Well, it does. There are so many things involved in a military moves; so many moving pieces. Our packers showed up on Monday - both of them!! I have a four bedroom home and they send two packers to get my house ready for the pick-up scheduled for yesterday. Needless to say, they didn’t get it all done and said they’d be back early the next day. Early to them was 0845, but they didn’t show up until almost 1000.

The movers show up in a U-Haul! They said their truck had broken down and that they are going to load as much as they can into the U-Haul, transport it to their trailer (two hours away) and then come back for the second load. By the time they were finished with the first load, it was late and they asked if they could come back for the rest early this morning. Most of our stuff was loaded yesterday and really all that’s left are the beds, tables, and a couple of shelves. They said they’d be here at first light so they could beat the traffic. I told them I had a PT test this morning and asked them to hold off until 0730 so I could be here. I also had an appointment at 0745 to take my van in for a service before we take it on the road. I didn’t get home until about 0815. Lo and behold, NO MOVERS!! It is now 0915 AND STILL NO MOVERS!!

We live in military housing so in order to leave I have to clear housing. To clear housing I need to repaint the rooms we painted earlier, clean and defrost the freezer and fridge, vacuum the carpets, and do make sure that the house is generally clean. My final inspection is tomorrow at 1300! I can’t clean my floors because there is stuff all over. On a positive note, the kitchen is clean and I only have the downstairs bathroom left to repaint.

Add to that frustration the fact that my dislocation allowance has not yet come through. Dislocation allowance is money given to military families to help defray the costs of having to move. It helps pay for hotels, laundry, deposits on apartments or rentals, and other costs. Since we no longer have any way of cooking food or washing and drying clothes, this money comes in handy. It also helps to pay for the gas and other expenses associated with a move. Thankfully, we have some money on hand that is helping. We anticipated this move and prepared a little better than previous moves. But, the nearly $400 it costs to pay for the service on our van is putting a big dent in that. Granted, it’s a self-imposed expense and not one really covered in the allowance, so I can’t use that as a basis of complaint.

On another note, I got a spot of good news yesterday. I called the VAMC and spoke with my loan agent, Nate, and asked him for an update about where we were. I had to fax him some more information that popped up a couple of days ago. No issues. I asked him what the realities of closing are. We tentatively have a 5 October closing date set on the house we’re buying. He said that all they were waiting on was the termite letter (to ensure the house isn’t infested) and the appraisal. I talked to Ron, my Realtor, and he said both of those were done yesterday and would be sent today. Nate said once he has those he can close us in a matter of one to two days. It’s possible to move into the home as soon as we arrive on/about 1 October!! That’s good news for us.

We were a little worried about having to stay in cramped guest housing until the closing date so we asked Ron to get with the seller and possibly sign a short term rental agreement so we could live in the home until closing. Ron spoke with the seller and said the seller agreed to let us stay until closing at the house…for a price. He (the seller) wanted a $1500 deposit and would charge $30 per day until closing that would be deducted from the deposit and the remainder refunded upon closing.

I don’t know what kind of experiences you all have had with renting, but I’m a homeowner with rental property. I’ve been renting my home in Georgia since 2004 and I’ve had three renters in there (deployments suck!). The deposits I require do add up to $1500 if I put them ALL together!! That’s INSANE!! I can understand at most a $500 deposit. Hell, I’m buying the house. Our closing is scheduled for 5 October. The homeowner has already moved out of the house. Naturally, we’ve decided to stay in guest housing until closing. Let me make it clear that this was not Ron’s fault. He’s just the unfortunate messenger and has done well for us.

I suppose things were just going too well for awhile and we were due this recent frustration. Thankfully, Nate is working hard to help us close earlier than anticipated. I really can’t enough good things about how hard he has worked to get this done for us. He has simplified the process to a second grade level for us to understand, which is only one grade higher than my comprehension, so we’re doing well.

Well, I better get to painting that bathroom. See ya on the other side.

P.S. I passed the PT test by the way - of course!!

Soldiers have a very difficult job. The very extreme fringe of our job title requires us to possibly take another human life. This is not a task that should be taken lightly. In Iraq, I never fired a shot unless I had to. Unfortunately, I had to a lot.

Before I continue, I’ll warn my audience that the rest of this post is going to be religiously based. (more…)

I asked VAMC if I could write about my experience in using their services and they approved. Let me say up front that my agent, Nathan, has been awesome from start to finish. He has quickly answered every question I’ve had. He stays in constant contact with me as things progress and makes sure I have the most updated information reference my loan.

We finally found a home at our new duty station. Thankfully, I have some good friends in the area that have been tremendously helpful because I’ve been apprehensive about purchasing a home I haven’t physically walked through. I like to “kick the tires” before spending more than $100,000 on something. But, I found a home that I am comfortable making an offer on.

I didn’t come to that conclusion easily. For the past two months, Emily and I have been scouring the area online for a possible house. Our Realtor, a wonderful man named Ron Tyra, has gone out of his way for us as well. We’ve sent him all over the city to take photos and ask questions about homes we were interested in. We gave him some parameters and he dutifully informed us anytime a house meeting those parameters came on the market or there were changes to homes we already looked at. When we thought we found a home we may want to live in, we’d ask him to go and take more photos for us. We introduced him to our friends in the area so they could walk through with him.

Ron is an honest man, to best of my knowledge. When he found something wrong with a home we were looking at, he told us up front. He’s always given us the good, the bad, and the ugly about every property we’ve looked at. He responds quickly to requests for pictures of the A/C vent, a closet, the garage and other odd things. He never tried to push his own listings on us either. As a matter of fact, the home that we chose to make an offer on just happened to be his listing. He didn’t try to sell us the home. He made sure it was really what we wanted and even offered some alternatives in the neighborhood we may have been interested in. We ended up choosing his listing.

The loan process has been just as simple. Nathan sends everything we need via email. We look it over, sign what needs to be signed, and scan or fax it back. As things change in the market, like the recent interest rate cut, he was quick to call us and make us aware of anything that may affect our loan. He knows the VA loan process like the back of his hand. He’s never answered a question (that I can think of) with “I don’t know.”

Now that we’ve made an offer on a home, he has “held our hand” as we work towards closing. Because we are leaving very soon, we requested a quick closing pending the results of the home appraisal and inspection we ordered. Closings are not a simple thing. They take time, but Nathan is working feverishly to meet our deadlines. I’m comfortable that things will be closed before I head to the First Sergeants Course.

All we do now is wait. I’ve ordered the inspection and Nathan has ordered the appraisal. I’ve made an offer and it was accepted by the seller. Ron is working with Nathan to make all this happen as expeditiously as possible. Now we hurry up and wait…

I just happen to be a blogger. I’ve had a lot of opportunities open up to me because of the people I’ve met through the internet and because of my writing, but I don’t think that means I’m anything better or worse than anyone else. I serve in the military, something ANYONE can do. However, not just anyone can raise kids, build a house, pave a road, deal with customers over a phone all day, serve food to picky eaters, or clean up after us after every movie.

I didn’t start blogging because I want to be a famous celebrity. I didn’t start blogging so that I could get freebies or discounts. Heck, I got those way before I started writing. I just ask, “do you have a military discount?” I would like to take a little time and reintroduce myself and my motivations for writing because there are some people (who will remain nameless, but are probably reading this) who think that I write for selfish reasons.

I began blogging back in 2004 because I got frustrated with our stories, the Soldiers’ stories, being ignored. I started a little blog called “Chcknhawk’s Harem” over at Blogspot. I called it that because most of my fans were female troops supporters and I thought it was a funny play on words. I began my blog as largely a humorous way of getting through some of the things I was facing after returning from combat. Writing made me feel better. I didn’t feel like there were a lot of people I could talk to, including my own family. But, I’m also grounded enough to know that I’d go crazy if I kept it all in.

Blogging was my way of “talking to somebody without talking to anyone at all“. There were people out there listening, but I wasn’t talking directly to them. By writing about my experiences, I was able to revisit them and deal with them in a positive manner. In 2005, I published my war journal to mark the second anniversary of when I was notified I was going into battle. We were no longer training to the “what if”; we were training for war.

However, there is a lot that I never wrote in my journal because I knew that it would be read by others one day. There are some things I still don’t like to deal with. I’ve slowly found ways to deal with those areas as well. For example, losing friends. I started They Have Names because of a specific person, CPT James “Alex” Funkhouser, but he was just the catalyst that brought together the various reactants of losing friends and feeling like no one else cared about it. The hardest one to accept has been the loss of SSG Stevon Booker, a friend and fellow Tusker who was killed during the first Thunder Run into Baghdad on 5 April 2003. He was a combat proven veteran of Operation Desert Storm in the early nineties and knew his stuff. He cared deeply for his Soldiers and died trying to protect them. But, you won’t find Booker’s story on THN yet. I still can’t write it, but one day I will. Earlier this year a building at Aberdeen Test Center was renamed after his memory. I write so that people don’t forget people like Booker. And I still write

Anyone who knows me knows that I care deeply about Soldiers. I care deeply about Marines, Airmen and Sailors too (collectively known as Soldiers from here on). It frustrates me beyond belief that their sacrifices are becoming so taken for granted. Their stories are not being told and I feel that by telling these stories I’m taking care of them. Naturally, I take care of the troops directly under my supervision and care as well. This war is about the Soldier. There is a reason that Marine General Peter Pace, retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke predominantly about the Soldier during his farewell speech. Look at the people paying the highest price in this war and you’ll see the names of Soldiers, peppered with NCOs and Officers here and there. Someone needs to tell their story and I feel like I need to be that person.

There are plenty of stories that are “sexy” or “newsworthy” and deal with death, destruction, blunders and botched decisions. There are also plenty of people willing to expose them and ensure they are known as far and wide as possible. But, who is there to tell the Soldiers’ stories? Unfortunately, it falls to a band of devoted military bloggers who make it their goal in life to get out the good news - and there’s plenty of it!!

I get nothing out of blogging. What little pittance of money I make of my writing goes to pay for bigger, better things (pay close attention to ASP in the near future) to help tell the story. It goes to paying for postage of care packages to troops who are away from the flagpole. It goes to organizations like Soldier’s Angels, Adopt-A-Platoon, and Wounded Warriors Project. ASP has donated more than $35,000 over the past four years to various causes, including the Camp Lejuene Ballerinas. And to be honest, I don’t care if anyone ever knows we do it. I’m sure the dollar amount will surprise even our diehard readers because I don’t advertise it. I don’t write for recognition and I don’t write to eventually meet the President. We could have used that money to pay off our bills, that’s for sure.

I’ve put a lot on the line to write. I’ve stunted my military career in ways by narrowing the types of jobs I’m qualified for. I’ve annoyed and pissed off senior military commanders and supervisors, though I’ve never tried to hide anything. I’ve taken away valuable time from my family! This is something I feel strongly about and as long as I’m able, I’m going to continue writing. If no one ever reads another word I write, I wouldn’t care. It’s therapy.

Hopefully, I’ve made some sense here and some people’s eyes were opened. To those people I say: you don’t have to like it or agree with it - just accept it. I’m nothing special.

There’s been a lot of talk about who the mystery ASP blogger (my other blog) was at the recent meeting with the President. No, it wasn’t the President of local chapter of corn growers and spider hunters. The President of the United States. I’m sure to most people, it was pretty obvious who the “representative from A Soldier’s Perspective” was. Yes, I was there. Not only was I there, but I was able to take the Texan seat of honor next to the Man himself - Mohammed of Iraq the Model. Oh, I sat next to Mr. George W. Bush as well.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the Office of Media Liaison and told that I was being invited to the White House for a “special event” with select milbloggers. For the record, CPL M was also invited but unable to attend because he’s busy doing to the work of this country to ensure our continued safety and way of life. The meeting was strictly close hold and we weren’t to discuss it with anyone outside those with a need to know (in my case - my chain of command).
Eight milbloggers were present and two attended via a VTC (video teleconference) from Baghdad - Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal, Bill Ardolino of INDC Journal. Those present and accounted for in the West Wing were The Armorer of Argghhh!, Matt Burden of Blackfive, Mrs. Greyhawk of Mudville Gazette (Greyhawk was also attending to the nation’s business and unable to attend), NZ Bear of the TTLB and the Victory Caucus , Steve Schippert of Threats Watch, Ward Carroll of Military.Com (an all-around great guy and pleasure to be around) and, of course, Mohammed of Iraq the Model.

We arrived at the White House on time at 0900. After processing through security and getting checked in at the lobby, we were ushered into the Roosevelt Room of the West Wing. For those that aren’t aware of White House history, the Roosevelt Room was the original office of the President back when the West Wing was built back in 1902. When the West Wing was expanded and the Oval Office was created, the Roosevelt Room became sort of a waiting room for those meeting with the President. The room is set up to handle secure conferences and also serves as the place the President meets with his National Security team. You can take a 360 degree virtual tour here. The camera is set at the position where the President sits.

Anyway, we sat for a few minutes of nervous chatter admiring the fact that any minute we’re going to be in the presence of the most powerful man in the world, politically speaking. We had no idea exactly when the President would come in. Each time the door opened our hearts stopped beating only to be greeted by aides, assistants, and other important staff types. Along with the milbloggers present, placards were on the table that read “Kevin Sullivan” (Assistant to the President for Communications), “Tony Snow” (this meeting was taking place on Mr. Snow’s final day of work), “Dana Perino” (Mr. Snow’s replacement as Press Secretary), “Stephen Hadley” (Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs), “Mark Pfeifle” ( Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Global Outreach), and General Lute (the one and only War Czar, officially Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan ). Without waiting on any of his staff, the President entered the room at 0951 - nine minutes ahead of schedule.

As he walked in, he personally shook each of our hands, thanking US for being there. One by one we introduced ourselves. The President ordered us (well, he is my Commander in Chief. To everyone else it was probably more of a request) to have a seat and sat down himself. Now, I need to take this opportunity to explain what a down to earth guy we have as President. He made each of feel genuinely welcome. When he sat down he didn’t sit in a dominating posture at the end of the table. He got comfortable and was slightly slouched in his comfortable leather chair. As he did so, his tie sort of drooped to his left side, his jacket unbuttoned and open. However, he was also a very Presidential man, obviously aware of his responsibilities and role. He thanked us for being there and gave us an opening statement, unprepared and unwritten. It came from his heart as he spoke about his determination for victory in this global war on terrorism. I was so in awe while he sat there speaking literally inches from me that I didn’t think to take any notes. We weren’t allowed to have cameras or audio recorders, so we had to rely on our notes.

“I looked at my schedule today, and I found it interesting that I would be sitting down with bloggers.” That’s how it started. It should be noted that this is the first time in history that a sitting President has sat down with a group of military bloggers (probably ANY group of bloggers). There was no other media present and no press releases were given to announce the meeting before or afterwards.

After his opening remarks, he opened up the floor to questions from us, beginning with the guys in Iraq. Bill Ardolino recently visited Fallujah to check on progress since his last visit there in January. “The progress in Fallujah especially has been remarkable between January and September,” he said. This is going on all over the country as the surge works its magic allowing the government to begin its political reconciliation (a phrase I probably heard more times than my ten fingers can count). The President remarked that over $2.6 billion has been distributed to local governments for reconstruction and jobs. This year alone, over $227 million in oil revenue has been pushed down to local governments. Counter to what the media is reporting, the government has a working budget process that is getting better with each day. They are still trying to figure that piece out.

Another interesting tidbit of information that came out during the meeting is that Marine Major General Douglas Stone is managing a predominantly Sunni-occupied prison system in Iraq. This isn’t like the prison system you’d probably imagine. Gen Stone has a brilliant plan for rehabilitating the prisoners. Most of the Sunnis jailed in the prisons are accused of crimes of affiliation. Some were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still others committed their crimes so Al Qaeda terrorists wouldn’t kill their families. Gen Stone has instituted a vocational training school into his prison system to teach these young Sunnis valuable skills they can use to earn money and take care of their families. He teaches them alternatives to violence. He also brings in moderate religious leaders to teach them the truly peaceful nature of Islam. The goal is to show them that the extremist religious views they’ve been taught are incorrect. The other way this is being done is by teaching these young men to read so that they can open up a Koran and see for themselves the way their religion has been bastardized by extremist Imams. While there aren’t any metrics to prove the system is working yet, the theory behind it is brilliant as a concept. I can’t see how it could fail.

I kept my eyes on the President almost the entire time. He made sure that he kept eye contact with us as he spoke. There wasn’t a person in that room who wasn’t included in his speech. President Bush spoke candidly to us. He didn’t speak at us and he didn’t speak down to us. He treated us like respectful Americans. When he spoke of his father’s WWII service, he literally teared up. Being right next to him, I caught a single tear attempt to roll down his left cheek before he casually wiped it away. No one else seemed to notice. Looking in his eyes as he spoke about the pride he felt in his father, his eyes began to glaze and behind them was a real person who happens to be our 43rd President. George Bush is a man of values and he brought this out.

He’s also a man of responsibility. When we got on the subject of the despicable behavior by members of Congress (my point, by the way), he made it a point not to talk down about Congress either. I had thanked him and Tony Snow for their recent strong statements against the reality that the media and our elected officials seem to have a problem with acknowledging, even applauding, success by our military. He took ownership of his plan. He made sure we knew that he does not govern this country at the polls. He does what is right. I wrote this quote down immediately after he said because it should be a headline when a book is written about him. In all caps I wrote the word “OWNERSHIP”, which was followed by his quote: “This is George Bush’s policy. I am a Commander in Chief. I expect to be attacked politically. But, do not attack those Generals!” He went on to talk about the noble profession of military service and the kind of honorable Soldier that Gen David Patraeus is.

President Bush is not concerned with his legacy and he has no need to be. I explained to him that after the USS Cole bombing I was so prepared to go to war at that point. I was utterly frustrated that nothing was done, especially after the embassy bombings and the first WTC bombing. I decided to do something about it myself and changed professions to one that would get me closer to the fight if one ever did break out. As it turns out, while I was in training for this new position, September 11th happened. I can’t remember exactly what I asked the President because I was choking up having just mentioned my good friend SSG Stevon Booker who died in front of me in Iraq. I just started babbling after that. It was pathetic, you should have seen it. I thanked him for finally taking the fight to the enemy and having the nerves of steel to see it through to the end - whatever that means. Those guys did not die in vain. He mentioned that he recently finished reading a new book about George Washington, the third one he’s read. “If they’re still talking about the first president, the 43rd has nothing to worry about,” Bush said. How right he is.

We sat there for an hour and would’ve stayed longer had Marine One not landed when it did. President Bush was scheduled to be at Quantico, VA for the induction of brand spanking new Marine Corps Second Lieutenants (God help the Corps!). He wrapped everything up and thanked us again and asked if we’d like to see the Oval Office before he takes off. Uh, yeah!! He led us into the brightly lit, surreal room where all the magic happens. “This is the Oval Office. What do you think?” the President asked. “It’s alright,” piped in someone behind me, probably Blackfive or Steve Shippert!! This is the room where the decision to go to war was made. This is the room where a lot of very difficult decisions are made. This is the room where presidents and diplomats from all over the globe gather to discuss policy. And we were there!!

As you walk into the Oval Office you can’t help but notice the magnificence of the lighting and decor. The lighting is so well done that you don’t even notice the absence of shadows. You half expect to hear angels usher in your entrance to the office. Everything about it is upbeat and positive and warming (and not because of global warming either). We took turns getting individual photos with the President in front of his desk. He gave each of us a coin as we finished. He invited us out to the south lawn to watch him take off in Marine One. He climbed up onto the platform like he has hundreds of times. However, instead of waving to the cameras, he turned towards our “group of eight” and gave a hearty wave BEFORE turning to the cameras so they could get their photo op. I couldn’t help but chuckle under my breath at the subtle jab.

Marine One took off and we were invited back into the West Wing. As we walked down the sidewalk along the Oval Office, we caught a glimpse of Barney. I think Barney has a blog too come to think of it. He stopped whatever he was doing and watched us walk by, almost as if to say thanks as well.

And that was how I spent my morning at the White House. The moral of the story is that it pays to be a Texas boy!!

As I stated a while back, I have been very happy with the VA hospitals and the high level of service I have seen since I returned from Afghanistan. This high level of satisfaction continues to stay high. Last week my employer informed me that I needed to travel out of town this week and the following week also. I immediately called the VA contact numbers that I had for the appointments I had scheduled for this week and they worked with me the best they could and did not push me way out in the future just because I needed to change. In fact, one clinic was able to slip me in first thing in the morning just two days after I called and I was able to get in there last week.

During that appointment, the orthopedic doctor was great and really explained to me all details of what he was concerned about. He sent me for some more x-rays and also scheduled me for some MRIs to happen the first work day I would be back from my business trips. It truly appears that in every appointment and/or interaction I have had with anyone from the VA that they are moving as quickly as possible to get treatment to me without delaying it.

When I read something like this, http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,148897,00.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS , that I did yesterday I get really upset. I am not sure where they are getting their data or if what they are seeing is isolated or the results misconstrued, but I do know that the appointments I have had and the appointments that at least two of the guys who were with me have been really quick. I refuse to believe that the VA Hospitals in NY are the best ones in the county and the only ones that are do quick appointments.

The doctor I met with last week is pretty confident after seeing the x-rays that I will need some level of surgery on at least my knee. Of course the MRI will tell more, but if he is thinking that way based on x-rays alone I am sure that an MRI that shows much more detail will confirm his suspicions. I am fine with it, because my knee is pretty messed up so whatever it takes to get rid of the frequent pain and limping will work for me.

So I am not sure what is going on every where else or what is happening with all the other VA hospitals in the country or their patients but I am happy with them. The VA has turned around for whatever reason, and it truly makes me feel like they care.

**NOTE, Troy is a First Sergeant in the New York Army National Guard and writes several blogs on his website at http://www.bouhammer.com**

There’s a lot of talk about pulling out of Iraq from both sides of the aisle (one side moreso than the other). And let’s face it, the American people are growing tired of the war as well. I believe that is because of one of three reasons: they have no personal stake in success/failure (or FEEL they don’t); the media spends a lot of their time covering the negative aspects of our efforts; and our politicians are undercutting us as much as possible.

The fact is that a complete story isn’t being told. All the negativity coming from within our own country is fueling the insurgency. They have constantly pointed to the “American attitude” in their propaganda as a cause celebre. They are using the same tactics used during Vietnam.

Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones is to testify before Congress today about his recent assessment of the Iraqi Security Forces. According to The Associated Press, he will say that Iraq’s security forces would be unable to take control of their country in the next 18 months. This is likely going to result in even more calls for the US to pull out prematurely. Never in history has a date been set for withdrawal by the enemy. You can’t go into a war and reconstruction with a specific timeline. There’s always a goal, but never a line drawn in the sand.

The fact is that, love it or hate it, we went into Iraq and destroyed the government. That is the goal of war - to force the capitulation of the other side. Saddam refused to capitulate and we were forced to completely decimate his military (what was left that didn’t run away). By law, it is our responsibility to rebuild that structure for the Iraqi people. In fact, it is our moral obligation! We cannot leave even one day sooner than the Iraqi people are ready for us to leave. Otherwise, we risk a repeat of Vietnam where the Communists swept into the south and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese because of our early departure (granted it was about 15 years long). Only this will be worse because it will probably be done by insurgents who have no care for human life. The other void will be filled by Islamic states like Iran, Syrian and probably Saudi Arabia to some degree.

That doesn’t mean that we have to stay there for eternity. But, we can’t create an artificial deadline either. The choice for the Iraqi people is clear and our options should be simple: get your stuff together NOW so we can go home in a reasonable time OR Iraq becomes the 51st US state and WE govern the country and WE collect the oil revenues. Neither of these options are very realistic, of course, because there are so many people invested in our failure - namely Iran. They are working feverishly to ensure that any progress we make in Iraq is quickly disrupted. We are not losing because American troops cannot maintain peace and security. We are losing because Iranian troops are ensuring a perpetual level of chaos and fear. We are being embarrassed by a pissant country.

True success on the Iraqi battlefield starts here at home. The first thing we need to do is openly and boisterously support our troops and their mission. It’s too late to pretend it didn’t happen. This isn’t a bumper sticker war where we can “Support Our Troops - Bring Them Home Now”. The solution is much more complicated than that. As we reduce troop levels under the current threat more Americans will be needlessly slaughtered because the support structure won’t be there.

Next, we as a country need to send a message to the insurgents and terrorists that “we will not falter, we will not fail” instead of already declaring defeat. This needs to be led by our politicians and supported by the voters. I’ve never met anyone who truly LOVES war. As Soldiers, we hate war because we’re the ones dying for it. But, peace comes at a cost. There will always be a Cain in this world that wants to kill Abel. Violence is a part of human nature and if we just back off and hope nothing will happen to us if we sit on our hands and throw down our arms, we’re naive. During WWII, my great-grandparents didn’t want to send their son to war - they were against his enlistment. But they recognized that it had to be done and went to work to support the war effort while it was there. My grandfather spoke often before his death about how he hated this war, but he never once did anything to hurt the effort or those fighting it.

It’s okay to be unsupportive of this war. I think the anti-war crowd would be better served if they adopted the chant “War Sucks, But Don’t Piss Us Off”. I have been to many anti-war rallies and I have NEVER, EVER seen a booth that collected letters of support for the troops deployed. I’ve never seen money collected for care packages. I have seen all sorts of vendors selling all kinds of “Bush Lied, Americans Died” crap. They’re all about capitalism when it comes to protesting. They love to claim their support of our troops. Those claims are never backed up by hard evidence.

On the other hand, when I’ve been to pro-troop events, 95% of the time there at least one booth to link people up with programs that support the troops through letters, care packages, taking care of their families left behind, you name it. It’s no wonder which of these groups the majority of troops end up attaching themselves to.

Okay, that was a long rant. Hopefully I didn’t confuse anyone.

Yes, we are still at war in Afghanistan. However, if you talked to some people you would never know it. I have had some people actually ask me if there is still a war going on over there and if I have seen any “real” combat. Part of me wants to choke them for asking such a dumb question and part of me wants to hug them and feel sorry for them because they are so ill-informed and ignorant.

You may ask yourself how can someone not know that we sill have troops actively engaged in combat in Afghanistan? Well, it is because these people either have their head in the sand or use the nightly news reports as their only source of information. Unless there is body count higher than 50, some foreign missionaries kidnapped, or tons of opium destroyed you simply do not hear anything about Afghanistan. It is sad that people either choose to ignore all what their country is involved in or what their own countrymen are risking their lives for. All someone has to do in order to see that we are still very active in Afghanistan is to read articles like this, http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,148038,00.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS or this http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,148220,00.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS , on the web. Better yet they can just check out Afghanistan news specifically at http://www.afghanistansun.com/index.php/ct/10/id/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c/ .

Afghanistansun.com compiles news reports from all over the world and from media outlets anywhere into one location. Many of the stories are duplicates since they are represented by multiple media outlets but at least you will find them. These articles don’t just cover body counts and grim things like that but also current issues, drug eradication, and other geo-political issues.

Afghanistan is where it all started as far as the GWOT, and has the largest support from countries all over the world. Remember, this is where the plot to carry out 9/11 (almost six years ago) came from. This is where most of those guys trained, this is where some of those responsible are still hiding. It is a real war there and there are people really dying. US service members, coalition service members, Afghan soldiers, Afghan police, Afghan civilians and most importantly bad guys (i.e. ACM, AGM, Taliban, or simply Tangos) are dying there all the time. The US military alone has essentially one and a half divisions worth of fighting strength on the ground that is actively engaged every day with the enemy. This is made up of two Brigade Combat Teams from the active duty Army, one National Guard Brigade Combat Team Task Force, Marine units, special operation forces, and other government agencies. Then you thrown in the fact that the British, Canadians, Polish, Romanians, Germans, Belgians, Italians, Spanish, Greeks, Dutch, and countless other counties are there (some of them are truly fighting and some are far away from it), and there is no doubt that this is a concentrated war effort.

A good friend of mine, Scott Kesterson, was an embedded reporter over there during my entire tour and is currently putting together a documentary that, as he calls it, “will be like no other documentary ever made”. You can keep up on his progress of this documentary at http://www.forgottenwarfilm.com/ . Appropriately enough he calls it the Forgotten War Film, even though that may change since the term was coined for the Korean War. But just like the Korean War, the war in Afghanistan has been largely forgotten by the people of the United States. In one of the interviews with me I referred to the war in Afghanistan as the “Forgotten War”, but I am not sure he coined it as that because of what I said. There are many people that fight over there whom feel this way.

The point is to not forget where we have Americans fighting abroad, always remember then in your prayers, thoughts, and conversations. They may be in Afghanistan, Iraq, Horn of Africa, Republic of Georgia, Philippines, S. Korea, Germany, Italy, Uzbekistan, or wherever. Regardless of where they are, there are American men and women deterring aggression and assisting our global friends in their own security. And in a little country called Afghanistan, perched between Iran and Pakistan there are tens of thousands of Americans putting their lives on the line every day, looking forward to the day that they can come home to the arms of loved ones.

**NOTE, Troy is a First Sergeant in the New York Army National Guard and writes several blogs on his website at http://www.bouhammer.com**

This post was originally ran on Troy’s Bouhammer Blog. He is, of course, a regular contributor here at You Served. Please be aware that the views and opinions expressed in this space are not necessarily the views expressed by VA Mortgage Center.com and its employees. Thank you. - You Served Editorial Staff

“Only those that have put their life on the line get to second guess a soldier in the field”

It is a quote on a poster that is profiled on the Military Motivator website. How does the friggen ACLU think it has a right to publish a report about rights violations by soldiers. How do they know what it is like? How do they know the whole situation? They don’t, they won’t and they never will. I am steaming mad after reading this article on the FoxNews.com website about the ACLU report which is over 10,000 pages long.

They looked at court transcripts and other official documents to analyze the soldier’s actions and essentially come up with a slamming report on the service members that are proudly serving on the front lines today. Of course the ultra-right MSM (main stream media) will be all over this and somehow spin this around again.

The reality is that people make mistakes and make bad choices. Whether it is a nice guy who decides to try and risk driving home after one too many drinks at a office happy hour, a driver who swerves left instead of right when a dog runs in front of him and that causes him to get into a head-on crash or a soldier who under the stress of combat puts a well-aimed killing shot into a possible enemy only to find out later it was an innocent.

Bad things happen, and as just about anyone can attest to, in a stressful situation you don’t have the luxury to sit back and weigh consequences with outcomes with courses of actions. You also don’t always make the best decision and sometimes later in self-reflection you may not even know why you made the decision you did. Well Crap really happens in combat, and as I have talked about many times on this blog during my tour in Afghanistan, there are moments where time stands still. These moments are mere seconds in duration, yet feel like minutes or hours. It is during these moments that a person has to rely on training, instinct, muscle memory, faith, values, beliefs and the grace of God to guide them to the right choice. In two wars I have had multiple distinct incidents happen to me that could have changed my life forever depending on which way I chose. In both the Persian Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan I was presented with situations where if I would have made one choice versus the other that I could have killed innocents and worse yet fellow American soldiers. These moments still bother me today and haunt me when something happens that reminds me of them.

This is the reason why I am so passionate about this subject. How dare anyone, and I mean anyone (not just the ACLU that I detest), sit back in their comfortable lifestyles with no idea of real stress, no idea of what it is like to watch your life flash in front of your eyes based on an enemy’s actions, and no idea of true discomfort judge me, or any service member and our decisions.

Recently all but one of the Marines involved with the Haditha incident have been exonerated, and it is believed that the last one will also be exonerated soon. This incident was all over the news last year and made major headlines as the ultra-right and bleeding-heart liberals just pounced on them, the Marine Corps and the overall Military. Well now that the Military justice system is finding that none of the Marines did anything wrong and were only following procedure, you don’t see on thing in the news about it. I was asked by friends, co-workers (military) and others about my opinion during the time it was all over the news and I stated then that from what I could see I would do the same thing the Marines did and I think they followed the TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures) correctly. Again I only knew what I read in the blogs and saw on the news. I could have been wrong had different information came out later, but I am glad to see that I wasn’t. I am glad to see that for the most part all of the information that came out was fairly accurate and that I was correct in my judgment.

Service members make mistakes, and taking into account the situation, guidance given and other factors they maybe should be punished or not. Just like that guy who gets a DWI for driving home from the office party or the guy that kills someone in another car because he swerved to miss a dog on the road. We are all accountable for our actions and sometimes a simple lapse in judgment or being a “nice” guy does not relieve us of that responsibility.

However it is until the day that you walk in the boots of those that you wish to judge should you be given the right to do such a thing. Until that day, how about just STFU.

Before we come into the military, we are required to complete an oath of service. This oath is the same for both officers and enlisted military members:

“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

However, officers take on an additional oath that is similar, but points out the greater responsibilities bestowed upon commissioned officers:

“I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.” (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

I highlighted a few areas in each of these oaths and these are the areas I want to focus on. Ehren Watada was commissioned into the Army in November 2003, after the war in Iraq had started. He took the above oaths “without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion”. Then, in June 2006, refused to deploy to Iraq. He believed the war in Iraq was illegal and it was his “duty” to disobey an order to deploy there. He was a First Lieutenant.

This is bad enough by itself, but it’s much worse. The Army definition of subversion reads, “Active attempts to encourage military or civilian employees to violate laws, disobey lawful orders or regulations, or disrupt military activities.”

Army Regulation, derived from the United States Code, further states the following:

During time of war, subversion additionally includes:
(l) making or conveying false reports or false statements with the intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies; and
(2) willfully obstructing or attempting to obstruct the recruitment or enlistment service of the United States, to the injury of the United States

In a video shown at his Article 32 hearing, 1LT Watada called on other soldiers “to throw down their weapons” and refuse to deploy as well. It is one thing for a United States commissioned officer to have an opinion about something, but to encourage other, more junior (though there really isn’t anything much more junior than a 1LT, except a 2LT) Soldiers to disobey LAWFUL orders. Yes, the orders to deploy are absolutely legal. I think there are many more officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines much smarter than Watada. If this war were truly illegal, and commissioned officers have the “duty as a commissioned officer of the armed forces” to refuse participation in something that is “not legal”, then I think more officers would be jumping ship and refusing deployment. Yet, out of the 68,634 active duty commissioned officers, this guy thinks he knows what he’s talking about.

And yet, even though this guy is disobeying orders there are those out there that are actively supporting this guy’s subversive behavior. At a progressive website, the question was posed “should a Soldier be penalized for speaking his mind?” No, he should not, provided that he does so “according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice”. To speak about one’s disapproval of this war and actively encourage that troops disobey lawful orders and endanger fellow Soldiers goes a bit beyond “speaking his mind”.

The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) National Board recently voted to pass a resolution in support of the civil rights of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. That’s unfortunate considering none of his civil rights were violated. It shouldn’t be surprising that the board is located in San Francisco. Other groups have done the same thing.

It’s beyond my scope of reasoning to understand how people (not all, since I recognize the majority of America supports its troops, regardless of their opinion of the war) will take it upon themselves to actively tear down our military and support the people who are willing to do it while in uniform. I think the problem stems from the fact that only a small percentage of the population actually understand military service. I’ve had countless arguments with people based on fact and personal experience and involvement in certain aspects of military life and this war, only to be told to provide links to back up my claims. They can’t see the forest for the tree. If the media doesn’t talk about it, it didn’t happen. If the media did talk about it, it’s gospel no matter how incorrect or partial its reporting may be.

None of this will affect my service. I’ll continue doing the right thing and attempting to educate people with facts and common sense. I love my country and despise those attempting to tear it down. 1LT Ehren Watada was a courageous American for volunteering to serve this country, but lost my respect for forgetting his roles and responsibilities. If when he is found guilty, I hope he gets the maximum punishment. And I hope the charge of subversion is added to his rap sheet.