Redstate

By haystack Posted in Special Features — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Command Sergeant Major Jeffrey J. Mellinger
Multi-National Force - Iraq


Michael Yon once described CSM Mellinger as an "Alpha" Soldier. During his very first face to face exchange with CSM Mellinger, when he asked for a ride to Tikrit with the Soldiers, CSM Mellinger asked Michael this question:

You aren’t one of those journalists who will sit in a Baghdad hotel room and write about the war, are you?

CSM Mellinger is the highest ranking Non-Commissioned Officer in-country in Iraq, now serving under General Petraeus. He has been in the military since being drafted back in 1972, and has served under the Multi National Force in his Command Sergeant major role since August 2004. In our first podcast interview for Troop Talk Radio Blog, my last question to CSM Mellinger was to ask why he has served 35 years in the Military - why he stays in the fight. Here is his reply:

It's the Soldiers. It's always been the Soldiers.

I don't know that there's another occupation in life that will put you around people who's hearts are as pure, who will go out and do anything for anybody, be that good or be that bad. They'll fight you, then they'll bandage you, then they'll feed you, then they'll clothe you.

This is the place you can be where, literally, you can make your own way. You work hard, and persevere, and you can get as far as you want to go. The opportunity to continue to serve and be with some of the absolute best our nation has, its sons and daughters, well, I wouldn't trade it for a thing in the world.

Join us below the fold for CSM Mellinger's insight regarding Iraq, her people, and the efforts our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines put forward for us each and every day to stand Iraq on her feet again and move forward toward their own freedom.

[listen to the entire conversation HERE ]

On the day AFTER the change of command between General Abizaid and Admiral Fallon, we were able to catch CSM Mellinger just before he left CentCom Headquarters for a well-deserved R & R to Alaska. We sat down for about a half hour or so, and had an outstanding conversation with one of America's finest warriors. First, a little background on CSM Mellinger, from the MNF-Iraq website:

CSM Mellinger was drafted on April 18, 1972, at Eugene, Oregon. Following basic and advanced training at Fort Ord, California, he completed airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia. His first assignment was in the Federal Republic of Germany as a unit clerk. Upon his return from Germany, CSM Mellinger was assigned to the 2d Battalion (Ranger), 75th Infantry, Fort Lewis, Washington. For the next five years, CSM Mellinger served as unit clerk, battalion personnel staff NCO, machinegun squad leader, rifle squad leader, rifle platoon sergeant and weapons platoon leader. He then performed drill sergeant duty at Fort Gordon, Georgia in 1979. In 1981, he returned to the 2d Ranger Battalion as a platoon sergeant.

Additional assignments include: Special Forces Military Freefall Instructor, Fort Bragg, NC; senior reconnaissance team leader, 75th Ranger Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment, Fort Benning, Ga; Assistant Professor of Military Science, University of Alaska-Fairbanks; First Sergeant, Company C (Airborne), 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry (Manchu), Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Senior Enlisted Advisor, 41st Separate Infantry Brigade, Oregon Army National Guard; Command Sergeant Major, 3d Battalion, 10th Infantry, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo; Command Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga; Commandant, U.S. Army Alaska Noncommissioned Officer’s Academy, Fort Richardson, Alaska; Command Sergeant Major of United States Army Japan and 9th Theater Support Command, Camp Zama, Japan; Command Sergeant Major, First U.S. Army, Fort Gillem, Georgia. He is currently the Command Sergeant Major, Multi-National Force - Iraq.

Trip's first question to CSM Mellinger was to ask about the morale of the troops over in Iraq. His quick response was to remind us not to forget there are 26 coalition partners there, helping in this fight. He went on to suggest the morale of the forces was "absolutely tremendous", saying:

To understand that, you have to appreciate who they are and why they joined the Military. Certainly, those that have joined after 2001, knew exactly what they were doing and what they were getting in to.

The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines, and our Coalition partners...they all understand this is an important mission so it's not whether they're dedicated or not and whether they want to see this mission through or not, there's never a question of that. They're absolutely committed to what they're doing.

Trip, in re-terming the so called "surge" as the "Plan for victory in 2007", asked CSM for his thoughts on these next 6 to 9 to 12 months. With a chuckle about charging us to use his crystal ball, CSM said this:

Three times the Iraqis have gone to the polls. Three times, in the face of extreme danger or potential danger, they have registered their votes. We have to continue to do what we're doing to enable them to set the foundation for having a representative government.

To that end, whether it ever looks like anything we might recognize I don't know because this is a different region and a different culture and they have different values than us. As I walk around and talk to people on the ground and you look into the eyes of the old and young, it's clear that what they want is what you and I want, and that's that they want to grow up in peace in harmony and to be able to take care of their families.

The potential for Iraq to set an example for the rest of this region about possibilities and how people can live and get along are just unbelievable. But, as committed as WE are to doing that, we're fighting a bunch of people that are JUST as committed to ensure that nobody enjoys freedom, nobody ever enjoys success, and nobody can ever walk into the 21st century. And, therein lies the problem. Despite all the benefits and all the potential for this country, there are people just as committed to ensure its destruction.

In my first question to CSM Mellinger, I wanted his take on a quote from General Abizaid during the change of command ceremony at CentCom Headquarters. I paraphrased it for him, but here is the full quote from The Voice of America:

"War is never easy or pretty, nor easily resolved. We will need both courage and time to withstand the impatience and dissatisfaction that could cause us to fail, despite our great abilities, to succeed," he said.

General Abizaid, who retired on Friday, said he has no doubt the United States will succeed in spite of the challenges of terrorism and the impatience of the American people.

My question, then, was "from your vantage point, do you see that courage and patience in the Iraqis...the courage and patience that a lot of us here in the states and our politicians seem to be lacking lately? And as a follow on, what message do you give your men and women about their own courage and patience in this fight?"

His response was quite telling about the situation on the ground in Iraq:

I've been watching the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Police, Department of Border Enforcement, Highway Patrol, several different variants of Commandos, and Special Operations Forces for a long tome now, and you want to ask about courage in those forces and their commitment - there are THOUSANDS of patriots in that Army who have "Iraq first", the well-being of their fellow citizens first. Do they have problems? Absolutely, but on the whole, that Iraqi Army gets stronger every day, gets better every day, and they are willing to do whatever needs to be done to accomplish the mission of setting their own destiny in their own country.

As for our coalition, and our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines? Absolutely no question about their dedication, their willingness to get this mission done. And as for their bravery and their courage, it gets demonstrated every minute of every day in a thousand ways.

As a follow up, I told him about the Iraqi bloggers we have met; Omar from Iraq The Model, and others, and I described them as a new breed of "Citizen Journalists", out there speaking up and speaking out. I suggested that only a few years ago they risked potential death to do such things under Saddam. My question to him was to ask what changes HE saw in the lives of the every day Iraqis citizens themselves out there on the streets:

There are lots of changes taking place. I would say their awareness of the "outside world" has grown astronomically. Let me give you a couple examples.

Under Saddam, ownership of a satellite dish or a cell phone was for all practical purposes prohibited. And of course, you can imagine, the punishments for getting caught were pretty severe. Now, you can drive to any corner, piece, and part of Iraq that you want to and you'll find somebody talking on a cell phone and you'll see a satellite dish on top of a house. I don't know if that's a sign of progress or not, but I'll tell you, once you awaken people to information that they didn't have before or they get to see things they never saw before, certainly it awakens them to possibilities that they didn't know existed.

You know, they've got a stock market going over here in Iraq now, that's been running for a couple years. They never had one of those before. They've got hundreds of newspapers that write what they want, when they want. And, just like in our own country, you don't have to agree with everything you read or hear, but they have an opportunity to do that. So, they're exercising a lot of those newfound freedoms with a good deal of vigor.

Trip moved on to ask CSM about the progress; the road ahead and our way out of Iraq to bring our US forces home is that the Iraqis have to be able to control things themselves. He suggested that, in talking to a lot of the Senior Enlisted at different levels from Battalion up to the higher levels, it seems like the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi people have a hard time grasping the concept of Non-Commissioned Officer. Adding that one of the reasons the American Army and the American Military is so strong is that we have such a strong Non-Commissioned Officer Corps. He asked CSM Mellinger what progress is being made to convince the Iraqis that this is a good idea and actually training the Iraqis to have a professional Non-Commissioned Officer Corps.

Philosophically, they have never really capitalized on the potential of their Non-Commissioned Officer Corps. They've always had them, but they weren't necessarily for doing the kinds of things that NCO's do in Western Armies. And the value of those Non-Commissioned Officers is being discovered unit by unit, leader by leader. We've got squad leader courses, platoon sergeant courses, sergeants major courses and they're starting off slow, but they're building up speed now as more and more of those leaders realize the potential and benefit of those Non-Commissioned Officers assisting with implementing and executing the orders of the Commanders.

In our service, Non-Commissioned Officers put into action the orders of Officers appointed over them, so we make things happen in other words. Through our example and through the art of leadership, which is influencing people to do things that are good for them, we're starting to see some progress but again that word patience has to come into this conversation because you can't grow a Non-Commissioned Officer in a year. You can't grow one in two years. It's a commitment of instruction, and leadership, and guidance and mentoring, and over time a willingness to accept successes along with failures, and it's going to take time to grow a Non-Commissioned Officer Corps. that will be useful to the Iraqi Army.

Moving on, Trip told CSM that he started Troop Talk to get the word out there about the positive things our Soldiers are doing and our Coalition partners are doing over in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in the war on terror, and that he has talked to a number of Junior Officers, Soldiers, and Enlisted Officers about the perspectives at home; the opinions, the anti-war establishment. He asked CSM what it does to the morale of the Soldiers. Are they affected at all by the negative reporting in the media or what we've seen this past weekend with anti-war demonstrations at the Pentagon, in Austin Texas, San Francisco, and different places? Is it affecting the Soldiers on the ground and is it something that is irresponsible of the American public to be doing at this time?

Well, I don't want to ruin their bubble but I didn't know there were protests this weekend. Sorry, it didn't make the big news where I am but absolutely it affects morale and it affects perceptions but to what extent? I watch the news and I see some unhappiness, or some posturing, or how something may be represented and it's kind of disappointing sometimes because they don't know the whole story. Sometimes you'll see a story come out where it's used an anecdotal situation and made it the fact for the entire situation. I think the more we can make people aware of who we are and what we're doing over here, the less likely those things will even come up.

I know part of it is the numbers of warriors we've lost, and we've lost a tremendous amount and we ought to do everything and we DO do everything to protect them and keep them alive and keep them well. I think we could expend some of that same energy out there protesting drunk drivers and save us 40,000 people a year. Apples and oranges, I realize, but at the heart of it, Soldiers are proud of what they're doing and when they do show some concern about what they see on the news, it's generally - the comment I hear most often is - "they just don't know what we're doing." So the whole story isn't getting out and certainly we want to try and continue to let everybody know the things we're doing, and the schools we're building, and the water and electricity, and all of the OTHER good things that are happening along with the bad that does get reported.

Trip's follow up was to mention his frustration with the expression "I support the troops but not the mission." He asked CSM Mellinger what he thought when people say things like that?

Well, that's one of the beauties of our country. We, and people for the last couple hundred years have fought for their right to express their opinion and I don't have to listen to it and I don't have to debate it but they're certainly entitled to it as I am entitled to mine. But, I think if people came and saw the things that I see every day they would have a little bit of a different view of the world. I offer up a humvee seat to reporters all the time and seldom do they take me up on it.

Winding down our conversation with CSM Mellinger, Trip asked him about his plans for his trip to Alaska to enjoy his well-deserved R & R. CSM said he was going to be spending his time with his bride that he's been away from for far too long. He added that she understood, and that she knows he's committed to this mission and that she was right there with him. He's going to go up there and spend some time with her, then he's going to get back to the fight for as much time as he has left.

Godspeed Command Sergeant Major.

We were proud and honored to have been given the time to talk with CSM Mellinger, and he asked for the opportunity to give some final thoughts for anyone who might listen to the interview or read this report. CSM gets the last word:

I want to re-emphasize that this is going to take time. We all have to be patient. To put what we have done here into a little bit of perspective, January 2005 they elected a government that helped form a Constitution that was ratified 8 months later. In our OWN country, it took 13 years for that to happen and it almost didn't happen if it weren't for the last Constitutional referendum. And it wasn't an easy row to hoe. So, just PLEASE be patient, and please keep supporting the troops as you are because it DOES matter.

More support comes for our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines than you could possibly imagine. From 3rd graders, to old women doing blankets, from people making gifts and sending them on, to phone cards, to just "hey, we're here for you." So that support that's out there far outweighs any negative feelings we get. We continue to be dumbfounded every day by the size and quantity and numbers of contributions and just well wishes that we have, and we certainly appreciate that. We ARE committed to getting this thing done and I thank you for the opportunity to talk.