An Email From The Commander of the Mad Ghosts

[Annie]

The 2/24th Battalion (USMC Reserve - Chicago, Illinois), in Iraq. The Commander of the Mad Ghosts, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Smith wrote this:

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And, if I might, a short story. I received an email from a reporter from the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal last week by the name of Meg. Meg requested to do either a phone interview or a written interview via email.

Well, that one was a no-brainer; given my 3rd grade writing skills, I opted for the phone interview so that if the questions actually required more than monosyllabic response, I could cover the voice meter, make that swooooosh sound, and claim I had a bad connection. You see, deception planning is a subordinate task of any good military plan!

The appointed time and place came, and I made a satellite call to Ms. Meg. After we exchanged pleasantries and salutations, which for me is a Rocky Balboa 'how you doin', Ms. Meg began the questioning. I would like to pause at this point, in case she ends up being a recipient of this email, and state for the record that Ms. Meg was very polite, very professional, very pleasant and in my opinion VERY SINCERELY INTERESTED IN THE MAD GHOSTS of 2/24.

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How do you feel? Quite rationally fearful.

What would be your status? Mission capable, locked/cocked and ready to rock.

What would be your motivation? That I am a United States Marine, like all United States Marines that have gone before, some giving their last full measure of devotion.

What would you do? Your duty...because that is your oath, and that is your motto: Semper Fidelis!

Yeah, I could fill pages of each week's update with exploits. Exploits like Echo Company conducting a night helo assault in Black Hawk Helicopters in 1% illumination, striking the Landing Zone at the exact minute as planned, capturing 3 known terrorists and locating 14 artillery shells primed and prepared to be IEDs, just waiting to be buried on the side of the road...and all done in a darkness so black you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and with a precision that would make any "special forces" unit envious.

Yeah, I could talk about exploits like the Engineers and Mobile Strike Teams from Weapons Company moving in the middle of the night and establishing an obstacle fortress at a suspected enemy ambush site that would make the makers of the Infiltration Course at Quantico as jealous as a jilted lover.

Yeah, I could talk about Fox Company who this week entertained both street workers and A CANDIDATE FOR PUBLIC OFFICE WHO CAMPAIGNED IN YUSUFIYAH, a town so under the control of the terrorists and without MNF presence three months ago that people did not venture from their homes!!!

Yeah, I could talk about Golf Company, their never-ending identification and detention of terrorists in a previous hotbed at a rate three times what they should realistically be able to accomplish with their combat power.

Yeah, I could talk about the Marines of H&S who work 16-18 hour days and also provide some of the most stellar and demanding security duties you can imagine.

Yeah, I could talk about all of that, but all I would be doing is adding to the layers of such stories that you are innundated with everyday from the national media.

OH YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, THEY RARELY TALK ABOUT THOSE KIND OF EXPLOITS!

No, they would rather tell you about every single IED or SVBIED that detonates.

They would rather tell you that Iraq is overrun with insurgents.

They would rather tell you that all is lost and hopeless and the only victory is in how soon we can get out of Iraq.

Well, I refuse to "tow that line." I refuse to tow that line because it is misrepresentation at best, and these American HEROES deserve better.

The other part of the media misrepresentation that really agitates me, now that you have spun me up, is the incessant undertone that the military senior leadership is either wrong or incompetent. This one agitates me like a Whirlpool 9000 agitates laundry. (I don't really know if there is a Whirlpool 9000, but if there was it would agitate laundry really hard!)

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