Major K.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays, has now come and gone, and so has the very fetching Lucy.  I still have a smile on my face and a song in my heart having seen her.  We enjoyed good food, good wine and being with each other for two great but far too short days.  Sleeping in was nice too.  We were actually able to spend Thanksgiving dinner with an old friend of mine, CPT Morgan, and his beautiful family.  He is the resident infantry-guru here in air defense land.  We had a wonderful time.  I definitely recommend going to someone else's house.  I still would have rather been home at my brother's wedding.  I hear it was fun.  Apparently, the knucklehead at the reception site screwed up the positioning of the videotaped "best-man" toast that I sent home, and played my entire promotion ceremony during the reception.  Now I have to add another name to my list!  Anyway, I have a convoy to join in the next few minutes and must go.  Another sleepless night awaits.

So, can we get the paper delivered now?

It looks like the LA Times is at it again.  The paper that has been reporting as if we are losing the war in Iraq from day one of the invasion, has turned its "keen" eye on us.  The editors never met a critical story that they didn't like.  If you choose to read the story by following the link above, you will need to register with them.  So, for the record, let me clarify a few things about this article.  Firstly, much of it is true.  Secondly, it is heavily exaggerated to say the least.  Allow me to offer a few corrections:

1.  No one has "vaulted over rolls of barbed wire."  It is concertina wire (covered with little barbed razor blades - not barbed twists of wire.)  No one has had to do so.  There are at least 4 entry/exit points that I can think of offhand and people are only checked on the way in, not on the way out.  If someone wants to leave, it is quite easy.  Some have sneaked out on occasion to go into town.  This is not unusual for soldiers.

2.  The "armed guards" are conducting security training that mirrors the work they will do in Iraq.  They have blank ammunition in their weapons.  So much for being "armed."

3.  LTC Hubbard is nowhere in my chain of command, nor is he one of our trainers.  I think that he is the PAO (Public Affairs Officer) for Ft. Bliss.  To my knowledge, he has not been out to Dona Ana to see us at all. 

4.  60-70% of this Battalion has active duty experience prior to being on the reserve side of the house.  Culture Shock?  PLEASE!!  If there is a culture shock - it is from putting a brigade of hard charging infantrymen on a base full of anti-aircraft technicians.

5.  There is a high annoyance level here, not a morale problem.  Yes, we would like to know what a weekend feels like again.  Yes, many of us feel unnecessarily isolated from our families and "significant others."  However, we are anxious to get on with the mission and help put a stop to the slaughter of innocents in Iraq.  Morale is actually much higher than I would have expected given the isolation and the bureaucracy that we have dealt with.  But then again, this battalion is better than most National Guard units.

6.  Yes, there is an ammunition shortage, but that is an army-wide problem.  It is not unique to us.  Supply shortages are as familiar to fighting men as bad weather is.  This is nothing new.  I am curious to hear how the LA Times would solve the problem, though.

The Army has always had its frustrations.  Any organization this large does, particularly if it is run by the federal government.  We will drive on as we always do, and make do with what we have.  The LA Times has not helped us one stitch.  When I phoned them (and every other major California Newspaper) back in August to request that they ship us several copies of their paper so that the men could keep up with local news back home, they said no.  Although I am enjoying watching a few senior officers being called to the carpet for some of our treatment, I am far from grateful to the Times.  The article demonstrated as much ignorance as insight, and was more hostile than helpful.  I suppose soldiers are not worthy of a few free issues, but we make good scandal fodder.  Like most journalistic endeavors covering the military, this article is hell bent on getting something "juicy" rather than something accurate and complete.  The author probably lives on the westside.

For those of you on the westside...

Apparrently a little clarification is needed.  When I refer to "those of you on the Westside," I am not referring to anyone in California or even west of my location.  I am referring to the Venice Beach, Santa Monica and West L.A. type of person who is not merely ignorant of things military and geopolitical, but deliberately naive about such things.  I am referring to the foolish, spoiled, yet opinionated dolt of big city America that takes so much for granted.  Few if any of these probably read this blog, but I address them just in case, and for the sake of absolute clarity.  So, G, you are off the hook from such an association.  Anyway, I have to go to a briefing, from which I will hastily depart to meet up with the very fetching Lucy.  Needless to say, I shall not be posting for a few days.  God bless us all on this Thanksgiving.  We have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  Now, go hug someone, maybe even a westsider!

Major K.

It has come to pass.  One week ago, it showed up on my pay stub.  Today it is on my collar and my helmet.  I am now officially a Major.  Therefore, I have changed the name of the site to keep things current.  My Battalion Commander, as he shook my hand after pinning me reminded me that to lead is to serve, and that my burden of servitude is now that much greater.  As usual, he is absolutely correct.  I have borne that in mind my entire military career, both active and reserve.  As I told my brother the other day, I just hope that I don't screw this up. The formation was held in the morning around 0930.  Shortly after I returned to the TOC as the newest field grade officer in the Battalion, It started pouring rain again.  The camp is one big mud swamp right now, and it is really cold too.  I hope that the storm after my promotion is not an omen.  The forecast only called for a 10% chance of rain.  Did I mention that the very fetching Lucy will be here tomorrow?!  I cannot wait!  Anyway I have set up a new gallery for all of you who want to see more photos than the ones above.  477 days to go...

From Fallujah...

Here's an update from Lieutenant Colonel K. in Fallujah.  He has been busy taking a bite out of crime.  Now that the operation has concluded, he has some AAR comments:

Major - that sounds nice.  Congratulations again!  Now how about that Line Company you should be commanding...

I just got back from the field and got my first decent shower and nights rest in several weeks.  I can comment on the military side of things so here goes: 

We killed about 1600-1800 Mujahs I think - mostly Iraqis not foreign fighters. 

We dropped VT on them when they tried to swim across the river, and used WP on one of the islands near the peninsula when they were hiding among the trees. 

There were several instances when they pretended to surrender only to open fire at the last minute.  They booby-trapped bodies too.  Certainly not an enemy that abides by the laws of war.  Our firing stirred up a hornet's nest of counter- fire too.  The closet hit to me was two rockets about 50M away - duds!  There went one of my nine lives.  I thought I was pretty salty in being able to tell the difference between the various incoming noises but some common munitions made different noises at different times.   We shot danger close as close as 60M but normal was 100M.  Use destruction missions (FO gives minute corrections, one howitzer is fired) to eliminate most snipers - firing an entire battery is wasteful.  Their houses are poorly constructed - a single 155mm round knocks most anything down.  Concrete piercing fuses give better penetration than delay - get 'em in the basement.  Our shooting was very accurate.  We were able to isolate all the variables that influence ballistic performance and we were utilized a lot.  Aviation is great too but never there for 24 hrs a day etc. 

There's nothing more motivating than the performance of the standard 18-23 yr old Marine or Soldier.  We are the best because we have the best junior leaders among other reasons. 

Semper Fi,

Trevor

Operation "Check the Block"

Another mandated digital exercise is complete, and we have returned to lovely Dona Ana Base Camp from Ft. Hood, Texas.  We flew back today.  Did I mention that it started raining - AGAIN!?  Anyway, the exercise was not very valuable, at least not at my level, but it was apparently another one of these mandatory requirements that headquarters staffs have to do in order to deploy.  Soon we will be done with this stuff and out actually doing our real jobs - finding bad guys.  As you can see, I snapped a few pics before we left while we were being rained on at the airfield.  The nice part was there were two packages waiting for me at the TOC when I got back.  Huge thanks to my sister Kate and the big-hearted Nilsen Clan - especially Debbie and her father, Jack.  I also have to belatedly thank the Cronins and their Washington letter-writing mafia.  I hope the men have been writing back albeit slowly. The best part,  however, is the fact that the very fetching Lucy will be here in three days.  I have a difficult time thinking about anything else.  It will be a huge drag missing my brother's wedding, but I am sure there will other outrages along the way.  Being with her will certainly keep my mind off it.  479 Days to go....

More on Fallujah...

Just in case you have not heard or read enough on the practice of double-tapping in combat operations, I have linked a few primers for you.  Always check with a Veteran before asking stupid questions from the news studio.  Here is another one from the Wall Street Journal if you are an online subscriber.  Now, go educate a monday-morning quarterback.

You're not the boss of me!

The man who thinks he is in charge of the world might lose his job.  If so, it would be the most decisive action from the UN since the 1991 Gulf War Resolution.  The man who wants to take his place is still trying to get us to buy off on the idea that it is an effective organization.  Jaques Chirac and Tony Blair meeting to discuss the future of the middle east is laughable.  They seem to have forgotten that much of what we are dealing with today is the hangover from their combined colonial control of the region.  Why is it that the two nations that carved up the region foolishly about 100 hundred years ago should be trusted with its future?  UGH!  Anyway, the sun appeared here for a day and then vanished.  However, it has not rained again, and things are slowly starting to dry out.  The exercise that we are on is almost over - YES!  I also spent about an hour today speaking with General Ricardo Sanchez's former Interpreter.  He is a sharp guy and a Lebanese-American Christian.  I learned a lot from him.  We talked about my study of arabic.  It is proceeding very slowly.  He has counseled me to stay with it, be patient and given me some spelling tips.  They really do have some amazing people in this man's Army...

How many cubits by how many cubits was that?

I need to start building an ark.  I have not seen the sun in five days.  It has been raining for the last 4 days.  The road that runs from our barracks to the TOC is washed out in several places.  Now it takes 1:15 to get to it instead of 45 minutes.  There has been flooding reported in numerous areas.   Where is Stevie Ray Vaughn when you need him?  His song is the only thing missing right now.  NBC still bites.  It's nice to see that someone with a camera knows what we are up against. 

Thanks NBC!

It is called war.  Some people should look it up, because they have forgotten what the word means.  A US Marine "double-tapped" a monster who had been shooting at him from a mosque.  The day before that, the same Marine had been shot in the face.  Now he is being investigated.  I guess we need to go to law school now before basic training.  Although, with as many lawyers as this country cranks out, we should have no problem filling the ranks.  I am sick of this.  These monsters that our men have been fighting are known for the lowest of dirty tricks, including playing possum and booby trapping their wounded.  They were in violation of the law of war and the geneva convention long before that mosque was cleared for the second time.  Every soldier I know would have done the same thing.  Accusations are being leveled and outrage expressed by people and organizations that know nothing of which they speak.  This Marine will probably be exonerated of any wrongdoing in the end, but once again, our media has fed the islamo-fascist propaganda machine.  That poor kid.  He faces the horror of close combat, gets shot in the face, neutralizes a possible human booby-trap, and now has to worry about going to jail?  STOP IT!  Put Amnesty International in charge - They have all the answers.  I am ashamed that I used to be a member of that organization...