In the U.S. Army

[inlikeflint]

I made a discovery the other day that I thought was humorous.

At some point in my life I made a big move to join the military. (Early 1990's)
I didn't have much of a life and was in a dead end job and the military seemed the way to get out of that rut.
I went to the recruiter and he made me take a test to see what kind of jobs I would be good at and the next thing I know I was on my way to Los Angeles to get poked and prodded by military doctors.
They tried to get me to choose some jobs that needed filling, but my idea of the military was jumping out of planes, riding on tanks, and shoot guns... Anyway, that was the job I took because that was what I wanted. (Forward Reconnaissance... Scout.)

So I get sent to Fort Knox for 16 weeks with A 5/15 Cavalry to train for my job... Then the army sent me to my first duty station in Germany. I get to my reception station and have to wait a few weeks for my unit to get back from the field before I know where I am going. The reception personnel make jokes about where I am going and how I will spend most of my time out doors in the mud. (I am with a few other soldiers that I went to basic training with so I didn't feel so bad.
The first duty station I was assigned to was the 1st squadron, 1st regiment of Dragoons or the 1st Armored Division. (AKA 1/1 Cav.)

What I thought was neat-o at the time was that 1/1 Cav had a battle streamer and campaign ribbon for practically every conflict the United States has ever had. The neat-o feeling sort of wore off when I realized that if something happened like a war or conflict that we were probably going to go. (It wasn't just probably, we were the first to go.)

In the rear... Buedingen Germany (The house where Anne Frank held up in the attic with her family was downtown.) We were 4th brigade in the rear, but when we were called up for deployment we were 1st Brigade. (1111).
We were the scouts for the 1st Armored Division and we (1/1 Cav) were the first to cross the Sava River into Bosnia with the Implementation Force during Operation Joint Endeavor.

Out of all the units to deploy to Bosnia, We were the first in, and last of the original units to leave. We were there for 11 months, I never counted the last week and a half because I lost track of time. I bet if I dig though my deployment paperwork it's 11 days. (I just know it.) That was 1995-1996.

Isn't that crazy?!?

(Now I really am wondering how long I have seen these numbers.)
When I got back from deployment we had a troop inspection and I was supposed to stay awake. Me and my roommate had agreed to wake each other up if we fell asleep. He was on one side of the room and I was on the other. At some point I laid down on my rack/bed and closed my eyes. This was the day I almost choked to death on my own saliva because I started laughing while I was still asleep. I was conscious and I could hear what I thought was my roommate snoring. However, when I tried to yell out the words would not move so I forced the words out and I realized that I was listening to my body sleep. Force yelling made me start to choke and I was coughing hard because I laughing and had inhaled some saliva at the same time. (It had to be the most painful wake up I have ever had.)

Anyway, I just thought I would share that. I had no idea this has been going on for so long with me,

[Sandy]

That's a lot of 1's Flint. I find it interesting too that I hadn't thought about Bosnia in a long, long time and yet tonight I watched a show about a war criminal there. It was a detective show...fiction. But then I immediately come here and in one of the first threads you are mentioning Bosnia. It may mean nothing but I find it interesting all the same.
Love,
Sandy

[inlikeflint]

Bosnia was one of those places where people were fighting over economic and religious control.

Ethnic cleansing, (Murder of entire villages based on race and religion.)
Complete economic control over the masses.
Christians vs Muslims
Bosnians, Croatians, & Serbians (Former Yugoslavians) divided into about 6 factions who all looked alike.
They were divided by politics and religion.

...and were were the invading forces that acted as a buffer between people wanting to kill each other.

There are a lot of similarities and attitudes that are "elsewhere" in the world that are mirroring what went on in Bosnia. It's the creepy part of how people can become so selfish and material that they can't make solid judgment decisions.... and this creates a hardened person, forgiving person, or a monster who just as twisted & greedy. (The people who are directly and indirectly affected by the greedy.) It just compounds into something worse.

I am not sure what made me think of Bosnia other than talking about the Native Americans the other day...