[Thud]

ping

[Eagles Talon IV]

When you join the military the equipment you are assigned is your responsibility and lacking proof to the contrary that it was not your fault you must pay for destroyed or lost property. This soldier will get his money back when the paper snafu is cleared up. This is nothing but a not so subtle attempt to bash the military and by association the president.

[jjm2111]

Why did he pay it? He should have told the Army to go 'f' themselves.

[FormerLib]

Wonder if we can collect the $700 to send him?

[untrained skeptic]

I don't know. We're only getting his side of the story, and even here it just seems that they wanted verification from someone else that the armor was trashed rather than just taking his word for it that he hadn't just decided to keep it.

He is responsible for the gear issued to him. It sounds like there was a mistake in recording that the armor was damaged and destroyed. However, all it appears that they wanted him to do was get those who were there with him to attest to the fact that it was destroyed.

The article doesn't mention why that didn't happen.

I'm grateful for this soldier's service to our country and hope he finds success in civilian life. I don't have any reason to believe that he is being dishonest. However, at the same time, I think that the army's demand that someone verify his story is reasonable.

[JudgemAll]

Yep, bureaucratic aristocracy in the rear... I would even suspect feminist soldiers (man or woman) involved in this snafu

[joesnuffy]

Combat losses should never come out of a soldier's pocket.

There used to be paper work needing to be filed that assured this from not happening...

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

I managed to lose some of my LBE in Vietnam--had to pay for it before I got on the Freedom Bird.

[gridlock]

The sky is blue...
The grass is green...
Water is wet...
The Army is a bureaucratic nightmare...

So what else is new?

[mlc9852]

You have got to be kidding me!

[WmCraven_Wk]

"Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago."

Seems to me that this is covered under the definition of 'Government Issue'. Since when is a wounded GI expected to pay for missing/damaged equipment? Is an USN ship captain now responsible for repair and/or replacement of his damaged/sunk ship? Or, a tank commander for battle damage to his tank?

[Dubya]

Yhanks for posting this. Very sad they would do this to him. What a bunch of JERKS.

[stinkerpot65]

His commanding officer should be booted out for not taking care of it.

Idiot bureaucrat.

[MensRightsActivist]

Even "hawks" get ticked off over stuff like this.

What is the message our military is sending here, "Men are disposable. Body armor, however, must be reimbursed?"

Given the record spending that has been going on in America for pork barrel social programs I think it is fiscally irresponsible that we can't afford to cover body armor lost in combat by American heros. I think it is highly unethical that our military chooses to hassle our brave heros over some body armor lost in combat, but bends over backwards to fund Democrat special interest pork barrel spending.

Case in point, Time to Defund Feminist Pork — the Hate-Men Law

Every Republican Senator in Congress, to his/her disgrace voted to fully fund that taxpayer shakedown.

It appears that Republicans have a problem saying no to pork barrel spending for Democrat initiated social programs, but have no problem saying we won't cover the cost of body armor for an American hero lost in combat. That's disgraceful. Deal with it.

[xsrdx]

No one wrote down that armor had apparently been incinerated as a biohazard.

A soldier cannot clear supply without accounting for his/her issued equipment.

They either turn it in, pay for it, or present documentation regarding it's disposition - survey, 15-6, or damage statement.

This was a 1LT that knew better. This is about paperwork, nothing more, and it's not even difficult paperwork.

A simple narrative stating the armor was destroyed through combat action, signed by the unit commander, would clear the debt.

[Terabitten]

“I last saw the [body armor] when it was pulled off my bleeding body while I was being evacuated in a helicopter,” Rebrook said. “They took it off me and burned it.”

But no one documented that he lost his Kevlar body armor during battle, he said. No one wrote down that armor had apparently been incinerated as a biohazard.

This makes the combat loss Report of Survey even simpler. A couple telephone interviews and it's a done deal.

Give me a copy of your Purple Heart citation, sergeant, it has the date and circumstances of your injury. A phone call to the dustoff unit later, I'd find out if it was their general SOP to burn equipment that they considered biohazard. Voila! The armor is a combat loss, no pecuniary liability to the soldier.

[KarlInOhio]

I had a coworker who used to joke about screw-ups like this. For a while in the Army he worked with nuclear artillery shells. He said the two things he learned were

1. A clean Bomb is a happy Bomb, and
2. Pray there isn't a war because if you use your nuclear shell in battle, some REMF will lose the paperwork and make you pay for it - and nuclear bombs aren't cheap.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Upon further reflection, please keep an eye on this one. If you see additional stories on this exact same soldier, post 'em and ping us. If this is a One Hit Wonder, then it's a smear job against the military and the President because the info is wrong about how loss of equipment is handled.

What's the political bent of the WV Gazette? (All papers have one.)

And really....we're in the middle of a war! Was the loss of a bayonnette during WWII taking up ink in Life Magazine because the soldier was required to pay the $1 it would cost the Army to replace it? I seriously doubt it.

Not questioning your motive for posting this, at all. It's good to educate people so they can spot a smear job disguised as "news" when they see it. It just doesn't pass the "smell test" for some of us old Supply Sergeants. :)

[1035rep]

Sounds like BS