Posted on 02/07/2006 11:39:42 PM PST by jamese777
Soldier pays for armor Army demanded $700 from city man who was wounded By Eric Eyre Staff writer
The last time 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood.
A field medic tied a tourniquet around Rebrook’s right arm to stanch the bleeding from shrapnel wounds. Soldiers yanked off his blood-soaked body armor. He never saw it again.
But last week, Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago.
He was leaving the Army for good because of his injuries. He turned in his gear at his base in Fort Hood, Texas. He was informed there was no record that the body armor had been stripped from him in battle.
He was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks, perhaps months.
Rebrook, 25, scrounged up the cash from his Army buddies and returned home to Charleston last Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at wvgazette.com ...
Its stupidity an lack of respect for soldiers that reminded me why I left the Army.
Charging soldiers for equipment lost in battle is disgusting.
That's a disgrace. People responsible up the chain of command should be relieved.
Some has to get fired over this.
I'll grant you that, but in every organization there's one dumbass that will do something like this. Of course the Army is big enough that there are probably many of them scattered about. Sorry to hear about this.
It's a shame.
Where can we send a few bucks? This is ridiculous.
Chickenshit. Pure chickenshit.
"People responsible up the chain of command should be relieved."
Ditto.
Well, sorry to hear it. Take care.
More information here....
http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/2006020719
U.S. Army Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook of Charleston (left) and other soldiers take cover near an ancient cemetery during a gunbattle with insurgents in Najaf, Iraq, in August 2004. Rebrook, who was honorably discharged last week because of an arm injury sustained in battle, was forced to pay $700 for body armor that was destroyed when he was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
From WVGazette.com
No he didn't. He was on his last few days of outprocessing and thought he could hand them a memo explaining the situation, unaware that there is a specific form that has to be filled out and processed. When he was told that the form would take several weeks to be processed, he told them that he would rather just pay the $700 and finish his outprocessing and be done with it (he's a Lt and can afford it). His fault for not knowing about the form, and his choice for paying the $700 rather than waiting for the form to be processed. Nobody "got screwed."
aint u ever seen someone flying one of them 200lb+ desks?
the military IS bureaucratism incarnate. I have heard jokes from serious people thinking you join the air force to fly and the army to shoot! Have they ever been AD military before?
He wasn't "forced to pay." He could have signed the proper form, but he chose to pay so he could outprocess early. It was his decision.
ping
It shouldn't take several weeks to process these forms.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.