Hillah, Iraq.

Standing by all day in a posture ready to call air strikes in the protection of visiting dignitaries and General officers is not nearly as exciting as one might think. While it may have appeared to the untrained observer that I merely sat around watching movies in the Team Room, eating Pudding Cups by scooping out the chocolate pudding with Nutter Butters, I was, in reality, a coiled spring of air power wrath, ready to strike out at mine enemies. Except for when I was dozing. I wasn’t so coiled then.

In today’s team meeting, Team Sergeant drew his Circle Of Trust on the grease board. Then he went through the team, putting the names of the people that had done well in the Circle Of Trust. Those that he was not pleased had their names written a distance from the circle in direct proportion to how much the Team Sergeant was annoyed with them. As the meeting continued and the bickering over who was in and out of the Circle Of Trust increased in volume, names began shifting around. Some moved in, some moved out, and some even were written at the bottom of the grease board or on another chalkboard all together.The Circle Of Trust turned into a running gag over the next few days. Finally, the accounting of who was in and out, and the reasons therein became so complicated that nobody was really sure anymore. Then Team Sergeant figured out that people were arbitrarily moving names, so the Circle Of Trust was erased.