God, Steely Dan and the Swiffer: Gettin’ your mind right.

Here in Iraq the missions run 24-7. Our Squadron’s mission, escorting logistics convoys, runs every day no matter what the day of the week, holiday, or if the weather sucks. Come hell or high water (usually it’s the former) somebody is always on the road somewhere.

But from time-to-time everybody needs a break or he’ll go nuts. Notice I said break, not day off. Staff Officers don’t get days off and we don’t post a schedule anywhere that lists a ‘day off.’ That’s a great way to get stomped by the Sergeant Major. ‘So Captain, you don’t have enough to do? Well, let me find something to keep you busy.’ Nope, I’m not taunting that man. Smart leaders and managers work downtime or ‘minimum manning’ days into the schedule. We call that Fighter Management (no kidding, the Army actually has a bureaucratic name for a day off).

I give the guys in my section a real day off every other week or so when we can swing it. My intent for them is to not come in at all. Go do laundry, watch TV, go to the gym, listen to music…whatever they want but don’t come into work. Sometimes mission tempo doesn’t allow for them to be gone but we try. The mission always comes first. I work a half day off every week or so. I never take a whole day off. I can’t. I don’t. However my day ‘not off’ is Sunday. That’s the day when most non-essential soldiers lay low to sleep in and go to church. We don’t have a morning meeting that day so it’s the only day I can swing it.

On my typical Sunday I get up, check some email, maybe catch up on some news. Its a typical lazy Sunday like back home. Mood setting music is a must. Usually its something jazzy or more laid back like Steely Dan or Pink Floyd. Something like that. It’s ‘get your mind right’ music.
A big event for me is cleaning the room. It doesn’t take long. I live in a 10’x10’ room with no carpet. All I can do is sweep the floor and push my little Swiffer Sweeper around. Those things are really popular for a deployment. Mopping without a mop bucket…a soldier must have invented that.

And finally I end my morning with what you should do on a Sunday…go to church. Our chapel has several services during the day..all religions and styles. That’s one thing they do well here at COB Adder. They give everyone an opportunity to worship and there are about a dozen chaplains or more to assist. The Lord is definitely represented in ACUs here.

After church I head across the street, eat a really good Sunday meal then I go to work. It will be about 1230 or 1300 by the time I get in to the office. Then the break is over. I’ll put in 5 or 6 hours after that.

That’s a Sunday for me here on COB Adder. It’s a break. Not a total escape. Darn sure not a ‘day off’ (did you catch that Sergeant Major?). It’s a time to take care of a few things and do like Strother Martin says in Cool Hand Luke* ‘Get my mind right.’

SABER 02,
out.

*Cool Hand Luke, (1967). Prison movie with Paul Newman and George Kennedy. One of the greatest movies ever!!! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061512/

Daddy, What’s A Bed-Win?

Even while we are here in Iraq doing the mission we still have to conduct training on various subjects. EO, common skills, annual certifications in various subject areas and weapons training. In the military, as in most civilian jobs, you never stop training. Today was range day for me. A chance for me to refresh my skills on the M240B machine gun.

The Army has some very sophisticated shooting ranges in the states to develop and hone our marksmanship skills. We shoot pop-up targets, shoot indoors, shoot outdoors using electronic scoring, speakers, lights, thermal targets and various daytime targets. We have ranges you can walk up to, run up to, drive on, drive through, fly above, shoot and scoot…all kinds of ranges.
Near COB Adder we have Bardia range. It is equipped with…..sand. Yup, that’s about it. Sand. Bardia range is an open-desert area near Adder that is not too far away and it allows us to shoot our weapons safely but there isn’t much in the way of training aids.

CPT* Forrest Tuckett and SGM* Doug Pettit were in charge of the range. They have the most difficult job which is planning all aspects of the shooting event. Rotation of troops, ammo requirements, safety, communications, range ‘throughput’ or how we move troops onto and off of the range, everything to do with the range is what they plan. Forrest and Doug are two of the best soldiers I’ve ever known and I’ve known them both for years. They are real pros. They know infantry tactics, soldier skills and they are both real good friends. Sherrie and I know their families and have been with them on many occasions. One other quality Doug and Forrest have in common….they are both former Marines and both veterans of the first Gulf War.

So, according to plan, we drug some old pieces of metal and wood and put them at various distances away from a road. That at least allows us to have something to shoot at. And really, that’s all we need at this point. If a soldier arrives in the combat zone lacking shooting skills he’s kinda screwed. We develop those skills before we ever get here. Today is just what we call ‘trigger time.’

The M240 machine gun, the MK19 automatic grenade launcher and the M2 .50cal machine gun are my Squadron’s weapons of choice. Those are what we fired at Bardia. We shoot them all from the turret on our vehicles while driving down Bardia road. Its pretty simple really. Load the gun…drive the truck….aim the gun….shoot the gun….hit a target.

One reason we don’t have fancy targets at the range is they will be stolen if we leave them there. Anything of value is stripped from the desert by the Bedouins. Yes, Virginia, there are Bedouins, they exist in the desert, and they are a pain in the ass when you are trying to shoot in the open desert.

Our Army has a lot of stuff and the Bedouins know it. If you leave something unsecure it will be taken. If you leave an old car for a target they will drag it off. If you leave a piece of plywood for a target it will be taken. If you leave an MRE or a bottle of water on the ground it will be snatched in a heartbeat. Like I said they are a pain in the ass.

They are also a concern for safety. It is not unheard of them to come out on the range while we are firing and take things off of the firing lane. We post security at the edges of the range and we use interpreters to help keep them away. Like a child, they will mind if they are being watched but when you look the other way they steal your stuff. It’s what Bedouins do.

One good thing about the Bedouins is as soon as we leave they pick up all the expended brass casings. They can have it…it’s trash to us. They sell it somewhere. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure…literally. I’m okay with that.

So I braved the blowing dust, shot my hundred rounds and didn’t drop any Bedouins then I went back to Adder. That was my day. It was a good day. Hopefully it will be the last time I pull a trigger in Iraq.

SABER 02,
Out.

*CPT is a Captain *SGM is a Sergeant Major

Living on the COB: War Crimes

COB Adder is the base where I live…so do about 10, 000 other participants in the two-way live fire exercise that is Iraq. COB stands for Contingency Operating Base. I just thought I’d clear that up. Using the word Contingency instead of Fort makes somebody feel a little better about our temporary presence here.

One of the keys to tolerating Iraq on this COB is to not think about Iraq. Well, at least, don’t think about it too much. Part of the ‘don’t think about Iraq’ approach is to bring a little slice of good old American commercialism with us when we go to war. A Soldier’s morale is higher when he or she can enjoy a good hamburger in the sand and 120 degree heat of the courtyard.

Pizza Hut….Taco Bell…Burger King…they are all here on COB Adder. Now, there isn’t a drive through and you cannot phone in your orders but they have the all the markings of the real thing back home. The restaurants are in little trailers surrounded by blast walls and the employees are people from Iraq and Kuwait and other places…never an American. When your order number is called out over the PA system its hard to understand the thick middle eastern accent over the loud drone of the power generators.

I never eat at these fine establishments. It is my sense of cheapness that keeps me away from the fast food trailers. You see, your tax dollars (and mine) have already paid for a really good meal about a block away so I’m not going to buy my dinner. Some guys buy most of their food. To each, his own (or a fool and his money are soon parted). I freely admit that I am cheap…frugal, spendthrift…whatever.
Some of the bigger bases have even more things. In Kuwait there is Starbucks and a donut shop. No kidding! Starbucks surrounded by blast walls. At Camp Taji, just north of Baghdad, you’ll find a Green Beans coffee house and a Subway. Those sandwiches taste like the ones at home. I don’t know how they do it but they do.

I am saddened to report to you one war crime. A culinary war crime. Camp Taji has crossed the line with a Cinnabun. Yep, a Cinnabun! Now, when a soldier gets off patrol or finishes a day of dodging car bombs and rock throwing kids he may go for a slice of pizza or a cheese burger but not something from the Cinnabun! That’s too soft for me (but it does smell good). A few of us try to stay away from words that have punctuation over the letters. Any word that has a French accent mark like 'latte' ' or 'frappe' ' is to be avoided in a war zone.

I can just picture the testimonial in the commercial now; “Ya know Sarge, after a hard day of lobbing grenades and running Al Qaeda out of Iraq, there’ nothing I want more than a foamy Starbucks Latte’ with my battle buddy.” The Clydesdales are hoofing off to Belgium with tears in their eyes at the thought of such a thing.
But never fear good citizen. There are still a few of us old guys around. I hang out with a few old school cigarette-smoking salty soldiers that still order their coffee one way….black.

Anyway, thank you America for coming along to the war with us. Even if it is with just your food….and your foamy grande’ latte’.

SABER 02,
out.

Steaks, NA Beer and General Order #1

Everybody gets to go home on leave, or what’s commonly known as R&R. It lasts a couple of weeks and my turn is coming up in August. I’m starting to make a list of the things I want to do, places to go, and where and what am I going to eat and drink. My current craving for steak, Monjunis, Mexican food and beer are beginning to be more frequent.
We do what we can to try to replicate some of the things from home when we can. The army doesn’t allow much of that but we try anyway. Like clothing. The only thing you can wear here is your Army camouflage uniform or your fitness uniform. I do wear my own choice of shorts and t-shirts in my living area…but don’t tell the Army.
Some of us have grown tired of the daily chow hall food (it is good…but it is repetitive). We have taken to the Sunday evening cookout. Our maintenance guys have turned an old field sink and fashioned it into a grill. It ain’t purty but she cooks a mean steak. Actually our Chef, Sergeant First Class Rocky Wells is our primary beef grillin’ king. With the aid of a flashlight he can do a pretty good job.
We gather a few things from the PX or the chow hall to round out the meal. The only disappointing point of the evening is our limitation of beverages. Particularly the beer. You see, in Iraq it’s Near Beer or No beer thanks to General Order #1.
General Order #1 is a policy that restricts certain activities and things so we can all get through this part of the war without offending the culture. Alcohol is one of the things that is restricted. Muslims don’t drink (well, they aren’t supposed to). Therefore we don’t.
So Iraq is a dry country in more ways than one. If you know me, I enjoy the occasional cold one. For 2008 that will be limited to tea, soda and a few other beverages. I’ll survive. I have several times before. I guess I just need to look at the bright side; I’m saving a heck of a lot of calories.

SABER 02,
out.

History of our 4th

The following was written by our unit First Sergeant, Jeff Mock. When not deployed he is a middle school teacher in southern Arkansas. He is one of the most patriotic soldiers know. He shared this history of Independence day with all of our unit. It's worthy of your attention too.

Well here we are on Independence Day. It is a holiday like all othersin America where we have long since forgotten the significance orrelevance of the day and its importance. Take time today to find a copyof the Declaration of Independence and give it a read.Two hundred and thirty-two years ago our founding fathers took amonumental leap in declaring our independence from the British Empire.The Declaration of Independence outlines all the reasons that thethirteen original states believed it was necessary to seek a divisionfrom Great Britain. Most of the very issues that were consideredviolations of our rights as British citizens found their way into theConstitution and the Bill of Rights some years later. You can read inthe Declaration at all the things that Parliament did to the Americancolonists that were violations of individual rights and then read theBill of Rights and see where the states ratified the first tenamendments to the Constitution in order to protect the very individualrights of all citizens of our Republic: freedom of speech, freedom ofreligion, right to assemble, right to petition our government, theindividual's right to bear arms, right to a trial by jury, protectionagainst cruel and unusual punishment, and the amendments that limit thepowers of the Federal government and empowered the States and thepeople.For more than a year before the Declaration of Independence militiaunits of various states were actively involved in combat with the forcesof the British Empire. The Battles of Lexington and Concord had alreadyoccurred and the Battle of Bunker Hill. The American Revolution began ayear prior to the Declaration of Independence. There were some in thecolonies that did not support the war or independence. As a matter offact many historians believe that only a minority of people in thecolonies would have been considered Patriots. Many people in the 13colonies did not care one way or the other who won the war, they did notsupport either side. Then there was another segment the population thatout right supported the British, known as the Tories.It is interesting to consider that on our nations 232ND birthday thatour Revolution for Independence was not supported by a majority of theAmerican people and yet through Providence our Founding Fathers and thecountless numbers of Patriots that fought for our independence struggledthrough a war and win a victory over the British Empire.It would not be until 1787 that the thirteen states would considercreating the Constitution. For those years of the Revolutionary War andthe few years following the end of the war our nation was governed underthe Articles of Confederation.From the time that our Founding Fathers declared Independence on 4 July1776 it was not until 1789 that our Constitution was ratified, 13 years.We should be glad and thankful that no one in the world instituted atime table or established a set of parameters over the creation of ourRepublic. It took thirteen years to create the document that governsour Republic today. If we could not do it overnight it may be doubtfulthat anyone else can either.
Happy Independence Day
Rackensacker 7

We hope you enjoy your Independence Day weekend. Take care.

SABER 02
Out.

Independence Day

This is my 4th Independence day in the middle east. 1999 (Saudi Arabia), 2002 (The Sinai, Egypt), 2004 (Baghdad), and 2008 (here).
I’d rather spend it at home with family and friends but voluntarily I spend it here.
At home my 4th goes like this. On the night of the 3rd, my daughters and I take little flags and put them in front of every house on our street. We do this for all major holidays. When the neighbors wake up they see a street lined with Little American flags it really looks good.
We get up early and Sherrie, the girls and I go run/walk in the Firecracker 5k, a huge event in Shreveport. Then we come home, chill out, and wait for the evening when we get with our fantastic friends and neighbors and blow up fireworks (keeping the injuries to a minimum) and in general have a great time. That’s my idea of a great fourth.
Holidays overseas are a bit different. We try to make the days special by keeping work to a minimum but the missions don’t stop. We’ll start the day with a 4 mile run around the base. Usually there will be special food in the chow hall, probably steak and ribs. There will be a few fun activities planned but we are limited by resources and where we are.
There are no fireworks displays although someone always manages to shoot off a flare somewhere. We have the biggest assortment of real pyro here but we save that for the real deal. Celebratory fire is not authorized.
As you know our country has been able to celebrate our independence for over two hundred years. Soldiers serving in Iraq, especially those of us who were here in the first couple of years, feel proud that we have helped a country gain its independence. No matter what our politics are we have done that. Iraq is fighting hard against many opponents to keep that independence and they are demonstrating that they are capable of governing and securing themselves.
I was here during the first free national elections in 2004. You may remember the photos of all the ink-stained fingers. I was here that day and it was truly one of the proudest days I have had…ever.
Initially Iraq didn’t fight for their independence, we gave it to them. But they have been fighting for it ever since. We have sacrificed a lot for their freedom. Iraqis have sacrificed even more. That doesn’t always come out in the news. One day things will settle down and Iraqi families will get to spend a quiet day to mark their independence.
Eventually I’ll get to celebrate our American Independence day back home with my family. For now I celebrate it with my military family…voluntarily…like I’ve done several times before.
Take a little time this year and think about that. What we have, what we’ve fought for, what we’ve earned, and what we continue to sacrifice for. It’s not just watermelon and fireworks. It’s who we are.

SABER 02,
Out.