Thursday, February 17, 2005
We are Leaving Soon
Our replacements are here. It’s kind of funny to watch them. We aren’t supposed to make them nervous with our “war stories”, whether they be accurate or embellished. We were on top of a building on listening post/ observation post (LP/OP) duty, when the new guys came up on the roof the building for a view of the area. Some exclaimed, “Look at the helicopters!” We joked about an impromptu drama in which I’d pretend to be a shut in the guard shack:
Colin: [peeping his head out] Sergeant, who are these people? Why are they here?
Sergeant: It’s OK Judge. That just Judge, he lives up here. He’s OK, just stay away from the shack.
The new guys also didn't know about the Iraqi kids. I went by my usual spot to drop off the last of the goodies and the kids starting running towards us. One of the new guys handed me his camera and said, "Take a picture of me handing out candy to them." But he didn't realize that the kids weren't planning on queing up and he couldn't penetrate the swarm.
We also got a bunch of medals. All Soldiers receive an Army Commendation Medal (ARCOM) as long as there was no UCMJ (legal) action taken against them during their tour. Even though the medals are SOP, they still had to write nice things about us. I can’t list all of the achievements because some involve our current mission, but the ones from Falluja include:
“An Iraqi civilian started throwing rocks at US soldiers manning a checkpoint. Sergeant so and so led platoon members into the crowd to forcibly detain the individual to maintain order, the result being the individual was subdued with no injuries to civilians or US soldiers.”
It didn’t mention that the guy they detained was mentally deranged and was beaten by the crowd after he was released, but there was only so much room for the comments.
Mine read: “The Soldier showed his sense of care and compassion to help ensure the crowds that the United States was part of a greater good, while he used tact to control the crowd.” I guess that’s because I didn’t participate in tackling the mentally deranged person and they couldn’t think of anything else to write.
Another bullet stated:
“He was always ready and eager to man the TCP (traffic control point)” This is accurate; I was always ready and eager to man the TCP. And though I’d often ask to get out of the turret and off the radio to help out on the ground, I think I got a total of two hours moving the concertina wire gate.
If everyone gets a medal, what’s the thing worth? The Soldiers who jumped into a canal while under enemy fire to pull injured and dead Soldiers out of a humvee received an ARCOM and deservedly so. The rest of us just showed up and didn’t commit any crimes (or at least weren’t caught) and we get one too?
E7s and above did not Commendation Medals, but instead got Bronze Stars, but so did the Soldiers who were killed. That’s the way medals work in the Army. The same happens back in the States. At annual training a fire broke out inside a tank and a crew member stayed calm and put out the fire which minimized damage and injury. That Soldier received an Army Achievement Medal, but so did the ammunition handler who did a mediocre job, but needed a moral boost.
It’s only a few days before we depart and KBR has taken over the chow hall. The first day, the line went out the door. The FOB Command Sergeant Major had to tell people to tell people to eat their food and get out in order to make room for additional patrons. It’s a big difference, but then again, KBR charges $28 per Soldier per day to provide this service. KBR does a poor job of cleaning our latrines and I wrote them a note and placed it in a folder behind their “quality assurance” check list.
To: KBR
From: US Soldier & Taxpayer
Everyday you check the boxes that say the place is clean & stocked with paper towels etc. when it is not.
Would you please be more thorough?
Thanks!
A few days later a roommate brought the note in and asked, “Is this yours?”
“Did you recognize my handwriting?”
“No, it just sounds like you.”
We put our extra gear in a shipping container (conex). Before doing so, ten percent of the bags were inspected for contraband. On the list of prohibited items were items made by forced labor, noting parenthetically that child labor is forced labor. Of course, it doesn’t matter that we have kids working for us here on the FOB.
Our replacements are here. It’s kind of funny to watch them. We aren’t supposed to make them nervous with our “war stories”, whether they be accurate or embellished. We were on top of a building on listening post/ observation post (LP/OP) duty, when the new guys came up on the roof the building for a view of the area. Some exclaimed, “Look at the helicopters!” We joked about an impromptu drama in which I’d pretend to be a shut in the guard shack:
Colin: [peeping his head out] Sergeant, who are these people? Why are they here?
Sergeant: It’s OK Judge. That just Judge, he lives up here. He’s OK, just stay away from the shack.
The new guys also didn't know about the Iraqi kids. I went by my usual spot to drop off the last of the goodies and the kids starting running towards us. One of the new guys handed me his camera and said, "Take a picture of me handing out candy to them." But he didn't realize that the kids weren't planning on queing up and he couldn't penetrate the swarm.
We also got a bunch of medals. All Soldiers receive an Army Commendation Medal (ARCOM) as long as there was no UCMJ (legal) action taken against them during their tour. Even though the medals are SOP, they still had to write nice things about us. I can’t list all of the achievements because some involve our current mission, but the ones from Falluja include:
“An Iraqi civilian started throwing rocks at US soldiers manning a checkpoint. Sergeant so and so led platoon members into the crowd to forcibly detain the individual to maintain order, the result being the individual was subdued with no injuries to civilians or US soldiers.”
It didn’t mention that the guy they detained was mentally deranged and was beaten by the crowd after he was released, but there was only so much room for the comments.
Mine read: “The Soldier showed his sense of care and compassion to help ensure the crowds that the United States was part of a greater good, while he used tact to control the crowd.” I guess that’s because I didn’t participate in tackling the mentally deranged person and they couldn’t think of anything else to write.
Another bullet stated:
“He was always ready and eager to man the TCP (traffic control point)” This is accurate; I was always ready and eager to man the TCP. And though I’d often ask to get out of the turret and off the radio to help out on the ground, I think I got a total of two hours moving the concertina wire gate.
If everyone gets a medal, what’s the thing worth? The Soldiers who jumped into a canal while under enemy fire to pull injured and dead Soldiers out of a humvee received an ARCOM and deservedly so. The rest of us just showed up and didn’t commit any crimes (or at least weren’t caught) and we get one too?
E7s and above did not Commendation Medals, but instead got Bronze Stars, but so did the Soldiers who were killed. That’s the way medals work in the Army. The same happens back in the States. At annual training a fire broke out inside a tank and a crew member stayed calm and put out the fire which minimized damage and injury. That Soldier received an Army Achievement Medal, but so did the ammunition handler who did a mediocre job, but needed a moral boost.
It’s only a few days before we depart and KBR has taken over the chow hall. The first day, the line went out the door. The FOB Command Sergeant Major had to tell people to tell people to eat their food and get out in order to make room for additional patrons. It’s a big difference, but then again, KBR charges $28 per Soldier per day to provide this service. KBR does a poor job of cleaning our latrines and I wrote them a note and placed it in a folder behind their “quality assurance” check list.
To: KBR
From: US Soldier & Taxpayer
Everyday you check the boxes that say the place is clean & stocked with paper towels etc. when it is not.
Would you please be more thorough?
Thanks!
A few days later a roommate brought the note in and asked, “Is this yours?”
“Did you recognize my handwriting?”
“No, it just sounds like you.”
We put our extra gear in a shipping container (conex). Before doing so, ten percent of the bags were inspected for contraband. On the list of prohibited items were items made by forced labor, noting parenthetically that child labor is forced labor. Of course, it doesn’t matter that we have kids working for us here on the FOB.
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