~ Kommentary by Kritter ~

A Soldier's Story I

Patrick Campbell moved to St. Louis to work on Jean Carnahan's campaign. Hence, among many Patricks, he became Campaign Patrick. (Stop for a moment to remember all the others: Pool Patrick, Patrick M.D., Jesus Patrick, Soccer Patrick, Dust Patrick "Dusty" and Dead Body Patrick. I feel like I am forgetting one.)

I don't remember how Campaign Patrick happened upon us- that is the Living Word Prayer Group that meets at my apartment every Monday. But he fit right in. And Patrick and I became fast friends. He would often stay late for long conversations.

I kept in decent contact with him after Jean lost and he moved around the country. When things began in Iraq, Patrick signed up for the Army, and I wrote him consistently throughout his Basic Training. That was followed by training to be a medic, at which he highly excelled. In fact, Patrick is all-around an excellent soldier!

Now in the reserves, Patrick began law school. Our communication floundered, but I was kept informed through a website he set up to send up mass "Campbell Watch" e-mails.

A few months ago, I was completely astounded when I received an update from Patrick telling us that he volunteered to go to the front lines (or as close as there is to such a thing in this war) in Iraq. He felt that with his medic training, he was called to do what he could to bring even just one more soldier home alive.

Needless to say, I was unhappy. But this isn't about me. And I respect Patrick so much. SO much. Still, I am terrified for him.

Now, Patrick is at Fort Hood in Texas undergoing accelerated training. His deployment date keeps getting moved up.

I'm attaching the "Campbell Watch" I received this morning. It is a very very long entry. And I know, unfortunately, most of you won't have time to read it all. I felt moved to include his story on my blog though. I'm stunned by the way he talks matter of factly about the training he is undergoing and the type of danger and life and death decisions he is going to have to face very soon in Iraq. Patrick is my friend and I care about him deeply, but his story is like thousands of other soldiers. We all need to understand what he is doing for us.

Dear Friends,

"Gas, Gas, Gas." So I survived the gas chamber, again! When they told
me that we had to do the gas chamber again, I wanted to start running
and never come back. Why would anyone voluntarily relive their most
painful experience?

Day 4 (Friday)
Paperwork and processing. We were issued our DCUs (Desert Combat
Uniforms). These uniforms are lighter in material and color then our
old BDU (Battle Dress Uniforms). The best part is the suede boots…
can you guess why? No polishing! Buyah! Unfortunately it is going to
take a week or so to get our names and patches sowed on. That means
that the people who only brought one pair of BDUs, like they were
instructed to do, are in a bad way for the next week in the field.
Funny Side Note: I had my ATM card FedExed to me here in Texas and
although it arrived without issue, my 1st Sergeant mistakenly picked
it up and took it back to Louisiana with him.

Day 5/6 (Saturday & Sunday)
Our training tempo picked up greatly this weekend (0600-2100
straight), when we realized how many tasks we had to accomplish
before we could leave for the field on Tuesday night. We began
hurrying through CTT (Common Task Training). There are 40 some odd
tasks that every soldier needs to know before they can deploy.
Surviving in an NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical) environment;
cleaning/maintaining an M/16 rifle and M-9 pistol
(http://patrickmcampbell.com/v-web/gallery/Fort_Hood/FH_PC_M9); land
navigation over rough terrain using only a compass, protractor and a
map (something I missed in BASIC due to Kitchen Patrol); and lastly
first aid tasks.

Myself and the two other medics in our platoon (both of which will be
in my unit in Iraq) taught all the first aid classes. I had so much
fun teaching those classes and preparing for them was an excellent
refresher course. I did so well that my OIC (Officer In Charge) asked
me to teach other classes on various subjects. I am truly my father's
son and someday in my twilight years I hope to be like my old US
History AP teacher, Mr. Graves, who taught for the love of teaching
after he had retired..

During our land navigation course we had to venture through some very
thick brush. After one particular thick patch, my roommate noticed a
grasshopper covered in spider webs hanging from his BDU coat. I
slapped it off with my cover (or hat). He said, "I HATE SPIDERS!" A
couple of seconds later, he said, "Dude, check me." I looked quickly
and dismissed it as paranoia. Can you guess where this story is
going? A couple of seconds later, "Check me, really check me!" I had
him turn around and I saw a huge black and yellow spider crawling on
his leg. Knowing he was afraid of spiders, I couldn't tell him, so I
ominously said, "STAND STILL." His whole body stiffened up. I swatted
at the spider with my cover and successfully dislodged it, but it was
still connected to my roommate with a web and swung out between his
legs and landed back on him. I hit the spider a second time and the
same thing happened. I was afraid it was going to bite, so I wound up
and smacked it as hard as I could. The spider disappeared. We all
stripped down looking for it. Finally I looked at my roommate's boot
and I saw the fatal splatter marks. My cover was also covered. Here
is a picture of what was left: http://patrickmcampbell.com/v-
web/gallery/Fort_Hood/FH_Platta_Killing_Spider .

Day 7 (Monday)
The dreaded gas chamber… we lined up in the room with our masks on.
We had to do side straddle hops (AKA jumping jacks). We had to roll
our heads around. Then the instructor said, "If you want to you
remove your mask, you may do it now." So I was given a true choice… I
could avoid it and walk straight out the door, no problem or I could
face my fear. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes and took off my
mask. For thirty second with my eyes clothes and not breathing it
fine… no problem. When I finally took it off, my eyes burned and I
couldn't breath. I started for the door and tried to avoid the random
curbs on the floor. One of our Lieutenants was wearing DCUs and he
stood out against all the BDUs. With one eye closed and the other
squinting I followed him out the door to salvation. I was coughing
and burning. It was only about a 1/3rd as potent as the gas chamber
at BASIC, but nonetheless I had conquered my fear.

Day 8 (Tuesday)
Because I had already qualified with my M-16 for everything except
night fire I essentially had the day off. So I did basically nothing!
By the afternoon I was moving equipment around that we would issue to
everyone that night when we went into the field. The entire platoon
went to the firing range at 2030 and those of us who needed to night
fire signed up on the firing roster. If any one of us did not hit the
7 out of 30 targets at 50m, the entire platoon would have to be there
for 2-3 more hours.

The hardest part about shooting at night is not being able to see
your sight posts. Sight posts are the points you use on the M-16 to
aim… they are normally black and virtually disappear in the darkness.
So a bunch of us bought some chem lights (AKA glow sticks), poked a
hole in them and dumped some of the flood on the front and back sight
posts. It was a great idea, until I fired my first shot. Some of the
chemical on the back sight post, not more than an inch from my face,
flew into my eye and blinded me. I had to spend the next minute
flushing out my eye with water before I could even see again. I
missed 3-4 targets during that time. The fluid was still on the back
sight post, so I would have to aim, then hold the rifle steady, while
I pulled my head back and then fire. I was able to score 24 out of 30
and unlike the dayfire… I passed with flying colors. We left for the
field at 2330.

Day 9 (Wednesday) 1st Day in the Field - Force Protection
Weary from being on the range all day, 3rd Platoon (my platoon) made
their way through the dead of night to the FOB (Forward Operating
Base). Carrying two duffel bags, my TA50 gear (vest, canteens, ammo
puches, & Kevlar helmet) and my rifle we arrived at a gigantic,
circus looking tent that provided sleeping space for upto 100 men
(http://patrickmcampbell.com/v-web/gallery/Fort_Hood/FH_FOB_Tent). We
had to assemble our cots and our equipment and did not get to sleep
till 0230.

Wake-up was at 0600 and for the first time during my ARMY career I
did not shave. After a breakfast that lacked any flavor, we boarded a
35 vehicle convoy with Humvees and 5-ton trucks. On top of the
humvees were .50 caliber machine guns and automatic grenade
launchers. It was an pretty impressive display and it hit me that
this would seem normal soon. (http://patrickmcampbell.com/v-
web/gallery/Fort_Hood/FH_Convoy). Later that day we had "Force
Protection" classes which taught us how to deal with IEDs (Improvised
Explosives Devices), snipers and ambushes. This training is the type
that will keep us alive while in Iraq.
After a lunch of MREs; we broke into oversized squads (too many
people at one time with too little ammo). We did lane drills where we
simulated actual combat using MILES gear (Military Laser Engagement
System, AKA really expensive laser tag). We were ambushed, blown up
and snipped and had to use our training to overcome the OPP4 (our
soldiers playing bad guys).

The first half of our platoon was killed in an ambush, but my half
successfully stormed the enemy position. I even got the only
confirmed kill against the OPP4. "Medics Lead the Way! Hoohah!"
Hoohah is ARMY slang for Yes, Yes Segeant, Yes Sir/Mamam and Right…
It can be a both a question and an answer. The worst is that it is
almost impossible to shake from your vocabulary. I guess if Josh
Hartnett says it in "Black Hawk Down" then it is cool. The whole lane
was an intense experience and by the end I was the second gunner.
Maybe it was because I was training with the quarter masters,
or "laundry specialists" according to them, that I appeared so high
speed.

Dinner was only good because I was so hungry, but the field shower
brought to us by KSB (a whole owned subsidiary of Haliburton) was a
little slice of Heaven. Before everyone crawled deep into their
sleeping bags, they all hung up their one dirty pair of BDU's to dry.

Day 9 (Thursday) Checkpoints
One of the duties we will have while we are in country (or in Iraq)
is to run checkpoints. These checkpoints are designed to search for a
particular person, thing or anyone who meets a certain profile. Our
job is to detain them safely and search them thoroughly. There are
different types of checkpoints, dependent on how long that check
point is going to be in place.

We learned how to search a person for weapons, bombs and other
materials. We learned how to take a person down and control them if
we do find dangerous material on them. We were taught how to safely
search a vehicle. The whole idea is that anyone, at anytime could
have a weapon or bomb strapped to them. If that were to happen, all
we had to protect ourselves and fellow soldiers was our training.

The ARMY likes to take the "Crawl, Walk, then Run" approach to
training. First you just talk through the scenarios presented to you,
then you slowly go through them with constant feedback from
instructors or coaches and lastly you are presented with a real
world, real time scenario, with no time outs. During our "run"
scenarios I was searching various pedestrians walking through our
check point. KBR employees wearing traditional Iraqi clothing played
the part of COBs (Civilians On the Battlefield).

How we search individuals is based on our safety and the cultural
sensitivities of the Iraqis. Males never search females and if
necessary we have learned how to search a woman without touching her.
Females are not searched out of the sight of their males, but at the
same time males are never searched while being watched by their
females. Certain hand gestures are very offensive; an OK sign, thumbs
up or the classic traffic guard stop hand sign are not used in Iraq.
To make someone stop, you must put your thumb and fingers together,
almost like a water drop and place it skyward. To bring someone
closer you turn palm downward and wave your fingers toward you.

The first COB I searched was not wearing any underwear beneath his
robe and needless to say I got a lot closer to this COB when I
checked him. The second COB I searched had been pacing and ignoring
orders to turn around. While checking him I found a pistol on him and
I had to knock him down to the ground while my buddies put to the
ground the rest of his buddies. Unfortunately for this KBR employee,
I put him down in a small prickly bush… he definitely earned his
paycheck that night. Everyone said I did a good job handling the
situation and people talked about my take down all night
long. "Medics Lead the Way!" The whole night was excellent training.

Day 10 (Friday) Convoy Operations
This day we learned how to travel safely in a convoy through a danger
zone. Most of the explosions you see on CNN or Fox News, depending on
your political leanings, are attacks on military convoys. Once
vehicles leave the relative safety of the base they become excellent
targets for IEDs, RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades), ambushes and
snipers. We spent most of the day discussing the various elements of
a convoy, various configurations.

The hardest part of being in a convoy is watching out for IEDs. These
bombs are hidden in cracks in the street itself, among the trash,
under rocks, in coke cans and even in the carcasses of dead animals.
When you are traveling as fast as a convoy travels, it is virtually
impossible to see them until you are right up on them, making them
quite efficient killers. We learned various tactics and survival
techniques to employ to increase our chance of survival.

During our crawl stage we pretended like we were in vehicles and
walked around the training area. During the walking phase I was in
the back of a Deuce and a Half (or 2 ½ ton truck) with almost 20
other soldiers. It was way too crowded, so we had M-16s sticking out
of the back like a porcupine. We had snipers attack, RPGs, IEDs and
even civilian protesters. Being the very last vehicle in the convoy
without any means of communication with the front… made the training
very limited. During the run phase… we were all amped up and ready to
confront whatever challenge they would throw at us. I secured a place
in the back of the truck, so I would be able to get in the action. We
left the base 40 minutes late and drove around in a big circle. It
was dark and all I could see was the cloud of dust from the 20
vehicles in front of me. We drove for an hour and not a damn thing
happened, except eat a mouthful of dust (this picture is extremely
funny: http://patrickmcampbell.com/v-
web/gallery/Fort_Hood/FH_ALittleDusty . It was a complete waste of
training time.

When we got back we were frustrated and that was only compounded by
the fact that our OIC was pissed about something. He told us that our
training had been extended and the guys would not have a chance to
see their families before we left for Kuwait in early October. The
anger on their faces was almost scary. At that moment our OIC told us
that he was playing a practical joke on us and that we were actually
going to finish training early. We had only one more day left of
training.

Day 11 (Saturday) – FOB Operations
We were instructed how to provide and coordinate security for a
Forward Operating Base (FOB). This was a very complex operation which
involved patrols, checkpoints, setting up communications and the "Oh
Shit Contingency" AKA the Quick Reaction Force.

I was assigned to guard the main gate. I was posted as a sniper to
provide cover for those at the front gate. Our first scenario
involved three men and a woman walking up to the gate with a basket
full of explosives and them asking us for us to dispose of them. When
you can't tell who is your friend or your enemy this is a very
dangerous situation. They should have not been able to get to the
front gate at all, but here they were with a potential bomb… just
feet away from my friends. I placed my sight post on the leader and
switched my safety lever to semi. If he made any wrong movement I
would have to fire.

For a second I felt like I had an out of body of experience… even
though I was only going through a training scenario, using blanks and
targeting a KBR employee (the same employee I had accidentally felt
up two days before)… I realized that in a real life situation I would
have to kill this person if he put my fellow soldiers in danger,
regardless of whether that was his intent or not. The way we deal
with any threat is clearly defined in our ROEs (Rules of Engagement),
but all ROEs, no matter what the situation is, state we can use
deadly force to protect ourselves and our fellow soldiers. So there I
lay… 200 meters from this man… with him in my sights… sweating…
finger on the trigger. The scenario was called off due to the actions
of the people at the gate, but that moment was completely sobering.

I pray to god that I never have to make that choice, but I also pray
that when I do have to make that choice that I do not hesitate to
protect my fellow soldiers. I guess that is same choice every soldier
and police officer must make every day.

We were relieved by the quarter masters after about an hour. It was
over 100 degrees again, for the fourth day straight. I had already
had to initiate an IV for a woman who was severely dehydrated. We
retired back to our very own Circus tents with AC only to be killed
by enemy mortar fire. We supposedly did not react in time to the make
pretend siren… that no one heard… so we all died. Good training… yeah
right. We basically played dead and slept the rest of the day. I said
my goodbyes to the various units that were there, especially the
quartermasters from the Texas reserves. I know I will be seeing all
of them again in country.

Final Thoughts
So I am done with training in record time… 4 months of training in 11
days. We leave for Louisiana later this week and there we will catch
up with our real units. I would be a lot more nervous about the
amount & quality of training we received, except that we will do this
all over again in Kuwait while we are there for a month. When I get
Louisiana I will hopefully get issued a real rifle and not the broke
down POS that I was issued here.

I have gotten really close with the guys here and I know that I will
be seeing a lot of them while we are in Baghdad. I finally started
wearing my DCUs today and my reality is becoming more and more real
everyday. I don't think it will really hit me till they take away my
cell phone and internet and then I will be a fish out of water
(http://patrickmcampbell.com/v-web/gallery/Fort_Hood/FH_M16_Cell).

Thank you for everyone who called me and wrote… I really appreciate
everyone's support during this transition period. Although I would be
lying to say that I am ready for what is ahead of me, if I can
survive BASIC and 1st year of law school… Iraq "ain't no thing but a
chicken wing."

I love you all very much and I look forward to hearing all about your
lives. Thank you for reading this far.

Shalom my friends,
Patrick Wf

Posted by kristen at September 21, 2004 11:11 AM | TrackBack