Different people react differently to the IRR...

I have to say, I'm not sure how many of you have been keeping up with Josh over at "To War & Back", but...let's just say the guy is having some trouble adjusting back to Army life.

That's completely understandable, of course, but still...compare and contrast his reaction to Fort Jackson to mine.

Me: Also, make sure I post sometime or other about how smart and saavy everyone here is--already had lots of good conversations with folks about technology, marketing, technology-marketing, and the like. Very impressed with my fellow soldiers.

Josh: Now for a little culture shock word association: chewing tobacco, "ain't", wood paneling and cinder blocks , bigotry, "chow hall"

The quotes are out of context, and Josh has his positive moments from time to time. But generally speaking, I think the culture shock is really getting him down. Still...taking pictures of your Harvard cap on the bed isn't help making him a more sympathetic character (not that it's my/your sympathy that he's aiming for).

And really, what's so bad about living somewhere where eating Chik Fil A three times a week isn't just accepted, it's encouraged? Come on--a pickle on a fried chicken sandwich? That's cause for celebration, not dismay. And when you get right down to it, Walmart, fast food, strip clubs and pawn shops...that's just America, man. No use getting too upset about it.

Bottom line--I think that Josh is sans peers, and it's hard to stay positive going through something like this without friends to share the experience with. I don't know how I would have made it through that place without my wife just a few miles up the road, and Jeff and Chris taking every lump I did along the way. We had each other, and that made all the difference in the world.

I hope things pick up for Josh, and his experience becomes more positive with time--because time is something he's got a lot of.

For those of you who thought the IRR might be ramping down...

One of my numerous good friends named Chris just forwarded me this link. It would seem that the Army enjoyed last year's muster so much that they've--shocker of shockers--decided to throw another one!

Before I go on I should say how much I enjoy my current position, and that I believe I'm helping my team here make a significantly positive impact on the future of Afghans and Afghanistan. But that said, one wonders how long can this IRR stuff will continue. I mean, the stories you hear...

I had a very interesting chat this afternoon with a young Lieutenant who graduated Harvard in 2005 and has already been accepted to Harvard Law class of 2012 (should he decide to get out of the Army). This gentleman informed me that in 2005 they told his commissioning class to have backup plans. It would seem that the Army felt it had too many nascent LT's, and many would be asked to go to the reserves instead of active duty. This particular guy ended up going active anyways, but my question is this--how could they turn away willing active duty guys when they're recalling IRR people to fill slots elsewhere in the ranks?

Now, I fully appreciate that a brand new LT is not the same thing as a Captain with 4 or 5 years of experience (your typical IRR draftee). But let me tell you something--anyone can be Civil Affairs. I really think it's a branch like any other, not something that one has to come to later in their career as the traditional model dictates. There are already brand new 2LT's in the CAQC anyways, so why not shuffle some things around so that you utilize the manpower you have without panicing and hitting the IRR button.

So why doesn't the Army do this? The explanation I keep coming back to is that they choose to reward individuals who are voluntarily joining, while they push the burden onto those of us who had the audacity to quit. And this makes total sense from their perspective. People like me are already lost (or so they reason), so there aren't any drawbacks to alienating us through the IRR process. A brand new 2LT, on the other hand, still has their entire career in front of them. Piss them off now by sending them off to a CA gig that they really aren't interested in, and you risk pushing away someone who might have stayed in otherwise.

I honestly don't know where any of this leaves us, but all the same--good luck to all of you musterees out there. I wish you the best, and who knows? Maybe I'll see you here at the Forward Edge sooner or later...

The More Things Change...

I have moved jobs yet again, but this time the move is largely cosmetic. I'm still working for the same organization I was before, but I've more or less shifted from being a worker bee to being in charge of the shop. The team I work with is great, and largely self sufficient, so I don't foresee much in the way of superviseree duties coming with my exciting new job title.

What this does mean is that I am in a better position to shape our overall strategy as a staff shop. The move also strips one layer of the chain of command between me and the Task Force Commander, which means I will have a more active role in shaping our overall strategy for four provinces in eastern/central Afghanistan. Pretty exciting stuff, all in all.

The downside is that I now have a lot more of the day to day beauracratic stuff on my plate. Giving the islamo-fasiacists the what-for apparently involves a ceaseless stream of meetings and slideshows and teleconferences (who knew?) and I'm now the guy who has to make sure all of those things get taken care of. Before, I could focus on my slice of the pie (which was already focussed on strategy) and leave the boring stuff to the boss.

So, all in all this is a good move, and I'm in an infinitely more interesting job than I was when I first arrived. Because honestly, coming all the way to Afghanistan after everything I went through at Fort Jackson, Fort Bragg, the CAQC and FOB Patriot, if I spent my time here lifting weights and playing video games...

You guys know what I'm getting at.

**I couldn't come up with a related picture for this post, so I put in this one of an adorable puppy instead, for one or more of the following reasons:

A) Everyone loves adorable puppies
B) My new gig requires long hours that make me fall asleep in my water bowl
C) I'm trying to establish a pattern of behavior
D) All of the above

I know which reason I'm leaning towards, but I leave it for y'all to guess at...

Laser, Rocket Arm #1: A fitting farewell from Faith...

Completing the trifecta of captains/recent MBA grads/IRR call-ups, I'm Andrew's friend, Chris. I apologize for delaying my debut, but like Andrew and Jeff before me, I am finally getting to experience the joys of FOB Patriot, Ft. Bragg. I am also heading to Afghanistan but will be a CA team leader on a Provincial Reconstruction Team (more to follow about this in the future).

In my first blog post (that's right, my first, so CAQC monitors - you can stop searching for my secret blog), I thought I would share a tale from my last night in the comforts of the Faith Barracks.

The Faith Barracks were home to Andrew and I our entire time in Ft. Bragg (minus FOB time), so needless to say, they hold a special place in my heart. Sure the the heat might not always work or in some cases work too well, but this has been my IRR home away from home. It wasn't Jeff's luxury skyscraper, but it was briefly home and I thought Faith and I got along pretty well. At least I thought we did...

During my last night before moving out to the FOB I was up quite late packing. I had slowly been getting everything ready but I definitely underestimated just how much crap you can accumulate in 6 months. Around 3 am I was finally putting the finishing touches on everything. I had to be up at 5 am, but I was ready to drift off to sleep.

That's when Faith decided to intervene. In a very fitting conclusion to that chapter of my mobilization (and par for many of the IRR mafia's experiences at Ft. Bragg), the fire alarm went off.

I don't know if there is anyway to describe the Faith Barracks' fire alarm as anything but the loudest and worst sound I have ever heard in my life. It physically hurts your body, not just your ears. This is valuable when trying to evade a fiery death, but not such a good thing when trying to squeeze in the last couple hours of sleep you will have in an actual bed for a while.

My first thought was that Joe (slang for lower-ranking enlisted soldiers when they screw up) had gotten drunk and decided that pulling the fire alarm sounded more fun than Halo 3 or Rock Band. Then I smelled and saw smoke pouring out of the ventilation.

I never did find out what caused the smoke. I suspect the goons from the Holland Barracks. All I know is that 5 fire trucks (one of which is pictured above by my masterful photography skills) and 90 minutes later, I was allowed back in my room. I'm not sure if I fell asleep but as I laid there I had to laugh at Faith's farewell to the IRR.

Rhapsody and MTV

Now see, this is the kinda stuff that until recently I would spend all my time thinking about. Simpler times. Sigh...

But hey, I've gotta keep up while I'm away. It will be interesting to see what the terms of this deal are when details are released later today.

We're on the Official Radar!

Welcome and thanks to mbatm27, who had this to say in response to my post about CA doctrine (emphasis added):

“Actually, the doctrine is not being written during your class. It's been finalized.

It's always a little difficult to get your head around concepts if they are brand new and you have no anchor points of personal experience with which to relate them, don't worry, once you get down range, they'll maybe make a bit more sense.

And no, doctrine is not written by dummies, but by folks who have been exactly where you are today. The problem is that they sometimes have been so far removed from ground reality, that they sometimes miss the point.

It's good to have dynamic doctrine, that changes based on TTP and experiences of those who implement it. Otherwise, it get stale and useless.

Good luck with the class, we'll see you during the FTX.”

I think mbatm27 raises several valid points about what I posted, and I’d like to thank him again for adding an official voice to the conversation. What I was getting at in my post was the fact that our instructors are literally pulled straight off the front lines—which is, as you’d imagine, one of the great strengths of the CAQC. I get the impression that the same is true for the folks writing doctrine—that they redeploy straight from the field to the school house, and commit what they’ve done to paper.

As mbatm27 tells us, doctrine is set—but it’s also dynamic, lest it become “stale and useless.” And that seems about right, in this case. Many of the manuals we’re learning from are dated within the last calendar year. One of our two main manuals is still technically in draft status. So while it’s an exaggeration to state that we’re making this stuff up as we go along, doctrine is (as best as I can tell) hot off the presses. As a result, it feels a little clunky at times…which seems to be the tradeoff for keeping up with the latest and greatest overseas.

All told, I will take mbatm27’s advice and see if it all makes more sense once I get the chance to put what I’ve learned into practice at the CAQC culminating field exercise (which I’m very excited about) and ultimately in Iraq.

Thanks again, mbatm27, and I’ll see you out in the field. Please continue to chip in as you see fit—the extra perspective is really helpful!

Fun with Search Engines

As I reported last week, this blog is the number one result on Google when you search for "Army 2.0"

Well, after analyzing the traffic on my site, I've turned up a couple of other interesting results.

First, this site is the number 2 result when you search for "Civil Affairs Qualification Course". Nice. Unfortunately, searching for the acronym CAQC doesn't work as well thanks to the jerks over at the Campus Alberta Quality Council. Thanks a lot, Alberta...but still, this is good news. People who want to learn about the Civil Affairs Course will be able to on this site.

On the other hand, this is troubling news. Should an upstart blog be the best source of information on the web about an official Army course?

Second, Army 2.0 is the 10th best result for folks searching for the "Army Physical Fitness Test". This one isn't quite as happy. I feel bad for anyone who stumbles upon this site looking for meaningful info about the APFT, as my post basically just tells the world that I passed one. Hopefully such visitors will come for the APFT, and stay to learn about Heidi from the Hills and/or what I did with my wife this weekend.

Any other interesting search terms that lead to the Army 2.0? Let me know if you find them! And keep the FAQ suggestions coming...I've got a lot of great ones so far, and I look forward to launching that feature soon.

**The beautiful image featured in this post is the top Google Images result for "Civil Affairs Qualification Course"

Civil Affairs Doctrine for Dummies

Or is it BY dummies?

I don't think it is, of course. But at the same time...

Civil Affairs doctrine is being developed in real time, as Civil Affairs Operators return from Iraq/Afghanistan and furiously attempt to recreate a logical framework to describe what it was they did overseas.

Things sometimes end up jumbled in a pretty confusing fashion. For example, three of the five CA Core tasks are:

1) Support of Civil Administrations (SCA)
2) Foreign Humanitarian Assistance (FHA)
3) Nation Assistance/Management of Civil Authority (NA)

Each Core task has multiple sub-tasks. Many of the sub-tasks are identical from Core task to Core task. For example, a sub-task for Nation Assistance might be to "Perform QC of NA operations and associated costs". Well, simply take that sub-task and replace "NA" w/ "FHA", and wham-o, you have a subtask for FHA. Makes it a lot easier to memorize doctrine for exams and the like.

Except not all tasks are worded the same way, creating all sorts of (questionably necessary) confusion. For example, check out these three supporting tasks.

1) SCA: Coordinate and synchronize collaborative interagency/multiagency SCA operations
2) FHA: Participate in interagency planning and synchronization of FHA operations
3) NA: Synchronize NA projects with other programs, both military and civilian

All of these sub-tasks say more or less the same thing about their respective Core tasks. Does it make sense to re-write the damn thing each time, confusing already confused CA Operators who are trying to wrap their brains around the word casserole that is our ever changing doctrine? Hopefully this is something that they/we will be able to streamline as this process goes forward...but who knows.

Just goes to show...when you're writing the text book as the class goes along, you're bound to have some fun along the way.

CAQC Week 2 in Review

Another week is in the books for the intrepid soldiers and sailors of Civil Affairs Qualification Course (Mobilized) Class 05-07.

As promised, last week's training consisted entirely of computer fun. My fellow classmates and I learned all about a system called FBCB2, which is used in the Army for battle tracking and Command&Control. As per usual in such training, the young bucks helped the old timers wade through all of the menu's and clicks, and a good time was had by all.

The best part about the week was that on Thursday, our last day of training because of the long weekend, we were free to go as soon as we completed the final exam. For those of us who were fairly computer savvy, this meant that we could finish quickly and get on the road earlier in the day. As such, I was able to make it up to Alexandria in time to catch dinner with Lauren as part of the DC area's restaurant week.

For the life of me, I can't think of anything else amusing to say about last week. Sad, I know, but true. Sigh...

What are they gonna do, send us to Iraq?

My old buddy Chris Davis asks a great question in the comments section of yesterday's post:

"What happens to those that don't pass the weigh-in or apft?"

And the answer is...basically nothing. We're all already going to Iraq, so if we fail to meet the course standards (including APFT type stuff) the "worst" they can do to us is send us over in a non-CA capacity. But since CA officers have one of the highest KIA rates of all Army officers, getting sent to Iraq in a non-CA capacity isn't necessarily a bad thing...

That said, an interesting rumor was floating around the water cooler earlier today. Without giving away too much, we're hearing that the IRR Captains in the class 7 weeks in front of me are getting assigned to staff jobs, rather than Team Leader roles. Staff guys are as "in the rear with the gear" as is possible in this age of non-contiguous battle spaces. The Team Leaders, on the other hand, are the bubbas out on the front lines of freedom, bravely risking their necks to ensure that no Iraqi child goes to bed without a beanie baby.

Bottom line--staff is safer, but Team Leader positions are more interesting and rife with professional/personal development opportunities. Food for thought.

Civil Affairs Qualification Course: Week 1 in Review

CAQC is a 9 week course, and I'm now through week 1.

I'm publishing this in the hopes that future CAQC students might find it, and know a little about what they're getting themselves into. This is information

It should be noted that the composition of each successive class seems to vary wildly--from IRR officers, to mobilized reservists, to our Navy friends that I've mentioned a time or two. The course also breaks down into Mobilized classes and Active Duty classes, but as a Mobilized soldier (IRR or otherwise) you could potentially end up in either. All of these variables might affect how your course is organized, so take the following summary with a grain of salt.

That said, here's a basic summary of how things went down for Class 05-07 Mobilized.

Monday:
0530 Reported for Weigh-In. Told whether or not we are overweight.

Lectured at off and on all day. Not much new information is put out there. We are handed a schedule for the next 9 weeks, but asked to remain "flexible" as it was unclear how closely the schedule would follow reality.

As was previously reported, the class learns that we will have long weekends, and won't have organized physical training. Nice.

Off by 1500.

Tuesday
0730 Reported for accountability--off rest of day. Navy folks invoke logic, asking why we needed to report just to have the rest of the day off. Army folks, having long since learned to ignore logic's siren song, are simply grateful for the time off.

Wednesday
0515 Reported for Army Physical Fitness Test. 47% of us pass the test, 53% of us do not. Cadre begin to rethink the soundness of their "No organized physical training" outlook on life.

Remainder of day filled with more admin, and a class on the history of the Civil Affairs since their debut on the battlefield in 1775.

Off by 1530.

Thursday
0800 Take actual, honest to goodness CA class from 8 to 9. Learn about various Special Operations units in Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps. Each unit is different, with unique talents and capabilities. Each unit is the same, in their betterness than the CA Corps.

Fill up rest of the day with psychological review, and law classes. I learn that I'm a cold blooded optimist with an "Undistinguished" personality. Hard to argue with that.

I do argue with our legal instructor, a self described "pull the trigger" JAG. I take this to mean that he advocates shooting first, and coming up with hostile intent later. Still, I chuckle at his claim that "there aren't enough cigars and bourbon in Fayetteville to go over every in and out of Law of War." I think hey, this JAG is kinda funny. I think that less and less on the 2nd, 4th and 7th times he uses his joke. What're you gonna do.

Out by 1545.

Friday
0715 Report for "digital training". These are the Army computer classes where an instructor sits at the front of the classroom, explaining some Army computer system or other, in excruciating detail. OK, now click on File. Now open. Now select. And select the such and such...and on and on. Boring, but not overly painful. And the computer system is worth knowing.

Out by 1500.

And that, my friends, was week 1. Nothing too bad, and a smattering of useful/interesting info to boot.

Week 2 will be more digital training, and starting week 3 we get to the actual meat of the course--who a CA operator is, and what he does.

At Long Last...Class Has Begun

"You're all about to go down range for a year or more...there's no need to practice being miserable"

Yesterday I officially started Civil Affairs Qualification Course (Mobilized) Class 05-07. Things will be pretty light this week, as some students are still rolling in throughout the next couple of days. But towards Thursday and Friday, we'll kick things off in earnest, and from there we'll have 6-7 weeks of classroom instruction. Ten or so days in the field will follow, and after that there won't be much left to do besides cleaning off all our gear and weapons, and graduating.

As we haven't really started learning anything yet, I don't have much to report on that front. Some information has trickled in, though, which is nice considering we've been left in the dark for the last 3 weeks.

Weekends are off, and we will have 2 long weekends during the course (labor day, and one other). There is minimal organized physical training, which means that we won't have to wake up at insane hours of the morning to run, do push-ups, etc. Class will start at 8 or 9 most mornings, and finish at 4 or 5 most evenings. The material looks interesting and useful (for the most part, at least) and I'm generally excited to get things going.

The quote at the top of the post was something that one of our instructors told us yesterday. His basic point was that the cadre have no intention of making things difficult/painful in the CAQC just for the sake of it, as is so often the case in Army culture. This came as a great relief to me and my friends, and is a big part of why I'm in good spirits as we begin the course.

One last note--the class is roughly half Navy officers. Some of them are reservists, but I get the impression that most are active duty--aviators, surface warfare folks, sub guys...it would seem that the Army is taking all comers. Add these guys to the Navy folks that I encountered down at Fort Jackson, and it becomes apparent just how many Navy dudes of all shapes and sizes are being loaned out to the Army in our ceaseless struggle to surge-out neoglobal islamo-fascist jihadists.

I suppose they've been telling us for years that joint operations are the future, so why not embrace it, right? Go Narmy.

Updated Timeline

Again, there are things I'd like to say--but won't.

Still, as I realize that a reading of this blog to date would have you all believing that I started the Civil Affairs Qualification Course (CAQC) this past Wednesday, an update is in order.

You see, showing up at Fort Bragg and then starting the CACQ this past Wednesday would have been way too easy.

Instead, we spent the last week--and I'm not kidding or exaggerating even a little--DOING THE SAME IN-PROCESSING AND PAPERWORK THAT WE DID AT FORT JACKSON OVER AGAIN! Literally, on Monday, we took all of our paperwork, arranged it in a different order, collated it into four different versions, and then got it all stamped off on as it now met the Fort Bragg Gold Standard of Excellence.

Because we were busy doing such things all week (including the previously posted urinalysis repeat) we couldn't start the Course in the class that started on Wednesday . The next course doesn't start until...drumroll please...31 July! So my crew and I are stuck at Fort Bragg, getting paid to hang out at the Gym and read Harry Potter Books for 3 weeks.

And don't get me wrong, I'm all for the time off, and the laid back schedule...but I'd rather spend 2 salary free weeks with my wife. You know, what with the whole "going off to war" thing and all.