FAREWELL OF THE MARINES FROM IRAQ

FYI

UNCLASSIFIED

Please pass on,

SgtsMaj, MGySgts, CMDCMs, Marines and Sailors, Saturday, 23 January at 1100
will mark the end of the Marines in Iraq as an organization. II MEF (fwd)
will conduct a Transfer of Authority Ceremony with the First Armored
Division without a Relief in Place from any incoming unit. USF-W (formally
MNF-W) will merge with USD-C (formally MND-Baghdad) and will cease to exist.

After 6 years, over 850 Marines and Sailors killed in combat and another
8800 wounded we have completed our mission. At our peak, we had almost
26,000 Marines and Sailors on deck, close to 200 aircraft, over 380,000
pieces of ground equipment, and were averaging close to 2000 significant
events a month. We have added a whole new generation of Heros; and names
like Al Nasiriyah, Fallujah and Ramadi will be added to our History books.

Words can't begin to explain the magnitude of effort and sacrifice our
Marines and Sailors have gone through to help the Iraqi people. Each year
since the initial invasion, Marines and Sailors from all over the Corps have
been a part of the revolving I MEF (fwd) and II MEF (Fwd) Commands. Each
year has been different with its own sets of unique challenges and each
successive year, the incoming organization has built upon the successes of
the outgoing organization.

This year was no different, we didn't have anywhere near the level of
fighting that previous MEFs have done. However, we did conduct many
operations, maintained security, continue to professionalize the Iraqi
Security Forces, develop good governance and economics, assisted with the
continued establishment of the Rule of Law and oversaw the peaceful
transition of the provincial government. We also had one unique mission
that we can call our own. That was to finally bring the Marine Corps home.
Over the past year, we have simultaneously conducted the responsible
drawdown of 24,000 Personnel, over 34 COPs and FOBs, including Baharia,
Rawah, and TQ and sent six years worth of equipment out of theater.

For those of you who served with me this year, thank you. It was long and
difficult at times, with our own set of challenges, but we did it.
It has been an honor to serve with you.

For those of you who have left your boot prints over here at least once
during the last six years; thanks to you too. You set the stage for us to
finish the job. It has been costly, it has been challenging, it has taken a
while with quite a few dark days. But, in the end, it was worth it.

All Marines and Sailors, including those who remained stateside have
contributed to the overall success of the Marines and Sailors in Iraq and;
all of us have known someone who didn't make it back alive or has permanent
injuries. It is up to us to ensure that those who follow never forgot their
sacrifice or what we did here.

Collectively, we have added another illustrious chapter to the successful
story of our Marine Corps. One that all of us can be proud of.

Semper Fidelis,

K. Carpenter
Sergeant Major
United States Force - West, Iraq
(Previously Multi National Force - West) II Marine Expeditionary Force (Fwd)
21 January 2010

UNCLASSIFIED

TEMPO, ZAZEN, POOP

tempo |ˈtempō|noun ( pl. -pos or -pi |-pē|)1 Music the speed at which a passage of music is or should be played.2 the rate or speed of motion or activity; pace : the tempo of life dictated by a heavy workload.
I am referring to the second line of the definition.
Thoughts of work are starting to seep into my morning sittings and even my dreams now.
I've got so much work on my plate right now it is hard to feel at ease.

Boo.
I suppose it is preferable than jpop thought loops though.
Not having any preferences might be preferable to that.
I tried sitting half lotus on a chair this morning. Meh.
I think that full lotus on a familiar zafu and zabuton are best. (for me)
But I won't see mine for a long time. They are still in transit and won't arrive here in Okinawa until February 12th. I get on a ship around the end of this month and wont come back for about three months or so.
Boo.
I've been using the air zafu and that is ok. I'm not sure how that will work out at sea though.
Sitting on the boat will be interesting. Its been about five years.Last time I was on a boat was around the time I found my interest in Buddhism renewed. Maybe this time I'll give it up... Ha!
I remember a bit of buddhisty writing that mentioned something called "The Floating World."I don't think it had much to do with going to sea. (Note, via Iron Grindstone: "The 'Floating World' was the refined-yet-racy culture of the geisha district outside Tokyo."
I think I'll go clean the cat's toilet now.

ZAZEN AT THE EAGLE LODGE

Flat roofed building.

Built by them for us.

Not a home for either.

The wind howls through the balcony,

Sounding like ghosts from the childhood cartoons.

Cat sits nearby.

Smelling like the perfumed cat sand from his litter-box.

The wife reluctantly wakes up,

The construction of breakfast begins.

Im on my third or fourth cup of tea.

It is still green but after this many infusions the flavor isn't there.

Work is moving at rapid rate.

I'm not used to the tempo.

Mind is spinning, trying to grasp at a liquid situation.

I expected my Zazen to reflect by being crowded with thought clouds.

It wasn't. It has been strangely peaceful.

Passing clouds from 2009

This is just a collection of some of my favorite tweets from 2009. Mostly unskilful Haiku but some other one liner type stuff/observations mixed in too. Enjoy and happy 2010!

Not feeling too "Zen."

Zafu, a pressure cooker.

This mornings sitting.

Moment by moment

Rough edges are worn away

This is my practice.

Not better or worse.

I need a bath to wash off.

The stink of my zen.

Grasping at grasping at the ineffable. What a mess this floating world.

Solitude, not here

I ride the samsaric surf

How to end this verse?

Ears attacked by sounds

My twisted karmic rewards

Peace interrupted.

A quiet day, my shakuhachi calls me to play. It's been so long, I can't play a song and robuki took my breath away.

Third infusion. Is it taste or memory of taste? No, just diffrent.

This morning's tea, astringent, pleasant, and gone. Brew another pot?

Morning smiles from Iko: "I know you love to Zazen with Buddha Daddy."

The journy of a bodisatva allways begins with pain.

Time flies when you don't know what your doing.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, autum comes, and the leaves wither and fall.

Wall heater clicks off/ Once submerged sounds bubble up// Peaceful solitude gone.

Putting down one book/ Picking up another one// Autum cools my feet.

Not sure how much I appreciate a comentary on comentarys. Maybe I'll write a comentary about that.

Rainy fall morning. The girls still snug in warm beds. Read Dogen, drink tea.

Iris: Oh my god! Me: who's your god? Iris: nobody.

Grasping at nothing, my current non-endevor, autum sky tearing.

Longing to do less. preoccupies my thinking. But that's still doing.

Our enemies may be our truest friends, & our friends our worst enemies.

Sanghas may need disruption to perform their function. Like a rock tumbler.

This mornigs sitting was filled with too much intention. Gosh I want a doo over. Ugh. Oh well.

The state that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools. - Thucydides

Installing service/ Pack: three of three. Do not turn// Off your computer.

Plastic potted plants/ Never are born, live or die// Unlike delusions.

Sent of patchouli/ Alighting the sence organs// Like an autum fire.

Letting go of yesterdays endgaining and prepairing for today's means whereby.

I make a habbit of examining the mouths of gift horses.

Zazen is not a cure for the days frustrations.

Outlook is frozen/ Restarting once again, click/ Running start up scripts.

Outlook froze again/ Makes it tough to get work done/ Sunday my desk

Ah the coffee crash/ The hot caffeine hangover/ I'd like one more cup.

Paperwork piles up/ Like the leaves falling from trees/ New season new work.

So the oldest daughter asks: is Zazen your toy? I say yes.

Home from the market/ Refrigerator now stuffed/ Outside a bird chirps.

There are more dharma gates than the sum of kannon's eyes and hands. Why concern yourself with what others are practicing? Mind your way!

No smell and no taste/ Kannon sama where are you/ A thousand hand slap.

Oh my few attachments. I love you so. You hold me back and push me forward.

Hello anger. I am aware of the events that caused you to arise. Now why don't you piss off allready.

Apparently I give good funeral. Not a skill I ever thought I'd collect.

Lunch outside, reading/ "Did Dogen Go To China?"// A cool spring breeze///

Unskilful rant at wife/ Enjoying the quiet now/ Plumb blossoms falling///

Skilled appology / Wife smileing gleefully now // Oh cherry blossoms ///

Watching Hannah at her third Karate class. I should have put her in Kung Fu. She has allready mastered the funky chicken style.

Someone actually arrived at my blog by searching "Kaaaaaaaaa!"

REVOLUTION 2010!

Well another 365 and 1/4 day cycle around the sun has been completed. Just like it gets completed each and every moment. It is 0530 here as I begin to type out this post and there is still a bit of a clamor of revelry going on down stairs from me. The sounds conjure up a nostalgic smile as I recall the days when I too once partied like a rock star.

The fifth year of sobriety?

The seventh year of attempting to figure out what exactly Dhyāna is.

The beginning of another tour that has me asking who has the answers? (Me!) What the heck is going on here? (Ignorance, Formation, Consciousness, Identity, Sensations, Contact, Perception, Desire, Attachment, Becoming, Birth, Death) When am I going to figure out how to conduct business here? (When I say how I'm to conduct business here.) Where do I stand? (I'd rather sit.) How does this work? (Pretty much how I say it does.) Why didn't the last guy do it differently? (Because he didn't.)

This year I am a total beginner. From the perspective of a zennist, this is not such a bad thing. From the prospective of a professional who is depended on to be the "go too guy" in a critical area, this is a bit intimidating.

But it isn't really that bad. I have gone through this process before and know what needs to be done. It is not too hard to identify what is working and what is not and than effect changes to make things work more efficiently. I'm quite effective at it actually. I just wish everyone was.

As far as I can tell so far, there are no practicing Buddhists on Okinawa. I hope that is a gross misrepresentation of reality. When I first got my orders here I knew there were no temples for foreigners here but I was holding on to some hope that there would be some kind of practice community that I could connect with, even if it were from a different lineage that would have been OK. Mostly what I was looking for was a quiet place to sit, and maybe some new dharma friends.

It has crossed my mind to become a "lay leader" (yes, I'm ordained and so the term lay leader seems a bit off, but the military doesn't recognize that ordination unless you have a Masters degree.) of sorts and provide support to other seekers, but frankly due to the operational tempo and rapid turnover of this unit and it's subordinate elements I don't think that is going to be an option. Right now my own sitting has been providing me with quite enough grist for the mill and I'm not sure how helpful I could be if someone asked for advise on theirs.

But then again, when I think about it, I seem to have a complete lack of existential issues at the moment... That's weird. And I wonder if it might be useful to someone.

Sencha tea, once brewed, will oxidize quickly and the taste will change rapidly from a fresh cup to one that is a bit stale.

Checking in

Checking in ia a process you go through every time you change from command to command.

Its a meet and greet process, along with getting rosters up to date and gear issued.

I met the Chaplin today, he had no idea about any kind of support for Buddhist practice.

He brought me to a coworker who happened to have a Japanese wife who told me the only time they go to the temple is for new years. And that he doesn't have any idea what the denomination is.

Other than that the process has been pretty smooth so far. Tomorrow I have a new-comers orientation then we're off for the weekend and I hope to finish checking in on Monday. This leaves me two days to do turnover with he guy I'm replacing. From what I am gathering so far, I would need about two months just to get a grasp of what goes on here. The good news is he is staying on the island so I will have some reach-back capability to ask for pointers when I get stuck.

Crossing my fingers that I will be able to get out status of forces agreement drivers license after the class tomorrow. Being cooped up in the hotel for the weekend is not what the family needs right now.

I think Im going to sit for a bit while the wife is out visiting a new friend with the kids and I have the place to my self.

Hello from Okinawa!

For those not following on twitter or facebook, we made it on time and safely and uneventfully.

The dog and cat are safe int he base kennel until we get aboard base housing.

The body is seriously confused about what time it thinks it is and what time it is relatively.

I find this a bit unpleasant.

The MEU has a wonderful sponsorship program for new-joins and the family is being really well taken care of.

Later today he is running the family about to pick up groceries and set up cell phone connections.

I have been advised to jailbreak my iphone now that I'm not under contract with AT&T due to our traveling from location to location and the ease of "just popping in a local sim card." I am a bit concerned about this and am not sure if I want to go through with that. If anyone has any advise on this I'd like to hear it.

As of now it sounds like we will get aboard base housing much faster than I originally thought.

While I am not expecting anything it was pleasant news as the wife misses the animals and they are quarantined to base and cant join us where we are staying.

I figured out how to share an ethernet connection via airport on my mac, I have no idea how I did that. Some times determination and just playing around pays off. But that effort saved me the trouble and cash of picking up another wireless router.

I had no idea how much yen coinage we had left over from the last time we were in Japan. Lots of pennies and nickels, but also quite a few ¥100 pieces too!

Time to blow up the air zafu.