JACK ARMY

Two Weeks of Hell

A new show on Discovery Channel about Special Forces Assessment and Selection which I recorded the other night and am watching tonight...

sitting on my couch in my underwear...

eating ice cream...

getting old.

I attended SFAS in 1990, for those of you keeping score.  Award yourself two points if you recall whether or not I was selected to attend the SFQC.

U.S., Poland sign deal on stationing troops

Via the Army Times:

U.S. and Polish officials signed a deal Friday to regulate the stationing of American troops and military equipment in the eastern European country, paving the way for a U.S. military presence in the heart of the former Soviet bloc.

I'd certainly delay retirement for a year or two for the opportunity to be stationed in Poland!  What an exciting bit of news, to me anyway.

Reminder: during my few years as a team guy in the 10th SFG(A), I was taught to speak Polish.  Well enough towards the end of my time there to receive extra pay for my language proficiency.  I visited Poland three times and loved it each time.  I'd love to go back, though my Polish language skills are nearly nil these days.

Common Sense vs. Mass Punishment

It seems that displaying the flag of our ol' United States has gotten another patriotic soul in trouble:

Chester, Pa., firefighter James Krapf wants to know what's wrong with Old Glory. The 11-year veteran was suspended without pay Thursday after he refused to peel a sticker of the American flag from his locker.

"It's pride... it's a matter of pride," Krapf said.

A new department rule mandates that all stickers and statements - union, cartoon and political - be stripped from lockers after several offensive and racist images showed up in the firehouse. But Krapf figured the red, white and blue was safe.

It seems he was wrong. [source]

Got it.  Someone complained about someone else's insensitive Snoopy sticker or something, so instead of devising a policy with some common sense, we'll do the easy thing and punish everybody.  Something I've seen many, many times in my 21 years in the Army.  It's just too easy to do.  But then it sets up someone like this Chester, PA, firefighter up for failure, despite his good, normal, patriotic intentions. 

I mean, how hard would it be to write the policy, IN THE FIRST PLACE, to state that US, State, and approved firefighter flags, emblems, and logos can be displayed on the wall lockers.  Also, put something in there about any other stickers have to be approved by the station chief.  Poof!  No need for bureaucratic mass punishment and meddling with the simple act of putting a sticker on a wall locker.  

Now that I think about it, how come this isn't already a policy?  There should be some sort of blanket policy about displaying stuff in and around the fire station already, right?  If not, then, well, duh.  Fire station leaders, you need to pay attention to this stuff.  These little stickers aren't just a distraction or a pain in the butt if they provide motivation and purpose to your firefighters.  Seems like James Krapf gets something out of seeing that flag.  Maybe it reminds him that he's an American and the long, mostly boring hours punctuated by intense, life-threatening moments are worth it because he's dedicated to protecting the people that that flag sticker represent. 

Maybe it does all that.  I'm just guessing. 

Little things like that have provided me with motivation and purpose over the years.  When I was training up for the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course, I kept a SF Tab safety-pinned inside my patrol cap.  Certainly against Army Regs for the wear of the uniform... but the few leaders that saw it understood why it was there and knew that because it didn't show when the PC was worn properly that it wasn't a big deal. 

Except to me.

Kinda like James Krapf's flag sticker, I reckon.

Incentives to Train, Retain

This article at Defense Industry Daily reminded me of my one and only trip to Eglin AFB while a member of Special Forces.  It was a training mission to practice calling for fire from the simply awesome AC-130 Spectre gunships.  Here was the typical "day" while there:

0800 First call, do PT

09300 Clean up, breakfast

1100 Stand around and tell war stories and jokes

1200 Lunch

1400 Pack up weapons and gear in rental vans

1500 Drive out to range, sleep en route unless you are the driver

1700 Arrive at range, check NODs, Lasers and weapons, tell war stories and jokes

1900 AC-130 on station, practice "call for fire" and "adjust fire" missions

2300 Drive back to quarters, sleep en route unless you are the driver

2400 Hit midnight-chow at the dining facility

0100 Go to Destin, find a bar and drink, tell war stories and jokes

0500 Go back to barracks, get some sleep

Repeat

We did this for about 12 days with a few variations.  Sometimes we fired our personal weapons or maybe we incorporated some other team cross-training, but generally we followed the above schedule.  And we got some awesome training... and had an awesome time when we weren't training.  So, we were motivated to train more, to schedule and conduct more training missions and when the time came, to reenlist for more of this lifestyle.

Of course, this was before the current wars kicked off, but I imagine that the training missions are pretty similar despite the seriousness underlying that training.  Work hard, play hard, as the warrant officer on my team used to say.

So, investing in upgrades at Eglin, in my opinion, not only increase the skill and warfighting capability of the units using those facilities, but add to the motivation to train and desire to reenlist.  This is what some might call "second and third order effects."  Your thoughts?

3rd Special Forces Group Adding a Battalion

The 4th Battalion "will be presented" on Tuesday (the 18th or24th of August?).

Via Army Times:

    "The battalion will add at least 400 soldiers to the post in central North Carolina. Officials have said each of the five active groups in the Army Special Forces will gain a new battalion under the expansion plan."

One more battalion per Group, doesn't say if the Reserve Groups are getting any, but if it's just active duty, that's five more battalions and 2000 more Soldiers.  That's a lot. 

I wonder how recruiting and training for those extra 2000 Long Tabbers is going.