Geoff “Stolen Valor” Millard and his nightmares of powerpoint clicking…
Just imagine the horror that is Geoffs life…
It has been nearly four years sense my return from Iraq and yet some days I feel like I am still in the ROC at FOB Speicher. Last night was one of those nights…
I kept nervously shuffling through my pocket and playing with my Washington DC drivers license. I felt the smooth edges and ran my fingers across the face until it reached a corner whose own face has begun to peel. As I flicked the peeling facade of my ID with my finger I looked up and was bad in the ROC. I could hear MAJ M not the presenter. I strained to hear through the crackle of the radio, not the interpreter.
I hear ya Geoff. Waking up in a cold sweat, wondering if you clicked at the right time on that presentation…praying to God that the schematic diagram on slide #14 was right…reminiscing about the time that the general colonel Sanders Chuck-e-Cheese your make believe friend made a comment about Hadji’s driving…wondering when you’ll get investigated for the Stolen Valor Act…wondering why you don’t know the difference between “sense” and “since”…wondering what the hell “bad in the ROC” means….trying to figure out if you used “facade” correctly…. Christ, the humanity of it all, eh?
To morrow night these same Iraqis will have dinner at the IVAW DC house. Maybe then they will see that what I do now is with as much sorrow and regret as it is with love and solidarity.
Hey Iraqi guys, don’t drink the apple juice in the fridge, it is extract of man root if you know what I mean….
Category: Politics
I went to the link and read the whole thing. This guy is so over dramatic with his posting. It would be like me filming myself in Iraq with my arms up in the air reenacting the scene from The Shawshank Redemption when Tim Robbins escapes while yelling out: “Why, Lord? Why?!”
Come on TSO, take it easy on Geoff. It wasn’t all ice cream and lobster tails on Sunday, being a fobbit. Seriously, I too often think about my time as a fobbit at Camp Fallujah, although I tend to think more about all the great men and women of the Corps and National Guard I met. Especially the ones that were fighting the war and suffering real hardships. I did meet a few like Geoff that needed a vertical butt-stroke to clear their heads.
If anything, his writing ability is suspect. But I can’t get too bent out of shape about this guy since unlike some IVAW leaders, he did actually go to Iraq. While I wasn’t a fobbit, I don’t want to lord over someone else who was, because no matter what, this guy did spend a year away serving his country. And yes, he is being dramatic about pencil pushing, but I will say that he did earn his right to that to some degree.
And YatYas… It is ice cream everyday at Speicher. Lobster tails was on Wednesdays.
Let’s not forget that Millard is showing a falsified DD214 and that his story about racist troops changes whenever leadership changes. He’s pretty much spent any sympathy capital he might have earned by actually going to Iraq.
And after Matthis Chiroux claiming he has PTSD from listening to stories other people told him, who wants to hear that stuff from IVAW anymore?
Trust me, I have no problem with him being there. The only reason I go after him like this is when he got back he tried to re-invent himself as Super Joe, complete with his kung fu CIB….which he didn’t earn.
I don’t care if you washed dishes overseas, we needed what everyone did. But this asshole keeps trying to steal our honor by inventing his history and that is unsat.
And in A-stan, Lobster Tails and Steak were Friday I believe. Wonder if they were the same ones…
There’s nothing wrong with having been a fobbit. Trigger pullers may gripe about them, but you still need the administrative tail that comes with combat arms.
The problem is when you stop being honest with yourself about having been a fobbit and start exaggerating about having been something else.
It was baked beans and SOS every morning for breakfast.
I agree, nothing wrong with being who you were/are. Everyone has a job to do, and every job is important.
Lobster? Ice cream? What happened to “slumgolium” on powdered eggs and three-bean salad sandwiches the last two weeks of an underway because ya got extended? Or my particular favorite submarine meals, such as, “baboon’s ass”, “horsecock sandwiches”, “elephant scabs”, and of course, the ever-popular “cat turds”. Hell, eating the last one alone should have gotten me a Bronze Star on my last boat. Those guys could barely boil water…
Easy there AW1 Tim and NHSparky, somtimes we even ran out of Beck’s non-alcoholic beer at the DFACs. And every now in then those damn Muj would throw a damn rocket or mortar at meal time (luckily, their aim sucked most the time). Hopefully, the battery on Fallajuh had better aim returning fire.
Everybody has a job that needs to be done to accomplish the mission. The problem is that not everyone that joins to serve their country is a good person. Such as people like Geoff that lie about their service and about the service of others.
Speicher had a three-flavor Baskin Robbins right there in the DFAC complete with all sorts of toppings. The ice cream guy was right next to the sandwich guy 🙂 They also had the pizza station.
Thinking back on my last comment, eating so well actually makes me feel more guilty than anything else, especially in light of what others before me as well as earlier on during OIF/OEF. My thought is the food is good for morale, bad for APFT, but overall good for KBR who ran the show and forced the Army cooks to be door guards and check IDs.
I thought he never went to Iraq.
Guess what? The Army sent the same FOIA information back even though they had his DD214. His form 2-1 doesn’t mention any service in Iraq.
Are you guys being serious or exaggerating about the food (lobster, steak, etc) at the FOB DFACs?
A little of each Jesse. Yes, we had steak and shell fish on Fridays at Bagram when we were there. But…..the “lobster” tasted like no lobster I ever tasted. And I think you could dribble it on a basketball course. And the steaks were not good either. Not to blame the cooks (KBR) who tried to make very nice meals, but it is a long way from A-stan to Maine and Nebraska. After a while I kind of just got used to eating fruit.
So, either he is a ******** Fobbit or a gawddamm lier? There is a difference? Check out my blog for how I feel about fobbits: 20 Dec 2005 Concerning FOBbits. FOBbits are creatures who live in holes. These may either be physical, as in concrete bunkers, or mental, as in a total belief that every Iraqi is out to get them. Because of this second one, many of the FOBbits display DCSS, Delusional Combat Stress Syndrome. A FOB, of course, is a Forward Operating Base. They are what once called a firebase before that term got too politically incorrect. A FOBbit then, is one who’s entire existence is lived out in one of these politically correct firebases. (see Sea-Monkeys) Some will defend the FOBbit’s existence saying, “Without the support they provide we could not win the war.” This is entirely correct. I respect the poor little things whose only reason for getting up in the morning is to ensure I have bullets to blow the enemy away with. I respect them a hella lot more than some of my commanders. However, there is a problem sometimes with FOBbits. Sometimes they begin to believe that THEY are the sole reason for existence. They sometimes believe I support them, or worse yet, my guys are nothing more than a nuisance to their continued existence. These self-important slugs sit in their offices and e-mail out demands, work 9 to 5, can’t do anything without a signature in triplicate and generally frown when you wear muddy boots into their…clean little lives. BUT- for every one FOBbit whose ass graces a chair there is a Support Puke who goes out of their way to help those of us who wear muddy boots. Willy and Joe knew these guys and loved ‘em just like we do today. However, this article is concerning FOBbits…and so I’ll sweep out the good and retain the bad…for now. To help you understand our little group has come up with some criteria to help you spot a FOBbit: You may be a FOBbit if: (stolen, obviously, from an idea by Jeff… Read more »
Did anyone else do a mental checklist reading that?
TSO – Thanks. I had some pretty good chow in Kuwait, but I’d be surprised if I ate 20 meals in the DFAC while in Iraq. I knew the chow was good, but I didn’t think it was lobster and steak type.
Dutch – I have some more…
You have a combat patch and no CAB.
You get edgy around Iraqi soldiers.
You’ve put on your IBA and Kevlar just to take a picture.
You think $10 for a carton of Miamis is a great deal.
You’re accustomed to going places without a weapon.
“There sure are a lot of Soldiers named ‘APOS’ and ‘ONEG’ over here!”
The only Arabic you’ve ever heard was during your pre-deployment language training.
Millard is pathetic … I’m embarrassed for him.
I have to disagree with the no CAB and combat patch. Becuase we had a lot of people that did well over 100+ mission that never got a CAB. I would hardly call them fobbits. But we went in 08-09.
There were alot of logistics types who drove the roads every day and never got a thing, either. The heavy truck companies we worked with in 2005, driving north to get iraqi tanks for example. Those guys and girls were all national guard types and yet they did their duty every time without complaint.
A FOBbit never left the wire- for any reason.
A FOBbit hunted for a CAB…as if it proved something to someone—and not to themselves.
OK OK I rescind my “combat patch with no CAB” comment – it popped into my mind. You’ve made your point, and you’re right. When I was there if you were outside the wire long enough, it was only a matter of time before you got hit.
Thanks dutch508, after reading your post I’m going to refer to myself as a Support Pogue instead of Fobbit. As a trigger puller in Desert Storm, I worked hard to support the Marine and National Guard troops fighting the war. Plus, I had served with or led some of those Marines before retiring in 1999. Good point reference those doing convoy duties and other non-combat arms duties outside the wire. Late in 2005 or early 2006, the Corps finally authorized the CAR for Marines on convoys attacked as long as they had taken actions such as giving medical aid or returning fire.
Dutch,
You claim a fobbit is the only one who turns in illegal weapons. But weren’t you one of the ones joining in on slamming some of the IVAW combat veterans who were talking about how their units used illegal weapons as drop weapons? You can’t have it both ways.
“To morrow night these same Iraqis will have dinner at the IVAW DC house. Maybe then they will see that what I do now is with as much sorrow and regret as it is with love and solidarity.”
Apparently that meeting took place on a Thursday?
Man-love Thursdays!
Why does Geoff Millard have pictures taken of himself talking on the phone? http://www.ivaw.org/node/1636
Is he handling important business? Maybe AS or Jesse could help me out with an answer … ??
Millard is a tool.
Any feedback from peeps who deployed with him available??
[…] Hall* Gen David “Torpedo Tube” Weber Oliver “Wide Load” Karl Geoff “PowerPoint” Millard Matthis “I Oppressed Baskin Robbins at BAF” Chiroux Ward “Not a Ranger” […]
He lectures kids? That’s great….he definitely sounds like an ideal role model and someone people should be listening to…..
it’s funny how pissed you guys are at ‘fobbits’ and all in all, it looks as if you guys are all trying to prove something
if anyone should be looked down at; it’s the senior nco’s and field grade officers with no combat experience. you can’t blame somebody if they never got to go on a mission, at least they made it down range.
get off your high horses, i know plenty plenty of fellow grunts who have CIB’s and never saw actual combat. we have guys who got it in a CLP and they were truck 5, and truck 1 got hit… guys who deployed from 09-10 and got CIB’s and talk about how bad combat was
i give more props to the 88m’s and logistic guys who ran missions in 05-06 when I was there then my fellow infantryman coming back from iraq in 09, 10, 11
I believe the source of the ridicule for Millard et al is that merely deploying wasn’t enough for them. Take ol’ boy Millard for instance. He came home, donned a CIB that he never earned and is not reflected on his records. Millard then verbally “glorified” his service into what can be considered misrepresentation at best and outright lie at worst. This is where ribbing among servicemembers deviates. And I am a field grade officer with combat experience.
I bought the fobbit t-shirt from rangerup.com. I repaired chinooks and blackjawks at Salad/LSA Anaconda. I know I was a fobbit and wear the term with pride because I know the aircraft I and my unit fixed resupplied troops and saved lives. Always remember Red River 44
Dang auto spell fixer on my phone. Balad. Mortarittaville. U know where I mean dangit
Sporkmaster…….where at in 08-09?