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Oklahoman dead in Iraq
Just because we haven’t heard much from the folks in Iraq of late doesn’t mean they aren’t in danger.
According to The Associated Press, at least 10 people, including four Americans, died in an attack in Baghdad’s Sadr City Tuesday.
One was identified by the U.S. State Department as Steven L. Farley of Guthrie, a member of a Provincial Reconstruction Team, military-civilian units that help with rebuilding efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Berlin, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Farley’s public service. She said Farley was in the U.S. Navy Reserve, mobilized after 9/11. She also said he served on the U.S. Seventh Fleet’s staff in the Western Pacific. Rice said Farley joined the State Department last year.
“Along with thousands of other citizen-patriots, he volunteered to serve in Iraq, joining the State Department in 2007,” Rice told AP. “He was one of the hundreds of dedicated men and women serving on Provincial Reconstruction Teams, helping the citizens of Iraq to rebuild and revitalize their local governments after years of Saddam's tyranny.”
Rice expressed gratitude and sympathy to Farley’s family, including his wife, according to the AP.
Records show Farley was a Republican candidate for state office in 2004.
According to the reports, a bomb exploded during a meeting with local members of an area council, killing many attending.
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 Oklahoma adjutant general visits Iraq
The commander of Oklahoma’s military forces visited the Thunderbirds on their mission in Iraq recently, according to a release.
Maj. Gen. Harry Wyatt III, Oklahoma’s Adjutant General, met with troops of the 45th Infantry Brigade, Oklahoma’s National Guard, while they are conducting detainee operations in the Baghdad area.
Wyatt inspected a program in which Iraqi detainees are learning carpentry skills, much of it being taught by Oklahoma guard, the release said. Wyatt thanked the soldiers for their service.
“One thing about the Guard, everywhere we go, we leave it better,” Wyatt said. “Whatever the mission, we bring a lot of talent to it.”
Wyatt said he looks forward to welcoming the soldiers back from Iraq when their mission ends, expected this fall.
“By all reports you’re doing an excellent job,” said Wyatt. “This has been a great day. The next best day will be when I welcome you back onto Oklahoma soil.”
More than 3,000 Oklahoma National Guard men and woman are serving in Iraq. Currently, another unit of the Oklahoma National Guard, the 45th Fires Brigade out of Enid, is readying for deployment later this summer. An artillery unit, the Fires Brigade numbers about 800.
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Get sick with impudence
For those in Iraq, I thought you all might like some good news. Oklahomans may have solved the problem of infectious disease.
In a nutshell, a doctor at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in Oklahoma City, with Judith James at OMRF and Rafi Ahmed of Emory University, together with other researchers, cloned human antibodies.
Those are those white blood cells that your body produces when a germ, bacteria or virus, is introduced into the body. When Docs vaccinated the soldiers with multiple vaccines, those soldiers’ bodies produced antibodies that keep them from getting Hepatitis, Anthrax, the flu, tetanus, and all those other squirmies that awash war zones.
Well, the docs at OMRF used the antibodies to kill the flu. Already, Wilson explained to me, they grew antibodies that stop (in the lab) the recently emerged Solomon Islands flu strain.
“Just one week ago we produced the first human antibodies, ever, that we know of, for this new strain of flu,” Wilson said. “We are generating the antibodies and we have some good commercial partners who can develop them so they can be tested in organized clinical trials.”
You can read about their story in the journal Nature, or in Scientific American.
What does this mean? Dr. Wilson explained that virtually any disease with which one can be infected can be cured this way. If someone was to come down with that flu, and they hadn’t been immunized, then if you put a dose of fresh-cloned, resistant antibodies into their blood, it would fight their flu, even cure it.
Ebola? “Yes,” Wilson said. Anthrax? “Yes.” The flesh-eating virus? “Yes.”
And the Docs can grow as many antibodies as they want, and even freeze the stuff for later if an epidemic breaks out.
This breakthrough isn’t like other research advances you hear about. This didn’t happen in a mouse and now has to go through decades of testing, etc, before it makes it to market, if ever. The antibodies were cloned from those already growing in people. No animal (but us) in the loop.
“It’s not just some chemical we are going to stick in people and hope they don’t get sick,” Wilson said. “We are already filled with antibodies. What we do make is much more likely to be safe.”
Is there a caveat to any of this? Well, the actual curative effects must still be tested in those humans, and then it comes to putting it to use, and there are a lot of miles yet to go. Wilson said that it’s up to the FDA, the drug companies and others in the marketplace to make this procedure available once it proves it really works.
“Now it’s up to the world to apply it. There are just so many possibilities. We could have new drugs—they’d still have to go through clinical trials and things like that, and they’d have to go through big pharma,” Wilson said. “I think the benefit they have is that it’s much less likely they will be stopped along the way. They aren’t going to cause some terrible side effect or even a minor side effect that’s more dramatic than the disease. What we do make is quite likely to be useful.”
So, for those of you overseas—perhaps the world has turned a corner, and apparently, like you all over there, Okies are pulling it off.
P.S. I told you all I’ve been nursing a broken right arm. Yes, yes. I’ve heard plenty now about how I came back from Iraq unscathed but couldn’t manage North May Avenue on a scooter. Well, my only excuse is that all scooters in Iraq were busy, so I didn’t get to ride one of the deadly things over there.
But this joking is beside the point. Fact is, one Oklahoman recently got the first Purple Heart for the 45th this deployment.
Well, when you all get back, watch out going up North May.
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 I’ve been laid up from a broken arm, folks. Thank goodness that Sgt. First Class Wolf is in da’ house (over in Iraq, anyway). Apparently one of our guys got a bit bunged up there, too. But he came through it. And thus, the 45th has its first purple heart on the deployment so far. - Ben Fenwick
Oklahoma Soldier Receives Purple Heart
An awards ceremony was held today in order to recognize members of Company C, 1st Battalion 279th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Oklahoma Army National Guard who have performed with excellence during the Brigade’s current Tour of Duty.
Of all the awards and recognitions bestowed this day, a distinct honor was given to Spec. Ryan Bair of Tulsa, Okla., recipient of the Purple Heart. Bair was given the Purple Heart for Injuries he received while conducting a mounted mission in support of detainee operations. Bair was manning the turret in a Humvee during a convoy escort mission when they were attacked by enemy combatants with small arms fire. Blair engaged enemy with his weapon system when he was struck. He fell into the vehicle but quickly regained his senses. He stood back up, manned his weapon system and re-engaged the enemy, suppressing the threat. Bair was treated for his wounds and has made a full recovery.
“It bothered me at first.” Bair said as he recounted the incident, “You always think it’s going to be them, not you. Well, that day it was me. I felt eerie for a few days, it was strange, but I resolved not to be intimidated off my gun so I climbed back up in my turret and continued the mission.”
Bair counts his blessings, “I feel very fortunate and I believe someone was watching over me.”
Lt. Col. Doug Stall, Battalion Commander for the 279th Infantry Regiment, had this to say about Bair. “Spec. Bair is a courageous young man. The day after he was released for duty, he went right back into action. He is one of the many heroes in the 45th Brigade Combat Team, which Oklahoma sent to war.”
The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration in the world in present use and the first American award made available to the common soldier. It was initially created as the Badge of Military Merit by Gen. George Washington. His keen appreciation for the importance of the common soldier in any campaign compelled him to recognize outstanding valor and merit by awarding the Purple Heart to deserving individuals.
Today, the Purple Heart is awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services, has been wounded or killed, or who has died after being wounded.
Brig. Gen. Hipwell presided over the awards ceremony to personally pin the Purple Heart on Bair. Bair’s commitment to excellence, outstanding performance, and bravery in the face of danger is a credit to himself, his unit, and the U. S. Army National Guard. - Sgt. First Class Erik Wolf
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 Another perspective
It’s been heating up for soldiers of the 45th in Iraq; first, in terms of enemy action, and now in actual air temperature.
In the midst of all that remains Sgt. 1st Class Erik Wolf, whom you may recall from a couple of my posts. Wolf says he’s been getting a number of requests from folks back here for his “A Soldier You Should Know” newsletters.
In addition to those, he wrote this week to friends back here about general conditions at the front, or “downrange” as they call it these days.
Wolf, along with much of the 279th Infantry, is currently serving in Camp Cropper, a detainee camp near the outskirts of Baghdad.
Here’s what he has to say about recent events there, edited a little for space:
“…men and women are finally getting to go back home for a few days to enjoy a much needed (and well deserved) break from this place. I don’t get to come home for a few more months yet but it’s good to see soldiers flying out. It encourages the rest of us that time isn’t really standing still.
“…Things are not nearly as intense as they were. We do still get an occasional rocket or mortar lobbed at us but our defense and warning systems quickly dispatch and mitigate the threat…Just suffice it to say that we’ve got far cooler things to protect us than the bad guys have to shoot at us.
“It’s getting hot. 105 degrees today in fact. The heat seems to focus with an intensity that simulates standing in a hair dryer. Even in the shade… it’s pretty toasty. No worries though… like I mentioned in an earlier e-mail, we keep about half the ocean bottled up so hydration really isn’t a problem.
“…Overall I think everyone’s spirit and attitude is doing considerably well. Everyone is [pretty much] resigned to the mission at hand. Still, it’s tough sometimes. Infantry Soldiers long to be on the battlefield. It’s what they train for and what they do. Nowadays, we find ourselves fighting a different kind of war in an entirely unexpected environment. Detention Operations is a challenging environment to say the least. Still, these men and women are supremely professional. They have embraced this mission, however un-natural it may seem, and are performing to the highest standard with pride and dignity.
“…Every now and again we get lucky and catch a little news here. Seems the majority of every broadcast these days is centered on the presidential candidates and their ongoing efforts to discredit each other and swoon the voters. That and the polygamy compound in Texas seem to be the ONLY thing happening at present (at least from our perspective). I guess the rest of the world just pales in comparison.”
Well, come to think of it, Erik, I guess polygamy isn’t so much against the law over in your part of the world. This week’s “A Soldier You Should Know” features a profile on a soldier who is a veteran of the rescue mission undertaken by the 45th during Hurricane Katrina. Check it out. Write and he’ll send you his updates.
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 Better or worse? What the General says
The number one question anybody has asked since I came back from Iraq (now nearly a month) is “What’s it really like?”
It happens in checkout lines, old friends chatting me up, or at parties, or anywhere the subject of the trip comes up.
Usually, that question is accompanied with “Is it as bad as the media reports it?” Or “Is it getting better like the government is claiming?”
All those questions are a matter of opinion, and my opinion for those last two is “Yes.”
There were three separate bombings I heard in Baghdad that shook the U.S. Embassy compound during the roughly two weeks I was there. One was the Sunday night after I’d arrived. Off in the distance was a huge explosion and it shook the little trailer house that counts as a hooch. The next day, several people remarked about it. It took some time before I found out what may have been the explosion — a bomb blowing up the car of a police chief in the Al-Mansur district, outside of the Green Zone.
The other two were in succession. As I was packing to move to a different compound, insurgents ran a car bomb at a checkpoint a couple of miles away, exploded it, and the police manning the checkpoint fired back with machine guns. Then we heard a second explosion.
“Now this is the Baghdad I know!” said one of the soldiers escorting me. It was his fourth tour in country. According to him, the place was too quiet up to that point.
Which underscores the issue. Is it better? Well, according to him it, and several other veterans I’d visited with over there, things were very, very much better than they had been. How good is that? Well, three car bombs going off in a week in Oklahoma City might garner a different assessment of how good things are.
In this week’s Oklahoma Gazette, I interviewed Brig. Gen. Myles Deering, the commander of Oklahoma’s 45th, the Thunderbirds. Gen. Deering didn’t put the situation in terms of “Better ” or “Worse.” This is despite that since I left, in fact, since Easter Sunday, the green Zone received sporadic rocket and mortar fire. Gen. Deering rather operationally defined the situation.
“Really I don’t have any particular information other than just going off our environment and surroundings,” Deering said. “We had a week there where the indirect fire (rockets and/or mortars) was very heavy and it has since tapered off. I have no way of knowing what they (insurgents) are going to do. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and we can continue to do what we are tasked to do and that is rebuild this country.”
Deering said that although there had been attacks on the Green Zone, members of the 45th, whose job it is to support the U.S. Embassy and several forward operating bases (FOBs), are basically just going about their business and occasionally ducking.
“The attacks create more of a temporary diversion from our duties, rather more of a distraction. It’s temporary, an inconvenience,” he said. “Once the alarm goes off, you react and do so until given the all clear. Folks go right back to performing their missions. If they are in bed, they go right back to bed and to sleep. It’s a distraction but nothing more than that right now.”
He continued that those in the FOBs were getting less fire than the staff in the Embassy, but that all the units are supporting one another.
“We deal with it as a team. All the FOBs out there are part of us. That’s part of my responsibility to assure they have the same level of security that we do. In fact I’ve made it around the last two days and visited with all the FOB mayors, and they are doing well. Most of the activity, especially during Easter week, was directed at the Embassy Annex,” Deering said.
The other areas of Iraq with elements of the 45th, primarily Camp Cropper on the outside of Baghdad, and Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, are not getting attacked like the Green Zone.
One thing the attacks in the Green Zone mean is that many 45th soldiers there will be recommended for their Combat Action Badge. The CAB as it is called is awarded to soldiers who come under fire in the course of conducting their duties.
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 Soldiers you should know
As I’ve been promising, I’ve got more interviews with soldiers that I want to share. Well, leave it to Sgt. 1st Class Erik Wolf to beat me to the punch.
Wolf, a buddy from the Afghanistan days, is stationed at Camp Cropper detainee camp, one of the larger Iraq missions for Oklahoma’s 45th Infantry, the Thunderbirds. Wolf is the operations sergeant for the 279th Infantry Battalion.
When he’s not doing his normal brainiac stuff, he’s a pretty good Public Relations manager for the battalion. On my visit he had a whole host of soldiers lined up to talk, and when Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe visited recently, he gathered some of the battalion together for a meet-n-greet. Well, now he’s started a newsletter, called “A Soldier You Should Know.”
Wolf’s piece is about a Chaplain’s assistant, spec. Benjamin McBride, Jr., 22, of Tulsa.
“’Boyish’, ‘Innocent’, ‘charming’ – All are words that might aptly describe the first impression one might get when they first meet him, but beneath his adolescent features, this young man exudes a steel resolve to execute a far more mature role as helper and protector of the Unit Ministry Team,” Wolf writes of McBride.
Wolf explains that since Chaplains are protected under the Geneva conventions, they can’t carry weapons. That’s where McBride comes in, as the Chaplain’s bodyguard.
“My job is to keep the Chaplain alive,” McBride tells Wolf. “I work closely with the Chaplain to help him provide religious support to Soldiers.”
But that’s not all. McBride also is an intermediary, confidant and all-around good listener to the soldiers, acting sometimes on behalf of the Chaplain, a sort of para-chaplain.
“Jesus had 12 Disciples, The Apostle Paul had his faithful servant Timothy; our Chaplain has Specialist Benjamin (Ben) McBride Jr.,” explains Wolf.
I had the opportunity to meet with McBride when I visited Cropper last month. He really IS a boyish, charming guy. But he had a serious wisdom in his tone that I found startling. It’s sort of that feeling I get when I meet somebody who has that certain gravitas, like a former President or something.
McBride told me that family issues at home tend to be the foremost concerns of the soldiers he deals with — not necessarily the issues they face there. McBride, who has a wife and child at home, said he often sees that the worries of soldiers aren’t about what they are dealing with in the war zone, but about what they can’t deal with back home.
“Most people here want to fix the problem. They want a hand in it and they can’t do it because they are here,” McBride said. “It makes them feel useless and it puts that extra burden on them — not being able to be there.”
He said soldiers have to fix what they can and quit worrying about what they can’t. He said that’s what most soldiers turn to the Chaplain for — the problems they can’t solve alone.
“It’s just one of those things that you are going to have to…if you are religious…leave to God,” McBride said. “You have to make sure the one you have at home is getting the support she needs from family, friends, and any kind of resources the military offers.”
As for Wolf, he said he intends to keep writing these. I guess now I have a contest on my hands. If both of us do it right, then the readers win.
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