Short Insider Essays About The Military Read online

mostly "rule followers" who wouldn't know a creative approach to PFC Manning if it ran over them. An Article 32 investigation is a joke. Sure he did it. A court martial is a “given”. Any military type who has been around will tell you about court-martials: there is a common refrain: Bring the guilty bastard in. Give me a break!

  The whole "classified" argument is a joke anyway. When the military doesn't want to do something it says, "Classified." This is the time for the President to weigh in. Manning is a misguided, young man who easily should be on Castro Street in San Francisco and not in the military-probably joined as it was about his only option.

  Based on his initial public appearance, the trial is going to be a circus:  civil rights and 1st Amendment issues will make us look bad. Work out a deal: prison time which should be time served; a general discharge, which probably means nothing to Manning but the traditionalists would like it; a fine and announce responsibility to those who should have been supervising him. The big thing is end it. Move on. Don't have a circus. Don't listen to those who want a heavy-hand. Anyone with kids understands this. Let's treat him like we would any Private: discharge and move on!  Big surprise: he is being court martialed (tried and now will be subject to, “bring the guilty bastard in.” .

  MILITARY TO COURT MARTIAL PFC MANNING—Now, that is a surprise.

  Court Martialing PFC (Private First Class) Bradley Manning is a stupid thing to do. My views are well documented but we have no surprises here. A court martial (military term for trial) was inevitable based on the military system. The military conducts a thorough Article 32 investigation (Grand Jury). Once they have done it, the guilt or innocence is well established. Consequently the term, "bring the guilty bastard in." There is no dispute that Manning leaked the documents. The stickiness should be that the military has more than a little culpability. Manning should not have had assess to sensitive material, short and simple. He is a f..king midget in the system.

  I have witnessed many a court martial. Most are cut and dry. Where they can possibly work is if they grasp and take into account mitigating circumstances. A senior (17 years) NCO (non commission officer) that I knew in Korea got himself tangled in the black market. He had some extenuating circumstances at home. Sick wife and child. He should not have been in Korea but he needed the extra cash (an unaccompanied tour of duty usually pays more). This normally outstanding NCO was stupid. Purchased electronic equipment at the PX (post exchange) at a very cheap price and paid no tax on it, then sold it at a profit on the very robust Korean black market (One of many reasons why we need to be out of Korea). The good sergeant got caught and was court martialed. Even this was pretty heavy handed in my view but the military is a rule oriented entity, especially in a non combat environment. He should have been given a "Special Courts Martial" in front of a judge with usually lessor discipline. Maybe in a stretch, an Article 15, which is non judicial punishment administered by the commander. Can be pretty stiff itself. The courts martial busted my NCO one rank, fined him a month's pay and shipped him home. Not bad and something from which he could recover.

  The military could be smart here and give PFC Manning a Special Court Martial, bust him to E1 (he's now an E3), fine him a couple of months pay, sentence him to time served, give him a bad discharge and say sayonara. Any chance they would do it. Not a chance in hell as someone might have to admit they f..ked up.

 

  Military Spends Money on Useless Program

  On a recent “NewsHour”, Betty Ann Bowser profiled a new Army program called, Comprehensive Soldier Fitness”. Get this: the Army gave this guy from the University Of PA a “no bid” contract of 32 mil to develop this program. I  thought you have got to be joking. The powers that be have “played” the soldier card. Who does not want to help soldiers like some hardened combat vet, but he is not about to sit in some class and be told, “Be positive, you will be OK.” That's BS.

  The program's goal is to boost the mental toughness of soldiers. Teaching them how to better communicate with loved ones and become more aware of their emotions and change the way they cope with emotional stress. Good goals and the Army BS hope to reverse the number of troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicide. But a “feel good” class ain’t going to do it.

  This all sounds worthy until you grasp that we have/had programs like this out the “gazoo:-” doctors, psychologists, chaplains, social workers, etc. who are already doing and running programs like this. And, it appears that the guy who sold this program to the Army has made liberal use of psychotherapist, Albert Ellis.

  The Ellis theory of Rational Emotive Therapy was basically founded around the idea, “It’s not what happens to you that's the problem but how you look at it.” The more I think about this, the more it appears collusion//or stupidity might be involved.-a “no bid” contract with no coordination with other Army programs and skeptics from other disciplines outside the military who are working on the same thing.

  Using money for this program with our focusing on the deficit is stupidity. Here in California, for instance, we are so poor we can’t even afford to run our school buses. And the Army is spending 32 mil for our soldiers to feel good which ain’t going to work anyway?

  Mel Gibson, in one of his latest movies, plays a police detective, and for some reason, is griping about people talking about PTSD and says something like, “What is all this Post Traumatic Stress everybody is talking about. Hell, I thought nightmares, anger, depression (he was a Korean War combat vet) were the price you paid for being in combat.” I think so.

  Consolidate the Academies

  Talk about a spirited contest, the Army/ Navy football game recently... Both sides of the stadium were full. Even the Prez showed up. For American style football, this isn’t much. No powerhouse players on the Academy teams.

  The military academies and most everyone who cogitates their navel about sports gets why. Really big football prospects aren’t going to the academies, mainly because they have a military commitment of mostly five years waiting for them. Thus ending any desires for a professional sports career.

  There was a time that the academies were competitive. When?  When we had the draft. Young men figured they were going to serve anyway, why not get a good education? For free no less. Do we think that Milt Friedman and the then Secretary of Defense, Melvin Laird, who sold us a bill of goods on ending the draft, thought of those unintended consequences?

  I always look at the academies a little differently than most. First of all, this worshipful attitude toward them needs to be put in perspective. These kids’ education is no small thing—a million bucks a pop. And, there’s other stuff, they do get a stipend, maybe a few other bennies. But, going to one of the academies is no cake walk. It is hard: field problems, restrictions, other things that some non-academy types like me don’t even know. I can tell you this though. We don’t need all these separate academies. One is sufficient and certain curriculum could be tailored to individual services.

  Consolidating the Academies, like so many things in government, could save billions of dollars. Think any congressman would have the “balls” to even suggest such a thing? Don’t hold your breath. We are talking WWlll. The military lobby would be in “hell raising” political posture before you could say, “at ease.”

  Going to Jail for Lying About Military Service

  A 57 year old guy in Cleveland Ohio was recently sentenced to 27 months in jail for impersonating an army general in order to get a job. This is one of those issues that I say, what the f___! A guy goes to jail for claiming he is a vet and won a bunch of medals. So what! He lied. What is the big deal? He is a politician. Politicians lie all the time. The next thing is that people routinely go to jail for lying. THIS IS SO STUPID.

  For those of us who have been in combat, we get the picture on medals. There are instances when in combat, you get a medal. What for? Then there are other instances when you deserve a medal and get nothing. Most of the time, medals tak
e on little value in combat (My view) And, the military is constantly changing rules about medals. The Purple Heart can be worn above this one or below that one. I got myself in trouble once when I casually mentioned that with a purple heart and a buck and a half, you could get a cup of coffee at SFO (San Francisco Oakland Airport). Bottom line: Who gives a f____ if someone lies about hero medals? With all the problems in our country, we should be focusing on important issues.

  Heroes

  The term “heroes” is mostly semantics. And, I think there is some histrionics in the idea that there is a “cult of the uniform” as the Sunday “Times” article, “An Empty Regard” suggests. I think there is another explanation why the majority of Americans express appreciation of the military. Americans who care-and not all do-have somehow in their psyche decided that they are never again going to treat soldiers as badly as they did Vietnam vets. We vets have our own emotional well being still tied up with that awful treatment. We not only fought in Vietnam but had another battle at home. And, those battles have persisted through recognition on health issues like Agent Orange and PTSD. For a good ten years or more, Vietnam vets were basically silent. The