From: Lucian Truscott in downtown Mosul Subject: INSIDE THE KINGDOM OF SUCK.... in Iraq

email | unknown | unknown

[MEG33]

I know nothing and thought how easy it would be to pinpoint the man speaking.

[MEG33]

God bless your brother and all who do this for my country.

[prairiebreeze]

Wow. I don't know whether to believe the legitimacy of the post or not, but it's quite a read.

Prairie

[LoudRepublicangirl]

I really appreciate your kind words. It helps knowing he is there and that there are people who support what he and the other soldiers are doing.

[windchime]

Bump!

[windchime]

Thanks to your brother for his service!

[mark502inf]

This USMA '69 alum must have been a real slacker if he finds the performance of the current crop of Lts. to be ruthlessly efficient.

Oh, so you were there? Or perhaps you've had other first-hand observations of these lieutenants? Or maybe you were just talking out of your a**?

[FreedomPoster]

Ping list ping.

[mark502inf]

My brother is one of those LTs there but he did not attend West Point and neither did the majority of the other LTs with him in the 502nd brigade.

Its possible that in the company Truscott spent time with (Co B, 1st Bn of the 502d Infantry)the majority or even all were West Pointers, but overall in the battalion and brigade it probably runs between 20-30%. Most of the Army's officers come from ROTC programs.

Tell your brother to keep up the good work--he's in a great unit.

[mark502inf]

raise a toast to the [folks] in Bravo Company, 1st of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Abn Division

A historic company--first American unit to close with the enemy on D-Day of the Normandy invasion. Attacked the German artillery command post in Foucarville at 0200 while most units were still trying to get organized on the drop zones and figure out where they were.

[archy]

This USMA '69 alum must have been a real slacker if he finds the performance of the current crop of Lts. to be ruthlessly efficient.

Oh, so you were there? Or perhaps you've had other first-hand observations of these lieutenants? Or maybe you were just talking out of your a**?

Lou Truscott IV is one of the dozen or so observers whose take on the quality or lack thereof of a given military unit or situation I'd accept as at least as knowledgable as my own, from the capabilities and attitudes of the individual grunts, the worries of the NCOs [who are ALWAYS worriers, only to diuffering degrees, and to the platoon leaders and their bosses, including the guy at the top of the chain. I think I can do a little better job around tankersc than he can, and he can likely outguess and observe me around infantrymen. But *Lucy* [don't call him that except when drinking with him] has a real critics eye for such things, and would likely be as sharp aboard a navy ship or USAF maintenance unit, or Genghiz Khans cavalry or Stonewall Jackson's foot cavalry, so far as that goes.

I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing his magazine piece....

BTW, if you don't know why former Woo Poo cadet Truscott IV could pull off his *General Truscott* act so well, it's because of the teacher he had who showed him how it was done.

[archy]

My brother is one of those LTs there but he did not attend West Point and neither did the majority of the other LTs with him in the 502nd brigade.

Its possible that in the company Truscott spent time with (Co B, 1st Bn of the 502d Infantry)the majority or even all were West Pointers, but overall in the battalion and brigade it probably runs between 20-30%. Most of the Army's officers come from ROTC programs.

Quite a few are from Virginia Military Instititute and The Citadel as well, particularly in the Infantry units, and especially Airborne ones, since the cadets get the chance to attend the Airborne jump school during their third-year summer training session. Those from Norwich, the Military College of Vermont have similarly traditionally staffed the ranks or first the Cavalry branch, and for the last half-century, the Armor branch- and quite a few Army Aviators have their roots at Norwich as well. And a few of the Special Forces' sneakiest snakeaters.

I've seen some real clunkers of officers who've come out of Hudson High- but not in units where their fellow officers and superiors contained enough fellow WP grads to both set the example and make sure the others maintained their standards.

Tell your brother to keep up the good work--he's in a great unit.

Your FR screenname suggests you might be just a wee bit prejudiced in that respect. So I'll just add in my own slightly less Infantry-centric treadhead observations: her brother is in one of the finest units in the U.S. Army, who are likely to get the tough jobs just because of that fact, not at all *just* based on tradition. They're good, they know it, and they work at staying that way.

-archy-/-

[archy]

Ping list ping.

[gatorbait]

The resentment in the ranks of the civilian "leadership" down in Baghdad and back in Washington is palpable. The senior officer described the ongoing fight between the two forces at work -- no matter how you describe them --

Bremer v. Sanchez, state v. defense, etc etc -- as "the Kabuki dance." He called one of the senior CPA civilians up here in Mosul "a Bremer plant," and I won't even go into what he had to say about Bechtel and Kellogg Brown and Root...but I recall the word chickens*** being used.

Nothing changes, really,does it? I think anyone with a semi functioning knowledge of history will recognize these thoughts and feelings from the first recording of men at war on papyrus tablets. Truscott IV is a novelist, a fair one, really.
My 2 Dinars worth.

[mark502inf]

Your FR screenname suggests you might be just a wee bit prejudiced in that respect

I guess you don't have to be CID to pick up that clue!

Was with a small group that included Lucien for an evening in NYC a number of years ago--and he definitely is a party hard type--it isn't just the passage of time that makes my memory a little fuzzy about that event.

Archy, I hope you didn't get my earlier post wrong--I suspect Truscott is on target with his observations--my comments were directed at another poster who took an unsupported swipe at our junior officers fighting in Iraq.

And good job with the 502d crest--both the official and unofficial one.

[mark502inf]

I apologize for my earlier post to you--on second read I realize you meant no disrespect to our soldiers.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[river rat]

This dude captures the "essence" of slums, bums and grunts pretty good...

In an unguarded moment - even mentions revenge/revenge "activity"...

Semper Fi

[Travis McGee]

I read it as a semi-private email semi-intended to be "published" in the ethernet in a semi-deniable way. I'm guessing the Harper's article will be better written, and the CO will be better disguised.

At least he's not reporting the war from the bar at the Palestine Hotel with the rest of the media whores!

[Travis McGee]

This "grunt level" report makes a great pair along with this other current thread of the view from the CP:

The Current Military Situation in Iraq --- Excerpt Center for Strategic and International Studies (it's a PDF document) ^ | November 14, 2003 | Anthony H. Cordesman

I'd post a link, but I'm too tired.