A little bit of hooah, a little bit of IVAW

It's funny to me sometimes when people tend to assume my life is all one or the other. That since I'm an Army sergeant who's a little bit gung-ho about some stuff, I must completely support everything we do, including the war-or that since I'm an IVAW member taking on a lot of responsibility, I must hate the Army and all of its ways. I was thinking about this (not that the conversation caused it) as I took a phone call the other day from an IVAW member, while I had an Army weapon in one hand. I spoke briefly to the IVAW member, told him I'd call him back, and then proceeded to give the best training I could to my guys on how not to die. When I was done with the training and was no longer on Army time, I called back the IVAW member and proceeded to give them my full due as well. It occurred to me in retrospect how odd it might seem to an outside observer-but I view IVAW as an extension of my NCO self. It's taking care of soldiers, which is my job, just in a little bit different way. Taking care of the bullets they don't know how to dodge-the political bullets that they think they just have to suck up.

The truth is always, no matter how strange it may seem to people, a little bit in between. I love IVAW, I'm firmly against the Iraq War, and I love the Army. I don't always love the way the Army is being handled, and I don't always love how certain anti-Iraq war groups take actions. I prefer to go into recruiter's offices and give them SITREPs. Or Winter Soldier flyers. They're troops too, and just because they're putting new troops in doesn't mean they agree with the war necessarily. I also prefer in the Army to be tough but fair on my soldiers. I will help them with anything that needs doing, but at a certain point, they need to do things themselves and be competent at them-I don't believe that lowering standards helps in the long run. I don't like things about both, but that doesn't mean I am not firm for both. I don't think the two are incompatible at all. I, like a lot of my fellow IVAW members and supporters, are human beings.

Some people make a lot of noise about organizations, and how organizations are doing this, or organizations are doing that. This is, quite frankly, a crock. Organizations don't do things. People do things, and they may be part of an organization of like-minded individuals at the same time. There are few demons on either side, and thinking that each side is a monolithic block of robots can be pretty harmful.

Speaking of monolithic blocks of robots, some thinking that the anti-war movement acts in that fashion may be surprised to learn of the Code of Conduct for Winter Soldier II. We do, in fact, have rules out that will govern behavior for all attendees, members, media, and invited guests. I know this will come as a deep disappointment to TSO, who may cancel his tentative interest upon learning that he will not, after all, be able to blog with a beer in one hand and a keyboard in the other. For everyone else, the rules primarily involve acting like an adult, with a few security concerns and courtesy concerns addressed as well. (Like don't use a cellphone in a place where people are going to be talking seriously about very serious stuff. Some of this is really no-brainers)

In other news, I have an alert of a missing marine on the loose. Anyone in Indiana may want to keep an eye out for Eric Hall -he apparently phoned, so his family knows he's alive, but they report him as wounded in Iraq and with PTSD, so getting him home may be a tough process.

Also, if you haven't visited the Winter Soldier website in a while, now is your time to do so. It also gives details for those of you unable to make it in person who want to tune in during the periods which will be broadcast, especially if you have satellite TV-also the schedule and times you can watch or listen to it.