A).- ANTES DE ENTRAR EN SALA
A.10. g).- REUNIÓN TÉCNICA
17 Q. So we left off, you took your R and R break. Everybody
18 else took about a month. You spent a lot of that up in Alaska. You 19 did take 10 days. You didn’t go to see Kim in Portland. You went 20 home to see your folks, recognizing, family being what it is, you 21 still have responsibility to them and you are deploying to combat and 22 they did come to your basic training, so let me go check in with
43
1 them. You stayed with your friend. You borrowed your dad’s truck. 2 I guess your hand was on the mend and then you had a relapse.
3 A. Yeah.
4 Q. I mean, when you left Alaska, you know, you were cleared to
5 go on leave?
6 A. Yeah, I was cleared, yeah.
7 Q. And then it came back.
8 A. It came back.
9 Q. Then you were treated there, ten days, back to Alaska. So
10 now it’s probably early January ’09?
11 CDC: Yeah.
12 A. Of ’09? No, close to it. Like the last month of ’08.
13 Because we deployed, the unit deployed in February of ’09.
14 Q. Right, okay.
15 A. And so I got back, we went on Christmas, it was Christmas
16 block leave.
17 Q. Okay, of ’08.
18 A. Like it was just after Christmas.
19 Q. And then into New Years of ’09.
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. Okay.
22 A. So we were just getting into--so I get back. My hand heals
23 up. I was on profile. My hand was swollen and it was--if I did
44
1 push-ups, you get this really grey, ugly-looking bulge on the side of 2 my hand so I was on profile. That healed up. I got cleared off my
3 profile. And we started prepping for deployment. One of the things
4 I wanted to do was get new boots. So I got new boots.
5 Unfortunately, the last very short ruck march exercise that we went 6 on ,I wore my new boots because I needed to break them in.
7 Unfortunately I laced them the way I laced my old boots and I left 8 them too loose.
9 Q. Okay.
10 A. And I immediately got a blister on the side of my left
11 heel. Now, I cleaned the blister. It was just a blister. So I 12 cleaned it and treated it just like any other blister. But it ended 13 up becoming infected with the staph infection. Now, I did my best to 14 just keep it clean and try and push on because I didn’t want to do 15 anything that would hold me up. I’m not the kind of person that goes 16 running to the doctor just because of like a little blister or
17 something like that.
18 Q. Yeah.
19 A. Unfortunately, over the days and weeks, it started getting
20 worse. And because I was using iodine for cleaning, it dyed my skin 21 brown. So I couldn’t really see what the skin looked like. So I 22 knew it was really bright red. And here’s another example of my 23 unit. One morning we were getting ready to go out for formation for
45
1 the morning formation, and the platoon medic was walking through the 2 hallway and I stopped him. I said, “Look at this.” And he looked at 3 it and he didn’t really even pause. Well, he paused but he didn’t 4 even really stop walking. He paused, he looked at it, he turned 5 around and said, “Yeah, that’s going to get nasty.” And he kept
6 walking. And there was no other advice to me as one of his Soldiers
7 that he was supposed to be overseeing. He glanced at it and said, 8 “That’s going to get nasty,” and he walked on. He never said, “Go 9 get it checked out.” He never said, “You need to come see me. We 10 need to get this under control.” We’re about to deploy. He doesn’t 11 do any of that.
12 Q. Was this the same medic who you end up serving with in
13 Afghanistan?
14 A. No. This isn’t--this is like the platoon medic.
15 Q. Okay.
16 A. Our squad medic was different. That was Corneilson.
17 Q. Okay.
18 Q. Because our other medic broke his back in a jump.
19 A. Okay.
20 A. Doc Slaughter was a really cool guy. And during NTC I got
21 to know him because he’s the medic. You know, he has to--I’ll just 22 do a quick brief here. When I got to NTC, because I was new to the 23 unit, I hadn’t really--you know, in the barracks you don’t really get
46
1 to see those--he was married so he lived off post. Or he lived on 2 post but he lived in a different area. So I never really got to see
3 him very often. So when we got to NTC my cot was right next to him.
4 He’s an Army medic. He needs to know what your issues are. I have a
5 red dog tag.
6 Q. Right.
7 A. Right. Because I’m allergic to Amoxicillin. If something
8 happens to me out there, he needs to know that.
9 Q. Sure.
10 A. To pass it on, if anything, to make sure that the people
11 who are taking me, who are evacuating me pass it on to the base. If 12 for some reason I get hit in such a way that they have to strip me 13 off and thankfully Senior Drill Sergeant Olivera [phonetic], I think 14 he was the only one who ever did this, he told me to put across my 15 brown shirt in marker my initials, my last four and A-positive. And 16 “Alert: allergy, red tag, allergy, Amoxicillin.” So that if
17 something happened to me out there, they stripped off my body armor, 18 the medics could glance----
19 Q. They’d know.
20 A. ----see and know. Because what if something happens to me
21 so bad that when they’re ripping me [ripping gear and clothes off me]--
22 they’re taking everything off, they clip that chain and that goes off with
it
23 and they put me on the MEDEVAC and the MEDEVAC--and I get to the hospital
E0048
47
1 and nobody knows.
2 A. Right. So I knew that he needed to know that. So I got
3 with him. We hit it off because he’s just kind of--he’s got a very 4 quirky sense of humor and he’s a medic. You know, they have weird 5 senses of humor. So I got along with him. And I knew that he needed 6 to know what was going on with me because I’m one of his Soldiers. 7 He’s responsible for me.
8 Q. Right.
9 A. It’s not just if I get hit.
10 Q. Right.
11 A. It’s, “How’s your feet doing? How’s your body doing?
12 How’s your shoulders doing?” He has to keep me going when I get in 13 that battlefield because not only am I going to a battlefield where 14 I’m wearing 100-plus extra pounds of gear--you know, weapons because 15 I’m a SAW gunner. But also we’re going to one of the most extreme 16 terrains in the world. And it’s a desert and the heat is a killer.
17 Q. Right.
18 A. I mean, literally, that’s what we were taught back in basic
19 at Benning. In the summertime you saw what it was. So he breaks his 20 back on a jump right before we deploy. The last jump before
21 deployment. I never see Corneilson until I get to Afghanistan. He 22 never came to me because--he never talked to me. He didn’t even 23 introduce himself. I had to ask, “Well, who’s the replacement to Doc
48
1 Slaughter?” Well, they just pointed to, “Oh, Corneilson.” You know.
2 And he never came up to me, he never said, “Hey, how’s--all right, I 3 need to understand--how’s your”--he never asked me. I was late to 4 deploy because of a staph infection, because of MRSA, which means 5 it’s in my system.
6 Q. Right.
7 A. He never came up to me and said, “How’s it going? How’s
8 your foot going? What do I need to know? What medicines are you on?
9 We need to get this cleared up. We need to understand this.” If I 10 have MRSA in my system and I get hit out there and I get to the 11 hospital, I have open wounds that could easily go south quickly.
12 Q. Right.
13 A. He never even asked me. It was in the paperwork, yeah.
14 But paperwork is one thing. How easy is it to slip up? How easy is 15 it to get lost somewhere? He never talked to me. So basically what 16 happens with my staph infection in my heel, the doc sees me, he goes, 17 “Yeah, it’s going to get nasty.” He passes on. At that point we 18 basically lost Doc Slaughter. And the only reason why I ended up 19 getting taken to the emergency room was because my battle buddies, 20 the guys in my platoon who I knew, one was Cross, PFC Cross, I 21 believe it was Chris, and there was Nascimento and Steven Hole and 22 Howard and Sutton. They’re like, “Hey, man, you need to get to the 23 hospital.” Because it was swollen. It looked ugly but it had iodine
49
1 on it so I couldn’t really tell what it was looking like. So they 2 get me to the emergency room, they drop me off, Sutton gives me his
3 smart phone and says, “Call us and let us know when you’re done.” I
4 get into the emergency room and the surgeon comes in and he takes one 5 look at it and presses down on it and it bursts and literally just a 6 mountain of puss just oozes out and they said, “All right, we need to 7 get him into operation now.” I go through the operation and that’s 8 it. I miss deployment. Like deployment was literally the next day 9 they were leaving, the next couple days. I was in the hospital and 10 they were basically leaving a day or two after that. That was it.
11 Q. So you had to recover? Stay back and recover for a while?
12 A. Yeah. And that took me about three months. February,
13 March, April. I believe it was the end of April going into May that 14 I got over there. Like I said, I’m terrible with dates.
15 CDC: Let me interject for one second. I’m going to assume that
16 you know and want to shift forward. But just before we leave this 17 subject, how is your heel now? And you also said that your back is-- 18 you have some back issue? So just take one second.
19 I/O: Sure. Absolutely.
20 CDC: You know, what’s your deal physically right now?
21 I/O: I was going to ask him myself, how’s your heel now?
22 CDC: Okay, sorry.
50
1 A. Well, now there’s--there was the scarring. And before
2 there was some--because they had to cut out such a huge hole, there 3 was some nerve--it came back really weird. So it had kind of weird-- 4 like marching, there’d be like a tight, kind of, a little bit of pain 5 and pull down there. But now, because of the neuropathy, I can’t 6 actually feel it.
7 Q. Right. It’s a different issue.
8 A. Yeah, a different issue.
9 Q. So you were, I mean, I guess back in--so the unit left in
10 early March, late February, early March, the unit started deploying. 11 You stayed back. You left in early May. Before you left, you were 12 fully recovered and cleared medically for deployment?
13 A. Yeah.
14 Q. Okay.
15 A. Yeah, I was.
16 Q. And you’re confident about that?
17 A. Yeah, no there wasn’t----
18 Q. They weren’t playing games trying to push you out?
19 A. No.
20 Q. And you weren’t playing games not revealing----
21 A. No.
22 Q. ----injury to them? I mean----
23 A. I was 100 percent.
51
1 Q. Everybody agreed, yeah.
2 A. I was 100 percent. It healed up. It closed up. I was, in
3 my spare time, I was rucking. And so, I had full mobility. I had 4 full strength. Like the entire time I was on crutches, I was still 5 walking to make sure that my muscles didn’t completely atrophy. So I
6 kept that up. So when I deployed I was--I had started running before
7 when I was still back in the states I started running. So when I 8 deployed I was 100 percent.
9 Q. Okay.
10 CDC: And now do you have a profile?
11 A. Yes, now I have a full profile.
12 CDC: A full profile. And just a word about your back. What’s
13 the deal with your back?
14 A. It’s just really painful in the lower down--in the muscles.
15 It’s not actually bone. But basically, what it was, was from the 16 last five years the position I spent the majority of the time in was 17 on the floor, sitting, cross-legged and basically having no support 18 except for those basic muscles really. So that’s what the problem is 19 there.
20 CDC: Do you take anything for it?
21 A. No. I’m not a pill person. I don’t like pills.
22 CDC: Have you been given a prescription?
52
1 A. No. They’ve offered it to me, but like I said, I’m not
2 one--if it’s pain that I can deal with, then I’m not going to start 3 taking pills that are going to give me side effects, or make me more 4 drowsy, or make me less alert, or anything like that. Same with my 5 feet. They want to give me----
6 CDC: Does your back ever lock up so that you are immobile?
7 A. Sometimes, yeah, like the muscles will.
8 CDC: Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Do you have muscle
9 spasms?
10 A. Yeah, sometimes.
11 CDC: You have to lie on the rack for a day, two days? How long
12 does it take to resolve?
13 A. Not a day. It would be like more of an amount of time.
14 Like when it locks up really bad it will take maybe half a day of 15 just making sure that I don’t go out of the way of straining it or 16 anything like that.
17 CDC: Got it.
18 A. Just letting it relax again.
19 CDC: Okay. Not to digress.
20 I/O: No. That’s important. Okay.
21 A. So that deploys me late. So I get over to Afghanistan.
22 Q. Anything significant about the time in Alaska when you were
23 on Rear-D. Just really frustrated, disappointed, eager?
53
1 A. Yeah. Like I said, at that point, you know, being a young
2 man, I’m not patient.
3 Q. Yeah, right.
4 A. This was my adventure. This was where I was. During NTC
5 there was those bad moments but it was like, “I’m getting these
6 weapon systems up on the trucks. I’m driving these trucks, you know, 7 LMTVs. I’m doing these things.” This was like, “I’m getting paid to 8 do this.”
9 Q. Sure, sure.
10 A. And then when I got into Afghanistan it was like, you know,
11 they put you into the MRAPs to drive into maintenance or whatever and 12 it was like this was, “I’m getting paid to do this.”
13 Q. Yeah, right.
14 A. You know, this is awesome. So there was that.
15 Q. So early May--we checked your records. I think it was
16 around the 9th of May or so you got a commercial flight to Kuwait and 17 then to Bagram and then Sharana.
18 A. Yeah, yeah.
19 Q. Around the 11th of May I think is when we think you got
20 there. Somewhere around there.
21 A. Yeah, around the 11th of May. Because we spent time in
22 Bagram before I got to Sharana.
23 Q. Typically.
54
1 A. To in-process the Army base, basically. Now I should--
2 there’s a detail I should go back to. Before, when my unit was 3 prepping to deploy, we did an equipment layout for the battalion 4 commander and sergeant major. They went and they did it by platoon. 5 So platoon, platoon, they’d do a walk through, you know, basically 6 looking at our immediate equipment. Basically our full body battle 7 rattle, all our equipment. Our racks, everything. So they look at 8 it, make sure that, you know, they wanted eyes on, to see everything. 9 And then after they did that, then they were going to give their 10 speech. Now, I know that Hollywood has done an amazing job at 11 bullshitting and delusioning [sic] the American people about war 12 movies and the video games have done an amazing job at making guys 13 feel like they’re these awesome, you know, supernatural or unnatural 14 killing machines or whatever. You know, that’s understood. That’s 15 kind of the American culture. That video game, movie, adventure, the 16 action movies of Hollywood, that’s what it does. It’s ironic that 17 the war movies that you watch, it focuses on these main characters 18 and these main characters, no matter what, never get killed. And 19 what happens is anyone who’s watching that will assimilate to that 20 main character and say, “Oh, that’s me.” So that they literally 21 trick themselves into thinking that that’s me and nothing’s going to 22 happen to me.
23 Q. Right.
55
1 A. The reality of the situation is that is not you and it is
2 not a Hollywood movie. And the real world’s rules are completely 3 different.
4 So here we are, we’re standing here, the sergeant major and
5 the lieutenant colonel are doing their talks. The sergeant major is 6 going to do his. He opens with, “I know you all joined because you 7 want to rape, pillage, and kill. That’s why I joined. However, you 8 need to think about COIN.” Now, what hit me about that immediately-- 9 this was the first time I had heard anything from the sergeant major. 10 Like, I saw him in NTC. He was going around pulling privates to go
11 clean things up. All right. But I never had any actual interaction
12 with him. So this was the first time I actually heard him talk about 13 anything, about what’s going on here. And when he said that,
14 immediately what popped into my mind was basically what you’re saying 15 is, “You joined because you want to be a rapist, a thief, and a
16 murderer.” Because that--to kill--you say, “Rape, pillage, and
17 kill,” that’s literally going back to Genghis Khan. Now, the issue 18 of Genghis Khan in Afghanistan is a completely different subject that 19 we’re not going to get into. But so it was like I was a little taken 20 aback by it because that’s not why I joined. I didn’t join to be a 21 rapist, murderer, and killer.
22 Q. Right.
56
1 A. All right. And at my time in Alaska, every weekend we had
2 to have briefs, safety briefs. Typical thing, right?
3 Q. Mm-hm.
4 A. What it always contained was, of course, alcohol. Fort
5 Richardson had a huge problem with drunk drivers. Apparently Alaska 6 had like the biggest drunk driver problem in the entire Army. And 7 then there was the drugs. But the one subject that was always there 8 was sexual assault and rape because it was prevalent in the--usually 9 it was the other MOS’s units when they mixed women in with men, 10 which, you know, it’s kind of a no-brainer.
11 Q. Right.
12 A. But it was just like hearing that going on in the unit was
13 to me, that’s--it was disgusting to know that that was literally 14 happening in the military. A military unit is not supposed to be 15 like the world out there.
16 Q. Right.
17 A. A military unit is supposed to be the team. It’s supposed
18 to be a unit. And the fact that these Soldiers that we’re supposed
19 to be relying on for support, they don’t even have the ethics not to 20 rape a woman or not to sexually assault a woman. And they’re in 21 their barracks which means they’re that team member.
22 Q. Right. Right.
57
1 A. So that hit on me and then when the sergeant major said,
2 you know, “The reason why I joined is to rape, pillage, and kill.” 3 That immediately settled into my mind, “Well, there’s the problem.” 4 If that’s the reason why people are joining the Army, then no wonder