Army Strong Stories

What's up peeps?! I've been here at Ft. Lee (Prince George, VA) for about two days and it has been full go from day one! We have been filling out a ton of paperwork and (for those of us with no prior service) trying to learn Army courtesies and customs on the fly. I'm meeting alot of my classmates and it seems we are a very diverse group. Dont hold me to this number but its about 110 of us from all over the country and from all practice areas.  The weather is grea....horrible! lol. It's C-O-L-D cold out here in Virginia but we are getting through it. I find myself inspired by some of my older classmates because they are with us in the cold every minute so if they can endure it then this 26 yr old southern boy can too...Hooah! Before I go any further, I have one question? How Bout Dem SAINTS!? Hooah DAT?! Apparently no one in the NFL, we are world champions. I definitely am beginning to feel that group cooperation/group effort vibe I was anticipating. Its great to be in this enviroment again. I havent felt like this since my college football days. In fact so far it feels like "2-A-Days." We have a set schedule (that is subject to change) and are always on the go. Seems like we only have time to eat and fraternize here and there.  As First Seargent Provost said, "As direct commissionees we have a steep learning curve," so its critical that we remain focus. We are learning how to line up in formation and a little bit of DnC (drill and ceremony), and I have never felt so uncoordinated but its cool to be out of my element and forced to learn something totally foreign. In fact, I had some counting problems this morning that First Seargent Provost comically pointed out to me. lol! Ft. Lee, VA is beautiful, although it could be because of the snow, and the locals are nice. Im considering on competing for an Airborne slot...We were told that they're only 10 slots available and it seems that 40 of us may be going after those slots. For some strange reason Im drawn to this "I dare you to try" vibe that the cadre are exuding, plus I know I could use the extra PT and although it'll probably hurt, in the long run it can only help, right? Hooah! I've got PT in the morning@0620 so I'm going to try to get some R&R in early tonight. I'd like to thank my partners at my firm, my line brothers/chapter brothers (Xi Beta/Rho Beta Beta/Omega Psi Phi), and especially Aliya and my family for your prayers and support. Also I'd like to thank SFC Castro and the officers, NCO's, and enlisted from Houston's Team 4 of the 1ST LSO for all their words of wisdom and pointers regarding IMT and OBC. I plan to post pics in the near future....gotta get some rest now...GEAUX SAINTS....HOOAH-DAT!? 1LT Wilson...out!

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Washington DC recieved one of the biggest winter storms this past weekend.  The storm started Friday and continued through Saturday.  By the time it was done my house had received 24 inches of snow (the record is 28 inches).  They released us early on Friday and Monday ended up being cancelled also.

Depending on the location, the military/government will react to inclement weather differently.  There is no set standard to how snow will impact day to day operations.  At my last to assignments we watch the news station in the morning, and receive our update about closings or delays from that. 

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Thursday I had several interesting cases - buccal space infection that came in on sick call - lots of puss - forgot my camera though :(

For the day I delivered 2 crowns on 2 individuals ( 1 was on an implant), had another all-ceramic crown to deliver - but the color was off so I sent it back to be remade, 2 extractions and an incision and drainage, 3 exams, 1 two surface posterior composite, smoothed down a chipped tooth, and 1 post operative complication - guy had had surgery done somehwere else, and things needed to be opened back up and cleaned out.

Tooth appeared too dark - sent the case back with some photos to help them as they re-make it.

We wanted the crown to be a combination of 2 shades, so we held up the correct shades next to the crown they sent us so they could use it as a reference point for the next one.

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These are President George Bush’s words, not mine. I wish they were mine. They are from his acceptance speech before the Republican National Convention in 2004. The point he was making concerned the sorry state of public education resulting in a high rate of failure. He believed American educators had set the achievement bar too low due to the mistaken belief that some students simply could not perform.

The same can be said about our present situation in Afghanistan. We have set the performance bar for the government here very low and the expectations are what one would expect which are very low indeed. As a result, we are seeing a self-fulfilling prophecy-if you are will to settle for so little success, that is precisely what you will see.

At the recently concluded London Conference, the international community pledged additional support to the Afghan government. The Afghan National Police will grow to 109,000 this year and the Afghan Army will grow to 134,000. Added together, this will require Afghanistan to add some 30,000 additional police and soldiers to the nation’s defense forces. For a nation of 33 million, on a war footing, struggling for survival, this should be relatively easy, considering that the international community is paying the total bill for salary, training, equipment, everything.

If you believe this you would be wrong because Afghanistan is decidedly not on a war footing. After eight years of war, the Afghan government has not gotten around to passing any legislation that remotely resembles a draft or compulsory national service. As a result, recruiters must scour the countryside looking for new recruits. This is not an easy job in Afghanistan and recruiting 30,000 in a single year is a tall order.

Even assuming a very good year and the recruiters actually recruit 30,000, only about half this number will be added to the force; 20% will fail drug testing, another 10% will not show up at the training centers and another 20% will simply walk away after drawing a couple of paychecks. The abnormally high attrition rate is due, in large part, to the fact that there is no retribution for leaving the force. No Afghan is ever punished for desertion. So to add 30,000 to the force, the recruiters need to actually recruit 45,000 and this will be a bridge too far in a single year. However, none of these troubling details were fully examined during the London Conference.

To be fair, not everything could have been discussed at London. The diplomats there had important business to discuss such as making overtures to the Taliban to come down from the Hindu Kush and join the Afghan government. President Karzai offered the Taliban jobs and money to lure them out of the mountains. He called these offers an incentive; others called them a bribe. In any event, the Taliban were having none of it, waiting, no doubt, for a better offer. As a result, there were no great expectations for resolutions to be found for every problem or for everything to be covered in great detail. A prime example of issues not resolved at the London Conference is the poppy problem. Right now down south, in Kandahar, Helmand and Nimroz provinces, a half a million acres of poppies are sprouting in the fields. They will be ready for harvest in late May and it looks like another bumper crop in the making.

Without question, the poppies represent Afghanistan’s major export. The country produces 97% of the world’s supply of opium. The poppies are the single biggest source of corruption in the country and represent some 90% of the Taliban’s funding. They could easily be eradicated by aerial spraying, thereby ending the cancer of corruption on Afghanistan and dealing the Taliban a crippling blow at the same time. However, aerial eradication is not even being discussed. Rather, the United States is following a policy of interdiction rather than eradication, opting to somehow intercept the processed drugs along an endless number of smuggling routes, rather than destroying them at the source, in the fields. Such a policy is the intellectual equivalent of attempting to destroy a missile in flight rather than blow it up on the launch pad.

To the surprise of no one, President Karzai agrees wholeheartedly with this strategy. He claims that he has encouraged the poppy farmers to give up growing poppies and grow legal crops instead. However, he says the farmers will not listen to his pleas and there is nothing he can do. The fact that growing poppies is illegal under the Afghan constitution is conveniently forgotten whenever this issue is discussed. In fact, the Afghan constitution elaborates in detail as to the illegality of the drug trade. So the American policy is to engage in interdiction and the Afghan government’s policy is to somehow convince the poppy growers to voluntarily stop growing the most rewarding crop known to man, a crop that can bring the farmer a tenfold greater profit than wheat or cotton. As long as the poppies are here, there will be money for the terrorists – terrorists that threaten the lives of our soldiers and our nation. This fact should be obvious to all parties but it is not. Maybe Keats had it right when he wrote, “Autumn slumber – all drowsed with the fume of the poppies.”

No doubt, the 30,000 man surge pledged by President Obama will help in the war on terror. Neither can there be any doubt about the performance of our magnificent military on the ground here, clearing areas that were once Taliban strongholds and showing the Afghan security forces how to both fight the enemy and win the hearts and minds of the population. These points were never open to debate. However, as America begins the ninth year of combat in Afghanistan, no one knows for certain how it will all end. The questionable commitment of the Afghan government, coupled with the American strategy of demanding so little from it, is troubling. At some point, the Afghans are going to have to want to succeed at least as much as America wants them to succeed. Unfortunately, we have not yet reached this point nor can we see it anywhere on the horizon. In the meantime, this year’s crop of poppies is doing quite well in the south and the soft bigotry of low expectations is alive and well in Afghanistan and the great halls of the coalition forces.

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I went to the Ranger memorial today and I could really feel it. It was my first time going there. When I walked up to it my mind went still. I looked at the ranger creed engraved in the solid granite and the names of the men who died and distinguished themselves as Rangers. Energy washed over my body and I could feel a deeper part of myself. I could feel the energy, the strength of all Rangers past present and future, supporting me, giving me the confidence and energy I need to bear the awesome responsibility of leading a platoon in a counter-insurgency. It was an amazing experience.

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Today is Day 1 at the CONUS Replacement Center Fort Benning Georgia for me.  I should be here for about a week and then fly out.  About 500 people here processing for the week, mostly contractors and DOD civilians.  There are a ton of interpreters and even some dog handlers.  We did some paperwork today, briefings, and some testing for traumatic brain injury that was interesting,  Here are some photos, more to follow..

My first station.  In line at a huge pavilion.  Ft. Benning, GA CRC Center, Feb. 6. 2010.

One line for DOD civilians, one for contractors, one for military.

Waiting for next briefing.  Why is southern Georgia cold right now??? Glad I brought my fleece jacket.

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CPT Alex Smith, CPT Tin Le, MAJ Chun Chan

Our Senior Residents recently found out where they will be going after graduation in July! Not knowing your next duty assignment is always good for a little anxiety for service members and our families. At least in the Dental Corps, though, the personnel in Washington, DC making the assignments really do try to accommodate people’s desires. I’ve never had a bad assignment but I’ve never really known how the process worked either. I would have believed that they threw darts at a map and that’s how people got their assignments!?! I’ve learned recently exactly how this works, though, because our Program Director is part of the process for all 63B/Comprehensive Dentists. He conducts marathon telephone calls with the assignment manager over a period of weeks, as they go through the list of openings and requests one by one. It has been impressive and encouraging to witness how hard they try to accommodate our Officers. I witnessed this – not because I’m eavesdropping :) - but because I share an office with him and he trusts me not to leak the news. THAT is hard! But I know better…

Having said all that, it shouldn’t be a surprise for our residents that they all got pretty much what they wanted.

CPT Alexander Smith wanted anywhere but CONUS (Continental United States), more specifically Japan or Korea. He is going to Korea!

CPT Tin Le wanted a location where he knew his wife could attend Nursing School. He is going to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico which was on his list.

MAJ Chun Chan wanted the Northeast and is going to FT Drum, NY.

So, needless to say, they are very happy. They are still focused on their academic and clinical requirements right now – they do still have to graduate!! But they also have had to start attending briefings related to their upcoming moves. So, it’s the beginning of a new beginning for them – an exciting time.

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I've had a lot of time to reflect on ranger school lately.  I certainly didn't appreciate the full value of the experience while I was in it which is very understandable--while you are there all you want to do is get out of there.

Getting the tab is important for career reasons because it's considered very important in the infantry.  People  judge you for it.  That's not the important part though.  There are some great people that don't have the tab and some terrible people that do.  Anyone that has the tab will have a basic level of toughness and discipline though.

What's really important about the experience is the growth I got from it.  You really get perspective on what is required of you as a soldier in difficult circumstances.  Doing the right thing--the things that will make your unit an effective fighting force--is completely counter-intuitive in those circumstances.  The stress on you is such you just want to shut down.  The monkey chatter in your head--the endless stream of thoughts on nothing in particular that keeps you from being present in the moment--is constantly going on and on reminding you about how tired and hungry you are.  Eventually though you realize the monkey chatter is not who you are.  There's a deeper part that is much stronger than that, and learning not to listen to the monkey chatter is so important not just in Ranger school but life.

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I get asked the question frequently about cosmetic dentistry in the Army.  This question is usually coming from applicants wanting to joint the Army.  So let's discuss it.

Cosmetic dentistry is done in the Army.  Procedures such as veneers, minor orthodontic movement, composite bonding,  crowns, and even facial surgery do happen for cosmetic reasons.  Personally I have done all of these (except the facial surgery) as part of my practice.  So what factors determine whether you will do these types of procedures?

1) Location.  The reason that location plays a role in the type of dentistry, is that location determines who your patient base is.  If i am assigned to a clinic or a base that treats new Soldiers entering the Army, my practice is going to be predominantly getting those Soldiers out of pain and taking care of emergent needs.  This type of practice would be similar to what you may experience at a community health clinic either in a big city or in a rural area.  Many of the Soldiers entering the Army have not had the opportunity, finances, or desire to see a dentist - and they need a lot of work.  Additionally, they are in a training environment where they are expected to miss very little class.  These Soldiers will typically recieve extractions, root canals, and large fillings.  They are not going to have cleanings, braces, small fillings,  or cosmetic work done.  That type of work will be continued when they get to their permanent base.  If they are National Guard or Reserve they have the ability to sign up for a dental insurance program the government partially subsidizes for them.

If they are Active Duty Soldiers that are done with their initial training, then you will have more flexibility to offer them comprehensive treatment plans.

2) Training.  Dentists are credentialed, or allowed to do certain procedures.  These are set up automatically based upon the level of training a dentist has had.  New dental graduates right out of school will not be allowed to do the same procedures that dentists who have done additional training are allowed to do.  They do have the chance to apply for additional procedures they do.  This is accomplished by working with a specialist, and showing that you have the skill level to perform that procedure.  If the specialist signs off on it, then you have something else you can do.

3) Your boss.  Some supervisors allow greater flexibility than others in the types and amount of procedures they allow to be done.  it is a supervisors job to make sure that the main needs of Soldiers are being met.  Although everyone would like straight, white, perfect teeth - if most of the Soldiers where you are have cavities - that will be what you need to be focusing on (not exclusively).

4) Your skills.  As much as we like to think we know it all, or that our skills are great - the truth is that they may not be.  Sometimes we are our own worst enemies and it takes someone else to protect us (and our patients) from ourselves.  I particularly find this with new dentists that feel that they are very proficient in doing certain procedures, only to find that they still need to work on their skills.  I have been guilty of this in my career as well :)

5) Procedures.  Things like placing implants and braces are not going to be done too frequently by general dentists or even comprehensive dentists (graduates of the 2-yr Advanced Education in General Dentistry). YMMV.  These procedures are done, but will ususally be performed by the specialists (Orthodontist or Periodontist/Oral Surgeon).  General and Comprehensive dentists do restore implants though. Braces in general are not commonly done in the Army.  Orthodontists are limited and usually support oral surgery programs getting cases ready for jaw surgery, supporting residency programs training residents with limited ortho cases, or doing more complex cases on their own. 

6) Soldiers availability.  You may work up a great treatment plan, but if your patient is moving, going to war, or not available because of other obligations - it's not going to happen.

I have enjoyed my time as a dentist, and the range of procedures I can do.  Part of that is definately because of the post-graduate training I have had, but it is also because of great supervisors, and also a good attitude.  I think a lot of what you experience is what you make of it.

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There have been some great posts about the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.  This is a football game that is held to provide something for people to watch while they wait for the main event -- the half time show by the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band.

Over the course of a year, the top 97 high school marching musicians in the country are selected as well as an elite two dozen color guard members.  They must not only prove their are great musicians and great marchers, they must also have a record of academic achievement and represent the Army Values in their deportment.

The Soldiers of The U.S. Army Field Band (www.ArmyFieldBand.com)  spend the week working as mentors to the band.  Soldier-Musicians instruct each section in music but also provide professional advice and share their Army Story.  San Antonio experienced record cold temperatures so when it came time for section training, our Soldiers do what Soldiers do; find a way to make it work.  Here, SSG Robert Parks works with the saxophone seciton.  They turned a stairwell into their training facilitiy.

It was so cold outside that training inside the Alamodome was a special treat.  Here's SFC Todd Harrison, drummer with America's Big Band - the Jazz Ambassadors.  Field Band Soldiers were the rock band on the sideline for the marching band.

Speaking of cold, here they are equipped to brave the elements.

The Volunteers, the show band of the Field Band provided a stirring half-time show.  Vocalists SFC April Boucher and SSG Randy Wight flank drummer Glenn Robertson during the dress rehearsal.

Of course, being rock stars has its perks as they are seen hanging out with Secretary of the Army John McHugh.

The Volunteers performed for the awards dinner.  SFC April Boucher sings the finale of their show.

The band was taken to the dining facility at Fort Sam Houston to have breakfast with many of the Army's newest medics.  They were entertained by a Field Band brass quintet.  This is SSG Lauren Veronie with a euphonium solo with the quintet.

Game day brought a real electricity as the stadium filled with over 35, 000 specatators and the NBC TV cameras were turned on.  Secretary of the Army McHugh and I are both from upstate New York and we were talking about how the weather in San Antonio felt a lot like Fort Drum.

The band members make last minute checks of their uniform hats.

And then take the field.

 Check out their show at www.allamericangames.tv/content/2010-us-army-all-american-marching-band-half-time-performance-hi-cam

The wrap up dinner included the presentation of the Calvin Titus Award.  Calvin Titus was an Army Musician who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Boxer Rebellion.  The award goes to the student who best demonstrates the Army Values during the week.

Claire Shipley, a 4.0 student from Fort Mill, SC (here, at work with her mellophone),

Received the Calvin Titus Award from USAREC DCG, BG Michael Garrett.

 What a great experience to spend time with these amazing young Americans.  Many of them said afterwards that they hope someday to serve along side us as Soldiers in an Army band.

Check out more photos and other stuff about the Field Band's groups on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/fieldband , www.facebook.com/jazzambassadors , www.facebook.com/armyrockband or on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/fieldband , www.twitter.com/jazzambassadors , www.twitter.com/armyrockband .

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