Cantigny First Division Oral Histories

Colonel Roy Bourne, a product of the ROTC at West Virginia University, was called to active service in Iraq by way of the National Guard. He speaks about some of the unique skills that soldiers in the National Guard have when compared with their active component brethren. Colonel Bourne points out that guardsmen have experience in community relations through their work with flooding and disaster relief missions. That community perspective is not a military science, it's the way that a community believes whether it's in southern West Virginia or Diyala province, Iraq. In his experience, Bourne says, the key to winning the people's hearts and minds is to meet their basic needs. The colonel relates the importance of working with local sheiks because it is impossible to accomplish anything without their support and also notes the difficulty of convincing them of the necessity of spending money on building things like schools to accommodate girls beyond roughly the third grade. Another skill set possessed by the National Guardsmen, according to Colonel Bourne, is being accustomed to do "so much with so little" and the ability to adapt quickly. He cites as example that when they couldn't procure armored Humvees, they adapted their M113s (armored personnel carriers) instead. Regarding being a part of the 1st Infantry Division, Colonel Bourne notes the esprit de corps; when you're with the Big Red One you are part of the division from minute one. Guard or active or reserve doesn't matter, you are part of the division, and that comes from the division commander all the way down. The colonel goes on to speak on the impact new technologies have had in the battlefield, such as the Blue Force Tracker global positioning system which allows the Tactical Operations Center to know where everything is on the battlefield without having to irritate the folks engaged to get their updates. Finally, Colonel Bourne talks about leadership skills and what goes into being a good leader.