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SERVICE REFLECTIONS
OF An Army VETERAN
Jun 2018

Ahl, Edwin COL

Status Service Years
USA Retired 1969 - 2012
MOS
56A-Command and Unit Chaplain
Primary Unit
2010-2012, 56A, Garrison Command, Fort Riley, KS/HHC

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Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Profile Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life.

 
 

Please describe who or what influenced your decision to join the Army?

 

My dad was the reason for my joining the military. I say "military" because I served in both the Navy and the Army. He served in the Navy during World War II as an Aviation Metalsmith and tail gunner on a TBF Torpedo Plane aboard the USS Sergeants Bay.

In 1968 my draft number was 15 and I was flunking a college course so my Student Deferment was not worth the paper it was printed on. So I took a crash course in the Military Decision Making Process. I weighed the pros and cons of the Nave and the Army. I said: Army = snake-infested jungles, c-rations (although I loved c-rations over MREs), monsoons, sleeping in the mud, and Viet Cong vs Navy = 3 hots and a cot every day.

So I went Navy for my first 4 years of my 39-year career.

 

Whether you were in the service for several years or as a career, please describe the direction or path you took. What was your reason for leaving?

 
1st COSCOM

I started out enlisted and went to Boot Camp in San Diego in April 1969. I served 4 years in the Navy, including a tour in Vietnam where I conducted Electronic Warfare just 20 miles off the coast of Haiphong Harbor in North Vietnam.

I left the Navy in 1973 to go to College. I missed the military and got into the Reserves as a 13F Forward Observer with the Army. I made E-7 and one week later was picked up to be a Chaplain on Active Duty for the Army. That was January 1988.

I served my last 24 years as a Chaplain and retired as an O-6. I reached the age of 62 and hit my Mandatory Removal Date (MRD) so I had to leave.

I was not a happy camper. I still wanted to serve and could still do PT better than half the kids younger than me.

 

If you participated in any military operations, including combat, humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, please describe those which were the most significant to you and, if life-changing, in what way.

 
Doing as Christ Did

In Desert Storm, we had just jumped the berm into Kuwait. A couple of days after getting to our location, my assistant came and woke me up. It had been a long day and night so I decided to crash for a nap. She said, "Sir, we just had thirty-five Iraqi soldiers walk up and surrender. They need some medical help." I was the only Combat Lifesaver in the HHC and the nearest medical help was thirty-five miles away. I grabbed my bag and followed her to where the unit had set up a small containment area using concertina wire. I instructed my troops to get them some water and MREs and to make sure none of the MREs were pork. Then I entered the containment area. I had given my knife to my assistant so that I did not have a weapon when I entered, and I had eight troops with weapons locked and loaded for protection. I really did not think I would have any problem. Two of the Iraqi troops were doctors and they spoke English. They translated as I went from troop to troop bandaging cuts and scrapes.

They had been walking in the desert for a few days and most had no shoes. Their feet were a mess. I took off my Kevlar helmet and used it for a stool. I would put their feet on it and I would use bottled water to wash their feet and do what I could for their blisters. I was borrowing field dressings from my troops to make sandals for the Iraqi soldiers to protect their feet. I went from soldier to soldier using my translators to communicate. I found out that two of the soldiers were Christians and one was a Hindu. The rest were Muslims. I was able to pray for the Iraqi Christians and the doctors had no problem translating.

Just as I finished with the last soldier, the MPs arrived to transport the Iraqis to a holding area. As they left our containment area, each one shook my hand and said, "God Bless you" in Iraqi. The translators let me know. I felt great. I was able to "love my enemy" just as God's Word says to do.

I know there are pictures out there somewhere of me inside the containment area. I saw four or five troops taking pictures, but somehow my assistant's pictures never came back from the developers.

 

Was there a particular incident during your service when you believed you were in a situation you might not survive? Please describe what happened and what was the outcome.

 
With The Kids

I was terrified about the beginning of Desert Shield/Storm, and so was my son. We were to incur 100K soldiers injured or killed on the first day because we knew Saddam was going to use his WMDs.

I was pulled off leave to go to a unit in Germany that was deploying to the war. Their Chaplain had a P-3 profile and could not deploy. My wife and I flew back from Mesa, AZ to JFK in New York and drove back to Fort Drum. I cleared Fort Drum in 24 hours. The CG said that because I was deploying to war that my family could stay in housing until I returned. My kids, David and Joy, had gone to their mother's for Thanksgiving and I did not get to say, "goodbye," to them. That really upset my son. I flew to Germany and fortunately, the unit's deployment date got shifted right one week. So now I am in a war zone, with a new unit, and a new Chaplain's Assistant and we are getting ready to jump the berm. I was starting from scratch in getting to know people and how the unit operated.

I was able to get to visit the companies before jumping the berm. It was a maintenance unit and we had companies scattered all over the front. I would drive 50-80 miles to see my troops. Everyone was scared to some extent. We knew it was going to be ugly. A lot of us were praying hard for a miracle and we got it.

The morning of the attack, we woke up to a strong wind blowing from the SW to the NE. That meant that anything Saddam shot at us would blow back into his troops killing them. There were no WMDs fired at us. The sighs of relief added to the wind as we attacked in force and rolled the Iraqi Army out of Kuwait.

 

Of all your duty stations or assignments, which one do you have fondest memories of and why? Which one was your least favorite?

 

I really enjoyed my tour at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA. I was able to train Chaplains and Chaplain's Assistants in Combat Operations. This took place just before the Iraq War kicked off. Being able to ensure the Unit Ministry Teams would survive on a battlefield was very rewarding. I also really enjoyed my time with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). They are a GREAT unit with a GREAT heritage.

My least favorite was at Fort Bliss, TX.

 

From your entire service, including combat, describe the personal memories which have impacted you most?

 

The memories of my time at war have impacted my life very much. I have PTSD and relive the memories nightly. The bodies being blown to bits from the missiles I had fired in Vietnam, to the burning bodies hanging out of the trucks in Desert Strom, to the 5-year-old little Iraqi girl and the wounded Soldiers in Iraq are still a part of my life.

One day I will not have to relive my nightmares.

 

What achievement(s) are you most proud of from your military career? If you received any medals, awards, formal presentations or qualification badges for significant achievement or valor, please describe how these were earned.

 

Airborne Wings - because I have a great fear of heights.

Making Colonel because my dad always told me to go as far as I could go.

Too many medals and ribbons to account for.

SERE-C (high risk) School at the age of 49 years and 6 months old. I am the oldest graduate of the US Navy SERE School. I beat the old record by 3 years.

 

Of all the medals, awards, formal presentations and qualification badges you received, or any other memorabilia, please describe those which are the most meaningful to you and why?

 

My retirement plaque from my team at Fort Riley. It encapsulated my 39 years.

The most meaningful things from my career are the friendships I made along the way.

 

Which individual(s) from your time in the military stand out as having the most positive impact on you and why?

 
Author Ed Devos

My first Commander with 10th Mountain, LTC Ed Devos. His leadership and mentorship set the standard for what an officer is truly supposed to be.

 

Can you recount a particular incident from your service which may or may not have been funny at the time, but still makes you laugh?

 

An incident at SERE-C School in Maine. They taught us in our class, before going to the mountain, that "tiny victories:" are what will help us survive.

On day two of POW Camp, they put us all in a small room with a pot belly stove that was putting out a lot of heat. We had to wear our parkas all the time because it was cold outside, but inside we were roasting. They had us squatting on the floor and a bad guy was at a podium reading from the Bible. He would read a little and then make a derogatory comment about what he had read, all the while looking at me for a reaction. I would look up and then look back down never changing my facial expression.

Finally, he and his companion walked to the door, and in frustration, he said, "This Jesus guy is a cheat and a liar." He spits into the Bible and threw it out into the mud. They went outside and slammed the door shut, locking it behind them. My classmates looked at me in amazement and one of them asked, "Didn't it bother you to see and hear that stuff?" I said, "No, he was reading from a New International Version Bible. If it had been a New King James Version then we would have had a problem."

We all started laughing, and it got louder and louder. The bad guys heard us laughing and came running in telling us to stop laughing and started hitting us. The more they hit us, the more we laughed. I was asked about the incident during our debriefing at the end of the Course and told them what had happened. The debriefer said, "That was great because we knew from that point on that you guys had won and that we would never win."

 

What profession did you follow after your military service and what are you doing now? If you are currently serving, what is your present occupational specialty?

 

I taught Suicide Prevention at Fort Sam Houston, TX and Fort Bragg, NC for 3 years.

I am now totally retired except for refereeing soccer games.

 

What military associations are you a member of, if any? What specific benefits do you derive from your memberships?

 

Lifetime Member of the Association of the United States Army.

 

In what ways has serving in the military influenced the way you have approached your life and your career?

 

I always try to better myself and reach forward.

 

Based on your own experiences, what advice would you give to those who have recently joined the Army?

 

Disciple yourself to get the job done. No matter how small you think the job is.

 

In what ways has TogetherWeServed.com helped you remember your military service and the friends you served with.

 

Reading the stories of other service members remind me about to good times I had serving God and Country.

 
 
 

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