Wednesday, December 17, 2008
US Army visits at Brotherhood Synagogue
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
This is about our neighbors, the US Army. Just up from Baruch College, at 26th Street and Lexington Ave is the Armory serving as the Fighting 69th National Guard Infantry Regiment headquarters, As part of their Synaplex Shabbat neighborhood services the Brotherhood Synagogue invited one of their company commanders, 1st Sgt Troy J. Haley and his staff members to talk about the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on the National Guard, and on our neighborhood.
Troy Haley, 1st Sgt, age 39, was uniquely qualified to tell the tale of events, expectations, motivations and terrors in a volunteer professional military life. An archetypal military man, the young Californian became tired of family fruit farming and 19 years ago joined the Marines. He learned to swim the marines way, by repeated immersions (the Marines are part of the Navy), then went on to serve in the dry desert – first in the gulf war, then in Somalia, for Operation Restore Hope, moving on to embassy guard in Chad, then in the Netherlands. Joining the National Guard in 1996 as an Intelligence Analyst, he was selected in 2000 to be a full-time National Guard trainer in Little Rock Arkansas, to train 5,000 National Guard soldiers from across the US. In 2004 he joined the Fighting 69th and served in Iraq, protecting the vital and frequently attacked Route Irish, between the airport and Baghdad (research indicates this to be the most dangerous road in the world, all 12 kilometers of it). In 2007 he was moved back to Manhattan, to serve as the 69th’s Operations Sergeant, then 1st Sgt of its largest company.
We were given glimpses of the modern army’s fast moving assignments and opportunities – he had a colleague who had served in the Army, Air Force, Navy and the Marines, all within less than two decades- with a tolerance for goofy training methods, such as learning to swim by having to jump in the water or else – confirming that the military of Mister Roberts, Catch 22 and even Captain Queeg may be alive and well. However, to get a taste of current day military attitudes, the visitors, not being an overly book-reading lot, recommended movies – We Were Soldiers Together and A Band of Brothers - and we learned a bit about a significant change in attitudes.
One is a Vietnam War movie and the other a WWII miniseries, but the heroes are similar, commanding officers who promise to stay with their men and manage to keep them together and save lives. The emphasis in the volunteer army has changed to the positive. Moreover, while military career life may tend to resemble business career path, with employment changes, the risk-taking involves signing on for more physical danger, and the moving factors, besides the material ones, embrace the feelings for the country and for honor. It comes through, in this materialistic age, in spite of the rigors of toll of Iraq service that the narrator fully recognized, in terms of personal psyche, family problems, kids growing without a parent’s presence, all that without even mentioning threat death. Fortunately, one can quit and resign from this volunteer army, at the end of a tour.
To the question about resumption of draft, to relieve the overused National Guard, the answer seemed to favor a dedicated military, by choice, rather than impressed troops. The points raised involved pride of service, national need, of respect (not always given to the soldier, even after 9/11). The latter was a topic. Bringing democracy to people who had it denied for 60 years was another, with examples of its recognition, albeit at times reluctantly.
There were other soldiers who typified the volunteer service. Specialist Jennifer Fish joined the military two years ago, six months after high school. An Army child, born on a German base, she wanted to go to John Jay College for Criminal Justice, but they discontinued the girls’ soccer tem, so Army was the next best bet. She will go to John Jay after she completes her current enlistment, which in six more months will take her to Iraq (voluntarily, they do not send women soldiers there unless they ask, and are willing to wait), and has a tour as a drill sergeant (she’s eagerly studying for it, it is a responsible job and a point of pride). Then she’ll go to John Jay and ROTC, and the world better look out, this is a 5’4 and 112 lb young tiger. So far she’s been in accelerated training, served as honor guard (folding the flag right is very important), an MP (currently attached to a military police unit) and a Humwee driver. She can offer special training for detection of IEDs, the improvised explosive devices that have cost more lives and injuries on some roads of Iraq than guns.
The event ended with a social get-together and discussions, and offers of visits to the Armory. Public is invited, the Army has a lot to show and tell. This unit has been in four wars, starting with the Civil War, and 27 campaigns, and legend has it that it was nicknamed – a/k/a the Fighting Irish -by Robert E. Lee. We can be proud of them.
This is about our neighbors, the US Army. Just up from Baruch College, at 26th Street and Lexington Ave is the Armory serving as the Fighting 69th National Guard Infantry Regiment headquarters, As part of their Synaplex Shabbat neighborhood services the Brotherhood Synagogue invited one of their company commanders, 1st Sgt Troy J. Haley and his staff members to talk about the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on the National Guard, and on our neighborhood.
Troy Haley, 1st Sgt, age 39, was uniquely qualified to tell the tale of events, expectations, motivations and terrors in a volunteer professional military life. An archetypal military man, the young Californian became tired of family fruit farming and 19 years ago joined the Marines. He learned to swim the marines way, by repeated immersions (the Marines are part of the Navy), then went on to serve in the dry desert – first in the gulf war, then in Somalia, for Operation Restore Hope, moving on to embassy guard in Chad, then in the Netherlands. Joining the National Guard in 1996 as an Intelligence Analyst, he was selected in 2000 to be a full-time National Guard trainer in Little Rock Arkansas, to train 5,000 National Guard soldiers from across the US. In 2004 he joined the Fighting 69th and served in Iraq, protecting the vital and frequently attacked Route Irish, between the airport and Baghdad (research indicates this to be the most dangerous road in the world, all 12 kilometers of it). In 2007 he was moved back to Manhattan, to serve as the 69th’s Operations Sergeant, then 1st Sgt of its largest company.
We were given glimpses of the modern army’s fast moving assignments and opportunities – he had a colleague who had served in the Army, Air Force, Navy and the Marines, all within less than two decades- with a tolerance for goofy training methods, such as learning to swim by having to jump in the water or else – confirming that the military of Mister Roberts, Catch 22 and even Captain Queeg may be alive and well. However, to get a taste of current day military attitudes, the visitors, not being an overly book-reading lot, recommended movies – We Were Soldiers Together and A Band of Brothers - and we learned a bit about a significant change in attitudes.
One is a Vietnam War movie and the other a WWII miniseries, but the heroes are similar, commanding officers who promise to stay with their men and manage to keep them together and save lives. The emphasis in the volunteer army has changed to the positive. Moreover, while military career life may tend to resemble business career path, with employment changes, the risk-taking involves signing on for more physical danger, and the moving factors, besides the material ones, embrace the feelings for the country and for honor. It comes through, in this materialistic age, in spite of the rigors of toll of Iraq service that the narrator fully recognized, in terms of personal psyche, family problems, kids growing without a parent’s presence, all that without even mentioning threat death. Fortunately, one can quit and resign from this volunteer army, at the end of a tour.
To the question about resumption of draft, to relieve the overused National Guard, the answer seemed to favor a dedicated military, by choice, rather than impressed troops. The points raised involved pride of service, national need, of respect (not always given to the soldier, even after 9/11). The latter was a topic. Bringing democracy to people who had it denied for 60 years was another, with examples of its recognition, albeit at times reluctantly.
There were other soldiers who typified the volunteer service. Specialist Jennifer Fish joined the military two years ago, six months after high school. An Army child, born on a German base, she wanted to go to John Jay College for Criminal Justice, but they discontinued the girls’ soccer tem, so Army was the next best bet. She will go to John Jay after she completes her current enlistment, which in six more months will take her to Iraq (voluntarily, they do not send women soldiers there unless they ask, and are willing to wait), and has a tour as a drill sergeant (she’s eagerly studying for it, it is a responsible job and a point of pride). Then she’ll go to John Jay and ROTC, and the world better look out, this is a 5’4 and 112 lb young tiger. So far she’s been in accelerated training, served as honor guard (folding the flag right is very important), an MP (currently attached to a military police unit) and a Humwee driver. She can offer special training for detection of IEDs, the improvised explosive devices that have cost more lives and injuries on some roads of Iraq than guns.
The event ended with a social get-together and discussions, and offers of visits to the Armory. Public is invited, the Army has a lot to show and tell. This unit has been in four wars, starting with the Civil War, and 27 campaigns, and legend has it that it was nicknamed – a/k/a the Fighting Irish -by Robert E. Lee. We can be proud of them.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 10:04 PM 
