Stays Back Watching…
I read where the Pentagon is working up a medal for those who were dispatched to the US-Mexico border. Whatever. Sure. The medal made me think of all the medals, slang and morale patches in the U.S. military. A fairly current one is POG:
“In military jargon, POG (which has evolved into an acronym for Person Other than Grunt) is spelled differently and is a derogatory term used by combat arms soldiers, particularly infantry, to refer to service members in non-combat roles. The term originated with Irish sailors. It was later adopted by the Marines and then the Army to describe personnel in support or administrative positions, such as cooks, mechanics, and clerks, who perform essential, but often unseen, tasks.” When a troop sees a buffed up, power-lifting, muscled-up, looking soldier, one civilians would think as real Rambo, the combat vets immediately assume POG, because he is at a back base with a good gym long enough to be so buff. There are no gyms when your ducking and hustling out in the boonies. And the food sucks.
Then there’s REMF. Back in my day, the days of the Vietnam era, there was the military slang, “REMF is a pejorative acronym for “Rear Echelon Mother Fcker*,” used by combat soldiers to refer to personnel in rear-area support roles who are perceived as having direct frontline combat experience and are therefore not exposed to the same hardships as those on the front lines.”
POG or REMF? The same thing can be said for civilian police work. Them out in the field. Them at HQ. I never took a promotional test in the Army or in Texas and remained in line operations. And I never quite knew what we Military Police were. Completely back or completely front? We were trained and organized as co-infantry. The Army expects Military Police to be qualified in both law enforcement and combat, as highlighted by a mandate:
“Military Police: You can’t be one unless you dual qualify. “A U.S. Army Military Police soldier receives training in both law enforcement and warrior skills. When deployed, these soldiers perform combat-related duties in addition to their policing functions.”
The lines between policing and combat were often blurred in the Gulf and Afghanistan. A look at Nam’s Tet Offensive involved a lot of MPs battling the north’s invasion. But I’ve never heard of an MP in the forward-forward, like a mountainous FOB in Afghanistan. I do recall when the war sirens blared in South Korea in the 70s and I suddenly found myself – “Mister Policeman,” – in charge of a machine gun nest on the valley where the Red Guard first invaded back in the day. In Korea near the DMZ, we, the ROK Marines and some KATUSA were the only ones with bullets. Empty guns abound for our troops. Bullets locked up tighter than a drum in bunkers for the regulars. A sudden attack? We’re screwed (same with bases in the USA). Some MPs are now titled “Force Protection.” I assume I was half-a-pog, keepin’ the peace back at HQ (and also largely hated as party-pooper) and supposed to machine gun commies coming south.
I was in Al-Udeid Air Base in southwest Asia (a contract to train the troops). “Southwest Asia” was the proper term for what normal people call the Middle East. I was there when Obama started bombing Libya years ago. The base was a big headquarters for the region and the base was full of international armies. All present in the massive mess hall, sitting at giant tables with their “tribes.” I remember saying-wondering to Tim Llacuna and Jim McCann – who were with me, “Look at all these armies. What are they doing here?” The biggest group of attendees of our training were Australian commandos. Great guys. But stuck there doing nothing while the US was still “Gulf-warring.” This waste further aggravated me even more during the subsequent Benghazi battles. The very nearby air base was full of Ozzie commandos, our troops and troops from all over the world, yet our pussified American government wouldn’t-couldn’t help our guys and gals in Benghazi?
“Tooth to Tail.” Anyway. It was a running joke that that SW Asia effort needed a morale patch, a patch that read “SBW.” “Stays Back Watching.” But, a lot troops everywhere stay back. Since the 1960s, the common number was 9 troops in the back to support 1 troop in the front feeding and eating bullets. I’ve seen that number change through the years but also seen the 9 to 1 ration quoted again and again. Yeah, they call it “tooth to tail.” Fun, huh? But, it truly takes a lot in the back to get someone in the front.
I remember I guy I knew that was in and out of the Navy real quickly. His entire job was filling soda machines on a battleship. That’s it. He gets thanked for his service like he was SEAL or something by adoring civilians. I guess…well, you know…whatever. He did join! And the military has a long history of giving you sucky jobs you can’t change. Essential is realitive. He was essential for Mountain Dew drinkers. So…okay, thanks bubba.