Sunday, March 20, 2005
Personal Security Detail
Anyone who has paid attention knows that we assisted "in providing security for many of the high-ranking Iraqi officials who make up the nation's new government, prefacing a turnover of power on June 30." I think I was one of the few people in theatre who read this article as when I mentioned it, leadership was caught off guard.
First, here's the text of a certificate of appreciation we received which gives more detail on what we did: "For exemplary performance of duties while serving as a member of the ... Personal Security Detail for the top ranking officials of the Iraqi Interim Government from June 2004 to February 2005. You consistently displayed keen operational insight and superb initiative in the execution of your assigned duties. Working tirelessly with the ... Close-in-Protection elements, you provided superb escort protection for hundreds of high risk motorcade movements. Your countless hours of shielding Iraqi officials from possible threats for over 240 days represents the true character and perseverance of US forces serving in Iraq. Exhibiting vigilance and dedication to duty, your actions and efforts were crucial in ensuring the uninterrupted Transfer of Sovereignty to the Interim Iraqi Government. Additionally, you have played a vital role in the first free elections in Iraq in decades and set the stage for a Democratic Iraq. Your distinct performance reflected great credit upon yourself, your command, and the Multi-National Coalition Forces in Iraq, and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Army."
When we were first told that we would be guarding VIPs, some guys said they hoped they got assigned to an attractive female VIP like they were Kevin Costner in "The Bodyguard". My team leader, Reed, nailed it when he said that we might be able to see the principal now and then behind the thick tinted glass and inner cordon of CIPES security.
The Close-in-Protection elements (CIPES) were made up of elite military personnel. Some groups of CIPES were amiable while others were aloof. Besides being military experts, there were other requirements fore being a CIPE: one had to be good looking, have a great haircut, and possess a cool nickname. And as Reed said, if you don't have a cool nick name, don't sweat it, they'll give you one.
One day, we were the tail vehicle and caught, well, the tail end of a stand off between the CIPES and the Marines at a checkpoint. We were running our usual convoy and though the lead truck gave the Marines a heads up, the rest of the convoy was delayed. The Marines had a shift change during this delay and when the principal came through, the Marines stopped the convoy and approached the limo wanting to know who was inside. The CIPES, who do not wear uniforms, jumped out of the limo and raised their weapons at the Marines. The Marines surrounded the CIPES and pointed weapons back at them in "condition one" (round in the chamber with the safety off). The Marines also called their quick reaction force (QRF) for back up. The stand off ended when the CIPES thought that they had better show some ID. The CIPE commander had an impromptu meeting with my platoon that day and went over checkpoint do's and don'ts, though admitting it was his cocky CIPES who were to blame.
He said that we didn't need to be so secretive about our mission when going through checkpoints, commenting on one Soldier who told a Marine asking about the convoy, "I'm sorry but you don't have the clearance for me to tell you that. He said we could simply say "Tier 1 IIG" (Interim Iraqi Government) escort, when we were asked by coalition personnel.
This was a long time in coming. Soldiers bragged to each other about who they snubbed at our roadblocks:
"I told a full colonel that I couldn't tell him what we were doing."
"I told a two star general!"
I always thought that the people who wanted to know why we were blocking the road would figure it out when several humvees, a few armored SUVs, and a limousine rolled by.
The next day, the CIPE commander had a meeting to discuss the incident with the whole company. The commander again went over checkpoint protocols and told the story of the Soldier who told the Marine corporal that he didn't have the necessary clearance, which got a laugh. When it was time for questions, I said something like, "Sir, you make light of the Soldier who told the Marine at the checkpoint that he didn't have the clearance to talk about the mission, but I think it's reasonable to think this way due to some of what we have been told. There also seems to be some confusion because of what has happened. On one hand, a Soldier told people back home the details of what he was doing and he was whisked away a few hours later - never to be heard from again. I also heard that what we are doing is in violation of the SOFA (status of forces agreement). And I'm not talking about PFCs (that's code for E6 and higher) telling me this. And on the other hand we had an embedded reporter write in our hometown newspaper that we are providing security for high ranking Iraqi officials."
The commander, caught flatfooted, quipped that I had asked three different questions, but he'd try his best to answer them all. He said the Soldier who violated OPSEC was removed for his own good. If the enemy knew we were part of the PSD, they might threaten to kill our family if we did not cooperate with an assassination attempt such as looking the other way during an attempting security breech.
Regarding SOFA, he said the President of the United States knows what we are doing, the State Department knows what we are doing, and Condoleezza Rice knows what we are doing and no one has told him anything otherwise. Someone pointed out later that he never really responded to whether it was against our SOFA with Iraq.
He did say that he was very disturbed that the description of our mission appeared in a news article. An LT tried to mitigate by saying that the article was written a long time ago, but I'm not sure whether it helped to know that the enemy could have potentially known about our mission for over five months. The CIPE commander was a very impressive guy; a former enlisted Marine, he had more military bearing and professionalism than most officers.
My squad was in two different platoons while on this mission; one guarded Deputy President (DP), Al-Jafaari, the other, the Deputy Prime Minister. The DP lived in the red zone, which made him much more accesible to guests he hosted at his numerous lunches, dinners, and late suppers. DPM lived in the I Zone, which made sense for him since he was a Kurd and did not entertain throngs of visitors. The first night we provided security for the DP, he sent out plates of food, with included lamb, fresh bread, and vegetables. The next day several Soldiers and CIPES were sick, so we ate MREs after that.
The DP hosted a little gathering for us to meet and have our picture taken with him. Our Platoon Sergeant said before we went in, "This guy is the Vice President. It doesn't matter if he's the Vice President of Iraq, of the United States, of whatever the f***. He IS the vice president and you WILL treat him with respect. You will address him as "doctor" unless we tell you otherwise. If you have had any military bearing in your career, now is the time to use it. I'm just asking for five minutes."
Though he was well educated and conversational in English, the guys over did it. One Soldier saying, as he pointed to his hand, "CAN - WE - SHAKE - HANDS? I - have - been - practicing - my - Arabic." Another said, miming a camera, "Should - we - take - the - picture - now?" His staff brought out candies for us and he chatted with us and thanked us for our service.
DP: Who is the youngest?
Stan: I am: 19
DP: Who is the oldest?
Shultz: I'm 49 and I can still kick the 19 yr old's ass!
So much for military bearing.
We were told several times that if any of these guys got killed, the elections would be postponed, so most of us strongly believed in the mission and saw protecting these leaders as guarding the short term future of Iraq.
Anyone who has paid attention knows that we assisted "in providing security for many of the high-ranking Iraqi officials who make up the nation's new government, prefacing a turnover of power on June 30." I think I was one of the few people in theatre who read this article as when I mentioned it, leadership was caught off guard.
First, here's the text of a certificate of appreciation we received which gives more detail on what we did: "For exemplary performance of duties while serving as a member of the ... Personal Security Detail for the top ranking officials of the Iraqi Interim Government from June 2004 to February 2005. You consistently displayed keen operational insight and superb initiative in the execution of your assigned duties. Working tirelessly with the ... Close-in-Protection elements, you provided superb escort protection for hundreds of high risk motorcade movements. Your countless hours of shielding Iraqi officials from possible threats for over 240 days represents the true character and perseverance of US forces serving in Iraq. Exhibiting vigilance and dedication to duty, your actions and efforts were crucial in ensuring the uninterrupted Transfer of Sovereignty to the Interim Iraqi Government. Additionally, you have played a vital role in the first free elections in Iraq in decades and set the stage for a Democratic Iraq. Your distinct performance reflected great credit upon yourself, your command, and the Multi-National Coalition Forces in Iraq, and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Army."
When we were first told that we would be guarding VIPs, some guys said they hoped they got assigned to an attractive female VIP like they were Kevin Costner in "The Bodyguard". My team leader, Reed, nailed it when he said that we might be able to see the principal now and then behind the thick tinted glass and inner cordon of CIPES security.
The Close-in-Protection elements (CIPES) were made up of elite military personnel. Some groups of CIPES were amiable while others were aloof. Besides being military experts, there were other requirements fore being a CIPE: one had to be good looking, have a great haircut, and possess a cool nickname. And as Reed said, if you don't have a cool nick name, don't sweat it, they'll give you one.
One day, we were the tail vehicle and caught, well, the tail end of a stand off between the CIPES and the Marines at a checkpoint. We were running our usual convoy and though the lead truck gave the Marines a heads up, the rest of the convoy was delayed. The Marines had a shift change during this delay and when the principal came through, the Marines stopped the convoy and approached the limo wanting to know who was inside. The CIPES, who do not wear uniforms, jumped out of the limo and raised their weapons at the Marines. The Marines surrounded the CIPES and pointed weapons back at them in "condition one" (round in the chamber with the safety off). The Marines also called their quick reaction force (QRF) for back up. The stand off ended when the CIPES thought that they had better show some ID. The CIPE commander had an impromptu meeting with my platoon that day and went over checkpoint do's and don'ts, though admitting it was his cocky CIPES who were to blame.
He said that we didn't need to be so secretive about our mission when going through checkpoints, commenting on one Soldier who told a Marine asking about the convoy, "I'm sorry but you don't have the clearance for me to tell you that. He said we could simply say "Tier 1 IIG" (Interim Iraqi Government) escort, when we were asked by coalition personnel.
This was a long time in coming. Soldiers bragged to each other about who they snubbed at our roadblocks:
"I told a full colonel that I couldn't tell him what we were doing."
"I told a two star general!"
I always thought that the people who wanted to know why we were blocking the road would figure it out when several humvees, a few armored SUVs, and a limousine rolled by.
The next day, the CIPE commander had a meeting to discuss the incident with the whole company. The commander again went over checkpoint protocols and told the story of the Soldier who told the Marine corporal that he didn't have the necessary clearance, which got a laugh. When it was time for questions, I said something like, "Sir, you make light of the Soldier who told the Marine at the checkpoint that he didn't have the clearance to talk about the mission, but I think it's reasonable to think this way due to some of what we have been told. There also seems to be some confusion because of what has happened. On one hand, a Soldier told people back home the details of what he was doing and he was whisked away a few hours later - never to be heard from again. I also heard that what we are doing is in violation of the SOFA (status of forces agreement). And I'm not talking about PFCs (that's code for E6 and higher) telling me this. And on the other hand we had an embedded reporter write in our hometown newspaper that we are providing security for high ranking Iraqi officials."
The commander, caught flatfooted, quipped that I had asked three different questions, but he'd try his best to answer them all. He said the Soldier who violated OPSEC was removed for his own good. If the enemy knew we were part of the PSD, they might threaten to kill our family if we did not cooperate with an assassination attempt such as looking the other way during an attempting security breech.
Regarding SOFA, he said the President of the United States knows what we are doing, the State Department knows what we are doing, and Condoleezza Rice knows what we are doing and no one has told him anything otherwise. Someone pointed out later that he never really responded to whether it was against our SOFA with Iraq.
He did say that he was very disturbed that the description of our mission appeared in a news article. An LT tried to mitigate by saying that the article was written a long time ago, but I'm not sure whether it helped to know that the enemy could have potentially known about our mission for over five months. The CIPE commander was a very impressive guy; a former enlisted Marine, he had more military bearing and professionalism than most officers.
My squad was in two different platoons while on this mission; one guarded Deputy President (DP), Al-Jafaari, the other, the Deputy Prime Minister. The DP lived in the red zone, which made him much more accesible to guests he hosted at his numerous lunches, dinners, and late suppers. DPM lived in the I Zone, which made sense for him since he was a Kurd and did not entertain throngs of visitors. The first night we provided security for the DP, he sent out plates of food, with included lamb, fresh bread, and vegetables. The next day several Soldiers and CIPES were sick, so we ate MREs after that.
The DP hosted a little gathering for us to meet and have our picture taken with him. Our Platoon Sergeant said before we went in, "This guy is the Vice President. It doesn't matter if he's the Vice President of Iraq, of the United States, of whatever the f***. He IS the vice president and you WILL treat him with respect. You will address him as "doctor" unless we tell you otherwise. If you have had any military bearing in your career, now is the time to use it. I'm just asking for five minutes."
Though he was well educated and conversational in English, the guys over did it. One Soldier saying, as he pointed to his hand, "CAN - WE - SHAKE - HANDS? I - have - been - practicing - my - Arabic." Another said, miming a camera, "Should - we - take - the - picture - now?" His staff brought out candies for us and he chatted with us and thanked us for our service.
DP: Who is the youngest?
Stan: I am: 19
DP: Who is the oldest?
Shultz: I'm 49 and I can still kick the 19 yr old's ass!
So much for military bearing.
We were told several times that if any of these guys got killed, the elections would be postponed, so most of us strongly believed in the mission and saw protecting these leaders as guarding the short term future of Iraq.
With the principal.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Did anyone stumble across your blog on the net and confront you about it, and , if so, were there any interesting exchanges?
I got this question about three weeks ago and for the entire year - well, I guess I should only count the time people have known about it: four months - the answer was pretty much, no. Interestingly, the very last day at Ft Dix, I was confronted separately by two E7s who didn’t like my comments on the narratives they apparently wrote for my ARCOM (Army Commendation Medal).
One told me he was very insulted by what I wrote and said that they tried to personalize each statement. He said even if I thought I didn’t deserve it, "I bet your family thinks you deserve it.” Actually, no. After reviewing the criteria for the medal, which is awarded to a Soldier who, “distinguished himself/herself by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service (italics mine),” my wife agreed that that it was not deserved.
The other E7 was a little more bitter:
SFC Phil: Thanks for the insult, Judge
Colin: Roger that, Sergeant.
SFC Phil: Don’t worry we can revoke the ARCOM
Colin: I’ll just give it back to you.
SFC Phil: Oh, no, no, no, we’ll revoke it.
I decided to return the ARCOM that day and called Mary at home and asked her to bring it to the armory. I had mailed it from Baghdad, but it hadn’t arrived yet. She could tell I was bothered by it and because she’d been alone with the boys for over a year, she said, “They are being babies and you need to be a big boy.”
Obviously, I was too subtle with what I wrote before (did they get the other posts?), so I’ll lay it out:
1. Everyone gets a medal.
2. In order to get the medal, I had to distinguish himself.
3. To show that I had distinguished myself, leadership had to write about how I distinguished myself.
4. Since the only way I distinguished myself was that I avoided UCMJ action, they had to use hyperbole.
5. I found the hyperbole humorous and wrote about it in the blog.
Besides this incident, no one’s really confronted me about it. When something outrageous happens, guys will look at me and say, “That’s going in the blog,” but most of the stuff was either sensitive or too crass to post. I’ve been asked, more than once, whether my blog is mostly positive or negative. In return, I’d ask them whether their experience was positive or negative and they’d say that it wasn’t too bad. Then I learned to ask whether they’d want to come back again and everyone one says “no”, with the exception a Kip who wants come back working for DynCorp making $120,000 a year. Hey, if we liked this job, we’d be regular Army.
I have to admit, I’m no Soldier. Like another guy said, “I’m just here to help out.” Yes, I’m very critical of the military, but it’s not because I don’t believe in its mission. It’s just all screwed up. One Soldier said when we were flying out of Baghdad, “Remember the time it was icy, so we couldn’t fly in the plane from the Minnesota National Guard because it lacked deicing equipment, so we had to wait for the one from Florida that did?” It’s really like that.
I got this question about three weeks ago and for the entire year - well, I guess I should only count the time people have known about it: four months - the answer was pretty much, no. Interestingly, the very last day at Ft Dix, I was confronted separately by two E7s who didn’t like my comments on the narratives they apparently wrote for my ARCOM (Army Commendation Medal).
One told me he was very insulted by what I wrote and said that they tried to personalize each statement. He said even if I thought I didn’t deserve it, "I bet your family thinks you deserve it.” Actually, no. After reviewing the criteria for the medal, which is awarded to a Soldier who, “distinguished himself/herself by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service (italics mine),” my wife agreed that that it was not deserved.
The other E7 was a little more bitter:
SFC Phil: Thanks for the insult, Judge
Colin: Roger that, Sergeant.
SFC Phil: Don’t worry we can revoke the ARCOM
Colin: I’ll just give it back to you.
SFC Phil: Oh, no, no, no, we’ll revoke it.
I decided to return the ARCOM that day and called Mary at home and asked her to bring it to the armory. I had mailed it from Baghdad, but it hadn’t arrived yet. She could tell I was bothered by it and because she’d been alone with the boys for over a year, she said, “They are being babies and you need to be a big boy.”
Obviously, I was too subtle with what I wrote before (did they get the other posts?), so I’ll lay it out:
1. Everyone gets a medal.
2. In order to get the medal, I had to distinguish himself.
3. To show that I had distinguished myself, leadership had to write about how I distinguished myself.
4. Since the only way I distinguished myself was that I avoided UCMJ action, they had to use hyperbole.
5. I found the hyperbole humorous and wrote about it in the blog.
Besides this incident, no one’s really confronted me about it. When something outrageous happens, guys will look at me and say, “That’s going in the blog,” but most of the stuff was either sensitive or too crass to post. I’ve been asked, more than once, whether my blog is mostly positive or negative. In return, I’d ask them whether their experience was positive or negative and they’d say that it wasn’t too bad. Then I learned to ask whether they’d want to come back again and everyone one says “no”, with the exception a Kip who wants come back working for DynCorp making $120,000 a year. Hey, if we liked this job, we’d be regular Army.
I have to admit, I’m no Soldier. Like another guy said, “I’m just here to help out.” Yes, I’m very critical of the military, but it’s not because I don’t believe in its mission. It’s just all screwed up. One Soldier said when we were flying out of Baghdad, “Remember the time it was icy, so we couldn’t fly in the plane from the Minnesota National Guard because it lacked deicing equipment, so we had to wait for the one from Florida that did?” It’s really like that.
Coming Home
We left Fort Dix Saturday morning and arrived to a hero’s welcome. When we got off the highway, about 30 fire and rescue vehicles were waiting to escort us back to the armory. People were lined up here and there for about 15 miles. I can’t say enough about our welcome: it was tremendous. Not to take anything away from other communities, but I don’t think we could have received such a great welcome anywhere else but in a small town, like Tamaqua, where the people grow up instilled with a tradition of service and appreciation for those who serve.
We left Fort Dix Saturday morning and arrived to a hero’s welcome. When we got off the highway, about 30 fire and rescue vehicles were waiting to escort us back to the armory. People were lined up here and there for about 15 miles. I can’t say enough about our welcome: it was tremendous. Not to take anything away from other communities, but I don’t think we could have received such a great welcome anywhere else but in a small town, like Tamaqua, where the people grow up instilled with a tradition of service and appreciation for those who serve.
Monday, March 07, 2005
My Laptop is Down
It made it all the way to Philadelphia International Airport (where I used it for a couple of hours waiting for the bus), but I found it wouldn't turn on when I tried to use it a couple of days later. It's ironic, as the barracks in which we stayed now have both LAN drops and wireless connections; before the library was the only venue to get on line. The Dell technician comes today and I'll post what I have on it.
It made it all the way to Philadelphia International Airport (where I used it for a couple of hours waiting for the bus), but I found it wouldn't turn on when I tried to use it a couple of days later. It's ironic, as the barracks in which we stayed now have both LAN drops and wireless connections; before the library was the only venue to get on line. The Dell technician comes today and I'll post what I have on it.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Fort Dix
We have completed the demobilization process and we leave tommorow. We've turned in equipment, received medical screenings, and attended briefings. One presenter, explaining our VA benefits said, "You are a veteran . It's just not old men wearing funny hats with buttons: you are a veteran."
We are on lock down tonight and can't leave the base, though technically, we haven't been able to leave the base all week. We are experiencing an Army favorite: collective punishment. It was okay when a guy passed out in the right bunk, but in the wrong room. But when two guys passed out in the wrong building after trying to kick in the doors because their keys didn't work, well that's different.
We have completed the demobilization process and we leave tommorow. We've turned in equipment, received medical screenings, and attended briefings. One presenter, explaining our VA benefits said, "You are a veteran . It's just not old men wearing funny hats with buttons: you are a veteran."
We are on lock down tonight and can't leave the base, though technically, we haven't been able to leave the base all week. We are experiencing an Army favorite: collective punishment. It was okay when a guy passed out in the right bunk, but in the wrong room. But when two guys passed out in the wrong building after trying to kick in the doors because their keys didn't work, well that's different.
