Call of Duty

ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWS BY HILLARY BARKER '12 AND WELTON CHANG '05 CAPT. JON VflCCflRO '06 Army: ROTC-present, National Guard since June 2008 Afghanistan: January-July 2009 At Dartmouth: Government/math major; Phi Delt Now: Active duty, Army National Guard, Tampa, Florida; married "Ranger school was the most valuable 88 days of my life. They use sleep deprivation and caloric deprivation to stress you out, then test your leadership abilities. Your rucksack weighs 75 to 100 pounds. I learned that as your body consumes muscle, it gives off the strong smell of ammonia. My knees have never been the same, but there's nothing more profound than hitting rock bottom and realizing there's more you can do. I craved French toast piled with butter and syrup. I thought about it every day." "I really liked the Afghan culture, which is mostly open and welcoming. The terrain reminded me of New Mexico, where I grew up. We were familiar with counterin-surgency strategy and focused on winning the support of the population. I thought I might be able to learn Pashto in my free time, but I didn't have a lot of that working 14 to 15 hours day. That came later." "I remember a time we were trying to bring local militia into the national police. The militia members made us a big dinner but made it clear they drdn't want to become police because they would no longer have autonomy to protect their families. As we tried to convince them, the conversation grew increasingly cold. I remember seeing the superficial rituals of hospitality continue even while the warmth seeped out of the conversation as it became clear that we were at odds. After several days of talking we came to a compromise that worked for everyone." "The National Guard allows me to choose a balance for my military and civilian careers. I've started to favor the military and have volunteered for more and more assignments. I don't have a desire to go back to the civilian workforce. I'm not going to be career military, but I'll stay as long as they continue to offer me interesting opportunities. Goldman Sachs has enough Dartmouth grads. I'll contribute what I got out of my education through service for now." 1ST LT. WES LIPPMAN '03 Marine Corps: January 2006-July 2008 Iraq: August-September 2006 (incurred multiple injuries from a roadside bomb, September 30) At Dartmouth: History major; Theta Delt; lacrosse Now: Foreign affairs officer, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.; married; father of one "Conducting convoys we were at the tactical level, where you see things in more detail. Every day you realize how much work goes into every little mission. Every day was a challenge. Looking back with some detachment, I see serving as the most potentially rewarding, challenging and difficult thing I've ever done." "After college I had jobs in marketing, then in commercial real estate. The Marine Corps was something I hadn't considered seriously, but I began to think if I didn't do it I'd regret it the rest of my life." "I remember getting hit. I woke up shortly after the IED blast and was awake for the whole process of figuring out how to get a medevac unit. My first thought was, 'I can't believe this just happened to me.' Then I thought, "Try not to panic.' I had a sense of my training actually working. We'd been told for a year to be prepared for the worst, to try to stay calm, to keep it together for the Marines you're leading. I don't know if I totally succeeded, but I did okay. I had the sense of trying to focus outwardly on the situation, not on myself—on realizing this was a test of all I'd been taught and trying to pass. I don't have nightmares or flashbacks. I can recall details with relative accuracy if I want to, but it's not something that bothers me." "Having military experience helps you keep your job in perspective, helps you to stay calm when other people think it's a crisis. There are things I miss about the Marines: the level of activity, having to stay in great shape, the energy and the camaraderie that are hard to replicate." 1ST LT. PHILIP BACK '10 Army: ROTC 2006-present Afghanistan: September-December 2011 At Dartmouth: Music/philosophy major; Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra Now: Platoon leader, Fort Knox, Kentucky; single "In the Army you get to do things that you wouldn't get to do in any other occupation. It isn't just about being able to pass physical tests. You use your brain a lot." "If you go to a school like Dartmouth or a place like Hanover there is always a background assumption you have that things will turn out okay. You don't even need to say it out loud. In a place like Afghanistan, it's immediately apparent that is not the case." "There's a lot of talk in the news about pulling combat troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. What does that mean for the Afghans who work with us? It's one thing to see that sort of thing on the news, to think they're probably going to be subject to reprisal by the Taliban. It's another when you get to know these guys. They're my age. They talk about similar things that you would talk about with your friends back home." "The experience of getting to work with people who really enjoy their jobs is something you don't find a lot. People don't typically join the military just to make a paycheck. It's kind of an all-in thing. Everyone is really motivated and committed." LT. BRAD DAVIS '99, TU'09 Navy: August 2001-April 2006 Persian Gulf/Iraq: July 2002-March 2006 At Dartmouth: Classical studies major; Heorot; Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team Now: Manager, Monitor 360, San Francisco; member, Council on Foreign Relations; guest lecturer, Tuck; single "On March 20, the first night of Operation Iraqi Freedom, we were flying a 40-year-old, propellerdriven airplane into enemy fire without any countermeasures—ridiculous! The Iraqi air defenses were just throwing everything at us. The smoke from the burning oil wells would light up as the anti-aircraft artillery pieces fired, and moments later the tracer rounds would pierce through the smoke on their way up toward the airplane. We were targeted multiple times by surface-to-air missiles, and it was a tense waiting game as they flew toward us before missing and flaming out around the aircraft. In the moment you're generally too focused on your job to give the personal danger much thought, but in the aftermath I was pretty grateful for our good luck and their crappy aim." "In my first tour in the reconnaissance squadron we were trying to figure out where enemy positions were so we could direct coalition forces in to engage them or direct the friendlies away from threat. In my second tour I was helping to channel goods and services into rebuilding an Iraq that desperately needed them. After two years of trying to destroy things, it felt good trying to help rebuild." CAPT. MELISSA HAMMERLE '03 Army: ROTC-June 2011, reservist after July 2007 Iraq: December 2005-December 2006 At Dartmouth: Economics major: AZD; WISP Now: Product and marketing manager, Danaher, Seattle; single "Serving in Baghdad strengthened my compassion for humanity and commitment to be a force of good, regardless of what is going on around me. I was horrified by the creatively brutal methods we are capable of inflicting upon one another when fighting to defend convictions, gain advantage or simply survive. Although the exposure to humanity at the survival level was often depressing, it was also galva nizing. My innocence was replaced with an unflinching commitment to be a positive force both personally and professionally" "Amid the chaos I was inspired by how the most basic gestures—providing security or facilitating commerce—made a major impact on people's lives. I am committed to applying business solutions to the problems faced by post-conflict and developing nations." "Some think that people join the military because they have nothing better to do, but I met some of the most amazing people 1 have ever had the privilege to work alongside when I was in the Army. One of my senior leaders seamlessly served in the White House, planned and executed an operation to stabilize the most violent area of Baghdad and pursued a Ph.D. at Cambridge One of my soldiers, who was from one of the poorest neighborhoods in Houston, is among the sharpest people I've ever known. I spent a lot of time setting high expectations for my soldiers and holding them accountable. They have so much potential. They just need to be made aware of it. " "The veterans in the Dartmouth community actively reached out to me and provided valuable mentorship and encouragement throughout my military service. Even in Iraq I was connected with Dartmouth students by the Iraqi Kids Project, through which current students sent my unit basic items such as clothing to distribute to Iraqi children." 1ST LT. JASON BLYDELL '08 Marine Corps: October 2008-present Afghanistan: September 2010-April 2011 and January 2012-present At Dartmouth: History major; Gamma Delt; baseball, football Now: Expected home on leave in August; single "I am currently deployed with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines as the executive officer. Compared with my first deployment, we are much more focused on targeted offensive operations against enemy forces and transitioning responsibility to the Afghan National Security Forces. We have operated in the vicinity of Kajaki District, Helmand Province, and our primary work has been to conduct helicopter-borne assaults into enemy safe havens and disrupt their operations." "My first deployment, as a platoon commander, we conducted counterinsurgency operations for seven months. I managed a small patrol base at the northern edge of the regimental battle space in Karimanda. It was a constant struggle to identify villagers who were willing to work with Afghan and coalition forces. A few times a month we would conduct large meetings to discuss local issues. The key was to get the Afghan National Army and Afghan Uniformed Police to deal with these problems directly instead of my doing it. The Afghan soldiers and police lived with us for the duration of our extremely kinetic deployment. The primary threat we faced was improvised explosive devices. The enemy's forward lines were just to our north, which led to multiple offensive operations in their direction." LT. COL. NEIL PUTNAM '90 Army: ROTC-present, National Guard since 1999 Afghanistan: March 2003-October 2004 and January-September 2006 At Dartmouth: Geography major; rugby, karate Now: Green Beret with Special Operations Command Pacific, Camp Smith, Aiea, Hawaii; married; father of two "Initially, in some of the most rural areas children would run from us—I think they thought we were the Russians coming back. We handed out hand-crank radios so villagers could have contact with the government and get news reports not from the Taliban." "When I deployed the first time, my 11-man Special Forces detachment was partnered with one of the first battalions of the Afghan National Army. Villagers liked to see them. They also liked seeing the United States supporting them. Often we were the only American combat force within hundreds of kilometers. I remember commenting one day to an older Afghan gentleman about U.S. forces being there just temporarily to help, not to occupy. He stopped me and said, 'Don't say that. We want you to stay. If you're here we know there's hope for stability.' " "We had a young interpreter in 2003 who was with me constantly. My memory from that time is him wearing a straggly beard, grimy fatigues and carrying an AK-47 while conducting operations with us and the Afghan National Army. In 2006, while serving as commander of the U.S. special forces elements in northern Afghanistan, I attended a NATO meeting. I'm looking at a big group of dignitaries, and there's an Afghan civilian with them in a coat and tie with a neatly trimmed beard, serving as interpreter for a British two-star general. Our eyes locked and he shouted, 'Sir!' It was my interpreter from 2003. He'd moved up to a better life from living in a field carrying a rifle and fighting the Taliban. That was, to me, a very personal symbol of progress." CAPT. RAPHAEL CLARKE '06 Marine Corps: January 2007-present, reservist since December 2010 Iraq: January-October 2009 Afghanistan: June 2011-January 2012 At Dartmouth: Government major; Phi Delt; rugby Now: Management consultant, Deloitte, Washington, D.C.; single "Ninety-nine percent of my job was like a typical office job—but everyone was wearing a uniform and had a very short haircut. All the harshness and discipline of my training made sense as soon as I deployed. When you go to an environment where there's no law, no order, military command has to be gruff to ensure group survival." "The current emphasis on governance suited me. I was one of the lucky ones to be in civil affairs. Our unit joke was, 'Wherever I go, peace breaks out.' If locals like you, nothing happens to you or the service members around you." "I had some of the most peaceful, spiritual moments of my life in Afghanistan. Our safe zone, where we were deployed to engage the community in defense of a dam, included a stretch of river where I'd go and reflect on the beauty there." "Coming from an Ivy League school isn't always beneficial. You'll get a little negativity, especially from the lifer senior officers. With other officers who went to Ivy League schools there's an immediate friendship: 'You feel my pain, huh?'" "Afghanistan is like living in the eighth century, but in many ways it's more civilized than more developed countries. Because there are no rules, being polite is a necessity. Afghans are incredibly hospitable." "I redeployed when guys I'd served with asked me to go back over with them. Sitting in a cube in Washington, Afghanistan looked pretty good. Back at work I'm a bit of an oddball, but happy to be home." COL. RICH OUTZEN '89 Army: ROTC-present Iraq: July-November 2005 Afghanistan: October 2009- September 2010 At Dartmouth: History major; Theta Delt; football; actor Now: Foreign area officer, Jerusalem; married; father of three "Our lack of language skills has decreased the quality of our engagement with allies and increased the likelihood of coming into open conflict with potential adversaries. There are tactical consequences in combat zones of not being able to talk to people, and we've wound up making enemies we didn't need to make." "Because Americans use the world's dominant language, and we have a culture that has been internationalized and globalized, we think we're in the dominant position. The truth is the reverse. Because we think in the English idiom the whole world has a window into how we think and who we are—they get us, but we don't get them. We are an open book to the world, and the world is a closed book to us." "There was a very unfortunate incident in Afghanistan where an American convoy had a vehicle speeding up to it from a side street, and it was within their rules of engagement for our soldiers to fire a warning shot and then to engage the vehicle, which they did. It was a father on his way to drop his kids off at school—a middle-aged man with four kids in the vehicle—and he was killed by the fire. There was a lot of public anger. The family came to the military base to discuss the situation and recompense. Because we had some folks with the language and culture skills needed, we were able to achieve a certain way forward that calmed the public. It helps to be able to look people in the eye and talk to them in their own language." CflPT. PETE LILLY '04 Marine Corps: June 2004-present Afghanistan: April-October 2011 At Dartmouth: Economics major; Theta Delt; lacrosse; DOC; World Music Percussion Ensemble "During my junior-year off term I had a revelation that I wasn't quite ready for an office, so I decided to try a cockpit instead." "Diversity is something tremendously valued at Dartmouth, but you see the tangible benefits at work in the Marines—how having people with different life experiences and different points of view makes everyone stronger and facilitates mission accomplishment. It allows us to capitalize on an individual's personal experiences for the good of the group. It's being adaptable." "Afghanistan was a new life experience—with a very high operational tempo. There was always plenty of work to be done. We lived a very focused and regimented existence—and I hope I did some good." "Especially in the helicopter community, the reality is that you're facing danger whether in combat or in training—and unfortunately, despite every effort to prevent and mitigate dangerous scenarios, we are reminded that losses do occur. We have a saying that in a battle between rotating metal and gravity, gravity will eventually win. It is a worthy and tireless adversary." LT. COL. JOHN WILLIAMSON '90,TU'99 Army: ROTC-present, active and inactive reserves Iraq: March 2003-March 2004 At Dartmouth: Government major; Delta Psi; football Now: Counterterrorism program manager, U.S. Africa Command, Stuttgart, Germany; married; father of four "For some of the younger service members who have gone in and out of the military only during wartime, their impressions are dominated by the danger and ugliness of warfare. My experience in Iraq was somewhat positive because I dealt with good Iraqi people who were trying to rebuild their country and do good things to help it recover." "As a company commander of a civil affairs unit I worked on reestablishing Iraqi schools and health clinics. I focused on education projects, engaged with U.S. and Iraqi authorities to identify funding sources, and contracted with local workers to refurbish infrastructure and basic services." "Although there had been looting after the invasion, most of the schools were degraded due to longterm neglect from prior economic sanctions. All of the money had been directed to the military rather than basic services. Having been in Somalia in 1993,1 was prepared for the conditions." "One benefit of working in Africa Command is seeing the good we do in our foreign missions. If your service has been just in Iraq or Afghanistan, you might not understand the full breadth of engagement we have in many countries." CAPT. MATTHEW MCKNIGHT '05 Marine Corps: June 2005-present, reservist since May 2010 Iraq: December 2007-January 2009 At Dartmouth: History major, government minor; Phi Delt; rugby; skr patrol Now: Investment professional, IndUS Growth Partners, Boston; founder and managing partner, Mayflower Strategy Group; advisor, Leadership Institute at Harvard College; married to Whitney (Maughan) McKnight '05 "In Iraq, when our concerns migrated from fighting insurgents to improving governance, I saw that as a sign of progress. As we continued to work with local leaders we found that fostering political development was just as difficult as fighting the insurgency, but together with our Iraqi partners we made significant steps forward. America's hasty withdrawal has left little support for this effort, and after years of war the Iraqis are still struggling to rebuild institutions. To continue the transition from conflict, Americans must continue engagement through economic and political partnership with the Iraqi people." "As a history major I knew how much had been sacrificed by others just like me to provide our society with the opportunity it has today. I could have been 22 years old in 1862, 1943 or 1968.1 was 22 years old in 2005. My duty was the same." "In the two years before my deployment I spent countless hours studying the geography, history, economy, tribes and politics of western Iraq. While deployed in the Western Euphrates River Valley I constantly met with local leaders, traveled the countryside and engaged in the communities that we were responsible for protecting and helping to develop. After all of that effort I felt I had simply scratched the surface of understanding how our small area of Iraq functioned by the time I left in January 2009. This was extremely humbling, and as I look to the future and think about other policy questions facing our country, I am cognizant of the reality that the more you know, the more you realize you don't know." CflPT. KEVIN McCART '97 Army: ROTC; January 2001-January 2008 Afghanistan: April 2005-March 2006 At Dartmouth: Economics/ government major; SAE Now: Partner, Patton Boggs LLP, Washington, D.C., married; father of three "As a JAG lawyer I reviewed a lot of operational plans and participated in targeting sessions that included discussions of lethal and non-lethal methods: what tools and resources we had at our disposal to accomplish our missions, from leaflets to lethal force." "There was a lot of media coverage given to a story that the United States could have killed Osama Bin Laden shortly after 9/11 when he was riding in a convoy, but a JAG said the attack couldn't be executed. I never found out if that account was true or not. I never experienced a situation where legal pushback prevented commanders from taking significant action. It was more common for us to deem something legal but for a unit not to act for other reasons." "I was struck by the lack of in- frastructure and by the fact that Afghanistan, as a country, was a concept many people didn't get. Afghans identify by family and tribe. Many have never been out- side their own valley. Sometimes we would encounter villagers who hadn't seen foreigners since the Russians left. We were talking about reconstruction because that's what it was called in Iraq, but it was really a matter of construction." MAI. JOSEPH SCOTT '00 Army: ROTC-present Iraq/Kuwait: 2003 At Dartmouth: History major, drama minor; Sig Nu; DOC; Dartmouth Broadcasting; Marching Band; Dartmouth Wind Symphony Now: History instructor, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York; married to Emily Copeland '99; father of two "To this day I'm impressed that the 20 soldiers under my command spent months at a time, with almost no time off, in a tent in the heat—with all the stress that contingency operations can bring—and never once had a fight or any serious disciplinary actions. It's a credit to my NCOs that we were able to utilize each soldier's potential to put together a topnotch platoon." "One lasting memory of the war for me is when our battery engaged and destroyed an Iraqi tactical ballistic missile in the opening hours of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Years of training, hours of maintenance and weeks of monitoring the skies paid off in those critical minutes. It was quite an experience." "The ad hoc nature of ROTC at Dartmouth—at one point, we had five people in the program—taught me the importance of self-reliability and flexibility." "I think the biggest hindrance to getting quality Ivy League officers in the military is the suspicious or conflicted attitudes of the universities themselves." CAPT. JAMIE KNIES '94 Army: ROTC-1998; February 2003-January 2004 Iraq: March 2003-January 2004 (Bronze Star) At Dartmouth: Psychology major; Phi Delt; football Now: Homeland security management consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton, Colorado Springs, Colorado; University of Colorado 2013 M.P.A. candidate; single; father of two "I got out of the Army in 1998 after more than three years with an infantry brigade based in Hawaii. By 2001 my ROTC obligation was completed and my reserve obligation had expired. I was a stay-at-home dad in the middle of Missouri. One day I walked down the driveway with my kids and found an old-fashioned telegram in my mailbox, ordering me to report within a month. It turns out that if you don't officially resign your commission, the Army keeps you on its books." "Once I was assigned to a brigade in Iraq it felt like a million exercises I'd done before. It was what I had trained for. I missed my family, but it was a lot more exciting than being in Missouri watching Dora" "I spent the last seven months of my tour assigned to headquarters in Baghdad. I was able to drive around in an unarmored SUV. Roadside bombs hadn't become the trend yet. I felt most vulnerable when I was in a helicopter." "Almost everyone I work with is retired military. There's an understanding that comes from having had the same training, having fired the same weapons, ridden in the same vehicles, been on the same bases. It makes things easier." CAPT. COLIN BARRY '06 Marine Corps: June 2006-August 2010 Iraq: February-September 2008 Afghanistan: April-November 2009 At Dartmouth: Economics/philosophy major; Phi Delt; rugby; The Dartmouth Now: Product manager, Athena Health Care Systems, Watertown, Massachusetts; single "When I did officer candidate school after freshman year I finished in about the 55th percentile—for the first time in my life. I thought there was something valuable to learn from that. The other thing that motivated me was my all-consuming, soul-sucking time as president of The Dartmouth that I'll be forever grateful for. After enjoying running a small business and doing work meaningful to the community, I thought the Marine Corps would be personally fulfilling." "The infantry was my first choicetry explaining that to your mother when you're an only child." "9/11 made me see the increasing importance of how America relates to the rest of the world. For better or worse, the military in the last 10 years or so has taken on the role the Department of State and the CIA played for previous generations—where you went if you were smart and idealistic and wanted to make a difference in the way the rest of the world works." "I worried coming out of the military I'd be behind the curve in the private sector, but as an officer I had a rare opportunity to learn how to build high-performing teams. I've come to appreciate how hard that is to teach." CDR. ALAN BROWN '70, DMS'72 Navy Reserve: December 2002-present Afghanistan: October 2009-June 2010 At Dartmouth: Biology major; Phi Delt; rugby Now: Cardiologist, Santa Barbara, California; married; father of Dan '03 (see page 43) and Lauren '05 "My wife and I were in Hanover in November 2001 when Dan told us he was planning to join the Marines after graduation. I remember standing in a parking lot on my cell phone, calling various branches of the military to ask if they needed doctors." "I'm nearing the end of my career, so being able to work with young Marines and sailors has been life affirming. It's been an extraordinary opportunity. Between me and Dan it's been harder on my wife." "I had just arrived at a combat outpost of 1,500 Marines in Afghanistan on the November night they were celebrating the corps' birthday. They presented a dried-out Hostess cupcake to be shared by the oldest and youngest Marines there. The oldest Marine, a master gunnery sergeant, was 51. All I could think was, 'What a youngster, I have a decade on him!' " "When we first set up in a small village about 80 miles north of the Pakistan border, we were treating 50 to 200 villagers a day who hadn't received any care in years. Then the Afghan district governor recruited three healthcare workers, and we were able to convert to a supportive role." "I can recall sitting in the Baker Library 1902 Room in December 1969 listening to the first draft lottery numbers being announced on the radio. My birthdate came up early, but I'd already been accepted to medical school so I was deferred. I thought then that someday I might be able to serve in a different volunteer capacity." CAPT. JOHN CRAVEN '03 Army: ROTC-present Iraq: September 2006-January 2007 and July-October 2007 Afghanistan: May 2010-April 2011 and June 2012-present At Dartmouth: Government/Arabic studies major; Aikido Now: Green Beret, qualified for promotion to major; deployed in Afghanistan; single "As a commander you have to figure out what your guys can do and what they can't do and communicate that to the command above you. The hardest decision is having to say, 'No, we can't do that.' Usually it's an 'I need this resource.' " "If you drive your soldiers by believing in them, they inspire and push you to strive harder to be who you want to be." "By the nature of our special forces organization we tend to be in the hinterlands. That's what most guys like. The only request we ever have going someplace is, 'Send us to the most remote place in the country.' That's what we're trained for. We're supposed to operate decentralized from a larger organization, which is why we recruit older, more experienced soldiers. You don't have your creature comforts, but that's part of the draw." "One time in the middle of nowhere we really wanted hamburgers. Two days later, there they were. They just had to be tied to the fence and eat grass for a couple of days." "Afghan dogs are great. Mine was a gift from an Afghan police officer. He likes me because I held him as a puppy when there was a lot of artillery fire." CAPT. MIKE BREEN '02 Army: ROTC-August 2006 Iraq: August 2003-July 2004 Afghanistan: March 2005-March 2006 (two Bronze Stars, three Army Commendation Medals, Combat Action Badge and Presidential Unit Citation) At Dartmouth: Government major; Mountaineering Club; Cords; Aikido and jujutsu Now: Vice president, Truman National Security Project; board member, Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, Washington, D.C.; married "I spent the first nine months of my tour as the acting major of the Al-Wahda and Al-Riyadh neighborhoods of Baghdad—about 300,000 Iraqis. I oversaw $5.5 million in reconstruction funds for schools and hospitals, handled community relations and served as liaison between the Army and the neighborhood. This gave me a front-row seat to observe Iraq's slide into chaos. I went from having dinner at Iraqi colleagues' houses to it being too dangerous to visit." "I spent my last three months in Iraq in a place called the 'Triangle of Death.' Our assignment there was almost entirely combat-oriented, dealing with the first Mahdi Army uprising and a simultaneous surge in the Sunni-led insurgency based in Fallujah." "We all made a tremendous number of mistakes. In wartime you have to make a decision in the absence of information based on gut judgment many times a day. You don't have time to ruminate on the call. You have to move on to the next thing and try to learn what you can in the process. It's a big transition if you've spent the four years before that thinking deeply about things. Some of the best leaders I saw were people without fancy educational pedigrees who knew how to make things happen." "Just before my second deployment I went on very short notice from working for a two-star general in Italy, looking at how to get Afghan commerce going, to serving as a platoon leader in the 173rd Airborne Brigade in a rough part of Afghanistan called Kunar Province. The Army jokingly called it the Afghanistan of Afghanistan.' Sebastian Junger covered it in Restiepo a couple of years later. Working in that remote area on the Afghan-Pakistan border, we found ourselves negotiating agreements between rival warlords and smugglers and tribes, all the while doing a lot of fighting." "I've always had kind of a confrontational attitude toward things I'm afraid of. I'm grateful to Dartmouth's Mountaineering Club. I grew up afraid of heights, then I became a paratrooper. The summer after freshman year I went to jump school, then Freddie Wilkinson '02 and I climbed El Capitan and spent five days living on a cliff face. Doing that was a seminar in how to compartmentalize." CAPT. MARK HILL JR. '00 Army National Guard: June 2001 present Iraq/Kuwait: 2008 (Bronze Star, Army Achievement and other awards) At Dartmouth: Economics major; Bait & Bullet; crew Now: Director of Mid-Atlantic operations, DTE Biomass Energy, Ann Arbor, Michigan; married to Anna (Miller) Hill '99, Th'00 "Freshman trips aren't too different from an Army road march—but the Army serves MREs, not couscous." "After two years in banking I felt I needed a gratifying leadership experience that took me beyond the cubicle. The military offers leadership experience and team building like nothing I've gotten in my M.B.A. program or corporate experience." "One of the key things I tried to engrain in my soldiers was execution of the counterinsurgency doctrine through respect for the Iraqi people. A firsthand example of our change in attitude was apparent during a mission that had us heading southbound on a large divided highway when a northbound car crossed the median at a high rate of speed. Smoke squealed from the tires as the car crossed 50 yards in front my Humvee, exhibiting the characteristics of a vehicle-borne suicide bomber. I nearly ordered my gunner to open fire on the vehicle, but restrained for a split second as the vehicle turned away and headed south toward my scout vehicle. I saw the turret of my scout vehicle turn to six o'clock and waited with apprehension for shots being fired. Shots weren't firedinstead a 21-year-old in the gunner's turret waited a crucial moment to identify who was in the vehicle. The occupants turned out to be a family of five just trying to get by the convoy. The young soldier's respect for Iraqi lives led him to the courageous choice—which was not to shoot." CflPT. ROLLO BEGLEY '04 Army: June 2004-December 2008 At Dartmouth: Government major; The Dartmouth Review Now: Seeking work in operations management, Philadelphia; single "My field artillery basic course was great. It meant going out and making things explode for eight to 10 hours a day—I kept thinking, 'Where's the beer?' " "In Iraq I was in charge of a 20-person heavy weapons unit: four Humvees with anti-tank missiles and ,50-caliber machine guns mounted on top. We did route security, which meant sitting on a road 12 to 14 hours at a time, bored out of our minds. We also had to meet with local leaders, some of whom were pretty dodgy, to try to figure why there were bombs going off on the roads and try to work out some kind of security arrangements while getting people to do things like build a bridge." "I never had a moment where I thought I was done, but my vehicle was struck twice by IEDs, and patrols I led were probably struck 15 or 20 times. When you get hit, your Humvee fills with dust, then you hear a loud noise and think, 'Oh f***.' But then you think, 'Okay, I'm good.' You check everybody else in the vehicle and say, 'Okay, it looks like we're all good.' Then if you have radio com, you call in to say everybody's good—and get the hell out of the kill zone." "The time management skills I use in business I learned in the Army." CAPT. WELTON CHANG '05 Army: ROTC-June 2012, reservist after 2010 Iraq: June 2007-September 2008 At Dartmouth: Government major; Dartmouth Chamber Singers; Dartmouth Free Press Now: Analyst, U.S. Department of Defense (deployed to Iraq as civilian in 2011), M.A. candidate, Georgetown University security studies program, Washington, D.C.; Truman National Security fellow; married to Meredith Wilson '07 "I'll always remember my last meal at Forward Operating Base Sykes. I was with my best friend John and one of our interpreters, Mike, a 20-year-old kid with a commendable command of English. Mike gave us each a big hug before we left and thanked us for taking care of him. We had been working to get Mike a special immigrant visa to the United States. Several months later I got an e-mail from Mike that he was in the United States and was permanently resettled. He told me he was thinking of joining the U.S. Army as an interpreter. Here was someone who was nearly killed by an IED during his service in Iraq. Finally safe, he was thinking about going back as an American soldier. That's commitment, and a testament to the types of people America attracts." "The most important lesson I took away from my time in Iraq was that there really isn't anything in life that should stress you out. Stress is purely self-imposed." "Serving is about a dream. The dream isn't about money or fame or fortune, it is about opportunity—the opportunity to use your talents for good, in the service of others." in the service of the nation we call 1ST LT. CHRIS KOPPEL '09,TH'10 Army: ROTC-present Iraq: May-December 2011 At Dartmouth: Engineering major; Chi Gam; swim team Now: Fire support officer, Fort Hood, Texas; single "No one ever shot at me, no one ever tried to blow me up. I had one moment where my entire platoon and I were on high alert, thinking that if something was going to happen it was going to happen then, but it never did. You're lulled into a sense of security unless you're being hit daily. You start to feel invincible, which is not a good thing." "I wouldn't call my training mentally challenging, although artillery is about calculations. We fire without ever actually seeing the targetwe have to predict. There are a lot of calculations involved, but the Army has really simplified it. It wasn't much compared to what I did in engineering. I was actually very surprised how much my math background helped me." "The first time I really had to chew someone out it was, 'Either we fail or I let this guy know what's up.'" "I discovered how commonplace it was for Iraqis to lie. For them staying alive and covering up was way more important than honesty. Making up information is considered more honorable than admitting you don't know. It just made me very distrustful." "I think I got more leadership experience in Dartmouth's ROTC program than even the guys going to West Point. We got a lot of individual attention and I was always pretty much the senior guy." CAPT. DAN BROWN '03 Marine Corps: June 2003-November 2011 Iraq: September 2006-May 2007 and April-November 2008 At Dartmouth: Economics major; AD; rugby Now: Business development coordinator/economist, Robert D. Niehaus Inc., Santa Barbara, California; married "Being in the cockpit is somewhat removed from what you see in the movies, which is guys on the ground, right where the action is. We're looking at it from 200 feet and landing inside the wire. The best description of a combat tour I've heard is 'long periods of boredom with short periods of sheer terror and intense excitement.'" "I joke that I've probably used up seven or eight of my nine lives. The year 2006 was a particularly active time in Iraq to be flying around, and in February 2007 there was a large increase in the insurgents' ability to shoot down helicopters. There were a couple of situations that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Sometimes you land after a mission and all you can do is laugh about it. I'm happy to be home in one piece." "Midway through my second deployment to Iraq, while I was stationed in a remote outpost without a hospital, I experienced intense itching from head to toe that kept me from sleeping and ran me ragged. There was lots of coffee consumed. I didn't want to leave my squadron early, so it was three and a half months before I found out I had Hodgkin's lymphoma. It was almost a relief to finally get a diagnosis. When they told me the itching would stop as soon as I started chemo, I said, 'Awesome, bring it on!' It was a temporary speed bump. I was anxious to get back to work but medically grounded from flying. I deployed a third time—to Pakistan, Indonesia and Djibouti—on the ground side." "The military gives you the ability to function in a dynamic environment. You always prepare and know you'll have to deviate from your plans. You can get frustrated and hotheaded or keep calm and do something about it." 1ST LT. CHRIS FARMER '08 Army: April 2009-present Afghanistan: November 2010-February 2011 At Dartmouth: Environmental studies major; Woodsmen's Team, Cabin & Trail, Mountaineering Club Now: Infantry officer, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; married to Maria Alejandra "Alix" Perez Farmer '10 "I decided to join the Army in part because my brother, who was commissioned out of Lehigh in 2002, provided an example of service to country—and because I wanted to clo something different. Dartmouth students are known for doing crazy, unconventional things, and in a population like Dartmouth's the military seemed to qualify Having spent the summer after my junior year working for the Yellowstone Ecological Research Center I also wanted to do something outside." "I wasn't ready for graduate school. I wanted to find something in a professional field. Ecology fieldwork was cool but equivalent to a summer job as opposed to being a platoon leader in charge of 40 people and having a mission set—it was a jump in the order of magnitude." "The military is run by civilians for a very good reason—so they can decide what's in the best interest of the country. That happens at a strategic level. I do keep abreast of that, but I'm focused on the tactical and operation levels." CAPT. JAMIE ERMARTH '04 Army: ROTC-March 2008 Iraq: September 2005-September 2006 At Dartmouth: Government major Now: Foreign affairs officer, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.; married "On my first day in charge of my platoon in combat, my unit received orders to conduct a raid. Like many junior officers I was naturally nervous about the prospect of having to make a hasty, on-the-spot determination of whether the insurgents we sought posed an immediate threat. I went to my commander with my concerns and, after reviewing the rules of engagement with me, he scolded me for voicing my concerns during the mission briefing. He reminded me that although it was acceptable to discuss my worries with him or my peers in private, my public admission of anxiety merely undercut soldiers' confidence in my leadership and their professional instincts. Although the mission came off without incident, the experience taught me to trust my soldiers and leaders and to maintain poise in challenging situations. We detained the insurgents without anyone getting hurt." "Four other people from my officer basic course were from the Ivy League, and I encountered others during my four years of service. As Ivy League veterans we are sometimes too quick to congratulate ourselves for volunteering to serve. It is only since Vietnam that Dartmouth vets have become a rare species." CAPT. DECLAN LYNCH '03 Marine Corps: September 2003-July 2009 Iraq: February-September 2005 (multiple Navy and Marine Corps commendations and medals) At Dartmouth: Geography major; AD; soccer Now: Lead associate, Booz Allen Hamilton, Arlington, Virginia; single "I was with the soccer team on 9/11.1 had just become a U.S. citizen, so American ideals were pretty fresh and vivid. We were getting ready to go out for preseason training when we learned of the attacks. Everyone was kind of in shock. I remember looking around the locker room and thinking, 'Wow. We are fortunate. We really have the ability to go and do whatever we want in our lives.' Up until that point the question for me had always been: 'Why would I join the military?' On that day the question changed to: 'Why would I not?' The reasons I'd had for not joining were selfish and focused on not being put in harm's way. Those reasons didn't make sense to me anymore when Americans were on the march to Baghdad." "The biggest surprise I had was realizing when I was deployed in an emotionally fatiguing, physically fatiguing, all-encompassing environment, I could feel like I had some element of control. I was able to make decisions, to assess risks and to dictate the route of my convoys. I was able to influence my surroundings. My parents and friends didn't have the same sense of control. They had a fear that was far greater than my own. They were helpless, just waiting for me to call, waiting for something on the news. Being in the heat, the way your muscles and your body are put in situations, I had trained for that. But the thing I hadn't trained for was how emotionally challenging it would be for people back home." "As a leader, communication is key to keeping everyone on the same page. All of your actions need to be made with the understanding that everyone is looking at you to gauge how you will respond." CAPT. JASON HARTWIG '06 Army: ROTC-November 2011 Iraq: March 2008-March 2009 Afghanistan: July 2010-July 2011 At Dartmouth: History major; Sig Ep Now: Pursuing a career in international development, Washington, D.C.; single "After focusing on cultural interaction in an academic setting, I could apply a greater historical perspective my soldiers and the populace we were tasked with securing. These understandings at the local level rarely receive attention but are crucial to developing the relationships that foster success in counterinsurgency." "My service in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom taught me the limits of military force within today's world and the fleeting nature of success. The asymmetric challenge of conflict negates many of the strengths of our conventional army and requires creative leadership at the junior level to achieve any degree of military success. That success proved difficult to sustain in the absence of political and economic stability." "Sitting down with Iraqis in their homes meant that the Iraqis learned my primary objective was to go home alive, and I learned that Iraqis were far more interested in electricity and security than democracy." LT. COL. SCOTT JEFFRESS '90 Army: ROTC-June 2012 Iraq: August 2006-October 2007 At Dartmouth: History major; Sig Ep; cross country/track and field Now: Director, Roan Scholars Leadership Program, East Tennessee State University (ETSU); married to Barbara (Lucas) Jeffress '93; father of three "In our brigade's 15 months in Iraq it was nice to see the changes that occurred. Suddenly people could walk through markets safely; little kids could go to school." "As a signal officer you never get comfortable in a combat environment because any time communications go down, people's lives can be at stake. Every day had some level of stress, but we were able to sustain some high reliability rates—some of our techniques and solutions to problems really had an impact for soldiers." "Up until my final term at Dartmouth I planned to serve in the Army Reserve. Then I found out I'd been selected for active duty as a Signal Corps officer—not a welcome surprise, primarily because I didn't have much of a feel for what being an Army officer would mean. Little did I realize how much I would enjoy my 22 years." "I came to realize it's all about leadership, which comes down to solving problems and taking care of people. I've always enjoyed being part of a team, and the Army is one of the largest and most amazing teams you're going to find." "Seeing ROTC cadets go through a four-year leadership program and the transformations that take place in them is really neat. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity commanding cadets in my previous job at ETSU, to do for them what was done for me when I went through the program." BRIG. GEN. BURKE WHITMAN '78 Marine Corps: September 1985-present, active and reserve Iraq: February-April 2003 and April-October 2005 Afghanistan: May 2009-April 2010 At Dartmouth: History major; rugby; DOC Now: Full-time brigadier general since July 1; homes in Boston, Washington, Atlanta; single "My most recent decision to leave my corporate CEO responsibilities with Health Management Associates was driven by the magnitude of what I was being asked to do for the country. In 2008 I was the only Marine and only reservist on the Middle East team advising the incoming presidential team on what we needed to clo in the greater Middle East—whether and how to ramp clown our activity in Iraq, whether and how to ramp up our activity in Afghanistan, and a number of other very thorny issues." "I went to Afghanistan with the Marine Expeditionary Brigade to direct the combat operations and development of the Afghan forces partnered with us in Helmand Province. After that I had planned and expected to return to my civilian pursuits, but upon our return from Afghanistan to North Carolina—while we still had Afghan sand in our boots—the Marine Corps called again to say, 'Now we'd like you to command one of our nine regiments.' " "I live to serve. I like to lead. On these two great motivators hang all the direction and major decisions of my life." "Some people may think that military leadership is of a particular style. In fact, the styles of leadership in military service are every bit as diverse as the styles of leadership in corporate or other civilian service settings. There are quiet and loucl ways. There are direct and indirect ways. There are positive and negative reinforcements. Regardless of style, those with effective military leadership experience can and usually do thrive particularly well in corporate and other civilian organizational environments." CflPT. KEVIN REflVEY '02 Army Reserve: August 2003-present Iraq: November 2010-October 2011 At Dartmouth: Religion major; AD; rugby Now: Vice president, CBRE Inc., Atlanta; married to Hamilton (Fryer) Reavey '01; father of one "By the time I got to Iraq it was relatively quiet. My unit's focus was to figure out how to end the war, to deal with logistical and other problems that arose from trying to shut everything down while maintaining a high level of force protection and the maximum flexible posture in case the Iraqi government asked us to stay. We got to a point where we had to stay or go; we wouldn't be able to turn the whole machine around." "When I told my mom I was going to join the Army she freaked out, but not for the reasons you might expect. She was mad t hadn't decided to join when I was eligible for an ROTC scholarship." "There were several hundred active bases when I arrived in Iraq. By the time I left it was down to about 50. With the largest bases still open, the hardest work wasn't yet done and I was leaving behind something I'd invested a year of my life in. Because of my change in status, I no longer had 'need to know,' so I never did find out how a lot of the details worked out and if the plan I handed over to my relief was any good." "After dealing with problems that related to the difference between life and death, I had a nice perspective about work. I may have been too unconcerned or aloof at first. I still find that I can go home and realize I can't do anything to solve a problem until I go back to work the next morning, so I can relax with my wife and daughter." "I left a baby and came home to a child with opinions. She knew I was 'Daddy,' but it took her awhile to figure out there were things a daddy could do for her. Her level of excitement at my return wasn't as high as mine." "My wife had the tougher job when I was away with her career, a baby and a house to run by herself. She's a great wife, a wonderful mother and a beautiful person, and I am not just saying that because she told me to." COL. JIM BULLION '78,TU'82 Army: ROTC (1982)-July 2012, active and reserve Iraq: April 2003-July 2004 and October 2004-July 2005 At Dartmouth: Economics/government major; Harold Parmington Foundation; wrestling, track and field, rugby, crew Now: Director, Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, Department of Defense, Washington, D.C.; married to Ellen (Conti) Bullion, Tu'82; father of four "When I came back from my first tour in Iraq, after 15 months, I shot a note to Gen. Petraeus letting him know I enjoyed working for him. He immediately responded, 'That's great. When are you coming back?' I went back in what was then called the Multi-National Security Transition Command as his operations and plans officer. The focus was to rebuild the Iraqi military and police forces, so we were coordinating everything from recruiting to equipping to training and deploying the Iraqi forces all over Iraq. Working in Kurdistan, we tried to convince the Kurds they would be much better off staying as part of Iraq rather than trying to split off. They've realized over time that staying is a good thing, so that's worked out well." "Petraeus is a unique individual—a brilliant guy who's very committed to making the world a better place. I went to visit him after Jim Kim was named president of the World Bank to ask if he'd throw his hat in the ring for the presidency of Dartmouth, but he said he was having too much fun at the CIA." "I'm cautiously optimistic about Afghanistan. The Afghans are experiencing opportunities to live their own lives and build a country they haven't had for decades. They're not going to go backward." STAFF SGT. MIKE LAURIA '05 Air Force: July 2005-July 2011 Iraq: June-November 2009 At Dartmouth: Biophysical chemistry/Spanish major; ski patrol Now: Instructor, Tier 1 Group, Memphis, Tennessee; married "The ski patrol gave me my first emergency medical course. Then came the Hanover fire department EMT training. When I was thinking of what to do after graduation, my training officer told me if I liked technical rescue stuff I should check out this special ops unit in the Air Force. After researching it I realized how cool it was. I went to jump school, the military free-fall parachutist course, combat dive school, survival, evasion resistance and escape training, then medical and technical rescue training that covered all kinds of situations." "I wasn't in any amazing battles. I didn't win the Congressional Medal of Honor. Many of my peers in the special operations community have done far more amazing and dangerous things than I have, but I like to think I helped return some people to their families. I'm proud that I was one of six people in a 72-person class to make it through very rigorous training. And, yes, I've had missions rescuing personnel and participating in operations that the public will probably not hear about." "There were a number of times where I thought, 'Wow! I can't believe I just did that.' One incident involved a helicopter crash in Iraq that our team responded to. We found that of the 13 people on board we had 11 patients, all severely injured. Over the course of an hour we were able to render care, even extricating one guy by lifting the helicopter off him. It was probably one of my most stressful but most rewarding experiences." "I love the teaching I'm doing now, but I'm no longer the guy jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet. Whether I'll wind up jonesing for more jumping I don't know. I like to think I've had my fun." LT. COL. TED COOPERSTEIN '84 Army: ROTC (including National Guard service)-present Iraq/Qatar: Prewar intelligence work, 2002; Amman and Baghdad: January-April 2004, with Department of Justice to establish the Regimes Crimes Liaison Office (numerous awards include Joint Service Commendation Medal) At Dartmouth: History major; Zeta Psi; Jack-O-Lantern; TheDartmouth Review Now: Assistant U.S. attorney, Fort Pierce, Florida; married; father of two "When 9/11 happened, I was a sole practitioner and a major in the reserves, focused on intelligence." "In late 2001 a former commander requested me to report to MacDill Air Force base in Tampa, Florida. From there I was deployed to Qatar as chief of the intelligence operations and plans section, responsible for daily collection and briefings while we were defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan and figuring out where A1 Qaeda was going when they fled that country. This was also the time when the CIA was trying to track down Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. We were tracking people who'd gone to Iran, Iraq, Yemen, East Africa and Somalia. I was making trips to Oman, Kuwait and Jordan. In 2003 back to reserve duty in Hawaii, I did intel work that contributed to the capture of the No. 3 Al Qaeda guy, Hambali, now in Gitmo." "My life would be entirely different without the military. It has proved invaluable in the exposure it's given me to people who are now friends and places I wouldn't otherwise have gone. I even met my wife while deployed to Thailand." Clarke, flanked by his interpreters Members of Lynch's platoon aboard the USS Essex, October 2006 Reavey (second fsom left) a on board an Armyt transporlaj en route to Iraq Lauria (left) during a training exercise in Iraq