Monday, January 29, 2007

Dynamic and Dusty

Nothing is static out here. Things are constantly changing...and dusty. Dusty and Dynamic if I had to pick only two words. We’re around a group of soldiers to learn a little about them, catch their names and run off and chase something else down.
When we do manage to spend more than a couple hours with them, one thing becomes very clear.

These soldiers have become adapt to an environment that is constantly changing. Plans that are made, require replanning. An open MRE has to wait a little longer to be eaten.

This morning, after an uncomfortable night in the back of a humvee, we awoke to the 3-1 Cav’s Assassin Troop trying to find a creative place to put an antenna for radio communications. They placed themselves well hidden from the enemy, but it also created a communication barrier. After a couple of tries placing the antenna in different locations, which was restricted by an attached cord, they realized they needed to be but a few close yards up a hill. The yards may as well have been miles; They had to completely break down command post to make the move.

So the guys started the task of tearing down camp. Getting half way through the job, a soldier notices a relay antenna tower being put up on a hill far west of our location. And suddenly, they have radio and it’s time to reset camp where it previously had been. A lot of problem solving to end up sitting where you realized the problem.

I don’t envy the jobs these soldiers do. Just the living conditions alone would be enough to make me miss home. I never thought I’d look forward to sleeping on a dusty cot, but after today and the "sleep" I got last night...I’m ready to hit the hay.

    

Roughing it With the Assassins

This one comes from Chris:

If there is one thing I have learned on this trip, it’s this. The life of a Cav Scout is definitely not easy. Sunday night, Ryan and I were out, away from 3-1 Cav’s Forward Operating Base. We were embedded with the 3-1 Cav’s Assassin troop as they held a section of ground out in the desert.

The soldiers set up a command post, which is little more than the unit’s vehicles and an armored personel carrier with a tent attached.

The soldiers hid their position from any enemy insurgents, but they weren’t able to hide us from the weather. The temperatures must have been in the 30’s, and there was little to protect us from the cold.

Soldiers slept wherever they could. Some were lucky, like the medics. They were able to bed down in their tracked vehicle, with a heater on. Some soldiers were able to snag cots in the tents.

Ryan and I were able to snag the back seats in one of the humvees. We’d wake up every so often, crank the humvee’s engine and enjoy the heater.

Some soldiers weren’t quite as lucky. They found themselves on the ground, in sleeping bags.

But, the morning light, brought warmth and a new adventure.

Ryan and I linked up with Assassin Troop’s Red Platoon. We spent the afternoon chasing down IEDs and overwatching one of the main roads here at the National Training Center.

Tonight, we’re taking it easy, preparing ourselves for another day which promises to be eventful.

  

Quick Thanks

Ryan and I want to say a quick thanks to all of you who have written us e-mails and left comments.

We’re sorry we haven’t posted with any regularity, or responded to your e-mails.  Internet access is very hard to come by around here.

So, enjoy our most recent entries, and keep checking back for updates.

“Iraqi” Life

Here’s another one from Ryan…

It’s cold. Real cold. I don’t care what the actual temperature is, I just know I cannot feel my legs. The troops in 3-1’s Alpha Troop seem to know how to deal with it much better than I do. When you hear someone is ‘a soldier,’ you assume the person does alot of physical, labor intensive work. I’ve quickly learned it’s much more than I originally thought and I’m not sure I would have ever been able to without seeing it out here at Ft. Irwin.

In one of the Iraqi ‘towns’ I found an interesting way to spend two weeks. The role players there are made up of soldiers and people hired to act as Iraqis. They live in a series of makeshift buildings arranged in a city setting. It resembles a fort a ten year old dreams of building in his back yard. When they need a new building, the build it. When they need a dining table, they build it. When the basketball goal’s backboard cracks, they fix it. It was actually kind of peaceful to hang out and not really think about anything of any importance for an hour or so.

I’m ready to go to sleep and wake up with some sun shining. It’s cold and it’s hard to shoot any video without any light!

   

   

Sunday, January 28, 2007

An Attack on the Cav Scouts

It’s been another exciting day here at the National Training Center.

We’ve moved from the main 3rd Brigade Headquarters over to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Dallas, the home for 3-1 Cavalry.

The day started off quietly. After breakfast, Ryan and I headed out to shoot some stories on some of the support soldiers. Those are the guy who fuel the tanks and trucks cook the meals and generally take care of all the work that has to be done.

While we were working on that, we heard gunfire and an explosion from the front gate. Apparently the role-playing insurgents here detonated what soldiers call an IED, or Improvised Explosive Device.

What followed was a blur, as soldiers converged on the front gate, to help those that were injured and restore security.

After what turned out to be an exciting morning, we headed out for a scheduled interview with Colonel Steven Salazar. Salazar is the Commander of the NTC Operations Group. He’s also the former commander of the Sledgehammer Brigade.

Tonight, we’re back with 3-1 Cav’s Alpha Troop. We’re spending the night off the FOB, with Alpha Troop in the middle of the desert. It’s promises to be a cold, long night, but it’s important for Ryan and I to get a clear picture of what life is like for these soldiers.

   

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Ryan’s First Impressions

A few days before we departed for Fort Irwin, I was told we would be without running water for eight days. This means I’d be brushing my teeth with water from a water bottle for our time in California, and...hey...wait a second, that means no shower?!

Yes, I am approaching day two without a shower. Things aren’t smelling so bad, well not yet anyways. The sudden showerless surprise was coupled with a positive change of events however; rather than eating MREs like I had prepared myself to do for the span of our trip, there is a ‘chow’ tent with fresh, warm, prepared food two times a day. Tonight was Beef Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes, tomorrow morning I hear is steak and eggs. So, I face my loss of cleanliness with a full and happy stomach.

The desert out here is remarkable. I’ve grown up on the east coast and have never made it out this far west. You can see for miles, until your eyes hit giant mounds of earth that are placed in seemingly random places by nature. We drove in from Las Vegas in the middle of the night, so when I woke up this morning I was floored by what the sunrise was sharing with me. I feel very fortunate to be given this oppurtunity to come out here. I’m seeing and will soon be smelling, things I haven’t encountered before and am excited about what the rest of the week will bring.

  

Welcome to Fort Irwin

After a long flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas and a long drive from Las Vegas to Fort Irwin, Ryan and I are finally here with the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade at the National Training Center.

We’ve already met with the 3rd Brigade’s Public Affairs Officer, Major Joe Sowers.  He got us briefed on what’s going on, and how we can hit the ground running first thing in the morning.

We’re spending the night near the 3rd Brigade Headquarters and let me tell you, the living is quite spartan.

Home for the night is a large tent with a bunch of guys in it.  We’re all sleeping on cots and rumor has it, nobody’s showered in quite some time.  Fortunately, the tent is heated, because it’s pretty cold out here in the California desert tonight.

Interestingly, there are a few other reporters here, embedded with the 3rd Brigade during their training.  We met a TV news crew out of Finland when we arrived tonight and apparently there is a French TV crew here as well.  Without a doubt, there are a lot of eyes on these soldiers as they prepare to deploy to Iraq.

It has been a long day so I’ll sign off for the night.

Check back for more tomorrow!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

3rd ID CG Speaks Out

Major General Rick Lynch, Commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, is speaking out.  He says war-weary Americans should “quit complaining”.

Here’s the article.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Inaugural Post

Welcome to HammerSlogger, your online home for coverage of Fort Benning’s 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

So, what is HammerSlogger?

We’ll start with the name.

“Hammer” is derived from the 3rd Brigade’s nickname, Sledgehammer.  That’s fairly intuitive.

“Slogger” on the other hand, needs a little bit of explanation.

The dictionary lists the following definition for “slog”: “A long session of hard work”.  For the folks who work on HammerSlogger, that’s exactly what we do.

The soldiers of the 3rd Brigade face an incredible task as they prepare to deploy to Iraq.  As the sloggers, we intend to devote ourselves to covering the preparation and deployment of these soldiers.

Later this month, I will leave for Fort Irwin, California and the National Training Center along with photojournalist Ryan Mellick.  There, we will be embedded with the Sledgehammer Brigade as they train for their deployment to Iraq in mid-March.

So, who are the sloggers?

The primary sloggers are myself, and Ryan.  We’ll be the ones on the ground with the soldiers as they prepare to deploy.  We’ll also be keeping tabs on the soldiers during their time in Iraq.  But, if you check back with the HammerSlogger, you’ll also find entries written by soldiers themselves, family members, or anybody else who wants to make a contribution either through their comments or by sending me an .

We hope you’ll join us in the online voyage as we slog through Iraq with the soldiers of the Sledgehammer Brigade.