Becoming the norm...
Again with the much belated postings. Lots has been going on. The quick synopsis: My platoon rejoined D Co, A Co moved out into the Market in their Combat OutPost (COP) permanently, they promptly lost 3 KIA, my platoon assumed a new mission. Oh...and we got extended out until mid January next year...Yay!
Whew. So first off, my platoon is back with D Co. Almost immediately upon getting back with them, CPT Bednar's time was up and we were assigned CPT Koontz. The guys are glad to be back with D Co...more "home" to them now I suppose. With that change came the new mission set for us. Basically it boils down to sitting on a road right now. More to come at some point...but for now lazy days watching a road. Ironically the bad guys are a click away to the east...just not a pleasant or smart place for anyone to roam (last unit lost 3 Abrams tanks going over that way...75 tons of armor opposed to the 7 ton Humvee I'm in...hmm...)
As we parted A Co, they moved out into the Market into their COP (the one we were supposed to occupy was taken by another unit, so we stayed in the FOB). They continued their Market patrols but also picked up a couple neighborhoods that were previously covered by B Co. To say B Co wasn't in them enough is an understatement. A Co's been paying the price. They lost 3 guys within 4 days. Right now they're barely able to do missions because of a lack of working trucks. So keep those guys in your thoughts. The KIAs: SGT Joe Polo, SPC Walter Freeman, PFC Derek Gibson (his myspace page...the messages left by friends there tells more than a newspaper article could). The last two were in the platoon I brought over here before joining D Co.
Finally...good ole extension. They say it's a necessary thing. They say it'll be a good thing in the long run. I tend to disagree. It'll be detrimental to the Army in the long run. They've been running with great re-enlistment numbers lately. With the outlook now being 15months deployed 12 months at home (of which, 6 of that is spent preparing heavily for the next deployment...to include 2-3 months at NTC), the numbers will falter. The impact on morale has been noticeable from the minute the announcement was made...come next holiday season, it'll be detrimental to both the soldiers and their families. Hopefully the highers up will end up reconsidering...if not...they better prepare for a mass exodus upon redeployment of units.
Whew. So first off, my platoon is back with D Co. Almost immediately upon getting back with them, CPT Bednar's time was up and we were assigned CPT Koontz. The guys are glad to be back with D Co...more "home" to them now I suppose. With that change came the new mission set for us. Basically it boils down to sitting on a road right now. More to come at some point...but for now lazy days watching a road. Ironically the bad guys are a click away to the east...just not a pleasant or smart place for anyone to roam (last unit lost 3 Abrams tanks going over that way...75 tons of armor opposed to the 7 ton Humvee I'm in...hmm...)
As we parted A Co, they moved out into the Market into their COP (the one we were supposed to occupy was taken by another unit, so we stayed in the FOB). They continued their Market patrols but also picked up a couple neighborhoods that were previously covered by B Co. To say B Co wasn't in them enough is an understatement. A Co's been paying the price. They lost 3 guys within 4 days. Right now they're barely able to do missions because of a lack of working trucks. So keep those guys in your thoughts. The KIAs: SGT Joe Polo, SPC Walter Freeman, PFC Derek Gibson (his myspace page...the messages left by friends there tells more than a newspaper article could). The last two were in the platoon I brought over here before joining D Co.
Finally...good ole extension. They say it's a necessary thing. They say it'll be a good thing in the long run. I tend to disagree. It'll be detrimental to the Army in the long run. They've been running with great re-enlistment numbers lately. With the outlook now being 15months deployed 12 months at home (of which, 6 of that is spent preparing heavily for the next deployment...to include 2-3 months at NTC), the numbers will falter. The impact on morale has been noticeable from the minute the announcement was made...come next holiday season, it'll be detrimental to both the soldiers and their families. Hopefully the highers up will end up reconsidering...if not...they better prepare for a mass exodus upon redeployment of units.
posted by Robert Plummer at 8:39 AM
6 Comments:
I am upset about the extension as you know, but I am here, missing you and waiting patiently on your return(in a month we will be snuggeling on the couch:))
any pictures of the road you are guarding?
Krisy
Hey man,
Good luck to all of you. Is there anything y'all need? If there is please shoot me an email and I'll see what I can do. Some of us old soldiers would like to help out y'all that are out there on the sharp end. God bless you all and war eagle.
mlambert@elmore.rr.com
We are so bummed you will miss another holiday season! I know all of you guys are so disappointed. Thanks for the updates - sounds like it's been a very difficult time. We miss you.
Wendy & Family
We are so sad that you aren't able to return until January!! We're looking forward to seeing you during your trip home!
Melissa
Glad to see you are able to write again, and back to doing boring stuff. Praying for you and so, so proud,
Sarah
Glad to hear you are doing ok. very sad to hear about the extension. Stay safe.
Dudley
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