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August 4, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Uncategorized
I have wanted to write about this for a while, and I think it is time. What you are about to read is controversial. It may make some people dislike me, if not hate me. It may make some never read my blog writings again. If so, I can only say it is a shame that you would let a disagreement with my opinion offend you that much. I have felt this way for a long time and have been very verbal about this for quite a few years, to include an editorial I wrote in the Army Times several years ago.
This article http://www.military.com/news/article/general-defends-15month-tours.html does not necessarily support my opinion, but it is partially there. See here is what my plan would be if I were President for a day….
I think that we as a country, government and military need to get off of this notion of a 12 or even 15 month tours and then rotate out. I call this the Vietnam mentality, and it does not serve us well. It may have been needed then, when we had a draft for a highly unpopular war, but it does not fit now. Every war prior to Vietnam was fought with troops that essentially stayed until the job was done. We won all of those wars, hands down. There is controversy and disagreement about the outcome of Vietnam and if we won or lost there. It really depends on who you ask.
Prior to Vietnam (WWI, WWII, Korea, etc), we sent divisions and armies to the war front and they stayed until they were done. Sometimes, they were rotated out in order to spread the honors and lineage or after facing more than their fair share of combat and personnel losses. However, for the most part they stayed. Soldiers were not stop-lossed, they were rotated in and out as their time was done or they joined and got orders for that unit. If a unit had heavy losses, then they put in a request for fillers and they got them from either other units or from the supply of new soldiers joining the Army.
Ever since Vietnam our wars have been short. You can look at Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia, etc. and easily see they were short in actual combat time frame. The Global War on Terror which consists of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and smaller actions in many other countries has been going on since our country was attacked in 2001. We have been rotating Division HQs, and Brigade Combat Teams in and out over and over since we first got into Afghanistan and Iraq. Reset, refit, dwell times, and all of that have caused our army to look thin, and even broken in some eyes. Not only Active duty Army, but also Army Reserves and Army National Guard. Not to mention Active and Reserve Marine units too.
All of the problems of trying to rotate people back every 12 months, millions of dollars in costs relating to moving personnel and equipment and not to mention the loss of intellectual knowledge of the battle-space and people in the battle-space can all be avoided if we got off of the Vietnam 12 month and out mindset.
When I was active duty (for almost 10 years) I knew that was my job. I was a soldier full time, 24/7/365. I had nothing else on me schedule. I trained year around, all hours of the day and through holidays and weekends. When you are a soldier, you are a soldier all the time. If Desert Storm combat actually lasted 2 years instead of a few weeks, then I would have expected to stay, not rotate back. So why do we expect that now?
A unit that rotates into a new area of operation spends at least 4-6 weeks getting acquainted with the area, the people, the culture, etc. It typically takes another 6-8 weeks to develop the relationships and hopefully trust of the locals, the local military and police reps, etc. As the unit gets closer to the 12th month (around month 11) all the soldiers can think about is coming home and trying to survive until that last plane or helo ride out. So out of a 12 month tour, about 3 months is not really productive. Not to mention the fact that (based on the tempo over the last few years), that soldier will only be home 12 months and then back again. This disrupts families, schedules, new babies being planned, and lives being planned.
So, based on all of that I propose the following:
1. Deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan the appropriate number of Brigade Combat Teams in order to fulfill mission needs.
2. Do not give them an end date.
3. Try to put in the units that are best fit for the environment (1st Cavalry Div, 3rd Infantry Division, 101st Air Assault Division in Iraq and 10th Mountain Division 173rd Airborne Division in Afghanistan) with all appropriate Division HQs, and BCTs to include any specialty BCTs like Strykers that they may need.
4. End Stop-loss
5. PCS soldiers in and out as normal timeframes call for
6. Keep using National Guard units when needed, but should try to fit them into the MiTT and ETT training missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Also they would be on 12 month rotations as they have full time civilian commitments since they are not full time soldiers.
7. Any Reserve units deployed would be on a 12 month rotation cycle.
8. Deploy and Active Duty Military Police Brigade to Afghanistan for the training of their Police forces.
9. Keep the 82nd Airborne as the Country’s strategic reserve and to respond to any other threats that may arise or for any surge into GWOT.
10. Keep other units (4th ID, etc.) stateside as dwell units, and in case a surge is needed for short term need.
11. Keep the 25th in the Pacific theatre and focused on operations in Korea if needed, the Philippines, etc.
12. Keep 1st Infantry Division focused on Europe.
With a plan similar to this, we would not have units stretched thin, we would not have Reserve and National Guard units deploying time and time again, we would not have employers unwilling to hire on members of the military in fear of them being deployed. We would not have to worry about stealing troops from Iraq in order to surge forces into Afghanistan.
We would have institutional knowledge that can be built upon, we would have consistency on the battlefield, and we would have enough forces stateside to respond to threats anywhere in the world. We would save millions of dollars in transportation costs in moving units and troops back and forth. And I am sure we would accomplish our military and political goals much faster and thereby winning our battles and the war faster and easier.
This would be tough to enact right now in our current rotation pattern, but not impossible. What it would mean is that expectations would have to be set with soldiers and families. A line in the sand would have to be drawn and the SecDef would just have to say “Units x, y, and z are staying in theatre, and aren’t coming home until the war is over”, “Units a, b, and c are coming back stateside (either on time or early) to dwell and be stationed back in the US”.
The bottom line is this; we cannot be PC (Politically Correct) about war or deployments. It is a tough job, it is a sucky job and there is nobody I know or ever met that has been to war who likes it. It is a necessary evil for living on this planet, and I am sure always will be as long are more than one person is occupying the same space. I know families want their soldiers home, just as I wanted to be home when I was deployed and just like I want my son home now. However those that sign up now know what they are getting into. Those on active duty especially know what they are getting into. It has been seven years since the attacks of 2001, which means every single person serving today has either enlisted or re-enlisted since then. The days of reserve component weekend warrior’s “will never deploy” mentality or the active duty “I came in for the college money” mentality is long gone. Those that are here today, have either been to war and stayed or know they will soon go to war.
If you agree, spread the word to your Senator, Congressman, and friends and maybe leave a comment on this blog. If you don’t…well then leave a comment on this blog.
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July 20, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military
Here are the first details of the attack on the outpost and FOB at Wanat in Kunar Province Afghanistan. This story is the result of interviews with survivors of the attack while they are recuperating in Landstuhl, Germany. I had no doubt that there was going to be some great stories of bravery to come out of this terrible attack. This is the first recount I have read of the attack and I am sure there are more to come.
The terrible loss of 173rd Airborne soldiers has been all over the news lately. I encourage you to take 5 minutes and read the following story. Take some time and try to imagine the hell they were going through as they were fighting for their lives.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56237
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July 11, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military
Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7415315.stm and read this story. It is a prime example of how the Taliban and Al-Queda are trying to keep the people of Afghanistan back in the stone ages. I know the Ghazni province well as I spent many weeks during my tour in 2006-2007. Many of the blog entries I wrote during my tour were based on my time in Ghazni.
This is a place where I went into villages and was the first American they had ever seen, much less met. Even though we had been there for 5-6 years already, Afghanistan is so rural and spread out that the US forces had not gotten everywhere. In fact I am sure there are still places that US soldiers have not ventured into yet. There were even villages where they had never even seen a Afghan Army soldier or police officer before.
The only way that a country which I commonly say is “a week and a half out of the stone age” is going to move forward is to educate its people. Beheading teachers, burning schools, killing kids will certainly deter anyone from even trying to get an education. At one time when I was there, the Taliban typically only did this to schools that allowed girls to attend. Now it appears that the Taliban is afraid of anyone getting an education and is going after all schools.
The place is too big, and too spread out. We need a lot more soldiers there, we need to earn the trust of the people that we will protect them, the Afghan forces need to continue to grow and become more of a leading force and the people need to stand up for themselves as they have done here, http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=2922. This last story is a great one in the fact that it shows local afghans starting to stand up for themselves and fight for the rights they want and dream of. The right to raise their family in peace and lead productive lives. It has to start somewhere, and education seems like the right place.
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June 27, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military
“The Soldier above all others prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest scars of war.” - General Douglas MacArthur
That quote is what I have at the bottom of all of my emails. I have it there for a reason, and unfortunately one of those times is now.
We have suffered a terrible loss in the New York National Guard over the last few days. On Saturday morning, three soldiers from the New York National Guard were killed along with a Lieutenant Colonel from Active Duty when their Humvee was the target of a complex ambush that involved an IED initially and then small arms and RPG fire. I have known of this the last several days, but had to stay silent until the Army has a chance to do the proper notification. This spawned my one question on Monday with COL McGrath in the Blogger’s Roundtable, when I asked how his soldiers were doing despite the significant loss of lives in his area of operation. He actually talked about this attack specifically in the interview. If you did not hear that interview session, you can click HERE and listen to it.
Anyway, one of those soldiers, SGT Rodriguez, was one of mine once. I was his First Sergeant from the time he came into the National Guard until I deployed in 2006. I remember him well, and will now remember him always. He was a hard working soldier, that did what he was told, never complained and never made a fuss. He was very quiet, but at the same time was outgoing when he needed to be. I was fortunate enough to see him while I was down at Ft. Bragg right before the 27th BCT shipped out of the US. I spent time talking to him, his fellow soldiers and some of thier leaders, all of whom used to work for me when I was their First Sergeant.
The Buffalo News has a small article in the paper today that you can read if you would like, right here; http://www.buffalonews.com/180/story/377814.html, http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/378762.html or http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/06/revere_soldier_killed_in_afghanistan_ambush.html
The other two NY National Guardsmen has stories written about them also
SGT Seabrooks
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-lisold0626,0,3803486.story
SPC Mangano
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-limang0626,0,6372114.story
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June 13, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military
Well tomorrow is a very important day in our country, but if course because Hallmark doesn’t make a big stink about it and because the patriotism that used to be alive in this country continues to dwindle, it isn’t recognized like it should be. It is actually a very important day for two reasons. One is that it is Flag Day, and the other is because it is the birthday of the US Army. Two important events on one day, and you barely see mention of it.
No doubt it is important to me and my family as it is to millions of others across the country, but just not everyone. The importance to my family was demonstrated this morning as I attended a Flag Day ceremony at my youngest (6 year old) son’s school. This is the elementary school that my 15 year old also attended and where my wife helps out tutoring, supervises recess, etc. So this morning my youngest son, Hunter, was adamant that he has to wear his ACU camouflage pants and shirt. He knew I was attending in uniform today so he wanted to be in “uniform”.
After I put him on the bus, I came inside to get dressed on don the ACUs for this morning event. When we walked into the school I was glad to see another Dad there in uniform. He is in the Navy Reserves and also came in uniform at the request of the school. The ceremony was very nice and a lot longer with more content then I remember in the past when my 15 year old went to school there. At one point in the middle of the ceremony the principal called anyone forward that is in uniform or is a vet. So I and the other dad went up the front and were recognized, which was good for the kids I guess. I know Hunter loved it as I had to say who my child was and he loved being pointed out like that. As I was talking, I looked over at him and he was ear to ear with a smile. After I walked back to where I was standing, Christine leaned over to another parent and said “if he knew they were going to call him up like that, he would not have worn a uniform”. Oh my wife knows me way too well.
As the ceremony was drawing to a close the principal was saying some last words when I noticed from the corner of my eye that Hunter was up and talking to his teacher. I then saw them walking up to the center where the principal was standing. Christine was filming and did not see them yet, so when I saw that Hunter was carrying a picture of his brother Jon, who is currently deployed to Afghanistan too I knew it was about to be a tissue alert moment. I asked Christine to hand me the camera as I would film, and I think she was thankful for me to do it so she could watch what was left of the ceremony. I don’t think she had seen Hunter yet since she was watching through the viewfinder of the camera with its limited scope of view. As I took the camera from her, she saw Hunter with the picture and so did every other parent and teacher in the gym. The tears started flowing at this moment and many teachers and parents came up afterwards to give Christine and hug and shake my hand.
Since my 15 year old son, Jordan went to 1-5th grades here we know many of the teachers personally and they know about our family history. Jon never went to school here but many of them know him or of him. As Hunter and his teacher approached the principal, she looked puzzled and leaned over to listen to what Hunter’s teacher had to say. The principal then announced that we had one more special person to recognize. With Hunter standing up in front dressed in all ACU camouflage, one of the teachers held of Jon’s photo as high as she could and showed Jon’s picture to the entire gym full of people. The principal then said something to the effect of “well you all just met Hunter’s dad who is in the Army, but Hunter wanted you to also know about his brother who is also in the Army and currently in Afghanistan.” The entire gymnasium of kids, parents, teachers and administrators erupted in applause for Hunter’s brother Jon in Afghanistan. It was a special moment for a little boy who has put up with so much missing out of his life over the last 2+ years with his Dad deployed and now his big brother.
As his Dad it also made me proud to see my six year old son with so much pride and patriotism not only for his Dad and brother, but also for his country. He knows all about the flag, draws flags all the time and always gives them the utmost respect. So regardless of how anyone else in the country feels I know in my household Flag Day will always be remembered and recognized as will the birthday of the US Army.
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June 11, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military
Check the news lately and you will see it. Afghanistan is a war zone in case anyone did not realize it. The man himself, The Chairman of the JCS whom I met with back in December is asking and looking for more embedded trainers to be with the Afghan Army and Police. You can read the story at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004468688_apusafghanistan.html. In addition to that, there are now daily reports of all types of actions going on. From my experience only 1 in 75 TICs (aka firefights) between Coalition Forces and the enemy is reported in the news. If you head over to http://www.afghanistansun.com you will see the a better scope of all that is happening in country right now.
One of the latest stories to come out is this one, http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/211642,us-airstrikes-kill-33-civilians-says-afghan-lawmaker–summary.html which talks about a US airstrike that killed 33 people. Of course the media is pushing the Taliban propoganda and saying it is all civilian. Let me reassure you that every control measure is taken to positively ID any enemy before calling in something as destructive as an airstrike. In fact, it would get most Americans pissed off to know what we have to go through in order to call in an airstrike (something just short of a congressional act and permission from God himself). What caught my attention about this airstrike is that it is in Mata Khan District which is a place that I was in a lot. The boundary of Mata Khan is only a few miles from the FOB I stayed in and was a place I conducted many, many missions of my tour.
Many at higher levels considered this a “safe” place because they never got shot at there, and took safety in stride when sending soldiers into this area. See, even military members in country don’t even know there is a war going on half the time….and they are stationed there.
1 Comment »
June 10, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military, Video
I came across this video over at Blackfive.net. It is described as the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan performing a medevac mission of 3 “heroes” at night in the mountains. I encourage you to head over to http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/05/memorial-day–1.html and check out the video and text that goes along with the video. Blackfive does a good job and explaining the risks and factors that go into a mission like this. I could do a cut and paste, but I don’t want to steal from a fellow milblogger without giving them the credit.
So take 4 minutes out of your day and watch the very powerful video below, showing selfless service and bravery my pilots and medics to extract and save some war-fighters.
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May 30, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military, Why We Serve
This last memorial day I took part in a Memorial Day parade and memorial ceremony in a little town called Millbrook, NY. I along with Stefan Ralph (who is another contributor to The Sandbox book), both were invited here by the VFW and the owner of Merritt’s Bookstore to participate in the parade and conduct a book-signing of The Sandbox. Millbrook is small town that embodies everything I think Norman Rockwell would think of when he was painting. The main street is shrouded in huge trees on both sides that provide a ceiling for the street. Small shops and businesses flank both sides of the street. At the end of the street is a huge park built on soft, rolling hills that has several memorials in it for the Veteran’s of this country. The park, called Tribute Garden is the centerpiece of the town as well it should be. It is truly something to be proud of. It was built after WWI as a tribute to all that fell in that war and the monument to WWI veterans is the centerpiece of the park.
The parade was nice as Stefan and I walked in the lead with the local VFW members. At the end of the parade, we marched up into the park where an entire high school band was seated. There the band played the National Anthem, God Bless America and other songs. They had a local High School student sing the National Anthem and the Valedictorian read the poem “In Flanders Field”. The local NY Assemblymen spoke who was an amazingly young looking guy. Of course I found out why when they read his bio and it was explained that he was elected to his first office at the age of 18 and at the age of 19 became the youngest mayor ever. He was a sharp guy who gave a very good speech about what this Memorial Day meant to him and all in this country. I wish I had some time to talk to him one on one as he was very impressive. The VFW also did a 3 gun salute while Taps was played by a trumpet player from the High School band. It was all of these things that made the ceremony so pleasant and made me glad that we did the six hour drive across the state to take part in this.
As I stood there during all of the ceremony at the park, looking out at hundreds of perfect strangers, but patriotic Americans I just kind of imagined how many ceremonies were happening like this all over the country at about the same time. There were probably more happening than I could even imagine or guess. For those few moments I felt like I was in the heart of America. To me, this is what America is all about and even more importantly this is what Memorial Day is all about. Hundreds of people took time out of their day, got the kids ready, brought them to the main street and then walked them up to the park to stand in reverence as they watched a ceremony in remembrance. Some probably had family present or past that were in the military, some probably didn’t know anyone in the military. However they all came out, and they didn’t come for a raffle, or rides, or fireworks. They came to watch some old vets, some new vets, and their political leaders pay tribute to all the great Americans who gave up their life in defense and honor of this country. I was glad to see so many people be willing to give up their time, their busy schedules, etc. to honor those that gave up so much more.
After the ceremony was over, Stefan and I walked down the bookstore and conducted the book-signing. There was not a huge turnout, but the people we met were really nice and truly appreciative of us being there. We spent a lot of time talking to them, answering questions and of course signing books. David then introduced both Stefan and I. We said a few words about blogging or about our deployment and then we both read a story from the book. Since Owen (Roy Batty) could not make it, David read one of his entries and then David asked me to read one of Ben’s as Ben also had to cancel at the last minute. Since Ben and I were on the same team together I was honored to read one of my favorite stories of his called Decency and Honor.
It was a long weekend, but something I was glad I did and worth every minute of it. I was able to see many old friends and meet many new ones. My wife and I both agreed that we could easily move to the Millbrook/Amenia area and really enjoy it. It is too bad there is not a nice sized airport close by, as that would be all that I need in order to do my work. The trip was outside of our norm, but that is ok because sometimes that is what you just need to do…get outside of the norm.
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May 20, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Military News
I came across this news blip today and felt a little vindicated. I have been saying since the first of the year that 2008 would continue the trend and the violence would continue to rise. Even though I hate to be right on this subject, I am glad to see the senior leadership starting to admit this. This is the cold hard fact, and regardless of how many mid-level people want to take credit for something that is not a reality, it is what it is.
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8352375&nav=0Ra7DqYl
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May 15, 2008 By Troy
Posted in Military News
They were barely there, having just got on the ground after a lot of hype and media coverage. It is a true shame that so soon after getting on the ground in a war zone that most of America has forgotten about or chose to ignore, we lose two more brave Americans.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-22-afghanistan_N.htm?csp=34
The ironic thing is that these were not the infantrymen on the tip of the spear, like I was when I was there or that the Marines are who are kicking in doors and killing the Taliban. These are the support folks, the ones that make it possible for the grunts to take the fight to the enemy.
I keep saying and I will keep saying that Afghanistan is a dangerous place and there is a WAR GOING ON THERE. I will keep shouting that from the rooftops and doing whatever I can to get that message out. The other day there was a report saying so far the spring offensive has not been as bad as was feared because the number of direct fire attacks are down. Two things about that statement which are misleading. One is that they are not measuring attacks against Afghan forces and Two is that the enemy is learning from Iraq. Even though it took them a while, they are seeing that huge IEDs like this are much more effective at killing coalition forces and keeping themselves out of harms way, then direct attacks. In fact just this morning between 15-20 civilians were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up while disguised as a women wearing a burqua in the city of Farah out in western Afghanistan.
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