A word from Major E.

Major E. writes:

I just wanted to check in from Baghdad. I am only here for a short while longer until heading back home, Lord willing, for the birth of our first child. Thus, I doubt there will be many updates since I am here for a short time and not expecting to go out on missions.
One interesting meeting occured, though, at a recent meeting with the leadership of the 3rd Infantry Division here on Camp Victory. When the army colonel who is chief of operations walked into the room, I thought that his appearance and speech resembled someone. After seeing “Honore” on his nametag, I wondered if he was related to the National Guard general from Lousiana. Sure enough, they are cousins, and the one here said of the one there, “I think Russ may be on his way to becoming governor of Louisiana.”
Afterwards, I thought about the likely competition for that position, and their post-hurricane job performances: a governor whose only plan, it seems, was to blame Bush; the mayor of New Orleans who let his bus fleet drown while letting legal concerns delay his call for a mandatory evacuation; and, the congressman who represents New Orleans, who commandered a five-ton truck and several soldiers to take him to his house while people still needed rescuing.
He tried to say he was only going to check on his constituents, but the tracks from the five-ton are still in his front lawn. I was hoping that the media would hammer him for abusing his power and preventing the military from saving lives, rather than saving his suitcases, but I just noted his party affiliation so understanding seems more likely than hammering.
Anyway, if the most likely contenders for the governorship are these, then maybe Russ will indeed run — and win.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support.
Major E.

UPDATE: Dennis Akers writes with a correction:

Love your blog and it is not often that I find something to disagree with or comment on, but Major E got it wrong on Lt.G. Honore. Lt.G. Honore is not in the Lousiana National Guard. He is an active duty general who commanded the 2d Infantry Division in Korea as a Major General when I was there and most recently received some notoriety for limited involvement in Guantanamo. He is indeed from Louisiana, known as the “Raging Cajun” and is a blunt, tough talking general who is almost God like to the many soldiers who have served under him.

And Lt. Col. Ray Stickler (USAF Reserve, ret.) writes:

Guys – Some additional information on LTG Honore (I retired form his staff at the end of July):
He is the Commander of 1st Army, Ft Gillem Georgia, which has two main responsibilities: training and mobilizing Army personnel for deployment, and providing Military Support to Civilian Agencies (MSCA). 1st Army is responsible for states east of the Mississippi, and 5th Army in Texas provides the same support for west of the Mississippi. Being that this hurricane hit along the Mississippi, I would say that 5th Army is in a support role to 1st Army.
For every disaster, either man-made or natural, there is a lead federal agency – in this case FEMA. If FEMA needs military support, they send their request to NORTHCOM, which sends the request to 1st Army. 1st Army will then see what supplies and units it has available, and task them to support the mission. These units and supplies are spread around the US, so you could have tents coming from New York, cots form Kentucky, MREs from North Carolina, and personnel from Minnesota. It is a monumental task to get these units and supplies mobilized and moved into the disaster area. If anyone can do it, the Ragin’ Cajun and his staff will. HUAH!