Operation Open Range Report: January 2015

I'm trying to pursue Operation Open Range with a vengeance in 2015. With January behind us, how did I do?

I met my reading goal by finishing Thomas Rid's Cyber War Will Not Take Place, but since I actually started reading it in early December before taking a long break, that accomplishment comes with a bit of an asterisk. I also read a few chapters of Mary Lynn Garcia's The Design and Evaluation of Physical Protection Systems in preparation for my Physical Security Professional exam later this year, but I should have made better progress. My goal for February is to finish reading P.S. Allfree's Warlords of Oman, as well as more chapters from Garcia. I don't think I'm as far through Warlords of Oman, which I also started reading before taking a long hiatus, so it should be a smaller asterisk at the end of February.

I got a bit of writing done, but again, not as much as I would have liked. I put in a couple of weekends doing some serious work on OGHAP, and started working on an article that I hope to submit to the Small Wars Journal some time this year. In February, that OGHAP work will continue in earnest, and I may try to take a few opportunities to continue sporadic work on that article.

I already mentioned that I'm slowly studying for my PSP. I also intend to read the U.S. Army's current physical security manual, which I'll also need to finish reading before I take my exam, and from which I may try to sneak a chapter here or there if end up with slack time at work. So, those few chapters in Garcia that I read in January count toward this, but I could have been more disciplined about it.

I'm also trying to make a much more concerted effort with my Arabic study this year. I did okay in my first week, and then not as good in all of the subsequent weeks. In February, I'll try to shift my agenda a bit and weasel time for Arabic throughout the day, rather than trying to leave time for it after work that inevitably ends up getting filled with exhausted Facebook browsing in lieu of productive work. (In February, I may be able to do a combination of the two.)

That leaves two categories: Physical Training (PT), and Tigerlily (my catch-all term for business development). PT is still To-Be-Determined for February, but in February I hope to start working on a sort of draft risk management field manual incorporating some of the skill sets I've developed over the years.If it's a bit warmer in my neck of the woods by late February than it was in December and January, I might be able to start getting a bit more exercise as well.

So, January left plenty of room for improvement, but February is going to be a great opportunity to implement some of those improvements.