A few weeks ago I got notice from my Chief in the Navy that I won an all-expense paid trip to an exotic overseas location.  The only catches were that I can't take my family, I have to work at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week and I won't be coming back for a long time.  I mean a long time.  I leave in a few days and there is a lot to do.  I have trouble packing for a two week vacation! 

Some of you with whom I have already spoken about my excursion may wonder why I am being so vague, not just in this initial entry but as I will in any future ones as well.  It's a little thing the DoD likes to call "OPSEC" or Operational Security.  The idea behind OPSEC is that if we aren't careful about what we say and how we behave the bad guys can learn a lot about our military operations, bases and personnel.  90% of intelligence is put together from what is called "open source" information.  And 47% of all statistics are made up on the spot.  Open source intel is gathered from any unclassified source like newspapers, libraries, public meetings, academic journals, the internet, blogs, etc.  A commander in Iraq once wrote an open letter to the editor of a military periodical explaining, in unfortunate detail, how his people were able to successfully counter road-side bombs.  How handy for the insurgents!  Thank you very much.

Anyway, the concept is that through collecting and interpreting seemingly innocuous and separate events a picture of something far more significant emerges.  Like a puzzle, the more pieces you get, the easier it is to figure out what the picture is to the point where you may not need to gather many at all, if you gather the right pieces, to get the gist of the whole picture. 

None of this is what I wanted to write about.  I won't be able to share many details of my trip but I still want to write about it.  Not just to keep my friends and family updated but also to keep a record for myself.  If I don't write things down I forget them.  Except for entertainment trivia.  It's shameful but my mind is an unwitting sponge for that junk.  So if I can't write about what I'm doing what can I write about?  That's what I've been wondering. 

Really there is plenty.  What will my living conditions be like?  How will I deal with issues of privacy and personalities, how will I spend my spare time, what is the food like?  I am famously non-selective and cheap when it comes to my diet so will I binge on food I normally refuse to pay for but love, like pastries and other high-fat, low-nutrient breakfast foods?  Every day at work I would normally eat a bland bowl of oatmeal.  Because it was good for my heart?  No, because it's pretty much the cheapest gut-filler you can buy!

I'm curious to see how often I will be able to interact with the native population.  Will I be allowed off base or will they keep me sequestered in a bunker the whole time?  I really want to get "outside the wire".  If I have to go halfway around the world for as long as I'm going to be gone I want to get my money's worth.  See some sights, meet the people, experience something other than the "Little America" I'll have within the walls of my compound.  Yep, I'll even have access to the epitome of U.S. culture abroad; a McDonalds.

How will I change when no longer under the influence of my friends and more importantly, my wife?  How will I handle the lonliness?  Or maybe I won't be lonely.  Traditionally I don't mingle well on business trips.  I'm the guy who brings a book to the conference and reads during the frequent breaks instead of build my social and business network.  "Hey, lets go play pool after the banquet tonight," somebody suggests.  No thanks, I'd rather go for a walk around this town I've never been to before.  By myself.

What do I expect from my readers?  Well I hope you ask questions and tell me what you think about things.  I'll answer your questions if I they don't violate OPSEC.  I really want this exercise to be interactive.  The blogs to which I contribute I do so only because I like that the authors write back and we generate new ideas and interesting questions and novel topics.  Blogs bore me when it seems like the author only wants to keep what is essentially an online diary. 

So, welcome to my first blog.  Will all of the entries be as long as this one?  I don't know.  Those of you with whom I correspond occasionally know that I can suffer from diahrea of the keyboard.