Cate Folsom - Smoke the Donkey: A Marines Unlikely Friend

Lt. Gen. Robert R. Ruark, USMC

The first things a student of war learns is to never underestimate your opponent and plan for the unexpected. Too often we apply this axiom only to actual fighting. In the midst of a counterinsurgency campaign in al-Anbar Province, Iraq, from 2008 to 2009, I made that mistake, which is really what this book is all about.

As a brand-new brigadier general I was fully aware of the need to be careful of what you say to Marines, who can take an offhand comment seriously. However, I made a remark that became the impetus for not only the capture of Smoke but also, in some indirect way, his effect on the world, as Cate Folsom notes in her book.

When the I Marine Expeditionary Force ( MEF ) (Forward) of twenty-five thousand arrived in al-Anbar in January 2008, we viewed our predecessors success as having moved the football to the ten-yard line. Our job was to take it to the end zone. Ultimately, we wanted to return al-Anbar to the Iraqis. Our logistics mission was considerable. Our predecessors had established outposts at 147 locations across a province the size of North Carolina. These all had to be resupplied, and while the convoys were out, we still had to guard our primary bases.

Out of sight and out of mind: this was our guidance regarding the Iraqi populace from Maj. Gen. John Kelly, our I MEF (Forward) commander. We stayed off the roads during business hours, and our convoys often numbered five to ten per night for all 365 days of our tour. When the leading tribal sheiks asked General Kelly in early 2008 to begin removing several heavily guarded checkpoints between Ramadi, Fallujah, and Baghdad to promote commerce and trade, we put forth maximum efforts to clear the roads. Eventually, tactical vehicles became part of normal Iraqi traffic.

Make no mistake, al-Anbar was still dangerous, the main weapon of choice being the roadside improvised explosive device. Other threats included small, well-armed insurgents striking to inflict maximum casualties, suicide bombers at large gatherings, and the occasional rocket attacks. Our Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company handled hundreds of calls from I MEF to render safe bombs, rockets, arms caches, weapons, and so on. It was a more complex atmosphere than full-scale combat in many ways, certainly no time to become complacent.

In my capacity as the commanding general of First Marine Logistics Group my day began with an ops-intel update to cover the last nights events, upcoming combat operations, and the latest threat intelligence. After one ops-intel I showed Marine Col. John Folsom a video taken by our Taqaddum Base Defense Force of an Iraqi donkey that had strayed onto our airbase yet eluded capture by multiple Marines. The video was shot by cameras mounted nearly eighty feet high. It portrayed a donkey that wasnt particularly fast... it was just quicker than any Marine trying to snatch it. The video had been sped up and played to the Benny Hill theme song Yakety Sax, all of which got the roaring approval of the Operations Centers personnel. Had our hardened Base Defense Force really been unable to capture a stray animal?

My offhand comment that the video was funny and we should have our own donkey was something I truly underestimated in terms of its perception by Marines. In my attempt to inject a little humor, I misunderstood the long-term impact.

In reality it was John Folsoms interpretation that I underestimated. We had not met before his arrival at Taqaddum in summer 2008. But I instantly knew from meeting John, a reserve colonel, that he was serious minded and always up for a challenge. I just didnt imagine it would be this sort of challenge. The sheer amount of responsibility of being mayor of Taqaddum was burdensome enough, involving significant interaction with combat and combat support units, contractors, the Iraqi Army, animal control, a fire department, a base police force, a security force, and so on. Taking time to capture and host a wandering donkey, undersized by our U.S. standards, was unheard of... or so I thought.

John proved me wrong. While the capture of the donkey didnt necessarily surprise me, the aftermath did. Once Smoke was approved as a therapy animal, he gained an entirely new status. As the months passed, Smoke became a star attraction for all visitors, from the secretary of the Navy, to the commandant of the Marine Corps, to the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders, to professional golfers, wrestlers, and football and baseball players. Yet that was never anyones intent. It just happened and created a legend in the process.