Author's notes about these
Military Support Cigar Chronicles

While not necessarily beating the drum for the cigar industry, it is a reality that smoking cigars is one of the few pastimes permitted soldiers in Iraq. Under Coalition command policy - General Order #1 - troops are forbidden to consume alcoholic beverages, and, it goes without saying, illegal drug use is prohibited and thankfully minimal. Partially as a consequence, most all soldiers either smoke cigarettes or cigars or use smokeless tobacco products. Of the three I personally consider cigars the most benign.
        
There is camaraderie among military people - even when old-timers like me interact with the younger generation - that transcends age, race, sex, or time served. Cigar smoking in Iraq played a large part in renewing that spirit for me and in building bridges across generations.
        
So I'm offering for your enjoyment a few stories from my too-brief time spent with the soldiers and thereby hope to give you a brief glimpse into life with the military police in Baghdad and beyond.

— Gordon Cucullu

Smoking — Under Fire — Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

Anyone with experience around large organizations knows that on days when the boss needs information from the staff the situation can be chaotic. The military - with all its efficiencies - has perfected this technique. In my Pentagon days we sang a little ditty that went something like this:

"When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!"

My first week in Iraq was spend conducting high-level interviews with the commander and staff of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, or CPATT, located in the Green Zone on a site called Phoenix Base. Make no mistake; these are a great bunch of people - highly trained, motivated, and capable of performing daunting tasks. After all, they are tasked with the mission of expanding the Iraqi Police force exponentially - from a force strength level of approximately 50,000 currently to more than 400,000 by the end of 2008. This is something that would bring knee tremors to the staffs and CEOs of every major corporation in the world. Add to this the fact that they must operate in a Coalition environment dealing with a third world country with a shattered economy, in the middle of a combat zone, and you can see how stress levels would mount.

And they definitely do just that.

So on Thursday, when it was announced that there would be staff briefings scheduled for 1500 hours (3:00 pm) that afternoon, thinking back on my own Pentagon experience, recognized that the wise interviewer would terminate operations around 1400 hours (2:00 pm) in order to give the guys time to get their prep work completed. After about a half hour of playing with my notes I decided to step outside into the designated smoking area and enjoy a break with an afternoon cigar. So, notes and cigar in hand I stepped out, found a place at a picnic table under an umbrella, and went through my own prep: cutting, removing cellophane wrapper, and lighting up a stogie.

It was a decent Baghdad April afternoon. Bright sunshine, breezy - maybe a bit too, for the sand was up, with temperatures in the low 90s. Nearby, at tables under their own umbrellas were a handful of soldiers and an assortment of civilian workers smoking cigarettes. After about ten minutes, during which I continued to work on notes, we had a very rude interruption.

"Take cover! Take cover!" The canned voice and the claxton were sounding. "All personnel seek hardened shelter immediately!"

We were in the middle of an indirect fire (IDF) attack!

Faster than you can read this I reviewed my options. My battle-rattle (Dragon Skin interceptor body armor and Kevlar helmet) were inside, parked conveniently beside my sponsor, Colonel Rivers Johnson's desk. Can't get there from here quickly enough, I decided, and discarded that option.

Perhaps 20 meters away was a large, rectangular reinforced concrete shelter with the words "Duck and Cover" painted on them. That was my destination. I leapt up, grabbed notes, and cigar firmly in hand (there was plenty left, you understand), began to jog painfully (I have a gimpy right knee) toward the shelter. My smoking companions had a big lead on me but I kept going gamely as we heard a couple of rounds impact not far away.

About 20 seconds before I made the Duck and Cover a round that looked to be an 82 mm mortar, smacked into the gravel, impacting beside a building about 50 meters distant.

Yes, I decided, puffing on my cigar while leaning against the inside wall of the building, grinning with the others at relief from the danger, smoking can indeed be hazardous to one's health, especially during an IDF attack!

— Gordon Cucullu

The contents, images, and all features of this website. are copyright 2008-2009 by Gordon Cucullu, all rights reserved.
About this website + how to submit your articles • Contact information • How to help •Articles • Cigar Chronicles • Privacy statement •