Wearing the Black Flag (2)

Part one is here.

Wearing the Black Flag (2)

There are a number of different types of military helicopters in service in Iraq, and a good-natured rivalry among those who fly the various frames. Ask an Apache guy about a '60 - he'll tell you it's a "training aircraft". Ask anyone about a '58 and you'll get a response that includes (or consists entirely of) this: "bait".

But no one disses a medevac crew.

It's a myth that poor weather conditions shut down flying. The reality is that flying becomes riskier.

In aviation there is an obvious inverse relationship between visibility and risk. The shorter the distance you can see, the greater the risk of travel. This is true of travel on the earth's surface, too, but surface travel is generally confined to two dimensional space and very specific routes (roads).

Travel above the surface brings a third dimension to the equation, and while "routes" still exist there are no marked roads, and when visual contact with the surface is lost life can become very interesting for those on the trip.

Drive down the highways of America during a blinding storm or a heavy fog and you can slow down (assuming you aren't suicidal) to the point where risk is diminished to an acceptable level. You can even stop and wait for improvement.

Slowing down in a combat zone makes you easier to shoot. Stopping means you're a sitting duck.

So when conditions demand it, routine missions are put on hold - but for situations with troops engaged with hostile forces or in case of urgent medevac requirements the birds can fly. So when the call came in there was a bird ready to launch, and a crew ready to go, and a clock ticking away.

There are a number of locations from which such a mission can launch, but one by one they reported conditions that day - bad, bad, bad, worse, really bad, and bad but better then those. I was standing in the TOC at the latter.

No one disses a medevac crew.

When U.S. soldiers are in garrison they wear a full color American flag patch on the shoulder of the Army Combat Uniform. In a combat zone that patch is replaced with a black version. Attaching the black flag is a simple act, but profound. It is done without ceremony, and after enough repitions without conscious thought. But it symbolizes a passage from a relatively safe environment to one where few would go.

Why?

If you would ask one of the thousands of Americans who perform that act on a daily basis in Iraq you would probably get a curious look as first response. After all, you've asked them to explain something fundamental, and it's often the most basic things that are most difficult to put into words. It's what we do. But go ahead and ask for more detail.

Now you'll get into the realm of commitment. Every member of a team depends on every other member of the team. No one wants to let his brothers down. It's more individual pride then collective behavior, though there's a bit of that involved too. There's been a real effort in America over the past few decades to eradicate this sort of thinking, individual pride and group will to succeed against a common foe. There's been concerted effort to describe their cause as a hopeless lie, and their fellow soldiers as killers and failures and rejects and fools. But in spite of those efforts there are still a few Americans to be found who will wear their nations flag on their sleeves and walk into places where few would go for even the clearest of reasons.

Why? If you have to ask, you couldn't possibly comprehend the answer.

But here is something they know with certainty. Should something happen, should the lowest among them require urgent care, the effort to provide that will be something unmatched in history. Every man around them is trained to render life-saving aid on the scene, and if the situation calls for it helicopters will be dispatched to get them by the fastest possible method to the nearest possible medical facility.

There is a procedure to request that assistance - inside or outside the wire, a code to shorten the message to the briefest possible transmission. Man down, location, and assessed level of urgency. There is nowhere in the code time or space to discuss rank or station. Medevac crews are always ready, within minutes a standby bird will launch.

Story continues here

Does the thought.....

Of sweet little Andi banging her head to Let the Bodies Hit the Floor at a Drowning Pool concert make anyone else grin like an idiot?

Bang Your Head...

My husband and I recently attended a Drowning Pool concert. If you looked around the audience, you might think that we were a bit out of our element. A soldier and his wife in a room full of twenty-something head-bangers, but in reality, we had never felt more at home.

airforcewife and I recently interviewed Drowning Pool about their support for our troops. Drowning Pool is part of the USO entertainment circuit. They played in Baghdad on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 and are currently working on putting together another USO tour, which they hope will take them to Afghanistan and Iraq, and they will soon be visiting troops at Walter Reed.

Before the show, my husband and I were able to meet and chat with the band, and they could not have been more gracious to us. Ryan McCombs told us that his trip to Iraq "changed him forever." Ryan was talking to my husband about how hot it was in Baghdad when they were there. When someone asked him if he was hot, he said, "like I'm gonna complain, I'm wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and look at these guys in their uniforms and body armor."

While the meet-and-greet was wonderful, I was shocked, pleasantly shocked, at what happened during the concert. After the band played a few songs, Ryan McCombs gave a heartfelt speech. He began by asking everyone to raise their hands if they are related to, or know anyone, who is now serving in defense of "the red, white and blue." He then went on to say, and I'm paraphrasing, "These men and women put their lives on the line so that we can have the freedom to come here tonight and listen to some music. We have the easy job, they have the tough job. Next time you see a soldier on the street, next time you see one in the airport lugging their bags around, next time you see them anywhere, it only takes three seconds to extend your hand and thank them for what they do for us. It's not that hard and it's the least we can do." Then, the band played "Soldiers," the song they wrote for our troops when they returned from Iraq. In fact, Drowning Pool recently renamed their tour the "This is for the Soldiers tour." We don't hear enough of this kind of support coming from celebrities, and it's music to the ears (pun intended) when we do.

Military spouses are known to be intensely loyal to businesses that support them. A lot of businesses compete for our dollars, and we like it that way, because it's all about giving our money to people who appreciate us. For all you spouses and troops out there, Drowning Pool is the real deal when it comes to supporting our troops. Might want to pick up a copy of Drowning Pool's latest album, the one that features "Soldiers" or maybe go see them in concert if they're in a town near you. It' would be money well spent.

I gave the band gifts from the SpouseBUZZ Team. Small, inexpensive gifts, but a little something to thank them for their unqualified support of our husbands. Drowning Pool music is now a staple in this household.