Posted on 02/07/2006 11:44:45 AM PST by iPod Shuffle
Actually, it does. I'll grant you that their may be some other aspect to this story, but I'll bet money that it was the Army's f-up. But I've been doing it way too long and seen way, way, way too many stupid and/or criminal mistakes.
The fact remains this is the best military the world has ever seen and the dedication of the soldiers is unparalleled.
I agree w/ you wholeheartedly on the dedication of the avg. soldier, Sailor, airman, and Marine. But there is a culture in the military that really needs to go away. It is the powerpoint, buzzword, paper-warrior-wannabe culture that affects many of the back ranks and a whole swath of the officer corp. I've experienced it again and again and again and could tell you stories for hours where you wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.
By itself this officer's ordeal is just a simple mix-up; another example of the Army machine; no big deal. But to me, it is a symptom of a larger illness within the armed forces. IMO, this culture really hurts the armed forces and hinders how we do business.
I just think we need to properly prioritize the importance of "procedures" and properly define what constitutes "lax", in the context of life-threatening injuries in combat. Saving the lives of wounded soldiers needs to be the absolute first priority for personnel whose duties involve rescuing and treating them, and to the extent that compliance with procedures would cause even a few seconds delay, the procedures need to be tossed out the window.
We could save military personnel from a lot of unnecessary paperwork, by having a blanket policy that any military-issued gear in the possession of a soldier who is critically wounded in combat, is automatically written off. If some of it happens to turn up in useable condition it can be recorded as such, but I have a big problem with the idea of emergency medical personnel in combat theaters being pestered with stupid forms they have to fill out and sign, in order to prevent a critically wounded soldier from being hit with a bill for items that were most likely blown off his body or ripped off and tossed aside by medics.
I'm sure the Army already has a clear system in place for classifying the severity and combat/non-combat context of injuries. So it would be easy to limit the automatic write-offs to serious combat injuries, and exclude the inventory held by soldiers who were treated for bumps and bruises in a combat theater, or who were critically injured while driving drunk near their U.S base.
But you don't even know if there was a snafu. All we have is one side of the story.
Well let's see here now. Even though you're not familiar with this, you know for sure it's the soldier's fault. Must be, because pencil dick battalion commanders are always right.
Are you on some kind of medication? Have you missed a dose or else over dosed? Where in anything I have posted did I claim the soldier is at fault?
Re:The vest is trash, since it was hit with shrapnel a year prior when the soldier was in the explosion."
You commented that the story came from the soldier, so the story's suspect.=>"However the problem is it came from the soldier and not the military command involved."
A soldier is responsible for his equipment. If it is destroyed then it is incumbent on him or her to secure the documents necessary to ensure they are not responsible. ... If exceptions are made in a case like this then where do they stop? The military runs on discipline and regimentation and if this is allowed to be ignored in any instance then chaos will follow.
The fault is implied. The soldier was responsile for his equipment until he was blown up. At that point the ball was in the Army's hands. They dropped the ball, because when the Lt reached for the docs, they weren't there. The battalion commander had the authority to fix the problem on the spot. He refused to do so and instead insisted the soldier hang around to gather docs from various other soldiers testifying that the bomb incident was real. IMO, that's not discipline, that's institutionalized chaos.
"In this particular case the people who treated him are easily contacted and the necessary paperwork will be filed. The soldier will get his money back."
Easy is in the eye of the beholder.
To take a phrase used by you, "implied" is in the eye of the beholder. You have misinterpreted what I said.
Yes, but I think the problem is in having a hard-core Democrat in the organization element that charged this guy for his combat damaged armor.
Were you one of those Lifers in Supply?
It's a year later ~ was his unit still in Iraq?
Didn't you get the feeling that a DEMAND was made for instant payment? No doubt the Army, itself, does not yet take credit cards.
Not only do they take credit cards they have ATM's everywhere on post. Something is wrong with the story, it is bogus!! On the last day when you clear post you receive your last months pay and separation pay. 4 to $5,000 for a 1st Lt. and he didn't have $700. On another post the Army has already said they are refunding his money. Even the lowest private knows how to clear post and he was there for 8 months and had instructions how to clear post. If he wasn't competent enough to clear post I sure wouldn't want to follow him in battle. It might be that he just got upset because he was wounded and didn't feel like doing what is required but that excuse doesn't fly in the Army. I was in a full body cast in a Army hospital but as soon as I could move I had to make my bunk, clean my area, empty my waste basket, sweep, and mop the floor even thought I only had the use of one arm. He is not the only case, just the one bitching. My son's a officer. I'll try to find someone who knows him. Below is the best explanation I have seen on procedure for clearing post. I copied it from someone on another post.
Clearing Post is Clearing Post.
You are handed your clearing papers and you go from station to station. The hardest ones to clear are S-4 and CIF. Either you have the stuff you signed for, clean and ready to be reissued, or you have the proper paperwork stating it's disposition and how it was damaged/lost/destroyed or you pay for it. He didn't have it and didn't have the paperwork. His choices were get the paperwork or pay for it. He didn't want to hang around (he would still be on the payroll and getting paid) and wait for the paperwork. He paid and walked. Now he's a lib poster child. He was a LT in the US Army for goodness sakes. I do not feel sorry for him.
LOL I knew that chaplin looked wrong and even did a spell check on it. Thanks.
Thank you for your service - and for giving me and my daughter a free country to grow up in.
Possibly - I don't know. Either way, they can still get emails and official phone calls, even when forward deployed.
Knowing you'd served in Iraq and not Alaska, and your taxi is waiting right outside to whisk you away to your new civilian life, would you "pay", or start writing letters?
I had to pay for a pair of pants when I got out. $17. If I had made a stink about it, I am sure they would have taken care of it. Because I had it, I pulled $17 out of my pocket and gave it to the stock boy(the sarge in charge). I figured he pocketed it...maybe not.
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