MilBlogs Conference, Day 4

[Greyhawk]

If you ever get invited to the milblogs conference "after party" - take it from me: pass it by.

It sounded okay at first - Jimbo saying there was going to be a private screening of the new Star Trek movie in the War Room at the Pentagon, and he could get us in. They'd debuted the film for the troops in the CENTCOM AO, some of the Senior Leadership in DC had gotten wind of that, and demanded one for the "troops on the homefront", too.

We met in the lobby of the Westin, where Jimbo had a surprise for us:

The War in Wardak

[Greyhawk]

The BBC's Ian Pannell, from Wardak Province, Afghanistan:

The deputy governor has been pleading with the new US troops deployed to Wardak province to come to the rescue. The last time the 2nd battalion, 87th infantry came here, in March, they were attacked.

The response is operation Call of Duty, rather aptly named after the video game.

It is an integral part of America's new strategy. The troops of the 10th Mountain Division are the first to have been deployed as part of the US-led "surge". Their mission is to push the Taleban away from Kabul, which neighbours Wardak.

And more news from Wardak via MaryAnn:

About a year ago, a handful of US soldiers were tasked with holding down the entire Wardak province. (To understand the impossibility of that task, read this.) Now, thousands of troops led by the 10th Mountain's TF Spartan have a chance of making real progress.

Michael Phillips of The Wall Street Journal has written a good, solid article about the challenges facing the Task Force and what they've achieved so far.

Follow that "read this" link and you'll learn the fate of the man who commanded the handful of troops that once did the job shared by well over 1,000 today. They'll need more than numbers, skill, and training to get the job done - the "no right answer" decision Cpt Hill was forced to make (and that ended his career) had nothing to do with those factors. Without effective and coherent policies and support from on high, the twentyfold increase in troops will simply bring failure on a larger scale.

"Power knee" prosthetic device

[Greyhawk]

Army Newswatch episode 09-10: Medical correspondent, Col. Paul Little, M.D., introduces us to a courageous and strong Soldier who is serving as the point of the spear for the next generation of prosthetic limbs.

Awesome!