After spending almost an hour on yesterday's blog entry, trying to figure out how to easily link back to old MySpace blog entries, I realized there was no easy way. For whatever reason, MySpace doesn't offer bloggers any way to see or index their own blogs. Other people who subscribe to the blog can, but since MySpace won't let you subscribe to your own blog, the author can't.

Rather than track down and hurt the 'features' developers for MySpace, I decided to create my own index, which will reside forever at the top of the blog entry list (or at least until 2010). Ah, the miracles of forward-dating.

Just a note about the contents of this blog and my reasons for maintaining it:

This website is privately operated and is designed to provide personal information, views and commentary about John Severns' experiences in the United States Air Force and as a member of the military. The images depicted and opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the author and contributors and not those of any agency of the United States Government, expressly including, but not limited to, the Department of Defense, or the United States Air Force. The site is not designed, authorized, sanctioned, or affiliated, by or with, any agency of the United States Government, expressly including, but not limited to, the Department of Defense, or the United States Air Force. Users accept and agree to this disclaimer in the use of any information accessed in this website.

Additionally:

Every picture, every sentence is carefully screened to make sure nothing is being said that would put any of our Soldiers or Airmen in danger. In fact, nothing is being said in this blog that isn't already being released in some fashion to the media here in Afghanistan.

Most of you, as friends or family, already know that I'm deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom soon. Unlike my last deployment, I'm not able to discuss any information about the job I'll be doing or where I'll be located. There will be no regularly updated blog this time.

All I can say is that I'll be working with professional Soldiers and Airmen to help keep our country safe, and hopefully improve the lives of people in developing nations. I'll keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.

The past few days were surprisingly light -- we've been finishing training in time to catch hot chow at the dining hall, rather than having to rely on MREs for dinner. I don't mind MREs, but having to eat them more than once a day gets old fast.

Combat Live Fire was our first mission of the week, and was pretty simple -- basically just a chance for us to put some real lead down range. I get the feeling the course designers had just finished putting together their original syllabus for ACST when someone said, "Shouldn't they fire real bullets at some point?" And thus Combat Life Fire was born.

The shooting took place on a standard Army 300m pop-up range, just like we used at Bragg. Using my M-4 back in 2007 I was able to get 31 out of 40 targets; using my M-16, I got 34 here, and that was with a double-feed that probably cost me an extra hit.

Our flight commander, a lieutenant colonel, set the flight record at 35. Pretty damn good for a bunch of Airmen who rarely touch a battle rifle, IMO.

Today was Combatives, which was essentially a carbon-copy of the Army Combatives Level I course. It was 8-hours of force-fed ju-jitsu, and was some of the most fun I've had at this training course. It was difficult as hell; at the end of the day I had blood on my shirt that didn't belong to me, and I think I pulled a muscle in my upper back grappling one of my huge flight-mates, but it was worth it.

Tomorrow is the final exercise, then back to San Antonio, and eventually on to Iraq.

Again, two days since my last blog. That seems like a reasonable pace.

Yesterday was MOUT -- Military Operations in Urban Terrain, aka Urban Ops. It was significantly more rigorous than the Army Urban Ops training we got for my last deployment.

The Army had us practice kicking in doors and clearing rooms -- and they did an excellent job of it. I know how to clear a room thanks to them.

The Air Force taught us how to move through urban terrain, kick down doors, clear buildings, and move between buildings. The Air Force then went the extra step of refitting our M-16s to fire special sim-munition rounds (a bit like paintball), and providing an opposing force to shoot at us using those same munitions. I'm not sure why the Air Force felt it necessary to go that extra, painful step.

We got through the course, but it was a bit of a bloodbath. Most of my flight has welts on their legs and arms from the sim rounds (our chests and heads, protected by helmets and body armor, were just fine).

It didn't exactly build my confidence in surviving such a scenario unscathed, but it did effectively teach us to move through urban terrain. Getting shot at with bullets that really hurt has a way of focusing the mind.

Today was Land Navigation, which was far less stressful than Urban Ops. Basically, we had to navigate through the woods using a compass and map. Aside from swarms of ticks, there wasn't much to it.

It's been two packed days since my last entry -- convoy operations and combat first aid.

Convoy ops was a bit of an old hat for me. During my time on the Gardez PRT I went on about 140 convoys, and was mission commander for several of them. Most of the day wasn't anything new, but it was still a good refresher course.

We actually ran several convoys during the afternoon, including a rather vigorous simulation of an IED strike and recovery. The Air Force cadre did an impressive job of running the exercise, and like "tactics" day I thought it compared very well to the Army CST.

Today was combat first aid,  and took place mostly in the classroom. It was similar to the Combat Life Saver class I got at the Army CST, minus the IV stick. I wouldn't have minded doing an IV, but with 36 people in the class it would've been hard to make time for everyone.

The afternoon was filled with field applications, and left most of us soaked through our uniforms with sweat. We're not allowed to talk about the final exercise, but it did an excellent job of simulating casualty care under battlefield conditions. My palms are still a little pink with the fake blood they used for our patients.

I arrived at Ft. Dix two days ago, to start Airman Contingency Skills Training (ACST). Normally, CST stands for Combat skills training -- for whatever reason the Air Force decided that 'contingency' training was more appropriate for this training course, though the contents seem almost identical to the Army CST I went through before my last deployment.

After picking up our weapons and HMMWVs yesterday, we loaded onto buses this morning and went out to one of the ranges for our first day of fieldcraft. Today was "tactics" day, consisting of refreshers on various movement techniques and how to respond as a fire team and squad to various attacks while out on patrol.

Our instructors are Air Force NCOs, rather than Army NCOs, so the training has a different feel to it. Our cadre is definitely more 'hooah' than you normally see in the Air Force, their style is different and -- I think -- more effective. There is a lot more explanation and discussion about why we do things certain ways, rather than the fire-hose "This is the Army way and this is how you will do it" method the Army used.

Most of the day consisted of moving through the woods as part of a formation and responding to various enemy actions. For example, we might be walking in files on either side of the path, when we hear a loud whistling sound followed by an explosion, simulating an incoming mortar.

This being New Jersey, the terrain isn't exactly like Iraq or Afghanistan (our training lane consisted forests with thick undergrowth), but the drills and reactions were pretty similar to what I experienced with the Army. All in all, if today is characteristic of the rest of the course, I think it will effectively teach the necessary combat skills for survival in the field.

It's been a while since I posted to this blog, I see. I blame the fact that life in San Antonio simply isn't as exciting as Afghanistan.

Before I get into the meat of this post, I invite you to check out a post by right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin, in which she posts a leaked email I sent out to our PA shops:

Michelle Malkin's blog

The other day we got some guidance from higher HQ on the "GWOT" flap. For those of you who aren't in the loop, the term "Global War on Terrorism," which has been used for the better part of a decade to describe the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is falling out of favor.

There's a couple reasons for the term's decline. The first and most obvious is that with a new administration, we have new priorities. A Global War on Terrorism, much like a War on Drugs, implies a long (in fact, infinite) conflict based on ideological rather than political goals. Although the Obama Administration hasn't made any official attempt to end the term's use, it's clear they think we need a new name for the conflict.

The second reason, and in my mind the most dominant, is that GWOT was never a terribly accurate term to begin with. It's not global, it's not really a war, and (at least since the Iraq invasion) it's not against terrorism. Let's go point by point:

This is a "Global" war: Is it really? Actual fighting is only taking place in two states. Although several nations are involved to some extent, only one is on war-time footing, and that's America. We are 'fighting' terrorists in other nations, if by 'fighting' we mean asking Pakistan to please recapture the Swat Valley.

This is a war: Kind of quibbling, I know, but only Congress can declare war. I actually don't mind the use of this word.

We're fighting Terorrism? This is the stickler, and probably why the Administration isn't happy with the term. Let's be honest with ourselves for a moment and admit that terrorism is never, ever going to go away. There will always be non-state actors willing to resort to violence to achieve political goals. Calling this a war against terrorism implies that we'll be fighting for a long, long time.

Calling it a war on Terrorism has also been inaccurate ever since we invaded Iraq. Without going into the debate over whether that war was appropriate or worthwhile, it's been pretty well established that there were no terrorists in Iraq to speak of before we invaded and toppled Saddam's government.

Anyway, back to Malkin's blog. The email we got a few days ago said that it was time to let the term GWOT go. Since that had the potential to inflame folks* who insist that we remain locked in a life-or-death struggle with extremists, the goal was to keep the change low key.

Anyway, fun times in San Antonio.

*(Incidentally, few of these people seem willing to actually pick up a rifle and join the fight themselves. Apparently they subscribe to the "The pen is more powerful than the sword" argument.)

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I had kind of an odd idea yesterday -- doing a oral narrative of some of the more important events of my last deployment, and illustrating them with photos from my collection. I figure it's a neat way to show in more detail what things were like than my blog allows, and with any luck it will keep me from forgetting the details.

The first one is in my profile, but I figured it can't hurt to include here either. It's a description of the first combat event our team underwent, in Baraki Barak.

Before I arrived in Afghanistan and started this blog, I spent three months at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, going through the Army's Combat Skills Training course.

It was not a pleasant experience. We spent three months in the woods at an underdeveloped FOB with no showers, no latrines, and no buildings but tents. Also, there was no heat. Also, it was January.

No one enjoyed the CST experience. What it did, though, was provide us with the basic combat skills we needed to survive in Afghanistan. As Airmen, we didn't have the marksmanship or tactical skills needed to run a convoy or react to contact. What CST did was give us those skills, albeit in an uncomfortable and unnecessarily drawn out process designed for the lowest common denominator.


So it was with some trepidation that I went back to Ft. Bragg this weekend, to help conduct some training for the new PRT rotation preparing for their own Afghan adventure. Specifically, I was there to provide some "real life" examples of how information operations are conducted, and give them a more applicable grounding in IO than the doctrinal courses they had received.

The training was a great success. Everyone seemed excited about the deployment and their chance to have an impact on the future of that country. IO is still a new discipline, and it was satisfying to help shape it for the next year out there.

As for FOB Patriot, the collection of tents in the woods where we did the training, it hasn't changed much. They still live in tents, but have bunk beds instead of cots. They have shower and laundry facilities. The dining facilities have televisions in them. People didn't have to wear their flak vests unless they were out on a mission. Oh, and the tents had air conditioning.

That makes it sound softer and easier, but at the same time their training seemed better over all. The trainers seemed to have a much better idea of what the troops would be facing in Afghanistan and tailored their lessons to it. Time was better used. Everyone seemed more confident.

I think they'll do alright out there.