G.O.1 alpha, meet G.O.1 bravo

go1a.ppt

go1b.pdf

notice anything different in the two?  maybe the fact that iraq is added to the list of countries in which alcohol is prohibited?  this addition was affectionately referred to as the “tennessee clause” after its inception, because the general order changed right after my four-person AELT from tennessee completed our deployment in iraq in august 2003.  i’ve been asked no fewer than 10 times since getting here why the air force had to create a “general order one bravo” when the army doesn’t have one.  then, someone from my unit can be seen snickering in the background.  here’s how it went down…as succinctly as i can type it:

when i was here before, i lived with the army.  i was OIC of a 4-person element that was co-located with an army combat support hospital (CSH).  the term “co-located” became important, as we were not “attached to” them or deployed “in support of” them.  we just shared a chunk of dirt.  after we’d been there a couple months, we learned from another air force officer that the USAF had lifted the ban on booze in iraq.  so, my flight nurse and i started receiving occasional care packages containing small bottles of whiskey, and we sometimes acquired beer from the locals just outside the gate.  we enjoyed these items in moderation and didn’t try to hide our consumption, as we knew the privilege was at the commander’s discretion, per the memo, and i was our commander. 

towards the middle of july, our relationship with the army company commander became a little strained, because ours was the only tent with a generator, and we had enough “juice” to allow some of the army tents to plug in, if they kept their power use to fans and lights…a point we explicitly made.  they didn’t comply.  they’d watch TVs they’d bought, play video games, etc., causing our generator to quit.  so, i unplugged them.  the company commander happened to be walking toward our tent after i’d unplugged them to “have it out” with me at just the moment we’d learned our replacements were coming within the next couple weeks, so three of us were about to split a bottle of wine (i.e., one cup each).  he saw us.  he lost it.  he started yelling that we were going to “make him” prosecute us now and said we’d violated general order one and were going to jail.  i tried not to laugh at him.  he didn’t like my reaction.  he told the hospital commander, an O-6 doctor, who decided to make “an example” out of us and give article 15s.  we were “mirandized” and i refused to talk w/o counsel.  i called the air force area defense counsel in germany (who was an old friend) and met with the army JAG on base.  both indicated i was right- 1) we weren’t breaking any rules as air force members and 2) even if we were, the CSH didn’t have jurisdiction over us.  the commander’s DO spent two weeks and filled a 3-ring binder with documents evidencing those two conclusions i gave him w/in five minutes of our accusation.  they called al-udeid to our air force leadership.  i’d already told him what was going on, so he’d get our side of the story before the army’s.  he said he would be our advocate, that we were right, and that he’d meet w/ the JAG there to so verify.  all checked out.  however, when everyone else (the MASF, the other AELT, and the fourth member of our element) flew home to nashville, the three of were told to go to al-udeid.  i was told this would be a quick formality, and we’d be on our way home, too.  i was lied to.

instead, i was put on a work detail driving aircrews to and from the flightline every day.  incidentally, it’s about 140 degrees in qatar in august.  when we met w/ the commander there, instead of being our advocate, he admitted that i was right, but he said that b/c he had to have a continuing relationship with this army colonel and send AELTs to work with him for the foreseeable future, he had to punish us in some manner.  so, he stripped us of all medals and awards for which we’d been submitted.  i have never been more disappointed in an authority figure than i was with him.  politics won over advocacy, despite given assurances to the contrary. after two weeks of working there while the LTC awaiting the binder from the army colonel (he wouldn’t mail it…he insisted it had to be couriered down, which somehow took 2 weeks to accomplish), we were finally permitted to fly home.  while the rest of our unit had received heroes’ welcomes, complete with media, the rest of our guard unit, and local politicians’ attendance, we got off the plane to just our families’ happy faces and no support whatsoever from our unit.  and now, we have a new version of the general order.  i’m told that our little incident created strife between the air force and army, so a change was made to make the two services have uniform policies. so, when we have halloween parties, grillouts, and other social events that are dry, i get thanked for it.  glad to have made my mark.