Kelly Smith Weblog Aficionado: Just a guy vs. Life

Al Furat, Muhalla 893, Baghdad Province, March 13th, 2007....Sniper....[PART 1] On March 13th, 2007 the day seemed like every other day in Iraq.....hot and dreary. The winter was over, the rains had stopped, and the temperature was climbing back toward the unforgiving and miserable level that it had been when we first arrived. I was the 1st Platoon Leader of Alpha Company 1-149th IN. My platoon was in charge of patrolling Al Furat, Al Maksasib, a tiny sliver of Al Jihad, the operating space of AO Mutt, and a daily route clearance on stretches of Route Yankee and MSR Tampa. (This intersection of both places was once called the most dangerous intersection in the world because of all of the IED emplacement.) In addition to this, a small contingent of my platoon was tasked with operating ECP 7 which was the entry point for military convoys onto Victory Base Complex. What was unusual about this day was the fact that I was on the FOB in a Company meeting and my platoon Sergeant was out on pa...

Sometimes I wish I were back..... Back in what is familiar. The sights, the sounds, the stench, the heat, the utter drudgery of Southwest Baghdad. Now that I have been back for over six months I wish that I could go back. I wish I could go back and do it all over. Because maybe if I did something different over there, things would okay over here.....

Catharsis..... Since I have been back I have found myself unable, or unwilling to post pictures of SW Baghdad on my blog. And, "No" nothing to do with the "cynical vet" mystique. In all actuality, it could be laziness, but I am not sure. I just found that I didn't have the enery to do so. Looking back, however, I realize that I just finished with the BEST and WORST job in the Army. I miss the guys so much... Now I have gone from Rifle Platoon Leader to OTI (For those of you who didn't know. There are two jobs in the Army.....Infantry, and Other Than Infantry. I was born signal...transferred to Infantry, and am now a Signal Company Commander. Until the next iteration...here is the high point of my tour....when it was over, and I knew everyone was going home alive. Me, Stone (MY RTO), and SGT Bogonko (One of my Squad Leaders) Waiting on a flight home at Ali Al Salim Airbase.... SSG Gass (from 2nd Platoon), Doc Basham (My medic from 1st Platoon), and Me. Imme...

Unbelievable.... Sitting at an informal military gathering, many drinks were purchased and downed. One superior Officer, (in rank only.....because he has been in longer than me and the system hasn't flushed the turd), made the statement, "Yes, I know I am cheap...but hey, I don't apologize for being "Niggardly" (Italics and underline is indicative of his inflection on the word). Being the only Black Officer in the Officer call, and one of three in the battalion I just looked down and pondered my drink. A hush fell over the members of the table..... I chuckled. He says.... "Let me guess, Smith...you think I am prejudiced because I said, "niggardly"? I reply..... "No Sir, I think you are prejudiced because you assumed I didn't know what the fuckin' word meant." He was mad. I couldn't make this up folks.

Repeal Day.... December 5th, 1933 was the day that Prohibition was repealed. At 2100 hours on that day, in honor of that amendment, local establishments began serving spirits. Kinda cool......at that point, the Mob had to look for other sources of income. I think I'm gonna go get a Maker's and Coke ....

Memorial Day 2007 How should Memorial Day be celebrated? I am not sure, as a veteran, and fortunately as a leader who has not lost a man in this miserable conflict, I can't tell you. I did think of all who have died to date, and I even said a prayer for them before I rolled out yesterday. But, in catching the fleeting news glimpses on AFN while I was in the chow hall, it seems as if those on the campaign trail are using this day to prove some particular point. I couldn't tell you how they should be observing Memorial Day, but I have a better grasp of how they should NOT be observing it. The G.I. is not a rope to be tugged back and forth for political gain. The G.I. should not be spoken of as if he is a child, or a hapless mute. The G.I. should not be spoken FOR, save by his military leaders. All of this you support the troops, or you do not support the troops is not done in the best interest of the troops, it is done in the interest of proving a particular point. There are some...

Mirror Pic for Christmas.... Well, my post a couple of days before Christmas kind of betrayed the Christmas blues that I was feeling despite the fact that I was trying to pull off the notion that I could have cared less about Christmas. I talked to my parents, my sisters, and my wife today. My kids were too engaged with Christmas presents at the time that I called, and on top of that I got pulled off the phone to take care of some things. I do feel pretty good, however. Today was a normal day in regard to having work, having deadlines, and having the constant threat of AIF. But all in all I feel good. It is Christmas. Nobody can take that from me, no matter how far from home I may be, the celebration of Jesus' birthday is something that kind of helps me focus while I am here so far away from home. Of course the AIF didn't take a break today, but they were a little more quiet than usual. We caught a 60mm earlier today, and I heard a few more explosions in the distance. I took a ...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... I would have to say that the title of this post is probably one of the most mendacious statements that I have purposefully made on this blog since I started. It really doesn't look like Christmas. This place looks like Tatooine with a monsoon season. It is cold now, sometimes dipping down into the 40's with overcast skies, and a perpetual misty rain coming down. When you have sand that has the consistency of powdered sugar coupled with rain, you have a complete mess. I went to chow the other night, and there were a bunch of Christmas decorations aroound, but I didn't get that Christmas feeling. They even had some members of the Army Band here playing Christmas songs, but I still didn't get the feeling. I feel like telling the big brass that coming up with something special for troops over in a combat zone is pointless. Just a gesture that only seeks to let us know how far from home, and how far away from a plac...

Ft. Hood, Texas. I will be going to Ft. Hood Texas tomorrow on TDY for some additional training before I go to Iraq. I am looking forward to getting the hell out of Camp Shelby for a little while. The VOQ( Visiting Officer Quarters) are filled up, so I will be staying in Killeen. It will be nice to sleep in a nice bed with with clean sheets, central air, and running water in the room. I will only be there for three days, but that is okay, it will be enough of a break for me. I have roughly twenty-four more days here before we get validated and I can go home on leave to see my family for the last time. I am looking forward to those nine days so I can reconnect with my wife and kids. I will also like the idea of not having a task to perform. I have not had a day off work since the 5th of July, and I am feeling the strain. More than the workload, the heat, and the ever-changing demands, the not knowing what is going to come next is the hardest part about this training. There are ...

Happy 231st Birthday to the U.S. Army! Happy Birthday to the greatest military fighting force that the world has ever known. I will be toasting tonight with dinner! I'll post a picture, it is a nice evening so I may have to eat on the deck tonight. Hooah! I am enjoying myself from now until the 27th. I am on Leave! Of course my decadence will be interrupted by having all four of my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow. So, I may need to toast three or four times tonight. Hooah!

Conscientious Objector buried with full military honors.... Desmond Doss died Sunday in Piedmont Albama at the age of 87. Mr. Doss was a conscientious objector, the sort of person who usually was derided as a coward during the WWII era in which he served. He stuck to his convictions though, and refused to carry a weapon, and refused to take part in killing. Those were his convictions prior to his entrance into the military, and he maintained those standards during the war. You may ask, "What is the difference between this guy and anybody else who objects to taking part in violence?" The point is, Mr. Doss was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for wartime service during WWII. This excerpt from a CNN Story encapsulates the sort of man that he was. Medal of Honor Society records show he was among 3,442 recipients of the nation's highest military honor. While under fire on the island of Okinawa, Doss carried 75 wounded soldiers to the edge of a 400-foot cliff and...

Can you smelll-l-l-l-l-l- what the ROK is cookin'? Man, Korea stinks...and when I say stink, I mean funky. Since I stepped off the plane my olfactory senses have been assaulted with no mercy. Apparently a hot commodity in Korea is feces. When I did my initial site recon where my company will be, I noted that on the port-o-lets there was a sign that said, "Do not waste waste." No, they were not being redundant, they were simply letting us know that feces of all sorts, human, cow, pig, dog, or whatever is used as fertilizer. Anybody that knows me, knows what a keen sense of smell I have, consequently it makes me particularly sensitive to lets say....umm...pungent odors. I was taken to a restaurant by a gentleman by the name of Young Gap You who is a DOD contractor. Young was raised in the states, is an American Citizen, but has been living back in Korea for the last 5 years for work reasons. Anyway, we went to a restaurant, which was really cool by the way. It was j...

Korea Trip....Day 3 Well, I am into Day 3 of my trip, and I still have a few more until my unit gets here. Part of the problem of being advanced party is not knowing whether it is going to be "feast or famine" once you arrive. I am in waiting status to see what needs to be done before the rest of the Soldiers arrive. I will have a little bit of work to do tomorrow, but we shall see how that turns out. There were several plan changes today. Korea time, it is now 11:10 p.m. and I am trying to see how long I can stay up so that I can finally sleep all the way through the night. I just talked to my wife and my mother a little while ago, and they seem to be doing well. I have only been able to talk to my oldest, but I haven't been able to talk to my other two children. Got a little bad news yesterday, twice over, but all we can do is realize, react, realign, and respond as best we can. I didn't bring my digicam on this trip, because I thought that once we headed ou...

TDY South Korea.....Seoul..... I just got to my room about 15 minutes ago, my watch, which is still set on Eastern Standard time says 8:27 a.m. In reality, it is 10:27 p.m. here. I tried to send out a few emails to my wife, but I am not sure if my VPN is working correctly or not. I am hungry, and I am not sure whether or not I should make myself go to sleep or not. I am wide awake, but I have a peculiar "hangover" feeling. The flight was only 15 hours, but the total travel time is now hitting the 27th hour. Advanced party sucks....Hopefully I will be over jet lag by the time the rest of my unit gets here. I love you, Renee....I love you Devon...I love you Robbie....I love you Alexandra. Oh yes, I almost forgot. Happy Birthday to my big Sis! Gotta go...on a quest for food.