Lessons Learned in Leadership

March 10, 2010 – 5:54 am
As much as I don't like using the term, I am a leader. I am currently responsible for 41 Soldiers in my Infantry Platoon and everything that we do, whether it be a success or an utter failure falls upon me. This is the burden of any leader in the military and in my opinion what makes them a good leader is when to let the other professionals do their job. That being said, I have been blessed with some of the most professional Non Commissioned Officers in the Army. Though at times they are a bunch of knuckle heads, on the soldiering level I could not have asked for better men to take care of the nitty gritty of being in the Infantry and in training young soldiers. I say young because most of my men are under the age of 21. At times there is going to be a ...

Posted in Military | 1 Comment »

Social Media Policy from the DoD

March 1, 2010 – 7:22 am
The DoD released on Friday new guidelines for the use of social media in the Armed Forces. This is an enormous landmark in the progress that the DoD has taken to be proactive in its efforts to communicate with the public and to allow service members the ability and tools to keep in touch. The overall encouraging language in the policy opens the doors for the thousands of Public Affairs Officers (PAOs) and individuals in uniform to be positively engaged online. With sites like facebook, twitter, myspace and others the plethora of individuals in the services on line is a tool for the DoD. It's an unprecedented time with combat operations occurring and Soldiers and Marines able to write a blog about it within hours or days. This unique wartime perspective is new to the modern battlefield and the Armed Forces newest weapon is the web. The military blogosphere has become ...

Posted in Military | 4 Comments »

Multicam Uni’s for OEF

February 23, 2010 – 5:54 am
With the Sec Army's decision last week to field multicam uniforms to units conducting combat operations an important tactical step was taken. The current Army Combat Uniform was a practical step forward in improving the older BDU.  However, given the operating environment of Afghanistan units in the special warfare side of the house took their own steps to properly cammo their guys. The overall terrain and wide array of vegetation called for the Army to adapt to the environment much more than in OIF. Infantry and "other" direct action units are running tons of dismounted combat patrols and missions straight out of the FMs. They are also conducting them against a highly adaptive,  trained and determined enemy. The ACUs just stood out too much against the environment and the right call seems to have been made by all the levels of the Army's leadership. The trick now will be to field the ...

Posted in Military | 2 Comments »

MARJAH offensive clearing the way for the future

February 17, 2010 – 5:43 am
Operation Moshtarak in Marjah, Afghanistan is strategic to the overall long term victory in Afghanistan. Within the clearing operations in killing and removing the Taliban from the 80,000 citizen town, will be safeguarding the very civilians the insurgents are hiding between.  According to the Afghan Brigade Commander who is teamed up with the American Marines he says "Especially in the south of Marjah, the enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof or in a second-floor or third-floor window," Ghori said. "They are trying to get us to fire on them and kill the civilians." The difficulty in killing an enemy who is completely integrated with a civilian population will be the largest challenge in ISAF's fight.  In addition, NATO forces are posed to immediately fill the void in infrastructure that the Taliban has provided and begin to rebuild the city. This ...

Posted in Military | 2 Comments »

Budget Time for the DOD: Fight the wars or go for Congressional votes?

February 4, 2010 – 7:27 am
With the release of the President's 2011 Department of Defense Budget, the Secretary is on the offensive for the right reason. With the overall budget at $708 billion and $159 tabbed for supporting operations in Afghanistan, it’s up to Congress now to do the right thing and not push thru the two programs Secretary Gates absolutely doesn't want. The focus rightly so should be on the service members fighting downrange and the continued improvements of the defense of the United States in the future. It is great to see that there is a big push to support the VA and similar programs that are aimed at improving quality of life, at least strides are being made. The supplemental money that is supporting contingency (combat) operations is a good start but if we are hoping to avoid another 9/11 than those in the fight need the best that the American dollar can buy. ...

Posted in Military | 4 Comments »

Post Holiday back to work… the military never took a break!

January 4, 2010 – 11:10 am
So many of us in the civilian world returned to work today and last week following Christmas and New Years but, for those downrange the holidays came and went like any other day. Thousands of Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen stepped out thru the gates onto patrol Christmas morning and New Years Eve. A few days before Christmas I received the following note from my friend CSM Jeff Mellinger. CSM Mellinger served in Iraq for 3 years as the MFNI CSM and knows more than most what is like to be away from loved ones. I forwarded this along to some friends downrange and some here in the US and nothing but thanks came back for someone at that level who still cares... Please comment and share your thoughts! CSM Mellinger- I awoke this Saturday morning at PT time (0430), and looked at my surroundings.  The worst winter storm in DC for a ...

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Troop Surge to Afghanistan and Politics

December 14, 2009 – 12:05 pm
Having heard from the President directly about the surge of troops to Afghanistan the politics surrounding the decision are coming to light. On countless talk shows the President and his team are waging their own war of words regarding his decision to grow ISAF as per General McChrystal's request for more. The President himself was defending his decision adamantly against the media's barrage of questions on whether it is the right decision. It is funny to think that the very same news media who on September 11th, 2001 clung to every bit of developing news hoping to be the lead on any and all breaking news. All of the major networks began to stream breaking news that we see now in the form of rolling banners, and were all about pushing the agenda of the SF push into Afghanistan a few weeks later. The same media that supported all combat operations ...

Posted in Military | 7 Comments »

Afghan Troop Surge/Delayed Decisions and Thanksgiving

November 23, 2009 – 12:12 pm
The New York times this week under the Asia and Pacific section had a 3 track article which published details of the proposed troop surge plans on the desk of the President and his National Security Team. In the article were the detailed plans for multiple troop increase solutions proposed by the ISAF Commander and the DOD to aid in the growing fight against the insurgency in Afghanistan. The different figures being thrown around consist of anywhere between 10,000 to 80,000 to reinforce those already there. Hundreds of units or tens of thousands of Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen are sitting on the edge of their respective seats because of the many moving parts that consists a troop deployment. When will it happen is the question of the fall and now almost winter... Many friends downrange are asking me if there has been any news on that effect and if the ...

Posted in Military | 1 Comment »

Fort Hood and Veterans Day

November 10, 2009 – 6:30 am
To all- I apologize for not having written much lately been traveling a bit and the flu knocked me down for a few but I'm back. The attack at Fort Hood as General Casey put it was definitely a kick in the Gut for the Army and for all the services from a domestic terrorist point of view. The actions of the Major are a clear indication that there might be a super small minority of those who have found they're way into uniform and who do not represent the true feelings of the rest of us. While there is so much tragedy surrounding the way that those soldiers and civilian gave their lives for the country there has to be some positive that came out of the incident? In reading the casualty list one can't help but see the overall spread of the attack on the US. The units directly ...

Posted in Military | 4 Comments »

Sitting in an MATV….

October 19, 2009 – 11:18 am
I was afforded the opportunity to spend some time in an MATV last week while at the Annual Meeting of the AUSA. I have a couple of observations about the vehicle and feeling my way thru it that I think those who might be riding in them in the next few months should know from my perspective. First thing when coming up to the vehicle is that at first glance it is considerably smaller than the MRAPs that are now Army/Marine Corps wide. The overall width, length and height of the vehicle are much smaller than its bigger counterparts. Getting into the vehicle was as easy as hopping into the rear of a cargo HMMVW so I can’t say it was a really big challenge and the door size was great considering the amount of gear that you have to wear. The doors also while heavy weren’t that much of a challenge ...

Posted in Military | No Comments »