"Stars and Stripes" letter: 'Didn't get help'

[lebkuchen]

Didn’t get help

I keep hearing officers and noncommissioned officers talking about how they take care of their lower-enlisted troops. But it seems that all they want to do is take care of themselves.

For example, when my detachment was leaving Baghdad on Jan. 8, our C5-B was hit by a surface-to-air missile, and our plane was brought back down. Once back on the ground, we weren’t allowed to be medically checked out. Since then, two of our NCOs have been sent to Germany for CAT scans and blood clots in their brains. One was sent home to get better attention. The other was sent back in country with medicine to lower his blood pressure and help with possible blood clots.

There are several other people in the group who have gone to the Troop Medical Clinic for headaches and other problems that started since the plane was hit. Yet no one has taken any notice of the lower-enlisted soldiers’ injuries. We hear NCOs saying how they take care of their soldiers. But most of us are still walking around with headaches, and no one seems to care.

I also want readers to know that my detachment came into country with no plates in our vests or ammunition for our weapons. So I don’t know what we would have done if our plane would have landed in Baghdad without the proper gear. My main thought is that none of us got the medical attention that we needed. Was the mission we were on more important than the soldiers? Who is responsible for our detachment not getting the help that we needed?

Pfc. Jack Hester
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=21005

[bluestateguy]

1. It's Clinton's fault!

It's because of Clinton defense budget cuts!

[lebkuchen]

2. These letters weren't written on Clinton's watch.

:)

Here's another in the batch, aka "Kerry's platform" if he plays it smart.

Stop red tape, finger-pointing

As a soldier with 14 years of active-duty and Reserve service, I want to know how we continue to drive on or suck it up with all the issues we have to face. It is up to our senior personnel to fight the bureaucracy between military and government policies. War is not fought in the White House. It’s fought by the outstanding troops in the field.

We know little about a policy until it’s already approved and printed. Such issues as pay, medical coverage and deployments seem to never end. How can there be a problem with hazardous duty pay when we’re in a foreign country being attacked several times a day? The only time we receive health care is when we’re on deployment status. What about during the training stages or when family members need it whether we’re federally activated or not?

At the 10-year mark in our careers, we soldiers have to start considering our directions more carefully. Unlike at the beginning, we now have families. Incentives need to be established and kept in place to get us through our chosen career paths. To lose so many skilled and trained soldiers would leave a gap in the ranks.

As it stands now, there are no rules to govern back-to-back deployments. High-tempo deployment days used to be considered in order to keep soldiers from being away from their families for long periods. We’re not being allowed to get mentally prepared for new missions. To what extent are new military leaders willing to go before they realize that they’re about to force out of the military career-oriented soldiers who swore to protect and uphold the rights of all people?

The red tape and finger-pointing need to stop. Simply pay the soldiers, take care of their families, give reservists a better retirement plan, and rotate the troops in a proper manner. Reservists are reaching retirement in their 40s and they still have to wait until many years later to draw their pensions. The troops are taking the risks, and some are paying the ultimate sacrifice. Therefore we must have sound and solid support from those who say they care. Midcareer soldiers have paid — and continue to pay — their dues over the years. Do not force us to choose between what’s in our hearts and what we commonly deserve.

Sgt. Quentin Henning
LSA Anaconda, Iraq

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=21005

[DeepModem Mom]

3. The shabby treatment of our soldiers in Iraq...

is a vastly underreported story. There is so much anecdotal evidence that could be followed up. Where is our press???

[JohnOneillsMemory]

4. Where's our press? Covering Martha Stewart. n/t

[Cognitive Diversity]

5. boy is that boy gonna get it

i hope not anyway

this is pretty disgusting, and im impressed the stars printed it

[9215]

6. Imagine yourself in a WWII movie

John Wayne style. You know, the ones you saw on TV and just deal with it.

Nobody complained back then. DEAL WITH IT!!

It is a fucking movie and you are the main character!!!!!!!


JEEEEEEESUS FUUUUUUUKING CHRISSSSSSTMOS!!!!!!!!

[dbt]

7. Sounds like the Army is being run like a corporation, doesn't it?

Cost-cutting everywhere you look, and the lower echelons being viewed more and more as expendable.

Dammit, there are some things you can't "run like a business!"

:freak:
dbt