I read the news today, oh boy… The “out by year’s end” mantra is really starting to get under my skin so I felt compelled to compose the following letter to the candidates.
I certainly hope I’m not told to go back on my word.Sgt Hook out.
Unlike the Times, Fox News did a little investigating and by simple math based on the figure of 121 homicides out of a conservative estimate of 700,000 of returning combat veterans over six years works out to a mere fraction of the national average for homicides committed by males aged 18 to 24.
I am too. Thanks to AWTM for bringing this to our attention, I’m taking her advice and sending off a note to Hasbro describing my outrage as both a Soldier and a Dad (oh yeah, and a consumer). Sgt Hook out.
From Greyhawk we learn about Bobby The Gallivant, a reporter for McClatchy Newspapers and NOT to be confused with Michael (or Kit for that matter) from the famed Knight Rider. Bobby the reporter reports from the Green Zone in Iraq.
I encourage you to take a minute to read Bobby’s latest dispatch from the Green Zone and form your own opinion. Personally, I think Bobby comes off as an arrogant prick, but I could be seeing things from a warped perspective laced with an understanding of just how difficult a task it is to provide security in a place where a very determined and clever enemy constantly attempts to breach said security and kill us.
I’m sure it was a tremendous inconvenience to Bobby to have to endure the meticulous checking of his credentials by the Soldier as he fulfilled his duties to protect and defend (part of an oath he swore to by the way). I also imagine that life as a reporter for the McClatchy (aka Knight Ridder) Company can be stressful, but for the life of me I cannot understand why Bobby isn’t just a wee bit thankful his ass is alive because of the inconvenient security measures implaced and enforced throughout the Green Zone?!
I also find myself wondering if the good folks at McClatchy condone such arrogant behavior from their reporters and if they think they are getting their money’s worth from the security officers they’ve hired?
“When you’ve got nothing to lose,” I told my security officer, “you do what it takes.” He nodded in agreement.
For what it’s worth, Bobby you arrogant prick, I’ve stopped reading the Kansas City Star.
My organization has been around for awhile. It is a non-profit organization; however, our bottom-line is non-negotiable. We have all total over a million and a half employees, both full-time and part-time. There are doctors, mechanics, water purifiers, R&D, technicians, pilots, truck drivers, police, firefighters, IT, chefs, musicians, mariners, clerks, photographers, HR, electricians, nurses, fuelers, engineers, divers, tankers, snipers, and warriors on the payroll. My organization is capable of establishing a small city in the middle of nowhere and conducting business for an indeterminate amount of time. The men and women in my organization are highly trained and for the most part, fiercely loyal. We strive for success and hold honor above all else.
My organization is amazing; though it is not perfect. At times, mistakes are made and members of my organization fuck up, but when they do, the leadership of my organization does not bury their heads in the sand.
“We will do what’s right for our soldiers and their families. And our soldiers and their families need to know that the Army leadership is committed and dedicated to ensure that the quality of life and the quality of their medical care is equal to their quality of service and sacrifice,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody said at a Pentagon press conference.
“I’ll take responsibility. I’m the vice chief of the Army and I’ll make sure it’s fixed,” he said.
Responsibility and accountability are not just buzz words in my organization, but words with meaning. We cannot define honor without the two.
“We all share in the responsibility and accountability. We accept that accountability. One of the matters I hope to learn about is why the problems and concerns were not raised up. I never received concerns from a soldier or family member,” Winkenwerder said.
No one has been relieved of command or fired, Cody said, but he did not rule that out.
“We will do the right thing across the board as we continue to assess where leadership failure and breakdowns were. In some cases, I’ll just say as plainly as I can, we had people put in charge who did not have, in my mind, in my experience, the right rank and the right experience and authority to be able to execute some of the missions that was required,” he said.
As a 19+ year full-time employee of my organization, I am equally outraged as I am embarrassed by the conditions recently found in building 18 at Walter Reed, and my heart aches for those wounded warriors and their families who were subjected to that. And I’m pissed the hell off.
I have a lot respect for General Cody and have absolute faith that he will get it fixed, and then some (I’ve seen him fix things), but I’m mad as hell because my organization is better than that! No matter how full our plates get, and how demanding the op-tempo becomes, we never ever fail at taking care of soldiers. I have no idea what circumstances led to the abhorrent conditions in building 18, but I’m certain they will no longer exist by the time you finish reading this post.
I intend to visit Walter Reed and building 18 when I travel to Washington D. C. for the Milblog Conference in May. I have every confidence that I’ll be reporting good news.
I’ll take responsibility. I’m the vice chief of the Army and I’ll make sure it’s fixed.
I remain extremely proud to be a member of my organization. Sgt Hook out.
Michelle Malkin reports that Lieutenant General Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq has expressed his displeasure to the New York Times for publishing a photo of a mortally wounded American Soldier.
I am writing to express my profound disappointment in The New York Times’s decision to publish a photograph of a mortally wounded American soldier in its Jan. 29 issue and Web site posting. Not only are the photograph and video offensive, the clear depiction is also directly counter to the written agreement made by the reporter and the photographer before publication.
The article that accompanied the photograph and Web site video, ” ‘Man Down’: When One Bullet Alters Everything,” by the reporter, Damien Cave, and the photographer, Robert Nickelsberg, was a story of soldiers operating in and around Haifa Street in Baghdad.
This story can and should be told. That is not in question. What is disturbing to me personally and, more important, to the family of the soldier depicted in the photograph and the video, is that the young man who so valiantly gave his life in the service of others was displayed for the entire world to see in the gravest condition and in such a fashion as to elicit horror at its sight.
This photograph will be the last of this man that his family will ever see. Further, it will cause unnecessary worry among the families of other soldiers who fear that the last they see of their loved ones will be in a New York Times photograph lying grievously wounded and dying.
To achieve a mutually agreed upon standard of working together, all reporters and photographers are required to sign the Multinational Forces-Iraq News Media Ground Rules. In it, they agree to the following:
“Media will not be prohibited from covering casualties provided the following conditions are adhered to: (a) Names, video, identifiable written/oral descriptions or identifiable photographs of wounded service member will not be released without the service member’s prior written consent.”
No such consent was sought or provided.
All of us bear a responsibility to provide for the dignity of our service members in combat. This soldier and his family deserved better.
(Lt. Gen.) Raymond T. Odierno
Cmdr., Multinational Corps-Iraq
Camp Victory, Iraq, Feb. 2, 2007
To be honest, I have not read the New York Times in years and don’t intend to start now. I’m just as appalled as Lt. General Odierno at the lack of respect and honor displayed by the paper. It seems that the NYTimes has since been disembedded from Staff Sergeant Leija’s unit. I couldn’t agree more with taking such action. SSG Leija’s unit will never trust a reporter from the NYTimes again.
What ticks me off the most is that had this been an employee of Walmart or McDonalds, the NYTimes would not have published the photos before next of kin had been notified as I’m unaware of any agenda the rag has against those particular organizations. And I got it, they DO have an agenda against the administration and I’m not faulting them that, but when they dishonor the very men and women and families who sacrifice so much to preserve their freedom of speech, I’m a little more than ticked off… I got a case of the ass!
All of us bear a responsibility to provide for the dignity of our service members in combat. This soldier and his family deserved better.
I don’t care much for the term “escalation of troop levels” when referring to the Commander in Chief’s plan to send more Soldiers and Marines to Baghdad with the purpose of winning the military aspects of that battle. I am not an English major, nor master, however the word “escalation” though may be technically correct in this case, implies we’re wanting to flame the fires and shed more blood. The increase in troop levels is a tactical move designed to stop the fires and reduce the bloodshed providing security so that changes on the political, social, and economic fronts can occur (the strategic front). I find it disturbing that several of our elected representatives have come together to craft a resolution denouncing the administration’s plan to surge, to win, calling it an “escalation.” It is one thing to debate and disagree, it is another to pass legislation aimed at undermining our efforts, threaten to cut-off funding, and call for a retreat. Such maneuvers send a disastrous message to our forces fighting for something they deeply believe in, as well as to those Iraqis harboring hope for their future.
In a post last week, FbL asked for my opinion on the plan’s success relying on the Iraqis stepping up to the plate and did I think they would. As I’ve said before, this war cannot be won by military forces alone. The Maliki administration and Iraqi government will ultimately be the hinge pin upon which success is achieved or not. It is their country and their future and the people of Iraq must have faith in their elected representatives that they will serve the nation’s interests and provide security for all. Easier said than done.
Trust and faith are not things we humans typically toss around freely, and given the history of Iraq, I imagine many there are quite hesitant to trust in any government. It will therefore take dramatic improvements in the security of their streets and in their economic status to build that trust and create that faith. The Iraqi military is not yet ready to secure ALL the streets on its own, though they have been tremendously successful in other provinces around the country where our forces have handed over the mission to them. Baghdad has become the focal point for establishing like securities allowing for follow-on initiatives that will address those strategic goals. With U.S. Soldiers and Marines standing alongside Iraqi forces fighting deliberately to eliminate insurgent and secular violence (and kid gloves have got to come off), citizens of Iraq can then begin establishing local governments, re-open schools, repair infrastructures, and go to work without fear of it all crumbling down again. Then and only then will trust begin to build and faith begin to take hold. A daunting task indeed, but what is the alternative?
Will the Iraqis be able to uphold their end of the deal? We won’t know until we execute the plan but calling for immediate withdrawals and threatening to cut off funding shreds any glimmer of hope, trust, and faith and undermines victory. I also find it interesting at the increasing numbers of those denouncing the “escalation” plan, but offer very few suggestions other than failure. Yes, withdrawal would mean failure and your Soldiers would come home without honor and the world will change drastically. Sgt Hook out.
This site is a collection of my writings, thoughts, and ramblings and in no way reflects the official positions of the United States Army or the Department of Defense. OPSEC trumps everything.
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In view of a recent tendency to identify characters in fiction with real people, it seems proper to state that there are no real people in this volume: both the characters and their names are ficticious. The names or designations of any military units are ficticious. There are no living people nor existing military units presented in this book.
-Ernest Hemingway
Halfway down the road to hell,
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler's Green.
-Author Unknown
The Blog of War
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