Hillah, Iraq.
Our Dr. Jones mission with snipers and boats was on for tonight, so we started planning. I got busy generating requests for air support. I actually submitted the requests yesterday, but these things generally must be tended, as the actual assets need a lot of information to make the air power magic happen. I knew trouble was brewing when I got a strange call last night from someone in the air assets center.
Air Center: “I have a question about your request for AC-130s.”
Me: “Send it.” [“send it” is the cool guy military way of saying “go ahead
with whatever you want to ask/tell me”]
“Is this a real request?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Is this a real request, or a phantom one?”
“Oh, it is real. Is there a problem?”
“No, I was just making sure.”
The US military has an amazing capacity and abundant resources for planning. We can plan stuff all day long, with contingency plans for courses of action many, many levels deep. This zeal for planning is only exceeded by the lack of obligation to follow any plan. I personally feel that this is a good thing. There is the adage about no plan surviving first contact intact, which is more true than not. You can plan meeting friends out for dinner to the last detail, and the initial plan never survives the afternoon. Having the capability to flex your plan and replan on the fly develops a wonderful adaptability.This morning I checked the current air requests, and I saw the request for gunships, but no helicopters. A few emails later, I suspected the helicopters were not going to be available. I told the captain, and we worked up another plan with no helicopters.
After noon, our intel guys informed us that the informant has again told us the bad guy is not going to be there tonight, but he did know of a pair of corrupt cops that were worth going after.
I opted to cancel our existing air requests, and resubmit new ones for this new mission. I also tried to work a deal with an Army unit for helos. With these air requests in mind, we planned up the new mission. The Army guys said they might be able to do it, but maybe not due to other operational considerations. The afternoon wore on as we also planned for a mission with no helos.I kept checking the AC-130 request, and finally got an email (CC’ing approximately half of the air officers in Iraq) from some Air Force major stating that as far as he was concerned, this air request did not exist because it didn’t come through the usual Multi-National Coalition Iraq (NMCI) channels.
I was really annoyed. I knew I had done this right. I did a lot of research quickly. I then Replied To All that if the major would care to check the very bottom of the email, he would see that I had submitted my request and supporting documentation to a specific NMCI email address. I submitted my request (numbered by the method specified in the NMCI Air Request Writing Guide, Section 25.E.7, amplified as well in the Baseline Special Instructions, Section G.4.b) to this particular address as directed by Section 6.3.2.2 of Publication XYZ. My original request also CC’ed the AC-130s guys, as noted on [link to SECRET URL] to the address noted on that same page, along with the worksheet (see attached) in the format specified in Memorandum DEF, Section A.35.1.e, including as many of the supplemental items found in Appendix B of the same document that I could provide at this time.
I then stated that if I had done something wrong, I was my sincere hope that I would receive guidance so that I could better perform my job in the future, because what I really wanted to do is support the warfighters on the ground.The only thing better than having the moral high ground is to take said high ground reluctantly, instead of wrapping yourself in the moral indignation and righteous fury that is undoubtedly your due. People hate being wrong, and being nice about it makes it that much worse.
Approximately eight minutes later, I got a very polite email from some Air Force captain stating that he was working very hard to get us approved, and would I please contact this captain@email.mil.The AC-130 assets have a long lead time, so I told our captain they were probably a no go because the asset allocation guys had waited to long to process my request.
Another flurry of planning.
To their credit, the AC-130 guys were very accommodating. They got on the phone quickly, and we tried hard to come up with what they needed. However, they really need more of a lead time to get the mission planned properly, and now it was really close to brief time. And, frankly, that particular asset is in high demand here, and the AC-130 guys have much more useful work than supporting us going after a couple of crooked cops. Still, I really appreciated their efforts.
So, an hour before the mission brief, we were out of luck on air. No problem. We picked that particular plan off the board for briefing.Twenty minutes before brief time, the El Salvadorans got some information that resulted in a new mission. We opted to split our assets in two, with one group going after crooked cops at midnight, and the other half going after the new bad guys at 0300. We planned furiously for that, and then started the briefing, adjusting many of the slides on the fly.
Halfway through the briefing, the El Salvadoran colonel came in to tell us that the new mission was cancelled, so we were back to our original plan.I brewed up a pot of coffee(Hemant, the Vanilla Hazelnut is excellent), and enjoyed it while I listened to The Gourds sing about Gin and Juice.FAC Pack, rifle, freshly washed Hadji head wrap, and a bottle of Gatorade. And new gloves from my dad, which are awesome. I get the cool SAW again tonight. Marshal up, and sip coffee while watching the SWAT raid the Poles’ water supply, wishing there was a cup holder in the humvee. The stroke of midnight, and we are off.
Our mission was to arrest two crooked cops. The cops lived about three miles apart, so we opted to have two assault elements, one to an objective. We drove along the deserted roads (curfew is at 10PM), and the assault elements split when we turned onto a side road towards our objective.We passed a car with four Iraqi men sitting inside parked on the side of the road. Unburdened by the Fourth Amendment, we stopped to see what four Iraqi males were doing out after curfew. In Iraq, four dudes in a car is suspicious, more so when after hours. They claimed they were just driving to the driver’s cousin’s house, which was just fifty meters away.
“Why didn’t you just walk?”
“Um….”
They didn’t have any identification, which is also suspicious in Iraq these days. SWAT searched them, and one of the protested a bit, whereupon the SWAT guys threw him a beating that would have made Rodney King think kindly of the LAPD. The Special Forces guys stopped that quickly, as such behavior is one of the habits we are working hard to break.
We found our first objective, and the house was secured quickly. The crooked cop was arrested, but as we left, the owner of the house claimed that a pistol had been stolen. The SWAT guys started arguing with the homeowner, and squabbling amongst themselves. The pistol could not be found, so we finally left. The crooked cop also fingered another crooked cop right down the road, so we paid him a visit. He wasn’t home, but the argument about the pistol flared up again, so the SWAT lieutenant finally lined up all his men in the yard of the objective house, and made them start stripping off their gear. The pistol was found on a new member of the SWAT team.
We returned to the first objective so SWAT could return the pistol and apologize to the homeowner. The SWAT guys were seething about the embarrassment one of their own caused them as we met up with the other assault element (they also arrested their crooked cop), and we returned to camp.I sat in on the debrief of the SWAT guys, who are actually improving. However, the pistol theft was a big deal. The Special Forces praised the SWAT lieutenant for doing the right thing. The SWAT lieutenant replied that the new guy was going to be kicked off SWAT, and then added that the thief would be treated like a terrorist when they left Camp Charlie. “Um…we didn’t hear that.”
“It is by no means enough that an officer of the Navy should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor. He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the reward is only a word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though, at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well meant shortcoming from heedless or stupid blunder.” – John Paul Jones, Letters to the Naval Committee, 14 September 1775
Outside of flying, I have rarely been complimented on my paid work. As a result, I am keenly sensitive to praise. I believe people are quick to point out disappointment, but don’t remember to pass on their satisfaction. I try hard to recognize if not superlative work, then at the very least effort, particularly in those who are doing a job they clearly don’t enjoy. Debriefs generally cover a recap of the mission, then go into things that need improvement (Improves), and things that are working (Sustains), specifically new or old practices that were key to mission success. During the Sustains, the Captain singled me out for working hard to get air, even if the requests were ultimately denied. And I felt really good about spending all day trying. The Captain understands that a carrot and stick are far more effective than the stick alone.
Remember to thank the guy sweeping the floor or putting the new cover sheet on the TPS reports for doing a good job, even if he or she is not. Not only will you make someone’s day, chances are the job will be done even better tomorrow.We finally wrapped up at 0430 or so. The internet is generally speedy this time of night, so I decided to try out my Vonage phone. I had a wonderful conversation with My Beautiful Bride, and another with my folks. I called a couple more friends, but the camp was waking up and the internet connection slowed so that there was a twenty second delay in the connection. I will keep my Vonage, and it is good to know that I can make calls, even if I have to do so in the middle of the night.