Dispatch from Fort Sill, OK

Fort Sill is, as virtually all Army bases are, remote but tidy. I am staying here to bear witness to the Brigade Colors Uncasing Ceremony of the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade. This brigade was recently moved here from the home of the ADA at Fort Bliss, Texas, a move mandated by the Base Re-alignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). My good friend Colonel Dan Karbler presided over things and the whole event went swimmingly.

This was the first big military event I've been to since retiring. Therefore, it was the first time I've heard the complete national anthem played without rendering a salute, the first time that have heard honors rendered to a general officer in which I did not also salute, and the first time that as the national ensign passed in front of me, I did not salute its passage. It was the first time that I have been around a bunch of people in the military in which the great majority of them were forced by tradition and regulation to salute me, and I by tradition and regulation to return the salutes. It was a bit weird, sort of like what I imagine it must be like to visit the material world were one to be a ghost.

It was odd to see my friend Dan strut confidently out there to assume his spot in the center of the parade field, a man now in command of several thousand soldiers and billions of dollars of US Army equipment and ammunition. Heck, Dan and I once shared an office, once made daily runs to the bagel shop, made much of the proximity of our birthdays. He's just a regular guy for heaven's sake....but he's not just a regular guy. He is one of the greats, one of the people who has sacrificed an enormous amount of personal time and fortune to serve his country in war and peace. As I looked out at the soldiers assembled on that field today, I could not help but smile, knowing that I (and you) sleep confidently at night, knowing that these people and others like them are out there keeping us safe. They are only modestly compensated, they spend large chunks of their lives away from kith and kin, and they all volunteer to do so.

I am amazed at how similar the areas surrounding military bases are. Doesn't matter if you're talking the Navy in Virginia, the Army in Oklahoma, the Marines at Lejune or the Air Force in Illinois...lots of fast food, lots of auto sales, lots of tattoos, and a sprinkling of low-end service economy businesses that amaze me with their durability. Driving down Cache St. in Lawton OK today was no different than the thousands of times I've driven down Hampton Blvd in Norfolk. Eerie.

A few comments on the Army uniform. Today, they were in their digital cammies (green version). I like seeing the Army in cammies....I didn't like the old days at the Pentagon (old for me, that is) when they wore their more formal pants with shiny shoes. I want them looking like they are ready to kill someone. And the beret, the infamous black beret. A few years ago, the Chief of Staff of the Army (General Shinseki) shocked the whole Army by decreeing that the black beret (to that point, the purview of the vaunted Army Rangers) would be worn by the whole Army. Lots of reasons for it, but what I was interested in was that he would do something like that. Just say "I've thought about it, I'm the boss, here's the change". I LOVED that approach. My God, there was whining when he did it...the Rangers did manage to keep their own color berets, as did some other elite Army units, but they eventually all shut up and did what the Chief said. And they look great in them.

Army Generals...man, I think there is a production facility somewhere that just spits 'em all out, one after another. The General at today's ceremony, a one-star, started his remarks by saying "Good mornin', Y'all". Love it. Navy Admirals don't talk like that (love that too, by the way), but Navy Admirals are different. Army Generals all sound and look like high school football coaches. Except General Shinseki, who looked and sounded like a Navy Admiral....