About Me
After returning to
Drill sergeant duty was the second highlight of my career. It was challenging,
but rewarding. For two years I had 4th Platoon "Warhogs",
1-50th Infantry Battalion, on Sand Hill. With ODS under my belt, I took
this responsibility seriously, as many of my new offspring were on their way to
My next assignment was on Main Post, at the Dismounted Battlespace Battle
Lab. Here I worked at the
My final assignment was with the 2d Infantry Division, 2d Brigade on
As a Civilian
Starting in 2000, I returned to Kuwait as a civilian contractor, employed by MPRI working on the Kuwait Obsever/Controler Team (KOCT) as an Observer/Controller for Operation Intrinsic Action- a force on force and live fire training exercise taking place in the Kuwaiti desert. Here I mentored young platoon leaders and platoon sergeants who rotate over there as part of a contingency force. I was basically a coach and referee. This is a pilot program the Army is testing; using qualified retiree's as OC's, so as not to drain the active force of qualified NCO's. I would do this off and on for three years, usually 30 to 60 days at a time, 2 or 3 times a year.
At home I continued my education in the computer field, my goal to become a certified computer network administrator.
Recently, I have been contacted by our old Platoon Leader, 1LT Walter, and squad members SPC Dempsey PFC Rosado, and CPL Alejandro. It was great to hear from these guys, and hope to get together in the future.
2003. I had the opportunity
to return to Kuwait yet again as an Observer/Controller to help prepare the
Infantrymen of the 3rd Infantry Division for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
They trained relentlessly, and a tribute to their hard work was the fact there
were no notable fratricide incidents. They were the backbone of the
assault, and did a fantastic job. Once
the war started and the 3rd ID crossed the line of departure, some
of the OC’s returned to the States.
Myself and some others escorted 4th ID convoys from the
I have received computer training at the
Things I Still Remember...
OBJECTION!! Prior to leaving Germany, two soldiers in our company decided to become conscientious objectors, stating that they were Muslim. Other Black soldiers were surprised to see this. They were then trained as combat medics and deployed with us anyway. Some Female soldiers in our support battalion got pregnant on purpose to keep from deploying. Some of these women were to later abort their pregnancy.
XMAS 1990: Christmas in Saudi, 1990. The Advance Party, nicknamed the "Dirty Thirty" arrived in Damam, Saudi Arabia December 16th. We were housed in a camp called Cement City. Major Lough, our Officer in Charge, organized a Christmas party for us. There was to be a gift exchange, using names drawn out of a hat. The present I found was a toilet seat from the females latrine, complete with pubic hair. I stenciled our Battalion symbol on the inside of the seat - the Black Knight chess piece. The kid who received it - one of the commo specialists, liked it. Across from our tent was a medical unit, female tent - the lines on the outside always had panties and bras hanging on them. One of my 2 soldiers hung a sign outside the door of our tent which read "killing is our business, and business is good!" I liked his attitude. We stayed there 2 weeks, then moved out to the open desert in the North, to prepare for the arrival of the rest of the Battalion.
NORTH TO THE TAA: We rode on commuter busses up Tapline Road, to the Northern Saudi desert. It was New years Eve. I happened to find a six pack of near beer (no alcohol allowed in that country). Lieutenant Murry, the Battalion Scout Platoon Leader and I proposed a toast to what lay ahead. He would later win the Silver Star, and leave the Army.
MORNINGS: Stand-to. This is a morning ritual our unit practiced every morning once we moved out into the desert. Started one half hour before sunrise, and ended one half hour after sunrise. This goes back to earlier wars, a popular time to attack. Every soldier was expected to be packed up, in his fighting position, scanning his sector. I would move from position to position, making sure everyone was up and ready. After stand-to, we would eat an MRE (meal ready to eat), really looking forward to burning the trash in a fire pit to warm up - December mornings in the desert can be cold.
KNIGHTS: The
night (early morning actually), when the air war started. Myself and 30
others from the advance party had been in the desert for a few weeks, when,
late evening on January 17th, the main body of the Battalion (approx 500
soldiers) linked up with us. They were driven out to the desert in a long
convoy of school buses. I remember seeing one bus arrive with its
windshield smashed out, having apparently rear-ended the vehicle to its front
on the long drive North. Our Fighting Vehicles and other equipment had
not arrived from Germany yet. The Battalion slept under the stars.
At around
CHEMICALS: There is no doubt they were in the area. Shortly after the cease fire, our platoon stopped next to a large bunker that had been cracked open by a large bomb. Painted next to the iron door was crossed beakers - the standard military symbol for Chemical warfare. This particular bunker was probably destroyed during the air war, but the contents just don't "disappear". Our unit was later identified by the DOD as having been near the Kamissya Ammo Depot, which held chemical weapons, that had been destroyed by our engineers.
SMOKE
Once the oil wells
were lit on fire, the air around us was pitch black, to the point it blocked
out the sun light, and any heat from the sun. When you blew your nose, it
was black snot. I ended up being diagnosed with asthma when I came
home. I'm sure many others were, too. Speaking of smoke, I saw many
of my buddies start smoking cigarettes over there - athletic guys who otherwise
would never consider it. Nerves.
The Dragon Wagon: Our company M88 tank retriever. This was one big machine. While on the DML, at one point it was parked under a highway overpass to block traffic at a control point. The crew fired it up to spin it around (pivot steer) 180 degrees. It roared and shook the Earth. The Iraqis near it dropped to their knees and prayed to it.
ODS JARGON:
Ninja Bitch: We were briefed upon entering the AO (area of operations), not to look the female indigenous populous in the eye, so as not to insult anyone. The females all wore robes and scarves anyway. Later a rumor began that Iraqi special forces were dressing up as women to move around un-noticed. Hence the designation.
ODF: "Out Der Flappin". This is something that came with us out of Germany. A spin off of "out there flapping in the breeze" Der just a slang, but also GI German. Broken down into an acronym...it's the Army way!!!! Used to describe anyone "out of touch"
Rag Head: Well, we can all
figure that one out...the greeting of the day was pretty much "send a Rag
Head to meet Allah!!"
CBU’s: Cluster Bomb Units. These were small balls, about the size of a
big orange, that were dropped by either our aircraft or artillery. MANY did not explode on contact due to the
soft sand, so they were everywhere.
Luckily most troops were disciplined enough to leave them alone, but
American’s being brought up on baseball couldn’t resist the urge to pick on up
and throw it. Many troops were killed or
maimed from these.
LETTERS
FROM DOD
I just received my third letter since
the end of the war from the Department of Defense. The first indicated my unit was near the
Iraqi ammo depot that was destroyed by US Engineers, which contained nerve gas
munitions. The second claimed my unit
was not that close. This one states my
unit was in the area, and there is a higher than normal (twice) death rate of
soldiers who were in that area from brain cancer. Many Gulf ware vets now have ALS. Hmmm……..
They claim nerve gas doesn’t cause
brain cancer!?! Only death!!! Hmmm……. They say radiation, like microwave
radiation, might cause that. Well, here
is a little insight to that. Prior to
our deployment, we spent some time training in our local training area in
Freidberg, Germany. One afternoon, while
out PLT was conducting a dismounted patrol, our lead element all complained of
headaches. We moved up to them, and felt
it too. We moved out of the area, and
the headaches went away. We later
noticed a Patriot missile battery set up on the high ground in our area. Its radar was in “direct lay” (horizontal to
the ground) position. This is what
caused our headaches. I’m sure there
were various types of radar, to include ground surveillance radar, scanning the
open desert during ODS. A very probable
cause of some of these symptoms. Not to
include the nerve agent pills we had to take.
There was also indications that the
Iraqi troops who lit the oil wells on fire were chemical warfare troops. Hmmm……is it possible chemical
munitions/agents where placed in these fires?
My Opinion
of Operation Iraqi Freedom:
Well, freedom isn't free - can't forget that. We could have gone into Iraq back in '91, when we had 7 + Divisions on the ground. Many of the reasons we used in '03 were valid in '91, with the exception of Hussein's disregard for the subsequent UN resolutions. I was surprised back then we did not do that, but the politicians in DC had no plan for Iraq. Anyone thinking we were to be greeted as liberators just didn’t know the facts, or the “ground truth”
The WMD issue was/is real. It has become a shell game. As the UN inspectors came in the front door, the weapons went out the back. Reminds me of the Keystone Cops. I would look at Syria, Jordan, and even Iran - much closer. My experience with people of that region is you can not take their word. I try not to stereotype, but it happened so often. Many of the Iraqi mortar pits had cases of ammo from Jordan. Iraq's air force flew its remaining Mirage jets to Iranian airfields. Our naivety, reinforced by the poor UN inspection, will result in WMD's surfacing in NYC or else ware.
Donald Rumsfeld can be blamed for much of the current problem over there.
He has always had an issue with the Army. He put too much faith in
Special Forces. The weak CJCofS, is no help what so ever. Although
I fault Colin Powell for shutting down ODS too soon, he had the right idea
concerning the number of troops needed for an offensive operation.
Unfortunately, there is a climate in the Military for leaders to "make
their mark" by trying something new. Well, if its not broke, don't
fix it. There are basic tactics that will never change. It takes a
strong leader to recognize that. The insurgency was allowed to build
during the 10 year period following ODS.
Once the decision to invade was made, The objective, the country of Iraq,
should have been isolated. A strict Martial Law should have been put in
place. You can’t start out easy then get tough. When I was stationed in Istanbul, Turkey in
1979/80, it was under Martial Law, and eventually worked itself out. The
HUMVEE situation was ludicrous, but the DOD wanted to put a friendly face on
the occupation, and Hummers don't scare people like M1 Abrams do.
Unfortunately, they offer NO protection, and many soldiers died in them, to
include a friend of mine.
Paul Bremmer deactivating the entire Iraqi military! And we wonder where the insurgents, weapons
and munitions are coming from? We just
asked for that!
IED’s. Well, I hope we are looking closely at the
videos that show up of our vehicle being blown up. It is very apparent they use a vertical
feature as a stadia line or sighting post.
Usually a telephone pole or a lone tree.
One word of advice to the troops there, don’t linger near that type of
feature!
Our
National Guard/Reserve commitment: God bless
them! The Reserve combat component was
not able to deploy during ODS, as their level of readiness was below
standard. Much effort has gone into that
program to bring them up to standard. At
the same time, Regular Army troop strength was cut. The big thinkers figured the reserves could
pick up the slack. They also found out
during the Vietnam War that no one cared about the draftees, which contributed
to the loss of public support for the war, which eventually contributed to the
loss of the war. But, if you take a kid
out of the local grocery store, garage, or church, everyone in the community
will be able to place a face with the situation. Unfortunately, they are still under trained,
and is shows in the casualty figures.
2007 – Hard to believe the war is still going
on. I have joined two motorcycle
organizations……the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association, www.combatvet.org and the Patriot Guard
Riders. www.patriotguard.org . The CVMA is a national group of vets who ride
motorcycles as a hobby, and help out veterans in general. The Patriot Guard Riders were formed in 2003
as a result of radical protesters protesting at military funerals. Both great groups, and have great membership.
Perspective: The Alpha and Omega. (The Beginning and
the End) Ironically, Iraq, formally
known as Mesopotamia, is the location of the beginning of civilization, (some
say the Garden of Eden) and modern warfare.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget why things are happening the way they
are. Keep in mind Iraq is made up of
three predominate religious groups or sects – Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs and
Kurds. The Sunni’s were the minority,
but were in control of the country.
Saddam was a Sunni. These groups
are made up of family clans. The
minority Sunni’s oppressed the majority Shiite’s – in many cases very
brutally. Saudi Arabia is predominantly
Sunni, where Iran is mostly Shiite. This
is where support for each side has slowed our progress. During ODS, most of the troops on the front
lines were Shiites, and the officers over them were Sunni’s. In many cases the officers kept the troops in
the trenches at gun point. The
Republican Guard troops were Sunnis.
Bin Laden claims the reason he now hates the
USA (although he loved us while we supported him against the Russians in
Afghanistan) is because we occupied his homeland (Saudi Arabia) during a holy
religious period (the Ramadan) during the Desert Shield buildup. We (Westerners) are considered dirty or “unclean”. Again, he is a Sunni from Saudi – aligned
with Saddam by that alone, if nothing else.
We have been pretty quite concerning Saudi, only because of our
dependence on their oil. 9/11 was all
about religion, and 19 of the 20 highjackers were Saudis.
I’ll never forget the one thing that visibly
disturbed my platoon leader was the suppression of the uprising immediately
following the cease fire. During the
cease fire negotiations, General Schwarzkopf allowed the Iraqi military to
maintain use of their helicopters after the war, thinking they would use them
for logistical purposes. Well, when the
Shiite and Kurd uprisings began, the Iraqi military flew their armed
helicopters against the crowds, strafing and killing many. We were manning checkpoints during this time,
and were required to call in “spot reports” to higher every time it
happened. We all wanted to go out and
help some how, but where not allowed to leave our position. We (meaning the USA in general) let down the
majority of the Iraqi population during this period. They have not forgotten that, but I’m sure
that is one of the wrongs our current policy is trying to right.
It IS a civil war. One that has been in progress or smoldering
for thousands of years. The major
stumbling block now is how the three groups will divide the oil wealth, because
if they physically divide up the country 3 ways, two groups will be left
without oil fields. And like most Arabs,
they don’t trust each other.
And handling an insurgency should be nothing
new to us. In fact, we should be experts
by now – after the 10 year Vietnam War, which was mostly an insurgency. But 20 years of peace has taken its toll.
I could ramble on, and over time probably will. Over and Out for now...