History will repeat itself

If it is true that History does repeat itself, then we have much to learn. War and how war is fought has changed. It is time for America to change its thinking about war as well. On December 7, 1941 the situation was clear: Japan had declared war on the United States of America. In our history no one single event has so unified the American people. Over one thousand people lost their lives in a sudden and violent attack at Pearl Harbor. We were at war. Specifically, we were at war with Japan, all of it. Japan had declared war on the US; not in a public declaration from their government but by a violent and sudden strike from their naval and air forces. War with a country was obvious.

September 11, 2001 the situation was changed. Our country was again attacked. This time, as before, there was no declaration of war by a country against the United States. This time, however, the situation was different. The attack was not by the Afghan people, who we went to war with; or from the Iraqi people, who we went to war with in 2003. No, this attack came from a group of Islamic radicals; a specific group of people who called Afghanistan and Iraq home. The people of those countries did not declare war on the US and neither did their countries. While it may be true that these countries did not consider themselves allies with the US they were not our enemy; people from these counties were.

Our response, tragically, was similar to every conflict prior: attack the country, that would solve the problem. Friends, nearly 10 years have passed since that tragic and terrible attack on the Twin Towers that cost thousands of American lives. This time, it was a civilian target. Our military was not targeted, our very heart was. And while a swift and calculated response was called for, we, like an old relic from a time that has past, retaliated in a manor not consistent with the conflict we were in.

When will America learn? The world has shown us that nuclear war is obsolete, and yet we have more nuclear arms than any other country in the world. The world has also shown us that naval wars are obsolete, yet we have one of the most technologically advanced Navy in the world. The world has shown us that wars no longer have clear defined front lines as they did during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Yet we continue to fight as though we have a front line and resources that support it. The world has shown us that war has changed, yet we continue to wage war in the ways of days past. Until we learn that war has changed and adapt to the way war is being fought we will continue to face loss.

Operation Iraqi Freedom may be over, but make no mistake, we have not won. Moreover, we have not changed the situation in which our nation finds itself. We will continue to be threatened by radical groups who now have power independent of the country which they call home. Until we can change our view of who we are war at we will continue to be threatened. Our boarders will become weak and we will continue to send our forces to fight wars they cannot win. Our country will divide and we will war with ourselves. This day is coming, mark my words. We cannot continue to be a dinosaur in this modern age. It is time to change how we fight and who we fight.

Recovery update

Quick update on Lauren. She's been discharged. They never figured out what she had or what was wrong but her numbers got better so they let her go. They're likely going to take her to another hospital to get a second opinion.

I had another follow up with my physical therapist today and the brace came off. I'm now allowed to walk with the cane only as needed. I can bend my right knee to just over 120* and the average person has a range of motion of 130*, my left knee goes way past that but it's mostly because of how thin I am, most people have things like muscle that gets in the way, I don't have that problem lol. I still can't do PT with my unit, darn, but I'm progressing nicely. Most of my range of motion problems now are just due to some left over swelling. My physical therapist says that will go away now that I can use it unrestricted. I'll keep you all posted as I continue to recover. It's going well though.

A prayer request

One of Diana's good friends, Lauren has been in the hospital since yesterday. She's currently in the ICU and probably will be for a while. She went in with a UTI, a kidney infection, and influenza type A. They are pretty sure the influenza is going to turn out to be H1N1 so they've started treating for it. Her platelet count is also very low and there is a problem with her white and red blood cells. She's stable right now and Diana is with her but she doesn't stay that way. At this point all they can do is try to keep her comfortable while they wait for test results. I visited this evening and asked her nurse what she thought it was, she was very honest and said she had no idea. There are already a lot of people praying for her, and she's being very strong considering where she is, but more prayer never hurt anything.

Her kids are staying with Diana and I for now. She and her husband were supposed to move out of their apartment tomorrow and he's begun working on that. His unit is going to help him move everything tomorrow, so we're watching the kids so he can take care of that.

I'll post updates as we know more, but there hasn't been much news since yesterday. We just ask for prayer, not knowing is the hardest part but even if we did there isn't anything we could do, it's all in God's hands and we need to ask him to guide her and her family though this.

October update?

Maybe I can do this once a month, that shouldn't be too hard. No big updates, just more life as usual. Another neighbor got arrested today. I know, not life as usual maybe for most of you, but in my neighborhood that's par for the course. I'd give more details but they play out like a day time soap opera and who actually watches those things.

Work is going well, I drove a HET today for the first time since my surgery. My new squad leader plans on having the squad goto Alamagordo at least once a week, mostly just to get away from the day-in day-out activities of the motor pool but it also serves to get some of the new members their required miles for their licenses so it's dual purpose. I drove one way today. I want to get "back on the horse" so to speak but I'm certainly not trying to over do it. Especially since driving these things is what injured my knee in the first place.

I've begun researching what I need to do to go CID (criminal investigative division). It turns out I won't be a special agent if I get accepted, but it will be a better career path for me than just truck driver. I need 30 credit hours as a part of the requirement but what little research I've done so far tells me that my military training alone will count for about 20 of those hours so it shouldn't be too hard to pick up another 10. My goal will be to get a criminal justice degree and end up in the crime scene investigation department at CID. I would be similar to the people on CSI then, to give a reference to a TV show. The process isn't an overnight thing but the sooner I can get the ball rolling the sooner I can get in.

Not too much more to say. Like I said, mostly just life as usual here. School and CID are my two short term goals that I'm working on. I've been off Facebook for a while and I'm going to try to keep up to date with that more than just every so often.

Bored

No real news, I just feel like chatting. I have been thinking about going to college. I've been researching how many credits my military training coverts to. I'm leaning towards a criminal justice degree but still need to talk to a few counselors, one with the college to find out what I need to do to enrol, and one with the Army to learn how much tuition assistance I'll get or if I'll need to use my GI bill.

If I get my degree I have a few options for the future. I'd really like to get a law enforcement job back in MI, local, county, state, whatever, just something that brings me back to the state. If I can't get a law enforcement job I can drop a packet for CID (criminal investigative department). It would be a huge promotion, my rank would become that of a warrant officer, but I'd be addressed as a special agent, kinda like the show NCIS except that's Navy and TV. It would likely mean staying in the Army longer, but I have to accept the reality of the job market in Michigan right now. It's really hard to be this far away, but it's a nessisary sacrifice to provide right now.

My recovery is still going well. I can walk quite well without the crutches although I'm not sure I'm supposed to yet. I missed my 6 week appointment 'cuz I lost track of what day it was. Hopefully when I get it rescheduled I'll be allowed to walk without crutches, especially since I broke one of them already. Physical therapy has been a little unpleasant but it's just muscle rebuilding, any muscle strengthening has a degree of pain and rebuilding an attrophied muscle doesn't seem to be an exception.

Anyway, like I said, no real news, just felt like chatting. Can't wait to visit Michigan again. Hopefully before the end of the year, but I don't know when yet.

Update 9-16-09

I meant to post this last night but I got too tired and fell asleep. Things have been progressing nicely with my physical therapy and Friday I was given the OK to drive again. The car needed a little work and I took care of that Saturday with a friend at a Self-serve shop here on post. Since then I've been driving myself to wherever I need to be.

Friday's physical therapy appointment not only allowed me to drive but it marked the 4 week mark since the surgery and meant that the physical therapy can be taken to the next stage. It's basically more muscle strengthening, which is what I've been working on this whole time, but now we're using weights and a bike to regain the rest of my range of motion. Yesterday was my first visit with the new regiment and I felt it right away. It never really hurts but the joint feels very stiff from not being used much, so working the range of motion often feels like a good workout by itself. If that wasn't enough we're still working on rebuilding my quadricep in my right leg. Part of the rebuilding has involved using electrical stimulation to force the muscle to contract. The muscle is still so weak that the machine can barely force it to contract. I can do it on my own, but not to the same amount I can do the left one. So basically, Tuesday's session left me quite sore.

During my pre-surgical consult a female captain, who was my surgeon's assistant, asked me to research a condition she felt I might have. I'd been asked a similar question while in Iraq and I didn't have it. Basically my joints are so loose, even though there isn't anything wrong, that it makes them wonder. The condition I was asked to research this last time was Ehler-Danlos Syndrome, it's a syndrome that effects the bodies collagen, which controls how the connective tissue in the body develops. It's not life threatening, in most cases, and there is no treatment, but as I began to read through the list of symptoms I found that many of them fit. Things like my flexibility, the way I scar, and a good many other things fit. The type I have is non-life threatening, if I indeed have it, but it means that I need to be more careful to situations that will lead to injuries like my right knee.

Yesterday was also my first day back to work and I'm getting used to waking up at 0400 again. I didn't do anything yesterday because the whole day was consumed by doctors appointments, but it felt good to get back into what I've gotten used to as a normal routine. I'm on restrictive duty, or as we call it, a profile. The profile determines what I'm allowed to do and for how long, things like running, walking, lifting, etc. When they are ALL checked NO we refer to it as a "dead man's profile". Along with the "dead man's" I've been given a soft shoe profile which means I wear tennis shoes instead of boots with my uniform. Additionally I'm not allowed to stand for periods of time longer than 10 minutes, I have to continue wearing my brace, and I have to walk with the crutches for at least another two weeks. Every two weeks my progress is re-evaluated and I imagine my profile will be updated along the way to reflect my progression. Right now this one has been written to cover the next 30 days to be safe.

So basically things are moving along just as they are supposed to. I'm one month into a six month recovery and it's going well. There is still no way to know if I'll ever run again but we're all OK with that as long as I can return to full duty.

As for right now, I think I'm going to take a nap. I still have to go in for PT in the mornings to show my face for accountability but I'm released to go home after the first formation. That leaves me with about two hours to kill before I need to return for work call. I'm interested to see what they find for me to do, if anything, and I'll try to keep this updated more frequently so everyone can follow along with my progress.

Until next time;

God Bless and take care,

SPC. Pahman, Jesse C.

United States Army

Ft. Bliss, TX

Physical Therapy

I've been able to walk around a bit during the day, even without the crutches. I'm also down to about 2-4 Percocet a day, a huge improvement over how I was when I first came home. I decided that if I felt good enough to be up and about that I should really get on my physical therapy.

I found the sheet of paper my physical therapist sent home with me last week and began to look at the instructions. It turns out I should be doing a bit more than I've been letting myself. I no longer have to keep my knee locked straight all day and I'm allowed to walk 30-45 minutes a day at this point. The exercises are all straightforward, basically leg lifts and knee bends. The leg lifts aren't so bad, the knee bends, well those are a different story. It's amazing how quickly muscle atrophies. Naturally there is an amount of pain from within the knee but mostly I feel it in the muscles of my upper leg. It's almost like I'm too weak to actually bend my leg. I've set my brace so that when I'm up and about I can bend my knee to up to 60* of rotation, which is what I am allowed to do. When I'm laying down I lock the leg straight, still a good deal of pain if I bend it, but I'll be working to lock the leg less and less. I have a follow-up with physical therapy Friday and I'm hoping to be on schedule with my recovery by that time. I got a late start but I'm feeling a lot better than I did last week so I'm hoping I can catch up the time.

Not much more than that to update, I'll likely post again after my appointment on Friday.