This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Real Soldiers

  • Why I Love Their Job – Forward Observer

    On the fourth anniversary of a close friends death. SSG Ian Deutch was killed on duty, as a Nye County Sheriff–27 days after returning home from Afghanistan. SSG Deutch was a skilled forward observer, whom I had the privilege to serve alongside while in Afghanistan.

    SSG Ian Deutch, EOW 4-26-2010
    SSG Ian Deutch, EOW 4-26-2010

    Forward observers are the link between the units on ground and various fire assets available to those units. These could include anything from 60mm mortars to fixed wing, artillery, and naval guns. In our area of operations our greatest assets were our 81mm mortars. A platoon of fast acting, highly accurate mortarman, who stood ready at their guns 24 hours a day, every day until we all came home. Our mortars could put a round on target in a matter of minutes, but it was our forward observers who told them where those targets were.

    Our forward observers, were all trained by SSG Deutch. If it wasn’t his Hamburglar sounding voice over the radio, it was one of his soldiers. The standard which he held himself to, and he held his soldiers to, shaped the battle space. It had a positive effect on our missions, and capabilities. It also had a dramatic effect on the capabilities of the enemy forces within the area.

    Our enemy, never attempted to stand and fight, which isn’t unusual for the modern enemy faced. But having spoken to the units we relieved, and the units who relieved us. The enemy adjusted their techniques based on the unit on ground. They stayed and fought the preceding unit. They never stuck around more than a few minutes with us, because that was all they had. Within three minutes 81mm mortar rounds were landing within 100 meters of their position, the adjustments to follow were always fast and deadly accurate.

    The psychological effect of this was damning. And the effects were obvious. A skilled forward observer can save lives by reducing the enemy’s offensive capabilities.

    The forward observer; with a radio, map and compass is the single most damage producing individual on the battlefield. Do I want to do this job? No, lots of map reading and math, and I am simply not that good at it. But I am always happy to have one around.

    We all miss you brother, thank you.

     

  • Canadian Medal for SGT Jacob Perkins

    Jacob Perkins S's Medal

    We talked about Sergeant Jacob Perkins back in July 2012 when he encountered a burning bus along the New York State Thruway on his way home on leave. Perkins heroically braved the flames and dragged numerous people to safety. The Army awarded him a Soldier’s Medal, the highest Army award for bravery while not engaged with an enemy force, in October 2012.

    Chief Tango sends us a link to the Canadian National Post which reports that SGT Perkins will now receive Canada’s Medal for Bravery because some of the folks he rescued were Canadian citizens;

    Sandy Blair doesn’t know how she got off the bus. What she remembers, looking back at it now almost three years later, is the chaos of the crash. Metal crumpling. Glass shattering. Flying bodies. Broken bones. People screaming. There was blood. There were flames and there was Sandy Blair, standing on a New York State thruway, watching as her fellow passengers dove out of the windows, hearing their screams while knowing that her husband, Willie, was still trapped inside, in the middle of a fiery mess.

    medal

    And you know what, she never saw the man who saved him, at least not at first. She didn’t see him park his pick-up truck by the side of the road. She didn’t know his name. She didn’t know that he was a soldier, on leave, on his way home to visit his Mom in Mountain Grove, Mo., when he happened upon the accident scene and happened into Sandy Blair’s life and wound up holding it all together, keeping her family intact.

    “That bus was a ball of black smoke and I was standing there, screaming, and screaming, and I don’t know how long it was, but I lost a brother years ago and, true to God, I looked up and I said, ‘Please, don’t let it end this way.’ And, sure enough, somehow, some way, Sgt. Jacob Perkins arrived on that scene.

    “I didn’t know where he came from. I didn’t see him show up. All I know is he got there and thought nothing of throwing his truck in park and running onto a burning bus. It was an inferno, an absolute inferno, and he got my husband out.”

    So now SGT Perkins is a North American hero.

  • 1SG Jared D. Dowland; saving the world one person at a time

    1SG Jared D. Dowland; saving the world one person at a time

    1SG Jared Dowland

    Chief Tango sends us a link to Stars & Stripes about First Sergeant Jared D. Dowland who took his family to a Belgian park for Easter when he was called to duty;

    A young child, dripping wet, was surrounded by a crowd of people near the water’s edge as someone pressed on the boy’s stomach.

    “You have to do something,” said Dowland’s wife, Marie. “Get over there and save him.”

    Dowland said he found the boy unconscious and not breathing, his skin pale.

    “Everything about this boy’s appearance told me he was dead, he was in the water too long before he was discovered, and that reviving him was probably not possible,” Dowland said.

    As those thoughts raced through his head, Dowland said he fell back on his training, employing life-saving techniques learned years ago as a new recruit. He started chest compressions, followed by a breath of air.

    “I pinched his nose and the first breath was hard to force in,” Dowland said. “Then I instructed the father to push, so that he could do the compressions.”

    Not to be a spoiler, but Top Dowland beat Death that day;

    Dowland visited the boy later in the night at the hospital and again the next day.

    He learned the youngster’s name was Mahmud.

    “The father kissed me on both cheeks,” Dowland said. “It was very emotional.”

  • Here’s One Guy You Won’t Hear Complaining About Body Armor

    Lots of soldiers complain about their body armor.  And it is indeed uncomfortable, and rather heavy.

    Still:  I don’t think you’ll ever hear SGT Timothy Gilboe, ME ARNG, complain about it.  Why not?  Read this article from the Army Times to find out.

    Three additional comments:

    • Cojones muy grande, SGT Gilboe.  Kudos.
    • Kudos to you, PEO Solider.  Your equipment certainly worked as designed that day.
    • Finally, kudos also to whoever came up with the policy of offering the soldiers affected the item that saved their life as a souvenir.  I wish we saw more such common-sense in DoD.

  • SGT Kyle White to be awarded Medal of Honor

    Kyle White

    Our buddy, ParachuteCutie, sends the news that Sergeant Kyle White is to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan on November 9, 2007 in the Nuristan Province. Before you read the citations, you should read the eye witness account of what he did that day on a narrow ledge of a trail while Taliban fire rained down on him and his team from C Company 2/503rd of the 173rd Airborne Combat Team at Parachute Cutie’s link.

  • Best Rangers; 25th Division’s 2LTs Michael Rose and John Bergman

    Best Rangers; 25th Division’s 2LTs Michael Rose and John Bergman

    Best Rangers

    Out of 100 Rangers, two have emerged victorious as this year’s Best Rangers after 60 straight hours of competition. They are both Second Lieutenants and the come from the 25th Division; Michael Rose and John Bergman. From WTVM;

    Monday’s ceremony honored all of the men of this year’s competition, but a special tribute was given to Second Lieutenant Michael Rose and Second Lieutenant John Bergman. The team was able to come from behind in second place Sunday to take home the victory.

    “I can’t even imagine, we’ve only been in the Army for a little over a year and a half so it’s hard for me to even imagine…it’s just an amazing experience,” said Bergman.

    Bergman says the 25th Infantry Division hasn’t won the competition in almost 20 years, so he and Rose were honored to win for them this year.

    WTVM.com-Columbus, GA News Weather

    Rangers lead the way!

  • CPT Will Swenson RTD

    Will Swenson

    The Army Times reports that Captain Will Swenson, who earned the Medal of Honor in the Ganjgal Valley in 2009 has returned to duty;

    Swenson, who originally left the Army in 2011, is assigned to I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., corps spokesman Col. David Johnson confirmed to Army Times.

    Swenson returned to active duty last month, signing in to I Corps on March 14. He is serving as a plans officer at I Corps headquarters.

    […]

    Now that he’s back in uniform, Swenson joins Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry and Staff Sgt. Ty Carter as the only Medal of Honor recipients honored for actions in Afghanistan who are still on active duty — and they are all stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

    CPT Swenson’s Medal was held up because he was outspoken on the failures of leadership that led to the events of his heroics. I hope he continues to be frank with his bosses because in these lean times we seem to be short of real leaders.

  • Awards ceremony at Fort Benning, GA

    Silver star

    The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that my personal hero, MG H.R. McMaster, the commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, Georgia had a busy day pinning awards on heroes there the other day. Not all of the recipients survived their bravery;

    Six months after they were killed by an IED in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Sgt. Patrick C. Hawkins and Spc. Cody J. Patterson of the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment were posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with Valor Device during a combat awards ceremony Tuesday at Fort Benning.

    Maj. Gen. H.R. McMaster, commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence, also presented a Silver Star, the third-highest military decoration for valor, 10 other Bronze Stars, 33 Purple Hearts and 18 Army Commendations with Valor Device for the Rangers actions between Aug. 20 and Dec. 17. During the period, the battalion conducted more than 140 missions that killed or captured 250 enemy insurgents and leaders.

    I could go on about the things that they did to earn their medals, but you should click over and read it for yourself. There was some studly stuff going on that we never hear about. It also provides a stark example of why I get so pissed about stolen valor.