Eye Saga 6

What a terrific day for Easter! The weather was wonderful with temps in the upper 80s with hardly any breeze or humidity. We, the choir, sang five songs in each of the three morning services for a total of 15 songs. It was awesome.

Regarding the eyes, I endured procedure #4 Monday afternoon. COL Scott Barnes, the chief of the refractory eye clinic and the cornea specialist, conducted the LASEK laser enhancement on my right eye. Everything with the laser enhancement went well. I remember him discussing some obsesses on my eye with some of his staff during the procedure, so sliding the outer layer of the cornea off the rest of the corneal surface was a little more challenging than he anticipated, but he did a fine job. He used the laser for 20-seconds to “reshape” the eye by burning off some of the tissue on the perimeter of the cornea. I could hear the loud clicking of the laser, the sizzling of my eye as it burned (similar to bacon frying in a skillet) and I could smell the burning flesh (similar to hair burning when I’m roasting food over a campfire). Meanwhile, I focused on the red flashing light as COL Barnes instructed.

I am concerned about how slowly the recovery is progressing. During my follow-up appointment at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg on Tuesday morning with Dr Gary Nestor, he tested my eye at 20:80 which is worse now than it was before the procedure. However, he reassured me that my eye must get worse before it gets better. It is all part of the healing process, Dr Nestor said. He added that he thought it would be better by the weekend.

I’ve had zero pain this week as I recovered. Of course, I used Motrin, Percocet and Valium as prescribed to manage the “pain.” I also used pea packs as cold compresses to minimize the swelling during my daily naps. Thankfully, my mother-in-law served as my driver and nurse all week. She read scripture to me everyday plus passages from one of my military books about the Battle of Fallujah that I’m reading. (She flew into town Sunday evening and departed Saturday morning. She was an answer to prayer, since I could not drive or read for a week.)

On Thursday, I called the automated pharmacy refill number to order refills on some of my meds: Systane (AKA lubricating drops or saline solution) and fluorometholone ophthalmic or FML for short (AKA steroids). I received all my meds on the same day, March 19, after my second pre-op appointment. I received one bottle containing one fluid ounce (30 mL) of Systane and two bottles of FML, each containing 5 mL for a total of 10 mL. I’m using Systane about 12 times a day and FML four times a day. Since I’m starting to run low on these two meds and Ft Bragg is nearly a 2-hour drive one way, I wanted to pick them up on Monday, which is now tomorrow since I have another follow-up appointment on the same day. The order for Systane was denied, because I am not allowed to reorder that product until after April 11. (I’ll be out of Systane before April 11. I have less than 1/4th of the bottle left now and I’ve only been using it for seven days.) Yet, the order for FML was approved. (Wow, gotta love the inefficiency of the government health care system.)

It’s now the weekend and I’m still seeing triple. As I drove home tonight from a friend’s birthday party, I was seeing three stop lights when there is only one…just like I was before the procedure. (No, I wasn’t drinking alcohol. My beverage of choice was sweet tea. Maybe I’m just being impatient, but I thought this procedure was supposed to fix this problem.)

Tomorrow, I have another follow-up appointment with Dr Nestor at Fort Bragg. One of my co-workers from the public relations firm is driving me. Hopefully, I’ll have better news to report on my recovery soon. My convalescent leave will also expire this week, so I’ll also return to work in a few days.

Eye Saga 5

Monday, 22 March 2010

Wow! What a weekend.

Friday morning, I sat down with COL Scott Barnes, the chief of the refractory eye clinic and the cornea specialist at Fort Bragg. He explained there are two things wrong with my right eye. There is scar tissue plus the eye needs to be reshaped; it is too flat. Yes, the center of the cornea is thin, but the cornea tissue he needs to remove are on the outer (perimeter) edges so the cornea in that area is thick enough. He continued to explain that I have a 33% chance of improving my vision, a 33% chance of no change or a 33% chance of getting worse vision. Frankly the odds are not that great. However, he also continued by saying that if the procedure were dangerous with little chance of success he would say we are NOT doing the procedure. (My perspective is I’m not a betting man. I serve the Master Physician, so God’s ultimately in charge.) COL Barnes is a pretty good doc and eye surgeon; his clinic completed 37,000 PRK/LASEK procedures with a 99% success rate during the last 10-years. His clinic also did 3,000 LASIK procedures during the last 10-years.

So, the plan is we’re moving forward by doing a LASEK procedure on 29 March at 12:30 p.m. The EK procedure is similar to a PRK procedure with one minor difference. The difference is how to get past the outer layer of the cornea to get to the inner layer. In laymen’s terms instead of scraping the outer layer of the cornea off the eye for PRK, he’ll use eye drops to loosen it and move it aside. He’ll use a laser to burn off some of the perimeter tissue then move the outer layer back into place. Using an analogy, he’ll slide the rug off the hardwood floor, so he can make corrections to the hardwood surface. Then he’ll slide the rug back in place when he’s done.
After the meeting with COL Barnes, I spent an hour waiting in the pharmacy to get a bag full of medication valued at approximately $2K for the procedure. I signed for two varieties of narcotics for pain management. (The meds are designed to knock me out, so I sleep. This way the eye lid is not scraping against the cornea surface as it recovers. Meanwhile, the contact lens that COL Barnes places over the cornea serves as a bandage which I’m not to touch. He removes the contact on Day 5.)

I still need to figure out logistics, because I cannot drive or work for 5-days. My eyes will not be in any shape to legally drive as I’ll need to recover. The clinic will not release me until they see a driver is with me, then they’ll let me go. I’ll have follow-up appointments on Day 2 & 5, which they insist a driver report and depart with me. (Fort Bragg is a 2-hour trip from where I work in North Raleigh. My car has a Fort Bragg DoD decal, which makes it easy to get through the controlled access to post. However, if the driver is using my vehicle… a Mazda Miata, they’ll need to know how to drive a manual transmission.)

I arrived home about 2 p.m. and immediately jumped into my friend’s vehicle, who was waiting at my house. We traveled to Asheville to The Cove, which is Billy Graham’s training center in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We attended the entire men’s retreat organized by Providence Baptist Church. A number of partner churches were represented as well. (Some Marines from a church near Cherry Point attended.) Pastor Ken Smith from FL was the primary speaker. Lenny LeBlanc was the music leader. (Lenny had several “Top 40” songs back in the 1970s and 1980s. He is now the music minister at a church in Florence, AL.) It was neat to see God moving among the 350 men who attended. (Now I have another accountability partner to help me in my daily battles.)

During the Sat afternoon break, my friend & I climbed to the summit of the mountain on the premises. It was approximately 3400 feet high. The weather was beautiful (warm & sunny) and the view was awesome. The sky was mostly clear, so we could see a long ways. Wow! God has a good view.

Sun afternoon we drove in rain most of the 4-hour trip home. It’s neat to see the white and pink blossoms on the flowering trees and shrubs. (I believe most of them were crabapple and Bartlett pear trees plus some redbuds.) There were also many spots with yellow daffodils blooming. After arriving home, I watched several NCAA men’s basketball games. (My bracket is all messed up. I picked Kansas to win the whole thing.) Then I spent several hours reading. God is so good.

My sister called while I was away. She called on Sat to tell me that my favorite cousin, Sheryl Swanson, died. (I didn’t get the message until I was out of the mountains. There was no cell phone coverage, TV or internet in the hotel rooms at The Cove.) Sheryl won her first bout with cancer using chemotherapy about 12-years ago, but it came back and beat her this time. (She was approximately 5-years older than me. She was a wife and a mother of four. Her youngest is a senior in HS. Her middle two are in college. Her oldest is a Marine in Iraq.) I think she is a believer, so I am encouraged knowing I’ll see her again. I’ll send a card to Mike, her husband, in a few minutes. (We like to talk politics. He’s a conservative and very well informed. I’m sure we’ll bellyache about what Congress passed last night, because they aren't listening to the American public. Mike is an anesthesiologist, so he has a unique point of view on the subject.)

I’ll stay in Raleigh for Easter. I’ll be in recovery, so I don’t plan to go anywhere. (After my first PRK laser eye procedure in Nov 2007, my daughter read scriptures to me twice daily for nearly 3-weeks and I listened to a bunch of audio books.)

When I read Phil 1:3-6 today, I thought of you. Thanks for your prayers.

Eye Saga 4

Thursday, 18 March 2010

I have an update but the news is not what I expected.

I met with Dr Nestor at Fort Bragg yesterday. He explained that my cornea may be too thin, so I am not scheduled for PRK laser eye enhancement. Instead I have an appointment with Dr Barnes, a cornea specialist, for a second opinion tomorrow morning. He may say that since I am far-sighted in the right eye, that I’m within tolerance to have more PRK. He may say otherwise. So, I don’t know what I’ll find out tomorrow. Dr Nestor said that they will take care of me, but I don’t know what that means. I may be facing other options.

So at the moment, I don’t know what is happening to fix my eyes. However, I’m exercising faith that the docs know what they’re doing.

(I’m thinking of the passage in Matt. 6:25-34. Verse 34 says,
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Then I remember that God’s eye is on the sparrow in Matt. 10:29-31.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Ain’t it great!)

Let me paint an analogy. Instead of being on the military crest of a hill overlooking the valley with a great 10-mile commanding view of everything that is coming at me, I’m on the reverse slope looking at a small rise in front of me with no idea what’s on the other side. So from my foxhole, the only thing I see is a five-foot slope to the top of the hill in front of me with blue sky beyond it, because the valley in my sector on the other side is obscured by the immediate hilltop in my line of sight. (Therefore, I do not know what is coming at me.)

Here’s another analogy. I feel like I’m walking into a gunfight with only an 18-inch Bowie knife. Bowie knives are great weapons in a close quarter fight, but I’m at a disadvantage against ranged weapons like a .45-caliber pistol or a 12-gauge shotgun. The advantage goes to my opponent with the 25-meter stand-off capability of the firearms. (In other words, I feel unprepared for what I may face tomorrow. Maybe this analogy doesn’t clearly articulate my point.)

Thanks for praying. More to follow….

Eye Saga 3

Monday, 8 March 2010

I’m hoping Spring has sprung. It’s projected to get to 71 degrees on Wednesday. We’ve had at least 10-inches of snow between four snow storms in Raleigh. In comparison, my folks in Nebraska received more than 48-inches this year. So, it seems as if most of the country has enjoyed a Winter Wonderland for at least a few hours. (And people still believe the global warming garbage? Hmmm….)

I’ve had the pleasure of watching the cardinals and other birds play in the wood line behind my house while I’m having breakfast. (There’s a creek right behind the house, so about 20-feet from the deck the woods begin.) Saturday, the mourning doves were also singing. It’s neat to see how God cares for the sparrows and other critters. Just think… He loves us even more. Ain’t it great?

Yesterday, I sang for nearly seven hours. I sing bass in the choir at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh. We sang five songs in each of the three morning services after warming up for 30-minutes. The choir practiced for an hour before the evening service. During the evening service we had an old-fashioned hymn sing. We started the service by leading the congregation for 10 songs. Then people in the congregation picked another 20 songs for everyone to sing. The service lasted nearly 1.5 hours. Meanwhile, I sang to a choir CD while I drove around town to and from church. (I live about 10-miles from church and 8-miles from work, so it’s about a 20-minute drive each way when there is light traffic.)

I have not had PRK eye surgery #2 yet. This will be a long story and you’ll see my frustration creeping into the monologue. (I’m not frustrated with the docs; they’ve been great.)

The eye surgeon (Dr Hunt) here in Raleigh referred me to Fort Bragg for more PRK treatment but he also gave me a new prescription for glasses in the interim. The eye surgeon at Fort Bragg, NC (Dr Nestor) sent me a packet to fill out. I finished filling out the mountain of paperwork about 8-days ago, but was waiting for the “permission letter” from my military boss (battalion commander at Fort Jackson, SC). I received my battalion commander’s letter Thursday. Fort Bragg only accepts the packet in person during specified hours Tuesday thru Thursday. Fort Bragg is a 2-hour drive, so I’ll deliver the packet tomorrow morning. Dr Nestor will need to do more testing on my right eye: measure the cornea thickness, map out the geography of my cornea surface, and so on before he can schedule me for PRK #2. I spoke to him on the phone last Monday, and he explained that I need to be available for at least 90-days after PRK #2 to receive all the post-op treatments and follow-up appointments. (The PRK packet said I had to be available for 1-year after the procedure, which would mean there was no way that I could meet the criteria.)

Meanwhile, Thursday (the same day I received “permission” for PRK) I spoke to my branch manager in Alexandria, VA. My timetable for deployment to Egypt is moving left. Instead of deploying in 180-days in September as originally planned, it’ll be about 90-days in June. (The reason is that my skill set is in high demand.) However, I don’t have orders yet, so I don’t know my actual report date. If my report date is early June, I am too short to get PRK #2. If my report date is late June, I can still squeak by and get PRK #2. (Do you feel the plot thickening?)

The tragedy of the situation is that with government health care, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. I’ve been struggling ever since I returned to the USA from Iraq in late March 2009 to get my eyes fixed. I’ve moved from base to base and with each move, TRICARE insists that I start the procedure over again. I know what needs to get done to fix my eyes, but TRICARE assumes the patient is ignorant and must have a Primary Care Physician to monitor the situation. So with each move I must start at Square #0. (I was at Fort Hood, TX for 4-months, then I moved but I did get a corneal scrape in May. I was at Fort Gordon for 4-months, then I moved but I did get a corneal scrape in September. Now, I’ve been at Raleigh for 4-months and I’m still not fixed but I do have a new pair of glasses and they help especially when I try to drive at night in the rain, which was very difficult without glasses. Meanwhile, my deployment is looming closer. I must be “fixed” or at least “see clearly” to deploy.) Here is the revolving sequence: Square #0 is registering with TRICARE for my new region and to receive my new Primary Care Physician assignment. Square #1 is securing an appointment with the Primary Care Physician. Square #2 is getting my Primary Care Physician to refer me to an eye surgeon. Square #3 is securing an appointment with the eye surgeon and getting him to refer me for PRK. Square #4 is securing an appointment with the PRK doctor getting him to schedule me for the procedure. Square #5 is getting the procedure. Square #6 is 90-days of recovery and follow-up appointments. The kicker is that I didn’t get to Square #1 here in Raleigh until January because of how broke the TRICARE system is. I negotiated and maneuvered as hard as I could using the TRICARE system, but the system failed me. (And our President wants everyone on this broke system. I don’t understand. Why? I don’t want to be, but I could be the poster boy for how messed up government health care is.)

So, my prayer request is… that God’s will be done. If He wants me to get PRK #2, He’ll need to work out the details because the details are mighty murky from my fox hole (because I’m literally seeing triple). I know He’s in charge and I’m glad He is. I’d be in a bigger mess if I were in charge, because He has perfect knowledge and knows the big picture. ;) Thank you for all the prayer. I definitely covet them.

I’m actually excited about the prospects of going to Egypt. It’s a change of scenery and not as dangerous. I’ve been in Iraq for nearly three of the last six years, so it’ll be different. (At least we are winning in Iraq, since the Bush Surge of 2007.) I’ll be working in the Sinai along the southern boundary of Israel and Egypt with the Multinational Force of Observers, so when I go to South Camp near Sharm El Sheik, I can go SCUBA diving in the Red Sea. The Red Sea is one of the best SCUBA diving locations in the world. I’m also hoping to go on a trip or two to see Mount Sinai and some of the other sites with the chaplain. The chaplain usually schedules some religious outreach trips for the troops.

Eye Saga 2

Friday, 12 February 2010

Regarding the status of my eyes, here is the latest. As you may recall, I did PRK laser eye surgery in Nov 2007. I endured corneal scrapes in May & Sep 2009 to remove scar tissue but it's still there. During a corneal scrape the surgeon used a 15-bladed scalpel to remove the outer membrane of cornea, which is traumatic to the eye.

I met with Dr Hunt, an eye surgeon Tuesday. He recommended 3 options: glasses, contacts or undergo more PRK laser treatment. Since I’m returning to the Middle East in the fall, I am requesting more PRK. Contacts are not good in a desert environment due to dust storms and blowing sand. Glasses tend to fog and fall off during high intensity activity, i.e. combat. Besides when I endured the 1st PRK treatment, it was to correct my near-sightedness so I wouldn’t have to wear glasses. My near-sightedness is fixed; I have issues with scar tissue blocking vision in one eye & causing the light to bend goofy which gives me double & triple vision.

So, I’m getting referred to Dr Nestor at Ft Bragg for PRK treatment. Until PRK #2, the eye surgeon is recommending I order glasses. Dr Nestor sent me a packet this morning. I must apply for it, like I did the 1st time with my battalion commander's permission. So, I need to get on it. You can pray that God will work out the details and that my eyes heal correctly.

Eye Saga 1

Monday, 8 February 2010

I have a praise to share.

After nearly 4-months of negotiating and navigating through the bureaucracy of the gov’t health care system called TRICARE, I finally have an appointment to meet an eye surgeon. This Tuesday afternoon I visit the surgeon to discuss what is next in the saga to fix my eyes. As you recall, I’m seeing double & triple with my right eye, which is my dominant one. I received PRK laser surgery 2-years ago on both eyes to correct my near-sightedness and developed scar tissue as a result. (My near-sightedness is fixed, which is a good thing. I fell into the 2-3% category, which have issues with scarring.) I’ve endured two corneal scrapes last year to remove the scar tissue, but still have issues. Pray for the doctor’s wisdom on recommending what the next step should be.

I Cor. 10:31

1st BCT leaders observe the battlefield

By Maj. Dave Olson
1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Long lines of vehicles, Iraqi National Policemen conducting check point operations, and a caravan of donkeys hauling cargo, welcomed senior leaders from Multi-National Division – Baghdad as they observed key areas of the battlefield in southern Baghdad Dec. 20, 2008.

Col. Ted Martin, commander, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and other senior leaders met Dr. Moayad Hamed in the Abu T’shir community to check on the security situation in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.

Martin, who hails from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., spot checked the policemen from 1st Battalion, 6th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, as they conducted check point operations along Market Street in Abu T’shir.

Lt. Col. Troy Smith, a Culpepper, Va., native, and commander of 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., met Martin and Moayad in Abu T’shir during the patrol. Smith’s unit is responsible for the security in Abu T’shir and is partnered with the Iraqi Security Forces that work in this southern Baghdad community.

Later during the patrol, Moayad showed Martin and Tom Lynch, the 1st BCT embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team leader, the progress of his vegetable market in the Karb De Gla area of the eastern Rashid district.

Moayad, a cardiologist and business owner from Doura, explained the progress of the construction of the vegetable market.

“I started construction of this project in December 2007,” he said.

The vegetable market is scheduled for completion this month, he added.

“There are 40 big units and 36 small units for vendors” to set-up their produce displays, he continued. The big units have a small office space built for the vendor’s use.

Lynch offered insights into some of the delays.

Moayad experienced several delays this year due to weather and the availability of building materials and labor, said Lynch, who hails from Fairfax, Va. Lynch served for 24 years with the U.S. Foreign Service.

Moayad also encountered delays in securing a building permit for his vegetable market, Lynch explained.

“There are zoning issues here, just like in the (United) States,” he added.

Maj. Kurt Geise, the intelligence officer for the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., explained the security situation in a separate briefing here later in the day.

About 18 months ago, Doura and Rashid experienced some of the worst sectarian violence in Iraq, with 928 attacks during May 2007, which is a daily average of 30 attacks, said Giese, whose hometown is Missoula, Mont.

During November 2008, the Rashid district experienced the lowest attack levels since the war began in 2003, with 24 attacks, which is a daily average of less than one attack per day, he continued. Attacks include small arms fire, indirect fire and roadside bomb events.
Moayad spoke about the importance of the progress in Doura and Rashid during the past 18 months.

There are many positive changes happening due to the improved security in Doura and Rashid, Moayad said. Money is being invested in the marketplaces and life is returning to normal. People are rebuilding and returning to their homes.

Martin.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Col. Ted Martin, a Jacksonville Beach, Fla., native, and commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, chats with a local Iraqi citizen about the traffic situation in the Abu T'shir community of the Rashid district in southern Baghdad Dec. 20, 2008. Martin stopped to assist a motorist after a vehicle collision on Yomamah Road in Abu T'shir.
(U.S. Army photo by Maj. Dave Olson, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

The importance of Cultural Awareness Training

By Major Dave Olson, Public Affairs Officer, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

“Your soldiers shot and defaced the Quran,” declared Sheik Ayad Alawi al-Jabour, the Radwaniyah Tribal Support Council Chairman. “We demand that your soldiers be punished!” The dozen other Radwaniyah Sunni sheiks at the hastily scheduled meeting May 13, 2008 were deadly serious as they peered with stern faces at the American leader.

Lt. Col. George Patton (name changed for security reasons), commander, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, was startled and speechless. What were the sheiks talking about? How should he respond? He reflected over his 22 years of service in the U.S. Army; he had never faced a situation like this.

It is important for military units to conduct aggressive and comprehensive cultural awareness training before deploying to a foreign country.

Cultural awareness training is critical to the successful completion of a unit’s mission.

Mistakes are easy to make even under the best of circumstances. One wrong word spoken or printed to the target audience or the right words taken out of context can have negative repercussions. Or one wrongful act, regardless if done in ignorance, can cause a firestorm of negative sentiment directed at the offending military unit compromising the entire mission.

My boss, keenly aware of the importance of cultural awareness, designed for our unit what many senior leaders from the 4th Infantry Division referred to as the best home station cultural training conducted before a deployment that they had seen.

Col. Ted Martin, the commander for the 1st “Raider” Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div., saw Iraq first hand on two previous combat deployments and knew his unit needed to focus on cultural awareness to be successful on the battlefield in Southern Baghdad.

Martin’s training plan consisted of four major events designed to hone the cultural skills of the unit’s key leaders for a 15-month combat tour in Iraq beginning in March 2008. The situation in Southern Baghdad from March to May 2007 was tenuous with approximately 30 enemy attacks per day against the Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces in the Rashid District.

The first event in Martin’s training plan was a three-day seminar at Fort Hood, Texas led by the Battle Command Training Program instructors from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in June 2007. The classes focused on the history of Iraq and Arab culture. The staffs from the brigade and each of the six organic battalions plus all the 31 company commanders attended. Many of the platoon leaders from the brigade and officers from an explosive ordnance disposal company, a psychological operations detachment and a civil affairs battalion, who might deploy with us, attended as well.

The second plank of the training was a week-long seminar at Fort Hood led by the contractors from the Asymmetric Warfare Group in July 2007. The target audience was similar as the first event with the addition of select noncommissioned officers, who would be the instructors for the train the trainer sessions. The NCOs would share their training down to the squad level in each of the battalions. The information taught was expanded to include additional tasks for various special teams, such as human intelligence collection teams and personal security detachments.

An additional event was the Mission Ready Exercise conducted at the National Training Center on Fort Irwin, California during August 2007 by the entire brigade, which consists of approximately 3,800 Soldiers. The focus of the training is to verify that each unit and section from the platoon-level to the brigade headquarters has mastered the primary collective tasks to be used on the looming deployment. At the NTC, the Army hires hundreds of native Arab speakers from Iraq or other Middle Eastern nations to serve as contracted role players who live at the 10 mock villages in the Mohave Desert during the two-week scenario. The role players played the Iraqi civilian leadership, Iraqi Security Forces, local vendors, farmers, enemy combatants and everyday citizens that U.S. Soldiers or Marines would meet on the street or the countryside. Every Soldier or Marine who departed the various base camps experienced what Iraq might be like by engaging the local citizens during the scripted events of the complex scenario built by the NTC’s Operations Group. (I didn’t count this event in Martin’s cultural awareness training plan since every unit who deploys conducts a MRE, but the leaders and Soldiers do learn aspects of Iraqi culture by engaging the world-class role players.)

The third event was the quarterback arm sleeve training taught by contractors of T3 Inc. in October 2007 at Fort Hood. The target audience was the PSDs and special teams who would use the device to assist them with using Arabic. The NCOs and Soldiers attended additional cultural classes, basic Arabic language training and how to use the device during a five-day session.

The fourth event was a two-day seminar taught by the faculty of the Department for Middle Eastern Studies on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin in February 2008. The classes covered Iraqi history, Arab culture, Iraqi society and Baghdad local government. The target audience consisted of the same group as the first event.

Returning to Patton, he did respond correctly to the Radwaniyah sheiks’ demands.

During the May 13 meeting, he promised a full-scale investigation to see if the offense did happen and to swiftly correct the situation if a Soldier was found responsible for the cultural faux pas. Two days later a Soldier did confess to committing the grievous act of shooting and defacing the Quran. Patton sent the Soldier home in disgrace with a reprimand a week later. Martin and Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, the commanding general of the 4th Inf. Div. and Multi-National Division - Baghdad, apologized at a public meeting and presented the Radwaniyah sheiks with a new Quran. The American leaders also promised the Sunni sheiks many reconstruction projects for their community such as cleaning the debris from the irrigation canals, repairing the fresh water pipelines, rebuilding a series of roads and bridges, furnishing micro-generation capacity, building a local government center for the community, providing 100 greenhouses for the local farmers with three farmers cooperation associations and refurbishing a medical clinic and a number of local schools. The Radwaniyah sheiks brought Iraqi media to the event, so the citizens of Baghdad saw the public apology and the people were satisfied with the handling of the situation. Several weeks later, President George Bush also publically apologized to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

After six months the Americans kept their promise as the reconstruction projects were completed. Meanwhile, the relationship between the Sunni sheiks and the Americans continued to blossom. Many of the Sunni tribesmen severed ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist cells, joined the Sons of Iraq program that transitioned many unemployed workers into the Iraqi Security Forces and assisted the Americans in defeating the al-Qaeda network in Southern Baghdad.

The results, after completing a 13-month deployment in Baghdad, were that the six battalions from the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div. fared very well as the Soldiers engaged the host nation’s citizenry. The culture awareness training was one factor that helped reduce the violence levels to less than one attack per day in the Rashid District during the last several months of the deployment.

However, some battalions such as the 4th Bn., 64th Armor Regt. from the 4th BCT of the 3rd Inf. Div., who were attached to the Raider Brigade during the deployment and did not receive the same intense cultural training that we did, committed cultural mistakes and experienced challenges when working with the local population in their sectors or areas of responsibility. Perhaps, they learned their cultural awareness lessons the hard way or they had a “strategic Soldier” who caused an international incident.

Speech.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Kareem al-Kinani, the agricultural engineer, gives a speech at the Radwaniyah farmer's co-op association's greenhouse ground-breaking ceremony in southwestern Baghdad Jan. 22, 2009. Sheik Hussein Ali Alash, the co-op's chairman (left of Kareem), owns the property where the first 20 of the 100 greenhouses are being erected. Sheik Ayad Alawi al-Jabour (right of Kareem), is the Radwaniyah Tribal Support Council Chairman. Leaders from Troop B, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, attended the ground-breaking ceremony.
(U.S. Army photo by Maj. Dave Olson, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

This story is not necessarily endorsed by the U.S. Government, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. Army. The views are entirely my own.

Serving is Freedom

July 1, 2008

Maj. Dave Olson
1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B

FORWARD OPERATION BASE FALCON, Iraq – There are many types of freedom that Americans cherish: financial, religious, political and the list continues.

Growing up in a small, rural community in the Midwest, I did not fully understand the meaning of freedom until I gave mine away for a greater cause. I lived in blissful ignorance of the cost of the freedoms I enjoyed. I was aware that service members died in our nation’s wars to guarantee my lifestyle, but they were faceless phantoms to me.

When a young person joins the military, they give up their individual freedoms to provide that same gift to others. For example, when I joined the U.S. Army in the early 1980s and reported to basic training, I gave up some of my individual freedoms and accepted the values of the organization that I swore allegiance.

In basic training, I had to obey and follow the instructions the drill sergeants told me to do. I had to wear the specified uniform and show up on time to the proper location for training. If I decided to do my own thing and disobey the instructions, I would invite some unwanted personal attention from a drill sergeant.

Twenty-five years later, I must still follow the instructions of my boss or I will invite his wrath. I must still be at the proper location on time wearing the specified uniform.

Though the standards of military life have not changed, my understanding of freedom has. Instead of the faceless phantoms from past wars, I now clearly see the faces of those who paid the ultimate price for my freedom and the freedoms that my fellow Americans enjoy.

I remember the face of my friend Capt. Drew Pearson from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, who died April 30, 2008 in the Rashid district of Baghdad and Capt. Ian Weikel from Troop A, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B, who was mortally wounded near Saab al Bour on April 18, 2006. There are other faces that I know as well.

Freedom is expensive when people I know paid the price for it. However, I know they gave willingly, because they too loved freedom.

mourn.
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – 1st Lt. Erik Ogilvie, executive officer, assigned to Troop A, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, mourns in grief for Capt. Ian Weikel, the former commander, Trp. A, 7th Sqdn., 10th Cav. Regt., who was mortally wounded near Saab al Bour, Iraq, April 18, 2006. The memorial service for Weikel was conducted at Camp Taji, Iraq, April 24, 2006.
(U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate 1st Class Michael Larson, 1st BCT COMCAM, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.)

Good afternoon, sir!

April 25, 2008

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq– An Iraqi boy salutes the Raider Brigade’s Public Affairs Officer, Maj. Dave Olson while observing other Raider Brigade Soldiers during a mission in Baghdad April 25, 2008. Olson is assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division— Baghdad.
(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Vin Stevens, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

Week 38, OIF6

Thursday, 27 November 2008

Happy Thanksgiving! I have a lot of things to be thankful. One thing I’m thankful for is you. Thanks for supporting me and my comrades.

I must apologize, I sort of fell off the face of the earth. I’ve been in communication silence too long.

For the record things in Baghdad are going well. We keep the enemy off-balance. We constantly keep the pressure on him. Nearly every day we capture a few bad guys and / or find and seize some of their toys. Every time we seize a weapons or munitions cache, we are making the place safer for the Iraqi citizens. The last two months, we averaged five attacks per day across the entire city of Baghdad.

When we arrived here in March, there were 164 attacks that month in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad. (An attack includes roadside bomb attack, indirect fire attack (mortar or rocket), or direct fire (sniper, drive-by, etc.). The attack figures do include murders, which is an attack against the civilian population.) Divide 164 by 31 days, that’s about five attacks per day. In June, there were 53 attacks, which is almost two attacks per day. In August, there were 24 attacks, which is less than one attack per day. So far in November, there were 21 attacks, which is also less than one per day. The reason I’m explaining all this is to show you with actual numbers, that we are operating at an all time low in violence since this war began.

I could almost make the leap and say it is now safer in Baghdad than in Chicago, the murder capital in the U.S.

Compare this data to 2007 and the numbers are drastically different. May 2007 was at the height of sectarian issues with 928 attacks in the Rashid District, which is the southern quarter of Baghdad. The daily average was almost 31 attacks per day. In August 2007, the surge of U.S. troops started and the attacks dropped to 501 with a daily average of 16 attacks per day.

We did have a slight uptick in violence during Ramadan, which was September this year. We had 38 attacks during this Ramadan month; whereas, there were 414 attacks in October 2007 during last year’s Islamic holiday. During this time, we had a 6-week period where Al Qaeda was attacking Shia markets with car bombs. We had five during that surge. The good news is with the T-walls surrounding the neighborhoods with the marketplace and checkpoints at the entry points, the Sunni extremist cell could not get their vehicles laden with munitions into their priority target like they wanted. They ended up hitting a secondary target by getting as close to the market as possible, parking the vehicle and detonating their rolling bomb. Yes, there were casualty figures, but they were a fraction of what they would have been inside the marketplace.

We have defeated Al Qaeda in the Rashid District. These Al Qaeda attacks were coming from cells outside our area. We still have some bad guys to kill, capture or drive away. There are other Sunni rejectionist cells plus a wide variety of Shia extremist cells in our area keeping us busy. For example, we have captured about 430 criminals or terrorists so far. We have over a 95% conviction rate, so these criminals go to Iraqi jail for a long time. In May & June, we were so hot on the Shia extremist groups that their senior leadership fled to Syria or Iran. Their leaders have not returned yet. That leaves the mid- to lower-ranking bad guy who is not motivated to attack us, so many have quit and reconciled. The attacks they do try are ineffective, because they do not have the skill-level without their leadership. We have also found and seized about 400 caches. Some of these caches consisted of brand new rockets and mortar rounds manufactured in Iran. Some of these mortar rounds were made in February or March 2008, which is newer than the ammunition we are using.

That’s enough of the security update. Now for some good news…

Yesterday, I went on an 8-hour patrol with my boss. We visited Doura Technical College for the first day of the week long Doura Arts Festival. I took a bunch of pictures, which are illustrating a story we submitted earlier today. (I get out about once per week.) With the security situation under control, the Rashid District has blossomed as Iraqi life returns to normal. The Doura Market did have about 200 shops, now it is well over 800, so the economy is booming. Other businesses have taken off. Last month, I visited a soda factory which opened its doors about five months ago. They sell canned beverages all over the city of Baghdad.

This morning, I ran another five kilometer race. Today’s was called the Turkey Trot. I am getting old. I finished with a time of 21:19. To place in the top three, I would have needed to run 90-seconds faster.

At 11 a.m., I played the keyboard for the Thanksgiving Day service. One of my guys was escorting a CBS News crew. They also filmed the 5K race and of course, the Thanksgiving Day feast.

I am still working 20-hours a day. I can’t seem to break the cycle. However, we continue to lead Multi-National Division – Baghdad in nearly every recorded public affairs category except hometown news interviews.

Just for numbers sake (and I’m a bean counter) here’s last month’s statistics:

113 senior leader media engagements (a senior leader means Lt. Col. or above)
54 media visits
8 media embeds (an embed means the reporter stayed at least two days and one night with us)
8 hometown news engagements
23 print stories
6 video stories
6 radio beepers
76 other press releases

I included the raw numbers to give you an idea what kind of volume we crank out of my four-man section. For the record, it takes a minimum of three hours of coordination to plan a media embed. Sometimes, I have to change their itinerary three or four times during a short three-day embed.

When I’m not working, I am compiling an advanced civil schooling packet. It is due to Human Resources Command in a few days. So, I’ve been applying for a master’s degree in broadcasting from several schools. Lois is helping me with a bunch of the hoops to make this happen. My school of choice is the University of Missouri – Columbia. The University of Oklahoma – Norman is my second choice. The University of Nebraska – Lincoln is my third choice. The University of Texas – Austin is my fourth choice. I haven’t had much sleep the last several weeks.

I’m in my 6th week of the “Body-for-LIFE Program” by Bill Phillips, which is a 12-week workout schedule with guidelines for eating healthy. I lift three times per week plus run three or four times per week. At the four week mark, I lost one pound and 2% body fat. (I’m not trying to lose weight. I’m actually trying to gain strength and size.)

Thanks for all the prayers. Pray for our troops over here. Some of them are getting complacent and really missing their Families especially during the holidays. Also, keep our Families in your prayers. Our Families have it harder than we do. I wish you well. Psalm 91

Keep looking up!

Weeks 6 - 7, OIF6

Sunday, 27 April 2008

The rat race here in Iraq continues…and yes, the rats are winning. (By the way, the bad guys are not winning here.) It seems that I’m constantly on the go, except when I must stop to attend the dreaded meetings. The saying around here is, “get back on your oar.” Such is the life of a staff officer.

Monday (14 April) morning, during my 4-mile run the artillery was busy firing at the bad guys. Hearing “outgoing” is much more comforting than “incoming.” Most of my day was consumed with editing stories and submitting input to the daily fragmentary order. Whenever we need to put information out about an event or a tasking, the brigade includes the data in a daily FRAGO that comes out every night. There were some changes in the way we were doing business that I needed to get out to our seven subordinate battalions.

I have cranked out enough stories and releases about our brigade now that our units are public knowledge, so I’ll introduce the line-up. Normally, a heavy brigade combat team (such as the Raider Brigade that I’m assigned) has two combined arms battalions. In our case, we have 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment and 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment. Each CAB has seven companies and they have about 1,000 Soldiers when they are augmented with the civil affairs teams, psychological operations teams and other augmentees. For the CABs, the A and B companies are infantrymen with 14 M2A2 or M2A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles each. The C and D companies are tankers with 14 M1A2 SEP Abrams Main Battle Tanks. Company E is the engineer company that also has M2A2 Bradleys plus some other special equipment such as Armored Combat Earth movers for digging vehicle fighting positions or as we say ACEs. The headquarters company has a scout platoon, a mortar platoon, a medical platoon, and a communications platoon to support their battalion in addition to their command group and staff sections. They have some other neat toys, but I won’t belabor the details. The only difference between the armor and infantry battalions is the armor battalion has one more tank in the command group than the infantry and vice versa.

Each heavy BCT has an armored cavalry squadron, in our case we have 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment. They have three line troops (A, B & C) with scouts and M3A3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicles. The primary difference with the M3 from the M2 is the M3 has a larger payload for ammunition, which means less room for troopers. They are equipped to fire more Tubular-launched Optically-tracked Wire-guided (TOW) missiles. They have about 500 troopers with attachments.

Each HBCT has an artillery battalion, in our case we have 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment. They have two firing batteries (A & B) of artillerymen with eight M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers and eight M992 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicles or ammunition carriers per battery. The Paladins are our biggest guns that fire a 155mm round and they can reach out and touch people a long ways away. This battalion has less than 500 personnel.

Next each BCT has a support battalion to provide the logistics for the brigade. We have the 4th Support Battalion, which has less than 500 personnel. Company A is the supply unit that also has a transportation platoon to haul supplies, fuel and ammunition from our higher headquarters. (The battalions have their support platoons that pick-up the supplies, fuel and ammo. from Co. A.) Company B is the maintenance unit that provides direct support for all our vehicles, weapons and communications equipment. Company C is the medical company that provides the Level 2 medical care. This company has the medical professionals who support us. If the Soldier requires additional medical care or treatment, they are evacuated by helicopter to a combat support hospital in the center of Baghdad.

Last but not least, each BCT has a special troops battalion. We have 1st Special Troops Battalion, which has less than 500 personnel. Company A is the military intelligence company that handles the lion’s share of the human and signals intelligence collection plus analysis for the brigade. Company B is the signal company that handles the communication and automations network for the brigade. The headquarters company has a military police platoon, a chemical decontamination and reconnaissance platoon and some other enablers. The civil affair company, the psychological operations detachment and other enablers such as MP working dogs, Explosive Ordnance Disposal detachments are attached to the STB.

However, here in Iraq we are further task organized for the complex fight. Since there are light BCTs also operating in the Baghdad area, they don’t have as much fire power. So we received orders to cross-level one of our CABs to 4th BCT of the 10th Mountain Division and they gave us a light infantry battalion. So, we lost 1-66 AR and received 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. Additionally, we gave up our artillery battalion to 2nd BCT, 101st Air Assault Div. However, we were augmented with two other units. We gained 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment from the 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. (They are organized exactly like our 1-66 AR.) We also received 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. The Stryker and armored cavalry regiments are totally different animals. Not to be puny, but their mascot is the Cougar. I’m still learning about their organization. They are essentially an infantry battalion that rides around in the Stryker vehicles. Strykers have eight wheels with a 25mm chain gun in the turret and are a later version of the USMC’s LAV-25 Piranas. (During my first campaign of OIF2 in August 2004, I was attached to 1st Bn., 23rd Inf. Regt., which was a Stryker unit in 3rd BCT, 2nd Inf. Div. During that campaign I rode in Strykers for nine battles in Wasit Province, so I learned a little about the Stryker vehicle. The vehicles are quiet. They are fast easily reaching a cruising speed of 80 mph. We were able to quickly close on a target and conduct the raid often catching the bad guys in their beds without them knowing we were coming.) So, the bottom line is we gave up two battalions and gained three. Nearly all of our units have up-armored humvees and the new Mine Resistant and Ambush Protected vehicles, so we don’t use tanks and Bradleys all the time.

Tuesday (15 April) morning, 4-64 AR found a large cache with Iranian-made 107mm rockets. We cranked out a press release and I rode with an EOD element and took images of the rockets. It was fascinating, because the rockets were brand new and many were still in the packaging with the lot numbers clearly visible on the sides. The dates of manufacture were also clearly visible. I sent the release up and it hit the streets showing up in all sorts of media outlets.

The rest of the day, we continued to crank out stories and press releases on current activity. We conducted a live DVIDS interview with COL Ted Martin talking to one of his hometown TV stations in Jacksonville, FL. (It was a Fox News local station.) The boss was thrilled.

The DVIDS (Digital Video Imagery Distribution System) is a satellite system with a dish and receiver./ transmitter. We can send audio and digital imagery and receive only audio. Therefore, we can conduct live or taped TV or radio interviews with any Western broadcast news agency. We aim our dish at a satellite somewhere in space over the Atlantic Ocean. So the signal goes from Iraq and up to the satellite which bounces it back to earth to the hub in Atlanta, GA. The hub connects us to anywhere in the Western world. During the past several years I have done dozens of interviews with ABC News, BBC, CBS News, CNN, Cox News, Fox News and a bunch of others. I call it my “crew-served weapon” because it takes two people to operate and we get lots of effects out of it.

The commanding general of 3rd Inf. Div. in Multi-National Division – Center found out about the huge Iranian rocket cache. Since our CG, MG Jeffery Hammond, wasn’t doing a press conference on the event, he decided to do one. We share a boundary to the south with MND-C, so he wanted to further highlight the find to the media. His division public affairs officer and their 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. PAO called me asking for my photos. I had no problem sharing them. (I already submitted the release with those same photos to MND-Baghdad PAO for distribution.) Later, I found out that in the 3rd Inf. Div. press conference, MG Rick Lynch, claimed that his unit had found the huge cache. (I wasn’t sure what to think about that. The find was clearly in our sector not far from where I’m currently sitting. True, 4-64 AR is a 3rd Inf. Div. unit in name, but they are our unit for this deployment. Besides, he was using the imagery that I had taken.)

Wednesday (16 April), we (4-64 AR) found another huge Iranian munitions cache. This time it was a bunch of mortar rounds, 60 x 60mm and 46 x 81mm. They were also brand new. I sent one of my men out to take images of the find with an EOD unit. However, my press release was snagged by the Multi-National Force – Iraq spokesman, a two-star general. He embargoed it (which means hold for a later date), because he wanted to use it at press conference next week to show the Iranian influence. (As it turned out, he didn’t use it after all, so we did not get any bounce in the media on that one.) I was busy cranking out the script for the boss to brief the commander’s update to the CG, because today was the spotlight on public affairs. Plus I produced some slides to go with the script. (My boss is a fierce competitor, so he wanted me to include all the statistics of what we do each week. I’m a good bean counter, so that part was easy.)

For some reason, I had the urge to call home. (I hadn’t called home since the day I flew to Kuwait with Zack & Jim from Waco 100. During a refueling stop in Canada I called using Jim’s international phone since mine had no reception, but I have not called home since. One of his sponsors provided him with the free phone with a big international calling plan…plus international calling cards for use during his 18-day Iraq tour for “The Morning Show with Zack & Jim” live from Baghdad.) What I found out when I called home shocked me. Jasmine had just been released from the hospital. She had been a patient for two nights and one day. Evidently, she went on a hike in a wooded area with some of her buddies and had found some poison ivy. She had it all over her face. It took the doctors a while to figure out what it was. Her face was very puffy with one eye swollen shut. Lois sent a picture later. (You’ll recall that I’ve been having some serious issues with internet connectivity and we were in a blackout due to two of our guys getting killed, so I had no previous communication with Lois for some time.)

Thursday (17 April), I did a bunch of planning for future western and Iraqi media events and submitted requests for support not to mention cranking out more stories and releases due to the bad guys we were catching and other weapons and munitions cache we were finding.

Friday (18 April) morning, I facilitated a media visit with Andrea Stone from USA Today. She came to do some interviews with my civil affairs buddies and we showed her the power plant being built on our forward operating base. Everything went well. She was happy, because she had more data than any reporter would want on electrical projects. MG Rick Lynch, the 3rd Inf. Div. CG, came to visit. We covered the event because he was seeing our unit…4-64 AR. Then I spent part of the night fielding Andrea’s requests for more information. I spent part of the night trying to get one of my embeds (Slovenia TV) out of here, but they were weathered in by another sand storm.

Saturday (19 April), was a busy day for stories as my NCO returned from covering an operation with 2-2 SCR, so we also cranked out some releases on that event. I also had one of my guys out with one of the units collecting a story on the 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Div., who held a graduation for some Sons of Iraq, who completed some training. In the evening, I had my staff sergeant cover for me at several meetings, so I could play the keyboard and sing for special music at the Protestant Liturgical Service. Slovenia TV successfully departed during the late evening

Sunday (20 April) morning, my Baghdad alarm clock was working like a champ! At 4:56 a.m., I woke up to the sound of incoming rockets. I hit the floor, then quickly scrambled to a nearby bunker. At 7 a.m. the comforting sound of out-going artillery blessed my aching ears. After chapel, I focused most of my time on planning The Army Times visit. They were embedding with 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regt.

Monday (21 April), I hosted The Army Times crew, facilitated a VIP brief and inserted them with 7-10 Cav. Then I worked on another Andrea Stone USA Today visit. This time she wanted to cover a neighborhood council meeting in Doura. I also requested Iraqi media for upcoming events.

Tuesday (22 April), after some dreaded meetings, we conducted some foreign disclosure training with the military intelligence bubbas from MND-B. (I am no longer mentioning the story and press release production. That’s daily routine business.) I also requested more Iraqi media for more events.

Wednesday (23 April), is a big writing day. I tabulate all the statistics to include in my script for the boss plus the accompanying slide show. I also set Rana (my interpreter) up with an Army Knowledge Online account. (That’s the first time I sponsored someone on the AKO system, so it took me a bit to figure it all out. I’m not very tech savvy. I joined the Army as a private in 1982 when we were still using manual typewriters, white out and carbon paper. Nearly all of my NCOs were Vietnam vets. I still have a set of khakis with private first class stripes in my closet at home.) Now she can do her media monitoring from the office instead of visiting the internet café. Then I submitted some air mission requests to fly some reporters around the battlefield. (This was my first AMR for this tour. I’ve done a bunch on other tours, but the procedures keep morphing with new quirks.)

Thursday (24 April), I listened to the beautiful sound of out-going artillery fire during my morning 4-mile run. After some long meetings, I rolled with EOD to get some more images of another huge cache. This time the unit was Company E, 2-2 SCR. When I returned, we started to record Mother’s Day greetings for our loved ones in the States. I did three: one per mom and my better half. I also edited our monthly magazine, The Raider Brigade Rally Point, so we could send it to our vendor for printing. It is a sharp looking, 24 glossy page, 4-color magazine. (I hope it looks as good on print as it does in the digital version.)

Friday (25 April), I skipped PT to attend 2nd Bn., 4th Inf. Regt’s prayer breakfast. Then, I rolled on a patrol to one of our combat outposts with my boss, Col. Ted Martin. After visiting one of the gas stations to crack down on some black market operations, we also stopped at one of the National Police headquarters to further our partnership relationship with our Iraqi Security Forces partners. (Don’t worry, I did plenty of PT during our dismounted patrolling.)

Saturday (26 April), I rolled on another mission with my boss, Col. Martin. This time we attended a grand opening for another building in the District Council complex. After the ribbon cutting ceremony, we had the traditional “goat grab.” Our Iraqi brothers are great hosts. They had a large spread of Iraqi food laid out in one of the meeting rooms. Everyone crowds around the tables and eats with their hands stuffing lamb, beef kabobs, rice and freshly diced vegetables into their mouths with flat bread that also functions as a napkin. Then we checked out some bridges that cross the Tigris River. The ISF have check points on the bridges that our CG wanted us to inspect. We did more dismounted patrolling. After the mission, I played the keyboard for the evening chapel service. After my walk to the office from chapel, the enemy provided a light show as rockets flew overhead. After chapel, I started to get some work done.

Sunday (27 April), I played keyboard and sang with the Praise Team at the morning chapel service. The rest of the day was a battery of meetings, one after the next. So, I could finally get some work done after the dust settled at 9 p.m. I worked on documents for upcoming operations until around 2 a.m.

I better get this out to you. I’m whooped.

Thanks for all the prayers. Pray for our troops over here. We had more Soldiers killed. Pray for the Families of these Soldiers. Also, keep our better halves in your prayers, who are playing “mom & dad” for our young ones, which is exhausting work. I firmly believe that military Families have the toughest job. We Soldiers are focusing on the mission that we forget about the yard work, the cars breaking down and so on. I wish you well. Psalm 91

Keep looking up!

Week 5, OIF6

Sunday, 13 April 2008

This week has been crazy. I am just now compiling this week’s edition. I made it out of the wire twice this week. Unfortunately, I’m getting back into my old bad habit of working late and getting up early. However, so far I’m getting out of the office around midnight instead of 2 a.m. during 2006.

Saturday (5 April) morning, I rolled out on a patrol with my boss, COL Ted Martin, and COL Ricky Gibbs, the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, which is part of the 1st Infantry Division. We attended a special meeting of the Rashid District Council at what we call DAC Hall. (The district council used to be called a district advisory council, hence the nickname DAC. DAC Hall is like a county courthouse back in the States.) We entered the DAC Hall compound, which is surrounded by a three-story cement wall to protect it from sniper fire and other direct fire weapons. The building is newly remodeled so it looked nice. When we dismounted from the vehicles, we were ushered into the DAC Chairman’s office, sat down and exchanged pleasantries. A steward came to each of the guests and poured us a communal cup of Turkish coffee. It was hot and burned my tongue plus it tasted horribly bitter. Next he passed out some Iraqi pastries, which were sweet in contrast to the coffee. COL Gibbs knew the senior DAC members by name, so he exchanged the Arab hug with each one. The Iraqi leadership did not know COL Martin and me, so we simply shook hands and exchanged Arabic greetings. On this mission, my task was to take pictures and write a story on the event. So, I took a bunch of images.

During the meeting, we moved into a grand hall with a dozen tables placed in an inverted U- configuration. A member sat in a chair behind each of about 30 microphones that lit up when a member spoke into it. I took copious notes as the interpreters translated Arabic to English. So, I had plenty of good quotes for a story. The meeting was primarily about saying thank you and farewell to COL Gibbs, the out-going American senior commander in the area, and meeting the incoming commander, COL Martin, and the new U.S. State Department guy, Tom Lynch, who will be working with us. (His title is the embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team leader and his rank is equivalent to a two-star general. He has several civilians on his team who specialize in various areas, such as business development, economics, government and other skills.) A bunch of Iraqi DAC members made flowery speeches thanking COL Gibbs for the progress in security and helping them transform Rashid as one of the most dangerous districts in Baghdad into one of the safest. COL Gibbs pitched a nice speech as well. Then my boss said a few words of introduction to the council membership. COL Gibbs presented three gifts to the Three Musketeers, as he called the three senior DAC leaders. (Gibbs is quite the flamboyant diplomat.) Then the DAC Chairman presented COL Gibbs, Tom Lynch and COL Martin with gifts. I took more pictures.

After the meeting, the DAC Chairman invited us to a dinner in our honor. So, we retired to another large room with an 80-foot long table covered in various native Iraqi dishes. The men all stood around the table and used their hands to dip goat or lamb meat, bread, rice, vegetables and other delicacies from the communal plates to their faces. (They did have a few plates with plastic ware for the sensitive American who didn’t want to use their hands.) Initially, I used my hands for the “goat grab” as we Americans call it. Later, I used a plate for the second and third round of feasting. After the meal, everyone gathered for some group shots at the front door. Then, we boarded our vehicles and returned home. We spot checked some Iraqi National Police and Iraqi Police checkpoints on the way home.

That evening, I played the keyboard for the Liturgical Protestant Service for Chaplain David Fell from 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment. (I played the piano for his worship services during our brigade field training exercise in April – May 2007.) After church, I saved a bunch of files from one of the laptops that I was turning into my signal officer to wipe for use as a secret machine.

Sunday (6 April) morning, I played the keyboard for the Contemporary Protestant Service. After the service, I ate chow with my counterpart at the dining facility. (In March 2007, some mortar rounds hit the DFAC wounding a number of people. I can still see the patched holes in the tile floor where the shrapnel damage occurred.)

In the afternoon, I wrote my story from Saturday and edited some other stories my men had written.

In the evening, I attended the Traditional Protestant Service. After the service, I edited the magazine contract again and prepared it for approval. We are hiring a vendor to print 2,500 copies of a 4-color, 24-page, glossy coated magazine for $4,100 each month. The vendor also delivers the magazine to us and we will distribute it to our various combat outposts and joint security stations.

Monday (7 April), we moved to the left seat meaning we now run the office and our counterparts observe us and coach us on how they did business. (Previously, we were in the right seat, meaning we were observing them in action. This is all part of the relief in place. Typically, the transition is a two-week process where both units overlap. It can be stressful, having two units on top of each other for two weeks, which places a strain on the services with long lines, such as the DFAC, laundry facilities, gym, lodging, water usage, sewage, etc.) Therefore, I was writing the Situation Reports, Drumbeats and the paperwork, which really hasn’t changed much since 2006 during my second tour here during Operation Iraqi Freedom 4. The hard part was getting adjusted to our Raider Brigade battle rhythm. I had grown accustomed to the Dragon Brigade way of doing things the past couple weeks.

General George Casey, then the Multi-National Force – Iraq commander, started the Drumbeat Report. (He’s now the Army Chief of Staff.) I heard him ask for such a report in August 2004, when he wanted a document to show all the good news story events happening in the field. This way he could see that the events were being covered by the media or public affairs. I was the guy who started crafting them for Multi-National Corps – Iraq during OIF2, so I am intimately aware of how to compile them. A few times I even briefed him on the events, before I was dispatched to various infantry battalions to participate in three different ground campaigns. (What is sad is that we are covering all the good news story events about the Iraqi Security Forces or the lower levels of the Government of Iraq, yet many of the stories do not get picked up by the main stream media in the western world.)

Tuesday (8 April), I sent one of my men out to cover a story with one of our units. He covered an International Orphan Day celebration hosted by the Iraqi National Police. We invited Iraqi media to participate and cover the story as well. The event went well and we submitted the story. I edited some other stories and releases as well. In the evening after I submitted the reports, I practiced with the praise team for Sunday.

Wednesday (9 April), I wrote the script for my portion of the brief to the commanding general and built the slides. I sent my guys out to cover various unit events; however, our events were postponed in anticipation of Sadr’s demonstration. One of our battalions conducted a transfer of authority ceremony and officially assumed their mission. Again, I edited stories and releases. My boss actually briefed the CG using my script in the evening. (During these updates to the CG, each day is a different theme. Wednesday night is the information operations highlights, so public affairs is one arm of the IO fight.) The new battle rhythm is still smoking me. It seems I’m in meetings about 5 – 6 hours per day.

Thursday (10 April), I sent my guys out with various units again. Another one of our battalions conducted a transfer of authority ceremony and officially assumed their mission. My broadcaster was to cover the Iraqi National Police conducting a medical operation (meaning their medics screened and treated several hundred Iraqi citizens and issued medicine at no cost to the patient), but his patrol was diverted to hunt for a mortar cache instead. We were still able to do a release on the medical operation even though we were not there. We used the images from the American unit’s physician’s assistant that was observing plus we had Iraqi media covering the event. (Actually, my plan is to send my guys out as much as possible to get the good stories, so it only makes sense that I’ll be editing their products everyday.) I spent most of the day writing the public affairs annex and embed plan for another operations order for a future offensive operation.

Friday (11 April) morning, I flew with my boss to Camp Liberty. My counterpart and his boss also flew on the same mission. The brigade commanders attended a Multi-National Division – Baghdad commander’s conference. My primary task was to be a mule by helping my counterpart carry the large gifts (four poster-sized framed prints and four knit blankets) that COL Gibbs was giving to the MND-B generals (MG Hammond, BG Milano and BG Grimsley) and the division’s senior enlisted man, CSM Giola. My secondary task was to interface with MND-B public affairs and other division staff officers. So, I visited with LTC Steve Stover (PAO) and the rest of the public affairs staff, the G1, the G2, the G3 Air, the media operations center personnel from 130th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, the MWR staff and a few more folks including our brigade liaison officer. I also spoke with BG Grimsley, BG Milano and CSM Giola for a bit.

For the most part MND-B headquarters has not changed that much. I visited it in OIF2 when 1st Cavalry Division owned it. I visited it several times in OIF4 when 4th Infantry Div. owned it. And now I visited it in OIF6 when 4th Inf. Div. owned it again. There were a few differences. The 4th Inf. Div. is adding on to the building complete with a second floor. I’ll probably see the addition completed when I come back to visit later in the tour. The MOC was a little different as well. In OIF2 & OIF4 the TV studio was set-up on the north side using a green felt backdrop. This time the studio was set-up on the south side and the backdrop included camouflage netting. This time there were two Digital Video Imaging Distribution System satellite dishes on the roof of the MOC. Before, there was only one DVIDS satellite dish in operation. While I was visiting the MND-B headquarters, a thunderstorm hit with lightning and rain. (The rain was not even a nuisance since the temperature was in the upper 80s…it was actually refreshing.)

When I flew home in the afternoon my load was lighter, but I still had all my work to do since I was out playing all day. I had to really crunch to get all the reports in on time. The good thing is that my super staff sergeant had started the reports. I merely had to refine them and make corrections. I have a much stronger team this time than I did during OIF4, so this tour will be more productive.

Saturday (12 April), the ground was still muddy in places from yesterday’s rain, so it stuck to my shoes during my run. My guys had several events to cover. A general came to see one of our battalions do their transfer of authority ceremony as they officially assumed their mission. I reviewed a bunch of broadcast products, both radio and TV. I also reviewed combat camera footage for release.

So, for this week we submitted 21 stories (print, radio and TV) and operational releases. What I mean by operational releases is short press releases about killing or capturing bad guys, finding weapons or munitions caches, finding roadside bombs before they explode and hurt people, etc. Operational releases are shorter than print stories, because we aren’t required to have at least two quotes from different sources and three to five images with captions to accompany the story. We like to include a quote and an image if we have one, but if we don’t…no one cares. Speed is the issue, because we are trying to beat the bad guys to the punch by getting our piece in the news first. If we can out maneuver the bad guys by getting our story out first, we win by virtue of position. Otherwise, we are reacting to the misinformation the bad guy is saying and he is not bound by the truth like I am. The enemy is a master at getting their misinformation out quickly, so it is quite an ugly game. For example, if we kill six terrorists after they ambush our patrol, the enemy quickly hits the street with a story that the occupation forces killed 12 innocent people including women and children. The Iraqis use what we call “Iraqi math” when they count casualties. They often double the number of real casualties to make their story sound more sensational. Then, we are playing catch up by responding to their garbage. It sometimes takes awhile for us to get all the data to present an accurate statement of what happened. However, if I can get out the truth first, the enemy does not have any room to maneuver. Sometimes, we have imagery from aircraft to back up our releases.

In the evening, I had my staff sergeant cover for me at several meetings, so I could play the keyboard and sing for special music at the Protestant Liturgical Service. Everything went well, except my boss asked my staff sergeant a question he could not answer.

Today, I woke up at 6 a.m. like normal for an early meeting with my boss. After several meetings, we conducted the brigade transfer of authority ceremony. We had a number of distinguished guests including my boss’ younger but taller brother, who is also a colonel, but he works at MNF-I. I broke contact after the TOA ceremony to play the keyboard for the Protestant Contemporary Service, but I had to leave half way through the service for another meeting. (I am angry about the new battle rhythm, because on Sunday there are meetings scheduled on top of both services that I want to attend.) I broke contact from work in the evening to attend the Protestant Traditional Service, but again I had to leave half way through for another pow wow. (When I walked into the chapel, my friend Chaplain Ron Boyd asked if I could play the keyboard for the service. I was surprised, but of course agreed. I was under the impression someone else was handling the music at the evening service.) Next week, instead of moving the battle rhythm around the brigade chaplain is told to rearrange the chapel services, because I’m not the only one with this complaint.

Thanks for all the prayers. Pray for our troops over here. We had two Soldiers killed this week in one of our battalions that is detached to another brigade. The memorial is coming up in a few days. Pray for the Families of these Soldiers, who are in the grieving process. Also, keep our Families in your prayers. Our other halves are playing “mom & dad” as a single parent, which is exhausting. I wish you well. Psalm 91

Keep looking up!

Week 4, OIF6

Friday, 4 April 2008

This week was anticlimactic compared to Week 3. I did not leave the camp once. I thought I was one day, but plans changed. Everyday I attend a bunch of meetings. The meetings come in many flavors, sizes and shapes, but I’ll spare the details.

Saturday (29 March), I set a new land speed record during my daily run around the camp. It felt good to ratchet the pace up a notch. I handled some routine tasks: turned in laundry and sat in the barber chair for a haircut. (I didn’t have much work to do in getting a haircut… simply sit still and endure the trauma. The hardest part was waiting in line for 70 minutes. Lines are common now that there are two brigades worth of people on this tiny camp. I really didn’t mind the wait; I brought the good book along and did some reading.) I continued to shadow my counter part, Major Kirk Luedeke, the best brigade-level public affairs officer in the Iraq Theater as LTC Steve Stover, the Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO says. (Kirk has done an amazing job. His section out produces most of MND-B with all the stories they produce and media embeds they host.) More Shia rockets flew over the camp, but they missed. (Forward Operating Base Falcon is about two square kilometers, so sometimes the bad guys miss as the rockets explode outside the base.)

On the way to drop off laundry at the Laundry Facility, I was showing my new room mate around FOB Falcon. It only takes about 10-minutes to walk from one end to the other. Brian flew in the night before. He is our assistant operations officer, but he will serve as the Iraqi Security Forces coordinator. We were room mates once before, when we deployed to Korea in August 2005. (We really lived in a large canvas tent, known to Soldiers as a GP Medium. GP means general purpose and it holds about 16 – 18 cots with space for a stove in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer when used as a sleeping tent. I was technically still the 4th Public Affairs Detachment commander on that trip, but I also served as the deputy III Corps PAO. Two of my guys had departed a week earlier to help set-up for the mission and to take pictures and write stories. On that mission, Brian served as a Liaison Officer to the Korean Eighth Army. We deployed as part of III Corps for Operation Ulchi Focus Lens. That seems like a lifetime ago.)

Sunday (30 March) morning, I attended the Contemporary Protestant Service. The praise team did a pretty good job, but it was their last performance. Most of them will be gone by next Sunday. After the service, I huddled with Chaplain Ron Boyd and some other guys as we talked about forming our own praise team for next Sunday. I volunteered to play the keyboard.

In the afternoon, our equipment arrived by ground convoy from Kuwait. So my other duffle bags and tough box arrived as did the rest of our section equipment. My guys hauled the mountain of gear into the office. I moved my personal gear to my hooch, which is really one small room in the 3-room trailer. (Hooch is just Army slang for our sleeping place. Usually it applies to some sort of make-shift shelter that we built under a tree in the woods, but there are only about a dozen trees on this camp. Most of this camp is gravel or medium to large stones that look like little dinosaur or sea turtle eggs. The gravel or stones were brought in over the course of the last 2 – 3 years to combat the mud during the rainy season. This place has poor drainage, so when the winter rains come, the ground turns into a massive mud hole and the moon dust turns into peanut butter sticking to everything. Therefore, walking across the camp is quite a workout as more and more mud sticks to one’s boots making them 10-pounds each.) There is not much mud right now, except by the gun line where our howitzers are positioned to fire counter battery missions…in simple English this means return fire when the bad guys launch indirect fire at us.

In the evening, I attended the Traditional Protestant Service. Later that night, our gun line did fire about a dozen rounds at the enemy. The wind was coming from the direction of the gun line, so the smoke and noise of the guns were all over my hooch area. The roar of the outgoing 155mm artillery fire was very loud.

Monday (31 March) between meetings, I spent most of the day organizing my files on two laptops that I brought. One I’ll use for secret business and one I’ll use for unclassified business. In my occupation, most of my work (95%) is unclassified, because I release stories, press releases, and media advisories to the public. I keep all the stories, images and releases in my electronic files. I have files dating back to 13 Sept. 2005, when I joined this fine brigade. Therefore, I had to save the data to a hard drive as to not lose the information. After the data was saved, I turned in the laptops for the automations people to work their magic. I also picked up my clean clothes from the Laundry Facility. (Normally, it’s a 24 – 48 hour turn around for laundry; however, with the surge of people on the camp the turn around can be up to 72 hours. I’m not complaining, the laundry service is free and I receive the clean clothes folded. What a deal!)

Tuesday (1 April), I thought I was going on a mission outside the wire, but April fools… the plans changed. So, the joke was on me. I still have plenty of work to do, so I stayed busy. I read one of Kirk’s articles about one of his Soldier’s relatives earning the Silver Star in WWII that was published in Alumni News, Winter 2008. (Kirk is an alumnus of The Citadel, Class of 1994.) It was a fascinating story. His Soldier’s mother sent her cousin’s letters, which was Kirk’s primary source for the article. Kirk is a good writer.

Wednesday (2 April), I worked the contract paperwork for our Raider Brigade monthly publication. We plan to use a local Iraqi contractor who has been doing the Dragon Fire magazine for the unit we are relieving. I also practiced music for Sunday in my hooch. I plan to sing “Word of God Speak” by Mercy Me.

Thursday (3 April), I spent some time working with various battalion public affairs representatives. My frustration is that I get a guy trained and a few months later the units switch people. The units move guys to different jobs for various reasons. When we arrived here nearly every unit switched people again, so the strong guys I had developed with experience from the National Training Center are doing different jobs. So in addition to transitioning to business in Iraq, I’m training new folks. (This fall, winter and spring, I’ve enjoyed a strong team as we lead the 4th Inf. Div. in producing quality news products. I had a bunch of help. Part of that success was our UPAR program of battalion stringers also writing for us.) I also traveled to the chapel to practice the keyboard, but I could not. The chapel was reconfigured for another memorial service. One of the units not in our brigade or 4th BCT, 1st Inf. Div. was killed in action. Since the keyboard was out of action, I could not practice.

Today, instead of running around the camp for physical training, I lifted weights at the gym. My new plan is to run five days a week and lift weights three days a week. I’ll see how that goes. I was waiting until some of the 1st Inf. Div. guys left before venturing into the gym, because it gets quite busy. I also ventured to the chapel to practice the keyboard and was successful. This time the keyboard was set-up and ready to go.

Another frustration I’ve dealt with is automation. We experienced internet outages about half the time this week. As I stated 95% of our work is on the unclassified network and no internet means no email. That’s how we communicate with most of the media bubbas that want to visit or embed with us plus send many of our reports and stories to higher headquarters. At least higher HQ has exercised patience with us and took most of our data (not stories) via the telephone.

Here’s a quote I found posted on the conference room wall. I thought it was pretty apropos.
Burn the midnight oil
“A dead soldier who has given his life because of the failure of his leaders is a dreadful sight and a crime before God. Like all dead soldiers, he was tired before he died, hungry undoubtedly, dirty, wet, and possibly frightened to his soul. And there he lies…dead needlessly, on top of all that…never again to see his homeland. Don’t be the leader who failed to lead him well! Burn the midnight oil so that you may not in later years look at your hands and find his blood still red upon them!” Major James W. Bellah said this in 1941. He later wrote, “She wore a yellow ribbon” and it became a John Wayne movie.

Speaking of midnight oil, I need to get to bed. I do not want to fall into the same cycle I did last tour of only getting four hours of sleep a night for an entire year. That aged me. I need to do a better job of taking care of myself.

Thanks for all the prayers. Pray for our troops over here. They are doing incredible work in an austere environment, since many of them operate from combat outposts. Many get to rotate back here once a week for 24-hours to refit. Also, keep our Families in your prayers. Our other halves are playing “mom & dad” as a single parent, which is exhausting. I wish you well. Psalm 91

Keep looking up!

Week 3, OIF6

Friday, 28 March 2008

Saturday (22 March), I participated in my first patrol of Tour #3. My mission was to assist my counterpart, Kirk, in escorting Jane Arraf. She works for a liberal think tank, called International Crisis Group. (When she visited me in 2006 at Camp Taji, she worked for CNN.) Her organization’s premise is that there is no progress in Iraq. General David Petraeus (King David, as we call him, is the senior man here as the Multi-National Forces – Iraq commander.) told her to come see us. So, we took her to Doura, a neighborhood in East Rashid. (East Rashid is a district in southern Baghdad. Our area is the southern portion of Baghdad, which is about one fourths of the capital city.)

For your information, Doura was the worst area in Baghdad during May – July 2007, but now it is the best. So, that’s where we took her and boy was she surprised. The last time she saw this neighborhood it was piled high with trash and had raw sewage running in the streets. Gun battles in clashes between Sunni and Shia groups were common. No U.S. patrol could venture into this area without exchanging gun fire. Dr. Mooyad Homad, a cardiologist, contractor, businessman, and entrepreneur is a big factor in the difference. He bought 12 trash trucks and hired a bunch of local military-aged males to pick-up the trash and sweep the streets. They did it the old-fashioned way…brooms, shovels and wheelbarrows and dumped the wheelbarrow loads into the trash trucks. (It is critical to hire military-aged males and keep them employed, or they may be tempted to work for the “dark side” by planting road-side bombs or engaging in other terrorist activities for hire.) They have cleaned up this area of town, so there is no rubble, trash or sewage on the streets and sidewalks. This area is beautiful, neat and clean. It has electricity with street lights and ornaments hanging from the power lines along the main street. He also owns a construction company that repairs the infrastructure. Now there are also T-walls that separate the neighborhoods from the main highways and each other. The T-walls were part of the Baghdad Security Plan which restricted the freedom of movement for the bad guys. Before, the bad guys could do mischief in one neighborhood and quickly scramble to another so we couldn’t find them. That ability no longer exists with the “gated community” concept in place. The T-walls in some areas were painted. One set of T-walls was painted with a Wisconsin farm scene; other sets had U.S. aircraft along Airport Road; still other sets had a beach scene. The artists are definitely making this sliver of Iraq look much better.

On this patrol we visited a flower shop, an automotive shop, a gym (a small version similar to Gold’s Gym) and an artist’s home. Boy, I never knew Iraq could smell so nice. The flower shop was like a small slice of Eden with all the lush greenery and blooming flowers.

An older gentleman is the artist, who has an art studio adjacent to his home. He creates beautiful clay statues and other works of art. He invited us into his home and treated us with roasted date palms and Turkish coffee. We chatted with his family and Jane interviewed them. Dr. Mooyad guided us during the patrol showing Jane many of the improvements where he played a central role. (ABC News’ Nightline with Terry McCarthy aired a segment 19 March featuring Dr. Mooyad as part of their “Fifth Year in Iraq” story. To me, he is a true Iraqi hero. I was privileged to meet him for the first time when he came to speak to us at the Counter Insurgency Academy at Camp Taji 16 March. We need more Iraqis like him to step forward.)

The bottom line is that Jane has plenty of real evidence to refute her agency’s premise. The patrol returned to our forward operating base without incident.

Saturday night I attended the Eucharistic Protestant Easter Service. It was nice, but anti-climatic as the Chaplain read the script. There was no instrumental music in the service, which did not help. However, we did sing three songs A cappella.

Sunday morning, I attended the non-denominational sunrise Easter service. Then I attended the Contemporary Protestant Service later in the morning. It is neat to hear all the different messages and perspectives from multiple services. There was a small praise team to lead the music in the first service and it was larger at the second service. After the second service, I picked up my laundry, which I dropped off two days earlier. (I don’t know why we call it laundry when we pick it up, because now it’s clean. It’s another oxymoron.)

Late Sunday night, one of our subordinate units hit a road-side bomb destroying the Bradley fighting vehicle, which made international news because the death toll for Operation Iraqi Freedom reached the 4,000 milestone. Four Soldiers were killed-in-action instantly and one flew to Baghdad’s combat support hospital with burns on 100% of his body.

Monday (24 March), was a sad day. In the morning, I attended the Hero Flight Ceremony. The ceremony was very solemn as Soldiers lined each side of the sidewalk facing each other leading to the landing zone. The brigade colors and four battalion standards with several company guidons were posted at the end of the sidewalk at the edge of the LZ. We saluted as the five litters carrying the remains of each Soldier in a black body bag passed between us to be loaded on the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. As the aircraft flew away, we faced the aircraft and saluted again. (I am uncertain to why there were five litters. Perhaps, the fifth was the remains of the Soldier who was killed by mortar fire on Good Friday.) Their memorial service is scheduled for Monday night.

The rest of the day I edited some stories, shadowed Kirk and typed up the Parish Council monthly meeting notes from Feb. (I served on the Parish Council since March 2007 at the 1st Cavalry Division Memorial Chapel, also known as 73rd Street Chapel at Fort Hood.) I sent the stories to Multi-National Division – Baghdad, our higher headquarters, which is also the 4th Infantry Division Headquarters and the Parish Council notes to the Installation Chaplain’s Office at Fort Hood.

Tuesday (25 March), I flew to the International Zone with Kirk. Our mission was to do some networking with the Coalition Press Information Center and facilitate the link-up of media for one of our units. Our flight was delayed due to weather and then mechanical issues with the aircraft, so we saw “Lethal Weapon 2, 3 & 4” in the flight operations office until our flight finally departed. When we finally arrived, things did not go smoothly. We endured five indirect fire attacks, which caused many things to come to a grinding halt in the IZ. The media link-up happened without us. However, Kirk showed me where he often links up with local Iraqi media and those kinds of things as we transition. He also showed me the CPIC, the AFN studio and the Media Operations Center at Camp Prosperity. (I was at the CPIC a few times during 2004, but it had moved since I’ve been there last.) These sites are important, because I need to know the lay of the land for when I conduct press conferences periodically or as the need arises. When our mission was complete, we could not fly back to Forward Operating Base Falcon due to a dust storm. So, we were stranded overnight and we learned that we could not get flights the next day either. We spent the night at the MOC at Prosperity. It’s a good thing we planned ahead and brought our toiletry kits and extra clothes in our assault packs.

Wednesday (26 March), Kirk and I returned to the IZ. We visited the Presidential Palace to do more networking and I bumped into the guy that I replaced as the 4th Public Affairs Detachment commander four years ago. He runs the day shift for the MNF-I Public Affairs section. So, we swapped some stories as things screeched to a halt again due to an IDF attack. This time in the IZ, we endured four IDF attacks. Kirk frequently used his cell phone to get us home and his non-commissioned officer scored by arranging for a patrol to pick us up in the IZ. However, the continued IDF attacks kept our ride home at bay for awhile because they could not get into the IZ since the gates were closed. After we finally linked up, we returned to FOB Falcon without incident. However, as soon as we cleared our weapons, we received another mortar attack. So, I was greeted with another bang. (These bad guys sure know how to make me feel welcome.)

I was chatting with the patrol leader, who is a Cajun from Louisiana. He told me that he is the only remaining initial leader in his platoon. All the others were killed or wounded during the tour. His platoon has had a 70% casualty rate. He also explained that if I knew all those facts about his platoon, I would not want to travel with him again. To his surprise I replied, “No, I’d be happy to go on future missions with you.” The reason is that his guys are combat tested and I feel safe with them. (The Dragon Brigade from 1st Inf. Div. is a good unit and has suffered over 90 KIAs and 800 wounded, most of them were returned to duty.)

Later in the afternoon, Annie Garrels of National Public Radio arrived at brigade headquarters. She had been with one of our battalions the previous day. (She was one of the 13 media reporters embedded with me when I was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines during October – November 2004 for the Battle of Fallujah. Annie was so glad to see me she practically gave me a big hug. We had to catch up with each other on what happened since we went our separate ways. She’s now 57 and her husband is 60. She was in Baghdad before OIF kicked off. She wrote the book, Naked in Baghdad, which explained her perspective during the initial invasion as she was behind enemy lines.) Kirk facilitated her interview with his boss, COL Ricky Gibbs, as I sat in on the event. Afterwards, I facilitated an interview with my boss, COL Ted Martin.

One of the things Annie wanted to know was why the spike in indirect fire, especially 25 – 26 March. She wanted to know what’s going on in Sadr City. She also wanted to know if there is a difference between good Jaysh al Mahdi and bad. (JAM is a militia group of thugs that follow the Shia cleric known as al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr. They are also sometimes called Mahdi Militia.) She also asked if the security situation is unraveling here. It is easy to explain why there’s an IDF spike in our area. Kirk’s unit has been doing an awesome job of capturing big fish and taking them off the streets. The bad guys were retaliating against us in one of the ways that they know…IDF. Regarding Sadr City, a different unit is responsible for that area, so it is not our lane. That’s a question for the unit working that area. Regarding good vs. bad JAM, COL Gibbs gave her a great answer. “We aren’t going after the “good JAM” that is reconcilable to the Government of Iraq and are abiding by al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr’s cease fire. The “bad JAM” (AKA Special Groups Criminal or Rouge JAM) is on notice and we are going after them.” (They are the ones shooting IDF at us and planting many of the road-side bombs made in Iran.) Regarding the security situation unraveling here, COL Gibbs was very eloquent by saying, “It’s just a burp compared to spring 2007.” Annie asked about U.S. troops killing innocent Iraqis. COL Gibbs smoothly pulled out some photographs that he uses to show the Shia sheiks, when they make the same accusations. The images show Iraqi males on rooftops holding AK-47 assault rifles, PRK machine guns and RPG rocket-propelled grenade launchers shooting at U.S. troops. The next set of images show them dead holding the same weapons. He politely asks the sheiks, “My men don’t carry these weapons. These weapons are illegal. Are you bad, too?” This shuts them up. (Kirk and I listened to Annie’s broadcast the next day that aired in the U.S. on her NPR news segment and she explained that she saw the photos and the men we killed were bad.)

Thursday, I spent most of my time writing Annex R (Public Affairs) for the tactical operations order that we are writing for our battalions when we officially assume this battlespace from Kirk’s unit, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. I borrowed some data from Kirk and what he is doing plus I called the MND-B PAO for some additional input. I also added some things that are unique to our units and submitted the document. It was due later in the day. I don’t usually wait until the last moment; however, I was outside of the wire three of the last five days.

Today, I attended meetings as I do everyday when I’m on the FOB and wrote this. The meetings are quite fascinating about what is going on here, but I’m not at liberty to explain since it contains future operations. We definitely have the bad guys on the run that’s as much as I’ll say.

I have been reading in Joshua lately as I’m on my eighth iteration of following my “Read through the Bible in a Year” program. (In the New Testament, I finished Luke on Easter.) I’m reminded of how many times God had to tell Joshua, do not be afraid for I am with you. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Josh. 1:9, NIV) God kept telling Joshua that until Joshua started telling his men the same thing. Then, look at what Joshua was able to do. He defeated many armies larger than his own during the Israelite conquest of Canaan. In a similar way, I’ve been though many indirect fire attacks. [16 rocket, 62 mortar in 2004; 19 rocket, 15 mortar in 2006] I don’t have to worry about my destiny…I’m at peace knowing my eternal destination. However, I am often reassuring my fellow Soldiers who are on their first tour or even on their second, who have been at places where they did not receive IDF.

Being on the receiving end of indirect fire can be demoralizing. IDF can be a used as a psychological weapon. (I saw it used by the Sunni against the Shia in Saab al Bour in August 2006. The Sunni lobbed 24 different mortar attacks in a single day against the Shia neighborhoods of that town of about 30K people. The Iraqi Security Forces who had taken the lead from us in May 2006 broke and ran away. Incidentally, the Shia finally said, “enough” and fled town. The population dropped to about 6K people and we had trouble convincing the Shia that it was safe to return after we restored order a few days later. Ironically, a Sunni majority replaced a Shia majority as they reoccupied the vacant homes.)

Let’s face it; this is an election year in Iraq and the U.S. The bad guys know this. If the bad guys can “show” the media that Iraq is unstable with U.S. casualty figures rising, they think the weak-minded American public will tire of this conflict and vote for “change.” In other words, elect a liberal president to bring the troops home as some candidates claim they will do. I don’t believe this will happen, even if a liberal candidate wins the presidential race. As soon as the new commander in chief realizes how big the void would be if we pulled out, which would destabilize the region causing more bloodshed, and how committed the U.S. government is in the Middle East, they’ll change their tune and balk at keeping their campaign promise.

Therefore, if you see headlines like “Baghdad is on fire!” Don’t believe it! There may be one building on fire in the IZ, the one housing the Iraqi vice presidents. One of the VP offices was hit killing two staffers (bodyguards) and injuring others. However, the rest of the city is not on fire.

Thanks for all the prayers. Pray for our troops over here. They are doing a tremendous job. Also, keep our Families in your prayers. They are the ones carrying the load in this conflict. God is definitely in control…and I’m glad He is. I wish you well. Psalm 91

Keep looking up!