Dodging the Bullet – My Scariest Near Miss

This was probably the biggest near miss of my life. I have had near misses with IEDs, small arms, RPGs, mortars, and even a tentpeg that came out of nowhere. But, this recent near miss was the one that gave me the most butterflies in my stomach. I was nearly appointed as the Battalion Supply Officer. What a thankless and painful job.

To call the world of logistics “the painful world of logistics” is redundant, but I continue to use the “painful” modifier just to ensure that nobody forgets just how much being a logistician sucks. I am an infantry officer and I am in an infantry company. But, as the executive officer, my day is full of examining document control registers, reviewing maintenance and inspection worksheets, ordering repair parts, forecasting supply needs, ensuring that supplies are not wasted, ensuring that property is accounted for, ensuring that equipment is maintained, spot checking maintenance of equipment and serviceability of supplies, inventorying supplies on hand – I could go on. It is not the job that I envisioned when I joined the Army.

I do occasionally venture out of the patrol base, get shot at, see the city, see the countryside, and play with guns. I have actually seen much more of this part of the country than anyone else in the company, because I must make occasional trips to far-away LSAs (Logistical Support Areas) and FOBs (Forward Operating Bases). But, the small unit tactical leaders have a more intimate knowledge of our area of operations, because they patrol in it and fight in it everyday. My primary purpose in life is to focus on three things, largely pertaining to supplies and equipment: maintenance, accountability, and logistical planning.

I joined the infantry because I wanted to jump out of planes and kill communists. As I said in an earlier post, riding around in vehicles and wasting Islamofascists is not a bad substitute. But, there is not a whole lot of that being done by yours truly. My fights are usually over the radio or by email and amount to me fending off some bad idea from higher echelons. When I am not able to shoot down bad ideas, I shield the soldiers from those bad ideas as best I can, so that the soldiers can focus on their jobs and not on stupidity that people in air conditioned offices think of, as they put together PowerPoint presentations and swap “war stories” about Ranger School.

Apparently, I have distinguished myself in my thankless job, so my name has been bounced around for quite some time as the successor to our current Supply Officer – a man for whom I have great respect, due to the painful job that he has worked selflessly and tirelessly at for about two years now. Were it not for the lobbying of my Commander and the downright shameless self-demotion that I was doing behind the scenes, I would now be transitioning into that painful job. I would be examining paperwork, I would be immersed in logistical planning, and I would be totally removed from the infantrymen who are fighting and winning this counterinsurgency. I already do much of the first two, but that last one would be the final crushing blow to my morale. Being in the company of infantrymen is about the only thing that does not suck about this deployment. Well, the pay is pretty good too, but I could make a lot more as a civilian.

I treasure my remaining time in this infantry company. Fortunately, there is a huge backlog of officer moves, due to the stop-loss/stop-move personnel actions that occurred as a result of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is only a matter of time before I move off to some staff position at battalion or, even worse, some echelon higher than that. That is the normal career progression. I am not making a career out of the Army, because there is little that interests me in this profession other than being a platoon leader – and my platoon leader time ended long ago. So, I am clinging to this company as best I can.

I have no desire to get promoted or to get some coveted job that makes me competitive for some higher position. I am simply hoping to stay down here on the line, where the mission is accomplished. I am much happier on the mortar magnet that is our Patrol Base than I would be living on some cushy FOB where everyone presses their uniform and eats two hot meals per day. The platoon leaders want to remain in their jobs, my commander wants to maintain as much continuity in the company as possible, and I do not want to go to some higher echelon, to be surrounded by other officers and non-infantry types. The environment of an infantry company is, by far, the best work environment that I can imagine.

I have worked in the civilian world in rural, suburban, and urban areas. I have gone to college in Alabama - in the buckle of the Bible belt - and in the heart of Boston, which is just about the exact opposite. I have lived in small towns, suburbs, and cities. There are no better people to live with, talk with, befriend or work with than infantrymen. It is difficult to explain why and I lack the eloquence, time, and a sufficiently well-rested brain to explain why. So, I will just sum it up by saying this. Here is a conversation that you will never hear in an infantry unit:

Sergeant: “Gee, I’m sorry for yelling at you. I got a little upset and said some things that I shouldn’t have.”

Sergeant: “All right, I’m done yelling at you. Dust yourself off and get back to work. If you ever pull some stupid crap like that again, I will smoke you into a coma.”

To call the world of logistics “the painful world of logistics” is redundant, but I continue to use the “painful” modifier just to ensure that nobody forgets just how . . . [bad] being a logistician [is]. I am an infantry officer and I am in an infantry company. But, as the executive officer, my day is full of examining document control registers, reviewing maintenance and inspection worksheets, ordering repair parts, forecasting supply needs, ensuring that supplies are not wasted, ensuring that property is accounted for, ensuring that equipment is maintained, spot checking maintenance of equipment and serviceability of supplies, inventorying supplies on hand – I could go on. It is not the job that I envisioned when I joined the Army.

That encapsulates nicely the attitude of Nathaniel Greene during the Revolutionary War. But putting General Greene in charge of logistics was a saving move by George Washington during the winter of Valley Forge, and it made Greene a superb planner. Greene finally got his big chance when the South had been just about completely lost to the British, and it looked like that would continue and progress north - dooming the Revolution.
Green assembled a modest force and was able to tempt Cornwallis into abandoning his supplies in order to be able to pursue Green rapidly in an effort to quickly put an end to the threat Cornwallis respected in Greene. Having gotten his logistical ducks in a row, Greene was able to retreat as rapidly as Cornwallis could advance, and to cross rivers expeditiously.
As a result Cornwallis' force became attenuated enough that Greene was able to make a stand in a defensive position and inflict heavy casualties. Greene withdrew to the south, and Cornwallis went to the coast where he could expect to get resupplied by the British Navy. But Washington - and the French Navy - got to Yorktown before the British Navy did . . .
Three southern states gave Greene plantations in appreciation of his success. So if you're stuck handling logistics, maybe there is hope for career advancement after all.

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