KUWAIT — When the Army finished running the embedded press through the morning’s chemical warfare training, they gave us a little downtime. After rising at 5 a.m., it was time for a little chow.
My favorite part of the U.S. military press center’s chow line is that salad with the little baby octopi in it. The Thai beef salad is also nice. But that five-star brunch buffet is part of the life we left back at the Kuwait Hilton with the public affairs officers. This morning, it was T-rations, big trays of food of which the primary appetizing quality is that it is hot.
They called it “Omelet with Bacon,” and I’ll take their word that is what it was.
Tonight, a heavy duststorm has cut us off from every other tent and encampment, and almost from the cots beside ours, seeping in and filling the air.
The international press is now out in the khaki world, living out of our over-packed rucksacks, rummaging around for electronics and toothpaste, with sand in everything. We are part of a big experiment to see if the media and the military can play well together, after decades of mutual suspicion.
“Welcome to the desert,” said Col. Dave Perkins, who commands the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, a combined force of dozens of Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. “We see this as an unprecendented opportunity to get the story out … the truth about the operation.
“You will see the extent to which we go to avoid collateral damage, civilian damage, and even to avoid damage to the Iraqi Army. We spend a lot of time on that,” Perkins said. “I really believe this will be a new way of doing business for the military and the media.”
Perkins and his battalion commanders say they will place reporters in combat vehicles, close to the lead elements. They will let them in on classified battle plans in advance, to help them understand and be prepared to report on what is happening, with the understanding that it will not be
reported until after it has been put into effect against the enemy.
Back in Kuwait City, the media embed “inprocessing,” as it is aptly bureaucratically refered to, gave us a good preparatory dose of standard military issue “hurry up and wait,” as we spent hours waiting for various steps to be accomplished, standing in lines, or just milling about the Hilton lobby in our fatigues, sipping the Songbird Café’s exquisite “Bittersweet” lime and mint concoctions — $7 a pop, and that’s without any of the forbidden devil water, of course.
They put us on the buses around 3 p.m., still without telling us which units we were headed for. We tried to figure it out from looking at the faces around us, trying to divine… is this the cool bus or the geek bus? Are we headed for frontline combat units or someplace in the rear? Is there any way to triangulate what any of this means?
Third ID PAO Maj. Mike Birmingham finally gave up the information he had been holding tight for weeks -– not wanting to deal with the whining and horsetrading of dissatisfied reporters. Our bus was headed to the 2nd Brigade. Two NBC guys who have spent four months in the desert dogging the division confirmed that this was a very good thing for reporters who want to report on the action.
“This is a good place to be,” said one NBC guy. So Birmingham had been true to his word when he said he would make me happy. I was headed for the 4/64 Battalion Task Force, with two companies of Abrams tanks, a company of mechanized infantry in Bradleys, some artillery, engineers and scouts. The fundamental warfighting force of the U.S. Army.
Now, I am working in a tent beside some Joes who are watching “Silence of the Lambs” on a laptop. The generator-powered fluorescent lights overhead glow through a heavy haze of dust and the tent walls are flapping loudly in the builoding wind.
Perkins: “”We see this as an unprecendented opportunity to get the story out.”If it weren’t for the duststorm, we could see the trash fires and working lights of dozens of encampments around us, dotting the low rises and shallow depressions out to the horizon in this otherwise featureless landscape.
Throughout the day, Humvees scurry between encampments, and helicopters fly low overhead. But in this assembly area, where troops are gathered in advance of moving to their attack positions, the formal gunnery training has ended, and the deep reverberation of artillery fire is rarely heard as
crews test-fire newly arrived weapons. Other camps, like Spartan, are scattered for miles around.
After months of massing, acclimatizing and training in the desert, this army of more than 100,000 troops a few miles south of the Iraqi border is restless, sensing that war is near.
“Down at the line companies, they are ready to do this. They are like dogs on leashes,” said Lt. Harry Heintz, 24, of Georgia, who handles logistics for the 4th Battalion of the 64th Armor Regiment, part of the 3rd Infantry’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Heintz’ job is making sure all the tanks are fueled, the soldiers are fed and watered, and crews have all the ammo they will need for the ride into Iraq … if and when Pres. Bush orders them forward.
Battalion commander LTC Philip deCamp said he is confident in his tankers’ ability to overwhelm the enemy when they meet them. Despite the technological advantages of the M1A1 Abrams tank over the Russian-made T-72s used by the Iraqi Republican Guard, deCamp said he is placing his faith in
the soldiers.
“Training is key. Our guys are better trained and better supported. That is what is going to make the difference, as opposed to technology,” deCamp said.
At Spartan, the soldiers’ life has gone from rough to rugged in the past two weeks since they vacated the relatively civilized Camp New York a few miles away to make way for newly-arrived troops.
“Here, we’re more focused,” joked Lt. Anthony Martinez, 25, of Miami, Fla., the battalion’s liaison officer, who coordinates planning with the brigade staff. “There are a lot more whens than ifs. Everyone’s more aware that we’ve entered the next phase. Everything is being double-checked and
triple-checked.”
After months of massing, acclimatizing and training in the desert, this army of more than 100,000 troops a few miles south of the Iraqi border is restless, sensing that war is near.In their tents, soldiers can be seen cleaning and checking their gas masks and taking weapons apart, cleaning them and putting them back together.
“I asked them to put graphite on all the moving parts. They covered the whole thing with it. That made it a dust magnet,” said Staff Sgt. Gordon Baker, Tannersville, Pa., who was cradling a .50 caliber machine gun’s heavy receiver and wiping it down with rubbing alcohol.
In Camp New York, when the soldiers weren’t working on their small-arms marksmanship, gunnery or urban warfare tactics, they could stand in line for Internet access or a chance to call home. They had a MWR tent –- Morale, Welfare and Recreation -– with arcade games, coolers full of ice cream,
tables for cards and board games. All that is gone.
“We’ve got a dartboard and that’s about it,” said PFC Michael Stelly, 19, of Lafayette, La., but he added: “Everybody has his own Gameboy Advance.”
The regular physical training sessions have been suspended, Martinez said.
“We’re just hoping its not for too long,” said Stelly, who has spent 110 days in the Kuwaiti desert. “Everybody would rather get rolling. Move, in one direction or the other.”
Coming out of a morning planning session, SFC Ronald Kester of Asbury, N.J., joked, “I actually heard a lot of common sense in there.”
“Well, that means we’re going to war, if they are using common sense again,” said Martinez. He joked, mimicking the kind of thing a civilian boss would say: “Uh, we’re going to need you to work Saturday…you think you can come in a little early?”
Jules Crittenden, 42, has covered crime, politics, science, maritime matters and foreign affairs for the Boston Herald for 10 years, including ethnic conflicts and other issues in Kashmir, Kosovo, Israel, Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. He has been in Kuwait covering the buildup to war since Feb. 2 and is now embedded with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Crittenden was raised in Indonesia, Australia, East Pakistan and Thailand, and lives south of Boston with his wife and three children. You can read his Boston Herald coverage at http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/international/kuwa03192003.htm.
Embedded Journal: From the Desert
More News
What’s next for Plandemic? A musical.
‘It was a good reminder that there is a very strong amount of financial support for even the wackiest far-right, anti-vax ideas’
March 28, 2024
Opinion | Now NBC News must deal with the Ronna McDaniel fallout
Questions linger about whether this could impact how viewers see NBC News’ political coverage
March 28, 2024
Opinion | How fact-checkers can use AI wisely
AI is already saving hundreds of hours of work by automating repetitive tasks. More collaboration among fact-checkers is the next step.
March 28, 2024
Opinion | Yes, you can fact-check on TikTok
Fact-checkers in Turkey have found a space amidst dance videos and humor
March 28, 2024
There’s no evidence of a cyberattack in the Baltimore bridge crash
Officials are still investigating why the cargo ship lost power before it slammed into Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge
March 28, 2024