It was our last day " Outside the wire " and we, Task force Konohiki. were going to spend the afternoon at the Iraqi Army FOB Mauntini. We all left as a whole bringing just about all our vehicles and our Marine Corps replacements, about nine vehicles as I recall. We were going to enjoy a meal and say our goodbyes then leave the gate as a unit, this part wouldn't happen.

Many times before I can recall our Commander LTC Steve Hawley telling us that we would never, ever, leave a fellow American soldier behind on the "Battlefield". I don't ever recall ever being on or seeing a " Battlefield " while I was there in Iraq, but ask any Officer and they'll tell you every time one left the wire they would be on a " Battlefield ". ( I'll get back to that definition later ) Today we would find out just how much he meant what he had said.

As we were about to leave all our vehicles were lined up and readied for the return to FOB O'Ryan for the last time. We always had to be like ducks in a row and ready to go as soon as LTC Hawley walked out the door.( Why we never moved from a tactical posistion directly into movement is an example of training we didn't recieve and lack of experience that exists in the Reserve/Gaurd system.)

Most of us were in posistion but Konohiki 50 and the medical Officer were on the far side of Mauntini saying goodbye to the medical staff. The Commander was ready to go and all of us were yet to be accounted for. As we sat there for a few minutes it was obvious Konohiki 6 was getting impatient, soon he called on his radio and said something to this effect " Lt get your ass over here now our get a ride back with the Marines " The Marines would stay for a few more hours. We all just sort looked at other in disbelief as if to say " He wouldn't really leave any of his own men behind, would he?".

I was driver for Konohiki 55, a Lt I personally despised and sat next to him, and soon had to endure more of his pathetic and childish behavior. As soon as LTC Hawley made the above mentioned statement "Todd" started on on of his oh so popular rants. he said things like " Who the f--k does this guy think he is, why can't his ass just wait?". In my vehicle was another Staff Seargeant and a TF Captain with a former Marine Corps Lance Corparel. For the second time in minutes we couldn't believe what came out of an Officers mouth about another Officer, " Todd " was pretty well know for his outbursts but this was just ridiculus he was talking about our CO, completly unacceptable conduct.

A few minutes past and Konohiki Six gave the order to move and leave some of our men behind. Konohiki Five-five then really started to let go on the Commander, none of us in the vehicle liked what was happening but even more disgraceful was the conduct of Konohiki Five-five. Officer busuness should be kept within the ranks of the Officers and not aired out like what we were now hearing, it just undermines the Command and the unit moral.

The real sad thing is several times I had to support this guy for some of his pathetic conduct and this guy couldn't just keep his mouth shut and show some respect for the Commander, even though he strongly disagreed with leaving fellow soldiers behind. The fact is it was a six and a half minute drive to FOB O'Ryan from Mauntini and really not as bad as it sounded, it was more an issue of principle.

I could tell that Captain K was not approving of Five-fives comments but rather then argue with this childish LT he just said " He is our Commander and we will follow his orders". Konohiki Five-five just kept hurling insults at Konohiki Six and I really wish I could have pulled over right on the spot and beat the crap out of this little man, but he was my Officer. The comments were like this " Who the hell does he think he is anyway, he's no General." " Why doesn't he get his ass outside the wire more anyway, he's just full of s--t".

It really was disgraceful and why people just can't act like men with each other and show some respect is beyond my understanding. The worst part of that whole thing was that Konhiki Five-five was right. We don't ever leave our people behind and to do so is DISGRACEFUL and can't be forgiven in the eyes of the Line-Dog. Soldiers have to know their Officers won't just throw away their live, we had just witnessed our buddies being deserted on order.

Midway through the deployment we had several "New members" come into the picture and a couple of these men had some very real and immediate contributions. Two of these men were the S2, intelligence NCO, and our lead mechanic.

The S2 was responsible for keeping of hostile activity in our area. One of the most obvious thing about our S2 was that he cared very much about helping the unit as a whole survive any possible threat to our safety. very soon after he came into the picture our awarness improved greatly. He would often time stay up for hours and hours studying maps and events and as promptly as possible inform groups and individuals of current events. This particular man really did the NCO Corps justice, I was proud to call him Seargent.

The lead/only mechanic made his presence know after being with us about four days. He had asked all of us to properly maintain our vehicle and provide the paper work to support it, he gave us two days. None of us did what we were asked and at the next nightly meeting he got up and said something similar to this " I tried to be nice and cut you guys some slack and treat you with respect, that didn't work. Now not one of you will sleep tonight until I get those maintenance sheets on my desk, I am not bullshitting, get it done". This was another moment I was proud to be a Seargent. From that point on maintenance was done as per standard.

I will try to give as much tribute as posibble to the many men I served with but being a civillian now means very little time for my blog. Twelve hour days, school, city issues, family and a million little things to do. It's good to be home.