Hiatus

For my few loyal readers, I am going on a planned hiatus from this blog. I have quite a bit going on in my life at the moment, and maintaining a blog is indeed something I can do without. The blog as an archive will still exist. Before I go, I have a few observations that could be their own blog posts, but I'll touch on them briefly.

A lot of responsibilities and priorities have entered my life, and it's fascinating how much time you actually have if you maintain a schedule. I used to tend to focus on a single task or project, and not do anything else until complete. This had a tendency to burn me out and not be as efficient as I should be. Now I still watch due dates, so something due the next day will grab my entire attention; however, the urgency of getting it done on time reduces the chances of me procrastinating.

I think it's too easy to simply tell someone to have more discipline. The trick is to find a strategy to create more discipline. I wish I could simply have the will to make all of my dreams become reality, but many of my dreams are very big and would take a lot of time, resources, and man power to accomplish. There is no way I could focus on such a task or tasks and ignore everything else. This may not be a grand revelation to some, but working on one of my bigger goals -for say an hour- and then accomplishing one of my smaller goals helps give me a relief and satisfaction of accomplishment.

Now I don't have anything very formal planned like a day planner or anything. I just keep a mental list of tasks that need accomplishing and devote certain nights as a focus to a larger task. For example, Monday night may be for my classes and Tuesday night for family. Also pay note that I treat leisure as a task. This was another trick that I developed. Now I don't feel guilty if I have other tasks to accomplish because I know I have designated time for those other tasks. Of course, time seems to fly when I'm having fun, but I digress.

A special note for those transitioning from active duty military service

Today also signifies the completion of my 8 year service obligation to the military. I served a little over 7 years of active duty and the rest on the inactive ready reserve (IRR). While I had some issues with the military, it was overall a very positive experience for me. It helped shape me become the man that I am today. Ultimately, I left the service because I had goals outside of the military I wanted to accomplish, and quite frankly, I wasn't sure how much longer my body could handle the physical stress. Taking that into consideration, leaving the military was a very difficult choice. Despite any issues, I knew the Army would always take care of me.

The Army has a whole transition program which may be a little bloated, but I may only think that because I may have more life experience than a lot of soldiers - particularly the ones who never went to college. I also had a plan when I got out whereas some are just anxious to get out, so that they don't have to wake up for morning formation. Regardless, it's amazing to me how much all of my plans failed when I got out. I had two jobs lined up, and both of them didn't pan out. I still had a house, but my revenue stream wouldn't last me for very long.

The Power of Online Search Tools

Confirming my political beliefs, don't ever rely on government programs. While I did inevitably get my unemployment benefits, I never received them until just before I started my job.

The Army was very big on promoting networking sites like LinkedIn, but sites like ZipRecruiter did a much better job in finding me employment. I never really gave these search sites much credit until I left the service. In about a month, I found a job that I have been very happy with. To my brothers and sisters transitioning out of the military, I highly recommend uploading your resume (which hopefully you made in ACAP) to one of these sites.

One last note: Expand your mind 
 

I still enjoy listening to various podcasts. Always learning and listening to our modern philosophers. Ever since I completed those blog posts about the filibuster for my class, the purpose of this blog has been about me writing down the various thoughts that engrossed me over the years. I've cited various podcasts throughout my articles, and it's amazing to me how much this medium has expanded my world view. My faith has been tested so many times, and somehow it perseveres. One thing that I have learned over the years: never deny the possibility of the impossibility.

Healthcare

President Obama's healthcare plan continues to be controversial especially since it passed the congress by such a narrow margin and without a single Republican to support it. Despite this, there is still a huge push for more socialized healthcare like in Canada and Europe. The argument seems valid. People need healthcare in order to survive. The problem is just like with food there is a finite supply of it.

Like with a lot of my political viewpoints, the Army certainly shaped this one too. For all intents and purposed, we have socialized healthcare in the Army. The good thing about it is that if I need to schedule a check up (in the Army, it's mandatory annually), then it is very easy and I don't have to worry about paying for anything. The problem is when there is an actual problem. Yes, not having to pay for it is nice, but just about every soldier in the Army will tell you that it's not that great. If you have a pain in your leg, you can go to the emergency room which could mean waiting for hours or you can schedule an appointment. Since healthcare is free, a lot of people will take full advantage of it. Generally with pain, a doctor will give you some aspirin, tell you to take it easy, and then come back if there is any more pain after a week. Well that pain actually was a fracture and by walking on it, you just made it worse. Because the doctor is overworked and everything is free, in order to offset costs and time, they will usually give you the minimal treatment and send you on your way. In the rest of America, you can get what you are willing to pay for, and if you have insurance, then you just pay a deductible.

Now the American system isn't perfect, but I definitely prefer it over the socialized system we have in the Army. Most soldiers will prefer to see an outside provider for the very reasons I gave. The problem with the American system is now health insurance companies aren't really providing insurance. Since you are basically forced to have some kind of health insurance, it's not really insurance. All this has done is create artificial demand thus skyrocketing healthcare costs making not having insurance a practical death sentence. The way it is supposed to operate is kind of like gambling. You can get your money's worth from an insurance company if bad things happen to you, but if not, then the insurance company is able to make profit. The reason why it's nice, is because it minimizes risk in case of emergencies since not a lot of people may have several thousand or even several hundred dollars on them at a single time. With health insurance being forced to sell to people with pre-existing conditions, this risk pool is further diminished since people with pre-existing conditions know that they will be getting their money's worth from the insurance company.

I'm not unsympathetic to those with pre-existing conditions, but there needs to be a better solution than forcing insurance companies to sell to those people because that is not the function of insurance. Those companies only want to sell to healthy people because the only costs they will incur are emergencies such as broken limbs or catching an illness. The United States already has Medicaid which is supposed to deal with people like this. Instead of creating a new ridiculous draconian healthcare program, just rework what we already have. Nothing annoys me more in the government than government redundancy. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of waste of taxpayer dollars could be eliminated if we cut down on seemingly redundant programs.

I don't know what the future holds with healthcare, but there is no way that President Obama's Affordable Healthcare Act (also known as Obamacare) is going to be sustainable. That fact that it didn't even take effect until after the 2012 elections makes me think that not even the president is confident with his healthcare plan. I can already foresee this being a losing issue for the Democrats in 2016.

Gay Marriage

Indiana appears to be the central focus in the whole gay marriage debate. Truthfully, I'm a little burned out about debating the idea on Facebook and Reddit, so I thought I would share a perspective that I rarely get a chance to bring up since this debate -I think- has devolved into another religion versus secularism argument. Proponents of gay marriage will often cite their belief that marriage is a fundamental human right and that any two consenting adults should be able to get married. That sounds perfectly reasonable, but when asked why they want to get married, it's always about some kind of perk.

Marriage existed as a formal and legally binding way of combining people of two families into a new single family unit. This has deep roots in both the religious communities and in nobility. In the modern sense, it was incentivized to promote the nuclear family consisting of a husband, wife, and two and half children (I think the half is from an average). You can still see this concept in television sitcoms like The Simpsons for example. In order to promote the nuclear family, the government provided married couples with perks such as joint tax filings and over 1000 other federal benefits. My objection is that if marriage is a human right, then are single people being denied their rights?

I've been in the Army for a few years now, and one thing that has frustrated me to no end is how married people in the Army are much better treated. As a single person, I have to live in government housing, and I have to eat in government dining facilities - zero choice in the matter. If I were married, I would be entitled to Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) which is several thousand dollars. Never does a house or apartment take up the entire sum, so I know plenty of soldiers who pocket the extra money. All soldiers also get Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) which is basically the money supposed to used for the purchase of food. As a single soldier, I get a substantial sum of that money forcefully deducted from my paycheck, so that I am basically force to eat often substandard food (although breakfast is generally pretty good). And again, the married soldiers who don't have a ton of kids pocket the extra cash. Basically, if you are married in the military, you get more money and more entitlements. And I feel this is the root of the whole gay marriage debate.

I'm sure some are using gay marriage as another means to delegitimize religion in politics, but I think the real driving force is money. Aside from the obvious financial benefits, look at how the political organizations describe themselves, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender). What does being transgender have to do with being gay? I've seen that acronym longer too in some places. These LGBT organizations are fighting for "gay rights". Well they haven't named any other rights except for the supposed right to marry. I'd be willing to bet that if there were zero financial benefits to being married, then this wouldn't even be an issue in the first place. If gay marriage does become legal in Indiana (which I think is just a matter of time), I'm curious to see if these organizations will just go away, or if they'll find some other way of getting more money to "right more wrongs".

Natick to Washington

I haven't a chance to blog in a while. I've been busy with my ventures in Natick, Massachusetts and my moving to Joint Bast Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Washington. I must say that my Army experience has improved quite dramatically than when I was in AIT and basic training. The biggest thing I've discovered about myself is how much I enjoy exploring. When I wasn't being experimented on, I had a blast just exploring Boston and seeing all of the nearby towns. In fact I was surprised how practical it was from running on foot from one town to another. I tried various chowders and was not disappointed. One of my coworkers even took us to the New England Conservatory Philharmonic which was quite a pleasant experience.

Near the end of my Natick adventures, for St. Patrick's Day, we visited the Sam Adams Brewery for a BOSS (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers) trip. Something I have always wanted to do since I am a huge fan of Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat beer. I must say though that there was a beer that was very exclusive to the brewery and was only distributed to a few local bars in Boston: Sam Adam's Irish Red. Red beers are right now my favorite beers, and this red beer is without a doubt my favorite. I have no idea why it's not distributed wider. I also learned a lot about beer and how it's made. I was surprised to learn how relatively easy it is although it makes sense since humanity has been brewing beer for millennia.

I definitely will miss Natick, but Washington looks just as promising. After I was done with in-processing which was needlessly a week long, I finally moved into my permanent living quarters. I must say that my barracks room is a lot more comfortable in Washington. Not only do I get my own bedroom, but it also comes with a walk-in closet. The common area that I share with only one roommate (who never seems to live here) has its own washer and dryer! Aside from my improved living conditions, JBLM is located near Seattle and Tacoma. As soon as I get my car, I can't wait to start exploring. 

Why I'm Not an Officer

Since basic training and AIT, I am constantly asked why I didn't go officer. To combat this, I'm writing this blog post, so I can always refer people to it instead of constantly explaining it. Needless to say, the reason why people ask me this question is because I enlisted into the Army with a college degree in Computer Engineering from Purdue University. Someone with my accomplishments is supposed to be an officer especially since a lot of officers get far easier degrees. Well, the reason why I simply enlisted and didn't go for Officer Candidate School (OCS) upon graduating basic training is a rather complicated one. I think the better question is why did I join the Army in the first place.

When I was young, I was very interested in machines and robots in particular. I always wanted to know how they worked. My high school education never got me anywhere close to that knowledge, and I just couldn't even scrape the surface on how automatons let alone a computer even worked until my sophomore year of college. While I did finally figure out how computers could store memory, I also realized how much of a learning curve there was in building a robot. Building a robot requires a multi-discipline approach. You need to know mechanical engineering and virtually every subsection of electrical engineering. While I certainly attempted this, I eventually focused on artificial intelligence. My logic at the time was that I was seeing advancements in the body of a robot, but not so much in the mind. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to study artificial intelligence as an undergrad with one of my programming professors.

With all of the ambition in the world, I foresaw that with a little more knowledge, I could be the one to crack the code of artificial intelligence. I was frustrated that my Tetris AI was basically a somewhat sophisticated math equation, but my theory was that if a computer could be taught how to learn a language, then maybe it could develop artificial intelligence. A daunting challenge, but I was eager to try. Unfortunately, I began to realize how futile this was. Not only that, but I also began to realize that artificial intelligence was impossible. Not because it was hard, but because I thought it to be philosophically impossible - a topic I might blog about later.

One of my biggest pet peeves is how loose the term "AI" is thrown around nowadays. Things like Siri (the iPhone digital assistant) are not an AI. They are better described as an API - application programming interface. While it's cool that Siri can respond to a voice command, all of Siri's responses are preprogrammed. Basically, Siri is just an interface that converts voice into an action. Siri does not understand your words, nor does it have any means to try and understand your words. To me, it's no different than a toaster (just a bit more sophisticated).

I may have alluded to my frustrations with college in previous posts, but I really can't overstate how hard college was for me and to see all of my hard work in vain was very depressing for me. I didn't want to have anything to do with engineering at all after this. I went to a job fair near the end of my senior year and ran into an Army recruiter. Fortunately, I did get a minor in Political Science, and the Army seemed like a descent enough fit. While I didn't care for engineering anymore, I still felt that doing something with technology would at least not be a total waste of my time.

When I finally told my family about my choice, my father was quick to have me become an officer. I talked to the recruiters, and they thought it would be better for me to be enlisted and then become an officer. Ultimately, the reason why I sided with the recruiters wasn't because of their logic, but because I wasn't even sure if I really wanted to make the Army a career, so I thought not becoming an officer would be less impactful if I decided to make my time in the Army short. I had zero experience with the military, so I had no idea what to inspect. In hindsight, I might have sided with my father, but I do plan on going into the Green to Gold program in the future. 

In the Army

So as some of my loyal followers may know, I am currently serving in the United States' Army. Right now I am in the Initial Entry Training Program and am currently in my Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) phase. I thought I would write about my experiences and some tips for future soldiers.  

Basic Training

Basic training was really rough for me; however, it should be quickly noted that it is nothing like Full Metal Jacket.

Upon reflection of my basic training, I really don't know why it was so rough for me. Granted that some of the smoking and even the training was tough especially in the hot Georgia heat, but overall it wasn't that bad. I still believe a lot of what was "tough" with basic training was a lot of preconceptions. My main advice for people going into basic training would be to try and remember that Drill Sergeants are not all-knowing supermen. Most of the time when we got smoked, I was in complete agreement with the Drill Sergeant because I could not believe the attitude and disrespect other soldiers would display. The unfortunate thing was that I was guilty by association, but again, I just took it as an opportunity to do extra PT (physical training).

For those curious about how different basic training is compared to say Full Metal Jacket, the differences are actually quite few. The biggest difference is that Drill Sergeants cannot hit you regardless of how much you may deserve it. Many of the other issues are simply because of the times like the uniforms. Although I like to point out that several of the soldiers made their beds incorrectly because the US insignia is not supposed to be showing. Watch the movie again, it bothers me to see it.

Here are the highlights of Basic Training:

• Shark Attack - First day is easily the roughest day. Your drill sergeants basically want to make an impression on you, so expect to do something rough. My main advice for this is to pack light. Whatever civilian clothes you bring, make sure they are clothes you are willing to part with. You will not be wearing them for several weeks, and they'll just be a burden on you. 
• Red Phase - I am lumping the first few weeks together because it is basically PT and getting everything in order. You'll be treated to a lot of briefs (some are actually fairly entertaining while others will bore you to tears). You will also be given everything you'll need for basic training. BE SURE TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR CIF EQUIPMENT!!! You have to return that equipment, and they won't take it back if your equipment is dirty. Plus if you lose it or damage it beyond repair, you'll have to pay for it, and it can get expensive.
• Basic Rifle Marksmanship - This was the most frustrating part of basic training, but it also was some of the most fun. Basically you just shoot your weapon a lot. It gets frustrating when you can't seem to shoot those pesky targets. You may roll your eyes at this, but I can assure you that 90% of the time if you are having trouble shooting, it is because you are not applying your fundamentals as you transition from each target.
• Advanced Rifle Marksmanship - In my opinion this was my favorite part of basic training. During this phase you are trained with other weapons which I won't spoil for you.
• The Gas Chamber - This is your main NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) training. While there is more to your NBC training, the gas chamber really serves to have you really appreciate your gas mask. Personally I think the drill sergeants just enjoy seeing you struggle with it, but I definitely did appreciate my gas mask afterwards. 
• Family Day/Graduation - The finale of basic training. I'm sure everyone's graduation is different, but the main thing that I got out of this is that you never realized how much you missed and loved your family until you see them on Family Day. If you go to Ft. Benning (the only real basic training - just kidding), take a stop at the National Infantry Museum. Easily one of the best museums I have ever been too.

 Well those are the main highlights. Just be prepared to getting little sleep and really enjoy Sundays. Another piece of advice is to bring your cell-phone. It will most likely get confiscated, but if your platoon is good enough, your drill sergeant will allow you to call home. Having a cell-phone means that you will not have to wait and share the pay phones with the other soldiers. Also learn to love snail mail. Every letter I got was a real moral booster.

AIT

Now I am only a few weeks into AIT, but I'll go ahead and say that AIT is completely different compared to basic training. Okay, maybe it's not too different, but the focus of the training and the freedoms that you get to enjoy make AIT a totally different experience. It's almost the perfect blend of college and basic training. You get some of the freedoms of college, but you still have the schedule of basic training. AIT I assume is hard to generalize, but just please do not forget your discipline that you learned from basic training. Plus if you're really good, you may get to phase up which means even more freedoms.

I hope this blog helps with your expectations or wonderings of basic training. If you have any more questions about basic training or even AIT, post a comment and I'll be happy to answer.

God Bless America!