing how in tune my body and mind have become to the routine. I feel like a machine in a way. Since I work out more than I ever have in my life, during the day I seriously need to eat every two and a half to three hours. Also I don’t need an alarm anymore. Pretty much without fail every morning around 0545 I wake up. It does have its advantages, but on my days off I cannot sleep in.

Every morning the first thing I do is turn my computer on so I can check my e-mail to see if anyone back home wrote me while I was sleeping. Then I turn the light on so I can make my way to the coffee pot where I fill the basin until it reaches the 4-cup dash; just enough for a mug full to last me until I get to the office. When I have begun the coffee, I leave my CHU with towel and hygiene kit in hand to make the 90-second walk (counted that one too!) to the shower trailer where I chose the same shower stall if no one else is in it.

Making my way back to my room, I proceed to get ready in the same order of sequence that I have for the past five months. I begin by putting lotion on my face, then undergarments, then ACU t-shirt. Once the t-shirt is on I grab my iPod and begin to listen to music; then pants, belt, socks and boots. When my boots are on I then make my cup of coffee. Two sugars and two hazelnut creamers (the other morning I had forgotten to get more creamers and I thought I was going to turn into a beast because I did not have my morning coffee).

Now it is time to brush my hair, getting it just right because if I don’t I find myself getting very frustrated. After my hair is done I then proceed to make another lotion-foundation cocktail for my face as I am cautious of what this intense Iraqi sun/heat/sand mixture is doing to my skin. Then, if for no other reason than to feel like I am still a girl, I apply a bit of makeup. After a ritualistic pat down to make sure I have everything I need; weapon, wallet, keys, both phones and sunglasses, I make my way out the door for the four-minute walk to the chow hall.

When I arrive I make my way past the Ugandan guards and into the building and head for the indoor latrine, where it is a treat to examine my uniform in a full-length mirror and use indoor plumbing. I then pass the sea of sleepy-eyed yet ever watching hungry soldiers, marines and civilians. With very little variation I chose the same food for breakfast every day. So much so that the workers behind the counter, who have the biggest welcoming smile on their face when I approach, know exactly what I want and if I ever chose something different or have a day off and come in late they make sure to notice.

Every day I get one to two hard boiled eggs, one MacDonald-style hash brown, and a small bowl of oatmeal. Then I make my way over to the salad bar area where I grab a pad of butter for my toast, brown sugar and raisins for my oatmeal, place one piece of wheat toast into the toaster, put some low fat milk in the oatmeal, grab a cup of ice to place my egg in so it will be easier to peal, then I go over to the cooler and get an apple juice box. When I have everything I need, I make my way to an empty table to sit in front of the TV playing CNN, where I eat my food in the same order every day.

And this is all before 0800, so you can imagine the rest of my day is filled with routine. Without fail at 0930 I notice I am hungry and make a protein shake, then I cannot wait until 1130 to go to lunch, and around 1430 I am ready for an afternoon snack. But unlike other people, I do love my routine because there is predictability and some sense of safety in this foreign land I have called home for the past six months. It feels good to go to the gym every day around the same time and see familiar faces. It is nice to sit at the same table for dinner and look around at other soldiers who are in the same boat I am.

We have six more months to go, give or take a few weeks. I am pretty excited to see what other changes will occur, small or big. I have R&R coming up in 13 days which give me so much to look forward to. It might be hard for me to leave my routine for a few weeks and allow myself to relax when I am home, and maybe even sleep past 0700. But at least I will know, unlike I did six months ago when we were making out way here, what I am coming back to.

In a way being forced to have nothing but time to reflect and gain perspective has allowed me to realize what I thought I wanted and valued in life before I left has completely changed. I have gained a new definition of independence I did not even realizes I desired. I have grown physically and emotionally strong in ways I did not know existed inside of me. And to think, before I left I was so afraid of how the deployment was going to change me.

Sunday is a day of rest for many, and that is exactly what it was for me.  Last night we were informed that today would be a day off, well with the exception of a few mandatory meetings of course.  An Army day would not be complete without getting all together at some point during the day.

So I took the rare opportunity to sleep in, as much as anyone can sleep in when there are two other people cohabitation a very small room with you.  I woke at 0730 thinking I had overslept, but then quickly reminded myself that I could go back to sleep.  I finally woke around 0930 when one of my roommates was getting dressed.

I had missed breakfast as it ended at 0730 and I was not about to get up, dressed just to go get some sub par food and really bad coffee, so I headed over to the Joint Readiness Center where Cafe Dix is located (a small coffee bar inside a building with fairly decent coffee, bagels and such) but they were closed.

Disappointed and willing to take the post shuttle to the Shoppett where there is a Dunkin Donuts, I headed back to the barracks office to look at the shuttle, when I saw that some very kind officer had already gone to DD and bought a box of joe and some donuts!  It is pretty crazy because normally I am a tea drinker and if I do drink coffee it is from Starbucks, but like I wrote in a previous post, it is those small familiar things that bring comfort, like DD.  I have a friend who worked at Emerson and he is in the National Guard, and when he was deployed he asked some of his coworkers to send over a box of DD cups so at least the coffee he put in it would remind him of home.  I am sure that when I get over there I too will want some random request like that too.

But anyway, today has been nice to be able to sleep in, head over to the commissary to buy sushi and not eat at least two meals at the dining facility and to get online in the day room to catch up on e-mails and this blog.

We have one more week here before Christmas leave, which I CANNOT wait for!  It will be so special to spend time with my boyfriend Adam and his family, and spend at least a week in our new apartment that Adam has spent countless hours unpacking and cleaning so I can have a nice safe home to return to!

I hope you all are well and enjoying your sunday too!

300 is not just the title of a film adaptation of a graphic novel by Frank Miller, it is the score that I made on my Army Physical Fitness Test today!  Actually, if I am correct, I scored a bit above 300 because I did better than what was required to achieve a score of 100 in each event.

The APFT is designed to test Soldiers’ physical fitness in the events of push ups, sit ups and a two-mile run.  It is based on how many push ups and sit ups that can be done in two minutes, and how fast the Soldier can run two miles.  It is also based on the Soldier’s age and gender.  I needed to score at least at the 60 percent level in each event, however my personal goal was to score 100 percent in each event.  To do that I needed 50 push ups, 82 sit ups and a two-mile in no more than 15:48.

What I actually did was 50 push ups, 86 sit ups and the two-mile run in 15:24.  Not only did I exceed the 300 points, it is an all-time best for my military career.  I am so proud and pleased with myself because I worked really hard and was very nervous about how I would do.  It is nice to have measurable achievements that no one can take away from you.  I am very happy and glad it is done so I can relax for the rest of the day.

(Editor’s Note:  SPC Hope gets more than bragging rights for her achievement.  She will also receive a Fitness Badge she can wear for scoring more than 90 percent in each of the three fitness events.  Maximum Effort, Minimum Delay!)