The Mountain View www.taskforcemountain.com December 6, 2008 The sign says all there is to say.... Photo by Spc. Justin Snyder The Army-Navy rivalry kicked-off 117 years ago when Cabinet meeting and orders were issued prohibiting the Cadet Dennis Mahan Michie accepted a “challenge” from Army and Navy football teams to visit one another's the Naval Academy. The two squads faced-off on The fields. Plain at West Point Nov. 29, 1890. In 1899, Philadelphia was chosen as a neutral locale Just a few years after the rivalry's inception, the games to host the Army-Navy game and begin the rivalry anew. were interrupted from 1894-1898 following a ruptured Going into this year's game, Navy leads Army 52-49, with incident between a rear admiral and a brigadier general, seven ties between them. Navy has won the contest the which nearly led to a duel. President Cleveland called a past six years straight. The game will be played Dec. 6. Service members await the arriv- al of John Cena to team with Rey WWE pays tribute to the troops Mysterio and Batista, against the Big Show, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho, during the World Wres- tling Entertainment’s “Tribute to the Troops” taping Dec. 5 on Camp Victory. The WWE annually travel to either Iraq or Afghanistan, visit- ing deployed Soldiers and service members and taping a free tele- vised event. This is their sixth trip. MORE ON PAGE 4 Photo by Spc. Josh LeCappelain Page 2 • December 6, 2008 The Mountain View COP Shocker receives new entertainment system SGT . ALLI S ON CHUR C HILL Before the leadership and USO rep- 41ST FIRES BDE . resentatives left, the Soldiers took the opportunity to show off their Guitar FOB DELTA – Patrons of the Com- Hero skills. Noncommissioned officers bat Outpost Shocker Morale, Welfare said they were glad Soldiers would and Recreation Center have a new have another reason to get out of their game system to take their minds off contained housing units and socialize. being deployed this holiday season. “This should be a stress reliever,” Representatives of the United Ser- said Sgt. Larry Mellette, Visalia, Calif., vice Organization and Multi-National Company C, 589th Brigade Support Division – Center delivered a Mobile Bn., 41st Fires Bde. medic. Electronic Gaming System to the com- “This is available to everyone, not bat outpost Dec. 1. just the people who have systems in “We wanted to bring (the Soldiers’) their rooms,” he said. living room to them,’ said Jeff Hill, USO regional vice president. The $6,000 system includes Xbox “We wanted to bring (the 360; four games, one of which is Guitar Soldiers’) living room Hero; a projector screen and speakers; to them.” and is DVD compatible. Upon delivering the case containing – Jeff Hill the system, Kevin Meade, USO vice USO regional vice president Photo by Spc. Sophia R. Lopez president of operations for Southwest Sgt. Gustavo Londono, of White Plains, Asia, challenged the Soldiers in the Command Sgt. Maj. Kelvin Hughes, N.Y., and Spc. Robert Orcutt, of Bedias, MWR tent to beat the Air Force set-up 41st Fires Bde. senior enlisted leader, Texas, both gunners for the 41st Fires Bde., test out the games delivered with the time of 15 minutes. escorted the team to COP Shocker, MEGS at the COP Shocker MWR Dec. 1. The team of Soldiers quickly had where almost 30 of the brigade’s Sol- the system up and diers have been working since August. running, and began “It’s an honor to take individuals playing. “Kind out… so they can see the excitement of ironic, isn’t it? in the Soldiers’ eyes – it gives them We’re at war, and the feeling of being cared for,” Hughes they’re playing a said. “Anytime we have Soldiers out war game,” joked there at remote locations, it’s the lead- 1st Lt. Nick Albini, ers’ responsibility to check on them of Tampa, Fla., 1st and provide whatever we can.” Platoon leader, The 41st Fires Bde. leadership re- Battery B, 2nd Bat- ceived three MEGS – one of the re- talion, 20th Field maining two will remain at the FOB Artillery Regiment, Delta MWR, and the other will go to a 41st Fires Brigade. joint security station. (Left) Jeff Hill, USO U.S. regional vice president, shows 41st Fires Bde. Soldiers the components of the MEGS delivered to Photo by Spc. Sophia R. Lopez the COP Shocker MWR Center Dec. 1. TASK FORCE MOUNTAIN PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE THE Commanding General - MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL L. OATES Command Sergeant Major - COMMAND SGT. MAJ. JAMES W. REDMORE Mountain View Editorial Staff Contributing Units TF Mountain PAO — Lt. Col. Paul Swiergosz 2nd BCT, 4th Infantry Division The Mountain View is an authorized OIC, Command Information – 1st Lt. Julie Glaubach 4th BCT, 1st Cavalry Division publication for members of the U.S. NCOIC – Master Sgt. Stephen Opet 4th BCT, 3rd Infantry Division Army. Contents of The Mountain View Managing Editor – Staff Sgt. Amber Emery 7th Sustainment Brigade are not necessarily official views of, Assignment Editor – Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret 41st Fires Brigade or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, Department Copy Editor – Spc. Josh LeCappelain 354th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment of the Army or the 10th Mountain Editors/Design — Spc. Sophia Lopez, 793rd Military Police Battalion Division. All editorial content of The Spc. Justin Snyder Division Special Troops Battalion, 10th Mtn. Div. Mountain View is prepared, edited, pro- Staff Writers – Spc. Tiffany Evans, Sgt. David Turner Task Force 449 vided and approved by the Task Force Mountain Public Affairs Office. Media queries please contact TF Mountain Public Affairs at [email protected] The Mountain View December 6, 2008 • Page 3 How to build a government: Part two SGT . DA VI D TURNER 4 4TH BCT, 3RD IN F . DIV. “Building the plane as we fly” Mark Dawson, a member of 4th Bri- gade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Di- vision’s Human Terrain Team, is an anthropologist by training. Some an- thropologists believe that societies oper- ate according to a “script.” Understand- ing the script means understanding the people. In his work with the North Babil embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team’s governance team, Dawson said there are several scripts at work, some misunderstood and occasionally at odds with each other. Determining how the military works with Iraq’s local govern- ments means untangling and, at times, rewriting the script. “We have the (counterinsurgency) field manual, which is the theory, and now everyone is trying to put it into Photo by Sgt. David Turner practice … it’s all new for everyone,” said Mark Dawson, an applied anthropologist with the 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div., HTT, ar- Dawson, of St. Petersburg, Fla. ranges a collage of data gathered from Soldiers at FOB Kalsu Nov. 15. Soldiers have been involved in nearly all aspects of the lives of citizens here, we’re all trying to build the plane as we onto these federal, participatory councils, from keeping the area safe by organiz- fly,” he said. and there’s been some struggle in making ing the Sons of Iraq program to helping Michael Bevers, governance adviser that work. They don’t have any financial farmers buy fertilizer. When it came to for the North Babil ePRT, pointed out authority; they don’t have any legislative building government structures from the that trying to understand Iraqi govern- authority. This being a centralized gov- ground up, said Dawson, they often re- ment isn’t easy, for Soldiers or even the ernment has been a hindrance for people lied on their creativity. Iraqi officials themselves. Not only do to try to become a decentralized, partici- “One of the things we’ve gotten re- Iraqi citizens have little experience of de- patory government,” he said. peatedly from the commanders who mocracy, but their new constitution is a Despite that, Bevers said, councils like have been doing this is they are all say- sometimes-confusing mixture of old and the Musayyib qada have a good chance of ing: ‘I’m a tank commander,’ or ‘I’m an new. making their government work. Officials infantry guy, I was never trained to build “(Iraq) was a Soviet-style central- like Haider Thalbut, Musayyib’s munici- a government.’ Everyone is trying to fig- ized government. All the decisions came pal manager, sees people eager to take ure out how do you build a government; from the center. All these structures, the on the job, though they may not be sure how do you coordinate a government … muhafatha (province), the qada and the yet of just how to accomplish each task nahia were in place un- within the existing framework. der Sadaam Hussein. “The thing that’s impressed me is they But the sole purpose have taken a lot of initiative. What I see of these were for the when I go to a council meeting is I see Ministry of the Inte- people who want democracy, and I don’t rior (which controls even think they fully understand what the Iraqi Police) to that means; they just know it’s probably have control over the good,” he said. population outside of The North Babil ePRT began a study Baghdad, so they were to try and gather as much knowledge staffed with Baath Par- and insight as possible from Soldiers and ty officials and (MoI) government officials before the 4th BCT officials who handled Soldiers redeploy in order to help the fu- everything,” said Bev- ture Soldiers on the ground and the Babil ers. PRTIf they could use the various strate- “Now you’ve got gies employed by Soldiers as a guide to Photo by Sgt.