The CPL Hal Engstrom Blog

It's been months since I offered my faithful hordes of followers an update. I had originally thought that when I returned from a year in combat things would be nice and calm. I was mistaken.

Army life is going alright. I'm still doing PT every freakin' morning and working about 9 hours a day, although it's mostly boring, non-intel stuff: Vehicle maintenance, systems maintenance, various weapons ranges, training, etc. I'm scheduled to go to the promotion board next month, so soon it will be SGT Engstrom. It looks as though I may be transferred from my current company to the Intel section of the division to work with MAJ Murphy - who was the intel commander of our 1st Brigade in Iraq when we captured Saddam. At any rate, it looks like we won't be returning to Iraq until early 2006.

Beverly is now 34 weeks pregnant. We expect McKinley to arrive sometime in mid-October. In relation to the high-risk pregnancy, I have to give Beverly injections of Heprin every morning. After the last pregnancy, we are paying close attention to every possible sign of complications. So far, so good.

I am currently moonlighting as Assistant Coach for the Copperas Cove Galaxy soccer club (Under-15). Anyone who knows me, knows that I love soccer (the real football). I love being involved in the sport and am currently working towards obtaining my coaches E license from the South Texas Youth Soccer Federation. (After a coach obtains a state D License, they are then eligible to begin working towards the national C, B, and A licenses - offered by the US Soccer Federation.) I am still amazed at what a hotbed of soccer Texas is! Besides all the school teams, there are dozens and dozens of club teams and leagues just in central Texas. Not to mention a pro team in Dallas.

I've been able to attend a few home games of the MLS's Dallas Burn at the Cotton Bowl. I'll be looking forward to next season especially, when the Burn become FC Dallas and move into their own Soccer stadium in Frisco (a Dallas suburb).

So, life is busy but very entertaining and challenging. On weekends, we've ventured all over this side of Texas: Austin, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Fredricksburg, Johnson City, Dallas, Waco, Temple, Salado, Holland etc. There's always something to see and do.

Eric just started his new position at Microsoft. See his blog for all the details.

Victory belongs to those who believe in it the most; those who believe in it the longest.
We're gonna believe.

While I understand the sentiment, "I am against the war but support the troops" it smacks of hypocrisy and, to be honest, all the soldiers I talk to about it don't buy it.
That's what us soldiers do - prosecute this war and we do so voluntarily. If you support us, then directly or indirectly, you are supporting the war.
It's like saying I support the Dallas Cowboys but I hate football. Well, the players you support, love football and have given their time, talents and efforts to the game and their success furthers the game.
If you support the troops, then the accomplishment of our whole purpose for being an Army will result in a successful war.
Al Qaeda, Ansar al-Islam, Hezbollah, the Fedayeen - they don't need your support; they don't want your support. America needs your support. Take a stand for once in your life. Be a patriot - support your country and the troops.

Esther is an engineering graduate from George Washington University and now works for Microsoft. She is the easily the most technologically literate and computer saavy of the Engstroms - with Eric running second. So, most computer-related questions defer to Esther. As such, Esther's sanity has come into question and she is seriously considering keeping a blood pressure cuff in her office for those red-line blood pressure moments.
Being conversant in binary language, mutliple computer programming languages and proficent in most computer software applications and constructs, it galls her to have to answer mundane questions like: How do I attach a file to an email?; how do I clean a virus off of my hard drive? - which she later discovers is not a virus at all, but rather a parasite; I can't get internet explorer to launch properly; where's the on/off switch? People try to delete unnecessary files from their C Drive and end up screwing up other programs, then call on Esther for a quick fix.
It's the enormously tedious and mundane questions that cause Esther to go ballistic.
Eric and I laugh about it and it just adds fuel to the fire.
Esther says, "If I'm ever captured and interrogated, no physical torture would even be necessary. All they would have to do, is play and re-play a tape with my family firing off computer questions in rapid succession. After about 1/2 hour of that, I would tell them anything."
Btw, never ask Esther to set up an AOL account for you.

As mentioned in a previous posting, Beverly's pet name is Closet.
After deploying to Iraq with the 4th Infantry Division in APR 03, Beverly sent a greeting for me to the newspaper Stars and Stripes - the newspaper geared towards deployed US servicemen. The greeting was addressed to SPC Harold Engstrom, Alpha Company, 104th Military Intelligence Battalion in Tikrit. In the message, Beverly sent me her love and support; the greeting was signed as Closet.
With an enormous backlog of messages from wives, girlfriends, family and friends, Beverly's message was not published until DEC 03.
One night in the Raider Brigade Tactical Operations Center (TOC), a sergeant told me she thought she saw a message for me in the Stars and Stripes and asked if I knew Clarie or Colleen or some similarly-named person. Of course I don't, so I didn't think anymore about it. Then, one of the cooks handed me the actual clipping and, sure enough, it was for me - but it was signed Closet. Then, I understood.
Knowing that my wife's name is Beverly, I was immediately peppered with questions about Closet. Rather than launch into an extended and loosely constructed explanation, I simply said: It's pronounced Cloh-zay, my wife is part French - and left it at that.

On a recent flight from Houston to Killeen, Beverly, seated in an aisle seat, was sleeping by resting her head on her hand and she was leaning slightly into the aisle. At one point during the flight, a man and a woman were attempting to pass each other in the center aisle; naturally, this delicate maneuver was destined to take place exactly alongside Beverly's seat.
Oddly enough, in passing the woman, the man turned to face Beverly's seat, rather than risk an accidental pelvic grind with the passing woman (what to me seems like a strange choice). At any rate, at the exact moment of difficulty, the man leaned away from the passing woman and right into my wife's head - Houston, we have contact!
In brushing his groin into my wife's head, her hair managed to become caught in the man's pants button! Mind you, not his belt buckle, the actual button to his family safe. As the man moved away from the point of impact, Beverly was awakened as her head was chain-yanked backwards in pursuit of the guy's crotch. At which point, Beverly let out a loud, "OOWWW!"
Beverly admits being embarrassed, but clearly the guy got the worst of it - having turned fire engine red. Look at it from his perspective, in attempt to avoiding dirty dancing with a strange woman, he ended up with another woman's head planted in his safe deposit box. How do you apologize for that? In fact, why apologize at all? At the end of the day, what guy would be ardently complaining?
The guy backed up and Beverly freed herself from her life as a mile-high sex slave and the incident was abruptly concluded. Of course, Bev's shriek alerted the entire fuselage to the flashpoint and so the entire plane was pleasantly entertained - free of charge.
Not bad for a boring flight across Texas.

She got dressed for her wedding in a service station restroom,
They let him out of prison long enough to be the groom,
He was a 6-foot, tattooed, blue-eyed caucasian male,
They were married by the same judge that sent his butt to jail.

The warden was the best man in case he tried to run,
He kept a 9mm pistol underneath his cumberbun,
The rings were bought with money stolen from a convenience store,
From a 7-11 robbery for which he got 1 to 4.

-Tim Wilson

Recently, Esther asked The Goots and I about the origin of the band's name - The Doobie Brothers. Her question was : Did they name the band after the item that consists of an illegal substance, or was it along the lines of she-doobie do do-wap?
Let's see here. Are the Doobie Brothers grounded in the Do-Wap musical world, or are they long-haired 70s Bay Area rockers with marijuana tattoos? I may be way off base here, but I'm going with the latter possibility. (By the way, the Doobie Brothers was the first concert I ever attended - I believe I was 12 or 13 years old. The venue and atmosphere of the concert was unique and very ironic given the the band's proclivities.)
Esther also had a humorous run-in with another band's name. Growing up in the 80s - when The Goots and I were listening to the radio - Esther had always thought the name Hall 'n' Oates was actually Haulin' Oats i.e. transportation of a grain commodity. So, now the inside joke among is: "You know the songs Kiss on My List or Private Eyes by the band Transporting Wheat."
She hates that.

Why is the War of 1812 doomed to be America's forgotten war?
The war marked the first attack on the United States of America by foreign elements; Washington, DC and the White House were set ablaze, with the city saved only by heavy rains; the seige of Fort McHenry provided the backdrop for the writing of our National Anthem; several major battles were fought (on American soil no less), including the infamous Battle of New Orleans - fought after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent (the building where the treaty was signed is now a C&A store - the Belgian equivalent of TJ Maxx); most importantly, the US Navy established itself as a power during this war, winning several naval battles against similarly-sized British vessels - many of the US Navy's traditions stem from this war.
By most accounts, the War of 1812 was the defining conflict that firmly established the sovereignty and burgeoning power of the United States and yet, it is the war which Americans know the least about.

What would you call someone who:
- Is Mexican by blood
- Is Hawaiian by birth
- Speaks Cantonese (but not Spanish)
- Attended school in Turkey
- Lived in Hong Kong
- Has a Swedish surname

I would call them: Beverly Engstrom - my wife.

1. Jack Lemmon (How to Murder Your Wife, Glengarry Glenross)
2. Carey Grant (a slew of classic films)
3. Ed Harris (State of Grace, The Firm, Apollo 13)
4. Gary Oldman (State of Grace, JFK)
5. Dan Akroyd (Ghostbusters, Sneakers, Dragnet, The Great Outdoors, Grosse Point Blank, Spies Like Us, Trading Places)

1. Audrey Hepburn (My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany's)
- The quintessential, classy, china doll beauty)
2. Sophia Loren
- The leader of a short list of actresses who defined the term "Film Goddess".
3. Minnie Driver (exclusively because of Grosse Point Blank)
- Somewhat of a strange pick given the company around her. In film, there's the classic beauties and cute, charming actresses - of which there are many. Driver's character in Grosse Point Blank, in my opinion, reached the apex of that role. To me, she is like the sarcastically funny, stable, "can do" version of Meg Ryan.
4. Maureen O'Hara (The Quiet Man w/ John Wayne)
- Another classic actress whose inclusion is probably self-explanatory.
5. Kate Beckinsale (Pearl Harbor)
- Speaking specifically of Pearl Harbor, she's a modern-day actress with those kind of classic looks and style.

There are people out there in the civilian world paying thousands of dollars on health clubs, weight training facilities and gyms. Naturally, in the Army, not only are you required to show up for PT (physical training) every morning at 0630, but are paid to do so. Getting paid to stay in shape - that's a refreshing change.
Granted, when you show up for PT, you better be ready to give it your full effort. PT alternates days between running and muscle failure. Runs are either done as a platoon or a full Company and range anywhere from 4 to 8 miles at a variety of paces and over differing terrain. Muscle failure days concentrate on the two exercises which the Army tests its soldiers on: Push-ups and sit-ups. So, muscle failure training encompasses a variety of exercises: standard push-ups, wide-arm push-ups, diamond push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, rocky sit-ups, oblique crunches, pull-ups, dips, rope climbs, etc. These exercises are done until - as the name intones - your muscles fail. As you train to muscle failure over time, your failure threshold increases.
The body does interesting things as it reaches the failure threshold. Soldiers may experience any one, or a variety of these phenomena: tunnel vision, dizziness, visual and audio hallucintaions, involuntary muscle twitching/spasms, immensely skewed judgement and others.
Recently, after a particularly arduous muscle failure workout followed by a series of "sprints", it took me a good 30 minutes to simply find my barracks room and another hour to shower and get into uniform for the 0900 duty formation. The rest of the duty day was an interesting exercise in pain management. Picking up a 12-ounce can of Coke resulted in muscle spasms and nerve twitches.
Still, this rigorous training serves a purpose and significantly enhances the readiness of the soldiers and their ability to endure the rigors of combat.

Most couples have pet names that they use to address one another. A small sampling of these would be: Honey, dear, sweetheart, sugar, love, etc...
Would Beverly and Hal utilize such pet names for each other? Of course not.
When asked by friends and co-workers, my wife always gets bewildered and incredulous looks. As for me, I either avoid the question or keep our pet names covert - knowing the ensuing reactions and required explanations that would follow. No, I am NOT going to provide an explanation here. I just thought their mention would be of passing interest.
Bev's pet name for me: Freak
My pet name for her: Closet

What's new in my life? I will soon be a father!
So, you're asking, what's the big deal? It just is.
I served a year-long tour of duty in Iraq and am slated to do a second soon. However, the thought of becoming a father - being fully responsible for the well-being, protection and care of a totally dependent human life - surpasses any stress that my Army experience has bestowed upon me.
Thank goodness Beverly is so strong and "take charge". Especially if it's a daughter, I have a feeling I'll be a mess: Is she comfortable? Am I doing this right? Where does this go? What does she/he want? What kind of formula did you say to get? Etc, etc ,etc.
Anyone who is familiar with our (Beverly and I) pre-Operation Iraqi Freedom history - as documented in several media outlets - understands the significance of this current pregnancy.

Spain's hasty retreat from Iraq has been well-documented in the news (also see The Goots's Blog). How did a loose confederation of terrorists defeat a "major" European nation? It wasn't too tough - kill a few Spaniards in Baghdad, take a few hostages in Iraq and bomb a train in Madrid. That's about it.
The question now is: Does retreat deter terrorists or embolden them? Will Spain's retreat from Iraq signal the end of terrorist attacks in Spain and against Spanish interests? Only time will tell, but I think anyone with their pulse on the current world war (the Global War on Terrorism) already knows the answer.
Also, contrast Spain's reaction to a terrorist attack on their home soil to America's reaction from September 11. The diametrically opposed reactions illustrate the difference in the two nations' fundamental ideology: Spain=Peace at any price; America=Freedom at any price.
The Spanish debacle reminds me of a quote in the movie Braveheart where William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson) is chastizing the Scottish nobles for caving so easily to King Edward I (Longshanks); the quote's message seems applicable to this issue.
"Do you at least wish to lead your army onto the field and barter a better deal with Longshanks (in this case, the terrorists) before you tuck tail and run?!"

As part of the 4th Infantry Division welcome home celebration at Fort Hood, Texas, Lynyrd Skynyrd (and a host of other artists) played a set for the troops.
As I thought about the Skynyrd show, I had mixed emotions. I am a Skynyrd fan to be sure, but in trying to predict the show's barometer, I was admittedly a tad skeptical. My lukewarm enthusiasm was due, in part, to my lack of knowledge regarding certain variables: How long would their set be? Would they have their own stage/show? Would they be playing a night or day show?
To my mind, I believe they were dealt the less-desirable side of each variable: They would be playing on a shared stage, at 4 pm and would be limited to just over an hour of time. Of course I was going to be there supporting the band and Southern Rock in general, but I was interested to see how Skynyrd would handle the hand that had been dealt.
They opened with a new tune, appropriately named the Red, White and Blue; a new tune, but very much in the classic Skynyrd style. With about one hour left to play, Skynyrd didn't mess around - they went straight to their repertoire of well-known classics: Gimme Three Steps, What's Your Name, Swamp Music, That Smell, Sweet Home Alabama and the Skynyrd anthem - Free Bird.
Skynyrd did it right! Thet didn't try to use their limited time to unveil a slew of new songs, or to buck the stuff that made them the definition of Southern Rock. They sounded tight, they looked like they were still having fun and they left quite a few of us pleasantly surprised. With a slew of classic rock artists looking and sounding tired and a cut below par, it was firmly decided that Lynyrd Skynyrd still has it.

My unit - 104th Military Intelligence Battalion - and the rest of the 4th Infantry Division recently returned to Fort Hood, Texas from our year-long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After having fought on the side of freedom, we are now back enjoying those freedoms and, boy, does it feel good!!