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Of all the public radio programming that I heard today that related to military matters, I bet you could not even begin to guess which story impressed me the most. You might think, because of my social consciousness, that I'd be quite impressed with all the coverage of the new GI Bill for post 9/11 service personnel. While that is most impressive and I am delighted, that wouldn't be the answer today. Was it the retired army colonel on Talk of the Nation discussing how the Pentagon ought to rescind the silly no-alcohol general order for Iraq and Afghanistan and restore the timed-honored custom of the beer ration? That would be a bell-ringer for a beer-lover like me on any other day of the week, but even that was not today's winner.
Today on Here and Now, a general was interviewed, and not just any general, but Major General Kenneth Dowd, the one in charge of--get this--the logistics of the US withdrawal from Iraq. Not just the concept of getting the eff outta there, but the actual planning and implementation of moving the shit: literally how to get not just the soldiers and Marines but all their stuff out of there, and what to do with stuff that they are not taking with them, and how to decide what that stuff is and what happens to it. This may be some kind of signpost of my extreme geekiness, but I have always thought that logistics is the single sexiest element of military operations. I myself never served in the military and all my knowledge of it is based on things I've heard from people who have served, things I've listened to on the radio, books that I have read and shows that I have seen on the Pentagon Channel. But, as a total civilian, I am drawn again and again to the supply chain elements and the moving of stuff from where it is to where it needs to go. This may be a result of my background in event planning, catering, and restaurant management, which is all about supplies and equipment and personnel and their timely movement. I put a link at the start of the this paragraph from which you can listen to the interview or read a transcript of it. I found it totally fascinating and I felt a real flash of jealousy for a moment that this was not my job! (by the way, the transcript is only a small portion of the total interview).
It so happens that my novel-in-progress, Shame, is to a large extent a work of military science fiction and one of its major characters is the logistics officer for his people's operation...and he happens to have a culinary background as well. I should put up a sample chapter or two from that thing one of these days--it might motivate me to finally, blessedly finish the remainder of Draft One if I have actually let people see any of it.
Today on Here and Now, a general was interviewed, and not just any general, but Major General Kenneth Dowd, the one in charge of--get this--the logistics of the US withdrawal from Iraq. Not just the concept of getting the eff outta there, but the actual planning and implementation of moving the shit: literally how to get not just the soldiers and Marines but all their stuff out of there, and what to do with stuff that they are not taking with them, and how to decide what that stuff is and what happens to it. This may be some kind of signpost of my extreme geekiness, but I have always thought that logistics is the single sexiest element of military operations. I myself never served in the military and all my knowledge of it is based on things I've heard from people who have served, things I've listened to on the radio, books that I have read and shows that I have seen on the Pentagon Channel. But, as a total civilian, I am drawn again and again to the supply chain elements and the moving of stuff from where it is to where it needs to go. This may be a result of my background in event planning, catering, and restaurant management, which is all about supplies and equipment and personnel and their timely movement. I put a link at the start of the this paragraph from which you can listen to the interview or read a transcript of it. I found it totally fascinating and I felt a real flash of jealousy for a moment that this was not my job! (by the way, the transcript is only a small portion of the total interview).
It so happens that my novel-in-progress, Shame, is to a large extent a work of military science fiction and one of its major characters is the logistics officer for his people's operation...and he happens to have a culinary background as well. I should put up a sample chapter or two from that thing one of these days--it might motivate me to finally, blessedly finish the remainder of Draft One if I have actually let people see any of it.
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