From an Undisclosed Location, With Love

Got my first email from Charlie!

Hey John,

Writing with (very) limited net access from mob station. I’m not giving my location, unit, or anything else –but I thought I’d fill you in on what I’ve been up to. I spent three days at my home station armory doing staff officer work, prepping for movement, drawing new gear, and getting and giving briefings.

We ditched our Vietnam-era OD green equipment for the new MOLLE gear in the ACU pattern, and in short order we were shipped out across the country. Now let me tell you a little about mobstations:

No matter where they are, they are hot, dusty, have bad facilities, really bad food, and multiple layers of bureaucracy to go through to get anything done.

Not only do you have to coordinate with your higher echelon to get something done, you have to go through your TSB (training support brigade), the post commander and staff, and contractors. None of these issues I can classify as “complaints,” however. (I know- if a soldier’s not complaining, something’s wrong…) I see most of the obstacles we will have to overcome at mobstation as important leadership challenges to overcome, that will better prepare myself and my unit for our deployment. If we can’t successfully coordinate basic issues like logistics, information sharing, and scheduling with people in America that can’t speak English –how will we do it in our host country, working with multinational partners, in different languages, with different customs, courtesies, and other delicacies to keep in mind. And I haven’t even gotten to the point of the mobstation yet: training!

A mobstation is basically a place where you park your unit and go through a checklist of tasks. As you complete each task, it is checked off and you are “validated.” This process starts on the individual level: can Private Smith shoot a weapon? Can Sergeant Snuffy call in a 9-line MEDEVAC? It then moves toward more collective training: Can 1st Platoon conduct convoy operations? Can B Company do a Cordon and Search? And eventually a culminating exercise at a major training area like JRTC or NTC: Can this battalion conduct SOSO (stability and support operations)? So right now, I’m a cog in the machine.

My days are long, with PT, training, staff duties, lugging around equipment, and giving constant briefings. I’m away from my family and my girlfriend, which –admittedly- sucks. However, I’m motivated about the mission and the opportunity to serve my country, and many guys in my unit are already talking about volunteering for another deployment. Spirits are high here, and even though the training is long, the weather is hot, and there are many trails yet to be marched, I’m doing pretty good.

Sorry I can’t blog, but I can e-mail. I’ll try to stay in touch and give you an update whenever I can. I also want to put out the word to thank the families of all the service members –they deal with more stress and emotions than the guys deploying here. It’s one of those things you don’t think about until you get called up.

I’ve gotta run –duty calls. More to follow.

-Charlie

“Hail o Hail o Infantry, cause Nothing in this world is free.”