Realizing I go through cycles....

I was about to name the title of this blog "Things to come" or something to that effect and I realized that I probably named a blog before the same thing... need to recreate my creative thinking.

So, there will be some interesting things happening in the Battlalion pretty soon. Most of us saw it coming, it was only a matter of time: more officer moves. I believe my position should be pretty solid for a while-but not really, I'll explain a little later. My counterparts, however, not so much. Despite being an XO for only about 6 months now, one of my fellow XOs is probably going to have to move on due to our departing S-4... that blows. Which leaves an XO vacancy... which means a platoon leader without much platoon leader time is going to become an XO... that blows as well- So it is likely one of my platoon leaders is going to be leaving. Also one of the new LTs who hasn't even been a platoon leader yet, is going to be S-1...

And it was also a matter of time: Going to go to Ranger School again on 28FEB. Did the pre-ranger the Battlaion had a while ago and now I have an official slot. I'm healthy, physicaly fit, and actually motivated. It will be a good change of pace from the slow, slugglish, monotonous garrison life/ office life. Hopefully I will still have my XO job once I get back from Ranger school...

In other news, pictured above: On top of the Zugspize in Garmisch-Partenkirchen,Germany- more snowboarding trips to come in the future.

Neck deep...

As of now, I am completely entrenched into my job as an XO... and on some days, barely getting my head out of the quick sand to take a breath of air. Think it has been about 3 weeks now... I came into the job at one of the clam points, but things picked up pretty quickly, but luckily the storm has temporarily passed for now.

As I have said before, there is nothing about this job that can be equated to rocket science. The biggest thing that causes me to pull out my hair is how the simplest of things hold up the machine from turning its turbines... the Printer not having paper, people not having a key to open a door, a signiture on a memo, a weapon without a case... a simple solution exists for each of these problems- it just dosen't "exist" when it is suppose to "exist" if that makes sense...

However, it is not all that bad. Everyday provides some sort of satisfaction whenever I complete a task... but the tasks come one after another, all happening at the same time. The people I work with, the soldiers in the company- this helps mold my job into something meaningful... rather than not. It is definitely not the same as having my own platoon- but it is closer than some other jobs I can have in this Battalion.

Anyway, only 10 working days til Thanksgiving (not sure what I am going to do yet), and only 24 working days till I head out to California for Chrismas! Germany is getting too F*ing cold for me right now.

OUT

Some sense of stability

Finally, I think I am settled down as far as what my job will be for the next year or so. I came around full circle and now I am XO for Alpha Company as of yesterday. Came in on Monday and quickly took over operations- the previous XO helped me out a great deal and I think I am set up for success. The job is simple in that it does not require rocket science- but complicated in the sense that there is ALOT of simple things that need to be done and not everybody who works for you is able to handle their share of the load at times. It provides for an interesting test in people management/ time mangement.

So, time will tell how this job goes.

To recap the last month- Did alot of OPORDs and random operations work while in the 3 shop- spent 9 hours in front of a computer everyday basically. Nothing difficult, but just alot of shit to do-what made the job simple was the fact that I only had to rely on myself to get the job done. Also went to Barcelona somewhere within the last month- Great time- I like Spain. Also went to Verdun too sometime too-nice place, interesting to see where the greatest events in History happen.

In other news, it is getting butt ass cold in Germany. Every morning is freezing or below- days are getting a lot shorter as well. It is only going to get colder... at least the holidays are coming up though. Should be headed back home for part of the holidays and have my first Euro new years- beats an Iraqi New Years like whoah. Hoping to hit the slopes pretty soon for some snowboarding. Thanksgiving might be a good opportunity to take a snowboarding trip.

OUT

What is your job?

I have been asking myself this question for a couple of weeks now. I thought I knew what it was about 3 weeks ago, then it changed a week ago, and then it changed again today. Finally, I think I am going to be working in the "3 Shop" or S-3 for a couple of months before I take over support platoon.... what??

So what happened to being the Alpha Company XO? Changed a week ago... based on the many officer moves going around, I basically got bumped around from one job to the next... extremely irritating. I had no control over it, so I just kept going with the flow. No big deal, but what is really bugging me right now is that I probably could have stayed in Charlie Company as a platoon leader until at least January and still been in the same position i would have been without going to the S-3... or not. I keep thinking there is some conspiracy theory going on with all the officer moves, but I am begining to determine that there is no logic to it and it is simply something I have to deal with.

So, once again, the positive: Going to get a good perpective of Battalion Operations with the experience of being at the company level for a little while. It is always interesting working with different people.

In other news... where have I been in the last couple of weeks... Went to festival in Kusel a couple of weeks ago- it is a small town a couple of miles down the road. It was probably one of the best times I have had in Germany- good people, good beer, good music. The day after that, went to a beer festival in Belgium- probably the most drunk I ever got in the shortest amount of time... Belgium beer packs a punch. To add the the alcohol string, went to Oktoberfest this past weeknd. Also very much a great time. I have a added a second 1 liter stein to the collection now.

OUT

Moving on

It came too soon... but I was expecting it in the back of my mind. Begining Monday, I will begin to hand over my platoon to the next platoon leader and I will join Alpha Company Wednesday of next week to become their XO.

So, my PL time was cut short... the biggest dissapointment is that all the goals and the vision I had for my platoon cannot be fufilled (at least by my hand). Building the core group, and molding new PVTs into real soldiers, training them, and building a kick ass platoon to go to war. I was feeling real good where I was at... but, I guess it was time to move on?

This news isn't exactly the icing on the cake either... I have the possibility to become the Brigade HHC XO... now, I really have no idea what type of goodies this job has to offer, most of the commentary that others had to offer about the job had really no specificity other than, "That sucks" or "I do not wish that evil upon you" or "HAHAHAHA!" So I can assume that I will have no idea what to expect if I land the job.

So, my army experience is evolving once again as I begin to look more into the administrative and logistical aspects of running a company....

In other news, I am going to be going to Pre Ranger course here in Baumholder in a couple of weeks... although I am not sure if I can ,seeing as though Alpha company is in the middle of a change of command... we'll see... if I end up going to Ranger school, maybe I can avoid doing my job for a couple of months? hmmmmm, a possibility

In non-military news, since my last entry, I went to Amsterdam (again), Normandy, and Nice, France/ Monte Carlo, Monaco. Amsterdam was part of my Birthday weekend- good time. Normandy, the drive out there was way too long for a regular two day weekend, but it was worth it once we took a tour with a tour guide. Probably the coolest historical thing I have done that I actually enjoyed. and most recently, went to Nice and Monaco- the most expensive 4 day weekend i have ever had in Europe...

So, I am trying to properly "decompress" on the weekends in order to function the best I can during the week. So far, I think I have a pretty good balance thus far.

I am out of things to talk about... next few weeks should be interesting...

Bastards took my platoon... =P

Going Well

Things are looking good for the future of Charlie Company. New platoon leaders, new platoon sgts, and so far, we are working well together. I am getting a fresh start from the begining, rather than being thrusted into a position in the middle of combat. But now, I am pretty comfortable with my position (and continuing to grow into it), I know my men very well (although half of them are leaving the unit now), and I get along well with pretty much everyone in the company. It has become my second family and I hope I stay in Charlie company for a while.

Just got a new platoon sgt and so far, I believe this will be a positive experience for myself and give me a chance to work with a new platoon sgt from the start- set a good precedent, create a good relationship, and eventually kick some ass in combat (although I will probably be an XO by then). I am also eager at the chance to train some "new guys" as they come in to replace all the old people leaving... but that may be toward the end of the year...

So, as always, it is a waiting game. In the mean time, as the platoon slims down to maybe about 15-18 people in the next couple of months, it will be a perfect time to mold everyone into physical and mental shape and once the new guys arrive, the core group of vets will be able to mold the rest of them into great soldiers. Pretty exciting

In other news, went to Majorca, Spain this past weekend. Pretty crazy- probably the most partying I've done since Spring Break 2006... except it was only 3 nights and Majorca was full of British and Irish tourists.

OUT

The adventures begins... as another ends

Think I titled one of my blog entries the same way a little while ago... hmmm

Well, I am back from leave, in Germany. Based on the events of the last month on leave and the month prior to that, and the month prior to that, I can safely say that I have come away from deployment mentally healthy and stable. The biggest factor in this was mainly the short nature of my deployment. If I ran combat operations for an entire year, I believe things may be a little different... at the least, I would need a larger decompression period after deployment in order to be "normal" again.

When I was back home, I successfully conversed with others about my deployment experience without too many issues. It helped me put alot of my own experiences in perspective and made alot of sense of the senseless. The next deployment could be different. Based on what I have heard since I have been back, Afghanistan is almost for certain next summer. Prep for war is begining right now, but the bulk of the work will be done in early winter- when we start training and when all of our departing personnel should be replaced.

The company is already begining to have a new face. Two of the platoon leaders have been replaced, so I am now the senior platoon leader in Charlie company. Big change from just a couple of months ago when I was the "new guy" or "new dick" as the assholes call them. The CO is leaving in a couple of months, and as I mentioned before, most of my soldiers will be leaving in the next couple of months. Also, the XO has been replaced by a classmate of mine from westpoint, he has been a platoon leader a while longer than I have, so now he is my boss, haha. He is a good dude, so I don't think it will be a big deal. I was also told I will be a platoon leader for a while- nice- so I should be able to start and train a platoon from scratch- not sure if I will be there long enough to deploy to combat with them... but more than likely I will have at least 8 more months.

In other news, I have a whole year in Germany... and until we start doing some real work, there are an abundance of 4 day weekends comming up, oh yeaaaaaa... not sure where I want to travel yet,but I know it will be a good time. At the top of my head right now is seeing the end of the tour de France in Paris later this month, but the possibilities are endless.

OUT

California

10 days into Leave:

So far I have witnessed my sister become Dr. Kozawa- pictured is Dr. Kozawa, my sister Janet, and myself

Taken by my sisters boyfriend during Dr. Kozawa's graduation- my new facebook photo and new favorite photo of myself... damn I look good

The men in my sister's lives right now, Scott and Steve at my sisters graduation

Enjoying the cheese and crackers at the reception in front of Royce Hall, UCLA Campus.

That weekend we had a BBQ at my dad's place and bought everyone together for some good food, beer, and conversattion.

Also went bouldering in Black Mountain, located in the San Bernadino Mountains near San Jacinto. It was my first time rock climbing and I got a bunch of scars and blisters all over my body, it was pretty awsome though, think I found a hobby.

In Between the bouldering, we camped out- my sister, her boyfriend, and myself.

It was a beautiful area- almost felt as though I could fly...

Been taking it easy, mainly spending time with family, having a good time. Seems as though I have seemlessly transitioned into civilian/ vacation life with relative ease. There have been many people asking me questions about Iraq and I try answering the best way I can. Some things are hard to explain, but I have not had too much difficulty either answering or dodging questions.

The adventure continues...

Going back

The last couple of weeks in Germany before leave have been pretty uneventful. "work" has been pretty boring, PT in the morning is pretty much the highlight of the day. Went off to the Spielbank Saarbruken (Casino) twice in the last couple of weeks, my winnings at a total of about 220 Euros- my overall poker play in Europe thus far is even. Also checked out a fest in Manheim the other weekend with some buddies- good atmosphere, good crowd, and it was there I finally fufilled my deployment long craving of Doner Kebab- didn't quite please me the way I wanted it too, but a good post-drunk snack.

For those that do not know about Doner Kebab.... your missing out.

Also stoped by IKEA near Manheim and began to further make my home more home like- I'll try to post some pictures after I get back from California- thus far, I am very pleased with how my house is turning out.

Going home in a few days! The California adventure starts soon...

whoops, forgot the mention the second half of my super-wknd adventure. Went to my friends place in Wurzburg and chilled with him. Went to Munich for half a day and also drove down to the Kehlsteinhaus- or as the American's named "Eagles Nest" where Hitler built his summer home in the heart of Nazi Germany. Top picture is one of the many views from the top of the eagles nest.

Me and Vireak thinking "Hitler was truely a misunderstood individual.... HA!"

Hitler's golden elevator- the only way to gain access to the Eagles Nest.

One of 4 different angles, thought this one seemed "epic"

Super Weekend

Currently, I am riding on a train, headed to Wuzburg to visit a buddy. I am also in the middle of "super weekend" which happened to be a combination of the 4 day pass we recieved after "reintegration" (a series of administrative tasks and briefings to reintegrate back into Germany after deployment) and memorial day weekend- a grand total of 8 days off... awsome.

Thus far, I went up to Interlaken, Switzerland and sky dived with one of my buddies and also rented bikes and rode through the beautiful swiss alps. (The route we took was an "advanced" route, so the beauty was inbetween the deep breaths and cramped legs).

14000 Feet, 45 second freefall- pretty awsome, even more awsome was the view from the top- as soon as we broke the ridge, the view of the alps was breathtaking. Interlaken is a nice touristy city, but it did not take away from the fun. The local beer was not too bad either. The town offers an array of outdoor sports- biking, bungy jumping, rock climbing, ice climbing, ski/ snowboard, etc. defintely a place to go back to.

The hostel we stayed was also very inexpensive and clean except for the smell of a gigantic St. Benard

Only downside to the swiss trip was my breif stint at Casino Interlaken. I confidently took out 300 swiss francs and sat down at what I thought was a no limit table... it turned out to be a limit table, and I mistakenly stayed and played... oh well. Win some and lose some...

Did this happen?

Back in Deutchland.

Strange... as of now, it does not seem as though I have been away for the last couple of months... I do not not know if I have yet to "transition" or if I am already "transitioned" back into normalcy. I was thinking earlier that FOB Falcon may have been the point of transition for my mental state: we were out of the fight for about a month with the exception of a few convoys I took part in. During that time, I had time to adjust to a more relaxed atmosphere, and also got fairly decent sleep. I have yet to have any "episodes" since I've been back except for my doorbell scared the fuck out of me a couple of hours ago... Now, I am just planning on what to do with my free time in the next couple of days.

I've kept to myself the 2 days I have been back so far- so maybe I may discover some more things about myself as the rest of the unit redeploys back to Baumholder and there are more people to talk with and hang around with... I am also anticipating going back home, which will show how I may have changed... or if I have changed at all. Maybe it will be a few weeks, months, or years... who knows.

In other news, my Hookah arrived via mail today (I bought one in Kuwait)- It is a very nice looking one in my opinion- and I also tested it out with this awsome Arab tobacco I bought over there... think I may have found another expensive hobby to pass the time. I think I am going to name her Juliet...

I also threw down some Euros on my first original oil painting by a German Artist named Baumgart, primarily a landscape artist. The painting is called "Autum":

The last days

It is amazing to see the change in attitude as soldiers realize that the end is within sight. The atmosphere lightens up, laughter fills the tent, and discussions of leave activities reigns supreme. I share in this happiness, but I have different things on my mind. I begin to think about the soldiers that are planning on leaving the army: do they have a plan? Is their plan feasible? Could the army be a better choice for them??... I also think about who is "at risk" when we come back to Baumholder: recent divorces, cheating wives, family deaths and how we will ensure that they are taken care of... and I am thinking about my incoming platoon Sgt. and incoming "new guys" and how I will train and integrate them into the platoon...

Soon, these thoughts will have to be put into action- and I am waiting- enthusiastically patient.

Well, I take that back, my thoughts wander as well to what I will be doing on leave. I will be home for about 30 days and I was planning on being at my sister's doctoral hooding ceremony/ graduation, should be a great time, she has been in and out of school for a LONG time. Also planning on spending some time with both my sisters up in NorCal and when they are down in LA, and spending time with the Pops while I am down in LA. And a special treat for myself, a trip to VEGAS! Planning is still in the process, but I think it will be a good way to get rid of some steam (and cash...).

So, thoughts of the future of my platoon and thoughts of home fill my mind.

Random thought: I was reading an article in "stars and stripes" (the military overseas newspaper filled with various current events, not necessarily military in origin) about how the new social norm of getting married later rather than earlier may potentially be a misunderstood/problematic idea. It stated that marriage is "formative" in nature, and people cannot go into marriage "ready for marriage" off the bat. The new ideal is to wait until your schooling is finished, maybe get your masters, become financially sound, and then somehow, you are "ready" for marriage... which I realized... dosen't make sense. You learn marriage from being married... and nothing will prepare you otherwise. Some may mock the 20 year old from getting married... but why should we? Some people are ready at a certain age, and some are not... some are never ready to handle a lifelong relationship. The article also stated that it may be easier to "learn" mariage while you are younger, rather than older- being younger means more flexibility, more willingness to learn, etc. The article also talked about differences in male and female maturity, how men get more "marketable" with age (money and maturity) and women tend to "lose value" as they get older (unfourtanetly, the trend in waiting for marrigae is rising in the female population as well). There is definetely a counter argument to which most are familiar... but I thought it was worth the read. ("Marrying young has a nice ring to it," Stars and Stripes, 3 May 2009.)

I realized that I may have unintentionally mocked those people who get married in their early 20s (and especially their teens) and somehow believed it was "silly." The article has given me some new perspective...

Recharged

Since I have been here at Falcon, I almost forgot why I love this job so much... with all the sitting around, not having a mission, not feeling as though I was earning my money- you could let your mind forget why you do what you do.

A couple of days ago, I was given an admin mission to move alot of Humvees to Camp Striker (about 40 min away from FOB Falcon). The mission was pretty simple- drive to Striker, drop off the Humvees, and return to Falcon by Air. As the mission came closer, different issues and addtional tasks were popping up- it is simply the nature of the beast- and I adjusted accordingly. I created a plan, manifest, and coordinated with the other companies in our Battalion. 1400 approached- the engines of a throng of Humvees were rumbling, Radio checks were good, Rhinos (a protective device that sticks out in front of most military vehicles in combat)were down, M240s were ready to rock... the machine was ready to roll... but as SP (Start point- but really an army verb for "go" or "leave") time approched, I received the word from Battalion to push the SP time up another 2 hours...

Let me back track- after I gave my patrol brief (over an hour before SP), a thousand small/ annoying issues popped up. We were to take a bunch of interpreters with us to turn into another unit- the only problem was they had a shit load of stuff- TVs, refrigerators, mircrowaves, etc- There was so much stuff, that it barely fit into our humvees- So, I had a bunch of interpreters bitching about how it sucks to move, and how there refrigerator is the most important thing in their lives- and I had an NCO that just started randomly telling me his life story and how he was so pissed off at Battalion for blah blah blah- all he had to do was say "Do you have room for two more terps?" My Reply would have been "yes, put them in those trucks" and that would have been it. To top it off- one of the interpreters had a infection in his front and needed immediate surgery ( I do feel sorry for this guy)- he kept telling me "I need to get to Striker right away (in a winy type voice)" to which I thought and told him- "well, yea, I'm trying to get you to Striker as fast as I can" but he kept feeling as though he needed to keep telling me the same thing in order to get him to Stiker- but I basically blew him off afterwards. Not that I did not have sympathy, but the purpose of the convoy was to drop off Humvees, and the Terps were their to tag along. I wanted to get him there as soon as possible and I could not do anything to change the external factors that pushed up the SP time. Also, I had not had time to develope any sort of relationship with these terps because we only got them a few weeks ago and we ended up not using them at all. The terps we had at UR though, they were awsome- we had time to work with them and get to know them- I hope most of them get their US Citizenship... I digress

So, SP time was pushed up.. but why? I reported to Battalion, and basically from what I was told- I gathered that they felt that they did not have full control of my movement (it was basically a battallion movement because it invovled multiple companies) and they needed to slow things down to ensure they knew what was going on... OKAY, well, they could have helped us out when we were constatnly trying to get information out of them on POCs (point of contact), L/U points (Link Up), etc... So I basically gathered the information myself with the help of my XO (executive officer)... and now all of a sudden they wanted to be in charge? Well, I guess I am not being entirely fair... the weather was pretty bad- sandstorm- limited visibility. So they wanted to wait a couple of hour for the sand to subside more- but we were going to go either way. That, I gather, was only an afterthought.

Okay- now we were ready to SP, again. The very long line of Humvees started heading out the FOB- rolled onto the highway- and before we knew it, we were at Striker- task 1 complete, still on schedule. Next task- drop off the Interpreters. So, all the information that I was given was that the the person in charge of the TERPS, SGT B, was going to L/U with reps from another Battalion, and hand them over. Okay, no problem... we parked our massive convoy in a motor pool and the Rep showed up, and led the convoy to the the drop off location and we downloaded (army verb for... is it an army verb?... well, basically means unload) the ungodly amount of stuff they had. It took alot longer than I wanted it too, and we also had to sign over some equipment... time was ticking... had a flight to catch in a few hours.

Task 2 complete- now we had to drop off the vehicles into the Brigade Motorpool... too easy? Well, Striker is a big base, part of the even bigger Victory Base complex that encompasses BIAP (Baghdad International Airport).

SIDEBAR event:we just droped off the Interpreters and began heading to the motorpool, but we were stopped by a random E-5 (SGT) in the middle of the road... okay, i was thinking "whats going on". He comes up to my vehicle and starts babbling something about one of our Battalions units had to pick up M-16s and he needs to get rid of them and hand them back... something something... so I was thinking.. What the hell are you talking about... and how the hell did you know we were here ...and ... how fucking random is it that a random person stops a 21 vehicle convoy and asks about the most random thing and expects someone to know about it and expects someone to sign for some weapons?.......then I SAID "what? Can we deal with this shit some other time time, your holding up a fucking 21 vehicle convoy, you didn't coordinate this shit with anyone in my convoy."....

So we kept driving to the Motorpool, and it was alot farther than I thought it was. We reached the entrance to the Motorpool... let me digress again...

One thing the army does alot of is guard duty: whether it is guarding a building, a telephone, weapons, etc- we do alot of it- it is a task that is treated with dislike and little motivation is put forth (I differentiate this from "pulling security"... although disliked as well, it is better enforced if you have good NCOes and leaders- ie, pulling security while on patrol or in a patol base). So, we get up to this motorpool, and I begin to ask a series of questions: Is this the Brigade Assembly Yard (BAY)? (the name of the motorpool I was suppose to drop the vehicles off at) "Where do you want me to park these vehicles at?" These were simple questions... but entirely too complicated for the soldier on duty. He did not know the name of the location he was guarding- it pissed me off, but I thought: hey, this kid was randomly detailed to guard this motorpool... so I calmed down and took their radio from them to find out more information.

Task 3 complete. Mission complete? well... no. We were about a 10 minute drive from the main part of Striker and the vehicles we took we going to be turned in... no ride back to try to catch our flight... Now, I forsaw this when I was planning the mission- basically I planned to shuttle people back and forth with our own humvees, and make the remaining people walk back to Striker- worst case scenario, since you needed two to operate the humvee and only 3 more could fit into the Humvee, and we had 60 people...

So, I went on the radio and badgered my way to eventually get 5 SUVs to come down and pick us up- we had to carry all our crew served weapons systems and any other organic equipment we had with us, making it a tight fit- it took a few trips...

Right before this time, I was also trying to figure out the status on our flight back to Falcon- what two different sources told me was that the Air was "red" (cannot fly) and that flights were cancled. Based off of this, I told all the SUVs to head to Striker Stables (the transient living quarters for all personnel comming into BIAP).

By the time I got to Stiker stables, one of my NCOes told me he called flight ops and said the air was NOT red, and that the flights were still a go. I called to confirm, and sure enough, the flight was still on. We only had 20 minutes to flight time (you are suppose to show up an hour before the flight) and we were a good 10 minutes away from the terminal. We kept good control of our men, so it was not difficult to round them up- except for one company which shall remain nameless... I was able to hijak an extra bus to get 2 of our groups to the terminal, but the last group failed to get on the bus- the NCOIC told me he was going to round up his men and tell them to get to the terminal. Now, is this technically my fault? absolutely- I was in charge of this group overall- but it sucks when the leaders under you are not as strong a leader as you thought (I never worked with the guy before, so if I did, I would have held his hand and made sure he did the right thing).

So, we got to the terminal way after the scheduled flight time- luckily- it was late... but inbound! We were able to stage near the flight line- but still no sign of our last element- WTF were they doing? I began calling my superiors, telling them about the situation- it was embarrassing. I decided to stay behind to ensure the last element would get a flight out at another date... However, right when the Chinooks landed, out appears our last element. I began to scream for about 30 straight seconds... "Get your fucking men over here now" "Move!" "Hurry the fuck up!" "We ain't got time for this shit" "Lets fucking move!"

Task 4 complete.

Mission Complete.


Okay, so this wasn't a combat patrol like some of my previous entries, but it worked my planning skills, coordination skills, be gangster to get shit done skills, and light the fire under some muthafucker's ass skills. (Am I cursing too much?) This is my job, and although it drains the energy right out of me, the feeling of success or mission completion after an ordeal is an awsome sensation.

OUT

Closing time

My deployment experience has been pretty interesting... I arrived in the middle of a deployment to a unit that has accomplished great things before I even arrived, I did alot of administrative type duties before I even became a platoon leader, I took over the best platoon in the Battalion from the most senior platoon leader in the Battaltion in combat, and i spent the last month and a half of the deployment sitting on a FOB, playing softball.

I do wish my time as a PL in combat was longer, but I realized that many platoon leaders do not even get the chance to experience that, and even more will not experience taking over a platoon in comabt. However, I am looking forward to the future of my platoon... many people will be leaving and I will also be getting a new platoon seargent. I will be able to basically start from scratch, and begin building the platoon from the ground up- building SOPs, building new Jr. leaders, train the new enlisted soldiers comming into the platoon, etc. Unfourtunately, about 3 months of my time left as a platoon leader will be block leave periods (June, August, December), 1-2 months will be a transition period where half my platoon will be leaving and a bunch of new people will be comming in, and the unit is going to change to 170th Mech. Infantry Brigade in (July/ September), so that basically leaves October, November, January, and February for actual time to train... it is just the nature of the beast I guess.

Well, the future is looking bright... and I am going to make the best with the time I have as a platoon leader.

The End...

That is what everyone is thinking... but we still have some time left over here. The hardest part of combat, is defintely not the combat... It is the nothingness in between... and even harder, the nothingness at the end of a deployment. The longer we stick around here, the edge keeps wearing away... leaders have to work twice as hard to keep soldiers in line and I find that I have to keep tabs on myself as well...

I missed a meeting the other day... simple mistake, but just made me realize that it is extremely important to insure that I am straight before I start setting a bad example... It is hard to focus when there is not much to focus on. That is where i need to step it up as a leader- create a focus, create something to keep moving forward too- and at the same time, I must ensure that my soldiers believe in this focus...

The easiest and most often used answer is training. Nothing keeps a soldier more occupied than that. Now, making your soldiers and leaders believe in that training and put forth a decent amount of effort is the hardest part. This is where i realized that I need some more work as a leader and here in Iraq, on a FOB, close to the end of deployment is probably the best place to learn because it is probably one of the toughest situations (soldier mentality wise) to try to put together good training. (maybe I'm wrong, haven't seen the other side yet)

I've been thinking too much...

A New Environment

Earlier, I wrote about trying to find my role in this environment- on a FOB, no missions, on stand-by while trying to find out what our next mission will be. Well, after discussing it with my Platoon Sergeant, he basically said I do a whole lot of nothing. If there is planning or resourcing involved, then it is all my show (as well as execution of the mission), everything else in this quasi-garrision enviroment is mainly the work of the NCO. If this was garrision, there would be alot of paperwork invovled to keep me busy or waiting on the the next email on Outlook, but there is not much of that type of work over here.

So, here I am, working out twice a day, constantly on the internet, enjoying DFAC food, and supervising my men and leaders...

Well, we do have some training everyday, but nothing that my squad leaders can't handle. The highlight of the week was hitting up the range here at Falcon. We re-zeroed our weapons and machine guns, good stuff.

The OPORD (operations order) is comming down soon though, so game time is approaching...

In other news, my platoon won the first game in the softball tournament! We beat some Air Force dudes. The begining of their lineup was strong, but the team overall was pretty weak so we were able to devour them ... yes!

"Starting tommorrow, we train to go to war!"

The quote is from the HBO series Band of brothers (maybe it was actually from a real person, but I am not sure). The men of the 101st reached the end of the fighting in Germany, and they received news of the war in the Pacific. Then soon received orders, while in Germany, to deploy to the Pacific War. So, while technically still in combat, they had to begin training to go to another war despite fighting for the duration of US involvement in WWII in Germany.

Now, my circumstance does not even remotely meet the gravity of their situation, but I found some parallels which made me grin during a company meeting today. Despite the unit being in Iraq for almost a year now, we seem to be starting all over again, "preparing to go to war." It has been brought on by the move to a new location, new intelligence, different enemy, etc. I completely understand why we have to undergo some refresher type training and treat this new area as if we arrived in country for the first time, but that quote just ran through my head and I just had to spill my thoughts somewhere.

FOB Falcon has been treating my platoon pretty well so far- Civilian/ professionally run Dining Facility (DFAC) has been an excellent change of pace from eating fried chicken and hot dogs everyday at JSS Ur. The Gym is also much bigger and better than the gym at JSS Ur, and of course, there is Pizza Hut, Subway, and a PX here.

For myself, I have been struggling to keep busy. We will start doing some training pretty soon, but once a PL does not have missions to conduct... there really is not much actual work for him to do.. or at least so it seems. I am trying to find my role in this type of environment, since it is different from what I have been doing for the last two months. I will keep doing the things I have been doing- talking to the men, ID issues, mitigate conflict, deal with discipline issues and all that other stuff, but a chunk of my job during deployment is temporarily on hold.

yup

Taking it from the Top

My deployment journey has taken me from Kuwait to BIAP (Baghdad International Airport), BIAP to Camp Taji, Taji to JSS Sadr City, and Sadr City to JSS Ur. Now, I (and the rest of my unit) switches gears and has just moved to FOB Falcon where we will possibly be until our time is up in Iraq.

The last couple of days in Ur were pretty uneventful other then a relatively large scale mortar attack which managed to take the life of a few crates of orange juice... I believe on the platoon and company level, we accomplished a successful handoff of equipment and information/ intelligence to the incomming unit. I tried to be as helpful as possible with their leadership, as was my NCOs and even joes. We told them about our experiences and what they can learn from it and they were very receptive to it all. I have heard from others that most units to very poor and unsuccessful handoffs (or we call it "RIP"), but this unit gave us thanks for the successful transition. C co 1-6 INF dosen't fuck over other units and guests, we try to take the high road in order for others to be successful.

So, the fun begins at FOB Falcon... what is in store? no idea...

Thoughts

One of my classmates from West Point, Dan Hyde, was KIA a few days ago. Pretty much the last person you would think that something so horrific would happen to: Natural leader, athletic, someone that everyone had something good to say about. I am sad that I did not get to know him personally...

One memory that pops into my head is during intramural boxing, be beat the crap out of one of my boxers... haha.

I am not expecting it, but I wonder how I will feel when someone really close to me is KIA. Will I be hard as stone, or will I go on as normal. Maybe it will not hit me for a couple of weeks, months, or even years. Maybe I will not not notice the change- even though there is one.

Tough Skin

Since I've been back from BIAP, I have become increasingly irritated... with everything. From conversations with Iraqis, to late night QRFs, to talks with other leaders in the company. First, QRF missions. The last patrol cycle, each QRF mission turned into a ghost chase. The big problem with having a array of imagery technology at your fingertips is that you are able to see more then you are able to comprehend. Everyday actions and movements can be interpreted in a thousand different ways, and what is suppose to be normal can easily "not seem normal" depending on the viewers mood, amount of rest, etc. I understand that we should be on the safe side, but I believe more discrimination should be used, unless US soldiers are in danger.

Also, my every action is being critiqued by my superiors. This was not a problem to me in the beginning, but now the tone has gotten increasingly... whats the word... lecture like? I hate feeling as though I have to be defensive, but I feel as though I am being attacked rather than critiqued. I feel as though I have been running the platoon as it was running before (good), nothing new (yet), but since I am new, they are beginning to look very closely at my actions and exploiting every perceived mistake... another leader probably would have made some of the same decisions I have, but would not have been critiqued so heavily.

Alright, now that I got that out of my system... I do welcome the crticism, even though it may come at a time when I am having a bad fucking day. Hopefully I will get some time to relax my mind a little bit, because there is way too much going through it right now. I understand that I am the new platoon leader, and one that has received his job in a combat zone, therfore, it is natural for those above me to keep a close eye on me even though it may cause me to be irritable at times... Yea, thats about all I got right now

A Soldier Weeps: KIA

With all the false alarms and close calls, we may sometimes forget how easily our lives and the lives of our brothers can be taken away from us...

It was a soldier from an attached platoon, and they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Down one of the main roads, they were pulling security for our incomming Logisitcal Package or LOGPAC (we just call it a CLP or "Clip"), when their vehicle was decimated by an EFP (Explosively formed projectile). Some came out alive, one did not.

I do not want to give the details of the incident (OPSEC), rather, the aftermath of it all. I was assigned to be the SCMO- Summary Court Martial Officer- which in this case meant that I had to take an inventory of the personal effects of the deceased. As I went through his belongings, I began to paint the picture of the person, rather than just the soldier. I did not know him personally, but I now know he was into comic books, played various space/ fantasy games on his PSP, and had a beautiful wife. His friends and leadership were taking it pretty hard... everyone wanted to help out with the process, be involved with their comrade for one last time... I saw many on the verge of crying, and others hid from the crowd before braking down in tears.

Now, I am at BIAP (Baghdad International Airport), where I had to personally deliver the personal affects to Mortuary Affairs. It seems as though they have a very methodical and well thought out process of getting the personal effects from Iraq to the family. I am only the first step in the process, after I hand it off, it goes to a facility in the states where they go through every item: clean and fold clothes as well as cleaning all items, go through computers, CDs, pictures to edit any obcene or inappropriate material, re-inventory items to ensure accuracy, and create a personalized wooden chest to display all the items when the family receives them. The finished product will be the final memory that the family will have of their loved one, so preparation is key to ensure this. It seems as though they have this down to a science.

No Time

It has truly been a rough patrol cycle. QRF was called up on multiple occasions and FRAGOs (Fragmentary Order) were given a few times.

The first night there was a false alarm. I was woken up at about 1AM and was told there may be a possible QRF mission. I rounded up my gear and sped my way to the TOC (Tactical Operations Command)... only to find out there was no mission. The CO kinda looked at me funny, and it turns out the runner did not know what the fuck he was talking about when he told me to come to the TOC. Oh well

The second night, I was woken up at 3-4AM and was told that there were gunman running around from house to house in our sector, possibly criminals. I yelled out "QRF", and in matter of minutes, one of my sections ran to the Bradelys along with 9 of our dismounts- our reaction time was good, from the time I was given the call to the time we left the gate was only a few minutes. We roamed around the area, but did not find anything or anyone suspicious. Score one for the terrorists

After the last patrol during the second night, we were called up to escort EOD (explosive ordnance Disposal),... these "QRF" missions (I say "QRF" because EOD isn't exactly quick) are pretty gay, because all we are is an escort service, and we have to wait around till they either blow up the EFP, confirm its not an EFP, or make a post blast assessment. Didn't take too long, but it was still retarded.

During the middle of the day on the 3rd day, I was out in Sector and I received word that there was an EFP attack and there were troops in contact. We immediately ran back to the Bradleys and mounted up, but later received word that it was only going to be an EOD escort (great!). The unit that was blown up should have supplied their own EOD, but they were retards... I arrived on the scene and the unit in question seemed to be poorly organized and no one knew what the fuck was going on. It took me forever to find the man in charge, and even their CO seemed clueless... they just arrived in sector, but it was unexcusable. We eventually left the scene and continued mission.

When I barely walked out of the gate on the 3rd night, we heard an explosion in the distance. It did not seem that close, but I called up to COMMANDO MAIN (my TOC), and they were just barely getting information on a route clearnace convoy that was hit with a grenade. We headed in the general direction, found route clearance, and began TQ (tactical questioning) local nationals in the vicinity of the explosion. To make a long story short, it was a long night.

And to top it all off, we had one final QRF mission 30 minutes before the end of the patrol cycle... We heard 3 explosions from the JSS, and the radio traffic erupted. I immediately had my men on standby and awaited orders to SP. As soon as we got the word we were out the gate in less than 5 minutes. We found out on-route that it was a mortar attack (an unsuccessful one), and we were going to see if any civilians were injured. It was ridiculous trying to find the POI (point of impact). Command traffic, tower traffic, LNs (local nationals) were all telling us something different, but we were eventually able to decifier the POI and confirmed that there were no casualties. On route to the POI, we received word that there was a suspicious activity at at the possible POO (point of origin) of the Mortars. We mounted back up, and went to the location. They reported that there were possible snipers on the roof top of the location, so we rapidly dismounted, made an assessment, and cleared the bldg hard. It was textbook: knocked down the door, rounded up the occupants, cleared the bldg... but it was the wrong house (sound familiar?) We eventually got to the roof of the target house, but did not find anything. After TQing the locals and having COMMANDO MAIN pull our strings to their whim, we left.

Yup, pretty rough.

Slowing Down

Just when things seem to be speeding up, it slows back down. As fast they come, it slows back down again. That is life over here... not knowing when the next time the engine is going to fly to the next gear.

Last couple of days have been quiet, not much going on, doing the same patrols in the same areas, running into the same people, having the same conversations (for the most part). A couple of days ago, right after my previous entry, the other platoon got hit by a grenade, luckily there were only shrapnel wounds. After that, it has calmed down again. An attack is inevitable, but the timing of it always seems unexpected. I believe we have thwarted many other attacks, but it is difficult to gauge our success in that manner... if they don't attack, we just never know.

So many things that could kill and harm us... but it is best not to dwell on it too much. The first couple of days patrolling outside the wire, I was watching every step, looking at every rooftop, paranoid of every hole I pass by... I still am vigilant, but in a more "relaxed" sort of way now. I am more accepting of my situation, and acknowledge that anything could happen- so it is best to save the energy and save my mind for the moment when everything goes to hell.

I think I said that the way I wanted to...

The storm before the storm

Extremely windy today, dirt is flying all over the place and visibility is limited due to all the sand. The days seem to be going by pretty fast, just moving from one thing to another, one task to the next. I am just barely getting over my uncontrolled bowel movements, and some of the medicine that the doctor has given me seems to be working, just need to replenish on fluids. Seems like everybody has the same problem at least once during the deployment. The main culprit is the local Iraqi food which we are offered from time to time... think I will stay away from it for a while.

Had another RPG attack the other day, and once again, 3rd platoon was there at the scene. We were barely walking out of the gate when the explosion happened, ran toward the explosion, and tried to track down the shooter. Another miss at the Bradley... a little closer, but no cigar.

In completely unrelated news, I started and am in the process of finishing my taxes today, so refund will be on the way!

Finally...

After being told that this was the job I will have after leaving West Point, after training for this job for the longest time, and waiting even more on top of that to actually get the job, I am finally a platoon leader as of a couple of days ago. I've settled in pretty well, seeing as though I was already going out with the platoon for the last month. Going to have my first platoon meeting or "talk" where I will probably talk briefely about myself and what some of my expections are of them and what some of their expectations may be of me.

Other than that, not much has been going on, just trying to chase down bad guys basically.

Truely Quick

Last night, after all the patrols should have been done, our aerial camera caught a group of people that looked as though they may be planting an IED. Since we were the ones on QRF, the platoon got all their gear back on, and in about 5 minutes, we were out on foot, running to the suspected location (probably 1/2 mile down the road). The Bradleys were right behind us, and reached the location a few seconds before we did. We ran up on the suspects, surrounded them, forced them to line up on the wall, searched the vehicle, and realized they were only changing a flat tire... so just as fast as we got there, we mounted back onto the Bradleys and zoomed right out of there. The whole process was probably about 30 Minutes.

Tonight was one of the more fun and calm nights. We were out on patrol as usual, knocking on doors and talking to the local residents. I striked up a conversation with a family in the last home, and they invited us to eat dinner with them. I graciously accepted and the whole platoon got some good Iraqi food, and we talked (through the translator) about Obama, Football, Nuri Al Maliki, and other random shit. Good times, think we made a good impression on that particular family, hopefully we did not eat too much of their food though...

Off to bed...

A Strange day...

This morning, a dude with an RPG shot at our Bradleys (Bradley Fighting Vehicle- basically an Armored personnel carrier with a big gun) while our platoon was dismounted a good distance from them. We heard the explosion and started running toward the sound of the explosion. When we arrived, we found out a MAM (military age male) fired an RPG and completely missed the Bradely, droped the launcher, and him and his buddy made a run for it on their Moped or motor scooter. In the panic to get away, they crashed the scooter, could not get it to start again, and took off on foot. We tried to catch them, but they were long gone by the time we arrived on the scene. After questioning the locals and gathering descriptions of the perpetrators, we got the "ok" to run over the discarded Moped with our Bradely as a show of force and so it would not be used again (I have video). Once that fiasco was over, we gave high fives to eachother.

Also, we went out on QRF (quick reaction force) today in response to gunfire supposedly comming from a local school. We arrived at the scene, running toward the school, and began the systematic clearing of the entire building. We were moving fast and the adrenaline was pumping, we went from room to room, knocking down doors, clearing the building... only to find out we were at the wrong school...

Then we ran out of the school, and went to the school a block away, and did the same thing with the same intensity, doing everything with violent precision, every man knew his job... but it was the wrong school...

Turns out most of the gunfire came from the National Police, possibly shooting at eachtother because they were so disorganized. Apparently the incident started off with a personal dispute between a local leader and an off duty NP... strange... I do not want to say that the national police are incompetent, but they do need better lower level leadership. They definitely put forth the effort when necessary, but they still have a way to go.

From Calm to Chaos

So I was playing XBOX, eating dinner, when a large explosion rocked the base. The CO and the XO were in the room at the time, we all scambled to the ground, and immediately put on our gear and ran to the TOC to find out what was going on. I thought it was a Mortar explosion right on base, or an RPG hit one of the towers or something. It turned out that an EFP (Explosively formed Penetrator), the nastiest of IEDs, hit one of our Bradelys on one of the roads that border our base. After a few minutes, we found out that everyone was okay, except for a 3rd degree burn on the back of the driver. The Copper projectile ripped though the armor, through the vehicle battery, and stopped just short of entering his body...

An EFP also struck our logistics convoy a few days ago, everyone also came out fine from that incident. The explosion was about a mile away, but it was so loud we could clearly feel and hear it on base.

Iranians... they are making most of these bombs, seems like we mind as well be at war with them.

Patrolling Favorites

the last couple of days I went out on all the patrols my future platoon went on and I was able to really see the different parts of our sector multiple times and also able to see the platoon in action in differing situations.

My perception of the Iraqi people is starting to become clearly defined. I do not dislike these people, nor do I completely sympathize with them either. In the very poor areas in our sector, people have simple concerns, and over the years, many of them have come to think that Americans can get them anything they want (ie money, food, health care, etc). When I went up to talk to some of these people, it was one sad story after another, and they kept asking for things that we could not give them. We have come to a point where we have made them rely on the US for assistance and now we are trying to handover this responsibility to the Iraqis... It is working? In some areas, yes, I believe a sense of ownership is developing from the Iraqis, but for the illegal dwellings in which most of the poor people live in our area... quite a different story, no one wants to help them and they are technically breaking the law...

The National police caught some bad guys the other day in a total mess of a situation. In Iraq, the big law enforcement groups are the IA (Iraqi army), NP (National Police), and IP (Iraqi police or just regular street cops). It seems as though they are competing entities, always trying to get credit for whatever they can at the expense of the other services. No cross talk, not much working together, etc. I guess this may be the same way in the states, but I am unsure. The are all evolving entities, and it seems like much results have come out of them, but it differs from area to area. Well, back to the situation... There were IA and NP on the scene when my platoon arrived at a checkpoint where suspects were detained (have to be vaugue because I do not want to give away any valuable information in this blog). Emotions ran high, and the NP and IA were aruging as too who was going to take the evidence and the suspects. My platoon was able to calm things down for a little while, analyzed the evidence, took pictures, etc. Then, some NP commander arrived on the scene with his posse of 10 other men and started aruging with the IA. The NP then said something to the effect that the IA were incompetent and he was going to arrest the IA commander. The group of IA then became angry and one of them cocked there AK-47 while US forces, IA and NP tried to take the weapon away from the IA soldier. One of the soliders shot rounds into the air in an attempt to calm everyone down, but it only agitated everyone. Soldiers were everywhere, everyone was aruging, it ALMOST became chaos, but one of the MITT team guys (US soliders who are imbedded with the IA who act as a liason and advisor) showed up, and calmed the situation down... One of our Bradleys also ran over a car when providing a base of fire for our element... whoops. Everyone was ok, the NP at the checkpoint waved the car through as a Bradely was headed towards it, caught in the blind spot, and was ran over. Crazy

Got more, but I'll keep it short for now

The Waiting Game

Been on a few more patrols, getting more and more familiar with the area, and also, getting to know some of the people in my future platoon and other platoons.

A few nights ago I had my first sit down with some local Iraqis and drank some chai in their home. The TV show "Las Vegas" was playing in the background which almost made me forget that I was in Iraq except for the fact that there were Arabic Subtitles. For the most part, the poor people in our area don't give a damn about anything besides their home (literally and meaning family) and work. Many residents knew nothing about the new security agreement made with the United States or even that our base was attacked (they only live a very short distance away from us). This is very understandable when you are poor, but they still have sattelite TV.... I also realized that it is almost a necessity to become a smoker over here, or at least take a cigarette when offered. It is an excellent ice breaker, and opens up people to start a conversation, very useful when talking to Iraqis and of course my own soldiers and superiors.


Today, we visited a few vocational schools in the area and checked out a National police checkpoint. We were suppose to come back him after about 4 hours, be we were directed to cordon off an area of a suspected IED. So, we secured the area with help of the IP (Iraqi Police) and NP (national police) and cleared the area so EOD (Explosive ordnace disposal) could blow up the suspected bomb. Took a while... That is the worst thing about a cordon- waiting. Seems as though the IP did a good job of suspecting that there was a bomb and we (US forces and Iraqi) spolied a potential enemy attack. Kudos

Im tired...

Patroling

I am now permanently at JSS Ur. I arrived a few days ago and already went on a few patorls. I am planning on doing 2-3 a day, get the most I can out of it, try to memorize the ins and outs of the neighborhood, get a feel for the local population, etc. Recently, right before I arrived, we were attacked by a few RPGs, and we also had a Mortar attack yesterday that totally missed the base.

My impressions of the Shishan- Hay Ur (specific names that the area we are in go by) area? It is pretty much a shithole. The riftraft of Sadr City and Baghdad live in this area, it is inhabited by illegal squatters, road conditions are poor, trash and abandoned vehicles everywhere, packs of wild dogs roam the streets and outskirts (they get in the way a little too often), sewage is poor or nonexistent, smells like shit...

Good stuff? Seems like a good majority of people like us or are indifferent. The primary enemy in the area in JAM or Jaysh Al Mahdi- which is basically a bunch of shia thugs that use to run the streets before US Forces arrived. They kidnap people, terrorize the local population, try to undue the good we have done in the area. Al Sadr is a pretty popular figure around here, google him if you get a chance (hence the name Sadr City).

The first part of the deployment, they rounded up alot of the bad guys, and the population has noticed a difference. Now, we are trying to maintain our gains, and continue to deny the enemy use of our area of operations.

Learning alot in these last couple of days, going to continue to go on patrols and get used to the area.

Aufweidersehn!

A New Year starting out with some purpose

A few things have happened in the last week:

First, I conducted my first 15-6 investigation. A 15-6 is basically an investigation where an unbiased officer if given the task of finding out the facts of a given incident. In my case, it was a negligent discharge- which is when a person accidently or "negligently" fires his weapon when he did not intend to fire it. It was a qucik investigation: I recieved sworn statements from the people invovled, put together a bunch of paper work, and gave my unbiased opinion on what happened and what actions (punishment) I recommended. Basically, I found the person at fault due to him not following proper procedure when clearing his weapon.

Also, I had to take a FOO (Field Order Officer) class (in order to be certifed to become a FOO) at Taji. For the comming month, I will be the "FOO" for my new company, Charlie, when I move up there tomorrow. I basically am given control of up to $25,000 to buy things for everyday use on our base, for example: TVs for dayrooms, microwaves and Refrigerators for common use, wood to build "non-permanent" structures, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Primarily, it is to buy off the local economy due to the slow governemnt process of buying such items for everyday use. That will be a side job I will have for the next month until I get my platoon.

And thats about it. Still looking for one more item on my inventory list... ugh. Also started watching "Rome" the HBO Series, pretty awsome show so far.

yup