In this month's Niagara Living tab of the Greater Niagara Newspapers they ran an article about how vets returning to the Niagara Frontier are coping with and adjusting to civilian life. One of the men profiled was Joel Frank, one of my classmates from the class of '93 at Roy-Hart. Here's the article's section about his tour:
Sometimes, it isn’t the war that can challenge the spirit of the soldier, it’s the war machine. Lockport native Joel Frank, who spent nearly eight years in the Army before officially separating Feb. 15, learned the hard way about the unrelenting inflexibility of the chain of command. He was a second lieutenant when he took command of his first unit, a 42-man rifle platoon newly returned from Iraq to be “reset” before redeployment.
“I would listen to feedback from my senior enlisted soldiers, and if they had a better way of doing something, we're going to do it that way. Some of my senior commanders appreciated that, others didn't.” One officer in particular was not impressed by Frank’s attempts to utilize advice from underlings.“He and I butted heads constantly,” Frank said.
In Iraq, Frank recalled, “I got sent packing to a very ungracious position,” pulled from his battalion and placed in charge of a brigade made up largely of soldiers with disciplinary issues or other problems. Their job was to track the movement of certain patrols through a quiet sector outside of Baghdad and guard an entry gate to Camp Victory. Frank essentially felt as if he had been placed in exile.“My purpose in life is not to go through and (tick) everyone off, but essentially I have to stand up for what I believed in or else I couldn't live with myself,” he said.
While Frank was struggling with his new assignment in Iraq, he missed the birth of his son in a difficult delivery that threatened his wife’s life. Upon his return to their little family, there were other issues that needed to be faced, including a wife who had been used to taking command at home.“I'm still adjusting,” he said. “Obviously, my wife isn't one of my men ... My wife had adapted and coped and had systems in place.”
Despite all the challenges, Frank feels at ready to deal with whatever lies ahead. “After dealing with people shooting at you and artillery coming in, it puts life in perspective and helped me reprioritize what was important, what I wanted to do. I came home and I reprioritized.” Regardless, Frank retains a sense of pride at having worn “the uniform.”“I don't regret my military time at all,” he said. “I expected my experience to be a little different, (but) I came home, I'm standing, I've got 10 fingers and 10 toes. It’s time to focus on me and my family.”
Sometimes, it isn’t the war that can challenge the spirit of the soldier, it’s the war machine. Lockport native Joel Frank, who spent nearly eight years in the Army before officially separating Feb. 15, learned the hard way about the unrelenting inflexibility of the chain of command. He was a second lieutenant when he took command of his first unit, a 42-man rifle platoon newly returned from Iraq to be “reset” before redeployment.
“I would listen to feedback from my senior enlisted soldiers, and if they had a better way of doing something, we're going to do it that way. Some of my senior commanders appreciated that, others didn't.” One officer in particular was not impressed by Frank’s attempts to utilize advice from underlings.“He and I butted heads constantly,” Frank said.
In Iraq, Frank recalled, “I got sent packing to a very ungracious position,” pulled from his battalion and placed in charge of a brigade made up largely of soldiers with disciplinary issues or other problems. Their job was to track the movement of certain patrols through a quiet sector outside of Baghdad and guard an entry gate to Camp Victory. Frank essentially felt as if he had been placed in exile.“My purpose in life is not to go through and (tick) everyone off, but essentially I have to stand up for what I believed in or else I couldn't live with myself,” he said.
While Frank was struggling with his new assignment in Iraq, he missed the birth of his son in a difficult delivery that threatened his wife’s life. Upon his return to their little family, there were other issues that needed to be faced, including a wife who had been used to taking command at home.“I'm still adjusting,” he said. “Obviously, my wife isn't one of my men ... My wife had adapted and coped and had systems in place.”
Despite all the challenges, Frank feels at ready to deal with whatever lies ahead. “After dealing with people shooting at you and artillery coming in, it puts life in perspective and helped me reprioritize what was important, what I wanted to do. I came home and I reprioritized.” Regardless, Frank retains a sense of pride at having worn “the uniform.”“I don't regret my military time at all,” he said. “I expected my experience to be a little different, (but) I came home, I'm standing, I've got 10 fingers and 10 toes. It’s time to focus on me and my family.”
To read the entire article, go here:
http://www.lockportjournal.com/niagaraliving/gnnniagaraliving_story_095141717.html?keyword=topstory
http://www.lockportjournal.com/niagaraliving/gnnniagaraliving_story_095141717.html?keyword=topstory
