'Veterans Gardening Day', Cedar Rapids, March 28

An information-filled "Veterans Gardening Day" will be conducted 9 a.m to 4 p.m., March 28 at the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The FREE event will include speakers, hands-on classes, a spaghetti lunch and seed packets.

The address of the building is: Veterans Memorial Building, 50 2nd Avenue Bridge, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401. The building is located on May's Island, in the middle of the Cedar River.

Army Brig. Gen. Craig Bargfrede, who commanded the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agri-business Development Team (A.D.T.) when it deployed to Eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province in 2010-2011, will provide keynote remarks.

Other presentations will include experts and insights into fruit tree cultivation, accessible gardening, and sustainable agriculture.

Media attention is increasing noting the potential roles of veterans in feeding Iowa families through small- and large-scale agriculture. For example, check out this recent story titled "From War To Plow: Why USDA Wants Veterans To Take Up Farming", and efforts such as the Farmer Veteran Coalition.

Tickets for the Veterans Gardening Day lunch are available at EventBritehere.

A Facebook event page is available here.

After a $20 million renovation in 2014, the reopened Veterans Memorial Building is now home to the Iowa Veterans' Welcome Center, Midwest Military Outreach, and other veterans-service organizations, and contains office, exhibit, meeting, and performance spaces.

The Constant State-by-State of War

When I started the Red Bull Rising blog in late 2009, I was preparing to deploy as a member of the Iowa Army National Guard. My buddies and I kept a digital ear out for news of Vermont's 86th Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), the unit we planned to replace. We sifted and scanned Vermont newspaper and television reports, U.S. Army public affairs releases from Afghanistan, and posts from mil-bloggers and Facebookers.

The 1,500-member 86th BCT had originally deployed as the command-and-control headquarters for Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix, a U.S. and coalition training mission that had been in place since 2003. (A quick review: In Army speak, the term "combined" means "U.S. plus allies." The term "joint" means one or more branches of the armed forces: Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard. A "task force" is an group of disparate units organized around a specific mission.)

The CJTF Phoenix mission was to advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces (A.N.S.F.), including various forms of Afghan police and military units. It controlled 8- or 16-person Embedded Training Teams (E.T.T.). Coalition partners call their ETT personnel "Operational Mentor Liaison Teams" (OMLT, pronounced "omelette").

An additional irony? Such Foreign Internal Defense ("FID") training missions have traditionally been considered a core mission of U.S. Special Forces. The National Guard, on the other hand, often has to battle "second-string" stereotypes when encountering active-duty soldiers in the field. Even after more than 10 years of deployments, and transformation into an operational reserve.

That U.S. National Guard soldiers tend to have civilian-acquired work experiences and skills is often touted as an advantage in the advise-and-assist context. Citizen-soldiers who are law enforcement professionals back home can be used to mentor Afghan National Police, for example. Teachers and coaches, business owners and managers can be more familiar with non-military mentorship models. With the possible exception of the National Guard’s joint Agribusiness Development Teams (A.D.T.), however, in which citizen-soldiers and -airmen are deployed based upon their civilian-acquired agricultural skills, it’s hard to move such assumptions and assertions beyond the anecdotal.

In 2009, in the middle of a foreign country, a deployment, and a war, Vermont's 86th BCT reconfigured to a mission in which they would act as "battlespace owners" for the provinces of Parwan, Panjshir, and Bamiyan Provinces. Two more U.S. National Guard brigades—each approximately 3,000 personnel each—would follow. Rather than being sliced up into smaller companies and battalions, and assigned to support active-duty brigades, the National Guard brigades were kept relatively whole.

Iowa's 2nd BCT, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) deployed to Afghanistan from October 2010 to July 2011. It took over the mission in Parwan (where Bagram Airfield is located), Panjshir, and Laghman Provinces. One Red Bull battalion, the 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment (1-168th Inf.) was attached to active-duty brigade in Paktiya Province. A 400-member Nebraska Army National Guard unit with historical ties to the Red Bull, the 1st Squadron, 134th Cavalry (1-134th Cav.), deployed alongside the 2-34th BCT. Based at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, the 1-134th Cav. deployed as mentors and trainers for Afghan National Police.

Oklahoma's 45th BCT ("Thunderbird") took over the Red Bull's mission in July 2012, maintaining responsibility for Laghman Province and other areas. After the Thunderbird took over, my Red Bull buddies and I again took to the Internet, this time watching for Oklahoma newspaper and television reports, U.S. Army public affairs releases, and posts from mil-bloggers and Facebookers. As of this week, nearly all of the Thunderbird units have returned home to Oklahoma. Rather than hand-off to another U.S. National Guard unit, in February the Thunderbird transferred authority to an active-duty unit.

Watching a war through the lens of brigade-sized deployments, state by state, is an accessible way to perceive the ebb and flow of the past 10 years. In the beginning, it was team after 16-person mentor team. Occasionally, a state would get tapped for the CJTF Phoenix mission—a brigade's worth of headquarters staff, plus yet more advise-and-assist teams. Then, for a grand and glorious moment, the states were asked to muster fully trained, fully resourced fighting brigades. Newspaper reporters wrote sentences like, "the largest deployment of Iowa troops since World War II."

Now, with American resolve, purpose, and troop numbers waning in Afghanistan, U.S. political and military leaders have taken to describing a "new" mission of advising and assisting Afghan forces, and withdrawing troops by 2014. Given that the advise-and-assist mission started in 2003 and never stopped, this latest language seems like rhetorical repackaging. Meet the new mission, same as the old mission.

During mobilization in 2011, Ohio's 37th BCT ("Buckeye")—was re-configured to fulfill an advise-and-assist mission in Northern Afghanistan. It arrived Afghanistan in February 2012.

The Red Bull Rising crystal ball is currently in for servicing and recalibration, but it seems as if the moment of brigade-sized deployments might be over. Perhaps National Guard units will be more likely to deploy piecemeal as companies and battalions, or as 16-person mentor-and-trainer teams. Even the National Guard-specific Agribusiness Development Teams (A.D.T.) may be winding down. In a recent ceremony in Paktya Province, for example, the outgoing Nebraska ADT transferred its responsibilities to the co-located Provincial Reconstruction Team (P.R.T.).

During the Association of the United States Army (A.U.S.A.) annual convention and trial-balloon festival last fall, there was much talk of assigning the advise-and-assist mission to the Reserve Component. (Other, contradictory balloons: Assign to the U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve most or all of the heavy/armored and field artillery forces.) Proposals to create and train specific advise-and-assist capability, whether in the active- or reserve-components, seem to have stalled. The consensus seems to be that the military will continue to take such teams ad hoc and out of hide, rather than create specific organizations or structure. Every soldier wants to grow up to be Patton or Schwarzkopf; few aspire to be Lawrence of Arabia.

That's not to say that operational deployments are over, or that war isn't still a dangerous business. While 70 headquarters soldiers of the Indiana National Guard's 76th BCT ("Night Hawks") were engaged in send-off ceremonies to Afghanistan last January, the Hoosier state simultaneously learned of the loss of four Indiana combat engineers assigned to the 713th Engineer Company, Valaparaiso, Ind.

Sobering times.

War beats on.

*****

For additional insights into the history of the advise-and-assist mission, see Jeffrey Courter's "Afghan Journal" and Benjamin Tupper's "Greetings from Afghanistan" and "Dudes of War." Also, check out former U.S. Marine officer Jonathan Rue's "Build a House and Burn it Down," in which he reflects on his experiences training Iraqi soldiers. And Joseph Trevithick's insightful attempt on Tom Ricks' "Best Defense" blog to untangle the historically convoluted U.S./coalition command structures in Afghanistan.

'Restrepo,' the Red Bull, and Oscar

Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger's film "Restrepo" has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Starting in 2007, the two producers repeatedly embedded with an active-duty platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, in Kunar Province.

The film is a gritty companion to Hethertington's book "Infidel," a thoughtful collection of photos and images, and Junger's "War," an insightful exploration of what makes men fight, and what fighting does to men. The books were previously reviewed on the Red Bull Rising blog here.

In June 2010, the producers graciously provided a limited number of soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) an exclusive opportunity to screen the film before its theatrical release, while the unit was preparing for deployment to Eastern Afghanistan.

Some Red Bull soldiers have since found themselves walking mountainous terrain similar to that depicted in Restrepo. And, although not part of the Red Bull deployment, members of the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agribusiness Development Team (A.D.T.) are currently based in Kunar Province.

In yet another Iowa connection, recent Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta was featured in Hetherington and Junger's coverage. Giunta was born in Clinton, Iowa, and grew up in Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha.

Following yesterday's Academy Awards nominations, the Restrepo producers made this statement via the movie's Facebook page.

While the nomination is a recognition of the movie, we hope it's a fitting tribute to those who have fought and died in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. We made this movie because we wanted to bring the war into people's living rooms back home. We hope the nomination will continue to promote an open and constructive dialogue about the war. Thanks again for all your continued support in making the movie a success.

The film will be rebroadcast on the National Geographic channel on Feb. 2, 2011.

According to news reports, Hetherington and Junger plan to return to Afghanistan on assignment in April.

Polly's Dad Got Shooted

"Polly's Dad was in the Army, and he got shooted," Lena says casually from the backseat. I've just picked the kids up from school. Household-6 is going out with a friend tonight, and I'm in charge of pick-up and dinner. It is a bitterly cold and windy day, the roads are still slick from a day-and-a-half of snowfall, and the last of the day's light hangs in the air like icicles.

Lena's words are sometimes like that, too--just solid enough to grab and hold. Touch them wrong, however, and they'll shatter. I move the car forward, cautiously.

First rule of working in the Tactical Operations Center ("TOC"): "The first report is always wrong. Except when it isn't."

My family lives in a small suburb of what the local TV anchors like to call the Des Moines "metro." (By the way, it's locally pronounced "duh-MOY-en." The "s" is silent. So is the other one.) More than 550,000 people live in the 5-county area.

There are more than 3,000 National Guard soldiers--most from the Midwest, and most from Iowa--currently deployed to Afghanistan with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division. If they were all put together in the same place, they'd rival the size of some towns that still dot the agri-industrialized landscape of 21st century Iowa, enclaves of good people and simpler times.

There is no active-duty Army post in the state of Iowa, however, and there is no single geographic concentration of units, families, and training areas that the Red Bull calls home. There is no commissary, or daycare, or post exchange (P.X.) to which everyone goes. There are no dry cleaners, tattoo parlors, package liquor and pay-day loan shops located just outside the main gate.

The largest single military activity in the state is Camp Dodge, in the Des Moines suburb of Johnston.

The state of Iowa is itself like a small town, however. If you don't know somebody, you might know somebody who does. Even if we don't all wear the same uniform, or live and work in the same places.

So when my kindergartner starts casually talking about soldiers and shooting, I go into a parental form of tactical questioning: "Really, when did this happen? ... Why did she tell you that? ... Was she laughing or crying when she said that? ... What is Polly's last name?"

Driving home, trying to figure out what my 6-year-old is thinking or saying, other potential connections are also simultaneously popping up on my mental dashboard. Some of it is signal, most of it is noise:

• A Red Bull soldier was recently injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (I.E.D.) in Laghman Province. I ask myself: Is there a connection?

• Earlier this week, a member of a Missouri National Guard's Agri-Business Development Team (A.D.T.) was killed by an IED in Nangahar Province. That's not the Iowa ADT, nor is it Red Bull territory, but is there a connection?

• Lena has recently been invited to a "military" themed birthday party at a local museum. The birthday boy chose the theme in honor of his Navy veteran dad, who last year committed suicide with a gun. I don't know whether his actions were service-related, and it really doesn't matter. I do know that, while picking up my kids in warmer times, I experienced this boy's little sister announcing to me, to her playground friends, to anyone she encountered: "My daddy shot himself. He's with Jesus now." Is there a connection?

I'm not just spinning my mental wheels for kicks-and-giggles, of course. I'm attempting to figure out if my daughter is upset, or making unwanted or unnecessary associations. After all, I know she still thinks of Daddy as "being in the Army," we obviously have family friends currently in harm's way, and she seems to me overly attentive to TV pictures of tanks and soldiers on those rare occasions they infiltrate our family room. "Daddy, is that show about death?"

Naturally, I also want to know if Polly and her family is somehow in distress.

Of course, it could all be fairy tales and pixie dust. I remember the story-telling games of my own youth, with each kid one-upping each other until we were each descended from astronauts, famous inventors, and Presidents of the United States. And I remember the illogical results of any game of "telephone," in which a given narrative melts and mutates over the course of many re-tellings. It's fun at parties, but maddening to unravel as a parent.

All this is on my mind as I drive down the road, maintaining speed and distance. If there is something to the story, I don't want to react or overreact. I don't want to telegraph my background concerns about the health and welfare of 3,000 of my fellow Midwesterners into spooking the kids. I don't want to drive into a ditch, and I don't want to break the icicle.

Because the first report is always wrong. Except when it isn't.

Making Connections: Events, Terrain, Media, Families

Next week, I plan to return to working through my notes from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division's (2-34th BCT) pre-Afghan training rotation at Fort Irwin, Calif. In the present-day, however, there are a number of recent media reports worthy of note.

As many of you are aware, the Red Bull has been on the move. Some units launched directly into Afghanistan from California. Others returned temporarily to the mobilization station of Camp Shelby, Miss. According to previously published press reports, all 2-34th BCT units are expected to be in country by the upcoming U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

According to the Nov. 11 Des Moines Register, the soldiers of Iowa's 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry "Ironman" Regiment (1/133rd Inf.) have hit the ground running in Afghanistan's Laghman Province. During a recent patrol to meet a local Afghan leader, Ironman soldiers engaged insurgent forces and captured one Taliban leader. The engagement included use of mortar fire and close-air support ("CAS," pronounced "kaz"). Guess all that training in the Mojave paid off.

It's important to remember that political and military conditions can vary greatly even between one Afghan valley and the next, much less between one province and another. In other words, don't read too much into adjacencies.

However, Laghman does share a short border with Kunar Province--the location of Iowa's 734th Agribusiness Development Team (734th A.D.T.)--the "Dirt Warriors." Kunar is also the general location of the 2007 events depicted in the documentary "Restrepo," which is to be released on DVD next month, as well as the books "War" and "Infidel." If you're looking at pictures from any of these sources, MAYBE you're looking at similar conditions, peoples, and terrain to that of Laghman.

Not all the Red Bulls are heading straight into a fight, however. Supporting October comments by the commander of 101st Airborne Division, the commander of Vermont's 86th Brigade Combat Team (86th B.C.T.) indicated that conditions in three other eastern Afghan provinces--Parwan, Panjshir, and Bamiyan--are secure enough to potentially warrant transition to Afghan control.

The 86th BCT, "Task Force Wolverine," is currently transitioning these provinces to the 2-34th BCT, "Task Force Red Bull."

According to a National Guard Bureau press release earlier this week:

"In Panjshir, they just opened up a marble mine factory that is really providing a lot of revenue as well as jobs for the locals," [Col. William Roy, commander 86th BCT] said. Tourism signs are beginning to pop up in Bamyan, he added. The future of Afghanistan lies in small business, Roy said.

"When I was here in 2002, when you went from Kabul to Bagram, there was virtually nothing on the road," he told reporters. "Now, in about an hour-long drive, you get the development all the way along -- businesses growing up, gas stations on the side of the road."

Afghanistan's ability to self-govern is moving slowly, but steadily, Roy said, noting that Bamyan has Afghanistan's only female governor, representing the Hazara population. Panjshir's ministry of agriculture put together a budget, sent it to the central government and received the budget back to put in place in the province, he added. [...]

"The governors that we have in all three of our provinces understand what the requirements are to oversee the needs of the people," Roy said.

"It's the Afghans who are leading the way," he added. "And it's been that way for quite some time."

In related news, the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press reported Wednesday that Roy had indicated "security for two of the provinces under the responsibility of Task Force Wolverine — Panjshir and Bamyan — was turned over to Afghan forces in the past month, a sign of stability in the region. Parwan province, where Bagram Airfield is based, should follow suit soon."

Other connections to be made:

Cedar Rapids, Iowa's KCRG-TV9/The Gazette multimedia reporting team has added an RSS feed to its continued "Operation Enduring Freedom" blog coverage of the 2-34th BCT's mobilization and deployment. If you use a news reader, you know how useful this is for keeping up on the latest.

The KCRG-TV9 team also recently aired two additional reports regarding the Red Bull's training and subsequently deployment from California. Check them out here and here. Consider that your Fort Irwin fix for the day.

Des Moines-area WHO-TV13 has continued its coverage of the Red Bull homefront with its "Iowans at War" series, including stories regarding how families are coping with separations caused by the deployment.

While Steve Hartkopf has been deployed, his wife Sophie Hartkopf has given birth to their first child. (Both Steve and Sophie, by the way, are Iowa National Guard soldiers.) The baby now rocks to sleep to the recorded sounds of Steve's electric guitar.

In other recent "Iowans at War" story, Christine Refsland musters three kids everyday while husband Nik is deployed. The kids try to help each other out where they can, but it's controlled chaos. "My daughters are twelve, eight and four, all going on 16," Nik says in the report.

Text and video at links, above. The amount of helpful, insightful, and friendly media attention being focused on our Red Bull soldiers and families is gratifying. Please check it out when you get a chance.

Wearing the 'Steak Sandwich'

Here's another installment from Red Bull Rising's series titled, "How to Read a Uniform." On the U.S. Army uniform, the unit patch is worn on the left sleeve. As we discussed earlier this week, most of the soldiers currently assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34 BCT) wear the red bull patch designed by artist Marvin Cone in 1917.

The exception is the Nebraska Army National Guard's 1st Squadron, 134th Cavalry Regiment (1/134 Cavalry). They wear the "Pike"--a pole arm similar to a spear, once used by medieval troops--of the 67th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (Bf.S.B.). If I were more clever, I'd make some joke about bullfighting and Picadors, but then I'd also be forced to observe that the bull never seems to do very well in those types of sporting events. Secret memo to self: "Pikes always beat bulls."

Olé!

All 2-34 BCT soldiers, regardless of whether they have the Pike or the Red Bull on their sleeves, will wear Red Bull insignia on their Advanced Combat Helmets (A.C.H.). (See photo, above, for what that looks like.)

U.S. soldiers who have deployed to a combat area are allowed to wear a "Shoulder Sleeve Insignia" patch on their right sleeve, a tradition that goes back to World War I. Rules regarding these "combat patches" have changed a little in recent years, but generally the soldier wears the patch of the lowest-level deployable headquarters to which the soldier was assigned combat duty.

Only the U.S. Army wears combat patches, although recent practice allowed select Army units to wear the insignia of U.S. Marine units under which they had served.

Veterans of the following recent deployments may wear the Red Bull patch on both the left and right sleeves:

• Operation Enduring Freedom (O.E.F.), 2004-2005: Task Force 168 (1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment).
• Operation Iraqi Freedom (O.I.F.), 2005-2007: 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division (1-34 BCT).
• Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2007-2008: 34th Infantry Division Headquarters.

Occasionally, you'll hear the double-bull patch referred to by soldiers as a "steak sandwich." (Get it?! A bull on each side!) I've also heard it called a "doub-bull," and pronounced like those old Saturday Night Live skits about Chicago's Michael Jordan: "DA-bulls!"

(Remember the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agri-business Development Team? They wear Iowa National Guard's "Hawkeye" patch on their left, and now the "Screaming Eagle" of the 101st Airborne Division on their right. Does this qualify as a "chicken sandwich"? Only if you want to start a fight!)

Advice and Assistance on Army Acronyms

There are four inter-related acronyms you need to know in order to understand U.S. strategy and tactics in Afghanistan. Each of these regards methods of advising and assisting Afghans in how to govern, administer, defend, and police their country. Notably, they also relate to some of the unique strengths and capabilities to be found in the U.S. National Guard.

The acronyms are:

• Embedded Training Team (E.T.T.)
• Provincial Reconstruction Team (P.R.T.)
• Agriculture Development Team (A.D.T.)
• Operations Coordination Centers-Provincial (O.C.C.P.)

Embedded Training Teams are 8- to 16-soldier teams tasked with mentoring Afghan military, police, border guards, and civilian counterparts. A number of Red Bull soldiers deploying with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division have previous deployment experiences as ETT members.

In Iraq, the U.S. military call such organizations “MiTTs” (pronounced like the baseball equipment), which stands for “Military Transition Teams.” You could always tell whether a U.S. soldier was talking Iraq or Afghanistan by which acronym they used.

In Afghanistan, NATO allies call their ETTs “Omelettes,” which stands for “Operational Mentor Liaison Teams (OMLT).” As a U.S. soldier, you could find yourself working as part of an OMLT or an ETT, depending on which country was in charge of the mission. Insert "It's a Small World" or "Tower of Babel" joke here.

Provincial Reconstruction Teams (P.R.T.) assist the provincial governor and his (or her) staff on building civilian infrastructure and governance. The teams range in size from 60 to more than 100 civilian and military personnel. The military members of these teams are "joint"--made up of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. Not all PRTs are U.S.-led. Currently in Eastern Afghanistan, for example, there are PRTs from South Korea, New Zealand, Turkey, and the Czech Republic.

In 2005-06, Task Force 1-168 comprised approximately 700 soldiers assigned to the Iowa Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment (1/168 Infantry). These Red Bull soldiers provided security at PRT sites across Afghanistan.

Agriculture Development Teams (A.D.T.)-–also called “Agri-business Development Teams”—are teams of Army and Air National Guard soldiers who have civilian experiences working in agriculture and business. Partnered with U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) employees, U.S. colleges and university extension experts, and Afghan agriculture authorities, these teams work in northern and eastern Afghanistan to help improve crop quality, livestock productivity, and ag-business practices.

Operations Coordination Center-Provincial (pronounced "O.C.C.P.", but spelled "OCC-P.") are teams that work with Afghan police and civil authorities regarding response to natural disasters, crime reduction, and other issues. Given their experiences supporting local and state civil authorities during natural and man-made disasters, National Guard soldiers are very familiar with this type of working relationship and mission.

Ready to put some of this together?
According to one Vermont National Guard soldier currently downrange, his ETT’s duties in Bamiyan Province include:

• Administering contracts and funds on behalf of a New Zealand-led PRT.
• Mentoring Afghan National Police (A.N.P.) personnel.
• Mentoring Bamiyan OCCP personnel.

News from Iowa ... and Iraq

Lots of news about and around the Iowa National Guard this week. And, I'm pleased to report, the Des Moines Register is mostly doing us citizen-soldiers proud this news cycle:

IOWA SOLDIERS TO ASSIST AFGHAN FARMERS

Sure, quoting U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (and former Iowa Gov.) Tom Vilsack regarding the upcoming mission of an Iowa National Guard Argicultural Development Team (A.D.T.) was a little well, corny: "We're not trying to turn Afghanistan into an Iowa cornfield," Vilsack said. "The emphasis will be on traditional agriculture." But hey--it's not like marketing Iowa pork is going to "play in Peoria." Or Paktika. Or Paktiya. Or ... OK, I'm done with the provincial names now.

Vilsack observed that the 60-soldier team from Iowa will be be working to wean Afghan farmers away from growing poppies--which are used in opium production--and toward growing wheat, pomegranates, and saffron. (I don't know about you, but I'm just wild about saffron.)

IOWA SOLDIER PETITIONS AGAINST 'DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL'

University of Iowa student and fellow citizen-soldier Dan Tallon, 21, a political-science major who is slated to deploy to Afghanistan later this summer, recently told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that he plans to petition Iowa lawmakers to avoid enforcing the Department of Defense's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The policy is currently under DOD review; President Obama called for its revocation in his 2010 State of the Union speech.

Tallon is apparently not gay (not that he'd be able to tell, under the "D.A.D.T." policy--and not that it would matter), but has family members who are.

I've served with soldiers that I've known to be gay, and no doubt, there are more that I don't know about. Personally, I figure that if I don't want to have other people poking around in my personal business, I shouldn't go poking around in theirs.

I don't know Tallon, and I don't know his politics. But I'm proud of any citizen who raises his or her hand and pledges to defend the Constitution, prouder still of a college student who has the courage to stand up for what he believes is right, and proudest of all that he is an Iowan and a fellow citizen-soldier. To paraphrase a little faux-Voltaire: "I may not approve of what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it."

IOWA GOV. CULVER SIGNS FOUR VETERANS BILLS

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver signed four bills into law Tues., April 22. According to the Des Moines Register, these were:

Senate File 2226, which will allow a parent is in the U.S. Armed Forces to ask the court to transfer his or her child-visitation rights to another relative while the military member is deployed.

Senate File 2274, extending college benefits for military members and their families living in Iowa or on the Rock Island Arsenal.

Senate Files 2318 and 229, which are intended to improve military readiness by preventing utility companies from shutting off gas or electricity at an activated service member’s home, allow Iowans on active duty suspend payments on their professional liability insurance coverage.

FROM IRAQ WITH LOVE: WRAPPING UP 'MILITARY CHILD MONTH'

In an April 27 essay on the Des Moines Register's opinion pages, Iowa Army National Guard Capt. Tim Mills reflects on April as the "Month of the Military Child." Mills is commander of a public affairs unit currently downrange in Iraq:

When a soldier deploys it affects the whole family. I don't know the total "cost" this deployment will have on my family. Society recognizes there is a cost and many people are quick to shed a tear, shake a hand or share a smile in honor of my service. I'm grateful and will always return a warm thanks. What goes overlooked is that my wife and kids sacrifice the same valuable resource I do--time.

April is the month of the military child, and I want to recognize my kids. I want my kids to know that I realize they've sacrificed a large portion of their young lives to support the work of maintaining America's freedom--and I'm grateful. I want them to know that even though they stand shorter than most men and women in uniform, their love for their country is measured by their heart not their height.

In my absence, my wife continues our noble responsibility of raising four grateful, God-fearing Americans. She teaches them to honor their father's service - a lesson my World War II veteran grandfather taught my mother, which my mother instilled in me and that I hope my children carry on.

During the few days left in April, my hope is that Americans will recognize military children and their support for soldiers.

My kids represent four of them, and I am extremely grateful for their sacrifice.

Amen to that!

Acronym Soup

The military loves acronyms, and each branch of service has to have its own flavors of alphabet soup. Come Thanksgiving, the extended Sherpa family table welcomes Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Army National Guard, all sitting together, making nice, giving thanks, and rarely understanding what the heck the other guy is going on about.

Mostly, that has to do with language. Or maybe it's dialect. Whatever you call it when someone has a different word for practically everything under the Government Issued sun.

If we can't understand each other, how can we possibly fight? The enemy, I mean.

Of course, we do it to ourselves, too. Each service has apparently run out of good acronymns, because now we're recycling them. Consider, for example, my surprise when called to a recent meeting about answering our unit's "RFI," or "Requests for Information." That's what the Army calls formal questions asked on behalf of an entire unit. There were about eight of us in the room, four of whom seemed to want to talk of nothing but uniforms, boots, coats, sweaters and the like. It turned out that the supply guys and gals had been the ones to call the meeting. They wanted to discuss the "Rapid Fielding Initiative."

Same planet, different worlds.

There are other instances, of course. Nearly every year, for example, U.S. National Guard soldiers go on two or three weeks of Active Duty for Training (ADT). In the National Guard, there are also any number of Agribusiness Development Teams (ADT) deploying to assist Afghans with agricultural production and marketing. The Iowa National Guard--both Army and Air--will deploy one such unit later this year.

So, pausing a moment to do some acronymal math: It is theoretically possible for "a deploying ADT to issue an RFI about RFI during ADT."

Got it?

In my current Army training course, a Kentucky Army National Guard officer described his deployment to Iraq with this anecdote. "When they said they needed someone to go as an FSO, I jumped at the opportunity." The gentleman is in the Field Artillery branch, in which "FSO" means "Fire Support Officer."

"It turns out they meant 'Food Service Officer,'" he laughed.

Ouch. Pass the salt?