Reading The Pictures: America All Pumped Up In Korengal Valley

At first, I thought this photo of Spc. Taylor Jordan lifting weights in the Korengal Valley (which got exposure this week from the WSJ Photo Journal, a NYT slide show, etc.) was published out of irony (excuse the pun).

Because of the similarity in vantage, distance and even foreboding weather, I saw it as reminiscent of last month's TIME cover , only accentuating how much the Valley remains a barrier to us in spite of our muscle. Especially after the flawed U.S. bombing mission last Thursday, however, which hit the news the same day Obama was meeting with Karzai at the White House, the message of the image seems rather obvious.

Spc. Jordan, perched as he is at the edge of this mountain, stands for all the metal we're thrusting down now.

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(image: David Guttenfelder/A.P. via Wall Street Journal Photo Journal, May 8, 2009. caption: Spc. Taylor Jordan from the U.S. Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry, lifted weights in the rain at his platoon's base Camp Restrepo in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan Friday.)

Comments

[SILVANUS]

Weight clips, Spc. You're in enough danger as it is!

[huffpostuser77]

Meow. I don't know this is.. but take more pictures. Haha. I don't have time to read the article right now.

[wallythek]

Take a closer look...he appears to be sitting?

[AbeMartin]

I am very concerned about Specialist Taylor's weight lifting form. First, he should have a clamp or a hook securing the plates on the bar, to prevent the shifting seen on the left. Second, his hands are placed too close together. To do a military press he should have them even with his shoulders to avoid overly stressing his rotator cuffs.

This may seem a snide comment; it is not. The cost of training and equiping combat personnel is over $100,000 per person. After the country invests this much in a soldier, the least we can ask is that they demonstrate a little common sense--even when they are getting buff.

[Marnie1]

If we are fighting a serious war, why are the troops allowed to drag their toys around?

Our generals wear more jewelery than their wives, and our troops pack more trivial stuff than I do to go on vacation. No wonder our military can't beat a vastly inferior force..

[bmora]

They can carry whatever the heck they want. Who are you to deny their creature comforts when they are fighting, rightly or wrongly, on our behalf.

[futate01]

most war is a lot of sitting around and waiting to get shot. They need somethign to keep their minds of their reality. Why do you think the Romans keep building things everywhere they conquered? It was a way to keep their soldiers busy and focused. War can destroy a mans psyche if he thinks of the situation he is in too much.

[hoobit]

Get yourself a long, sturdy bar; get yourself a coupl'a equally heavy pieces of something(s) to put on either end of that long, sturdy bar; get yourself a couple'a 'stops' to put before and aft of those equally heavy pieces of something(s) on that long, sturdy bar, and, voila!, you've got yourself a piece of workout equipment. No need to make a purchase from Go1d's Gym or anywhere else. No need to "drag toys around."

I knew a man in AFG who made a strength-building piece from a discarded length of iron plumbing pipe, coffee cans filled (around centered pieces of pipe a tad wider than his 'bar' pipe) with iron chunks and cement , and strips of rubber gloves wrapped -fore and aft- around the bar to keep the heavy cans from slipping. He could fit up to 3 coffee cans on either end of the pipe - depending on how much weight he wanted to lift. I suspect Spc. Jordan's equipment was similarly put together from objects found in and around camp; hence the 'unorthodox-ness' of its appearance­...

[pahpah25]

lol.......­.....while 'our' guys are busy blogging/lifting weights, setting up their 'game' equipment, and other forms of amusement.­..........­the 'rebels' are busy perfecting their guerilla/war skills....­..

[Rule Of Law]

Looks like he may be doing power cleans into a press and they caught him in mid rep. Agree about the collars. As for working out, if you want fighters who can withstand the rigors of a place like that, then staying in shape is a very good idea. That said, BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!

[Lunchbreak]

Yep, my initial thought was power cleans. Still, not smart to do without clamps/collars.

[Kassandra]

Where's his spotter? If he keeps lifting like that, he's gonna tear something!

[Mongo1021]

In terms of using their rank correctly, it is clearly laid out in the AP Style book. There is no excuse for a working reporter to screw it up. In this case, the rank of specialist should be "Spc."
For military writing, all caps are appropriate, but for a civilian publication, it should be "Spc."
Sorry to be snarky this morning. I've had my rank screwed up too many times by reporters.

[Darthwave]

He better but a collar on that barbell. I seen a guy loose his load in the gym one day doing military presses.. umm not a pretty sight. Got to say way to go in staying in shape on the battlefield. It's hard to keep in shape eating those nasty MREs all the time.

[Palemoon]

Nice photograph, and thinks do look as bleak in Afghanistan as the weather does in the photo. Especially at the end of the article where the one guys says the nation is about ready to rise up against Karzai. That's the last thing we need to have happen, a civil war sprining up there.

And to compound the problem, and something I've not yet seen reported on HuffPo, but seems our forces are accused of using white phosphorous bombs during these airstrikes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5305508/US-denies-using-white-phosphorus-in-Afghan-strikes.html

And I hate to say it, but when one of our officers acknowledges that one side probably used WP in the battle, I'm not sure he'll be able to convince many that it was the poorly equipped Taleban who used all of the WP weapons on themselves. But you never know, the fog of war is called that for a reason.

[hoobit]

"Spl" is *not *an abbreviation for an E-4/Specialist in the US Army. The correct abbreviation of the rank is: SPC (all upper-case letters.)

We'd all do well by our men and women in uniform, I think, if we learned the ranks they earn while in service to our nation (and how to properly "read" the insignia of the rank and how to properly abbreviate said.) They work darned hard for the rank - the least *we* can do is learn how to read, write, and speak it correctly in recognition of their efforts. [/harumph]
http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/enlisted.html

[VoteforPedro]

How about a clue as to where thsi valley is? That should be in the opening paragraph.

[pahpah25]

the 'valley' is in W.VA......­.

[mados123]

Uhh, he needs to use a weight clip - the plates gonna fall off.

[kdogg]

lol probably is kinda a silly thing to think of first but I had the exact same thought. Those weights would probably hurt if they landed on your foot.

[Radarman]

Looks like he's at a forward location. The clips probably got shipped to a different location. Now that Obama has fired Haliburton and KBR things will get much better.

[doug108]

Only wussies use weight clips.

[AliMB]

The Korengal Valley is unforgiving; its one of the most difficult places to wage a fight because the terrain neutralizes a lot the military's advantages. The area is also infested with aggressive fighters.

Some of the best reporting I have read about the Valley comes from Sebastian Junger (in this case a contributing editor for Vanity Fair)

Read his accounts of a small Army outpost in the Korengal, pieces appropriately entitled the "Valley of D e a t h". The articles are also accompanied by some excellent photography from Tim Hetherington (he won an award for one image).

First Trip:

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/01/afghanistan200801

Second Trip:

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/10/afghanistan200810?currentPage=1

BTW, Specialist Taylor Jordan looks delicious from behind (sorry, the girl came out :P )

[CaptainStormfield]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/others/waziristan.html
Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times

You might try Asia Times too. Shazad lives there and travels to Afganistan a lot.

[philistine]

Good stories. Thanks for the links.

[bushbehindbars]

Yes, he's definitely sexy. So is my USMC Sgt GAY 23 yr old boyfriend. Who's been to Iraq multiple times, and is up for deployment to Afghanistan in the spring. Time to let our brave gay soldiers serve openly.

[seal62]

Nope...its not time yet.Not until the military showers go co -ed...or all ed.And i say this with your comment there...de­finitely sexy...tha­ts the point...i dont wanna be in the shower with another man that thinks im sexy..Its not gonna happen...w­hat if its a smoking Betty any salior is in the shower with...how does she feel?

[raptor]

Poor Spl. Taylor Jordan.