The [Triumphant?] Return

Aloha,

It's been over a year since I've posted here...my apologies on that. I feel compelled to correct myself and use this forum as a means to get some information out to folks without having to write 20 separate messages, most of them covering much the same material. I know that some people out there still check on Garblog from time to time, so here is a little something for the faithful!

First, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We sure wish we could be back in Nebraska or in Iowa for the festivities. They are always a good time up there at the Kollasch farm (look here for some pictures of the last time I was able to attend that annual event in 2004)! We hope everyone is able to get a good helping of tasty turkey and some 'taters, maybe some gravy and stuffing to go with it, and, oh yeah - how 'bout that family bonding? Never better than when done over the sights of a shotgun looking downrange at a few disheveled old computer monitors! :-) (Look at the photos, you'll see what I am talking about!)

For those on our distribution list for photos, you know that John has grown into a big boy in the year since I last wrote / posted any photos here. There are two recent photos of John below for everyone who hasn't seen these pictures yet. He is 18 months old now, hard to believe (it has gone so fast!), and he has a bunch of words he can say. Here are some of them:

-Up
-Helicopter (he says "HUCK-uh"), Car, Bus

-Bumbo (this is a foam rubber "chair" that he sits in)

-Happy

-Blue

-Two

-Hi, Bye bye

-Poop, Pee

We have been trying to keep track of what he says; this is just a sample. There are close to 50 distinct words in all, and a lot that we can't quite make out yet (a lot of babbling and baby-talking).

Also of note on the family and holiday theme, we will be coming back to Nebraska for Christmas this year! Luckily, I will not be deployed (first time in the nearly 3 years I have been back in this line of work) and my boss said I am cleared to take the time I want. Our travel plans will have us back in Nebraska on the morning of 24 Dec and we will have to head back here on 3 Jan. We are really looking forward to seeing all our family and friends while we are back!

Let's talk about my work for a moment: as some of you know, I was selected to be a general's aide-de-camp in July and assumed those duties effective 3 Aug. This position is in effect for a period of one year. I am a little over 3 months in the job now and let me tell you, it is a very interesting job! And there is quite a lot of travel involved. Generals are busy folks! I have been to Korea (my first time ever visiting Korea, in fact), Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines in the past 3 months. Upcoming trips will take me back to Japan, to India (haven't been there before), back to Thailand, and back to Korea. This is not counting any "pop-ups" that are currently not planned for, nor does it count any potential trips the general might make back to the Mainland. Being a general's aide is certainly not a job that I envisioned having when I came back into the service, but really, I can't think of a job that I could have right now, at this stage in my career, that could be more interesting, relevant, and helpful for the future than this is. Really. Things happen for a reason - I am convinced this job fits in that scheme.

More on work, but not what I am doing now - what I hope to do in the future: I have applied for the Olmsted Scholar Program. Here is the program in a nutshell: if selected, you attend foreign language training for a period of 6 - 12 months (dependent on which language you select / are designated), then you ship out overseas for a 2 year period, during which time you attend graduate school full-time at a foreign university, preferably taking classes delivered in the foreign language you were trained in at the beginning. You can see all the details on the program here at the Olmsted Foundation website. The intent of the program is to give the different military services people (in this case, officers) who are knowledgeable about foreign cultures and people to help the US government and the US military do its job better in the international arena. I am all about being a part of this; I applied to study the Japanese language and be sent to Japan for graduate school, hopefully pursuing a course of study in international relations, history, or political science.

The nomination / selection process is somewhat long - I had to send in my application package to Headquarters, Marine Corps (commonly abbreviated as HQMC) last month, after which they extended the deadline for applications until the middle of this month (rumored to be due to lack of volume of applications, which, if true, should mean a greater chance of being selected!). The HQMC selection board went last week, according to information I have, but results have not been distributed yet. So right now I am waiting to see what comes of this. There *SHOULD* be an administrative message (called a MARADMIN; see where they are posted here) disseminated within the next few weeks alerting the selectees that they were chosen by the service to be screened and interviewed by the Olmsted Foundation board. With any luck at all, I will be one of the ones picked for this. If so, starting after the first of the year, the Olmsted Foundation will conduct interviews, etc. to pick who they think should be a part of the outstanding educational opportunity, with the FINAL notification coming on that ~April 2008.

So, if I am selected for the Olmsted Scholar Program, we will be leaving Hawaii sometime next year, probably heading to California (I would imagine) for language training for up to a year, then off to Japan for 2 years. But even if I am not picked for the program, I am still up for orders next year, so we will be moving one way or the other. If I move based off of receiving orders the regular way (because my 3 years on station will be up in about a year from now), then I am hoping to move out East, to the Washington, D.C. area. Hello, Patrick and Maxine!

Here is a photo of Barb and I at the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, 2007 Marine Corps Birthday Ball held a couple of weeks ago. Isn't she....smashing? And look at all that "bling" on me! It comes with the job...

And, as a new experiment, there is some video of John below. This is the first time I've attempted to post video, so I hope it works! Please take a look.

Enjoy! Drop us a line at gardahsam@yahoo.com.

Best regards from Hawaii,

Gary, Barb, and John