General scolds officers after six soldiers die

USA Today ^ | April 16, 2003 | Steven Komarow

[hotpotato]

BAGHDAD

[csvset]

If I recall correctly, motor vehicle accidents was the leading cause of death for coalition troops during Gulf War I.

[hotpotato]

You mean accidental deats, right?

[hotpotato]

deats = deaths

[Tin-Legions]

I believe correct-also it was one of the first times in history when it was actually safer to be in a war theater: there were more deaths due to POV accidents (mostly involving drinking) than there were in the Gulf due to battle deaths.
I believe this rash of accidents has more to do with massive fatigue than lack of leader supervision. The Army has institutionalized blaming any and all leaders for every single mistake made by the lowliest private. Read an Army safety magazine and you will think that "if only there had just been a safety brief from a lieutenant" that will stop every accident from ever happening. A bit of the micromanagement creeping in.
After some well deserved rest, a shower and better food than MRE's, the troops will rebound, accidents will decrease.

[WaterDragon]

Good for that general!

[Tin-Legions]

Ah, yes, the paperwork. How could I forget: every single safety transaction must be backed up by paperwork. As a Army transport officer, I see this daily. I can have every guy from E-5 to LTC safety brief a driver, but without a piece of paper with the exact same stuff on it, it "never happened". It disgusts me so, and is just another time bandit, with no real impact on safety.

[gbaker]

Common sense usually makes the most sense. Duh

I think tin-legs has this one correct.

[Tin-Legions]

I used to think the same re. the "attention span of a 12 year old" until I stepped into the commander's shoes. Too many company commanders are nothing more than mid level micro managers. They personally have to account for every single transaction that takes place in the company. Easy to do if you have squared away company staff. I have not seen such staff yet. Hate to say it, in my MOS the only "literate" (the ability to write and comprehend past an eighth grade level) people happen to be the officers, with the exception of a tiny number of NCO's. Hence our company commander and his/her XO end up doing just about everything, and end up hare-brained in the process. And the amount of paperwork required to run a transpo company is far greater than you can imagine. The HQ platoon alone is usually larger by a squad or more than any line platoon.

[peeve23]

If you take the time to train them, then they can do it.

Hint: Ask which of them have an icq and what they are? Watch how fast they can actually type online.

I think troops love to scam until they get caught being far more capable than they're letting on.

[Just mythoughts]

Remember, no matter how time consuming that paperwork is who has the power to call "people" in and give them a public humilitation when things go awry.

This modern legalistic society is filled with "lack of evidence hunters". The reason for so much CYA.

[Valin]

While the pentagon might not have invented bureaucracy they have definitely taken it to a new level.
While I can't prove it I am of the belief that somewhere there is a regulation and manual on wiping your ass.