Twelve Years After

Twelve years ago, sitting in a classroom in Manhattan, my life changed along with the world.  A female voice behind me interrupted the Professor to announce:

“A Plane just hit the World Trade Center!”

The events of the day as I witnessed them are ingrained in my mind forever.  The view, on the TV in the lobby, of the towers burning, seen as I rushed by.  The gasps from fellow students frozen there as the South Tower collapsed.  Running south on Lexington Ave and finally getting a cab to stop.  Waving my military ID at the driver and insisting he had to take me to my Armory on 25 St. before he left Manhattan. Hearing that the Pentagon had been attacked as well, and beating my fists into my locker in frustration.

I got my first chance at a sense of purpose when my commander realized he had no maps.  It was 11 AM or so and there were still only a handful of us at the Armory.  I found myself running against the human tide forced to walk north out of Lower Manhattan as I headed to the nearest Barnes and Noble on Union Square.  A man looked at me running and said:

“Now I’m really scared!”

The bookstore was closed, but the Soldier banging on the glass got some attention, and the manager promptly handed over every local map they had. No money was exchanged.  I ran the half mile back, moving this time with the crowds.

 At the Armory soldiers were beginning to filter in.  We formed up multiple times under various leader’s instructions.  I remember an active duty Special Forces soldier, home in NY on leave showed up in his Green Beret, because it was all he could think to do.  At one point they called for all trained medics and combat lifesavers (me) to grab our aid bags.  We did.  Then we “stood by.”  Eventually we all realized that most of the survivors were already hospitalized, and the dead were beyond our help.

“Let’s give Blood!”

“We called the hospital and they have donors lined up."

Hurry up and wait.  Finally as night set in we got a mission.  We moved out in buses, headed downtown.  We waited at the City’s Command Post while our commander got our mission.  We posted in four man teams along Canal Street.  We took turns walking down the last mile or so to Ground Zero.  I had been to a war zone before, when I had deployed to Somalia.  Now a war zone had come to my home.

In the morning we went back to the Armory and tried to sleep.

Again the next day was long and frustrating as we once again stood by for instructions.  That night we got a new mission, one we were to keep for almost two weeks.  We deployed shortly before midnight.  This time we were posted as site security right on the ground zero perimeter.  It seems that the FDNY Chief, who was the official incident commander could not keep every Tom, Dick and Harry with a badge or a government ID form just wandering onto a living fire and working rescue/recovery site.

Our job was simple deny access to any and all.  Direct them to sign in at the FDNY tent before accessing the site.  Junior soldiers, unarmed turning away the FBI, CIA, State Police you name it.  The only argument we lost was with the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit, who were working the site trying to rescue or recover their own.

         

The memories blur over the next two weeks.  That second night it rained.

          

“God Hates Me!”  My CO muttered as the down pour began.

“No!” I rebutted “Allah hates you, God loves you.”

Later that night I turned to my closest mates and said:

“We’re going to spend more time than we thought in Uniform in the coming years!”

I remember writing a poem.  I remember going home one night and getting some real sleep.  I remember getting relieved from our midnight to noon shift and having to direct traffic for an hour.  I remember when Sean G, a fireman and one of our Squad Leaders, finally showed up, in his bunker gear, and the relief we all felt.  And Chris Engledrum, also FDNY dropped by to let us know he had made it.  Chris died, three years later, just North of Baghdad.

I remember the smiling young ladies passing out sandwiches, from the Salvation Army, from the Red Cross, from their own kitchens and their own hearts.  I saw NYC Public advocate and recently defeated mayoral candidate Mark Green at an Outback Steakhouse tent giving out food to 1^st   responders.

I remember Rudolph Guliani’s inspiring leadership.

I remember crying my eyes out at the funeral for Lt. Mike’s sister who died that day.

I remember the FEMA team from San Francisco, their recovery dogs were spent.  The handler told me fourteen days on the job was their limit after that they got to depressed.   I told her I understood.

I remember the Army Psychologist staring out a window, at Jersey City across the Hudson River and asking me what to do next.  I didn't have an answer for him.

I remember being cheered one day as we marched up Hudson St.

I remember how we all came together.

In twelve years much has changed in America.

Memorial Day Remarks 2013

The content below was delivered as a speech at the city of High Point, North Carolina's 10th Annual memorial day ceremony.  This year the ceremony was dedicated to a new plaque for the African American soldiers who died in defense of our nation during WWII.

Today is Memorial Day. An old tradition that as an official American holiday began to be first celebrated in 1868.  Begun so that communities could commemorate their OWN fallen, among the hundreds of thousands of young Americans who gave their lives during our bloodiest war. Over time those local memorial services at the end of May grew into a great national tradition.

After over a hundred years of community memorials, the US congress finally acted. In 1967 they federalized the holiday, and one year later it legislated the now familiar ‘last Monday in May’ calendar placement. By the early seventies, all US states recognized the federal holiday.

Somewhere on the order of one million American soldiers have died in the nearly two and a half centuries of our national history. These men and women, define diversity. African Americans whose contribution to the Great Struggle against Fascism abroad during WWII we especially honor today have actually served in all our wars.

Immigrants from all four corners of the globe have served and died in our armed forces. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard, have all sacrificed their members, Active, Reserve, National Guard and Militia. Christian, Jew, Atheist, Buddhist, and Muslim; Gay and Straight; Democrat, Republican, Whig and Socialist; liberal, conservative, moderate. There have been restrictions on military service over the years, but our war dead represent every part of our great national constituency.

Among those who have fallen recently are many that I called comrade, friend, or brother. Not blood brothers, but “Band of Brothers;” Chris, Segun, Kevin, Casey, Wil, Mark. are a few of the names that I can’t summon to mind without a lingering sadness. This is the burden of service in our current military. Wherever one’s politics lie, these men and four thousand other Americans who have recently made the ultimate sacrifice deserve our respect and a moment of our time. They deserve a day.

As memorial day weekend begins I think of these brothers. My heart always turns first to Specialist Segun Akintade. Before deployment to Iraq I had served as his team leader. A Nigerian immigrant, an American Citizen by choice and affirmation, his full name was an alphabet soup of Nigerian naming conventions. To those who served with us,  he was and always will be Obi Wan.

He chose America seeing a better life for himself and his family here. He was putting himself through college at NYCCT, in New York. He worked nights at Goldman Sachs in an administrative support position. And out of Pride in his New country and because it made financial sense Obi Wan joined the Army National Guard.

He clearly loved being a soldier. He was tall, athletic, focused. He spoke in a deep fierce voice so thick with accent sometimes he was hard to understand. Deploying to Iraq after witnessing the aftermath of September 11, Segun never quite understood the connection. But as a man who had lived in the developing world he had deep abiding compassion for the people of Iraq.

On October 28 In Mushada Iraq, Segun Akintade was riding in the Turret of his squads hummvee when Iraqi Insurgents detonated an IED. His wounds were devastating, as shrapnel passed under the back of his helmet.

Never the less, two of his battle buddies, both civilian first responders with far better lifesaving skills then most line medics, worked feverishly, though in vain, to save him.

I miss my friend. And every Memorial Day I am in contact with my mates from that deployment.

Today, even in recent conflict, our Army is smaller than it has been in a long time. As we wind down nearly a decade and a half conflict Memorial Day has lost part of its meaning for many Americans. Some thank me, as if today were Veterans Day. But it's not. It's not about those of us who have fought and come home. It's about those who never came back.

It does highlight a significant lingering effect of our all volunteer force. We are in some ways more divided from our society than in past conflicts. Fewer Americans today are Gold Star families. And in some ways that is a good thing. We are fighting with smaller smarter forces. We have soldiers surviving wounds that would have killed them in the past.

We must recognize and work to lessen this divide. These men and women whose bravery and sacrifice we recognize here today, their memories may belong only to their families and their mates, but their honor and their sacrifice belong to all Americans.

Veterans, this divide is not only on civilians, but on us. We need to allow Americans to reconnect to our history, our traditions and our national honor. This weekend when folks thank me for my service, I kindly remind them it's not about me, but our national sacrifice.

Pet Generals or Warriors?

Americans expect our Generals to be aggressive, especially in a time of war. We want wildcats not housecats, wolves and not lapdogs. Presidents and other civilian leaders tend to prefer politicians in uniform, they want pets not guard dogs.

Very few Generals (and some Admirals too) in American history have found a way of entering immediately into the collective consciousness in a way that leaves no doubt of their ferocity as warfighters. Men like Grant, Sherman, Patton, Halsey MacArthur, Swartzkopf, Petraeus, McChrystal.

Others have proven their combat competence with less flair and flamboyance, George Washington, Phil Sheridan, Omar Bradley, Dwight Eisenhower all winners, and eventually household names. These were leaders, the kind whose warriors would follow them into Hell itself.

There have always been Generals who succeed more as political animals, leading organizations, developing a sterling reputation, but never evolving that fighting persona. George C Marshall and Colin Powell for example, led the military, in time of war, without . Some Generals, like William Westmoreland are haunted by the perception of failure.

Many Americans misunderstand the role of the Joint Chiefs.  They are NOT combat leaders.  They are the policy and administrative commanders of their respective services.  They ensure that the men and women under them are trained and led, and prepared to fight. They also serve as the senior military policy board, and the second senior most National Security policy board (second to the National Security Council).  They are led by the Chief and Vice chief, and the Chief serves as the President's Senior military adviser.  They must however, by law allow the Combatant Commanders (like Centcom) fight our wars.

There policy and advisory role, however is important to our military and to our nations.  Today these chiefs are a mixed bag in terms of Combat Leadership. A few of them Like Martin Dempsey and Ray Odierno have served as Generals in Combat. Some like National Guard Bureau Chief, have never seen combat. They have all shown the talent it takes to gain promotion to their services senior ranks.

The last decade, plus, of strife and combat has produced some Genuine American Hero type Generals, men with a reputation for taking it to the enemy. Petraeus, and McChrystal, along with General John Allen were perceived as warfighters, but have all been troubled by scandal, not for the first time in our history. Marine General James Mattis, and Navy Seal Admiral Bill McRaven heading Centcom and USSOCOM respectively, seem today to be the only real wildcats left in the fight, and it's probably best that they have the two key combatant commands in our current conflict.

Our current Joint Chiefs are largely a collection of house cats or lapdogs. Even the Commandant of The Marines Corps, a job held in esteem by active duty and prior service Marines, as THE Guardian of America's warrior traditions, ethos, and standards, is currently an Aviator. Sure USMC Aviators, like all Marines are grunts first, but isn't there a subtle signal sent when the Marines' Commandant, and representative at the highest levels of government spent his career supporting rather than executing the USMC's core competence of Amphibious Infantry operations?

The Chief of Naval Operations is a Submariner. The Air Force Chief spent the better part of the post 9/11 era in bureaucratic jobs, at The CIA and at training units. When he returned to a warfighting command it was in Europe, not exactly the current hotspot of conflict. National Guard Bureau Chief, Frank Grass served as an Army Engineer, as both a National Guard Officer and a civilian in the Army Corps of Engineers. In spite of an operational tempo that has seen hundreds of thousands of National Guard Soldiers and Airmen deployed to combat General Grass has not served overseas in combat.

The JCS, Chairman Army General Martin Dempsey, may at first glance seem like more of a war dog. He commanded the 1^st Armored Division during a prolonged and heated 13 month deployment to Baghdad in 2003-2004 where his division fought and tactically defeated Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi's Army. After promotion to deputy commander at Centcom, he was allowed to act as Centcom commander when Admiral William Fallon retired from that role. However after only six months under Dempsey, command at Centcom went to Dave Petraeus, and Demspsey was hustled off to head the Army's Training and Doctrine Command. Not exactly an endorsement of his warfighting.

General Odierno the Army's chief of Staff is the one semi-exception.  A division commander in Iraq as well, he is known, in the Army as a hard charging military leader.  More of a Bradley than a Patton, he still holds the respect of his soldiers unlike his immediate predecessors, (including Dempsey who he seems to overshadow during joint public appearances).

Look, it takes an enormous amount of education, dedication, competence and other traits to make to even a one star position in the US Military, there is no doubt that all of our Joint Chiefs, like all the men and women they lead are capable and dedicated public servants, who deserve our respect. One does wonder though why during a time of war, maybe one of our military's top brass has a reputation for killer instinct.

The internal politics, within each service, between them, with the civilians at DOD and at the White House, that determine who is on the JCS are complicated, and hardly transparent. Two things, however are clear. It is certainly is politics that determines who is at that table, and who sits at its head. The politics begin start at those officers careers, in service academies, ROTC programs, and their earliest commands. The second thing: the politics for JCS end at the White House.

The Joint Chiefs serve at the pleasure of the President. They may be recommended by current leaders, and they need to be confirmed by the Senate, but they are nominated by the president. Thus in his role as Commander in Chief the POTUS chooses the men who act as Service Chiefs and as his senior military policy advisers. If we ask why the JCS seem more like lapdogs than war-dogs? The answer is simply that President Obama prefers lapdogs.

Debt, Deficits, and Defense Dollars, what about Strategy?

“Our strategy starts by recognizing that our strength and influence abroad begins with steps we take at home. We must grow our economy and reduce our deficit.”

“We must also build and integrate the capabilities that advance our interests and the interests we share with other countries and peoples. Our Armed Forces will always be a cornerstone of our security...”

These statements appear in the opening paragraphs to the National Security Strategy of the United States of 2010. They are in the introduction, signed by Barack Obama himself, they are echoed in language throughout the rest of that document. The National Security Strategy is a document that is periodically rewritten by the executive branch which outlines the major national security concerns of the United States and how the administration plans to deal with them. These sentences are underscored by additional, similar statements within the document. President Obama and his administration have made it their unequivocal and official position that deficit reduction and military preparedness are keys to America's security. 

 

You wouldn't know it from the administration's words and actions since then. From last year's Debt Ceiling Crisis, to the most recent Fiscal Cliff deal, the President has demonstrated a lack of commitment to deficit reduction, debt relief, or serious defense reform. Not that Congressional Republicans have performed much better. Their negotiations have resulted in a continuing series of “Punts” that have postponed any real discussions on these issues.

America's strength has for decades rested on two integrated pillars, our economy and our military. Economic strength and growth ensured that our military maintained technological and training advantages over diverse threats ranging from the old Soviet Union, to today's International Islamist movement. Our military meanwhile, secured free seas and open trade, and ensured that our economy could grow and remain strong.

Long term economic trends in America today are undermining these pillars. Continued deficit spending has swelled our national debt to sixteen trillion dollars. That's roughly one fifth of the Global Economy. Servicing our debt now costs us roughly 250 Billion dollars a year, an amount that will grow with deficit spending. Our defense budget gobbles up another 900 billion annually. But these two numbers still don't account for the 1.27 trillion in deficit spending. 

A serious, and truly “balanced approach needs to be implemented. Continuing to raise the debt ceiling will only increase our interest payments. Serious spending cuts need to be implemented, and yes there is surely some fat to be cut from defense. Cutting the entire DOD budget, and nothing else though, would still leave us 400 billion in the red annually. While we need to reform defense spending, by analyzing threats and focusing on core capabilities to defeat those threats, and by reforming the acquisition processes that have wasted defense dollars since the 1950s, we also need to reform our entire national budgetary process.

March 1, looms as the next cliffhanger date, by which time defense spending must be addressed, or automatic “sequestration” cuts will proceed. More likely, Congress will act, by punting again. We will postpone any real discussion. Meanwhile the President will continue to dodge on spending reform outside the Pentagon. His selection of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense hints at a preference for deep cuts to the Pentagon's budget. In Congress, Republicans having caved on the Fiscal Cliff, and seem set in the Senate to cave on Hagel's appointment.
So the “who” and the “how” stand as open questions regarding our National Security Strategy. 

President Obama, in contradiction to his own written strategy appears unwilling to reduce spending anywhere but the defense budget. This will undermine our economic strength, erode our military power and weaken our security in the world today. Who will ensure that we reduce our debt, reduce our deficit, ensure continued military advantage? More importantly perhaps: how can we achieve this in the face of leadership that ignores its own strategy?

Women in Combat?

 "The Infantry closes with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver in order to destroy or capture him or to repel his assault by fire, close combat, and counterattack."

Leon Panetta's decision to open more Combat roles to women is a potentially disastrous action. In seventeen years of service, in the USMC, and the Army's National Guard, I have held only two Military Occupational Specialties, Combat Engineer and Infantry. Both of these are designated as Combat Arms, roles that until this week had been closed to women. I have served in three combat zones including Somalia and year long tours in Iraq, and Afghanistan. Each time, there were women serving alongside, executing their missions with outstanding professionalism. So why, am I against this change?

In the summer of 2001, just weeks before the September 11 attacks, my Army National Guard Brigade completed a grueling rotation at the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk Louisiana. JRTC is where the Army evaluates Infantry units. JRTC rotations are highly realistic exercises which require soldiers to perform round the clock under simulated real world conditions. In 2001 we spent eleven days “In the Box!” participating in a simulated counter guerrilla campaign on a notional Atlantic Island nation. 

 
The night before our notional deployment, several soldiers were weighed with and without the equipment we would be carrying, the average load was 100-110 pounds. This included food, water, ammunition and helmet and equipment. It did not include the body armor that deployed soldiers wear today. We spent eleven days “humping” this load through the swamps and woods of central Louisiana in the summer heat and humidity. We walked an average of sixteen miles a day, and slept an average of four hours a night.

Each movement was a combat patrol. This required moving this 100 lb. load while maintaining awareness, holding one's weapon in a ready position. Some bodily functions were handled while on the move, more complicated ones during security halts with a battle buddy standing guard. There were no showers. It was more brutal then most of my real world deployment time. We were actually lucky, active duty units usually spend as many as 30 days in that scenario.

,

Most of the war in Iraq and much of it in Afghanistan followed a different template. Humvees, MRAPs, Strykers, and other vehicles tied troops to the road net. Females have been able to engage in active combat operations, and they have performed exceptionally. Women perform in multiple roles that work closely with combat troops. Medics, Intel specialists, Civil Affairs troops, Motor Vehicle operators all are routinely attached to or members of units that may end up in contact with the enemy. Women serve in the Military Police, where there is at times an overlap with the Infantry mission, in that MPs can and do, on occasion, directly assault enemy positions. At the end of the day each and every US Military Service member male or female, needs to be prepared to fight, when necessary.

Not every battle has been along a roadway however. In Afghanistan particularly our enemies have used mountainous terrain as their ally. When it comes to tackling al-Quaeda and Taliban forces in the mountains, our leaders rely on those Infantry soldiers, (Engineers, Scouts, Artillery Observers, and Special Forces as well) in those all male units that have been prepared to move hundred lb. loads up mountains that are two miles high. 

 
During Operation Anaconda in 2002, a combination of Special Forces and Infantry battled al-Quaeda on and around Takur Ghar an 11,000 foot giant near the Afghan-Pakistani border. All male Infantry battalions from the 101^st Air Assault and 10^th Mountain Divisions climbed their way into battle. When battles like this begin, commanders of all male units are able to send them up that mountain without females attached in support roles. If those units included women, they could not be pulled out of their squads and fire teams without degrading unit integrity and combat effectiveness.

“So what?” Ask the feminist advocates for women in the Combat Arms. “If women can meet the standard they should be allowed in. Right?” Not so fast. Selection for Infantry and other Combat Arms does require passing standard Army (or Marines) Physical Fitness Tests, and trainers for those MOS's hold recruits headed that way to high standards, but... The tests don't measure one's endurance “humping” that rucksack day in and day out. Only training and time in a unit can measure that. Statistically speaking men can, and generally do develop into stronger and faster load bearers than women. Those men who simply cannot cut it in these Combat Arms units are generally transferred into other specialties. 

 A very close friend, and overseas battle buddy confided in me. On active duty, in an Army Infantry Battalion, he had served in a Scout/Sniper Platoon. When he was injured and undergoing recovery from surgery his platoon sergeant hinted that he should use steroids to build back his muscle mass. “If you can't keep up, I can't use you!” While this is a reprehensible act, contrary to the Army Values, it does indicate the pressure to perform in those roles.

Dropping the occasional male from a Combat Arms billet, and re-classing him somewhere he can still serve, raises no political red flags. What happens when women begin to crash and burn out of these units? Will politicians who have never served in combat have the wisdom to leave it alone. Will Generals who rely on Congressional support have the integrity to uphold the standards? Not if recent history is any guide. Then, will our politically correct, equality focused military be capable of defending us? One can only hope.