Out of a galaxy of million-candlepower xenon searchlights in the blogosphere, she picks the neutron star in the bunch to enlighten all y'all. Of course, I wasn’t exactly a moving target.
"Yup. And 'midst the threshers and makos and Great Whites, some of us are just
*ahem*
pilot fish."
And some of us are nothing more than tomorrows SOS, stuff on a shingle, just waiting to be cut up.
*sigh*
So she Ginsus me with a meme.
However, before I spill my guts through an act of electronic seppuku, I believe I’ll tender my tender tormentor a peace offering -- something that will show her I understand why she expressed her repressed emotions by jerking me around with a %$#@! meme exhibiting curiosity about my mundane existence. Since her alter-ego, Princess Leia In A Sandpaper Thong Cheese Danish Bikini, has moaned
and since I damnsure ain’t neither understand her need to bitchslap me cry out to me in this manner, I’ll dedicate this to her as a little warmer-upper for the seriosity to follow.
And now to the main event. The rules state:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog (easy enough -- not really necessary, though, since most of Villainous Company lurks here anyw -- Sly! *Not on the drapes*!!).
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird (easy enough -- everything about me is random, weird, or both).
• During my thirty-seven years in the Army, USAR and ARNG, I never had an Army Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (I *delivered* a whole bunch, though, and dished out cranberry sauce and stuffing on several occasions).
• All my ARNG Raters recommended “Promote immediately” or “Promote Ahead of Contemporaries” in the remarks block of my OERs -- and all my promotions were delayed, on average, by three years. I kept a file drawer full of promotion packets to replace the ones Higher kept *losing*. One time I submitted three -- and said that way they could continue to lose one each month and not have to bother me for a while. It didn't sit well with HRO *at all*...
• I was knocked on my keister by lightning three times within the same month (June 1971) -- and got a nice letter from a two-star (not for getting hit, for what I was doing when I got hit -- which, in turn, resulted in my getting hit, but nobody else).
• I’m a character in a book that’s currently in draft (it’s not about me and I made her promise she wouldn’t turn me into a water-walker).
• Horses and I have an agreement: I don’t drop onto their backs from overhanging tree limbs and they don’t bite me on the butt and drag me off.
• I can’t wear short-sleeved shirts (souvenir of Agent Orange called porphyria cutanea tarda -- the whole "bleeds through the skin" deal freaks people out, for some reason).
• I owe John a bunch of cartoons.
Hey, the requirement was that I share seven facts -- not that I share and *explain* them. Unless, of course, it’ll get John posting privileges at The Corner. And ry lets HF6 read the X-Men #1 he *thinks* he hid behind the adult novelties dispenser towel rack in the oubliette.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
As if. This place is the Meme Graveyard.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Not. A. Chance. But Argent, AFSis, ALa, Barb, Foxfier, Cricket and Michelle Malkin all dodged the bullet. Fuzzybee, HF6 and Maggie were previously victimized. And Murray would have tried to launch a rock at me (hey, we're practically neighbo(u)rs these days).
5. Present an image of martial discord from whatever period or situation you’d like.
That can be read on many different levels.
*mumbles through chocolate cupcake crumbs...wipes hands on conveniently located 'towel'...*
It wasn't me! I wasn't even there! Besides, Mistress Mandy made me......
by DL Sly on June 23, 2008 12:40 AM
You told! Mean Unka Bill. I always wondered what that thing was in there. I just usually wipe my hands on my shirt.
And Sly, you know who they make clean up around here, don't you? If'n you don't wanna get ankle bit don't get crumbs everywhere. my cheeto dust is hard enough to clean as it is. ;)
by ry on June 23, 2008 1:47 AM
...cupcake crumbs...wipes hands on conveniently located 'towel'...
There's a surprising amount of wildlife sharing the base with us. The usual ants, scorpions, ants, camel spiders, ants, crested larks, ants, sparrows, skinks, toads, ants, rock doves, bats, ants and other smaller critters (including ants) are omnipresent, but the larger fauna are represented, too -- the hunters. Feral cats live in some of the old fighting positions in the woods and hawks nest in the higher branches of the willows. Foxes live in the graveyard behind my hootch and trot around the airfield perimeter after nightfall -- I see one every so often sitting by the bombed-out watchtower on my trek back from the office, waiting for me to pass so he can continue his rounds.
This morning I was heading for my shortcut through the blast wall between my hootch and the main drag -- I got two steps from the opening in the wall and a sparrow flew from behind the wall and landed in the opening. I got one step from the opening and a falcon appeared from nowhere, pounced the sparrow -- and then looked at me. He snapped his head up, our eyes locked for less than a second and he vanished back behind the wall. Those amazing black eyes had enabled him to see the mottled dust-brown sparrow against the mottled dust-brown earth from hundreds of feet away.
Dazed, the sparrow hopped into a crevice in the blast wall.
I've developed a bit of a metaphysical bent over the years -- you don't wanna take the same path that I did to get there -- and I've always had a sort of empathy with animals. Here's a secret -- it's all about the eyes. Those of you who've never met me may find what I'm about to say a bit hard to swallow, but in the brief instant my human eyes met the twin pools of liquid midnight that were the falcon's, I *knew* what he was thinking.
Nooo, Ledger, I don't bait 'em. Only seen one rat so far, and a hawk the size of a B-2 grabbed it.
Which reminds me -- the frogs living in the JDAM hole and the bats that make *one* pass through the AO at sunset haven't been doing their job. The mosquitoes are getting ornery...
Foxfier -- I'm an enabler. BTW, does FbL know you're over here slumming?
I wholeheartedly approve. Besides, I obviously don't blog enough over there to keep her busy. :P
Very cool story, Bill. It reminded me of meeting you after visiting the VA for the first time. I don't have feathers, but you had to have read my mind, because I'm sure I was unable to properly communicate my experience to you. Maybe it's the fuzz. ;)
Hi, Sis! The turquoise mosque is the "martyr's chapel" in the graveyard. Unused, now -- it's the military cemetery for the airbase. The color is actually green, but the light on the day I took the pic makes it look turquoise. Green is the color of "martyrdom" in a Muslim cemetery, but the paint they used in the shrines is distinctly turquoise.
The ironwork is a "martyr's shrine" -- like the one I mentioned here -- marking the grave (or graves) of someone KIA. Some are more ornate than others, which generally only means he was an officer (even "Saddam's Soldiers" think that's just wrong), and the paint they used *is* turquoise. Those who died of disease or in an accident have adobe brick coffers around their graves -- and some of those have designs in turquoise paint on the outside, which I'm guessing was a little extra gesture from the guy's friends.
It reminded me of meeting you after visiting the VA for the first time.
I did *not* pounce on you -- although you did look around for someplace to hide...
"Nooo, Ledger, I don't bait 'em. Only seen one rat so far, and a hawk the size of a B-2 grabbed it." –CW4BillT
Good to hear.
Dam, those hawks can be big. I kinda understand about the hunters (hawk) and the hunted (small sparrow). It can be a jungle out there.
Speaking of jungles, and critters I noticed you mention ants:
"The usual ants, scorpions, ants, camel spiders, ants… ants, sparrows… ants, other smaller critters (including ants)…"
A can of Raid comes in handy with ants. If you don’t have a can of Raid, I would suggest a can of spray starch.
You just spay it on the ants. It’s environmentally friendly and tends to dry quickly, encasing the ants’ breathing mechanism with starch killing them quickly.
Or you could just try to stamp them out with your boots but, that is cumbersome and doesn’t always kill them.
As for the hawks, you could try spraying them in the eye with starch but make sure the wind is not blowing your direction (check your wind sock for wind direction) You know, kind of even-up the odds between the sparrows and hawks.
As to the frogs use starch.
Now, to the bats, I have found and old tennis racket strung with wires works well to stop them in flight. If you don’t have one use starch…
Well, if the ants ever visit *inside*, they'll get a cup of coffee poured on 'em. I figger they'll get so wired, they'll have a hole dug halfway to home before they finally croak.
I think I’ve got a pretty good sense for the absurd, but I couldn’t get this loony if I went without sleep for a week (and I have -- on several occasions).
Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:35 [note the date]
To: [my dot mil addy redacted] , [same pentagonal dot mill addy redacted – yup, I guess they wanted an extra e-mail to build up their hit count]
William Tuttle:
Reply to email received on 05-27-08: [remember I told you to note the date?]
1. In most case a CAC Sponsorship Transfer Email is sent when a contractor is reassigned to another TA. Most sites have their own way outside of the CAC Sponsorship Transfer Email of informing the contractors of a transfer.
Ah. But that’s not what transpired. I wasn’t notified (and neither was my employer) that my Trusted Agent had been transferred. Matter of fact, the e-grams in Rounds One through Three were *addressed* to that transferred TA and the subject was, “Hey, TA -- verify that this guy tuttle (no caps -- how gauche) is still a contractor.”
No notice to my employer. No query to *me*. Just an order to the TA.
Who had already been transferred.
2. DOD require [sic] all contractors approved in CVS must be reverified every six months for their continued need for a CAC and affiliation with DOD.
Okay. I’m cool with that. It’s probably a good idea to check up on us contractor parasites just to make sure we haven’t done anything subversive -- such as return to Private Citizen Status without notifying the TA (that we’re unaware we have) via e-mail (which the TA apparently doesn’t even have to open). Although, since I'm a retiree, my continued "need for affiliation with DOD" is pretty much a given. Until I hit the brass rail at Fiddler's Green, anyway.
3. Your contract record, benefits and CAC will be terminated in DEERS. Your information will still be in DEERS but it will be terminated.
[No signature block and minus the electron-waste of “Questions may be sent to redacted pentagonal dot etc." closing]
Ummmm – parsing that.
So far, I get “We’re flushing your contractor info from DEERS but we’re not flushing it. In other words, it will not be flushed, but it will be flushed.”
However, I'd *still* like a response to my e-mail of 28 May in which I informed whomever at the help desk opens the e-mail that I had already accomplished the re-verification *prior* to the 30 May deadline to preclude my contractor data from being terminated.
V/r,
Bill Tuttle
Okay, [pentagonal dot mil addy redacted], the ball’s back in your court and I’m anticipating your reply to my 28 May e-gram sometime before the end of June. Meantime, if my CAC turns up hot during any of the checks around here, you can anticipate receiving a lot of e-mails with the subject line of Drearley Most beloveed You need Litlet bleu pill mAke stiCker peCk up.
One thing I got away from fairly quickly as an O-6 ALO was closing with "V/R." I have very little respect for buffoonery, especially when it comes to USARMY administration. They (and I didn't care who "they" were) want my respect? Then earn it. Otherwise, "Sincerely" works just fine.
Can you find an O-6 with a brain around there to help un-f**k this?
If they don't unfark this soon, they will need someone to fill your duties. I suggest the farking idiot (and/or their boss). Let them teach the Iraqis to fly whop-whops and not prang any of the birds in the process.
Please provide their unredacted address if it comes to that, so we can all help with their education and shopping needs.
IDIOTS! The one thing I don't miss!
by John S. on June 15, 2008 8:11 PM
BillT,
As my Father, said in the past, "Government wanted a perfectly square building, this is how we got the Pentagon." You figure it out.
Grumpy
by Grumpy on June 16, 2008 4:17 AM
BillT,
As my Father, said in the past, "Government wanted a perfectly square building, this is how we got the Pentagon." You figure it out.
“Because we were in the Army before -- during the war.”
When most of the Iraqi RW pilots talk about “the war,” they’re referring to the Iran-Iraq dustup -- they call OIF “the fight.” Most of them do, anyway…
“So, they call us Saddam’s Soldiers. Feh. We did not fight for Saddam. American soldiers do not fight for Bush. Soldiers fight for the land, the country, the people! Not for the leader! The leader always changes and the land remains! But they call us ‘Saddam’s Soldiers and look down on us.
"They don’t know.
“They don’t know…
“I was stationed here during the war. You know that old hangar over there, with the shrine on it? A thousand-pound bomb hit it. There were five pilots inside. We didn’t even try to recover them, we just left them in there and put up a shrine. There would have been no point in digging them out. A thousand-pound bomb -- there would have been nothing to find. Nothing.
“So, we just put up the shrine. Then we went into hiding, because that night, the Iranians came, looking to kill pilots, looking to kill officers. They took the L-39 with them when they left. And we hid until the Americans came, and then we came out, because we knew the Americans wouldn’t kill us.”
The L-39 that was being turned into a UAV. It’s not the first time that I’ve been told the Iranians had come across the border into Iraq and snatched L-39s during the confusion, but it’s the first time I heard it from someone who’d seen it firsthand and who mentioned it so casually.
Every so often, one will seem hostile. He’ll raise his voice, a *lot*, and get pretty agitated. It didn’t take me long to realize it wasn’t directed at me, or Americans, or George Bush. And it wasn’t hostility at all -- it was something else...
“Can you imagine what some of us feel, that we fought for our land and then when the leader falls, we are insulted by the ones we thought we were defending?”
“I know that feeling. I flew in Vietnam.”
“Ah. I though you might have done that. You know, then.”
“Yes. I know.”
The Silence that usually follows isn’t uncomfortable. It’s a mutual recognition that each of us can see the other’s soul and recognize the similarities that transcend the differences. Even if a change in politics dictate that we may one day have to try to kill one another, the similarities won't change.
Put a couple of old soldiers together, get us to shut the hell up for a while and you’ll know when the Silence happens...
On the plus side, I'm able to tell the new kids some of the history of their new home. Changes their perspective on the rotary wing guys quite a bit...
Interesting comparisons, Bill. Many have said that Iraq is the "new" Vietnam.... but no one has said that it's the "new" Vietnam to the IRAQI's. Most who have said that are trying to draw parallels between the wars being unpopular, a lost cause, and an unnecessary attack by the United States. You're the first to draw the parallel between the fighters themselves.
Very interesting thought process. You've found kindred spirits in the hearts of the Iraqi pilots- and not just because you're both air jockeys.
*smile* Welcome Home, Bill.
Yes, it was meant as a compliment. Not too many people have the advantage of being a Vietnam Vet, and have access to "Saddam's Soldiers" to compare notes. It is an interesting thought process.
by AFSister on June 13, 2008 12:59 PM
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
- G.K. Chesterton
by Greyhawk on June 13, 2008 1:18 PM
Not too many people have the advantage of being a Vietnam Vet, and have access to "Saddam's Soldiers" to compare notes.
Well, considering the number of surviving VietVet helicopter pilots who stayed in the game, are bilingual, have recent experience instructing in SWA, are qualified flight sim operators, can still pass a flight physical, blog (irregularly) and are currently in Iraq, yeah, your chances of getting somebody *else's* perspective on it might be a tad slim...
Speaking of irregularities, what's up with the double-archiving when Strikethrough GWOT gets included in the category?
[Oddly enough, when you post it from over there, it doesn't show up in my control panel that you've selected a category - but you are, obviously. That's an artifact of my testing. The Web Mechanic is going to try to update our backoffice this weekend... which might fix things, or blow things up so thoroughly I decide to just use that as an excuse to go dark...]
{Not so odd -- *I* can't see it in MT until something other than H&I gets published. BloggerSpeak, folks -- hang around when he answers and get even *m9re* bewildered. Hey, AFSis! I can see your house from up here!}
Hey! I'm irregular only in that I scrupulously obey all traffic laws, which is quite irregular around here. I ALWAYS stop for yellows. Unfortunately, the ABS wasn't up to road conditions tonight and I got rear-ended, somewhat.
No, belay that. If the ABS _had_ been up to road conditions, I'da got rear-ended a lot harder. Light turned yellow at optimum bad decision point, road not quite dry, guy in Merc had just changed one tire, and when he tried to swerve, he couldn't, having somebody right beside him in next lane.
Oh, and it's Friday the 13th and my cat is still mad at me.
F-150's back bumper moved one inch on one side; Mercedes-Benz mortally wounded.
I'll not complain about the 12 mpg again. For a while, anywa
The Iraqi helicopter pilots I’ve been training in the sim are a fairly mixed group, but they all have two things in common: they’re older (most of them are Iran-Iraq War vets) and they’ve had some training in instrument flight.
But, “have had some training in instrument flight” doesn’t necessarily equate to “have had some training within the past ten years.” Some accumulated actual weather time in Britain, France or Russia during an overseas aircraft qual -- I’ve heard a couple of interesting stories about the dimensions of thunderstorms in Russia and the severity of clear-air turbulence over France. And I can tell who’s flown in Britain -- the first time a Brit-trained pilot climbs into an overcast layer in the sim, he invariably mutters, “Oh. My. Gaaaahhd…”
Inadvertent Instrument Meteorological Conditions, or IIMC for the Acronym Aficionados (hi, Barb!), means you’ve lost visual reference without intending to do so. Although they’re all a tad startled that I can turn the weather to crap as fast as it can happen in the Real World, the pilots who’ve had a lot of actual weather time don’t get fazed much. The ones who are good settle right down. The inexperienced ones, wellllllll…
IIMC onset can be slow -- you keep pressing on and the weather keeps getting worse and the visibility decreases so slowly that you’re in the trap before you realize it (that’s how JFK Junior bought it -- and that’s how multiple-vehicle smashups happen in bad weather). Or IIMC can happen fast -- you’re flying at night and punch into a cloud or a dust / snow / rain storm catches you. The weather itself isn’t usually the killer, though -- it’s how you *react* to the loss of visual reference. If your control touch isn’t what it should be, if you fixate on one instrument instead of scanning the important ones, or if the startle reflex kicks in, you will probably -- make that *definitely* -- take the aircraft into what’s understatedly-referred to as an Unusual Attitude.
Rather than go through all the physiological explanations for what happens when your brain is deprived of it's primary sensory input for keeping you upright (and I *can*), try this little experiment -- make sure you’re near something soft -- stand up, extend your arms, close your eyes and tilt your head to one side.
Now lift the leg opposite the head-tilted side.
You’ve just gone into an Unusual Attitude.
However, when you’re descending sideways at rates in excess of 3,000 feet-per-minute, even *water* is hard as granite.
The FAA did a study some years back and found that most pilots killed themselves (and everyone else on board) within forty seconds of entering an unusual attitude if they didn’t get the aircraft level. Do that properly and you've solved your immediate airspeed, altitude, descent rate and bank angle problems and you can work out the rest in (relative) safety.
So, one of the things I teach *all* the guys who come up here from Taji is How To Survive the First Forty Seconds -- because if they can level the aircraft and get their airspeed under control within that time, they’ll probably live through the rest of the flight, even though it’ll still be pretty -- ummmmm -- exciting. The main problem they have to overcome is overcontrolling -- making the initial correction too large and then overcompensating for it. Then overcompensating for the overcompensation, then overcompensating for the -- you get the idea.
I show them unusual attitudes and why they happen. I show them how to recover smoothly and *fast* without overcontrolling the aircraft.
I show them how to fly with three fingertips, not their entire hands.
How well do the *really* inexperienced guys absorb that? Watch.
No, that's *still* not my normal, conversational voice...
When Mike Monaghan taught me to land the bird in my Aerial Observer days ("I'm not dying of a heart attack just because you can't land this bird!" was his justification) that looked at lot like one of my *better* days.
Except that Monaghan kept saying, "Bend the bird and I'm going to hit you, El-tee." in that same, quiet voice Bill uses... with the overlay of violence promised.
Venting in the cockpit may feel good, but it's counterproductive -- the guy's already jittery and hollering just compounds the problem. Throw in the fact that English may be his *third* language and you might as well be talking to the instrument panel.
I use the same phrases and cadences that the Iraqis use -- and *you* wouldn't understand me saying, "Khe-fek, sh'weh-sh'weh-sh'weh." Makes it interesting when the Gazelle guys start answering me in French...
I remember discussing the finer points of the M-21D sniper system (a long time ago, I know...!) to some troops in a jungle environment who answered me in French instead of their native language. Turns out their last "go-to-guy" had a French passport and legion experience, but had been born in an eastern European country. I wonder where the French Foreign Legion hasn't been...?
by Alan Briley, RN on June 8, 2008 12:12 PM
Recognize.
Confirm.
Recover.
Rinse.
Repeat.
Works for me in all types of aircraft, as I'm sure you've told them about 1.2 million times.
As for calm voices in a crisis, listen to the old Edwards AFB test pilot tapes.
"OK. Starting the departure procedure..." (At about 35,000 feet)
"OK. I'm now in a flat spin." "Fairly violent." "Would be disorienting to most." (helmet camera doesn't quite capture the pilot's head bouncing off the canopy but it is, heh)
"Beginning the recovery procedure." (Pause)
"Well, that didn't work." (Passing thru 25,000)
"I'll try this." (Pause)
"Well, that didn't work." (passing thru 20,000)
"Lemme try this." (Pause)
"Well, that didn't work." (passing thru 15,000, sink rate exceeds instrumentation capabilities; only telemetry and ground video capable of following the stalled jet's downward trajectory)
"OK, guess I'll have to step over the side on this one." (Pause)
Mission Control: "Good 'chute, roll the trucks." Jock touches down 1.5 seconds after full canopy deploys (that's what a good sink rate will do and is why the minimum ejection altitude for uncontrolled egress is 10K AGL). It's faster than an autorotation scenario but they both have their own kinds of pucker factors.
I'll tell you what's challenging (for me anyway, and I have thousands of hours of jet time)--transitioning to VMC in the last few seconds of a no-shite CAT I ILS. As the F/O, I fly it down to mins then transition to a visual flare/land. The MD-11 is so big that you enter ground effect at about 200' AGL. This is the same altitude that you pop out of the clag on a CAT I. So, you re-cage your brain and eyeballs to visual conditions, outside the cockpit, while consciously having to prevent the descent rate from slowing due to ground effect while the ILS tolerances go to just a few feet up/down/left/right. The scan is inside-outside-inside-outside until you are truly clear of clouds (~100') while pushing forward on the stick (collective to you, Bill) over the overrun to fight the ballooning in ground effect (counterintuitive). But fun!
...while pushing forward on the stick (collective to you, Bill)
Nope, that's "cyclic" to me.
If I push forward on the collective, all I'll do is overspeed the governor, slew the searchlight, activate the wirecutter for the TOW or turn the landing light on.
Depends on what I'm strapped into at the time.
Shooting an ILS in a helicopter is the *legal* way to bust minimums (by about fifty feet, depending on your descent rate. A little aerodynamic phenomenon known as "dishout" -- which got me on the ground at BWI when the *birds* were walking...
"Trenton Tower, Guard 347, emergency. I've got a Number One hydraulics failure, negative directional control, requesting duty runway for a running landing."
"Roger, 347, you've got 34, full length. CFR is rolling -- do you want foam on the runway?"
"347, negative, sir -- Ops wants to videotape it to see if the sparks show through the smoke cloud when we touch down. Evidently, it was pretty spectacular the last time..."
In Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff, he noted that the test pilots at Edwards would all mimic Chuck Yeager's laconic summaries of the emergency and slow, southern drawl.
No matter what the problem, even if they were from Haavahd, Mass or Noo Fu**in' Yawk, they still made an attempt to sound like--and fly like--the Great One.
"347, negative, sir -- Ops wants to videotape it to see if the sparks show through the smoke cloud when we touch down. Evidently, it was pretty spectacular the last time..."
Only for the first hundred feet. The smoke got too thick.
Leger -- I'm *behind* the sim. It's visual-only, but I can reproduce anything weather-related (they all want to "fly" in snow), including a pretty good Force Nine turbulence illusion. Give me ten seconds and I can have them at the middle marker on an ILS into Baghdad in a sandstorm with 30-knot winds, 500 meter visibility and a stuck tail rotor. Which I haven't done yet, because nobody's at that level of proficiency, and probably won't be until they get at least two more sim sessions under their belts.
Hey, Bill, I just got done re-rereading Richard C. Kirkland's "War Pilot" and was wondering if you were any relation to the 2LT Bill Tuttle mentioned therein. That Tuttle was Kirkland's co-pilot on a record-breaking cross-country flight in a Sikorsky H-19 in December 1955.
I know you can't be that old, but hey, it could be your Dad or a favorite uncle whose footsteps you followed.
Ummmm, didn't the Polish aeromedical pioneer Dr. Bairanay (sp?) invent a fancy 3-dimensional swivel chair just so the mind-warping sensation of these unusual attitudes could be practiced safely, with no danger more severe than one's own puke on one's uniform?
Maybe we should get back to that simple device. You could buy a personal chair for every pilot in the military for what we spend on one 3-D simulator.
This message has been sent to remind you the prescribed time to re-verify contractor (william tuttle) has arrived. Please complete the verification process as prescribed.
For the Contractor [IOW, * me *] -- there is NO ACTION required on your part [their emphasis -- remember that] unless you are aware that your TA above has changed. If your TA has changed, please ensure they get a copy of this message.
Questions may be sent via email to: [pentagonal addy redacted]
CVS [my note: Contractor Verification System -- I think. Vivisection, maybe?] TA [my note: Trusted Authority, gutter-mind!] Web Site [redacted]
Now, the only time I knew the outfit I work for had a TA (the Sergeant Located At A Fort Somewhere who processes contractor Common Access Card applications) was when I got a hotlink in an e-gram that said, "Go here and fill this out." For those who aren't familiar with the Common Access Card -- hereinafter referred to as a CAC (pronounced like a cat horking a hairball) -- it's the "Hall Pass" that tells Big Brother you are Who You Are, that you are allowed to be Where You Are and you have permission to be Doing What You're Doing.
No CAC, no entry to anywhere the military is. As in, *any*where. Especially *here*...
Okay, so the head's-up e-gram from the TA site said I didn't have to do a thing unless I *knew* my TA had been replaced. Seemed a bit odd to me, since I didn't know I still *had* a TA and I figured the TA Main Office would have a better handle on their TAs' whereabouts than I would. Finally, the only way I'd know that the TA-I-didn't-know-I-had *had* been replaced would be if I'd gotten an e-mail from either her or her replacement announcing the momentous event.
But I'm only a dumb contractor. Whaddoo I know.
Subject: Last Notice Action Required - CAC Reverification Warning
From: [pentagonal addy redacted]
Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 6:00
To: [my dot-mil addy redacted], [somebody else’s dot-mil addy redacted]
This message has been sent to remind you the prescribed time to re-verify contractor (william tuttle) has arrived and that that action needs immediate attention. Please complete the verification process as prescribed. The time allotted for you to complete the verification will expire on 5/30/08 12:00 AM at which time the contractors Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting Service record will be terminated. [my note: Okay, *that* got my attention. I'm a retiree -- *all* my records are DEERS-based.]
For the Contractor--there is NO ACTION required on your part unless you are aware that your TA above has changed. If your TA has changed, please ensure they get a copy of this message. [my note: Hey, TA-guys -- TA-bilong-TA-Main hasn't answered two sternly-worded TA Main e-mails and you're asking *me* to send her a note?]
Questions may be sent via email to: [pentagonal addy redacted]
CVS TA Web Site [redacted]
"Questions may be sent via email"
Okay, so TA Main is snarling at their TA, but *I'm* the one gonna be bitten, so I think it's time for some action on my part, despite the *Contractor -- TAKE NO ACTION* directive in both preceding e-grams.
Subject: Re: Last Notice Action Required - CAC Reverification Warning
From: [my dot-mil addy redacted]
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 5:25
To: [pentagonal addy redacted]
To Whom, etc.;
Reference the text in the forwarded message and your kind offer should I have questions -- yes, I have some questions:
1. I am presently deployed to Iraq and internet connection is spotty at times. I haven’t had contact with my TA except through a hot link directly to my CAC application (November 2007) for this contract – how do I find out if my TA has changed, if not by e-mail?
2. My CAC is valid until 30 November 2008. Is there a six-month review of contractor status?
3. If my TA [my note: Remember -- at this point, neither TA Main nor I have the *slightest idea* of the status of "my" TA] fails to act before the deadline, what information will be "terminated" from my DEERS file?
V/r,
Bill Tuttle
Chirp. Chirp.
"Questions may be sent" evidently does not mean "questions will be answered."
See attachment. Is [military rank and name redacted] still our TA? If so, she needs to act ASAP -- if not, the new TA will need to act ASAP.
Thanks,
Bill
Subject: CAC RenewalFrom: [my PM's work addy redacted]
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 13:32
To: [my work addy redacted], [‘nother contractor’s work addy redacted], [stella ‘nother contractor’s work addy redacted]
Guys,
Here are your three renewals, need to complete ASAP; log on at CVS TA Web Site [redacted]
[UserIDs and PWs redacted]
This should take of your CAC issue.
Stay cool (ha!)
[PM's name redacted]
Subject: Re: CAC Renewal
From: [my work addy redacted]
Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 3:44
To: [my PM's work addy redacted]
Done! Thanks!
So, I got the renewal done (odd, since the card I *have* doesn't expire for another six months) under the wire, despite *not* having to have taken any action (I didn't find out our previous TA got transferred a few months ago until I filled out the app, which I wouldn't have been able to do unless I'd -- eh. Never mind) and there is now Great Joy In Mudville, right?
Subject: Contractor Reverification CAC Expiration
From: [pentagonal addy redacted]
Date: Saturday, May 31, 2008 4:12
To: [my dot-mil addy redacted], [dot-mil addy of former TA who’s been in some other job for three months redacted]
Cc: [dot-mil addy of former TA who’s been in some other job for three months redacted]
Dear [name of former TA who’s been in some other job for three months redacted],
The time allotted to verify contractor william tuttle has expired. As a result, that account has been revoked and the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System has been updated to reflect the change.
Questions may be sent via email to: [pentagonal addy redacted]
Yeah, I've got a question: "Does CVS TA determine a contractor's status by actually examining said contractor's completed application or by waiting to see if someone who may -- or may not -- be a TA replies to an e-mail?"
I'm *really* tempted to send [pentagonal addy redacted] to the largest internet café in Lagos, Nigeria, with a "Spam Me" sign stuck to its back.
[snarky comment about bad Pentagon management and why it is so easy to bilk such a farked up system of $millions self-edited to preserve said contractor's illusion of fine upstanding citizen ;) ]
To err is human, but to get a really good farkup, you need a computer.
Now have the human enter a set of idiotic parameters into the computer and add an approaching holiday weekend. I'm still amazed the Pentagon doesn't implode every Friday due to the sudden outrush of warm bodies...
Heh. I'm going through something similar, under much more comfortable circumstances. So, at least, Bill, they're treating the stateside contractor scum as well as they're treating the deployed contractor scum.
Kat - you have to be careful where in the bilking process you want to be.
In this case, the POE is selling the Pentagon a new computer system, with software and offshore support, that you are actually running on dial-up from the Apple IIe in the garage on your Cayman Island estate (so of course you don't have to pay those icky taxes).
Fear not Bill. The Army has been FUBARED for 200 plus years, but they eventually get it right. I just Hope you don't end up being extended for a couple of years, since you obviously aren't there at present and have a valid contract to fulfill.
by V29 on June 4, 2008 8:31 AM
You know there's a monty python skit in there somewhere.
"The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."
1 Bill doing Stuff That Matters.
10,000 office staff struggling mightily to ensure all incoming paperwork is churned until it falls in the shredder by accident. Or in this case making paperwork up it seems. Only occasionally someone makes a mistake during handballing and actually has to make Something(tm) happen.
1 Carborundum shaking his head.
Typical. Tuttle is inconvenienced and it has to be *my* fault. I can't take credit for this one -- and strangely, the "other side" also denies involvement. Something about too evil even for them ...
by Carborundum on June 4, 2008 9:54 AM
Something about too evil even for them ...
...and it involves a computer program.
Bill Gates, your fiendish plot will *not* succeed.
Unless it was just designed to p*ss me right the f*ck off annoy me -- in which case, it was a success...
[my note: Gates has evidently been messing with the strikethrough function, as well]
"The time allotted for you to complete the verification will expire on 5/30/08 12:00 AM..."
I don't suppose it matters, but there is NO SUCH TIME as 12:00 AM.
I think they probably mean 12:00 Noon,, which, by definition can be neither before, nor after itself. There is a longer explanation, but what it boils down to is that Noon is Noon. The Meridian. Sun neither going up, nor coming down. Noon.
by there on June 4, 2008 12:03 PM
If your TA has changed, please ensure they get a copy of this message.
There's the problem. The Pentagon has outsourced its security staffing to the ChiComs...
The time allotted to verify contractor william tuttle has expired. As a result, that account has been revoked and the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System has been updated to reflect the change.
WE can verify "contractor william tuttle". (obviously capital letters cost extra...) Does that help?
Or does this mean that Bill ceases to exist? Hmmm...does that mean he can come home now?
And Bill ~ 'tis always better to be pissed off than pissed on.
This happened to me, too. I got the renewal notice, did nothing, and then got word the next day that my CAC had been revoked. Turns out the lady at JCC had read her copy of the email as, "You need to renew this CAC if he will be staying past his contract's end, otherwise, revoke it NOW!" So she did.
I spent a week expecting to be arrested for being on a military installation without a valid ID, but it never happened. Eventually I was re-authorized, sort of: she sent me a letter to carry in addition to my orders, explaining her mistake. The CAC was still invalid, but at least I had a letter explaining that this was perfectly OK.
by Grim on June 4, 2008 4:43 PM
heh. Sounds like situation normal at the fortune one oil company where I contract. This happens EVERY FARKING YEAR. Only now I know to jump on it as soon as I get the automatic access expiring notice comes in the corporate email. And some buildings...and even some rooms in some buildings have their own seemingly random access expiration times, never revealed, but only experienced when you don't access door "x" within "y" number of days. I gave up and since I can work from home I rarely go into said building(s) anymore... BUT, I still get the access expiring notice every year, which I diligently pursue to ensure I continue at least to have network/systems access, whether I can ever get into a building or not. Thank Al Gore for the internet! (and CISCO for VPN capability)
by JoeC on June 4, 2008 5:19 PM
John... ;~P
Ditto to you to whirly-bird man. And, for the record, my mother was the one who taught me that line.
And anything I could have come up with that was more original would have set off the NC-17 filter. Touchy thing that it is.
I spent a week expecting to be arrested for being on a military installation without a valid ID...
No worries on that part -- my mil-retiree ID will get me into the PX if the DFAC shuts me out. Although I'm wondering how long it'll take to get used to eating boiled thongs...
Every so often, something kicks me in the memory in a *good* way -- usually, it's the sight of a desert cammy patch or an in-print reference to a current unit with a callsign originating in My War.
Outlaw. Tiger. Blue Max. Ghostrider. Warrior.
'Way-cool callsigns. Neat patches with vampiric skulls or heraldic beasties designed to instill combat fervor in the heart of the wearer and great trepidation in the heart of the foe.
Now, the 162d didn't have 'way-cool callsigns, and our patches were stark, but to the point. "This is who we are. Period" Of course, Gunnies will be Gunnies, so Third Platoon insisted on a bit of flair for their patch (remind me to tell you some time about the REMF who found their motto *offensive* -- heh).
We didn't have the trappings, but we did have a reputation among Those Who Knew. One day I asked a doorgunner about his CIB and he told me, "When I was in the Ninth, we never worried when the Vultures were supporting us. Whenever we needed you, you came for us, no matter what. When I re-upped, I did it just so I could come *here* to be a gunner, because I wanted to be a part of that."
We came. Sometimes, when the party got lively, we even stayed to help clean up.
Heh. I got my wallet paddy-soaked more than once, too...
Evidently, our rep stuck, because out there in today's Friendly Deployed-A-Lot Skies, along with the Outlaws, Tigers, Ghostriders and Warriors, there are Vultures.
But us Old Vultures have to be content with being museum relics.
Oh, yeah -- that museum just happens to be the National Air and Space Museum. If you're in DC and you have occasion to tour the Vietnam display, look in the left crew well of the UH-1H.
If you give Bob Shine enough notice (and say nice things about Vultures), he might even ask his cousin Carol to be your tour guide. But be polite -- she's got about fifty Big Brothers, and most of us are *armed*...
Sometimes though, our old callsigns of the 60's had to be discarded due toPolitical Correctness.
Thanks for the post.......clear right.......
by R Jewell on May 22, 2008 9:16 AM
Kat,
If you clicked on my "keg of beer" pic above, there's several of us who did the Ripcord thing as well with The Phoenix, most notably Ken Mayberry, one of the pilots Marshall quotes. Ken is the one in the wheelchair.
Black Widows....We're in the process this spring of doing a cosmetic restoration back to her VN get-up of a Black Widow UH-1 68-16504......She's a Ripcord survivor as well, and is on static display in Fairmount, In.
That's the name of the ongoing combined push against al-Q in Mosul. The Iraqi troops stepped up their OPTEMPO against the terrs and they responded in typical fashion -- they lifted another page from the VC Playbook.
Baghdad/Mosul, 15 May 2008 (Gulf News)
Spokesmen for both the US and Iraqi military have confirmed that a girl strapped with explosives was the cause of a blast that killed an Iraqi captain and injured four soldiers south of Baghdad. Iraqi Army Lt Ahmad Ali said the explosives were detonated yesterday as the girl approached the Iraqi commander in Youssifiyah.
Ali said from the scene that "the bomb was detonated by remote control, killing Capt Wassem Al Maamouri and injuring four soldiers."
He said authorities imposed a curfew and American troops are searching for those responsible.
The girl was eight years old.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki ordered a new assault on Al Qaida in the main northern city of Mosul yesterday, the jihadists' last urban bastion in Iraq according to US commanders.
Al Maliki travelled to Mosul with top aides to take command of the US-backed drive against Al Qaida in the province, defence ministry spokesman Maj Gen Abdul Kareem Khalaf said.
"Operation Umm Al Rabiain (Mother of Two Springs) has just started against those threatening the civilian population and attacking Iraqi forces in Mosul," defence ministry spokesman Khalaf told AFP.
"This operation is targeting terrorists and criminals," he said, alluding to Al Qaida, which has been accused of a string of major attacks across Nineveh province of which Mosul is the capital.
Maliki is Boots On The Ground up here -- he just lifted the curfew that's been in effect for the past few weeks. *That* tells me
a. the commanders know where the nests are and
b. they're confident they've got a good handle on terr exfiltration into the civilian population.
On the more rational part of my brain still functioning, I note that is 3ID's AO. This press release sounds like the same incident, without the details. I have an email out to my PAO contact to see if she will confirm.
And we thought driving a VBIED into a crowd of children was evil... I truly never even imagined this kind of thing was a possibility, even though I'd heard reports of children's bodies being packed with explosives and set out as decoys for American Marines.
From the description, I'd say it was the same one, FuzzBee -- each report (your link and the GP story) cited the same area and the same number of casualties.
This was in our area and I am attaching the release. We didn't really publicize a reaction to the event but just came out with the facts as we knew them. We did have some updates to the original release and that was five of the wounded IA soldiers were evacuated to the US military hospital in the International Zone and two were returned to duty. The girl was also reported to be between 16-18 years old.
The visual-only sim can be a stomach-churner, but a couple of the IqAF Fling-Wing pilots who have come up here from Taji are pretty tough – the only thing that gets to them is my coffee.
Hussayn was recovering from a cup of my extra-strength double espresso with a bottle of tamarind soda (if you’re curious, take a can of Doctah Peppah and add a couple of ounces of OJ, then sip, cautiously). He gave me a bit of perspective on what it’s like to have Crusader Myrmidons roaming your neighborhood.
“After Baghdad falls to the US, I am cashiered out of the Air Force and take a job in one of the markets in my neighborhood. One night, some of my friends are visiting, and we have a barbecue and are watching videos of cowboy movies. There is a knock on my door. I open it and there is a US patrol. They ask if they can enter my house and I say, 'Sure, come in.' I offer them some barbecue, because we see them on patrol; we recognize them and know how long they are out before they return to base. They say, 'No, thank you. We have eaten recently.'
"Then they ask if I have weapons. One of my friends says to me in Arabic, 'Tell them "No" because they will take your guns and you will be defenseless.' I tell him in Arabic, 'I will not lie to them or they will not trust us.'
"So I say, 'Yes, I have a submachinegun, an AK and a pistol.' The patrol leader says, 'Bring them, please. We need to see them.' So, I bring them out. The patrol leader examines them, the submachinegun, the AK and the pistol. He tells me, 'The lubricant you have been using is bad quality.' But I know he is really checking to see if they have been fired recently.
"Two of his men strip the weapons, clean them, give me new lubricant, show me how to use new lubricant, re-assemble the weapons and return them to me. They say, 'We must leave now – thank you for allowing us into your home.'
"They return every night, the same patrol, and ask if my family is well. I offer them food, tea, they say, 'Thank you,' and sometimes they stay for a bite to eat, or a cup of tea. I see them in the marketplace, we say 'Hello, how are you?' and ask about their families, too. They are friends with all the neighborhood.
"One day, everything changes. The patrols are all in Humvees and they travel fast. The soldiers all look at us with suspicion from the Humvees and we do not understand why. Then I hear of Wahabi in the neighborhood, but I do not report them to the patrols – I cannot, the Humvees travel fast and no one comes to my house any more. More and more, we hear shooting down the street, and one morning a bomb destroys the market where I work. I could get another job in another market, but that market might also be destroyed by a bomb. Only a few Wahabi are where I live, but there is no one to tell – no patrols, no police.
"So I come back to the Air Force. I come back because I want to get the Wahabi out of my neighborhood, get them out of Iraq.
"One month ago, the patrols are back, and they are walking, not in Humvees. Different soldiers from the soldiers in the first patrols, but behaving like them – very courteous, very watchful.
"When the patrol knocks on my door, I say, 'Please come in – I would like some lubricant for my pistol.' The patrol leader looks at me with a funny look, then he smiles, then they all come in and drink tea and I draw a map of where the Wahabi are..."
This illustrates why community policing works, why the Green Beanie, "win their hearts and minds..." works, and why you need SPECIAL TRAINING!!! for this type work. I was a sniper. I DID NOT DO THIS BECAUSE I WAS NOT TRAINED FOR IT! (Hint, hint, Pentagon.)Talking about accurate, up to date intel, the people who trust you will help you. God bless this man and the American troops who treated him with respect. I have seen Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, and some Israelis act this way, but no other troops.
Watch your six, CW4BillT. My wife and I keep you in our prayers. (We also remember the rest of the Castle family! ;))
Alan Briley, RN
by Alan Briley, RN on May 14, 2008 7:51 AM
Six is covered, Alan -- my thanks to you and your wife (and everybody else who has been assaulting heaven -- Those Who Know, Know).
Prayers are coffee-equivalent to the squad of Guardian Angels trying to keep me intact for the duration...
That story brought tears to my eyes--sorrow for the mistakes that were made, joy/pride for the way it's being done right now, and awe for the courage of Hussayn and his countrymen.
I passed on this story which everyone I know hopes is true the writing team of the new Stability Operations Manual and I hope the 'long handshake' makes it in.
You will never have a perfectly surviveable system. And you cannot turn Humvees into tanks. You will bankrupt the country.
No one ever gave a tip to me when I was buttoned up. I never had an interaction with an Iraqi in an armored Humvee with the doors closed and the windows up. (We didn't have grenade screens in those days. Heck, most of my Humvees had CANVAS doors, if they had doors at all.!)
Part of the solution is going to lie not in making our vehicles invincible. You CAN'T make it invincible to a triple stacked anti-tank mine.
So don't even try.
Rather, the real solution to defeating this measure is not going to lie with the vehicles at all, but outside them.
Dismount.
Get into the communities. Leverage Iraqi contacts.
Yes, we're doing that already, as much as we can. But these knuckledragging trogs in Congress are focusing on the wrong things. And the ignorant press is dragging us along with them, and damaging the war effort, by pulling us into a defensive mentality.
The insurgency will not be defeated by putting an extra armor on our vehicles. The insurgency will be defeated by dismounts. Dismounts out there engaging with the Iraqi people and collecting real-time intelligence.
And THAT is the effort the Media should focus on. THAT is the effort that Congress should focus on.
Where is all the heat forcing colonels to jump through their asses to develop HUMINT? There isn't much. All anyone wants to hear about is armor this, and armor that.
Fuck the armor. Get out and clobber the enemy, and let HIS sorry ass wish he had more armor.
Get back on offense. Close with and destroy the enemy.
Thanks for making the point so directly and vividly. Your should be a must read for every counterinsurgent warrior.
Good Story, Thanks. Back in the states we know all Iraqis are not Terrorist, but we also know Congress and the Democrats are your worst enemies.
And, don't worry, I can't stand McCain because of his Global Warming BS and his Pro-Amnesty Policies, but I'll pull the lever for him in November and thats only because he supports the War.
So, Good Luck, God Bless, wear your seatbelts, don't run with scissors and come home safe.
by Ratt on May 14, 2008 10:21 AM
Always thought up-armored Humvees were a wrong solution to the wrong problem; neither fish nor fowl, not good at doing anything well.
Bet the second patrol leader never forgets that pistol lube/Wahabi swap!
by Brian H on May 14, 2008 10:26 AM
"That story brought tears to my eyes--sorrow for the mistakes that were made, joy/pride for the way it's being done right now..."
Sadly, humans learn as much from mistakes as from doing things right, primarily because you really don't know what right is until you can compare it to something thats obviously wrong. We are learning how to fight the war against terrorists and we'll win it if we can keep the left out of the White House. In the end we will win by gaining the trust of the innocent and becoming terrorists to the terrorists.
by willis on May 14, 2008 10:58 AM
Don't concentrate on the Humvees - it could be Strykers or Blackhawks for all that it matters - concentrate on the commander's mindset that put the soldiers in them instead of on foot.
Was this the same unit/commander who's troops had been visiting on foot or a new unit that just arrived and had a different attitude/belief in how to patrol?
If so, how to we pound into it at all levels of command that this is how it should be done, even through transitions?
See what I'm getting at here?
by SSG Jeff (USAR) on May 14, 2008 12:04 PM
"...the only thing that gets to them is my coffee."
If you'd stop using the dusty thong as a filter...
0>;~}
by DL Sly on May 14, 2008 12:28 PM
John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy and Marty Meehan used the death of PFC John D. Hart of Bedford, MA to plant in the minds of the mothers of America the notion that all soldiers are entitled to be bulletproof, that it is cruel and unusual punishment to be required to perform one's duty in an unarmored vehicle, and that US casualties in Iraq are not caused by the enemy but by incompetence, negligence and corruption on the part of the Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of Defense. This was part of the info war. Undermine the will, make casualties unacceptable, make force protection the primary mission, neuter the force.
Was this the same unit/commander who's troops had been visiting on foot or a new unit that just arrived and had a different attitude/belief in how to patrol?
It's been a couple of years between then and now, and Hussayn put the uniform on again over a year ago. He didn't mention specific units, but he knows divisional patches -- if the patrol had been "old friends" he'd have brought it up.
My guess is just that the new commander's savvy and so are his troops.
"...there's not enough material in a thong to filter a pound of coffee grounds..."
Well, I have heard that a thong is like a barbed wire fence, it protects the property without blocking the view.
0>;~}
And I'm guessing that you're using the standard formula -- 48 oz. of water:1 lb. coffee grounds. Wouldn't want to foul the caffeine particle accelerator and seepage system by removing any of the accumulated *flavor enhancing aging agents* off the sides of the pot.
by DL Sly on May 14, 2008 1:50 PM
And this thread is just impressing the helk out of the visitors...
Sigh.
Ah well, as I said in response to Chris: we're a whatever-we-collectively-feel-like-being-when-we-post blog.
The Iraqi airforce is building up again. My girlfriend is an air-traffic controller at an RAF airfield where some of them are being trained in elementary flying. The best way to get a country on side is to get an honest, uncorrupted military. The best way to do that is if we train them, in the West. Good luck to all those in the Iraqi armed forces!
by Richard on May 14, 2008 5:36 PM
Actually, John, it is impressing the 'helk' out of me. Not every interaction needs to be uber-serious, humour is a wondrous lubricant.
All the brave men and women who are out there defending us have my deepest respect. I cannot thank you enough.
BillT, boxers are comfortable, my boys don't like to be caged in too tight, they need room to breath. I've been called worse than square, I can take it.
by Jon on May 14, 2008 5:54 PM
We did the same type of policing in Karbala in 2003. Lots of foot patrols, knowing who's who in town, developing leads and trust and we had very little activity.
When the Active Army MP unit from the 101st came in to take over from us, they threw everything we did and told them into the trash, told off our guys, turtled up and then proceeded to get shot, rocketed and bombed.
by SGT Ted on May 14, 2008 6:05 PM
Wow. The behavior of the American troops is right out of Field Manual 3-24. They've obviously taken it to heart.
Reminds me of all those "elite" cavalry that considered fighting on foot an indignity. True warriors fought on horsies, after all. Course the English longbow kind of put the kibosh on that idea when the French tried to use shock cavalry rather than shock infantry.
Technology is always going to first give you the cavalry mount and then neuter it by giving ya a convenient way to take that mount out. We're just in one part of that cycle.
by Ymarsakar on May 14, 2008 11:40 PM
The best way to get a country on side is to get an honest, uncorrupted military.
Agreed, a hundred percent.
Among the latest group I trained was a pilot who wore US Master Army Aviator wings over his right breast pocket. I pointed to them and said, "I wore those same wings for twenty years. A gift from a friend?"
He said, "Yes, from my friend who flies Apaches. He went home to his family and gave me his wings as a gift."
I said, "That is a good gift for one friend to give another."
He said, "Yes. A very good gift." After a couple of seconds, he added, "I miss seeing my friend..."
You will never have a perfectly surviveable system. And you cannot turn Humvees into tanks. You will bankrupt the country.
No one ever gave a tip to me when I was buttoned up. I never had an interaction with an Iraqi in an armored Humvee with the doors closed and the windows up. (We didn't have grenade screens in those days. Heck, most of my Humvees had CANVAS doors, if they had doors at all.!)
Part of the solution is going to lie not in making our vehicles invincible. You CAN'T make it invincible to a triple stacked anti-tank mine.
So don't even try.
Rather, the real solution to defeating this measure is not going to lie with the vehicles at all, but outside them.
Dismount.
Get into the communities. Leverage Iraqi contacts.
Yes, we're doing that already, as much as we can. But these knuckledragging trogs in Congress are focusing on the wrong things. And the ignorant press is dragging us along with them, and damaging the war effort, by pulling us into a defensive mentality.
The insurgency will not be defeated by putting an extra armor on our vehicles. The insurgency will be defeated by dismounts. Dismounts out there engaging with the Iraqi people and collecting real-time intelligence.
And THAT is the effort the Media should focus on. THAT is the effort that Congress should focus on.
Where is all the heat forcing colonels to jump through their asses to develop HUMINT? There isn't much. All anyone wants to hear about is armor this, and armor that.
Fuck the armor. Get out and clobber the enemy, and let HIS sorry ass wish he had more armor.
Get back on offense. Close with and destroy the enemy.
Thanks for making the point so directly and vividly. Your should be a must read for every counterinsurgent warrior.
"Change of Unit" is no excuse, nor explanation either. Failure of command is the problem.
People say "We are learning" as though this were new stuff. It absolutely is not. The failure of big rich armies to recognise insurgents for what they are and use the time tested means to defeat them is so often repeated asto be easily predictable and a safe bet.
Sixty years ago, we WERE insurgents. Not to mention 235 years ago.
And we've successfully defeated insurgencies before, too.
Two trips around the circuit and two low passes in a pretty brisk crosswind (student's options for two of the three include touch-and-go or rejected landings, but he *must* land on the third pass). The pic below shows this particular kaydet's third approach.
He touched down a bit long, but he didn't balloon or bounce. I haven't OPSECed the pix yet, so you'll just have to take my word that he was wearing the world's biggest grin when he taxied past me on his way to the traditional mud-douse and fire-hose drenching.
Why all the excitement over one Iraqi student becoming the IqAF's newest pilot?
Because of what we promised if he soloed. We're gonna teach him to drive a car.
Heh I knew of an ex pilot air traffic controller of commercial flights, excellent at his job. But he drives a Volvo (cue Volvo jokes) like a blind man. Right over the top of roundabouts, turns from the wrong lane. Reverse at intersections, often hits the kerb and so on.
My theory is he treats roads like his open airspace.
I'm now working with my second group of IqAF helicopter pilots -- evidently, I didn't scare the first group that badly one single bit. These guys were evidently well-briefed before they came up here from Taji, because they opened the door to our office, looked around grinning and said, "Good morning!", made a beeline for yours truly and promptly introduced themselves. I saw two familiar squadron patches, so I've got a good idea who described me to them...
After the initial sim period (our sims are visual, non-motion, so there's a whale of a cognitive disconnect between what your eyes tell your brain and what the seat of your pants conveys), we were decompressing in the shade and started trading aviation background info. I thought you might like to know that there was one part of the Basra op that was planned *right* and went according to plan from Day One all the way through. I'll let Ali tell it -- it was his story, after all.
"So, on the first day, we knew the troops will be needing the ammunition, the food, the medicine for casualties. The C-130 [an IqAF Herky, BTW] lands and offloads the ammunition first. We put the ammunition into the Huey IIs and fly resupply. The Bad Guys shoot to drive us off, but we shoot back and continue into the area to land because the troops, our troops, need ammunition.
"More ammunition and food go on the Mi-17s because the packages are large and heavy, only ammunition goes on the Huey IIs. We all go, Huey IIs and Mi-17s. Again the Bad Guys shoot and try to drive us off, keep us from landing. Again, we shoot back and go in and land, we offload the ammunition and the food.
"Then we all go back to where the C-130 is, and we get more ammunition, more food, and fly it to the troops. The Bad Guys shoot, but not so much, because the troops are moving around in the city now, and we don't shoot because the Bad Guys are close to the troops, close to the people of the city and we land, again.
"My copilot says to me, 'This is not as bad as the Vietnam films on the TV, but now *I* will have a "Hey, No Sh*t" helicopter war story to tell!' "
So, are you going to be offering a TINS:Storytelling elective for this bunch of stoonts? Could be used if grounded by sandstorms, ya know. Covering
-scrubbing Identifying Information to protect the guilty
-proper utilization of the amusing side-anecdote
-dialogue and internal voice as a narrative aid
Wind's kicking up to 30mph, the next crew arrived early, the previous crew is stranded because of the storm, the PAR is overdue for calibration and tomorrow the generator goes offline for maintenance.
I'm now working with my second group of IqAF helicopter pilots -- evidently, I didn't scare the first group that badly one single bit. These guys were evidently well-briefed before they came up here from Taji, because they opened the door to our office, looked around grinning and said, "Good morning!", made a beeline for yours truly and promptly introduced themselves. I saw two familiar squadron patches, so I've got a good idea who described me to them...
After the initial sim period (our sims are visual, non-motion, so there's a whale of a cognitive disconnect between what your eyes tell your brain and what the seat of your pants conveys), we were decompressing in the shade and started trading aviation background info. I thought you might like to know that there was one part of the Basra op that was planned *right* and went according to plan from Day One all the way through. I'll let Ali tell it -- it was his story, after all.
"So, on the first day, we knew the troops will be needing the ammunition, the food, the medicine for casualties. The C-130 [an IqAF Herky, BTW] lands and offloads the ammunition first. We put the ammunition into the Huey IIs and fly resupply. The Bad Guys shoot to drive us off, but we shoot back and continue into the area to land because the troops, our troops, need ammunition.
"More ammunition and food go on the Mi-17s because the packages are large and heavy, only ammunition goes on the Huey IIs. We all go, Huey IIs and Mi-17s. Again the Bad Guys shoot and try to drive us off, keep us from landing. Again, we shoot back and go in and land, we offload the ammunition and the food.
"Then we all go back to where the C-130 is, and we get more ammunition, more food, and fly it to the troops. The Bad Guys shoot, but not so much, because the troops are moving around in the city now, and we don't shoot because the Bad Guys are close to the troops, close to the people of the city and we land, again.
"My copilot says to me, 'This is not as bad as the Vietnam films on the TV, but now *I* will have a "Hey, No Sh*t" helicopter war story to tell!' "
So, are you going to be offering a TINS:Storytelling elective for this bunch of stoonts? Could be used if grounded by sandstorms, ya know. Covering
-scrubbing Identifying Information to protect the guilty
-proper utilization of the amusing side-anecdote
-dialogue and internal voice as a narrative aid
