SOLDIERS FOR THE TRUTH
"DEFENDING AMERICA NEWSLETTER"
22 March 2000
"When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen."
General George Washington, New York Legislature, 1775
Soldiers For The Truth Foundation, PO Box 63840, Colorado
Springs, CO
80962-3840
HTTP://WWW.SFTT.ORG
*****************************************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SITREP
Hack's Column:
Article 1 -- "CEO Types Flunk The Flying Course"
Article 2 -- "From my position - on the way!"
"Try and get Care" no longer acceptable
Big Picture:
Article 3 - 'The Adrenaline Was Pumping' For Troops
Participating In Raids
Article 4 -- Congress Eyes Military Health Care
Article 5 -- Claremont Institute Precepts: Despotism, Why Not
Here?
"VOICE OF THE GRUNT"
Article 6 -- US Army in Korea - Then and Now
Article 7 -- Stabilization Force Tuzla, Bosnia 2000
Article 8 - Reader response: A Marine Veteran on Medals
Article 9 -- Navy - Why I am getting out!
Special Topic:
Article 10 -- VIETNAM: Richard E. Githens USA KIA 29 May 1968 -
a daughter
finds peace
Medal of Honor:
Article 11 -- First Lieutenant John R. Fox, Italy 1944
G.I Humor:
Article 12 -- Real Non-Coms
===============================================================
SITREP:
This week's main topics: "Raid in Kosovo; Healthcare for
military, veterans
and retirees; leadership and readiness in deployed units; and
Vietnam
revisited through the eyes of a veteran's daughter.
THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE WONERFUL MAIL ON LAST WEEK'S EDITION.
I sincerely hope that I truthfully answered all complaint
letters about the
bungled newsletter format. I felt like NASA trying to explain
the Mars
Lander disaster. What happened was an HONEST MISTAKE that I
share with Woody
Groton our technology guru. We wanted to try something new and
sent the
letter from my computer directly into the main server and
down-range. My
mistake! - didn't check what ammo I had indexed and shot the
thing in html
setting vs. plain text. The results: highly shortsighted
people just loved
the big print. The environmentalists amongst you didn't like it
- printing
about 150 pages would have wiped out a national forest. I
apologize once
more!!!
SFTT status. We should be able to open business with an account
in about a
week and will make an official announcement. Hack has already
dipped into
his rucksack to give us a jump-start.
Volunteers. Thanks for the many applications. We are still
organizing our
Volunteer branch. Our new volunteer recruiter is a battle
proven navy
personnel wizard. His name is Rob Hamm, e-mail:
RGH58@hotmail.com
SFTT Website. Please check out our updates, i.e. objectives,
mission
statement etc. If you didn't get the complete newsletter, you
can find it
archived on the website.
http://www.sftt.org/updates/000322.htm
HACK's Book - "The Price of Honor"
If you folks are looking for some fun reading for the upcoming
Easter break
or something for the beach in the summer - pick it up! I just
finished it
and loved its entertainment value combined with masterly
interwoven lessons
on leadership, military careerism, corruption, and the moral
courage of a
younger generation of Americans that is again seeking honor and
values. By
the way, Rush Limbaugh read the book and gave it two thumbs
up!!! Read it
and write me about it!
R.W. Zimmermann
President SFTT
zimm@sftt.org
===============================================================
ARTICLE 1 - Defending America
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"CEO Types Flunk The Flying Course"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BY DAVID H. HACKWORTH
The helicopter is as important to a modern army as
reinforcements on
horseback were to George Custer's 7th Cavalry Regiment at the
Battle of
Little Big Horn. Because Custer's relief element failed to show,
his
scalp -- along with those of most of his "Gary Owen" troopers --
disappeared.
During the recent war with Serbia, U.S. Army helicopters also
didn't get to
the fight on time. They took weeks to deploy, and once they got
near the
battlefield, the crews were so badly trained that after
accidents destroyed
two Apache gunships and killed two pilots, the brass decided the
much-hyped
Apache "Serb-killer" that was going to be our secret weapon was
not good to
go.
This time around there were no missing scalps -- just body bags.
And yet,
the many problems dealing with Army aviation seem to have been
swept under
the "too-hard-to-solve" carpet.
Following this debacle, the complete multibillion-dollar Apache
fleet was
grounded because of a maintenance glitch. Months later, all the
birds still
aren't operational.
And it's not just Apache outfits that are in trouble. The same
sort of
problem has zapped every aviation unit within the U.S. Army.
Scores of aviators and crew members say that never in the
history of Army
aviation have things been so screwed up. Nor has morale been so
low among
the crews and hard-core pilots -- read warrant officers who do
nothing other
than fly and maintain aircraft, as opposed to the commissioned
officers who
float in and out and mainly haven't a clue.
Luckily, at the moment there's no enemy that riot gear and gas
masks can't
handle. But it won't always be this way. And like Custer's
no-show
reinforcements, choppers will be needed on some future killing
field to give
troops in contact the right kind of muscle to get the job done.
Uniformly, the old pros in the Army flying business blame this
funk on bad
senior leadership.
A chief warrant officer with almost 5,000 flight hours says the
problem is
inept leadership: "My first company commander in aviation was a
very senior
major with 1,500 flight hours, a Distinguished Flying Cross and
35 air
medals. He smoked cigars, drank whiskey and had a good left
hook. We all
admired him and knew he was capable of doing whatever he asked
us to do.
When he had a problem with one of us, we got the chewing in
person, loud and
clear. He was a leader.
"What I've seen over the last 10 years is that our leaders have
a pitifully
small amount of experience and aren't prepared to command. ...
Because of
the policy of rotating commissioned officers through staff jobs,
we have
officers who are incapable of and unwilling to lead soldiers.
They hide
behind their office doors and run their units via e-mail.
"I saw my commander in Bosnia getting chewed out by the
battalion commander
for not answering his e-mail -- until it was pointed out that
nobody in the
line units had Internet access.
"This same 'commander' briefed us that he was going to run his
battalion
like the CEO of a corporation, and that he didn't have time to
get to know
his soldiers.
"Folks, the Army isn't a corporation! Our job is to train and be
prepared
... to kill our fellow man at the risk of our own lives. And you
can't
inspire people to do that through e-mail."
Another savvy aviation soldier told me that two years ago the 3d
Infantry
Division's Apache battalion was replacing drivetrain gearboxes
like rolls of
toilet paper because of corrosion from the salty Savannah, Ga.,
environment -- at a cost of $1.5 million per aircraft every 250
flying
hours.
A civilian contractor spotted the problem and suggested a fix
that would
have a one-time cost of $25,000. "It took the managers a year to
decide to
go with the program, during which time they lost another $10
million in
components to corrosion," the sky soldier said.
From all reports, billions of bucks are being flushed down the
drain by
corporate-minded managers pretending to be Army aviation
leaders. Hey, it's
only money. But come to think of it, it's your money.
***
http://www.hackworth.com is the address of David Hackworth's
home page.
Instructions for subscription to this list are at the end of
this message.
Send mail to P.O. Box 5210, Greenwich, CT 06831.
© 2000 David H. Hackworth
Distributed by King Features Syndicate Inc.
==================================================
ARTICLE 2 - "From my Position" --- "On the way!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Try and get Care" no longer acceptable
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By R.W. Zimmermann
President of SFTT
03/17/00
TRICARE -- the troops call it "TRY and get CARE." Why? Because
the system
has become the epitome of the fully automated phone answering
service
designed to run the client (not patient!), long enough in
circles, so he
finally gives up or goes to his vet!"
TRICARE was originally designed to provide care for the complete
spectrum of
active service, retirees, and eligible veterans. It is under
fire again
this year, not only for substandard patient service but also
because
politicians are recognizing the high number of votes that
military related
citizens represent.
That might be good for all of us, if we take the opportunity to
exercise our
rights to push the healthcare issue.
The current system is broken and mirrors the decline of our
cultural values.
It marks a breach of faith between our warriors, past and
present, and the
guys in power, most of whom have never worn a uniform. They are
the polished
noblemen who know everything about combat and service related
health issues,
mainly from fancy Powerpoint slides and complex analyses.
For those of us, who have done some time in the trenches, it
isn't that
complicated.
Troops are exposed to higher health risks than the majority of
citizens.
Therefore it is imperative that we give them and their families
the best
medical care, provided by professionals and not phone marketers.
It all
boils down to a morale and faith issue. A deploying soldier
wants to be
able to concentrate on the mission ahead and not worry about the
home front.
The troop, exposed to danger in combat also needs an assurance
that he will
be taken care of, should he become a casualty. He needs to know
that he won'
t be discharged and discarded as unprofitable.
What after a full term of faithful service and retirement?
Again it's about
faith, honor, and morality. The country has an obligation to
provide decent
care to those who have risked life and health for the common
good.
What's reality? When you get older and like many of our
veterans depend on
your modest retirement paycheck of 50-75% of base pay, the
perfumed princes
in politics, the military, and the health insurance business
make you pay
more than the younger folks on active duty. Makes any sense to
you?
They vets thought they paid their dues with blood, sweat, tears,
and
separations and now get slapped with co-payments and up to 25%
cost-share,
if you use the TRICARE Standard option that lets you chose your
doctor.
Dental care is even worse. The as a "breakthrough" advertised
TRICARE Delta
Select Retiree Dental Plan is best suited for healthy college
teens who don'
t need much dental work. It does not cover any specialized
services such as
orthodontia, bridges, dentures and cast crown, just the things
that older
folks will surely need the most. The cost for the Delta Select
plan? A
third more than many business employee dental plans offering
much better
benefits. You figure!!!
What does this prove? We give lip service to our obligation to
care for our
veterans. Worse, we seem burdened with old people who are sick.
We are so
occupied with the good life that we disregard the need for
compassion in our
own society and forget that we will all grow older. But we have
the gall to
celebrate Veteran's Day as a shallow sales event that we further
disgrace
with cheap patriotic speeches by politicians who have no clue
what they are
talking about.
Does it have to be that way? Absolutely not! If the President
can fight
for human rights in every banana republic, while our Congress
wastes no time
to secure higher paychecks for its members, couldn't they find a
humanitarian healthcare solution for our retirees and veterans
by Veteran's
Day 2000? Wouldn't that send a message about values during a
period when
Korean War veterans and WWII soldiers need our help the most and
are
beginning to leave us in record numbers?
Let's make a resolution that by Veteran's Day 2000, we build a
medical care
network that is befitting of the people who unselfishly give and
gave during
peace and war.
How to pay for improved benefits? Examine if we must pay the
insurance
company chief executives tens of millions in bonuses so they can
dump older
folks to increase HMO efficiency and profits. Some of these
greed payments
could well be used to help older Americans in need, to improve
TTRICARE and
our Veterans' hospitals. Let's try harder to get all of them
proper care!
Zimm
© R.W. Zimmermann, President SFTT 00
zimm@sftt.org
==============================================================
ARTICLE 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'The Adrenaline Was Pumping' For Troops Participating In Raids
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Madeleine Albright and boy wonder James Rubin are
directing half-baked
but propaganda-worthy "combat operations" against Albanian
guerilla forces.
The Stars and Stripes report describes one of the "raids" as if
we had
conducted another Normandie Landing against the dreaded
Wehrmacht.
Noteworthy about the article:
It only mentions officer accomplishments: forces commander,
battalion
commander, company commander and division commander. Where were
the little
guys? I suspect micro-management from the top made them
superfluous. But
the troops really took loaded weapons this time. What did the
operation
yield? WOW!!! - 6 captured Albanians, 270 uniforms, 7x assault
rifles, 4
mines, unit patches(!) etc. I bet this "major operation" is
going to
trigger a rain of medals.
To the CEO's running the "WAR" in Kosovo: Please don't forget
to mention
our Grunts and -- combat isn't a game!
***********************************************************************
European Stars and Stripes
March 17, 2000
By Jon R. Anderson, Macedonia Bureau.
DUNAV, Kosovo - When Capt. Alex Isaac leaped from the UH-60
Black Hawk
helicopter on top of two fleeing ethnic Albanian guerrillas, he
was thinking
one thing: "I've got to get these guys."
The Albanians had been spotted laying in anti-personnel mines
after Isaac's
company raided a warehouse in this isolated mountain region. "It
was just a
reflex," he would say later. "The adrenaline was pumping, and I
just acted."
Isaac, commander of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry
Regiment - part
of the Germany-based 1st Infantry Division - led both raids in
this area,
two of five that were launched before dawn Wednesday as part of
an
aggressive new get-tough strategy on ethnic Albanian guerrillas
now
operating across Kosovo's provincial border with the rest of
Serbia.
Calling themselves the UCPMB, the Albanian acronym for the
Presevo, Medvedja
and Bujanovac Liberation Army, the rebels are blamed for a
growing number of
attacks on Yugoslav police in a pocket of southern Serbia known
as the
Presevo Valley.
Like the Kosovo Liberation Army before them, the rebels say they
only are
protecting themselves from Slobodan Milosevic's oppressive
regime. Kosovo
Force officials, however, say they cannot support any group that
threatens
the tenuous peace that has settled in this region and worry that
any new
violence could spark another Balkan war.
So it came as no surprise when Lt. Col. Jeff Snow, commander of
Task Force
2-2 Infantry in eastern Kosovo, was ordered to begin planning a
bold series
of raids that would send a strong message to the insurgents that
they had
better keep clear of the Kosovo side of the border.
Early Meetings
Snow, one of the 6,000 U.S. peacekeepers in Kosovo, had met with
the
guerrilla leaders weeks earlier. "I wanted to know who was in
charge," said
Snow, as the rebel group emerged in January. He asked the rebels
to meet him
at a U.S. border checkpoint just inside Kosovo. "I told them
that I knew
they were between a rock and a hard place," said Snow,
explaining that if
they were being attacked by Serb police, then he was in no
position to tell
them not to defend themselves.
"But I made it clear that under no circumstances would KFOR
allow them to
come across the border with weapons or use Kosovo as a staging
area," he
said. They denied they were receiving any assistance from inside
the NATO
protectorate and were only organizing and training in an effort
to protect
themselves.
Within 24 hours, however, Snow said rebel leaders were twisting
his words
telling people inside the valley that they had the support of
KFOR and that
the peacekeepers would protect them. They even went so far as to
hand out
UCPMB stickers that had a U.S. soldier on them.
Meanwhile, he said, the Belgrade government was saying the same
thing in the
Yugoslav press. KFOR has been accused for weeks now of not only
turning a
blind eye to the insurgents, but actively assisting them.
And so on March 10, Brig. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the
U.S.-sector
in Kosovo, decided it was time to send a message to both sides.
Five target
areas were picked along the Kosovo-Serbian provincial border
believed to be
directly connected to the rebel movement. In fact, U.S. scouts
had observed
rebels - or at least suspicious activity - at each of the
locations inside
Kosovo, often armed even after Snow's warning.
Over the next five days, Snow's task force would plan and
rehearse the raids
in minute detail. Using armored vehicles, helicopters, Humvees,
and, in
Isaac's case, a long predawn hike to a mountain hideaway, the
targets would
all be raided at the same time Wednesday morning.
The day before the mission was to begin, 1st Infantry Division
commander
Maj. Gen. John Abizaid met with the task force's key leaders at
Camp
Monteith in eastern Kosovo. At the same time, a U.S.
diplomatic team -State Department spokesman James Rubin and
presidential
adviser Chris Hill - were wrapping up a three-day trip through
Kosovo to
prod local leaders into halting their support of
the insurgency.
Rubin and Hill briefed reporters before leaving Kosovo as
Abizaid huddled
secretly inside with his troops.
"What we're demonstrating here, in conjunction with this
diplomatic
initiative, is that we have the ability to identify and take out
weapons
caches and staging areas," Abizaid told them. "We're showing
that we will
not tolerate insurgent activity inside Kosovo. We're taking
things to a
different level."
And while Abizaid warned them to avoid duking it out with the
rebels if at
all possible, he said "remember Flat Ass Rule No. 1: We will
bring the full
might and strength of the U.S. Army to bare if you get into
trouble."
Game Day
The raid teams -five separate minitask forces in all - began
their missions
before dawn. For Isaac, who commanded two of the missions, the
assault would
be a long one.
Driving in armored Humvees with lights turned off and drivers
using
night-vision goggles to navigate Kosovo's narrow winding roads,
the team
moved from Camp Monteith to a staging area in a valley below a
suspected
guerrilla camp.
The camp, a former Serb hamlet with a small church and a few
buildings was
code named Objective Asp," and was believed to have a half-dozen
armed
rebels and a cache of weapons in a nearby warehouse.
As Isaac and his team hiked into the mountains, loaded with
weapons and a
full combat load of ammunition, one of his platoons prepared to
air assault
beside the warehouse by helicopter. That site had been code
named "Objective
Adder."
Called a "cordon and search," the plan called for the ground
team to
surround the entire area and cut off likely escape routes. Then,
the air
assault team would land and take position.
Because of a miscommunication and a few last-minute changes to
the plan,
however, the air team flew in early, before the cordon was
completely in
place.
That's when a four-wheel drive was spotted heading out of the
camp. Calling
back to his staging-area crew in the valley below by radio, a
quick
roadblock was set up, and the Range Rover and two suspected
guerrillas were
apprehended.
Unsure if more guerrillas were hunkered inside the camp,
Albanian
translators announced on bullhorns "This is KFOR. You are
surrounded. Come
out with your hands up."
Within minutes, Isaac's team was bounding into the buildings.
While the
buildings were empty, it didn't take long to figure out their
suspicions had
been true. In addition to finding more than 270 uniforms, some
with UCPMB
patches, seven assault rifles, dozen of grenades, radios, mines
and bomb
making gear also were uncovered. Meanwhile, the warehouse was a
bust. It was
empty. But as the air assault team began hiking to the larger
camp, they
found four anti-personnel mines.
Fly Time
It would be hours later, after the troops had blown up the mines
and cleared
out of the warehouse area, that scouts noticed two men placing
troop-killing
anti-personnel mines back around the site.
That's when Isaac called in the helicopter. As two door gunners
stood at the
ready, Isaac soon found himself across the valley sailing over
the
warehouse. "I don't think they realized what was happening, we
were on top
of them so quickly," he said.
Leaping out of the helicopter, with a 9 mm pistol drawn, Isaac
tackled one
to the ground with his sites trained on the other. The two men
were among
six eventually captured in the area. Officials also arrested two
more."I
really have to wonder what those two guys thought they were
doing," Snow
said. If they were booby-trapping the area in case KFOR came
calling again,
fears of a backlash against NATO already may be in the offing.
==============================================================
ARTICLE 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congress Eyes Military Health Care
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: good news! Congress is tackling the issue of retiree
healthcare.
Why? Not because of an AUSA initiative but because members
rightfully
recognize the vote potential of these older Americans and the
impact on
retention during this election year.
************************************************************************
The Associated Press
By JIM ABRAMS
WASHINGTON (AP) - A consensus is growing in Congress that it's
time to fix
what many say is a broken promise of lifetime health benefits
for military
retirees. Still undecided is how big, and how costly, the fix
should be.
Speaking of the current military retiree health care system,
Senate Majority
Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said: ``We can no longer squeeze
blood from this
stone. It is empty.''
Lott, joined by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John
Warner, R-Va.,
and several Democratic leaders, is behind a bill that would do
for military
retirees what he is so far unwilling to do for all older
Americans: ensure
prescription drug benefits.
The majority leader's bill would expand the Pentagon's
mail-order pharmacy
program for service families living far from military hospitals
to all
Medicare-eligible military retirees and their dependents, about
8 million
people. But they first would pay a $150 annual deductible.
President Clinton wants to provide all 39 million Medicare
recipients with
up to $1,000 a year in prescription drugs initially, at a cost
to each of
$26 a month in premiums. Republicans have balked; they say
two-thirds of
Medicare beneficiaries already have private prescription
coverage.
For military retirees, Lott's bill also would make improvements
in Tricare,
the HMO-like health care program used by many retirees and the
families of
active-duty service members, and extend some other benefits.
Lott calls his program ``a reasonable and prudent first step''
to ``correct
the broken promise of lifetime health care to our military
retirees and
veterans.''
Others contend that it falls short. It ``does not do enough to
reform the
military health care delivery system for our veterans,'' said
Sen. John
McCain, R-Ariz., a Navy retiree.
The former presidential hopeful said retirees he met in his
travels spoke of
long waiting periods, lack of access to proper care and drugs
and the
failure of the government to live up to its commitments.
Currently, 20-year retirees are entitled to free care at
military facilities
on space-available basis, or they can join a Tricare program. At
65, all
retirees are switched to Medicare.
Veterans complain that the closing of bases has reduced access
to military
hospitals by 40 percent, that many health-care providers are
reluctant to
deal with Tricare because of poor efficiency and low
reimbursement rates and
that Medicare doesn't pay for drugs.
``This problem of access has been going on since the base
closures began in
the mid-1980s, and they are still trying to do incremental
change,'' said
Mark Olanoff of the Retired Enlisted Association, which supports
more
fundamental reform.
When today's retirees entered the service, ``They were told
straight out
that a prime element of their compensation for serving 20 years
would be
free health care for life,'' said Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga.
The current
system, he said, is ``an inexcusable breach'' of that promise.
``In the military a lot of what you do is on blind trust,'' said
Steve
Robertson, legislative director for the American Legion. If that
trust is
violated, he said, it's going to be hard to recruit and retain
service
members.
The American Legion, he said, believes better access to the VA
health care
system, which now gives priority to veterans with
service-related
disabilities, is smarter than putting more money into Tricare.
Norwood is sponsoring bipartisan legislation that would allow
retirees who
entered the service before 1956 to enroll in the health care
program for
federal civilians, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program,
with the
government paying 100 percent of costs. Cost estimates for the
bill run in
the $8 billion to $10 billion a year range.
``So what?'' Norwood said. ``That absolutely means nothing to
me. We gave
our word.''
David Burrelli of the nonpartisan Congressional Research
Service, contends
in a report on military health care that Congress never
authorized free
health care for life for military retirees. He said three recent
court cases
have rejected retiree claims seeking free care at military
facilities as a
right or entitlement.
But Defense Secretary William Cohen said in recent congressional
testimony:
``We have made a pledge. Whether it's legal or not, it's a moral
obligation
that we will take care of all those who served.''
===============================================================
ARTICLE 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claremont Institute Precepts: Despotism, Why Not Here?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Soldier, statesman, and unselfish servant to our Nation.
George
Washington laid the foundation to what it means to serve in a
military
subordinate to civilian authority. Washington led from the
front and by
experience and comfortably communicated with rank and file
alike. Why can't
we produce leaders like him anymore?
************************************************************************
By Larry P. Arnn
President, The Claremont Institute
Think for a moment of your dealings with representatives of the
government.
What is it like to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service?
Are the
people at the motor vehicles registration office always kind and
polite? Do
building inspectors treat you like a customer? Would you rather
deal with
the person who sells you a shirt, or the person who grants you a
government
license?
Winston Churchill once encapsulated the feeling one gets about
the
government agent in the modern bureaucracy with a phrase: "no
longer civil,
no longer servants."
On the other hand, have you recently met a soldier, a sailor, or
an airman?
If you visit a military installation you will likely find that
you are
saluted and addressed as "sir" or "ma'am," and people will be
solicitous of
your needs and ready to serve. This phenomenon, often noticed,
is a little
strange when one thinks of it. The member of the military is
part of the
most disciplined and most powerful branch of the government. In
most
nations not even the ruler can afford to do anythin
(Note: Use the URL above to go to Col Hack's website for full story)
