4 WEEKS

We’ve been at Camp Funston now for about a month, and it’s hard to remember all of the training we have undergone. I’ll try to recap the best I can, and I’ll try to do better at keeping this thing updated, believe it or not Internet access may actually improve when I get to Iraq, hopefully the food will as well.
· Language Training: Language classes are usually once or twice a week and are either via an interactive computer game or with an instructor, Arabic is challenging to learn, there are many sounds which are foreign to the English tongue and are challenging to pronounce. So far I can get through about the first five minutes of a conversation. Lately we have been focusing on more specific tactical phrases such as “give me your ID,” “Do you have any weapons” etc.
· Cultural Training: The Iraqi culture or Arabic culture is quite a bit different from our own. Arabic people value honor above all else. If you disrespect someone’s honor, by lying to them, not keeping your word, or disrespecting them in front of their families, it is extremely difficult to regain their trust. This basic fact goes a long way to explaining why we have failed so badly in the battle for “hearts and minds” in Iraq. There are stories of Soldiers entering Iraqi homes, giving the formal greeting of “Aasalaamu Alyekum” literally translated as “Peace be upon you” and then proceeding to trash their home in search of weapons or other contraband. Not great PR by any stretch. Also, Iraqis are not clock driven the way Americans are, if you have a meeting with an Iraqi, regardless of how urgent the matter, you will have tea and small talk for the first 10-15 minutes. Finally, an Iraqi will never tell you no if you ask them for something or to do something, they will instead respond “In Sha Allah” which translates to “God Willing” or “If god makes it happen it will happen, if not, don’t blame me…” Interestingly enough this is why they are poor marksmen with their AK-47’s, they believe that if Allah wants them to kill the target he will ensure that the bullet finds its target, if not, then it wasn’t meant to be.
· Religion: The rift between Sunnis and Shia has been covered thoughrouly in numerous media outlets, Islam is a historically rich religion with a lot in common with both Christianity and Judaism.
· History: It is said that the history of Iraq is the history of mankind, the Garden of Eden is thought to be in between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, an area also known as the fertile crescent. From the hanging gardens of Babylon to Greek and Roman trade routes to WWI, the area has been the crux of numerous historical events. Although the country of Iraq is a relatively modern concept (Post WWI), the Tribal and Sheikdom system of rule in the area is thousands and thousands of years old. Numerous technologies that we take for granted were developed in this area: Paper, Law (Hammurabi’s Code), Arabic Numerals (based on the rule of 10, as opposed to Roman Numerals which were developed only to track how many Super Bowls have been played.
· Weapon’s Training: We each carry an 9MM Beretta and an M-4 Carbine, we’ve all qualified on both of these weapon systems. The M-4 qualification was particularly interesting, it was the first time I have ever qualified with this type of weapon without using normal “iron” sights. We used the M68 Sight with allows the firer to simply place the dot in his scope on the target and squeeze the trigger, of course it has to be calibrated perfectly to your weapon, and tedious but important process. But once its on it is amazingly simple. Also we shot our M-4s at night using the AN/PEQ Infra-Red Laser Aiming Device. Another remarkable piece of technology when used with the PVS-7B Night Vision Goggles. The PEQ emits an Infra Red Laser which can only be seen with Night Vision Capability. So if you are “painting” a target they won’t even know it, if you have the PEQ zeroed to your weapon all you have to do is put the weapon on your hip and follow your laser beam, when it hits the target you squeeze the trigger. The PEQ also has a an infrared spotlight to mark your position for friendly aircraft and the laser can be used to designate targets for Close Air Support Missions flown by either the Air Force or the Army Aviation Assets.
· IED Awareness, and Prevention: If you know anything about this war, you know that more Soldiers have been killed by IEDs or Improvised Explosive Devices (not really improvised any more but more on that in a minute). We have seen scores, maybe hundreds of videos of American vehicles and Soldiers being targeted by IEDs. The reason the videos are so prevalent is because Insurgents get paid for proof of a successful attack, therefore almost every IED attack is videotaped. So, we learn what the latest Tactics Techniques and Procedures (TTP’s) are out there, and how we can defeat them. Many IEDs are radio detonated by garage door openers, cell phones, key fobs, RC Cars etc. The Army has developed a system to jam these frequencies which I used briefly in my first tour but has been greatly improved since, but I really can’t say more about it for OPSEC reasons. The latest and scariest threat has been what is referred to as and EFP or explosively formed projectile, these are supposedly being manufactured (i.e. not improvised) in a four letter country that borders Iraq, they haven’t been seen up north where I am going yet though.
· Driver’s Training: The Army’s latest improvement on the Highly Mobile Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle or HMMWV (yeah I know there’s an acronym for everything) is the M1114A4, it is an uparmored, heavy suspension turbo-charged vehicle with a crew served weapon (M2 .50 cal or M240 7.62 MM Machine Gun). We’ve received training on operation, maintenance etc. on these vehicles. Also we went through the HEAT trainer (HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer). I know an acronym within an acronym, welcome to my world. This is a HMMWV with is mounted on at pivot which allows it to be have to escape a flipped HMMWV which is often either on fire or under fire.
· Combat Lifesaver Training: This training instructs soldiers on how to provide immediate care under fire in order to stabilize a soldier long enough for a Chopper to evacuate the casualty to a CASH. It has been estimated that 95% of patients who make it to the hospital alive leave alive, the advances in battlefield medicine in this war alone are probably greater than the difference between the Civil War and Vietnam. We were instructed on how to apply a tourniquet, administer an IV. Initiate a Saline Lock, a saline lock is used to provide access to a patients veins, it is basically a catheter in the vein through which drugs can be administered or an IV can be attached, it is important to initiate this early because as casualties go into shock, blood pressure drops and the veins can collapse and be very difficult to access. Also we learned how to treat a sucking chest wound and perform needle chest decompression, to relieve tension pneumothorax which basically amounts to sticking big ass needle (think 5 inches long) between the ribs of a casualty into the chest cavity and relieving air pressure. I’m trying to upload some videos of this; if I do I’ll link them up here.
I know this has been a long post, and I’ll try to keep them shorter in the future, please feel free to let me know if you’ve visited.