long days

Yesterday started out like a normal Saturday but soon turned into more
that I expected. First, I found out that one of my prevention SGT's
took a convoy from a place called TQ to Ramadi without the proper
approval and now I have to deal with the problem. The commander left
for her leave today, which leaves me in charge and now I'm the one
that has to give him an Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) and
replace him in his position of NCOIC. This really is a big deal due
to the fact that it is Ramadan out here and Anbar Province is still
pretty dangerous in spite of what you might hear on the news. In
addition, the SGT took one of our other soldiers with him endangering
her life as well. On the other side of things, the SGT was only
trying to do his job by getting he and the soldier he supervises back
to their AO as fast as possible. I guess following orders is an
important part of being a soldier and teaching this young Sergeant a
lesson might very well save his life and or someone else's. Just
after we finish dealing with this, I get word that the CH-47s are
coming in tonight with the 25 or so people directly involved in the
helicopter crash that recently that claimed the lives of 7 of their
own soldiers. More to come