Saturday, October 07, 2006

Ramadan and the Night of Power

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, a lunar calendar. Because the lunar calendar is in synch with the moon and not the sun, Islamic holidays move each year. This year Ramadan began on Sep 24th and it continues through Oct 24th.

For millions of Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month of prayer, fasting and charity... among other things. It is also a "holy" month of increased violence, because during Ramadan, Muslims also enjoy the Night of Power.

The Night of Power is the night in which the Islamic code of guidance, the Holy Quran, was revealed from the Lord of the Universe to Prophet Muhammad. It’s a special night in which Muslims can get bonus points for being hyper-righteous, pious, faithful, charitable,... or whatever deeds they choose to carry out in the name of Allah. See where I’m going with this? The Night of Power is like the Night of Extra Credit. So to die on the Night of Power doing something spectacular in the name of Allah is a thing to strive for in some Islamic religious circles. Paradise squared awaits them. I don’t know if that means a martyr gets more than 72 virgins, or that the virgins are just better somehow. I’m not familiar with all the specifics of the holy tenants governing this special day. I’m not trying to be culturally insensitive. I really don’t get it and I'm curious.

Some Muslims believe that the exact date of the Night of Power is not known. It is presumed to be a secret and only Allah knows the exact date and time of the super power convergence. This is to insure that everyone gives 100% throughout the entire month of Ramadan, instead of saving it up for the Night of Power and the potential bonus points. Sort of like what Christians do on Christmas and Easter.

Most say that the Night of Power is the 27th night of Ramadan. There is a mathematical formula for how this number was determined. I’ll skip that part. If you’re curious, Google it. The calculation runs in the same vein as Nostradamus predictions and e-mails that promise they can guess your weight if they know your birthday, eye color and the number of letters in your name. It's County Fair math.

Back to the point. If the Night of Power is the 27th day of Ramadan, that makes it Oct 19th this year. This is the night it should all "go down!" I await the spectacular deeds of Muslim religious zealots. Happy Ramadan-ing!

Sunday, August 27, 2006

LSV 6 - Resupply Mission

Every now and then an opportunity arises to participate in a mission that is as fun as it is informative and necessary. Yesterday was one of those days. A fellow officer and I got the opportunity to participate in a resupply mission in the Persion Gulf.

Here are a couple of links that explain what an LSV is:

Army Vessels
Logistics Support Vessel

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Eccentric People

I've been forced to deal with quite a few "eccentric" people lately, most recently a rude, oblivious, fuzzy around the edges (not so sharp) LTC. This brings a question to mind, why are there so many "eccentric" people here? It really seems like there is a giant space ship traveling around the globe picking up all of the “eccentric” (read: oblivious, curmudgeonly, rude, unhygienic, oddly shaped, mentally challenged, psychologically warped, etc.) misfits, putting them in shipping containers and addressing them to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. And I'm not just speaking of people in the military. I'm also speaking of the Third Country Nationals, the contractors, the DoD Civilians, everyone. The "weird" factor here is getting pretty high.

An irritating fact about eccentric people is that they know they are different and are pleased with that fact. And aside from being odd and irritating, eccentrics are generally very happy people, oblivious to the fact that they rub 90% of the people they come into contact with the wrong way. Or maybe they just don't care. Having said that, I ask this question. Is unusual behavior, a general disregard for societal norms, beneficial to mental health?

David Weeks came up with a list of 15 characteristics of eccentric people.

o nonconforming
o creative (I love this one)
o strongly curious
o idealistic
o happily obsessed with a hobby
o aware of being different from early childhood
o intelligent
o opinionated and outspoken
o noncompetitive
o unusual eating or living habits
o not interested in the opinions or company of others
o mischievous sense of humor
o single
o eldest or only child
o bad speller

.... wait... that sounds like me! Oh well. I guess being eccentric isn't all that bad after all.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Oh How I Love Meetings... And Other Random Thoughts

My days are panning out to be very long. As I progress up the ladder, the meetings I attend get longer and longer. Oh how I love meetings (read sarcasm here). There is a lesson in every experience, I suppose. As soon as I figure out what the lesson is here, I'll write another post. In the mean time, I've got to go to a meeting.

I'm actually glad I got here during the hottest part of the year, so I'm getting the worst over up front. Things start cooling off in September. By the time fall gets here, 90 degree temps will feel pretty comfortable. The temperature today got up to around 117 degrees. I quit keeping track once it is over 110. It's all relative above that point.

Sidebar: Okay... I listened to a briefing today in which this guy spoke in the future tense about current operations, i.e. things happening in the present... meaning NOW. It lasted for over an hour. I thought I was going to die.

My bank of acronyms continues to grow. Here are a couple of new ones:

BBS - Big Broken Stuff
BFT - Big F'n Truck

Interesting Experience of the Day!

There I was... minding my own business... and in walks this high ranking official (hence forth referred to as HRO). Luckily I was engrossed in something and wasn't his first victim. Unfortunately, our G2 (Intelligence Officer) was. The G2 just sits in our area because he has to, he really isn't involved in our day to day operations. And the HRO walked straight up to him and started yelling even though he had no idea who he was talking to at the time. I can only speculate that he saw our unit patch on the G2's sleeve and he therefore assumed that he was talking to the right person.

Long story short, I had to suffer through 5 minutes of "Blah, blah, blah" at a zillion decibels, over something that I knew nothing about. And I just happened to be sitting there. Our poor G2 couldn't do anything but say "Yes, sir" repeatedly. The last words out of the HRO's mouth were, "This has 2 star visibility and you had better get it fixed!"

As this was going on, I noticed that our counterparts (the individuals we are replacing) didn't even budge, look, utter a comment or fain the slightest bit of interest. The HRO left and the G2 and I just sat there dumb founded, staring at each other, wondering what the heck he was talking about, what we had to fix, who we needed to talk to, etc. That's when our counterparts piped up. "Okay, here is HRO's M.O. He comes in here and yells at anyone he outranks because he's too afraid to take it up with people of equivalent HRO rank or higher." After learning that, my "Give-o-crap Meter" went down about 50%. After some investigation we learned that the situation, as described, didn't exist.

The moral to the story is this. The decibel at which an order is given is not always directly proportional to the urgency of the matter.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Back in Kuwait in 2006

Patton Road. Yes, that is water. 3rd Army is trying to grow grass!
Well, here I am again... back at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The events that brought me here are too long and sordid to type so, suffice it to say that I am again serving my country in a far away, arid, place. Unfortuantely I must keep this short as I am using a pre-paid internet account. I promise to get better at this as time progresses.

The wierd, positive, ironic thing is that Camp Arifjan makes Camp McGregor back at Ft. Bliss look like a third world country. I can honestly say that after training in the New Mexico desert, you are properly prepared for the harsh environments of the Middle East.

I now have a few words to say about "bangers." For those of you who don't know what a "banger" is, just remember this. If someone ever offers you one, refuse it... run far away... suddenly become vegetarian... just DON'T EAT IT! Okay... a banger is a funky little, sausage-like thing common to northern european cuisine. They make Vienna Sausages look like prime rib. The texture is somewhere between goose patte, which I rather like, and potted meat, which I do not like. They taste like..., well... they taste like crap. Final comment... avoid them at all cost.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan has brought a new set of concerns to the Soldiers of this unit. Mobile, AL is home for the 375th and the storm prognosticators have projected that the current path of Ivan will carry this catageory 5 hurricane directly into the Gulf Coast at Mobile. Needless to say, the pucker factor here has gone up a few notches. Unit members have begun confirming procedures for delivering and receiving Red Cross messages as the storm approaches.

Projected Path of Hurricane Ivan

To make matters worse, many of the members of this unit are also from the Orlando, FL area. So the Group has already survived two Hurricanes within the past few weeks. No one was seriously injured in Florida, but there was property damage. Regardless, the storms caused significant worry for everyone.

I've grown to know and appreciate the members of the 375th and I feel they are now an extended part of my family. You can't live, sleep, eat and work with the same people, day in and day out, in meager, bare conditions and not begin to care about them to a certain degree. They are good and wholesome people, they get up and put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else in the world; the exeception is they are now doing it here in Kuwait instead of at home with their families and loved ones. And the worry they feel at a time like this can only be imagined by people who aren't in their unique position.

As always, keep these good people and all U.S. military members in your thoughts and prayers.

Monday, September 06, 2004

My Life in Kuwait

Life in Kuwait isn't all that bad, though living in the Rear keeps me entirely too close to the flag pole and the bureaucracy. Imagine working with micromanagement, triple check inventory controls, soldiers too afraid to rock the boat, senior leaders who find it necessary to distribute decrees about the displaying of flags over tents, proper wear of undergarments, and other such nonsense. It can be trying at times.

There is one inescapable fact of military life for the majority of us living in Kuwait and Iraq, the all purpose tent. Military tents are equally cursed and praised by service members. They may sometimes be uncomfortable, like when it rains or when the power goes off, but the tents of today are much better than those of the World War II and Korean War era. Tents keep us dry when it rains, they have plywood floors so we don't trod around in the dirt, and thanks to modern technology, the temperature is regulated through a heat pump which sits outside.

These tents are also easy to assemble. They are made so that anyone, regardless of mental aptitude, can put one up in a hurry. They are made of a special insulating material which helps keep in the air. Through the middle of the tent's ceiling, a plastic vent runs with holes which blows air into the tent. For thousands around the world every day, tents like these are home.

My day begins between 0500 and 0600. My first destination each morning is the bathroom trailer down the dusty road which passes through Tent City. After showering and brushing my teeth with the non-potable water, I return to the tent. I put on my uniform and head off to the S-1 Shop. I check my e-mail and inbox for any smoldering issues which may have ignited overnight, then I head to the morning Stand Up briefing which is held in a secure building a few minutes walk from my office.

Stand Up is the meeting where we get the lowdown on what's happended the night before, intel, operations, as well as equipment updates. It is always interesting and it never fails, I always hear about something going on in Iraq or Kuwait that hasn't made the news or the web and probably never will. It's fascinating. There's actually quite a bit of activity going on in the area. On several occasions our convoys have been challenged and there have been incidents of check point guards have been harrassed. Thus far no one has been shot, that I am aware of at least. Shots fired?? On a rare occasion, yes. But in Kuwait they are referred to as negligent discharges.

Following Stand Up, I hit the chow hall. That's another few minutes away. During the Surges (large influx of troops) there is a 10-minute line at the entrance. We are discouraged from calling it the "chow hall." The politically correct, originators of military etiquette would prefer that we called it the Dining Facility, DFAC for short. Apparently the word "chow" connotes visions of dog food and "the management" would prefer we didn't imply that soldiers eat dog food, or that soldiers are like dogs. Well, some days it doesn't look much better than Alpo, though most days it's not too bad. There is enough variety that no one should go away hungry.

After my morning meal, I wander into the S-1 Shop and start reading paperwork... and more paperwork.... and then more paperwork. I think you get the point. My day is filled with answering the phone, e-mails, various and sundry personnel actions, and running to the Group Commander's office to update the Command Group on the status of things at our down trace units. Occasionally we make trips to Camp Doha, Truckville, Navistar and other places where we have official business.

On a trip to deliver some official mail to Doha recently, we had an encounter with a man going from car to car at an intersection where we were sitting. He approached all the cars in our lane and actually got in the vehicle right in front of ours.... until the occupants forced him out. He moved toward our vehicle but at the last minute decided against it. I guess he saw our uniforms. I was a little nervous, had my hand on my pistol and was not thrilled about the idea of possibly having to point it at him. Thankfully he backed off and I never had to learn what his intentions were or how scared I'd be if things had progressed. He was most likely harmless but as I don't speak Arabic, it would have been difficult for me to tell. I do however speak 9mm, which does not require a translator.

It's a short walk in the dark from the S-1 Shop to my tent. On the way I pass through barricades, by construction ditches and generators, over power cords and past the lovely port-a-potties. The smell of urine, dirt and whatever is on fire and smoldering somewhere in Kuwait is always in the air. Oddly, you do get used to it.

If my day seems long, it's nothing compared to what others go through elsewhere in the Theater. Still, few people here work only an eight-hour day, and days off are rare. But then again, there's not much else to do here but work.

Once in the tent, I change, organize my gear for the next day, and before I fall asleep, I try to read a few pages from whatever book I'm reading at the time. The next morning I do it all over again.

My Three Terrorists

Contributed by LTC Cindy Clagett.

"Rituals help us all cope with this environment. Most we make up ourselves. Some find us. Every night around 10 or 11, I make evening rounds in the Iraqi detainee ward. This is a medical and surgical ward that is guarded and contains bad guys who, if they were otherwise healthy, would be in Abu Ghraib or some other prisoner of war camp. Most of the patients located there have come through the ICU at one time or another so I sort of know them and their stories.

Some I have told you about before. There was the 60 year old, shot three times in the groin as he was charging a machine gun position. He had a massive heart attack. The definitive care is us (the CSH). We do not evacuate POWs back to the for advanced medical care. The way it was explained to me was that getting captured did not result in a health care plan for life.

Another is a kid, maybe 17 who was shot in the arm and both knees while he was, high as a kite, lobbing grenades at a check point. Another young guy, also was shot in the gut, chest, leg, calf and arm as he almost suicidally charged a position. I know these patients because they all spent a lot of ICU time with me. Once conscious and aware that they were in the care of the infidels, they were, shall we say, less than polite. It probably didn’t help that the day shift played Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and “Material Girl” over and over on the CD. The older guy expressed his displeasure in a particulary noxious way by depositing his scat on the floor every time he wiggled his hind portion over his cot. The others would slap at us, spit, bite and kick, pull out IVs, chest tubes, drains, bandage packing and foley bladder catheters (only once though after they discovered the internal bubble was not deflated).

I really had only two words for these men then…’Scheduled Haldol’. That stopped the physical abuse. The fecal man kept up with the other antisocial behavior until we caught on to suppositories to better empty his arsenal on our schedule.

Every morning we make mass doctor rounds. But every evening, I go into the Iraqi Ward alone, sneaking in treats from my care packages. The young men like the Oreos. Of course my heart attack guy wants anything with salt in it, which I cave in to and compensate with his blood pressure medications. (Like he is ever going to get the heart healthy low salt diet anyway).

I make a big show of listening with my stethoscope and bring cool towels and alcohol wipes. I lean over them and look them directly in the eyes. At first, none would look back. Now we have a kind of visual arc. I perform no real medicine, but tuck them in, act like I have seen God when they give me a good strong cough, and otherwise wish them goodnight. Most of this is in mime. My big fear is that the thumbs up or OK sign is an insult. I used to do a lot of fanning my hands over my chest and taking in a really big breath, pulling my cupped palms down to my navel to get them to breathe deeply. I could not get these guys to follow along with what I thought was a fairly obvious pantomime. This was until the translator told me he thought I might be giving a somewhat provocative impression. Given that they usually don’t see women uncloaked let alone running around in a sweaty, wet t-shirt, the emphasis on expansion of the chest could, I suppose be taken in other ways.

I know they are bad guys. I know they are responsible for probably innumerable deaths. But I kind of like them now. We have a gentle relationship. They are no longer on haldol and the floor no longer reeks of crap. I feel they really smile when we see each other. I have learned other methods to signal them about the breathing thing. We have worn each other down. It is a mutual Stockholm Syndrome. They are trapped by their injuries and the MPs. I am trapped by my gratitude that they responded favorably to therapy.

There is some degree of ribbing I get from the staff and the MPs who watch this interaction and probably want to vomit. I counter with the very practical explanation that if the bad guys’ buddies ever overrun us, I would stand the greatest chance of survival.

When the day is done, all I see is a frightened older man and two young boys who have all suffered and survived mortal wounds. They like Pringles, Oreos and Bigelow Orange Spiced Tea. The three of them are parked in a row on one side of the ward. They are my three terrorists. And for better or worse, I am their doctor."

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Most Memorable Experience

Contributed by SK2 Martha Allen.

My most memorable experience was at the beginning of my deployment, sometime in February. It was just after midnight and the camp was buzzing with the sound of one of many 1st AD convoys that had just rolled into Arifjan from up north. The one-way street was packed; trucks lined up as far as the eye could see. You could barely hear the camp generators over the still-running convoy engines! Yet the soldiers, packed into LMTVs, lying on top of their gear…were sleeping… PEACEFULLY! Not a sound, a light, or a movement could wake them. The soldiers, their gear, and their vehicles were almost undistinguishable. They were so covered in dirt and dust, you could hardly tell where one ended and the other began…. This was the most poignant, poetic, amazing sight… It brought tears to my eyes! And I realized, at that moment… the work we do here, no matter how small…is for the infantry men, the war fighter, the hero… our heroes!

Finding Humor ... and Dignity

Here is a portion of a letter I recently received from my doctor friend up north. In it she illustrates how it is possible to find humor even under the worst of circumstances.

"Courtesy, respect and good manners have ganged up on doctors over the past generation or so to dissuade us from referring to a patient as 'the gallbladder', 'the seizure', or 'foreign body impaction' (use imagination). We have gone to great lengths to encourage the use of formal names and titles in an effort to preserve dignity and to create an atmosphere of equal footing between doctor and patient.

The way things are organized here, the soldiers, department of defense employees, contractors, coalition forces-otherwise the good guys, are listed by their names. The Iraqi civilians and prisoners are listed by a number. Many times, we receive unconscious casualties without any information. These are the 'drive-bys' dropped off by field medics, MPs or, very often, dragged to the front gate and left there by who knows. I have discovered that a lot of the numbered patients are brown and so assumed to be Iraqi and are all considered bad guys until we get the real story. In fact, there are a lot of brown people here who actually are KBR (Kellog-Brown and Root, the US government's contractor of choice) sub-contractors and employees. But starting out brown and unconscious, the assumption is that you're a bad guy and you get a number. I guess it's like John Doe, but there are so many, we'd be numbering the JDs anyway (we are well into the four digits).

On the positive side, except for the depersonalizing number system, the human body wounds, bleeds, and heals the same, good guy or bad guy. This is fortunate because learning just one human physiology is more than enough for me and so we treat all patients the same. The only clear difference in care is in the evacuation. We can evacuate to higher level medical facilities any American or coalition civilian if they are stable enough for transport. The natives of course remain here. As it turns out, even with all our limitations, the US Combat Support Hospital System is the highest level of care in the whole country at this time.

As a result, our very critically ill Iraqis and other brown people stay with us for weeks or even months. We get to know them in a way we can't with others who are here and gone, usually within 1-3 days.

It is impossible to care for someone day after day and refer to them as #6492. We can't even go back to our old habits of naming them by their malady like 'the gallbladder' because we would have to say something like 'the multiple fragmentation injury to the abdomen with a through and through to the left chest, a comminuted femur fracture and multiple gun shot wounds to the lower extremities.' It doesn't roll off the tongue.

So, one way or another, the patients acquire names. We don't ever, that I can see, actually think about names, they just sort of take hold and spread so that the only people who really care about the number nomenclature are the admin, lab and pharmacy. Or the politicos.

I have taken pains to set this up or else I'm afraid the names I am about to tell you would seem callous. Hopefully, you can take this in some context. So here goes:

One patient had crushed arms, in splints with traction causing him to have two large, white bandage wrapped extremities held extended above his head for quite some time. Again, I don't know how or even when it happened, but he slowly became known as "Touchdown". Another man who was actually an Iraqi Interim Government Police Chief, had charged through gunfire to throw himself over an RPG (big rocket) which exploded in his belly. He did this to save a group of 6 or 7 high ranking American officials he was escorting. We ended up calling him 'The Sheriff'(again, clearly a good guy, but gets a number anyway). This stuck like glue since the only radio station we get in the ICU plays the same limited mix of 70s music everyday and so we hear 'I Shot the Sheriff' with annoying regularity. It was a natural.

A real bad guy had been shot and had his right arm vaporized below the elbow during a firefight. He was captured and was being evacuated back to the CSH for treatment. On the way, his own insurgency cell hit the evac vehicle with a booby-trapped explosive (IED). This then blew one of his legs off. He had a long recovery and came to be known as "Lucky".

Another man is called "Blue". No one seems to remember how that came about. He has been here for over 4 months and has had multple, staged, orthopedic, skin and muscle flap/graft surgeries complicted by bone infections. I can't follow the link, but he is worth mentioning because he is a true obsessive-compulsive. He spends his entire day cleaning himself with q-tips, and gauze. He looks about 70, although he is probably 50. He has a 12 inch long, snow-white, meticulously combed and trimmed white beard. I estimate he is about 5 feet tall and weighs 100 lbs not couting his external fixator devices (scaffolding for the leg). He has been placed in the part of the tent that actually has a 'window', (plastic and opague, but a window none the less) which gets diffused sunlight. His longevity, age and the fact that the nurses have turned over all wound care and dressing changes to him have earned him the prime real estate.

One thing about Blue though is disturbing. Although we have given him dental floss, he insists on pulling strings of gauze from his wet to dry leg dressings to floss his teeth. Given he is so clean otherwise, this is unusual. I am told he prefers the taste to our mint flavored waxed, packaged American floss.

There are so many more -- a guy with scars demonstrating very old, recent past, recent, and brand new fresh gunshot wounds to every part of his body. We call him Tu-Pak. One man who required massive transfusions which depleted our blood supply and so required an emergency blood drive. We drained every person with his blood type who was on duty in the hospital that day. We named him Sponge-Bob. Another guy with incredibly thick, curly black hair combed straight upward is known as Kramer. A turkish guy is "The Turk" which is not original but feels good to say.

Every name is a replacement for the anonymity of a number and a reflection of something personal about our injured people. Perhaps that is a rationalization for our behavior but I think it is on the benign end of the spectrum given the circumstances. I understand from the translators that the awake and alert ward patients have named us as well. For some reason, I am called Dr. "Mama" which they assure me is a term of respect (I'm too flattered). It's better than what they call the big Ortho guy who examines wounds, changes dressings at the bedside and adjusts traction. They call him Dr. Ala'am which means 'pain'. Mama is just fine."


Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Selfless Service and Loyalty: Love

Selfless service and loyalty are values that many of us were taught as children and, for some, in our early religious educations. These values, and others, are the moral compasses which guide us in our everyday lives, through every decision we make, and in every action we undertake. These same values also compel soldiers to fight through all conditions to victory no matter how long it takes and no matter how much effort is required. They define a soldier's selfless commitment to the nation, mission, unit, and fellow soldiers. It is this professional attitude that inspires every American soldier. Selfless-Service: Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own.

Selfless service is a key component of the "Warrior Ethos." The "Warrior Ethos" is a set of professional, moral and ethical values that is the basis for all U.S. soldier behavior and professional development. These standards are taught to soldiers in basic training and reinforced throughout our careers. Members of the military simply would not be able to do their jobs if they were not, to a certain degree, selfless. Otherwise, they wouldn't be willing to put up with even the ordinary hardships of military life, much less be willing to risk their lives.

Selfless service and loyalty go hand in hand. One has to replace a desire for personal gratification with a desire to elevate someone else to achieve selfless service. Loyalty is the act of binding oneself intellectually or emotionally to a course of action, a person, organization or a way of life. Loyalty requires that one place another's interests above those of all others. Selfless service and loyalty are synonymous with love. The act of selfless service and loyalty are demonstrations of the highest form of love. Only the one who loves can truly serve and show true loyalty.

Religions have preached selfless service and loyalty for thousands of years. Christianity and Hinduism both value these principals. According to Hindu beliefs, selfless service through work leads to a union with God. The morality of Jesus teaches us to do unto others as you would have them do unto you; love your neighbor as yourself; love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. It is a morality of love, of selfless service and commitment, and loyalty to "the least of these." Love is the attempt at or accomplishment of satisfying the needs (not wants) of others, and not the satisfying of personal needs or vanities. "True Love" expects no return. "True Love" is not a give in order to receive relationship.

I think that these qualities are well illustrated by the actions of many of the soliders serving overseas. An example of this dedication to duty, selfless sacrifice and service can be found in the 518th Gun Truck company. This company is the first of its kind in the Army. It was created in theater and its purpose is to provide overwatch and protection for convoys traveling in Iraq.

These are really amazing people. The typical rank of a member of this unit is E4 or E5 and their salary is approx. equivalent to someone who works for Wal-Mart. Each day they wake up, run to their vehicles, climb in the gun turrets, and drive down the road escorting convoys -- willingly and with a great sense of pride. The convoys they protect are primarily commercial contract convoys composed of civilian drivers from countries all around the world.

Commercial drivers earn big bucks over here and they get to leave whenever they want. Joe Snuffy Soldier will be here long after that commercial driver, his replacement, and the replacment after that has come and gone. Joe Snuffy, the guy (or gal) on their Wal-Mart salary, will gladly ride in front of any of them acting as their human shield. And he or she will take a bullet for them on their Wal-Mart salary. It is what they do. It is who they are. This is the essense of selfless sacrifice and it is an expression of their love for their fellow man.

Sunday, August 01, 2004

"Dear John ... "

The earliest reference to a "Dear John" letter appeared in an American publication in 1945. Here's the exact quote: "'Dear John,' the letter began, 'I have found someone else whom I think the world of. I think the only way out is for us to get a divorce,' it said. They usually began like that, those letters that told of infidelity on the part of the wives of servicemen. The men called them 'Dear Johns'."

It's a sad, but true fact that "Dear John" letters are a real part of every military deployment, and the deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom is no exception. However, in these "modern times," the "Dear John" arrives not only by letter, but via email and "morale calls" as well. (About.com)

Here's a note from a member of About.com's message forum: "I think it's extremely sad that the wives or the husbands or girlfriends or boyfriends can't even stand a period of seperation (no matter for whatever reason, deployment or not). I understand it is very difficult for everyone who's deployed and their spouses/bf/gf. But you marry someone because you love that person, not so you'll have someone to sleep with or so you don't feel alone. Those soldiers are fighting for their lives and their safety, and what support do they get from back home? A dear john letter/email/phone call? Now they have nothing to look forward to."

With the advent of technology -- e-mail, cell phones, instant messanger and calling cards -- a soldier can stay in touch with home on a daily basis. This is mostly a good thing; however, it can sometimes be a bad thing. Just as those phone lines and e-mails deliver good news, they also deliver bad news. War causes stress. That is an understatement. When you add the stress of family situations and other problems from home on top of the tribulations of combat, and an unforgiving and austeer environment, it can become almost unbearable for some.

Here's how one British unit chose to address the 'Dear John' problem in their unit. "In 161 Battery it was traditional that if any member of the Battery got a 'Dear John' while the Battery was away anywhere, then the letter was pinned on the Battery Notice Board and each and every member of the Unit wrote back a 'Dirty Bitch' letter to his 'ex' just to let her know that what she had done was a shitty thing and that we all hoped that her new found love gave her Herpes. I think I approve.

Saturday, July 24, 2004

Jihadist's Influence on Operations

The latest in kidnapping incidents has reached out and had an influence on our operations. The impact is indirect for now but the potential exists for our part in the distribution of supplies within the theater to be seriously disrupted. As a result we are in constant communication with the UN, keeping them abreast of a potentially disasterous matter for the U. S. military.

Those taken hostage are not employed by the trucking firm which works for our Group. Further, India, Egypt and Kenya do not have troops in Iraq but a large number of the civilian company's employees are Indian and India has banned its citizens from traveling to Iraq. Other countries could be influenced to do the same or even worse, order the withdrawal of all their citizens in light of the threats and flamboyant actions of fanatics who have choosen to bastardize the Muslim religion.


Beheadings have a much more dramatic effect on the public, more so than other forms of executions. The nature of decapitation is horrific and the jihadists capitalize on the fear the act places in nations. The final result of such acts could be the loss of troops and contract workers in Iraq thus creating the need for EVEN MORE U.S. troops to fill the gap.

http://www.iraq.net/displayarticle4390.html

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,6119,2-10-1462_1547114,00.html




Sunday, July 18, 2004

Lying: An Integral Part of Arab Culture

Within Arab culture, lying is a way of life and it is endorsed by religious authorities.  Here are some interesting articles which explain an Arabic social element that is foreign to most westerners.

http://www.acpr.org.il/ENGLISH-NATIV/issue1/bukay-1.htm
 
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/687950/posts

Friday, July 16, 2004

Camp Arifjan and BOG

I am currently stationed at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Camp Arifjan (also known as Araifjan, Arefjan and Urayfijan) is a joint project between U.S. engineers assets and the Kuwaiti government. It literally sits in the middle of the desert but in spite of it's location, it is a hub of activity. Arifjan provides permanent support facilities for American troops in Kuwait and is the starting place and ending place for many units entering and leaving Iraq.  
 
The camp is divided into several zones, some of which are more improved than others. As per the usual, unwritten, standard operating procedure, the active component resides in the permanent facilities on the side of the camp with more amenities while the Guard and Reserve live in tents in the zone that is more transient and lacking in improvements. This disparity is a sign of the institutional bigotry that exists between the active component and all reserve forces. I'm not complaining though, there are many more people in this war who have it much worse than me. I'm fortunate to be where I am. However, if the bias towards the active component is as obvious as it seems to be here, what's it like out there in the hinterland?  
 
I'm assigned to a Transportation Group and work in the S-1 shop (personnel), which is completely new for me. I've always worked in operations before this. This unit's deployment is winding down and the resulting amount of paperwork coming into our office is comparable to water flooding from a broken fire hydrant. We have awards to process, evaluations, various and sundry things related to redeployments, leave requests, etc. It just goes on and on and we have to complete it all long before we depart (I say "we." I may not be included in "we."). 
 
Since I arrived here as a cross-leveled asset, my fate is still up in the air. My original orders as an individual replacement entitled me to depart the theater with my unit of assignment, regardless of the number of days active duty indicated on my orders. Since I was cross-leveled to another unit after I arrived in theater, the length of my stay is now open to interpretation and the Commander may or may not have any input into my situation.  
 
For the Army reserve, mobilization now means a call-up could last as long as 18 months. This gives units time to train up for deployment, spend a year "boots on the ground" (BOG), and to demobilize. My orders say I will be here for 408 days and the clock didn't start ticking until my I.D. was swiped after I entered the theater. If I'm forced to stick to the strick interpretation of BOG, then I could be here until sometime in mid-2005. In light of that, I'm not pinning my hopes on going home early.