Playing Combat Doctor on TV

FORT IRWIN, Calif., Sept. 27--The media circus has successfully hopped from Forward Operating Base ("FOB") Denver to FOB King, where tomorrow morning we'll split up and hitchhike to opposite ends of the battlefield. The visiting TV crews have milked the remaining desert daylight to record their first video postcards home, and now we're stumbling around the logistical hub of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) in search of some more stories before bedtime.

FOB King is the temporary National Training Center home to the 334th Brigade Support Battalion, a unit comprising the brigade's transporters, maintainers, and medical professionals in its respective "Alpha," "Bravo," and "Charlie" companies.

The medical company, affectionately known as "Charlie-Med," is one level of care up from the "aid stations" found in the warfighting battalions. Out there, the medical mission is to patch 'em up good enough to get them here. There's a pharmacy here, and an X-ray machine. In addition to trauma specialists, Charlie-Med also has behavioral-health and physical-therapy professionals on staff. If they can't fix you here, they stabilize you and get you as fast as they can to an even higher-care hospital.

We roll into Charlie-Med's emergency room to find nothing but bright lights, clean floors, and a crew ready to go off-shift. The medics are game, however, to run through an impromptu full-speed training event while on camera. "It'll be hard to go back to 'real world,'" one of the journalists says later. "There's a story every step out here. Back home, we have to chase them."

Staff Sgt. Laura Schlitz of Osceola volunteers to be the patient, a simulated lower leg amputation. Looking on as the cameras are rolling, Staff Sgt. Jessica Beswick winces and chuckles with every needle stick that's attempted on her colleague. "She's so small, they're having a hard time finding a vein," the Iowa City soldier explains. "It's good training, particularly for working on Afghan patients."

After the simulation, one of the journalists asks a hard question, one about the possibility of losing patients.

"We tell people we do everything we can do," says Capt. Sean Bigler, a physician's assistant from McCook Lake, S.D. Bigler is in charge of the team receiving this evening's simulated patient. "We try to give them hope, we try to give them the faith that we will do everything that we can do to help them." It is a moment of realism and reflection, but one that quickly evaporates with a cheerful, confident smile.

That smile persists, by the way, even after Bigler realizes that his cherished University of Nebraska flag--he's a graduate--has been reversed by some Charlie-Med pranksters. Someone observes that Husker handwriting looks an awful lot like prescription pad scribbles.

For the record, Bigler says that, for show purposes, he would've chosen a different patient. "We should have gotten one of those big, beefy Midwestern Guys. We could've rolled him around the dirt and gotten him messy," says the doc. He nods toward the cameras, eyes gleaming. "Of course, what I really want to do is direct ... Doesn't everyone?"

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Want to see more of this training event? Check out print and video stories from KCRG-TV9/The Cedar Rapids Gazette here, and from WHO-TV13 here.

Afghan Trainer: Values More Important than Tactics

Editor’s note: In 2007, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Courter and 15 other Illinois National Guard soldiers deployed to an Embedded Training Team (E.T.T.) mission in the Wor Mamay district, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. Along with three other ETT members, he helped mentor a company of 35 Afghan Border Police (A.B.P.).

Since his deployment, Courter, now an Illinois National Guard recruiter and part-time seminary student, Courter has continued to wrestle with questions and insights he gathered in Afghanistan.

In 2008, he self-published his “Afghan Journal” notes as a book (available as paperback and in Amazon Kindle format), and continues to blog at: www.lifeloveandtruth.com.

Red Bull Rising invited Courter to share his thoughts with the recently deployed soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division. Some Red Bull soldiers will directly mentor Afghan police and army units. Others will fight alongside and support them.

*****

By Jeff Courter
To be effective at “how” we fight, we should begin with “why.” Some warriors emphasize tactics, and ignore the reasons we’re on the battlefield in the first place--as if they’re independent variables. They’re not. The right values can be the greatest tactical advantage of all, especially in Afghanistan. That’s because soldiers--whether U.S. or Afghan--will fight harder and longer when motivated for the right reasons.

Young soldiers may roll their eyes when old warhorse NCOs trot out the seven Army Values--“Loyalty. Duty. Respect. Selfless Service. Honor. Integrity. Personal Courage.” But face it: Values work. They work for individuals, as well as entire armies.

Sharing these principles with our Afghan colleagues is mission-critical.

Granted, progress may not be swift. It may even span generations. Whether you frame this conflict as multiple small wars--or a single very long one--the road to constructive, sustainable change won’t be straight, and can’t be hurried. Our enemies are patient, committed and ruthless. We must be patient, committed, and valorous.

Not all of your new Afghan colleagues may share your values or professionalism, but that shouldn’t deter you. Let your actions do the talking, no matter your assignment or situation. To paraphrase General Petraeus:

“Regular training teams can’t be everywhere, so units must help enforce local military standards, enable performance, and monitor for abuses and inefficiencies. Any coalition unit working with local security forces will be studied, emulated and copied--for better or worse. Therefore, we must always set the example. Any coalition unit operating alongside local security forces is performing a mentoring, training, and example-setting role.”

Think of Afghanistan as the Wild West. Think of the Taliban as a bunch of outlaws. And recognize that most Afghans are innocent townspeople, who just want to stay out of the line of fire.

During my tour, our larger mission was to secure the area from Taliban activities. We conducted hundreds of “presence patrols” among local villages. The ABP always joined us, to “put an Afghan face” on our operations. They were also there to learn first-hand how persistent police visibility can disrupt insurgent activities.

When our convoys rolled in and our ABP colleagues offered food, clothing, school supplies and medical assistance, villagers often greeted us warmly. But cautious tribal elders sometimes tempered their response, for fear of Taliban reprisals. Chieftains explained that Taliban fighters would steal into their villages at night and threaten them with violence. Some elders even spoke in hushed tones, fearful of being overheard.

Once, we circled back to a village that we had visited only days before. Surprisingly, we found a ghost town. While there, our unit repelled an ambush from an overlooking hill.
Later, we learned that Taliban fighters had stormed the village after our initial visit, demanding payment from the chieftain. When he refused, they threatened to kill him on the spot--until he placed a Quran on the ground and claimed that their actions violated Islam.

The thugs backed off, but promised to kill him if he and his family remained. That night, he packed his belongings and led his entire village to a distant hamlet. The Taliban simply waited for our return to the village, assuming we would investigate reports of its abandonment.

In many ways, the real enemy in Afghanistan is fear. The Taliban feed on it. But by demonstrating our values, by protecting people, and by “closing with and destroying” the bad guys, we deny our enemies an environment where fear can grow. It all begins with a spirit of trust.

When a seasoned U.S. law enforcement officer visited our Forward Operating Base ("FOB"), he emphasized the importance of gaining trust from the local community. Here’s his two-pronged approach:

• Give local Afghans a reason to believe that, whenever they share intelligence, you’ll respond as quickly and decisively as possible. It’s not about arriving immediately every time you’re called. That’s unrealistic. Rather, it’s about proving, over time, that you’ll strive to do your best when needed.

• Police can’t fight crime everywhere, simultaneously. So, when your resources are assigned to a specific area, stay focused on that area. Take control of territory you hold, and deny the enemy an opportunity to move freely in that space. It’s less about eliminating the Taliban altogether, and more about stopping them from operating in your local environment. Eventually, they’ll move on.

Bottom line: It’s not rocket science. It’s about walking a beat. It’s about making people feel safe, because you’re there when it matters.

Let me tell you about one day when it mattered:

Early one morning at our FOB, there was a commotion at the front gate, as a young man sought medical assistance for his very pregnant wife. Their young son had accidentally shot his mother with an AK-47. The bullet had ripped a hole through her abdomen, and intestines were spilling from her side.

Our medic was in his early 20s. Although he’d been trained to treat combat wounds when emotions are running high, he wasn’t prepared for this. As we waited for a MEDEVAC helicopter to airlift the woman to a hospital, “Doc” did his best to stabilize his patient. Language and cultural norms were a huge problem. Whenever Doc uncovered part of the woman's body, her husband rapidly covered it back up. Eventually, Doc blindly bandaged the wound from beneath a blanket.

The clock was ticking. Time was running out. The woman was nine months pregnant, and both she and her baby were in critical condition. Family members began to argue about whether she should be left to die at home, rather than being evacuated. Our ABP trainees stood-by throughout, ensuring crowd control and helping to maintain calm.

An hour later, the chopper swooped down and left in a cloud of dust, lifting its precious cargo along with our hopes and prayers. Later that afternoon, we received a radio update – mother and child were fine. We rejoiced along with the ABP. Their commander thanked us, insisting that our actions proved to local villagers that “America is good!”

That day, values mattered. That day, we scored a victory, without firing a single shot. We beat the devil at his own game. And we helped a woman and her baby cheat death.

Along the way, we forged a new level of trust.

It was glorious.

Transitions, Transitions

Benjamin Franklin once famously said, "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days."

The same thing goes for replacement troops.

When the new guys come to town to take over a mission, the Army calls it a "RIP-TOA" (pronounced "rip-towah"). The conjoined-acronym stands for a "Relief in Place" and "Transfer of Authority."

In theory, there's supposed to be plenty of time scheduled for a "left-seat, right-seat" ride, when the old guys show the new guys around. They drive their successors around for a few days, introducing them to the people with whom they'll be working. Then, they take the proverbial right-hand seat, answering any remaining questions, and let the new guy drive.

In practice, however, there's not always time enough for a good transition. The Army Transportation Fairy is a fickle beast, for example. There are plenty of war stories about replacements shaking hands with their predecessors while passing on the tarmac. One gets off the aircraft, the other gets on. Sometimes, they don't meet at all.

Of course, you can have too much togetherness, too.

"It's like having family over for an extended holiday dinner," brigade commander Col. Ben Corell warned his staff back in August, while his 2nd Brigade Command Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division had not even yet left for Afghanistan. "They're going to be looking at us thinking we're all dorked up and never going to get it right, and we're going to be looking at them wishing they would just leave so that we can get on with doing this mission."

Iowa National Guard spokespeople have said the Red Bull would be in place not later than Thanksgiving. Recently, Vermont National Guard officials announced that most members of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team would be home before Christmas. The transition is obviously well under way. In some places, it may even be complete: Task Force Lethal--made up of Red Bull soldiers from 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment (1/168th Inf.) and others--recently conducted a Transfer of Authority ceremony at Forward Operating Base Gardez, Paktya Province.

Back in August, Corell's objectives were simple: No degradation of capability during the hand-offs between units, with a seamless transition apparent to both outside and inside observers.

Here's hoping that your Thanksgiving holiday went just as smoothly ...

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Here's yet another Red Bull blog! Titled "From the Home Front to the Front Line," the blog is co-written by a deployed Red Bull soldier Jake and his wife Emily. This is their second deployment, and they are full of good words and good humor.

As Emily wrote, back in 2000: "Childbirth and skydiving seem like cake to this relationship!"

The picture of a Kevlar-cradled baby is alone worth the price of admission, and I have shamelessly borrowed it here. Emily and Jake invite others to remember our fellow Red Bull families with the words of Psalm 91.

I've listed the blog temporarily under "Love, Honor & Support" until I revise my blog-roll categories in the next few weeks. Perhaps we'll find more Red Bull bloggers?

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Speaking of which, if you are a Red Bull soldier or family member who would also like to publicly share a deployment-related blog, please let me know at: sherpa [at] redbullrising.com.

If you are a Red Bull soldier or family member interested in sharing your written thoughts or words about the deployment in the form of a guest blog-post, please let me know at the same address.

Along those lines, I am pleased to announce that former Afghan trainer Jeff Courter, author of the book "Afghan Journal" and the blog "Life, Love & Truth," will present a guest-post on Red Bull Rising next Monday. Courter isn't a Red Bull soldier. After this, however, we might have to make him an honorary one.

He's going to write about the value of the Army values in pursuing the Afghan mission.

Think of it as our own "left-seat, right-seat" ride ...