The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Someone near and dear to all of us here at Ricochet sent me this story from last Wednesday's NYT, which moves me to share with all of you some of my own experience.
The experience of my first combat deployment, for the Iraq invasion in 2003, would be fairly recognizable to any soldier: intimate understanding of the contradiction in terms that is Military Intelligence; equipment issued for the wrong season/climate/region/war/era; immediate shortages of everything important -- food, water, ammo, fuel -- and an abundance of everything useless (toilet paper, in our case); and most of all, little to no contact with home. We didn't receive any letters for about three months, until well after Baghdad fell, and the first phone calls that most of us got to make were from Kuwait, just prior to boarding our flight home. It didn't seem to be much of an issue, as this was the norm in the history of warfare. Most people in the military have at least one close family member who served, so we all knew what to expect. My granddad, for instance, was in Europe for over a year after Anzio before he received his first letter from home. He was there for another year before he got to come home, so a lot of us were expecting something like that, too.
The middle of 2004 marks the point at which the new reality first started to manifest. When my unit returned to Iraq in June of that year, the change in our operational footprint from the prior year was dramatic. What the U.S was building to sustain our troop presence reflected that. Iraq had almost no infrastructure prior to the invasion, and we blew up most of what was left when we invaded, so what was essentially a massive public works project was begun. At Camp Victory (now Liberty) in particular, Seabees and Army Engineers built hard roads all over the place, Prime Power operators built power plants, Signals Technicians laid hundreds of miles of fiber optic cable, contractors were being flown in by KBR to build water treatment plants, dining facilities, housing, phone banks, internet cafes... it was nuts. Much better than living in a tent in the desert, but fairly jarring to a bunch of grunts already hardened by war and with certain expectations of combat life. Welcome to the new era!
Our country's warriors are highly adaptable creatures (the Marine Corps' unofficial motto is Semper Gumby; we're not as creative as them in the Army, but we make up for it by having better looking females), so we adjusted pretty quickly to the new reality. Mission is always a priority no matter what amenities are available, and getting shot at or mortared every day focuses the mind like nothing else. There certainly wasn't any danger of getting spoiled by the easy access to telephones or email. If anything, they provided a much-needed sense of normalcy and connectedness that acted as a sort of continuous emotional release mechanism. You have to understand, any forced separation from society is terrible and will have its toll; compounded with the realities of prolonged combat, that toll can be truly devastating. I've spent almost half my career forward deployed in some manner or another, just like most career Soldiers these day, and I'm constantly reminded of how much time I've missed, how much common knowledge I don't share with my countrymen because of that separation. Traditionally, this has been part and parcel of a life at war, and it's been a major factor in the readjustment difficulties that have plagued so many of my brothers across the years and across all the wars. This new expansion of connectedness is, if not a panacea, most certainly a palliative.
A quick anecdote about this technology's effect on my own life: I was STOP-LOSSed for the latter half of that last deployment, in what was at the time the most-deployed battalion in the Army. When I finally got to come home on leave three months before our tour was over, after a truly horrific year in the Iraq War's heaviest fighting (Sadr City made Fallujah look like hopscotch), I was more than ready to explore my options in the civilian world. A couple of days before I was scheduled to fly back I stopped by a private college in North Georgia that I had no hope of affording, just to see what the scholarship situation looked like. The admissions counselor and I just stared at each other for awhile -- I'm sure we talked, I'm just a little fuzzy on the details -- but I had the presence of mind to get her email address and promised that I'd stay in touch. I was back in Iraq within the week and, to my surprise, had an email from her sitting in my inbox upon my arrival in country. This began a flurry of highly inappropriate correspondence between the two of us, mostly sweet, a little spicy, and definitely a courtship. I didn't realize how much of an effect she'd had on me, but my parents certainly picked up on it. A week before my unit came home my dad dropped by her office and gave her a plane ticket to Kansas; he'd never met her before that day and only vaguely knew where she worked, but something in my love-struck ravings must have spurred him to action. Without knowing my family and having only met me in person once, my wife took a leap of faith straight into my arms and I haven't let her go since.
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
" I'm constantly reminded of how much time I've missed, how much common knowledge I don't share with my countrymen because of that separation. "
Casey, I had not even considered this as a big piece of a warior's adjustment. What an eye-opening post....thank you for sharing it.
And your courtship story made my day!
Feb '11
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
That's a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it. And thanks for serving.
Jan '11
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Thanks for sharing your story.
Good God. Has anybody been so stupid as to suggest that our troops are getting "spoiled" by ANY amenities we can afford them? I had no idea.
Thank you for a moving and beautiful post that should put that notion permanently to sleep. And thank you for serving.
May '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Thank you, Casey. Put me down with Sticker Shock. Your courtship story made my day. And I'm sending your dad a virtual high-five.
Oct '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
The old adage, "If the Corps wanted you to have a wife, they'd issue you one" has always been best ignored. Great story, Casey. Congratulations and thank you for continuing the fine traditions that have made our country great.
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Great post! It had never occurred to me how a lack of internet access would certainly cause soldiers to feel extremely unconnected from life back home. While so many returning service men and women still really struggle to readjust to civilian life, I'm sure having e-mail and skype and chat really helps.
Jun '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Thank you, everyone. I have a set of photos of that last homecoming ceremony somewhere on one of my backup drives that adds a little bit to the story. The look of surprise on my face at seeing my once and future Queen is priceless. My wife says it's relief at not seeing any old girlfriends pop up, but she knows better.
Jul '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Nice post, Casey.
You and I are usually in full agreement, but this time I must pick a bone.
There is...no...such...thing...as too much toilet paper.
Edited on Feb 24, 2011 at 9:58amMay '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Moral of the story: You can't hide. The internet will find you.
Does it say something about your wife that you had a gun at hand every time you corresponded during your courtship?
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Now I know why I'm always hauling gigantic loads of toilet paper hither and yon. Wonderful story, Casey. You bring much to your narrative to give folks a good look at life on the pointy end of the spear. Thank you, and thanks for your service. Now, can I interest you in some toilet paper perchance?
Jun '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Great story, good perspective. My service spanned the time of letters and maybe a phone call to internet access. On the whole, I prefer the access.
Dec '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Has Rob Long yet offered to option the film rights to your story of meeting and marrying your wife?
Jul '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
That was a great read Casey. Thanks.
Jul '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Wow! That was nothing like my experience with college admissions counselors. Congratulations! And thank you for your service.
Jun '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
You are all such wonderful people. Thank you very much.
NO MORE T.P.! Well, maybe just a little...
Dec '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Even though I'm one of those nasty agnostic scientists (engineer really), Serendipity is a hard thing to discount.
Thank you for your service, sir.
Aug '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Great story Casey, I completely understand. So where did you go to college?
I met my wife on the internet while I was deployed to Diego Garcia in May of 2002. We met in person in Dallas in October the same year. I deployed to Diego again in March of 2003 for OIF (I got to do CAS from a B-52 for the Marines the day they entered the heart of Baghdad). On my return home, I stopped off in Singapore to get married. It took nearly a year to bring my wife home to the US after that.
Jun '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
You're very welcome, CoolHand (too cool for Luke? :D)
Senor Instugator -- I went to Young Harris College for a year, got called to active duty with my state NG, and am now in a reserve status and back at the same school.
How long have you been AF? Still in?
Dec '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
Actually, my name is Ryan.
The moniker comes from the Stephen Coonts novel Flight of the Intruder.
The main character, Jake Grafton's call sign is CoolHand.
That was the first really good modern fiction book I read as a kid. I was a big A-6 fan as a result, and adopted the name when the internet first arrived and demanded the use of pseudonyms.
Jun '10
Re: The Communications Age Hits the Combat Zone
That was a good book! Pretty good movie, too. I like your allusion better than mine, now that you explain it.