Q&A Corner

Well, you asked, and now I answer. Welcome to Hook’s Q&A Corner where I will attempt to satisfy your collective inquiring minds as I answer a chunk of your questions each time. This will be a regular feature here at Sgt Hook, at least until I run out of questions, so without any further ado…

1. I was wondering how many shoes you received for the children of Afganistan?
Good question. As some of you might know, back in June we launched Operation Shoe Fly and the support from the folks back home has been tremendous. For those who don’t know, Operation Shoe Fly is the culmination of an idea born by a group of crewdogs flying in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. After landing in numerous LZs across the war torn country and seeing many children with no shoes, they thought to help bring them some footwear. We are asking for donations of children’s shoes, for both boys and girls ages 14 and under, new or used so that we can deliver them to the future of Afghanistan. We started keeping inventory of the shoes as they came in, then the boxes starting piling up in the corner of our orderly room so I acquired a 20-feet long shipping container that is now half full of shoes. We stopped counting somewhere around 1,000 pair of shoes and my best estimate is that we currently have close to 3,000 pair of shoes received with roughly 500 pair delivered. Thanks to all who have helped Operation Shoe Fly, your efforts are making a difference over here, one small step at a time.

2. What is the best part of your position?
The best part of being a Soldier is going to work each day knowing that I’m a part of something larger than myself. The best part of being a first sergeant is starting each day standing in front of the best damned Soldiers in the world and watch with amazement at their dedication and courage and grit as they passionately defend freedom, and they do it with honor.

3. What is the worst part of your position?
The worst part of being a Soldier are the sacrifices that the lovely and talented and downright sexy Mrs. Hook and our merry band of swashbucklers are asked to make in support of the oath that I took. The worst part of being a first sergeant is that I’m no longer down in the trenches as a crewdog or squad leader getting dirt under my fingernails with the Soldiers. Oh, I find myself down there periodically, but nobody wants the first sergeant in their business all the time so I kind of miss those fun jobs on the tip of the spear.

4. If you could change one thing about the Army, what would it be?
One of the great things about the Army is that it constantly changes, always learning and adapting new and better ways of conducting operations so I’m hesitant to pick at things that I know will change but I think if I could change one thing on the grand scheme, I’d pay our Soldiers more. I’m not complaining about the current pay scale, I’m just saying that watching how hard these Soldiers work and how much they sacrifice you realize that it towers over what professional athletes do, but their pay pales in comparason.

5. Which of your soldiers has best demonstrated the Army Values over the past (deployment) and how?
You must not have children. I cannot single out one Soldier over another but I will tell you that I have never seen a better demonstration of the Army Values, specifically, Selfless Service and Honor in all that my Soldiers do everyday here in Afghanistan.

6. When you think of America, what comes to your mind first?
Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.

7. How did you get your start in the Army?
Short version- I dropped out of college at the end of my junior year, Syracuse University, bummed around for a couple of years cooking in some fabulous restaurants in New York and Florida, finally decided to listen to a little voice in my head that ironically sounded very much like my father and went down to the recruiting station to talk to the United States Coast Guard. They were at lunch, but the Army guy was there and before I knew it, I was sitting in a chair having my head shaved at Fort Dix New Jersey some 17-years ago.

8. What is your favorite activity to do when you are on leave/off duty?
I love nothing more than to spend time with my beautiful bride and our wonderful boys. I also enjoy very much to cook and do so whenever I find the time.

9. If you could go anywhere in the world (besides home) where would you go?
I’ve never been to Scotland and have always wanted to. My grandfather at 14-years of age hopped on a steamer in Scotland and crossed the Atlantic to America and I’ve always wanted to visit his homeland and hoist a few pints, maybe prance around in a kilt a bit.

10. If you had the chance to go back and “observe” one moment in history, what would it be?
Tough question as there are so many…the Anzio landing, those guys never quit…the Lewis and Clark expedition…Washington’s Delaware crossing…and if I had to pick one, the Fall of the Roman Empire, a lot to learn there I think.

11. Who is your biggest political hero?
Ronald Reagan

12. Who was your biggest political let-down?
Richard Nixon

13. In 10 words or less tell me what your platform would be if you were running for President.
I don’t think I have the stomach for politics, but I’d probably borrow from one of the greats and simply state… “ask not what your country can do for you.” There, nine words, nuff said.

14. North Shore or Waikiki?
You’d be hard pressed to find a more beautiful stretch of beach than Waikiki, but I’m a North Shore kind of guy.

15. Boxers or briefs?

That ought to be enough to take in at one time, I’ve plenty more answers to your questions coming in the very near future, but feel free to leave a question or two in the comments or send them via email and I’ll answer them ASAP. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 1609 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (10) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Q&A

Long Day

After dropping the last of the commo equipment packed in large, heavy, green, hard plastic shipping containers at forward operating base Calypso, and picking up three more big orange bags full of mail from the troops at the FOB, Redbeard77 and her crew, despite their exhaustion, made an approach into Camelot for their second time that day. They ended their approach at a hover about ten feet above the inverted ‘Y’ and then slid into hot gas pad one for refueling.

Two Soldiers wearing red helmets and dark goggles and heavy gloves ran out to the aircraft meeting Jaf at the helicopter’s refuel station just aft of the cabin door on the right side of the Chinook. The first Soldier grabbed a large refueling nozzle connected to a long black hose that ran to a pump that pumped fuel from a 40,000 gallon tank of JP-8. Before connecting the refueling nozzle to the receptacle at the refuel station, the first Soldier wearing the red helmet and dark goggles and heavy gloves, the taller of the two, plugged the business end of a grounding cable, the other end of which was connected to a brass grounding rod driven three-feet into the earth, into the aircraft to prevent static electricity from discharging during the refuel process. A spark from static electricity during the refuel process could be deadly. The taller Soldier then waited for a thumbs up from Jaf who after finishing a check of the aircraft’s refueling system gave the tall one a thumbs up. The tall one slammed a lever on the left side of the refueling nozzle forward and JP-8 started flowing through the long black hose into the helicopter’s fuel tanks. The shorter of the two Soldiers wearing the red helmet and dark goggles and heavy gloves stood nearby with a 50lb fire extinguisher at the ready just in case the grounding cable running from the aircraft and connected to the grounding rod failed to do its job. In all his nine years of refueling aircraft, the short one has never had to use the 50lb fire extinguisher. This day would prove to be no different.

The pilot-in-command asked each of the crewdogs if they were OK with continuing on with the mission that was going to take them past their allotted eight hours of flight. Each member of the crew, knowing that the Soldiers on guard at the OPs perched atop a ridgeline at some 9,000 feet AGL were depending on them, responded that they were good to go. The pilot-in-command informed Camelot control that they would proceed with their earlier request to sling load the two pallets of food and water up to the OPs, but then had to high tail it back to home base. Camelot thanked them profusely as there really was no other way to get the much needed supplies up to the guys at OP Arthur and OP Galahad.

When they taxied into their assigned parking spot back at steel beach an hour and forty-minutes later, Jaf felt tired, very tired. Kevin helped load the six big orange mail bags onto a humvee to be taken to the post office for mailing while Jaffy started conducting the required post-flight inspections. Just before the driver of the humvee got behind the wheel, Kevin asked him why it was that the post office never sent any mail out to the troops at the FOBs. The mail handler now sitting behind the wheel of his humvee full of big oragne bags of mail explained that the Soldiers frequently rotate in and out of the FOBs making it virtually impossible to get their mail to them, so all the letters and packages are held at the base camp until the troops rotate back through there. Kevin felt a little guilty at having mail and hot showers everyday. The mail clerk drove off and Jaf yelled at his crewchief to stop lollygagging and help “put her to bed.” They had logged 8.9 flight hours, arriving four hours prior to take-off to get her ready and needing another three-hours now to put her to bed, it had been a long day. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 1628 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (7) | Permalink
This post is filed under: The Stan

Racial Profiling

Another outrageous example of police abuse exposed when an Iowa State Trooper pulled over Michael Wagner for not wearing his seatbelt. C’mon, we know better than that, Wagner was really stopped because he is a Muslim! The outrage of it all! And then, just because Wagner failed to prodcue any identification or stick to a name when asked who he was on several occassions, the police officer looked around a little more, finding the following inside the victim’s car:

9mm pistol with magazine (loaded)
bullet proof vest (3 each)
ammunition (hundreds of rounds)
flight simulator and flight manuals
telescope
night-vision goggles
night-vision rifle scope
a copy of the Koran

The police are obviously trying to twist the truth claiming that Wagner had these items, ordinary household religious articles mind you, to use in a possible sniper attack. Where is the ACLU on this?! We’ve got to stop this brutal violation of Mr. Wagner’s rights.

Oh yeah, and while Mr. Wagner and his wife were sitting inside the State Trooper’s cruiser waiting, watching the police pulling his arsenal religious articles from his vehicle, he was caught on the cruiser’s viedo recorder saying to his wife, “I told you I should have killed him.” Sgt Hook out.

Via Michelle Malkin

Posted by Hook @ 0203 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (13) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Americana

Eat the Lettuce

Have you eaten the lettuce lately? What’re waiting for?. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 0940 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (4) | Permalink
This post is filed under: All Things Blog

About Hook

With moving Sgt Hook to the new host we were sadly unable to upload the archives from my previous year of blogging which leaves me with the task of re-writing an “About Hook” entry to go along with the new look. In an effort to get said post started, I thought to solicit help from you, the loyal readers by putting myselff in the hot seat and having you ask questions of me. Go ahead, ask me anything, as many quesitons as you’d like. Feel free to ask away in the comments or via email at hook[at]sgthook[dot]com. Really, inquiring minds want to know and I’m not afraid. Well, not too afraid. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 1528 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (23) | Permalink
This post is filed under: General

Blogger’s Corner

Live from Blogger’s Corner it’s A Small Victory and also where I’ll be following the activities at the RNC. N.Z. Bear has some advice for those blogging from the DNC’s version of the Blogger’s Corner in Boston. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 1205 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (2) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Americana

SPC Newberry- Soldier/Hero

After conducting a crater analysis, the team determined with a degree of certainty that the attacker must have launched his mortars from a small island in the middle of the Tigris river. They were determined to not let this night be a repeat of the last three, hoping to catch their assailant as he attempted again to land a deadly mortar inside their base camp on the outskirts of Mosul. Specialist Newberry held the row boat steady while the two American Soldiers and one Iraqi policeman climbed on board, then watched as they quietly floated along the swift current of the Tigris towards the suspect island. Standing in the dark on the shore he started feeling a little sorry for himself in that he wasn’t going along with the team, there wasn’t enough room in the rickety old boat. His heart jumped as he heard a splash and saw the outline of the boat capsize in the shadows of the night.

Newberry reacted immediately, running at a sprint to a nearby dock and commandeering an Iraqi speed boat, never taking his eye off the now sinking boat and the three heads of his comrades floating in the frigid waters, holding onto pieces of the boat’s equipment that were also floating in the swift current. As the engine sputtered and choked to life, Specialist Newberry slammed the throttle forward racing to the aid of his fellow Soldiers.

One of them later commented, “I honestly didn’t think Newberry would get there in time. I was really cold and not thinking clearly.”

He did get there in time, and he fished the three from the ice cold Tigris, saving their lives. Specialist Newberry was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for his heroic actions.

“What you did was heroic and brave. You, Specialist Newberry, are a true hero,” said Gen. George Casey, Multinational Forces-Iraq Commander, moments before he presented the Soldier’s Medal.

Good work Soldier, I’m proud of you Newberry. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 0050 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (5) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Heroes

Headlines from Afghanistan

You don’t see many, but believe me, there is plenty of news coming from here, the problem is that the news is good and therefore not mainstream material. Chrenkoff is making sure the blogosphere is kept up to speed on what’s happening with the Afghanis.

If there is one place where good news is harder to come by than Iraq, it’s Afghanistan. For that we should partly blame our poor understanding of Afghan realities, and consequently, unrealistic expectations. An isolated, poor, largely rural country with harsh landscapes and limited natural resources, Afghanistan has been for the past quarter of a century cursed with constant violence and oppression. Good news from Afghanistan will not in any foreseeable future mean mushrooming shopping malls and health care clinics in every village. For the people who have suffered so much for so long, relative peace and absence of theocracy are a good start.

But, as is the case with reporting from Iraq, we shouldn’t let the media off the hook so easily, either. For all the fashionable talk about Iraq distracting the Bush Administration from the war on terror, it’s largely been the media who have ignored Afghanistan except for the occasional story about another skirmish with the Taliban remnants or the explosion in opium cultivation.

While Democrat and Republican convetnions will soon grab all the headlines in America, another election will be taking place here in the Stan. The Afghan people, to include 2 million women whom have registered to vote despite warnings and threats from remnants of the Taliban not to, will participate in free and democratic elections in October, choosing their country’s president, and then early in the new year will return to the polls for electing their congressional representatives. This is huge news for Afghanistan given its history of oppressive ruling governments. You might catch it on the headline ticker at the bottom of your television screen as it flashes by while a pretty young talking head goes on about a candidate’s military service record or something. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 1630 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (10) | Permalink
This post is filed under: The Stan

Chow Hall

Three long frame tents sit side by side by side of one another, joined by a couple of hallways to make our chow hall, affectionately known as the ‘Freedom Fighter Cafe’ by its clientele. Each long frame tent is actually a series of five individual frame tents, canvas tents set on a metal A-frame, pieced together head to toe to form one long tent. Inside the left most of the three is the kitchen where several cooks wearing white aprons over their desert camouflage uniforms spend hours preparing three square meals each day for the Soldiers. They feed over 600 Soldiers each meal. A long table with a wood cutting board top runs down the middle of the first third of the tent for cutting vegetables and performing other culinary tasks. A row of shelves line the wall filled with pots and pans and various other large cooking untensils. Adjacent to the shelves holding the tools of the trade, is a gray sheetmetal wallocker in which are housed row after row of spices and herbs. The next third of the kitchen has large gas stoves and ovens on either side of the tent where most of the cooking is done. It can get quite hot inside, especially when all the ovens and stoves are going at once, but the smells are mouth wateringly fabulous. A radio hangs from the frame of the tent near the ovens blaring music from the Armed Forces Network radio station. Two large, deep stainless steel sinks fill the outside wall of the last third of the kitchen tent where the pots and pans and various other cooking utensils are washed by a team of local nationals. They have a system set up whereby dirty pots and pans are stacked up by the cooks in an area opposite of the large, deep stainlees steel sinks until they are attacked by two members of the dishwashing team armed with steel wool, scrapers, and green scrubbing pads who knock off the large remnants of food stuffs before passing the pots and pans off to the washers wearing large, yellow, rubber gloves. These expert washers submerge the pots and pans and utensils in a sink full of hot soapy water and begin scrubbing until the item at hand is completely clean.The clean pots and pans and utensils are then handed off to the rinser who also wears large, yellow, rubber gloves and mans a spray gun connected to a flexible metal water hose spraying off all the residual soap before placing the item onto a drying rack in the corner.

At the front end of the middle of the three long frame tents is the main entrance to the chow hall. Before entering, the Soldiers can wash their hands at one of six hand washing stations set up on the outside of the tent. Once inside, two serving lines are positioned along each wall where two cooks stand behind a glass divider and serve the wonderfully prepared meals cafeteria style. Next in line is a salad bar and a condiments bar where one can choose from a traditional green salad or maybe a macaroni or cucumber salad prepared earlier in the kitchen tent and get any condiments they might need for their meal. There is ketchup, steak sauce, a choice of several salad dressings, and a host of other extras. Lastly, on either side of the tent stand two large stainless steel beverage coolers with glass doors holding cold cans of assorted soft drinks, bottles of water, boxes of juice and milk, and sometimes on lucky days, bottles of Gatorade.

The right most tent houses a series of picnic style tables along each side of the dining tent, with a walkway down the middle to the exit, where Soldiers can sit and enjoy their meal and quiet conversation. In the middle of each table are holders filled with napkins, salt and pepper and bottles of Tobasco hot sauce. Soldiers love Tobasco hot sauce and can usually be found putting it on just about everything from eggs to rice to chicken. At either end of this tent sit two large flat screen televisions that normally show a sporting event, news, or whatever program is currently being aired on one of the six Armed Forces Network television stations.

It isn’t a home cooked meal served by a lovely and talented and downright sexy cook at a dining room table with the kids all talking at once and arguing over who got the longest french fry or the most fish sticks and the dog nosing a leg under the table begging for a piece of steak, but it’s a pretty damned good chow hall in the middle of the desert, feeding hungry Soldiers everyday providing them with the fuel they need to carry on with their missions. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 1517 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (6) | Permalink
This post is filed under: The Stan

Into the Lion’s Den

The dashing young lad was hanging from the riggings of the large sailing ship off the starboard side near the bow, his blonde hair waving in the wind, his cutlass sheethed and held in place on his waist by a crimson sash, the tails of which too waved in the wind. The battle had been bloody, and brutal, and had lasted for many hours on the deck of the pirate ship Albatross, skippered by his arch enemy, Captain One Eye. A formidable opponent, old One Eye and his crew of scalawags put up a good fight, but in the end were defeated by the handsome young corsair and his merry band of pirates. They thought him fearless. He knew this not to be true, brave maybe, but fearless no. You wouldn’t know it to see him holding onto the salt caked rope with just one hand and a single foot placed on another section of the riggings as he leaned over the edge of the ship, as if flying above the green ocean below, a salty spray hitting his face as waves crashed against the mahogany hull.

He had to be brave yet again, for this afternoon he was to see the sawbones below deck to have the strange mark on his chest examined. Ol’ Shakey had been a sawbones on the open seas for many years and was good at his job he knew, but this painful bump on his chest had tested even the seasoned doctor’s knowledge. Today he was to enter into the Lion’s Den, a new fangled device used to see inside one’s chest without the use of a blade.

Young Castaway Conner, fresh from battle, bravely climbed up onto the cold, metal bed of the Lion’s Den and cooperated splendidly, holding still for the full thirty-minutes while zaps and dings and clicks and different colored lights flahsed until all was done and he was free to roam the poop deck and hang in the riggings again. The sawbones informed him that he should have the results of all the zaps and dings and clicks and different colored flashing lights in a few days but initial images look as if he had sustained an injury to his sternum area causing a swelling where cartilage and blood had pooled, perhaps during one of his many battles. He shrugged and lept from the cold, metal bed, swiftly scaling the ladder to the deck above, emerging unscathed from the Lion’s Den, while his princess breathed a sigh of relief hopeful that the initial readings would turn out in the end to be correct. The lad’s father is also hopeful and extremely grateful for all the prayers and well wishes from those whom they’ve never met. Thank You all. Sgt Hook out.

Posted by Hook @ 1145 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (15) | Permalink
This post is filed under: My Swashbucklers