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Military

Brooks has a New Job

by Bryan Strawser · May 27, 2004

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks – the public face of CentCom during Operation Iraqi Freedom has a new job:

Brigadier General Vincent K. Brooks, Deputy Director for War on
Terrorism, J-5, The Joint Staff, Washington, DC to Deputy Chief of Public Affairs,
Office of the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC. Brigadier General Brooks was
previously announced for Assistant Division Commander, 3d Infantry Division
(Mechanized), Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Read about it at at DefenseLink.

Filed Under: Military

Bob Herbert is Wrong

by Bryan Strawser · May 22, 2004

In today’s New York Times, Bob Herbert writes about Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia.

Herbert writes about how SSGT Mejia served six harrowing months in Iraq, went home to Miami on a furlough last October, and then refused to return to his unit when the furlough ended.

And he then goes on to say:

Sergeant Mejia told me in a long telephone interview this week that he had qualms about the war from the beginning but he followed his orders and went to Iraq in April 2003. He led an infantry squad and saw plenty of action. But the more he thought about the war — including the slaughter of Iraqi civilians, the mistreatment of prisoners (which he personally witnessed), the killing of children, the cruel deaths of American G.I.’s (some of whom are the targets of bounty hunters in search of a reported $2,000 per head), the ineptitude of inexperienced, glory-hunting military officers who at times are needlessly putting U.S. troops in even greater danger, and the growing rage among coalition troops against all Iraqis (known derisively as “hajis,” the way the Vietnamese were known as “gooks”) — the more he thought about these things, the more he felt that this war could not be justified, and that he could no longer be part of it.

Mind you, SSGT Mejia volunteered for the National Guard, and has apparently remained there long enough to reach the rank of Staff Sergeant. He’s identified later in this column as a squad leader and thus he has a significant amount of responsibility for the lives of his men. And because he decided the war was unjustified, he refused to return.

He let down his men.

Herbert attempts to cast this as an entirely different issue as he writes about SSGT Mejia’s defense:

Sergeant Mejia’s legal defense is complex (among other things, he is seeking conscientious objector status), but his essential point is that war is too terrible to be waged willy-nilly, that there must always be an ethically or morally sound reason for opening the spigots to such horror. And he believes that threshold was never met in Iraq.

And then at the end of the column:

A military court will decide whether Sergeant Mejia, who served honorably while he was in Iraq, is a deserter or a conscientious objector or something in between. But the issues he has raised deserve a close reading by the nation as a whole, which is finally beginning to emerge from the fog of deliberate misrepresentations created by Bush, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz et al. about this war.

The truth is the antidote to that crowd. Whatever the outcome of Sergeant Mejia’s court-martial, he has made a contribution to the truth about Iraq.

The reality is that this man swore and oath – he had an obligation to the service, to his country, but most importantly to the men in the squad that he led. And instead he chose to throw all of that away.

The real issue here isn’t that SSGT Mejia has made a statement about the war – but rather that he let down his men and violated his oath.

And for that, SSGT Mejia was convicted this week.

Filed Under: Military

Lex: First Carrier Qualifications

by Bryan Strawser · May 18, 2004

Lex once again shares a great sea story about his first carrier qualification as a young pilot:

Finally a morning broke in Pensacola, Florida for me and my band of brothers to test our skills as countless of our predecessors had. We had received a long, comprehensive brief on what to expect aboard the ship, including a hair-raising series of emergency procedures drills – what to do if the brakes or catapult should fail on deck, for example. When to stay with the aircraft, and when to eject. The point at which you need no longer bother to eject, just so we’d be prepared and recognize our impending doom, if ever we came to it.

The instructor also told us not to “look at her,” when we were holding overhead in formation. We’d get distracted from our primary task of flying in formation, with potentially disastrous consequences. Then he looked us all in the eyes one by one, shook our hands, and wished us luck.

He led us out to the ship, through the radio shifts and into the orbit overhead. In spite of his warnings, I had to look down and see her waiting there below. “TOO SMALL!” my mind screamed, and looking back at my lead I could tell my wingmen had done the same thing as I had: Our previously beautiful four plane formation became the shadow of its former self, as wings rocked left and right while student pilots snuck their peeks at the ship and then back at their lead.

Our time arrived at last, he brought us down into the pattern from behind the ship, and we got our first look at the fantail and landing area from pattern altitude. “TOO SMALL!” but never mind. My lead broke left into the downwind, and after 15 seconds I joined him.

I think I have stressful and difficult days at my job – but even my worst days are nothing like this.

Filed Under: Military

Sgt. Hook: The Diamonds

by Bryan Strawser · May 9, 2004

Sgt. Hook writes today about demonstrating courage with one of his peers with the 25th Infantry Division in Afghanistan, where they are presently deployed:

When I arrived at the hangar I found 1SG Richard supervising the moving of a mobile containerized office commonly called a SPAM. He saw me coming.

“Hey Hook, how’s it going?” he said walking towards me. 1SG Richard stands about a foot and a half taller than me, which adds to his ego as he’s always looking down to talk.

Stopping just a few inches from him, I turned and leaned against a workbench, he followed suit. Looking straight ahead I spoke first. “What the hell is going on down here Dick?” I asked using his first name for the first time.

“I had your guys move their stuff out of the way Hook, we got word that the engineers are going to pour some concrete here,” he feebly replied.

“Let me get something straight with you Dick, if you ever tell my Soldiers to do something without my prior knowledge I will take you out,” I said as calmly as I could.

Cutting him off with a raised hand but still not looking at him, “understand this Dick, my Soldiers are here to fly and maintain these aircraft and they’ve done a damned good job of it for the past six weeks and I will not allow somebody else to interrupt that mission, engineer project or not.”

“There is a right way to do things and a wrong way Dick. Make a note; we do things the right way around here Dick. I don’t give a rat’s ass about an engineering project that does not include my unit’s input or address our needs. There are combat units around this country that are depending on these aircraft and I’ll be gottdamned if you or anyone else is going to screw that up!”

Finally looking at him I asked, “understood?”

He immediately apologized and started kissing my ass, but I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted the line in the sand drawn and I think he saw that.

I turned to walk away and said over my shoulder, “I’ll see you later Dick.” A group of my Soldiers watched in amazement as I left the hangar and walked back up the hill.

The Army’s Creed of the Noncommissioned Officer states that my two greatest responsibilities are the accomplishment of my mission and the welfare of my Soldiers. My mission is the welfare of my Soldiers and I think I accomplished it that day. We haven’t had anything but the utmost of cooperation out of Dick since.

I will be sending his story to my team at the real job when I return from vacation tonight – it’s a great example of challenging and “self-policing” amongst a peer group.

As Sgt. Hook says, this we’ll defend.

Filed Under: Military

MG Petraeus Promoted

by Bryan Strawser · May 5, 2004

The Pentagon announced today that Major General David Petraeus, the Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division has been promoted to Lieutenant General and head of the new Office of Security Transition in Iraq.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced today that the President
has nominated Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus for appointment to the grade of lieutenant
general and assignment as chief, Office of Security Transition-Iraq. Petraeus is
currently serving as the commanding general, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
and Fort Campbell, Fort Campbell, Ky.

Petraeus was the central figure in Rick Atkinson’s new book In the Company of Soldiers about last year’s efforts by the 101st Airborne during the Iraq War and occupation. Pretty interesting individual. I wish him well in his new assignment.

Filed Under: Military

Lex: Political Radicalism

by Bryan Strawser · May 5, 2004

Lex writes today of political radicalism and leaves behind some clear statements about the current state of the War in Iraq:

But whomever wins in November, we’ve still got a war to fight, and it’s not the time to get wobbly. Setbacks and embarrassments aside, we’ve got boots on the ground over there, and a mission we can still achieve. All the realpolitik thought going around the blogosphere and elsewhere about exit strategies and political transformations short of democratic rule miss the entire point – we went there to ensure our security, and along the way liberate a people – not really because we’re extra special wonderful people, but because doing so would fundamentally change the calculus in a region where the balanced equation isn’t familiar, and make us safer in the long run. Tiptoeing away when the going gets rough will ensure that all those soldiers died in vain, will present an energizing victory to those who deserve it least in Iraq and virtually guarantee that the next front will be fought much closer to home.

I do not want to see Kerry win – but I think if he does – his ideas that he’s proposed about the situation in Iraq aren’t going to fly as well as he thinks they will – they’re simply not going to be able to find a way to bring the UN back into Iraq – and Europe has made it clear, right or wrong, that they’re not coming to this particular dance and will sit things out.

The bottom line is.. we have 135,000 men and women over there risking all that they have – and we’ve got to support them – and the strategy – to the hilt.

If you’re going to oppose this effort, at least be part of the loyal opposition instead of the crazy leftist opposition.

Filed Under: Military, Politics

Smash: Kerry’s First Flip-Flop

by Bryan Strawser · May 4, 2004

Smash has posted an excellent analysis of the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth press conference today blasting Kerry as unfit to be commander in chief:

FORTUNATELY, it was just a dream. But for John Kerry, the nightmare is real. After he left Vietnam behind, he turned against his military brothers, accusing them of committing various acts of cruelty. He even went before Congress and testified about war crimes that he later admitted he had not personally witnessed.

Needless to say, some of these veterans aren’t very enamored with Senator Kerry. And now they’re throwing him a press conference.

Of course, this is all politically motivated. One can pick through Kerry’s military records, question whether he earned all of his medals, and ask why he requested reassignment after just four months in country – but none of this changes the fact that he volunteered for combat duty, and served bravely and honorably.

So why are partisan Republicans making an issue of Kerry’s military record?

Part of the blame lies with Kerry himself. Throughout the primary campaign, he repeatedly called attention to his service in Vietnam in order to differentiate himself from his opponents. He also brought along some of his fellow veterans on the campaign trail. He shouldn’t be surprised, then, that some of his former brothers-in-arms, who weren’t quite so happy about his post-war activities, have decided to speak up. While serving in Vietnam, Kerry was part of a very close-knit community of Sailors, Coastguardsmen, and Special Forces who make up the “Brown Water Navy.” Under fire, these men became as close as family. So Kerry’s sudden conversion from Navy Hero to Anti-War Activist must have come as quite a blow to these brave men.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter: Kerry’s political career begins with his decision to leave Vietnam, quit the military, and join the Anti-War Movement. To Kerry’s supporters, this decision represents a Change of Heart.

To his opponents, it was Kerry’s First Flip-Flop.

Much more to read over at Citizen Smash.

Filed Under: Military, Politics

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