-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! ***************************************************************** ********** VOICE OF THE GRUNT ********** ********** 05 January 2000 ********** ***************************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES Hack's Column: "Phew, We made it Through!" 1 Z-"Flash": Fix Blame, Ignore the Troops! 2 >From The Field - Main Focus: The Aviation Crisis Army Accident Rate Highest Since the Gulf War 3 The Troops Hold the Truth - Why isn't anyone Asking? 4 Lack of Operational Experience - A Self-inflicted Wound 5 The Warrior Exodus Aviation Style 6 Air Force - Kuwait Fatal Crash Update 7 Medal of Honor: 8 Gordon, Gary I., Somalia 1993 G.I Humor: Can't Beat Air Force Logic! 9 =========================================================== ARTICLE 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "PHEW, WE MADE IT THROUGH" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BY DAVID H. HACKWORTH, 03 January 2000 Well, we're still here! No nuke plant meltdowns. No catastrophic power stroke. No Chinese paratroopers raining from the sky. Russian missiles stayed snug in their silos. Saddam Hussein and his big-bucks buddy, Osama bin Laden, kept their bombs in their bags and their bugs in their bottles. And all our toilets flushed. The passing of the last day of the last year of this wild ride of a century into the new millennium left me exhausted. My wife, Eilhys, and I hit the rack at 9 p.m. after she indulged me by helping me run through my end-of-the-world checklist one more time. No way was I going to be part of more than a crowd of two on the day so many experts were warning the sky might fall. Popcorn and movies were it. We studied a double-feature matinee -- "On the Beach" and "Dr. Strangelove" -- as if they were Army training films. That was all we could squeeze in before putting the guard dogs through yet another precautionary drill and barricading the fortress. But for me sleep was fretful. I kept waking up every hour to see if our canary was still alive, if the little red light was still shining "on" from our television and to listen for the phone -- 10 radio and two TV stations had me on standby to report in case any bad stuff hit the fan. Not sure what I could've reported on had the Y2K terrors descended upon us, as I'd have been out of commo. I guess if someone got through on the cell phone, I could've riffed on how I love the smell of hot candle wax early in the morning and why the backup generator won't be ready until the 7th. That might've been good for two or three minutes. The question now is what to do with 2,000 bottles of spring water, 20 cases of tuna, 400 pounds of rice and beans, 10 cases of Army-ration MREs (Meals Refused by Ethiopians), a few thousand rounds of shotgun ammo, a like number of batteries and a half-garage of pink candles I got a deal on from a bankrupt restaurant. Eilhys, with her infinitely cheery disposition when things are most grim, suggested I open a roadside stand in front of the house and flog the stuff at a discount. She pointed out that once the generator was finally up and running, fueled by my new butane gas tank, I'd be able to operate 24 hours a day, good weather or bad. She kindly didn't mention that all was purchased with most of the money we'd been saving to revisit our honeymoon place in Fiesole, Italy. I shot that idea down faster than Al Gore can say Tennessee. "Right! Except that would take this town's planning commissions another millennium to approve. First we'd have to get Larry-the-engineer to do a study analyzing the impact on the environment. Then he'd have to run it by Wetlands and all the other agencies, and 82 inspections, 20 grand and a couple years later, they'd say no." Returning the cash -- the rest of our savings -- to the bank won't be a problem. That is, when I find it. I swear I buried the swag by the big rock next to the oak tree in the back yard. Ten holes later, still no sign of the tin cans. The dogs are no help either. They're so exhausted from the extra motivational training, they've flat refused to double as sniffers to get me out of a serious jam. Eilhys doesn't buy my line that we're all victims of the past, in spite of a most excellent excuse. After all, I had the five Ps -- Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance -- beaten into me by tough sergeants when I was a kid. So whenever there's a threat, I've just got to get ready. But all's not lost. I'm holding onto the 86 cases of whiskey just in case Prohibition comes back. You can never tell. And in the event the wrong Wunderkind presidential wannabe makes it to the White House, I'll have something to numb what's left of my brain. In the meantime, so far so good. But just in case, keep 500 bucks handy and keep 5 yards. 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 - FIX BLAME, IGNORE THE TROOPS! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By R.W. ZIMMERMANN, 03 January 2000 In typical Pentagon tradition, the Army's top aviation safety guru declared 1999 the worst year for aviation safety, pinning the blame on leadership. Not the top leadership, mind you, but on the mid-level leaders, the pilots who fly the machines and the non commissioned officers who maintain operational readiness with the limited means handed to them. The perfumed princes and politicians responsible for providing resources, training, and operational guidelines received no credit for any of the problems. In 1999 the Army recorded 126 aviation accidents, killing 20 soldiers and destroying 10 aircraft. The rapid deployment of Apache helicopters to Kosovo turned into a military and political disaster, despite the Army's attempt to apply all possible micromanagement and force protection techniques. Case in point, a task force that should be controlled by a Lieutenant Colonel came under command and control of a promotable Brigadier General who was hastily transferred from his job as assistant division commander of the 4Th Infantry Division. What's wrong with that picture? As has become bad habit in the Army, we have again misused the old slogan: "there are no bad soldiers, there is no bad equipment - there are only bad leaders!" I have personally been on the receiving end of some of these "self-flagellations" during in my first two weeks in command of a tank battalion. A soldier had died in a traffic accident after he had apparently fallen asleep at the wheel of his vehicle. Although the soldier had had sufficient sleep before signing out on leave, had worn a seat belt when he passed a post safety checkpoint, the state police suspected that he had not worn his seatbelt when the accident occurred. What was the chain of command's reaction? Inspired by then Chief of Staff' Dennis Reimer's latest accident prevention "tool kit" and elaborate computer "safety self-test" programs, the brigade commander accused me of "personally" killing a soldier for letting him execute his leave privilege. Although a "massive" investigation revealed that the chain of command had met all Army rest guidelines and safety briefing requirements, it was as if we had taken a direct fire casualty in combat. I suspect a similar spiel is taking place here. Let's fix blame at the convenient level. The case recommendations will include implementation of more stringent internal safety procedures and more contractor studies. The safety center will of course need higher funding and more bureaucrats to devise the additional policies. Maybe we will only fly simulators from now on to avoid non-combat casualties altogether? Nothing will change in the areas that need real attention. >From my own experience in command and exposure to combat aviation, I can assure you that our mid-level leaders and our noncommissioned officers have long pointed out that training is insufficient, certain types of essential equipment, such as night vision goggles are short in supply, and that critical mechanical problems exist. More importantly, our junior officer-pilots do not log sufficient flight hours to become fully combat proficient. They have too many other professional development tickets to punch. In addition, we might not be recruiting the quality soldiers needed to become aviation mechanics -- with that horse sense for the machines entrusted to them. Of course our system managers and CEO's don't want to hear of it. Their solution - more micromanagement! Just as in comparable ground force units, I expect Lieutenant Colonels will personally inspect everyone's operator's license and seat belt use. Officers and senior NCO's will personally have to certify that individual weapons are cleared. What will that do to readiness - it will destroy it! In combat, the systems operator, i.e. tank commander, pilot, etc., is responsible for his vehicle, crew, weapon system. In combat, there won't be a Colonel to pull the final inspections. For our senior noblemen who run the show, here are some recommendations for 2000: LEARN TO LISTEN TO THE TROOPS and PUSH POWER and RESPONSIBILITY DOWN! When an old squad leader, tank commander, or experienced flight warrant tells you something, there is probably something to it. If you are so concerned with safety and force protection, then give the troops qualified recruits, better training, sufficient parts, adequate maintenance time, and rest periods for personnel. If your troops' equipment doesn't perform to combat specifications, speak out now! Lose the fear of missing your turn through the revolving door into contracting. Remember that your job is to give your troops the best equipment to fight, win, and survive. They have families too. This week's VOTG will focus mainly on combat aviation readiness. The following articles are the voices of our aviation combatants. These are their opinions. They drastically differ from those of the top brass. You be the judge who you trust. ZIMM EDITOR notes/corrections: 1. Correction to last week's article #5 - A Call to Arms to Help Our Own. Yep, we made a technical mistake and called the CH46 a CH47 (commonly known as Army S…hook). I apologize to all you aviators and hope that we had the names of the surviving family members and the trust fund info right. 2. Article #4, Values Sell! - The Recruiting Practices of The Armed Forces, was authored by CSM (ret.) J.D. Pendry and not Tig Dupre. I apologize! * Be aware that our letter is still limited in scope so we can reach all readers. If you cannot get the letter by E-mail, look it up online at: http://www.freeyellow.com:8080/members7/rlmcmahon/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.freeyellow.com:8080/members7/rlmcmahon/ ===================================================== more articles in Part B >> **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 ] DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! 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