Truth About Troy

*I decided to take down my page on my site about Troy Yocum, since things are unstoppable with his hike now.  I decided to throw it on my blog, but backdate it a couple months so it wouldn't show up and take up so much space on the main blog homepage.

I really don’t know what to say here, other than do not donate to Troy Yocum’s Drum Hike.

Troy Yocum will lead you to believe that he is a great soldier, dedicated to the cause of serving his nation.  Please read on how SPC Troy Yocum was as a soldier before donating to him.

After reading that he has a day dedicated to him in Louisville, KY, I decided I would put out another side of Troy Yocum most people probably don't know.

World’s Longest Drumming Marathon Attempt

We’ll start this with his world record attempt during the deployment in Kuwait.  Sometime before the deployment, he began to spread the word that he had a world record in Longest Drumming Marathon, which I thought was pretty cool at the time.  After it was announced that he was going to get his chance to break the world record while we were still deployed and on mission, it started to surface that he never held an official world record.  Many tried to find out where/when he won it, but it was not recorded anywhere anyone could find.  The unit we were attached to, unfortunately, liked going for world records.  Before the unit deployed, they went for the world record for World's Largest Hug.

After he found out he was going to be able to make an attempt at the world record, he started posting blogs on moderndrummer.com, which are still up.  Click on the titles for the link.

First blog:  Going for the Guiness, 02-23-09

He says:  The “Hello from Iraq!” statement is an edit.  He originally had “Hello from Baghdad, Iraq!”  After everyone found out that was on there, I’m guessing he changed it to just Iraq, but I don’t know why he would keep everything else up there. 

Fact:  He never went to Baghdad.  There was one Convoy Escort Team who was in that area around the time when he posted that blog, but it wasn't his.

He says:  “...I’m playing my first overseas gig.  Where else but right smack dead in the middle of a war zone!”

Fact:  We spent most of our time in Kuwait, which is where the "gig" took place.  Kuwait is not Iraq, and even the place we went to in Iraq was almost a Green Zone (Green Zones are counted on as safe areas).  The route we drove didn’t have any real enemy encounters, including roadside bombs, for over 5 years, and the base itself never got attacked the whole time we were there.  I know the base next to that one did get mortars/artillery, but it wasn't not common at all.  It was the easiest and safest mission anyone could ask for if you had to deploy to Iraq.

He says:  “I’ve spent many hours at green zone bases getting ready.”

Fact:  Like stated earlier, the whole country of Kuwait is a green zone, and the only base in Iraq we ran missions to was safe as safe could be in that scenario.  There were missions in which a convoy escort team could travel all around Iraq, but those were very few and far between. 

He says:  “As you might imagine, getting a kit here has been a problem.”

Fact:  At each chapel in the base in Iraq and in Kuwait, there was a drum kit.

 Second blog:  Going for the Guiness, 04-27-09

He says:  “I have been preparing for months now by…doing lots of missions that require me to stay awake for days at a time.”

Fact:  A normal mission without any hic-ups, including preparation time, was 8 hours MAX.  If you had a vehicle break down, then yes, you might have to pull a 16 hour day, but that rarely happened.  Once you finished with a mission, you would have anywhere from 8 hours (which was fairly rare as well) to 96 hours before you had to work again.  Not one person could complain about not getting enough rest time.

 Third blog:  Going for the Guiness, 05-04-09

He says:  “After drumming for three straight days…”

Fact:  He did drum for three days technically, but he failed to mention he only drummed for less than 40 hours of the goal of 125 hours.  He started on the afternoon of the 28^th, played through the 29^th, and ended in the early hours of the 30^th.  Yes, he did play on three calendar days, but not three whole days as the lie comes across.

Now, somehow I was tasked to interview him for the unit’s news letter.  As you can read in the 3^rd blog, he makes statements that can clearly show that he never held a world record before, if he even tried.  He did tell me that he did learn that he shouldn’t have been drinking energy drinks during the attempt and that next time he will have to drink more juice and water.

The Injured Shoulder Situation

There was an article written about his event by one of Kentucky’s newspapers, the Courier-Journal, online that I read while we were over there.  In it, his mother stated that he was having shoulder issues due to the “heavy body armor” that we had to wear on missions.  Now if this is true…

Take the fact that on each mission, you were going to have to wear your body armor for about 3-4 hours at a time if nothing went wrong.  You would ride a mission up to Iraq, then the next night, ride back for another 3-4 hours.  Remember as well, you are sitting down with this armor on, so even though it did weigh a few pounds, you could balance out the weight no matter where you were sitting in a truck.  After getting back to Kuwait, like I said, you might have to go back out as short as 8 hours later or have up to 96 hours…of time not having to wear body armor.

I figure, if you did 2 round trip missions in a week, that is 4 times per week you have to wear body armor.  4 hours at a time is 16 hours per week.  4 weeks is 64 hours per month.  9 months is 576 hours of body armor usage.  These hours are over shot.  On my first deployment, I donned my body armor every day for almost 11 months, and was walking up to 4 hours at a time in it, while carrying a machine gun and its full load, not to mention that everyone else was carrying their own items as well. 

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One morning, sometime after his drumming attempt, his Convoy Escort Team was set to do one of the 8 hour breaks and head back out.  The guys he worked with said that once he found out about that, he wouldn’t stop complaining about having only a mere 8 hours of rest.  A couple hours before he was to go back on mission, he went to the medics complaining about his shoulder.  They gave him some medicine, and he wasn’t satisfied with what they told him.  Next thing we all know, he is being taken to a different camp to see a specialist under what seemed to be emergency protocol

He comes back with a doctor’s note saying he is excluded from missions for 30 or so days.

During this time, many things transpired.

His Myspace status read something to the extent “wounded on mission, had to be taken by Blackhawk to Camp AirIfJohn, heavily sedated”  Keep in mind the correct spelling is “Arifjan”, and he never touched a helicopter – he was taken by car.  Apparently, no one saw him injure his shoulder either.

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He was witnessed handing his ID card at a gate to the driver with his hurt arm.

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There isn’t much to do for the soldiers who were on the non mission capable roster, but every month, the units on the base had to do “headcount” which is essentially you sitting at the entrance of the chow hall and make sure everyone scans their ID card and you keep count of how many people come in.  It usually were those who were injured that did this task, as there really wasn’t much else for them to do if they can’t go on mission.  For our Company, we had it every 4^th day.  They would send 2 guys for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and one guy for midnight chow.

Seeing that those few on the non mission capable list weren’t doing anything else, it was OK for them to do up to three shifts a day.  If one worked 3 shifts, that was the equivalent to about a 6-9 hour work day, followed by three days of mundane tasks or nothing.

One morning, Yocum went to our unit’s head office and asked if he could be excused from doing headcount for the day on the account that it was his birthday.  Having already three days off at a time and requesting more free time?

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Another soldier stated to Yocum one day at headcount “So I hear you were in a Chinook!”

Yocum responded with an excited “Yeah!”

“It’s pretty sweet, huh?”

“Yeah!!”

From earlier, his myspace said he was air lifted in a Black Hawk, not a Chinook.  Remember he was also taken by car, not aircraft.

Problems with Others

In the army (or it use to be), soldiers would tease you if you were hurt.  Apparently, you really can’t do that anymore because you might hurt someone’s feelings.

Upon walking to his tent, another soldier called out “Hey Yocum!  How’s the arm?”  Yocum began yelling and disrespecting the soldier, who was a non-commissioned officer, who called him out on his arm.  His yelling became so loud, other soldiers from other tents were getting out of their tents to see what was going on.

After some more yelling, Yocum assaulted the non-commissioned officer.  The other soldiers there witnessed Yocum attack with his hurt arm.  Since we were about to deploy back to the States, and none of us wanted to be there a second more than we had to be, the non-commissioned officer decided not to push the situation.  Other situations in which people should have been in trouble for happened, and if anything did happen, it took time.

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One day, when the light was off in the tent I was staying in, Troy Yocum came in to the tent and approached one of the soldiers, and threatened him in a very loud manner.  I don’t know the details of what actually conspired, but I do know I was just laying on my bed and the next thing I know there is a loud, verbal exchange, and Yocum storms off. 

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I know he didn't like being told what to do by those who were younger than him, even with simple tasks.  He told the leadership multiple times that he doesn't like being told what to do.

There are other scenarios, but these are the only ones I am familiar with.  If I am able to get the stories, I’ll post them.

Other Notes

He had a rant about another soldier Facebook.  I am not 100% on what caused this internet rant, but it wasn't very professional.  I do have a screenshot, but I am not going to put it on my site.

This was done while he had his injured shoulder.  I wanted to mainly point out the last thing he said.  He claims his “CET” (Convoy Escort Team) had the most times recorded up north and he had been on all of them except the last four.  I was working in the same office with the Operations, the section in charge of organizing which CET’s were going on mission and when.  There was a pretty intricate mission tracker that was use to send the CET’s on mission, depending on which CET’s had the least missions.

You also have to remember that this post on Facebook took place after his World Drumming Marathon event.  Yocum and his CET were all given about a 10 day break from missions to attempt to break the world record.  That meant they fell behind on mission, and had to do missions a little more often to catch back up to the rest of the unit.

Yocum was also not on every mission with his Convoy Escort Team.  The CET’s took leave (vacation) together.  He took leave with a different CET, so while he was out on leave, he obviously didn’t do any missions with his CET.

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Does Yocum still consider himself in the army?  As it states on his drum hike website, he joined in 2001.  That contract, like all other military contracts, was an 8 year obligation, which is how he, me, and about 70 others in our unit were recalled to active duty.  It is now closing 2009, so even if he signed his contract on December 31^st, 2001, after which he no longer has any obligation to the army.  The only thing I can get is if he actually extended in the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve).  Why would anyone do that though, especially after having been through it in the situation we were recalled in?

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You can speak to most soldiers who get out of the army and ask them “Is it OK if I call you by your rank?”  You most likely will get a strict, swift “NO!”  Those who are OK or want you addressing them by rank are most likely looking for attention or want to exploit you for whatever reason.  It’s known as “Hero Syndrome” and it is a shame on the U.S. Military.

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If he signed up in 2001, then how was he only able to obtain the rank of Specialist?  After two years, you get that rank.  I read on his site that he spent about two years in the Guard and then his unit was split up, and he was released in to the IRR.  When he showed up to Ft. Benning for the Recall, he wasn't even a Specialist then, only a Private First Class.

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I don't understand how he had a day named after him.  The mission we had was a safe, easy one with no enemy hardships.  He doesn’t, as well as everyone else in our unit, have much to say about our mission, other than we drove and escorted trucks around.

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He failed his PT Test.  Maybe this isn't that bad of a thing because the army doesn't really seem to be enforcing PT Tests as of late anyways.

Closing

I couldn’t stand him anymore.  He finally realized that I couldn’t stand him one morning, and being that I didn’t want any encounter with him, I asked my leadership to inform him that he needs to steer clear of me.  I still understood that work had to be done (I ended up working in an office and working lots of paperwork) and I could be professional with him, but anything outside of work we need not to cross paths.

If you deployed with Yocum, please email info@pownetwork.org and let them know how he was when he was deployed.

USA Cares is an awesome organization and deserves your support, but please, do not support it through Troy Yocum.