TOGETHER |

TOGETHER
Name: Toby Nunn
Posting date: 12/24/07
Stationed in: Kuwait / Iraq
Hometown: Oakland, CA via Terrace BC CANADA
Milblog url: tobynunn.typepad.com

Since we have been here there has been a small group of us that have talked and mentioned different and perhaps better tactics that our leadership could use to accomplish our mission. I am by no means a great tactician but I do have a grasp on tactics and small amount of experience, at least enough to get me in trouble.

We have the typical military problem, Troops to Task. I have mentioned, along with a couple other platoon sergeants, that we could better serve and protect if we took a different approach to our manning of missions. It is always nice to have more people than less, but we have to make do with less because we just don't have what we need. This Battalion did not have enough people to fill its ranks, so it pulled the majority from the IRR and other units. I myself, along with the entire Bad Voo Doo Platoon, have been pulled from a different unit to be in this one to accomplish this mission. Of course it is our job, and when the nation calls we always answer. And in the words of Donald Rumsfeld, "You go to war with the Army you have not the one you want." But we have made do. I am proud of the platoon's ability to overcome some of these challenges to make mission and look out for each other, even when there is not enough "each other" to go around. So why am I bitching, you ask?

It is the winter, and the enemy has demonstrated throughout the ages and this conflict to not want to engage as much in these colder months. We have thermal underwear and gore-tex while the "man dress" does not keep the old nuggets warm enough to even want to attack. So in these times throughout the cold, and also during the Hajj, we enjoy a slight break in the action, which is very convenient for us since it is also our holiday season. There is nothing I want more than to have the guys home, but if not, at least able to call and chat on Christmas. Not just for themselves, but also for those at home, to provide a few moments of comfort.

Well, I got my wish, and now we are manning things differently, not because it is more tactically sound though, but because our leadership just doesn't want to let the guys have idle time on their hands. At least we will all be together.