At General Sanchez’s CENTCOM briefing to reporters following the Aces of Clubs and Hearts Operation in Mosul, Iraq yesterday, a reporter asked the following question:
Q: Thank you. General, I’d like to try and see if you could address more of the first question which we had from our colleague up front. The Americans are specialists in surrounding places, keeping people in them, holding up for a week, if necessary, to make them surrender. These guys only had, it appears, AK-47s, and you had immense amount of firepower. Surely, the possibility of the immense amount of information they could have given coalition forces, not to mention the trials that they could have been put on for war crimes, held out a much greater possibility of victory for you if you could have surrounded that house and just sat there until they came out, even if they were prepared to keep shooting.
There is a reason that senior officers like General Sanchez handle these press conferences and NOT First Sergeants.
A: Sir, that is speculation. General Sanchez’s.
A: Stand up Mr. Reporter and follow me (leading him out of the briefing tent and looking over shoulder), the rest of you are welcome to join us. Stand right here if you would Sir. If everyone else could step to the side please. Thank you. Tom, would you bring me an AK-47? Thanks. (walking 25 meters away from reporter) Mr. Reporter, Sir, this is “just” an AK-47, it fires a 7.62 mm round at some 3,000 rounds per minute. (leveling the weapon at the reporter) I’m now going to shoot it at you, don’t worry, I’ve very good aim, I won’t hit you. If you’d be more comfortable laying behind those sandbags feel free. When I’m done, I’d like you to ask me your question again, I don’t think I heard you properly.
Like I said, you rarely see dusty old First Sergeants fielding reporters’ questions ; ) Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 0711 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (0) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Reconstructed
Meet Staff Sergeant Donald White of Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. While on patrol in Balad, Iraq, SSG White and his team responded to a mortar attack on a nearby village.
“Upon arriving at the scene there was absolute chaos – Iraqis running to and from the explosion site. The driver of a white car was desperately trying to get out of the alleyway next to the house,” said White, patrol leader for Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Upon seeing the Soldiers a woman exited the car holding a small girl of 8 to 10 years old covered in blood. The girl had been cutting tomatoes when a mortar round hit a nearby water drum, which projected shrapnel into her chest.
Spc. John Sullivan, a medic attached to White’s unit, approached the family to offer care to the limp child.
“I went to check for a pulse, which I couldn’t feel,” Sullivan said. “As I was checking, I noticed holes in her chest where the shrapnel impacted. I knew she was dead.”
The family rushed to the Air Force hospital at LSA Anaconda, where medical staff confirmed the girl died as a result of her wounds.
White and his team stayed behind to investigate the site. They eventually found the mortar’s tailfin, which by its shape and size the Soldiers knew was an enemy round.
SSG White could’ve ended his mission there, but he didn’t.
White and his patrol returned to the home the following day to offer the condolences, and make sure the family knew coalition forces hadn’t fired the round. If rumors spread that the Americans killed the girl, tensions in the area would increase, White said.
“I wanted to return to say ‘I am sorry, I hope to catch this guy who fired the mortar’,” White said. “Words mean so much to these people.”
Your soldiers are operating as warriors, ambassadors, technicians, and humanitarians all within the span of a few hours. I’m proud of you SSG White and your men. This We’ll Defend. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 1134 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (8) | Permalink
This post is filed under: The Soldier
I’m in.
On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11. Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.
We will honor them by remembering their lives, and not by remembering their murderers.
If you would like to help out, either by pledging to post a tribute on your own blog, or by offering your services to promote this cause, just leave a comment here and I’ll email you the name of a victim.
Then, on 9/11/2006, you will post a tribute to that victim on your blog.
What a fantastic project. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 1204 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (16) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Americana & Heroes
Dave's Not Here linked with
2996 ProjectBoudicca's Voice linked with
Coping Skills LackingMexican Hezbollah linked with
Call To Action: Tribute To Fallen 9/11 VictimsThe Daily Brief: A Military Blog For All The World To See And Read linked with
Remembering the Fallen
When I was a young boy, I think around 12 or 13 years of age, there was a set of brothers in my school, one my age the other a year or two older, that used to harass me for reasons I never understood. I don’t remember their names, but I do recall the younger one always blatantly taking my things, pencils, pens, and notebooks while his older brother would push me around as if I were out of line for not cooperating with his younger punk sibling. I was a pretty easy going kid and tried to ignore them, but after enduring continuous harassment and the loss of property, over time, I became frustrated and angry.
My dad, my hero, the Commander, noticed a change in my demeanor and asked what was bothering me. After much cajoling on his part, I broke down and explained through teary eyes what was going on at school with the punk ass bullies brothers. Much to my surprise, my dad, my hero, the Commander, patiently shared some advice with me that has stuck to this day.
Resting his strong hand on my shoulder, he reassuringly said to me, “Son, it’s OK to be upset and frustrated and angry, these boys aren’t playing by the rules and that’s confusing to those who do.”
Looking up into his piercing yet compassionate eyes, feeling the weight of his hand on my shoulder and the power of his words in my ears, I found calm and listened.
“We’re taught that patience is a virtue,” he said, “And I’m proud of the patience you’ve demonstrated son. It takes a strong man to put up with the bunk you’ve put up with.”
I love the way my dad uses the word ‘bunk.’
Squeezing my shoulder a little tighter he went on, “But there comes a time son when you have to draw a line in the sand.”
A confused look crossed my face, “a line in the sand?”
Pausing to think, my dad went on to explain, “Son, there comes a point in dealing with others when you might have to say, ‘If you try to take my pencil again, I’m gonna punch you in the nose.’”
I was taken back a bit by this pearl of wisdom.
“What about that bothers you son?” he asked noticing my reaction.
After a moment of hesitation I replied, “It’s just that I don’t have many friends dad, and these punks brothers do, and if I punch one of them in the nose, nobody will like me then.”
“Son,” he said, “This isn’t about having friends. This is about principal. You draw that line in the sand and you make it clear that those who cross it will face consequences, like getting punched in the nose, you follow through with that promise, and you’ll have all the friends that you’ll ever need in life.”
Two days later, punk the younger the younger brother pushed me away from my desk and grabbed my pencils as if they were his. Out of the blue, I grabbed his shoulder, turned him around to face me and said, “those are my pencils asshole, put them back.”
In the middle of his condescending laugh I socked him in the gut with all my strength, knocking the air out of his lungs and surprising the shit out of him. He dropped my pencils.
Later that afternoon, punk the older the older brother approached me in the hallway, pushing me up against a set of orange wall-lockers, he threatened to end my life if I didn’t apologize to punk the younger his little brother.
“Let go of me and don’t ever touch me again,” I said through clinched teeth.
Letting me go he said, “And what’re you going to do about it wimp?” pushing his index finger into my chest and holding it there.
Without saying a word, I swung my left arm across and down knocking his finger from my chest and followed by punching him square in the nose with my right fist. I recall him repeating feebly, “You broke my nose, you broke my nose,” as he rushed down the hallway holding said nose in his bloody hands.
The punk brothers never bothered me again and I found that I had neither lost or gained friends, but that line in the sand seemed to follow me for years to come and nobody ever crossed it. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 0148 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (14) | Permalink
This post is filed under: GWOT & Know thy Enemy
If in the dark of night, someone, or some group of someones, slipped into my house and kidnapped one of my swashbucklers, rest assured there isn’t any reaction that I might take that could be considered gottdamned “disproportionate” to the abduction or murder of a member of my family. Clear? Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 0333 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (16) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Know thy Enemy & Soap Box
Chapomatic linked with
Sheepdog Logic
Meet another one of your amazing Soldiers America, Private First Class Cindra Smith who joined your Army at the age of 40.
“When I called them back I was told to wait by the phone and expect a call,” she said. “When I got the phone call they said my daughter had been shot in the back during an IED attack in Iraq.”
Pvt. Tracy Branton, Smith’s oldest daughter, was a heavy wheel mechanic on a convoy in Iraq when it was hit by IEDs. When Branton and her fellow Soldiers got out of the vehicles to inspect the area, she was shot in the back. Now 21, Branton is 70 percent disabled and has a slight paralysis because of the injuries caused by the shooting.
“I remember being angry,” Smith said. “As parents, we always try and look for someone to blame. But knowing that she was doing something she believed in and wanted to do helped me get over that.”
After Branton was injured, Smith’s 20-year-old son, James Pritchard, decided to join the Army to become an infantryman. He attended basic and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, Ga., and is serving in Iraq with the 1st Infantry Division.
When the Army raised its acceptance age from 35 to 40 and then to 42, Smith made a life-changing move. Two weeks away from her 40th birthday, she is now known as Pfc. Cindra Smith, a Soldier in C Company, 832nd Ordnance Battalion, 59th Ordnance Brigade, where she is attending AIT to become an explosive ordnance disposal specialist.
“If I can save another parent from getting the same phone call I did, then I would have done everything I came in to do,” Smith said.
America sleeps soundly because of families like the Smith family. I’m damned proud of you PFC Smith. Thank you for your service. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 0328 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (4) | Permalink
This post is filed under: The Soldier
On this day in…
1099: First Crusade: Christian soldiers take Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after a difficult siege.
1606 - Rembrandt, Dutch artist was born.
1799 - Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta, by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard.
1975 - Apollo Soyuz Test Project: Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft take off for U.S.-Soviet link-up in space.
And on this day a couple of years back, the lovely and talented and downright sexy Mrs. Hook was born. The boys and I will do our best to spoil her rotten today in celebration of her birthday, but more importantly, to let her know just how thankful we are for all that she does and puts up with as the only maiden onboard the ship. Happy Birthday Baby! I love you. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 1437 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (9) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Homefront
Once again, many thanks to all who participated. The decision this week was a tough one but consider the picture captioned…
Photo courtesy U.S. Army
‘All and all, just another brick in the wall’.
Congratulations Lisa of Hear Me Roar! Well done Lisa. Sgt Hook out.
Posted by Hook @ 2338 zulu | Comments & Trackbacks (3) | Permalink
This post is filed under: Caption This
