Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Army Pfc Essay - 730 Words

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Army Pfc. Alec Manning received the honor of being promoted to private first class by the Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey during his recent visit to Joint Task Force U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba at the Seaside Galley June 11. Manning, a Benton Harbor, Michigan native and assigned to the Joint Task Force’s 525th Military Police Battalion, said, â€Å"My team leader came to me and he asked who I would like to be pinned by. I knew he [sergeant major of the Army] was coming to the island pretty soon.† He did not think much about what he had said until Sgt. 1st Class Kale Webster, a platoon sergeant for the 525th MP Bn., asked him a similar question while talking about his promotion, said Manning. Manning said, â€Å"I was talking to my platoon sergeant [Webster] and told him that the sergeant major of the Army was coming and I said, ‘I heard the sergeant major of the Army is coming; how about that?’† â€Å"Initially, I was kidding, I wasn’t serious.† Webster told Manning that we can make it happen if that is what he wanted, said Manning â€Å"Manning made an inquiry to me about his promotion because he knew that the sergeant major of the Army was coming and if it was a possibility that the he could promote him,† said Webster. â€Å"I fired off an email to the first sergeant and sergeant major and it snowballed from there.† The Sgt. Maj. of the Army was finishing lunch with 28 service members just inside the doors and Manning’s anticipation was rising. His

Change Yourself to Change Your World Free Essays

CHANGE YOURSELF, TO CHANGE YOUR WORLD Often times I hear people say â€Å"if I am in his position or status, I will do better and change things for good†. This statement is made when people feel that their boss (es), employers, leaders and government officials are not performing or living up to expectation. They expect so much from these people and get less than they thought or envisaged. We will write a custom essay sample on Change Yourself to Change Your World or any similar topic only for you Order Now There is this axiom that says â€Å"you cannot give or offer something that you don’t have†. The gross indiscipline, misconduct, under-development or deficiency of any Nation or sphere of human endeavour is a sum total or directly proportional to the gross indiscipline, misconduct, under-development and deficiency of respective individuals in the Nation or sphere of human endeavour. People want to change things for good even when they are not changed themselves. How can you change, influence, or make impact in your world when you are not changed, influenced and impacted on your inside? Everybody is crying for change, transformation and development when they are not changed, transformed and developed. How do you expect your leaders and bosses to help you and solve your problems when they themselves cannot help themselves and even solve their personal problems? A good reason is that majority of them have not developed the full mind potential to function effectively in that capacity. If you truly, sincerely, intentionally and passionately want to change and influence your world, you must truly, sincerely, intentionally and passionately desire to change your complete state (i. e. body, spirit and soul). How can you bring about growth and development to your world or the Nation, when you have not/ are not bringing about growth and development to yourself? The attitude and character you display or portray now will be synonymous with your character and attitude when you finally become a leader in any capacity or field (i. . , in Academics, Politics, Business, Ministry, Sports, Entertainment, Tourism, Security, Arts and Culture). The truth is, and still remains that, if you don’t change yourself positively, you cannot change your world positively. In actual sense, you may even end up becoming worst than your Predecessors or perform badly than they did in their time. Leadership is all about changing and influencing people positively! I’m very much enlightened and aware that you have great future career aspirations and ambitions; but you’ve got to tell yourself the truth and ask yourself these simple but all important questions â€Å"are the things I am doing presently in consonance with my dreams, visions and aspirations in life? â€Å"Will I be able to make positive change in my world in 10 to 20 years from now, in cross examination with the things I am doing now? † â€Å"What skills, abilities and potentials do I have that will give me an added advantage over my predecessors and leaders†? Everybody is complaining about bad roads; uncompleted or abandoned capital projects; poor regulation and maintenance of electricity; fraudsters invading our financial and economic sectors amassing wealth for themselves, detrimental to the growth of the people; fallen standard of our educational systems; insecurity in the Nation; poor sanitary conditions; poor response to capital projects from leaders; poor conditions of service for both public and private workers; moral decadence, gross indiscipline, misconduct and indecent dressing amongst the youth; projects completed with sub-standard and inferior materials and equipment; high rate of unemployment; poor remunerative service and fringe benefit for workers; poor standard of living of citizens, and others too numerous to mention: but only very few individuals are willing and ready to pay the prize; and really able to bring about positive change when they are elected or appointed into the different offices. If you are a Student or pup il, your level of success in future will be a product or a reflection of your level of seriousness in your studies now. Why not suffer or bear the pain now to enjoy tomorrow, instead of playing prank and â€Å"enjoying† now to suffer or bear the pain tomorrow? Always have it in your conscious mind that, Success and Excellence come with a prize; you either pay now and play later or play now and pay later: either way, you must pay! Always endeavour to change yourself in order to change your world when the time comes. Ask yourself â€Å"will I do better than my Councilor; Local Government Chairman; Ministers and Commissioners in different capacities; Senators; Governors and even the President, if I am elected or appointed into their position(s)? † â€Å"Not until you are able to change yourself, you will not/may not be able to change your world† This is a clarion call for every individual irrespective of age, status, colour, family background and disposition to take responsibility in changing themselves before they think or talk about changing their world. Let’s all stop the pretence! Let’s all start building and developing our character from where we are. Let’s stop complaining of poor sanitation or environmental hazard when we are the ones throwing dirt on the streets and our environment. Let’s stop disobeying traffic lights and signals in order to avoid accident. Let’s stop crying because of high rate of unemployment, and acquire relevant human capital skills and abilities which will enable us to become self-employed, and become assets to our society/world. Let’s stop criticizing our leaders and bosses unconstructively. Let’s all join hands with the government and other bodies to make our Nation a better, comfortable and convenient place to live in. Let’s all look out for possible means, and harness the resources available in changing ourselves positively, in order to change our world. Let’s all develop positive mental attitude about our religious, political, academic, media and entertainment sectors; and take the bull by its horn in bringing about lasting peace, progress, harmony, growth, development and advancement in our world (spheres of endeavour). Remember, you cannot confidently talk about changing your world when you’ve not changed yourself. â€Å"Change yourself to change your world†! How to cite Change Yourself to Change Your World, Essay examples

Geography of Dallas free essay sample

To appreciate the large and intricate city, it is valuable to know the climate, vegetation, soils, landforms, and the environmental issues that are present in Dallas, and see how they affect one another. The temperature during the summer months may be â€Å"bigger† or higher than your typical state, but exploring deeper into Dallas’s physical geography, will help conjure present what makes up it’s physical attributes, and most importantly, why. After living in Dallas all of my life, I have come to recognize the range of temperature from month to month, as well as the precipitation that is typically received. The majority of Texas is a warm-temperature climate zone (Physical Features Influencing Vegetation in Texas); however, the Dallas-Fort Worth area can more specifically be described as having a humid subtropical climate, with hot summers (Dallas/Fort Worth Climatology). It can also be characterized as continental because of the wide range of annual temperature, and the scorching summers is caused by the westerlies and the low humidity (Dallas/Fort Worth Climatology). Observing the Dallas climograph, it can be inferred that the average precipitation and temperature have a direct relationship. Based on the annual temperature data, it can also be concieved that the summer highs reach way into the high 90’s, with cooler nights around the mid 70’s (NWS). Rainfall typically occurs during nighttime in Dallas, and during the summer the maximum highs normally last three to five days, and are interrupted by thunderstorms (Dallas/Fort Worth Climatology). The rainfall that occurs during the winter however is â€Å"associated with large storm systems moving from west to east under the influence of the westerly winds† (Climate Zones). So, it can be assumed that the westerlies cause the average annual precipication, which is generally higher during summer months so as to cool down and break up the heat spells. These blazing summers may be fun for swimming and getting a tan, but how does it affect the vegetation? The average precipitation that Dallas, Texas receives yearly is about 33. inches (Weather Base). This amount of annual rainfall can be directly correlated to â€Å"the natural vegetation prior to settlement [which] was a mosaic of tall grass prairie on clay soils (the Blackland and Coastal Prairies), oak woodlands on sandy soils, and juniper-oak woodlands on caliche (the Post Oak Savanna and Cross Timbers)† (Physical Features Influencing Vegetation in Texas). Texas’s vegetation, in general, gradually becomes more arid as you move east to west (Escape to Texas). Dallas, located in about central Texas, is mainly composed of grassland, however as you move westward the vegetation changes to desert (Escape to Texas). â€Å"The diversity of Texas is evident in vegetation types, which range from temperate and subtropical forests to grasslands, shrublands and deserts† (Physical Features Influencing Vegetation in Texas). Farming and ranching is a big part of Texas, although it is not apart of the actual city area of Dallas, it is still an essential part of Texas. â€Å"Agriculture has profoundly influence[d] the landscapes of Texas in many ways† (Physical Features Influencing Vegetation in Texas). Cattle ranching is typically seen in the areas surrounding the big cities, and the livestock encourages the spreading of â€Å"brush species such as mesquite, prickly pear, and junipers in rangelands† (Physical Features Influencing Vegetation in Texas). Since a good portion of Texas is a desert climate, the soil that is found there, is also an important aspect. Dallas, located in the northeastern part of the state, has a variety of different types of soil. The Gulf Coastal Plain is composed of red and yellow soils, which can be beneficial for the vegetation if proper fertilizer is used (Escape to Texas). Moving more towards central Texas, it has â€Å"soils based on weathered decayed limestone† (Escape to Texas). Much of the Dallas area has grassland vegetation, which comes from Mollisol soils, which are rich in calcium and other nutrients (Ritter). The intensely hot summers cause the soil to possess high moisture retention so as not to dry up easily, but when they do become dry, they have a â€Å"granular structure and soft consistency† (Ritter). A typical soil profile of this soil type would include â€Å"dark brown to black organic rich surface layers† (Ritter). The soil in this area has been used to alter the landscapes, and recently have been used for â€Å"cropland and pasture to grow cotton, corn, sorghum, wheat, hay, and other crops† (Physical Features Influencing Vegetation in Texas). The soil of Dallas is the base for the landforms that are present in this certain area. Texas as a whole encompasses several landforms, ranging from the highest point on the Guadeloupe Peak, all the way to lowest sea level point. Many lakes are scattered out through the hills of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Dallas is considered to be in the Great Plains subdivision, which entails many different types of landforms. The Edwards Plateau is located in Central Texas, and â€Å"is marked by the long ridge known as the Balcones Escarpment† (Escape to Texas). The Pecos Valley is also located in the same general area as Dallas, and consists of mainly flat rocky land. Regarding the map below (Cole), it can be interpreted that the Dallas metroplex has heights elevated anywhere from 600 to 1800 ft. of average elevation. It is also evident that the northwestern part of the state has an average higher elevation than the southeastern. Texas is made up of several natural resources. Since farming and ranching are a big part of Texas, cotton seems to be an important resource that is widely used (Albert). The primary concern of Texas is the conservation of soil, and the protection of wildlife (Escape to Texas). Ninety nine percent of the total land area is covered by 212 soil conservation districts (Escape to Texas). Because the soil and crops is so critical for Texan’s, the state carries out many soil conservation projects to reseed the grasses and to control wind and water erosion (Escape to Texas). However, â€Å"Texass most serious environmental problem is the establishment of an adequate supply of water. More than 200 reservoirs are maintained for water supply, recreation, flood control, and irrigation. Underground water supplies are also widely used for irrigation† (Escape to Texas). â€Å"Texas ranks among the most important states in biological diversity, and ranks first among the states in the number of vascular plants species† (Physical Features Influencing Vegetation in Texas). So, it can be concluded that the physical geography of this state, in particularly Dallas, is important. The humid subtropical climate comes from the direct relationship between the annual temperature and the annual precipitation. The soils that are able to grow and produce crops, which is an essential part of livelihood, are very moisture retainable, so they are able to endure the hot and humid summers without drying out and killing the crops. The vegetation in Dallas is determined on the month that it is, however it typically includes cotton, corn, and wheat. Cotton is able to abundantly grow in this area because it is able to withstand the heat. The landforms that are dispersed through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area include Edwards Plateau, and Pecos Valley, both crucial to understanding the large city. Although, Dallas is doing very well of for itself, there are a few environmental issues that they are keeping track of and trying to get under wraps. This includes the protection of the wildlife, as well as the conservation of the soils. Texas is providing several conservation projects to save the state’s crucial soils, necessary for farming and ranching. All in all, exploring more in depthly to the Dallas, Texas climate, vegetation, soils, landforms, and even taking a look at the environmental issues, can help to evaluate the city more clearly.