Yagyu's Answer

Peace & Serenity

I recently listened a group discussion that vilified "the militarism of society", which I took to mean the military, it's culture, and other supporting cast members that surround it.  I listened thoughtfully to the words and ideas that flowed from the participants, careful not to interject my own experiences of uniformed service so as not to damper or influence the conversation in any way.  The prevailing tone was that of liberation theology, the political theory which interprets traditional religious teachings in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions. This is to say that the participants were highly critical of government, capitalism, corporate culture, popular news media, or pretty much anything that could be widely interpreted  as adding to the disenfranchisement of the poor and suffering. 

After the talk closed I spent a day considering what I had listened to and arrived at the conclusion that the participants lacked any real, direct experience with the military, and were simply regurgitating thoughts and ideas that they had absorbed from others who had little or no direct contact either.  I feel that in many ways I should have spoken up, that I had betrayed my own experiences through my inactions.  

The obvious rebuttal is the the story of Yagyu Munenori's life-giving sword. Yagyu was a widely renowned sword instructor to two Tokugawa shoguns during their reign over midevel Japan.  His spiritual mentor was the Zen Buddhist priest, Takuan who assisted Yagu in the realization that a sword can both take a life as well as give one.  The life-giving sword is the idea that it is best to control an opponent by the spiritual readiness to fight rather than during an actual fight where lives will be lost.  From this idea grew the saying that we utilize today, "If you have to fight, you have already lost".  

Fodder For Morality

From the NY Times this morning:

WASHINGTON — Statistics compiled by the American-led military mission in Afghanistan indicate that 2,537 civilians were killed and 5,594 were wounded in 2009 and 2010, according to a study released Thursday.
Official military statistics provided to Science magazine show that about 88 percent of civilian casualties in Afghanistan over the past two years were caused by insurgents, while about 12 percent were the fault of American and coalition forces.

What's the argument here, that they kill more innocent people than we do, so somehow we are "more right"?   Having spent most of my adult life as a serving military officer I understand full-well about civilian casualties in war, but this argument has no place in the public space.  Using innocent civilian statistics to somehow morally justify a nation's actions seems obscene to me.  Every civilian fatality, regardless of who is at fault, should be treated with the same moral importance as those of fallen U.S. service members, and not be used as fodder for who's right and wrong arguments.

Veteren

 We get called to a "Difficulty Breathing" patient at an Atlanta bus stop, only a mile or so from where we are in the ambulance.  These calls I normally encourage the EMTs to take, as its more often than not well within their scope of practice.

When we arrive an old, apparently homeless man sits on a bench with an oxygen mask on his face.  He's being cared for by the Atlanta Fire Department that arrived moments before.  He's thin, worn, deeply tanned.  His grey hair streaks down past his shoulders, aged tattoos color his emaciated arms. He tries to speak under the clear plastic mask that is covering his nose and mouth.  "I want to go to the VA", he wheezes out.

"You're a veteran?", I asked him.  "Damn, straight", a bit of swagger now in his voice. I look at the EMT and motion to her that I'll take this call. We help him into the back of the ambulance, collecting up his used oxygen cylinder that he's been towing around the city behind him on a little aluminum dolly.  It's empty.

In the back of the ambulance I fix his breathing issue and motion to the EMT to drive to another hospital but take our time about it.  We set off.

My new friend spent several years in the post-Vietnam era Army, having served in Europe during the Cold War.  I introduced myself as a retired "Army-guy" and then the conversation began.  We talked about places that we had known, units that we served in, and friends that were all-but forgotten.  It occurred to me that my friend probably doesn't get this sort of attention very much.  Then he told me… he's been thinking about killing himself.

The conversation turned sad and grave.  I struggled with so many things that I want to say to him.  I want to help, to listen.  In the back of my mind I made a note to let the hospital staff know, maybe they can do something for him.

In the end, I ensure that he's comfortable in the ER room.  I shake his hand and give him a subtle, little salute.  He smiles and thanks me.  Later that night I watched him exit the ER, dragging his new oxygen bottle behind him into the night.  I wish him well. 

Past Mosaics

Oriental rugs for sale 

We went on a 911 call last night to a lady that had fallen.  I let my EMT partner run the call as it was well-within his scope of practice, and I was content to drive the ambulance to the hospital.  Sitting next to me during the 10-minute drive was the patient's brother, an older African American man who struck me as being both very pleasant and very supportive of his sister.

A conversation ensued and I discovered that the gentleman had spent over 15-years working for the U.S. Postal Service, however prior to that he had retired from the U.S. Army after twenty years of military service; that was our common link and became the subject of a short conversation.

What struck me was that my new friend didn't wear his military service nor his time spent in Vietnam on his sleeve.  He confessed that it was his goal when he retired to leave that part of his life behind and to look forward to other new adventures and opportunities.  My friend did not want to be one of those retirees that spent the remainder of his life in the VFW reliving his past; identifying and labeling himself as a veteran for all to see.  He believed that if he did so his entire identity as a person would be contingent on something that he had done many, many years ago and not on who he was today. 

I listened to the wisdom of this man seated next to me in the shadows of the ambulance, and it was as if he were speaking for me as well.  Like him, it was my fervent wish when I left the military; no U.S. Army Retiree baseball caps, no veterans license plates.  It was my life then and now it's not.  It's that simple.

This is not to say that people should not be justifiably proud of their accomplishments in life, but don't let them become your sole identity.  We're all so much more than what we did in the past.  A better measure may be what we are doing right now.

Sunday Observations

In Baghdad's Victory Base Complex there's a coffee shop known as The Green Bean. Not much more than a couple of double-wide trailers glued together with a coffee bar in the middle, it's a popular gathering place for contractors and military personnel. I spent about three hours in "The Bean" today watching the world go by. It sort of reminded me of the "bar scene" in the original Star Wars. Here's what I saw:

• A group of impromptu musicians played folk and bluegrass music in one corner much to everyone's delight. The Brits were struggling with it though.
  

• Several people wearing PT uniforms with drop-leg holsters. It must be hard to run like that.

• A group of cyclists stopped by, out for their Sunday morning ride, adorned in black and yellow Go Army/Livestrong bicycle shirts.

• Five or six people reading bibles. OK, it was Sunday. No one was reading the Koran though.

• An Iraqi army officer fighting through his first ever expresso. He couldn't finish it.

• Waves of khaki colored flight-suited PSD types; blood types scrawled on their boots, patches Velcro-ed here and there.

• Soldiers in dusty ACUs with M4s strapped across their back trying to find some normalcy in a coffee shop.

• Women with a single guy in-tow. Few women are seen alone there. They always have to token male escort, who's happy to go along albeit a bit desperate looking though.

• No Wookies or blasters, but I wouldn't put it past one of the PSD guys to have a Genuine Immitation Luke Skywalker lightsaber tucked away someplace.
  

Two Camps In Iraq

Another shot of the Crossed Swords. Last one, I promise.

I got involved in a discussion the other day with one of the correspondents about her views of the state-of-play here in Iraq. She divides the country's political landscape into two camps; those of the pragmatist and the ideologues.

The pragmatists, Iraqi President Maliki being one, realize that the U.S (Coalition) presence is necessary to provide stability to a very volatile society. The Americans are not the "occupying force" that the other camp would have one believe, but are trying desperately to get Iraq to be able to stand on it's own two feet, albeit for selfish reasons.

The ideologues, on the other hand, are quite willing to watch Iraq burn so long as there are no American or foreign forces "occupying" the land. They represent the radical Islamists that would rather sacrifice their country and their lives, or more over the lives of their followers, than tolerate the presence of a foreign culture on their land.

This is the fight that is waging within Iraq today as it struggles with the status of forces agreement that is necessary to give U.S. forces legitimacy in Iraq in the coming year(s). It has been primarily a political struggle, one which Maliki has demonstrated a great amount of deftness. At times the struggle has turned violent as the ideologues use their greatest weapons to influence the public's opinion. So far it's not looking good for the pragmatists as they continue to use political slight of hand and resorted to putting the decision to a public referendum in the coming months, a public that is heavily sided with the ideologues.

Counter-Insurgency 101

I was asked yesterday what I thought was the greatest factor reducing the violence in Iraq over the last several months. The question caught me off guard a bit because I have never really given it any thought.

After a pause I reverted back to Counter-Insurgency 101 and gave my answer. The U.S surge made it clear to the radical Islamists that victory would not be forthcoming anytime soon. The Coalition applied a full-court press with great adeptness utilizing it's advantages and minimizing those of its enemy. It became clear that an insurgent victory was a long way off and it's ranks began to fraction under the steady pressure of the Coalition's war fighting and intelligence operations.

The Coalition sent a tacit or otherwise message to the insurgency that it was not going to be allowed to win, no matter what; it had hit its high-water mark and will be continually pushed back and marginalized if the insurgents continued to violently struggle. The best course of action, like in countless insurgencies before it, would be to sue for peace and consolidate what gains it had made before those too were whittled away. This, in my opinion, is what has lead to the marked drop in violence over the past several months.

Certainly the violence continues, but for the most part, they are outliers; uncoordinated attacks against targets of opportunity by small groups of fighters that didn't get the memo. It will soon be the Iraqi's sole job to mop up these factions and hold onto the gains. The Coalition will remain in the background to ensure that the homeostasis remains. Should the Coalition draw down too quickly, however, then the insurgency may see an opportunity for victory after all and press the fight anew.

You Might Be A Metro-Tactical...

Dhow makes it's way up Dubai Creek at sunset

Sitting in the VIP lounge of Dubai’s airport the other day I spotted the metro-tactical poster boy. This guy had it all, right down to the shaved head, goatee, American flag baseball hat, and Velcro splashed all over his khaki shirt. If you’re unsure what I’m talking about; that’s probably a good thing. If you’re “tracking”, than press on:

If you're back in the "civilized world", you might be a metro-tactical if:

• You believe that khaki is the new black.

• You're currently wearing more than one article of clothing made by 5.11 or Oakley
  

• You have a single dog-tag embedded in the laces of your boots.

• Your blood type is inked onto any piece of clothing. Extra credit if it’s tattooed.

• You're wearing a “riggers belt”
  

• You're wearing an ID card holder around your neck in the mall.

• You’re wearing an earth tone baseball hat with a subdued American flag on it. Extra points if you’ve sewn on “ranger eyes”

• You’re sporting Velcro

• Your keyring is made of 550 cord.

• Your backpack has a tag in the back that states “Insert Your Name Tag Here”.

• You can’t have a conversation without using the words “roger” or “copy”

• You're carrying your MNFI card prominently displayed in your wallet.

• If all of your t-shirts are black.

• You’ve contemplated the individual merits of black, OD green and khaki.

• You’re wearing dogtags.

• You know how much protein your last meal had. Extra credit if it came out of a blender.

One Tick Closer

A little Iraqi girl smiles for the camera

We spent yesterday at Camp Victory, a sprawling military outpost adjoining the Baghdad airport. The camp is one of the largest bases in Iraq and home to some thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and contractors. While our media team went off with the military to cover a massive re-enlistment ceremony, my partner and I retreated to what is known as the Green Bean; the local coffee spot.

I passed most of the day sitting in the makeshift, air conditioned coffee shop that is ever so popular with Victory’s inhabitants. The structure is comprised of twin trailers joined together, air conditioners mounted every five feet on the white metal walls, and leather couches and tables surrounding the massive coffee bar. Over the hours I watched hundreds of military personnel and civilian contractors come and go; the very lifeblood of the reconstruction effort in Iraq. This was how they were spending their 4th of July as well. It seemed like any other day on Camp Victory.

Men and women dressed in dust covered uniforms with weapons slung over their shoulders sat around drinking iced drinks as fast as the Green Bean staff could turn them out. Some were sporting black Army PT shorts but still wore leather shoulder holsters or drop-leg rigs carrying sand-covered handguns. Contractors lounged about in their ever standard 5.11 pants and t-shirts; well-tanned arms often adorned with tattoos.

It was just another day here, the same ebb and flow of people working at their jobs, biding their time in Iraq until they’re able to return home. Some came to this country out of a sense of duty, others for the money, most simply because this is where the military sent them. Nonetheless, there we were, in a makeshift coffee trailer celebrating the 4th of July all together; everyone with a sense of it was yet another day in Iraq, just one more tick closer to being home.

Blasphemous?

Iraqi boy sits in a dirt pile along the side of the road.

I remember some years ago a news story that reported, then First Lady, Hillary Clinton wanting to rid the White House of uniformed military. Back then I was a serving officer and thought the whole idea blasphemous. Today, I’m not so sure she didn’t have a point.

If you look at news footage of less-developed countries, uniformed personnel surround their heads of state. Some of the Latin American countries come to mind as they have a habit of placing a uniformed officer behind the president when he speaks in public. It’s as if the military is looking over the president’s shoulder making sure that he stays in-line. Personally, I find it a little creepy.

I believe that the United States, as well as other nations, should strive to be above that sort of image. The President doesn’t need a Marine standing there opening the door for him every time he leaves the office. I’m certain that the Corps could better utilize the young Marine in another capacity. Is the Corps so awash with highly trained Marines that it can afford to make them doormen? I don’t buy the security argument either as I believe that’s the Secret Service’s purview. I think the President can open his own doors as it’s not like his hands are full. Besides in makes the President appear less royal. You don’t see a Royal Marine opening the door at Number 10 do you?

Having been stationed in Washington DC I realize that the military does have a lot of legitimate ceremonial duties, but I contend that many of those associated with or around the White House are unnecessary and often send the wrong image to the world. Why must visiting heads of state be greeted by formations of flag-bearing soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines? I think that we’re past that now, and those guys and gals can be better used elsewhere. We are at war, aren't we? We spent a lot of time, energy and money training the finest uniformed men and women in the world, let’s allow them to do the job which they joined up for in the first place.

Leave It To Clint

Media team poses for a quick picture before heading out on an embed with the U.S. military

The media teams have been busy the last few weeks, doing embed after embed with the U.S. military. The correspondents, cameramen, and producers like getting out away from the villa and seeing other parts of Iraq. Embeds normally require that the military take control of the media team and move it to another part of the country, which quite often involves helicopter flights, much to the glee of the teams. The media guys simply love flying in helicopters, and all to often return to earth giddy and smiling, slinging terms around like, "chopper", “bird”, “helo”, “slick”, and “rotary-wing” like they stepped right out of a Hollywood action movie. I always caution them from using such terms on-air because they often use them out of context and it sounds awkward, and fake, like you’re trying to impress someone. Studio anchors, as an example, are forever using military jargon and it makes me cringe every time I hear it. You can’t go wrong using the proper name, don’t try to be cool and use slang. Let Clint Eastwood do that. So unless you’re aircrew, please just call it a "helicopter".

Applause Of A Nation

A protective tarp lay over a weight-bench, both covered in Baghdad's dust.

“Announcing the arrival of a military flight from the middle east with 263 of America’s finest men and women on board”. These were the words that came across Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s public address system, the busiest airport in the world, while I waited in baggage claim. Down the escalator emerged a snaking line of tired looking uniformed soldiers and Marines, daypacks slung over their shoulders, smiles on their faces, all happy to be back home to the “land of the free and the home of the brave”. The applause started as a ripple and grew to a sustained, heavy crescendo as the hundreds of passengers in the terminal, US Customs agents, flight crews, and airport personnel recognized the job that these men and women had done for the past 15 or so months of their lives.

I was happy and deeply touched to witness the welcoming that this country, or at least the Atlanta airport, gave to its returning heroes. I know from experience that this was one of those moments that will fondly reside in the memories of all 263 of those servicemen and women for the rest of their lives.

I too was arriving from Iraq, but my commitment paled when compared to the long, arduous ordeal that these heroes were emerging from. My applause, however, waited outside the North Terminal ,sitting behind the wheel of a white Toyota SUV and also strapped into a carseat in the back.

By The Dawn's Eary Light

Grrrrrr. Yea, she's not happy about something.

I stood on the rooftop this morning, watching and listening to the battle in and around the city of Baghdad. Standing there in the bright sunlight I heard mortars being launched from Sadr City and impacting inside the Green Zone with a telltale "tha-whump". Several rounds went in but I witnessed little in the way of smoke plumes, which is usually an indicator that they didn't hit anything, and least nothing that would burn.

Moments later two Apaches arrived and orbited Sadr City obviously looking for the launch site. They stayed above the city by a good 2000 feet, circling and searching for the tubes, occasionally dropping flares, and then sauntering away with other things to do.

Gunfire rang out for most of the morning as the Iraqi Army traded blows with the Madhi Army. From the news wires things where not looking bright for the U.S-trained Iraqi Army. At one point I watched a MEDEVAC come in just outside of Sadr City ostensibly picking someone up. The twin Blackhawks lifted off in an explosion of dust and sprinted to the Combat Support Hospital within the Green Zone.

CNN had some unique footage up this morning, showing young insurgents dancing atop a burnt-out car. What I thought that I saw, and no one picked up, was that one of the insurgents was still wearing the top to his Iraqi Police uniform. Yea, that's about par for the course for the police.

All in all, the fight continues to rage around the country, spreading from one or two isolated cities to most of the major areas. The degree of uprising has surprised the Iraqi Army, and the U.S. military has stepped in in more than a few instances. More tomorrow I suppose.

Just Can't Get Along

The Shi'a spent the night lobbing mortars back and forth at each other in the northern Baghdad neighborhoods, dropping a couple on the Green Zone as well just for good measure. Its only a matter of time before the U.S. military deploys a Predator drone in a counter-battery role to start striking back at the insurgent mortar positions. Traditional counter-battery operations are difficult because the mortars are being fired from within built-up areas. The Predators can loiter over the city for hours on end at night and easily identify the firing point hot spots. Then it's a simple matter of a very fast and accurate response with a Hellfire missile.

The situation has devolved away from Muslim vs Westerner, past Shi'a vs Sunni, to now Shi'a vs Shi'a. The Mahdi Army just can't seem to get along with anyone right now.

Dog & Pony Show

A father leads his son through the maze of blast-walls and concertina wire. These children have known nothing but war and violence their entire lives.

The military uncovered an insurgent “torture house” south a Baghdad last week, and invited selected media for a tour and to witness the building’s ultimate destruction. We ended up sending a crew out for the day to cover the event.

When the team returned later that day they described it as a “total dog and pony show”, which is military speak for all form and no substance. Apparently the “torture house” was a tiny, little mud-hut, and the military found it necessary to use two F-16s specially flown in from Turkey, dropping four 500 lbs bombs, as well as some helicopter gunships firing unknown amounts of ordnance. The total cost of the operation was reportedly in the millions of dollars. The correspondent shook her head at the absolute waste of money and exclaimed, “they could have pushed the whole damn thing over with a HMMWV”.

Playing By The Rules

Little Iraqi girl captivated by the camera. I love her haircut.

The media habitually ‘embeds’ itself with the Coalition military to cover various stories around Iraq. As a written policy the Coalition does not allow any of the media’s organic security assets come along on the trips and therefore assumes complete responsibility for the news teams’ safety, security and well-being.

I suppose that it’s the Coalition’s party and it can make the rules, regardless of how much the news organizations rile against this. It’s rumored that some news agencies have gotten around this policy in the past by "labeling" their security guys as “field producers”. This, to me, seems disingenuous and intrinsically wrong, and can get people tossed out of this country very quickly if it goes badly, which things have a tendency to do here.

My organization plays by the rules, no matter how much we dislike ceding the safety and security of our colleagues, and often friends, to an unknown military organization. While I have a great deal of respect for the military units here on the ground, the fact of the matter is that none of them are trained to provide "close protection". It’s just not an Army skill set that any of the units here possess, and it’s either arrogance or ignorance that allows the military to think that it can simply because it poccesses a lot of guns and armor. It’s akin to scattering a bunch of AK-toting Iraqis on the street and claiming that you all of a sudden have security. Nonetheless, in a year when violence against the media is at an all-time high, the military is putting our media teams in greater danger than need be simply because of it’s own ignorance/arrogance. Believe me, as an ex-soldier, it hurts me to say that but it's the truth in this case.

CrossFit

I’ve been an competitive athlete since I was 9 years-old; scholarship collegiate basketball player, Special Forces soldier, and later an Ironman triathlete. I’ve never seen anything like the CrossFit strength and conditioning program. It has me completely sold on its brand of high intensity, natural, multi-joint movements that combine Olympic Powerlifting, gymnastics, running, rowing, swimming and other sports. CrossFit is the current rage with people that require elite all-around fitness, such as military special operations units, competitive athletes, police and fire units, etc… Couple CrossFit with a diet that is high in protein, vegetables, nuts and fruit, and cut out starches and sugar and you have an eerily effective, dramatically life-changing fitness program.

"Distinguished"

One thing that ALL members of the military do when they hang the uniform up for good is to grow some sort of facial hair. After years of having to adhere to strict grooming standards it’s almost a rite of passage out of the military. If you ever see a forty-something year-old man with really bad facial hair, you can bet that he’s a recent military retiree.

I started a goatee the day I stepped away from the Army and have kept it ever since. When it first came in I was shocked to find that it was more grey than I had remembered from previous departures while on leave. I’m going with the “distinguished” description.

Old Soldiers

It’s been a year since I retired from the military, and I look back with little if no regret. There’s a good quote that I’ve always identified with that states, “Joining the military was the best thing that I ever did in my life, and leavening it was the second best”. There’s a lot of wisdom in those words.

I never wanted to be one of those guys that surrounded his retired life with the trappings of his former profession. They’re very common among military retirees; hats, license plates, flags in the front yard, a dog named 'Adjutant', sandbagged gun emplacements on the roof. It was a part of my life, but it wasn’t my entire life.

The day that I left the military I pushed away from my desk, patted a few friends on the shoulders, and quietly slipped out the side door. No muss, no fuss, just the way I came in. Walking to the car that day I reached for my green beret in my right cargo pocket and was cognizant that it was the last time that I will ever wear it.

At home the uniform came off and went into a trunk with the rest of them, neatly folded and tucked away for some future generation to find. And so end’th an era… or two.

Distance and Daddy

Cameraman shoots the rising smoke cloud from a truck bomb in downtown Baghdad

I’m well over halfway through this trip to Iraq. My six-week stints seem embarrassingly minuscule compared to the 15 months that the U.S. soldiers are doing. I spoke with a Peruvian contract guard the other day and asked him how long he had been “in-country”, and he replied that he’d been here a year already. “How much longer do you have to go?” His answer was two…two years.

A lot is reported about the loss of life and limb that occurs here, and the western world is just now hearing about veterans returning home with various stress-related disorders. I believe that the greatest aftermath of this war is yet to be reported; the tens of thousands of broken families as a result of fathers and husbands being deployed away from their homes for so long. The ripple of countless children growing up in single parent households will be felt for two generations or more in the United States.


U.S. soldiers earn a very meager wage, often just a micron above the official poverty level. A great many of them are young, under 22 years old, and have wives, pregnant fiancées, babies and children left behind at the posts where they come from. The difficulties of keeping fledgling marriages together and healthy under normal circumstances are immense. The soldier goes away for over a year and they become insurmountable.

To the military’s credit, it goes to herculean efforts to keep the communications channels open between soldiers and their families, counseling is made available at both ends, spouse support groups are established, all in an effort to save military families. Good intentions and great effort, but I don’t believe that it can succeed in keeping military families together under such dire conditions of prolong separation.