Stateline 1101 Master Script

BOOTH

THE OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD HAS DISTINGUISHED ITSELF IN NEARLY EVERY OVERSEAS CONFLICT SINCE WORLD WAR ONE. THE 45^TH INFANTRY DIVISION SERVED IN GENERAL PATTON'S 7^TH ARMY IN WORLD WAR TWO, AND WAS FEDERALIZED AGAIN JUST A FEW YEARS AFTER THAT WAR ENDED TO SERVE IN KOREA.

THE DIVISION WAS DISBANDED IN THE 1960S, BUT ITS HERITAGE LIVES ON IN THE MEN AND WOMEN OF TODAY'S OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD.

THIS EDITION OF STATELINE FOLLOWS THE 45^TH FIRES BRIGADE, A GROUP OF THOSE CITIZEN SOLDIERS TRAINING TO SERVE IN 21^ST CENTURY CONFLICT, THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST.  THEY ARE THE LATEST GENERATION OF OKLAHOMANS TO BE SENT OVER THERE.

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A trip of over 7,000 miles for the 45^th Fires Brigade began on a hot August morning in Downtown Oklahoma City...800 Guardsmen gathered at the Ford Center to say goodbye.

SPC Kelli Toliver

09:01:13    S-207

"I love my country, I'm going to miss my family and if you're watching this family...I love you too."

SPC Kelsey Posey

09:03:47   S-207

"I'm going to miss her so much. But I've been over before though. But this is the first time I been over since I had her, so yeah I'm going to miss her. Its going to be hard when you come back, you know, she got to get readjusted back to me and everything. That's going to break my heart right there."

PFC Scott Pepi

09:01:21    S-207

"I come all the way over here from Boston to deploy with the Oklahoma National Guard.  So it's been a cool adventure, an eye opening experience, new state, new people, a new way of talking. I'm still talking the way I talk, but it's good to serve my country in the state of Oklahoma."

The standards, the flags, the martial music serve as a reminder of the reputation of the 45^th. Some people bring little flags to wave; others have shirts printed in the colors of solidarity. Nikki Fry and her family arrived early to get a front row seat.

They hate to see their fathers, sons and husbands go, but they know they have to...and the families are proud of what their soldier is doing.

Nikki Fry

9:52:12     S-207

We've got his son with us, his name is Bryson Dale Fry, and we're trying to keep him interested in everything his dads going to be doing. We're going to let him know that, he's very supportive; we're going to be very supportive of him. And we're going to miss him so much but we are really proud of him.

Sergeant David Cram has a lot on his mind. His mother is very sick and tomorrow he's being deployed to Iraq for a year...on this day the focus is on the road ahead.

Tom McEwen

11:31:50     S-104

I don't know that it's all hit...hit in very well yet. It's the first ceremony, the first time to really get a solid bite on it...not sure yet.

David Cram

9:08:41     S-207

They're proud of me.

Tom McEwen

11:31:17    S-104

In one sense there's some pride in knowing that he's serving our country and doing his part to keep freedom in America. Another side sad to see him go because we know there's always the possibility that he may not come back. But uh, we love him and we're glad he's able to do his part even as I did my part years ago.

SGT David Cram

9:09:07     S-207

You know parents, they always like to worry about their sons and stuff like that and daughters when they're over there.

LTG Bud Wyatt

10:51:36     S-207

Ladies and gentlemen please help me in a warm greeting for the Governor of the great state of Oklahoma, the Commander in Chief of the Oklahoma National Guard, Governor Brad Henry. (Applause)

Gov. Brad Henry

10:54:13    S-207

You are part of a tremendous and noble tradition. As was mentioned earlier, no less an authority than General George S Patton himself said of the 45th "It's one of the best if not THE best division in the history of American arms." I certainly concur.

Gov. Brad Henry

10:58:41    S-207

In these times as difficult as they may be, as always remember that all Oklahomans stand with you. (Applause)

In just a few hours the buses will arrive to take the soldiers away. In these last few moments together, families try to squeeze as much in as they can.

(Nat Sound Moments)

Sergeant Michael Gildow has been to Iraq before, but that doesn't make leaving any easier.

SGT Michael Gildow

9:22:33     S-207

If you ask my wife she's going to say "Everything's O-K" but deep down inside you know it's totally chaotic. The Army trains the soldier but they never train the family, and it's very difficult when you have a family member, you wife, your mother, a girl friend to pick up while your gone. And for them it's like "Yes I can do it" but deep down inside it is a struggle.

SGT Michael Gildow

9:24:08    S-207

It's a year of your life that is gone. And I'm not going to see then grow up, they're not going to see me. They look at as I'm not going to be there for the baseball games, I'm not going to be there for the football games, I'm not going to be there when the birthdays are there. So it's going to be a little hard for them, it's a transition for both of us, for all families.

Sergeant Kelly Smith and his family are among the last to leave.

Vivian Smith

11:36:20    S-104

Just trying to get ready for it mentally. My husband went to Vietnam and I think it's a whole lot easier then than it is now to send my baby boy over. But we have a strong family so we'll do just fine.

Andy Smith

11:36:52   S-104

We're a very patriotic family. We enjoy serving our country, I did when I was in Vietnam, but it's a complete different situation for me now when it's my son going than it was me. I just love my son more than I did myself I think.

(Nervous laughter)

Vivian Smith

11:39:18    S-104

We're very proud of him...he's done a good job. So far. (Family laughs)

(Music & Montage)

COL Glen Moore

10:30:40 S-207

We will be providing security for base camps; we will also be providing security for teams that move out of the base camps, so to sum it all up as being force protection.

COL Glen Moore

10:04:02 S-207

Any duty in a combat zone obviously is inherently dangerous, but we've been trained, we're ready to go do that mission so...yes, it potentially could be hazardous duty.

This is the temporary home of the 45^th...Fort Hood, Texas.  It's the final stop before being deployed to the Middle East. This is where Oklahoma guardsmen will spend the next two months training for hazardous duty. Sergeant Smith arrived early to get things set up.

SGT Kelly Smith

00:04:13             S-105

I guess it was about ten o'clock may be about eleven in the evening when the main body from Enid got here. So we had been here about three days prior to their arrival and everything was pretty much ready for them to fall in on.

SGT Kelly Smith

00:03:54             S-105

Just so we could get some of the barracks issues squared away, and just little things that might be crippling to the main body when they get here. So making sure everybody had a place to stay, and food for them when they got here.

SGT Kelly Smith

00:05:48             S-105

Typically I wake up anywhere from 0500 to 0530 we usually have any where from 30 to 45 minutes of physical training or P-T. After that we go to breakfast, and then after PT is over you usually have probably anywhere from 6:30 till about 7:45 to get some break fast and to get cleaned up and ready for the work day. Then just depending on what ever was set up on the training schedule for us to be down here.

Keeping track of 800 guardsmen and making sure every man gets the training he needs is a big job.

SGT Kelly Smith

00:08:58             S-105

Basically it is just a big excel spread sheet. That has every single bit of training that we are going to have to do. / It is a lot it is a big spread sheet that's for sure!

One of the first training exercises is what to do in the event that members of their team are injured or killed. The mission is to secure, treat and evacuate from the battlefield.

(Nat Sound)

18:54:35    C0029     S-109

FIRING BEGINS - Six o'clock, we're being fired at, six o'clock, from the ridge! You have casualties behind you.

(Nat Sound)

18:55:04    C0029     S-109

You got casualties...alright, you need to move out.

SFC Mark Resio

19:23:19                    S-109

All soldiers are taught basic first aid skills, you know how to treat and identify certain types of wounds. Or they can put a field dressing on, a tunicate on.

(Nat Sound)

19:10:49    C0033     S-109

You see blood there; you know sniper fire just came right? Hua Sergeant. What are you going to assess? Um, chest wound? O-K, but what's the first thing you do? A-B-C's?

SFC Resio

19:23:57      S-109

If we are able to identify the wounds, Treat them accordingly we can save fifteen percent of all injuries. All deaths out there in the battle field...less that we can bring back home alive and doing well.

(Nat Sound)

18:58:56    C0030     S-109

He has no pulse and no respiration; you have other causalities on your hands.

(Nat Sound)

19:14:40   C0033     S-109

Incoming! Hit the dirt! Clear, clear. Good job...Very good.

(Nat Sound)

19:02:30   C0029     S-109

INCOMING! BOOM! Clear, you got 2 minutes, hurry up!

SFC Resio

19:24:14      SG S-109

They are doing great. As you can see for 45 minutes we are trying to create a stressful environment for them. It is just a small glimpse of what they may see in the battlefield. The idea is to inundate them with patients, stress them out and show that they act appropriately.

(Nat Sound)

19:04:24   C0029     S-109

INCOMING! BOOM! CLEAR...MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! We need to move out now!

One of the missions the 45^th Fires Brigade will be performing in Iraq is convoy protection. The primary threat to the convoy is the improvised explosive device, or I-E-D. Today sergeant Gildow and his crew are guarding the convoy and on the lookout for anything suspicious on the road side.

Nat Sound (Radio)

21:24:04       S-205

One, one...Report Recon one, Red Tower reports enemy activity in your sector. Give me your report when moving.

SGT Michael Gildow

21:51:44        S-205

You really don't know what's going to happen, so they pretty much throw everything at you. Sometimes it can be a little chaotic, it's chaos. It's hot; you see there's no air conditioning in here. So, it's crazy but its good training because if they throw it at you here you won't be surprised out there.

Nat Sound

21:24:18    S-205

Attack enemy starboard...one o'clock, FIRE. Target identified, FIRE...On the way! (50 Caliber Firing & Shells ringing inside cab)

Nat Sound

21:27:03    S-205

Troops Red 5...Troops. Troop's seven o'clock. Troop's ten o'clock, Target identified FIRE! On the way! (Firing)

SGT Michael Gildow

21:48:56          S-205

(Firing) There you go...ahh, that's a beautiful sound. (T-Bird four, T-Bird Four this is T-Bird Three...) Now he's calling it up. We're T-Bird Three, he's calling it up to higher letting them know that we have test fired and that everything is green...we're good.

Nat Sound

21:30:12          S-205

Target down...Target down, O-K Cease fire, cease fire...back it up, back it up, back it up.

SGT Michael Gildow

21:48:00          S-205

Everything we do today is a simulation as if we are in country...so this way we get used to it. We understand the patterns, we understand what we have to do so that once we get in country we hit the ground and we're good to go, we know what to do.

SGT Robert Shipley

23:18:41     C1088    S-205

You need to know every aspect of everybody else's job within that truck just in case you do get hit with a particular small arms fire or somebody gets taken out of the vehicle.

SGT Michael Gildow

21:51:11          S-205

Once we complete the scenario we're going to go over it and our supervisor, he'll come back to us and say "O-K, this is what you did right and this is what you did wrong." And then we'll go through the next scenario..."O-K, this is what you did right and this is what you did wrong."

SFC John Simmons

22:19:42     C0124    S-205

When you arrive in theater and it's your first mission, you will want to take the extra precaution. Alright? To stop, interrogate, find out what it is that you're dealing with. Now once you become familiar with your route you won't be stopping as much. Everybody see that? Hua! You'll understand that that rock pile has been there on several missions and it's just a rock pile, that sign has always been there...it's just some Arabic writing, its nothing. Alright? So good job.

SFC John Simmons

22:26:22     C0138     S-205

Gunners, what are you doing? Right, you are eyeballing, focusing outward looking for that trigger man or any sniper fire.

SFC John Simmons

22:24:39    C0132      S-205

We're going to move into our next task and business standard. The next task is to react to an I-E-D attack. So, what do you think is about to happen? (Inaudible) Right...someone is going to be hit with an I-E-D.

SFC John Simmons

22:25:44   C0139       S-205

The priority is to get out of the kill zone. Get out of the kill zone...alright? Because an I-E-D attack is a what...? It is an ambush. Alright, we are not running from the fight, the enemy has just gained the upper hand on us...so our priority is to get out of the kill zone so we can regain the upper hand. Everybody see that?

Every time insurgents change their tactics overseas instructors in the U-S bring them back home...keeping the training as realistic and up to date as possible.

SGT Michael Gildow

21:49:33          S-205

And we're going to engage and see if we can identify an I-E-D that's placed somewhere on the road. And how do we react to that I-E-D. / Then calling it up higher and having someone come out and dispose of the I-E-D.

As the convoy moves on they roll over the smoke bomb used to simulate the improvised explosive device.

SFC John Simmons

22:28:58   C0144       S-205

We've taught them mounted hasty recovery, where no one has to actually dismount the vehicle. They hook up; get out of the kill zone. Inside if there's any casualties, self aid and buddy aid needs to be taking place.

(Nat Sound Bite)

22:42:16       S-205

If he has a lot of swelling in his temple you might want to remove his ballistic helmet.

SGT Robert Shipley

23:19:44    C0188    S-205

Sometimes Medics are in three or four trucks behind you. And in that short time for them to get to you, you can already be administering life saving aid.

SFC John Simmons

22:29:19   C0144     S-205

Once they arrive at their rally point out of the kill zone then they re-assess if they need a Medivac.

(Nat Sound Bite)

22:46:40       S-205

All right that's good...what happened to your improvised liter? It fell apart when we picked it back up.

On the other side of the range Oklahoma crews are improving their shooting skills and coordinating their ability to move, shoot and communicate.

SPC Chris Malone

23:17:10    C0188    S-205

Live explosions going off around you...simulators. Blank rounds firing off at you / Making it seem as if you're actually there. The sights the sounds, the smells, the sights everything.

SPC Chris Malone

23:17:10    C0188    S-205

They actually have people out there dressed up as local civilians. They speak nothing but Arabic so you're forced to actually use your cards and stuff to speak Arabic to them. So they make it as realistic as possible.

In the Arab village guardsmen deal with many of the problems they'll face in Iraq, like separating friend from foe. Someone here is a suicide bomber...but who?

It doesn't take long to find out.

(Boom!)

Trainee

23:04:40      C0181

This guy is O-K; he's just got some bleeding from his arm. He's breathing; talking...I've just got some bleeding from my head. Just give me a dressing, I'll be alright, I can walk and talk. He has a wound right here.

Training Instructor

23:09:59       S-205

Best thing would be to move out of the kill zone right? You don't want to stay where the insurgents have already hit you?

(Nat Sound)

20:00:32    C0167     S-109

And why do we stress is explosively formed projectile so much? (Inaudible) That's right, it is very dangerous.

Central Texas in summer is a close substitute for Iraq...it's hot, it's dusty, and each man carries 15 to 20 pounds in body armor and gear. To get a closer look the soldiers walk two city blocks filled with the many different kinds of I-E-D's waiting for them in Iraq.

(Nat Sound)

19:53:22    C0154    S-109

If you saw that car from right about here what should you be thinking? IED...Alright, could be a possible V-Bag hua?

(Nat Sound)

19:55:03   C0167     S-109

So other than the fact that it is suspiciously parked in my training area what are some indicators that this is V-Bed? WIRES...wires are under the hood.

SGT Cory Palmour

20:04:22   C0171     S-109

You want them to get a closer look at it. So that they actually know what they are identifying and what they are looking for.

(Nat Sound)

19:34:08    C0142    S-109

You know when you walk up to someone's house and that light comes on? That's what they're using, they're passive infrared sensors.

(Nat Sound)

19:40:24    C0130    S-109

The yield sign, the intersection...they already know that we're going to slow down at the yield sign or a stop sign. So what we have is the P-I-R at the top the passive infrared, then you have your EFP. You have the wire running down to the EFP.

(Nat Sound)

19:38:18    C0140    S-109

This is the initiator, step on that crush switch. The container, which is buried, the IED, the charge is the artillery round. And you have your wire running to...you have your wire. That's the back up...that's the back up just in case they spot the crush switch. Then it could be command detonated from in the woods.

(Nat Sound)

19:41:12    C0132     S-109

The possible marker, you have an abandoned vehicle on the side of the road, the hood is up and the vehicle is sitting low. Tell tale signs, the gas cap is off and the gas tank is open. You have a big red tank in the back. Tell tale signs, you have the charge inside the gas tank; you copper wires running inside to a 12 volt battery.

(Nat Sound)

19:41:47    C0132     S-109

You have a battery inside the vehicle to a battery that doesn't belong. You have wires running from the battery...to the talk about radio.

After months of training the vehicles and gear are loaded up and shipped out to the middle east.

In Iraq the number of American casualties has dropped significantly as a result of the surge, but violence continues to claim the lives of U-S servicemen.

As Oklahoma's sons and daughters get on the plane they are all aware of the reality of what could happen...even so they are focused on the mission ahead and sustained by the support of those who remain at home.

SGT Angelina Stacy

20:31:11       S-109

I think I am going to get off that plane and the first thing I am going to do is go set up and get ready to do my job.

SGT Angelina Stacy

20:31:20     S-109

It is going to get hot, but hey we are from Oklahoma we are used to some heat.

TRT