WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! SOLDIERS FOR THE TRUTH "DEFENDING AMERICA NEWSLETTER" 26 July 2000 "When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen." General George Washington, New York Legislature, 1775 Soldiers For The Truth Foundation, PO Box 63840, Colorado Springs, CO 80962-3840 HTTP://WWW.SFTT.ORG ***************************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS SITREP from the President HOT BUTTONS! Hack's Column: The Price of Overreacting "From my Position" -- On the way!" Article 1 - Waste without Vision Big Picture: Article 2 - Recruiting: Pentagon Fears Billboards' Impact on Retention Crisis Article 3 -- This Isn't Your Father's Boot Camp Anymore Voices from the Field: Article 4 -- US Medal Bazaar - Reality Check by an Aussie Comrade Article 5 - Specialty Badges for outstanding Accomplishments Article 6 - Women Issues - We served proudly Too! Article 7 -- And.more on Perfumed Princes and lowered Standards Article 8 -- Bucket-Head Marine speaketh - Response to 21st Century Soldier Article 9 -- Health Care Update: Bush-Lite, Rudy's Recruiters, Janet goes Oprah. G.I Humor: Article 10 -- GI HUMOR - Security Crackdown at Los Alamos Medal of Honor: Article 11 -- GREGG, STEPHEN R., France 1944 =============================================================== SITREP: 1. Main topics: 1) Defense waste - the leadership connection 2) Recruiting/retention 3) Women issues 4) Perfumed Princes 5) Quality of Life/Healthcare 2. FLASH!!!! a. Tell us how COO training and other extraneous requirements impact your readiness prep. b. If you had a chance to meet the next president, what would you tell him about military pay? 3. HOT BUTTONS: !!! PLEASE continue your financial support for us. ***So far we have received about 250 donations that keep us on a temporary operating budget. If you are one of our almost 22,000 readers who believes we stand for YOU and tell it like it is on pertinent defense issues, support us! Just like any small business, we can't forever produce a website, newsletter and personal advice for free and survive. Look at article #1 and realize that the Pentagon outspends us by $289 billion and AUSA by $ 20 million. !!! If you cant get through to me via the website, send me your mail direct at [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you have something to be published, send it in Word Format if possible. !!! If you think we HIT a target, forward the newsletter to TV, radio and your locale papers. YOU are our best recruiter and intel gatherers. !!! Sorry, the credit card operation is still not cooking. We're doing our best. 4. Methods of Support Check or Money order: Send to and make payable to: Soldiers For The Truth Foundation, PO Box 63840, Colorado Springs, CO 80962-3840. Credit Card donation via our WEBSITE at www.sftt.org -- coming soon! 5. REMINDERS: Your donation is tax deductible! SFTT is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit educational foundation, IRS # 31-1592564. If you send us an E-MAIL address with your donation we can immediately mail you a RECEIPT!!!! Some of you have sent multiple contributions. Please remind us when you submit your donation, so we can send you an annual statement for tax purposes. SFTT Website. If you didn't get the complete newsletter or only the Short Version (sv), you can find it archived on the website http://www.sftt.org. Commo check complete! -- "LOAD SABOT and DRIVER MOVE OUT!" R.W. Zimmermann President SFTT [EMAIL PROTECTED] ============================================================== Hack's Column ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Price of Overreacting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By David H. Hackworth Last year a soldier was murdered, and now the homosexual lobby and the touchy-feely crowd want a head served up on a pike. A head that's presently attached to one of our country's finest combat leaders, Maj. Gen. Robert T. Clark. Since Barry Winchell, a homosexual private, was beaten to death as he slept in his barracks, Clark's been under fire. The headhunters say Clark, then the commanding general of Fort Campbell, Ky., permitted a climate of homophobia. Some hold that Clark was just as responsible for Winchell's death as the moron who beat him into purple pulp. But Clark didn't swing the bat. It was swung by an ignorant, drunken, teen-age soldier who's now serving a life sentence. Sure, Clark was in charge of the base -- and therefore was responsible for all that happened there. But it's flat nuts to think the general would ignore standing orders from the president on down or to say he had a clue about what was going on in Winchell's squad room or 150-man rifle company. Fort Campbell has more than 50,000 soldiers and civilians, and billions of dollars of killing machines and other gear. And much like any small city, there are houses, schools, a fire department, etc. -- all in Clark's domain. Besides functioning as the base's two-star mayor, Clark ramrodded the 101st Airborne, a top fighting division with operational missions all over the world. Then there was his 18-hour, seven-day-a-week regular work schedule that had him supervising the training, discipline and readiness of 23,000 warriors -- making sure they could be on their way to a hot spot within hours after the whistle was blown. Holding Clark responsible for what happened to Winchell is like a police chief being nailed for the actions of a couple of sick teen-agers who suddenly go shoot up a high school full of kids. Last week, investigators gave Clark and his commanders a clean bill of health. The report rightly concluded that a climate of homophobia didn't exist at Fort Campbell. There's no Army cover-up here. This was the only such killing on an Army base in years -- with almost a million soldiers in our total Army force. The report did find Winchell was harassed at the grunt level, and that a senior sergeant didn't send this info up to the top. Under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" regs, anti-homosexual hazing is forbidden. The top kick -- appropriately -- was fired for not doing his duty. Why Winchell didn't go to the inspector general remains a mystery. The IG would have had a report on Clark's desk within 24 hours. His reputation alone as a caring and squared-away leader would have guaranteed an end to Winchell's hazing minutes after the CG got the word. And bet your boots the perps would have been properly smoked by this no-nonsense leader. Perhaps Catch-22 prevented Winchell from sounding off. Under the present Don't Ask, Don't Tell guidelines, there's a good chance he'd have been on his way out the front gate for outing himself if he'd told the IG he was homosexual. Having served with the 101st "Screaming Eagles" for four years, I know Fort Campbell and neighboring Clarksville, Tenn., well. I graduated from college there, and I'm in frequent contact with scores of local folks -- both civilian and active and retired military. Even the mayor's an old pal. All say that under Clark, there was never a climate of homophobia on the post, and that he's a top soldier. Insiders say that had this murder not happened, Clark would have been a shoo-in to take command of the Airborne Corps, and he'd already be wearing his well-earned third star. Sadly for our country, he's now marking time as a staff weenie in the Pentagon. If his career becomes toast over this isolated incident, it will be an injustice to a great soldier and provide another example of why serving sergeants and young officers quit the service. They'll ask: Why give up so much to get there, just to be sacrificed to groups that have an agenda and don't understand the military? Who will guard America and lead our kids in the next shootout if we lose top war leaders like Clark and all the sergeants and captains who are now walking? ***The End Http://www.hackworth.com is the address of David Hackworth's home page. Sign in for the free weekly Defending America column at his Web site. Send mail to P.O. Box 5210, Greenwich, CT 06831. © 2000 David H. Hackworth Distributed by King Features Syndicate Inc. ================================================== ARTICLE 1 - "From my Position" -- On the way!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Waste without Vision ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By R.W. (Zimm) Zimmermann President SFTT 07/26/00 Can we regain some control over political and military leaders who could remind you of the mad and inbred noblemen that ruled France under Louis XIV? For personal gain and perks they are spending us into oblivion and invent policies and personal legacies that will damage national security and our financial welfare. For reasons of irresponsibility, the Army just lost $ 900 million worth of equipment, including major components such as guided missile systems, helicopter parts, night vision devices and remote controls. The losses were discovered at a time when the Army plans on wasting more money by issuing every new recruit a laptop computer for on-line college courses and is trying to reinvent itself as a light strike force at the cost of billions. It isn't much different with the other services. To make it all well, the House approved a record $ 289.6 billion defense budget, billions more than quick draw Bill Clinton requested. It includes $ 400 million in F15 fighters built in Missouri, home state of Richard Gephardt and $ 460 extra millions for the LHD amphibious assault ship, produced in Mississippi, home of Majority Leader Trent Lott. The bill excessively provides for Bosnia, Kosovo and the undeclared wars against Saddam Hussein and our "Drug War" that supposedly 'isn't a war because if it were, we would demand total victory' (says Barry McCaffrey). Millions spent for missions that have no end in sight and are "administered" by folks without vision for a realistic end state. At the same time that we are blowing billions on defense, everything about our military and our country's values is headed south. The casualties include education, veterans' benefits, medical care, the arts and non-welfare social programs for the poor and the elderly. What's wrong here? It is that our leaders have little or no long-range vision and believe that money wasted on pork produces a nice trickle-down effect that can fix everything and feed the poor. If you just take a closer look at most major military installations, you would cry at the waste of money without impact on readiness. Here is where billions could be saved in the long-term. Fuel for useless field training that is excessively long and doesn't accomplish anything. Exercises that are ill-timed and catch units during critical personnel turnover cycles and don't train anyone to proficiency. Superfluous pre-command course classes that feature free AAFES sandwiches. Changes of Command and "NCO changes of responsibility" that cost thousands for the benefit and ego of a handful of Princes. High-dollar repair parts thrown into waste dumpsters. Costly coins and medals for mediocre accomplishments. Family outreach and fitness centers which are rarely used. Sensing sessions, command climate surveys and family support group drills conducted by contractors that do nothing but check the block on someone's requirement sheet. Procurement of equipment that won't do the job, such as a truck that can't carry a tank power pack or radio equipment that is so sophisticated that average Joe operator will quickly break it, thus forcing a new costly modifications. Planting grass where the previous post commander had rocks so that the next Prince can seed rocks. Buying signs that display the warm and fuzzy Consideration Of Others (COO) word of the month. Building modifications for Perfumed Princes' castles that include $ 300 k kitchens. But the waste continues because most programs are the brainchildren of leaders without vision. Good ole boys who weasel through the promotion gates by winning popularity contests with lots of superficial programs, signs, paint and blind compliance. Their useless spending covers for their lack of a clue of what to do with all that power all of a sudden lavished on them. Unfortunately, whenever you think you've seen rock bottom in the greed game, the big boys dig deeper. While the House approved another Roman military spending plan, members took care of themselves too. They approved a $ 3,800.00 cost of living pay raise which amounts to 2.7% of their current $141,300.00 annual salaries - quite a bit of money for part time work by folks that you rarely see in their seats when watching C-SPAN. Is there a way to stop the waste and madness? Vote the crooks out and tell them to take their general officer protégés with them. Demand term limits, and insist that your hard earned defense dollars are spent on real readiness. Exercise your right to choose in November and beware of the many false prophets. © R.W. Zimmermann, LandserUSA [EMAIL PROTECTED] ============================================================ ARTICLE 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recruiting: Pentagon Fears Billboards' Impact on Retention Crisis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: I think Mr. Cohen's concerns are justified. If veterans are beginning to recommend that young Americans not join the services under the current TRICARE and NOCARE conditions, our political leaders might get the message. While care for veterans is too expensive, no one seems to see a problem with another Congressional pay raise and money spent on more Star Wars gimmicks. Let Congress know how you feel! Write, call or fax them. Sooner or later they will talk to us. **************************************************************************** ** By David Eberhart, Stars and Stripes Veterans Affairs Editor SAN ANTONIO-Defense Secretary William S. Cohen wants to know why the National Veterans Organization (NVO) has put up highway billboards in Texas blasting this message: "Thinking about a military career? Think again! The government does not honor its promises to veterans!" "It seems that our billboard graphic is turning up as a screensaver on Department of Defense computers all over the world," said NVO director Doug McArthur after a phone call late last week from Col. Curtis Taylor in Cohen's office. Cohen reportedly was concerned that the billboard message could aggravate the military's recruiting and retention problems. Calls to Defense Department and other officials had not been returned as this story went to press. McArthur said he "spent over an hour on the phone" with Taylor "addressing all of the major issues that the NVO has in its agenda. I covered health care, claims processing, USFSPA*, concurrent receipt and several other topics." Taylor "was totally ignorant of the issues that veterans are complaining about," McArthur said. "He mentioned that our signs have hurt the DoD's recruiting efforts and he wanted to know how to encourage veterans to support recruiting efforts instead of discouraging them." McArthur said Taylor "assured me that he was going to talk to [Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs] Hershel Gober as well as the White House that same day." McArthur added that he told Taylor that recruiting problems would get worse, "if I have anything to do with it, unless I see some real positive efforts by the government to change the way veterans are treated." "I was polite with him, but very determined to convince him that he 'ain't seen nothing yet' as far as billboards go if we don't see some positive results soon. He sounded very concerned." McArthur said "high-ranking local Army officers and the Secretary of Defense's office contacted us" after the NVO started posting signs in the Albuquerque, N.M., area starting in January 1999. The Virginia Pilot reported recently that military retirees in Virginia Beach, Va., have raised $5,500 and rented a billboard reading, "Military Retirees Fought for Freedom, Now Congress Denies Earned Healthcare. Show Your Support. Call Your Congressman." The Virginia Beach veterans, organizing mainly over the Internet, hope to place a billboard ad with similar verbiage in every state by fall. "It wasn't ambiguous," said Paul Hamaker, vice president of the Coalition of Retired Military Veterans. "We were clearly promised health care if we served 20 years or more." When retirees turn 65, they are dropped from the military health care system and must rely on Medicare. While they can seek care at military hospitals, retired veterans are not priority and often get shut out. The defense authorization bill approved July 13 by the Senate includes an amendment by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., that would allow TRICARE to supplement Medicare coverage. The Senate now must reconcile its version of the bill, including a $42 billion retiree health care plan, with the House version, which does not include a similar amendment. At a recent roundtable discussion at the Pentagon with Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy de Leon and others, recruiting officials discussed what the DoD calls its five most pressing recruiting issues: access to high schools, spouses' quality-of-life programs, youth attitudes toward the military, recruiting on college campuses and local versus national media advertising. * The USFSPA (United States Former Spouse Protection Act) contains provisions for divorcees to garnish the retiree wages of military veterans. More information is available at www.militarydivorceonline.com.) ==================================================================== ARTICLE 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This Isn't Your Father's Boot Camp Anymore ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: Are recruit training standards getting lowered? You bet you bottom Dollar. Unit commanders, screaming for warm bodies to fill their marginally ready units, force the recruiting pipeline to accept any willing and barely able applicant. Unfortunately what our news people are lamenting about today, has been going on for years. High unit turnover rates (often 30%/quarter), combined with low reenlistments and lower quality entry level soldiers, make many a commander believe we are trying to put together the "Volkssturm" for the final effort. Excerpts from a 19 July USA article. **************************************************************************** By Dave Moniz, USA Today FORT JACKSON, S.C. - Surrounded by old black-and-white photographs of stern warriors whipping recruits into shape, Col. Mick Bednarek recalls the way boot camp was not so long ago. "It used to be, the drill sergeant would say, 'If you're good enough to come into my Army, then you have to get past me.' " Many never got past the Army's fearsome gatekeepers. They washed out and returned to civilian life after a brief and sometimes painful introduction to boot camp. But today, says Bednarek, a training brigade commander and 24-year Army veteran, virtually anyone who makes the effort can get through 8-12 weeks of basic training. In fact, the Army has designed a raft of programs to help woebegone trainees graduate, from remedial military drills to special courses for those with marginal English language skills. There are courses for recruits who arrive too flabby and need a gentler training pace, and courses to calm the fears of trainees who try to quit the Army in the first week. Because of that newfound ethos, the Army's largest basic training site has experienced an unprecedented drop in recruit failure. As recently as December 1998, 23% of Fort Jackson recruits flunked out of basic training. By the end of this year, the recruit failure rate here is expected to be 10% or lower. The sudden drop is part of a military-wide trend playing out at rifle ranges and recruit barracks across the country. Commanders at Marine, Navy and Air Force basic training sites say they, too, are graduating recruits who in years past would have been discharged without a second thought. Some critics, however, question whether the four services, which put about 200,000 recruits through boot camp each year, are sacrificing quality as they struggle to attract and keep young men and women in a wickedly competitive job market. .. "It's a great paradigm shift. Now, it's gonna be tough, but we'll assist you in meeting the standards as long as you don't give up on yourself," Bednarek explains. The new philosophy has become an official part of Army training doctrine. Known as "insist and assist," the idea is to demand that all recruits meet graduation standards while assisting stragglers in ways never before imagined. And it's not just the Army. The other military branches have also taken a new approach within the past two years. "A drill instructor should not give up on a recruit - we don't leave our dead on the battlefield," says Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, commander of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, S.C. "I would phrase it this way: Drill instructors are there for inspiration. The proclivity to drop a recruit is not there anymore." One of two Marine boot camps (the other is in San Diego), the legendarily tough Parris Island has cut its failure rate for male recruits in half, from 20% to about 10% in the past two years. Female attrition there has also plunged, from 29% in 1993 to 18.8% last year . The Army's failure rate for all basic combat training fell to 8.7% as of May, down from 13% in 1998. The same trend holds for the Navy and Air Force, although the decline in recruit failures isn't as sharp. While the Navy dismissed 17.1% of all recruits last year; this year it is failing 15.2%. The Air Force's overall failure rate of 8.3% this year is down slightly from 8.9% in 1999. The services defend their new methods and deny they are lowering the bar for marginal troops. In fact, all four branches say they have recently made basic training more rigorous, adding exercises such as the Marine Corps "Crucible," a 54-hour endurance test that involves sleep deprivation and long marches. ."We realize we are in the development business. People develop at different rates," says Lt. Col. Bill Gallagher, a basic training battalion commander at Fort Jackson. In decades past, poorly performing recruits were almost always gone after the first several weeks of the two to three month basic training process. Today, the Army will rehabilitate injured soldiers sometimes for months at a time - and focus intensely on giving poor performers a second and even a third chance to shoot rifles or do pushups. Sgt. 1st Class Robert Wright, who trains Army recruits at Fort Jackson, says recruits who screw up deserve a second chance. "My problem is giving soldiers third and fourth chances. What kind of soldiers do they make?" Wright asks. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! ****************************************************************************** ******************* A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies! A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America! Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America! Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan! 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