Kudos to Rocketeer Jr....returned to civilization in one piece from darkest/hottest Africa
[ sans 'tache as it got mangy in the desert/swamps ]
and now sports two new shiny gongs on his tunic [ nice little Canajan medal for ' foreign service' and an atrocious UN chocolate coin thingy ]

Whilst away on campaign his home unit ' volunteered ' him for extra duties as PMC, but sweetened the deal by promoting him to the next rung .. he gets pinned with his major's crowns on Jan 18th and assumes command of " C " company of the regiment.. good drills for the lad.

closing in on Mom, though [so tensions are mounting ] as the Good Padre doesn't get the Light Colonel's pips until April '08 at earliest - assuming no military foul-ups along the way - well, no more than the usual ]

As well, Daugther No. 2 moves up to Captain in April [ passed the tasks and paper work filed, just counting the days to ' time in ' ]..

whole damn family is going to outrank the Rocketeer - [ not that nayone ever listened to me anyway ] and it makes me think I should have stayed in/re-upped a while back as I would have made, at least [ coff - ahem - ] Brigadier or better [ HAH!!] before mandatory kick out..

Seems I've got to save pennies and buy some rounds in the Mess to toast the new achievements [ though the ' newly minted' officers are on the hook for the first pour from the good stock ]..

Ah..2007 shaping up nicely.. now, if only I could win the damn lottery...

bump....by the by, anyone seen ol Rocketeer around? perhaps he DID win the lotto?

hey, Gunny!!

saw the query...

been kind of busy with ' real stuff to do ' and also getting ready for my annual ' blow up Americans campaign ' [ 1st funday starts June 1!! ] finding I'm moving slower and it takes more time to pack all the sh*t in the truck for some reason..LOL

Son now has his extra pip and and already the mail is getting mixed up as numties don't check intials before sending out stuff labelled " Major " so the missus gets stuff for the son and vice versa..[ she really needs to get promoted again [ Ha! ]..

The Good Padre has been told that its time for some choices.. posting time and we're looking at hauling kit and kaboodle either to CFB Edmonton or CFB Petawawa where she'll be the Base Chaplain for those units training for or returning from Afghanistan depending on the rotation...

been in the same place for 20 years and don't feel like shifting gears at this point but.. orders is orders..

and, damn... still haven't won the %^&**$##@ lottery!!

Rocketeer! Glad to see your back in good form. See you've met the FNG on the Bush thread.

Must be confusing in yer house what with everyone saluting each other just getting to the loo!

Sure would like to get up north to watch these campaigns for a weekend. Sure beats going to disney world an such. If not this year then next for sure.

Gunny;

you're more than welcom anytime at the Rocketeer's tent.. I keep some ' private label ' throat gargle for special friends..

sadly, gearing up for the summerfest campaigns seems to be taking more than a bit of effort these days..must be something in the water...but I've scheduled a number of ' tactical exercises' for this year and expect to make 75%-80% of 'em God and the Missus willing..

Rocketeer, Is this the reenactment where the Canadians trounced the upstart Americans in 1813-1814?

the very same, mech.. only these days we let the Americans think they won so more tourists from the south will come and leave behind US Greenbacks at the till..

Hope I last long enough to fuilly enjoy the 200th anniversary ' commemoration ' come 2012-14 and resultant hooplah..


le the debates continue as long as the keg holds out..

I'll get my act together at some point in the near future and bring along a bottle that my grandfather gave me on my very first meeting with him. (the only time I met the ol guy!) The wife took that bottle and has it stashed somewhere. We have an agreement that if I can find it, I can drink it. Haven't found it yet. The last time I found where she had hidden my bottle of Dewar's White Label Scotch, it was in one of those plaster fire hydrants that our dogs pee on......

Oooh that hurts. How did you track it down?

It was pure luck. A cat attempted suicide by jumping down into the yard when both little dawgs were out there peeing on everything that wasn't moving. In the ruckus, the hydrant got knocked over and there it was. The cat survived this little ordeal and keeps coming back to tease the dawgs by just sitting on the wall. Drives them nutz.

That had to be priceless.

yeah it was to me! remember, I got the fifth of scotch outta all the yappin, scratchin an yowlin! Not to mention all the dagger looks from the ol lady when I walked in with the bottle!

Small price to pay for a bottle scotch. The other is probably buried in the yard somewhere though.

Knowing her, she's placed it inside the swimming pool filter....

Gunny:
if you ever get the urge to come north and enjoy some change in seasons, I'll be more than happy to replenish your fluid levels with some high octane domestic plonk..

Wife and son just got back on the weekend from a milex on anti-terrorism techniques at the mock-up Afghan village 'set' built for FIBUA/OBUA training.. Seems a Russian TV crew was allowed to come and join the practise sessions.. and they followed Son around as he led his unit through their paces [ bet that opened a few eyes ] .. fun thing was when he hooked up with the Good Padre and the TV folks found out ' mom' was at the ' front' with her son.. now they're doing some interviews with her! - seems the Russkies don't have chaplaincy in the military as in the West [ can see how those long robes, funny hats and Methuzaleh beards might clash with modern military gear/standards ]...

wish I knew how to get to see tha show and what the hell they were saying..might be better than WWE on Spike TV ..LOL