Jane Cook - Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan

We have a duty to God our Creator to do what is right. If you believe in both the sovereignty and the providence of God, then he has you placed in positions and during times where you can see what that duty is. He opens your eyes so you can see what you need to do. It is one reason that I volunteered in the first place. It was very obvious to me that he had a very specific path for me to follow. My original reason for joining the guard was so that if I deploy I would be going with my hometown unit. I just didn’t know my hometown unit would be in Mississippi.

I started on the ground floor, setting up the unit’s medical section incorporating my experiences from Desert Storm and Kosovo. I helped develop their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The commander, Colonel Brad McNealy, was outstanding. He was very supportive and simply told me to take care of his troops. The men and women of the 185 thwere professional citizen-soldiers. It was a great team to be a part of. The 185 thAviation Group was a great unit that shared my sense of duty.

Please strengthen my sense of duty to fear you, keep your commandments, and fulfill the duties you have called me to fulfill.

Brig. General (ret) Paul Casinelli (MD) served as the command surgeon for Task Force 185 Aviation (a Mississippi National Guard Unit) in 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. At that time he was a colonel and the state surgeon for the Connecticut Army National Guard.

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

I flew over 190 combat hours during my deployment to Iraq. Besides the fact that flying is the fun part about being a flight surgeon, it is a requirement of the job. The physicals and sick call fill most days, but flying it’s what you love to do. It was exhilarating. Flying fifty feet above ground at 140 knots with the doors open was an experience of a lifetime and one very few people have the privilege of experiencing.

I did not, however, fly in combat for the fun. Being the flight surgeon I was one of the sets of the eyes and ears of the commander. My job is to see, feel, and report on the stress experienced by the crews. The only way that I can know that is to be familiar with the stresses they experiencing by flying with them. I have to be on the internal communications system (ICS) so I can hear them communicate. There are also duties associated with flying as crew. I am an extra set of eyes looking for the enemy. I am an integral part of the crew when I fly.

After a while when they get used to me being on the flight, they start talking to each other about certain things, but I understand they are not just talking about things to one another. They are communicating things to me because they know I’m listening. They might say the flying schedule is too grueling. Things they would not come to me and say. But they will know I’m listening. The chow hall doesn’t have a midnight ration. The way the flights are scheduled and the challenge scheduled we just missed supper. I can bring those things right to the commander. And that’s something he can do something about.

My friends would ask why I flew so much. I didn’t fly because it was fun. I flew because it was a part of my duty. War does not have workweeks and weekends. We push soldiers to the limit. We have to make sure that they are not driven to go too far. Taking care of our soldiers is a part of waging war. It is a part of good leadership.

Dear God, please help me to listen to others, discern their needs, identify how certain needs can be met, and then take decisive action to help meet those needs.

“A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength; for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.” (Proverbs 24:5–6)

Surface-to-air fire was a part of army aviation during the Iraq War. That was just another aspect of flying. There were times when small arms or rockets were used against us. A lot of the time the enemy was firing rockets blindly at the sound. I remember we were concerned early on about people shining headlights up at us.

I do remember one episode about six miles south of Baghdad. We were flying south. It was a flight of two CH-47 Chinooks. I was in the trail bird. In the back of the lead bird there appeared to be a column of smoke. We looked down and it looked like there was someone firing a roman candle at us from the ground. And then all of a sudden it dawned on us that it was anti-aircraft fire, and then the streaks of light began coming at us. We just had never seen anti-craft fire before. The pilot did something with a helicopter I didn’t know the helicopter could do, and we began to move away. At the same time he started yelling over the intercom system to return fire. The first Chinook began to put down fire as well and within a few seconds the anti-aircraft fire stopped. There were never too many dull moments.

War is not a safe environment, but to worry about the outcome of combat will only create an ineffective soldier. Whether by firefight or random indirect fire, life can end in a moment. If you thought about it too much you might wander at night whether you would wake up or not. The only way to be sane was to understand your faith is in the Lord and you would lie down in peace then whatever would happen would be his will. You had to accept that. And not so much that you had to accept it but that you needed to accept it with joy.

It was an aspect of duty. You will not add one second to your life doing anything differently. God is sovereign. Those of us who understood that then could more effectively perform our duties. It was an essential philosophy of Stonewall Jackson.

Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. Captain, that is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.

Speaking to Captain John D. Imboden (24 July 1861), as quoted in Stonewall Jackson as Military Commander (2000) by John Selby, 25.

Dear God, I know you already know the day I will die. May I live boldly and courageously, never shirking back when duty calls.

“Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.” (2 Samuel 10:12)

We all face death. It comes without warning for most. Life can be over in a second. What some would call a misstep or an accident can also be described as a circumstance that is under God’s complete control. We are truly frail creatures. We are built in a complex way, and we try to understand the process of life and death. The only way that I understand it is to see that we are walking miracles. From the time of conception until we die it’s a miracle of grace and mercy. The body is so complex a creation that only one thing going wrong inside will affect the whole system and put a person out of commission.

When something sudden happens, most of the world would say you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I would say that you are at the exact place at the right time and right place. That’s my understanding of God’s sovereignty. We’re so dependent upon the Lord’s good pleasure. Like the grass, we are here one day and gone the next. Ecclesiastes 1:2, “Everything is vanity.” The next second we could be gone, but you cannot dwell on that. If you do then you couldn’t live.