I've been here for just under two months now. After two months it seems like nothing is really changing. Things go on the same schedule every day...which is not that bad because it makes things go by a little faster I think, but it also makes all the days kind of blend together. Your perception of time skews when you do the same thing every day with no weekends. The only thing that really helps me keep track of the days are the various meetings that are scheduled to mark the weeks that we plan off of. That's one of the reasons I'm so looking forward to going to take command. Not that I'll work any less than I do now, but it will be a change of pace. That's one of the reasons I enjoy being an officer in the Army for. Every year or so you get to change jobs or at least who your boss is. For now, I enjoy my boss and who I work with, but I've been working for the same boss now for almost a year and a half. That's long enough for me! I don't know how I would do in the civilian world if I had to have the same career or specialty for my whole life. Not that I'm knocking that, I just think I would get so bored. I see why people go through mid-life crisis...I wonder what the correlation to that is with their job satisfaction? Interesting study for someone like my sister-in-law.
On another totally random note- I got an email from an old friend from high school today who happens to be over here in Afghanistan as an F-15 pilot in the Air Force! Kind of neat considering he is a couple years younger than me. It seems like our school had a LOT of service members per capita...word to recruiters, go see Tully High school in Central New York! Kind of makes you feel like you're from a place with the right priorities. Found out my cousin (also named Joe Mroszczyk) is on a Human Terrain Team in Iraq right now too. With less than 1% of Americans serving their country, I feel blessed to know so many. Kind of makes me wonder what the rest of the country is doing? Oh well, motivate your friends and have them go see a recruiter! That's all for now, I'll rant some more later!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The leave problem-forgive my vent.
Leave is always a good thing right? I mean, who wouldn't want some time off? Why not take it when you can get it? Well, when you know that it's going to be the only time in one year that you get it, and that the rest of the time you'll be working 16-18 hour days in a combat zone with no breaks outside of meals and gym time, you make damn sure you get it at the most opportune time. That is, if the Army allows you to. Why wouldn't the Army let you take leave when it best suited you? Well, there are several competing reasons, and I'll lay down a few.
1. Only 10% of the unit can be on leave at any given time.
2. You get 18 days of leave, plus almost a week depending on travel time on either side. So essentially, you're not doing your job (so someone else is picking up the slack) for a whole month.
3. There are only 8-9 months during the deployment that we can take leave...so if you think about the 10% rule...you should need 10 months to make that work right? So it has to be managed very carefully.
4. There are priorities to leave. People who have due dates are generally given priority for those times. Then there are other scheduled things like surgeries for loved ones, or graduations for Soldiers with seniors in high school. All those things need to be weighed by the leadership.
5. Then there's the obvious, how many people can do the same job you do to cover down while you're gone? When will it hurt the unit least to have you out and still be able to accomplish the mission? For folks like myself in a rather key staff job, there will need to be a serious effort put into the several aspects of my job by other staff members splitting it up on top of their normal duties.
6. As a commander, your presence effects the morale and direction of the unit. Continuity in planning and execution are critical from the CDR. Normally that applies to maneuver type units like an infantry company. I will be taking command of a firing battery of artillery. That battery is split of accross Eastern Afghanistan in 4 locations and I will not be present at any one of them for more than a couple days a month due to that. The platoon leader at each location steps up to control that platoon and receives guidance from the CDR whenever possible. The difference is, the missions for them don't really change. Shoot here, shoot there, keep the guns working, make sure they have enough ammo and that they're doing the right things right. So, would my absence for a couple more weeks as a commander from a platoon like this make much difference while I'm on leave? How about if you consider my having an executive officer to visit and take charge in my absence. Or my 1SG being able to do the same.
These are the arguments I have about the unit wanting to put me on leave in a few weeks...with 9 months left in the deployment by the time I get back. I understand there are factors to consider, but for heavens sake, let me and my guys work around it when the time comes. I just can't go home so early after Porter and Robyn are starting to adjust to things and mess that all up and then leave for even longer.
I AM thankful for the opportunity to command the battery and do not want to downplay the commander's role in that. There are many aspects that I will affect for the better of the battery, but when does the Army factor in my personal concerns too? That's a problem I have seen accross the Army. Soldiers are taken care of by leaders and officers, while senior level officers assume that junior officers aren't bound by the same emotions and concerns as their Soldiers. Officers are expected to simply deal with the extra time away and still want to remain in a position where we are undervalued, rarely thanked or appreciated for our contribution, and if we exceed the standard, usually given even more work to do to make up for the lazy officers who somehow get by making the same amount of money with less stress.
Hopefully, if I am ever in a position of authority of which I am complaining, I will remember this plight and not repeat the same mistakes.
Please pray that I hear good news from West Point about my application to teach...I have heard bad news from 2 of the 5 departments already. I'm still trying to figure out what my plans are if they all come back with bad news.
Please also pray that I'll be allowed to take leave later in the deployment while in command. Deployments are hard enough...taking leave at the wrong time...interfering with plans for another child, and Robyn's new job (that she won't have leave for) will only compound the pain.
Well, hopefully the next post finds me in a better mood and with happy news! Goodnight.
1. Only 10% of the unit can be on leave at any given time.
2. You get 18 days of leave, plus almost a week depending on travel time on either side. So essentially, you're not doing your job (so someone else is picking up the slack) for a whole month.
3. There are only 8-9 months during the deployment that we can take leave...so if you think about the 10% rule...you should need 10 months to make that work right? So it has to be managed very carefully.
4. There are priorities to leave. People who have due dates are generally given priority for those times. Then there are other scheduled things like surgeries for loved ones, or graduations for Soldiers with seniors in high school. All those things need to be weighed by the leadership.
5. Then there's the obvious, how many people can do the same job you do to cover down while you're gone? When will it hurt the unit least to have you out and still be able to accomplish the mission? For folks like myself in a rather key staff job, there will need to be a serious effort put into the several aspects of my job by other staff members splitting it up on top of their normal duties.
6. As a commander, your presence effects the morale and direction of the unit. Continuity in planning and execution are critical from the CDR. Normally that applies to maneuver type units like an infantry company. I will be taking command of a firing battery of artillery. That battery is split of accross Eastern Afghanistan in 4 locations and I will not be present at any one of them for more than a couple days a month due to that. The platoon leader at each location steps up to control that platoon and receives guidance from the CDR whenever possible. The difference is, the missions for them don't really change. Shoot here, shoot there, keep the guns working, make sure they have enough ammo and that they're doing the right things right. So, would my absence for a couple more weeks as a commander from a platoon like this make much difference while I'm on leave? How about if you consider my having an executive officer to visit and take charge in my absence. Or my 1SG being able to do the same.
These are the arguments I have about the unit wanting to put me on leave in a few weeks...with 9 months left in the deployment by the time I get back. I understand there are factors to consider, but for heavens sake, let me and my guys work around it when the time comes. I just can't go home so early after Porter and Robyn are starting to adjust to things and mess that all up and then leave for even longer.
I AM thankful for the opportunity to command the battery and do not want to downplay the commander's role in that. There are many aspects that I will affect for the better of the battery, but when does the Army factor in my personal concerns too? That's a problem I have seen accross the Army. Soldiers are taken care of by leaders and officers, while senior level officers assume that junior officers aren't bound by the same emotions and concerns as their Soldiers. Officers are expected to simply deal with the extra time away and still want to remain in a position where we are undervalued, rarely thanked or appreciated for our contribution, and if we exceed the standard, usually given even more work to do to make up for the lazy officers who somehow get by making the same amount of money with less stress.
Hopefully, if I am ever in a position of authority of which I am complaining, I will remember this plight and not repeat the same mistakes.
Please pray that I hear good news from West Point about my application to teach...I have heard bad news from 2 of the 5 departments already. I'm still trying to figure out what my plans are if they all come back with bad news.
Please also pray that I'll be allowed to take leave later in the deployment while in command. Deployments are hard enough...taking leave at the wrong time...interfering with plans for another child, and Robyn's new job (that she won't have leave for) will only compound the pain.
Well, hopefully the next post finds me in a better mood and with happy news! Goodnight.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The weather
Well, since my last post was about the rain...why not follow it up with snow? Last night began the onslaught of snow here. By the time we woke up in the morning, the front of our tent had collapsed from the weight of the snow on the roof. One of the guys that sleeps on the top bunk said he woke up and felt like he was suffocating from the ceiling in his face! The camo net hanging in front of the tent had collected a bunch of snow too, and made the extra weight too much to bear. Hopefully the poles aren't completely broken and we'll be able to get it fixed here soon. Part of the problem is that those of us who live in the tent all work about the same hours and when we're not at work (or in the MWR) we go back to the tent just to sleep. So, that doesn't leave much time to fix the tent. Part of the problem is that I'm so dang short that I can't reach the ceiling to try to fix it without help. Maybe tomorrow night I'll get one of the guys to help me with it. We've been working to update all the old unit's stuff to transition over to our ways of doing things. In part of the transition from my perspective, we've been fixing some of the errors with pre-planned target packets (very time consuming). Each time we shoot, there's a packet that goes along with it, and the locations, imagery, etc. all have to line up. While I was reviewing one of the target packets that the old unit had done, I noticed that there were a couple of discrepancies, so we went back and looked through all of them. Well, time's up on the computer, more next time!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Rainy Days in combat
Rainy days in a combat zone can be many things. Just like back home, they have their place in the world. Rainy days at the right time can help you get some peaceful sleep at night, the rain drops on the tent, lulling you into a stupor. Rainy days can also complicate things, make everything muddy, harder to see, and slower to get the job done. One thing rainy days do in combat though is prove how hard our Soldiers are and what they can accomlish despite adversity. Soldiers still pull guard, man their weapons, and remain vigilant. Our ability to fight in any condition is what keeps us ahead of the enemy. With the weather the other night, one of the Soldiers asked if we would still shoot one of our fire missions...
"Hell yeah!" was my reply.
"But, Sir, isn't that dangerous? Couldn't the round drift somewhere it's not supposed to?"
"Artillery is an all-weather weapon system...we're not the Air Force. We're going to shoot, and we're going to do it to make sure they know we can."
It's times like that when I love being an Artilleryman. Guys out there, manning the guns, putting rounds out no matter what.
"Hell yeah!" was my reply.
"But, Sir, isn't that dangerous? Couldn't the round drift somewhere it's not supposed to?"
"Artillery is an all-weather weapon system...we're not the Air Force. We're going to shoot, and we're going to do it to make sure they know we can."
It's times like that when I love being an Artilleryman. Guys out there, manning the guns, putting rounds out no matter what.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Targeting 101
As the BN FSO, part of my job is to coordinate all the different assets that we have in the BN and make sure that everything is synchronized in coordination with the BN Operations Officer, and following what the BN Commander's intent is. So, the way that I accomplish that is through what we call the targeting cycle. This cycle uses the intel that we collect to align our operations and then places all the different operations on a calendar together with the assets we're trying to use for each to see how they lay out. With several companies in the BN to coordinate, each one planning multiple operations over the cycle with multiple assets for each, it can be a bit daunting to try to make sure they're coordinated.
Tonight was the first meeting in the cycle that we call Mission Analysis. We go through the intel and talk about what we think the bad guys are doing in our area, then we go through our lines of effort along our campaign plan and evaluate where we stand along Governance, Development, Security, and Information Operations. After some discussion on that, we go through all the operations that the companies want to do for the upcoming cycle based off the intel that was briefed (which was sent out to the companies a few days prior to allow them to plan). Once we get through the CONOP (concept of the operation) slides, we'll go through how they will lay out on the calendar as planned with the assets that each requested for their operations. I brief the calendar and the conflicts associated with operations overlapping with different assets requested, etc. and then recommend possible fixes. After that, the BN CDR gives his planning guidance for the cycle, and the meeting is done. Tonight's meeting lasted roughly an hour and a half and we went through 102 slides!
What's difficult is that we conduct the meeting online with the companies who are located on different COPs/FOBs from us, so sometimes the connection is not reliable when they are trying to brief their slides and vice versa. Anyways, I got a few compliments on how well our first MA brief went, so it felt good. I have to give a lot of credit to my counterpart, CPT Tanquary for doing such a good job setting up the process and showing me how they went about it here to make it a seamless transition.
The next meeting we have in a couple days, we will go through the recommended changes with the operations officer, and he will give further guidance for deconfliction prior to the next meeting. At the final meeting of the cycle, we will present the BN CDR with a course of action decision brief which basically lays out the proposed targeting calendar with the operations for the cycle with deconflicted assets for him to approve or make modifications to. Generally, he will only make minor modifications and following his approval of a course of action, I will capture the changes and publish the targeting frago (fragmentary order) to the companies and staff to be executed. We'll see how the rest of the process goes and how effective we are as a BN at it. Hopefully, I can help make sure we are synchronized and making the most out of the enablers that we bring to the fight!
Tonight was the first meeting in the cycle that we call Mission Analysis. We go through the intel and talk about what we think the bad guys are doing in our area, then we go through our lines of effort along our campaign plan and evaluate where we stand along Governance, Development, Security, and Information Operations. After some discussion on that, we go through all the operations that the companies want to do for the upcoming cycle based off the intel that was briefed (which was sent out to the companies a few days prior to allow them to plan). Once we get through the CONOP (concept of the operation) slides, we'll go through how they will lay out on the calendar as planned with the assets that each requested for their operations. I brief the calendar and the conflicts associated with operations overlapping with different assets requested, etc. and then recommend possible fixes. After that, the BN CDR gives his planning guidance for the cycle, and the meeting is done. Tonight's meeting lasted roughly an hour and a half and we went through 102 slides!
What's difficult is that we conduct the meeting online with the companies who are located on different COPs/FOBs from us, so sometimes the connection is not reliable when they are trying to brief their slides and vice versa. Anyways, I got a few compliments on how well our first MA brief went, so it felt good. I have to give a lot of credit to my counterpart, CPT Tanquary for doing such a good job setting up the process and showing me how they went about it here to make it a seamless transition.
The next meeting we have in a couple days, we will go through the recommended changes with the operations officer, and he will give further guidance for deconfliction prior to the next meeting. At the final meeting of the cycle, we will present the BN CDR with a course of action decision brief which basically lays out the proposed targeting calendar with the operations for the cycle with deconflicted assets for him to approve or make modifications to. Generally, he will only make minor modifications and following his approval of a course of action, I will capture the changes and publish the targeting frago (fragmentary order) to the companies and staff to be executed. We'll see how the rest of the process goes and how effective we are as a BN at it. Hopefully, I can help make sure we are synchronized and making the most out of the enablers that we bring to the fight!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Wag Bag
Apparently there have been some questions about how we go to the bathroom with no toilet facilities or running water. Well, I will explain it to you...and in the future hopefully not to distant, I will post pictures.
We have little plastic toilet seats and pre-packaged bags with all the ingredients you need to use the plastic toilet seat. The toilet seat is really no more than a chair the height of a toddler chair with a hole in it the size of a toilet bowl. There is a fold up seat similar to that on a regular toilet.
In the plastic package, there are two different bags. One is the bag you go in, that you put through the hole in the chair and fold the seat down onto. The other is a ziplock bag that everything goes into when you're done. Both are opaque, black, plastic bags.
Inside the package there is a powder to help absorbe stuff, a small role of toilet paper, and a wet wipe....I am out of time at the computer, but will post pictures to make it simple later...of course, they will be clean pictures:)
We have little plastic toilet seats and pre-packaged bags with all the ingredients you need to use the plastic toilet seat. The toilet seat is really no more than a chair the height of a toddler chair with a hole in it the size of a toilet bowl. There is a fold up seat similar to that on a regular toilet.
In the plastic package, there are two different bags. One is the bag you go in, that you put through the hole in the chair and fold the seat down onto. The other is a ziplock bag that everything goes into when you're done. Both are opaque, black, plastic bags.
Inside the package there is a powder to help absorbe stuff, a small role of toilet paper, and a wet wipe....I am out of time at the computer, but will post pictures to make it simple later...of course, they will be clean pictures:)
Monday, January 24, 2011
All quiet...
Well, things have been fairly quiet around here, which is a good thing!
Folks are settling in and learning their roles and the lay of the land.
You can see quite an interesting dynamic between the incoming and
outgoing guys. The outgoing guys seem to have pretty good spirits for
the most part, but are incredibly bitter. Many of them will say it's
due to their Battalion Commander's leadership style of demoralizing and
degrading his staff. Thankfully, I do not have that problem. Another
reason they seem bitter of course, is due to the year that they've been
over here fighting. When I say fighting, I mean just that...this
battalion has seen it's fair share of contact with the enemy. It's been
interesting listening to the various stories.
With the new guys, you can sense the excitement and nervousness of those
who haven't deployed before. While we were on our way here, before we
got to this FOB, I sat next to a random Soldier in the DFAC. He was
telling his team leader that he was really nervous, and you could tell
what he really meant was that he was scared. He sat there picking at
his food with a lost look on his face. I tried to talk to him about it.
I asked him what he was nervous about. He said he was nervous about
getting to the FOB. I knew what he was really nervous about, but
believe that it's important that people admit to themselves what they're
afraid of in order to face it, so I asked what about going there made
him nervous. His simple response, "Getting shot at, Sir." I told him
that it was healthy to be nervous about it because there's not much fun
about getting shot at. I added to that by asking him if he had gone
through the platoon live fire exercises and training we did at Ft. Knox
before we left. He said that he had. I asked him if he qualified with
his weapon (which happens to be a SAW) and he said he had. I said,
"Okay, then you know you can hit what you're aiming at, and you know how
to maneuver and close with the enemy with your unit. The only thing you
have to do, is follow your training and if you get shot at, remember to
breathe for a second and then aim. They don't call that machine gun
you're carrying a casualty producing weapon because it sounds cool!"
That got him laughing a little bit and he finished eating his food and
chatting with his team leader.
It is good to see Soldiers like him. Soldiers who have a healthy fear
of the enemy, but still go forward and do their duty. There are
occasionally Soldiers and leaders who may be a little too overzealous,
and it is a challenge to keep them focused on the mission, but for most
of the Soldiers, they are scared of getting hurt or killed and just want
to do the best they can and get through a yearlong deployment over here.
There are other Soldiers who's overzealousness is a result of ignorance,
or unwillingness to face the reality that the enemy has a vote and they
are not invincible. Those Soldiers will go on missions to places they
aren't required and take unnecessary risks with themselves and
potentially those around them. Only when something tragic happens and
it affects them directly will those types of Soldiers learn their
fragility.
This is what you get when I write a blog at 0030 in the morning after
working all day. I'll try to be more chipper and add pictures another
time. For now, know that I appreciate all your support and I'm glad to
be doing what I am with the great folks I'm doing it with. Hopefully,
in a year I'll be able to say that our unit has made this place better
and we are closer to allowing the GIRoA to take over their own country
so we no longer have to have such a presence.
Goodnight,
Joe
Folks are settling in and learning their roles and the lay of the land.
You can see quite an interesting dynamic between the incoming and
outgoing guys. The outgoing guys seem to have pretty good spirits for
the most part, but are incredibly bitter. Many of them will say it's
due to their Battalion Commander's leadership style of demoralizing and
degrading his staff. Thankfully, I do not have that problem. Another
reason they seem bitter of course, is due to the year that they've been
over here fighting. When I say fighting, I mean just that...this
battalion has seen it's fair share of contact with the enemy. It's been
interesting listening to the various stories.
With the new guys, you can sense the excitement and nervousness of those
who haven't deployed before. While we were on our way here, before we
got to this FOB, I sat next to a random Soldier in the DFAC. He was
telling his team leader that he was really nervous, and you could tell
what he really meant was that he was scared. He sat there picking at
his food with a lost look on his face. I tried to talk to him about it.
I asked him what he was nervous about. He said he was nervous about
getting to the FOB. I knew what he was really nervous about, but
believe that it's important that people admit to themselves what they're
afraid of in order to face it, so I asked what about going there made
him nervous. His simple response, "Getting shot at, Sir." I told him
that it was healthy to be nervous about it because there's not much fun
about getting shot at. I added to that by asking him if he had gone
through the platoon live fire exercises and training we did at Ft. Knox
before we left. He said that he had. I asked him if he qualified with
his weapon (which happens to be a SAW) and he said he had. I said,
"Okay, then you know you can hit what you're aiming at, and you know how
to maneuver and close with the enemy with your unit. The only thing you
have to do, is follow your training and if you get shot at, remember to
breathe for a second and then aim. They don't call that machine gun
you're carrying a casualty producing weapon because it sounds cool!"
That got him laughing a little bit and he finished eating his food and
chatting with his team leader.
It is good to see Soldiers like him. Soldiers who have a healthy fear
of the enemy, but still go forward and do their duty. There are
occasionally Soldiers and leaders who may be a little too overzealous,
and it is a challenge to keep them focused on the mission, but for most
of the Soldiers, they are scared of getting hurt or killed and just want
to do the best they can and get through a yearlong deployment over here.
There are other Soldiers who's overzealousness is a result of ignorance,
or unwillingness to face the reality that the enemy has a vote and they
are not invincible. Those Soldiers will go on missions to places they
aren't required and take unnecessary risks with themselves and
potentially those around them. Only when something tragic happens and
it affects them directly will those types of Soldiers learn their
fragility.
This is what you get when I write a blog at 0030 in the morning after
working all day. I'll try to be more chipper and add pictures another
time. For now, know that I appreciate all your support and I'm glad to
be doing what I am with the great folks I'm doing it with. Hopefully,
in a year I'll be able to say that our unit has made this place better
and we are closer to allowing the GIRoA to take over their own country
so we no longer have to have such a presence.
Goodnight,
Joe
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