The Boston Marathon Bombings and "Michael's words"

Bob Delaney, author of COVERT

Former NBA referee Bob Delaney, a former New Jersey State trooper and undercover operative on a joint task force against organized crime, has some serious insight into crime fighting. Delaney worked on a landmark undercover case as a young trooper and his work resulted in one of the biggest mob busts in the history of the state of New Jersey.

Since that time, he retired from the force, then worked his way up from summer league official to NBA Pro Am to CBA to NBA to NBA Finals-level referee before retiring from the NBA after 25 years of service to the league as a respected official. 

Delaney currently works as "NBA Cares Ambassador" and he frequently visits with law enforcement officials and officers, military leaders and personnel and a host of other authorities to counsel and assist victims of Post Traumatic Stress in all walks of life.

These are his insights today: http://www.digitalsportsdesk.com/opinion.html

PTSI: Why is There Any Debate?

Surviving the Shadows,
A book by Bob Delaney

The powers that be will gather in our nation's Capitol to decide whether the word "disorder" or "injury" should be listed after the words Post Traumatic Stress  _ _ _ _ _ _.  I'm not sure why there is such a debate?

Here's the deal from a recent edition of the Washington Post:

Story by GREG JAFFE ws written on May 5, 2012:

It has been called shell shock, battle fatigue, soldier’s heart and, most recently, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Now, military officers and psychiatrists are embroiled in a heated debate over whether to change the name of a condition as old as combat.
The potential new moniker: post-traumatic stress injury.
Military officers and some psychiatrists say dropping the word “disorder” in favor of “injury” will reduce the stigma that stops troops from seeking treatment. “No 19-year-old kid wants to be told he’s got a disorder,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who until his retirement in February led the Army’s effort to reduce its record suicide rate.
On Monday, a working group of a dozen psychiatrists will hold a public hearing in Philadelphia to debate the name change. The issue is coming to a head because the American Psychiatric Association is updating its bible of mental illnesses, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, for the first time since 2000.
The relatively straightforward request, which originated with the U.S. Army, has raised new questions over the causes of PTSD, the best way to treat the condition and the barriers that prevent troops from getting help. The change also could have major financial implications for health insurers and federal disability claims.
Chiarelli took on the problems of PTSD and suicide after two tours in Iraq and pressed harder than any other officer to change the way service members view mental-health problems. His efforts, however, have not resulted in a reduction in suicides.
Dropping ‘disorder’PTSD refers to the intense and potentially crippling symptoms that some people experience after a traumatic event such as combat, a car accident or rape. To Chiarelli and the psychiatrists pressing for a change, the word “injury” suggests that people can heal with treatment. A disorder, meanwhile, implies that something is permanently wrong.
Chiarelli was the first to drop the word “disorder,” referring to the condition as PTS. The new name was adopted by officials at the highest levels of the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta. But PTS never caught on with the medical community because of concerns that insurers and government bureaucrats would not be willing to pay for a condition that wasn’t explicitly labeled a disease, disorder or injury.
Some psychiatrists suggested post-traumatic stress injury as an alternative, and Chiarelli heartily endorsed the idea.
The question for the working group of doctors debating the change is whether the nightmares, mood swings and flashbacks normally associated with PTSD are best described as an injury.
Those in favor of the new name maintain that PTSD is the only mental illness that must be caused by an outside force.
“There is a certain kind of shattering experience that changes the way our memory system works,” said Frank Ochberg, a professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University.
The intensity of the trauma, whether it is a rape, car crash or horrifying combat, is so overwhelming that it alters the physiology of the brain. In this sense, PTSD is more like a bullet wound or a broken leg than a typical mental disorder or disease. “One could have a clean bill of health prior to the trauma, and then afterward, there was a profound difference,” Ochberg wrote in a letter backing Chiarelli’s request for a change.
Psychiatrists who oppose the change argue that PTSD has more in common with bipolar or depressive disorder than a bullet wound.
“The concept of injury usually implies a discrete time period. At some point, the bleeding will stop. Sometimes the wound heals quickly, sometimes not,” said Matthew J. Friedman, executive director of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD. A disorder can stretch on for decades.
Although everyone is equally susceptible to a gunshot wound, not everyone exposed to trauma suffers from PTSD. Genetics, military training and even the cohesion in a soldier’s platoon all play a role in determining whether a combat experience results in PTSD or simply a bad memory, experts said.
“The word ‘disorder’ reflects the fact that some people are more vulnerable than others,” said John Oldham, president of the American Psychiatric Association.
Treatment for the malady often includes remembering the traumatic event under controlled conditions until it loses its power.
Origins of PTSDPTSD made its first appearance in the diagnostic manual’s third edition, which was published in 1980. The doctors who lobbied for its inclusion viewed it as a measure that would finally legitimize the pain and suffering of Vietnam War veterans.
Before the creation of the PTSD diagnosis, Vietnam War-era hawks saw troops suffering from such symptoms as weaker than their World War II-era colleagues. “The view was that they should just suffer in silence,” said Charles Figley, director of Tulane University’s Traumatology Institute. The antiwar doves often portrayed Vietnam War veterans as crazy, deranged and dangerous.
“PTSD was a validation that what the Vietnam veterans were reporting was true, and it connected them to other veterans in other wars and other people who had experienced trauma,” Figley said.
Political falloutThe name-change debate is also being influenced by bureaucratic politics. In 2008, the military considered awarding the Purple Heart to troops suffering from PTSD, but ultimately decided that brain science had not advanced far enough to prove that people were suffering from the condition.
A change to “injury” would make it easier to revise the award criteria, advocates of the name change say.
“To be injured in the service to your country is entirely honorable in the military culture,” said Jonathan Shay, a psychiatrist who specializes in treating the psychic wounds of war and has worked closely with the U.S. military. “To fall ill is not dishonorable, but it is unlucky.”
A shift to “injury” could make it harder for service members to collect permanent-disability payments for their condition from the government, some experts warned. “When you have an injury, you follow a treatment regimen and expect to get better,” Figley said. “This change is about medicine, but it is also about compensation. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Finally, the name change has unearthed other sensitive arguments about the best way to prevent PTSD in the military.
“The whole history of psychiatry is to change the names of conditions. If the problem doesn’t go away, we change the name,” said Bessel van der Kolk, a professor of psychiatry at Boston University. “It makes us feel momentarily better. But it doesn’t change anything.”
If the Army really wanted to protect soldiers, it would limit the number of tours that troops are permitted to do in Afghanistan, van der Kolk said. Medical studies have suggested that a soldier’s resilience is depleted with each battlefield tour. “As long as you have repeated deployments, you will have devastating effects on people,” he said.

The Covert trail to Ft. Hood, Texas

This story is in today's Ft. Hood Sentinel:

Nov. 5 was like an earthquake; its emotional aftershocks will be felt for days, months and years to come. But means exist to help Soldiers, their families and other members of the Fort Hood community to effectively reduce the impact of that terrible day on their lives.
That was the message delivered to hundreds of Soldiers and first responders who attended a post-traumatic-stress-disorder presentation made by former New Jersey state trooper and NBA referee Bob Delaney Dec. 10 at Palmer Theater.

The 13 people who died and those in the immediate area of the Soldier Readiness Processing Center Nov. 5 may have been at the epicenter of the emotional upheaval surrounding the shootings on post, but everyone in the Fort Hood community was impacted by and has a story to tell about it.

And telling their stories will help the community to heal, Delaney said.

“Your story is about where you were when it took place but everyone has a story that needs to be heard, feelings that need to be expressed,” part of a process that took him years to understand after he was diagnosed with PTSD following years of work as an undercover cop pretending to be a wise guy in order to infiltrate the New Jersey mob, Delaney said.

His first response was denial.

“PTSD? That only happens to Soldiers,” Delaney reasoned.

“We always think it happens to someone else,” he added.

Soldiers, law enforcement officials and fire fighters often fall on the same, double-edged sword.

“That uniform makes us believe we can leap tall buildings in a single bound. That’s both a blessing and a curse. We need strength to go forward as Soldiers, as cops or fireman, but need to tend to our emotional injuries, as well,” he said.

It was only after fellow state troopers confronted him about his irrational behavior that Delaney agreed to participate in the counseling that helped him to adjust to the emotional trauma of years of undercover work.

As a result, he believes people who have experienced trauma benefit from professional intervention and by sharing their experiences with people who have been traumatized in a similar manner.

“So cops need to talk to cops, firefighters to firefighters, Soldiers to Soldiers and combat wives need to talk to combat wives. You got to let the air out of your balloon,” he said.

Earlier in his presentation, Delaney compared the emotional pressures that build up inside of traumatized people to the air inside of an inflated balloon. How the pressure is released determines the balloon’s behavior and subsequent usefulness: if popped, the balloon is ruined; if released uncontrollably it darts about the room unpredictably; but, if released in a controlled manner, the balloon can be used again.

“It might make a horrible, screeching noise but, over time, I could let most of the air out and use the balloon again. That’s PTSD. That’s how you’re going to deal with it,” Delaney said.

He warned members of the audience not to believe their problems will resolve themselves or disappear with time.

Often, when he returned to court to testify against mobsters he had arrested and locked up years earlier, he re-experienced the guilt he felt initially as a result of turning in mobsters he had befriended.

“I’d be a year or two removed from a situation and then I’d go back into court and it would trigger the original feelings and memories,” he said.

His work with Soldiers and law enforcement officials in the United States, Canada and overseas reinforced conclusions he had drawn about how to cope with his own PTSD experience.

While in Mosul, Iraq, this past summer, Delaney said, a Soldier approached him after a book signing. He told Delaney that he had re-experienced the pain of an IED attack when a camera flash had gone off at the book signing.

“The trigger took place and it set off the same physiological response. Expect it,” Delaney told the crowd at Fort Hood.

“There’s no finish line, folks. At some point, three to five years from now, there will be triggers. When sirens sound on base triggers are set off; it’s a normal physiological response,” he said.

To adjust to life after PTSD, Delaney advised, “find something that gives you inner peace, whether it’s photography or something else. For me it was basketball.”

After leaving law enforcement, Delaney, who had played high school basketball, became a well-known NBA official.

He suggested people should not define themselves narrowly by vocation.

“So if you are only a Soldier, when you don’t Soldier anymore, you don’t exist,” he observed of that restrictive self-concept.

People also should remember they are also full-time dads, sisters, mothers, and brothers.

“Find a balance,” he suggested. “That is vital to the happiness that will be part of your life. It’s not easy to do; it takes work.”

Because Soldiers and first responders are givers, he added, “We don’t allow our families in sometimes. People who wear uniforms want to protect others and sometimes they forget themselves.”

Family members also experience the ripple effects of PTSD, Delaney said.

“When people are going through PTSD,” he said, “their families are going through ATSD (active traumatic stress disorder).”

To combat the giver syndrome, Delaney advised selfishness. When he was in Iraq, he said, about 60 percent of Soldiers asked for him to autograph a book for a friend or a relative.

“You have to be a little selfish. Get a little bit more concerned with what’s going on inside of you,” he advised.

###

Meetings Across the River

Tough day for the Blog. So many topics, so little time.

I thought about writing a list of some of my favorite things. The first day of October...It's always nice this time of year - Indian Summer - yeah, right? Today the thermometer read 39-degrees in the morning sun. Then, I thought I might write a list some of my favorite things and other thoughts. I'd conjure up images in your mind, like the taste of my favorite Colombo Peach or Nantucket Berries yogurt, a good cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, the morning papers awaiting on my New England doorstep, the prompt service at Honda Village service center to make a quick fix on the Honda Accord that we've named "Rajon Honda."

But, that's all trivial pursuit of a BLOG column on a busy day. Let's move onto more important topics, like:

1. Sports! Today is the first day of the regular season in the NHL. The hometown Bruins remind me of the 1979-80 NY Islanders. Back then, the Isles - best team in the league in '79 fell mightily in the playoffs to Lanny McDonald and the Leafs only to rebound in 1980 to take the first of four consecutive Stanley Cup titles. Go get 'em Lucic and the gang. My Isles will have to wait for a few years before they can even begin to compete. (The Nassau Coliseum being a blog topic for another day).

2. Music and Entertainment! The Boss - Bruce Springsteen - opened up the first of a gazillion shows at Giants Stadium in scenic East Rutherford, NJ. Springsteen and the E Street Band are sending off the stadium -- "my backyard," according to his Bossness, in grand form by performing full albums within their concerts. Last night, "Born to Run." But, looking ahead, you'll hear "Darkness, Born in the USA and another go 'round of "Born to Run."

Obviously, for most of us, "Born to Run" is among the most influential albums of our lives. I can only imagine what it was like to hear it played live. True Heaven.

I particularly like the song, "Meeting Across the River." Always have and always will be one of my favorites. I often wondered how it was placed on an album of pure 'kick ass' rock songs. I love its placement on the LP, and that is an art that is being lost in the world of CDs ITunes and music by demand. (Can you remember having to eye-ball the needle of the turn-table and place the needle right on the groove to catch your favorite song on the LP?)

Anyway, to finish the thought on "Meeting Across the River," the song took on new meaning for me as I got so heavily involved in the publicity and inner workings of "COVERT, My Years Infiltrating the Mob," which was a frequent topic of postings in the past. I always thought of "Mtg Ax the River" as the PERFECT opening song for COVERT, the movie and I will promise to see that through. (I will make this a full blog topic when the time is appropriate... but, Bruce, if you or Wayne are reading and listening... let's use the Oct 8th show to dedicate the song to a certain NJ State Trooper who risked his life for good and helped "put away" evil. All you need to do is change "Eddie" to "Bobby" and we're set!

Here was the set list from last night:

"Wrecking Ball"
"Seeds"
"Johnny 99"
"Atlantic City"
"Outlaw Pete"
"Hungry Heart"
"Working On a Dream"
"Thunder Road"
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-out"
"Night"
"Backstreets"
"Born To Run"
"She's the One"
"Meeting Across the River"
"Jungleland"
"Waitin' On a Sunny Day"
"The Promised Land"
"Into the Fire"
"Lonesome Day"
"The Rising"
"Badlands"
"No Surrender"
"Raise Your Hand"
"E Street Shuffle"
"Growin' Up"
"American Land"
"Dancing In the Dark"

"Hard Times"

"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"

And, here's a new song that the band debuted:

***

Then, there's POLITICS: Now, the hard part of today's blog which brings me back to the opening lead graph. John Edwards. Ahem.

For some reason, I truly believed that John Edwards was the best candidate for the presidency of the USA as the campaign began with a crowded list of democratic candidates which, of course, included Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Obviously, I was wrong and I've failed to write that in prior blogs - sort of ignoring the whole situation.

Well, no longer. I am going to clip a piece and then add a link to a story that makes a bad situation even worse. I will not offer my view on this, but I print it for a reason. I post it to let you know that I'm not afraid to say, "I was wrong." and I post it to allow you to conect the dots and make your own decision on how you will view John Edwards and his newfound legacy.

Here you go: click HERE

When John Edwards returned to North Carolina in the course of his long quest for the presidency, Andrew Young always met him at the airport in Edwards’s big black Chevy Tahoe. Young drove, and Edwards rode shotgun, silently raising his left hand whenever he wanted a Diet Coke, which Young would wordlessly supply.

When Edwards and his family arrived home, Young had made sure there was fresh milk in the fridge, a neatly trimmed lawn and neatly folded dry cleaning. When he arranged their vacation to Disney World in 2004, he naturally booked himself a ticket. And when Edwards’s mistress became pregnant, Young — at the cost of his reputation, his wife’s and his minister father’s — stepped forward to say the child was his.

Young sometimes described himself as Edwards’s “special assistant” and dreamed of serving in an Edwards White House. Other aides, with a combination of disgust — and, perhaps, a bit of envy — referred to him as Edwards’s “personal servant,” or worse, Edwards’s “butt boy.” The relationship was so intense, at least on Young’s side, that it generated friction between him and Elizabeth Edwards. But if Elizabeth and John Edwards sometimes seemed to feel that Young — at 40 no longer an eager kid, with three children of his own — had gotten too close, there was no getting rid of him. He had made himself indispensable.

“John was his idol — his hero — and probably who he considered his best friend and his mentor,” said Tim Toben, a former John Edwards supporter and friend of Young’s who now lives next door to Young on the rural west edge of Chapel Hill. “He thought that he had offered the ultimate sacrifice and was left on the curb.”

Young has fleetingly emerged from the wreckage of Edwards’s political career as a character from central casting. First he was the fall guy, and now he’s the sellout, peddling his story in a tell-all book. But the real story of Young is about the passions of politics and the classic political triangle of the candidate, his wife and the sometimes sycophantic aide. The consuming devotion that politicians command from a small handful of loyalists is familiar — and not just in presidential campaigns.

“Almost every politician has people like that around him who will do almost anything, sometimes to a fault,” said Gary Pearce, a consultant to Edwards’s 1998 Senate campaign.

Neither Elizabeth nor John Edwards responded to a request ­— relayed through a spokeswoman — for a comment on Young. Young also declined to comment, though he did, through a friend, pass on the names of several allies for a reporter to call. About a dozen former Edwards aides described his relationship with the Edwardses to POLITICO, most on the condition of anonymity to avoid getting dragged into the campaign’s tawdry aftermath.

When a Brig. General says you're a great American... you don't argue

"I told Bob, 'You are a great American' — it's so refreshing, because he relates to the soldiers so well, it's like a championship coach relating to his players," said Brig. Gen. Bob Brown, deputy commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division, speaking by phone from his base in Mosul.

"He just gets it. And the soldiers were mesmerized. They listened and they learned a ton."

On Friday, August 7, I had "one of those days."

It was a busy day. I had a full schedule of work and a writing assignment with a fast approaching deadline. The day before, August 6th obviously, I had a fascinating day, working with the Harlem Globetrotters PR team on a promotion for the Basketball Hall of Fame and - at about 7pm - I landed a late-breaking ticket to see Paul McCartney at Fenway.. Pretty good August 6th, wouldn't you say?

Then, along came Friday.

Up at six, catching up on a ton of work for my blue-chip clients. Juggling some favors (booking Al Vega for a gig at the House of Blues), while juggling some family visits (the Lyons/Martin gang all doing our best to get a few days together in Boston and -- hopefully -- the Cape this coming week.

Writing, writing and more writing. Some editing.

Then, at about 1pm, we held a conference call about COVERT and its future on the silver screen. Appledown Films and Scott-Burns Productions have been shifting "four on the floor" to lay the foundation for the motion picture adaptation of COVERT and things are progressing at "warp-speed" rate. (I choose not to elaborate too much in this area as it is not my place to 'break news' nor use my personal blog to delve deeply into the inner workings of a client's business).

But, to say the least, very positive vibes continue to surround the COVERT project. Just as fate lent a hand in introducing me to the project, it continued throughout the promotional tour for the hardcover and segued into the outreach for the new paperback version of the book. Lately, I've been shaking my head alot and even pinching myself now and then to be sure that I am not dreaming. COVERT's future continues on an uphill climb in ways that we only imagined in August of 2007.

I can say this: Throughout the entire project, I enjoyed bringing energy to the group - we call the COVERT team and I like to call "CAMP COVERT" The story is SO good, that it fuels some creative juices and ideas that flow like a river of dreams. Time and resources are the only limit, of course, as so many people involved with TEAM COVERT have other priorities in terms of work and family. COVERT, after its initial launch by Sterling Publishing/Union Square Press had a great run and the publisher has to move on to promote other titles. That's life. That's publishing.

However, the launch of the paperback together with the fact COVERT was optioned for a motion picture in early June, brought new life to the project and it brought some fresh faces and SERIOUS ENERGY. Judy Goldstein and Larry Spiegel of Appledown are the equal of a lifetime portion of the 5-hour energy drink. They are simply amazing. Let me count the ways:

1. Professional

2. Smart

3. No nonsense

4. Great Drama on the screen = good; Any Drama off the screen = not good

5. Open

6. Selfless

7. Fans of the game

8. Respectful of the game and its officiating staff as a whole

9. Respectful to people and the support groups of the folks they work alongside

10. Inclusive

11. Inspiring

12. Thorough

13. Entertaining and funny

14. The kind of people that you want to be around

15. People you enjoy working with and for

16. Honest and straight-forward

I could go on.

The work day clocke in from 6am to about 7:30pm and I took a break to do a 45-minute (easy) bike ride in Newton. Upon return, I had a few dozen messages and one stood out. Bob Delaney and Dave Scheiber had worked together on a news piece that was scheduled to appear in the St. Pete Times (Fla) on Sunday. The editors liked the story so much that they decided to run it 1-A and move it to the World section. They also decided to run it as a tease on Friday night to encourage people to go out and BUY the paper on Sunday. The story was that powerful.

The link came in and it fueled a flurry of calls, emails, forwarding of messages and an all-out social networking/communication blitz to help creat some buzz behind the artcile adn to get the story and its Tampa/St. Pete Times URL to places where it could make a global impact.

Mission accomplished: Read this message which came in overnight from a person working on the other side of the globe:

"Great article. We are so proud! We've been passing around the e-mail
and hard copy so everyone can read it! I've also forwarded it to the units we visited so they can enjoy the great article and the great shots. Just awesome! Thanks again for your visit - we sent all the notes from BG Brown to the NBA folks and the publisher.

That message came from someone who is helping the United States of America try to win a war against cowardly terrorists.

Please read THIS. http://www.tampabay.com/sports/article1025531.ece

The COVERT TRAIL... The Bob Delaney Story

Check this out:

Ramble On.... What It's All About

This from Ron Barr's Blog on Sports Byline site:

The Iraq war may be the “forgotten war” to some, but to the 130,000 U.S. servicemen and women still in Iraq, it’s stares them in the face every day. And, this time of the year it’s a double dose of blowing sand and 130-degree days. Multiply that by the thousands of family members and friends of those serving there, those killed or injured there, and Iraq should never be a forgotten war.


This will be my “fifth broadcast deployment” to Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Iraq has left me with bittersweet memories. My first time there was in 2005. The war and combat operations were roaring. We were in Mosul, north of Baghdad with the 125th Stryker Brigade out of Ft. Lewis in Washington. I was invited to bring Sports Byline USA to Iraq by then Colonel Bob Brown. He’s now a Brigadier General. Brown is a West Point grad and a former academy basketball player. His coach was now Hall of Fame and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. During a Sports Byline interview Coach K told me one of his former players was now a commanding officer in Iraq. I contacted our AFN (American Forces Network) contact and he ran down Colonel Brown and I had him as a guest on the show to talk about his playing days and life in Iraq. Sports Byline USA has been carried worldwide on AFN’s 500 stations in 177 countries for nearly 20 years. At the end of the interview Brown asked if I would bring the show to his men and women in Mosul. I said, “Yes.” And that’s how it all began.

That first “broadcast deployment” was one of trepidation, excitement and appreciation. Thanks to Colonel Brown, a great staff and all those who were helping us, we pulled off 3 days of live, flawless broadcasts. It was the first time anyone had ever broadcast a sports talk show from a war zone. One of the “sweet” memories for me is being able to let the soldiers co-host the show and talk with our big name sports guests like Phil Jackson, Bill Belichek, Jerry Rice, Coach K, etc. Sports are a great morale booster and after I returned home I was touched by many emails showing how important our visit was.

Mr. Barr,
I want to thank you for what you did by bringing your show to us. I will be able to tell my children what you did. You do not know how much we soldiers enjoyed what you brought to Mosul. I enjoyed having the opportunity to experience being on live radio. I never though I would get to talk guys like Mr. Ripken and Mr. Staubach. You made that possible. I wish you and “Sports Byline” the best. God bless.

Respectfully,
Edward B. Rojas
SSG, USA

Dear Mr. Barr:

My son, Dave Nieradka, had a chance to call me after being on your show today and was feeling real good to be allowed to be part of your interviews with such good people. I would like to thank you for giving him that opportunity. The only problem with the whole ordeal is he asks me “guess what happened to me today, Dad”…well, obviously he was still alive, but after what he and his guys have been through, I was only thinking ‘not good stuff’. However, after my heart rate came back to its’ normal level, it was a good visit and it was really great to hear him so pumped about something, which hasn’t been the norm during these last 11+ months.

Anyway, thanks again and be safe.

Tom (and Diane) Nieradka
Oregon

For me the broadcasts were surreal. On our first show, outside under a canopy, in 135-degree heat, the sounds of explosions and gunfire punctuated the air and could clearly be heard on the air. Our location was at one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces, but that didn’t shield us from the reality of the ongoing battles and war. Being one to capture the moment, and a play-by-play man who can call any action, at one point I stopped what I was saying on-air and started doing play-by-play to those sounds of war, “There comes another flurry of shots, here comes an Apache helicopter, there goes a rocket. Boom, the bad guys are gone.” In retrospect, I think it was an effort to defuse my anxiety. Also, it was my first taste of the reality of the Iraq war. This is serious stuff.

A “bitter” moment, but also a laughable one is my “combat injury.” I did nothing brave in suffering a broken leg. How many people can claim they broke their leg at Saddam Hussein’s palace swimming pool? I still laugh about it today. It was one of the few pools in all of Iraq and it was one of the few benefits for those soldiers who were headquartered at the Palace. It was our oasis in the desert. I didn’t trip. I didn’t slip. I stepped up on a low ledge bordering the pool as I was leaving to get ready to do my first show. When I stepped down, the dirt gave way and I heard a sickening crack as my ankle turned. It hurt like hell. I was treated well by the Army doctor who I talked out of a hard cast in exchange for a soft cast and crutches. I got rid of the crutches the next day and I “soldiered” through the rest of my broadcast deployment. There is a happy ending to this story. Before I left Mosul, Colonel Brown asked if I would join him for a surprise special ceremony. In front of the command staff, and others, I was awarded the first “Purple Fart” medal, for as it says on the plaque, “For grievous wounds incurred while negotiating challenging terrain in the vicinity of a large water obstacle.” You can laugh because I still do.

My Iraq broken leg is one of two injuries I’ve suffered in my trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m often asked why I go and why I’m willing to keep going. The answer is simple. After my last broadcast in my first trip to Iraq, a young soldier came up to me and said, “Thank you Mr. Barr. For three days this week you made me feel like I was back home.” That’s why I’m headed back to Iraq again, and I’m looking forward to it.

Hooking Up In New York

I've got everything packed and even though it was a tense two days tying up loose ends on our athlete guest list, I was ready to get aboard my United flight to New York. Being a pilot and a seasoned passenger, I try to anticipate trouble in order to lessen the aggravation of today's air travel. There were the typical security lines at SFO, but that aggravation was lessened by my running into Super Bowl winning coach Dick Vermiel. Vermiel is a man I've known for a number of years and have had on the show a number of times. The first thing we talked about was our mutual friend Bill Walsh, who passed away. Walsh and Vermiel were contemporaries and they had a deep friendship. In Walsh's early days as the head coach of the 49ers, he relied on Vermiel, who was the head coach at Philadelphia for strength and moral support. The story goes that Vermiel would often be late for Eagle team meetings because he was listening to Walsh on the phone air his doubts and concerns about the challenge he had taken on in rebuilding the hapless 49ers. Like others, when I told him where I was going, he shook his head and said be careful.

The flight to New York was unique for me in that the flight was 30 minutes early, I cleared the plane at JFK and got the terminal train and checked in for my Kuwait flight all within 20 minutes of landing. That has got to be a record for anyone.

Our team is meeting at JFK and flying out to Kuwait City. Another first for me is flying Kuwait Airlines. This will be an interesting experience. At the counter I ran into my trusty partner in my previous four "broadcasting deployments" to Iraq and/or Afghanistan, Jon Bullock. Like the American Express commercial says, "I never leave home without him." Tour director, producer, problem solver, mistake fixer and general great guy, JB is my Butch Cassidy. The other two members of our group is Tim Dwight, a 10-year NFL veteran and former wide receiver and kick returner with San Diego, the Patriots and the Raiders. This is Dwight's second troop visit, having gone to Afghanistan before. The rookie of our group is 22 year NBA referee Bob Delaney.

What a story Bob is. Twenty-two years refereeing the likes of Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and others. But, his life is made for Hollywood. Prior to becoming an NBA referee, he was a New Jersey State trooper who went undercover and infiltrated the mob. Sounds like a good book and indeed it is. Delaney recently published a book about his undercover experiences called, "Covert: My Years Infiltrating The Mob." What a story and I recommend the book. The undercover sting operation secretly transformed Delaney into a trucking company President and he took the name "Bobby Covert." You'd think the wise guys would have caught on quickly. Apparently they weren't wise enough. Delaney was under deep cover for three years. It took its took on him and he talks about that as well in the book. The bottom line is, Delaney and Project Alpha sent 30 mobsters to prison. Now here's the real kicker. On a conference call this week, Delaney told us he had just gotten back from New York and testifying against a mobster that he had sent to prison 25 years ago. Apparently the wise guy didn't wise up and broke the law again. Hearing this, we're all wondering about the wisdom of being with Delaney at JFK. However, Dwight and I have come up with a solution to guarantee our safety. We're going to wear shirts that say, "I'm not Bob Delaney, he is", with an arrow pointing in his direction. That should get us on our Kuwait flight safely. Hopefully Bob will too.

Time to head out and to see what awaits us on the 12-hour flight to Kuwait City, our jump off point for Iraq.

Next Stop, Kuwait

I was right, Kuwait Airlines was a experience. It's always unique when an American, especially a white one, goes from being in the majority to being in the minority. However, flying a foreign national carrier I figured the four of us might be the only Americans on the flight. I was right again. Actually I enjoyed it because it gave me insight into another culture and one all four of us were going to have to live in that culture for awhile. Middle Eastern women are beautiful, at the least the part you can see. They all wear head scarves and many on the flight were fully shrouded except for their eyes. Also, it's very clear that there is a definite separation between men and women in the Middle East. And, their roles are sharply defined. The women take care of the family and kids, in which there were more then I've ever seen on an airplane, and the men, well, they do whatever they want. In many cases, the men sat in business or coach class and the women and children were in coach. I had to wonder how so many families with so many kids were able to fly on such an expensive trip. That question was answered for me on one of my previous trips to Kuwait when I was told the government gives each family a large sum of money for each
child they have.

Let me now amplify on my statement that Kuwait Airlines was an experience. First, it gives you an appreciation for the fine job most of our U.S. carriers do. If you ever fly Kuwait Airlines make sure you have track shoes and sharp elbows. Unlike in the U.S. where they board a flight in an orderly fashion, usually the elderly and disabled followed by first and business class passengers and then coach passengers. No, at Kuwait Airlines they don't make an announcement that they're ready to board. They don't invite wheelchair and elderly passengers who need help to get on first. They don't board the first and business class passengers second. No, everyone kind of guesses it's time to board and rushes the boarding gate. It's a real rush. Those boarding gave no consideration to the wheelchair passengers, and women carrying children got no "why don't you go ahead first" from anyone. God help if anyone had fallen, everyone would have walked on
and over them.

My major disappointment with Kuwait Airlines is that since it's a flagship carrier of an oil rich country, and this flight was from a major U.S. city (New York), I would have thought they would put their best airplane on the route. Our Boeing 777 was old, worn and a number of things either didn't work or were broken. Ones first impression of the airline and to some degree the country was not a favorable one. However, there were some saving graces. First, the cabin crew worked hard and did the best they could with crying babies and passengers who seem not to understand that you don't walk up and down the aisle when we're taxiing to take off. The best thing about the flight is that we got in an hour ahead of schedule and that our flight which was almost exclusively Kuwait citizens made it easier for us to get our visas. In my previous 4 trips to Iraq and/or Afghanistan we had to come through Kuwait as well, but those flights were on United Airlines and Lufthansa and they had primarily Americans and Europeans onboard. So, when they landed at about the same time, there was a crush of all non-Kuwaitis to get a visa to get into the country. It usually took anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours to get your visa. This time it took just 20 minutes. After a 12-hour flight I'll take a shabby airplane over a United or Lufthansa flight anytime.

After we got our luggage and got harshly introduced to the blowing sand and 120 blast furnace heat, our escort and security folks brought us to the Arifjan Army base where we'd overnight before taking our C-130 into Iraq and Mosul. The 40-minute ride thru blowing sand and vast nothingness rekindled my memories of previous visits and the ongoing question of, "How in the hell does anyone live here." I doubt that I'll ever find an answer.

Tim Dwight and Bob Delaney had the same impression most people do when they get to the base. The young male and female soldiers makes it look like it's a college campus. I thought the same thing when I first came here and also when I got to Mosul the first time. The big difference of course is that these kids carry M-16s.

Our accomodations are nice here. It's a dorm like environment where VIPs, like us, have private rooms and the transiting military personnel, depending on their rank, either also have private rooms or are in big, multi-bed bunk rooms. The word got around fast and everyone was excited that some sports VIPs were on the base. No, it wasn't us they were excited about, it was the 6 Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders that were also staying overnight after going to visit the troops in Iraq.

But, we also got into an early meet and greet with the soldiers when they asked Bob Delaney, an NBA referee if he would referee a soldier game. Bob, who brought his referee's uniform and whistle said, "Yes." The players were excited that a real, big time NBA referee was going to work their game, and the referees that he would work with were excited to be working with a big time, NBA referee. All that went up in smoke when the woman who was the manager of the gym and sports recreation center didn't think an NBA referee should work the game because the teams were going to use NCAA rules and not NBA rules. Stupidity drives me nuts. Instead of having something positive for the players, referees and fans, some management fool who doesn't know whether a basketball is stuffed or blown-up decides that an NBA referee doesn't know what a foul is, an out of bounds call is or a jump ball is because they're using college rules. I'll never understand it.

Well, time to hit the road. Already our 10:30 am pick-up for our 12:30pm check-in and our 3 pm takeoff to Mosul has been changed to a noon pick-up for a 2 pm check-in and a 6 pm takeoff. I have a special place in my heart for pilots, so whenever they want to go we'll be ready to go with them. See you on the ground in Mosul.

Back to Mosul

Sunday was our travel day to Mosul, Iraq. Our car trip to the Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait made us wonder whether we'd even get out of Kuwait. Gusting wind and blowing sand made visibility and driving a potential demolition derby on the roads. During a blinding sand-out we came across the roadway littered with Coca-Cola cans that had blown off a trailer truck. There were hundreds of smashed cans littering the roadway and more were blowing off their pallets and exploding on the ground as they hit. We were under a Coke can attack. But Sam, our driver, successfully maneuvered us through the Coke minefield and we made it safely to the airbase.

As I've mentioned in the past, military air travel is a hurry up and wait affair. Schedules are tentative and you either go or don't go, or wait to go, or wait very long to go. All of us thought it would be a miracle if we got out with such harsh wind and sand and limited visibility. But, one of the unknown and under appreciated aspects of the Iraq war effort is the job the Air Force and Air National Guard crews are doing. They understand their assignment to get supplies and personnel to bases in Iraq and Afghanistan is essential. So, they make a Herculean effort to fulfill every mission no matter how bad the weather or conditions. Our C-130 crew was commanded by Capt. John Kojak. Think Telly Savalas and you have the right image of this air warrior. They were a Wyoming Air National Guard crew with one crew member from Tennessee. Also, traveling with us was an Air Force flight surgeon checking on the health an operational interactivity of the crew. As I've said before, the two wars are hard on personnel and equipment. It was nice to see the military is concerned and watchful. The C-130 is the military's workhorse. As a pilot, I have the highest admiration for the equipment. For more than 50 years it has been an irreplaceable aircraft that has been dependable and able to do things other Air Force plans can't. You don't survive as an Air Force plane unless you're unique and special and the C-30 is both. Capt. Kojack (what a great name) extended cockpit privileges to me. It wasn't long after takeoff and reaching our cruising altitude of 18,000 feet that the headset cockpit conversation turned to sports talk. Everyone had a favorite team and they asked me my opinion on them. The crew said they were glad to have us on board, but were disappointed we weren't the other sports celebrities another C-130 crew had the day before us. Of course that again was the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders. Damn we can't get away from them.

Our first stop on the way to Mosul was in Kirkuk to drop off 40 soldiers who were coming back from two weeks furlough at home. I couldn't help but think about the traumatic whipsaw this must play on the soldiers’ minds. For 6 months you're in combat conditions, then you head back home. You leave Iraq and in 24 hours you're thrust back into familiar, happy and comfortable surroundings. You can go to a restaurant, have a beer, see a movie, see your wife, girlfriend, boyfriend and love ones. It's a normal life, but one foreign to you for the last 6 months. There are no explosions to deal with and the only patrol you may go out on is to check out the hometown mall. Then just about the time maybe some normalcy is coming back into your life, you leave and in 24 hours you're in the back of a Wyoming National Guard C-130 headed back into war conditions in Iraq. While I've never heard any soldier complain in any of my trips to Iraq or Afghanistan, you have to believe it's hard, confusing and takes a lot of self-discipline to make that type of commitment. After we landed at Kirkuk and as I watched the soldiers deplane, I had a feeling of understanding of their commitment, but also a very deep appreciation for their having made it.

We were on the ground for less than 5 minutes. Engines were kept running, troops and equipment was unloaded. Speed and efficiency are important in Iraq. The engines are kept running in case the airfield comes under a mortar or rocket attack, that way the C-130 can takeoff immediately. Things seemed rather tranquil, but that can change quickly and when you least expect it. We were off for our short flight to our destination in Mosul.

Having been in the cockpit on my first visit to Mosul back in 2005, I wondered if anything had changed flying wise. In 2005, I remember we couldn't make our approach from the north, as the wind dictated we should have because that would bring us over the city and it was likely we'd take ground fire. Also, I remember the evasive, rock and roll, high altitude and then dive approach we had to use. Not much had changed five years later. We still couldn't make an over the city approach because of the threat of ground fire. We still had to use the rock and roll procedure. And the flight engineer and navigator still
looked for missiles and stood ready to deploy the missile defense system if it became necessary. Five years later and at least from the flying standpoint nothing had really changed. For me, it was a strange, deja vu feeling as we touched down. Our long day was close to coming to an end. As we deplaned, our C-130 crew shut down the engines and asked if we'd take pictures with them. Pictures taken, the crew jumped back aboard and headed home to Baladw for the end to a long day for them as well. As they took off, I thought "thank you."

There waiting to greet us was General Brown. It was good to see my friend, who started my "broadcast deployments" five years ago right here in Mosul. Bob Delany, Tim Dwight, J.B. and myself are ready to go.

Boots on the Ground in Mosul

After we had dinner at the DFAC (mess hall), General Brown gave us an unclassified briefing. The one thing that jumped out at me is something that few Americans understand. While the U.S. military initially was a combat force in liberating Iraq of Saddam Hussein, its role also was and still is helping build a functioning free government and social structure in Iraq. That means setting up a judicial and law system, as well as health and public social services. Yes, the U.S. military is still in a combat mode and fighting when needed or asked to by Iraqi forces, but the military is also helping get Iraqi citizens more electricity and clean drinking water; they are also helping to open and setup schools and hospitals and working to build economic strength thru micro-loans to small businesses. The media often reports primarily on the military's combat mission and casualties, but rarely reports on other worthwhile military efforts. It doesn't matter what your politics are, pro or con about the war, but one should at least understand the whole picture and effort.

Our long day left us looking forward to getting some sleep. However, a reminder of where we were and the dangers that surround us was enforced strongly by a late night explosion near us and another even bigger one early in the morning. Later in the morning we found out that 10 Iraqi soldiers in a convoy were killed at the entrance to our base by an improvised explosive device (IED). It refocuses you and makes you remember to be smart and alert to what's happening around you.

I've mentioned this before, but I've become acutely aware of it again, I can't eat three meals a day here, or at least I have to moderate what I eat at each meal. Our troops are fed quite well. Gone are the days of military cooks and KP duty. Now, food services are doled out to companies and just about every type of food is available to the troops. When we arrived on Sunday night I had lobster and crab legs, a salad, a milk shake and steamed greens. You can even get a cappuccino if you want.

Monday dawned warm, but certainly nothing like the searing heat of Kuwait. I can handle 90 degrees in the morning. It was also windy and there was a haze from the blowing sand. We were alerted to the fact that we might be limited in some of our visits to FOBs (forward operating bases) because of the weather. The helicopters that would ferry us around to the FOBs weren't able to fly. One trip General Brown wanted to take on was to Erbil. Erbil is in Kurdistan. Kurdistan is an interesting part of the Iraq puzzle. You don't hear much about Kurdistan and under Saddam Hussein the Kurds were treated harshly. Kurdistan is a semi-autonomist region in northern Iraq and after losing the first war back in the early 90's to the U.S., he unleashed his fury against the independent minded Kurds by gassing and murdering thousands of them. For the Kurdish people, those atrocities are seared in their memories, and the tragedies fuel their desire to be secure and independent. It's an interesting tight wire they walk. They're a part of Iraq and are ultimately under Baghdad's control, but as I said they are autonomist and have an independent regional government.

General Brown, his staff and a small security detail took us to Erbil by helicopter. It was the most impressive thing I've seen or done in any of my visits. J.B., Tim, Bob and myself all came away impressed with what we saw and experienced. We quickly found out that Kurdistan and Erbil is nothing like the rest of Iraq. It's modernizing while retaining its historical charm. It's green and clean. The Erbil International Airport is as modern and up to date as any you'll find in any world modern country. The surprises we got began when we landed at the Erbil International Airport. We were met by one of the top generals in the Kurdish military. From that moment one we had a military escort that took good care of us. The Kurds are proud of their record that not one American military personnel has been either injured or killed in Kurdish territory. It was also apparent to me that the Kurdish military is more disciplined, better trained and more prepared than the Iraqi Army. I've heard some interesting war stories about the Iraqi military since I've been here. All of this comes about because the historical memory the Kurds have of the harsh treatment by Hussein, their love for Americans and even deeper appreciation for their help and protection after the first war and also a strong self image and desire to become a modern, successful and peaceful part of the world.

I'll have more on this unforgettable and impressive day in my next blog.

On the Covert Trail... Next Stop? Kuwait, Iraq and Germany

(Photo of Ron Barr; Courtesy Sports Byline.com)

From Ron Barr's Blog:

I was right, Kuwait Airlines was a experience. It’s always unique when an American, especially a white one, goes from being in the majority to being in the minority. However, flying a foreign national carrier I figured the four of us might be the only Americans on the flight. I was right again. Actually I enjoyed it because it gave me insight into another culture and one all four of us were going to have to live in that culture for awhile. Middle Eastern women are beautiful, at the least the part you can see. They all wear head scarves and many on the flight were fully shrouded except for their eyes. Also, it’s very clear that there is a definite separation between men and women in the Middle East. And, their roles are sharply defined. The women take care of the family and kids, in which there were more then I’ve ever seen on an airplane, and the men, well, they do whatever they want. In many cases, the men sat in business or coach class and the women and children were in coach. I had to wonder how so many families with so many kids were able to fly on such an expensive trip. That question was answered for me on one of my previous trips to Kuwait when I was told the government gives each family a large sum of money for each
child they have.

Let me now amplify on my statement that Kuwait Airlines was an experience. First, it gives you an appreciation for the fine job most of our U.S. carriers do. If you ever fly Kuwait Airlines make sure you have track shoes and sharp elbows. Unlike in the U.S. where they board a flight in an orderly fashion, usually the elderly and disabled followed by first and business class passengers and then coach passengers. No, at Kuwait Airlines they don’t make an announcement that they’re ready to board. They don’t invite wheelchair and elderly passengers who need help to get on first. They don’t board the first and business class passengers second. No, everyone kind of guesses it’s time to board and rushes the boarding gate. It’s a real rush. Those boarding gave no consideration to the wheelchair passengers, and women carrying children got no “why don’t you go ahead first” from anyone. God help if anyone had fallen, everyone would have walked on and over them.

My major disappointment with Kuwait Airlines is that since it’s a flagship carrier of an oil rich country, and this flight was from a major U.S. city (New York), I would have thought they would put their best airplane on the route. Our Boeing 777 was old, worn and a number of things either didn’t work or were broken. Ones first impression of the airline and to some degree the country was not a favorable one. However, there were some saving graces. First, the cabin crew worked hard and did the best they could with crying babies and passengers who seem not to understand that you don’t walk up and down the aisle when we’re taxiing to take off. The best thing about the flight is that we got in an hour ahead of schedule and that our flight which was almost exclusively Kuwait citizens made it easier for us to get our visas. In my previous 4 trips to Iraq and/or Afghanistan we had to come through Kuwait as well, but those flights were on United Airlines and Lufthansa and they had primarily Americans and Europeans onboard. So, when they landed at about the same time, there was a crush of all non-Kuwaitis to get a visa to get into the country. It usually took anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours to get your visa. This time it took just 20 minutes. After a 12-hour flight I’ll take a shabby airplane over a United or Lufthansa flight anytime.

After we got our luggage and got harshly introduced to the blowing sand and 120 blast furnace heat, our escort and security folks brought us to the Arifjan Army base where we’d overnight before taking our C-130 into Iraq and Mosul. The 40-minute ride thru blowing sand and vast nothingness rekindled my memories of previous visits and the ongoing question of, “How in the hell does anyone live here.” I doubt that I’ll ever find an answer.

Tim Dwight and Bob Delaney had the same impression most people do when they get to the base. The young male and female soldiers makes it look like it’s a college campus. I thought the same thing when I first came here and also when I got to Mosul the first time. The big difference of course is that these kids carry M-16s.

Our accommodations are nice here. It’s a dorm like environment where VIPs, like us, have private rooms and the transiting military personnel, depending on their rank, either also have private rooms or are in big, multi-bed bunk rooms. The word got around fast and everyone was excited that some sports VIPs were on the base. No, it wasn’t us they were excited about, it was the 6 Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders that were also staying overnight after going to visit the troops in Iraq.

But, we also got into an early meet and greet with the soldiers when they asked Bob Delaney, an NBA referee if he would referee a soldier game. Bob, who brought his referee’s uniform and whistle said, “Yes.” The players were excited that a real, big time NBA referee was going to work their game, and the referees that he would work with were excited to be working with a big time, NBA referee. All that went up in smoke when the woman who was the manager of the gym and sports recreation center didn’t think an NBA referee should work the game because the teams were going to use NCAA rules and not NBA rules. Stupidity drives me nuts. Instead of having something positive for the players, referees and fans, some management fool who doesn’t know whether a basketball is stuffed or blown-up decides that an NBA referee doesn’t know what a foul is, an out of bounds call is or a jump ball is because they’re using college rules. I’ll never understand it.

Well, time to hit the road. Already our 10:30 am pick-up for our 12:30pm check-in and our 3 pm takeoff to Mosul has been changed to a noon pick-up for a 2 pm check-in and a 6 pm takeoff. I have a special place in my heart for pilots, so whenever they want to go we’ll be ready to go with them. See you on the ground in Mosul.

First Story:

I’ve got everything packed and even though it was a tense two days tying up loose ends on our athlete guest list, I was ready to get aboard my United flight to New York. Being a pilot and a seasoned passenger, I try to anticipate trouble in order to lessen the aggravation of today’s air travel. There were the typical security lines at SFO, but that aggravation was lessened by my running into Super Bowl winning coach Dick Vermiel. Vermiel is a man I’ve known for a number of years and have had on the show a number of times. The first thing we talked about was our mutual friend Bill Walsh, who passed away. Walsh and Vermiel were contemporaries and they had a deep friendship. In Walsh’s early days as the head coach of the 49ers, he relied on Vermiel, who was the head coach at Philadelphia for strength and moral support. The story goes that Vermiel would often be late for Eagle team meetings because he was listening to Walsh on the phone air his doubts and concerns about the challenge he had taken on in rebuilding the hapless 49ers. Like others, when I told him where I was going, he shook his head and said be careful.

The flight to New York was unique for me in that the flight was 30 minutes early, I cleared the plane at JFK and got the terminal train and checked in for my Kuwait flight all within 20 minutes of landing. That has got to be a record for anyone.

Our team is meeting at JFK and flying out to Kuwait City. Another first for me is flying Kuwait Airlines. This will be an interesting experience. At the counter I ran into my trusty partner in my previous four “broadcasting deployments” to Iraq and/or Afghanistan, Jon Bullock. Like the American Express commercial says, “I never leave home without him.” Tour director, producer, problem solver, mistake fixer and general great guy, JB is my Butch Cassidy. The other two members of our group is Tim Dwight, a 10-year NFL veteran and former wide receiver and kick returner with San Diego, the Patriots and the Raiders. This is Dwight’s second troop visit, having gone to Afghanistan before. The rookie of our group is 22 year NBA referee Bob Delaney.

What a story Bob is. Twenty-two years refereeing the likes of Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and others. But, his life is made for Hollywood. Prior to becoming an NBA referee, he was a New Jersey State trooper who went undercover and infiltrated the mob. Sounds like a good book and indeed it is. Delaney recently published a book about his undercover experiences called, “Covert: My Years Infiltrating The Mob.” What a story and I recommend the book. The undercover sting operation secretly transformed Delaney into a trucking company President and he took the name “Bobby Covert.” You’d think the wise guys would have caught on quickly. Apparently they weren’t wise enough. Delaney was under deep cover for three years. It took its toll on him and he talks about that as well in the book. The bottom line is, Delaney and Project Alpha sent 30 mobsters to prison. Now here’s the real kicker. On a conference call this week, Delaney told us he had just gotten back from New York and testifying against a mobster that he had sent to prison 25 years ago. Apparently the wise guy didn’t wise up and broke the law again. Hearing this, we’re all wondering about the wisdom of being with Delaney at JFK. However, Dwight and I have come up with a solution to guarantee our safety. We’re going to wear shirts that say, “I’m not Bob Delaney, he is”, with an arrow pointing in his direction. That should get us on our Kuwait flight safely. Hopefully Bob will too.

Time to head out and to see what awaits us on the 12-hour flight to Kuwait City, our jump off point for Iraq.

And, Another TREMENDOUS article on COVERT!

This piece ran in today's Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. It's the most in-depth look at
Covert since Dave Scheiber and Jackie Mac did their award winning articles back
in 2006, 2007....

NBA referee recounts his days infiltrating the mob

By JAN HUBBARD
jhubbard@star-telegram.com

If there is an old saying that elicits a small giggle and big sigh of relief from Bob Delaney — even now, 30 years since his days with the New Jersey mob — it is that "appearances can be deceiving."

Delaney is alive because for him, that saying is truth.

The veteran NBA referee spent his formative years as an undercover police officer infiltrating the mob in New Jersey. He started off looking as raggedy as Bill Belichick with pullovers, jeans and a beard, but graduated to a semi-Pat Riley look with a Fu Manchu, three-piece European suits and a Lincoln Mark V.

He appeared to be a wise guy. His life depended on it.

He told his full story in the book Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob, which was co-written by Dave Scheiber and was released last year. The paperback version was recently released and Delaney has also agreed to a deal for the movie version of the story. It will be directed by Ron Shelton, who has also directed Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump and Tin Cup.

NBA players are familiar with and obviously fascinated by Delaney’s adventures, and it’s not uncommon for the two worlds to meet in unlikely places.

During a regular-season game a few years ago in Los Angeles, Delaney called a foul on Kobe Bryant and went to the side of the court.

Bryant followed and it looked as if he was complaining about the call. The play-by-play announcer described the confrontation by saying: "Delaney is getting an earful from Kobe on that call."

Appearances can be deceiving.

Actually, Bryant’s "earful" consisted of this:

"Man, what was it like to wear a wire?" Bryant said. "That had to be wild."

Delaney answered only with a smile.

Funny business

There were few funny moments for Delaney from April 1975 to September 1977 while he was part of "Project Alpha," the code name for the operation that focused on organized crime’s infiltration into legitimate businesses on the New Jersey waterfront.

The mob engaged in extortion, the trafficking of stolen goods, narcotics, and bookmaking. To get the evidence on the perpetrators, Delaney, who was only 23 at the time, had to wear a wire that went up both sides of his body and connected to a tape recorder that he wore in a jock strap.

Nothing funny about that.

But there were some odd, lighter moments. At an Italian restaurant one day, one of the mobsters gave a busboy what looked like two dozen quarters and told him to play the same song on the jukebox. It was the theme from The Godfather, which was released in 1972 and followed by Godfather II in 1974.

Turns out, the wise guys adored the movie.

"I love that song," one of them said. "I can never hear it too much."

One of the key meeting places was a bar called the Sting Lounge.

But undoubtedly the strangest and funniest aspect of the operation was Delaney’s undercover name: Bobby Covert.

Delaney’s superiors wanted to find a name of a deceased person who was about the same age as Delaney but also who had the same first name. There would be enough stress in the operation, so the idea was to make it easy for Delaney by having him answer to his real first name. A near match with Delaney’s birth date was found at the Bureau of Vital Statistics. The name was Robert Alan Covert.

At the time, the term "covert" was not law enforcement jargon. Undercover operators were "narcs" or "street agents." So no one — Delaney, his superiors or the mobsters — gave the name a second thought.

"It wasn’t even a blip on the radar screen," Delaney said. "Thirty years later, it’s amazing. I’ve had people come up to me and say, 'Why didn’t you just call yourself Johnny Undercover?"

Doing some good

When Terry Lyons agreed to handle public relations for Delaney’s book, the first question he asked was: "What do you want from this book?"

"He said he wanted something that probably wasn’t possible to get," said Lyons, who worked in the NBA PR department for 26 years before leaving in 2007. "He said he hoped somebody from Pat Kelly’s family would contact him so he could let them know that Pat wasn’t a bad guy."

Patrick John Kelly was the key figure in infiltrating the mafia. A confidant of the DiNorscio family and with contacts in the Bruno and Genovese families, Kelly was approached by federal and state agents and told he could either cooperate with authorities or go to jail.

Kelly was an engaging, charismatic schemer and ultimately he decided to turn on the mob. Along with Delaney, he began wearing a wire and taping conversations that ultimately led to more than 50 arrests in New Jersey, and also provided leads on investigations throughout the country.

Delaney ended up testifying before a Senate committee in 1981, and Kelly and his family were relocated.

In 1999, Delaney found out where Kelly had been moved when Kelly shouted at Delaney before a Suns game in Phoenix. It was an eerie meeting that was powerfully described in the first few pages of the book. The two met several times for drinks and conversation when Delaney was working games in Phoenix.

Although the two had their flare-ups while working undercover, Delaney liked Kelly and thought he was, overall, a good guy. Kelly was relocated with his wife and six children, but because of the danger of mob retaliation, the past became taboo. It was never discussed.

After the hardcover book was released, Delaney one day received an e-mail from an unfamiliar name. It turned out to be Kelly’s granddaughter.

"I knew Patrick John Kelly by a different name," she wrote. "I knew him as Pop! I knew him as a successful businessman, an avid sports fan, a devout Catholic, a loving father, and as my amazing grandfather."

The woman, who Delaney prefers to not identify because there is still sensitivity from the undercover operation, said that she had always wondered about her grandfather’s mysterious past and that he had been firm in refusing to talk about it.

The note ended with the woman writing: "I am sure that you are well aware of the lives your work saved by infiltrating the New Jersey Mafia. But I want to be sure you are aware of the lives your work helped to create."

That was stunning to Delaney.

"I had never thought about law enforcement creating lives," he said. "She explained that her father, Pat Kelly’s son, probably would have followed in his footsteps and she would have grown up in that world instead of the witness relocation program. A whole new life started. The cycle had been broken."

The result of the witness relocation is that Kelly, who died in 2001, was survived by 10 grandsons and eight granddaughters with impressive jobs, including an assistant district attorney, real estate agents, award-winning restaurant and hotel owners, members of the Air Force, Army and Navy who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and others studying to become psychologists. One is in training to become an FBI agent.

All from a former wise guy.

Coming to life

For Bob Delaney, watching The Sopranos was an experience that was different from the rest of us. He spent time driving on the Pulaski Skyway that Tony Soprano drove at the beginning of each show. Delaney worked in all those New Jersey towns that were featured on the show.

"David Chase [the creator of the show] had to have somebody inside the mob sharing stories with him," Delaney said. "He captured every one of the personalities. The only thing a little far-fetched was [Tony] going to a psychiatrist. I never heard anything like that. They weren’t really big into self help."

Delaney found, however, that self help would become a big part of his life. In spending more than two years undercover, Delaney took on the personality of a wise guy and had a difficult time shedding it when his normal life resumed. It became clear that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Ultimately, he was confronted by a friend about his obnoxiousness, bullying tendencies and constant obscene language. The friend and a psychology professor he had taken a class from while in college provided help.

Delaney’s past makes him a popular speaker, especially to police groups, and he has taught classes at the federal law enforcement training center for 30 years. His next venture will start Friday when he goes with a group to Iraq and Germany, where he plans to lecture soldiers on the reality of PTSD.

"The casualties are not only the ones that are on the battlefield," Delaney said. "When you see a solider that is physically wounded, you’re able to understand. But when there is a mental, emotional problem, we don’t see that. So it’s hard for us to comprehend."

Delaney tells soldiers how difficult it was for him as a police officer to assimilate back into a normal life and he urges them to seek help in the form of family and friends

"Clinical help can be part of it," Delaney said. "But I think it’s more than that. It’s help from your peers. If you’re going through a difficult time, the best people to help you are people who have been through what you have been through."

Part of Delaney’s story is ongoing. In having such a high public profile, it would seem that he is putting himself in danger with mob members who have long memories. But Delaney said that any police officer or judge who puts criminals in jail faces the same sort of threat. Plus, many of the people who Delaney busted in the ’70s are dead.

"I don’t look at myself any differently than any other cop," Delaney said. "The rest of the world has been at orange since 9-11. My personal security level has been orange since 1978."

Coming to life

Delaney is recuperating from an Achilles’ injury that kept him out of the playoffs, but he’ll be back in October for his 23rd season. There is no timetable yet on the movie, but when it is released, Delaney will become even more famous, which for an NBA referee is amazing.

For a long period in the ’90s, the league seldom allowed referees to be interviewed. But now Delaney is nothing less than a star.

"For quite a while, we tried to play down personalities and not let the refs talk to anybody," said Nets executive Rod Thorn, who left the NBA in 2000 after serving 14 years as head of basketball operations. "Now I think it’s probably a good idea to let fans and people in the league know these guys have personalities, and some have great stories to tell."

Delaney’s story is compelling and intriguing, but fans and players sometimes use it to give him a hard time. In Washington after he made a call he knew was not good, there was a silence before the free throw was taken and a Wizards fan shouted: "Hey Delaney, we need to put you in the witness protection program."

"I get a lot of questions from players, and some of them are funny," Delaney said. "This year, [Houston forward] Shane Battier said I needed a moniker, so instead of Bobby Covert, he calls me Bobby Whistles. That’s pretty good. When someone does something like that, you just have to smile."