Konrad Nied

@misc{niednd,
  title = {Konrad Nied},
  keywords = {1st Battalion 58th Infantry, Adirondack, New York, Afghanistan, AIT, ASVAB, Basic Training, Black Hawk Down, Civilian Life, CNN, Easton, Pennsylvania, Fort Benning, Georgia, Fort Detrick, Maryland, Fort Gordon, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Fraternity, Frederick, Full Metal Jacket, Infantry, Iraq, Landstuhl, Germany, Lehigh University, MEPS, Middle East, Northampton Community College, O Scope, PX, Ramstein, Recruiters, Satellite Communications, September 11th, Sexual Harassment, Signals, Stars & Stripes, Suicide Prevention, Tora Bora, United States Army, University of Delaware},
  abstract = {Angry over the events of September 11th, Nied enlisted in the United States Army and his job was to assess and monitor signal communications. He was stationed in Landstuhl, Germany and says that the real casualties of war are the men who served in the Infantry on the front lines. He isn’t sure if the war was worth it in the end but says that he misses the bonds of brotherhood he experienced as a soldier.Interviewee Unit/Title1st Battalion of the 58th InfantryYears Active2002-2010EnlistmentKonrad Nied was born in upstate New York in the Adirondack. When Nied was entering the 8th grade, his father lost his job with an engineering company. The family moved to Easton, Pennsylvania when his father secured a position with Lehigh University. He graduated from Easton Area Public High School in 2000 and regards his experiences as moving to Easton as being instrumental in teaching him how to deal with change and how to make new friends. This knowledge served him well in the military. High school was an enjoyable time for Nied and he enjoyed playing varsity tennis, watching football and focusing on academics. Upon graduation, Nied attended the University of Delaware and majored in business administration. His first semester was a rough one in which Nied focused more on partying and less on academics since he was undecided what he wanted to focus on while at school. After the firsts semester of college, he was put on academic probation. He went back to school in 2001 but continued to party more than attend to his schoolwork. Upon the completion of the semester, he went home. After much soul searching, he decided not to return to Delaware. Instead, he started taking classes at Northampton Community College to try and see what it was he was interested in pursuing as a career. There he did well with his studies. After September 11, 2001, Nied was unsettled and angry and it was then that the idea of joining the military first entered into his head. In January or February of 2002, a recruiter called Nied randomly. He slowly got sold on the idea and credits the recruiters for being good salesmen. The recruiters talked about the glamorous side of the job and didn’t talk about the drudgery. From January 2002-May 2002 he met with recruiters. Nied describes the recruiters as tricking him into signing. He originally thought he was going to pick out a job and didn’t realize he would be asked to sign papers on that day. He first took the ASVAB [a military test used to determine which jobs would be a good match for each person enlisting] and then was told to go to the Harrisburg MEPS [Military Entrance Processing Station] for processing. Nied thought that this was where he would pick out his job. He didn’t realize that he would be asked to do paperwork and he was never told what duration of service was required for each position. Upon arrival, he sat in a room and hoped to be placed in infantry, military intelligence or satellite communication. As all the other divisions had class start dates that didn’t work out for Nied, he was placed in satellite communications. In retrospect, he is glad this was his assignment because it kept him off the front lines. Part of him wishes he had experienced the front lines but another part is grateful he didn’t. After receiving his assignment, he was taken to another room and sworn in. He felt peer pressure to go through with it since all the superiors were in the room as well. His ship out date was marked for July 2002. September 11, 2001 had a profound impact on Nied. He remembers watching the events of that day unfold on his television. Nied found himself getting caught up in public sentiment and notes that every song on the radio for the months after seemed to be a call for arms. He was angry with the people who did it and attached much of the blame to the general Middle East as that was how the initial information was being presented. He was also angry with the government for not doing a better job protecting its people. When Nied enlisted, the Iraq War was underway and everyone knew that Afghanistan was next. He wasn’t thinking about getting shot but was focused on having an impact. In hindsight, there are factors he wishes he had considered before enlisting. Initially his parents were not sold on the idea of him joining the military. His father was never in the service but an uncle had been in the Merchant Marines in World War II. Nied asked the recruiters to come and speak to his parents that they did. It was Nied’s parents who convinced him not choose infantry or tankers.TrainingNied went to basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He describes the experience to be similar to that of a factory. The first stop is the reception area. Here new recruits get processed, immunized, have their pay set up and are given their uniforms. It is the “in between” stage that occurs before class opening. Nied remembers this period as being relatively calm and free from harassment. One week later, he was bused to his basic training unit. This was a more difficult experience since upon arrival there were drill sergeants yelling and having them do sit-ups and pushups. Things got gradually better as the recruits began to know what was expected of them that were to keep their head down and to help their platoon. It reminded him very much of the film Full Metal Jacket. Nied was with the 1st Battalion of the 58th Infantry. Each Battalion had four platoons. At Ft. Benning there were no women. Instead, female recruits were sent to Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. Basic training was an intense period. Nied arrived weighing approximately 165-170 pounds and left weighing 140 pounds. He remembers one incident where his body completely broke down. While working on the rifle range, he became ill with a 104-degree fever. He was taken to the infirmary where he was able to rest for three days. He spent the time taking cold showers to get his temperature down and watching the film Black Hawk Down. This occurred during week 5-6 of basic training that lasts for 8 weeks. Graduating from boot camp in August 2002, Nied was shipped to Ft. Gordon in Augusta, Georgia where he was set to learn about signal communication. He stayed there for about a year and likens it to being in high school. While at boot camp he felt treated like a kid, at Ft. Gordon he was able to have a few more privileges and felt he had graduated to being treated like a high school student. Upon arriving at Ft. Gordon, he was in Phase 4 [Phases 1-3 relate to time spent in boot camp], which is the first part of AIT [Advanced Individual Training]. During this period, Nied was not allowed to do anything extra. This changed when he entered Phase 5 [usually occurs around week 4] and was granted privileges such as watching television, going out to the PX and being allowed to sign out. From the end of September 2002 -March 2003 Nied was trained in satellite communication. During this period, he learned signals, theories and general electronics. While he did learn a bit about the equipment, each job would be different so time was spent more on learning troubleshooting since you didn’t always know what equipment would be available. He focused primarily on data and timing and learning how those two weave together. He also worked with using an O scope to look at data streams and to trace frequencies.DeploymentThe first unit he was sent to was a relay station in Germany. His job was to process signals from Iraq and Afghanistan and then to send the signals stateside. These signals concerned backups of nuclear information, missile warnings, and predator feeds. Nied then went to the 181st Signal in Landstuhl, Germany. The Iraq war had started and his classmates had been pulled out and fast tracked as a means of expediting the process and getting people in place quickly. There were tracks available to those studying Signals. One was “strategic” which were stationed at larger relay stations and the other was “tactical” which was a base in the field. You didn’t get a choice as to where you were sent. Of Nied’s group of 20, 18 were assigned to tactical. Nied was one of the 2 assigned to strategic. At the time he was disappointed, but he know regards this decision as a stroke of good luck. He describes his work as “normal shift work” in which he was able to live easily in Germany because at the time there were no security risks. While there were occasional demonstrations at the Ramstein airspace base, the community was largely supportive. After Nied left, there was more trouble in that area but it came from elements from other countries. Nied would interact with the people of Germany on a daily basis. His duty was to talk to the ground every eight hours. He says that there was a bit of a disconnect with the front line. He tells the story of being frustrated that a report was late and when he called to find out where it was, he was told there was a delay because the unit had been under mortar fire. For him, it crystallized the difference between his job and the jobs of people in the field. Nied’s main source of news was the Star \& Stripes in Germany and CNN. He had the necessary security clearances in order to use the Internet. He started with a Secret Security Clearance and then in his next job it was elevated to Top Secret clearance. While his first job involved end communications that involved sending signals on, his second job also included payLo control that involved telling users whether to raise or lower their settings. He spent the next live years in Germany. For the first two years he was in one unit and then he moved across the street to another unit that had more pull. He was asked where he wanted to go and he decided to stay in Germany. His initial contract was for six years. At year five, he decided to reenlist because he had no jobs or schools lined up. He also didn’t want to be called back down the line and have to come back in as a reservist. So he opted to fulfill the eight years that would get him out clean. He decided to go to Ft. Detrick, Maryland and he spent his remaining two years there.Coming HomeNied considered staying longer in the Army. They tried to sell him on being stationed in Hawaii that was tempting. Ultimately though, he wanted to have a chance to establish relationships. His sister was engaged and he wanted to be there for that and he also hoped to start his own family. Nied doesn’t believe being in the Army is conducive to starting a family. He decided to go back to school and is now attending Lehigh University. As far as he knows, nothing happened to members of his basic training unit. Normally, those in AIT are fine, although injuries do happen. He says it is the infantry guys who are the ones who look the most haunted. Where he lived in Germany was also a hospital base and so he would see soldiers who were burned or had lost limbs everyday. He still feels the same about September 11, 2001 in that it never should have happened. However, he feels that the handling of the war was not well done. He cites the Tora Bora botched invasion of Afghanistan. Nied sees the benefits of the war in a place like Iraq but wonders if the casualties are worth it. Nied says that his impressions of the Army are good. The Army definitely knows how to get things done and it operates like a well-oiled machine. But some things, such as gays in the military, are not handled as well. He says that you have every race, creed and religion represented with little to no problem. Most of that is due to explicit Standard Operation procedures as well as quarterly classes on issues such as suicide prevention and sexual harassment. Everything is so well documented that one only has to follow along to get the job done correctly. On the future of predators and war killing without human contact, Nied says that it will be a problem to a certain extent. But at least now someone is watching so that human element is still present even if you’re watching events unfold on a screen. The transition out of the Army dealt largely with how to find a job and less to do with dealing with the emotional side. His official last date was July 10th but the out process started on June 10th because he had a month saved up of leave. Being out of the military was exhilarating but weird because it was the first time he could break the rules since enlisting. He came to Lehigh University in the fall and in the spring Chi Phi recruited him. Part of his decision to join stemmed from the fact that the fraternity could only initiate during one weekend. Nied had experienced hazing in the Army and was in no hurry to repeat the process. Nied feels as though the American public doesn’t have a vested interest in the war. When he got to Frederick, Maryland, he was uncomfortable when people would see him in uniform and thank him for his service since he wasn’t in the field. He doesn’t bring up that he was in the military because since he didn’t’ deploy, it feels weird to him. The experience of being in the Army changed Nied’s life. Before he joined, he was aimless and pathetic. They broke down that person in basic training and made a better person. He is generally happy with his decision to join but wishes he knew then what he knows now. He misses the brotherhood he experienced especially in his last squad that he was able to handpick. It was a cohesive group that was a lot of fun and Nied feel as if the team aspect is overlooked a lot in civilian life. That is one reason why he joined the fraternity.},
  language = {English},
}