Editor’s note: Major John M. Broomhead, 43, wanted to share his story about how he’s maintaining his fitness goal of running 20 miles per week even as he serves in Iraq. This is the unedited version of his essay. Broomhead has been in the Army 17 years. He earned his commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Boise State University, where he got a degree in sports medicine.
While controversy over the war in Iraq swirls in Washington, D.C., and the media pundits try to sway us to their particular view of how to prosecute the war I would like to share with you my daily life as a runner in a combat zone.
Let me begin my story when I was stationed at Fort Carson near Colorado Springs. It is also known as the Mountain Post for its high elevation proximity to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. During my 18-month assignment at the Mountain Post I made the Army 10-Miler (ATM) master’s team. Our team placed 2nd at the 2006 Army Ten-Miler in Washington, D.C. This was my first time making an ATM team. My preparation consisted of an early morning training regimen of 30-40 miles per week at elevations ranging from about 5,500 feet to 8,000 feet.
In May 2007, I left my family in Colorado Springs and went to Ft Riley, KS for specialized training in preparation for my new mission in Iraq as a military advisor. Military advisors are critical to the overall transition of responsibilities from coalition forces to the Government of Iraq and its security forces. The ultimate goal is a nation that is self-reliant and self-governing.
The training schedule at Ft Riley consisted of Iraqi dialect language training, mounted combat patrolling in a HUMMV, close quarters marksmanship with an M4 rifle and 9mm pistol, medium machine gun qualification, and negotiation scenarios with Arabic speaking role players.
It was very evident that my next assignment in Iraq would be incredibly demanding – extreme heat coupled with wearing body armor, long days, and tense situations significantly drains mental and physical energy from the body. However, I did not want to abandon my fitness goals. In order to maintain my running conditioning that I have spent many years working hard to achieve I set a goal to run 20 miles per week, which I began on 1 May 07 at Fort Riley.
While at Fort Riley I joined 14 other men and formed a team of 15 advisors whose military professions spread a spectrum of expertise and experience, to include: Infantry and military police tactics, intelligence gathering and analysis, civic and combat engineering, budgeting and finance, and logistics – medical, supply, transportation, fuel, and maintenance. These men are some of the finest Americans whom I trust and would stand back to back with in the defense each other, this county, and in the rebuilding of Iraq. Our team is serving as military advisors to the Headquarters of the Iraqi National Police. The National Police are essential to the stability of the Government of Iraq. Their organization falls under the Ministry of Interior. Most western Parliamentary governments have some type of nationalized police force, like the Italian Carabinieri. The Iraqi National Police provide a national-level, rapid response capability to counter large-scale civil disobedience and insurgency activities.
There are 40 National Police advisor teams in Iraq comprised of 10 – 15 personnel per team. They are called National Police Transition Teams (NPTT) whose mission is to coach, teach, and mentor the National Police leadership throughout the country of Iraq.
My team and I arrived in Baghdad in July 2007. My mission is to coach, teach, and advise the Iraqi National Police General Officer in charge of national level administrative and logistics operations. My focus is rebuilding facilities, infrastructure, and establishing a maintenance, supply and distribution capability for the National Police.
I am proud to be serving my country and the people of Iraq. This is a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the betterment of humanity. After years of tyranny, oppression, war, and embargos, the Iraqi people and nation need our help. Iraqis are a proud people. I have met great Iraqi patriots while serving with the men in the National Police. Patriot’s whose physical and mental fiber has been tested beyond limits you or I could ever imagine, yet they remain true and faithful to their country and nation. Many of these men see beyond the secularism. They envision and dream of a prosperous, unified, and peaceful Iraqi nation; a nation of Iraqis, not a rift between Sunni and Shia. Here is a brief story of one of these patriots:
On a combat patrol in September to Camp India just east of Faluja, I was the Patrol Leader responsible for conducting a logistical mission with the National Police. My mission was to provide security to a National Police supply convoy of 46 vehicles. At Camp India, Major Mark Ridgley, one of my team members responsible for budgeting and finance, and I met a National Police Captain who had been serving his country his entire life. Through my interpreter I learned his story: During the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) he was ordered to shoot innocent civilians in Suleymaniah, at town in the Kurdistan Region.
The Captain disobeyed that order and was stripped of his rank and imprisoned by Saddam Hussein for 3 years. Recently, during Operation Iraqi Freedom he was bribed with $10,000 US dollars to transport black market oil into Iran. He refused the bribe and reported the incident to the Government of Iraq. He was rewarded with a certificate of appreciation from the Minister of Interior. This man’s courage inspired me. I told him I admired his integrity and bravery. He replied without bravado that he could not betray his country and his honor.
It is a challenge balancing my combat mission with running. Frequently, my team conducts combat patrols, about 2-3 per week, throughout the streets of Baghdad or Iraq’s agrarian country side. In essence we commute to work. When this occurs, I do not run because I’m concerned about dehydration and I don’t want to be overly exhausted if the mission goes longer than planned or we run into trouble.
The majority of Military personnel and Department of Defense contractors deployed to Iraq live on Forward Operating Bases (FOB) or JSS (Joint Security Stations) all of which are enclosed with 12-15 foot high blast walls and surrounded with armed guards and towers. I live on FOB Prosperity, one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces in the International Zone of Baghdad. There is a 2.2 mile paved road that circumnavigates the outer palace walls. I run along the inside of these walls for protection. I am confined to this protective loop and it is where I log my miles. There is no change of scenery – same walls, smells, and generator engines roaring every morning. I’m not interested in the scenery but in accomplishing my weekly goal and clearing my mind.
Occasionally, we get the opportunity to compete in races in a secure environment. On 29 Sep, LTC Sam Davis, one of my team members responsible for National Police public relations, and I ran the Blackjack 8-Miler from FOB Prosperity through the International Zone aka “The Ultimate Gated Community”. There were four water points along the route and I had to slow for three of them. Normally, I don’t take water on for a short race (under 10 miles). However, the reason for slowing down for the water points is the dust in Baghdad is omnipresent and very fine. It coats the back of my throat especially when I’m running hard. The dusty coating on the back of my tongue makes if very difficult to breath and nearly kicks in the gag reflex. I slowed my stride enough to take swig of water and wash out my throat. Unfortunately, the slowing for water throws off my rhythm costing me time. But it all counts towards the weekly 20 miles.
My running goal provides me with finality and accomplishment to the week. Even if things don’t go as planned with my advisory duties, I know that at the end of the week I will have accomplished a personal victory. I look forward to tabulating my running log each week and adding up the miles. During my 15 month tour I plan to log 1200 dusty fulfilling miles.
