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-Caveat Lector- VOICE OF THE GRUNT, 1999-08-04-B = ARTICLE 6 NATO FORCES SEEK CALM AFTER PRISTINA BOMBING SUMMARY: As recently as Monday we have a report of "terrorist" activity in Kosovo. Associated Press Monday, August 2, 1999 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Aug. 1-Peacekeepers scrambled to keep a lid on simmering ethnic tensions today after a bomb damaged a Serbian Orthodox church under construction in Kosovo's capital. The early morning blast did little damage to the structure, but it further undermined the confidence of minority Serbs in the ability of Western peacekeepers to protect them from violence that they say is committed by ethnic Albanians. The bombing "was not a surprise, because for the last few days we have been telling every day the [peacekeeping] officers that this is going to be the next target," said the Rev Sava Janjic, a prominent Serbian Orthodox priest in Kosovo. "We very much wonder why it couldn't be prevented." No one was reported injured in the explosion, which was heard throughout the capital, setting off car alarms and sending a large cloud of smoke and dust into the air. British Capt. Tony Tesar said damage to the church, which had not yet opened, was minimal. He said six five-pound charges were found inside the structure, but not all of them had been detonated. He said the perpetrators used a timer. NATO issued a statement saying it "vigorously condemns this cowardly attack against a place of worship" and was carrying out an investigation. The bombing added to tensions already running high after Russian peacekeepers briefly detained the Kosovo Liberation Army's military commander, Agim Ceku. In response to the detention Saturday, ethnic Albanian rebel leader Hashim Thaqi warned that if such actions aren't stopped, "we will defend our honor." Russia defended the action of its peacekeepers and accused the rebel group of flouting the peace process. The statement called Thaqi's response "a crude provocation" and criticized what it termed "the impunity of the KLA, which is carrying out illegal violence against local Serbs." ARTICLE 7 MORE ON DIVERSITY AND C.O.O SUMMARY: We can all celebrate our ancestral roots, but the very nature of military training is to build a common culture for troops from different backgrounds. * By A Warrior Officer Two things were mentioned in your recently published "letter of resignation" of a Ft Carson LTC. Consideration for Others Training I just returned from my two weeks of reserve "training" at Aberdeen Proving Ground MD. LTG Foley gave a lecture on "Consideration of Others," a program he apparently started as commandant of West Point and now is fostering within the Army (we were ordered to attend). I realize that he is a Medal of Honor recipient with a distinguished career, but I really wonder if this program is actually doing anything. During the QA session that followed his lecture I asked "as an executive in a multinational company in civilian life, I am always asked to justify programs based on ROI (return on investment). Do you (LTG Foley) have any hard numbers that this program is actually contributing to the Army in a positive way?" His answer was basically "no." He said he had anecdotal "feedback" that it is a good program, but I wonder if he really believes that any subordinate in his right mind would tell a LTG that his pet project wasn't working. Too much emphasis is placed on diversity (Asian week, African American week, Hispanic week, etc.). While I served with the Training Brigade at Ft. McClellan, we had a HHC commander who seemed to spend all his time preparing for Hispanic Appreciation Month, apparently in lieu of his normal responsibilities. The CO said he was "broke" but I don't think he was able to relieve him. Maybe the quota system described in your newsletter had something to do with it. It is certainly true that the emphasis on diversity detracts from unit cohesion. It is creating an Army where the only thing we have in common is our differences. ARTICLE 8 ~ ***Medal Of Honor*** ~ FOLEY, ROBERT F. Rank and organization: Captain, USA, Co. A, 2/27, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Quan Dau Tieng, RVN, 5 November 1966. Entered service at: Newton, Mass. Born: 30 May 1941, Newton, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Foley's company was ordered to extricate another company of the battalion. Moving through the
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-Caveat Lector- * ** VOICE OF THE GRUNT ** ** 4 August 1999 ** * TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES Hack's Column U.S. Warships Are Not Royal Yachts 1 Mac Notes 2 From The Field: Wanted To Do My Twenty And Retire 3 Don't Pee Down My Back 4 Russian Anger At KLA5 NATO Forces Seek Calm After Pristina Bombings 6 More On Diversity And C.O.O.7 7 Medal of Honor: Foley, Robert F., Capt., USA, A Co., 2/27, 25th Division 8 Near Quan Dau Tieng, RVN, 5 November 1966 ANTHRAX Letter To the Editor: The Condom Doctrine 9 No Humor This Week === ARTICLE 1 U.S. WARSHIPS ARE NOT ROYAL YACHTS By David H. Hackworth, 3 August 1999 American vets right across this nation are outraged at JFK Jr., his wife and sister-in-law receiving U.S. Naval burial services at sea. From what I've heard about JFK Jr.-- a guy who never used an accident of birth as an excuse to cut the line and always quietly did the right thing for those less fortunate -- he'd be the first to sound off that he did not deserve a burial with military honors. The Department of Veterans Affairs projects that 560,900 vets will die this year alone. Many of these heroes aren't getting either a timely or an appropriate burial. Yet JFK Jr., his wife and sister-in-law were interred in one day with military honors. "At Portsmouth, the waiting time to be buried at sea is six months," says a Navy Chief. "We have 128 dead sailors now waiting for their honors. I can't square how Kennedy, who never served, got special privileges. It's a national disgrace." Because of the heavy burial demands, there's a backlog of 500 sailors waiting to be buried at sea, and the waiting time for interment at major military cemeteries such as Arlington can be up to three weeks. Vets buried at smaller cemeteries don't have the waiting time, but most don't receive full military honors either. In many cases, all that a grateful nation provides is a one-man flag detail and a taped recording of "Taps." JFK Jr., meanwhile, got a U.S. warship, a naval band and three Navy chaplains. The cost for this special treatment was half a million bucks, picked up by the taxpayers. The military services that provide the burial details for our vets -- firing squads, chaplains and musicians from active and reserve units -- say they're over-stretched and don't have the money or resources to handle the work load. Retired Army Major R.M. Peterson says of the Kennedy burial, "My Father, Father-in-law and I gave 72 years of service to this country... the 'Cult of Personality' rules, and government serves the powerful, not those who have served their country." Congress must stop this abuse of power by the connected like Senator Edward Kennedy, who can pick up a phone and ask Secretary of Defense William Cohen to arrange for family members to be buried at sea, and snap, it's done. If Democrat Kennedy and Republican Cohen had listened to the advice of this country's warriors instead of their eager, can-do brass, they'd have understood the sacredness of a military burial and why they shouldn't be for sale. They'd have gotten the word that military burials are for those who've earned them, in most cases earned them the hard way by taking enormous risks and undergoing hardships that the likes of Kennedy and Cohen will never know. I'd hoped this kind of abuse had been put to rest when former Ambassador Larry Lawrence was disinterred from Arlington National Cemetery. After faking WWII service, he bought his way into those hollow grounds with megabuck political contributions. But out he went nonetheless. Not only was Cohen wrong, so was the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jay Johnson and every Naval officer in the chain of command, right down to the skipper of the U.S.S. Briscoe. Had any of these officers stood tall and said, "Burying three civilians aboard a naval ship with military honors is wrong," Kennedy, his bride and sister-in-law would more than likely have been buried at sea from a Kennedy yacht, which I suspect that JFK Jr. probably would have preferred. This type of going-along-to-get-along by the brass is not only bad for morale, it's the same sort of behavior that, if allowed to go unchecked, will continue to contaminate and destroy our officer corps. In Vietnam, for example, all of the generals went along with General William Westmoreland's dumb strategy even though they openly discussed how flawed it was. More recently in Somalia, General Thomas Montgomery allowed combat operations to be
