By Lee Davis
Christopher Tanner didn’t grow up wanting to be a soldier. The call to serve found him.
The Mountain Brook native was attending the prestigious Lawrenceville School in Princeton, New Jersey, where he excelled in track and field. Tanner wanted to find a college where he could compete in track at the NCAA Division I level and pursue a degree in engineering. The right place just happened to be in a neighboring state: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
“I’d love to say that my father was a soldier and his father was a soldier and I was following the family tradition,” said Tanner, who happens to be a quadruplet. “In reality, West Point checked off all the boxes. I could run in a competitive track program and major in engineering. Having the opportunity to serve my country was a good part of it, too.”
Tanner said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, changed the mindset of West Point cadets. “Before 9/11, they trained for IF they went to war,” he said. “After 9/11, it was a matter of WHEN they went to war.”
While he may not have had a military lineage, Tanner’s decision to attend West Point proved to be a good one.
As a second lieutenant right after graduation in 2006, Tanner was deployed to Iraq, where he worked in several aspects of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served as a company executive officer, coordinating support for a 145-soldier unit and maintenance of $30 million worth of military equipment. In 2008, Tanner was promoted to first lieutenant and became an infantry platoon leader on the ground at the height of the military surge ordered by then-President George W. Bush. He led more than 400 combat patrols and played an important role in developing the Iraqi army and police, while also helping to build and renovate public schools.
In 2010, Tanner – by then promoted to captain – was transferred to the Afghanistan theater of operations, where he fought in the Afghan-Pakistani border area leading counterinsurgency operations.
Tanner said the dynamic of the War on Terror in the two countries was very different.
“The war in Iraq was in more of an urban environment with house-to-house fighting and the heavy use of improvised explosive devices to kill soldiers and to destroy equipment,” he explained. “Once I had 29 vehicles blown up in one month. It was very much a hit-and-run kind of war.”
Afghanistan, with its vast mountainous territory, is more of a conventional conflict, according to Tanner.
“It was a dream combat environment for a textbook style of fighting,” he said. “That war entailed mountain combat against an enemy that was willing to stand and fight. We were able to use aircraft for support. It was the perfect environment for the resources we have.”
There are also vast differences in the natives of the two countries. “In Iraq, large portions of the population are educated to at least be able to read and write and are connected with the outside world,” he said. They want their kids to get a good education. When we could convince them that we could help them, it would win them over to our side.”
Afghanistan, by contrast, is far less developed. “Outside the most traveled areas, there are villages in Afghanistan that are so isolated that they haven’t changed since Biblical times,” he said. “For the people who live there, each day is a struggle for survival.”
Attitudes toward their respective countries are far different as well. “In Iraq, there are basically three types of people – the Sunnis, the Shias, and the Kurds,” Tanner said. “In Afghanistan you have two different languages and at least 20 different ethnic tribes that are often in disagreement. It makes it hard to unify under a central government when there is that much diversity.”
While both countries still face great challenges, Tanner credits the troop surge directed by General David Petraeus in 2007-2008 for turning the war in Iraq in America’s favor. “We were able to flood the areas with more troops and work with the Iraqi people to secure their neighborhoods,” he said. “It worked much like a neighborhood watch program. Unemployment was a big problem in Iraq. We would pay citizens to report terrorist activity or to tell us if they knew where an IED was planted. It was very successful.”
Tanner said Iraq and Afghanistan – contrary to the beliefs of many – have quality commanders and troops. The key to their success as America withdraws its presence is the development of long-term logistic support.
“One reason the American military is so successful is because the guys in the field know that someone has their back,” said Tanner. “If a soldier is wounded in Afghanistan, he can be in a military hospital in Europe or the United States in a matter of hours. Soldiers will fight if they know someone will take care of them and their buddies if they go down.”
Tanner said the top priority for the future of the Middle East is the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “I don’t think most Americans understand the danger ISIS can be not only to the Middle East, but to America,” he said. “They are well funded and subscribe to a specific ideology. It’s the purest form of Islam – convert or die or be enslaved. We must take this threat very seriously.”
While in combat, Tanner earned the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and many other awards and decorations.
In 2013, Tanner came back to Birmingham to be with his wife, Lauren, who is an attending surgeon at UAB. He became an executive officer and assistant professor of military science at UAB for the ROTC program. Although he is also the father of a young son, Tanner said he misses serving overseas.
“I think about the men and women that I served with every day,” he said. “When you are in combat, doing your job is the only thing you are focused on. There are no distractions. You are given every resource needed to succeed.”
Tanner is transitioning into the private sector, soon to become vice president and director of business development at Xtreme Concepts Inc., a worldwide security and technology firm headquartered in Birmingham. The company acted as technical advisor for the highly successful film “American Sniper.”
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to offer help where needed,” he said.