In recent days I have read and watched coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting that continues to question the law enforcement response. They insinuate or just come out and say that people died because of a poor law enforcement response. With nine years of law enforcement experience, five of those years as a trainer, and fifteen years in the military; I have some authority to speak on this issue.

First, take a look at the facts. The first shooting occurs at 7:15 am inside of a dormitory on campus and the suspect leaves the scene. As most shootings are in the early stages, the scene is chaotic, and it is unclear exactly what happened. Within an hour and fifteen minutes a person of interest has been detained and administration officials are meeting to discuss the best course of action (remember, VTech is a school with over 26,000 students, of which 17,000 are commuters). At 9:00 am the administration officials receive their first update from the Campus Police Chief. By 9:26 enough information has developed that an email is sent to the student body and faculty telling them of the shooting and inferring that the suspect is at large and has left the area.

Just prior to 9:45 everyone involved in this investigation believes that the suspect has left the area; something that is very predictable in the given situation. The killer’s video he sent to NBC later confirms the fact that he had in fact left the area after the first shooting.

At 9:45 all hell broke loose. The shooter had returned and had chained the doors shut on Norris Hall, a half mile away from the original shooting; and was up on the second floor moving classroom to classroom shooting everything in his path. Less than seven minutes after it started, it is all over. The shooter has ended his own life upon hearing law enforcement closing on his location. He had plenty of ammunition left, and plenty of victims locked in the building; however, law enforcement’s quick response had left him with no time.

When you look at what law enforcement did, it is really quite incredible. They arrived on scene and organized themselves within the first five minutes. Within the next minute, officers were able to breach doors that had been chained shut and begin making their way to the area the gunshots were coming from. While their guns didn’t fire the fatal shot; their actions certainly saved lives, possibly hundreds of lives. To put it in perspective; most of the critics would still be outside Norris Hall trying to figure out how to open the chained shut doors.

The bottom line is the only thing that could have prevented this tragedy was a full blooded sheepdog in one of those classrooms. There were heroes no doubt, and there were partial sheepdogs, but no full blooded ones could be found. For those not familiar with LTC (retired) Dave Grossman’s essay, “On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs,” take a minute to read it here. You can read more about this here, here, or here from my good friend Righty in a Lefty State.

While many want to blame the gun instead of the shooter, this too is absurd. Even in countries that outlaw all firearms, criminals still have guns. Criminals will always have guns, and the solution is to allow law abiding citizens to have guns in a concealed, responsible manner. One professor with a weapon could have changed everything; or even, God forbid one student with a concealed weapon.

While we mourn the deaths of these thirty-two college students; I can’t help but think of the nearly 100 college age Soldiers and Marines that have already died in Iraq and Afghanistan this month. No flags flown at half staff for these heroes, and no Army memorabilia worn on the suits of those participating in the NFL draft today; the suffering of our military families continues.

Automobiles are the biggest money drain in most budgets, and usually repairs strike at the most in-opportune times. We have been fortunate to eliminate two car payments over the last sixteen months; one by selling my truck and the other when Amy was rear ended, totaling our car. We had paid the car down enough that we were able to pay off the loan and buy a $2,000 car with the insurance settlement.

The car we bought is not too bad; it is a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix with over 140,000 miles. Since purchasing the car it has developed a problem starting on a regular basis. Occasionally it won’t turn over at all; however, it still has power (it eventually starts without needing a jump). It has been doing this since before I was mobilized last November.

While I was home over Thanksgiving we put a new starter in it. We were told the starter was bad. About a week later after I left it started having the problem again. A couple of weeks ago we replaced the battery; still not any better. I think the problem might be the ignition switch, but that is another $250 for a maybe. Then there is the front seal that leaks oil down onto the starter as well, but I don’t think that is the cause because it eventually starts; although not always when you want it to.

I have $600 in savings just for vehicle repair, I just worry that will all be spent without solving the problem. Because I am about ready to fly over 6,000 miles away again soon I was tempted the other day to borrow money to get a more dependable vehicle for Amy while I am gone.

That was a very fleeting thought; so my next thought was to not pay anyone for a month so I could pay cash for a more dependable vehicle. Most of the people I owe money are not the typical types of debt; in other words most of them would be okay with not receiving a payment for one month if they are aware of the circumstances. If I were here I would just ride it out and fix the car when it finally doesn’t start at all, but being gone it really creates a dilemma. Don’t worry, I won’t be borrowing any money for this one; I just haven’t decided what to do yet.

A few days ago I arrived back home for my fifteen days of rest and recuperation leave. After flying for nearly 22 hours I was surprised and delighted to see the welcome we received in Dallas.

First, as our plane taxied to the gate at the international terminal two fire trucks sprayed the plane in a ceremonial salute. Exiting the plane, we had to walk through a glass walkway that is about 200 meters long over looking the international terminal below where hundreds of people were awaiting their flights. As about 200 of us walked through, spontaneously everyone down below stood and began to clap and cheer for us for the several minutes it took for us to snake through the walk way and over to customs.

After being cut to the front of the long line at customs, we went down the stairs and retrieved our bags and were given flight information for our final destination. Next we went to exit the terminal to catch our shuttle; this is where I was shocked to discover over one hundred people waiting to greet us! The front of the line was about a sixty year old lady with a pom pom cheering for each person as we walked out; and not allowing a single Soldier by without first getting a hug and a kiss from her. Then we turned the corner to find people of all ages; families, bikers, retired veterans, and many kids there to shake our hand. They were also passing out candy, cell phones to call home with, water, soda, cigarettes and just about anything else a Soldier getting off a twenty-two hour flight from a combat zone might want.

The whole thing really choked me up. I had no idea to expect such a greeting, and I certainly hope all our Soldiers are getting this same greeting no matter where they fly back in. On top of all the stuff they were giving, they also gave each of us a copy of the photo you see above; the other one is obviously the one I took from inside the plane. When I made it back home, I did some quick research about the organization that is putting this together. Here is a link to the story I found. This would be a great way for you to volunteer your time. It totally blew me away, as it did the many other Soldiers there with us. Thank you Dallas! I will never forget the welcome you gave!

Watch all of this.

Another apology to my dial up and slow internet readers.

Watch this.

Sorry for all my dial up and deployed friends; I know this could take hours to watch