The article I wrote recently about Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Kwiecien just got published on here "Faces of Defense" on defense.gov. Jeff is a great guy. I'm glad the story got republished.
Veteran of four wars, four enlistments, four branches: Air Force, Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard. I am both an AF (Air Force) veteran and as Veteran AF (As Fuck)
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Μολων Λαβε: The Tattoo and the Myth
When I re-enlisted in the Army in 2007, I saw several soldiers with Μολων Λαβε tattoos and Μολων Λαβε stickers on their pickup trucks. I can read Ancient Greek so I looked up the phrase and found it attributed to Leonidas of the Spartans, the leader of the 300 defenders of Thermopylae.
According to one version of the battle, when Xerxes, King of Persia demanded the surrender of the vastly outnumbered Spartans (100,000+ Persians against 300 Spartans), Leonidas answered "Μολων Λαβε" or "Come and take them." The phrase has come to be seen as the inspiration for the sentiment "I won't give up my guns until you pry my cold, dead hands from them."
I am currently taking a course in Ancient Greek in which we are reading the Histories of Herodotus. Right now we are reading the account of the Battle for Thermopylae. Herodotus wrote about 50 years after the battle and does not mention the exchange between Xerxes and Leonidas. I asked the professor. The only account directly mentioning Μολων Λαβε is in Plutarch written more than 500 years after the battle and centuries after Greece was conquered by Rome.
So the historicity of the account is in some question. And Sparta was a state ruled by tyranny in which the majority of the people were slaves. There was nothing like the 2nd Amendment in Sparta. If Leonidas said these words, he said them as a man who represented a warrior class, an upper class caste of warrior, nothing like armed common people. Since the only mention of the phrase is five centuries after the battle, it could well be a myth.
Leonidas would roll over in his honored grave to think his words would be used as a rallying cry for rebels and anti-government conspiracy theorists. Leonidas was the government, just as every soldier in every army, especially the "well regulated militia" our founders envisioned in the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
Μολων Λαβε, on a pickup truck next to a rebel flag means the owner of the truck is an ιδιοτης, an idiot, which means a person having his own ideas apart from his community and therefore is a fool.
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For Greek Geeks: The two words in the phrase Μολων Λαβε are verbs. The aorist participle Μολων can be translated "having come or coming" and Λαβε is the imperative singular "Take."
Inflected languages can say much with few words and this phrase is a beautiful example of that. You can parse it yourself in context here.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
How to Lose an Empire
When you hear Conservatives bemoaning America's loss of power, prestige and leadership, the blame will be somewhere other than in themselves.
The problem is in full view on every Republican debate and and from the top down in the most recent Bush administration. NOT the previous Bush administration.
The reason the Roman Empire fell will be the same reason we eventually collapse. Rome went from city to state to ruler of the known world with an Army in which every citizen served. To be a senator, to be a noble, meant fighting for Rome. From the founding of America until the end of the first Bush administration, American leaders were men who served their country. Some were great soldiers, some just showed up, but everyone served unless, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, they could not even walk.
The beginning of the end for Rome was when the nobility stopped serving in the Army. Further deterioration came when the Army went from being mostly Roman to mostly Gauls and Goths and others. Later the Army was really a mercenary Army. The Empire split. The Empire dissolved.
Among the more than 20 candidates of both parties, all of the actual veterans have either dropped out or are barred from the debate: Rick Perry is gone. Jim Webb, the only actual combat veteran, is gone. Lindsey Graham and Jim Gilmore were barred from the "kids table" debate on the eve of Veteran's Day.
At the center of the debate stage are Donald Trump with five deferments and Ben Carson with three. They actually dodged the draft and let someone else serve in their place. John Kasich also avoided the draft. The rest of the candidates simply chose not to serve.
When the leading citizens of the a country avoid military service and the poor and minorities and immigrants are overrepresented in the Army, then the reason for decline is clear. Draft dodgers like Rush Limbaugh can make up a thousand other reasons for America's decline, but Rome fell when its leading citizens acted just like America's leaders now.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Terrorism and Gun Violence on Both Sides of the Ocean
A good friend who has been traveling to America on business for more than a decade left Brussels, Belgium, for her current trip to America just days after the Paris shootings while Brussels was still on lock down for a possible second attack.
Part of her trip to America is to visit her brother in Colorado Springs for Thanksgiving. So she was there yesterday when a gunman shot eleven people in a Planned Parenthood clinic. She will be returning to Pennsylvania before going back to Europe. I hope nothing like this happens in here in Pennsylvania.
But it could.
Because Fundamentalists of every kind share a common belief that they are right and everybody else is both wrong and can be killed for The Cause.
So murderous Muslim Fundamentalists attack the most civilized city on the planet, and a lone Fundamentalist, reportedly armed with the same weapon, the AK47, shoots eleven people on the day after Thanksgiving. Because whatever kind of nut-job Fundamentalist he is, the faux God he has made up in his head told him that killing innocent people is the right thing to do.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Who Fights Our Wars? Flight Medic Leaving For Fifth Deployment
Nearly 100 years ago, young American men were leaving farms
across America, joining every branch of the military to fight in World War
One. One in three Americans lived on a
farm during the first decades of the 20th Century so just about
every squad of soldiers had farmer.
Today fewer than two in 100 Americans live on farms, but one
of those Americans with a small family farm is headed for his fifth
deployment. Sgt. 1st Class
Jeff Kwiecien, a flight medic with nearly 20 years of service, will be leaving
for Southwest Asia later this year. He
is deploying with Detachment 1, Charlie Company, 2-104th General
Support Aviation Battalion where he will serve as Non-Commissioned Officer in
Charge (NCOIC) of the unit.
On 4.5 acres in mid-state Pennsylvania, Kwiecien and his
family raise chickens, ducks and guinea hens.
He is considering adding goats and bees along with the flock of nearly
50 birds, but those plans are on hold until after deployment. Raising poultry for eggs and for the table is
one of several hobbies Kwiecien has, including making medical apparel, rock
climbing and playing the drums.
Kwiecien joined the Army in 1996, serving on active duty for
six years. He joined the Army National
Guard in 2003. In 19 years of service he
has deployed to Bosnia, Saudi Arabia and twice to Iraq, most recently with the
56th Stryker Brigade in 2009.
He has served on active duty with the Guard since returning from
deployment in 2010.
In a phone interview while he was on a weekend pass,
Kwiecien talked about his view of life before going on another deployment.
I am a product of….
Years of failure. I
am very persistent. I think that
persistence has paid off because after 19 years and many failures I feel like
I’ve learned a lot, and like Thomas Edison who figured all the ways not to make
a lightbulb, I move on and stick with the things that work. It’s better to try and fail than to never
give your dream a shot.
Several years ago,
Kwiecien went to a weekend-long evaluation for a National Guard Special Forces
Unit in Maryland. He got through the
first weekend and was told he could come back for the second round of
evaluations. In between he got promoted
and by taking the promotion took himself out of the program. Although he did not make it into the Special
Forces, he does not regret the attempt.
Relaxation is…
The search for serenity. Finding the situation or the place
that is completely calming. My big plan
after deployment is to go to Zion national Park in Utah with my family. Getting
away from civilization and being one with nature. Rock climbing and hiking are
things I really look forward to on visits to national parks.
You can have the best
idea…
But execution makes a good idea real. A good plan put into
motion today and refined as needed is better than a great plan that hasn’t been
started. Hesitation and indecision kill
good plans and good ideas.
There is drama…
There’s always drama it’s nothing new and it’s never going
away. I tell my soldiers keep your private life private and your professional
life professional and I won’t need to be involved in your private life.
The best lesson I
ever had…
My dad told me when I was graduating from high school and we
were looking at colleges that people should always have a skill in addition to
higher education. When he returns from deployment, Kwiecien will be starting a business
making medical clothing for first responders.
Kwiecien at work:
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Wikipedia Loves Weapons, Not Soldiers
This week I had a meeting with a "Wikipedian in Residence" at a history of science museum. I was asking her about how to put people on Wikipedia. Specifically, I wanted to write about National Guard First Sergeants and Sergeant's Majors and I thought it would be possible to create Wikipedia pages about some of the top sergeants I would write about.
Not possible.
My friend the Wikipedian went through the rules for creating a page about a person, and it is not possible to create a page about an enlisted soldier, or any soldier below the rank of Major General unless they have received the Medal of Honor or the Distinguished Service Cross.
I understand they have to have rules, but there is no weapon or vehicle that does not have a page. Also, in the context of the entire world of who gets on Wikipedia, it is very clear soldiers are not all Heroes.
Because the real heroes of our culture can and do have Wikipedia pages:
- Every professional athlete in any sport
- Every actor who has ever appeared in a movie
- Every porn star
- Every televangelist
- Every serial killer
The culture may use the word "hero" to refer to the guy who lives down the street and goes to war every few years, but our real heroes get fame and money. A first sergeant who spends a year in the desert making sure his men are ready to fight and hopefully get home, that guy does not does not meet the athlete/movie star/porn star/televangelist/serial killer threshold required to be the subject of a Wikipedia page.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Fueling Aircraft in Phillipsburg
Last weekend I flew to Mid State Airport in Phillipsburg in a Chinook helicopter. Aboput 100 soldiers had set up a refueling site at the end of the abandoned airstrip in the middle of the state. In addition to the fuel site, they set up air traffic control, a tactical operations center, and a maintenance area.
It was bitterly cold. Here are some photos of the cold soldiers putting fuel in "hot" aircraft. Hot fueling is putting the fuel in while the aircraft is running. Cold fuel is when the engines are shut down.
It was bitterly cold. Here are some photos of the cold soldiers putting fuel in "hot" aircraft. Hot fueling is putting the fuel in while the aircraft is running. Cold fuel is when the engines are shut down.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
My Battalion Commander in Iraq was Promoted to Brigadier General Today
Scott Perry was promoted to Brigadier General today. Pinning on the stars are his mother, Cecelia Lenig, daughters Mattea and Ryenn, and wife Christy.
On a windswept parade field on
Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in February of 2009, then Lt. Col. Scott Perry spoke to
the battalion he would command in Iraq a few months later. The soldiers at Fort Sill were the majority
of the 700 who would make up Task Force Diablo at Camp Adder, Iraq. In that speech, Perry told those troops, some
of whom were seeing their commander for the first time, that “Envy destroys
community.”
Not every commander mentions the
second worst of the Seven Deadly Sins at the beginning of a deployment, but
Perry turned that warning into a goal for every soldier. “If someone is getting something you want,
don’t envy, go and get what you want.
Don’t worry about them.”
After 35 years of service that
began with basic training in 1980 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, Perry pinned on the
star of a Brigadier General and joined the very small community of soldiers who
achieve flag rank. Perry, following his
own advice, pursued his own goals and today achieved a very big goal for an
Army officer.
Following basic training, Perry
served in the enlisted ranks for several years before attending Officer
Candidate School. He was commissioned a
Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery branch, but soon branch-transferred to
Army Aviation, where he became qualified in numerous aircraft including Huey,
Cayuse, Kiowa, Cobra, Chinook, Apache and Blackhawk helicopters and is an
instructor pilot. His 29 years as a pilot began with flight school in
1986 and ended this summer with a final flight at Muir Field on Fort Indiantown
Gap, Pa.
As an Aviation Officer, he has
commanded at the company, battalion and brigade levels throughout his career
including serving as company commander during a deployment to Kosovo in 2002.
Perry commanded 2-104th
General Support Aviation Battalion when it deployed to Iraq in 2009-10. During this deployment, he flew 44 combat
missions.
In 2011, he was promoted to the
rank of Colonel, and recently completed command of the Fort Indiantown Gap
National Training Site.
He presently serves Assistant
Division Commander (Support) for the 28th Infantry Division. He is a graduate
of the US Army War College with a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies. In addition to serving in the Pennsylvania
Army National Guard, Perry is in his second term as a United States Congressman
representing Pennsylvania’s Fourth Congressional District. Perry and his wife Christy are the proud
parents of two daughters, Ryenn and Mattea.
Stuffing a Humvee into a Chinook Helicopter
A Chinook helicopter looks huge inside and out compared to any other helicopter in the Army inventory--until you try to fit a Humvee inside of it. Then the very big Chinook helicopter looks a lot smaller when you see a Humvee backing into it. The Humvee is just a couple of inches narrower than the cargo area of the Chinook. It also fits within just a few inches on top.
But it fits. Here are some photos:
But it fits. Here are some photos:
Saturday, November 14, 2015
My First Flight in a UH72 Lakota Helicopter
Today I got my first ride in the very plush UH72 Lakota helicopter. I was at Mid State Airport near Phillipsburg, Pa. on Army training. I flew up in a Chinook helicopter and was about to board it for the return flight, when I saw Tom Luckenbach, one of the pilots who has flown nearly every aircraft in the Army inventory. He flew up in a Lakota. I asked if I could ride back with him.
Ten minutes later, I was in the small scout helicopter and listening to the pilots and crew chief go through their pre-flight routines.
Even with choppy air, the small, new aircraft was quiet and smooth for the 100-mile trip. Here's some pictures from my seat.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Cat Lover in Iraq: Chased Out of Briefing Tent
During our deployment to Iraq in 2009 - 10, fuelers from Echo Company, 2-104th GASB were dispersed to bases all across the southern half of Iraq, from Camp Garry Owen on the Iran-Iraq border to Camp Normandy near Baghdad.
These lonely detachments refueled helicopters at all times in all weather. At Camp Normandy in the summer, one of the fueler sergeants made a pet out of a cat. He named it Fluffy.
One day he walked into the morning briefing and announced, "We lost one of our own last night." The sergeant looked genuinely sad. The dozen soldiers in the room started whipping their heads around looking to see who was not at morning meeting. Then someone said, "Who?"
The big sergeant said, "Fluffy, somebody ran her over in the night. She was stuck to a HEMMT tire this morning when I found her."
Several soldiers threw Gatorade bottles and chased him out of the tent.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Aviation Week Magazine Writes About Army Aviation in PA National Guard
Last drill weekend I spent the day with a reporter and photographer from Aviation Week magazine. Today they published a blog post about the visit.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Defense.gov Put CW2 Sara Christensen Story on its Home Page.
Today I got a message that my story about Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sara is featured today on the hone page of the Defense Department. I'm glad they liked the story. She is a great soldier. The story is here.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Still Haven't Found What I'm Lookin' For
I started listening to Still Haven't Found What I'm Lookin' For (1987), and to U2 just over a year ago. Okay, I know that makes me a little slow. The 40th anniversary of U2 being formed is next year. Better late than never.
I listened to this song as I trained for the Ironman triathlon last year.
With my Army career ending soon, it's time to admit that re-enlisting at 54 was great way to have a mid-life crisis and keep my family, job and bank account. But it was a mid-life crisis. Worse still it was a spiritual quest that failed. The radiant spiritual part of being in the Army my first time around was absent this time.
When I re-enlisted, part of me really thought I would meet the kind of believers and non-believers I met in the 1970s Army and be part of a group of people living in the shadow of a World War 3 who were looking for the Kingdom of God, and looking across the border at 250,000 Soviet troops who were going to make the Kingdom of God a shorter trip for us.
In fact the annual casualties of the Cold War were higher than the part of Iraq where I served. During the 1970s, the annual NATO war game called REFORGER claimed 30-50 lives each year. That was back when we drove Jeeps. Half the deaths were Jeep rollovers. Crashed helicopters and people crushed by armored vehicles were most of the rest.
But if humility is the center of spirituality, as most Divines agree, then going to war at 56 is a spiritually corrosive. That deployment was my first actual combat deployment. When I flew to Camp Garry Owen on the Iran-Iraq border with Col. Peter Newell and got the 1st Armored Combat Patch, that was the first time I wore an Armor unit patch despite seven years in Armor in the 70s and 80s.
I really was looking for spirituality. I really got pride.
Monday, November 2, 2015
My Last 12 Days in the Army
My last official day in the Army will be May 3, 2016, but I only have 12 days left of actual service. Those 12 days will be over six weekends between mid-November and mid-April. December drill is the Christmas party. January or February I turn in my field gear. So I am a short timer for the fourth time in my multi-stage military career.
While serving in the Army has been fun, it is time for me to leave. I was going to try to extend for one more year, but Annual Training eats away the bicycle racing season, and since another year would just be for fun, I decided to have fun another way.
Also, now that I am retired as a civilian, I have been thinking a lot about who my people are and why I re-enlisted in 2007. While I do not regret re-enlisting, being in the Army was not what I imagined or hoped it would be. It was fun, it was a challenge, but in many ways I fit in as well as a vegan at a barbecue. But more on that later.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Cut Benefits! Except Mine!
Soldiers are bureaucrats. We are employees of the government. In the National Guard we are state employees. When we deploy we are federal employees.
So it is sadly funny when I hear the many "small government" and Libertarian soldiers in my unit say they "want to get the government out of my life."
Dude, you are the government.
But even the ardent small government conservatives are very clear that they want and deserve all the benefits they are entitled to.
And I know a few rabid anti-government soldiers who are also involved in lobbying to get more benefits for themselves and other National Guard soldiers.
They see no contradiction in this. And they do not see that they are just another grasping self interest who wants to cut every budget except their own.
Some of these soldiers are supporters of The Donald or Ben Carson for President. They want to keep and extend the benefits the government gives them, but since they have no systematic knowledge of politics, they think they can back a political revolution that "changes everything" and leaves their benefits untouched.
Really?
When governments change, benefits go to whomever the revolutionaries say they go to.
Here is an excerpt from an email I just received offering me a discounted membership in the Pennsylvania National Guard lobbying group:
There is no greater champion for issues that affect our lives as Guardsmen than PGNAS. In the last six month PNGAS has been ramping up their legislative activity fighting for the best benefits, equipment, and training available to us and the Soldiers and Airmen that follow in our footsteps. Pennsylvania has over 20,000 Guardsmen and we are calling on every single one of you to stand behind PNGAS to Guard the Guard.
For those who know George Orwell's Animal Farm, this is a perfect illustration of "all animals are equal, but the pigs are more equal."
Of course, there is nothing unusual in Americans banding together to get more from the government, it is just funny when they call themselves Small Government Conservatives.
Sadly funny.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Who Fights Our Wars? Army 3.0: Pilot Trains for 1st Combat Deployment During Third Army “Career”
CW2 Sara Christensen
In 1985, when President Ronald Reagan was just beginning his
second term, the Soviet Union was fighting in Afghanistan and the Cold War was
still a hot topic, Sara Christensen enlisted in the Army Reserve. She lived in California, had just graduated
from high school and wanted to be a dental technician.
The following year she went to Basic Training and MOS
training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.
In Texas she met her future husband Kelvin Christensen. He was an E5 on his way to Officer Candidate
School (OCS) in California with the Army National Guard. Although just a Private at the time, Sara
managed to get accepted for OCS. Kelvin
and Sara went through the course together and were commissioned 2nd
Lieutenants.
At this point, the Christensen’s were both officers. They chose Aviation as their branch and
eventually went to flight school. Sara
trained in Hueys, Kelvin in Blackhawks.
By 1991 they both had transferred to the Pennsylvania National Guard
serving as aviation officers.
At
this point both Sara and Kelvin were well on their way with their second Army
careers as commissioned officers. Kelvin
continued with his career in aviation and currently is a Lieutenant Colonel and
is the Cargo Battalion Commander for the Eastern Army National
Guard Aviation Training Site (EAATS) on Fort Indiantown Gap.
Four years later, in 1995, the Christensens decided to go
from no kids to three kids all at once.
They adopted three children from the Pennsylvania Foster Care system who
need homes. With three kids, Kelvin and
Sara both continued their careers in the Army.
By 2001 the already larger than average family had more than
doubled to seven kids and Captain Sara Christensen left the Army National Guard
for the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).
She kept her commission and, in fact, was promoted to major while on
inactive status.
After more than a decade of raising seven kids, Sara decided
to return to Army Aviation after a thirteen-year break in service. The timing was critical because the maximum
age to return to aviation service is 46 years old. She made the deadline, beginning her third
Army career as a Warrant Officer. She
could have come back as a commissioned officer and been eligible for promotion
to Lieutenant Colonel, but she wanted to fly and would have more opportunities
to be in the cockpit as a warrant officer.
In addition to beginning Army service for a third time, she
has now held rank in all three sections of the chain of command: enlisted, officer, and warrant officer.
Despite being three years in to what a third Army career, Chief
Warrant Officer 2 Sara Christensen is currently training for her first combat
deployment. She is a pilot with
Detachment 1, Charlie Company (Medevac), 2-104th General Support
Aviation Battalion, 28th
Combat Aviation Brigade. She is training
in Texas for deployment to Southwest Asia later this year.
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