[August 11, 2025] The weather in the latter half of April was heating up and our Engineer effort was as well. There is nothing like inbound American BCTs on a fixed, but secret timeline (I was on the “need to know” list) to motivate us. Our Engineer missions at a variety of bases, large and small, had to… Read More »
[July 25, 2025] That Wednesday morning began cool, with lightning, thunder, and rain beginning around 0230 hours. This was great for plants but hard on our construction efforts in the Iraq War. The reason was the mud, and not just any mud, but mud made of extremely fine particulate. It was stuck like glue to anything it came… Read More »
[July 10, 2025] The early morning of Thursday, 5 April 2007, was among the nicer weather days of the year. “Clear and cool” is what I jotted down in my notebook. A nice, cool day was rare, and so we would enjoy it while it lasted. Because building Coalition facilities was a precondition for the success of the… Read More »
[June 17, 2025] Shortly before I retired from the U.S. Army, I wrote an article about a great hero of the South Korean people. His name was Paik, Sun Yup (백선엽), and he was a true hero. The Korean War is known in America as the “forgotten war” because most Americans, unfortunately, do not know about it. Sadly,… Read More »
[June 16, 2025] Being selected as the new Facilities Chief in C-7 (Engineers) was a true honor. My section would be the lead effort for the Coalition Engineering effort at this stage of the Iraq War. Other than Route clearance of IEDs, which was a relatively new and smaller Engineer mission, Construction and Reconstruction were the highest visible… Read More »
[May 16, 2025] My favorite opinion writer in the New York Post, Miranda Devine, has slammed a home run with her latest piece on the lies and cover-up of Joe Biden’s cognitive implosion. “She writes that this massive gaslighting by the media was a purposeful design to get Biden re-elected and make Democrats look good before the 2024… Read More »
[May 9, 2025] The most forgettable speeches ever heard are from college commencement speakers. Whether it is from the alcohol hangover from the night before, the cell phone texting, or just the fun of being with your friends and doing something important, those speeches never seem to do us any good. Many are, however, full of very useful… Read More »
[May 3, 2025] What we called our “Battle Rhythm” was the formalized daily cycle (or pace) at which the command staff, at all levels, worked. The idea was to synchronize future combat and support operations. It worked, but the effort was grueling, complex, structured, and generated a massive set of taskers that had to be cross-referenced and tracked.… Read More »
[May 1, 2025] One of our major challenges as an occupying military force in Iraq was to keep major SWET (Sewer, Water, Electricity, Trash) services online. Back in 2005, a mere two years earlier, the 1st Cavalry Division developed operational tasks for its BCTs as we transitioned from primary combat to what is called Stability Operations. A combat… Read More »
[March 30, 2025] The good news was that by the end of February, the weather in Iraq was getting nice, with clear skies and temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s. Of course, with Surge units about to arrive and construction in full swing, I was moving about Iraq, seeing how this construction was progressing. There is… Read More »