Army Sailor -- War in the Sandbox...
The Adventures of a Sailor in Afghanistan...

By Richard Allen Greene
BBC News, Washington

The Pentagon is keeping a close eye on what its troops post online, with special attention being paid to videos that show the aftermath of combat.
There is no specific policy that bans troops from posting graphic material.

But troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are hearing the message that they should consider carefully what videos they upload to the web.

Sites such as YouTube and Ogrish.com have hundreds or thousands of clips from soldiers, some set to rock music.

At their most graphic, they show the aftermath of suicide bombings and gunfights between coalition forces and insurgents.

Many include troops using foul language.

One soldier who served in Iraq in 2005 told the BBC there was "a tight watch" being kept on video and pictures posted to MySpace, with civilian contractors monitoring the internet on behalf of the Pentagon.

Images 'misused'

The BBC has not been able to confirm that contractors are scouring the internet for inappropriate material from the military.

But US Central Command - which is responsible for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan - does have a team reading blogs and responding to what they consider inaccuracies about the so-called war on terror.

And a longstanding military public affairs officer in Iraq said the Pentagon is also worried about some of the images that are appearing online.

"There's continuing concern about the use of these videos and stills being used by our enemies to propagate the false notion that our military members are barbaric, warmongers - which is unequivocally not the case.

"And... many of these videos and photos can harm force protection and operational security measures."

Ward Carroll is the editor of Military.com, which has a section called Shock and Awe where combat videos are posted.

One of the most popular is called Hostile Demise.

In it, US forces watch what seem to be insurgents depositing weapons in a field, discuss what to do and then get permission from their commander to shoot three people dead and destroy their two vehicles.

"It's very graphic. At some level, it's a view of what happens when you pull the trigger," Mr Carroll, a former Navy officer, told the BBC.

"It's sobering, it's energising, it can be off-putting."

'War is grotesque'

He said the US Department of Defense would prefer that his website not have such videos.

"The military has an interest in its reputation and its image. When the popularity of these prurient, violent videos starts to eclipse their ability to control the image, then a concern arises."

Military.com exists to celebrate the military, he said, and would never post a video showing dead Americans or innocent bystanders.

"We have had stuff submitted where you could see the aftermath of the explosion. We ruled that has no value in our mission," Mr Carroll said.

But such images are precisely the mission of Ogrish.com, according to co-owner Hayden Hewitt.

"There is a distinct misapprehension in the West about what war is like. They think it's a gentlemanly thing. People have forgotten how grotesque war is."

Mr Hewitt estimated that his website has about 1,000 separate items from Iraq - many more from insurgent websites than from coalition forces.

He said he did not know how many coalition troops had posted video to his site.

But he said it was clear to him why they did so: "Some people don't want infamy or fame. They just want people to know what they have been through."

And he said no policy would stop service members from posting material online if they were determined to do so.

"Clamping down is probably a very bad move," he said.

One soldier who posted a video summarising his tour of duty in Afghanistan agreed.

"I don't remember them telling me not to post anything but I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to," said the veteran, who asked to be identified only as Mike.

"But I posted it when I got out of the military. I'm not sure if I would have posted it or not if they told me not to."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/5226254.stm

Carl Brashear was first black U.S. Navy diver, and a true U.S. Navy hero, as well as a hero in the black community. I had the distinct honor of having him attend my graduation from some of my early Navy training at Fleet Combat Training Center, Dam Neck, Virginia. He was a hero to me long before the movie came out. If I were home in the U.S. I would make it a point to try to attend his funeral. My heart goes out to his family.

Brashear died at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth of respiratory and heart failure, the medical center said.

Brashear retired from the Navy in 1979 after more than 30 years of service. He was the first Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee, the result of a leg injury he sustained during a salvage operation.

"The African-American community lost a great leader today in Carl Brashear," Gooding said of the man he played alongside Robert DeNiro, who was Brashear's roughneck training officer in "Men of Honor." "His impact to us as a people and all races will be felt for many decades to come."

In 1966 Brashear was assigned to recover a hydrogen bomb that dropped into waters off of Spain when two U.S. Air Force planes collided.

During the mission Brashear was struck below his left knee by a pipe that the crew was using to hoist the bomb out of the water. Brashear was airlifted to a naval hospital where the bottom of his left leg was amputated to avoid gangrene. It later was replaced with a prosthetic leg.

The Navy was ready to retire Brashear from active duty, but he soon began a grueling training program that included diving, running and calisthenics.

"Sometimes I would come back from a run, and my artificial leg would have a puddle of blood from my stump. I wouldn't go to sick bay because they would have taken me out of the program," Brashear said in 2002 when he was inducted into the Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians. "Instead, I'd go hide somewhere and soak my leg in a bucket of hot water with salt in it -- that's an old remedy I learned growing up."

Brashear faced an uphill battle when he joined the Navy in 1948 at the age of 17, not long after the U.S. military desegregated.

"I went to the Army office, and they weren't too friendly," Brashear said in 2002. "But the Navy recruiter was a lot nicer. Looking back, I was placed in my calling."

Brashear, the son of poor sharecroppers in Sonora, Kentucky, quickly decided after boot camp that he wanted to become a deep-sea diver.

"Growing up on a farm in Kentucky, I always dreamed of doing something challenging," he said. "When I saw the divers for the first time, I knew it was just what I wanted."

In 1954 he was accepted and graduated from the diving program, despite daily battles with discrimination, including having hate notes left on his bunk.

He went on to train for advanced diving programs before his 1966 incident.

"He kept to himself personally, but his military life was an open book," said Junetta Brashear, his first wife, who lives in Portsmouth, Virginia, near Brashear's home in Virginia Beach.

She said Brashear's health started to deteriorate about three years ago, but that he had experienced problems ever since the amputation.

Brashear married childhood friend Junetta Wilcox in 1952 and had four children -- Shazanta, DaWayne, Phillip and Patrick -- before their divorce in 1978. He later married Hattie R. Elam and Jeanette A. Brundage.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

The Sailor's Creed is one by which all U.S. Navy Sailors are supposed to live. We are all swaorn to it. Sadly, I fear that many of us have either forgotten it, large parts of it, or simply do not understand it...

I think the Navy would be better if all sailors took the creed more seriously and sincerely. I think the war would be going better if more people lived by the creed (or a similar one). And I think America would be better if someone in Washington would expose our leadership to such a creed...

"I am a United States Sailor,

I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I will obey the orders of those appointed over me,

I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world,

I proudly serve my country's Navy combat team with Honor, Courage and Commitment,

I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all."

Semper Fortis

I wanted to thank Boatsie from Boatsie's Boxes again for all the care packages she sends and the support she offers all of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Marines. The efforts of people like Gail van Vranken (Boatsie) make deploying to a war zone much easier and more bearable.

Thank you.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being able to take an R&R pass to Qatar. A pleasant benefit that sadly, not every soldier gets. I am fortunate. The purpose of the trip is to have the opportunity to relax and unwind a bit, to wind down from the constantly high Operational Tempo of war.

In any case, while I was there I was able to relax, rest, update my web sites a bit, read and write e-mail, chat with people at home and even make a few phone calls. All of which seem luck great luxuries. Below are some photos from that trip. To those of you who keep up with my blog on a regular basis, I apologize for the delay getting these posted, and for the fact that this post is chronologically out of order with the rest...

We were carried from war to our destination on a BIG plane... a C-17.

The inside of the plane was full of uncomfortable people, and HUMVEE Tires...

When we got there we had DELUXE living accomodations. If you can't tell, these are tents inside of a building. It actually really was very nice, but more importantly it was VERY well Air Conditioned.

I don't know what city this is. I took the picture from the plane on the way there. All I know is that it is somewhere along the Saudi border with the Arabian Gulf.

I got to go on two separate trips while I was in Qatar. One was to the 'City Center Mall', and the other was the 'Inland Sea Picnic'. Both were a lot of fun. There are a lot of rules in Qatar, one of which is that you are not supposed to take any photos of the Locals, unless they expressly permit it. That combined with the fact that I was there alone made it a little tricky to get many good photos...

The first trip I went on was to the 'City Center Mall' in downtown Doha...

Doha is a large, beautiful and surprisingly modern city. It is very clean and looks very American, with the exception of it's populace.

This is the entrance to the City Center Mall

The center of the mall was a giant ice-skating rink. The logistics of an ice skating rink alone, in a country that gets well over 120 degrees seems incredibly decadant. The Qatari people are fabulously wealthy.

The mall has a childrens area, with a large jungle gym complex. Larger than any other I had ever seen.

I went to a rug shop. I could not afford to buy any of the rugs but the shop keeper was kind enough to allow me to take photos, and to give me a lovely tour of the shop and a lengthy explanation of how the rugs are made, and why they are so valuable. He was remarkably hospitable despite the fact that I told him several times I could not make a purchase. He never pressured me.

Not only was I not pressured, but he was kind enough to share a nice Chai with me while we discussed the rugs.

He showed me how the artist signs the rug.

How the market tags the rug.

He showed me that if you look carefully at the back of the rug, you can see the painstaking detail put into it. This rug is 100% silk. There are 144 hand-tied knots per square centimeter. The work is mind boggling.

The mall had many Jewlery Stores. And despite the fact that the Jewlers only charge for the weight of the metal and the size of the gems, not the craftsmanship, I still couldn't afford anything... But again the shopkeepers were kind enough to allow me to take pictures.

I saw a brand new Bentley in the parking lot for the first time ever!

The second trip I went on was the inland sea picnic by the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf)...

Qatar has fabulous, brand new roads. Something I have become un-accostomed to.

Oil pipelines run along those roads and serve as a nice reminder of what we are all over here dying for.

Hightailing it accross the Desert in 4 wheel drive, is more fun than can be decribed in pictures...

Before we could speed accross the sands we had to lower the tire pressure. While our driver did that there was only one thing for me to do...

...pose for and take photos.

The Arabian Gulf is incredibly beautiful, and amazingly warm. It was as warm as bath water. Which is not surprising considering it was 135 degrees outside... It was great to see the ocean again. It made me feel at home. And the humidity, for the first time in my life, was very welcome.

I walked along the beach. It was a nice chance to relax and think.

I collected shells.

Caught fish.

And saw adisturbingly large number of crystal clear jelly-fish. I am glad no one got stung on the trip, because I was the only medic around... Armed with my trusty CLS bag.

A local arrived on a camel to enjoy the beach.

He asked that we did not get near the Camel but did not mind photos being taken.

There were tents, but it was much hotter in the tent than it was outside.

So I sat outside.

All in all it was a very enjoyable trip. But now I am back in Afghanistan...

I have to keep my head in the game, while doing my best to keep my conscience clear.

I am looking forward to going home on leave in August.