When we eventually packed up and left LSA Anaconda for FOB O'Ryan we learned that we would no longer have the access to Hot meals four times a day with things like lobster, shrimp, sandwiches and burgers to order and "Baskin Robbinns" ice cream. At O'Ryan we would now recieve two hot meals a day breakfast and dinner. breakfast would arrive at 0630 hours and dinner 1630 hours everyday. (that's 6:30 am and 4:30 pm) We were told that all soldiers were to be fed within three hours of arrival time, the sooner the better for health reasons. As a matter of fact we were not allowed to eat anything that was prepared outside of three hours. Again, the Dept of the Army has policys set up to ensure the welfare, training and safety of it's soldiers and relies on "individuals" to execute those policys. This was not done at TF Konohiki thanks to the presence of MSG Lankey Morrrill.

Every single unit at FOB O'Ryan allowed their men to have supper as soon as it arrived. It was usually serve yourself and be sanitary, this made sense since the food was freshest on arrival. We at TF Konohiki had to wait until everyone from the Headquarters section was back in our bunker to eat. The usual time for us to eat was roughly seven pm, but we had eaten as late as 9pm on rare occassions.

Under the idea of "Welfare of the troops" men are fed as soon as possible and never made to go hungry, we never went hungry because we ended up paying for and cooking our own food. The theory behind MSG Morrill decesion to hold our meals from us is that we were one big happy Hawaiin family and families should always wait until "Daddys Home". I used that term because I overheard him telling his friends on the satellite phone about his managment of the family, it was insulting.

To the credit of the men of TF Konohiki they complained about it but knew there was nothing we could do about it since the unit commander allowed this policy. I had never in 24 years of service ever seen a commander that allowed his men to go hungry just so he could sit at the head of the table. Again, these were and are men and just went ahead and cooked their own food. We were also provived frozen food to eat for lunch not MRE's, things like corn dogs, mini pizzas, burgers and sandwiche stuff.

I was scolded for not wanting to eat with the group when we, grown men, were finally allowed to eat. I was simply insulted and sickened by the site of Morrill doing this to men that were risking their lives each and every day. I also want to say that I do not believe the officers didn't know this was wrong, they did and said so many times. However these were not the officers in command, only one officer commands. Perhaps the biggest let down was that the commander allowed it. These were his men and he really should have taken care of them but chose not to. I firmly believe that a commander must support his senior NCO and vice versa, but there is a point where enough is enough and failure to do the right thing for the unit will only result in lack of unity and brotherhood.

In the month of November something happened that was impossible to believe and it happened over the course of fifteen hours. During the evening briefing Morrill was always given the last word and on this occasion he decided to insult the 100th BN. ( TF Konohiki was a composite with men from the 81st out of Washington, the 100th Bn from the Pacific Islands, the 29th BCT from Hawaii and about ten Iraqi nationals serving as intrepreters) About nine of us were from the 100th Bn. The 100th is the most decorated unit in the history of the U.S. Army and to this is one of the proudest to wear the patch. I would encourage people to google it and I think you'd be impressed. It is the only unit in Iraq to have been allowed to wear the batallion patch while assinged to a sperate brigade, this caused some resentment from people like Morrill.

During his comments he said things like the leadership in that Bn needs to learn how things are done in the Army and stop just showing up here to check on its men. And he also informed us that the following morning the 100th Bn might be on FOB O'Ryan and instructed us that we were not to cooperate with the leadership in any way. I will simply say that his conduct and ongoing belittling statements were way out of line and it was obvious he was simply using this meeting as a chance to insult all members of TF Konohiki. As I looked around the room I could see and feel tempers rising. I had had enough, I stopped him in the middle of his comments and told him that this was a matter between people at his level and ought not to be aired out infront of the unit, I also told him his conduct was unprofessional. he then said "SSG Banales I am telling you not to assist them in any way tomorrow, is that clear?". I said "Yes" and sat back down. This ended his antics.

The next morning at 10 am my patrol element and one other were about to leave the area when members of the 100th Bn arrived, it was my very own platoon and I was overjoyed to see their faces and realize they were all doing well. Of course we completly ignored Morrill instruction and helped them with everything we could. they had been on patrol all night and had not been given breakfast and asked us if we had any spare food since they were hungry. All of us from the 100th Bn told our brothers to go into our dining area and help themselves since the food was going to be thrown in the garbage, as a matter of fact this was supposed to have been done at 0930 hrs. We wished them well and went on our patrol.

Soon there after Morrill showed up and seeing the 100th Bn men eating ordered them to get out of our dining facility because the food was for TF Konohiki personel and we had yet to eat. This was straight out BULL, we had all eaten and everyone there knew that after 0900 hrs chow time was done. This was just one more chance for Morrill to harm soldiers and exploit his authority. The U.S. Army does it's very best to see to it that all it men and women are cared for regardless of assinged unit and relies on individuals to do this, but people like Morrill just don't get the concept. He did have an officer with him just encase there might be a problem with his abuse of authority. The officer with him backed him up on this issue because officers should back up and support their NCO chain. The Officer, Captain P, was and is one of the finest officers I have ever met and is a credit to the Army, the officer corp and his country, he just got taken advantage of by Morrill.

This action only further polarized the unit and all of us reported this to the 100th Bn and some of us asked if we could be sent back to the 100th Bn, this was of course denied and more of a gesture of discontent. I really felt bad for the members of the 29th and 81st because they had to be associated with that action, they were also upset over the treatment of the men of the 100th Bn.

About one week later we had a meeting with Morrill where he tried to explain his actions that day. I will just say that nothing was accomplished other then us venting our disgust. We tried in vain to make this idiot understand that NCO's exist for the good of the Army and to ensure the welfare of the troops and that it was inconcievable that an NCO would ever do that to men coming out of a patrol and risking their lives.

What was the result of this mans actions that day after our commander found out? On December 19th of 2005 Lankey Morrill was given a "Bronze Star" for meritorious conduct.