-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! ARTICLE 4 The Army Leadership Cult Ed.: How a senior leadership cult led to a flawed light armored vehicle selection process. By a Concerned Army Officer The decision by the Army leadership to use the LAV III as its platform of choice for the new Interim Brigade Combat Teams - IBCTs - says much about the culture of Army leadership, and little of it is positive. This is especially true in light of the recent Army Times newspaper piece, which noted that the LAV III, lauded as the best IBCT candidate by Army management, actually violates or pushes the envelope of acceptability in each of the three best-known requirements for the vehicle. According to the report, certain variants of the LAV are too tall, while all types are too wide and the system weight requires a waiver for it to be transported by the C-130 cargo aircraft in some cases. In each of three important criteria, - height, weight, and width - the LAV III either clearly fails to meet the requirement or requires waivers to meet the Air Force transport standards. None of the revelations in the Army Times piece should be news to anyone in the defense industry. An IBCT study published last year in National Guard Review actually screened out the LAV series vehicles due to their excess height. Furthermore, even if the LAV had passed the height-screening test, it would have lost in the relative value arena, where its weight made it less attractive than other, lighter vehicles. Ironically, what the Army Times report didn't mention was that the LAV III's tracked competitors, in addition to weighing thousands of pounds less, offered far superior protection as compared to the LAV III's anemic 14mm of armor. Finally, common sense suggested that a tracked vehicle like United Defense's M113 would be at least competitive in most other evaluated areas and superior in many to the LAV. So how did we arrive at the point where the Army chose the wrong platform? Surely the fault cannot lie with the Chief of Staff, who initially indicated a preference for a wheeled platform, but later testified before Congress that he was open to a tracked system. The rational observer, accepting the Chief's statement at face value, could conclude that the choice for the LAV over the M113 was made without command influence and based on reasonably objective criteria. Unfortunately, neither of these statements is strictly true, though there was almost certainly no illegal action taken and no official command influence exerted. Confused? The short answer is that the Army has elevated its leadership to almost 'God-like' status, and the decisions made by the organization have come to reflect this strange, almost obsessive fascination with those who are referred to as 'the stars." Generals in today's Army are in many ways an aristocracy of sorts, with many of the trappings one would normally associate with royalty. Their every whim is assiduously attended to. They live and travel in style, waited upon by a personal staff that grows as the General achieves higher and higher rank. The most senior of these officials routinely grant themselves privileges, such as the use of government vehicles, aircraft, chauffeurs and pilots, for transportation to and from their offices that would result in the conviction and imprisonment of more junior personnel. Most importantly, however, the junior officers who attend to The Stars specialize in divining what is known throughout the military as the 'Commander's Intent' and bringing that intent to reality. An aside often told in the Army illustrates the point. In it, a General arriving at his new command notes that he prefers the rocks on post be painted white, in the best Army tradition. The following day, the General is pleased to note that virtually every rock on post is painted a dazzling, glossy shade of white. The general never ordered that this be done, mind you; his staff simply accepted the General's off-hand comment as gospel and took action. In the case of the IBCT platform decision, the Commander's intent was well known. His later protestations aside, General Shinseki had early on made it known that he preferred a wheeled APC for the IBCTs. That was all that the rest of the organization needed to hear. The result, predictably, were tests that showed the LAV III was every bit as good as its tracked competitors, despite all evidence to the contrary. To those within the organization, the issue was never in doubt - the Commander' intent was clear. The sad point here is that an organization, which fails to support its leadership with objective, sometimes unpleasant, analysis and support will ultimately fail. In this case, the unwillingness of those supporting The Stars to seriously debate the merits of the IBCT platform will materially affect the ability of the nation to meet emerging 21st century threats in the most effective way possible. Worst of all, the cult of leadership that pervades the Army today virtually guarantees that such missteps will prove the norm, not the exception, in the future. ARTICLE 5 More on Green to Gold Ed.: Some of you are getting tired of the topic but from the amount of mails I have so far received, this issue stands out as one that needs our attention and that of our political and military leadership. Soldiers who commit themselves and their families to continued service should be able to concentrate on their education and not fight for financial survival as pizza delivery personnel. To stay in touch with the military, get them involved in Guard and Reserve training on weekends and during other windows of opportunity. Let’s fire some letters off to your political representatives! By a Proud US Army Officer I was reading your article, "Green to Gold ROTC students deserve better," and I could not agree more. I am a product of the Green to Gold program. I received a 3-year scholarship in July 1995 and was commissioned in May 1998. I was a newly married E-4 (promotable) Military Policeman with 39 months of service. Both my wife and I were full time students. We were promised many grand benefits by the ROTC Department such as grants for housing and additional scholarships for my wife, but realization set in quickly after I was discharged to attend school. The ROTC Department backed out of their promises, the school and Cadet Command said that the Professor of Military Science that no authority to give me any of the promised benefits. The comment of feeling like an orphan was right on the mark. I received GI Bill payments of $385 - $450 nine months a year while in school, $150 a month stipend and $225 a semester for books and supplies. The GI Bill program is broken. The GI Bill does not pay unless you are enrolled in 12 or more hours, so I did not receive anything during the summers when I attended Airborne, Air Assault, or ROTC Advanced Camp. ROTC would not authorize payment of my tuition until they received confirmation that I had taken the number of hours necessary to complete my degree on time. The VA student office would not start GI Bill payments until they received confirmation that I was a full time student. All the red tape left me holding the bag on paying for my own tuition until the money could catch up. It was not uncommon for the VA to take 60-90 days to process my request for benefits. During the school year I worked as a pizza deliveryman and had to get student loans to survive. My wife was in exams for her degree and could not work. On top of everything else, the University that I attended lost its ROTC department in August 1997. I was "laterally transferred" to another school. I was still able to finish at the old college and was not required to attend any ROTC events my senior year, but you can imagine the level of support and cooperation I received. Three years later I am still paying for my education. I am thankful that I received a degree and a commission. I still encourage my soldiers to pursue the Green to Gold Program, but I warn them of the pitfalls and openly share my experience. It does make me mad to talk to OCS graduates who are paid to complete their degrees and it always warms my heart to know that the West Point graduates were able to receive a $20,000 "starter" loan at a very loan interest rate, never mind the added benefit that their four years at "The Point" are added to their service time when they reach 20 years. I know I may sound bitter, but I am not. I, like the cadets in your article, chose my road. I am grateful for the career that I have and I do plan to stay 20+ years. I would not trade anything for my enlisted experience - it has made me a leader who knows hardship and can relate to soldiers. Thanks for your time and keep the soldiers informed. ARTICLE 6 Alleviate Officer Shortages: Commission Active Duty NCOs in the Reserves Ed.: Carlton offers a workable solution. By Carlton Meyer As a former Marine officer in both the active and reserve force, I have given a lot of thought to the problem of developing junior officers for reserve components. Promoting privates to 2ndLt within units is awkward and demoralizing to NCOs, especially if the guys has almost no military experience and joined for the paycheck. All officers in the Marine Corps reserve have at least three years of active duty experience, which is a model the Army and National Guard should follow. However, this causes a problem, because it results in almost no lieutenants and a shortage of captains. The solution is reserve commissioning of active duty NCOs. Most soldiers and Marines enlist with the idea of doing one tour, then going to college, but have little interest in joining a local reserve or National Guard unit as an NCO. The reserve force needs a program to tap these experienced NCOs as lieutenants. If an NCO has good test scores and has been accepted to a college near a reserve unit, he could be selected to attend OCS after finishing his enlistment contract. Then he becomes a 2nd Lt and attends his basic officer course before leaving active duty for the reserves and college. The result would be motivated and experienced soldiers and 2nd Lts joining reserve units for a four-year reserve tour while they attend college. The reserve pay helps cover college, especially the two weeks active duty during the summer. Some may not finish college, which is okay, but they would probably fail promotion to Major and therefore could not retire from the reserves. This program would result in vast improvements in our reserve forces. ARTICLE 7 Religious Freedom In The Military Ed.: Many younger soldiers are calling for more tolerance. By David C., 10-year Airborne Grunt I was in the 82d Airborne Division for 7 years, as well as in Germany and Korea, and constantly complained about such things as you write about. Most prevalent in my mind is that every single time we had Manifest for an airborne operation the Operation Commander would call up the "Airborne Chaplain" for a group prayer. Now since this was Manifest this meant it was compulsory...this was a work environment and I (an atheist), HAD to be there. There were many other times this type of thing occurred, such as at Family Support Group meetings, another compulsory attendance affair in the 82D. When I would complain I would be given the old "We don't practice democracy, we just defend it" crap. Well, after 10 years of blatant hypocrisy and immorality by my direct supervisors as well as by the leadership ranks in general, I could stand no more. I just quit. Threw away a 10-year career in which I had been given many awards and not ONE bad performance rating. The military is losing many good soldiers just like me on a daily basis. It will ultimately become a haven for those who are left, those who can commit the immoralities and betray their own integrity daily and still somehow look themselves in the mirror. *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 HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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