Hello ,
I just got back from a USMC reunion in Texas with Marines I served alongside more than thirty years ago.
We're all older. Most of us are fatter. They're just as ugly as I remember, and I love every one of them.
I'm the guy in the back wearing the boonie hat.
I drove two days to spend two days with them, then drove two days home. That is a ridiculous ratio of windshield time to reunion time, and I would do it again.
It was good to catch up with men who knew me when we were young and convinced our knees would last forever. We have lived a lot of life since then, but I'm grateful we can still get together.
I'm going to miss them. They are some of the best men I know.
The Field Note - The Map Comes Before the War
A recent report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies caught my attention. Its researchers studied the movements of more than 200 research vessels and found patterns of Chinese ships operating near critical undersea infrastructure.