Former POW Learns Value of Military Training

DoD - American Forces Press Service ^ | Oct. 8, 2003 | Donna Miles

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Former POW Learns Value of Military Training

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

FORT CARSON, Colo., Oct. 8, 2003 - Just 10 months after he went off to Army basic training at Fort Sill, Okla., in May 2002, U.S. Army Pfc. Patrick Miller got a first-hand lesson in the true value of military training.

Like many of his fellow soldiers, Miller acknowledges he never thought he'd have much use for the classes he received about being captured by the enemy. As a combat support soldier assigned to the 507th Maintenance Company at Fort Bliss, Texas, he assumed that if ever had any experience with prisoners of war, it would be as the captor — not as the captured.

Army Pfc. Patrick Miller, a former prisoner of war in Iraq, understands first-hand the importance of military training. Photo by Donna Miles

(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.)

That all changed after Miller's unit deployed to Southwest Asia in February. He was part of a convoy navigating through southern Iraq in late March that took a wrong turn and got ambushed by Iraqi troops.

During the firefight that followed, Miller said he had too much adrenaline pumping through his bloodstream to be afraid. "I wasn't worried about anything but getting everyone out to safety," he said.

Nine U.S. soldiers died in the skirmish, and Miller and four of his fellow soldiers were captured, taken by a truckload of Iraqis to an outpost in Nasiriyah. They were held there for 21 days before their rescue by the Marines.

Miller, now assigned to the 2nd Transportation Company, 68th Corps Support Battalion, 43rd Area Support Group here, said the events of his capture and POW experience "really didn't sink in" for several days.

He said he can't talk about his treatment by the Iraqis because the case remains under investigation, but acknowledges it "wasn't pleasant." He and his fellow POWs lived on small rations of boiled chicken and rice — "not a lot," he said, "but enough to survive."

He recalls that it felt "degrading" when the lights of an Iraqi television camera glared into his face, but said he felt a tinge of relief as well. "They were putting us on TV, so I knew they wouldn't do anything to us," he said.

His biggest source of comfort, he said, was being able to hear coalition forces moving closer and "just hoping that they'll find you and that they won't (mistakenly) drop a bomb on you."

Three weeks after his capture, Miller and six other American POWs got their wish. The Marine Corps' 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion was moving north for an attack on Tikrit when Iraqis tipped them off about the POWs.

Following a heroic rescue mission, the Marines flew the newly freed POWs to an airfield in southern Iraq, then transferred them to a C-130 transport plane that flew them to Kuwait.

Miller said he received medical care at a U.S. military hospital in Kuwait before being flown to Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany. Finally, on April 19, he and six other former POWs returned to Fort Bliss for a rousing welcoming ceremony at Biggs Army Airfield.

Despite his harrowing experience, Miller said he tries not to think about it, although he admits that "later down the road, I might."

Not surprisingly, he's become a big advocate of more training in how to handle yourself if you're captured. "Everybody needs it," he said.

His advice to fellow soldiers? "Don't joke around when it comes to training. You never know. Even if you're combat support, you just might have to use it."

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

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[Semper Paratus]

I bet he'll try to qualify for every weapon he can now.

[TADSLOS]

This young lad was the true unsung hero of the ambush on the 507th. He repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire and singlehandedly took out numerous Iraqis, including a mortar crew.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Pfc. Patrick Miller says, "Don't joke around when it comes to training."

His biggest source of comfort, he said, was being able to hear coalition forces moving closer and "just hoping that they'll find you and that they won't (mistakenly) drop a bomb on you."

Pfc. Miller still serving his country, ping!

If you want on or off my Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).

[tioga]

A hero deserving of our gratitude. May God watch over him and all our military.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[NorthGA]

Maybe he will get a book deal?

[TADSLOS]

Maybe he will get a book deal?

I'll buy it if he writes it.

[Prodigal Son]

Like many of his fellow soldiers, Miller acknowledges he never thought he'd have much use for the classes he received about being captured by the enemy.

You know, this is a common complaint in the Army- the classes are just dead boring. The Army could take the most exciting thing in the world and put you to sleep teaching you about it. So, it takes you a few years before it sinks in just exactly how much knowledge you've picked up from all those classes. You don't feel like you're any different than you were the day you went to the recruiter's office but when you stop and think about it, you realize just how much you know and what's more staggering- how much you've been taught that didn't sink in.

For what it's worth, I think the Army, as an institution, has reduced classes and teaching down to a science. They're deadly efficient- it's like a production line- "at this station you will be given a block of instruction on how to use and maintain a five gallon fuel can. I will begin with an explanation which will be followed by a demonstration and then you will be shown a practical application. Task, Conditions and Standards. Given daylight hours and one 5 gallon fuel can the soldier will learn to properly screw and unsrew the lid..." You come out of those moving like a robot when your hands touch a five gallon can- you don't remember learning anything but the teaching was aimed at the primitive part of your brain and that's where you retain it.

But the most memorable classes I can think of were always given by soldiers who had elevated teaching to an art form. When someone loves what he does and understands why it must be done he can make you appreciate why you have to do something or why it has to be done a certain way. You remember those classes and the knowledge stays with you forever because you understand that particular thing then.

[91B]

Quite true, recipient of the Silver Star.

[TruthNtegrity]

I couldn't have said it better. It's PASSION in teaching that is needed. I remember so well taking a class on a Navy base overseas for a driver's license in that Country. Turned it in when I left, thinking I'd never need it again. Oopsie, 6 months later, I'm back taking the class, which is mandatory, to get the license again. But this time, the teacher was AWFUL. He read from the book, didn't look up exept to check the time on the wall clock and I have never hated being in a classroom for 7 hours more than I did those 7 hours. I even tried to complain about the guy, and then he tried to keep me from getting the license (in Japan - someone on base can keep you from getting the license). It became a which Commander had more pull (mine did) and finally I got the dang license, which I now knew not to turn in when I left the Country.

It never ceases to amaze me that the same knowledge could be imparted in such entirely different ways. Lesson learned - ask about the teacher before you take the class.

But in the case of the Military, I guess that can't be done so they have to listen to whomever it is throwing the info at them. I pity them and will say another prayer for every servicemember going through any kind of training.

God bless our Military!!

[blackie]

Pfc. Miller still serving his country ~ Bump!

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Keep that up and the rest of America will come to respect you guys.

That's why the press is so careful not to let the truth out about Iraq, and why they hated the embeds.

We don't have that problem. (^;

[Terry Mross]

My favorite time in the Navy was so called "jungle" training in the Seabees in Mississippi. I had a blast! I got "killed" three times, once by my "captors". But I learned something!

Now my adopted daughter is trying to get in the Seabees to "honor" me and because I told her how much fun the training was.

[Terry Mross]

Miller is a hero! Wonder why he DIDN'T get a book deal.

And, was it only Marines who were involved in the rescue? I seem to remember there were Seals, Air Force Commandos and Marines.

[MEG33]

God bless him!

[blackie]

I think you're right.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Bump!

[archy]

My favorite time in the Navy was so called "jungle" training in the Seabees in Mississippi. I had a blast! I got "killed" three times, once by my "captors". But I learned something!

Now my adopted daughter is trying to get in the Seabees to "honor" me and because I told her how much fun the training was.

Following a year with an Infantry division and the 10th Special Forces at Bad Tolz in Germany, which duty included four tours on the *Iron Curtain* 5km militarized zone of West Germany, a trip to an African war Zone as the radioman/bodyguard for a USAF Colonel military attache conducting an inspection of the way US-provided military aid was being used, and the trip to Italy to load onto ships in the event the evacuation of US citizens during the 1967 Arab-Israeli Six-Day War was required, I was en route to San Francisco just after New Years Day of 1968 when ordered to divert to Ft Riley, Kansas for an additional training session.

They'd constructed a marvelous replica of a Vietnamese jungle village along the riverbanks that flowed by the base, and we spent three days learning all the basics of the procedures for surrounding and clearing the buildings of such a village, of immediate action to be taken should we be in a convoy under attack, and the defense of a base camp or fire base perimeter during a day or night attack. It was all material I was very familiar with and had practiced before, though it was new to some of the support unit guys and REMFS, but the conditions were a bit different for me.

And if the VietCong or North Vietnames Army had ever attacked me during the time I was in Vietnam during a blinding snowstorm, I had practiced for it in Kansas and was ready.

I arrived at Vietnam's Tan Sohn Nhut airport at the end of January of 1968, the evening the Vietnamese celebrated their *Tet* lunar new year and the evening the NVA and VC launched their surprise offensive. It wasn't snowing.

Hope the Seabees works out okay for your daughter.