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9 Sep 2009
Band o' Bros at Holy Joe's
Desert Ministry: Here in the sands of Basra, Iraq, several members of the 34th Infantry Division have started a “Men’s Bible Study” – but on steroids. We read the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge, and meet early Sunday morning to share our experiences and journey into our hearts. The theme is that men are genetically different, created differently by God, for a unique purpose. Common to each man’s purpose are three principles: Man wants a Battle to Fight, an Adventure to Live, and a Beauty to Rescue. We explore these principles and dig further: what wounds are we carrying? How perhaps were we denied validation as young men, what vow did we make to overcome that wound, and how has that wound and vow impacted our adult lives? Through sharing our journey, within a bond of confidentiality and the shared circumstances of war, we have built enduring friendships, explored our hearts, and struggled to piece together how this can make us better husbands and fathers. Our leader is Dr. (LTC) Dave Ronan, and he has done this before. In fact, I was pleased to learn that the Band of Brothers book and accompanying video series is very popular in deployed environments: Kosovo, Afghanistan, as well as previous Iraq deployments.

For me, I mentally weave this with an Army training program: Warrior Resiliency and Thriving. This is a mandatory sequence of training for soldiers after they have BOG (boots on the ground) for a few months. It challenges soldiers to look at their circumstances, the war around them, the stress of combat, and being away from their family. Will your deployment merely be spent counting of the days until you return? Or will you take up the cross, the sword, the opportunities before you to return from deployment a better person? Thus, the thriving: given the stress of what we’re doing, can you rise above it? It’s easier for some than others, and many are in such dangerous circumstances that survival alone is all there’s time for. But by challenging our soldiers to thrive, with a healthy level of stress, they return better people, better leaders, and better adjusted to the stress of combat. And isn’t that why we joined the military? To serve our country and be a better person.


Pictured above at Holy Joe's, L to R, are Commander Joe Dodd, LTC Henry Bass, LTC Dave Ronan, CH (1LT) Mike Lotzer, LTC Eric Andringa, MAJ Mike Feeney, and LTC Travis Voels. Not pictured: MAJ Chris Larson, who is enjoying leave this week.
 
Army Deployment , Family , General
posted by  henry at  13:13 | permalink | trackbacks [214]



6 Sep 2009
Tent Foam
One of the ongoing projects here is a simple concept: spray-apply foam to the various living and meeting tents in Iraq. It makes a huge improvement in comfort by helping retain the air conditioning (or heat in the winter), and carries the added benefit of quieting external noise, like generators, for sleep tents. It hasn't been easy, though: it takes a surprising amount of logistics to get the foam, equipment, training and decent wind conditions all lined up.


The tent here shows the initial application of foam, just last month. Looks like a giant marshmallow! But under the sun, it quickly became a Twinky.


This particular tent has been christened “Holy Joes” – our chaplain uses it for meetings, complete with both hot & cold coffee bar, and a small projection and sound system for inspirational videos or music. More on that in my next post.
 
Army Deployment , General
posted by  henry at  12:55 | permalink | trackbacks [5166]



1 Sep 2009
Next Three Days Launch
Remember my favorite Dilbert, at the beginning of this journey? The Pointy-Haired Boss asks,“So what happened while I was in Iraq for 13 months?” The bitter secretary answers that profits soared, morale skyrocketed, and for the first time, life had meaning.

Well, 11 months after mobilizing, Laureen Fleming and her commercial team have rolled out a great new application, NextThreeDays.com. The concept is simple, showing local bands, sporting events, bar and food specials ; but executed brilliantly. It is similar to MatWeb.com in both the concept and revenue model: very easy to use, free, and valuable information not elsewhere consolidated, with revenue mostly from advertising. But there’s also the franchising opportunity to take this to other towns. The VT Gobblerfest was its premiere, in downtown Blacksburg, and if it’s as well received in other towns, then ACI has built a repeatable product. Almost a CraigsList , but with more pizzazz, ease of use, and mobile-web friendly.

So with great news like MatWeb getting published in a marketing book, and NextThreeDays conceived, built and launched in my absence, maybe I should put in for an extension over here? Well, no, I suppose the Pointy-Haired-Boss does look forward to getting back to tending his cubicle farm.

 
ACI , Army Deployment , General
posted by  henry at  13:32 | permalink | trackbacks [336]



27 Aug 2009
Midas Marketing and Hank Fish
Stop me if this story sounds familiar: Hank Fish created a database of material properties and made it easy to use, for engineers to find the material specifications they needed. Hank had an audacious thought: why couldn’t the database become the Yahoo of the materials industry? Let engineers such the database for free, and base revenue on advertising as well as spinoff projects.

So goes Chapter 9 of Midas Marketing by Rob Slee, published in March of 2009. In the analysis of this case study, Rob Slee reveals that the database is MatWeb.com and Hank Fish is really Henry Bass. I was honored to be highlighted in one of 20 chapters in Rob’s latest book, focusing on Marketing at the small-business-but-big-thinker level, at what he calls the dawn of the Aggregation Age. This is a follow up to his Midas Managers book, discussing new companies in the Conceptual Age (post 9/11/2001).
Rob will be presenting a Midas seminar at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center on September 22nd, and he has recently opened a Midas Institute at Virginia Tech , addressing the fact that private business generates the majority of the US economy, yet most schools teach management, finance and operations for public companies. Both of his recent books are great case-study books, the rare breed of book that does a small business owner good, while at the same time can be read cover-to-cover in a weekend (and you can still cut the grass, play ball with your kids, and catch a movie). Digesting it and applying it might take a little longer. But it was inspirational, even if I admit to reading the centerfold chapter first!
 
ACI , Army Deployment , General
posted by  henry at  11:39 | permalink | trackbacks [130]



24 Aug 2009
Basra Tower
Last evening, as I headed to dinner, I caught a glimps of the rare cloud-filled sky in Basra. In fact, the clouds were beautifully formed, and I saw a photo opportunity. But I couldn’t just snap a photo of the sky, I needed something “Basra” in it. The air control tower! Perfect. Except I had to drive around the COB until I could line the shot up. It was almost too late, but I think it came out pretty cool.

 
Army Deployment , General
posted by  henry at  11:50 | permalink | trackbacks [5050]





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