SiP & Operation Iraqi Freedom

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Post by SiP » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:18 am

At last!!

My two weeks leave has come. Yep, I get to get outta this place for a while. I'm going back to the states and going straight to the liquor store...errr...that just sounds too depressing. Actually, the family is very excited, so I'll likely be spending some quality time with them.

Later,

-SiP
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Post by Vir2L™ » Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:11 pm

Great to hear SiP, enjoy your leave! Maybe even get some games in! Yar!
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Post by SiP » Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:15 am

So far my "leave" has been extremely bitter/sweet yet, at the same time, well worth the trip. The journey back to the states was excruciating. Between spending long hours in processing/holding facilities and actually be transported from country to country to country to country (yes, in fact, that many “country to country’s”), I was in a constant, zero-sleep state of transit during the last 40+ hours of my travels leading up to the arrival of my final destination. I was quite angry, actually, that I just couldn’t sleep on any of the planes.

And, to make matters worse, somewhere along the way I caught a head/throat cold, which has since kept me from fully transitioning from one sleep schedule to my new and temporary state-side one. Normally dealing with jet-lag has come to me so much more gracefully during past inter-hemisphere travels, but I guess not this time.

It’s sort of lonely coming back to the “old life” after being away for so long. The expression “the world keeps turning without me” has never felt truer. People have gone on with their lives – as would I, of course. Well, in any case, I’m going to try to make the most of it. There are a crowd of people I’ve not seen nor spoke with is ages, I’m way behind on seeing new movies, and there’s surely a whole list of items I’ve not thought about yet!

Anyhow, it’s good to be back if even for only two weeks.



Btw, as far as a computer upgrade (buying a new one), getting up to date with the new games out, and generally anything in the realm technology, for that matter, I’m thinking that I’ll probably wait until this OIF tour is done and gone – who knows what may come out between now and then.
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Post by SiP » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:23 pm

I had no idea that such a place as this even had a winter season much less this cold of one. While on duty, time and time again these days it is an amazing sight to see frost covering everything at the break of dawn every morning. To paint the picture a little better, check this out. Sometimes I have to conduct outdoor guard duty shifts. These shifts vary greatly in duration but it is alway true that they can and do take place at any conceivable hour of the day or night. Anyhow, it has been so cold here lately that I've often found myself needing to wear six layer of clothing to stay warm. This is Iraq - what gives!

Well, leave was a good time but it felt great to get back to Fallujah despite the cold.
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Post by SiP » Sun Jan 14, 2007 11:02 am

I don't know if any of you have been watching media for the specifics surrounding the mobilizations and extensions of units going to or currently operating in Iraq, but if you haven't you should know that my brigade - the 1st Brigade of the 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota Army National Guard - has recently received an extention of duty time in Iraq added on to our already very long tour of service.

Although this sort of thing is not entirely uncommon, the details surrounding this particular extension are. First and foremost, the 1/34th BCT (Brigade Combat Team) is the only brigade currently serving in Iraq that has received orders instructing its members that their time in country will be extending. Second, there are numerous brigade-sized elements currently serving in Iraq, but the 1st of the 34th ID is the only reserve brigade.

All members of the 1/34th BCT (in exception for it's minimal number of Active servicemen and women) lead a life separate to the ones they are leading now. Athough all these members "signed the papers and know their obligations" as citizen soldiers, they have a crucial balance between two lifestyles that they must maintain. For the entirety of us, we have a civilian life waiting for us upon our return. Between post-secondary education and professional civilian careers, we all have left voids in America's society that must and will be filled upon our return. At this moment, thousands of job positions are currently being held in reserve for members of this brigade. As such, presumably thousands of businesses have been anticipating the return of their employees but will now have to wait an additional six months until they can expect their workforce to return to full employment status.

Although this is a subject of great political ramification, I wish only to state the facts and carry on accordingly. I don't expect that people will go to any outlandish lengths to confront this matter politically, but I do hope that people will make a mental note of this course of events for, at the very least, future consideration.
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Post by SiP » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:06 am

Today my company held another memorial ceremony for another fallen soldier. Even though I did not know this fallen comrade very well, the ceremony hit me hard. I think in wartime, at least for me, it takes a while for such a loss to set in. From the day he was killed until now, my feelings were those of anger and revenge. Coming together with everyone, reflecting upon, and honoring his life, service, and sacrifice for his friends brought about an entirely new set of feelings that I can't even begin to define.
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Post by SiP » Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:09 am

From here on out, it seems I'm gonna be a tanker. Well actually, a Bradley driver, but when it comes to the driving part for big rigs like that what's the difference? Although it is a fair bit more resposibility to maintain such a machine, it is going to be a nice change of pace. This especially so in light of the fact that I gotta stick it out in this damn wasteland for an extra 4 months or so.
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juanage

Post by juanage » Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:41 am

Hey SiP, hope things are going well. Please stay safe!
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Post by Vir2L™ » Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:23 am

dito

tho we aren't replying to every one of your posts, we are reading them and keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

Be safe!
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Post by SiP » Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:33 am

I'm at a new base now. My first 12 months were served at Camp Fallujah and the rest of my time here will be served at Camp Taqqadam. Both places are in the Anbar province, which is west of Baghdad. Lots of Sunnis...not a very nice place to raise a family, find a job, so on and so forth and all that happy horse shit. We just gonna do our time and get outta this damn place.

My Internet connection at CF was "bottom-of-the-toilet-bowl" quality. My fellow platoon buddies and I are in the process of setting up a new LAN w/ Internet access. I'm crossing more fingers for a little better functionality. We should be up and running this week sometime.

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Post by SiP » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:07 am

Hey all,

I've recently set up a small LAN amongst a few of my fellow platoon buddies. Our plan is to play some GhR games. So far it has just been a small few of us playing - just Mac owners. I've recently got my hands on a PC version of Ghost Recon and so now I can add a few more players to the mix.

Regarding the PC players' concerns, my questions are these:

1.) Is the PC version the same version as the Mac version once the Mac version has been updated to v1.4? Or, if the Mac gamers are playing with v1.4 do the PC players need to seek out more updates?

2.) If an mod has been ported to work on with the Mac version of the game, is the ported verion of the mod still backwards compatible with the PC version of the game or do PC players need to seek out an un-ported version of that same mod?

Take care all...and I'm really looking forward to coming home in a few months.

Thanks
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Post by Vir2L™ » Tue Apr 10, 2007 5:31 pm

InSiPidus wrote: Regarding the PC players' concerns, my questions are these:

1.) Is the PC version the same version as the Mac version once the Mac version has been updated to v1.4? Or, if the Mac gamers are playing with v1.4 do the PC players need to seek out more updates?
1.4 is compatable with both Mac and PC players.
InSiPidus wrote:2.) If an mod has been ported to work on with the Mac version of the game, is the ported verion of the mod still backwards compatible with the PC version of the game or do PC players need to seek out an un-ported version of that same mod?
Most mods ARE compatable with both Mac and PC, there are a few that don't work with certain mission scripts, but 99% of the time the mac conversion will work with the PC version. if you run into any issues let me know and I'll do my best to figure out the problem.

BTW - Great to hear from you SiP, you are always in our thoughts.
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Post by The unKNown » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:09 pm

Hey SiP,

Good to hear from ya, hope alls well Be safe.


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Post by SiP » Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:05 am

Hey UnK,

Ya, all is pretty good around these parts. I've been keeping fairly busy to say the least. It's really startin' to warm up around here. It went from the winter season (60-70'ish) to the spring season (80'ish) nearly over night. Well, at least I don't have to spend another summer in its entirety this year.

V2L..another question: Is packet loss less common when playing through a router via an ethernet cord as compared to when playing through a router via wireless connection? Or, is gaming from behind a router. regardless of how users are connected to the router, plagued by less connectivity as compared to connecting to other gamers' games via a direct connection to the Internet?

Basically, I'm just trying to get a few soldier buddies of mine and myself connected to a router to play a few LAN games. I think everything is set up fine - we're all able to get into the game and play - but packet loss is gigantic even though we are all have a full strength connection to the same router.

Later fellas
-SiP
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Post by Vir2L™ » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:38 am

hmmm, that is rather interesting. I really didn't know packetloss existed in the LAN environment, but I guess it's quite possible. I'd think you get more packetloss by connecting to the net. I always thought packet loss was directly caused by the ISP.

Now...... are you warping around alot in-game, or do you know there is packetloss? What are eachothers pings when trying to connect?
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