Jesus Loves an Ethical Warrior

This is a piece I did as an undergraduate at Saint Martin's University about the conundrum that exists between religion and military training and the tolerance of all religions we should all have and exhibit. I know this may draw criticism but remember this forum is open to anybody and all work will be uncensored. I hope you respond to it but please be nice, families read this also.

There should be a definite line between a person’s personal belief in a higher power and what the military believes a person should believe in right? Should there be a specific religion used in military training to teach young officers and leaders in matters regarding ethical decisions and internal conflicts that are no doubt associated with war? I don’t believe there should be, but this is happening and has been happening for more than 20 years. I have served in the both the Marine Corps and the United States Army for 21 ½ years and during this time have attended numerous schools of leadership. These leadership schools used religious quotes and biblical examples to raise discussions in ethical behavior as it applies to leading Soldiers in combat. Until I read an article titled “Air Force yanks nuke ethics course.” By Markeshia Ricks did I really begin to reflect back on these days in class and I realized that there had been many times religion had made its way into the course curriculum. So how is it that certain religious texts or fundamentals make it into the everyday lives of service members and what is being done about it? These are the key questions I hope to answer in this paper.

            Soldiers deployed in combat struggle with many internal conflicts and these conflicts center on religion. I remember vividly praying before going out on combat patrols that “our faith (Christian) would prove to stronger than our enemies (Islam) and our fight for justice and what was right would help us kill them.”  In 2009 an email circulated through the Air Force command and staff officers at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada inviting them to attend a Bible study class in which the topic of discussion referred to Jews as “whiners”. Not that this could get any worse but the email was sent from a staff Captain at the behest of the base Chaplain. In another instance 5,000 service members stationed at RAF Lakenheath, the largest Air Force base in England received a presentation titled “Purpose Driven Airmen” which incorporated the teachings of mega church leader Rick Warren and creationism as a means of suicide prevention (Leopold, 2011). This training was sent out from a commander’s official email. The problem with doing this is that any email from an “official” government account implies that the service branch condones the training or information. Many commanders in the zealous to promote spiritual fitness as much as they promote physical fitness unintentionally push one religion (usually their own) over others when getting information out to the troops. It is vital that commanders remain neutral when speaking about religious activities being put on by the base or unit chaplain, as well as allow the Soldier’s the opportunity to attend services even though they may conflict with patrols or operations. This was one of the hardest things I had to do as a First Sergeant in Afghanistan. I had 166 Soldiers in four platoons; each of these platoons would be responsible for patrolling every day for about eight hours. The patrols took place in a 24 hour, but no matter what time a platoon went it was imperative that each Soldier had the opportunity to attend a religious service they wanted to. He time for fellowship and worship is a very important activity in the day or week of a combat Soldier, because it allows them the opportunity to release stress and decompress after some trying times in the field.

            Understanding that the possibility of American Soldiers turning the war in Afghanistan and Iraq into a war of “bad Muslims” and the righteous “Christians of America’ and whose God is stronger definitely holds its possibilities. So how is the military trying to change this perception? In his policy memorandum dated September 1, but sent Tuesday to all major commands, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz said, "Leaders ... must balance Constitutional protections for an individuals free exercise of religion or other personal beliefs and its prohibition against governmental establishment of religion." (Leopold, 2011) So how did the Air Force respond to the fact that religion had made its way into a training curriculum for Nuclear Missile Officer’s “The Air Force suspended the mandatory Nuclear Ethics and Nuclear Warfare training immediately following the publication of Truthout's report. David Smith, a spokesman for the Air Education and Training Command told Truthout last month the ethics training "has been taken out of the curriculum and is being reviewed." And in an even more knee jerk reaction it “pulled all of its training materials "that address morals, ethics, core values and related character development issues" pending a "comprehensive review," Smith told the Air Force Times. That decision was made after a Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) instructor, who read Truthout's report, sent the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a civil rights organization, copies of ROTC leadership training materials, which also contained Christian-themed citations from the Bible. The PowerPoint slides in that presentation the unnamed instructor sent MRFF are used in all colleges and universities that have an ROTC program. (Leopold, 2011)

            This is not to say that religion has no place in war I am sure everyone has heard the adage” there is no atheist in war” in a movie or a book. What does the church say a just war is? In the Just War in the Catechism of the Catholic Church it is described that All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. Despite this admonition of the Church, it sometimes becomes necessary to use force to obtain the end of justice. This is the right, and the duty, of those who have responsibilities for others, such as civil leaders and police forces. While individuals may renounce all violence those who must preserve justice may not do so, though it should be the last resort, "once all peace efforts have failed." [Cf. Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 79, 4] As with all moral acts the use of force to obtain justice must comply with three conditions to be morally good. First, the act must be good in itself. The use of force to obtain justice is morally licit in itself. Second, it must be done with a good intention, which as noted earlier must be to correct vice, to restore justice or to restrain evil, and not to inflict evil for its own sake. Thirdly, it must be appropriate in the circumstances. An act which may otherwise be good and well-motivated can be sinful by reason of imprudent judgment and execution.” (What is Just War?, 2011)

            I am a Soldier and my obligation is to fight for those who can’t fight against injustice, I may have to use violence to right a wrong, and I may have to kill. But this must be done in a manner which is ethical and moral. The determination of whether war is right or wrong is not ours to make, only those actions we choose take while engaged in combat are.

Works Cited

Leopold, J. (2011, September 14). Top Air Force Official Issues Religious Neutrality Policy in Wake of Truthout's "Jesus Loves Nukes" Exposé. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from Truthout: http://www.truth-out.org/aftermath-jesus-loves-nukes-scandal/1316010154

Ricks, M. (2011, 09 01). Air Force Yanks nuke Ethics Course. Air Force Times , p. 45.

What is Just War? (2011, September 1). Retrieved September 23, 2011, from Global Catholic Network: http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/just_war.htm

 

A deeply troubled base

Stars and Stripes "rated Lewis-McChord as the most troubled base in the entire U.S. military, with multiple criminal and military investigations under way into troops' behavior and the quality of the medical and mental health care for service members returning from the war." Amazing, and my friends from 5th BDE did you hear this? "The Army directed base officials last year to focus specifically on the mental health of members of the 5th Stryker Brigade, which saw heavy action in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010." The question that comes to mind is "what about the Soldiers that have either retired or have left the Army, do they not matter or is that they just don't need to "focused" on because they are no longer the Army's problem, really pisses me off.
This article does not suprise me at all. Especially when I as a First Sergeant had to pull Courtesy Patrol at the Shoppette on North Fort along with a few of my fellow First Sergeants on weekends to watch Soldiers.


Ex-soldier in Mount Rainier killing stationed at deeply troubled base

By M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com

Updated at 8:50 p.m. ET: Brandon Friedman, an Army combat veteran in Afghanistan and Iraq and author of the highly regarded memoir "The War I Always Wanted," warned against linking post-traumatic stress disorder or conditions at Joint Base Lewis-McChord to Barnes' alleged behavior.
There's "obviously no question of a tie between combat and PTSD," Friedman said in a Twitter message to msnbc.com. "But having PTSD doesn't signify a propensity to murder Americans."
Mount Rainier National Park remains closed until at least Saturday, park officials said.

Barnes was from Riverside County, Calif., and as a teenager attended a community day school for expelled and troubled students, the Press-Enterprise newspaper reported. A young man who answered the door at the family's home said the family had no comment, the paper said.
Original post: The Iraq war veteran believed to have killed a park ranger Sunday was last stationed at a Washington base considered among the military's most troubled facilities, where suicides and violence among service members have reached record levels.
Authorities said they believed Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24 — who was found dead Monday, apparently of hypothermia, in Mount Rainier National Park — shot and killed Park Ranger Margaret Anderson, 34, on Sunday. He is also believed to have shot and wounded four people, two of them critically, earlier in the day at a New Year's party in Skyway, near Seattle, authorities said.
Barnes, a private first class, was discharged from the Army for misconduct in 2009 after he was charged with drunken driving and improperly transporting a privately owned weapon at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Lewis-McChord has drawn national attention for widespread problems with post-traumatic stress disorder among service members returning from Afghanistan and from Iraq, where Barnes served in 2007 and 2008.
In July, the mother of Barnes' young daughter said in court papers seeking a protection order that he "has possible PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) issues," NBC station KING of Seattle reported. In seeking sole custody of the girl, she said Barnes was suicidal and "gets easily irritated, angry, depressed and frustrated."
The woman said Barnes had numerous weapons in his home, including firearms and knives, adding: "I am fearful of what Benjamin is capable of with the small arsenal he has in his home and his recent threat of suicide."
A year ago, the military newspaper Star and Stripes rated Lewis-McChord as the most troubled base in the entire U.S. military, with multiple criminal and military investigations under way into troops' behavior and the quality of the medical and mental health care for service members returning from the war.And that was before the base set a record for presumed suicides in 2011, with 12, according to military statistics scheduled to be released this month but obtained by The Tacoma News-Tribune.
The Army directed base officials last year to focus specifically on the mental health of members of the 5th Stryker Brigade, which saw heavy action in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010. Barnes served with a Lewis-McChord Stryker brigade, although officials said they didn't immediately know whether it was the 5th.
The problem isn't confined to Lewis-McChord. In a paper for the Army War College last year (.pdf), Army Col. Ricardo M. Love reported that "veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at an alarming rate."
A 2008 RAND Corp. study indicated that 18 percent of all service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 had "PTSD or major depression." Only about half seek treatment, it said.
"Although Commanders are conducting tough and realistic training prior to deployment, the high number of returnees diagnosed with PTSD indicates we are not doing enough," Love concluded.
But the problem is especially severe at Lewis-McChord, which the Los Angeles Times profiled as "a base on the brink" just last week.
"I can tell you that in the last two years, we have had 24 instances in which we contacted soldiers who were armed with weapons," Bret Farrar, police chief in nearby Lakewood, told the newspaper. "We've had intimidation, stalking with a weapon, aggravated assault, domestic violence, drive-bys."
The issues have come to widespread public attention after Lewis-McChord's heaviest year of deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, where 18,000 soldiers from the base served in 2009-10.
The base, near Tacoma about 50 miles south of Seattle, has seen numerous violent incidents, leading to several charges and convictions of soldiers for serious crimes. According to The Seattle Times, they include:

• Pfc. Dakota Wolf, 19, who is charged in the stabbing death Nov. 30 of a 19-year-old woman in a Seattle suburb while AWOL.
• Sgt. David Stewart, 38, who killed himself and his wife after leading authorities on a high-speed chase in April. Their 5-year-old son was found dead at home.
• Spc. Ivette Gonzalez Davis, 24, who was sentenced to life in prison in August 2010 for shooting two soldiers and kidnapping their baby.
• Sgt. Sheldon Plummer, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for strangling his wife in February 2010.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/03/9923187-ex-soldier-in-mount-rainier-killing-stationed-at-deeply-troubled-base

Are politicians ignoring the costs of War?

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Pols ignoring costs of war By: Mike Barnicle January 3, 2012 05:12 AM EST

Council Bluffs, Iowa – On a day when so many in Iowa will assemble  to start the process of picking a president, Mary Ellen Ward will drive  a short distance to St Joseph’s cemetery to say a prayer for the soul of her son. Sgt. Thomas Houser died exactly seven years ago, Jan. 3, 2005,  while serving with the Marines in the violent city of Fallujah, Iraq. He is one of 70 from Iowa killed in Iraq or Afghanistan fighting two wars   that have had so few serving for so long as America plods into the second  decade of a new century, exhausted and isolated from battles that crush  the families of the fallen at home. “I was just looking at a picture of Tommy and his older brother Joe,” Mary Ellen Ward was saying the other day. “It was taken on Oct. 31, 1987. “He would have been about five years old. His brother was seven. A Halloween picture. Joe was dressed as a Ninja. Tom was in camouflage. He always wanted to be a Marine. “The last time I talked to him was Christmas Day, a few days before he was killed. He was going to play flag football in the sand. He was on his second tour.” “How old was he,” his mother was asked. “Twenty-two,” she answered. “He was only 22.” “It’s funny,” she was saying, “but the last time he was home, just before he left for his second tour of Iraq, we went shopping, just the two of us. And I had this feeling, this strange feeling, that I’m never going to see him again. I knew…I just knew.” Across Iowa, the candidates appear in cities and towns like fast-moving clouds pushed across the flat landscape on a wind of ambition. Here is a Gingrich, then a Romney, a Santorum, a Paul, a Bachmann or Perry smiling, glad-handing, promoting, promising, pleading to be sent forward to New Hampshire and beyond by the handful of Iowans who will show up at caucuses Tuesday night. “I don’t have much interest in it, politics,” said Mary Ellen Ward, who works for the state Child Support Recovery Unit. “And I kind of hate to say this but I think  we ought to get everybody out of there, out of Congress. Why does it cost so much to run? I don’t understand that. Why do they get free health care, better health care than the rest of us do, for nothing? They get a nice pension too. They shouldn’t be serving more than two terms either. And none of them talk   about the wars. It’s like it’s not there to them.” She lives with her husband Larry in a city framed by the mythic elements of the  country’s history. Council Bluffs sits at the edge of the great Missouri River, separated from Omaha, Neb., by waters that divide two states and dominate the landscape. It was once a huge railroad center when America moved mostly by train, before the automobile, the interstates, long after Lewis and Clark came through on the way to the Pacific. The town, like most, has a narrative to it, a story that is both parochial and universal: It was built by pioneers who suffered and prospered yet greeted each sunrise with a  sense of optimism. Now, in a country confronted with and confused by political people, including an  incumbent, all submitting a job application for the position of president of the United States, anxiety about the immediate future fills the air. The economy has  flat-lined for three years. Washington is totally isolated from the rhythms, the mood, the fears and apprehension felt by most Americans. And the wars drag on, touching only the few who serve and their families who remain here, praying nobody knocks on the door at night to tell them a sniper, an IED, an ambush or a fire-fight has claimed a son, husband, daughter or dad. So on Jan. 3, 2012, as candidates organize and hope for a finish that will fuel a continued campaign, Mary Ellen Ward will again - and daily - think of her son Tommy: Sgt. Thomas E. Houser, USMC, 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company,  First Marine Division, killed on this day in 2005 in Iraq. And she will barely notice the passing parade of politics because she has other concerns, another worry, one more mother’s burden: Her oldest boy, Joe, is scheduled to depart with the Marines in two months. For Afghanistan.  For another tour in a war that has made much of our nation weary and too many of our politicians silent. Mike Barnicle is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist and regular on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.

© 2012 POLITICO LLC

Special moments in 2011

April

I officially retired from the United States Army after serving more than 21 years. My friend LTC Darren Blagburn and my beautiful fiancé set up a party that included my family and friends here in Boise and those from out of town.

My mother and I before the ceremony

Me and my girl on my last day wearing a uniform



My brother Will makes a toast

My family

My retirement gift from my Cynthia and my friends

Me and LTC Darren Blagburn

Me and Cynthia

August

Cynthia and I ran our first race together called the Boise Foothill XC12k it was so fun to run with her.  You can see it on her blog at http://rundreamlaugh.blogspot.com/2011/08/foothills-xc12k-race-recap.html

Then we ran the Project Athena 10k

We rounded out the month with a great run called the Dirty Dash at Bogus Basin. I got to meet Cynthia's very awesome sister Elisa whom I had never met before and run with one of Cynthia's friends Linzi.



Me, Linzi, Cynthia, Dash (our mascot) and Elisa Our team name was the "Dirty Booty Chaser's"

December
It was Vegas time with my brother Will, Tiffany his wife, Jason my cousin, and Bill and Tiana.  Cynthia went to run the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon and I went to support her and play a few slot machines, haha. There was speculation that we would get married but that was not in the cards. Maybe 2012 will tell a different story.

Cynthia and I on the strip!!

Will, Tiffany and Cynthia

Jason, me and my little brother Will

I am excited to see what new adventures will happen in this coming year and I hope that all of you will stick with me and continue to support my endeavor to get information out to our Veterans and Soldiers. No matter what your stance is on the war and in politics let us not forget that it’s the Soldier that bears the responsibility of being faithful to our United States and its citizens.

I hope my stories will help another Soldier realize that they are not unique in their experiences and writing is an outlet that can be powerful not just for the person writing but for those that read it. I challenge you to open that door maybe just a crack and peek in then write about it. This page will always be an outlet for my fellow Soldiers old and new to express themselves without fear of being judged.

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives, and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday”

-inscription on John Wayne’s Headstone



Happy New Year!!

Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.

 - Eric Zorn

This is a piece I did with the hopes of getting published but I was told that it was not a piece that was "original" I guess with so many other stories coming out about Navy Seals and Green Berets the Infantry Soldier who walks the streets every day and does not wait for "high" priced targets is not that interesting. Well I leave it up to you my friends to tell me what you think. 
My name is Eugene Hicks and I am a platoon sergeant of 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division from the Stryker Brigade Combat Team of Fort Lewis, Washington. My battalion has been deployed in Mosul, Iraq, since October 2004. 

My story contains some of the trying times that my platoon has experienced while here in Iraq. To be a soldier is to have one of the most demanding and strenuous jobs in the world because everyday you step outside you are unsure of what will happen but with the knowledge that what may happen could change everything that you ever knew or maybe even be the end of it.
As the level of violence in Iraq escalated, I began to think about the reasons why we soldiers trudge on day to day into the uncertainty of war. Recently, I also completed my sixteenth year of military service and the answer became more apparent. Even though there is so much uncertainty in what will happen to a soldier in his day, there is one thing that he can be certain in. Any soldier can trust that his fellow soldiers will be at his side every step of the way, ready for anything.
I have been in this job for so long and have made it through so many challenges because I have found soldiers that I can trust my life with, and these same soldiers can trust their life with me.

Thank you for the providing an opportunity to give a soldier the chance to tell his story.

Sincerely,

Eugene J. Hicks


“UNTITLED”
I am a platoon sergeant in A Company 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, part of the Army’s newest battlefield concept the Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT). Each Stryker platoon consists of four Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles (ICV) and 45 soldiers. The platoon subsequently breaks down into three line squads and one weapons squad. Each Stryker has a driver and a vehicle commander, who controls the Remote Weapon System and manages the maintenance of the vehicle.

The Stryker has taken much criticism over the last few months. When responding to the criticism, our battalion commander LTC Eric Kurilla, stated in a press release that between October 2004 and January 2005 his unit's Strykers sustained 16 direct hits from roadside bombs and 36 direct hits from rocket-propelled grenades. "I've not lost a soldier’s life, limb or eyesight from any of those attacks,” Kurilla said. "We have a lot of soldiers alive today because of these vehicles." I agree with LTC Kurilla and can honestly say that it has saved my soldiers lives countless times. In the last six months my platoon alone has been hit by eight Improvised Explosive Devices, one Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device, a direct hit by Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), and a lot of small arms fire. Having had all this happen how has it affected the soldiers in my platoon and myself and what helps us continue on? Well, I hope to tell you in one soldier’s story.

People say they join the Army for patriotism: the love of their country driving them to fight for freedom and democracy. I do not disagree with this reason, but it is much like the token “beauty pageant answer.” It is the one that sounds great and the one a civilian accepts and understands. Yet I venture to say that we fight for simpler reasons; the soldiers to the left and right. I know that this proverb has been used repeatedly by reporters in news broadcasts and in newspapers the world over, but I feel it goes to show that it is a strong driving force for soldiers.

This being the case, one may ask, “Does hardship and loss bring people closer together?” The answer to this question may vary as one’s reasons for joining the Army but, because we are soldiers, we know that the person we are talking to now may not be there tomorrow; we are left with two options: grow close (which in the long run makes the loss even harder) or keep a distance. How do you choose? I believe the chaotic scenes that many of us have had to endure, have taught us that life is fleeting so stay close, watch each other’s back, and leave no one behind. 

On November 11, 2004 my company and platoon would participate in our first Operation in Mosul. The platoon would be the main effort for the company, essentially this means we will be the first ones on the objective to establish a foothold for the rest of the company to maneuver from and bring the fight to the enemy. As we moved down a main street we immediately came under small arms and Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) fire. As soon as the ramp dropped the rounds could be seen impacting around and on the vehicle. The platoon dismounted the Strykers and moved to breach points. Small arms fire continued to impact around us, as we cut through locks and opened rolling aluminum doors to get inside both to search and to get cover. We attempted to get into several rooms but they were bolted and locked from the inside; to get in we used the ‘Wally Bomb” aptly named by one of my squad leaders SSG Nova Johnson for a large water impulse charge after one of my soldiers SGT Wallace. This breach charge will open any door or gate. As we began to clear the individual rooms, we would receive fire through the windows. A round impacted the wall a foot away from my body in one of the rooms I entered. Nevertheless, SSG Harmer, SGT Wallace, and I ended up clearing several rooms as a team. 

The intensity of the firefight had yet to climax. I attempted to move from the building my first squad occupied, to another building right next door occupied by my third squad. PFC Ayres and I exited the doorway as a RPG slammed into the side of the building about ten feet away, throwing us to the ground. I looked at PFC Ayres making sure he was all right and then brushed it off with “Shit! That was a close one.”

We bounded to the next building and then got orders to link up with the platoon leader (PL) and reinforce another platoon that was in contact with the enemy. When I got this call I was sitting down behind a wall looking at SSG Lenny Diaz and SSG Nova Johnson as aerial burst RPGs exploded over our heads and bullets cracked hitting the walls around us. I called the PL back and let him know we would be down shortly as we were receiving heavy small arms fire. After about ten minutes, we were able to move and head toward the PL’s position. Once we got there, the fighting began to slow down, it all seemed to go so fast, but in reality it had been four and a half hours since we had first dismounted. We got the order to mount up and head back to the Forward Operating Base (FOB). We arrived with no casualties and no dead. It was a glorious day. We had been baptized by fire, fostering the bond between all the soldiers. From here on, the respect and confidence in the leaders would grow. Our platoon would grow. Indeed it had been a glorious day.

On December 21, 2004 at 12:04pm the realities of this unconventional war would become apparent. I had just sat down to eat lunch with officers from my company when I looked up and saw the explosion. When I saw it, it moved in slow motion.

 The image I have fixed in my mind is a lucid moment from the madness, one of condiment packages. The little ones, the ones you get from fast food restaurants filled with ketchup, for your fries. I saw them flying as if they were confetti, no longer condiments packages, but mere pieces of plastic caught up in a hurricane. That is when the force of the blast hit me.

  I followed everyone else out of the dining facility and out to the bunkers that were provided in case the dining facility was mortared (which it had happened already before). Once I was out there I could hear people crying for help, I told my friend Lieutenant Kyle Dewald that we had to go back in and help, so back into the dining facility we ran.

What I saw was what only evil men can do; it was a chaotic and utterly ghastly scene. Immediately seeing one of my soldiers grabbed my attention and shifted my focus; my soldiers where in here, and I had to find them to make sure they were unharmed. PFC Ayres was the first one I saw and he immediately assured me that everyone he was with was all right. I sent him to collect the first aid boxes that were placed around the dining facility (these were ammo cans painted white with a red cross, containing first responder items.) Next I saw Sergeant Pense, a member of my company sniper team, had blood lacerationceration on his scalp. I helped bandag him up and happened to look to my right where I saw Sergeant Pena and Sergeant Montoya doing CPR on our Company Commander. They had it under control, and I knew that I would not be able to help them I knew I would probably only get in the way. I began to move around the blast area to see where else I could be of help.

 I came across a woman who had suffered terrible burns and had blood on her face and in her hair. She was crying. I stopped to help and reassure her, while she attempted to grab her friend who lay next to her, she was dead. She was quickly evacuated on a table that had been turned into a make shift litter. I began to walk around again to see what else I could do. I felt useless, like there was something more that I needed to do and yet could not. 

I saw a kid laying face first in his plate of food with a hole in the back of his head about the size of a silver dollar. There were bodies and body parts strewn everywhere. The blood on the floor mixed with the condiments and made a sticky mess, which all those heroes that day would trudge through as they saved numerous lives. This day, one of which I will never forget, my company commander died and a close friend SPC Clint Gertson, who would later die in a sniper attack, was also wounded. The reality of fleeting time became apparent.

Here in Mosul, while the platoons are out on patrol, explosions are commonplace. One can hear these audible reminders and then hear the reports start coming over the radio about locations, followed by a Battle Damage Assessments (BDA) if the explosion was near coalition forces. These explosions are heard at night on the Forward Operating Base when you are trying to sleep, or when you are sitting on your Strykers getting ready to roll out on patrol. The echoing sounds and damages of these explosions are a constant reminder to us soldiers that we are surrounded by war.

My platoon was out on patrol conducting cordon and searches and Tactical Control Points, when we heard a huge explosion loud enough to be heard eight kilometers away. We found out over the radio that a vehicle bomb had hit Combat Outpost Tampa. We were directed to come and assist in the casualty evacuation and the defense of the COP. When we arrived, the platoon was immediately met with mortars and small arms fire. My platoon leader directed the weapon squad and I to dismount and assist in casualty evacuation. My Stryker pulled up close to the outer barricades and we dropped the ramp. As we exited the vehicle we were met by two burning Strykers. Everything on top of them was smoking; the driver’s hatch and the rear troop door were open. As I looked in I saw the vehicle commander still inside, debris and dust swirling everywhere. He was still manning the Remote Weapon System firing on insurgents that were moving on the west side of the COP. As I looked at the carnage, small arms fire continued to impacted around us. 

We then ran to where we thought was the entrance only to find a dead end room. We ran out and found stairs leading to the second floor. As we got to the second floor we took defensive positions on the east side of the building. I set up two M240B Machinegun positions, as rounds impacted the walls outside the building and inside the rooms we now occupied. The two gun positions started to return fire on the enemy, who were attempting to swarm the COP. CPL Mikael Medina and PFC Robert Ayres were firing down a street at insurgents moving between buildings as SPC Roehrig and SPC Slaughter fired at a window that was being used as a hide for insurgents to fire from. The PL called for a situation report. “We are receiving heavy small arms fire and are returning fire.” I then got directions to displace back to my vehicle for new orders. At this point I responded that we had good cover and “we are good here, for now.” There was a lull in incoming fire so we displaced and headed for the stairs to get back into our Stryker. As we loaded up, all of our hatches were closed to prevent mortars from falling inside and to prevent the boys from taking shrapnel, if we happened to get hit on the top. I got in the Stryker and got on the radio and let the PL know where we had loaded up and had no casualties. The next order would take a few minutes to register and made me stop to take a breath. “I need you to go back in and get a generator that is either inside or on the roof,” was the order that came over the radio. I took my Combat Communications helmet off and put my helmet back on, took a breath and looked at my boys in the vehicle. “Grab more ammunition, we are going back in.” I received a few puzzled looks but everyone was ready to go. “Okay, on three the ramp is going to drop and we are going.” The ramp dropped and again we made our way through the carnage and back into the building. As we got up there 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company was collecting their gear, getting ready to exit the COP and we would help re-enforce their withdrawal. We helped them pack up their gear, but we could not find the generator.

Again we were given the order to load up and ran down the exposed stairwell (the face of the building had been badly damaged by the Suicide Vehicle Bomb) and loaded into our Stryker. With the smoke still lingering in the air and the F-18’s flying low over our heads, the explosions, as always, could be heard while we regrouped and headed back to our Forward Operating Base. I was later awarded an Army Commendation Medal with “Valor” Device for this.

So why do we as soldiers do this every day? I am sure people are left asking this question after reading about the life of a soldier at war. I answer the question by saying “We have too much invested in this not too.” The lives of our fellow soldier’s, our lives, and the job we have been sent to do. How do we handle this day-to-day reality? Well the only answer I can give is the American soldier is a lot more resilient than I think people give us credit for. We trudge through this every day, but we are able to get up every morning, not knowing what fate may have in store for us this day and we still go out into the city of Mosul, again to do our job. The best analogy I can give is one used by our Battalion Chaplain one of a marathon. Ask a novice marathon runner how he is doing at mile one and he may say, “This is great, not as bad as I thought.” Ask the same question at mile 13 and you may get a different perspective of it. “This is really bad” or “What on earth possessed me to do this?” But too much has been invested to quit, so he continues on until it is completed. This is why we do it, for each other. We are that novice runner combined as a platoon. We all have to help each other out to make it to the finish line.

 I do this for 45 extraordinary soldiers who have forever changed my life and taught me the meaning of brotherhood, camaraderie, and are a true band of brothers, soldiers who stand together through adversity and complete the mission no matter how hard it may be. These are only a few events in a yearlong tour, but again it is only one soldier’s story. 

Enough Said!!!!

LT Raub Nash my PL and SGT Paul Farmer

SGT Wallace doing what he did best tearing stuff up!

Me, SPC Ayers (he would be killed in Iraq in 2007) and SPC Heit

The dog of war: Sgt. 1st Class Zeke helps Fairbanks-based soldiers deal with stress

Therapy dogs are a great service to Soldiers suffering from some of the associated symptoms of PTSD. We have these dogs at my work and they are so great and lovable. They also have more credentials than some of the counselors, haha.  If you know anybody that suffers from PTSD and would like a companion visit your local Vet Center they can guide you in the right path.

The dog of war: Sgt. 1st Class Zeke helps Fairbanks-based soldiers deal with stress

 By Cheryl Hatch/For the News-Miner

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan — Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry 21st Battalion of Task Force Arctic Wolves hang around talking and smoking cigarettes at the entrance to the dusty brigade headquarters of Forward Operating Base Masum Ghar in Kandahar province in Afghanistan.

Sgt. 1st Class Zeke approaches, and the soldiers flock to him, dropping to their knees.

They want to pet Sgt. Zeke.

Zeke is a black Labrador and therapy dog, part of the 113th Medical Detachment Combat Stress Control, an Army Reserve unit mobilized to support the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division’s “Arctic Wolves” in southern Afghanistan.

“Whenever you see a dog, it makes your day a bit better,” said Spc. James Sroka, 22, from Pinckneyville, Ill., as he ran his hands over Zeke’s back again and again. He misses his dog.

It’s a common reaction, said Sgt. Paul McCollough, 28, Zeke’s primary handler, from Santa Fe, N.M. “Everything stops. The guys come out of nowhere.”

Zeke serves as an icebreaker for the members of Combat Stress Control. He’s approachable when social workers and therapists may not be.

“We’ve had more contacts today than we’ve ever had,” said Maj. Renee Reagan, 45, of Charleston, S.C., a clinical social worker who works at the Veterans Affairs office in Charleston when she’s not on orders with the Army.

There’s no problem visiting with a dog.

“There’s still that stigma — talking with a therapist, behavior health,” McCollough said. “There’s no stigma associated with coming up to talk to a dog. A dog’s non-judgmental.”

The Combat Stress Control team is designed to be both proactive and reactive. Its members visit combat outposts, with or without Zeke, and meet with soldiers to discuss relationship and home-front issues, operational stress and combat stress.

“We treat the wounds that don’t bleed,” McCollough said.

And they’re called in when soldiers are injured or killed. Twenty soldiers from the Fairbanks-based Stryker brigade have been killed since the deployment began in April.

“When there is a traumatic event, we’re out there for one to three days,” Reagan said. “We meet the soldiers typically by squad. We get them to talk about it, the event and their feelings. We try to identify any at-risk soldiers and can meet with them individually. Our role is basically to help the soldiers where they’re at.

“The leadership is very supportive of us,” Reagan said.

And of Zeke.

Zeke has been in the Army five and half years and, like many Fort Wainwright soldiers, is a veteran of multiple deployments.

“This is his third deployment,” McCollough said. “Been there. Done that.”

“It’s pretty bad when a dog outranks you,” said Staff Sgt. Adam Dye, 30, from Chattanoga, Tenn., laughing as he bent to pet Zeke. “I love dogs. He’s the mellowest dog ever.”

“I think dogs raise the morale for everyone around,” said Pfc. Tanner Neal, 21, from Sweet Home, Ore. “I’ve got five sitting at home waiting on me.”

Like other soldiers, Pfc. Christopher Sauber, 24, misses his dogs. He has five at home in Athens, Ohio. He said he appreciated Zeke’s visit.

“It helps you get away from this place,” Sauber said. “It’s relaxing, like a piece of home.”

Cheryl Hatch was a recent Snedden chair in the University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism department. She and photographer JR Ancheta, a UAF student, are embedded with a Stryker brigade unit in Afghanistan.