Tuesday, October 27, 2009

USA Today Coincidence

In the afternoon of the day the USA Today article was published we had our first rocket attack in almost four months. One rocket hit out out in the desert, one hit a CHU in the civilian housing area, and one was a dud but smashed a generator on impact. I was on the other side of the base when they hit. So after no attacks for four months, they send rockets on the day that USA Today says there is not much to do and the war is over.

On the day of the missile attack, several mechanics were returning to their living area and saw the dud missile as it was streaking down. They saw the impact and saw the missile was a dud.

In an attack, the first thing every soldier should do is hit the dirt. One of the dumbest soldiers I have ever known decided that hitting the dirt was not necessary for him. So instead of taking cover, he trotted over to the missile with is camera to get a picture. A sergeant from headquarters saw the stupid soldier and ordered him into a shelter.

I have worked with this guy and am quite confident he will do something like this again. He is the sort of person who is intent on proving he is as smart as everyone else, which leads him to do more dumb things. We will all be lucky if, in the course of doing something inane, he does not get anyone else hurt.

Since Army humor is coarse at best, it did not surprise me that the comments about the soldier climbing on the generator were unsympathetic--most were along the lines of "Well I guess it would be bad if he got blown up, but it would serve his dumb ass right."

Monday, October 26, 2009

"Gay" in the Military

So many gay jokes spin through air in the motor pools on ranges and in the chow halls that I missed a common, but less crude use of the word "gay" in the military. (As far as I can see, the usage varies little from the Army among airmen and sailors stationed here.) Most gay jokes are put downs in which someone accuses someone else of being the passive partner in a homosexual act. So after a thousand or so of these jokes, it occurred to me that a different and also common usage was to ask if something was gay or too gay. In that case, the question was simply: am I making a decision based on emotion when I should be basing my decision on facts?

A senior sergeant asked, "Is that gay?" when he was asking me whether he should be concerned with the feeling of his adversary in a dispute over who should get a job they both wanted. The answer was complicated, but the question was simple: should I let feelings guide my decision or should I take the action that benefits me at his expense?

Of course, the underlying question is, "Am I being feminine when I should be masculine?" usually expressed as "Am I being a bitch?" so the use of gay is consistent with its more coarse uses. And since I am interested in language, my small insight led me to pay more attention to usage around me and I heard the "Is that gay?" question several more times in the days that followed.

So now I could ask myself, "Is it gay to pay attention to that kind of thing?" Except, I am not supposed to ask--or tell. And re-reading this post, the joke I was trying to make did not work either. Oh well.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Who Fights This War--Retiring to a Gun in the Sun


If you’re looking for retirement advice, don’t ask Master Sgt. William Foster, 55, a door gunner in Company B, 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment. The former Punxsutawney, Pa., police department patrol sergeant did not move to Florida and did not take a part-time job like many retirees. ‘Punxsutawney Bill,’ as he is known in the town he has lived in all of his life, decided to volunteer as a door gunner and go to Iraq for retirement.

Granted, he got the sun retirees crave back home. But most retirees don’t load a Gator with a half-dozen guns six days a week in the afternoon sun and help prepare a CH-47 Chinook helicopter for a long, possibly all-night, mission.

Although Iraq is low on the list of destinations retirement planners recommend, Foster believes this is the right place for him to be and the right time for him to be here. “My younger son deployed just ahead of me as a sniper with 112th (a Pennsylvania Army National Guard unit in the 56th Stryker Brigade),” said Foster. “I wanted to be here at the same time, even if we were not in the same place. My older son is working on a master’s degree in San Diego and my daughter is at Lock Haven University in physician’s assistant training. They are all doing great. It was a good time to go.”

Before deployment, Foster served nearly half of each year as a marksmanship instructor for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. “I have been leading training since 1996,” he said. “After a while you have to get out from behind the podium and use the weapons in the field.”

“We (Pennsylvania’s Marksmanship Team Unit) instruct active-duty Army. I did not want to stand in front of those guys without first-hand experience in Iraq,” said Foster, who plans to return to marksmanship instruction after deployment. “God-willing and the body doesn’t fall apart, I’ve got another five years until I turn 60.”

Foster first enlisted in 1972, served four years, went to college, was commissioned in 1979, and served as an officer until 1996 when he resigned his commission. He started over again as a sergeant and was promoted to master sergeant this month by Maj. Gen. Randall Marchi, 28th Infantry Division commanding general, in a ceremony in Iraq.

Foster plans to retire in Punxsutawney and have weekends free to do as he likes and get involved with his beloved community as a volunteer for the first time in forty years.

“I am going to make weekend plans. I haven’t done that since high school,” said Foster. “In fact, I may grow a beard. I haven’t had facial hair since high school either.”

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Night Flight to Ali Al Salem, Kuwait




A few hours after I got off the flight to the ruins of Ur, I got on a CH-47 Chinook flight to the American Airfield Ali Al Salem in Kuwait. We took about 25 soldiers down to Kuwait to go home on R&R (rest & recreation) leave and took about a half-dozen back home. It was a long flight and tiring, but I finally got to fly on one of the Big Birds.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

500 Feet Above the Ziggurat of Ur




Today I will upload images from flying above the Ziggurat of Ur on Thursday afternoon. This area, Ur, is the hometown of Abraham. People call this place the birthplace of civilization. If civilization was born here, it has had a very complete change of address. Jared Diamond's most recent book Collapse chronicles other places on our planet which are on the way to becoming arid ruins.

Two Helicopter Rides Today

This afternoon I flew on a short mission on Blackhawk helicopter. A film crew was in to shoot pictures for a documentary on the Ziggurat of Ur, just north of our Base. They had an open seat and, better yet, left the side doors of the Blackhawk open so we could see out and down much better. It was also cool to be able to stick my left foot out at 500 feet and hang it out the door opening. I will post pictures tomorrow. They are on a different computer, but I have some good shots of the Ziggurat. That flight was at 2pm.

At 7pm the Brigade photographer (a real photographer), brought video camera for a 3-hour (in the air) round trip to Kuwait on a CH-47 Chinook helicopter. On the way down we had 25 soldiers who were going on leave in the plane, so they were a happy group. On the way back we had five guys returning from leave--a more subdued group.

I had never ridden in a Chinook before last night so it was very exciting for me to ride 200 miles and into another country on my first trip on the Army's Heavy Lift helicopter. The Chinooks only fly at night, because they are big, slow compared to an airplane, and make tempting targets in the day time.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

USA Today--Today

The cover article on today's edition of USA Today was about troops killing time and what they do to fill the hours. One of the people quoted at length in the article was me. The reporter talked about the two book groups I lead and even provided links to CS Lewis, Dante and Virgil. Here's the article. Meredith will be calling me an ink slut again--but somebody has to do it.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

New Office--Great Discussion


This is my new office--the top of the line in trailer living. I thought you might like to see my new digs.
Last night's CSL group book discussion was great. We talked about the Affection (storge) in The Four Loves. In describing each type of love, Lewis follows an arc taking us to the highest and best expressions of love, in this case domestic affection, then dropping us like a Six Flags roller coaster with descriptions of Mrs. Fidget, Mr. Pontifex and Professor Quartz. Two members of the group are counselors and another is a negotiator, so the love gone bad section of the chapter was very useful for them. Next week Friendship or Philia.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Who Fights This War--Flight Surgeon

Lt. Col. David Doud, 42, returned home to Gettysburg last week at the end of his tour as flight surgeon for the 2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion. Doud joined the battalion in 2006 after serving as the Medical Company Commander for the 728th Maintenance Support Battalion.
He has nearly 18 years of service in the Army National Guard as a doctor. Doud deployed to Kosovo with the 56th Brigade in 2003-4 as the Brigade Surgeon. On this deployment Doud had the opportunity to fly with the Nebraska MEDEVAC Company attached to the 56th. After deployment he took the training course at Fort Rucker to be qualified as a flight surgeon then moved to the 2-104th.
The day Doud remembers most clearly on this deployment is June 10, when a suicide bomber in Al-Batha killed and wounded many civilians. The Tallil Medical facility asked Doud to help their staff with the emergency surgery patients that were being flown in. Doud said, “I treat car accident victims and gunshot wounds in the States, but the damage to the human body by high explosives is beyond anything I had seen.” Doud and his team
treated five patients.
Two had non-survivable injuries and were made as comfortable as possible. The other three were critical, but Doud was able to perform surgery that kept them alive for evacuation to a larger medical facility. “The three critical patients lived. We made a difference.”

Sunday, October 18, 2009

First 50-mile Day in Iraq

From the day we arrived here it was so hot and dusty that I limited my riding to early morning and late afternoon. The dust hangs in the air at night sometimes, so I did not relly consider riding in the dark until recently. But now with my new way-cool bright light I have been riding more in the dark.

And last night I took the long way home from work at midnight so I would get 50 miles in one day here. Next target is 63 miles (100k) and maybe when it gets even cooler I will try for a Century!

Speaking of bike milestones, there is a chance I will be able to ressurect the bicycle race in the form of a biathlon: 5k run, 15 or 20k bike. The run-bike format will eliminate the mass start. Of course, running 5k will also eliminate me from contention, but it's probably better that the organizer doesn't win.

I will let you know more as the back-channel negotiations proceed. Tentatively, Thanksgiving is the day. The Tallil Turkey Trot Biathlon (it would be great alliteration if we could set up a triathlon, but the sand swim would be difficult.)

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Jumble of News from Home

I just checked the on-line box score and my oldest daughter's college soccer team lost again today. Not a great season so far and it's almost over. I haven't talked to Lauren today, but she is a tough competitor, always fights to win, and won a lot of games from Junior High School through graduation. Defeat will give her a chance to learn the grace that only loss can teach, but I wish she were learning this grace another way.

My other two daughters were home last weekend, Iolanthe brought her boyfriend Devon to Lancaster and they went to the Renaissance Faire as did Lisa and her Mom. I am looking forward to going back next year. While they were home, Lisa and Iolanthe both tried to play a new drum riff that Nigel had learned. Neither could play it so Nigel demonstrated how to do it. He was happy to show them his new skill and they were very entertained by their brother and his increased ability.

My wife, Annalisa, is working with three different contractors to insulate the house and make it more energy efficient. It is a huge project and it should be completed by the holidays.

I am already making plans to go back to work. I am going to register soon for the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) annual meeting in February (President's Weekend) and will will travel to Orlando two weeks later for an instrumentation conference. I will go to Church in the morning with 75 people armed with automatic weapons so I am not home yet, but it is getting closer. New Years Day here, but most of the New Year in America.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Who Fights this War--Gets the Aircraft Ready to Fly

For door gunners and crew chiefs in Company A, 1st Battalion, 106th Aviation Regiment, the longest days are the ones when they don’t fly. This Illinois-based Army National Guard unit uses a push crew to make sure every mission takes off on time and each aircraft gets back to mission-ready status as soon as possible. If a mission is set to fly at 6 a.m., the flight crew arrives for a pre-flight briefing at 3 a.m. The push crew begins its work at 2 a.m. “The first thing to do at 0200 is start the coffee,” said Cpl. Ricki Jenkins, 40, of Glasford, Ill. “Before going to the airfield, the push crew writes down the crew roster, the tail numbers of the birds, time out and time back.” The push crew normally consists of one crew chief or gunner for each pair of Black Hawks, but sometimes the crew is just one Soldier. The crew takes a Gator vehicle from the orderly room and drives a half-mile to the maintenance hangars, where they switch to a specially-equipped Push Gator. Before going to the flight line, the push crew gathers Aviation Life Support Equipment, weapons, water, ice and the egress kits for ground-mounting the M-240 door guns. The push crew also gathers the crew members’ flight bags, helmets, vests and communications gear. Soon the push crew is on the flight line loading equipment and getting the Black Hawks ready for the mission. “We remove the doors and windows and stack them in the trailer, then pull the ropes tie-down ropes on the rotor blades, pull the engine plugs and (Auxiliary Power Unit) plugs and engine covers,” Jenkins said. “We mount the M-240s on the birds then head back to the maintenance Conex to load the doors and windows in storage racks.” By 4:30 a.m. the flight crew will be at the aircraft with night vision goggles, rescue radios and other equipment. After this equipment is installed or stowed, the flight crew and the push crew go to breakfast together. When they return the flight crew goes through the pre-flight checks. If everything goes normally, the mission takes off on time and the push crew remains at the airfield for 40 minutes just in case a maintenance issue arises early in the flight. If the aircraft has a problem before takeoff, the push crew is ready to move the crew and equipment to another aircraft. “Our priority is to make sure the mission goes on time,” said Capt. Jason Henderson, Co. A commander and a Normal, Ill., resident. “If there is a mechanical problem, the push crew can bump the flight crew to a spare aircraft.” Henderson said the push crew’s role in post-flight operations is just as important as getting the mission ready to go. “They make sure aircraft are ready for the next mission,” Henderson said. “When the mission is over, the push crew identifies and fixes faults right away.” A half-hour before the mission is scheduled to land, the push crew is back at the airfield, loading the doors and windows in the Gator’s trailer. As soon as the first Black Hawk lands the push crew and the flight crew work together to get aircraft ready to fly for the next mission. The M-240 door guns are dismounted and set in the Gator. The crew members take off their helmets, vests and other flight gear and load their bags. The push crew re-hangs the doors, installs the windows and ties down the rotor blades. While the equipment is loaded, post-flight maintenance begins. The Gator has a rack above its dashboard with every kind of lubricant a Black Hawk helicopter needs as well as tools for on-the-spot repairs. “By the time we get the gear stowed and the weapons turned in to the arms room it’s a long day,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Maass, 27, of Hillsboro Ill. Maass is a door gunner who was with Co. A on its previous deployment to Iraq in 2004 and 2005. Maass is a full-time Army National Guard technician and a wheeled vehicle mechanic who volunteered to be a door gunner for this deployment. “Door gunner is a job that only exists in a war zone,” he said. “We (door gunners) all volunteered to deploy.” If a mission takes off at 6 a.m. and returns at 1 p.m., the push crew starts work four hours before takeoff and may still be finishing routine maintenance hours after the flight lands. Twelve to fourteen hour days are average for push crews. The standard rotation for a Co. A door gunner or crew chief is four days of flight, two days of push duty and one day off. Chief Warrant Officer Herbert Stevens of Normal, Ill., an Alpha Co. pilot, said the push procedures reflect lessons learned during the unit’s last tour. “There’s no room for error in aviation. We developed procedures that reduce risk and make sure the flight crew can focus on the mission.”

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Who Flies this Aircraft?


I will be writing more soon about the crew of the Blackhawk I flew in on Saturday, but I wanted to give you a preliminary description of the four-man crew: two pilots, a door gunner, and a crew chief. They are all from an Illinois National Guard Company attached to our unit for this deployment. In the National Guard, you get people of many backgrounds serving together and that is true down to the smallest units--like a Blackhawk crew.

Pilot 1--Has 21 years in the guard, the whole time flying. He just completed flight school as the Gulf War ended so he was not deployed until 2004. At that time he was based at Balad and flying air assault missions. He said, "This (meaning the trip I was on flying at 1000 feet and 125 mph) is garrison flying. If you were here in 2004 you could have gone on a real mission--175 mph at 50 feet of the ground. That's fun." He actually gave the speeds in knots. I am sparing you the conversion.
So what does this action junkie do in civilian life? He is one of ten pilots on the governor's staff--in Illinois--since 2003. He has flown Rod Blagojevich for 6 years (except for the time he was in Iraq). He would not answer any questions about flying the disgraced gov.

Pilot 2--Decided to join the Army Guard and become a pilot in 2002. Needed a job that would be OK with a lot of leave for military duty. Took a job with the Norfolk Southern Railroad. Flight school 1 yr. in 2003. Deployed 15 months 2004-5. Advanced flight training 2007. Pre-deployment training many weeks 2008. Here 2009. Said he worked 2.5 years since he took the job, but has full seniority. Smart guy.

Door Gunner--24-year-old graduate of Massapequa High School, NY. Grew up in Queens. Enlisted at 18. Went to Iraq at 19 in 2004 as a combat infantryman in Baghdad. Came home and worked as an executive security guard. Volunteered to go to Iraq in late 2007 as a door gunner, then volunteered for another consecutive year here now. He is going to flight school next fall. He plans to deploy with his home unit in NYC to Afghanistan in 2012. Then he said, "I think with four deployments I'll be ready to settle down.

Crew Chief--26 is on his first deployment. Is going home to finish college then become an officer after he gets a bachelors degree from Illinois State.

Pilot 1 got married just before deployment and is on his honeymoon now in Australia. The other three are single.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Pain, like Envy, is Relative

At the risk of being gross, for the past several days I have had two painful bug bites in my hairline that won't go away--although they are finally getting somewhat better. They are in my hair, above my ear right where the helmet covers them. So every time I ride, they get bumped. And then I got a very painful swelling inside my nose. So it's hard to breath and it hurts.

So I was riding along thinking 'You broke all those bones and now you are bitching about what is essentially three zits. What a baby.'

The trouble really bad pain leads to really good drugs. But you don't take morphine for injuries. So I just get aggravated by the pain and swelling. My head hurts. My nose hurts. My heel hurts because I ran today. These small pains bother me more than I think they should. I suppose that is what is ultimately so difficult about getting old--there is always something wrong with a body that is not growing any more.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Smell of Diesel Brings Back Army Memories


"Deuce and a Half" trucks spewed black clouds of diesel.

During the 23 years I was a civilian before I re-enlisted in the Army, the unexpected smell of diesel that would take me back to the Army in a flash of memory.

In the 70s and 80s, the primary vehicle--the Jeep--had a gasoline engine. but most everything we drove had diesel engines. Tanks, Personnel Carriers, Howitzers and trucks all had diesel engines. Now the Humvees are diesel just like all the other trucks. On all of bases in this barren land of Iraq, power comes from generators. Huge generators, small generators, in-between generators.

Last month in the motor pool one of the mechanics grabbed a 110V drill to work on a 5-ton truck. He had to drill a few holes while he worked on the truck. He fired up a 150hp 6-cylinder diesel generator that happened to be close to his work site. It ran continuously for the entire time he worked on the truck.

On this morning's 5k run, I ran past several howling generators in containers outside the housing areas. Every time I turn on a light, charge a computer battery or go the chow hall, one of those generators is making power for me.

A diesel generator sitting in a Conex roaring day and night is not the most efficient way to provide power, but it is what we have here on Camp Adder, Iraq.

Just a whiff of diesel from a passing bus would remind me of eating on the back deck of our M60A1 tank or the driving in long convoys on the Autobahn that spewed black clouds of diesel from tanks and trucks.

When I get home I will smell diesel and think about those huge generators outside every facility, puffing clouds of smoke and keeping me well-fed and on line.


Monday, October 12, 2009

No Night Flight till Thursday or Friday

I did not go on the Chinook flight last night. It will have to wait until the end of the week. As it turns out it was the best move. I had to replace a picture in the battalion (weekly) newsletter at the very last minute. It was a group shot of about 20 pilots on the last day they were allowed to were the one-piece flight suit. It is being retired. The Chaplain wrote an excellent speech about it. The problem with the picture is some of the pilots wore their Task Force Diablo patches on the flight suit--very bad. Luckily I had a shot with no patches.

A photographer came to the C.S. Lewis book group tonight to take pictures. Last week I talked to a reporter from USA Today about the CSL group and the Dead Poets Society, so the groups may be in his article about what people do when the war is not so busy.

The PT Belt page on Facebook is up to 1600 fans. It was featured in my newsletter today as well as the brigade newsletter. He might got to 5000 fans before we come home.

Last week I went over 5000 miles for the year. They are talking about not packing our stuff for shipment home till early January. If so, I might be able to ride 5000 miles this year in Iraq--more than 350 hamster laps.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

View from the Window

I sat behind the left door gunner on the Blackhawk I rode on yesterday. Here's some of the view I had.






Saturday, October 10, 2009

First Flight in a Blackhawk


Today at a little after 10am I was a passenger on a routine flight to two small forward operating bases where our MEDEVAC Company flies. It's fun taking off and landing in a Blackhawk. They life straight up for a couple of seconds then bank away. When they reach about a thousand feet they level off and fly straight. No more excitement till we bank in to land.
Blackhawks are loud, but really smooth in flight. Here's a picture of me in front of the Blackhawk I flew on. It was the second of a pair of Blackhawks. The first was an unarmed MEDEVAC bird. I was in the chase bird with the door guns.
The computer system will be down all day tomorrow, but I will try to put some photos of the flight up before the computers go down.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Flights are on Again, Maybe

I thought I could not write this post because I can't say anything about where troops are going. So I won't. The main news is I am scheduled to fly in a Blackhawk tomorrow and a Chinook on Sunday night. I actually don't much care where I am going and if I told you, you probably would not know any more than I do. So I'll let you know where I was when I get back.

I am charging up my camera batteries. Tomorrow is a daylight flight so I should be able to take loads of pictures. Sunday is a night flight and the point of the trip for me is to see how well I can take pictures through night vision goggles.

Everything is happening so fast lately. Three weeks ago I was still figuring out how to get the time to write one or two good stories a week and had just made a to do list of important things for me to do in the motor pool: sort nuts and bolts and washers in the spare parts Conex (a container about half the size of an over-the-road semi trailer), make inventory sheets of hundreds of special tools, most of which are still in paper and plastic wrappers because we never use them, coordinate schedules of the people who will sign out the tools when I am on other duties, etc.

Now I am writing and taking pictures and getting stories published all over southern Iraq. Three weeks ago, I was trying to decide what to use for the lead story for the Echo Company newsletter.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

In My Pockets

In civilian life I wear many different kinds of clothes with many different pockets--several in the same day. So I may wear shorts and a t-shirt for the walk and train ride to work, change to a suit, change to bike clothes for a late day ride in Philadelphia, then back to shorts and a t-shirt for the train home. I am often searching for keys, my wallet or something in my pocket because I don't have a specific pocket for specific items in civilian life.

That will change when I get back. I only have two outfits here--pt clothes and the uniform. But because I have to find things in a hurry, I have the stuff I carry in specific pockets all the time. I always know where things are or know something is missing in a second. Right now my keys are in my left front pants pocket, my ID is in my left cargo pocket in the middle of my thigh, my wallet is in my left shirt pocket and my glasses are on the right. In civilian life I won't have to carry the tourniquet in my right lower leg pants pocket or the reflective (PT) belt in the left. But I always know where they are.

If this deployment has made any mental change in me--besides a strong wish to go home--it is in seeing the value of keeping things organized. My priority before was always in getting the task in front of me done and cleaning up the mess later. But since I have to live in later, I am much more aware that it is worth slowing the work down to make sure that I stay organized. It may not seem like much, but it's a big change after almost 20,000 days of living happily with disorganization.

Not So Supreme: A Conference about the Constitution, the Courts and Justice

Hannah Arendt At the end of the first week in March, I went to a conference at Bard College titled: Between Power and Authority: Arendt on t...