The Life

Leaving My Second Home

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:29:00 +0000

Though going home is definitely an exciting time, there are certain aspects of Iraq that I will miss. This is definitely not a complete list, but it should provide some insight into the parts of...

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Translating Military Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:41:00 +0000

Over the past few months while I was working on my business school application, I ran into a problem that has plagued soldiers since war began: how to translate military experience into terms that...

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The American Insurgency and the Middle East

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:02:00 +0000

In 1775, the British General James Grand had boasted that with 5,000 British regulars he could march from one end of the American Continent to the other. A British contemporary, John Acland, called...

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Thankful in Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:08:00 +0000

This Thanksgiving, there is so much to be thankful for. I would like to begin by thanking each of you that read this for your interest in our cause. We are also blessed by the support of family,...

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Seasons

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:31:00 +0000

Now that it's November, the weather in Basra, Iraq has turned. The air has cooled and the dust storms of the summer are a thing of the past. Blackhawk rides have become bearable, not leaving you...

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The Berlin Wall and Iraqi Election Bill

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:18:00 +0000

With the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and Iraq passing their Parliamentary Elections Bill within a day of each other, it is certainly a time to rejoice in the power of...

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Hobbies

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Hobbies are a great way to brighten the day and to grow as a person. If nothing else, hobbies provide a method to productively take your mind off the stresses of work, school, family, or...

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Little Things

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:26:00 +0000

The difference between first and second place in a race is often less than a second. In golf, it may be an inch on a putt that makes the difference between the winner and everyone else. Yet the...

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Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:59:00 +0000

Just to add my view to the plethora of knowledge concerning motivation, the Army provides an interesting study in how people can be motivated. During a deployment, given that most people have no...

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Poem on Uncertainty

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:19:00 +0000

"Dreaming about Providence, And whether mice and men have second tries." -Switchfoot Uncertainty Eight months into this, So far five months in country, And four months to go. A looming...

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Breaking Large Events into Milestones

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:02:00 +0000

A deployment (or college, distance running, distance biking, saving for a house, weight management, or any other number of long-term goals) takes a very long time. Unless you have been through it...

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My First Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:11:00 +0000

Saturday 12Sep09. A relatively easy day with 2.5 hours in a helicopter, two hours of weightlifting at the gym, and 8 hours in the office. The plan after work was to run 16 miles at a sub nine-minute...

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Leaving Home Again

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:20:00 +0000

Sitting at home on the last day, watching the hours and minutes slip away as you inch closer and closer to the inevitable. Staying up all night to try to get as much time as possible with loved...

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Stockholm Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:44:00 +0000

On my way back to Iraq, I noticed that I kind of missed some of the things in Basra. I missed the workouts, friends, job, schedule, travels, laundry service, food, culture, and more. My friend on the...

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Things We Take for Granted

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:05:00 +0000

While I am on leave, it is interesting to note the things that I had taken for granted as a civilian. Some of these are: Having a bathroom (when I wake up in the middle of the night and have to pee,...

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Jacksonian America and Present Day Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:16:00 +0000

There are some interesting similarities between the 1820s-1830s American political scene and today's situations in Iraq. Here are a few: 1. President Jackson believed that all Indian actions were...

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Hills and Valleys in Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:09:00 +0000

"Some things just make it all worth it." -Anonymous To which I replied, "True, that was amazing. Not many people, especially Westerns, can say they've seen Babylon." This was definitely a day when...

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Not Enough Time in the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:16:00 +0000

How wonderful it is to each day feel like there was not enough time to accomplish everything that needed to get done. The morning starts, and before I realize it, it's time to go home (15-18 hours...

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Independence Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:01:00 +0000

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." -Thomas Paine As the accused occupier, from a former colony (America), in a former British...

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Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:21:00 +0000

"All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to find that it was vanity; But the dreamers of day are dangerous men. That they may act their...

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Sandstorms

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:38:00 +0000

On a recent trip north a few hundred miles, I was delayed from coming back slightly by weather. Back home in Minnesota, snow delays are quite frequent. Here, although it was a sand delay, it felt in...

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Haze

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:00:00 +0000

A word that comes up more often on the weather forecast than "cloudy" and almost as often as "sunny" around here. Formed through a combination of dust, heat, smoke, pollutants, and the interesting...

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Children of War

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:42:00 +0000

Smiles hide the scars of hardship Turned hard from loved ones lost Each day that passes breeds fear and anger Innocence robbed by explosives Stolen by lawlessness As were so many lives and sunny...

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Have and Have-Nots, or the Perception Thereof

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:41:00 +0000

In most groups or organizations, there appears to be the Haves and the Have-Nots. They could also be referred to as the in-group and the out-group, or any other number of names. The key is that their...

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Training in Adverse Conditions

noreply@blogger.com (Ross Hedlund) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:08:00 +0000

A wonderful way to train is to do it when conditions are the worst. This way you have no excuse for failure when the time comes. For example, at Fort Lewis, running on the coldest and wettest days...

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