FLYING SOLO

Well, after two weeks of training and working three weeks without a day off, this week I was trusted with my first group of linguist.
This group was larger than usual, so I ended with about 100. I must control all the "conversion" from civilians to military support. I have to make sure they receive training so they are not useless once they get to theater.
This last weekend we were doing just paperwork, the week is used to get them the physical and all their equipment. About $5K worth of military gear. The day they get their military gear is the day they realize NOBODY is there to carry their stuff, everybody has to pull their own and if they don't, somebody has to stop what he/she is doing and help the civilian and then that soldier falls behind.... etc.
Some old Arabs still use the old method to wash their ass after doing their business. So they leave a big mess for others to clean. When I say "wash their ass" I mean that after squatting on top of the toilet and releasing the load, NOT INSIDE the toilet but on the lid that covers the toilet, of course that they place a plastic bag or a lot of toilet paper on the lid. Before they flush they wash their ass with the water inside the toilet ...... do I have to continue? I think you get the picture of the cultural differences that we see her in the land of the Catfish. That is the old way for them and also the level of education is very low for those who use the old ways. The young Arabs DO NOT DO THAT, they are a lot more westernized than that.
Yesterday one of my young linguist had an encounter with a black woman that was not pretty. About 15 of my linguists and 40 other civilians going to theater were waiting to get their ID cards, this black, fat and with too much makeup was next to him, they both had to move, my linguist was reading the Q'ran and because he didn't move fast enough she said "Why don't you go back to what country you came from?" He was insulted and with his tail between his legs he came to tell me, I went off. BECAUSE I AM NOT MILITARY ANYMORE I could only inform the military what this stupid, fat ugly bitch had said. The African-American NCO in charge was very pissed and he let one of his junior NCOs take care of it. The junior NCO is a big country boy from the deep south. He went straight to the group and started to tell them in very clear terms that "If that shit happens again" he was calling the MPs to escort that person to the commander and explain. If there was a witness that person would be escorted out of the post by the MPs and fired, on the spot, from that position. While that fine young man was explaining, in a very clear and loud manner, what EVERYBODY SHOULD KNOW I was staring at the fat bitch and she wouldn't even look back, just buried her face and kept it there for a long time.
Later that day I was at the mess hall looking for one of my guys and I saw her walking towards me. She saw me and she did like she forgot something and went the other way. If I see this fat ugly bitch I will make sure she thinks, if she is capable of that, twice before vocalizing a racist comment.
Did you know that most of the civilian linguist we send to theater have earned their Master Degrees? We have had some doctors that want to take a year off and go to Iraq as linguist for the US military. Some of them make more in a week in their profession to what they would earn in a year in Iraq. At the same time we have a few that don't. They want and need the money, about $175K for the year in theater.