I guess I will start by stating my purpose; I want others to know what soldiers do, and what soldiers go through. Not only in a war zone, but in garrison on U.S. Army installations as well. I don't know how much garrison talk there will be, though...as we are getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan for 15 months, and I feel like there is a lot that needs to be told before these boots leave U.S. soil.
Earlier this evening I watched a special on the history channel entitled "Band of Bloggers;" soldiers sharing experiences from Iraq, quite literally moments after they happened. It's a good idea for the world to know what is going on, as long as it isn't violating operational security. They say "loose lips sink ships," and I will abide by that saying when posting. I figured that since I have a journalism degree and posses a strong passion for writing, that I might as well put it to good use. And so it begins..
I graduated from Miami University (the one in Ohio) in May 2004. Most students there had great ambitions of joining big business firms and getting their piece of the "pie in the sky." Of course I want that too, but something had been bothering me for years. The tragedies of September 11, 2001 occurred during first semester of my sophomore year. I remember sitting in the dining hall eating breakfast when an announcement came over the loudspeaker that a plane had crashed into the world trade center. At this time there was no speculation of terrorist activity and it was assumed that this was an accident. I dropped the cold spoon into my oatmeal and left the tray where it was.
Back in my dorm room I flipped on the television. It didn't matter which channel I switched to, all networks were covering the unfolding events. After awhile reports were coming in that the plane which lay burning and destroyed inside the first tower was a possible hijacking. I remember black smoke billowing from the tower, and then surprised newscasters gasped as a second aircraft appeared on the screen and smashed into the second tower. We knew then that the speculations were most likely true; the US had been attacked on its own soil. I don't go to church that often, but I do believe in God. For some reason I went to my desk drawer and grabbed a tiny green bible that I received from a man handing them out on one of the street corners the week before. I held the bible tight and felt like crying. I don't know why. The world was entering a time of uncertainty, and just then, things went from being OK to all messed up.
Class was weird that day. Different quads produced distinct, emotional vibes, if you will. Some areas of campus were in complete hysteria, while others were quiet and somber. We didn't really have class. We still went, simply because that's what we were supposed to do. Mostly we watched the events on classroom TVs and discussed what was going on. Almost every class I went to had people crying because they knew someone that worked in one of those towers, or had relatives in the city police or fire departments. I felt for those students; I didn't know anyone in New York. After class I went to the Shriver Center, which is a place where a lot of students go to eat, hang out, and study. Every television in the place was surrounded by a large crowd. So many people just standing there in disbelief, not knowing what to say or do. I must say that it was an emotionally draining day. I figured that we would be going to war with someone, or that some sort of military retaliation would be underway in the near future. In all honesty I wanted to quit college that very day and head over to the nearest military recruiter to sign up. Anger consumed my thoughts, and I wanted to get back at whoever did this to my countrymen. It took a phone call from my mother to calm me down, and in the end, I decided to stay in school. But at what cost?
Fast forward to senior year. A lot of things had happened since that tragic day. I lost my older brother to a senseless motorcycle accident in the late summer after my sophomore year. He had served his time in the armed forces as a marine. And even though he never deployed anywhere and never saw combat, I respected him for being a devil dawg. It was getting close to graduation time, and even though the excitement of finishing that chapter of my life was upon me, something didn't feel right. I didn't have a job lined up like a lot of my peers, but it did not bother me either. September 11th was always in the back of my mind. Being a journalism major, the news was always a big part of my day; who, what, when, where, why and how was driven into my brain. We studied the news, and I wrote for the local paper. I saw what the media wanted me to see concerning the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's hard to believe that we are coming upon 2008, and we are STILL in Afghanistan. We went there shortly after that dark day, and that was in my EARLY college years. As ironic as it is, I am now almost 26 years old and getting ready to go there myself. Weird. Getting back on track though, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do post graduation. I had always wanted to be a fighter pilot, the kind that wore the cool aviator sunglasses and wore the bomber jackets with pinup girls painted on the back. Maybe that's a little WWIIish, but it appealed to me.
I started speaking with a US NAVY officer recruiter to see about getting into OCS. I would, after all, have a college degree soon and be eligible. To make a long story short, I went through the entire painstaking process of putting together an officer application packet, which included but is not limited to the following: several thousand military documents (so it seemed), letters of recommendation, test scores that show I did exceptionally well on the AVIATION SELECTION TEST BATTERY for wannabe fighter pilots, and proof that I would soon be in possession of a true blue bachelors degree. The process took so long that it extended beyond my college graduation date, at which time I found myself working in the civilian world at a place that I will not mention. My packet was submitted twice, and rejected twice, for reasons I did not know at the time. Later on I would find out the most likely reason was because my college degree is in journalism and business. Candidates chosen had such degrees as aeronautics and engineering. So with my dreams dashed away just like that, I continued on in the civilian world, September 11th always whispering ever so softly from the back of my mind.
I worked on into 2005, and by that time it was almost certain that I was going to do my part one way or another. In late 2004 I attended a NASCAR race in Bristol, Tennessee with my family. While there I'd apparently visited a US Army recruiting booth because a couple of weeks later I started receiving phone calls from local recruiters wanting me to come on down and have a chat about an army career that I knew nothing about. Finally, one day I caved and visited a man by the name of Carrington Melton at the Springfield, Ohio recruiting station. After several meetings my ARMY career path had been laid; I would enlist, serve some time in the Aviation corps as an Apache armament electrician and system repairer (15Y), and then, after gaining enough experience on the Apache platform, drop a warrant officer packet in hopes of becoming an AH-64D Apache Longbow pilot. I signed a contract and gave the oath of enlistment at the MEPS in Columbus, Ohio in February 2005. After I raised my right hand and swore to uphold the Constitution of The United States of America, a sense of weariness came over me. I felt proud, but what did I get myself into?
Again, to make a long story short, I will briefly annotate my military career up until present times. Before I do so, though, I would like to say that I am proud to be an enlisted man. I get tired of people always asking me "why in the hell did I go enlisted when I could easily be an OFFICER!" Well, to set the record straight, the enlisted man is the backbone of the army. He gets the job done, and the officer gets the credit. The officer makes decisions that can ultimately get people killed. I am not that guy. The enlisted corps has plenty of opportunity for me to be a leader, and ever since I saw HBO's miniseries BAND OF BROTHERS, I have wanted to wear sergeant's stripes; there's just something about it. Let's get one thing straight right here and right now, though. I am not bad mouthing officers in any way; there's a lot of great ones out there, but a lot of dopey ones too. My father was a great enlisted man, serving in the Vietnam war. I wanted to follow in his footsteps as well.
Another question I get asked a lot is "if you have a journalism degree then why don't you do journalism in the ARMY!?!?" My response to that is because that would be lame. If I am going to put my civilian life on hold and be in the army I want to do "armyish" things. Journalism is not armyish. I also do not like how the civilian media portrays the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A lot of things are happening over there that the media never even covers (they like to focus on the negative). Being a trained journalist, I know how everything works and I do not not like the final product most of the time. That is why.
Back to the meat and potatoes. I left my family and everything I knew for the unknown. I arrived at Fort Jackson, South Carolina on 12 April, 2005. Action Jackson turned me into a fine tuned fighting machine, and by June 2005 I was ready to head to Ft. Eustis, VA for training in my MOS (military occupational specialty). By January 2006 I was fully trained and ready to be shipped off to my first unit. I was informed a while before my training ended that I would be going to South Korea to a heavy cavalry unit operating on the peninsula. Needless to say I was not excited. To keep this from becoming a total autobiography, I will just say that I served valiantly in Korea if I do say so myself, and arrived safely back in America in February 2007. Since then, I have been stationed at Ft. Campbell Kentucky and am a proud member of the famous 101st Airborne Division. The division was made famous by the action it saw in WWII. Watch BAND OF BROTHERS and you will see why I am so proud to wear the screaming eagle patch. I've been here for some 9 months now, working to maintain 3 companies of Apaches. I will get into more detail of what I've been up to in the upcoming posts, as this one is already pretty lengthy.
I want this blog to be interactive with anyone who reads it. I will always respond to questions and comments in a timely manner (well, as timely as an Army soldier can be!). Without giving away too much about our operations in Afghanistan, my goal is to have people grasp what we are going through on a daily basis. Hopefully there will be photos to support the blogs. This isn't a freak show or anything...I just want to cover what the news doesn't. Hope this entry finds everyone well. The holiday season is coming up, and I hope everyone is looking forward to it.
Here is a link, well, hopefully it's a link, to my webshots page that contains many photos of my adventures thus far. If it's not a link, just copy and paste it into your browser and you will be good to go.
Here it is: http://community.webshots.com/user/jgratsch100?vhost=community
Cheers
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