Follow-up to CB radios for soldiers in Iraq story...

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/local_n...402841,00.html

Soldier grateful to 'kind folks' for CBs

By Bartholomew Sullivan
Contact reporter
November 5, 2003

In an exchange of E-mail Tuesday from his base in Kuwait, Army Lt. Thomas 'Hud' Moore thanked the people of the Mid-South for the CB radios he requested.

Moore, 33, commander of the 1175th Heavy Equipment Transport detachment based in Brownsville, Tenn., wrote a letter home recently seeking the radios so his convoys in Iraq can communicate truck-to-truck in hostile situations. Parts of the letter were reproduced in The Commercial Appeal Sunday. More than 60 CB radios have been donated.



Acknowledging he went outside the chain of command to make his plea public, Moore said he'd do it again.

"While I may get in trouble for the article and request, you can rest assured it is worth it. I have had several of my soldiers come to me by 6 this morning thanking me for going the extra mile for them. That is what it is all about."

Randy Moore, a spokesman for the Tennessee National Guard in Nashville, said Moore did what he felt was necessary to accomplish his mission.

"I don't think he's going to get any feedback from this end," Harris said.

In his E-mail, Moore said he had asked for the radios "through the channels" in both Tennessee and in Kuwait but was told there were no funds for that purpose.

"I have tried to get these radios since the day we arrived here in this camp (April 23)," he wrote.

Sunday's story, which Moore read in Kuwait online, quoted a Pentagon spokesman saying there was a potential security problem in using CB radios in a war zone.

Moore noted in his initial letter that an inadequate number of CB radios were already in use.

As for security, he said Tuesday, "I do not know of anyone talking secure now."

The response to Moore's plea for radios has echoed across the state. Moore's father and brother heard about it on the local radio Tuesday in Lawrenceburg, about 80 miles southwest of Nashville.

"I'm just proud as I can be," said his father, Jerry, 62, who gave his son the nickname 'Hud' after a happy-go-lucky movie character played by Paul Newman.

In civilian life, Moore is a respiratory therapist at the local Lawrenceburg hospital and an active outdoorsman who loves bass fishing.

"When he's not working you'll find him on the water, most times," his father said.

The divorced father of an 11-year-old son entered the Army right out of high school, where he played tackle on the Lawrenceburg High School football team. He spent one tour of duty in Germany.

Returning home, he joined the National Guard as a specialist in heavy-equipment transportation. The Lawrence burg unit eventually moved to Smyrna, Tenn. Moore became commander of its 155-member Brownsville detachment.

In his first E-mail Tuesday, Moore explained he'd have written sooner but had to get permission from senior officers.

Writing frankly, he said the need for communication is a regular topic of "after-action reviews." Moore said he had assured his troops he'd try to get them radios.

"I have told them I would get them the radios and thanks to you and the kind folks in the surrounding areas, they are coming," he wrote.

Moore didn't mention it, but at least one of his trucks has been struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. In the initial message home he said the radios would come in handy in coordinating a response if a convoy were attacked.

In a follow-up message Tuesday, Moore said the radios would also help prevent collisions when trucks slow or stop in the low visibility of sandstorms.

Moore asked for 30 CB radios. On Tuesday afternoon Jack ie Barnes, who made Moore's original message available to the newspaper, said 63 have been pledged.

[MORTARDUDE]

The E-Mail
November 5, 2003

This E-mail was received Tuesday from Lt. Thomas 'Hud' Moore. He commands the 1175th Heavy Equipment Transport detachment of the Tennessee Army National Guard out of Brownsville. The unit is on active duty, transporting equipment from Kuwait to Iraq.

I have heard there will be 54 (CB radios) shipped over here to us. Thanks for the article.



I cannot say a lot as of now but I will say this: Yes, I went through the channels, both in TN and here. Neither one would fund the radios. As far as security goes and talking on them, I do not know of anyone talking secure now.

While I may get in trouble for the article and request, you can rest assured it is worth it. I have had several of my soldiers come to me by 6 this morning thanking me for going the extra mile for them. That is what it is all about.

I can still remember like it was yesterday the looks in the families' and friends' eyes when they told me just before we left, "You bring them all back safe."

I heard that so many times and they were not smiling either. As a leader, you must put your troops' well being before your own. So that is my mission. I know if I make it out of here, I will have to face those same folks again.

I have tried to get these radios since the day we arrived here in this camp (April 23).

After every mission or training exercise, we conduct what the Army calls an After Action Review (AAR). In this review we discuss with everyone involved in the mission what was supposed to happen vs. what actually happened. We look at ways to sustain the good things we did and also look for ways to fix what is broken.

I can assure you in almost every AAR here, the troops always state we need more communication. I have told them I would get them the radios and thanks to you and the kind folks in the surrounding areas, they are coming. I can assure you the troops are already excited of the news.

I look forward to seeing you in Brownsville as well.

Thanks,

1LT(P) Hud Moore

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/news/ar...402934,00.html

Jackie Barnes is seeking donations to pay for the cost of shipping
November 5, 2003

The CB radios have been donated, but now Jackie Barnes is seeking money to pay for the cost of sending them to the 1175th Heavy Equipment Transport unit in Kuwait. She estimated she'll need about $300, and will happily provide receipts.

Checks should be made out to her or her husband, Rex Barnes, and sent to them care of the National Guard Armory, 221 Morgan Street, Brownsville, TN 38012.

She can be reached after 6 p.m. at (731) 772-6240