More Heroism - Posthumously

Once again I write to give news of the loss of warriors and heroes.

October 3rd was a bad day. In the later morning, as I was sitting in our TOC (Tactical Operations Center), news came in of an intense TIC going on in the Konar/Nuristan provinces, at COP Keating. In fact, we were learning that the COP had been "overrun." A second COP was under the same threat and simultaneous IDF (indirect fire) attacks were happening at several larger FOBs. It would be COP Keating that would gather the most attention, however. You may have read about it in the news. Eight Young soldiers lost their lives in a firefight that lasted over 12 hours and hilighted the tactical and strategic ignorance of some of our field commanders - and the positive changes sought (not soon enough, unfortunately) by Gen. McChrystal.

Only a little later in the day did we get a frantic phone call, via cell phone to one of our TOC Ops NCOs, from one of our team members in the Wardak province. "Tom is dead." was one of the few cogent sentences. SSG Thomas Rabjohn, a National Guardsman from Arizona, and a Phoenix Police Department Field Training Officer, had been killed by an IED on which he was working. The 363rd EOD Company is a fellow Guard unit that serves as our theater reserve, and this team of SSG Rabjohn and SSG Pinnix was days away from returning to their Arifjan, Kuwait base after several months filling in in some of the most dangerous territory in our area, the Tangi Valley, where the Taliban, Al Qaeda foreign fighters, the Haqani fanatics and even normal citizens all hate and distrust outsiders.

A 741st EOD BN member was in the gun turret providing security for Rabjohn and Pinnix as they examined a highly complex series of IEDs, attempting to unearth and make safe the primary charge. Unfortunately, he got to see the whole train of events. SSG Rabjohn had made two trips in his bomb suit up to the IED and was on a third trip, this time in just his IOTV and Kevlar. The robots would not make it to the IED given the terrain.With Pinnix just 20-30 feet behind him, Rabjohn was in the process of examining the device when he noticed something terribly wrong. Pinnix remembered seeing his partner look over his shoulder at him and exclaim, "Oh ___, a secondary." and then kneel over the device. Then, as he put it, "My world went white." The gunner in overwatch saw the blast that sent Pinnix flying backward, head over heels, after tearing through his partner. As both would later put it, it was clear that Tom knew the blast was coming. He had two choices - run, or do something positive. The first thing on his mind was to do the heroic - he placed his body as a shield between himself and his partner, absorbing the brunt of the blast and sacrificing himself in the process.

This was not a well-thought-out plan, but the reflex of someone who has trained himself, through countless hours of preparation and mental imaging, to be mentally prepared to do exactly what his job is - to protect the innocent from these indiscriminate devices. It brings up a question we should each ask ourselves: In similar circumstances, is our reflex toward self-preservation, or would we, in a split-second, have the wherewithal to lay down our own lives for others? I believe Jesus said that "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." not because it's a nice sentiment, but because it takes a deep and long-crafted love, one that is built through time and discipline and selflessness, to get a man to so readily do the right thing with so little time to deliberate. SSG Rabjohn's actions sprang from a heart prepared to live out that sacrifice, and SSG Pinnix and two security team members nearby are alive and well because of it. SSG Rabjohn leaves behind a wife and three teen daughters, for whom I will pray for comfort and a God that will act as Father to the fatherless in the years to come.

Keating is in a very tactically poor location. It is miles from population centers, along the Pakistan border. It is in a valley, with high ground all around it. Ingress and egress are via air or foot. No vehicles can transit the terrain surrounding without great effort. This, of course, violates two doctrinal principles, one of tactics, the other of strategy, that my small, pre-pubescent tactical and strategic mind has had drilled in it in the few courses I have had on the topics. #1, Always operate from the high ground - seize it and retain it. Keating gave the tactical advantage to the enemy. #2, In COIN (counter-insurgency) operations, you occupy populated areas so that you can influence the people, provide security for them and "nation-build" right there in the cities where they live. Keating had little to no opportunity of influencing, protecting or building among any people in the area. This is perhaps why it was scheduled to close by 1 October, according to what I was told.

However, when another, similar COP was overrun earlier this summer, some decision-maker out there decided we needed MORE presence out there, rather than less. So, apparently the wise thing to do was to make the same mistake that got that COP overrun, just as one was overrun in the summer of 2008 - COP Zerok, if you want to Google it and read about the similarities. So, on October 3rd, when this COP should've been just a bunch of footprints on the ground, a memory of troops recently departed, 8 young men lost their lives fighting a numerically superior enemy that shoot down at them from heights all around, pinning them in this indefensible position. True to the profession of arms we can thank God we have in our military, they fought impossible odds, winning the battle, maintaining the questionable ground, losing 8 and seeing dozens wounded while the enemy limped away with perhaps in excess of 100 dead and many more dozens wounded - but it is a Pyrrhic victory. The Taliban has played it in the Afghan mind as a great victory over the US, as we have now left (abandoned, fled) this COP and they (despite incredible losses) have prevailed and evicted the infidel invader. For our side, we experience a loss to which we are unaccustomed. It is unexpected - so much that we had to fly in mortuary affairs people from another base to help with the number of casualties. Americans don't like deaths in war. The media victory will go to the Taliban, on both sides of the war.

Even more poignant, however, is the conversation I had with the young chaplain who served the soldiers at COP Keating. I have lost one man at a time - both in the last month. This is a hard couple of losses, especially in the small, tight-knit EOD community. But eight young soldiers? The stories will come out and tear at the heart. It was a terrible battle, with terrible results - but much bravery and heroism. And this young man of faith had to walk through the mortuary affairs section and close the eyes of many of these young men himself, accentuating the finality of the battle's ferocity. In the midst of it all, he had to pray for and comfort many wounded, counsel and encourage those left behind - and most important of all, uphold his own faith in the midst of a tragic fight that will forever imprint itself upon his heart and his ministry. Standing with him last Sunday night on the C17 as we read Scriptures and prayers for the dead and the fellow soldiers who had come to offer final honors I was overcome with the awe of 9 flag-draped coffins lying before us. SSG Rabjohn joined the eight young men on the way home. Many will mourn. Many services will be held in their honor - I officiated ours for Tom on Tuesday. Their service to their country no citizen will match. The love they showed in pouring out their lives for others, few will understand. They were warriors each one, and I pray that they are experiencing peace in the arms of the Father even now.

Do not stop praying. The Taliban are indescribably evil people - brutal, savage, unmerciful, and morally depraved. We in the West have many sins for which to atone, but the alternative is gravely evil. Pray for our troops, but pray for our country. Pray for the President, that he would act with wisdom and courage in the midst of all of the conflicting advice he is receiving. Pray for a change to happen in the hearts of the people of this country. Pray for an end to the evil that has reigned in this land for centuries. Lastly, pray for me - and for that other young chaplain - tha twe may well and faithfully continue to bring the comfort of the Gospel of Peace to those around us, both in word and deed.