The grunt

The average age of an American infantry soldier is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father’s; but he has never collected unemployment either. He’s a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm Howitzers. He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less-in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you’re thirsty, he’ll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He’ll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low. He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to ’square-away’ those around him who haven’t bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years. He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

- Jay

January 5, 2009 | Filed Under Army, Random | Leave a Comment 

Army schedules first execution in decades

Die FUCKER!

The Army has scheduled the execution of Pvt. Ronald A. Gray for Dec. 10, 2008, at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1988, a court-martial panel sitting at Fort Bragg, N.C., convicted Pvt. Gray by unanimous vote of committing crimes in 1986 and 1987 in the Fayetteville, N.C. area — to include two murders, an attempted murder, and three rapes. The court-martial panel sentenced him to death for these crimes.

The Secretary of the Army directed that Pvt. Gray be executed by lethal injection, and the Army will be responsible for conducting the execution at the Terre Haute facility based on an agreement with the Bureau of Prisons.

Only the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can approve the execution of a death sentence [Article 71(a), Uniform Code of Military Justice]. On July 28, 2008, the President approved the death sentence in the case of the United States v Ronald A. Gray. The President took action following completion of a full appellate process, which upheld the conviction and sentence to death. Two petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court were denied during the appellate processing of Pvt. Gray’s case.
Pvt. Gray is currently housed in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

http://www. army. mil/-newsreleases/2008/11/20/14393-army-schedules-date-for-execution-of-pvt-ronald-a-gray/

- Jay

November 21, 2008 | Filed Under Army | Leave a Comment 

The Iraq/U.S pact

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thousands of followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets on Saturday in a demonstration against a pact that would allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq for three more years. Read more here.

Sweet. So i guess i have a deployment or two guaranteed in the next 3 years. In case you don’t know who Muqtada al-sadr is, he’s been one of the biggest thorns in America’s side ever since Saddam’s execution. A theologian, political leader and commander of the militia army the Mahdi Army, he commands a great deal of influence in Iraq despite not holding an official seat in the Iraqi government. He envisions a Shi‘a-dominated government and many Iraqis respect his vision because they see in him a symbol of resistance to foreign occupation even though he is widely known to be a puppet for Iran in achieving political influence in the country.

Though the pact guarantees a definite withdrawal of U.S troops by the end of 2011, there are controversial stipulations alluding to American service members who commited serious crimes against Iraqis whilst off duty, that they be tried by Iraqi courts. I can already see stiff opposition coming from servicemembers, myself included, against this particular accord. Hell if it were one of my guys being faced with the possibility of being tried by an Iraqi court, i’d do whatever it would take to prevent that regardless of the nature of his crime. Yes, what he did was wrong but i’d rather he be tried by a military court martial under UCMJ than be subject to prosecution by Iraqis. Though the accord doesn’t state that the soldier on trial, if found guilty of his crimes, would spend time in an Iraqi prison, it’s the principle that matters. As an American, i steadfastly refuse to recognize any Iraqi that would try to pass judgement on me. Likewise to Afghanis. Fuck that shit! Why don’t they fly cockmaster Bush out here and see how much he would like being judged by a people that have always been an enemy to the red, white and blue. We’ve sacrificed enough in waging an illegitimate war, in a country that would rather rot under her own corruption and foul governance than take steps to significantly improving herself. The least our government could do is give these servicemembers the benefit of being tried by Americans.

I digress.

- Jay

October 19, 2008 | Filed Under Army, Iraq | Leave a Comment 

I see you

Silly insurgents! You should know better than to try to shadily record the movements of American convoys to and from the FOB. We are watching you watching us mofos. lol. These fuckers never learn. I guess they don’t realize that we can do a little counter surveillance of our own. And maybe a little car tailing… from the air. lol It’ll be soon time to send some more sorry wannabe jihadists to meet the mighty Allah. Sorry bro, but there’ll be no virgins waiting for you in my paradise. Just a whole lot of hurt and a shit ton of disgrace served compliments of the U.S infantry.

So i’m steadily running out of cowboy killas again. I’m down to my last carton of Reds as of yesternight. I certainly hope my next care package gets here soon cos I could definitely use with a much needed replenishment of my cigarette stock. I don’t think i smoke alot. I mean, i only smoke a half pack a day so that’s nothing compared to these other guys that smoke a whole pack on a four hour guard shift. But then again, unlike my Joes, i don’t spend 4 mindless hours on the guard tower or at a sniper’s nest with nothing better to do than scan the surrounding area for suspicious activity and puff on cancer sticks. I think if i was pulled off SOG duty and made to pull guard, maybe i too would be going through a pack or two a day. Fuck it. What do i care? I can still run a 12 minute, 2 mile pace pretty easy. Yes i do PT in the desert. It builds character.

It never ceases to amaze me just how much fun bored soldiers can get into especially out in the middle of the desert. I wish i could record some of the everyday conversations we have out here. The shit we talk about is enough to drop a whore down on her knees in… no not that position… but in prayer. lol. Any combat tested Grunt can atest to this. You get bored enough, you start thinking WAYYYY outside the box about the most random, retarded, gruesome, racial, sexual, disgusting thing that your mind can imagine. Group a bunch of similarly bored, like-minded, alcohol abstained, Grunts together and you get a reflection of a sinner’s hell on earth complete with hellfire-esque heat and no cable tv. If only you could hear our convo now. And to think we’re doing all this sober. lol

- Jay

October 16, 2008 | Filed Under Army, Iraq, Life | Leave a Comment 

A tragic case of friendly fire

The following is recently released frontline footage taken from the helmet cam of SFC. Jack Robison which shows what really happened Dec. 4 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq where 2 soldiers (PFC. Albert Nelson and PFC. Roger Suarez-Gonzalez) both with 2nd Platoon, D Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division were killed when they were fired upon by U.S tanks in a horrific case of friendly fire. The video shown (a 12 minute edited version) begins immediately before the shell’s impact. It records the explosion, the effort to help the wounded (in bloody detail) and long patches of conversation in which the soldiers present describe how they were shot at by an American tank. The incident was apparently covered up by the military citing that an enemy mortar attack had instead killed the 2 soldiers. More on the coverup here. Warning: Contains graphic violence and profanity.

It is very unfortunate that friendly fire is an inevitable consequence of warfare. RIP to all that have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of this nation.

-Jay

October 14, 2008 | Filed Under Army | Leave a Comment