Taking care of your wounded warriors is a mission the Army has placed atop the priority list second only to combat.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Army News Service, Jan. 22, 2008) - Getting Soldiers healed from physical, psychological or emotional wounds is an Army mission of highest priority, second only to combat, a senior official said during the Warrior Transition Leadership and Training Conference Jan.13-18.
With the creation of 35 Warrior Transition Units worldwide since mid-2007, more than 8,900 Soldiers, or warriors in transition, are currently assigned and have but one primary responsibility - to heal.
“There has to be a place for these Soldiers to convalesce and heal, and possibly one day return to duty,” said Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, assistant surgeon general for warrior care and transition. He also heads up the Army Medical Action Plan, which called for establishing the WTUs.
Congratulations to Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund for her coronation as Miss America 2008. Although I did not watch the pageant and I’m sure Miss Michigan deserves the win, I was disappointed to learn that Miss Utah Sgt Jill Stevens was not crowned Miss America.
Photo Courtesy U.S. Army
For those of us serving in uniform, Sgt Stevens is our Miss America. Sgt Hook out.
People often read what they want to read and hear what they want to hear. I was inundated with excited questions about our unit’s tour being cut from 15 to 12 months yesterday morning as a flurry of emails passed between my soldiers and their family members regarding a recent AP article on the subject.
The article quotes an official speaking on conditions of anonymity and mentions that a reduction of tour lengths has been proposed and is being discussed. That didn’t stop folks from making assumptions, jumping to conclusions and getting hopes up. I suddenly found myself in the command center of rumor control. Apparently so did the SECDEF.
Despite rumors to the contrary, the top U.S. commander in Iraq is staying put. And no decision will be made about shortening Army deployments to the Middle East wars until after Army Gen. David Petraeus delivers a new assessment on the Iraq war in March.
Gates also addressed what he called “some discussion” about the possibility of trimming Army combat deployments from 15 months back to 12. A report in the Jan. 28 Army Times said the Army is on the verge of implementing a plan that would bring home early 10 maneuver brigades now in Iraq and Afghanistan and cut tours back to 12 months by Aug. 1.
Nothing has been decided, Gates said.
There has been some discussion, he said, but he “will make no decision changing the duration of these assignments, or of the tours” until Petraeus, U.S. Central Command chief Adm. William Fallon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have made their recommendations to Bush.
I’m glad the discussion is happening though I’d prefer that officials speaking on conditions of anonymity keep their traps shut because it is very challenging managing expectations down at my level and nothing kills morale faster than rumors. Sgt Hook out.
Tim Sumner has an excellent post about the New York Times Slimes recent article dissing the Army’s new combat vehicle MRAP (mine resistant armored protected). I don’t have a lot of statistical data to throw at you, but I have talked with Sodliers driving in these colossal trucks and while they were skeptical at first, the vast majority have come to love the MRAP. Granted, they are big and sometimes cumbersome, but the trade off for saving our Soldiers’ lives. I shared an eye witness account on the effectiveness of the MRAP here. I also took a look at one just yesterday that had been hit with an IED and all of the occupants survived.
“Son of a bitch,” was the comment du jour as we surveyed the damaged vehicle.
I would ask Times reporter Stephen Farrell to choose which vehicle he would like to take the next time he leaves the Green Zone to tour the streets of Iraq. If I had a choice I know what mine would be…
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Jan. 10, 2008) - Army aviation continues to successfully “fight the fight,” in support of operations, while simultaneously transforming and modernizing its forces. That was the consensus of a panel of aviation commanders at the Association of the United States Army’s Institute of Land Warfare Aviation Symposium and Exposition.
“As rapid as innovations occur, we are challenged daily with updating our doctrine, improving our training and sharing lessons learned, all while continuing operations in theater,” said Col. Kevin W. Mangum, commander of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), at Fort Campbell, Ky. “We have the systems, we just have to continue to train with them,” he added.
In recent years, the combination of a significantly increased operational tempo and advancing technologies has presented various challenges, said the commander of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, which redeployed from northern Iraq recently back to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
“We are making vast improvements materially, but our training capacity to integrate new systems into the war fight as soon as they are received needs to be enhanced,” Col. A. Thomas Ball Jr., 25th CAB commander. “It is vital that we have the ability to train before we are, ‘in the box.’ Not individual training, but collective training to synergize as a unit.” Ball praised training exercises, which he says allow simulation and integration of everything from personnel and materials to system utilization.
I watch these UAVs take off and land day in and day out over here and am privy to the capabilities that they bring to the fight; impressive to say the least. With a healthy dose of American ingenuity, Soldierly grit, and dedicated civilian contractors the mission is being accomplished and the training plans are being developed. We’ll udoubtedly catch up just in time for newer technology to be introduced, but that’s OK, bring it on. Sgt Hook out.
ZAHMM, Iraq, Jan. 8 — The U.S. military launched a major offensive early Tuesday against one of the largest known redoubts of al-Qaeda in Iraq, part of a new nationwide campaign to destroy remaining pockets of the Sunni insurgency.
The unusually large attack by 5,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops in volatile Diyala province reflects growing concern that success in rooting the group out of Baghdad and Anbar province to the west has driven its members to northern areas such as the Diyala River Valley and the city of Mosul.
U.S. officials said an estimated 200 fighters from al-Qaeda in Iraq created a mini-state here in what Americans call the Bread Basket, a 50-square-mile, shoe-shaped region northeast of Baghdad that stretches from the northern Diyala River to a parallel canal to the east. Residents said the fighters, whom some described as foreigners, imposed curfews and strict interpretations of sharia, or Islamic law.
The U.S. troop buildup that began last year and success in fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq elsewhere in the country have, for the first time in two years, freed up enough troops to wage a full-scale assault and establish a continued presence in this area, U.S. commanders said. They said the Iraqi military is sending up to a full battalion from Anbar in the coming days to help hold the territory.
And the Iraqi citizens are helping…
More casualties were likely avoided because of tips from villagers, who identified explosives left by the insurgents. One man helped U.S. soldiers find and detonate a car bomb in Zahmm, which filled the night sky with dark smoke for hours. The man was promised a $100 reward.
Villagers encountered on Tuesday told the Americans of mistreatment by the Sunni insurgents. In one town, locals said al-Qaeda in Iraq imposed curfews from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day.
“Al-Qaeda said, ‘You must all work for us now,’ ” Sgt. Patrick Martin of Saratoga, N.Y., recalled villagers telling him.
American, Coalition, and Iraqi forces continue to set conditions for stabilization and the citizens are showing signs of hope for a brighter future and faith in their leaders while al-Qaeda remains on the run. Sgt Hook out.
They are popping up all over the place here in Iraq. The MRAP Vehicles have been long anticipated by those driving on Iraqi roadways and the procurement guys back in Washington have done a good job of getting them into theater.
“These armored trucks… have been the military’s top acquisition priority for months now, and with good reason,” Morrell said. “They have proven to be true lifesavers for our warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
As of Dec. 17, 1,300 MRAPs were in the theater, Morrell reported. Another 180 are en route by sea aboard USNS Pililaau, a large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship operated by Military Sealift Command that left Charleston, S.C., Dec. 13. In addition, another 15 MRAPs are in the air headed to Iraq.
The other day I was talking with a pilot who told me that he was flying the night previously and did a double take when he saw the odd looking vehicle driving up the MSR in a CLP of about six. As the pilot brought his Kiowa Warrior around for a better look at the colossal truck his night vision devices momentarily suffered a white out from the blinding flash of an explosion. An IED had detonated just as the lead MRAP drove across it.
The pilot immediately began the process of calling in a 9-line MEDEVAC request for the injured occupants while his wingman began searching for signs of insurgents in case it was a command detonated device. The MRAP was propelled into the air from the blast, turned 360 degrees while momentum kept it moving forward, and landed on its side, sliding to a stop on the shoulder of the road. The pilot on the radio could not believe his eyes when he watched all of the occupants climb out of the vehicle seemingly unharmed. It’s good to see more of these mammoths on the roads over here. Sgt Hook out.
UBAYDI, Iraq (Army News Service, Jan. 2, 2008) — Going after al-Qaeda cell leaders in the Ubaydi farmland 20 miles south of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a three-pronged assault on the area which netted dozens of detainees, Dec. 29.
Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, and Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor, along with about 200 Iraqi troops, raided houses and searched fields near the Tigris River.
The operation was planned by Task Force 1-76 Field Artillery, part of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
As the sun rose through Ubaydi’s date palm groves, four Black Hawks landed in a fury of dust and whipping wind. Soldiers from Co. B poured out, their breath steaming in the cold air as they charged straight for a small compound purported to be an al-Qaeda safehouse.
In case it isn’t making your evening news. Sgt Hook out.
Once again, the courageous and talented men and women of the National Guard have answered the call to duty…
VERNONIA, Ore. (Army News Service, Dec. 7, 2007) — The Oregon National Guard this week assisted in the rescue of between 200 and 400 residents of the coastal town of Vernonia, Ore., after heavy rains Sunday and Monday caused extensive flooding.
The Oregon National Guard mobilized the 125th Special Tactics Squadron Dec. 3 to assist first responders in Vernonia.
Due to extreme weather conditions and obstacles on the ground, rescue by air was too risky, officials said. The 125th STS, with support from the 141st Support Battalion, arrived in Vernonia overnight and quickly deployed four Zodiac boats. Making their way through the flooded streets and residences of Vernonia, the National Guard members brought welcome relief.
The Oregon National Guard continues to support response and recovery efforts in the wake of sever winter storms that struck the Pacific Northwest, officials said.
Where would we be without our citizen soldiers? I hope we’ll never have to find out. Sgt Hook out.
This site is a collection of my writings, thoughts, and ramblings and in no way reflects the official positions of the United States Army or the Department of Defense. OPSEC trumps everything.
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In view of a recent tendency to identify characters in fiction with real people, it seems proper to state that there are no real people in this volume: both the characters and their names are ficticious. The names or designations of any military units are ficticious. There are no living people nor existing military units presented in this book.
-Ernest Hemingway
Halfway down the road to hell,
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler's Green.
-Author Unknown
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