Tazer Videos Are Up

More here (be sure to choose "Hi-Quality" under the videos at the YouTube site).

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Finally posted some pics from NTC

More to come...

A Co 1-18 NTC

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Father's Video Sparks Action

The father of a soldier recently back from a 15-month tour in Afghanistan posted a youtube video that has caught the attention of the Pentagon and CNN. See the story here.

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Combat Glove

I probably won't be seeing this in my kit anytime soon, but here is a peek at a possible future.

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Video: Special Forces raid in Sadr City

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Outside the Wire

Finally, a film about the war in Iraq that looks promising.



The site.

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1-41 Alpha Co.Change of Command Photos

Sorry family, there are none of me.

1-41 A Co Change of Command Ceremony

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More new pics

Three new albums, including some PT, 2nd Platoon group photo and finally layout and inventory pics.

1-41 Apocalypse Company Layout and 2nd Platoon Group

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1-41 Apocalypse Company Truck Gunnery

More pics

1-41 Apocalypse Company Truck Gunnery

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1-41 Marriage Rededication

Photos from the event.

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Weekend video viewing

Apaches "Clear to Engage"


Kiowa "Clear to Engage"


Oops, sorry dude.


The Rundown


Bradleys in combat


React to Contact

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OpFor Video

Here is a video from last week when we played the enemy (OpFor) for another unit. Hopefully they took some lessons away from the training. We certainly weren't easy on them.

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Heading to Topeka

The wife and I are heading to Topeka for a unit-sponsered 3-day "marriage retreat." It'll be nice to have a few days away from the post to stay in a hotel with Aziah; time to just focus on the two of us. There will be a vow-renewal and much positive discussion with fellow soldier couples.

I'm sure it will be totally infused with god-talk, whatever. I know what I'm getting into so I can't complain.

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New 1-41 Pics

1-41 STX

1-41 OpFor

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NYT: Korengal Valley

Capt. Dan Kearney bows his head in frustration after the denial of his request for an air strike against men walking nearby with weapons. Above his head, the laser of an AC-130 plane tracks a potential target.

The New York Times cover story from last week's Sunday Magazine was part one of a two part series on a unit in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan.

I came across the article last night after before going to bed after a 16-hour workday, mostly playing OpFor in wargames. During a lull in the action we had time to discuss plenty of "what if" scenarios pertaining to our deployment at some point in the undefined future. Having never served in combat I was pretty much in listening mode, taking in all I could from the combat vets contributing to the discussion. As infantry, a definite theme emerged, especially considering how successful we were at countering the U.S. Scouts whom we were "fighting" against.

On how we would have done better, in real combat, opinions ranged from suggesting we would not stack in front of windows, to, we'd just pull out and call in an air strike on the whole village.

The dialogue got more interesting as the higher ranking leaders weighed in explaining the complexity of COIN operations in the Iraqi battlespace.

I could sense the challenge the leaders faced trying to explain to door-smashing grunts (us) that even since their last deployment, things had changed (Awakening Councils, etc) and this deployment would be different for the vets. It is now a matter of kicking ass while at the same time being less obnoxious to the civilians than the enemy is, so we can maintain the trend we've seen since Gen. Petraeus's surge has turned around the war and decreased IED deaths by 80%.

This article about what is happening in Korengal valley is especially interesting after the training and discussions yesterday. I think I'll print out a copy and bring it in for our unit. Follow link for NYT's Part one: LINK Photos HERE.

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Army Clarifies OpSec for Active Duty Bloggers

After some confusion (and much fuss in the blogosphere) stemming from the U.S. Army's latest OpSec rules concerning blogging by Active Duty soldiers, the Army has issued a clarification that appears to show a significant step back from their original "crack-down." Counter-Insurgency has more to gain from soldiers sharing their lives online (as long as they follow all OpSec rules) than any imagined risk.

Fact Sheet
Army Operations Security: Soldier Blogging Unchanged

Summary:
America’s Army respects every Soldier’s First Amendment rights while also adhering to Operations Security (OPSEC) considerations to ensure their safety on the battlefield. Soldiers and Army family members agree that safety of our Soldiers are of utmost importance. Soldiers, Civilians, contractors and Family Members all play an integral role in maintaining Operations Security, just as in previous wars.

Details:
In no way will every blog post/update a Soldier makes on his or her blog need to be monitored or first approved by an immediate supervisor and Operations Security (OPSEC) officer. After receiving guidance and awareness training from the appointed OPSEC officer, that Soldier blogger is entrusted to practice OPSEC when posting in a public forum.

Army Regulation 350-1, “Operations Security,” was updated April 17, 2007 – but the wording and policies on blogging remain the same from the July 2005 guidance first put out by the U.S. Army in Iraq for battlefield blogging. Since not every post/update in a public forum can be monitored, this regulation places trust in the Soldier, Civilian Employee, Family Member and contractor that they will use proper judgment to ensure OPSEC. Much of the information contained in the 2007 version of AR 530-1 already was included in the 2005 version of AR 530-1. For example, Soldiers have been required since 2005 to report to their immediate supervisor and OPSEC officer about their wishes to publish military-related content in public forums. Army Regulation 530-1 simply lays out measures to help ensure operations security issues are not published in public forums (i.e., blogs) by Army personnel.

Soldiers do not have to seek permission from a supervisor to send personal E-mails. Personal E-mails are considered private communication. However, AR 530-1 does mention if someone later posts an E-mail in a public forum containing information sensitive to OPSEC considerations, an issue may then arise.

Soldiers may also have a blog without needing to consult with their immediate supervisor and OPSEC officer if the following conditions are met:
1. The blog’s topic is not military-related (i.e., Sgt. Doe publishes a blog about his favorite basketball team).
2. The Soldier doesn’t represent or act on behalf of the Army in any way.
3. The Soldier doesn’t use government equipment when on his or her personal blog.

Army Family Members are not mandated by commanders to practice OPSEC. Commanders cannot order military Family Members to adhere to OPSEC. AR 530-1 simply says Family Members need to be aware of OPSEC to help safeguard potentially critical and sensitive information. This helps to ensure Soldiers’ safety, technologies and present and future operations will not be compromised.

Just as in 2005 and 2006, a Soldier should inform his or her OPSEC officer and immediate supervisor when establishing a blog for two primary reasons:
1. To provide the command situational awareness.
2. To allow the OPSEC officer an opportunity to explain to the Soldier matters to be aware of when posting military-related content in a public, global forum.

A Soldier who already has a military-related blog that has not yet consulted with his or her immediate supervisor and OPSEC officer should do so. Commands have the authority to enact local regulations in addition to what AR 530-1 stipulates on this topic.

Also worth linking to is this Wired story that quotes Gen. Petraeus:

"...I wanted to offer my thanks to you for what you've done and also to thank, via you, the bloggers who have worked to provide accurate descriptions of the situation on the ground here in Iraq and elsewhere. Milbloggers have become increasingly important, of course, given the enormous growth in individuals who get their news online in the virtual world instead of through newspapers and television. So please extend my appreciation to them for performing this task -- and, of course, for doing it in ways that does not violate legitimate operational security guidelines. Best from Baghdad"-- General Dave Petraeus

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Angelina Jolie Visits Troops

I hope she visits again when I'm there.

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Bradley APC Powerslide

Here's a cool video of a Bradley APC mimicking a scene out of The Fast and the Furious (embedding is disabled) Video Here.

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New Epoxy Combat "Band-aids"

FDA approves new spray-on bandages for combat, more info here.

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Range Detail

1-41 Range Detail

Click on the picture for the gallery.

A select group of 1st Platoon Spartans from A Co. fights against the nasty Kansas winter to run an M249 SAW Machine Gun range for 1-41 Infantry Battalion. Temps ranged between 15F and 25F; winds gusted up to 30MPH, there was no lack of snow either.

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Army Combatives

I'm now Level One certified in Army Combatives.

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Javelin

As one of two Javelin weapon system operators in our Infantry squad, I was delighted reading this news account:

Two bloodthirsty revellers trying to creep towards Our Boys in a trench were spotted by thermal-imaging equipment – and targeted with a Javelin heat-seeking missile.

The £65,000 rocket – designed to stop Soviet tanks – locked on to their body heat and tore more than a kilometer across the desert in seconds.

Considering the death and damage a single enemy can do, I'd say the cost of the missile is well worth it.

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Iraqi Dialect Course

Looks like I was accepted into a very cool program here at Fort Riley. Now through Dec. 20 I'll be a full-time student in an Iraqi Arabic course run by the Defense Language Institute.

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Back pain

Had to finally go to sick call today. My lower back is really bad, got a few muscle relaxers and some ibuprophen. Hope to get back in the action with my squad as soon as possible.

Also hoping for a spot in a Iraqi Dialect class that will be on post for about 20 weeks. Didn't do so well on the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB) but if enough people did worse than me, I still might have a chance.

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Eye surgery

I put my paperwork in mid-June and received a call mid-August. Not bad turn-around for free PRK surgery. I guess Infantry has priority, cool.

Going for my eval tomorrow morning, hopefully I'm an eligible candidate, then hopefully they won't drop any lemonheads in my eyesocket during the slice & dice of my cornea. Surgery itself is schedule for next week.

In the meantime I'm wearing my BCGs (birth control glasses) and getting no shortage of crap from everyone from the top brass on down. It is funny, I look just like the old bald guy from the Great America commercials. But no contacts for 2 weeks prior to surgery to let the eyes return to their natural shape.

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Rockets

Spent a couple days qualifying with the AT4 rockets. First day we just use 9mm tracer rounds to work on our firing positions and aim without using up the several thousand dollar rocket rounds.

The next day we actually dig into some crates of real High Explosive rockets and have at it. I was hoping to get a picture of a rocket actually leaving the launch tube, but it just didn't work out.

More pics here.

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Weapons Squad

Due to the extra schooling I received after basic at Fort Benning in the Javalin Anti-Tank Missle system my MOS is now 11B2C. So I was put on the weapons sqaud, we're the ~9 man squad that carries and fires all the cool shit like M240B machine guns, AT4 rockets and other mass-casaulty producing weapons. Of course this means we have to lug all that heavy shit around so we've been assigned the baddest-ass Staff Sargaent in the 1-41 Battalion, SSG Zerby, to lead us and get us in to shape for the demanding role we'll be playing in 1st Platoon (aka, The Spartans).

One of our first excersizes as a squad was to head out to the field for one week for weapons familiarization and qualification. It was a good time, quality team cohesion and plenty of hands-on the M240B machine guns, both day and night firing.

I got my turn on the system and with SSG Zerby as my assistant gunner (AG) I managed to knock down 11 out of 11 targets, the farthest out at 800 meters, using a single 120rd ammo belt (7.62).

As one of two Jav guys on the squad, Private Edmunds is the other Jav guy), I didn't partake in some of the really high-speed shit, especially the stress fire which had our actual gunners and AG's running long distance in full armor, with M240B, carrying 80 gallons of water, and dragging a litter weighed down with sandbags before engaging targets in multiple firing stances: Prone, standing (from the hip) and over the shoulder/back of their AG, with hot shell casings pouring down the backs of the poor AGs!

I didn't bring my camera that day but here is Private Edmunds' video on youtube.

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Back to blogging

I've been very remiss in blogging. I'm back in the groove, also, I maintain an ongoing and growing gallery at http://picasaweb.google.com/globalcop

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Scott Beauchamp is from my base

In case you haven't been following the saga of the pathetic private from Fort Riley who is currenty serving in Iraq and serving up defamation about his fellow soldiers to the anti-war libs, you can catch up on the lastest at The Weekly Standard's blog here. Just keep scrolling down and try not to get too distracted by all the other interesting posts there.

Or just click here for the most recent post as of this writing.

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Remote-Controlled & Armed

Wired has the story, check it out.

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Update on my Army Life

A quick post to let anyone who cares know what I've been up to since graduating from Infantry School.

Signed in at Fort Riley, took a week of orientation, then signed back out for 10 days of free leave to look for an apartment. Not even sure yet what unit I'm assigned to, but it should be part of 3rd Brigade, 1st Armor Division, which is reflagging as 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division in September.

The base is pretty cool, very old, seriously heavy-duty stone buildings dating back to the 1850's. It's just nice to get off Sand Hill (Fort Benning), and Kansas isn't nearly as flat and boring as I was lead to believe.

Aziah and I actually found an Army Corps of Engineers Off-Road spot and did some muddin' in the Jeep. Time to buy some new tires, a winch, etc.

Checking out places in Manhattan, which is a university town (KSU) and a bit more expensive, but nicer, and Junction City, which is more of a soldier town and very close to base (20 minute commute versus 3 minute commute respectively). Both Aziah (my wife) and I are leaning towards Manhattan.

If the army will let me, I'll post more once I get to my unit and start my real army life. I'll also have a lot of pics to post once I get my camera here (along with all my belongings).

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Popular Mechanics on Future Soldier gear

I've posted before about the Army's Future Combat Systems program as well as the Land Warrior program, designed for wireless comm for infantry. Popular Mechanics takes a look at the tech involved as well as some negative feedback from soldiers who've worn the system. Read the article here.

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I am Infantry, "Follow Me!"

Graduation day at Fort Benning, Georgia.

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Turning Blue

I'm on my 8 hour pass after "turning blue," which means I received my Infantry blue cord and crossed rifles today. Tomorrow I graduate, then I walk across the street and process into Javelin training for 2 weeks. Hopefully after that I'll get some leave time before shipping off to Fort Riley.

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Shipping Out

I'm shipping out to Fort Benning, Georgia tomorrow (Monday). No posts on the blog here until at least mid-May. Well, actually I've set up my girlfriend as a guest on the blog so if I snail mail her anything interesting she can transcribe it here.

Here's what I'll be up to for the next 15 weeks: OSUT ITB

See you in May, Ed

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My 500th Post: Serve your Country

If you have ever given it the slightest thought, I urge you to join the military. The nation needs you. That is no cliche at this point in time, we have a chance to win in Iraq (read Kagen's AEI plan here [video or audio], Executive Summary posted below, that is likely to be implemented) and we need everyone to volunteer who can.

If not in the military, then please do your part here at home to convince everyone you know how important the next 16 months will be - that we come together to support the President and the plan to win, nothing is more important; not winning the White House in 2008, not showing the world that Bush was wrong to invade, not crippling the U.S. to put it in its place, all of these things pale when viewed against the prospect of the World's-Best-Hope-for-Freedom losing in Iraq. If we lose, everyone except the deranged Islamists will lose.

Call your local recruiter tomorrow morning, then go for a run (or even a brisk walk, don't start too fast. I recommend asking your recruiter for the Pocket Physical Training Guide, it will get anyone in shape).

Click below for AEI Exec Summary.

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Victory is still an option in Iraq. America, a country of 300 million people with a GDP of $12 trillion, and more than 1 million soldiers and marines can regain control of Iraq, a state the size of California with a population of 25 million and a GDP under $100 billion.
Victory in Iraq is vital to America’s security. Defeat will lead to regional conflict, humanitarian catastrophe, and increased global terrorism.

Iraq has reached a critical point. The strategy of relying on a political process to eliminate the insurgency has failed. Rising sectarian violence threatens to break America’s will to fight. This violence will destroy the Iraqi government, armed forces, and people if it is not rapidly controlled.

Victory in Iraq is still possible at an acceptable level of effort. We must adopt a new approach to the war and implement it quickly and decisively.

Three courses of action have been proposed. All will fail.

• Withdraw immediately. This approach will lead to immediate defeat. The Iraqi Security Forces are entirely dependent upon American support to survive and function. If U.S. forces withdraw now, they will collapse and Iraq will descend into total civil war that will rapidly spread throughout the region
• Engage Iraq’s neighbors. This approach will fail. The basic causes of violence and sources of manpower and resources for the warring sides come from within Iraq. Iraq’s neighbors are encouraging the violence, but they cannot stop it.
• Increase embedded trainers dramatically. This approach cannot succeed rapidly enough to prevent defeat. Removing U.S. forces from patrolling neighborhoods to embed them as trainers will lead to an immediate rise in violence. This rise in violence will destroy America’s remaining will to fight, and escalate the cycle of sectarian violence in Iraq beyond anything an Iraqi army could bring under control.

We must act now to restore security and stability to Baghdad. We and the enemy have identified it as the decisive point.

There is a way to do this.

• We must change our focus from training Iraqi soldiers to securing the Iraqi population and containing the rising violence. Securing the population has never been the primary mission of the U.S. military effort in Iraq, and now it must become the first priority.
• We must send more American combat forces into Iraq and especially into Baghdad to support this operation. A surge of seven Army brigades and Marine regiments to support clear-and-hold operations starting in the spring of 2007 is necessary, possible, and will be sufficient.
• These forces, partnered with Iraqi units, will clear critical Sunni and mixed Sunni-Shi’a neighborhoods, primarily on the west side of the city.
• After the neighborhoods have been cleared, U.S. soldiers and Marines, again partnered with Iraqis, will remain behind to maintain security.
• As security is established, reconstruction aid will help to reestablish normal life and, working through Iraqi officials, will strengthen Iraqi local government.

This approach requires a national commitment to victory in Iraq:

• The ground forces must accept longer tours for several years. National Guard units will have to accept increased deployments during this period.
• Equipment shortages must be overcome by transferring equipment from non-deploying active duty, National Guard, and reserve units to those about to deploy. Military industry must be mobilized to provide replacement equipment sets urgently.
• The president must request a dramatic increase in reconstruction aid for Iraq. Responsibility and accountability for reconstruction must be assigned to established agencies. The president must insist upon the completion of reconstruction projects. The president should also request a dramatic increase in CERP funds.
• The president must request a substantial increase in ground forces end strength. This increase is vital to sustaining the morale of the combat forces by ensuring that relief is on the way. The president must issue a personal call for young Americans to volunteer to fight in the decisive conflict of this age.

Failure in Iraq today will require far greater sacrifices tomorrow in far more desperate circumstances.

Committing to victory now will demonstrate America’s strength to our friends and enemies around the world.

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Happy New Year

Three recent interviews from C-SPAN's Washington Journal worth watching (RealVideo):

• Conrad Crane, Army War College - U. S. Army Military History Institute, Director. As the head of the military-history department at the Army War College, Conrad Crane is the lead author of a new counterinsurgency manual for the U.S. military.
• Ltc. Jame Gavrilis, U.S. Army, Special Forces discuess his responsiblity for coordinating the Joint Staff review of strategy and policy objectives in the training of Iraqi Security Forces. While in Iraq, he was responsible for the planning and execution of multi-national, multi-agency and joint counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations and for directing the operations of all U.S. Army Special Forces teams operating throughout Iraq.
• Max Boot talks about his new book, “War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today” and the Bush Administration’s war policies. He supports the U.S. military effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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'Peace' Advocates Vandalize Cars at Army Recruiting Station

I'm off to Las Vegas for a few days at the Bellagio to play in a poker tournament, so this will be my last post until Christmas Eve.

Check this out:

Police charged five protesters on Friday during the second demonstration in a month outside the new Army recruiting station.

"We thought it was important to not have this recruiting station open quietly," said Emily McFarlane, a UNC-Chapel Hill junior who helped organize the protest at the Army Career Center, 1502 E. Franklin St.

Read the whole thing.

Merry Christmas!

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Another Newspaper story about old recruits

The Christian Science Monitor had an article back in September, Newest Army recruits: the over-35 crowd.

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Newest Army recruits: the over-35 crowd
By Patrik Jonsson Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
FORT JACKSON, S.C.

In an Army platoon where the average age is 21, they call him the old man.

But when the platoon marched onto Range 18 one day last week in basic training, Pfc. Russell Dilling - at 42, the oldest-ever recruit in the modern Army - delivered. He was among a dozen of 60 recruits who dinged enough targets to qualify for the rifle certificate on his first try - a major psychological hurdle for would-be soldiers.

Private Dilling's success on Range 18 was a quiet affirmation for a graying computer repairman given a second chance when the Army raised its enlistment age limit from 35 to 42 in June. "I told my sons never to have regrets," he says a day after the shooting test as he catches breaths at a team-building challenge course deep in the Fort Jackson woods. "Well, I finally took my own advice."

In an era when professional athletes compete into their 40s, Congress approved the change to help the Army, which came up short in its recruiting effort in the first half of 2005. But some military experts say it's a criticism of the world's most powerful volunteer army that, for the first time, appears unable to rouse enough young men and women to do what has typically been a young person's job.

"In part, this decision is an indication of how difficult the recruiting environment is right now," says Representative Vic Snyder (D) of Arkansas, the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Military Personnel of the House Armed Services Committee. "But this pushing back of the age is also part of a changing society, a healthier and longer-living society, and Army standards ought to reflect that."

So far, the move has had a minor effect on overall enlistment, with 405 recruits over age 35 and 11 over age 40 joining the Army. Still, the numbers are part of a brighter recruitment picture for the Army that made its quota for 14 straight months, according to Army officials at Fort Knox, Ky.

The Army chose the new age cap to allow for a full 20-year military career before retirement at age 62, officials say. (The Army Reserves also raised its enlistment age limit to 42 in January.)

Aging soldiers dusting off their fatigues and heading back to war is not new. When one National Guard helicopter unit from South Carolina flew to Iraq in 2003, six pilots had flown missions in Vietnam.

But there's a reason recruits are called "fresh-faced." Most have never been exposed to the rigors of reveille and the attitude of perpetual physical and mental readiness that a soldier faces. Spending 20 years of adulthood in the American mainstream - watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" and eating fried chicken - makes for a stark contrast to the Army's mess-hall food and its sweltering barracks. Never mind the 10-mile marches.

But life experience counts a lot in helping with unit cohesion, problem-solving or "stick-to-itiveness," says Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a Pentagon spokesman. Today, many 40-year-olds are in better shape than their age group was a generation ago. Such strength is an asset when confronting enemies and other problems.

"A few years ago, we had a marathon runner with a master's degree who spoke Russian, and he wanted to join the Army," says Mr. Hilferty. "We said no because he was 40. Where is the sense in that?"

The Army says it has not lowered its overall physical and character standards to meet the new age limit, though the branch already divides physical standards by age group. All older recruits so far have been assigned to rear-echelon jobs, such as supply and finance clerks. Dilling will repair small arms.

But critics say adding older recruits is a sign of desperation for the Army - and a condemnation of the war effort from broader American society.

"It's true that people are living longer and people with more experience are needed, but let's face it: This initiative is about people from the normal demographic group not signing up in the midst of an unpopular war," says Loren Thompson, a military expert at the Lexington Institute in Washington.

Dilling's age has made basic training difficult. His knees have bothered him - enough that he had to spend some time on crutches. But last week, the crutches were gone, he looked slim, and he appeared to quietly lead a small unit of younger men through the paces of the challenge course. Retired Army Lt. Col. Jim Hinnant, now a spokesman for Fort Jackson, calls Dilling "a study in determination."

Dilling has made an impact on Alpha Company's 4th Platoon, 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, his superiors say. Sure, he gets some jive for his age, but when he struggled through his first qualifying run, a gaggle of soldiers joined him on the track, urging him on.

"You look at someone like Pfc. Dilling, you can see by his demeanor that he's a father, that he's lived life already," says Sgt. Jarvis Pendleton, Dilling's drill sergeant. "It's a ... different picture from some of the younger people we get."

Dilling married young and started a family, even as he says he daydreamed about the soldier's life. His wife said no to the vicissitudes of a military marriage. By the time Dilling recovered from their eventual divorce, he was too old for the Army.

Or so he thought. Earlier this year, a cousin sent him a notice about the Army's decision to raise the age. He contacted his son's recruiter, who signed him up. He arrived at Fort Jackson in late July, only a few hours before his 42nd birthday. His son was already there, and sent him encouraging notes: "The same kind of advice I used to give him," says Dilling.

He's determined to make it. "Everybody said it was going to be 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical, but it's the opposite for me," he says. "It's the physical stuff that gets me. If you've ever had a wife who yelled at you, dealing with a drill instructor is no big deal."

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Talking with Soldiers in Iraq

Hannity gets some candid comments from soldiers.

For more of my Army-related YouTube videos see this playlist.

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Army Likes Its Older Recruits

Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) pointed me to a Washington Post story that comes just in time to boost my confidence. I'll have to clip this out and keep it handy for when the Drill Sergeants inevitably nickname me grampa when I get off the bus reception week:

"The overall population that you're talking about is minuscule, but what we're gaining in terms of experience and maturity and desire is phenomenal," Shwedo said. "Virtually every one of them is called Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, but they bring a special flair to every soldier in that group."

I don't know if I'll match Pfc. Covington in besting his class, but I know I won't be at the bottom.

"They have the college-aged mind and the high school mind," said Pfc. Caroll Martinez, 42, of Kansas City, Mo. "I'm so beyond that."

Covington agrees -- especially after being called "Grandpa" by his military peers. But he had the last laugh, receiving the highest fitness score of his entire company in basic training.

UPDATE: Do me a favor, the comments under the WaPo story are overwhelmingly (and sadly typical) hateful leftist drivel. Please add a nice supportive comment if you can by clicking here. You might want to copy your comment to the clipboard before you click submit as mine disappeared because I had to login to WaPo to comment. I just typed it over again.

UPDATE 2: A couple posts in the comments section ask for my recruiting experience up to this point: First off I wish my blog name didn't mislead, it is more of a reference to the U.S. being the "world police" than a reference to my occupation. I'm not a cop.

But to your main question: The army, my recuriter, the guys at MEPS (the entrance processing station) etc. were all great. I was actually a bit disappointed I didn't get more remarks, positive or negative about being older. I was just another recruit. There are also a lot of guys re-joining in their late 30's early 40's who were in for 3 or 4 years 20 years ago.

The best advice I can give you is to google for "army pt" and get in shape. I was surprised at MEPS to see how many guys in their late teens and early 20's were really out of shape. The 3 guys who were bounced right out at the beginning for weight were all about 21.

In order to get into basic training you need to be able to do about [this is approximate] 17 push-ups in 2 minutses and 17 sit-ups in 2 minutes (not non-stop, just within 2 minutes), as well as run 2 miles in 17:30. Ask your recruiter to give you the Pocket Physical Training Guide. I wish I'd gotten it months ago. It is a really great tool for planning a workout for anyone, beginner or advanced. In the meantime, I found this online to use as a reference. Also this thread I found via googleing is informative, page 3 has some workout recommendations.

But by the time you finish basic you will need to get that up to about 40 reps and 16:30. If you smoke, give it up or, in my opinion, forget about it.

I'd also recommend getting the Kaplan ASVAB study guide. It is really great. If you work through it, you'll ace the test and that will follow you through your career. I got a 97, which is really good, and I'm no genius by any means. I got a 40 on the pre-test because I had no clue about the math (22 years since high school algebra). The study guide fixed that in about 45 days.

Also, depending on your MOS (job), basic training will be easier or harder. I'm going for infantry so I'll be held to a pretty high standard, but if you go for language or clerk or something non-combat, they'll work with you until you pass [unless you're hopeless] - they want you.

I'll probably be off-line from mid-Jan through mid-April (or 3 weeks longer if I'm fortunate enough to get into Airbourne training), but check back on the 'blog after that and I'll have updates. Add me to your RSS reader and you'll know when I'm back posting. Thanks for the comments. -Ed

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Army Likes Its Older Recruits
The Need Is for Numbers, but Maturity Proves Beneficial

By Michael Felberbaum
Associated Press
Monday, December 11, 2006; A17



PETERSBURG, Va. -- As the World Trade Center rubble smoldered, Sharon Samuel felt determined to do something for her adopted country; she decided to enlist in the Army.

But the Army told the Brooklyn hairdresser she was too old.

"I wanted to serve. I wanted to give back," said the 40-year-old Trinidad native. "I have felt the pain New Yorkers felt."

Samuel got a second chance this year when the Army increased its maximum enlistment age to 42. So, off she went to Fort Lee, about 25 miles south of Richmond, for training in logistical support.

She has joined more than 1,460 people in the 35-to-42 age bracket who have enlisted in the Army and Army Reserve since Congress authorized extending the enlistment cutoff beyond age 35.

The change is part of an effort to help the Army reach its recruitment goals amid an unpopular war and mounting casualties.

It is also part of an effort to become more inclusive, said Col. Kevin A. Shwedo, director of operations, plans and training for the Army Accessions Command, which oversees recruiting.

"The overall population that you're talking about is minuscule, but what we're gaining in terms of experience and maturity and desire is phenomenal," Shwedo said. "Virtually every one of them is called Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, but they bring a special flair to every soldier in that group."

Of the nation's military services, the Army has the highest age limit, with the others ranging from 27 to 34, and up to 39 for reserve components. Most branches consider waivers for those over the age limit who have prior military service.

Many of the older recruits are looking for a lifestyle change.

"I was comfortable in civilian life and did that 9-to-5 thing all the time for a long time. I was just in a rut," said 39-year-old Pfc. Randy Covington. "When they changed the age, it seemed like the opportunity came back for me."

For many others, it's the fulfillment of a deep-seated sense of duty.

"When I'd see a soldier walk down the street when I was a small child, they'd look so disciplined, so sure," said Pvt. Aletha North-Williams, a 41-year-old mother of two from Houston. "I wanted that for myself, and it has always stuck in my soul."

Adjusting to the rigors of military life can be a challenge for older recruits -- even for someone such as North-Williams, a former prison guard.

"I know I can't be 18, but I've tried," she joked.

Before shipping off to basic training, recruits must meet physical standards and those 40 and older are given additional medical screenings.

They must undergo the same training exercises as younger recruits.

"A bullet and a bayonet don't discriminate," Shwedo said. "As a result, our training program has to ensure that every soldier is going to be able to outmaneuver, outfight and win on today's battlefield."

As if the grueling physical training is not taxing enough, the older recruits must also deal with barrack-mates whose average age is 21.

"They have the college-aged mind and the high school mind," said Pfc. Caroll Martinez, 42, of Kansas City, Mo. "I'm so beyond that."

Covington agrees -- especially after being called "Grandpa" by his military peers. But he had the last laugh, receiving the highest fitness score of his entire company in basic training.

"You're older, a little bit more mature than these younger kids," said Covington, from Lehi, Utah. "I felt like I just got thrown into a high school."

Still, there are benefits to mixing older recruits with those fresh out of high school or college.

"What they're actually able to do is take some of our younger soldiers and show them some of the things they're capable of doing," said Carlton J. Branch, command sergeant major of the 23rd Quartermaster Brigade at Fort Lee. "In a way it encourages the younger soldiers to realize that they can do some of the same things."

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Whom to trust?

On day after Micheal Fumento, an independent citizen-journalist reporting from Ramadi, posted a story detailing U.S. progress in that town - one of the toughest in Iraq, the Washington Post's Tom Ricks had front page story with a bleaker message. Using a leaked Marine memo, Ricks, sittting in Washington D.C. (where he's been promoting his new book, "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq") writes:

The U.S. military is no longer able to defeat a bloody insurgency in western Iraq or counter al-Qaeda's rising popularity there, according to newly disclosed details from a classified Marine Corps intelligence report that set off debate in recent months about the military's mission in Anbar province.

The Marines recently filed an updated version of that assessment that stood by its conclusions and stated that, as of mid-November, the problems in troubled Anbar province have not improved, a senior U.S. intelligence official said yesterday. "The fundamental questions of lack of control, growth of the insurgency and criminality" remain the same, the official said.

Perhaps the Marine memo is already dated or Ricks is leaving out some qualifiers. So it was interesting to see a third story come out in the London Times that same week, written by a reporter, like Fumento and unlike Ricks, who was also in Ramadi - it's message was also upbeat:

A power struggle has erupted: al-Qaeda’s reign of terror is being challenged. Sheikh Sittar and many of his fellow tribal leaders have cast their lot with the once-reviled US military. They are persuading hundreds of their followers to sign up for the previously defunct Iraqi police. American troops are moving into a city that was, until recently, a virtual no-go area. A battle is raging for the allegiance of Ramadi’s battered and terrified citizens and the outcome could have far-reaching consequences.

Now WaPo is joining Fumento and the London Times in sounding more positive about the battle in Ramadi. This time instead of Ricks reporting from Washington, they have someone in Radadi:

"Operation Squeeze Play" is proving easier than expected considering this 20-block section of southeastern Ramadi _ known as "Second Officer's District" because it's home to so many former leaders of Saddam Hussein's army _ was not so long ago a no-go zone for U.S. troops.

The lesson I come away with is don't read Tom Ricks (or listen to him when he's making his rounds on the Sunday talk shows, etc).

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U.S. Troops have "Carte blanche" in Iraq

Someone forgot to tell the U.S. troops in Iraq that we're supposed to be pulling out. I guess the CNN feed doesn't get out into our FOPs and of course they wouldn't have run across James Baker outside the Green Zone (thanks to my buddy Hannibal for the LaTimes link):

In pursuit of a missing soldier, U.S. and Iraqi special forces units have staged dozens of operations in Shiite Muslim neighborhoods that once were ruled off-limits by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government.

The raids into territory dominated by the Al Mahdi army, a militia loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr, risk exacerbating tensions within the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who has shown a new willingness to confront paramilitary forces believed to take part in kidnappings and death squad operations.

"We have carte blanche at this point," said one high-ranking U.S. military commander. "Whereas before we had to tippy-toe around these areas, now we can go in there as we like to search for our missing soldier."

And there's this (something interesting to read, but perhaps something I'd rather wasn't public knowledge):

"Most times they are accompanied by the 'Dirty Iraqi Division.' This division doesn't follow the orders of the Iraqi government."

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U.S. targeting Shiite militia strongholds
In areas where troops had been barred by the government, they now have 'carte blanche' to stage raids with Iraqis.
By Solomon Moore
Times Staff Writer

December 8, 2006

BAGHDAD — In pursuit of a missing soldier, U.S. and Iraqi special forces units have staged dozens of operations in Shiite Muslim neighborhoods that once were ruled off-limits by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government.

The raids into territory dominated by the Al Mahdi army, a militia loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr, risk exacerbating tensions within the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who has shown a new willingness to confront paramilitary forces believed to take part in kidnappings and death squad operations.

"We have carte blanche at this point," said one high-ranking U.S. military commander. "Whereas before we had to tippy-toe around these areas, now we can go in there as we like to search for our missing soldier."

U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Ahmed Qusai Taei, 41, an Iraqi American immigrant, disappeared Oct. 23 while making an unauthorized visit to relatives in Baghdad.

U.S. military officials believe that Taei is being held in Sadr City, an Al Mahdi stronghold in the capital, and have offered a $50,000 reward for help in finding him.

Military officials say more than 2,100 U.S. troops and 1,200 Iraqis have taken part in 57 operations to look for the missing American soldier, and that in the process they have detained 49 people.

A U.S. military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said that most of those operations focused on Shiite neighborhoods.

Sadr loyalists make up one of the most powerful factions in Maliki's government. Seeking to preserve his fragile alliance with the firebrand cleric, the prime minister has at times obstructed U.S. military efforts in Al Mahdi strongholds.

Days after Taei's abduction, Maliki ordered U.S. and Iraqi forces to remove roadblocks around Sadr City that had been aimed at boxing in the soldier's kidnappers.

In August, as the U.S. military started its ambitious plan to quell sectarian violence raging in Baghdad, the prime minister demanded that American commanders clear with him any operations in Shiite neighborhoods. He also thwarted several planned military assaults.

Haidar Tarfi, a Sadr aide, said that U.S. soldiers recently increased the number of raids, including one on Tarfi's house, in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where Al Mahdi fighters also are entrenched.

American commanders say they conduct limited strikes in Sadr City and other Al Mahdi militia strongholds, using small Iraqi and U.S. Special Forces units.

"We're trying to use the minimum amount of force necessary to accomplish the mission," said a U.S. military officer who requested anonymity while discussing U.S. Special Forces operations.

"Most of the raids take place in [central] Sadr City," said Qahtan Sudani, a Sadr representative in Baghdad. "When the raids happen, they avoid the main entrances to the neighborhood….

"Most times they are accompanied by the 'Dirty Iraqi Division.' This division doesn't follow the orders of the Iraqi government."

Nasir Saidi, a Sadr legislator, accused U.S. and Iraqi troops of using the search for the missing U.S. soldier as a pretext to strike his movement.

"They raided with fighter jets, armored vehicles and infantry," he said. "Some of them were members of the 'Dirty Iraqi Division,' who will be punished."

Little is known publicly about Iraqi special forces units, a relatively new force that has participated in operations against suspected Shiite death squad members and high-level Iraqi insurgents.

Iraqi Defense Ministry officials have given conflicting information about the force. Some say that it is not answerable to the Iraqi army command and is attached to Iraq's intelligence service. Others deny its existence.

The earliest known raid by the force occurred in March, when its members attacked a Shiite mosque that was allegedly being used to hide kidnapping victims. Iraqi special forces soldiers killed 16 Shiite gunmen, detained 17 others and recovered an Iraqi hostage, U.S. and Iraqi military officials said.

The U.S. military announced Thursday that Iraqi special forces soldiers captured six suspected insurgents in a raid this week in Yousifiya, a town south of Baghdad.

Other violence around Baghdad on Thursday left at least 22 Iraqis dead, including 19 alleged gunmen who were slain by police commandos in Madaen, a suburb south of the capital.

Authorities in Baghdad also found at least 35 bodies, many of which were in handcuffs and had been shot several times.

At least 28 Iraqis died in violence outside the capital, including eight men who were shot by Iraqi soldiers while allegedly stealing oil from a pipeline near the northern city of Kirkuk.

A U.S.-Iraqi attack Wednesday used tank rounds and "precision-guided ordnance" to kill at least 14 suspected insurgents in Ramadi, according to a U.S. military statement.

Several buildings were damaged in the attack, but military officials reported no civilian casualties.

U.S. military officials said a soldier died of his wounds Wednesday, bringing that day's American combat deaths to 11.

Five Task Force Lightning soldiers were killed by a bomb that exploded near their vehicle in Al Tamim province and six servicemen died of combat wounds in Al Anbar province: four soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division; a Marine from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group; and a Marine from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Force.

A Marine assigned to Task Force Military Police, 1st Expeditionary Force, died Wednesday of non-combat-related injuries.

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Army cutting Future Combat Systems

The new Pentagon budget slashes funding for the FCS program:

In making its case to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the service laid out a roster of cuts to some of its most prized programs, beginning with FCS, the centerpiece of its modernization efforts. By delaying key milestones, shifting some pieces of the program out of FCS plans and killing others, the Army believes it can save more than $3.3 billion over the next six budget years (fiscal years 2008 to 2013).

Just as the Army was preparing to field its Land Warrior system, it looks like it is dead:

Slated for termination is the Land Warrior program, a system of soldier equipment that would be deployed with an Army unit for the first time next summer. That termination, which also includes the linked Mounted Warrior effort, would save the service several hundred million dollars, but may provoke opposition on Capitol Hill if it is sustained by the Pentagon in the president’s FY-08 defense budget request.

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Silly string in war

James Taranto points us to a cool story about U.S. troops using silly string to detect trip wires:

Which is why a New Jersey mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.

American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.

Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.

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By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Writer
Wed Dec 6, 3:14 PM ET

In an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes it's the simplest ideas that can save lives. Which is why a New Jersey mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.

American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.

Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room. If it falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.

Now, 1,000 cans of the neon-colored plastic goop are packed into Shriver's one-car garage in this town outside Philadelphia, ready to be shipped to the Middle East thanks to two churches and a pilot who heard about the drive.

"If I turn on the TV and see a soldier with a can of this on his vest, that would make this all worth it," said Shriver, 57, an office manager.

The maker of the Silly String brand, Just for Kicks Inc. of Watertown, N.Y., has contacted the Shrivers about donating some. Other manufacturers make the stuff, too, and call their products "party string" or "crazy string."

"Everyone in the entire corporation is very pleased that we can be involved in something like this," said Rob Oram, Just for Kicks product marketing manager. He called the troops' use of Silly String innovative.

The military is reluctant to talk about the use of Silly String, saying that discussing specific tactics will tip off insurgents.

But Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said Army soldiers and Marines are not forbidden to come up with new ways to do their jobs, especially in Iraq's ever-evolving battlefield. And he said commanders are given money to buy nonstandard supplies as needed.

In other cases of battlefield improvisation in Iraq, U.S. soldiers have bolted scrap metal to Humvees in what has come to be known as "Hillybilly Armor." Medics use tampons to plug bullet holes in the wounded until they can be patched up.

Also, soldiers put condoms and rubber bands around their rifle muzzles to keep out sand. And troops have welded old bulletproof windshields to the tops of Humvees to give gunners extra protection. They have dubbed it "Pope's glass" — a reference to the barriers that protect the pontiff.

In an October call to his mother, Army Spc. Todd Shriver explained how his unit in the insurgent hotbed of Ramadi learned from Marines to use Silly String on patrol to detect boobytraps.

After sending some cans to her 28-year-old son, Shriver enlisted the help of two priests and posted notices in her church and its newsletter. From there, the effort took off, with money and Silly String flowing in. Parishioners have been dropping cans into donation baskets.

"There's so much that they can't do, and they're frustrated, but this is something they can do," said the Rev. Joseph Capella of St. Luke's Church in Stratford.

The Shrivers said they would not mind seeing the string as standard-issue equipment, but they don't blame the military for not supplying it.

"I don't think that they can think of everything," said Ronald Shriver, 59, a retired salesman. "They're taught to improvise, and this is something that they've thought of."

Marcelle Shriver said that since the string comes in an aerosol can, it is considered a hazardous material, meaning the Postal Service will not ship it by air. But a private pilot who heard about her campaign has agreed to fly the cans to Kuwait — most likely in January — where they will then be taken to Iraq.

Shriver said she will continue her campaign as long as her son is overseas and she has Silly String to send.

"I know that he's going come through this. I hope they all do," she said.

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Insurgent Ambush tests Iraqi Soldiers

Depending who you ask, it was either a victory or a failed opportunity for the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) to prove their mettle. Solomon Moore writes for the L.A. Times, I found it in today's Chicago Tribune (Click Read more below to read the whole story):

FORWARD OPERATING BASE AL-RASHID, Iraq -- Bursts of AK-47 fire hissed past them from several directions, showering the U.S. and Iraqi soldiers with pulverized concrete and slapping spider-web fractures into their Humvees' plexiglass turret-guards.

The joint security forces, undertaking what officials described as a major counterinsurgency operation, were in pursuit of 70 "high-value targets" in Baghdad's crowded Fadhil quarter, a Sunni Arab neighborhood of multistory tenements along the east bank of the Tigris River.

Instead, the soldiers of the Iraqi army's 9th Mechanized Division and their American trainers had walked into a deadly ambush Friday.

From upper-story apartments, insurgents stopped the soldiers' advance with grenades and shoulder-fired rockets. Others launched coordinated mortar round strikes, hitting one of two nearby Iraqi field posts.

By the time the 11-hour battle was over, one Iraqi soldier had been killed and six others wounded, including one who shot himself in the foot. A U.S. soldier also was wounded and, according to American troops interviewed, additional casualties were averted only by U.S. Apache attack helicopters and U.S. Army trainers who shot their way out of the ambush.

"Fear took over" among the Iraqis, said Staff Sgt. Michael Baxter.

"They refused to move. We were yelling at them to move," he said. "I grabbed one guy and shoved him into a building. I was saying, `God get me out of this because these guys are going to get me killed.'"

The offensive, called Operation Lion Strike, initially was billed by U.S. officials in Baghdad as an Iraqi-led success and a case study in support of the Pentagon's increasing reliance on military advisers to shift security responsibilities to Iraqi soldiers.

U.S. officials say an imminent expansion of Military Transition Teams--squads of American military advisers embedded with Iraqi army units--will meet demands by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to President Bush in their meeting in Amman, Jordan, last week for more authority over his security forces.

Advisers: 2 glaring errors

But interviews at their joint Rustamiyah base, U.S. advisers and Iraqi soldiers involved in Friday's pitched battle revealed a different story. The operation was hastily prepared and badly executed, they said, and plans to let Iraqis take the lead in the battle were quickly scrapped.

"It started out that way," Baxter said. "But five minutes into it, we had to take over."

Staffed with veterans of the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s and equipped with refurbished Soviet tanks and American Humvees, the 2,000-man 9th Division is considered to be Iraq's best hope for an eventual U.S. troop withdrawal.

But confusion reigned as insurgents pummeled dismounted Iraqi troops and American advisers. American radio jammers blocked Iraqi soldiers' walkie-talkies, forcing them to use unreliable cell phone signals to stay in contact. Voice commands were lost amid the explosions and gunfire echoing off the looming walls. At one point, U.S. and Iraqi troops piled into a Humvee to escape the hail of insurgent bullets pinging off the armor cladding.

"I was pulling people in," Army Sgt. 1st Class Kent McQueen said. "We were all bunched in there together with the gunner. It was like a game of Twister."

At times, the overwhelmed Iraqi soldiers fired wildly, sweeping their machine-gun barrels across friendly and insurgent targets alike, witnesses said.

"I had to throw bullet casings at them to get their attention," said Army 1st Sgt. Agustin Mendoza, another U.S. trainer who manned a Humvee gun-turret during the battle. "They had no weapons discipline."

The number of insurgents in the area was estimated at more than 100. Soldiers said they killed 20 and detained 43 others, including three foreign insurgents.

No count was taken of the number of civilians killed in the densely populated neighborhood, but U.S. and Iraqi soldiers acknowledged significant "collateral damage."

Apache helicopters beat down on the dilapidated tenements, drilling hundreds of .50-caliber rounds into concrete walls and rooftops. At least twice they unleashed Hellfire missiles, shattering walls and rooftops with flashing thunderclaps. On the ground, Iraqi T-55 tank commanders fired their main guns down the narrow alleyways, smashing structures into an avalanche of bricks.

McQueen felt something jerk his head back violently and then pressed his finger into a bullet-sized dent in his Kevlar helmet.

At one point he noticed Iraqi soldiers in their armored Humvees pulling away in panic.

"I tried to halt the Iraqi army trucks to stop . . . to give us cover," he said. "The driver gives me this dumb look."

U.S. pushes more training

The U.S. military is ramping up its training program to add 30,000 more Iraqi troops by mid-2007 to make up for soldiers who abandoned their posts or died. The new recruits will add to the small number of Iraqi forces willing to travel away from their home bases despite dangerous travel conditions or the possibility of being ordered to fight against members of their own sect.

In Friday's battle, for example, most of the 9th Division's soldiers are Shiites, and U.S. and Iraqi officers said they doubted they would obey if ordered to fight in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad such as Sadr City.

"In August, when we started Operation Together Forward to secure Baghdad, we called on a bunch of units to assist," said Army Col. Douglass Heckman, commander for the 9th Division Military Transition Team. "This division was the only one that moved into the operation. The others balked."

But Friday's battle suggested that even Iraq's best-trained and equipped division is far from being able to operate independently. Heckman said that attrition and liberal leave policies mean that only 68 percent of the 9th Division is on duty at any given time.

Another U.S. adviser complained that the division has only 65 percent of the weapons and other equipment allocated by the U.S.

"And it's not just my guys," said the adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "As I look across the division MITT teams, they all tell me the same thing. Some of them have 50 percent of their equipment, some have 75 percent, but it's the same thing all over Iraq."

Despite efforts to get more financial support from the Iraqi Defense Ministry, the U.S. military continues to provide most of the funds to keep the division operational, providing everything from food to batteries.

Still, the division has conducted successful joint U.S. and Iraqi operations north of Baghdad, officials say, and is well-regarded by U.S. commanders. They believed the unit was ready to conduct Operation Lion Strike with minimal U.S. ground support.

The operation was proposed by the Iraqi Defense Ministry and approved by U.S. Army Gen. George Casey, the military commander in Iraq, hours before the attack.

"We could have used two more days to plan," said Maj. Tom Boczar, who organized the strike with Iraqi commanders.

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The Divide Grows

No matter how this war ends, history will not look back kindly on the media's role in this conflict; from thier self-admitted "cheerleading" at the beginning to their defeatist propaganda thereafter. Fortunately, with the rise of the 24-hour CNN style micro-coverage of every military mistake (not to mention outright fabrication, e.g. Reuters phoney photos and AP's terrorist sources) there has been a concomitant rise of the citizen journalist, both at home and in Iraq to keep the MSM in check.

Bill Roggio is back in Iraq (hat tip Instapundit):

While waiting to manifest on the flight to Fallujah, CNN played a news segment of President Bush announcing there would be no “graceful exit” from Iraq, and that we'd stay until the mission was complete. Two sergeants in the room cheered. Loudly. They then scoffed at the reports from Baghdad, and jeered the balcony reporting.

In nearly every conversation, the soldiers, Marines and contractors expressed they were upset with the coverage of the war in Iraq in general, and the public perception of the daily situation on the ground. The felt the media was there to sensationalize the news, and several stated some reporters were only interested in “blood and guts.” They freely admitted the obstacles in front of them in Iraq. Most recognized that while we are winning the war on the battlefield, albeit with difficulties in some areas, we are losing the information war. They felt the media had abandoned them.

During each conversation, I was left in the awkward situation of having to explain that while, yes, I am wearing a press badge, I'm not 'one of them.' I used descriptions like 'independent journalist' or 'blogger' in an attempt to separate myself from the pack.

What a terrible situation to be in, having to defend yourself because of your profession. I've always said that the hardest thing about embedding (besides leaving my family) is wearing the badge that says 'PRESS.' That hasn't changed. I hide the badge whenever I can get away with it.

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Advice for Soldiers from the Left

Hmmm, maybe David Swanson is right; I wonder if I could become a rising star in the Sheehan peace-army by deserting 3 days after swearing in? Just kidding of course.

But look at this nonsense (Hat tip Chris M), it reminds me of people who smoke for 30 years than sue the cigarette companies contending that they didn't know it was unhealthy, except of course they didn't sign a contract with multiple warnings about consequences, nor were they paid tax-payer dollars.

Be All That You Can Be: Leave the Army

UPDATE: This is a good time to link back to an earlier post featuring two vets debating on C-SPAN. One a concientious objector, the other a proud Marine.

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I'm in the Army

Swearing my oath

I just returned home from MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Center) after swearing in and signing my contract - 3 yrs Active Army infantry. I ship out Jan. 9, 2007.

Funny that on the same day I left to take my oath (Sunday), Rep. Rangle is saying this on FoxNews:

The people of his district in New York should be ashamed of themselves for sending this guy to represent them.

UPDATE: Special thanks to fellow recruit Denisse O. and her family for taking and sending the photo.

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Training ISF

Gen. Abizaid wants to prioritize training Iraqi Security Forces at the expense of creating security and stability with U.S. Troops? (See my YouTube comment and Abizaid's testimony here) Ok, so how are things going in this realm? I missed this Washinton Post article until Dr. Barnett linked to the story:

In dozens of official interviews compiled by the Army for its oral history archives, officers who had been involved in training and advising Iraqis bluntly criticized almost every aspect of the effort. Some officers thought that team members were often selected poorly. Others fretted that the soldiers who prepared them had never served in Iraq and lacked understanding of the tasks of training and advising. Many said they felt insufficiently supported by the Army while in Iraq, with intermittent shipments of supplies and interpreters who often did not seem to understand English.

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Cyber-Soldiers

If all goes as planned, and I complete basic training mid-March (add three weeks if I'm chosen for Airborne school) I may be sent overseas wired up with some high-tech gear. Actually it's unlikely they'll be giving this stuff to PFCs.

Following successful field testing last summer, the Army is planning to deploy its new Land Warrior System within the year, bringing the Army a giant step closer to electronic networking of the battlefield.

The wearable, computerized system includes lasers, navigation modules, radios and other technologically advanced equipment to help Soldiers shoot, move and communicate more accurately on the battlefield. Ultimately, it will improve their ability to fight effectively and survive.

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Belmont Club scoops NYTimes

Belmont Club, on 20NOV06, reported on a possible large battle involving 82nd Airborne (All Americans) in Iraq. NYTimes carries the story today, three days later.

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More Troops to Iraq?

Belmont Club has reason to believe more U.S. troops are heading to Iraq. I hope he and his sources are correct.

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All About Snipers

Three links regarding snipers this morning:

• Video: "Shooting is only 10%..." Check out a short video of the international sniper competition at Ft. Benning.
• NYTimes 30OCT06 remarkable story "Tending a Fallen Marine, with Skill, Prayer and Fury"
• Another C.J. Chivers NYTimes story on enemy snipers' toll.

In conditions where killing the snipers has proved difficult, the marines have tried to find ways to limit their effectiveness. Signs inside Marine positions display an often-spoken rule: “Make yourself hard to kill.”

Many marines, on operations, do an understated dance they call “cutting squares.” It is not really a square at all.

They zig and zag as they walk, and when they stop they shift weight from foot to foot, bobbing their heads. They change the rhythm often, so that when a sniper who might be watching them thinks they are about to zig, they have zagged.

Now and then they squat, shift weight to one leg and stand up beside the place where they had just been. Maj. Sean Riordan, the battalion executive officer, described his own unpredictable jigs as “my little salsa dance.”

As they move, the marines often peer down their own scopes, looking at windows, rooftops, lines of brush. Then they might step backward, or forward, or duck, as if saying: try to shoot that.

(Hat tip JustOneMinute)

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In Your Face John Kerry

It's nice to put this behind me. Now if I can just get to 80 push-ups in 2 minutes and swim 50 meters in full BDUs and boots! I wonder what the guys at Bally's will say when I jump in the pool in my boots.


Click for full-size

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Who Are the Recruits?

Piscivorous posts a comment in the bloggingheads.tv forum linking to this Heritage study. Not as if all this information will find its way into the minds of the Left or make any difference in their rhetoric even if it does.

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AEI's Kagen on Troop Levels in Iraq

PBS Newshour has been running an informative series on Iraq this week; tonight's interview with AEI's Fredrick Kagan brought some new thoughts to the conventional wisdom and raises questions about the Democrat's "plan" for Iraq, which consists solely of pulling out. Audio and transcripts up now, video will be posted very soon.

Kagen interview on Newshour

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"Iraqi Death Blossom"

Belmont Club links to an MSNBC story that prints the letter from a Marine killed by an enemy sniper. I won't snag the best quote, just go to Belmont Club to read the paragraph and head to MSNBC from there.

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Boots On The Ground

The U.S. Army, showing their web-savvy has another new addition to their website, The Army Vision: Call to Duty - Boots on the Ground. I'm very impressed, check it out.

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The Alamo in Afghanistan

The New York Times' Elizabeth Rubin reports from Afghanistan, it is well worth reading. Like the Guardian's piece on Sangin earlier it gives us a taste of history as it happens through the stories of the men in combat. Here are two excerpts:

One morning this summer, I headed out with a U.S. Army convoy of Humvees, a truck called a wrecker and a packed supply truck into the Afghan mountains. I was among some two dozen American and Afghan soldiers from Task Force Warrior, an infantry battalion based in Zabul Province, just north of Kandahar. We trundled up a path fit for goats because the nearby riverbed was perfect for concealing improvised explosive devices, or I.E.D.’s. Soon enough, the truck keeled over into the riverbed anyway. To hoist it up, the wrecker had to crash through wheat fields, and within minutes a gray-bearded farmer appeared brandishing his stick. “Are you Afghan?” he shouted at Farooq, my interpreter. “I have 30 members in my family. Why did you destroy my wheat?” The old farmer then clasped my wrist with his ancient garden tool of a hand. “You Americans are all friends of Bush the persecutor. You see this area” — he swept his other arm in every direction — “these are all Taliban. But they don’t have power. As soon as we find power, I will kill all of you.”
...

In downtime, the soldiers of Charlie Company would cram into a mud room to imbibe American culture — “Shark Tale,” “The Bourne Supremacy,” Lil Wayne, Toby Keith singing his “Taliban Song” — all courtesy of Pvt. Dennis Taylor and his DVD and CD collection. A teenager from Tampa’s housing projects, Taylor grew up with the Bloods. The Army has set him straight, even if his buddies teased him because they couldn’t decipher his lingo and he wasn’t sure what continent he was on or what the Koran was. “It’s Islam’s holy book,” said one soldier. “Man, how can you be fighting here and not know that,” another teased. Taylor laughed and shrugged.

At the other end of the spectrum was Cpl. Kyle Hayes, who had made Taylor his project and, like Sgt. Jon Terry, a sentimental tough guy from Louisiana, often shared meals with the Afghan soldiers accompanying their unit to taste their culture and to bond. Hayes owned a Web design company in New York City and until two years ago was touring with his band, “Half Left.” The band had a revelation while roducing a record near ground zero in Manhattan, and they all joined the Army. Hayes’s family was stunned. “I was the only guy at basic training who voted for Kerry,” he told me. Sometimes he felt weird on leave in New York City, where people gawk at uniforms, though a few older people thanked him. His life plan, as inscribed in his diary, is to be a rock star, business mogul and founder of a Texan city by 35, governor of Texas by 45 and president by 55.

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U.S. Army's Future Combat System

The U.S. Army has recently updated their Future Combat Systems website and it is fantastic, check it out: FCS website. There are pretty cool videos of the Army's Future Combat System (linked below) [I just noticed there are even more videos on that website, but they’re quicktime and not linkable]. One is much cooler than the other, but I'll let you figure out which. Safehouse looks like it is the first video and Vanguard is second.

I've been reading up on these systems and they're all in the works or already running (but not yet fielded). I think it also features some version of the Trophy Active Defense system being sent to Iraq now (when the RPG misses, it isn't because the enemy has bad aim).

Be sure to check out all the new hardware at the FCS website at some point, it'll help make more sense of the chaos in some of the videos.

There is also a commander simulator that requires a relatively powerful PC to run, if you have one with, download the “game” and give it try. It isn’t something you can play in a few minutes, this thing is deep and will take hours to master, but it’s very cool

It's nice also that they're pretty high res, thus the large file sizes.

Safehouse (75MB WMV)

Vanguards (55MB WMV)

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Army Gameplan

The U.S. Army has just posted some interesting PDF files with overiews and details on their new "Gameplan." Check it out here.

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Joining the Army at 40

My sister sends me a link to an NPR podcast interview with a man taking advantage of the U.S. Army's new upper age limit of 41.

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Major General Galen Jackman

I Stopped by my Army recuiter's Evanston, Illinois, office today to drop off my birth certificate and some other paperwork. Instead of the usual Sergeants and Staff Sergeants that I usually meet there, there were Captains, Majors and a 2-Star Major General Jackman. We were introduced and after an Army Strong handshake, he gave me a few minutes of his time relating his appreciation and wishing me good luck in my pursuits in the Army.

Here is some background on the Major General Jackman (hat tip NRO):

Varied Career Prepared General For High-Profile Assignment

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 10, 2004; Page A22


He has served with the elite Special Forces and struggled to defeat Colombian drug traffickers. Now, Maj. Gen. Galen B. Jackman has an assignment that is less dangerous but every bit as sensitive: accompanying Nancy Reagan through the rituals surrounding former president Ronald Reagan's funeral.

Jackman, 52, the erect, graying general seen escorting the former first lady in California and in the nation's capital, became commanding general of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington a year ago. The military command, based at Fort McNair in Southwest Washington, coordinates the funeral arrangements for former presidents.

"From the moment [Jackman] arrived . . . he has been working on anticipating this day," said Sharon Thomas, a public affairs officer for the military district.

Jackman entered the Army after attending the University of Nebraska through the ROTC program, according to an official biography. The command he heads is nicknamed the "Guardian of the Nation's Capital," focusing on security but also playing an important role in official ceremonies such as the presidential inauguration and events to welcome visiting heads of state.

Jackman left Washington at 6:30 a.m. Sunday to accompany Nancy Reagan during official ceremonies to mourn her husband's death, Thomas said. The Washington military district staff had worked with representatives of the Reagan family on funeral plans, but Jackman had not previously met the former first lady.

Jackman's father, Virgil Jackman, said his son is undoubtedly at ease in his high-profile assignment, noting that he had held a variety of jobs in his military career. They include commanding a Delta squadron early in his career, serving as director of tactics at the Army Infantry School and his last assignment before heading to Washington: director of operations at the U.S. Southern Command, which assists in the fight against Colombian drug traffickers.

"He's military through and through," Virgil Jackman said from his home in Lincoln, Neb. "I can remember when he was back in the fifth grade; that was his dream."

Galen Jackman lives with his wife and two children at Fort Myer in Arlington.

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Breaking Through MSM Wall

Feels good to get a letter published in the MSM (Chicago Sun-Times):

No trials for detainees

I read your Oct. 1 editorial* [''Bill setting rules for trying terror suspects is flawed''] hoping you'd outline the crime-scene processing procedures needed to ensure a fair trial.

Should soldiers roll out the yellow crime scene tape to preserve the evidence for trial? Who will interview the witnesses and ensure their appearance at the grand jury? You join the rest of the terrorist-huggers by citing the unique and rare case of Mahar Arar. His seems to be the only case of this sort.

This would be a good time for you to mention the protections that detainees enjoy. As the Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 7 [in an opinion column by James Taranto]:

• ''Every detainee at Guantanamo (possibly excepting the 14 new arrivals) has gone before a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, also known as an Article V hearing, to determine whether he actually is an enemy combatant. The Geneva Conventions require such hearings only in cases of doubt, and the U.S. Supreme Court has additionally mandated them (in the 2004 case of Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld) only for detainees who hold U.S. citizenship, of which none remain.

• ''Each detainee annually goes before an Administrative Review Board -- analogous to a parole board -- to determine whether he can be released without endangering U.S. security. This process is described in a July 2005 Pentagon briefing.

• ''Pursuant to Rasul vs. Bush (2004), all detainees have the right to retain lawyers and petition for habeas corpus.

• ''War-crimes trials for the four detainees who've been charged have been delayed only because Osama bin Laden's bodyguard was able to avail himself of American appellate courts to challenge the legality of the proceedings.''

I suppose this letter will prevent me from ever serving on a jury, which brings up the question: Who are the terrorists' peers?

Interesting blogpost from today about Maher Arar as the posterchild for U.S. abuses:

Well, it turns out we didn’t “render” Arar anywhere. We deported him under our immigration laws, meaning that we were done with him as a person of interest. Syria seems to have done what Syria does, or not.

Read the whole thing, even more on Arar here.

*The editorial in question:

Bill setting rules for trying terror suspects is flawed

October 1, 2006

Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen of Syrian descent, has spent the last two years trying to clear his name. In 2002, Canadian investigators wrongly told U.S. agents that Arar was a terrorist suspect and, as he traveled through New York, Arar was arrested by U.S. authorities and transported to Damascus, under the program of "rendition." In Syria, he was tortured and kept in a minute cell for more than one year. A hearing before a parliamentary committee in Canada revealed Canadian police told American authorities shortly after Arar's arrest that they had labeled Arar mistakenly, but by that time he was in Syria. On Thursday, the head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police apologized to Arar.

What Arar's case illuminates is how difficult it is to ferret out and punish terror suspects: Sometimes innocent people get caught up in the net, and there needs to be a way for them to prove their innocence through the courts.

The Senate and House are to be commended for getting to work on this issue, but the bill approved by Congress last week setting new rules for the trials and interrogations of terrorist suspects remains flawed. It takes away a suspect's right of habeas corpus -- seeking redress in court for unlawful imprisonment -- something that has been enshrined since English common law came into practice in the 13th century and is the cornerstone of American jurisprudence. The bill also allows U.S. authorities to hold people in prison even after the charges have been dropped. Someone could conceivably stay in prison for the rest of his life. It also allows legal residents in the United States to be labeled as enemy combatants.

It is not certain the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold these provisions after they are signed into law by President Bush. The Senate and House are dealing with this issue because the court last spring struck down the military tribunals established by the Bush administration, saying they did not conform with the Geneva Conventions.

Even some Republicans acknowledge that the new bill -- a compromise between the White House and leading Republicans such as Arizona Sen. John McCain -- may not fly with the Supreme Court. "We should have done it right," lamented Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) who voted for the bill but opposed the provision that would bar habeas corpus.

There is improvement in the bill over the previous military tribunals: It prevents evidence obtained through torture or inhumane treatment; the accused will be given access to a military or civilian lawyer, and the defendant will have access to the evidence mounted against him. But it is unfortunate that the Senate and House rushed to pass their bills, pressured by the upcoming election. The Republicans want to tout their ability to fight the war on terror. Democrats who voted for the bill don't want to be labeled as weak on security issues. But it is disappointing that the election, not common sense, forced the House and Senate bills to be passed. "I think election madness has taken any remaining oxygen out of this place," Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) told the Wall Street Journal. Politics doesn't always mix with good sense.

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Enough Soldiers?

The New York Times runs a story about Dora, a city in Iraq:

Mr. Jabouri emphasized that the American presence had made Dora safer. Like others in the area, he raved about being able to sleep again on his roof, away from the sweltering indoor heat. He said some of the families who had fled the violence seemed to be returning, and that the Iraqis and Americans who searched his home were respectful and seemed sincerely interested in improving the neighborhood.

and,

“If the Americans leave, it will go back to killing in the streets,” he said. “It will be civil war.”

finally,

The broader hope is that the political process in Iraq will accelerate and create bonds across sects and persuade militias to disarm. General Casey and other American commanders have promised that the Baghdad security operation will last months, not weeks. They have pledged to tackle every neighborhood, including Sadr City, the stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

The question is whether the American military has enough soldiers to expand even as it tries to sustain progress in the first neighborhoods secured.

The people of Dora say they can hardly bear the thought of being abandoned.

Emphasis mine.

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11 Bravo

42

"The Army said that it was raising the maximum age for enlistment to 42 from 40 to expand its pool of potential recruits."

hmmmmm.

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M203 Grenade Launcher

Been getting a lot of international hits on my blog looking for M203 pic, here ya' go. I can attest to how kickass this thing is, having fired it more than a few times myself.

More info on the M203 here, enjoy.

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