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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
ARTICLE 4
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Political Opinion: General Wesley Clark - Does He represent Today's Military?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Thought provoking comments. Did we ever learn the truth about the Kosovo
operations? Is our foreign policy as even handed as we claim? Are some of our
senior generals out of control?
About Stella: A career military officer's wife, Stella Jatras has traveled
widely and has lived in many foreign countries where she learned about other
cultures and, through personal experience, became very knowledgeable
regarding world affairs and world politics.
***********************************************************
By Stella L. Jatras
On 26 September, I had the opportunity to speak to General Wesley Clark,
former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, who was a guest on C-SPAN.
I began with the following comments:
"When the Russians were the first to go into Pristina airfield, you, General,
wanted to take out the Russians, and to his credit, British General Sir
Michael Jackson said, "I'm not going to start WW III over you." (No reaction
from General Clark - nor did he acknowledge the comment).
A previous caller had stated that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was
dealing in drugs and that we have turned Kosovo over to the Albanian mafia
cartel. I backed the caller up by saying that, "The KLA were armed and
trained in Osama bin Laden's terrorists camps."
And then came "The Big Question, "General, we now know there were no mass
graves of 100,000 victims as claimed by Secretary of Defense Cohen, nor were
there 700 Albanian victims lying in the Trepca mines according to
"eyewitnesses." In fact, investigators did not find any bodies. And that
there was no genocide according to the Wall Street Journal and Eli Wiesel of
the Rosenthal Center, ("2,500 bodies on all sides cannot be considered to be
a genocide"). As for ethnic cleansing, ethnic Albanians ran to Belgrade to
their relatives to get away from our bombs!"
"Can you tell me on what basis you justified bombing the Serbian people when
that Justification was based on lies?"
Of course the question was ignored. The general went on to defend the Kosovo
Liberation Army and said that, in the beginning, the KLA was nothing more
than a small band of rebels that merely wanted to liberate their people from
Serb domination. I guess the good general conveniently forgot that the State
Department, "in the beginning," had labeled the KLA as a terrorist
organization.
POINTS TO CONSIDER
1. In an interview with Inside the Pentagon (28 Oct 1999), Clark insisted
that 11,000 genocide victims HAD ALREADY BEEN FOUND, when, to this day, fewer
than 3000 bodies have been found. And those are an undetermined mixture of
ethnic Albanians, Serbs, Jews, Romanians and others. Yet nearly a year ago
General Clark, even after being asked to verify that he had spoken correctly,
stuck to his false claim.
2. During the 1995 Operation Storm, the Croatian Army, with U.S. military aid
and technology, ethnically cleansed over 250,000 Serbs from the Krajina,
murdering thousands in a matter of days. Those too old or infirm to flee
remained behind only to have a bullet to the head or their throats slit.
There was no humanitarian aid from the United States, no tents, no food, no
medicine-not even water. "As the Serbian refugees were bombed and strafed by
the Croatian air force in violation of the 'no-fly zone,' General Wesley
Clark said on national television, 'AT LEAST THIS DEFINES THE MAP'," (Kosovo
Crisis, a Study in Foreign Policy Mismanagement by Dr. Vojin Joksimovich).
3. Clark's aggressive policies became evident when he delivered a message to
a dozen generals and colonels when he traveled to a NATO base in Banja Luka.
He instructed his officers that they could "impose any law," and to "Use your
martial law-like authority." Furthermore, "Don't be afraid of disorder and
isolated incidents of violence against NATO troops." But here's the kicker.
He stated, " Most important, don't ask or wait for leadership or direction
from superiors in Washington, Paris, London, Rome or Ottawa." (The Washington
Post, 28 Sep - "A Four-Star Foreign Policy).
Perhaps I am somewhat uninformed in these matters, but to me, this smacks of
arrogant insubordination.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER or THE CASE OF DR. STRANGELOVE
During the C-SPAN program, General Clark commented that he was involved with
the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on a pro bono
basis. There he joins Col. William Taylor, Jr. During the Bosnia Conflict,
Col. Taylor appeared on CNN and other TV and radio programs as a "military
analyst." His stated solution to the Balkan crisis was that we should bomb
Belgrade [which we eventually did and we can see the disastrous results] and
send no fewer than 100,000 troops for as long as 15 to 20 years to solidify
Secretary Perry's "meanest dog in town" rhetoric.
The troubling thought is that these characters may be representative of
today's military leadership. You be the judge.
===========================================================
ARTICLE 5
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Training Avoidance Deteriorates Combat Readiness
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Red addresses how training opportunities are missed in Guard and regular
Army units. Oftentimes, weapons and equipment never leave the arms or supply
rooms, thus depriving soldiers the opportunity to become proficient and gain
confidence.
***********************************************************
By Red E. Ness
Former Paratrooper, now Mechanized Infantryman
One of the things lost when we embraced liberal "Pc'ness," was that the
warriors were no longer to be trusted. The days of taking out weapons and
assembling/reassembling them for time and blind-folded, except for annual EIB
train-up/testing became "extreme" and too war-like.
Now it's a pain to get weapons out of the arms room. A case in point is my
current unit that employs NCO-nullification of officer plans. Like
"jury-nullification", it's when you decide to do what you want, facts be
damned.
In our case, firing the M249 Light Machine Guns would take more work,
ordering the belted 5.56mm ammo, studying proper techniques for employment,
staying out longer on the range, when you can be drinking beer instead.
So to avoid firing the M249 LMGs, you first make sure it's not clear
who-is-who by line number, duty position on the MTOE, so when you go to the
annual weapons qualification range there are no soldiers who see the M249 LMG
as their weapon of expertise.
No belted 5.56mm ammo is ordered so the NCO nullifiers have the ready-excuse:
"We don't have the proper ammo".
The final clincher is to not take the M249 LMGs by insuring that no one puts
them on the truck going out to the range, since there is no ammo to shoot
them (seems logical, right?). This way if someone takes the initiative to get
some ammo for them or simply wants to do dry-firing drills, its fait accompli.
The result of this is when you go to the Training Centers, like JRTC, the
officers rightly demand we look the part of a fully-equipped Bradley Fighting
Vehicle (BFV) dismount rifle squad and M249 LMGs are taken.
Gunners now fumble with these weapons and finger their M16 rifle blank
adapters in an attempt to get them to fire blanks reliably for the MILES
laser-tag war.
When the gun fails to work because of a wrong adapter, they call it a "piece
of garbage" and leave it in the track, so when the FTX is over, there are
even more reasons to keep the M249 LMGs in the arms room where they will stay
cleaner and pass the next Inspector General (IG) inspection.
The same approach is true for much of our equipment. The M203 40mm grenade
launcher, vests and flak jackets that never leave the supply room, and Night
Vision Goggles (NVGs) not worn for night firing.
The solution is to get a giant board and list by line#, duty position every
Soldier's place in the MTOE, posted in the armory drill hall or in the main
unit building if the unit is active duty.
Make it clear what weapons we have to be experts at and enforce that when we
get a chance to shoot.
Use every opportunity to load 5.56mm into 30 round rifle magazines and
shooting short bursts through the M249 LMG, if it doesn't work at least
you'll know. Train and Drill your men to be proficient with all their
equipment. It may mean staying late and no beer, or maybe if we got our act
together getting the training knocked out smartly and still getting done
early enough to relax?
It means officers being unpopular and not letting their NCOs nullify good
plans for unit excellence and achieving mediocrity. If the NCOs are not
motivated to be the best, find out why they are "turned off".
===============================================================
ARTICLE 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Navy: Mandatory ESWS: Promotion of Mediocrity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Have once coveted qualification badges become feel-good giveaways?
***********************************************************
By MRCS (SW) Leland Lawrence (retired)
I earned my Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) badge in 1985, onboard
the USS New Jersey (BB-62) as a 2nd class petty officer. It was a better part
of a year's work, but the pride in having my "water wings" pinned on was
awesome. I felt a cut above those who weren't qualified, and saw sailors
who'd earned them as professionals and knew the systems and their ship of
war.
The program was initiated around 1977, and was demanding. You stood watches,
had to demonstrate knowledge of systems, which could only be learned by going
to different work centers. You had to actually work with the systems, look at
them, trace them out and ask a lot of questions. Then you had to pass an oral
board with CPO's and officers. It worked. Selection boards for E-7 thru E-9
began to put a big emphasis on this qualification.
Around 1992, the program began to weaken. On the USS Yorktown (CG-48) the CO
allowed Midshipmen on their summer cruise to qualify, handing out 12
undeserved pins. The enlisted crew was livid, and the first question was "how
in the hell can the "Middies" qualify in 4 to 6 weeks, but the crew who run
the systems no less, have to follow the program to the letter?" Many stopped
working on their quals. More than a few mentioned this at their EAOS. A weak
Command Master Chief only made matters worse.
One Senior Chief came onboard TAD just to qualify for his pin. Another 60 day
wonder. No oral board, and further erosion of the program.
Several times I failed someone during an oral board, and they would squeal
like a stuck pig: "But I'm leaving PCS next week!" Some board members who
demanded these sailors know their stuff often didn't get invited back to the
makeup 'board' prior to the failed sailor transferring. Putting a pin on
someone who memorized facts, who wasn't a crew member, or just to politically
enhance someone's service record strayed far from the program's original
intent.
Former Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Hagan destroyed what
little integrity the program had left. It is now mandatory in the fleet for
everyone serving on a ship to get qualified. A boot seaman with a pin is
something I question, as most have little grasp of their own rates at this
point in their Navy careers, let alone earning a pin. Plus the stack of PQS
books handed to sailors coming onboard a ship today is absurd. What happens
is that the line items in ESWS and PQS books get "discussed" in a class room
type setting (mostly on the mess decks), and the line items get signed off.
Or the sailor just needs to "observe" vice participate in shipboard
evolutions.
There are guidebooks published for each ship class, with the ideal answer,
and you would be surprised at the amount of memorization that goes on,
instead of participating at a workcenter to see what is happening, or how
equipment is configured. Damage Control PQS, both basic and advanced, suffers
from the same thing. I honestly believe MCPON Hagan had good intentions, but
he in no way solicited input from the CPO community afloat.
The ESWS program is now watered down to make everyone "feel good" about
themselves, and "level the playing field" for females now stationed on
combatant ships. Political correctness? Sure looks that way. Plus the
proliferation of new categories of pins tailored for doctors, dentists, and a
whole host of other folks is a joke. All fluff and flash, as most of these
"qualified" don't know the bow from the stern, or ship's draft from draft
beer.
No longer do those who qualified as an Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist
stand out as a leader in a shipboard environment. It is a further indication
of the cookie cutter and zero defect mentality now rampant in all the
services. Paper qualifications do not make the sailor. Too many sailors have
died afloat who were qualified on paper to do their jobs, or worse yet killed
others because they didn't earn it.
============================================================
ARTICLE 7
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Navy: Ticking Disciplinary Time Bombs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Many will discount this kind of story...but they are more common than
you think. The issues at hand are: Standards of discipline, the dangers of
co-ed training, the quality of recruits, and the ability of leaders to
prevent these incidents.
************************************************************
By a Concerned Parent
I read with interest your article today.
I want to describe one (there have been many) of my daughter's bad Navy
experiences.
My daughter trained at Waukegon, Illinois. I never would have believed that
her training would be co-ed until I saw it. A great deal of the time among
the trainees was spent jockeying for position with the other sex.
When it came time to graduate, she foolishly attended an off base party at a
local hotel. After drinking too much, she passed out. Two sailors then raped
her. She found out the details from another sailor they had bragged to. She
reported the incident and was then subject to harassment to drop the
complaint. They urged her not to ruin these "boys" careers.
She wanted to come home but couldn't get her orders. The legal people told
her the medical staff put a hold on her for observation. The medical people
denied this and said the legal staff put the hold on her. This was a girl who
had just been raped and wanted to go to her family but they were playing
games with her in an effort to make her give up.
Her desire to get home was strong and she did give up and dropped her
complaint. I often wonder how many more problems these "boys" have caused.
=========================================================
ARTICLE 8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
California Guard: Broken Promises
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed: I have recently received many letters that express the same concern. As
the Guard becomes more integrated, it seems to contract the same diseases as
the regular Army. A believer in the citizen soldier force as powerful backup
for a swift-strike professional Army, I see a dire need to reform for the
ARNG and reserve components. When in doubt about using limited time for
combat training or maintenance vs. compliance drills, combat training and
maintenance must always come first. A good command climate leads to higher
retention.
***********************************************************
By a California Guardsman
For a variety of reasons, I decided that I no longer want to be a member of
the California National Guard.
Whether the "straw that broke the camel's back" in my decision to get out was
the poor leadership, focus on recruiting and family support groups over
training, lack of significant education benefits, the long drive to and from
drill, the numerous civilian work conflicts, or the amount of work that I
consistently had to do outside of the drill weekend to make up for the
laziness of the full-timers, I don't know.
What I do know is that I can't get out, despite having completed my
obligation. It seems that the Division Commander has instituted a "stop-loss"
for the Division until after he briefs the next one and maybe two USR
reports. This means that soldiers who have signed Active Duty contracts won't
be released from the Guard to join the Active Component until after the
stop-loss.
This means that soldiers who are not MOS qualified in their present
Divisional assignments but are MOS qualified in critically short
non-divisional slots cannot transfer. Most disturbingly, this means that the
"powers that be" won't have any idea of the true strength of the Division.
When I came into the Guard from the Regular Army, I was an idealist. I
thought that with the right kind of company level leadership, enforcement of
Army standards, and an abundance of well-planned mission-focused training, a
unit could be "successful."
What I have found is that the Guard in California is sorely missing senior
leadership with vision broader than "let's institute a stop-loss to hide the
true numbers." I see more and more full-time Guard Techs and other careerist
"insiders" in key part-time officer and NCO positions. Their motto: "Don't
rock the boat!"
What I leave behind is an organization full of politicians and short of
leaders, an organization unwilling to confront (let alone not promote)
incompetence, and an organization that is comfortable telling the world that
it's ready, willing, and able while its soldiers remain inadequately trained,
inadequately led, and not held to the same standards as the Regular Army.
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