So it appears that I am published writer now, lol. Check out the link and read the comments on the side given by the troops. Top billing!!!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-02-afghanistan-hearing-senate_N.htm
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The Adventures of Flat Stanley
This blog post is for Sarah, a little girl from San Diego, whose mom is a business associate of my stepmom Louisa. Sarah, I apologize that this is a little late. First, the mail getting to Afghanistan isn't very fast sometimes and second, we've been pretty busy lately but I was finally able to get some time and teach Stanley a few things. Here is the account of our adventures.
It was finally the day that I got to sit down with Flat Stanley and teach him a few things. The first that Stanley and I did was make improvised tourniquets for a first aid class that we would be teaching the Afghan National Police. Let me do a little back story first. My job in the Army is a called a forward observer. That means that I call for and adjust artillery and mortars (think big cannons) and I also work with attack helicopters, fighter jets, and bombers. I also make sure that my platoons radios are all working properly. When I am back in the states, I also jump out of airplanes and helicopters. Our mission in Afghanistan is to help train the Afghan National Police to make sure that they provide security to the Afghan people.
One of the most important things about first aid is to make sure that if someone is wounded, you have some way of controlling and stopping the bleeding. A tourniquet is a great tool for that. We wanted to make to teach the ANP how to make very simple tourniquets, so Stanley and I worked on some. We first took about two feet of engineer tape (its about an inch wide and made out of very strong cloth) and then we tied a knot with a loop on one end. On the other end we tied a small piece of wood to it. After that we took two Gatorade cap rings and put them on the tape. The purpose behind this is that when someone is wounded, you wrap the tape around either the arm or the leg (depending on where you are injured). You then take the piece of wood (or whatever long, sturdy object you can find) and put it into loop on the other end. You then twist until the bleeding stops. Once it stops, you put both ends of the object into the Gatorade rings to hold it in place. Its not high tech, but it definitely works
So the day came for us to teach the class and let me tell you that Stanley and the ANP both did a g
reat job. You’ll see in the picture that Stanley was able to help out when the ANP practiced putting the tourniquets on. We first taught the ANP about how to control bleeding put putting pressure on a wound. We then moved on to the tourniquet portion. After that we took them all outside and had them work on doing what we call “buddy carries”. That basically means we showed them three different ways of carrying a wounded person to safety. After that we finished up and Stanley and I took a break for lunch.After lunch, I should Stanley how to use some of the tools that I have. The
first thing I did was show him the M4 rifle that I have. This is my primary weapon and I take it everywhere I go. I made sure that he understood that you always treat a weapon like its loaded and that safety is the most important thing. After making those points, I taught Stanley how to fire the weapon and load a magazine. As you can see, it was a little big for him and unfortunately it was raining outside so we couldn’t go to the range. Once we finished up with that, I showed him how to disassemble it, clean it, and put it back together. Stanley did a great job. Once we finished with the rifle, we moved on to my favorite part: showing S
tanley how to use a radio! Like I said, my job involves using a radio a lot, so naturally I am pretty good at it. I showed Stanley the radio that I keep on my body armor every time we go out on patrol. I taught him how to talk on it, get a radio check, input frequencies, change batteries, fill it with communications security, and what to do if it wasn’t working. He did a great job and I was very proud of him for catching on so quickly. We did several radio checks with other radios and each time he came in loud and clear!
tanley how to use a radio! Like I said, my job involves using a radio a lot, so naturally I am pretty good at it. I showed Stanley the radio that I keep on my body armor every time we go out on patrol. I taught him how to talk on it, get a radio check, input frequencies, change batteries, fill it with communications security, and what to do if it wasn’t working. He did a great job and I was very proud of him for catching on so quickly. We did several radio checks with other radios and each time he came in loud and clear!As we finished up with the equipment training, we found out that a
helicopter had come in with all sorts of mail for us. It was especially exciting because we don’t normally have mail fly into our fire base; we have to drive about 35 miles to pick it up. I received several care packages full of letters, beef jerky, candy, and other stuff. Stanley helped me open all of them and then made sure that I wrote everyone a thank you e-mail to everyone who sent me something. I made sure to share some of the contents with Stanley. As you can see, he really enjoyed the tuna, Nerds Candy, and some beef jerky.At the end of the day, Stanley was pretty tired and so was I! All in all, it was a really good day and Stanley decided to stick around for a bit longer! He said he has really enjoyed his time here and that he didn’t want to leave anytime soon! He did a great job on everything and he makes a very good soldier! (Sarah, I will do my best to try and get him back to you. We don’t have a post office here and I don’t know when I will get to one. I hope you enjoyed this!)
94, out.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
My thoughts on the surge
Before I deployed, I saw something about being a military panelist on a variety of topics for usatoday.com. Being the enterprising writer that I am, I decided to sign up. Here is the e-mail and subsequent response I sent. Enjoy.
Dear USA TODAY Panelist*,
Thank you very much for your participation on the Panel. In anticipation of the president's speech on Afghanistan tonight, we'd like to get your thoughts for our coverage tomorrow. Have you or do you know someone who has spent time in Afghanistan? If so, can you tell us a little bit about your experiences? How would you advise the president on troop levels there? Will you be watching his speech tonight? We look forward to hearing from you.
Have a nice day,
Desair Brown
USA TODAY
Ms. Brown,
I am currently serving in Afghanistan on my second deployment. I didn't watch the speech, but since we have been here (three months now) we have been hearing quite a bit about the proposed troop "surge". In all honesty, I think it is an excellent idea. I have never been to Iraq, but I know that Afghanistan is a much larger country with a much more spread out population base. The key to winning in Afghanistan is getting to those population bases. The reason that we were able to draw down in Iraq is because of the influx of troops and materials and the ability for the troops to get into the population centers and root out the insurgents.
This is not to say that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the same; there is a vast difference. Iraq at least had some sort of infrastructure to work with prior to the invasion. No such infrastructure exists here. We essentially have had to build a country and a government from scratch. We have had our successes but we have also had our failures. Both are to be expected when working with a diverse group. I say diverse because you have to factor in not only the ethnic groups (Pashtun, Tajik, etc.) but the divisions that exist between them. On the day of President Karzai's second inauguration, the town we are based right outside of was hit by a suicide bomber, killing 11. I cannot go into the details, but the main purpose behind the attack was a score to settle in a tribal blood feud.
This is what a majority of the American public doesn't understand. We are trying to root out the Taliban while trying to pacify tribal conflicts all with currently a 1/3 of the manpower as Iraq when the surge was at its peak (over a much larger and tougher to access area). This is why the 30,000 additional troops are the beginning of whats needed. The more forces we have, the more access and ability we will have to get into the hard to reach areas and flush out the Taliban.
The key, however, is making sure that these forces are properly emplaced. Without a shadow a doubt, the number one priority is locking down the border with Pakistan. Its no secret that the Taliban receives a majority of their supplies and training from the uncontrolled regions in Pakistan's Western Frontiers. Once we are able to lock down the border, we can begin to squeeze the Taliban. They'll have no where to run to and their logistical ability will be severely hindered.
The second priority is ensuring that the troops are properly emplaced. Send them to the areas under Taliban control and force them out. By no means will it be easy but it is necessary. The lack of Taliban influence will allow the local forces to operate and facilitate the growth of an GIROA backed infrastructure. My platoon is currently are part of President Obama's strategy of training and mentoring local police forces. We are lucky to have a good police chief who is anxious to work with us and ensure that his area is secure. We now have the winter months to further train and patrol with our ANP comrades. Once the spring comes, we shall see if our training has paid divedends. This is a war that will be won by the contributions of platoons and companies and the NCO's and junior officers within them. We are ultimately the ones out there everyday interacting with the locals, training the Afghan forces, and hunting down the Taliban. Whatever strategies President Obama and General McChrystal come up, it is up to us to ensure that they are implemented and followed.
I will comment briefly on two mistakes I believe that the policy makers have made. I believe that this strategy of putting more forces in the country has come about 8 years too late. No one can ever take away the successes and accomplishments of the Special Forces community during the early stages of the war. The lethality and precision in which they dismembered and destroyed the Taliban and Al Qaida forces has been unmatched in history. That wasn't enough, however. Forces needed to be sent there to root out the remaining pockets of enemy forces. Unfortunately, the leadership in place at the time became misguided and distracted with the opportunity to strike at Iraq and we are now seeing the effects of the negligence of Afghanistan from 2003-2007. Had we focused on Afghanistan, we would not be facing the dilemmas we have now.
Second, I think it was mistake to issue a time table. It sets a precedent for all the naysayers to go by and if the job isn't completely finished in 18 months, then we have failed. As I stated earlier, we wil have our successes and failures. If we continue to commit to rebuilding and securing Afghanistan, we must know that it will take time. Allow us to be creative and find solutions that work, instead of rushing to get something in place by a certain time. On the lighter side, however, President Obama was right in saying that forces will be coming back to the U.S. in 2011. It will be the forces that will have started their 12 month deployment in 2010.
So those are my thoughts.
94, out.
Dear USA TODAY Panelist*,
Thank you very much for your participation on the Panel. In anticipation of the president's speech on Afghanistan tonight, we'd like to get your thoughts for our coverage tomorrow. Have you or do you know someone who has spent time in Afghanistan? If so, can you tell us a little bit about your experiences? How would you advise the president on troop levels there? Will you be watching his speech tonight? We look forward to hearing from you.
Have a nice day,
Desair Brown
USA TODAY
Ms. Brown,
I am currently serving in Afghanistan on my second deployment. I didn't watch the speech, but since we have been here (three months now) we have been hearing quite a bit about the proposed troop "surge". In all honesty, I think it is an excellent idea. I have never been to Iraq, but I know that Afghanistan is a much larger country with a much more spread out population base. The key to winning in Afghanistan is getting to those population bases. The reason that we were able to draw down in Iraq is because of the influx of troops and materials and the ability for the troops to get into the population centers and root out the insurgents.
This is not to say that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the same; there is a vast difference. Iraq at least had some sort of infrastructure to work with prior to the invasion. No such infrastructure exists here. We essentially have had to build a country and a government from scratch. We have had our successes but we have also had our failures. Both are to be expected when working with a diverse group. I say diverse because you have to factor in not only the ethnic groups (Pashtun, Tajik, etc.) but the divisions that exist between them. On the day of President Karzai's second inauguration, the town we are based right outside of was hit by a suicide bomber, killing 11. I cannot go into the details, but the main purpose behind the attack was a score to settle in a tribal blood feud.
This is what a majority of the American public doesn't understand. We are trying to root out the Taliban while trying to pacify tribal conflicts all with currently a 1/3 of the manpower as Iraq when the surge was at its peak (over a much larger and tougher to access area). This is why the 30,000 additional troops are the beginning of whats needed. The more forces we have, the more access and ability we will have to get into the hard to reach areas and flush out the Taliban.
The key, however, is making sure that these forces are properly emplaced. Without a shadow a doubt, the number one priority is locking down the border with Pakistan. Its no secret that the Taliban receives a majority of their supplies and training from the uncontrolled regions in Pakistan's Western Frontiers. Once we are able to lock down the border, we can begin to squeeze the Taliban. They'll have no where to run to and their logistical ability will be severely hindered.
The second priority is ensuring that the troops are properly emplaced. Send them to the areas under Taliban control and force them out. By no means will it be easy but it is necessary. The lack of Taliban influence will allow the local forces to operate and facilitate the growth of an GIROA backed infrastructure. My platoon is currently are part of President Obama's strategy of training and mentoring local police forces. We are lucky to have a good police chief who is anxious to work with us and ensure that his area is secure. We now have the winter months to further train and patrol with our ANP comrades. Once the spring comes, we shall see if our training has paid divedends. This is a war that will be won by the contributions of platoons and companies and the NCO's and junior officers within them. We are ultimately the ones out there everyday interacting with the locals, training the Afghan forces, and hunting down the Taliban. Whatever strategies President Obama and General McChrystal come up, it is up to us to ensure that they are implemented and followed.
I will comment briefly on two mistakes I believe that the policy makers have made. I believe that this strategy of putting more forces in the country has come about 8 years too late. No one can ever take away the successes and accomplishments of the Special Forces community during the early stages of the war. The lethality and precision in which they dismembered and destroyed the Taliban and Al Qaida forces has been unmatched in history. That wasn't enough, however. Forces needed to be sent there to root out the remaining pockets of enemy forces. Unfortunately, the leadership in place at the time became misguided and distracted with the opportunity to strike at Iraq and we are now seeing the effects of the negligence of Afghanistan from 2003-2007. Had we focused on Afghanistan, we would not be facing the dilemmas we have now.
Second, I think it was mistake to issue a time table. It sets a precedent for all the naysayers to go by and if the job isn't completely finished in 18 months, then we have failed. As I stated earlier, we wil have our successes and failures. If we continue to commit to rebuilding and securing Afghanistan, we must know that it will take time. Allow us to be creative and find solutions that work, instead of rushing to get something in place by a certain time. On the lighter side, however, President Obama was right in saying that forces will be coming back to the U.S. in 2011. It will be the forces that will have started their 12 month deployment in 2010.
So those are my thoughts.
94, out.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A rollercoaster I never want to ride again and a bright idea
So, Halloween. I'm sure everyone had a good time. Its that fun time of year where you can dress up as the latest pop culture icons (I saw that Jon and Kate were popular this year) and go out and party and search for candy. I personally went as a paratrooper deployed to Afghanistan. Well anyways, my Halloween will now be forever memorable because I was involved in my very first (and hopefully last) vehicle rollover. Now you have to understand, Afghanistan doesn't have a very good infrastructure. One of the signs of the a good infrastructure is the development of road. We, however, were travelling on one of those "nondeveloped" roads. We were heading out to a checkpoint to train some of the Afghan National Police. This checkpoint is on top of a hill that overlooks a large portion of the Helmand River valley. Mind you, my truck is a 19 ton Mine Resistant Vehicle. The road we took was fairly narrow and up hill and our first two trucks made it up slowly. As we moved up, the road started to give way and we were stuck. We attempted to push forward a bit, but that was a no go. It was at this point that we got our gunner down and we moved a bit in reverse and then it just all went to hell. We were already carrying a heavier than normal load of equipment and call it momentum or whatever but the end result was the picture you see above.
I was seated in the corner nearest the ANP vehicle you see. Now, we didn't roll that much, just a 90 degree roll and I was strapped in real tight. I hardly moved. Hats off to our driver for tying everything extra that we had down. Could be a different story today if he hadn't. Myself, the medic, and the gunner all got out of the vehicle within a minute. The great thing is that the MRAP has doors that open outwards in back, so it was just a matter of getting enough strength to push them open (they are 500 pound doors). Yeah, with all the adrenaline I had at this point, it wasn't much of an issue. The rest of the platoon was on us within 10 seconds and we then worked on getting our driver and truck commander out. Since they had regular doors, it was a little bit more difficult to pull them open but we were able to manage. Once everyone was out, I immediately grabbed my radio and headed up the hill that you see the picture taken from in order to get comms and let our higher know what was going on. All told, it was a pretty long night. I was able to get a couple of helicopters to provide some overwatch for us during the recovery effort. Once we got our company headquarters there to help pull security as well as bring a wrecker, it was just a matter of time before we rolled out of there. 16 hours after we went over, we were able to refit and head back out to Charlie Mike (Continue Mission). I'll be the first to admit, however, I get a little nervous anytime we are driving and we start to go up a hill or incline.
As for my bright idea, I'm sure many of you who read this have heard from my parents about the idea that I came up with. As a back story, we went into the town of Deh Rawood and conducted a canvas about how people felt about the election being cancelled and other issues they might have. I made the mistake of making an off hand comment to my lieutenant that I had done something similiar when I was in college and spent the summer of 2004 registering people to vote. He looked at me and smiled and said "well, you'll get a chance to do it again today". One of the men I talked to told me that his biggest issue was the schools. He said that they didn't have enough educated teachers to properly prepare all the students in the school and that there was also a lack of materials. What really struck me, though, was that villagers with very little schooling were offering to be teachers even though they didn't have a formal education.
Apparently, my LT heard some of the same sentiments from the elders that he talked to. They said that they wished for their girls to be educated but that there were no female teachers available. The overarching issue was being able to provide security for all of this (something that we are handling) but the underlying issues were lack of supplies, teachers, and facilities. I'm not sure at what point it hit me; it could have been something I had been dwelling on for awhile or maybe when I was gathering up all these interviews and assessing them and prepping them for higher, but an idea hit me. Why couldn't we start some sort of campaign to help these kids out. If we can get them educated, they will be less likely to fall prey to the preachings of the Taliban.
All of this was inspired by the book "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson, now head of the Central Asia Institute, which builds and develops school in the Northen Pakistan/Afghanistan border area. I listened to it as I was driving back to North Carolina from Iowa following my block leave this summer. If you haven't read it, I urge you to. While I am, self-admittedly, a large advocate for raining some serious hatred and discontent on those that attack us and target innocent civilians, I have also bought into the policy that we need to arm the younger generations of Afghans with knowledge from schools not sponsored by religious zealots.
There is a real opportunity in Deh Rawood. If we can get this district headed in the right direction, I have no doubt that outlying districts will get the picture. We are wrapping up the security here. The Taliban have already proved that they don't want to fight us here. Here is my pledge/idea/challenge, call it what you will: We need school supplies. Notebooks, papers, pens, pencils, backpacks, etc. I know that there are several student organizations at Central College (my alma mater) that are ready to start collecting and sending supplies. If they get a chance to read this, I say thank you and to contact me on Facebook so I can share some more ideas. I also ask that people begin a letter writing campaign to the Central Asia Institute, urging them to take a look at this district and possibly begin some sort of program to get educated teachers here. It might be a tad ambitious but it also could be the start of something special. Deh Rawood could begin to be a beacon for the rest of the country to follow.
Reaper 94, out.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Butterflies
I miss the glory days. Problem is, I never got to participate in them. I was standing around the truck today with five other NCOs from my platoon while we were observing the Afghan National Police and their Dutch mentors conduct a traffic control point and somehow we started discussing past wars. The topic of Normandy came up and we all agreed how mind blowing the casualties numbers from that operation were. Then it moved onto Vietnam and how the lifespan of a 2nd or 1st Lieutenant landing on a hot LZ was anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes. Knowing my fondness for all things indirect fire and close air support and making it look like the right hand of God just made an appearance, one of the other NCO's looked at me and said, with a smile, "You would have a really good time there." Unlike Afghanistan now, the Rules of Engagement were a tad looser when it came to dropping artillery rounds and bombs.
I started to think about that statement and how I somewhat missed the boat on being able to bring all sorts of weaponary down from the heavens. I mean, its on my mind all the time. My answer to whenever we are posed the question "what would you do if you saw a vehicle coming your way at a high rate of speed?" is always and will forever be "hope that air is on station and put a 500 lb bomb right through the windshield." I thought about all the books I read during AIT and Airborne school about the early phases of the war in Afghanistan when Special Operations forces broke the back of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in several major engagements due to their ability to call in precision air support. I wish I could have done that, but alas, the time has passed. See, I'm not much of a close up engagement guy. I'll let the infantry guys have all that fun. Don't get me wrong; I'll stand and fight like a bunch of pissed off hornets but my preferred method of engagement is sitting on a mountain or rooftop with a map, a TACSAT radio, and a Vector laser rangefinder and watching things go BOOM.
While that may be my dream (and it may still happen), our mission is not one of watching millions of taxpayers dollars cause destruction. Instead it is working in our district to ensure that police are doing their job and getting the materials necessary to build themselves up. While it is the not ideal job for a platoon of skilled paratroopers, it is what we have been tasked with. We all may gripe about the ROE and how we have to present a kindler and friendlier image, deep down I think we all know that in the end, it will result in a higher chance of us coming back in one piece.
So far, things are going good. I've finally got all my "toys" that I have been asking for from my company command. Is it more stuff to back in the truck? You bet, but it also allows me to be a lot more accurate in my targeting (if and/or when the time calls for it) and make sure that the right people go away if they decide to come and fight us. Radios will still give me a fit of rage every now and then, but its nothing that 15 seconds of cursing won't fix. I've actually gotten pretty good at diagnosing what may or may not be the issue. I'm quite proud of myself on that one.
I've also noticed something here that gives me a nice moment of peace everytime I see them. Butterflies. When my sister Mallory died when I was 4, I was sitting next to my Mom when we buried her. According to my Dad and Aunt Lynne, I noticed several butterflies flying around and remarked to my Mom, "Look, there goes Mallory!". I heard that story for the first time this summer from Lynne while I was on leave, and upon returning to North Carolina, I found a celtic butterfly design and took it to my tattoo artist to have two butterflies(My Mom and Mallory) tattooed on my upper right arm (a design so intricate, he commented, that he will never do it again but he thanked me for the business, lol). Now, it seems, everytime we are out and are making a halt, I see a butterfly flying around, like my own little personal protection right behind the 35 lbs of body armor and the 19 tons of armor on the truck. I'm sure I haven't seen one everytime, but when I do, I know that I'm covered. Its a pretty nice feeling.
Oh yes, by the way, I am located right next door to the Dutch base where I spent three weeks at on my last deployment. We go over there every week to meet with them and observe the training of an ANP class. Needless to say that once they saw my name tape, I was an instant celebrity. Apparently the Dutch like seeing one of their own represented among the American forces. I always like going over there because it makes for good conversation and telling them about how Pella (my birthplace in Iowa) is more Dutch than the Dutch themselves. Plus, they have really really good coffee.
Reaper 94, out.
I started to think about that statement and how I somewhat missed the boat on being able to bring all sorts of weaponary down from the heavens. I mean, its on my mind all the time. My answer to whenever we are posed the question "what would you do if you saw a vehicle coming your way at a high rate of speed?" is always and will forever be "hope that air is on station and put a 500 lb bomb right through the windshield." I thought about all the books I read during AIT and Airborne school about the early phases of the war in Afghanistan when Special Operations forces broke the back of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in several major engagements due to their ability to call in precision air support. I wish I could have done that, but alas, the time has passed. See, I'm not much of a close up engagement guy. I'll let the infantry guys have all that fun. Don't get me wrong; I'll stand and fight like a bunch of pissed off hornets but my preferred method of engagement is sitting on a mountain or rooftop with a map, a TACSAT radio, and a Vector laser rangefinder and watching things go BOOM.
While that may be my dream (and it may still happen), our mission is not one of watching millions of taxpayers dollars cause destruction. Instead it is working in our district to ensure that police are doing their job and getting the materials necessary to build themselves up. While it is the not ideal job for a platoon of skilled paratroopers, it is what we have been tasked with. We all may gripe about the ROE and how we have to present a kindler and friendlier image, deep down I think we all know that in the end, it will result in a higher chance of us coming back in one piece.
So far, things are going good. I've finally got all my "toys" that I have been asking for from my company command. Is it more stuff to back in the truck? You bet, but it also allows me to be a lot more accurate in my targeting (if and/or when the time calls for it) and make sure that the right people go away if they decide to come and fight us. Radios will still give me a fit of rage every now and then, but its nothing that 15 seconds of cursing won't fix. I've actually gotten pretty good at diagnosing what may or may not be the issue. I'm quite proud of myself on that one.
I've also noticed something here that gives me a nice moment of peace everytime I see them. Butterflies. When my sister Mallory died when I was 4, I was sitting next to my Mom when we buried her. According to my Dad and Aunt Lynne, I noticed several butterflies flying around and remarked to my Mom, "Look, there goes Mallory!". I heard that story for the first time this summer from Lynne while I was on leave, and upon returning to North Carolina, I found a celtic butterfly design and took it to my tattoo artist to have two butterflies(My Mom and Mallory) tattooed on my upper right arm (a design so intricate, he commented, that he will never do it again but he thanked me for the business, lol). Now, it seems, everytime we are out and are making a halt, I see a butterfly flying around, like my own little personal protection right behind the 35 lbs of body armor and the 19 tons of armor on the truck. I'm sure I haven't seen one everytime, but when I do, I know that I'm covered. Its a pretty nice feeling.
Oh yes, by the way, I am located right next door to the Dutch base where I spent three weeks at on my last deployment. We go over there every week to meet with them and observe the training of an ANP class. Needless to say that once they saw my name tape, I was an instant celebrity. Apparently the Dutch like seeing one of their own represented among the American forces. I always like going over there because it makes for good conversation and telling them about how Pella (my birthplace in Iowa) is more Dutch than the Dutch themselves. Plus, they have really really good coffee.
Reaper 94, out.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Dining under Moonlight
So, we were out on patrol and did an overnight stay at one of our checkpoints. I was happy to stop because that ment grabbing some chow and a bedding down until I had to pull my guard shift in the morning. I just figured on munching on an MRE would be my dinner and after that, I would set up the medical stretcher and crash out on there. Not the case. I was called over to a small grassy area adorned with rugs that earlier I had seen being used as a meeting area for our platoon leadership, Afghan National Police leaders, and elders from a nearby village. I already had an idea what was coming but it was simply confirmed when a large plate of bread, rice, and chicken appeared before me. Good thing, too, because I was starving.
Now, the meal wasn't anything spectacular. I've had better, I've had worse. It was more the setting that gave me pause for a moment. Here I am, three years and some change removed from college sitting in a remote part of Afghanistan, eating a local meal under the moonlight, and learning a little bit of Pashto, all while being able to see millions of stars. It was just kind of surreal. Dr. Suess' book "Oh, The Places You'll Go" popped into my head. The places I have gone indeed.
The next morning we just did a presence patrol into the town. It was really just about getting to know some of the merchants in the town and getting their opinion on what they like and what could be done better. My job was just to monitor our platoon radio frequency and pass any info along to our LT and pull security to make sure nothing happened. Pulling security can be pretty boring because its hot and you are bored, but I just had to suck it up. Eventually, some of the boys that ran around in the village let their curiousity get the best of them and started to come up to me. Now, granted, there is a pretty significant language barrier between us but there is the universal language of making faces at each other. That game went on for about 20 minutes until we graduated to the high five game. It didn't last too long, but one of the boys started pointing to some of the gear I was carrying and signalled that he wanted to see it. Knowing that Afghani kids have sticky fingers, I didn't hand anything over but I just showed them what it was. They were all fascinated with my watch for some reason. It was cool to interact with the local kids, even though I couldn't understand what they were saying, I was able to pick up a few words. One down note, though, I did make one little kid cry. I looked, smiled, and waved, and he wasn't having it, although with all my gear on, I can understand how I would look scary to him.
Not much else has been going on. I'm doing my best to stay in shape but our schedule can throw that off a bit. I did a ruck march around the base last week (17 laps) with my NVGs on and that was pretty cool. The world just seems a bit different through that green glow. I'm fighting what I think is the flu right now. I was pretty much racked out from 1230 yesterday afternoon to 730 this morning, so I'm still a little groggy as I write this. Baseball season is over for me, but my football teams continue to sport an unblemished record. Ahh, waking up at 530 on sunday mornings over here to catch the scores is much nicer when they are victories.
94, out.
Now, the meal wasn't anything spectacular. I've had better, I've had worse. It was more the setting that gave me pause for a moment. Here I am, three years and some change removed from college sitting in a remote part of Afghanistan, eating a local meal under the moonlight, and learning a little bit of Pashto, all while being able to see millions of stars. It was just kind of surreal. Dr. Suess' book "Oh, The Places You'll Go" popped into my head. The places I have gone indeed.
The next morning we just did a presence patrol into the town. It was really just about getting to know some of the merchants in the town and getting their opinion on what they like and what could be done better. My job was just to monitor our platoon radio frequency and pass any info along to our LT and pull security to make sure nothing happened. Pulling security can be pretty boring because its hot and you are bored, but I just had to suck it up. Eventually, some of the boys that ran around in the village let their curiousity get the best of them and started to come up to me. Now, granted, there is a pretty significant language barrier between us but there is the universal language of making faces at each other. That game went on for about 20 minutes until we graduated to the high five game. It didn't last too long, but one of the boys started pointing to some of the gear I was carrying and signalled that he wanted to see it. Knowing that Afghani kids have sticky fingers, I didn't hand anything over but I just showed them what it was. They were all fascinated with my watch for some reason. It was cool to interact with the local kids, even though I couldn't understand what they were saying, I was able to pick up a few words. One down note, though, I did make one little kid cry. I looked, smiled, and waved, and he wasn't having it, although with all my gear on, I can understand how I would look scary to him.
Not much else has been going on. I'm doing my best to stay in shape but our schedule can throw that off a bit. I did a ruck march around the base last week (17 laps) with my NVGs on and that was pretty cool. The world just seems a bit different through that green glow. I'm fighting what I think is the flu right now. I was pretty much racked out from 1230 yesterday afternoon to 730 this morning, so I'm still a little groggy as I write this. Baseball season is over for me, but my football teams continue to sport an unblemished record. Ahh, waking up at 530 on sunday mornings over here to catch the scores is much nicer when they are victories.
94, out.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Rejuvenated
If you followed my blog on my last deployment, you'll remember well that I somewhat bemoaned the fact that I didn't get a chance to really do the job I was trained for. Definitely not the case this time. I actually get to play forward observer. Its a great feeling. I'm excited once again to wake up and see what I have to do for my job.
This time around, the blog is gonna be pretty scarce on details and I'll try to share more experiences and feelings. Starting off with that, I can say that I'm in central Afghanistan. I'm living on a FOB with the basic amenities. A nice chow hall, a good gym, and internet access. The only thing I am waiting on in my Xbox and TV (hint hint Dad :) ) and the other care packages that are packed and ready to go (Thanx Tiffany). We are sharing the FOB with some other soldiers and they have been great hosts so far. They've helped me procure some items that I don't have and in return I am trying to help them get some stuff and I'm teaching some call for fire to them. Its nice to have people come up to you and say "hey, we're lacking in this skill and since you are the subject matter expert, can you help us out?"
I've been trying to follow the news lately and a few things caught my eye. I'm may be turning into my Dad here but some of the comments and actions coming out of Washington on the war are frustrating. Sen. Carl Levin says he doesn't support sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in what is being called a "surge" which was similar to the one in Iraq. He says we need a surge of Afghan forces. He is correct on that front, I will give him that. He is horribly wrong on the other account. Afghanistan is not like Iraq. There aren't the number of major population centers like there are in Iraq. This is about as rural of a country as it gets. There is one major highway running through the country. One. Thats it. 60,000 troops don't have the resources to get into all the communities and help train the forces. In some areas of the country, the only way equipment can get to soldiers is via air because A. the roads are either not capable of handling it or they have too many IEDs B. there are no roads. Even air is tricky proposition because there are too many flights to make and the weather can be crappy.
What frustrates me the most is a lot of these politicians are criticizing the war when they haven't been in the military or even been deployed. I'm not sure if Sen. Levin has ever been to Afghanistan and seen what it is like. I'm guessing that a lot of the talking points are being put together by aides who have read reports and just want to get the Senator relevant in the public light. The one thing that pisses everyone off in the military from the highest general to the lowest grunt, is having someone tell us how to do our job without actually having been in our shoes. If we say we need more troops and equipment to get the job done, there better be little hesitation. Everyone proclaims that we need to win the war on terror, but when the military offers suggestions on how to do, it seems like it is being second guessed. Let us do our job and stop interfering.
Also, if I made a smartass comment to my commander while he was giving a speech, I would have so much pain and discomfort inflicted on me that I would want to crawl in a hole and die. You may not like the man, but respect the position. Keep that in mind the next time the President makes a speech.
Finally, I applaud Rep. Duncan Hunter for proposing that Medal of Honor recepients make up a panel to review and recommend whether a servicemember be awarded the MOH. An excellent idea because, again, it gives people who have been in combat a say in how a soldier is recognized for gallantry.
Oh, my unit is NOT one of the 82nd units to be extended.....yet. We'll see.
94, out.
This time around, the blog is gonna be pretty scarce on details and I'll try to share more experiences and feelings. Starting off with that, I can say that I'm in central Afghanistan. I'm living on a FOB with the basic amenities. A nice chow hall, a good gym, and internet access. The only thing I am waiting on in my Xbox and TV (hint hint Dad :) ) and the other care packages that are packed and ready to go (Thanx Tiffany). We are sharing the FOB with some other soldiers and they have been great hosts so far. They've helped me procure some items that I don't have and in return I am trying to help them get some stuff and I'm teaching some call for fire to them. Its nice to have people come up to you and say "hey, we're lacking in this skill and since you are the subject matter expert, can you help us out?"
I've been trying to follow the news lately and a few things caught my eye. I'm may be turning into my Dad here but some of the comments and actions coming out of Washington on the war are frustrating. Sen. Carl Levin says he doesn't support sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in what is being called a "surge" which was similar to the one in Iraq. He says we need a surge of Afghan forces. He is correct on that front, I will give him that. He is horribly wrong on the other account. Afghanistan is not like Iraq. There aren't the number of major population centers like there are in Iraq. This is about as rural of a country as it gets. There is one major highway running through the country. One. Thats it. 60,000 troops don't have the resources to get into all the communities and help train the forces. In some areas of the country, the only way equipment can get to soldiers is via air because A. the roads are either not capable of handling it or they have too many IEDs B. there are no roads. Even air is tricky proposition because there are too many flights to make and the weather can be crappy.
What frustrates me the most is a lot of these politicians are criticizing the war when they haven't been in the military or even been deployed. I'm not sure if Sen. Levin has ever been to Afghanistan and seen what it is like. I'm guessing that a lot of the talking points are being put together by aides who have read reports and just want to get the Senator relevant in the public light. The one thing that pisses everyone off in the military from the highest general to the lowest grunt, is having someone tell us how to do our job without actually having been in our shoes. If we say we need more troops and equipment to get the job done, there better be little hesitation. Everyone proclaims that we need to win the war on terror, but when the military offers suggestions on how to do, it seems like it is being second guessed. Let us do our job and stop interfering.
Also, if I made a smartass comment to my commander while he was giving a speech, I would have so much pain and discomfort inflicted on me that I would want to crawl in a hole and die. You may not like the man, but respect the position. Keep that in mind the next time the President makes a speech.
Finally, I applaud Rep. Duncan Hunter for proposing that Medal of Honor recepients make up a panel to review and recommend whether a servicemember be awarded the MOH. An excellent idea because, again, it gives people who have been in combat a say in how a soldier is recognized for gallantry.
Oh, my unit is NOT one of the 82nd units to be extended.....yet. We'll see.
94, out.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Off we go....
So, a quick post. I'm off to Afghanistan. Not gonna go into the details of our travel plans, but it about a week and a half I will be at my final destination in country. A quick update I believe is in order. I was holdijng the position of an E-6 as an E-5 and because of some personnel moves, an E-6 was available and came and took over my position. I moved down to one of the platoons and am now serving as a platoon FO. I'm very excited about being able to FINALLY do the job I've been trained for. I learned alot as an FSNCO but I'm glad I don't have all the responsibilites. I can just focus and do my job and not as much paper work (Amen to that). Thats about all I have right now, but I'll write more when I get in country.
94, out.
94, out.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Its been awhile.
I realize that it has been 6 months since I last posted something and the mood struck me to write so I figure I would drop a short line. I'm headed back to Afghanistan shortly and I will do my best to update on my thoughts and experiences, as well as include some pictures this time of what life is like. It will be a bit more austere living than the last time, so internet and phone access could be a bit dodgy.
A little update on me. I am still at Ft.Bragg and I have my own Fire Support team. As per my usual jobs, its a rank above what I am currently at and I should be going to the promotion board at the end of the year for my E-6. I'm still trying to jump out of aircraft whenever I can although I've been sidelined for awhile with a slight fracture in my kneecap from flag football during All-American week in May. Yes, its the same leg that I destroyed my ankle playing football in college. Just no luck there. I am dating a very beautiful and amazing girl namedTiffany, who lives near Raleigh. I am very lucky to have met her and while she is not thrilled about me going to Afghanistan, we had a mini test of me being deployed when I went down to Louisiana in April for training and I had to battle mosquitos and crappy cell phone coverage just to talk to her. We made it through that so hopefully the year will go by quickly.
Other than that, I am anxious to deploy. I'll actually get to do my job this time (much to the dismay of.....well.....everyone that knows me) so I am excited about that. I can't say much, but we have an interesting mission that should allow us to make an impact into the area we are going. Anyway, I will try and blog more (I've said that before but I'll follow through this time) and keep ya updated on all the events going on with me. For security reasons, I am gonna hold back on posting my address but if you would like it, just leave a comment with your e-mail address and I can send it to ya or hit me up on Facebook.
95A, out.
A little update on me. I am still at Ft.Bragg and I have my own Fire Support team. As per my usual jobs, its a rank above what I am currently at and I should be going to the promotion board at the end of the year for my E-6. I'm still trying to jump out of aircraft whenever I can although I've been sidelined for awhile with a slight fracture in my kneecap from flag football during All-American week in May. Yes, its the same leg that I destroyed my ankle playing football in college. Just no luck there. I am dating a very beautiful and amazing girl namedTiffany, who lives near Raleigh. I am very lucky to have met her and while she is not thrilled about me going to Afghanistan, we had a mini test of me being deployed when I went down to Louisiana in April for training and I had to battle mosquitos and crappy cell phone coverage just to talk to her. We made it through that so hopefully the year will go by quickly.
Other than that, I am anxious to deploy. I'll actually get to do my job this time (much to the dismay of.....well.....everyone that knows me) so I am excited about that. I can't say much, but we have an interesting mission that should allow us to make an impact into the area we are going. Anyway, I will try and blog more (I've said that before but I'll follow through this time) and keep ya updated on all the events going on with me. For security reasons, I am gonna hold back on posting my address but if you would like it, just leave a comment with your e-mail address and I can send it to ya or hit me up on Facebook.
95A, out.
Monday, February 23, 2009
A small clarification....
Apparently, there is some minor misunderstanding on the nature of my job. Check out this link on wikipedia.org and it will explain to you exactly what I do. Its pretty sweet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artillery_observer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artillery_observer
Friday, February 20, 2009
Catch-22
This, by no means, is a slam against the Army. Far from it. It is merely an observation on how self improvement in the Army is strongly encouraged yet if you want to get ahead, you have to supply your own resources. Take my case, for example. Next week, I am slated to attend the 82nd's Pre-Ranger Course. This is a trial run, if you will, in order to see if a trooper has what it takes to attend and succeed in the U.S. Army's prestigious Ranger School. A little background about Ranger School first. It is designed as a leadership school that will test you when you are cold, tired, hungry, sore, and haven't slept in 4 or 5 days. Its a 9 week crucible designed to simulate combat conditions. In short order, its a real big ass kicker, but the pay off is worth the suck. When guys come away from Ranger School, they are authorized to wear a small black and gold (or subdued on our ACUs) tab that simply says "Ranger". Its simple but it says a lot about you.
Like I mentioned, I am trying to go. First, I have to get through Pre-Ranger (or PRC from here on out). Now, in order to succeed, the PRC cadre have designed a required packing list that is about 3 pages long. Now, will I need certain things on there...oh hell yes. Are there certain things on there that I might need, but may not use? Absolutely. There is also a highly likelihood that there are items that I will never touch. Now, the part that caught my attention was that Ranger School is highly encouraged (or damn near required in some units at Ft. Bragg) yet the supply system gives very little help in attempting to secure items on this packing list. The onus of responsibility falls on the individual to go out and purchase all these items. Now, I'm not complaining at all. I'm sure that somewhere during my Army career I will find a use for these items; I'm just remarking that this school is encouraged by the units yet when its comes to trying to secure items to ensure that you won't be dropped from the course for failure to have the right gear, the supply chain magically disappears.
Again, its not a criticism, just an acute observation. Pre-Ranger starts on Tuesday and assuming I make it through the two week course, I will hopefully start Ranger School on the 24th of March. Other than preparing for that, my life has been pretty calm. I need to find a way to exit an aircraft here shortly or else I'll be looking at the Army taking back some of my pay. I just finished with a very interesting class that I can't go into detail about but I had a very good experience and learned some valuable skills. The word on our deployment is sometime this fall but since this is the internet and I like having a security clearance I can only say that its Afghanistan once again.
You might be wondering (or maybe not) about the title change of my blog post. Well, seeing as I'm not in Afghanistan for the time being, I figured a change was needed. If you were curious (and again you may not be) Delta 95 is my call sign any time I am on the radio. Since I got promoted, I was put in charge of all fire support for Delta Company of 1/508. That means that I am the head enlisted soldier for all the fire supporters in Delta Company...........all 2 of them (myself not included obviously). Keeping with my Army tradition of being one rank and working in a slot a rank above, this is an E-6 position so me being an E-5 and given this responsibility says something. Its possible that right around the time we deploy or shortly after, I could be getting some looks for my 6 so we'll see. Other than that, I will try and write a bit more now and then. Obviously over the next few weeks I'll be busy but at least I got some more thoughts and musings on here.
All the Way.
Like I mentioned, I am trying to go. First, I have to get through Pre-Ranger (or PRC from here on out). Now, in order to succeed, the PRC cadre have designed a required packing list that is about 3 pages long. Now, will I need certain things on there...oh hell yes. Are there certain things on there that I might need, but may not use? Absolutely. There is also a highly likelihood that there are items that I will never touch. Now, the part that caught my attention was that Ranger School is highly encouraged (or damn near required in some units at Ft. Bragg) yet the supply system gives very little help in attempting to secure items on this packing list. The onus of responsibility falls on the individual to go out and purchase all these items. Now, I'm not complaining at all. I'm sure that somewhere during my Army career I will find a use for these items; I'm just remarking that this school is encouraged by the units yet when its comes to trying to secure items to ensure that you won't be dropped from the course for failure to have the right gear, the supply chain magically disappears.
Again, its not a criticism, just an acute observation. Pre-Ranger starts on Tuesday and assuming I make it through the two week course, I will hopefully start Ranger School on the 24th of March. Other than preparing for that, my life has been pretty calm. I need to find a way to exit an aircraft here shortly or else I'll be looking at the Army taking back some of my pay. I just finished with a very interesting class that I can't go into detail about but I had a very good experience and learned some valuable skills. The word on our deployment is sometime this fall but since this is the internet and I like having a security clearance I can only say that its Afghanistan once again.
You might be wondering (or maybe not) about the title change of my blog post. Well, seeing as I'm not in Afghanistan for the time being, I figured a change was needed. If you were curious (and again you may not be) Delta 95 is my call sign any time I am on the radio. Since I got promoted, I was put in charge of all fire support for Delta Company of 1/508. That means that I am the head enlisted soldier for all the fire supporters in Delta Company...........all 2 of them (myself not included obviously). Keeping with my Army tradition of being one rank and working in a slot a rank above, this is an E-6 position so me being an E-5 and given this responsibility says something. Its possible that right around the time we deploy or shortly after, I could be getting some looks for my 6 so we'll see. Other than that, I will try and write a bit more now and then. Obviously over the next few weeks I'll be busy but at least I got some more thoughts and musings on here.
All the Way.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Army reposes special trust and confidence in........
First off, I want to apologize for not posting for nearly 10 months. After the last blog post in Kandahar last year, we began to transition over to the 101st and we moved out of our building that had internet access and it became more difficult to get computer time to write. After we got back to the states in April, I had so much free time on my hands to be able to do some of the stuff that I didn't get a chance to do during deployment that the blogging kind of slipped by the wayside. So, in preparation for another deployment, I will do my best to keep you updated of all my goings on.
In case you are wondering (which I'm sure several of you are lol) the title of the blog is alluding to a promotion. Yes, thats right. After nearly two years as a Corporal, I was officially promoted to Sergeant yesterday. Its nice because people will finally stop asking me when I put on my E-5 or when I go to the board. See, as a Corporal, its really only supposed to be a temporary position while you are waiting to put on Sergeant. Since I got promoted to Corporal so soon, I don't think anybody really had any idea what to do so they just let me keep it for awhile. That is no more, however. I am full Sergeant now and we get paid tomorrow, so we will see how much of a pay increase it is. That is about all I have for now. Our schedule will be picking up a bit in the future and during February I will hopefully be attending the 82nd Pre-Ranger course with a class date for Ranger School starting at the beginning of March and running through the first week of May. In the next couple days, I will try and put another blog or two together to fill you in on the last few months.
All the Way.
In case you are wondering (which I'm sure several of you are lol) the title of the blog is alluding to a promotion. Yes, thats right. After nearly two years as a Corporal, I was officially promoted to Sergeant yesterday. Its nice because people will finally stop asking me when I put on my E-5 or when I go to the board. See, as a Corporal, its really only supposed to be a temporary position while you are waiting to put on Sergeant. Since I got promoted to Corporal so soon, I don't think anybody really had any idea what to do so they just let me keep it for awhile. That is no more, however. I am full Sergeant now and we get paid tomorrow, so we will see how much of a pay increase it is. That is about all I have for now. Our schedule will be picking up a bit in the future and during February I will hopefully be attending the 82nd Pre-Ranger course with a class date for Ranger School starting at the beginning of March and running through the first week of May. In the next couple days, I will try and put another blog or two together to fill you in on the last few months.
All the Way.
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