-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! SOLDIERS FOR THE TRUTH "DEFENDING AMERICA NEWSLETTER" 01 November 2000 - "America's Future and the Beret" "When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen." General George Washington, New York Legislature, 1775 "Our militia will be heroes, if we have heroes to lead them." Thomas Jefferson Soldiers For The Truth Foundation, PO Box 63840, Colorado Springs, CO 80962-3840 HTTP://WWW.SFTT.ORG *********************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS: SITREP from the President HOT BUTTONS! Hack's Column: Wanted: A SecDef Who Can Cut It "Through the Primary Gun Sight" Article 1 -- America's Future Is Not Asleep The Big Picture: Article 2 -- Containing Iraq: A Forgotten War Article 3 -- How The Hi-Tech Army Fell Back On Law Of The Jungle And Won Article 4 -- U.S. Intelligence Analyst Quits Over Cole Attack Voice of the Grunt: Article 5 -- The BERET -- Reader Reactions Article 6 -- Gilligan's Island in Ft. Sill Article 7 -- Army: Save Small Group Instructions Article 8 --"Educrats" are Watering Military Education Down Article 9 -- Neglecting our Schools will hurt Readiness Article 10 -- Fewer Lieutenants Article 11 -- Voices from the Frontlines Article 12 -- Quality of Life Update G.I Humor: Article 13 -- GI HUMOR - Fitness Answers that make Sense Medal of Honor: Article 14 -- DONLON, ROGER HUGH C. SITREP: 1. Main topics: 1) America's future 2) The Beret 3) Military education/ teaching future leaders 4) Quality of Life/Healthcare 2. Hot Buttons: Last week's feedback was overwhelming. Keep it coming. A. I am interested in the following feedback: * List the 3 TOP items that need to be fixed in your unit or service * Junior officers: Do you think it is worthwhile to strive for battalion-level command (includes command of ships etc.)? Feel free to send me hot topics directly if you can't get through the admin/log net -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] B. The WEBPAGE. Webmaster, John Cloven is continually working on improving the site. Thanks for your feedback. C. DONATIONS. THE WEB DONATION OPTION SHOULD BE UP AND WORKING ONCE AGAIN! Thank you for your continuing support. Your donations are helping us to get the word out. Thanks for supporting an organization that stands for the Truth, even if it questions every rule of political correctness. D. Keep the mail coming!!! We won't reveal your true identity unless you give us your approval. We know how vindictive the "system" is. 3. How You can help: !!! Credit Card donation via our WEBSITE at www.sftt.org. !!! If you think we HIT a target, forward the newsletter to TV, radio and your local papers. YOU are the frontline recruiters and intel gatherers for SFTT. Check or Money order: Send to and make payable to: Soldiers For The Truth Foundation, PO Box 63840, Colorado Springs, CO 80962-3840. Important: Your donation is tax deductible! SFTT is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit educational foundation, IRS # 31-1592564. If you send us an E-MAIL address with your donation we can immediately mail you a RECEIPT. Multiple contributions: Please remind us when you submit your donation. We will send you a cumulative statement. Prepare for Action -- "Crew Ready! -- LOAD SABOT - DRIVER MOVE OUT!" R.W. Zimmermann President SFTT [EMAIL PROTECTED] =========================================================== Hack's Column ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wanted: A SecDef Who Can Cut It ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Next week, We the People will hire a new president. In January, the president-elect will take command of a military force that's on its knees in the center of the world ring, bloodied and dispirited. For the past eight years, our military has been under siege. Our $300 billion-a-year force that's filled with fine, patriotic men and women has been abused, ridden hard and put away wet. It has lost its direction and desperately needs a game plan for 2001 and beyond. Its structure and gear -- Cold War obsolete -- must be reorganized, modernized, revitalized and otherwise made good-to-go to win 21st-century contests ranging from terrorist hits to standing toe-to-toe with whatever new superpower rumbles down the block. But all this is old news, a message I've been hammering the readers of this column over the head with for years. And most, regrettably, haven't gotten the word. Perhaps because it's hard to get serious when the market's higher than the space station and they're not your kids being hung out there to die. Just like the generation -- high on the good times flowing after the Big War -- that allowed Korea 1950, when our forces were squashed and almost pushed into the sea. Dubya -- with Dick Cheney, Colin Powell and Norm Schwarzkopf whispering in his ear -- claims he's gotten the message and promises to turn things around. Al Gore simply continues to chant the mantra that our military is the "strongest in the world," ready for all comers. Yet, despite how good he says our forces are, he plans to out-spend Dubya to make things even better! Both contenders say they'll send dump trucks filled with freshly minted $1,000 bills to the Pentagon the minute they lift their hand from the inauguration Bible. But it's not money that's needed. It's good-old-fashioned, hands-on, follow-me, set-the-example, die-for-your-troops senior leadership with the vision, integrity and moral courage to put America and its troops first. Leadership like Chesty Puller displayed in Korea 50 years ago when at 20 degrees below zero, he gave his only jacket to a young Marine without one. Chesty himself almost froze to death, but every Marine in his regiment heard what he'd done before the end of that bitter day -- and they soldiered on to survive an impossible fight against impossible odds in impossible conditions. You'll find few Chesty Pullers in the senior ranks of today's Army, Navy or Air Force. From Republican Defense Secretary William Cohen to the newest admiral and general, you'll mostly find people grossly out of touch with what's going on down at the dying level but totally zeroed in on what's in it for them. Yes, they're for more defense dollars for their service. Yes, they're for more defense dollars for their future defense-industry employer. But few are truly concerned about either our Joes and Jills or the smartest way to defend this land. New leadership is desperately needed. To turn things around, the new president must take a wire brush to our military hierarchy. Self-serving generals and admirals must be replaced with majors and commanders just as George Marshall did in the 1940s. Retired Medal of Honor recipient Maj. Gen. Pat Brady says: "Readiness is a leadership problem. True irresponsibility lies with those who deny today's hollow force and risk putting unready troops in harm's way." Retired Navy Chief Kenneth Baker, angered by the attack on the USS Cole, says, "To see our sailors placed in a high-threat terrorist environment for the sake of showing the flag sickens me. The new SecDef must do a clean sweep of the Pentagon. The Clinton virus has infected the top brass." A senior Army sergeant in the Pentagon -- who asked to remain anonymous -- said: "Greed controls the top ranks. The present crop of generals sold their souls to get their stars. When they retire, they work for the defense industry. Isn't G.O. -- General Officer -- retirement enough? Nope. They have to be millionaires. Joe don't matter anymore. It's all about greed." The most important Cabinet post to be filled in 2001 is the secretary of defense. For America's sake, let's hope we choose a new president with the savvy to make the right pick. *** 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. (c) 2000 David H. Hackworth Distributed by King Features Syndicate Inc. =========================================================== ARTICLE 1 - "Through the Primary Gun Sight" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ America's Future Is Not Asleep ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By R.W. (Zimm) Zimmermann President SFTT 10/28/00 Sometimes you really have to shake your head about our priorities. Military readiness is at an all-time low. Morale is in the dumps and junior officers are bailing out. A US destroyer was lost to a primitive terrorist act and the Chinese are stealing our nuclear secrets. Despite all these defense setbacks, the presidential candidates aren't discussing them in detail; nor has either one of them visited a military installation to talk to the grunts and their families. In the meantime, our military elite is conducting more useless reviews and panel discussions. The Army, the most troubled of all the services, one-ups everyone in stupidity by focusing on berets. I guess that's why I don't trust anyone in charge. Yes, I see better possibilities with George Bush, his more direct approach and his emphasis on individual choice and responsibility, but he still leaves me hanging on the specifics. I just hope that he can figure out what young America needs for the future. Younger Americans, especially the ones serving in military junior leadership positions, aren't as asleep and passive as many older folks think. They know what's important and don't care about the berets and other superficial garbage their senior leaders are flogging about. They are interested in fundamental fixes. Most young officers and sergeants recognize leadership by example and decent mentoring as their main priority. They want seniors who share hardships, impart wisdom, enforce high standards and communicate two ways. They detest the attitude of father always knows best. As a close second priority, the young troops want a quality military education system. They want human interaction in training to develop confidence in each other through a steady exchange of ideas. While our senior rulers blindly buy into technological solutions, without even comprehending what technology can and cannot do, younger troops expect equipment to be simple and reliable. Most Captains, Lieutenants and field savvy NCOs gave a clear thumbs-down to a recent Army move to reduce the number of small group instructors to fill other units. Most troops remarked that they want to be taught by experienced seniors, so they too can become field-competent, to have the right tools in the kit bag when called to lead in combat. Eliminating small group instructions and not assigning the best field leaders to our schools is a setback for readiness, especially since we had made some decent progress with the education of platoon leaders and company commanders. A great failing that must be addressed, is to properly select and school battalion commanders and brigade commanders. None of our schools, neither the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) or the War College, addresses these critical leadership positions. Both CGSC and the War College focus on Division level and "echelons above reality." We are producing wonderful theorists and systems managers, but not leaders! The human element is neglected, thus contributing more to the generational distrust. Just ask the Captains and Lieutenants who are getting out. They can't remember many examples of trustworthy senior leaders who aren't blind careerists and thrive on perks. It's time we pay attention to the officers, NCOs and troops who are continuing to serve unselfishly despite the odds. They are the ones to sacrifice in future war and we owe them to turn things around. I am convinced they would fight like any other generation before them, if given the mission and the resources. I am encouraged that they demand change and that they know the priorities. What they want is simple: * Fix the bad leadership and give them daring and hardship sharing leaders. * Provide money and resources to maintain an education system that transplants experience, allows for human interaction and prepares for combat and not social experimentation. * Set tough performance standards and promote based on experience and achievement, not quotas. * Give the troops simple and reliable equipment with the right training and repair stocks. Let the troops and not the senior guys decide what's needed. * Give them practical uniforms and awards to be proud of, not trick or treat costumes like the useless Army Class B uniform with its ugly West Point windbreaker, the black Chaplains sweater and plastic shoes that even the Dollar Store wouldn't carry. I call on all our young warriors and future leaders to vote their conscience on 7 November to help turn things around. I know we can make the big guys listen before it's too late. And count on SFTT to provide you the supporting fires, no matter who gets elected. (c) R.W. Zimmermann, LandserUSA [EMAIL PROTECTED] ============================================================ ARTICLE 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Containing Iraq: A Forgotten War ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: Rightfully called "fire and forget foreign policy," the undeclared air war over Iraq is a waste of manpower and resources and hasn't accomplished a darn thing. Ironically, this ill-fated mission hasn't come up in any of the presidential debates, although it wastes more tax money than many other projects the candidates babble about. Excerpts from the Washington Post, Wednesday, October 25, 2000. ********************************************************** By Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post Staff Writer INCIRLIK, Turkey - Most of the year, Bernard Yosten pilots Boeing 727s for American Airlines out of Miami. But in mid-September, he came here for two weeks of flying Air Force F-16 fighters in the "no-fly zone" over northern Iraq, where he was shot at with both antiaircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles. The Iraqi fire "was pretty damned close," reported Yosten, who has since gone back to hauling tourists around the Caribbean. To a surprising degree, Operation Northern Watch, as the Air Force calls this mission, is conducted by part-timers. Other members of Yosten's Alabama Air National Guard unit on temporary duty here usually fly for Delta, United, Southwest, Northwest, Federal Express and United Parcel Service. Northern Watch is characteristic of U.S. military missions in the post-Cold War era: It is small-scale, open-ended and largely ignored by the American people. Even though U.S. warplanes are routinely dropping bombs on a foreign country, it has not been an issue in the presidential campaign and has hardly been mentioned by the candidates. Partly because Turkey and Arab allies want to keep their assistance quiet, the Defense Department makes public little information about the joint U.S.-British effort to prohibit Iraqi aircraft from flying over northern and southern Iraq, thereby protecting Kurds in the North and Shiite Muslims in the South who oppose Saddam Hussein's rule. But behind the official veil, the no-fly operation has undergone major changes and embarrassments that might have made headlines if it had a higher profile: After patrolling aggressively last year, in a manner that one pilot says was intended to draw antiaircraft fire, the Air Force has pulled back and is avoiding known antiaircraft emplacements. Top commanders recently approved an order formalizing the de-escalation. The Air Force also has stopped dropping "cement bombs," emptied of explosives, on antiaircraft batteries near mosques and other sensitive sites. For the most part, it now leaves those batteries alone. The Turkish government has interrupted the flying schedule several times, sometimes to bomb Kurdish villages in Iraq and sometimes to protest America's refusal to sell Turkey certain precision-guided bombs. U.S. aircraft mistakenly bombed and strafed a group of Iraqi shepherds last year because intelligence analysts misinterpreted satellite imagery and thought a water trough for sheep was a missile launcher. Iraq says the U.S. airstrikes have killed about 300 people, mostly civilians, since December 1998. American officials admit that there have been casualties but say they do not know how many. Ian Roxborough, a historian at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, calls this "fire-and-forget foreign policy," after the modern munitions that help make such an operation possible. But if Northern Watch isn't particularly controversial, neither is it particularly popular. At a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, conservative Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) and liberal Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) took turns questioning it, with Thurmond calling it "a failure." As the United States enters its 10th year of confronting Hussein, military strategists are frustrated, too. "I no longer have any sense of what the 'containment' of Iraq is all about," said retired Army Col. Andrew Bacevich, now a military expert at Boston University. "We just fly missions and drop bombs from time to time because we've been doing it for 10 years and no one can stop us from doing so." Even some of the fighter pilots who have flown Northern Watch said they do not understand why it continues. "I think almost everybody thinks it is a waste of time," said a National Guard pilot who has done four tours of duty here.. (c) 2000 The Washington Post Company =================================================================== ARTICLE 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How The Hi-Tech Army Fell Back On Law Of The Jungle And Won ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: Rescue Operation in Sierra Leone. Not much was mentioned of this operation in our news media when the British Paras and SAS conducted a well-planned and high-risk raid to rescue captured British ground troops. It serves to note that the same Paras and SAS folks also excel in peace enforcement missions and that the commander of the Royal Irish, who was responsible for the capture of his men, faces probable courts martial. Excerpts from the London Sunday Times, 17 September 2000. *********************************************************** By Marie Colvin and James Clark THE first Chinook C-47 flew low over the jungle as the African sun started to rise. There was just enough light for the pilot to see where he was going - but not enough for his helicopter to be seen - as he swooped towards Rokel Creek in the heavily wooded Occra Hills of Sierra Leone. His target was a camp sprawling over both banks of the muddy creek, where six British soldiers had been held in sweltering heat for more than two weeks by heavily armed members of the rebel militia that called itself the West Side Boys. On board the Chinook and four other helicopters that followed were more than 120 paratroopers and members of the Special Air Service (SAS) trained in hostage rescue. Their mission: to recover the six members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment and, if possible, to capture Foday Kallay, the rebels' 24-year-old leader. Operation Barras, coordinated from Permanent Joint Headquarters, the army's nerve center almost 2,700 miles away in Northwood, northwest London, had received the green light from Tony Blair four days earlier. Within 20 minutes of the first landing last Sunday, the British hostages were being flown to safety, their 16-day ordeal over. Within hours, at least 25 of the West Side Boys had been killed and Kallay was on his way to jail. For the military planners it was a textbook operation, worthy of study for years to come and marred only by the death of Brad Tinnion, a 26-year-old member of the SAS snatch squad, who was shot as he jumped from his helicopter. "You cannot resolve a situation like this with a laser-guided bomb from 30,000ft," said Brigadier Andrew Stewart, who monitored the operation from Northwood. "As a purely military operation, it knocks the lifting of the Iranian embassy siege into a cocked hat...." Eleven members of the Royal Irish - five of whom were subsequently released - had been returning to their Benguema base after visiting a Jordanian peacekeeping battalion in Masiaka, east of Freetown, when Major Alan Marshall, their commander, turned sharp right off the main road, down a narrow red dirt road that led for seven miles to the West Side Boys' camp at Magbeni. Marshall thought there were only a few rebels there. He was wrong. His men were overwhelmed, he was beaten and all were taken across the creek in dugouts with outboard motors to Gberi Bana, Kallay's headquarters on the north bank. There they were stripped of their uniforms and searched. Kallay personally stuffed possessions ranging from watches to spare clothes into a bag, putting their rings on his fingers and admiring the glitter of the gold. He later put on a spare British uniform as he swaggered around the camp, and used one of the three British Land Rovers to check on his followers.... Unbeknown to the rebels or their captives, Kallay's increasingly erratic behaviour was being monitored by a handful of SAS men who spent a week in the jungle before the rescue. While the British Army continued to negotiate with Kallay in the hope of a peaceful resolution, the SAS's task was to supply intelligence that would facilitate any eventual rescue mission. Working in pairs, they lay in shallow trenches, just below eye-line, dressed in "ghillie suits" - a type of overall to which they attach twigs, leaves and branches picked up from local vegetation as camouflage. Eating carefully packed rations, and urinating into bottles, they used night-vision, thermal and infrared scopes to provide commanders in Northwood with information so detailed that a replica of the West Side Boys' camp was built for training purposes... On September 6, "H hour" was set for 6.16am local time on Sunday - 7.16am in London. Three of the giant Chinook C-47s and two smaller Lynx craft took part in a two-pronged assault. One group of Paras was assigned to destroy the positions held by the rebels at Magbeni, on the south bank of the creek. This was intended to give the helicopter heading for Gberi Bana camp, on the north bank, the chance to land without taking fire from two sides.... The West Side Boys had little more than a minute from the moment they heard the clatter of the helicopters to prepare to defend themselves. >From their camouflaged positions, as close as 180ft from the camp, the SAS men could see the rebels take up their firing positions. They sent a snap radio message back to Northwood warning that the landing would be made under fire. The first target was the hut in which the hostages were being held. As the Chinook touched down in the centre of the village, it came under fire from West Side Boys shooting from a captured Land Rover.... As the battle raged, SAS men came sprinting towards the hut where their colleagues had reported the hostages to be, firing bursts from their 5.56mm Canadian assault rifles and hurling grenades. "It was all about speed," said one British-based special forces officer. "They had to be in and out very quickly." The assault was brutal: the government claimed last week that 25 of the West Side Boys were killed. One source close to the operation said the death toll would prove higher... The carnage the SAS left behind them was considerable. "There were many corpses and wounded people lying on the ground moaning," said Unisa Sesay, 16, one of the West Side Boys' child soldiers, who reached the base just after the British had left. "One commander was standing and his friend was trying to remove a fragment from his shoulder. The rest of the people were on the ground." Another soldier, who gave his name as Cyrus and his age as 17, said they had been told the wounded would be shot and thrown into the river because there were no medical supplies. Both boys said they saw too many corpses, and were too shocked, to count. The dead included a 14-year-old boy soldier and one Sierra Leonean hostage who panicked and ran into the firefight. General Sir Charles Guthrie, the chief of the defence staff, had been booked three months earlier to be interviewed that morning on BBC1's Breakfast with Frost. At about 9.20am, Major Tom Thornycroft whispered to Guthrie in the wings of the studio confirmation that all the hostages were safe. Guthrie then broke the first news to the nation that an operation was under way in West Africa... On Friday, as Marshall faced the prospect of disciplinary action after taking the blame for his men's capture... *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 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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