-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! ARTICLE 8 Navy: Distractions Add Up Ed: Mark Crissman, our senior Navy editor examines the possibilities why the Navy and the other services are experiencing more and more mishaps. By Marc Crissman The recent bombing of five soldiers in Kuwait by the Commanding Officer of VFA-37 and the loss of the Japanese fishing boat by collision at sea with the submarine USS Greenville are tragic. Close air support and emergency submarine surfacing are drills that are practiced routinely. They are primary war fighting skills. Their Commanding Officers are highly trained warriors who do not take their training for granted. When enemy surface to air missiles or torpedoes are aimed their way, Americans must react instinctively or die. Yet today our sailors, soldiers and airmen live in a zero defect environment. Care and Consideration for Others takes precedent over harder combat training with live ordinance. The Marines are the only branch that do more with less. The brass task masters pony up to monotonous No Fly Zone patrols, nuclear power reactor inspections and peacekeeping missions that dull razor sharp reflexes. The visitors on the USS Greenville were only a small distraction to the crew of a multi-billion dollar submarine of war. A micromanaging schedule, complex weapon systems, pressure from the chain of command to get back to port all add up. Emergency surfacing in a crowded shipping channel and Close Air Support at low level, high speed and high g’s are tasks that require full attention or death will quickly result. A Navy Skipper who recently returned from the Arabian Gulf tells me that he was given clearance to release bombs on coordinates in the same bombing range in Kuwait that were a full kilometer North of where the target was. Was it a mistake by the range controller or too much dependence on GPS technology? I’ve flown low level training routes over the same Kuwaiti bombing range and there is little topography to discern in the flat open terrain. Moving at 9 miles a minute like CDR Zimmerman in an F/A-18 Hornet only add to the difficulty of properly identifying a target vehicle in a featureless desert. A Navy Warrant Officer aboard the USS Truman says that to walk around the hangar bay, step aerobics doesn’t fit his image of a nuclear warship ready for battle. When I left the Navy, a squadron XO and Intel officer on our carrier were busted for cohabitation aboard ship. The rules that govern fraternization are as old as John Paul Jones yet they are still on the books to maintain good order and discipline. During my first tour of duty one aircrew nearly plowed into the dirt during an instrument approach in bad weather. The two were different gender, did not date, but one had a crush on the other. The pilot decided to wave off the approach because it was unsafe. When the flaps were retracted to clean up and fly away, the airspeed was too slow. An empty drop tank on one side and a full one on the other flipped their jet inverted. The emergency procedure for out of control flight at 1,200 ft is to eject. The flaps were put back down and the airplane barely recovered at 200 feet above the trees. When asked why didn’t you eject the crew, the copilot responded I thought the pilot had it. Was it infatuation that nearly caused their demise? My father was the commanding officer of the 5th Aviation Detachment during his third tour in Vietnam. During his tenure, one of his top Huey Cobra Instructor Pilots was training a platoon of Rangers in close air support with two gunships in close in air to mud tactics. The Rangers were watching safely from a set of bleachers that were away from the direct line of fire. As the forward controller called in the rocket attack, 14 Rangers were killed when one of the rockets veered up and over and into the stands. The volley of five other rockets impacted straight ahead into their intended target. The Ranger Commander did not press for charges during the investigation because he felt his Battalion would be closer to the shooting in combat than they were in training. He believed that what the two units were doing was right and would prevent American casualties when the real rounds were being fired. Our troops make life and death decisions on a daily basis. They deal with joy rides, gender integration, micromanaging inspection schedules, boredom over hostile skies, and endless peace keeping missions. Our leaders send in the troops with unclear goals, mission creep, and aging equipment. The troops must deal with inadequate funding and a training and readiness matrix that is interrupted by senseless sensitivity lectures. Our troopers have a mission, its time that the Chain of Command defined that mission properly and focused more closely on the mission at hand. ARTICLE 9 The Sergeant’s Corner Some Senior Leaders Need To Return To Mother Earth Ed.: Are senior NCOs trying to emulate the officer ways? By Arthur T., Sr. I spent 21 years in the service and always had greatest respect for the true leaders of the troops -- the NCO Corps. Lately, however, it seems the most senior NCO's the SGM/CSM's have become much too important to be overly concerned with the junior enlisted. I say this because everywhere I go on Army posts and around Army medical facilities, PX's, and commissaries I see "dedicated" parking spaces identified for "General Officer/Command Sergeant Major." Interestingly, the only cars I ever see parked in those spaces have SGM/CSM stickers, never General Officer stickers. Now I realize the Army has changed since I retired some 22 years ago; however, I don't believe and E9 deserves equal billing with a General Officer, I don't care what the location or perk. Frankly, I found it difficult to believe a "REAL" SGM/CSM would park in one of those spaces anyway, but I've seen ’em there. I'm sure that really impresses the junior soldiers when they see that. Until the NCO leaders come back down to earth and become real advocates for the troops and not enlisted generals, we will never see the respect and esprit in the Army it needs so badly to survive and thrive. ARTICLE 10 Navy: Retirees Could Assist In Problem Solving, Recruiting and Retention Ed.: Valid proposals how retirees can help find the truth. Dr. Charles W. Recently I wrote a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations expressing my concern about retention in the Navy. In the letter I provided some very real solutions, not the least of which was the Navy's need to utilize their retired community. This seemed like a practical method in that these people have the knowledge, expertise, history and credibility to provide tangible answers while at the same time they have no agenda and stand to gain nothing. I recommended that hand chosen retired members interview sailors and ask questions about their intent and why they have concluded to get out of the Navy. They then could derive a report that has substance and solutions. Needless to say, the Navy wrote me back stating that they have some ongoing programs. Stated differently, they said, "take a hike" in polite terms. What they failed to realize is that the Navy, which is asking these questions has very little credibility in their eyes. A good example is my son-in-law who is an E5 on active duty in the Navy and the kind of sailor that the Navy should try to keep. Many of his problems, which has affected his family (a very important point) surrounds the method in which the service now pays. Several years ago he reenlisted. Because of an administrative error, it took the Defense Accounting Service nearly two years to pay him his reenlistment bonus and several more months to correct his W2 so that he could receive back his taxes on his bonus in which he should not have paid in that he reenlisted in a combat zone. This Service pays inconsistently, deducts money for no apparent reason and has many other problems that seemingly take months to correct. When a member’s family is affected and their sense of financial security, then his or her perception of the service dramatically changes. In discussions with sailors at the Naval Submarine Base in Kings Bay Georgia, they revealed the following: 1) The service pay system needs to be returned to each service paying their own people. 2) Leadership lacks significantly with the perception that the top is looking after their own interests first. 3) There is very little support in solving problems. 4) Morale is suffering because Congress has made the military too complicated with to many requirements. 5) While they realize that the military cannot compete with civilian employment opportunities, they would like to make enough to live on day to pay day and then actually get paid consistently. 6) Sailors understand that sailors are on ships and ships go to sea. This is a given but, they state that they go to sea much to often and wonder why other countries, particularly within NATO cannot be their own watch dogs in their own region. I served over 20 years in the Navy, retiring in 1985. I served in the Navy Congressional Liaison Office in Washington prior to retiring. I also served on board four different submarines, one WW2 carrier in a air squadron, and a tour in Vietnam in River Division in 1969. A am very proud to be called a "brown water sailor" and even more proud to have served with many dedicated and devoted men. I honestly think that many of the retired community can help determine why our retention problem(s) exists if the service will only utilize us. However, it seems that once you retire, the service (Navy in this case) no longer wants or needs your assistance. So much for loyalty... Dr. Charles W. ARTICLE 11 Air Force: We Need New Manned Planes Ed.: Arguments in favor of new weapons and technologies. T. M. MSgt, USAF I frequently see articles condemning the purchase of new military weapons systems. The latest came from one of your readers who questioned the decisions to buy the F-22, DD-21, V-22 and the Joint Strike Fighter. I have yet to see anyone explain what systems we SHOULD buy to replace our antique killing machines, with one exception: unmanned aerial vehicles. The capabilities of an unmanned aerial combat vehicle will always be limited by a little thing called physics. The farther away the remote control, the slower the vehicle will respond. Even using satellite linkups (which are currently very vulnerable to attack), the 2.25 Second delay could be the margin needed for an enemy to outmaneuver, then smoke the UACV. You might say, "Well, just make more. They've got to be cheaper than the F-22". So, let's consider payload versus cost. The RQ-1 Predator that recently fired Hellfire missiles from attached pylons can only carry two of those weapons. The max payload is 450 pounds. The Hellfire weighs 100 pounds as opposed to the Air Force's smallest guided bombs and missiles (which weigh 500 pounds.) Each copy of the RQ-1 is 3.36 million. The current F-16 version is 34 million. Now consider that the RQ-1 will have to be outfitted with a sturdier fuselage and wings to carry air-to-air missiles and more bombs. Then consider the need to create a better control and radar system to perform dogfights. Finally, consider that after this added expense, the 2 Second delay will likely lead to all the RQ-1s being flamed before they can engage an air target. This inability to control and shape the battle space leaves the Grunts to slog it out on the ground while watching the sky for bogies. We must modernize to ensure the military possesses capabilities beyond that of any potential enemy. And even though I don't have much respect for the way our Air Force zippered-suited sun gods strut while on the ground, I'd still like to have some in the air. *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 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. 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