WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! ARTICLE 9 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Military Quality of Life - an Inside Perspective ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: A military spouse addresses quality of life and military family values. Have they become superficial and lip service items just like our overstated readiness? ****************************************************************************** By Cynthia Neil, Army Wife of 16 years As a camp follower (read Army wife) of 16 years, I wanted to comment on the issues of "quality of life" in today's military. I would like to offer the perspective that it is a far more complicated issue than anyone who discusses it today will acknowledge. The quality of life for the average military family has deteriorated in all areas of consideration. From families on food stamps, to inadequate child care availability, to careless vetting of childcare facility workers and choice of curricula in the school system, average families who rely on the Army are being grossly short changed. And these are only the superficial problems. One of the very first lessons I learned as an Army wife was "never ask the Army for anything". Take as much advantage as you can of the things the Army willingly offers, but never depend on the Army for assistance in any situation whatsoever. This knowledge served me well for over 15 years and the only time our family ran into problems was when I forgot my own maxim and asked the Army for assistance in a severe health care crisis my husband had. Needless to say, not only did I receive no assistance but my husband has been suffering the consequences of my actions ever since. It is obvious from the goods available in our PXs and commissaries that the welfare of soldiers is not very high on the systems list of priorities. First, the PX, its discount potential is, for ordinary families, grotesquely overrated. When we were in the States I never used them. The moderate to low priced children's clothing is poorly constructed and of poor quality materials. The same can be said of the shoes. High end lines like Hilfiger and Liz Claiborne can be found at a substantial mark down from retail, but what part of the military will tend to buy these items? I find this to be true in all areas of the PX lines, from appliances to toys. As a matter of fact, from my observation it appears that the PXs tend to use their lock on the European market as an opportunity to gouge their consumers on truly hot products (the Pokemon rage is an excellent example). Cigarette prices is another. Cigarettes are "tax free" in the commissary and PXs, why do they cost the same as they do off bases? But these are the superficialities of the problem. I would like to offer for consideration subtler aspects of the quality of life problem. For those of us who joined the "Army Family" with an ethical standard, or an absolute moral sense of right and wrong, life is hell. The political correctness and moral relativism of life in the Army makes it very difficult to pass these qualities on to our children without at least the appearance of hypocrisy, and in some cases our efforts to live by our own standards result in the vindictive actions to which your writers frequently allude. Children learn more from our actions than from our words. As we, who are adults, observe the lies, the broken laws, and the deliberately misleading actions of the senior leadership(both civilian and military) we are in a position to make judgments about the character of our leaders. When we do not act on these judgments in accordance with our stated values our children will do the same. They may not say anything but they will learn. When we compromise our stated principles to "get along" in the system, whether it is pencil whipping PT tests or lying about readiness, it shows in our actions. Our children will learn to do the same, because that is what we have taught them, no matter what we tell them. When we accept behavior that is in direct violation of both law and honor, we teach our children that there are not only no real standards, but no real consequences either. This to me is, by far, the most important yet least addressed quality of life issue. The long-range consequences of this are incalculable, on both a personal and national level. Personal rights as defined by our Constitution are useless without the moral or ethical convictions that give understanding to the responsibilities demanded by those rights. And sadly, one of the current demands of a "military career" is often the compromising of ones convictions to protect your job. ================================================================== ARTICLE 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Health Care TARGET For the Week: Sick Call? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed: This is a summary of Pete Peterson's Special Report to SFTT on Sick Call. It is a primary target for us because it impacts military readiness. Read the Complete text at: http://members.tripod.com/MHCRG/sfttreportsickcall.htm ************************************************************************ The Demise of Sick Call When we called for our active duty friends to confirm rumors that traditional Sick Call was no longer in use by the military, we had no idea what to expect. It's confirmed. TRICARE, under DOD, has killed Sick Call, but that's only the beginning of the story. Here are some of the many horror stories we received: Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head, MD (Navy) reports that a professional troop, who hadn't been to sick call in a while, was turned away because he didn't have an appointment. He didn't know about the change. Fort Wainwright, AK (Army) checked in saying sick call hasn't existed since 1996 and the explanation given the troops was "civilians do it and we are behind the times." First Sergeants do triage in their offices before making the appointments. The other option is to go over to the Emergency Room and wait. Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD (Army) gave us the story of a young trooper who became ill while preparing a unit for the Balkans. Once the troops got to Aberdeen, he was told he needed an appointment. The young troop's driver wasn't going to accept that and called for a supervisor -- the sick troop was treated, but not until the word "congressional" was used. At Fort Dix, NJ (Army) troops are told that if they get sick or have an emergency in a training area, they're supposed to call "911" from one of the few available phones -- but never call Range Control! At Minot AFB, ND (Air Force) there's no sick call and they also closed the emergency room. If there's a medical emergency, they call an ambulance to ride downtown. For a less serious illness, an airman calls a special phone number and explains his/her symptoms. The folks at that medical office then email the First Sergeant and tell him and the commander who is now on quarters. At Camp Lejeune, NC (Marine) there's no sick call. They call a TRICARE office and make an appointment. First, they have to find a phone, because not all barracks have them. A "work-around" is to have Battalion Aid Stations (BAS). Corpsmen perform triage before the phone calls for appointments are made. Fort Huachuca, AZ (Army) stopped sick call on August 1st. There, troops go in at 0730 hours to a central location to get an appointment time for later. A Staff Bulletin out of LA AFB, CA (Air Force) defines the "new improved" sick call: "A new sick call policy became effective 12 Jun 00. The 61st Medical Squadron now provides Active Duty members the convenience of personal appointment times for sick call. No more walking in and waiting in clinic lobby while sick. Stay home resting or work until appointment time... There are also reports from many other installations -- no sick call. Make an appointment. TRICARE Regions, Command and MTF rules appear different wherever you're assigned. Some bases have fashioned awkward administrative processes, while others don't seem to have a clue at all. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines have become guinea pigs of a "civilianized" health care experiment and are not getting the "on demand" medical attention they deserve because decisions are made by non-medical personnel, and often without seeing the patient. There are wide differences out there for dealing with the daily medical screening of troop health. Some are flat stupid, others reeks of an absence of command policy, from DOD on down. Sick call is the building block that has as it's principal purpose the inspection and maintenance of the individual soldier's physical capability to perform his mission. The troops need preventative maintenance and pre-op checks just like their equipment. But troops don't come with instruments and indicator lights. That's why there's a medical service. Our troops deserve BETTER and MORE attention than their equipment and tools. With 3/4ths of the $16 Billion for Military Health Care going into MTF's, it would seem DOD could do a better job for our troops. That, of course, assumes they want to, or know how! Congress / DOD: FIX TRICARE NOW! =====================================================================ARTICLE 11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GI HUMOR - Some Dogs are different ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: Dogs oftentimes reflect the qualities of their masters...Keep the jokes coming!!! **************************************************************************** Four men were bragging about how smart their dogs are. The first man was an Engineer, the second was an Accountant, the third a Chemist, and the fourth was a Government worker. To show off, the Engineer called to his dog. "T-Square, do your stuff." T-Square trotted over to the desk, took out some paper and promptly drew a circle, a square, and a triangle. Everyone agreed that was pretty smart. But the Accountant said his dog could do better. He called his dog and said, "Spreadsheet, do your stuff." Spreadsheet went out into the kitchen and returned with a dozen cookies. He divided them into four equal piles of three cookies each. Everyone agreed that was good. But the Chemist said his dog could do better. He called his dog and said, "Measure, do your stuff." Measure got up, walked over to the fridge, took out a quart of milk, got a 10 ounce glass from the cupboard and poured exactly 8 ounces without spilling a drop! Everyone agreed that was good. Then the three men turned to the government worker, and said, "What can your dog do?" The Government worker called to his dog and said, "Coffee Break, do your stuff." Coffee Break slowly got off his feet, ate the cookies, drank the milk, crapped on the paper, sexually assaulted the other three dogs, claimed he injured his back while doing so, filed a grievance report for unsafe working conditions, put in for workers' compensation, and went home for the rest of the day on sick leave. =============================================================== ARTICLE 12 - MEDAL OF HONOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: This courageous officer became the first Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient. This officer understood that it was his duty to take care of his troops, no matter what the situation. Every officer should have a copy of this citation in his/her office! If you know of any MOH recipient who is hospitalized or has passed recently, please write James H. Also, if you would like more info on MOH recipients and their stories, please email James H at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************************************* DONLON, ROGER HUGH C. Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army. Place and date: Near Nam Dong, Republic of Vietnam, 6 July 1964. Entered service at: Fort Chaffee, Ark. Born: 30 January 1934, Saugerties, N.Y. G.O. No.: 41, 17 December 1964. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while defending a U.S. military installation against a fierce attack by hostile forces. Capt. Donlon was serving as the commanding officer of the U.S. Army Special Forces Detachment A-726 at Camp Nam Dong when a reinforced Viet Cong battalion suddenly launched a full-scale, predawn attack on the camp. During the violent battle that ensued, lasting 5 hours and resulting in heavy casualties on both sides, Capt. Donlon directed the defense operations in the midst of an enemy barrage of mortar shells, falling grenades, and extremely heavy gunfire. Upon the initial onslaught, he swiftly marshaled his forces and ordered the removal of the needed ammunition from a blazing building. He then dashed through a hail of small arms and exploding hand grenades to abort a breach of the main gate. En route to this position he detected an enemy demolition team of 3 in the proximity of the main gate and quickly annihilated them. Although exposed to the intense grenade attack, he then succeeded in reaching a 60mm mortar position despite sustaining a severe stomach wound as he was within 5 yards of the gun pit. When he discovered that most of the men in this gun pit were also wounded, he completely disregarded his own injury, directed their withdrawal to a location 30 meters away, and again risked his life by remaining behind and covering the movement with the utmost effectiveness. Noticing that his team sergeant was unable to evacuate the gun pit he crawled toward him and, while dragging the fallen soldier out of the gun pit, an enemy mortar exploded and inflicted a wound in Capt. Donlon's left shoulder. Although suffering from multiple wounds, he carried the abandoned 60mm mortar weapon to a new location 30 meters away where he found 3 wounded defenders. After administering first aid and encouragement to these men, he left the weapon with them, headed toward another position, and retrieved a 57mm recoilless rifle. Then with great courage and coolness under fire, he returned to the abandoned gun pit, evacuated ammunition for the 2 weapons, and while crawling and dragging the urgently needed ammunition, received a third wound on his leg by an enemy hand grenade. Despite his critical physical condition, he again crawled 175 meters to an 81mm mortar position and directed firing operations which protected the seriously threatened east sector of the camp. He then moved to an eastern 60mm mortar position and upon determining that the vicious enemy assault had weakened, crawled back to the gun pit with the 60mm mortar, set it up for defensive operations, and turned it over to 2 defenders with minor wounds. Without hesitation, he left this sheltered position, and moved from position to position around the beleaguered perimeter while hurling hand grenades at the enemy and inspiring his men to superhuman effort. As he bravely continued to move around the perimeter, a mortar shell exploded, wounding him in the face and body. As the long awaited daylight brought defeat to the enemy forces and their retreat back to the jungle leaving behind 54 of their dead, many weapons, and grenades, Capt. Donlon immediately reorganized his defenses and administered first aid to the wounded. His dynamic leadership, fortitude, and valiant efforts inspired not only the American personnel but the friendly Vietnamese defenders as well and resulted in the successful defense of the camp. Capt. Donlon's extraordinary heroism, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country. =================================================================== ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDITOR'S NOTE: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Article Submissions: as a rule of thumb, please try to keep article for possible publication to 750 words or less. Please make every editing effort not to exceed these guidelines and SUBMIT IN WORD FORMAT, if possible! R.W. Zimmermann [EMAIL PROTECTED] ============================================= GLOSSARY OF MILITARY ACRONYMS: We've had numerous requests from troops in different branches of the military to establish this link so that we will all know how "all you others" talk that talk. Please see below: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/acronym_index.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***** BOOK SALES ***** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hack's books About Face*, Hazardous Duty*, The Price of Honor* and The Vietnam Primer can be found at www.hackworth.com. They make a great addition to any library. We are offering them at a special SFTT price. ==================================================== ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Defending America Newsletter: Administrative Volunteers: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ R.W. Zimmermann, Chief Editor, President of SFTT, Mine Detector and "Gunner" David H. Hackworth, Spirit Guide, and undisputed Y2K Expert Bill Rogers, Senior Assistant Editor and SFTT Vice President Kate Aspy, Contributing Editor and Oracle Barry "Woody" Groton, Chief TECH DROID and Medicine Man Ed "Edgar" Schneider, Copy Editor, Man of Letters and gentleman: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Kyle Elliott, Book List Editor and Most Over-worked James H., MOH Editor and NCOIC =================================================== Defending America VOLUNTEER EDITORS/SPECIALISTS NOTE: The following list only includes the two primary assistant editors for each service or special area. Please refer to our WEBSITE -- www.sftt.org, for the complete listing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ALL Letters and Articles for considered publication should be submitted to one of our brave, resolute and caring volunteers. **************************************** **************************************** U.S. Army: Tig Dupre, Civil-Military relations, weapons expert and Senior Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] CPT Scott Key, Armor, Generalist, Assistant to Chief Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] Robert L. Duecaster, Legal [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************** ********************************************** U.S. Navy: Mark Crissman, Naval Aviation, Generalist and Senior Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pat Nisley, Navy Generalist and XO [EMAIL PROTECTED] John J. Vanore, Surface Warfare, Reserve and Intelligence issues [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************** ********************************************** U.S. Air Force: Paul Connors, Senior Editor, AF Historian, Grunt experience, Procurement and AirCrew issues [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sean Fermat, Fighters, WSO, Weapons, C&C, Generalist [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************** ********************************************** U.S. Marines: Maj. Gordon Todd, USMCR, Communications & Tech., Small Arms Training, Senior Editor. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Capt A. McRae, Marine generalist [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************** ********************************************** US Coast Guard Tom Grabowski [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************************************** ********************************************** Department of Defense Mike St.Clair Acquisition and Quality Assurance [EMAIL PROTECTED] *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 ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! ****************************************************************************** ******************* A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies! A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America! Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America! Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan! Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey... Patrick Buchanan
