Letter To My Replacement - Iraq 2005

15 October 2005

No-Nonsense Notes from Operation Iraqi Freedom III

Welcome!  To the land of chocolate rivers and gumdrop smiles! 

I am LT Mike Forsberg (American, 1974).  I have served as 1/B/2-116 Brigade Combat Team Platoon Leader from 5 September 2004 to 23 November 2005.  We have trained in Fort Bliss and Fort Polk through JRTC before coming to Iraq for OIF III.  The Brigade was in Fort Bliss, TX since June 2004.  So, my men and I have had a total of six months of train up before deploying to Iraq.  I was a Staff Sergeant 19K M1A1 tank commander for six years before taking my commission in April 2004.  I am in my 12^th year as an Idaho Army National Guardsman.  I hold a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Computer Information Systems from Boise State University.  I work full time for the Idaho Army National Guard as a Production Controller and Database Administrator.  I also manage a small business doing everything from making networks and fixing computers to troubleshooting software and designing graphics.  Quite a contrast to my assignment as a motorized infantry platoon leader in Iraq!  However, my skills have been a valuable tool for me here.

My men are a pool of MOSs ranging from 11B to 19K/19D.  Some FA men are in my platoon, along with mortar men.  A sprinkle of former Marines, airmen and sailors are in the Unit. When my National Guard brigade was activated, this unit was an armor unit with M1A1 tanks.  The Army combined two tank units, threw in the excess from around the 116 Cavalry Brigade Combat Team, and made three motorized infantry platoons consisting of 42 men each.  Some of the guys served in SFOR 11 in Bosnia conducting similar missions.

We flew to Kuwait in November 2004.  At the last minute, we were called to Al Baqubah with 2-63 Armor (First Infantry Division) to help them with FOB security and run counter mortar missions through the January 2005 elections.  That popped our cherries and we fit right in because we were a bunch of tankers just like them.  We rolled in tanks and trucks doing everything we do here in Kirkuk.  OIF II was much more wild west than OIF III.  Also, Al Baqubah is the northern tip of the Sunni triangle.  The politics were much easier there, though.  We moved to Kirkuk in February 2005.  Kirkuk was a different type of violence from where we were.

All throughout training, we rolled as four nine man squads.  I had one squad designated as a wheel squad to drive, gun, and truck command.  The other three squads rolled as dismounts.  Well, when we got to Kirkuk, we had three days of guard duty and six days of patrols.  Three days were day patrol, and three days of 24 hour QRF plus night patrols.  The rotation started and ended at 0900.  So, squads had to continuously borrow teams from their counterparts for patrols and guard duty.  Within the first month (February 2005) of being in Kirkuk, I decided to break up one squad to the other three squads.  This gave me 3 squads of 13.  I have 1 full time medic, platoon sergeant, and myself for a total of 42 men in first platoon.  When your guys start going on leave and pass, you will know why we rolled into 3 squads!  Second platoon followed suit a few months later, and third platoon managed to keep four squads somehow.

Guard duty consists of 11 men.  One sergeant of the guard (SOG), one commander of the relief (COR) who also runs the radios, one runner/front gate guard, two back gate guards, crow’s nest on the main house, and five tower guards.  These men control the house and everything that goes on in and out of it.  Do not put an idiot on the radios.  We were directed to have E5 and above.  The guys in sector need the experience on the radios to make decisions.  They need to be as creative as you with their resources.  Remember, they don’t just have the squad out on patrol to check random nonsense.  There are 3000 police, army, NOC security, etc who do as good or better job of checking on things.  Don’t get sucked into trying to do everything that comes over the radio yourself.  Make your interpreters work the police, etc.  I had my squad leaders run SOG, and his team leaders would rotate at the COR position.  See the force protection plan in the company CP.

Patrols had seats for at least 15 men if we only used the M1114 trucks (more with cargos).  This is a seat for 13 in the squad, a medic, and an interpreter.  Works like magic.  You or your PSG’s seat will be available when guys go on leave, or if you leave a guy home.  We can roll 42 PAX and six interpreters in three cargos and five up-armored trucks for company or bigger missions.  I’m sure you will find your own mix of trucks.  I rolled three up-armored trucks out every time on regular patrols and QRF.  Three vehicles is a mandatory requirement.  What those trucks are is mission dependent.  You can roll two up-armored trucks and a cargo, too.  We also arranged to be our own QRF when you had an element in sector.  The only time you may have to roll that one out is if the company is on battalion or brigade QRF.  You will have to borrow trucks from house platoon every time. 

My squad leaders are all Staff Sergeants.  I do not recommend anything less.  Every operation you perform here in Kirkuk will be as a squad.  Make them do patrol reports, and go out with them on random patrols and every planned mission.  They will learn from you, and become confident so you can trust and depend on them.  Don’t let them go out and shoot dogs or bring bb guns on patrols.  It seems like a good idea at first, but they will fuck you.  My team leaders are Sergeants.  Don’t change that either.  At least one E5 from each squad must be the squad leader’s right hand man, so when that squad leader goes on leave, that squad will be in good hands.  Squad leaders go on every task their squad is assigned to.  No exceptions.

I lost 1 man to a knee injury during police training.  He was demonstrating a throw.  He is a cop in normal life.  Another man was donated to be the Commander’s gunner for the last couple months of the deployment.  We have traded guys out with other platoons for personality conflicts within teams, but no drastic changes (injury, death) have occurred in this Company during this deployment.

My platoon has been specifically involved in 1 grenade attack, less than ten IED/VBIED attacks, and some small arms contact.  We have had people run traffic control points after IED/VBIED attacks.  Make sure you talk to your chain of command about these situations and make sure you have their support when the shit hits the fan.  You will know if they will stand with you.  Everything here is investigated by AR15-6 procedures and a serious incident report will follow.  We have encountered one suicide bomber by the bank in June.  You will also come upon a time where you will have to report for every round.  If you came to Kirkuk looking for a fight, you came to the wrong place.  It is very quiet here.  The Kurdish Peshmerga and political ties to Baghdad and neighboring areas keep this place very quiet.  Kirkuk is a strategic resource city.  You will be wined and dined daily by politics.  Everyone is tied to a political organization.  You need to understand their ties to each other.  When someone gets out of control, the others squash them.  Since February 2005 to November 2005, my platoon will have performed almost 1000 combat patrols, missions, and logpac/escort operations.

You will experience negligent discharges (accidental discharge or AD).  Small arms: roll red/amber depending on the situation (I have never had a reason to take my safety off with my M4/M9 in Kirkuk); Crew served: roll amber; implement some sort of SOP for clearing weapons outside the fire base, and criteria for going red on crew served weapons (M249/M240B/M2).  They took away our MK19 early in the year, and M203 HE was gone soon after that.  Also frag grenades are now a thing of the past.  My guys made some clearing barrels about a day ago for you and your men (You are welcome.  I think that is funny).  Hold truck commanders responsible when there is an accidental discharge (AD).  The fobbits had lots of A.D.s.  We have had maybe five in the company this whole year.  Four were M240, 1 from M4.  But don’t take it for granted.  Guys will lose rank due to accidental discharges.

Your job as a platoon leader is to manage their time, supervise, and recommend patrols based on the Commander’s and S2 guidance.  I also allowed my squad leaders to go out above and beyond my plans.  I had to roll out with each squad on just about every patrol for the first two months to get a feel for the sector and get to know and trust the police chiefs and other spears of influence.  I went through two police chiefs (Chief Adnan now at the police academy, Chief Jasim now at the Adalla police station as Chief).  I am now on my third one (Chief Sherzad, from Rawhimawa police station as Chief).  I am in charge of the Aruba (Uroba) police station in D9 and almost 200 policemen.  They are coming along.  I feel as close to them as my own men.  I have grown to trust them and ESU police through all of the shit we have been together in.  They get killed and injured every day and they keep going.  They tell me it is their duty.  They are true warriors.

I have finally gotten the Aruba Police Station’s $100,000 contract through to fix and improve it like the other police stations.  It will be complete with barriers, parking lot, generator, electrical and plumbing, fighting positions, and building upgrades.  I fought to get new trucks.  About the middle of September, six finally showed up.  Aruba sector is the hardest on vehicles in the city of Kirkuk.

Get a GPS (I have a Magellin SporTrak and it works in the M1114; Garman does not work at all in the up armored trucks.  If you have a Garman, trade it for a Magellin.  You can’t use the radio/buddy tracker function in sector anyway because it will compromise you and your men.).  Get Falconview installed and become an expert with it.  Train your squad leaders how to use it.  I trust the grids from Falconview to enter into my GPS, and I am there every time.  Track everything on your Falconview for your platoon history and pass it on to your counterpart for OIF V.  You will use it for every mission plan and storyboard you do.  Triple check grids that are given to you from the CP.  50% of the grids you get from the CP are mis-read or mis-heard.  Ask them to verify twice before entering it into your GPS.  They may get annoyed, but will soon understand why you keep asking them to do this for you.

Remember: the first report from the CP is wrong 90% of the time.  Get ready, but get your interpreter to contact the police to verify reports before hanging your guys out on wild goose chases.

If you think you will be running platoon operations:  I ran one that I can remember in the whole year.  Like I said:  everything is done as squads.  Even Company, Battalion, and Brigade level operations.  We do everything from knock and searches to full out raids with special forces (ODA or operational detachments alpha).  ODA guys seem high speed at first, but when we are working separate from them on simultaneous raids, and can get to a point, do the raid, find the guy after going to ten follow-on locations, then detain and process him in an efficient manner while the ODA guys just call their first location a dry hole and give up; those guys are all just a bunch of show boaters.  Train your men that they are elite.  They will become what you expect them to be.  ODA also asks you for men to drive and gun for them.  It is good for your guys because it validates to them that you run your house better than the SF!  SF are great sources for information.  Work with them, too.

We did our own logpacs, escorted generals and dignitaries, conducted psyops, mounted and dismounted patrols day and night, over watches, sniper missions, ambushes, traffic control points, point of origin (POO) operations, point of impact (POI) operations, police training, mine/UXO sweeping operations, call for fire, FA over watch, joint air force operations, counter mortar, work with informants, muktar and imam meetings, political, social and economics meetings, work with school masters, police chiefs and assistants, Iraqi army leaders, clinics, hospitals, visit the morgues, crime investigations, rescue operations, help Iraqi displaced personnel, knock and search, raids, school supplies and clinic drops, etc.  I was also the safety officer for the company reporting everything from a hurt finger to vehicle accidents via Army Ground Accident Report.  I was also XO while the CO was on leave.  You will help plan projects for sewer /water/ road/ building/ electrical/ plumbing improvements around the sector.  You will work with Iraqi Displaced People (IDP) camps.  You will be a contact for just about everything that happens or does not happen in your assigned sector.  You need to be very creative to use the resources you have available to you.  The people here respect and trust us.  They have great respect for officers, NCOs, and American Soldiers.

My platoon has rescued kidnapped victims, discovered weapon, armament, and ammunition caches (in and outside the city), discovered IEDs, VBIEDs before they blow up, among other disruption operations preventing things we may never know we prevented.  As a battalion, we have swept through every major sector in and out of Kirkuk.  That means, we have searched every home, business, vehicle, field, public place, road, sewer system (yep, there are a couple), garbage and scrap pile, railway, and traffic circle.  We work with ESU, Iraqi Army, and city police agencies throughout the city on a daily basis.  90% of our operations are conducted with an Iraqi counterpart.

I roll with each of my squads as separate elements.  My squad leaders run their patrols.  My platoon sergeant and I go on at least 60% of them.  Let your squad leaders do their job.  Train them to do your job:  patrol reports, story boards, planning company/battalion/brigade missions, etc.  Include them, and they will make you a lot of money.  They should aspire to be platoon sergeants or officers some day.  Make every decision with your platoon sergeant.  He is your right hand man and will become your best friend.  Do not fuck him, and he will not fuck you.  He will run the men and keep the problems out of your thoughts.  He will jump into the bullshit and sweep it away for you.

Your patrols are a disruption to the idiots who are financing, planning, transporting, placing, and detonating.  If you don’t run a patrol, the idiots will be out causing mischief in your sector.  Don’t fuck your cops by not going on patrols.  I always roll heavy mounted (gunner, TC, driver, dismounts), but roll dismounted in the river bed, and plant over watch positions (usually in schools or tall homes).  Drop your dismounts and drive around in a separate neighborhood within ICOM distance (about 1000 meters line of sight).  Talk to the citizens.  Separate one from a crowd and take him on a patrol with you.  Squeeze him for information away from his buddies.  Another great source of information is the kids.  They learn English in school and are very free with what they tell you.  Catch them away from the adults and they will brag about what they know.  Give them candy for their time.

Suicide bombers could be kidnapped victims, women, or children.  VBIEDs could be stolen cars made in chop shops in small garages in small neighborhoods (D11, D12 is where we found some).  Money obtained from contractors, business owners, and kidnapping ransoms is used to pay mercenaries to set out the devices.  I figure that every small IED costs them at least $500 (100 for buying materials, 100 for making it, 100 for transporting, 100 for setting it up, 100 for setting it off).  Don’t be surprised to find out that young kids are paid to set and blow up IEDs.  A VBIED will be about $700 - $1000.  Not many geniuses are in Kirkuk to make the stuff.  They keep blowing themselves up.  It is imported and smuggled into the city in watermelon/fruit, vegetable, cement, lumber, and animal trucks.  We have never stopped a car and found explosives inside.  We have never found explosives in a house we knock and search.  I cannot remember finding any explosives in homes we have done raids on, either.  The stuff is hidden in places where we will not want to go (garbage piles, shit ditches, sewers), or we would not think to look (food piles, businesses, soccer fields/school grounds, generator sheds).  When you stop a truck, make them unload their cargo until you feel like they do not have anything or anywhere else to hide something.  2000 – 2400 and 0300 – 0800 is when most of the mischief happens on a daily basis.

There are insurgent operators, but they come and go to train the AIF (anti-Iraqi forces).  Tighten up the TCPs and train the police and IA to identify them.  The police and IA will surprise you with ideas, too.

Your men should, at the very least, memorize Arabic numbers for license plates, addresses, etc.  Interpreters will help you learn a language if you take the time.

There is a small fund the Commander has access to called the micro rewards program.  It is about $20 to get information.  I have gotten informants up to $500 for information.  Most of the information will frustrate you, but keep trying.  The people here generally trust Americans.  They do not trust police, army, or other security forces.  That is also slowly changing for the better.

Use the range as a reason to rotate your ammunition.  We go east of town.  Test fire your weapons at least every two weeks.  Spot check your men that they know how to headspace and time your M2.  Also, watch them load the radio fills, and set time.  Help them do maintenance on their trucks.  You will find out who is competent, and who needs training.  You will know what your PSG needs to train your men on.  Let your PSG run the training programs and make your squad leaders/team leaders train their men on a team level.

As you roll, keep it at around 25 miles per hour.  Keep your gunners at chin strap defilade unless you are stopped.  Go with traffic (unless you are on QRF.  That is what the bumpers are for).  Wave to the people.  Most of them are Kurds and speak great English.  This made us a lot of money when we first got here.  The 25^th ID guys pushed everyone off the roads when they were just driving around.  This also signals to the idiots that Coalition Forces are coming so they can time and set out IEDs.  You are pretty safe when you are with a line of cars.  The AIF do not want to injure/kill civilians on purpose because that is the propaganda they use against us to get the population to go against Coalition Forces and police.  However, if they injure or kill a few civilians during an attack, they will risk it.  The 25^th ID had a lot of problems with the population.  We have had no demonstrations that I can think of, except peaceful ones wanting us to do more for security.  You can’t see much when you are going too fast.  Also, an IED will hit you if you are going 10 mph or 60 mph.  So, speed is not going to keep you safer.  A gunner got killed from another unit from a rollover from going too fast.

Barracks life:  don’t be an ass clown and have your guys do planned PT, etc.  Garrison crap is for garrison back home.  Let your guys sleep when they can, eat when they can, train when they can, play when they can.  Your Squad Leaders will manage their guys and force extreme measures on a case by case basis.  However, have your sergeants maintain the standards such as uniform, etc.  The First Sergeant will drive that train.  The guys get in more trouble on the fire base or when they go to the FOB than they can ever invent to be in trouble for in sector.  (we have a saying that more rounds are launched from behind friendly lines in the form of paperwork and investigations than the enemy could ever think of sending)  Let your sergeants run the patrol base and guard duty.  You and your squad leaders run the missions and patrols.  The E-4 mafia will help you keep a pulse on your platoon.  The men will hike the Himalayas to fuck their buddy.  Just like you and your counterparts, the men have a natural pecking order and you can use it to your advantage.  Use their ideas.  Don’t dime them out or ever nark on them or you will lose them as a resource for knowledge.  There are plenty of ways to make the problem appear without exposing the source of information.  Do not let them complain to you.  Make them give you solutions.  Make them think on their feet.  You will appear as a mentor to them, and they will grow to trust you.

Spend a lot of time with the XO/FSO and get to know their jobs well.  They can help you and your efforts tremendously.  Also, enroll in online correspondence courses through SkillSoft.  It is free online training, and you get retirement points for every 5 hours you complete.  It passes the time and is more productive than watching movies or playing video games.  Look it up under “my education” in your AKO account.  Talk with your counterparts often and coordinate patrol plans.  There are five of you and one commander.  You do your jobs, and the CO will do the rest.  Don’t ever complain to him.  Bring him recommendations.  I cannot remember a recommendation or request that was turned down, so it does not happen often.  Keep your CO informed.  Do not dime out or nark out your counterparts, either.  Take every mission without complaint and look at it as an opportunity.  You will soon be the go to guy as your counterparts complain away.  In the end, that is all that matters.  What you did.  If you are with your commander in future jobs, he will remember you and how you helped him succeed.  You will learn a lot about your own limits.  Vent with your Platoon Sergeant.  He will be your best friend, and possibly the only man you will be able to yell with.  Don’t bother trying to figure out why battalion wants something.  Give it to them and get on with life.

I have created a disk with just about everything you need.  I even added a full installation of Microsoft Office, a full version of Adobe Acrobat, the printer drivers for the printer, etc.  I have templates for everything I used.  There are about six basic forms you will use while you are over here: A2166_8 NCOER, DA638 Awards, DA2886 Laundry, DA4856 Counseling, DA 2823 Sworn Statement, DD1750 Packing List.  There is a patrol report format required for every patrol to division.  A mandatory storyboard is to follow every major mission, QRF call, or incident.  Also, I have created some certificates that will make you a very nice guy.  The men, and the Iraqis love them.  They are cheap, but effective.  Get Falconview.  I will install it on your system if you have a computer.  I will train you on how to use it.

Media:  all the training you got on the media was a waste of time.  I have not interacted with a lot of media here.  Mostly stars and stripes, army times, CNN, local news, etc. send reps here to go on patrols with you, so there is no surprise they are there.  They get the Army story out to Americans back home.  It is a nice tool and they are cool people to work with.  They may even have pictures, video, etc to give to you and your guys while they are with you.

Interpreters:  Shady and Willie have been here with the 173^rd infantry, 25^th ID, and 116^th BCT.  They are great.  I have also had “Mark” who is a kid, but very reliable and has a lot of experience with the 4^th ID in Tikrit during OIF I.  His Unit is who captured Sadaam Husein; very interesting story on the leads they got to catch him.  He may tell you about it if he trusts you.  These interpreters are the key to everything you will do here.  They will go with every patrol.  I roll them in 24 hour shifts:  1 on, 1 QRF, 1 off.  They live on the economy and can do everything from gather intelligence, get grids for hits, buy items for you and your soldiers from the economy (don’t fuck them and have them buy you stuff you cant have or they will get fired), interpret, translate, etc.  They all have cell phones and know all of the key spears of influence you will encounter.  They know the city and act as “tour guides”.  They are your eyes and ears for news and what is happening day to day in the city and around the country/middle east.  When your terp is not working, have him watching news, etc.  This population reacts to what happens in foreign lands.  I do not give them my mission plans.  I give them times.  They prefer not to know the details anyway.  They will do anything you ask of them.  If I were to give them rank, I would make Shady and Willie a Corporal and Mark a PFC.

Vehicles:  I have 3 X M1114, 1 X M1025, 2 X M998 cargo trucks, 1 X LMTV.  I use my M1114 on normal patrols.  M1025 and 2 cargos for QRF because QRF hardly gets called, and something has already happened.  You need guys on QRF and the trucks to get them there are cargos.  The patrols need the up armored protection; the QRF is secondary and are responding.  The LMTV:  I have never used it on an in-sector mission.  The supply sergeant uses it on a daily basis.  We use it to run stuff like laundry to the KRAB and back.  Get a maintenance schedule and stick with it.  Make sure all of your guys are licensed on everything.  Make sure your guys sign dispatches.  This will save your ass during investigations on accidents, etc.  Assign a vehicle to a driver and assign a team to maintain it.  Hold them accountable for that truck and its equipment.

Police and Army:  ESU is the elite unit trained by Special Forces.  Go with them on night patrols and raids/ knock and searches.  They are good, and more organized than regular police.  They are also more thorough on investigations that get convictions.  Go with regular police from the stations on day patrols and escort missions.  They live on the economy and are very much in tune with the politics of their Chief, and their neighborhoods.  But the negative effects are that they will not perform optimally when they are not being watched.  Their neighbors may be the ones they roll up today and come back to kill their families tomorrow.  Iraqi Army Scorpion platoon is like ESU, but regular IA are turds.  The Iraqi Army mans traffic control points coming into the city, and are consistently caught being paid by AIF to allow questionable traffic into the city.  My platoon has not been involved in the training of the IA.  Most IA lives in barracks and is not from here.  Some live on the economy.  This helps with your security in sector.  When you invite them onto the patrol base, be prepared to clean up a huge mess after they leave.  They have not learned this advancement in civilization quite yet.

The court system in Iraq sucks.  Weeks will be spent planning and building a case.  When the person is finally in custody, they have 24 hours before they go to a judge to decide if the person will be held for trial or be released.  The ODA units are working with the court system to get it up and running.  Right now it seems to be a revolving door and gets very frustrating.  Especially when you grab a guy with rockets, RPG-7s, AK-47s with multiple magazines, grenades, stolen uniforms, an abundance of C-4, timers, wire, electronics, clocks, batteries, and cell phones.  Corruption is very counter productive here, and everyone has a price.  Do not let it dismantle you or your men’s drive.  Job security, right?  Start a database for your platoon from day one.  If you can swing it, keep one at company level and have the SOG/COR maintain it.  Record everyone you run into, with license plate/vehicle descriptions, and weapons.  The battalion was going to start one, but it never got out to us.  I kick myself looking back on that information I could have supplied to you.  Like I said, Iraqi Army started a database, and ODA has a good one, too.

Police can put detainees in the police station jail for 24 hours before they have to go see a judge or be released.  You can also admit them to the KRAB detainee cell for almost a month, then send them to jail for 24 hours to go see a judge, or be released.  We have rolled up known bad guys for the elections and held them in the D cell so they don’t cause problems.  They did that for the January 2005 elections, too in Baqubah.  Pretty cheesy and fake if you ask me, but that is what they do and it seems to work.  There are a lot of things we get away with here that police get into hot water over in the States.  If you want to hold people, take them to your station, let the police know what you want them to do such as question them, or just hold them for delay and lesson for curfew violations, and follow up to make sure they release them within 24 hours or they will hold them for months without talking to the courts.  Guys we take to jail on raids and missions go to ESU for processing.  Don’t let your police get jacked up by their government for illegally holding people for too long.  Don’t fuck your cops.  The police will do everything you ask them to because they trust you.  They know their court system sucks, too.  I do not take advantage of this authority because it has negative effects on the political side of your job.  Use sound judgment and have a reason before detaining people.  I do not condone violence to detainees, and report it if I or my men see it.  You will also be in a lot of trouble if you don’t report it.  This is part of the training process to get these cops and army to understand that they can no longer beat up detainees in a democratic society.  It is good to get people into the system (Iraqi Army has a database), so if you have a question, roll them up because it will not be a total loss.

Keep an eye on your guys and limit the amount of pictures they take in sector.  They could jeopardize security for a photo opportunity, or piss off the locals.  I did not control this because my guys got a lot of pictures that helped me with my storyboards.  Designate photographers just as you do detainee teams and aid and liter teams before going on patrols and missions.  Have a gunner take notes on grids, times, license plates, etc.  Rotate them through helping you write the reports.  They will know more about what they need to look for in sector and realize their job is more than sitting on a gun or driving the truck from point A to point B.

Meetings:  hold meetings when you get information.  Let your PSG give out the company meeting minutes.  Most of it is for him anyway.  Your stuff will come on sticky notes or digits.  Go through it and make it soldier friendly.  Don’t assume your guys know where something is or looks at a map before they kick out.  Also, do not just give them the digital order you just got.  Go through it, recommend to the CO in your back brief to show him you understand his plan, then give it to your guys the way we trained to give an OPORD.  It is another way to make money with both your CO and your men.  Always personally coordinate with your counterparts, to include the army and police.  Do not delegate this because it will always get jacked up in the translation.

The FOB Warrior is a place to go for fuel, good food, and…hmm.  I can’t think of any other reason to go there as a platoon leader.  Make your men wear their seatbelts on the FOB.  Make your gunners stay down on the FOB.  Go on the FOB and get off of it as soon as you can.  That is all I have to say about the FOB.

Have a safe and exciting tour in Kirkuk, Iraq.  Make your guys do their jobs.  Make your squad leaders do patrol briefs to their guys before going out.  Make them do after action reviews with their men and give it to you along with their patrol reports.  Make them learn and know they are your eyes and ears.  Use their ideas.  Make them clear their weapons in the clearing barrels.  Make them train constantly to be proficient at everything two levels above their job.  Have fun and it will all be worth the ride in the end.  Being a platoon leader in charge of 41 men in a line company in a combat zone has been the greatest opportunity I have been presented in my military career.  It will be a catalyst for progression in all aspects of my life to include being a better husband and father to my five children.  Believe me, you will be where I am soon:  passing off information to the next LT in the chute.  This is the best thing I feel that I can do for you:  pass on my experience.  May the enemies have more set backs and worse supply lines than you do.  They definitely can’t shoot!  Sine Mora!  (Without Delay!)

Mike Forsberg

2LT, Armor, 1/B/2-116 Platoon Leader

Operation Iraqi Freedom III

December 2004 – November 2005

michael.forsberg@us.army.mil

For the guys coming over: (as sent in an email to my Armor Officer Basic buddies on active duty)

learn some Arabic
learn to use interpreters and work on your people skills.  all the crap they teach you about customs here are really more "normal" to us than they teach.  95% of the folks here want us here because they know we keep things quieter than if we weren't here.

Your interpreters can get you anything for half the cost on the Iraqi market.  But, you will soon discover there is nothing in Iraq you want.  I have spent less than $300 since I have been here (December 2004 to present).  You will find yourself managing your soldier's money, though.  Don’t get fooled into buying the gold.  It is fucking crap.  I bought some and had it tested when I went on leave.

Oh yeah, in training, I had 4 squads.  When I got over here, I re-organized to 3 squads.  It just works 150 times more efficiently.  Everyone needs to know how to drive, gun, TC and dismount.  Not just one squad like they will tell you in training.

Don't buy a satellite or cell phone.  Use Yahoo messenger (BETA) version and get a webcam.  It is free.

Bring a digital camera, laptop with DVD player and CD burner.  Also, huge thumb drives (at least 2Gb).  At least 2 of them.  They will fail you, but they are awesome to have on you all the time for passing and getting information.

I have an external hard drive with all my programs copied to it so if your computer/buddy's computer crashes, you can get it up again.

Must haves: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access), Form flow with all the military forms (priority is DA 638 Awards, DA 2823 Sworn Statements, DA 2886 Laundry, DA 4856 Counseling, DD 1750 Packing List, Blank military driver's license...make this on your computer.  it will come in handy for your soldiers)

Adobe Acrobat (the full version.  you can print to a PDF document, and make forms into useful documents you can use over and over again)

Falcon view (talk to your S2 for the F15 maps for the area you are going to.  It is about 1 GB, so 2 CDs) so you can make your own maps for missions to your guys.

Start from day one and have your squad leaders/tank commanders give you a patrol report on every patrol.  This keeps you up on everything, is a check on their work, will be required by your higher echelon later when they get squared away and figure out they need it, and keeps a history of your platoon during your rotation so you can pass it on to your men when you get home.

I am also the company safety officer.  (Army Ground Accident Report, AGAR report...get one with the user guide.  AR 384-40, AR 385-10, DA PAM 385-40, Army accident classification)

Document ALL of your training and keep records.  You will need that for when (not if) you or a soldier in your platoon/Unit gets investigated.  Everything with a question mark gets investigated over here.

Take lots of pictures.  This is another use of the external hard drive.

I won't bullshit you on what comfort items, etc you will need.  Use your common sense. 

Hodgie likes to sell you films with more than one movie on it.  They work fine, but then your DVD player crashes due to viruses, etc.  They are so low quality; your DVD player has to work hard to read them.  If you are a computer type, you will be very happy.  I you are not, you will be sad...bring some tools.

I want you guys to have success.  The above list will score you a lot of points with your soldiers and your commanders.