Acceptance...

Acceptance is something that I think we ALL strive for - regardless of color, creed, gender, sexual orientation or military occupational specialty. For those of us in the combat arms MOS's, it means being seen as an equal by others that shoulder the same burden, face the same dangers, know the same toils.

During this deployment I have been lucky enough to be accepted by many different groups of soldiers - the EOD technicians and professionals, our infantry soldiers facing danger everyday and our cav scouts heading out into some of the toughest terrain on earth.

It has not been an easy task as a combat engineer to be accepted by these different and very diverse groups of war fighters. The EOD guys are nuts, just simply insane. To be accepted by them, you have be willing to be as crazy as they are or more so...and I don't mean anything like the Hurt Locker - bring up that movie to some of these guys and see what happens! You have to truly know what the hell you are talking about because if you don't, these guys will see right through you in no time flat. You have to be willing to stand where they stand, go where they go and do what they do.

With the infantry, you have to be willing to do the same...only they don't like to mess with some of the things we engineers call toys...like landmines and other little betties that go boom! You have to be willing to stand against the enemy shoulder to shoulder with them and not flinch. You have to be a man of your word and your word has to be of steel - promise these men something and not deliver the first time and you are done. You also have to show respect and pay your dues.

The cav scouts are a little more of a different breed. They like to be hidden, they like to be in the background of everything - doing their jobs but not being in the spot light. They get out ahead of everyone else and do their work...finding the enemy, fixing the enemy and then bringing the whole world down around the bastards heads. If you can't keep up with them, you better not even try to go on mission...you're going to slow them down and piss them off. The only way you can ever get away with that is to make fun of yourself more than they do and do it first. If you can do that, get them to not be too pissed, and let you come on more missions, you better perform.

These three groups of soldiers are completely different in what they do, how they do it. The thing that has endeared them all to me is that it didn't matter that I was the fat f*ck from Brigade the first time I went out with them...I was willing to take the punishment and come back for more...willing to work as hard as they did just so that I didn't put them in danger...willing to make fun of myself and eat huge amounts of humble pie in respect of what they had to do on a daily basis.

So, this is my thanks to the men of the 744th EOD, the 129th EOD, the 703rd EOD, the men of TF IRONMAN and the cav scouts of Bravo Troop, 1-113 CAV - you guys have shouldered the burden of our tour and come out ahead....thanks boys.

~Jake