One Step Closer

Today we flew to Kuwait by way of Basra stopping at three bases before finally arriving at the transient base. We will be here for several days and, just as when I was stuck here for seven days in July, I won't know when I will leave here until I am on an airplane. Several times on the last trip, my name got called, I was on a manifest, I dragged my bags up to the meeting area, I was ready to board the bus then. . ."Sorry. Come back at 0500 hours."

But it's OK with me. We are on the way back to America. I am out of Iraq. I have lots of work to do, assuming I can do it using personal computer on a wireless hookup. Sometime in late January this year will end and I can go back to being a civilian again. I liked some of this year. I hated some of this year. The parts I hated probably helped me grow.

One thing it confirmed for me is how very difficult and very worthwhile it is to build community. It is very clear very fast that even people who think of politeness as optional, a sort of window dressing in life, rapidly find that politeness of some kind is necessary to live in close quarters. And they believe more strongly every day that if politeness is not natural it had better be enforced by someone.

An hour ago we moved eight of us moved into a 16-man tent, filling the all the available bunks. The lights are supposed to stay on 24/7, but if everyone agrees, the lights can go out until someone needs them. We may or may not have lights out, but if we do, it will be because 16 men agreed to shut off the lights at a given hour and turn them on again when needed.

It's very likely (though not certain) I will spend New Year's Eve and Day in a transient tent without any of the usual celebration. Certainly no alcohol. But it won't dampen my spirits. In a month or so, I'll be home.

Who Fights This War? Public Affairs Officer, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division

Today I have a guest post from Maj. Myles Caggins of the 4th BCT, 1st Armored Division. We have had a chance to work together on a few projects and even to talk politics.
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Twelve months ago I was in Washington, D.C. having just finished my graduate degree requirements from Georgetown. D.C., the most powerful city in the world, is an easy draw for the media and the military. In contrast, Contingency Operating Base Adder just south of Nasiriyah, Iraq is relatively unknown and military operations here seldom gain wide-spread press attention.

At least not until December 18.

This day Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, our nation’s highest ranking military officer visited my brigade at COB Adder. Mullen was traveling with seven members of the Pentagon Press Pool among the 20+ other staffers and security personnel in his entourage.


Serving as an Army Brigade Public Affairs Officer my job is to tell the story of the 4,000 Soldiers assigned to the 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division. I want audiences to know who they are and most importantly what they do in Iraq in 2009.
Gone are the days of U.S. Soldiers kicking down doors and rounding up IED makers, terrorist mortarmen, and other outlaws. In today’s stability operations environment, we are simply here to advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces.

Most readers of this blog believe that. However, if I stood in downtown Nasiriyah and tried to explain “stability operations” doctrine the local citizens would be skeptical of the message and the messenger—and of course 30% of what I say would probably be lost in translation.

Imagine if some dude from a foreign Army pulled up in your driveway in a 10’ tall armored truck; stood in your front lawn with body armor, an assault rifle, and a team of security then stated “I’m your friend, I come in peace.”

Needless to say, I might come off to be a Kevlar-clad Joe Isuzu to the average Iraqi. Remember him here and here.

So on my next post, I’ll explain the solution to gaining and maintaining a positive perception for American forces in southern Iraq…and how I changed the price of oil 2% with one quote on December 18.

For Nigel--Blackhawk Banking Left

Yesterday I was on an all-day flight that lasted into the night. It was the first time I flew in a Blackhawk at night. I flew in a Chinook at night, but I was up inside the fuselage and could not see out very much except through the tail door.
I was sitting right behind the door gunner on the Blackhawk and could see all the countryside on the final leg of our trip. The desert is prettier at night than in the brown dusty day. The shallowest ripples look deep in the dark and trace out shapes that are much more interesting than simple sand ripples and ditches.
The trip went from here to Kalsu for hot fuel (with the engines running and rotors turning) then to Baghdad and a visit to one of Saddam's bombed out palaces. I'll try to put a few more photos up soon.
After Baghdad we flew up to Joint Base Balad, where we should have gone back when we got here. It's a beautiful base. Oh well.
Then Back to Kalsu in the fading light, then back to Tallil in the dark. I was not told till the night before I had to go. I had a lot of work to do the next day and asked the commander if he really wanted to me to go. He said, "This is a war Gussman. You're going." So I went.

Who Fights this War--Coach on the Range

During the two days Echo Company ran the marksmanship qualification range on COB Adder in November, Sgt. 1st Class Jason Guinn, 30, strode back and forth on the dirt mound where the shooters were firing. Guinn adjusted a body position here, made a suggestion there, pushed in an elbow, all to help soldiers to qualify with their M16, M4 or M9 personal weapons.
Guinn served for four years on active duty as a Marine before joining the Army National Guard. “We don’t spend enough time on PMI (Preliminary Marksmanship Instruction),” said Guinn, NCOIC of Operations for Task Force Diablo. “In the Marines we moved out to the range for two weeks every year. We would a full week just practicing different firing positions.”
Guinn serves full time in the Army National Guard and is planning to work as a Readiness NCO in 28th Combat Aviation Brigade after this deployment. He currently has the additional duties of Master Weapons Instructor and Master Marksmanship Instructor for the 28th CAB. During his service with the Marines from 1997 – 2000 Guinn was a Master Marksmanship Instructor. “In the Marines, marksmanship can be a primary duty. In the Army it is always an additional duty,” said the Enola, Pa. native.
In addition to weapons training in the Marines, Guinn has received six months of advanced weapons instruction from several Army schools, including the five-phase Master Weapons Instructor School which he completed in 2004. He is currently on his third deployment. He went to East Timor with the Marines in 1998. He went to Kosovo with Bravo Company (Attack) 1-104th Aviation in 2005-6 before his current tour with Task Force Diablo.
Guinn says “practice makes perfect” in marksmanship as in many areas of life. He practices partly through competition. He has earned the Governor’s Twenty tab for marksmanship and competed in international events. He is especially proud of being a member of the team the beat the highly rated Italian Special Forces team.
Later this week, on December 3, Guinn will be conducting a marksmanship class for his staff in operations. “It’s a full day just to go over the fundamentals of shooting,” he said.

For Nigel: The Best Picture

One more sling load photo because I did not include the best one. This is the one of the ground crewman setting the hook.

For Nigel: A Chinook Sling Load

A few days ago, three Chinook helicopters hovered 20 feet above the north runway waiting for the signal to fly over to the south ramp and pick up sling loads. The Chinook can haul a container with thousands of pounds of stuff underneath and fly. These pictures show some of the views I had. It was tough to get some of the pictures because Chinooks are named after the near 100mph wind in the mountain west. For the picture looking up under the Chinook with the sling load, I laid down on the airstrip 100 meters ahead of the Chinook as the sling was attached and took the shot as it flew over me.

Who Fights This War? A Father and a Son

It’s a very proud Dad who has a child that follows him into his profession, so Sgt. First Class Gary Williard of Delta Company, Task Force Diablo, is a doubly proud man. Williard has two professions and each of his two sons has chosen to follow Dad into one of those professions. Williard is a retired police officer and Army National Guard aircraft maintenance platoon sergeant. His older son, Gary Jr., joined the Tower City police force where Dad retired in 2006 as chief of police. His younger son is Sgt. Joshua Williard, of Bravo Company, 628th Aviation Support Battalion. Joshua worked in the next hangar over from Dad during much of the deployment and is currently completing his deployment with final processing in America.

“I pinned on Joshua’s sergeant stripes when he got promoted here on August 27,” said Gary Sr. “That was quite a moment for me.” Joshua said he plans on a career in aviation maintenance with the Army National Guard.

The Williards are a close family. Gary Sr. and Joshua managed to get the same day off, Friday, through most of last summer here in Iraq. They watched bow hunting and deer hunting videos and football together on their day off. Gary Jr. worked for his Dad for five years in the Tower City police department before moving to the Pennsylvania State Police where he has worked for seven years. Williard and his wife Dina ran an automotive repair business together. Now they have apartments which they rent. “Dina runs the apartments while I am away,” said Williard. “With Joshua and I deployed and Gary Jr. busy with work she’ll be very happy for us to come home.”

Gary Sr. began his military career in 1976 as a prop and rotor mechanic for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and remained with the Guard through his entire career. He had an eight-year break in service from 1982-90 and after returning to the Guard has worked in maintenance on many aircraft. Gary Sr. previously deployed in 2003-4 to Kuwait in both aviation maintenance and security roles. “Even on deployment, I was still a cop,” said Williard.