Changes

There is a big change on this deployment.

During my medical in processing I spent a little extra at the Optometrist. It turns out that I need glasses. I sort of felt that this was coming. I found my eyesight a little blurry - especially after a long day when I am tired. My glasses arrived the other night when I was out on the field problem (Mission Readiness Exercise). The difference was immediate and shocking. Off and on again - wow. So now I am learning to live with glasses. I don't need them all of the time and they only work for distances but here I am...


There are some other big changes that I am accutely aware of since 2005.

First, since 2005, I lost both of my parents. I lost my dad in June of 2006 to a three year long battle with cancer (In fact when I first saw the picture above I saw my dad in my face). Then, ten months later, I lost my mom as the result of complications from surgery. Dad always around his house to answer the phone and gave a familiar voice to listen to whenever I needed it. Mom, well, mom took my deployement a lot harder and worried excessively about my safety. If she knew that I was going back she'd be frantic but proud of me. I miss them both and will miss reaching back to them from Iraq, just to talk.

In the last three years I married Lisa. Although we were engaged at the time I left the last time we were not under the same roof. Under an October sunset in 2005, at the end of a pier in Key West we made our vows to one another. Now, Lisa is my wife. She is my best friend and a rock I can rely on. I have never known a better person and I am so lucky to be married to her.

Finally - I am a dad again! My son, TJ, was born in June 2007, and is the light of my life. He is an absolutely gorgeous toddler who lights up with a smile whenever I walk into the room. Being away from him and all of the "firsts" he is going to go through is probably the hardest part of this deployment.

There will be more changes in the year to come. Iraq will be different. It will be more or less secure and there will be more or less progress. I will be different. I will be a company commander with new challenges to my leadership. Homelife will be different. Lisa will be the head of the house and the sole parent present for raising TJ.

Through it all I will continue to post and keep you up to date.

Combat Lifesaver and Convoy Live Fire Training

Our training for deployment has included Combat Lifesaver and a live fire Convoy Exercise - and both are scary.

Combat Lifesaver was taught by our own resident LPN while we were out on our training exercise, living in tents, in a Iraq-like operating base. This training gives every Soldier the absolute necessary skills to provide immediate care under fire. If the wounded Soldier's buddies can stop traumatic bleeding and start an intravenous line then a Soldier stands a 97% to 98% chance of survival if they reach the combat hospital.

The classroom instruction is very hands on. It teaches the latest in bandages, hemostat powder (a chemical agent that when introduced to a profuse bleeding wound almost immediately clots it - to include severed arteries), relieving collapsed lungs, and how to start an IV. And as part of the practical exercise and final exam Soldier have to do a IV "stick" on a live person.

Breathe deep. Prep the arm. Find the vein. Clean, sanitize, and prepare the area. Breathe deep again. Take out the needle and catheter. Breathe deep again. Introduce the needle and slide in the catheter. Secure, seal, and start a saline solution. Exhale.

Convoy live fire is another intimidating training event but for a whole different set of reasons than Combat Lifesaver. Six vehicles travel down a winding road while the machine gunner scans for targets to engage with live ammunition.

This training takes several days of preparation to execute. First, all of the gunners need to qualify on the firing range with their assigned weapon. Second, all of the drivers need to go through driver's training and learn the particulars of operating a two ton truck in adverse conditions. Next, the entire convoy practices the range using blanks so they know when and where to aim - and when and where not to aim.

Finally, on the last day, there is an extensive safety briefing followed immediately by the convoy briefing. Each truck has a safety officer who rides in the vehicle. They watch the machine gunners throughout the entire event.

As we rolled out and made the first turn the targets popped up and we immediately engaged by six separate gunners, each throwing rounds down range at rate of 200-300 per minute. From my vantage point, everyone followed their instructions and the training was over far too soon.


All is well here. We are getting a little stir crazy from living on top of one another and are looking forward to our pass in twelve days.

Fetch Me My Squire

Body armor has been through several generations in a very short time.

What started out as simple flack vests of bullet proof type material led to the anti-ballistic vest that had two seaparate 1/4 inch ceramic/Kevlar/mystery material plates that fit into the front and the back to give Soldiers additional protection against bullets and shrapnel. In 2005, outer arm Kevlar protectors were added. The vests then added on side plates to protect underneath arms and around the mid section.

Add the new and improved helmet, gloves, eye protection, hearing protection, elbow and knee pads, hydration kit, assault pack, and ammo pouches and you look like a 16th century knight ready to ride into battle. You are at least 2 1/2 wide at the center and its heavy as hell.

Last night I put all of that gear on for the first time. And I realized that I couldn't do it without help from my younger Soldiers. I was afraid that if I fell over that I wouldn't be able to get up and would struggle like a turtle on its back.

There is an overt gesture on the part of the highest level of the Army to provide Soldiers the most protection in battle that they possibly can. Body armor, mine resistant vehicles, advanced medicine are all proof that the military is trying to keep its causualties to a minimum. While I agree with and appreciate the gesture it is a difficult to wrap my head around.

It appears like the military want to create a zero causualty envirnoment by protecting us to the nith degree. In a low intensity conflict I suppose that is possible. The number of contacts with the enemy is falling every day and the protection provided does indeed bring Soldiers home alive. However, what happens when we face a high intensity conflict? Can we provide hundreds of thousands of Soldiers this level of protection? Or will it then be relegated to the "combatants"?
As we ponder those deeper questions - can someone help me up?

Next Phase: Welcome to Active Duty

On 05 September 2008, I returned to Active Duty for the first time since the summer of 2005. My reason for being on Active Duty last time was the same as this time, involuntary call to active duty to fight in the Global War on Terror. Active Duty is a whole different ball game than from being a drilling Reservist.

You've heard the term "weekend warrior", or maybe the slogan, "one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer?" Unless you are attending a military school, as a Reservist you are paid only for the weekend drills you attend. In other words, you are paid for days, not a full months salary at the rank you hold. For most Reservists, that extra pay goes to a car payment, or rent, or some other financial responsibility. Most often, its anywhere from $200 to $700 based on rank and there are no extra frills to the pay.

On Active Duty all of that changes. Obviously I get a full months pay as a Major. Then come the entitlements. I get a housing allowance. I get a substinance allowance. I get paid for being separated from my family. In the months to come I will get hazardous duty pay, combat pay, and tax zone exclusion which means that all of my monthly pay is "tax free". This is the same for all Soldiers.

Another big difference is that on Active Duty, UCMJ (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), the laws which govern the military are in effect. This means that someone who is punished under UCMJ could lose a portion of the their pay, be given extra duty like filling sand bags, or even receive a reduction in rank. And that is just for mild to medium offenses. For more serious and extreme violations of the UCMJ, time in the stockade, hard labor, and the death penalty could apply.

Every deployment has some minor violations of the UCMJ. Sleeping on duty, violation of a direct order, being without your weapon, are all some examples. This is a world of difference for everyone but more so for the most junior of Soldiers who are more prone to lapses in good judgement. I, as the commander, ends up being the one who has to take these punitive actions and in most cases, determine the punishment.

This phase has been more challenging for me personally. I have not had a chance to spend quality time with my Soldiers in three days. As a commander I am quickly learning that my role is more administrative in nature. Although I feel like I should be with my troops and training with them, the reality is that I need to attend briefings, make slides, and go to different offices to "make things happen." In fact, this running around in a higher than usual level of frustration is my training.

The other difference is the fact that at the end of this phase we will depart the United States for our tour.

The other day the seventh anniversary of September 11th passed. Other than the flag being at half staff and a free concert on the post, the day was unremarkable because we were all working or training. On September 10, 2001, if someone had told me that in the next eight years that I would have two involuntary calls to Active Duty I could not have imagined it unless the North Koreans had crossed the DMZ.

Wow, was I wrong.

Incident at Range 29B

This took place a week and a half ago but I’ve been too busy to write.

All of our training at Ft. Dix, NJ is being conducted by a group of Army Reservists who’s primary responsibility is to train and prepare Soldiers in all of their individual and collective tasks. They are Drill Sergeants and they have provided some of the best training in my military career. The schedule they provided us is pretty packed but there are specific blocks of time set aside for rest and reconstitution. For example, after being on a night qualification range the next morning is set aside as “commander’s time” from 0800 to 1200. In other words, this is time for me to judiciously allow my Soldiers to clean their clothes, weapons, or catch up on other personal business.

Into this commander’s time, my time, a group from the Civil Affairs Training Brigade (CAPOCTB), stationed Ft. Bragg, NC, stepped in to insist on additional training that the deploying Civil Affairs Soldiers need. They are not Drill Sergeants, and training Soldiers is not their primary military profession.

The CAPOCTB decided to conduct a weapons range at Range 29B that would consist of advanced pistol marksmanship and transition fire. Advanced pistol marksmanship consists of drawing a loaded weapon from a holster, firing at a target, and then re-holstering the weapon after it is put on “safe”. Transition fire consists of shooting several rounds from your primary weapon (a rifle) and then putting that weapon on “safe” and using a secondary weapon (a pistol). Both have a higher that usual amount of risk and therefore require significant training, practice, and safeguards to execute properly.

We arrived at the range at 1500, an hour before training was supposed to start. From the beginning I sensed trouble. All of the instructors were sitting in the shade. No targets were up. The ammunition was still crated. The range was not properly opened.

As we got off the bus the instructors walked away and no one welcomed us or gave us further instructions. We asked for the Officer in Charge (OIC) and no one budged. The Range Safety Officer (RSO) rather matter of factly told us that the range would be open and ready on time. Then he told us that they were only expecting 32 people instead of 60. Then he told us that they didn’t know where the person was to put the range into operation. In other words the gnawing feeling in my gut wasn’t getting better.

Someone finally came to us around 1540 and gave us the welcome briefing. He pointed out that range wasn’t ready yet and that we should drink water and stay out of the heat in the meantime. I asked the obvious question that I was afraid I already knew the answer to, “where is the water point?” The blank look in response told me what I needed to know. All that they had was a five gallon cooler of Gatorade for 60 plus people. Safety violation number one. My ire rose and demanded to see the OIC.

The commander and a senior NCO came over. As it turned out, these two were the instructors bosses who had just arrived to Ft Dix observe the training. I blasted them expecting that my unpleasant disposition on the situation would rub off on them and that they in turn would take corrective action on their people. I expected too much.

As the instruction started, the primary trainer handed out pistols to the Soldiers without making them go through the proper clearing procedures. Then he stood between the Soldiers and the targets and had the Soldiers dry fire. Of course the weapons were empty. Of course we all knew that in theory. However, that’s also the way people get shot. Safety violation number two.

What happened next was a series of trivial to minor safety and procedural issues that compounded on top of one another. There was no dry run or walk through; Soldiers got the class and then drew ammunition. The class that was given was not what was executed on the range. The person giving the commands from the tower didn’t know the proper sequence of events. Inexperienced firers were put on the firing line with too few safety observers. The inexperienced firers were pushed to shoot at a pace faster than they ever had before. People became confused. The firers were expected to fire and move forward at the same time. Finally, the firers stood at point blank range from the target and fired over 40 rounds into hit. Rounds went everywhere. Strike three.

I talked to my friend Dennis, the other company commander. He saw everything that I saw and he felt the same way I did. Together we called for a pause, located the range company commander, and told him, “We’re done.” We told them that the range was unsafe and that someone was going to get hurt. I pulled my guys off of the range, had them clean up, and put them on the busses for the barracks. We walked off the range and left the CAPOCTB personnel looking at us in contemptuous disbelief.

In my time in the Army I have never heard of an incident like this ever happening. I have heard many war stories, and stories that always begin, “There was this one time where…” but this one for the Soldiers who witnessed it to take with them and tell over and over for a long time to come.

What happened on Range 29B never materialized into a tragedy although it had all of the markings for it. In retrospect, I probably never should have let my Soldiers even get on the firing line with ammo and trusted what appeared to be a bunch of bozos with their safety. In other words, I should have listened more carefully to that voice in the back of my head. That voice is usually right.