New Wheels

Well, the 173rd Airborne Brigade has officially gone home. Well, most of them anyway.
These men have endured more in 15 months than most people will endure in a lifetime of watching Saving Private Ryan. To these men I say.
Job well done.. Airborne.
The 1st Infantry Division has arrived. With this unit comes many fresh new faces, and along with them, fresh ideas. Why is it that we always re-invent the wheel. Last time I checked, it worked pretty well round. While it is hard to get it that shape, after a million or so revolutions, it usually works as advertised. Then along comes someone who figures that they have to do one better. Out comes the block of stone, and the chisels.
Prime examples of this are as follows….

Roads. We name roads here. This aids in a lot of mission stuff, but mainly so that people know what road you are going to be on. Kinda like the road you live on. I am sure it has a name. It might not be a good name, but everyone in town knows where that road is, and if they don’t, well they can always Google it. Giving directions to your house is easy. You know all of the names of the roads, and after giving directions a few times, you find it easier and easier to do. The people in your neighborhood don’t need to know the names of the roads, they live there. “Go down to Mr. Johnsons house, and make a right. Follow that road to the 7-11 and make the 3rd left. I am the second blue house on the left, just before the bend in the road.” Simple enough. Imagine if every time you got a new mayor, he decided to change the name of the roads… How confusing would that be? New people arriving couldn’t be given the above directions. They would definitely need a map and TOM TOM..

FOB Names.. There are upwards of 20 different places where people live in my AO. They are called FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) They too, all have names. Usually associated with the village they are near, but occasionally, named after someone who gave their life in the area. This too is important for obvious reasons. Whilst flying around, I call these FOBs and ask them what is going on, and more importantly, if they are shooting artillery or mortars at the moment. This call allows everyone involved to remain situationally aware, and more to the point, alive. So… for 7 months, I have been calling these guys FOB Smith (name changed to protect the innocent and my career). All of a sudden, FOB Smith is FOB Ali. Worse yet, they refuse to answer to the old name after only one day. “FOB Smith…. FOB Smith… Hello??? Anyone there??? Uh…. FOB Ali?…. THIS IS FOB ALI, GO AHEAD. You have got to be kidding me.
Imagine your town council changing the name of your town.. How damned confusing would that be? You would have to tell everyone in your address book, and they would have to tell everyone… The only upside would be missing out on the junk mail. (there ain’t a lot of that here)

Frequencies.. We talk on secure radios to the guys on the roads and in the FOBs. We operate on FM frequencies that are preprogrammed into our radios. Well, imagine my surprise when the freq. I have used for 7 months is no longer good enough. There are roughly 270000 different frequencies I can pick from. (Oh, did I mention that somebody forgot to let EVERYONE else know that they were changing the channel?) Anyone who listens to the radio on their way to work has a favorite channel. Not so much for the number (107.9) but for the content. Imagine if you will, getting into your car, coffee steaming, ready for a full day at work. You go to listen to whatever it is on 107.9 and there is nothing… You could really care less what is playing on any other channel.. You really have to listen to 107.9.…. I think you get the point. ( I just wish the guys here would)

Common reference points… People have been fighting in this country forever. They are pretty good at it too (Ask Alexander the great, the British, the Russians and now me) They have had a lot of time and practice finding places to shoot from where they aren’t easily seen or shot back at. These places receive special names. Sometimes serious names.. Sometimes funny names, and sometimes down right good descriptive names. Imagine if you will, a mountain that looked like the profile of Richard Nixon. The bad guys invariably shoot from the Forehead, nose, or chin. Occasionally from behind the ears, but I digress. Anyway, it is just too easy to say “We are taking fire from Nixon’s Chin. After responding a few times, you know EXACTLY where the ground guys are talking about. This aids in locating the target, and thus reducing the number of bad guys that are shooting. Well, now Nixon has become an elephant and I’ll be damned if I can find a tusk anywhere on that mountain. It’s gonna be a long summer for some of these guys.

I guess I can understand the need to come in and make change. Everyone wants to make their mark, and be remembered for what they did, not for what the last guy did. But there is something to be said for consistency. Growing up, I lived with my grandparents in Lake Worth, Florida. I haven’t been back there is almost 20 years. However……

If you take I-95 to the 10th Ave N. Exit West. Cross Congress Ave, and continue past Palm Springs Elementary School. Continue west for 4 streets. RIO Lane, Gulf stream Road, Sierra Drive and then Sierra drive (it is a loop) make a left. If you hit Cumberland Farms store, you went too far. It is the first duplex on the left, just past the church. The Address is 3898 Sierra Drive, Lake Worth Florida, 33461. (305) 965-4216. Or as my Grandfather used to say. “One block east of Kirk road on 10th “ (gotta love simplicity)

I will be gone for a few weeks in August. I am going home on R&R to see my beautiful wife, and two boys. My wife, a professional journalist, assigned me a writing assignment recently. If you have seen the movie “The Bucket List” you know exactly what I am talking about. While I don’t plan on kicking the bucket anytime soon, I do plan to check a few items off of that list in the two weeks I am home. I recommend everyone make a “Bucket List” and enjoy life….

Till next time.