Not My Infantry

In all of the attention given to the two women who graduated from Ranger School, we find some doubters who will never believe that a woman can qualify as a ranger without some favoritism.  As part of the discussion we have James Lechner, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and former Ranger, who questions whether the Ranger course adequately tested the female candidates under combat-simulated conditions and whether it makes sense to open all combat units to women.

“American women certainly serve with honor and distinction, provide some capabilities that males may not be able to provide,” Lechner said. “But when you talk about your fighting units, your combat arms units, especially the infantry . . . you don’t need to just have the minimum standards. You need to have as good as you possibly can get.” (emphasis added)

 Maybe the Army thinks like that now.  The Army sure the fuck did not think that when it assigned me to the infantry.  At my best either one of those newly-minted female rangers is far, far superior to me in infantry skills.  "As good as you possibly can get" was not the coin of the infantry in 1970-71.  It was more like "how many bodies can we process through nine weeks of minimal infantry training (more like familiarization, really) before shipping them off to Vietnam."

It was all about bodies.  Luckily, mine was not one of the bodies that came home in a bag.

Something to Remember on Memorial Day

From "Convoy" by Kyle Larkin

We don’t talk about the roadside bombs. That would only make things worse. So instead we tell morbid jokes and force grins, trying to hide the sensations in our guts that are pulling and twisting and eating away at us.

You get ready for a mission, check the oil in your truck, load your weapon and do radio checks, while somewhere in the back of your head you try to remember what you last ate, wondering what it will look like splattered across the road if you get blown inside out.

Read the whole thing.

Memorial Day 2014

Among all of the fine patriotic speeches today, you will probably not hear that "war is a racket".  Something to think about as you remember these honored dead.

An Honor

Coffee Strong held a party last Saturday to celebrate re-opening in its new location.  After four years of subsidizing  a money losing coffee business, the Coffee Strong board and volunteers changed the model from coffee house to GI/veteran resource center with full time staff.  The site moved to a larger but less expensive space next door to the old location, still within spitting distance of Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  Coffee Strong still serves coffee but that is now incidental to the mission:  opposing the wars and helping service members and veterans understand their options. 

Supporters and volunteers who assisted in the conversion were recognized as Plank Owners.  As I understand the term, a plank owner is a crew member of a ship at commissioning.  I was among those so recognized, with the certificate thereof, for which I am deeply honored.  Also grateful that I've had the opportunity to be part of Coffee Strong since its beginning in 2008 and for the past three years volunteering there as a veterans advocate.

My relationship with Lewis-McChord goes back to 1970, when it was Fort Lewis Army Base next to the adjacent McChord Air Force Base.  I did my infantry training at Fort Lewis from September to November, earning my 11 Bravo MOS before being sent to Vietnam in December.  I never knew about the GI coffee house in nearby Tacoma, The Shelter Half.  Being part of a similar movement for a new generation of service members is a source of great personal satisfaction..

Shameless plug:  Like most shoestring nonprofits, Coffee Strong is always in need of donations.  If you have some spare cash, you might consider slipping a few bucks their way.  

Aftermath

Timothy Kudo killed people in Afghanistan.  He said so in the Washington Post.  As a Marine lieutenant, he didn't personally administer the lethal force but he was part of the machinery.  He gave the orders.  His thoughts as a veteran:

I can say that the ethical damage of war may be worse than the physical injuries we sustain. To properly wage war, you have to recalibrate your moral compass. Once you return from the battlefield, it is difficult or impossible to repair it.

[...]

I didn’t return from Afghanistan as the same person. My personality is the same, or at least close enough, but I’m no longer the “good” person I once thought I was. There’s nothing that can change that; it’s impossible to forget what happened, and the only people who can forgive me are dead.  

I will never know whether my actions in Afghanistan were right or wrong. On good days, I believe they were necessary. But instead, I want to believe that killing, even in war, is wrong.

[...]

Civilians can comprehend the casualties of war because most people know someone who has died. But few know someone who has killed. ...The question “Did you kill anyone?” isn’t easy to answer — and it’s certainly not one every veteran wants to. But when civilians ask, I think I have a duty to respond.

And if explaining what I did 6,000 miles away in a conflict far from the public’s consciousness makes the next war less likely, then maybe my actions weren’t in vain.

Combat leaves an indelible mark on the human spirit.  That mark may vary but it is real and always present.

"I had a job to do. I was a nurse."

Once again, the obituary page has taught me a history I did not know.  This time the history is of the  nurses taken prisoner by the Japanese after the fall of the Philippinesin 1941.  The last known survivor of that orderal  Mildred Dalton Manning, has died at age 98.  She was one of 77 military nurses captured when American forces surrendered to the Japanese.

Mrs. Manning spent three years as a prisoner of war during which she and her fellow nurses continued to perform their duties and maintained military order and discipline under difficult and extreme conditions.  All 77 survived the ordeal.  I have to think that their dedication to their duty is what saved them.

Godspeed, Mrs. Manning. 

The Long Tail of War

Department of Veterans Affairs Suicide Data Report, 2012

A qualified report based on limited data but still indicative.  Figure 6 on page 21shows a high rate of suicide in Washington.  Not surprising at all.

Women in Combat

Army Staff Sgt. Keesha Dentino served two tours in Iraq, as a gunner and then as a team leader on convoys. 

“Every deployment, I’ve done combat missions.  The whole females in combat is not a new thing,” she said. “I think people are just not aware that there are women out there who have done it.”

Pretty much ends the debate for me.  I especially like the fact that combat experience opens the chance for more women to reach senior ranks.  The military will always be the military but more senior women can only be good.

The change is ironic, though.  During the Vietnam War, the idea of drafting women was beyond the pale.  Many predicted that Americans would never bear the thought of their daughters coming home in a box.

Many were wrong.

The Cost of Doing Business

Military training chant: 

"War is our business and business is good!"

But not so good if you or a loved one is an input:  military families speak out about post deployment suicide. 

Army Games

Friday during my volunteer shift at Coffee Strong, a sergeant came in to talk about a possible separation action he thinks his command has in store for him after five deployments as a Ranger to Iraq and Afghanistan. He's about six months away from 18 years service when he will qualify for a pension and is concerned that the Army wants to ditch him because of his attitude after those deployments. He says the what they call attitude is him not willing to be a "yes man" and put up with their bullshit.

The sergeant is not the first career NCO I've encountered who seems to be of no further use to the military. Since last fall, I can think of three others, including some E-7's who have described similar situations to me, including one who was discharged just shy of reaching that 18 year protected window.

By the time a soldier gets to the middle NCO ranks with 15 or more years of service, the Army has invested a lot in that soldier and certainly vice-versa. Yet these days, it seems that the Army is all too willing to discharge an experienced NCO after repeated deployments if he shows any signs of the stress of those deployments. Even more cynical is the Army's willingness to make sure the soldier doesn't get the pension that he would otherwise receive.

Maybe it's just my imagination, but when the Army treats its lifers like that, it's going to have a very difficult time earning soldiers' trust.

Local "Heroes"

Two days after learning that a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier murdered 16 Afghan civilians, we have a report that another JBLM soldier--a lieutenant colonel, no less--was arrested after threatening to bomb the Washington state capitol building here in Olympia and hire a hit man to kill his wife. I want to think things can't get worse but with this clusterfuck of a war I'd be a fool to think that.

Most soldiers don't do this shit but the string of "isolated incidents" seems to be getting awfully long. I'm beginning to think that the US Army is breaking down. Certainly the parade of traumatized vets I see at Coffee Strong would seem to suggest that.

Forty years ago, the US ended the draft in favor of a volunteer military because military leaders saw that an unpopular and seemingly endless war lead to a pretty much complete breakdown of Army discipline. That breakdown was fully evident during my year in Vietnam. They thought a volunteer professional Army would be immune.

Ten years of pointless war in Iraq and Afghanistan shows how wrong they were. This time the breakdown is not so much rebellion as it is sheer inability of human beings to cylce in and out of a meat grinder. The Coffee Strong statement says it all:

In 10 years of war, JBLM has produced a Kill Team, suicide epidemic, denials of PTSD treatment, denials of human rights in the Brig, spousal abuse and a waterboarded daughter, murders of civilians (including a park ranger), increased sex crimes, substance abuse, DUIs, police shootings of GIs, police violence toward protesters, differential treatment of GIs, and much more. These abuses are not because of a few bad apples, but because of the base’s systematic dehumanization of soldiers and civilians, both in occupied countries and at home.

Here in the south Puget Sound area we get to see the war's aftermath up close.

Apology for a Parade

A while back I received an email alert from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association (IAVA) asking me to support “…a single national day of action, coordinating the efforts of cities and towns nationwide to celebrate our nation's newest heroes and connect them with the resources they have earned.” Yesterday, the BBC asked if the US should hold a parade for returning veterans. My reaction to both was surprisingly, negative, which I thought was awfully churlish response to fellow veterans, many of whom sacrificed far more than I ever did.

That negative reaction is to the war in which those troops served. Despite their sacrifice and dedication, the Iraq war was a meaningless mission that did nothing good for America. It weakened the national economy, encouraged greater hostility toward this nation around the world and took the lives of almost 5,000 Americans and countless tens of thousands of Iraqis. The war began with lies and became an extended occupation that diminished America’s international credibility in so many ways. Exactly what would I celebrate about that “accomplishment”?

What I would do is apologize for sending these service members into harm’s way to no good end. The mission was not worthy of their sacrifice yet they performed it as best they could, as they trained to do. We owe them for that. IAVA has been at the forefront of advocating for this generation of veterans so I won’t gainsay their call for a national day of recognition and promoting veterans’ re-integration into society.

Genuine recognition will last much longer than a day, though. Veterans from the Global War on Terror, the Long War and ongoing Overseas Contingency Operations will be with us well into mid century. If America keeps it promises to these veterans, the nation will spend about a trillion dollars caring for them in coming decades. That obligation continues long after the guns fall silent and the troops come home.

Seeing that veterans do in fact receive the care and benefits that they have earned is certainly an appropriate recognition. That we sent them to war for a lie is not cause to celebrate.

An apology is more appropriate.

Whiz-Bang Propaganda

Kudos to the Washington Post for questioning the provenance of this weekend's military blockbuster, "Act of Valor", complete with real, live SEALs and lots of "gee whiz" military hardware. The movie is the result of a Navy initiative to increase the number of SEALs to meet demands projected in a Quadrennial Defense Review. It's a feature-length recruiting film. It's also a further acclimation to constant war. It looks so cool.

If I think about it from the Navy's point of view, I would welcome the opportunity to show off. The US Navy and other military services are capable of some amazing shit that would make civilian heads spin. The teamwork needed to make all that technology work just right is testament to human spirit and ingenuity. I won't gainsay the skill and dedication of the men and women who put it all together.

I will question how much we need to make it all work and why. And that is where a film like "Act of Valor" is so pernicious. The viewer is so taken with the wonder of it all that the purpose of SEAL and other special force operations are never questioned. Do we really need 500 more SEALs? And to what ends? Rescuing hostages from Somali pirates is good but that type of capability is usually an afterthought to a primary national security mission. And even a high-profile takedown like Osama bin Laden is unlikely to be all too frequent. So what else will be done in our name? Why? "Act of Valor" doesn't go there.

The film makers talk of telling the story of "...this brotherhood and this depth of character amongst men, and the sacrifices they’ve been through in the last 10 years in sustained combat.” Without a doubt, the bonding and sacrifice are in the finest military tradition. But what about that ten years of sustained combat? Ten fucking years of war to in support of a regime that cannot prevent its own forces from attacking us. Ten years of war that have shattered soldiers, families and communities. "Act of Valor" doesn't go there either.

Where "Act of Valor" goes is after the 18 to 20 year old male who doesn't know to ask these questions. For the target audience, all that matters is mission, brotherhood and purpose. A chance to Kick Ass!

Comparative Decoration

The previous post comments about the level of decoration on an American general. I will point out, by way of contrast, that the Commanding General of Allied Forces in WWII was somewhat more modest in his accoutrement.


Even when meeting with other senior commanders, all of whom are showing off decorations to their peers, the Commanding General was lightly adorned. None are as highly adorned as today's senior officers.


Just sayin'

Force Projection

A very animated and confident Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu handles a timid looking American General Martin Dempsey. Netanyahu has all the motion and animation. He's larger. The general stands rigidly smaller behind his ample decoration and ornamentation. He looks at Netanyahu with a supplicant's eyes.



Or maybe the image is a fleeting one, an unrepresentative photo that does not convey the true strength the general brings to the encounter.

"U.S. military chief in Israel for talks on Iran"

update 02.25.12: General Dempsy is, however, able to talk sense about Israel and Iran. What is not clear is whether it will make any difference.

Martin Luther King, 1929-1968

The speech every American should hear on MLK day. Four decades later, his words still ring true.



Text available here.

(via Chuck Palazzo)

Stark Reality

Sebastian Junger speaks the truth about war:

[W]e may be disgusted by seeing U.S. Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters, but we remain oddly unfazed by the fact that, presumably, those same Marines just put bullets through the fighters’ chests. American troops are not blind to this irony. They are very clear about the fact that society trains them to kill, orders them to kill and then balks at anything that suggests they have dehumanized the enemy they have killed.

But of course they have dehumanized the enemy — otherwise they would have to face the enormous guilt and anguish of killing other human beings.

War is an ugly business. It makes the obscene normal. Every now and then that obscenity may intrude on the public consciousness but mostly we leave it to the soldiers.

And we wonder why they explode when they come home.

Numbers and Words

Barack Obama, 05 January 2012:

And I firmly believe, and I think the American people understand, that we can keep our military strong and our nation secure with a defense budget that continues to be larger than roughly the next 10 countries combined.

Kudos to the president for stating the obvious. Obama may be the first president ever to say "Enough" when it comes to military spending. But hedistinctly low-balls America's spending advantage. Actually, the US outspends the combined total of the next 15 countries. Ten of those countries are US allies of one sort or another.

And with all that might we still can't make the world work like we want it to. Perhaps alternatives to military force may also be useful.

Ya think?

In the Rearview Mirror

The last convoy of American forces exited Iraq last night. No doubt troopers are happy to be crossing that international border. The American War in Iraq is over.

But neither war or America will be absent from Iraq. War will continue among Iraqis living in one of the world's most dangerous places. Thousands of US contractors working out of the world's largest embassy will project as much influence as our national treasury can buy. The contractor formerly known as Blackwater has changed its name yet again to reflect the new dawn in Iraq. The beat most certainly goes on.

But for now, Americans can at least find some solace in the ceremonies marking the change of command and an orderly withdrawal. That much, at least, is over. No desperate rooftop helicopter evacuation (*).

With that thought in mind and fully mindful of the America's continued presence in Iraq I can only say,

WHAT A FUCKING WASTE!

Andrew Bacevich offers a similar conclusion in somewhat more temperate language supported with informed observations and clear thought. I strongly recommend reading the whole thing.

But it also helps to scream.

__________

(*) Yet.

Sign of the Times

Military families are using food banks and food stamps to get by. War may be good for business but it doesn't seem to do much for the troops.