Dobie and his first day of army duty...

---

THIS BLOG REFLECTS TRAINING ACTIVITIES ONLY…

It has been absolutely crazy since I arrived here in Germany. I thought maybe that I would just be tagging along with soldiers and having the opportunity to take some pictures, catch up on my sleep and have a day or two outside of the military post so I could get a real taste of the German culture. That was a short lived thought though.

I hear, “Dobie, report to the First Sergeant”. I scurred as fast as my little legs would take me. My heart was racing and I was so out of breath by the time I arrived that I had to stand outside his door until I regained my composure. “First Sergeant, reporting as ordered!” My voice was a little shaky, but I stood with confidence. “Dobie, here’s the deal. I really didn’t anticipate needing you on the line for this exercise but we’ve got some shortages of personnel I can’t get around. Soldiers are busy, some are sick, others have additional duties they are trying to fulfill, and the bottom line is…I need one more soldier to help us fill the gaps. Are you available to come and join my company and assist us for the next few days?” How could I turn him down? I had spent all my time at Camp Atterbury training. I have been zapped by tazers, squirted by pepper spray, marched, instructed on how to shoot my weapon and practiced my crowd and riot control techniques. I am so ready to be a soldier. This is my chance to prove to all these soldiers going to Kosovo that I would be an asset to the operation.

“So Dobie, here’s the situation. I want you to man that security tower over at the corner of the property. Let us know if there is any breaches of our main area. This will also allow you to watch the overall picture. If you remember from your recon of the area the other day, the small villages have populated themselves with people who are not very happy about anything. The read of the potential situation is that there is a great possibility of civil unrest. Our job is to quell that unrest and hopefully through our actions we can avoid any riots.”

Wow! He’s trusting me with a lot of information to remember. I took my position in the tower and watched everything around me. Military vehicles were idling, diesel exhaust escaping and lingering in the damp winter air. Soldiers were moving with noticeable purposes to their assigned areas. I could hear the rumble of the tanks as their tracks made contact with the pavement, gears grinding away as they turned corners on a dime. Commanders were directing forces and making plans on the hoods of their vehicles as they gathered as much information from the intelligence reports coming across the radios.

I was amazed about how much could be happening all at the same time. How combat leaders can plan the movement of troops and execute actions on the ground, while the logisticians were mulling over sustainment measures necessary to keep the force rolling. The fueling procedures, how were soldiers to eat during the events, what hygiene requirements were in place to ensure soldiers could continue to operate on a sustained basis for days on end. I was fortunate to be able to see the workings at the ground level.

After a few hours in my tower position I needed a potty break, so I was relieved and ran into the operations center just for a little break. Holy buckets! That was like walking into a bees nest. Soldiers from all ranks where hustling and bustling around. Purpose driven movements were emphasized by the noise of urgent talking. Generals were conducting rehearsals with the operations staff, administrative professionals were coordinating actions with the medical technicians, engineers were doing route studies, and there were people updating maps and the radio operators had the headsets up to their ears listening to the chatter of the units in the field. There were so many technical specialists that I lost count. I could see that everyone was involved in creating a story with words and pictures about what the soldiers on the ground would be facing. I figured I would stop in to see Davina while I was in the area and sure enough her and her planner friends were doing just what I figured. Hunched over the computers, trying to come up with the big plan to execute should events get out of control in the villages. It was not the bustle of the operations center but more like a library atmosphere. In fact the small group was thinking so hard I could almost see the wheels turning in their heads. They call their library like setting the brain trust area of the General, they accomplish this by conducting all the research necessary and presenting an organized plan that the General wants to happen and hopefully all soldiers can understand. Each specialty area is represented in their small group and they truly have to use a special level of constructive synergy to work all the ideas into a executable plan. Honestly, it made my brain hurt just to watch them for a few minutes.

I finally retreated back to my security tower and suddenly realized that right in front of me there was a little squirmish between a few of the local townspeople. It was more of a gathering that got a little out of hand but it was quickly quelled by our soldiers who broke up the small crowd. Gosh, it was impressive to see our very own soldiers dressed in all that protective gear carrying the shields and moving in unison which diverted the conflict for the time being.

Out the corner of my eye I could see a soldier in a leadership position go over to the local village mayor and talk about the issues at hand. That was pretty impressive. The interpreters went into action and they would even try to mimic the hand and facial expressions of the soldier relaying the message. For the moment, all potential disturbances were put at bay and the town went back to normal operations.

The village cafe opened back up, the people moved around freely and the corner chatter could be heard. But something was still lingering in the air. The townpeople were definately not done with their angst. I have a feeling that something is brewing, that our civil disturbances are not done with. I am just excited about being a part of the team. A part of the action. And possibly a part of training history. Must go for now, have lots to be responsible for and I would not want to get caught writing when I should be paying attention to all the stuff going on around me.

Stay tuned...Got a hunch much more training will be occurring in the near future...

REMEMBER...TODAYS BLOG REFLECTS TRAINING ACTIVITIES ONLY…

---