A team within a team

The Thanksgiving Mission

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:05:52 +0300

I am almost certain Thanksgiving is tomorrow because I remember it being on Thursdays in years past. According to my wife, Christmas is cancelled. However, I think Thanksgiving is still in effect. While the rest of the U.S. is preparing for a feast or some kind of shopping, my platoon will be on the way to COB Speicher again. This time, I won’t be going. Not because of what day it is or that I am avoiding responsibility, but because of my place within the platoon. I am not the only leader in this band of 41 and many times follow the guidance of the Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO’s). A lieutenant is junior to them in time of service and technical knowledge, but senior in rank and responsibility. Because of this, I walk a delicate line between leader, manager and follower. I also can’t go on every mission for more reasons than becoming a micromanager and a general annoyance to my guys. Frankly, I need the rest. It is going to be a long nine months and I will probably need some sanity for the back end. Looking to next fall, I am already planning our extended family vacation.

Responsibility

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:02:32 +0300

In the next few days, I will sign for probably $15 million in equipment. That’s not the scary part that I loose sleep over. I have run budgets larger than that before. What keeps my brain occupied, is the 39 soldiers that I signed for (not literally). It can be nerve racking at times to be responsible for some of these young men. Less than a year ago, some of them were running around with gangs and involved in drugs. For several of them, joining the Army was a way out and a way to stability. Today they can no longer have the free access to the things of the streets. At times, the same immaturity and poor judgement remain. Now, they have the responsibility of driving $600,000 vehicles and operating heavy machine guns in a country half way around the world. Army doctrine states, as the Platoon Leader, I am responsible for everything my platoon does or fails to do. When a good or poor decision is made by a member of my platoon, I might have as well done it myself. Today I had to sit in a meeting to review a situation regarding our escalation of force. A class III laser was used by our rear gunner to keep traffic from our convoy. The vehicle in question, was a military vehicle that had approached from a different road. From the darkness and dust, it was not identified properly. What a battalion commander (Lieutenant Colonel) with multiple college degrees and a staff of senior officers had an hour to review, a 19 year old soldier had to decide in just a few seconds. This is the responsibility we put on these young men. They carry out the fragile policies of our commanders, and can take life away with the pull of a trigger.

An Infantryman’s Bed

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:09:03 +0300

I realized that I had been up for a while when I got back from the mission and my alarm clock went off. It was set for the same time I woke up the day before, which to me, was the same day. Sometimes I don’t get my rest on a mattress. It is well known within the branch that an infantryman can build a bed anywhere. This mission, the cobble rocks of a FOB Speicher parking lot (me), against an MRAP (Stanwitz), on top of the MRAP (Hickey) would give us rest. In addition to our normal inspections of vehicles and equipment, before each mission we have to prepare to spend the night. Dust storms, bad weather and blocked roads can delay our trip until the following day. When I arrived at the motorpool earlier that morning, a Sergeant from the Artillery unit we are replacing started laughing at my assault pack (backpack). “That’s all you brought, Sir?” It didn’t look any larger than something a 5th grader might take to school. “You’ll learn,” he said as he loaded his duffel in to the MRAP. Later that day lying down on a dirt parking lot, I laughed to myself. “We are infantry, we can sleep anywhere.” Then Stanwitz started drooling on himself.

The Mechanic’s Suit

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:04:26 +0300

We headed up to Mosul for the first time today. I had the pleasure of riding in vehicle #2 for the first time which acts as an IED scout during the convoy. The vehicle usually stops at all suspected areas of interest to investigate. There was nothing that was cause for too much concern other than the fresh blast crater that we encountered. The road is littered with these which are usually filled with concrete by the time that we get to them, so they are not refilled by the insurgents.

The guys made fun of me because I wore a fire retardant suit that looks like something that a mechanic or pilot would wear. That’s how it is when you are in charge and get first pick of the gear. Stanwitz took a picture of me “checking for leaks” before we left. A staged photo, but funny. Several of the guys came by and asked when the bird (helicopter) was coming in. I told them that I was waiting on my crew chief and that we were ready for take off and would convoy with blackhawks. The funny thing is, that we actually received air support on our way out of Mosul leaving the populated area into the desert. As the convoy commander, I will sometimes communicate with the birds if a situation arises or if they check in with our convoy. While we were waiting on our SP time (the time we leave an area) I got handed a piece of paper with a red label detailing a few significant acts in the area. You can probably get the information here though.

http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

The rest of our journey occurred without incident, except for the blown tire on one of the supply vehicles. I’m glad to make it back relatively quick so I can call Anna before I get too tired.

The day after the mission, and the day before the next

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:21:38 +0300

Yesterday we ran South to a base outside of Tikrit. Tomorrow we head up North to Mosul. These will make up the bulk of the escort runs that we make, if not all of them. I’m sure someone would scold me for posting that on the internet. You can look up the route on Google Earth like the enemy does. It would be like trying to keep the Chicago “L” schedule a secret. You don’t really know when it is coming, but you know that there are several in the morning and several in the evening. Most of all, you are certain where the lines run. I also made the manifest for Tuesday’s mission. We’ll go back down South again. I’m trying to get as much practice in before we take full command from the outgoing unit. We are also short on senior enlisted in my platoon. Under Multinational Iraq regulations, you have to be E-6 or higher to lead a convoy. That only leaves myself and Sergeant Evans to run the convoys within the platoon. It’s looking like a dusty deployment.