Messy camp costs troops calls to home (kuwait)

gomemphis.com ^ | 20 APR 03 | By Cox News Service

[KineticKitty]

Messy camp costs troops calls to home

By Cox News Service

April 20, 2003

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait - On the eve of Easter, Fort Hood's sons and daughters couldn't call home from this miserable desert outpost because the place has been declared too messy.

The perhaps aptly named "Mayor" Bosse closed the phone tent "until further notice" and created an uproar among thousands of 4th Infantry Division troops waiting here for convoys into Iraq.

Dubbed the mayor because he is in charge of administering the camp, Mayor Bosse is actually Lt. Col. Peter Bosse, a reserve officer from Minneapolis, Minn.

It's not as though this is a scenic site. There is no vegetation - only sand and rocks and tents and tanks and Humvees and soldiers. There are also very few trash cans. Litter consists mostly of empty plastic water bottles.

The trash piles are possible breeding grounds for rodents and fire hazards, Bosse said.

The phone tent opened only a couple of days ago. Lines for a call home are hours long but soldiers willingly wait to hear the voices of loved ones.

Bosse said when the camp is clean, the phone tent will "absolutely" re-open immediately.

"I suspect that will happen soon," said Bosse.

[KineticKitty]

I am beside myself in anger over this. This has happened even on Easter. There are families that have soldiers at Udairi that still have not heard from their loved one. This is beyond ridiculous. I only heard from my husband an hour ago and just found out about this, only because he had to go to another camp for a bad eye injury that is still not treated. He says that the phones had recently just been "re"hooked-up, but with the rest of 4ID pushing out very soon, how many will have the time to call home with the lines as bad as they get over there? We may never know.

Bosse said when the camp is clean, the phone tent will "absolutely" re-open immediately.

A few other things this article fails to mention is that the phones were kept down over 2 days, AND the soldiers were kept from the PX / Aafes. (where they can buy and obtain other needed supplies, like underarm deodorant, calling cards, envelopes, etc)

Is it any wonder why military families and soldiers feel screwed and unappreciated? They wonder why they have a retention problem? Sorry for the rant folks, but if you know of some way or something that can be done about this, please let me know. < /rant>

[Rebelbase]

I'm sure the camp was cleaned up in a hurry. No one was hurt. No problem.

[Illbay]

Like we tell our daughter, when she is restricted from privileges because her room is a pig-pen, and she moans "But I wanted to go over to Hannah's house!":

"THEN CLEAN UP YOUR ROOM!"

[Illbay]

Is it any wonder why military families and soldiers feel screwed and unappreciated?

I wasn't aware that they did.

Oh, the whiners do, the ones who think they have a right to privileges without towing their load, but most understand that they signed up for the MILITARY. They aren't in high school any more.

[Drango]

Tough love is good love...

[KineticKitty]

Over 2 days is considered in a hurry? Might I add that not to many soldiers agreed that the camp was "messy".

Soldiers being kept from buying needed supplies before they "pull out" might not agree with the no harm done attitude.

[Hanging Chad]

"...I am beside myself in anger over this..."
- -
Get a grip.

[KineticKitty]

I agree if there was really a trash problem, which seems to be in question. 1SG's, Commanders, Seargent Majors were going ballistic over what was being done to their soldiers, unless like illbay implies they are all "whiners" as well.

[KineticKitty]

Would you rather me boo hoo over this? I am angry and rightly so. Sorry I stated this.

[boxerblues]

chill.....I didnt hear from my son for almost 4 1/2 weeks. If they have time to stand in line for hours on end to wait for the phone they have the time to clean up their own mess!!

[cynicom]

Well then, some officers and NCOs were to blame for ALLOWING it to become a mess. A couple of written reprimands in their files would be nice.

[KineticKitty]

Oh, the whiners do, the ones who think they have a right to privileges without towing their load, but most understand that they signed up for the MILITARY. They aren't in high school any more.

Is there something you would actually like to say here instead of just imply Illbay? My husband is Career military, we have set up online writing campaigns, carepackage and adoption programs for the soldiers. Don't talk to me about whining and people who do not "want to tow their load" but expect privileges, unless of course you equate privileges as being personal hygiene supplies to calling home for 5 minutes ONCE just to let your family know your safe.

This should not bother military and their families, unless they are "whiners"?

[KineticKitty]

I agree with the clean up of the mess, (if it was as bad as it was implied) it's was not myself I am concerned with. It is the families that are working on more than just 4 weeks + and have not recieved a call.

[Illbay]

This shouldn't bother anyone to whom it applies.

And if you have your area policed, and someone else doesn't, and that's keeping you from using the "phone tent"...

Well, that's sort of a military tradition of peer pressure, too, eh?

[boxerblues]

I am amazed, My first call came as bit of shock, it would of been late at night for him but he just happened to be walking by the phone bank and it was empty, so he called home. The next day we received a call from the FRG, they were under the impression that all the soldiers who left there had been given an address overseas before they left, some were most had not been given one.
The were also under the impression that all the soldiers were given a 5 minutes call phone home after their arrival overseas, also not true. These guys had been given work to do before & after their arrival that did not permit them to hang around the px & phone banks. Most of us accept what has happened, we may not like but accept it for what is.
No news is good news

[verity]

The 'phone tent' is a privelege not a right. No harm, no foul.

[Junior]

Soldiers being kept from buying needed supplies before they "pull out" might not agree with the no harm done attitude.

A phone call home is not a "needed supply." It is a privilege. What happened here is known as "motivation."

V/R

JOC Junior, USNR

[KineticKitty]

I agree 100% if your area is not policed. But many soldiers far and away from the rank of private did not and still does not agree with the assesment of the camp being that dirty.

No, the whining statement does not bother me, but the fact that you implied it without knowing any of the individuals it has angered does, I have great respect for my husband and the entire chain of command that is in disagreement over what has happened even if you do not.

These are grown professional men, excuse me for also taking offense to people who are comparing soldiers that are expected to die for their country to teenagers cleaning up their rooms.

[7thson]

The trash piles are possible breeding grounds for rodents and fire hazards, Bosse said.

Are there rats in the desert? I ask this in all seriousness because I am unfamilar with desert wildlife, but if there is nothing but sand and rocks, I just wonder what this officer was thinking

I agree that there are whiners but everyone in the military have met officers that create their own rules or attempt to enforce every rule for every situation. There may be empty plastic bottles littering the area. Hey, that's why there are Sergants and such. Seems to me this is a case of some ef'd up officer micromanaging the situation instead of letting his own men take care of it. Just my opinion.

[KineticKitty]

I agree, most of the heart warming calls have been unexpected by the family members. and a few have been lucky enough to walk by a phone that is basically empty. To bad everyone can't have this luck. But at least some people do get word back, and relay messages to the families that has not recieved any word, and this is a blessing in itself.