Seeing Kuwait
A couple days a go I got fly around Kuwait to get a feeling for the Area Of Responsibility (AOR). I was interesting. I gained a whole new appreciation for how absolutely desolate this country is. We visited the border with Iraq (to learn how they conducted border crossing and customs operations) and Camp Beuhring (to learn about how they train new units that are new to the theater. I never pass up a Blackhawk ride...It is always a blast...although it does not have A/C and that day the temp was over 130 F.
This little field trip goes hand in hand with my new job. I am in charge of the Ground Operations Section for 3rd Army CFLCC (Combined Forces Land Component Command). As with most Army jobs for officers it sounds really sexy but in reality I am just rearranging chairs on the Titanic. Basically, my day begins a 0430 and I search through all the significant reports from the night before to find ones that are REALLY significant actions we initiated(>9 detained, >20 RPGs captured, high value targets, etc.) Usually, it is difficult for me to find more than 6. Then at I brief them to everyone on the COIC (Combined Operations intelligence Center...imagine a control room at NASA) floor. Usually I have no less than 3 stars worth of generals in attendance, on somedays there are more than 10.
I basically work on the work on the COIC floor. When I say think NASA control room I am not kidding. In the front of the room are three banks of monitors comprised of 9 projection TVs each stacked 3X3. The assemblies are about two stories tall. Throughout the day the various screens have all kinds of data about the theater. Real time feeds from UAVs all over the world, icons tracking every truck moving in theater, you name. Some of our capabilities would really blow your mind.
In front of the screens are all the desks. There are about 100 work stations on the floor. Each row terraced above the other so everyone can see the big screen. Each station has a headset, which we use for briefings because all the material we talk about is classified.
I must say it is weird have a job that requires me to shred just about everything I touch. Of course, I do not have a TOP SECRET clearance. Only a SECRET one. So most of the information we deal with is not super important. SECRET information is more like if right person let slip the right information and it somehow slipped into the right hands it could expose an short term vulnerability. TOP SECRET stuff is more like the kind of information the enemy is actively seeking out and if it slips out it could have major consequences. So if it slips out the bad people will find it. That is a very basic explanation of it. Most of the stuff I shred probably does not need to be shredded, but why risk it.
Well that is it for now. More later.
This little field trip goes hand in hand with my new job. I am in charge of the Ground Operations Section for 3rd Army CFLCC (Combined Forces Land Component Command). As with most Army jobs for officers it sounds really sexy but in reality I am just rearranging chairs on the Titanic. Basically, my day begins a 0430 and I search through all the significant reports from the night before to find ones that are REALLY significant actions we initiated(>9 detained, >20 RPGs captured, high value targets, etc.) Usually, it is difficult for me to find more than 6. Then at I brief them to everyone on the COIC (Combined Operations intelligence Center...imagine a control room at NASA) floor. Usually I have no less than 3 stars worth of generals in attendance, on somedays there are more than 10.
I basically work on the work on the COIC floor. When I say think NASA control room I am not kidding. In the front of the room are three banks of monitors comprised of 9 projection TVs each stacked 3X3. The assemblies are about two stories tall. Throughout the day the various screens have all kinds of data about the theater. Real time feeds from UAVs all over the world, icons tracking every truck moving in theater, you name. Some of our capabilities would really blow your mind.
In front of the screens are all the desks. There are about 100 work stations on the floor. Each row terraced above the other so everyone can see the big screen. Each station has a headset, which we use for briefings because all the material we talk about is classified.
I must say it is weird have a job that requires me to shred just about everything I touch. Of course, I do not have a TOP SECRET clearance. Only a SECRET one. So most of the information we deal with is not super important. SECRET information is more like if right person let slip the right information and it somehow slipped into the right hands it could expose an short term vulnerability. TOP SECRET stuff is more like the kind of information the enemy is actively seeking out and if it slips out it could have major consequences. So if it slips out the bad people will find it. That is a very basic explanation of it. Most of the stuff I shred probably does not need to be shredded, but why risk it.
Well that is it for now. More later.
posted by Lycurgus at 12:34 AM
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