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Peace at any cost is a prelude to war!
***********************************************************
********** VOICE OF THE GRUNT
**********
********** 29 December 1999 **********
Y2K EDITITION ---- DO NOT PANIC!
***********************************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES
Hack's Column:
Open Letter to President Clinton 1
Hack Notes 99/00
Z-"Flash":
Looking for Quite a few Good men in Y2K 2
>From The Field:
USAF: Don't think like Soldiers! 3
Values Sell! - The Recruiting Practices of the Armed Forces 4
Freedom isn't Free - A Call to Arms to help our Own 5
Thoughts from Outside:
Preparing for the Millennium and an Uncertain Future 6
Medal of Honor:
Gino J. Merli, PFC, 18Th Infantry, 1St Infantry Division, Belgium,1944 7
G.I Humor:
Next: President Clinton in Butter? 8
====================================================
ARTICLE 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BY DAVID H. HACKWORTH, 29 December 1999
Dear Mr. President,
Seven years ago you took command of a lean fighting outfit that had just
busted Saddam Hussein's chops in a war that was over faster than you could
say, "Oh, Monica."
Back in 1992, our warriors were combat-ready, battle-tested and bristling
with magic spirit -- that fire in the belly which is the most crucial of all
the elements of war.
As this century closes, our military is 50 percent smaller than the armed
forces George Bush placed in your trust, and their once- deadly edge has been
dulled on the futile rocks of Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
The bumbled war with Serbia has only confirmed that today we simply don't
have what it takes to replicate another Desert Storm.
Mr. Clinton, you've tasked our forces to do too much with too little for too
long. Their combat ability is frayed, and they and their loved ones are weary
and dispirited.
Daily, fine men and women from buck sergeant to bull colonel tell me, " I'm
hanging it up. I can't take it anymore!"
In more than a half-century of being a soldier or a writer about soldiers,
I've seldom seen lower morale.
Nor have I seen more self-serving senior leaders. From Secretary of Defense
Bill Cohen in the bloated Pentagon to the generals and admirals who make up
the most brass-heavy military bureaucracy in our country's history.
Perhaps you can take credit for our booming economy -- of those sort of
matters I'm ignorant. But you must also take responsibility for the
weakening of our military -- you are the person under whose command our
forces went from STRAC to SLACK. As Harry Truman once said, the buck stops
at your desk. And I hold you accountable.
Your feckless leadership and fickle policies began with your order that gays
serve openly, followed by your policies earmarking the profession of arms as
a place to provide females and minorities with equal opportunity. You and
your advisors never got it straight that the U.S. military is not an equal
job employer, but a finely honed sword forged only for the battlefield ---
where survival and winning are dependent on skill, sacrifice, spirit, unit
cohesion and discipline.
These factors, mixed with total trust and caring leadership, allow a force to
win. Battles are not won by how skin color or gender fits into a Pentagon
personnel quota matrix, but by teams who've been sweated to perfection.
Every serving senior brass hat has been personally approved by you. The
majority fit into the same go-along-to-get-along and
don't-rock-the-boat-mold. None have challenged your reckless misuse of our
military or your wrongheaded personnel policies.
Why should they? They weren't picked for stand-up leadership, but because
they'd roll over. There's not a Patton, Nimitz or Puller-type in the lot of
them, and few are trusted by the folks they lead.
But you can still redeem yourself - although don't think it can be by
throwing more money at the Pentagon, even though the leading candidates
hustling for your job say that's the fix.
The answer is leadership. You need to begin by sacking Cohen and replacing
him with a person of the stature of George C. Marshall. A leader with the
integrity, know-how and guts to turn the U.S. military around. Cohen's (1)
allowing the forces to be weakened, (2) mishandling of the war with Serbia or
(3) his Anthrax disaster -- pick any one of the above -- are more than
sufficient justification.
At the beginning of World War II, our military's senior leadership was also
sick. Marshall, then Army Chief of Staff, sacked the General Blimps and
fast-promoted the Gavins, Ridgways, and Pattons. Leaders who weren't afraid
to make the sweeping, visionary changes that reshaped our military and took
it from trench to mobile warfare. These savvy leaders performed a miracle
and won a war even though the early odds were on the enemy's side.
Besides sending Cohen packing, read Sun Tzu. There you'll learn the how
vital the military is to the state and how a bad Commander - in - Chief can
hobble an army.
You still have the time to turn things around. Marshall did the job in less
than a year, and he was fighting a two-front war.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HACK NOTES 99/00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BY DAVID H. HACKWORTH, 29 December 1999
The Voice Of The Grunt has had a great year. A snappy salute to our
wonderful folks who make this newsletter happen and the readers who send in
the bullets to fire at our common enemy!
We've quadrupled our subscription base this year, which according to our web
site master is now over 300,000 readers strong, counting pass-ons.
Judy, Zimm, Bob, Larry, Woody, Herm, Kate and all other assistant editors and
foot soldiers are unpaid volunteers who dig deep in their pockets for all
their operating costs -- phones, faxes, internet fees and repairs. They put
their money where their mouths are and work long hours for free because they
believe in our cause.
A special thanks to our first editor, Bob McMahon, who got the newsletter on
its feet. I know Zimm, Bob's successor, and his savvy leadership will cause
TVOTG to continue moving onward and upward.
We're a long way from winning our war, but I do know we have the enemy on the
defensive. True, they're still into denial re: the conditions and
corruption that exist in the forces. But while our assaults haven't caused
them to clean up their act or move up-front to lead, they are being more
careful.
That's a sign they know a lot of our readers are watching their shenanigans
and blowing the whistle. They know too that TVOTG is read by a fair few
lawmakers that truly care about soldier and sailor welfare, status of combat
readiness and our warrior's ability to accomplish the mission.
On a personal note: I get around 500 emails daily. A light day is 12 hours
and this is seven days a week. Too often, I get queries for info that would
take hours to dig out or requests for personal info . When I reply, "Get
that from library or read The History of the Korean War" -- or that I plain
don't have time to deal with the personal stuff or in some instances think
it's private/close held info -- too frequently the asker comes back screaming
I've denied them their entitlement. Please cut me some slack.
By the way, our selfless staff is not together in one building but spread
around the globe and connected by either Bob McMahon's or Al Gore's
invention, the internet. My darling movie-producer wife is my partner in
all matters great and small, my volunteer editor and consigliore and Joey is
my part-time paid assistant. Both devote a lot of time and energy to just
keeping me afloat.
Wishing one and all a prosperous 2000 with double basic load of love, health,
wealth and wisdom and me a couple of local volunteers. Let's pray that by
this time next year we're a little closer to seizing our objective.
Hack
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.
==================================================
ARTICLE 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Z"-FLASH - LOOKING FOR QUITE A FEW GOOD MEN IN Y2K
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By R.W. ZIMMERMANN, 29 December 1999
The Army is throwing more money at the recruiting problem in high hopes to
avert another recruiting crisis into the new millennium. At the sound of
20.000 Dollars for every new soldier, the Army could soon set new records in
spending just to preserve status quo. The B2 bomber could be overtaken as
the most expensive procurement item ever -- the Army's "million-dollar
trooper."
Our senior leadership or better, the systems managers and military CEO's, are
not getting it. Has anyone actually talked to the troops and our junior
leaders on how to fix the persistent recruiting deficit? Today's answers seem
nothing but commercialized formulas, based on outrageously expensive
contractor studies.
Speaking from experience in combat units as a commander and former enlisted
man, I believe that although young Americans are more money-focused, they
have not completely lost all their idealism. Contrary to the studies, they
are desperately trying to re-discover values, feelings of accomplishment,
contribution to society, and hope for the future. Over the years however, a
new generation of "leader-managers" has conditioned them to exploit any
situation for economic profit and promotion. Most of our high school
graduates and young college students will prove to be well-trained consumers
when handed a $ 20,000 bonus -- they will use it for instant gratification.
The Army, just as conditioned to immediate gratification in its superficial
readiness reports, is overlooking the inherent dangers of the new recruiting
policy:
Many young "dreamers", quickly demoralized by non-challenging assignments or
"unexpected" deployments will try to cut their enlistment short by trying for
early outs.
Many females will get pregnant and acquire duty exemptions to avoid
deployments and will achieve separation with a pocket full of dough.
Most of our first-term soldiers will not be interested in reenlisting because
they got up front what should only be paid upon successful completion of
their enlistment.
The program will draw many soldiers who are totally indebted. Most will not
use the money to reduce school debt but apply it against a new car or other
"must-have" luxuries. The debt problem will become the Army's.
In numerous counseling sessions with soldiers and young non-commissioned
leaders, I found that the real reasons for not entering service, completing
service, or not reenlisting are not just money related. Money seemed
secondary to the following:
Soldiers want to belong to elite organizations that stress the feeling of
belonging and pride. Soldiers would cherish elite unit identifications and
specialty achievement badges more than money.
Young soldiers still join the service to experience discipline and learn
self-discipline. This is especially important since many troops come from
broken/divorced homes. The military should strive to teach responsibility
and give opportunity to experiment with it. Why do we certify young kids as
adults with lethal weapons, but do not grant them the opportunity to drink
3.2% alcohol beer in the Post enlisted club? We are missing the opportunity
to reward them with a privilege they earned over other young people who don't
contribute to society and at the same time teach responsibility.
Soldiers want to be recognized for individual and unit achievements. Current
Army policies hand out awards for everyday routine duties - we have cheapened
awards to absolute meaningless. Clerks in the Corps Headquarters receive the
same medal as the men freezing in the foxholes or tank cupolas on peace
enforcement duty.
A great number of good junior leaders choose not to reenlist because we don't
entrust them with requisite responsibilities. Selected through superficial
promotion boards, more concerned with questions about army community services
and sexual harassment instead of weapons and equipment knowledge, we promote
so fast that we won't trust them in their jobs. Then we micromanage them out
of fear for mistakes. Frustrated that he won't experience professional
growth, the young NCO will ultimately decide to separate.
I recommend to our leaders to look to other armies and our Marines for
examples on how to draw and retain good, idealistic, and dedicated youngsters
for our services. It is critical that we build fundamental values and sense
of brotherhood, "lived" by those in the key leadership positions. I stress
"living" the values-recent Army attempts to inculcate values with posters and
plastic dog tag cards won't do it. Once young Americans realize that the Army
offers a lot more than just a job and financial benefits, we will recruit the
number and quality of people we need into the new Millennium. Let's stop the
frenzied buying of Hessians at $ 20,000 a pop!
FINAL NOTE: I sincerely hope that this week's issue of VOTG gives you
something to think about as we cruise into 2000. Many of you will think and
write that some of the issues are an "old hat" and that we should move on.
Well, why haven't our leaders moved on? Why haven't we conquered ticket
punching, bad leadership, procurement corruption etc? We are stuck in our
ways and won't budge because many of them fear losing power and status. Our
goal must be to avoid total failure that ultimately would force us to change
at too high a price. Let's make a difference before we crash!
Wishing you all a Happy Y2K without major glitches.
ZIMM
!!!!! Beware that our letter is still limited in scope so we can reach all
users of the Internet. If you cannot get the letter by E-mail, look it on
the Web-Page at:
http://www.freeyellow.com:8080/members7/rlmcmahon/
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
http://www.freeyellow.com:8080/members7/rlmcmahon/
=====================================================
ARTICLE 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
USAF - DON'T THINK LIKE SOLDIERS (There is no readiness crisis!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have all heard it before: "improvise and overcome, deal with it it's the
military way!" I just can't buy it. Why do our services run our troops into a
money crunch at the end of the year, which it takes three months to recover
from, in peacetime? No reason for it. Our military has a problem budgeting
because we were all taught to send, spend, spend at the beginning of the
fiscal year, all in the hope that we'll just ask for more towards the end of
the year. Then when the dough runs out, we all act surprised and want to save
on the most ludicrous things, such as toilet paper and pencils. If you would
run a business that way, you'd be fired! In the military, you are celebrated
as a great manger and trainer, although you have maybe trained sufficiently
for only two quarters of the year. The rest of the time, you have cut back
and frozen operations to save money, in total disregard of your 10-20 %
turnover in personnel. End-state: force only marginally trained, many
troops dissatisfied and bored and not interested in staying in. Fix: educate
commanders to plan realistic training for the whole year and reward folks for
staying within budget. Let subordinates participate in the planning - you'd
be surprised!
***********************************************************
By a Senior Air Force NONCOM
I am a senior NCO in the Air Force Security Forces. We are the few people in
he Air Force that will be meeting people on the ground that want to kill us.
This makes us a bit different then the rest of the Air Force enlisted. We
are trying to train for a law enforcement/light
infantry/anti-terrorism/security mission and do our duties at the same time.
It gets to be very tough.
The reason for this note is that I just came from another briefing on the Air
Force mission. Why we need the F-22 etc. etc. We can keep what we have in
the air. The sad fact is that my unit cannot afford to by year 2000 desk
calendars, envelopes, postage, and other simple office supplies. Training
ammo is unheard of.
I just wanted you to know that there are problems in the other services, not
just the Army. I don't know the answer to the problem. But I know that it
is not fun anymore.
It also is a fact that no one wants to hear of the problems. I have to keep
quiet. I was told to quit thinking like a soldier. I have to accept that we
don't have any problems in the training/mission area.
===================================================
ARTICLE 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VALUES SELL! -THE RECRUITING PITCHES OF THE ARMED FORCES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our services are doing it to themselves. Instead of talking to young Airmen,
Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and "Coasties", and junior leaders, they are
listening to contract studies and Hollywood advertisement strategists. The
result: Millions wasted on useless commercials and bonuses and the
recruiting crisis still upon us. The article speaks for itself: listen to
the Marines. Simple and honorable is better!
**********************************************************
By Marcy M. Dupre
LTC, IN, USAR (RET)
I spend my retirement days now in a high school classroom teaching ROTC. Last
week I had a DoD week. That's where all the Services plus the Coast Guard
come in to my classroom - one each day. The idea is for them to teach high
school kids about their branch of the Service and what it might have to
offer. I don't mean to start a debate about which Service has the best
training or "deals", but here are my observations. I thought you might find
them interesting.
The Coast Guard - two Petty Officers. Showed up late for the first class
both wearing class B uniforms. Their pitch consisted of about 10 minutes of
showing pictures of boats and helicopters and a few minutes of a canned
recruiting video - students slept. After that came this is how much money we
can give you - bonuses - college, etc. They struggled to keep the attention
of the students.
The Army - One Staff Sergeant recruiter in class B accompanied by two
soldiers from the 101st Aviation in Class A. I thought this would be better.
The recruiter showed his canned "Be all you can be" video - students slept-
and then got into this is how much money I can give you spiel. The two 101st
soldiers then had their opportunity to sell the Army. The first thing out of
the Private First Class's mouth was how great it was, that the Army was
paying off his loans, how much more education he was getting, and how he
would retire from the Army almost a millionaire because he had been taught
about investing his money early - all good things of course. The Staff
Sergeant had much the same speech. The recruiter did add that basic training
was tough 18 years ago when he went through, but it's easy now.
The Navy - one Petty Officer class B. Ditto. Watch the video -student's
slept - here's the money deal.
The Air Force - stood us up.
The Marine Corps - One Sergeant in Marine Corps dress blue. His pitch - I
know all the other recruiters have told you about the money they can offer.
Every Service can give you the same college money deal, and we all get paid
from the same bank. An E-5 makes the same money in every branch of the
Service. That's all I have to say about that. We want you in the Marine
Corps because you want to be one of us not because you're looking for college
money.
He talked about Marine Corps Values and how proud he was to be a Marine. He
then showed a "no holds barred" video of Marine Corps Boot Camp. It showed
Marine Corps Drill Instructors chasing people off the bus (you could see the
sweat on the faces of the recruits while they stood on those little yellow
feet), in their face - yelling, running the crap out of them, dogging them
out on confidence courses and in PT. It showed them the "Crucible" - recruits
literally ran into the ground for 50 some hours straight. He then showed the
ceremony at the end of the crucible where each marine that completed received
his or her anchor and globe. These kids were proud and the looks on their
faces couldn't be faked. The students stayed awake. The students kept this
recruiter busy talking about what it meant to be a Marine - not about the
college fund.
The last time I checked the Marine Corps was the only Service that met its
accession goals - maybe we need to think about what it is we're trying to
sell.
=================================================
~~> more news in Part B ~~>
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