Back in Virginia

I am safely home with my family in Northern Virginia. As far as I know I have no further obligation to the Army for the next 6 months, and after that I'll be eligible to resign my commission. Sultan Jeff is home as well, but Chris is still over in Afghanistan. He was the last of my group to arrive, and he'll be the last to come home.

Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes (and clicks and eyeballs and links) over the last 16 months.

The blog is not going to go away. We still have VPs to settle on, and the IRR story is something that will continue to develop as we see what direction the wars take under a new president.

Thanks again, and I'll talk to everyone soon.

IRR Statistics...sorta

The other day I received an article on the Army's utilization of the IRR, generously forwarded by Vice Presidential Candidate Sultan Jeff.

The article is interesting, and it marks the first time--literally--that I have ever seen an Army official discuss statistics regarding how many people have been drafted out of the IRR.

The problem, then? COL Good claims that only 4% of IRR call-ups have failed to report. This number is so wildly different than all the anecdotal evidence would suggest--everyone seems to agree that there is about a 50% report rate--that it calls into question the rest of the information presented in the article.

Furthermore, if the Army were serious about "debunking myths about the IRR", they should release far more descriptive statistics than the ones listed in this article. Namely, break things down by officer and enlisted, by different military occupational specialties (infantry, artillery, etc). Break the numbers down by year, and let us know the stats on delay and exemption requests.

Until the Army does that, the IRR process will continue to be looked at with fear and loathing by the men and women who make up its ranks.

Farewell redux

More than 3 months ago we said goodnight and good luck to IRR blogging stalwart Jason.

Well, much to my delight Jason made a cameo over at his old blog the other day to let us all know how he's doing, and to officially announce that the blogging has come to an end. Thanks for the good times, Jason.

It's really weird to think that Jason and Kevin (who chose to take down his blog, which lives on in our hearts all the same) have been home for 3 or 4 months already. And Jeff, Chris and I are still here in Afghanistan--a country whose security situation has set the Newspaper of record to running around screaming with its hair on fire--fighting the fight.

Only a few--hell, a couple--months left to go, though.

It's interesting to look forward to the type of readjustment challenges that Jason mentions. Lauren--I think that a trip touring Europe for three weeks might help us adjust, too!

And for the record, this marks the fifth post in the last 9 months where I've used the word "redux" in the title. It's true, I have a problem...

Monday Morning News Brief

Surprise, surprise--international aid groups don't want the US military mucking about their development efforts in Africa.

And really, every single Civil Affairs team that the Army might have sent to Africa is one more CA Team worth of dudes they would have to call off of the IRR to backfill less glamorous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Africa mission, all told, is an interesting and important one. It remains to be seen, however, exactly what role the US military will play.

Happy Weekend, everyone

Yet another article, this one from the Durham HS and linked to at ArmyTimes, confirms that the IRR recall is still very much in effect. When will it all end? Time will tell...

Of note, Chris (from the linked article) was called back on 400 day orders. My call-up (and that of my peers) was for 545 days, or 18 months. The difference is probably that this guy will do the same job he did the first time around, whereas all of my IRR classmates and I were summoned to re-class to Civil Affairs.

I tell you what, though...even with the re-class to CA, if the Army was more efficient about the whole process--9 weeks of CA training, 2 weeks of pre-deployment stuff, ship you off to Iraq--you could get CA guys through in 400 days and change. But alas...it just ain't gonna happen.

Have a great, IRR free weekend everybody. And Chris, if you happen by this post--hang in there, buddy. The whole process goes by faster than you think. Good luck and God speed.

An Explanation of Sorts

Here at Army 2.0 we’ve had some new visitors of late, so I thought I might take a moment to summarize the basic premise of the blog.

Without further ado, I present to you the following tale of sadness and woe, hope and redemption, absurdity and plagiarized Stephen Baldwin anecdotes:

Boy goes to college, joins Army, meets girl, leaves Army, and goes to business school. Boy meets IRR. IRR falls in love with boy. Boy gets dragged kicking and screaming away from boy's girl off to the IRR's secret lair of sado-masochistic love and waffle fries...and in the process, boy meets other boys who were similarly ensnared. Boy all of a sudden doesn't feel quite as bad about everything, eventually gets back together with girl, and all of the various boys and girls go on to fame and fortune as Investment Banking Internet Consultant millionaires.

That last part hasn’t actually happened yet (if you want to be all technical about it). And each of the aforementioned boys is currently continents away from their respective girls (which sucks pretty hard). But still…I think you guys get the idea.

Off the top of my head, here are a few other questions you might be asking yourself about my current situation:

Q1) Why did you go back into the Army after you finished your MBA?

A1) I was involuntarily mobilized from the IRR to return to active duty. I was originally ordered to report in October 2006, but the Army granted me a delayed report date so that I could finish school (and get married, as it turns out).

Q2) What is this IRR you keep talking about? Is that like what happened to Ryan Phillipe in that one movie?

A2) Check here for my most detailed explanation of the IRR (and here for a recent update). The IRR is different from being “stop-lossed”, which is what happened to Ryan Phillipe in the creatively named movie “Stop Loss”. Whereas a stop-lossed soldier is retained on active duty beyond their active duty commitment, an involuntarily mobilized IRR soldier is one who came off of active duty and was drafted back into service.

Q3) Where’s all the juicy stuff—details about what you do, opinions on various Afghanistan related subjects, etc?

A3) Isn’t learning about Duke basketball recruits and times I was awarded giant novelty checks just as interesting? And aren’t first person narratives written by my cat more interesting still??? Beyond that I don’t know what to tell you…literally. I’ve disclaimed any and all opinions in the blog’s header, but I’m not sure where the line is in terms of sharing, and I’m not interested in testing that out. I do my best to capture the experience of a life spent building the infrastructure of Afghanistan without listing any details or passing judgment on how well or poorly we’re doing it. I offered up possible explanations for my reticence two posts back.

Q4) Who would win in a fight—Oski, or the Blue Devil?

A4) While I will always root for a Duke team ahead of a Cal one (even in football, if it ever came to that) I think that Oski could take the BD in a fight. Oski is pear shaped (low center of gravity) and I’m pretty sure his cardigan has magical powers. That’s a tough combination to beat, and I don't think the Blue Devil has it in him.

I think that’s it from here—thanks for stopping by, everyone. I hope you enjoy your stay. Please feel free to email me or write comments with any other questions that you have.

A rare IRR mention in the media...

I forgot to pass along this link the other day. It would seem that the media took a pause from its incessant Stop-loss bashing to briefly mention the crazy IRR fad that none of the kids are talking about.

The WaPo military blog expands on the story of this San Francisco vet that just got his IRR letter in the mail--so much for the rumors floating around that there weren't going to be anymore IRR call ups. The comments on the WaPo blog aren't as interesting as the last two WaPo blogs I linked to, but they're interesting all the same.

Notice that, as always, the focus with IRR stuff tends to be people giving advice on how to sham out of the call up. The whole thing seems harmless on the surface, but what does this ultimately do? It increases the number of people that the Army has to call to fill a given slot. With every new call up, the dodgers have a greater chance of getting over, and eventually enough responsible types have been recalled that the Army can meet its quota.

The process ends up disproportionately punishing those soldiers with a more pronounced sense of duty (and/or pronounced Catholic guilt), and I for one don't think that's very fair.

It's that whole Three Buckets thing again...and I think my attitude has slightly changed since I wrote the Three Buckets post. I used to have respect for those who decided to blatantly ignore the summons, if that's what their conscience told them to do. More than 600 days since I got my letter in the mail and my life was completely knocked on its side, I don't have much sympathy for the folks who ignored the recall. Why? Because in so doing it foisted the problem into someone else's lap, and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think that was a little messed up.

Ah well...what're you gonna do?

p.s. For those of you who are interested, here is another IRR link, this one about a dude who reported and was medically released. Buried in the post you'll find a link to my Three Buckets post (which is how I found this other blog to begin with). If nothing else, this is more evidence that the recall continues, under the radar as always...

Of all the things to complain about...

Check out this video of a soldier living in the "deplorable" barracks at Fort Bragg.

Now, I lived in said barracks for about 4 months last summer. As usually seems to be the case, I had a slightly less tragic perspective on things than this guy.

Honestly, of all of the things I can complain about my Army 2.0 experience, having a barracks room that had been ravaged by vicious venetian-blinds hating Gnomes is no higher than 8th or 9th on that list. It just comes across (to me) as whiny. It's the Army, after all...where's the fun if you're not suffering at least a little bit?

p.s. The only truly annoying part of this incident is the commander coming on and claiming they had no idea how shitty the barracks are...I don't buy that for a Bagram Airfield minute. Those barracks have been in use by mobilizing and de-mobilizing soldiers for more than a year, and trust me, this is not the first guy to complain about the broken lights, lack of hot water, exposed ventilation, etc.

Why isn't the Army broken?

Interesting blog on the Post that asks the above question.

Be sure to read the comments to get the full story, as several mildly well informed people chime in to say their piece.

Unless a new comment has popped up since I initially read this, no one has yet uttered the "I" word, but all of us around these parts know what's up.

Invite Only IRR Blogs

Seriously Josh? You know that a lot of your traffic was coming from this site, don't you? Ah well...good luck with what you're doing.

And kidding aside, I think it's probably a safe move for Josh. I cut off blogging entirely during my CAQC time, and it wasn't because I wanted to. Josh is probably up against the same sort of restriction (I'd be shocked if they don't explicitly ban blogging now when you start that course, given all the drama surrounding my situation).

Anywho, if any of y'all are friends with Josh out there and see how's he's doing, drop the rest of us a line and let us know.

Monthly Roundup and General Awesomeness--March 2008

Greetings from (briefly beautiful but increasingly rainy) Afghanistan!

Another month is in the books, and I have to say...March flew by more quickly than any month yet. I think this is largely due to how busy I've become (note the 2 weeks I stopped blogging mid-month). But I think that it's also related to the fact that (realistically or not) I can finally see the finish line.

That said, 6 months is still a long time...so enough rambling, and on with the roundup!

First and foremost, Mrs. Exnicios and I would like to cordially invite everyone to save a date.

In other news...March brought with it a couple of new (and completely adorable) additions to the gallery--but neither could top my vote for favorite picture of the month, this shot of my happy reunion with Jeff and Chris!

Wait--did I say favorite picture? Because with all due respect to the baby, the puppy, and my buddies, this shot of me and noted johnny-come-lately Art Monk advocate Peter King might take the cake.

And hell, while we're at it--check me out kicking it in Bear Territory (not to be confused w/ my office in Afghanistan, which I've been told looks nearly identical). Thanks again to K/R, M/S, and N/K for this fantastic gift--3 weeks later and I'm still grinning ear to ear.

But sadly, March wasn't uniformly awesome as far as pictures go. As most of you remember, a certain star from a certain 1995 tour de force of cinematic triumphantness failed to show up at Bagram for his picture. Will I ever recover from this setback? Time will tell...

March turned out to be an eventful time for IRR content--I started the month with a roundup of fellow IRR bloggers, posted Kevin's farewell here, and I discussed the recently announced muster here.

Late in the month I spruced things up a bit here at the 2.0--I added a link to the sidebar for IRR specific content, the wedding/celebration announcement, and the history of the name Exnicios (something I know you're all dying to learn more about.)

And finally, if you've made it all the way to the end of the roundup (and I won't hold it against you if you didn't) check out my favorite post of the month, which share a couple of related vignettes. Be sure to read all the way through Colin's comments, which were really great, insightful and appreciated.

That's it for now. I hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll talk to you again next month!

Another farewell...

The IRR blogger world said goodbye to Kevin a couple of weeks back.

And today, I'd like to bid farewell to another one of the greats--Jason's Iraq vacation has come to a merciful end, and he is home in Philadelphia with his family. Congrats to you and yours, Jason. I hope that we haven't seen the last of you out here on the IRR-internets.

Jason closed out the blog on a happy note, but not before he laid into our friends over at HRC one last time. In the quote below, Jason is referring to an article that appeared last month in Stars and Stripes.

Money Quote: "I guess it’s funny that despite years of honorable service, we were called up and treated like second class citizens for over a year. Yes, we are the dreaded IRR, and despite having a lifetime more experience than most of the people who thumb their noses at us, we’re still treated like second thoughts."

Sad but true.

We'll miss you Jason, and maybe we'll see you on down the line.

As for me? T-minus 200 days and counting...

Different people react differently to the IRR...

I have to say, I'm not sure how many of you have been keeping up with Josh over at "To War & Back", but...let's just say the guy is having some trouble adjusting back to Army life.

That's completely understandable, of course, but still...compare and contrast his reaction to Fort Jackson to mine.

Me: Also, make sure I post sometime or other about how smart and saavy everyone here is--already had lots of good conversations with folks about technology, marketing, technology-marketing, and the like. Very impressed with my fellow soldiers.

Josh: Now for a little culture shock word association: chewing tobacco, "ain't", wood paneling and cinder blocks , bigotry, "chow hall"

The quotes are out of context, and Josh has his positive moments from time to time. But generally speaking, I think the culture shock is really getting him down. Still...taking pictures of your Harvard cap on the bed isn't help making him a more sympathetic character (not that it's my/your sympathy that he's aiming for).

And really, what's so bad about living somewhere where eating Chik Fil A three times a week isn't just accepted, it's encouraged? Come on--a pickle on a fried chicken sandwich? That's cause for celebration, not dismay. And when you get right down to it, Walmart, fast food, strip clubs and pawn shops...that's just America, man. No use getting too upset about it.

Bottom line--I think that Josh is sans peers, and it's hard to stay positive going through something like this without friends to share the experience with. I don't know how I would have made it through that place without my wife just a few miles up the road, and Jeff and Chris taking every lump I did along the way. We had each other, and that made all the difference in the world.

I hope things pick up for Josh, and his experience becomes more positive with time--because time is something he's got a lot of.

While I was away...

I sat in for my brigade commander at a meeting a couple of weeks ago, and I was literally the lowest ranking guy in a room of about 30 people. By my rough count there were 4 Majors, 13 Lieutenant Colonels, 10 Colonels, and the General--except that the General wasn't there.

As the meeting began he was elsewhere, no doubt doing important General things. It appeared that I was off the hook, and I would brief my brigade's portion to a room full of disinterested higher ups who were really only there because they had to be, not because they wanted to know what all the brigades had to say.

But since this is me we're talking about--and my morning with the General was not to be denied-- he made his entrance 30 seconds before it was my turn to speak. No big deal, I told myself. If there's one thing I'm good at it's briefing stuff. But seeing as the General didn't know who I was, I felt an introduction should be my first order of business.

"Good morning, sir. Captain Exnicios, Task Force Cincinnatus S9 standing in for the Brigade Commander."

It was a pretty good start, I thought--forceful, confident, everything a fine junior officer such as myself should be.

"Exnicios?" the General responded. "Is that your real name?"

"Yes sir, for my entire life." Where was he going with this?

"Wow. It sounds like some sort of horrible disease." But hey, at least he pronounced it right.

And from there I did my briefing, which went fine. The General (who seems to be a genuinely alright fellow, insults to my Exnicios heritage aside) complimented me on my performance, and that was that.

About a week later I happened to find myself driving in an SUV with the General's aide, a recently promoted Captain who carried himself with a slightly obnoxious swagger as befits his aide-de-camp/West Pointer status. The two of us were chatting with our driver, a Civil Affairs sergeant who had recently arrived in theater, which led to the following exchange.

CA SGT: "Some of the officers we have aren't that great, but some are really good."

General's Aide: "Yeah, I've heard that a lot of times you CA guys get stuck with really horrible IRR officers who got called up, don't want to be there, and just fuck off the whole time."

I resisted the temptation to reveal my status as a proud member of the IRR, and the conversation moved on to other things. Later that day the good Captain was asking for my story, and I informed him that I was one of the aforementioned "good for nothing" IRR officers. If he was embarrassed he hid it well, and he quickly feigned interest in my life and times. He let me know "how much it must suck" to get called back. He also cited the recent WaPo article on Captains getting out of the Army, an article that I don't have a very high opinion of. I pointed him to the vastly superior NYTMag piece from last summer, though I'm sure he hasn't looked it up.

Anywho, there's no really exciting way to end this story, so I'll just say this--how have I not gotten into the oped writing business yet? I suppose that's something I can look at on my way out the door...

For those of you who thought the IRR might be ramping down...

One of my numerous good friends named Chris just forwarded me this link. It would seem that the Army enjoyed last year's muster so much that they've--shocker of shockers--decided to throw another one!

Before I go on I should say how much I enjoy my current position, and that I believe I'm helping my team here make a significantly positive impact on the future of Afghans and Afghanistan. But that said, one wonders how long can this IRR stuff will continue. I mean, the stories you hear...

I had a very interesting chat this afternoon with a young Lieutenant who graduated Harvard in 2005 and has already been accepted to Harvard Law class of 2012 (should he decide to get out of the Army). This gentleman informed me that in 2005 they told his commissioning class to have backup plans. It would seem that the Army felt it had too many nascent LT's, and many would be asked to go to the reserves instead of active duty. This particular guy ended up going active anyways, but my question is this--how could they turn away willing active duty guys when they're recalling IRR people to fill slots elsewhere in the ranks?

Now, I fully appreciate that a brand new LT is not the same thing as a Captain with 4 or 5 years of experience (your typical IRR draftee). But let me tell you something--anyone can be Civil Affairs. I really think it's a branch like any other, not something that one has to come to later in their career as the traditional model dictates. There are already brand new 2LT's in the CAQC anyways, so why not shuffle some things around so that you utilize the manpower you have without panicing and hitting the IRR button.

So why doesn't the Army do this? The explanation I keep coming back to is that they choose to reward individuals who are voluntarily joining, while they push the burden onto those of us who had the audacity to quit. And this makes total sense from their perspective. People like me are already lost (or so they reason), so there aren't any drawbacks to alienating us through the IRR process. A brand new 2LT, on the other hand, still has their entire career in front of them. Piss them off now by sending them off to a CA gig that they really aren't interested in, and you risk pushing away someone who might have stayed in otherwise.

I honestly don't know where any of this leaves us, but all the same--good luck to all of you musterees out there. I wish you the best, and who knows? Maybe I'll see you here at the Forward Edge sooner or later...

IRR Blogger update

On the heels of my O.Y.E update from last week, let's check in with a few of our favorite (and/or most interesting) IRR bloggers. While they tell their tales of war, I will continue to feed you a daily diet of awesome movies, NBA action, and legendary wrestlers.

Kevin took a long break from blogging, and came back to inform us that he's...considering staying in the reserves after this deployment??? Say it ain't so, Kev, say it ain't so...

Jason continues to match his consistently enjoyable content with regular appearances over thunderrun, a war blog roundup. Oh Jason, you rock star you...

And last but not least, Josh has FINALLY reported to Fort Jackson to begin his training...the same Fort Jackson that Chris and I reported to EIGHT MONTHS BACK!!!1! I first reported on Josh last October, and unless I'm mistaken he had the same orders that we did. We got delays to finish school, and then reported in June. Josh got a delay to finish school, then had a family situation that got him delayed even more.

Honestly, I don't think I'd be able to handle it if I had lived w/ the uncertainty of will-I-or-won't-I have to report to Jackson for basically a year longer than I did, then have to deal with just now starting the process in earnest. I think it would be more than I can handle. So everyone say a prayer to the God/Tree/Giant-Spaghetti-Monster of your choice for Josh--his is not an easy row to hoe, not by a long shot.

Heard this one before?

I'm sure you all remember a couple of the IRR/HRC stories that I shared a few months back. It would appear that the incident linked to above is not an isolated one.

Not too long ago, a group of non-IRR service members were brought to Fort Bragg in support of the the Global War on Terror. Some were volunteers, reservists who were sitting on the sidelines and decided that they wanted to do their part. Others in this group were ripped from their active duty military jobs to fill spots.

All were assigned to the Civil Affairs mission that I've been a part of now since early July.

As it turns out, there were more folks called in than was necessary. Who, then, got sent home? The active duty folks, of course. So while the volunteers are sent home, the volun-tolds get to keep doing a mission that they didn't sign up for.

This is interesting to the IRR crowd that I'm a part of. To wit, if there is a supply of volunteers out there that is being sent home, why do folks who would prefer to sit on the sidelines have to come on in while the volunteers are told they can't play ball?

There are a number of reasons, I'm sure. These personnel decisions are made at echelons well above me or anyone I know. I'm sure there are good reasons for all of it.

Another interesting IRR blog

This one from a recent HBS grad who apparently wasted 5 years in the Army that he could have spent making bank with his crazy Photoshop/Microsoft Paint skills.

Kidding aside, this makes an interesting read...he's obviously shared many of the same emotions that all of us IRR types have. The twist is that his delay/exemption process has dragged on and on, to the point where he still hasn't reported--and still might not have to.

It raises an interesting scenario, though--on the one hand, you're glad to not have to go back to the Army just yet, but on the other hand, you were kind of counting on that paycheck from Uncle Sam to kick in. Business school kinda makes you broke, and I know that I, for one, wouldn't be financially solvent right now if the Army hadn't been paying me since June.

Three Buckets of IRR Draftees

Bucket 1: The guys who don't show up when they're called
Bucket 2: The guys who show up, and are gung ho about it
Bucket 3: The guys who might not want to show up, but do

In light of my Aunt Terry's recent post--which was extraordinarily thoughtful, thank you for the feedback--I think that it's worth taking a step back to reexamine what the "IRR" is all about.

IRR stands for Individual Ready Reserve. Soldiers (and marines and sailors and airmen) can join the IRR when their active service obligation is complete, but they still have time left on their overall commitment to the military.

While on IRR status, soldiers are eligible to be called back into active service. Otherwise, the soldiers are left alone to lead their civilian lives.

In the last 3 years the Army has called about 10,000 IRR soldiers to active duty. The Army has not released any statistics (that I'm aware of, at least) regarding how many soldiers who were called actually reported for duty. Most folks estimate the number at about 40-50%. Anecdotally, in my class of draftees down at Fort Jackson there were 25 of us. More than 50 were supposed to report that day. The folks who trained us down at Jackson suggested that this was typical, and most of those folks have been at Jackson for the entire 3 years of the call ups. Take all that for what it's worth.

So, the first thing every one needs to know about me and my friends here at Forts Jackson and Bragg is that we all showed up. It also bears mentioning that of the 25 of us, all but two of us (me and one other person) had previously deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan.

What happens to the 50-60% who are no shows? Well, not that much, really. Currently, the best anecdotal information out there suggests that the Army is either forgetting about folks, or processing them for Other Than Honorable (OTH) discharges. An OTH is what it sounds like--worse than an honorable, but better than a dishonorable. The rub is that many civilian jobs, and all federal/state jobs, require you to disclose any discharges from the military for other than honorable reasons. For some people, an OTH will really limit them. For some people it won't.

There are, as you'd imagine, a handful of dudes who get called up and are really happy about it. There are some folks who volunteered to return to service, and some who volunteered to leave their cushy Navy job (for example) to deploy with the Army.

But in my experience, most of the IRR folks who did bother to show up are somewhere in Bucket 3. We all question why we came. We all have days when we're feeling pretty down about our situation. But we also have days when we think things aren't so bad. Is this really so different than anyone else at any other job?

And ultimately, for better or for worse, our defining and linking characteristic is that we showed up. We didn't have to report--not really at least. But each of us, for our own reasons, decided to heed the call. Again, take that for what it's worth...which might not be much at all. But hey, it's all we've got.

It's very difficult to describe, actually...the experience of being drafted from the IRR list back into service is a very different one than any of us have gone through to date in our respective military careers. Very different from signing up initially (at 17, in my case--mom and dad had to sign a waiver!) Very different than anything encountered while on active duty.

At Army 2.0 I try to capture this experience for a couple of different reasons.

First, the blog helps my fellow IRR callups and I deal with our situation. My comrades at Jackson/Bragg have really embraced this outlet, and encouraged me to continue committing our experiences to the blog.

Second, I'm telling a story that I would have loved to have heard myself a few months ago. I hope that this blog will help future IRR callups know what they're getting themselves into.

What are they gonna do, send us to Iraq?

My old buddy Chris Davis asks a great question in the comments section of yesterday's post:

"What happens to those that don't pass the weigh-in or apft?"

And the answer is...basically nothing. We're all already going to Iraq, so if we fail to meet the course standards (including APFT type stuff) the "worst" they can do to us is send us over in a non-CA capacity. But since CA officers have one of the highest KIA rates of all Army officers, getting sent to Iraq in a non-CA capacity isn't necessarily a bad thing...

That said, an interesting rumor was floating around the water cooler earlier today. Without giving away too much, we're hearing that the IRR Captains in the class 7 weeks in front of me are getting assigned to staff jobs, rather than Team Leader roles. Staff guys are as "in the rear with the gear" as is possible in this age of non-contiguous battle spaces. The Team Leaders, on the other hand, are the bubbas out on the front lines of freedom, bravely risking their necks to ensure that no Iraqi child goes to bed without a beanie baby.

Bottom line--staff is safer, but Team Leader positions are more interesting and rife with professional/personal development opportunities. Food for thought.