Soldiers Magazine - October 2010

8/8/2019 Soldiers Magazine - October 2010

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WE have received several letters about the poems and artwork published as part of Wartime Poetry, in the May issue of Soldiers.

e poems and artwork, some of which were submittedanonymously, were part of a writing competition hosted by theFort Wainwright, Alaska, post library; the contest was open toSoldiers and their Families.

ree pieces were chosen to represent di erent elements of war: expression of creativity while in the eld, the pain of missinga loved one, and honoring the memory of fallen friends.

Two submissions in particular have sparked interest amongour readers.

e rst, the poem Fallen Soldier, honors the memory of two Soldiers who were killed within days of arriving at ForwardOperating Base Warhorse, Iraq, in 2008. e piece was writtenby Sgt. 1st Class Andre Anderson of 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment (attached to the Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1stBrigade, 25th Infantry Division, when the poem was written).

e other, a sketch that accompanied the poem Hold On,has inspired readers from Afghanistan to Italy to Fort Bragg,N.C. e Soldier, who remains anonymous, was serving at FOB

Warhorse as well when he wrote the piece and sketched thedrawing. e only information attached was a simple statement:Missing you.

While we dont know his name, the following letters represent just a few examples of the many letters and e-mails weve receivedabout his artwork.

Carrie McLeroy Editor in chief

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AFTER reading the May 2010 copy of Soldiers magazine, I came across thearticle Wartime Poetry. Reading these

Soldiers and Family members personalpoetry, and seeing how they eloquently expressed their feelings, brought tearsto my eyes, as I remembered my rstglimpse of a fallen Soldier.

e sketch that accompanied the poem, Hold On, was arevelation of my feelings I could not express.

After tours overseas and being in the medical eld as a seniormedical sergeant major, I have seen many Soldiers fall, and felt

what this Soldier felt as he wrote this poem and sketched thisparticular drawing. He articulated these feelings through his artin a way I could not.

I want to thank this Soldier, because it has openedfeelings that were hidden within me about death. is poemhas made me realize that I am not the only person feelingor thinking this way.

In appreciation to this anonymous Soldier and in honorof all our fallen Soldiers, I would like the artists permissionto get this beautiful drawing tattooed on my left upper arm.It would be an honor and a privilege. Nothing brings more

joy to me, after 24 years of service, than Soldiers. ese menand women are why I wake up each morning.

Once again, I hope this Soldier will come forward andgive me the honor of immortalizing his drawing.

Sgt. Maj. David Cruz Division surgeon sergeant major,First Army Division East

I recently saw the sketch thataccompanied the poem HoldOn. I stumbled upon it whilein the Reserve O cer TrainingCorps office and was instantly moved by its emotional depth.

In appreciation for his idea,I drew the sketch in my owninterpretation. I have taken nocredit for the idea when othershave seen my work. I made it very clear that merely thepencil marks were my own, but the real credit belonged tothe Soldier responsible for the sketch (featured in the May 2010 issue of Soldiers).

I do wish it wasnt anonymously sent, so I couldproperly acknowledge him for his work. Im writing this forperhaps no other reason than to show an appreciation forthe armed forces and the sacri ces they make.

Sincerely,Eric SandersMerritt Island, Fla.


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4 www.army.mil/soldiers 4 www.army.mil/soldiers 4 www.army.mil/soldiers

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JOHN Wayne has toured Afghani-stan and Iraq, hunted grizzly bearsin Alaska and earned the SilverStar; and as of July, he is the rst

one-legged Soldier to graduate theSpecial Forces Sniper Course.

Sta Sgt. John Wayne Walding of Groesbeck, Texas, that is.

In April 2008, Walding and nineother Special Forces Soldiers from a 3rdSpecial Forces Group assault team wereattacked by the Hezeb Islami al Gulba-din while searching for insurgents in Afghanistans Shok Valley.

Over the six-and-a-half-hour re-ght, more than 150 insurgents were

killed. e members of the assault team were each awarded the Silver Star inDecember 2008 for their courageousactions.

Walding, one of several team mem-bers injured, took a bullet through hisright leg under his knee.

I ripped o my boot lace and liter-ally tied my leg to my thigh to keep itfrom apping around, he said.

After his injury, Walding knew he wasnt going to give up and leave the Army. He also didnt want to spend therest of his career behind a desk.

You dont become a Green Beretbecause you kind of like it, youbecome a Green Beret because you loveit, and cant imagine being anythingelse, he said.

While recuperating, Walding worked as an assistant instructor at3rd SFGs sniper detachment at FortBragg, N.C., where he refused to lowerhis personal standards because of hisinjury. But in order to become a full-time instructor, he had to completethe Special Forces Sniper Course atthe John F. Kennedy Special WarfareCenter and School.

During the course, many of Wald-ings classmates didnt even know about

his injury and prosthetic leg. Waldingsaid he enjoyed his fellow Soldiersreactions after they learned about hismissing leg.

At rst, (my classmates) wereshocked to realize I was missing a leg,

Walding said. en, they realizedWow, hes doing everything Im do-ing!

e seven-week Special ForcesSniper Course teaches sniper marks-manship, semiautomatic shooting,ballistics theory and tactical movement.Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Owens, anSFSC instructor in 2nd Battalion, 1stSpecial Warfare Training Group, em-phasized the importance of these skills,and said it takes Soldiers like Waldingto push themselves to the limits.

Snipers have become more dy-namic over the past 10 years, Owenssaid. Considering current operationsoverseas, snipers have never been moreprevalent, because of the need for dis-tance shooting in rugged terrain.

Walding loves everything abouttraining to be a sniper, particularly themission and the weapons. He even en-

joyed training during the hottest Juneever recorded in North Carolina.

e skill of a Special Forces sniperis unparalleled, Walding said. is isthe most prestigious sniper school inthe world. at means something.

ere was never a doubt that Walding would do well in this course,Owens said. He is extremely moti-vated, and that never dropped duringthe course. He never asked for specialtreatment; he did the same training aseveryone else, and scored well in all theexercises.

at never-quit, Soldier- rst at-titude is what started him back on thepath to Special Forces following thebattle in Shok Valley.

During his initial recovery at

Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Walding set short-termgoals for himself. He was a runnerbefore the incident, averaging 50 milesper week. During recovery, he wouldget up and run a little more every day,always keeping his focus on that nextstep.

Walding is using the same processto work his way back to an operationalrole. As a Soldier, his rst step was to

nish the sniper course; the next stepis acting as an instructor for his fellowSoldiers. Hes hoping to work his way back to a place on an operational Spe-cial Forces detachment.

Im John Wayne, born on theFourth of July. is is what I wasmeant to do. Walding said. !

Editors note: To read about the battle in Shok Valley visit www.army.mil/soldiers/archives , and click on the May 2009 issue.

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8 www.army.mil/soldiers

cer, 344th Combat Support Hospital.Its not a typical hospital like we havein the U.S. Most of our patients aretrauma patients.

About 90 percent of patients treatedat the hospital are battle casualties whoarrive by medevac helicopter. Mostof the injuries we see here are fromimprovised explosive devices, shrapneland gunshot wounds, said Kolb.

Salerno Hospital is equipped toprovide top-notch care to its patients.It has its own labs, CT scan equip-ment, radiology section, operatingroom, pharmacy and more.

is hospital is completely onpar with hospitals in the U.S., saidLt. Col. Paul J. Schenarts, a traumasurgeon and deputy commander of clinical services, 344th CSH. We dontlack anything. We are able to get diag-nostic results back very quickly here,usually within a matter of minutes.

at doesnt happen in the States.In addition to state-of-the-art

equipment and technology, the hos-pital also has some of the most highly

trained sta available.Our sta here is very professional

and very compassionate, said Kolb.But, in a trauma hospital, it all boilsdown to the quality of the surgeons,and, without a doubt, I have the bestsurgeons out there.

One of those surgeons is Schen-arts, a reservist who brings a wealthof knowledge and medical expertise

with him. He is a professor of surgery and critical care, as well as the assistantdean for clinical academic a airs, atEast Carolina University in Greenville,N.C.

To work here, you need yourfunny bone, your back bone and yourbrain bone, he said. I feel like itsnot only my duty, but an honor forme to be able to do this. Being able toprovide critical care to Soldiers is really

wonderful. Although their main focus is saving

Soldiers lives, the hospital also treatscontractors, coalition forces, detainees,

Afghan National Security Forces andlocal nationals on a case-by-case basis.

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A TTENTION on the FOB. Attention on the FOB,frequently blares from an

array of speakers and echoes acrossForward Operating Base Salerno. eannouncement is usually followed by code words describing the number of patients inbound on a medical evacua-tion ight.

Most people on Forward OperatingBase Salerno, Afghanistan, continuetheir business una ected, but for themedical sta of the Salerno Hospitalthe code words mean two things: masscasualties are coming in, and its aboutto get very busy.

In one 38-day period duringthe summer, the sta responded to39 trauma events and admitted 47patients. ey took nearly 600 X-rays,performed 57 surgeries, conducted 259CT scans and treated 56 battle-relatedinjuries.

is is a trauma hospital, said Lt.Col. Gregory A. Kolb, commanding of-

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at form, the Commanders Report of Disciplinary or Administrative Action,helps the Army keep track of a Soldiershigh-risk behavior throughout his career,ensuring commanders at a new unit havevisibility of a Soldiers past behavior.

Per the report, 36 percent (78,410)of these forms were not completed overthe last six years.

ose are the kinds of things wehave to get back to doing in the forcetoday, Chiarelli said.

Other key ndings include:- Gaps exist in current policies to

mitigate high-risk behaviors.- Lapses occur in surveillance and

detection of high-risk behavior.- e Army use of prescription anti-

depressants, amphetamines and narcoticsis on the rise. !

C. Todd Lopez/ARNEWS


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T HE Army has come a long way from the days when Families of servicemembers killed on activeduty were greeted with telegrams coldly notifying them of their loss.

Today, the Army sends trainednoti cation teams, followed rapidly by casualty assistance o cers, to guideFamilies through decision-making andcompletion of the necessary paperwork to receive their bene ts.

e key reason were here is toensure they get what theyre entitledto, said Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Otis,a casualty assistance o cer assignedto Headquarters and HeadquartersCompany, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

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Otis is currently Erica Pacis CAO.e two met March 4, shortly after

Paci learned of her husbands death.To dispel confusion between a noti-

cation team and CAO, Otis explainedthat although the two work togetherfor a brief time, they are separate.

Noti cation teams, he said, arecomposed of two people (holdingminimum ranks of sergeant rst class,chief warrant o cer 2 or captain), andmust be of equal or higher rank thanthe deceased; in addition, the teamalways includes a chaplain. It is thenoti cation teams responsibility tobreak the news in person to the nextof kin. e Familys CAO then makesinitial contact within three hours of noti cation.

ey go out, do the noti cation,come back to the casualty assistanceo ce, then I read their brie ng sheetand get any heads up on issues that wemight already be facing I need to beaware of, Otis said.

After contacting the Family, theCAO arranges to meet them as soon aspossible to help ensure their bene tskick in. Some of those entitlements,

such as a $100,000 death gratuity, areautomatic. Others must be initiatedand require paperwork. While under-standing and explaining bene ts arelarge parts of the CAOs responsibili-ties, his duties dont end there.

Among the rst things he assists with are funeral arrangements. Frombeing present for the digni ed transferof remains to helping plan the fu-neral and burial, CAOs are available togrieving Families for all administrativematters regarding their deceased lovedones. Most rely heavily on them forguidance.

eyre the ones who ultimately decide on what they want to do, but we want to give them the best advice we can, Otis said.

While there is no set duration of time for CAOs to remain with Fami-lies, Otis said six months is average.Entering his fourth month with Paci,Otis said the majority of bene ts are inplace, but theyre still waiting on a fewpieces of paperwork. Otis will continueto serve as her CAO until those piecesarrive and the loose ends are tied up.

A nal after-action review provides

closure and signals the conclusion of their time together. At its end, the Army solicits feedback for continuousimprovements based on input fromFamilies. If an early AAR was to beconducted, Paci would likely give posi-tive feedback.

My casualty assistance o cer isan angel, she said. He has been soincredible from Day 1, and continuesto be...a light in the darkness.

Otis said being a CAO is one of the most rewarding experiences of hiscareer.

You always hope not to have to dothis, but its an honor, he said. Any case in general would be a privilegebecause the person gave the ultimatesacri ce, but this has just been really special to me because of how much(Paci) loved her husband, how much heloved them, and the kids are just great.

Being a CAO has also given Otis afresh view of the Army:

Ive been in 19 years, and I didntknow the full bene ts and stu that the Army provides, he said. I think the Army has come a long way and really tries to take care of its Families.!

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THE goats are being milked, thehorse is waiting to be fed andthe barn cats are rolling around

in the afternoon heat. A typical day on the farm? Not ex-

actly. Its the Indiana National GuardsMuscatatuck Urban Training CenterFarm in Butlerville, Ind.

e farm was started more than ayear ago to help train not only troops,but agricultural development teamsheaded to Iraq and Afghanistan. efarmer, Indiana National Guard Capt.Stephen Spencer, heard about the agri-cultural training needs and created thefarm from, literally, nothing.

( e) purpose of the farm is toprovide livestock for di erent trainingvenues here at Muscatatuck to make itas real as possible, said Spencer. A lotof Soldiers, theyre not used to animalsbeing around them, and now they canconfront them in a training environ-ment so when they are overseas, they are better prepared.

e animals are used in trainingscenarios that duplicate Middle East en-vironments such as a marketplace or an

Afghan farmers home. Both are placesSoldiers and Army civilians might ndthemselves in while stationed overseas.

Training at Muscatatuck already involves Afghans who portray localnationals; the animals add another layerof authenticity.

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for them. ey recently added beekeep-ing and plan to start an aquaculturecenter featuring tilapia sh farming.

Agriculture teams can come toMuscatatuck and meet all of their train-ing requirements, and the Soldiers dontmind being its caretakers until the cows

come home.I just like the physical aspect of itand not being behind a desk in a stu y o ce, Struewing said, gazing at the ho-rizon. ats best for me and the people

we work with are all outside people, too,so its good to be outside.!

We can put the goats and donkeys(in the training venue), Spencer said. e donkeys can pull a cart and all of that just adds realism. eyre just step-ping into a little piece of Afghanistanversus southern Indiana.

e animals are well cared for by a

team of ve Soldiers whose sole job is to work the farm. ey are on-call 24/7, 365days a year.

e Soldiers arrive before sunrise tostart their work on the farm and care forthe animals, many of which were formerfamily pets donated to the Guard whenthey became too big to keep indoors. eanimals are fed twice a day and let out tograze.

Sergeant Stephen Struewing, thenoncommissioned o cer in charge of thefarm, could not imagine having any other

job.I love it. Its the best job Ive ever

had, Struewing said. We get out hereearly and rst thing is maintenance, someclean-up and basic farm chores: feeding,cleaning. en we usually send the ani-mals o , send some out in the eld, and

watch others as theyre put out to graze.e animals, however, are not the

only aspect of the Muscatatuck farm, which is quickly becoming self-su cientand sustaining. Recently, Spencer andhis crew mowed a eld of hay, gatheringenough to keep the farm running untilthe next season. ey have also plantedand now care for several gardens, plots of corn, two greenhouses lled with plants,a fruit and nut orchard anda grape arbor. ey can alsoproduce soap made from goatsmilk.

e larger aspect of thefarm is the overall agricul-tural development training

done by teams deploying overseas. Agriculture specialists train to assist Afghan farmers in techniques they canuse to increase crop production andstimulating their economy. e Mus-catatuck farm allows them to practicetheir trade.

ats another (side) of this; theagri-business development teams comehere, Spencer said. ey can actually practice hoof trimming. ey can prac-tice giving their vaccinations on ourlivestock. ey can do their evaluationson animals that are military-ownedversus civilian-owned.

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Your college degree could lead to new challenges and careeropportunities as an Army ofcer. Active duty Soldiers with a bachelorsdegree can apply for Ofcer Candidate School (OCS). Candidates attend

USE YOUR COLLEGE

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Soldiers Magazine - October 2010