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Author Interview with Jerry Hanel
Today I have another interview up on Jerry Hanel’s website. We talked about PROMIS, writing, social media, and more. Here is a bit of it:
I enjoy books from so many different genres — from Christian fiction, to fantasy, to the paranormal. But when I look back at my choices, I see that there’s always a dark theme to them. What is one theme that you enjoy reading?
The deus ex machina theme, or plot device rather, is something I find myself drawn to again and again. The idea that one person, talented and determined enough, can save the day is always something that resonated with me. To me it’s also an expression of rugged individualism. It means that the individual matters and is more important than a collective that is, by it’s nature, incapable of making rational decisions.
Thanks Jerry!
Filed under Military Fiction, News
Castle Fortress in Afghanistan (Part II)
More pockmarks from decades of warfare.
This place was like crawling around an MC Estcher sketch.
The approach up to the entrance.
The edge of the compound.
This should give you an idea of the kind of terrain you encounter in this part of the world. Off road driving skills are a must.
Team picture. Myself on the far left with the SR-25 and spotting scope at my feet. Next to me is a sniper buddy with the .300 WinMag and two other team members with suppressed M4 rifles.
Filed under Afghanistan, Pictures, Weapons and Tactics
Vietnam/SOG reenactments
In conducting research for the first short in a series I am writing (more about that later) I came across this website: ModernForces.com
I have to confess that I never really “got” reenactments before. I had heard stories about Civil War reenactors starving themselves and spooning with each other in their confederate war camps in the name of authenticity. I had a SERE instructor who was a great guy, but his descriptions of the Rev War reenactments he participated in, namely sleeping in a lean to’s in January, sounded pretty nutty.
Studies and Observations Group, or SOG, was highly classified during the Vietnam War. In fact, not much information about them was available at all until the 1990’s. Reading between the lines, I suspect that there is still a fair amount of activity that SOG was involved in that has not been made publicly available. There are a couple of books out and some grainy photos released, but the Modern Forces website really brings history to life.
The attention to detail is pretty amazing and I’m sure the people involved spent a lot of time putting together the uniforms and equipment to such a high degree of historical accuracy. The full color images and close in shots of the equipment used really gives an idea of how SOG operated, a perspective you don’t really get from the older 1960’s era photography. When you have the chance I highly recommend taking a look at the pictorials in the SOG section of the website. A few Vietnam veterans who served in SOG have also contacted the website and provided exclusive photographs and interviews, a must read for anyone researching Special Forces units and missions during the Vietnam War.
Take a look at Modern Forces: MACV-SOG
Filed under Pictures, Special Forces
Ranger School Graduation
News flash: Ranger School sucks. Especially in January. It isn’t that you don’t receive important tactical training, its just a painful experience. More so if you are a Strong Ranger rather than a Smart Ranger. At twenty years old, I was definitely a Strong Ranger. My class number was 04-04, after recycling Darby Phase of course…
The much dreaded Charlie Company. I’m in there somewhere, probably sleeping on my feet, an essential Ranger skill.
After the graduation ceremony those of us who came from the Ranger Regiment got a congratulations/warning speech from the Regimental Commander and Sergeant Major. The gist was this: go out and get a DUI tonight and we’ll crush your balls, then kick you out of the Regiment.
Later that day, at the Ranger Memorial on Main Post at Ft. Benning. In a blatant act of defiance, those of us from Ranger battalions wore our Ranger scrolls pinned on our uniforms next to our newly acquired Ranger Tabs. Ranger School is required in order to hold a leadership position in the Regiment, but is still looked down upon as being beneath us “real Rangers.”
Also at the Ranger memorial. Note the WWII commando dagger in the background. On each pillar is written the Ranger Creed and Robert Rodgers standing orders.
Filed under Pictures
Day to day living conditions in Afghanistan
In a past post I showed some pictures of our compound in Iraq in 2010, where we lived in CHU’s. CHU’s are Compartmentalized Housing Units imported to Iraq from Italy. Basically they are micro-trailer homes, or a really high end whack shack, depending on your point of view. Still, that is pretty good living compared to Afghanistan in 2004 where as a dozen troops, we were crammed into a GP Medium tent. In this picture you can see my bunk, with the jumbo sized duffle bag sitting underneath (jumbo sized for transporting dead hookers of course!), and my SR-25 sniper rifle laid out on my shooting mat.
Okay, okay, let me explain the crucifixes… We built those to sling our combat gear over. The shoulder straps of your body armor rest on the lateral portion and your helmet sits up on the vertical piece at the top. This way your gear is always ready to go at a moments notice.
Filed under Afghanistan, Pictures
The Iraqi Air Force
One of the more interesting experiences I had on my last rotation in Iraq was working with the Iraqi Air Force. Through a complicated series of events we managed to set up a training mission with Iraqi pilots, flying the older US-made Huey helicopters, followed by an actual combat operation.
During the training mission, I was the only American on the aircraft…a hair raising experience to say the least. As it turned out the pilot knew his stuff and my fears were unfounded. He had been flying for decades, all the way back to the Iran-Iraq war where he had been a fighter pilot. In this picture we (a small group of US Special Forces troops with a Iraqi SWAT contingent) are inbound to our objective area.
One of the boys.
A picture I took, looking down, as we sped a hundred feet or so above the desert.
Twin Iraqi Huey’s coming in for exfil.
Filed under Iraq, Pictures, Special Forces
Views from Iraq in night vision and thermal.
A few shots of the city through PVS-14 night vision goggles:
Here are a few through the thermal sight on a Remote Weapon System (RWS) mounted to the stop of a Stryker.
First Draft is in the bag
One milestone down. I finished up working on the epilogue tonight. “Reflexive Fire” stands at about 110,000 words at the moment. Supposedly, this is a pretty good size for a novel. We’ll see what happens in the end, I have scenes that need to be added and subtracted. I gave the prologue the once over tonight and will continue editing. Revisions will be posted as I finish them for readers to sample. Thanks again everybody!
Filed under News
Chapter Fifteen online
Deckard punched a button on the keyboard and another video popped up. This one showed the CEO on the phone in his office. Overlaid on the video was the voice on the other end of the phone, taken from a separate tap on the line. The voice was unmistakeable, it belonged to the president of Kazakhstan.
They were talking about liquidating the Kazakh national bank and turning the reigns over to shareholders in the United States.
“I’ve got it all Kareem,” Deckard said pausing the video. “Hard evidence. Government collusion with Samruk’s corporate leaders to assassinate bankers and journalists who are not on board with your program. Selling Kazakh mineral wealth to European nations dirt cheap in exchange for kickbacks. Funny money Washington Consensus loans with the IMF. Plans to eliminate ethnic minorities so you can build a new oil pipeline. I’ve got it all.”
The Ministry of Justice official looked like he was about the be ill.
Filed under Military Fiction, Snippits
Reflexive Fire 