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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! July 15, 2004 Speaking of Fear and Loathing...By GreyhawkAn unedited story from a soldier in Iraq: The temperature was way over 100 today and my PLT had a patrol in the afternoon, which I was supposed to go on, but my Squad LDR told me I had to stay back because the Command SGT Major wanted to talk to me at 13:00. That's not good. That usually means you fucked up and are on your way to an article 15 and some extra duty. I racked my brain on what I could have possibly done wrong out here, I couldn't think of anything that I've done recently that could have possibly gotten me into trouble. What I found out at 13:00 was that the Command SGT Major, who is pretty much the top of the food chain in the NCO ranks here, wanted to present me an award (!) for, as he said, "Going above and beyond what is expected of me here in Iraq." He said my PLT selected me for this award, because they wanted me to be recognized for all the hard work I've done out here. And he presented me a Command SGT Major Award Coin (Note: A coin is not a big deal, it's not a medal of honor or anything like that. It carries the came weight as say, a "thank you" card) and shook my hand. I thought that was kinda cool. I've been out here busting my ass doing a thankless job and I'm being recognized for it and thanked by higher. That was a huge moral boost for me today. You gotta love it - because that's the sort of hero America loves - the guy that doesn't even have a clue that he's a hero. I had an interesting conversation with a non-military relative here in the States the other day. He may have briefly forgotten what I do for a living, and I can't give a direct quote now, but the gist of his (inaccurate) comment was that the military is having a tough time recruiting these days, and that they are seeking and accepting increasingly less qualified candidates, and generally lowering standards for enlistments. A concern for us all if true, but as I have seen no evidence of such I have to wonder if I had heard a recitation of a new talking point. Seems likely to me (more so than his unsupported claim) that if the troops are generally in favor of what's going on in the world these days, then it might behoove certain elements in our society to depict said troops as something other than the heroes they've been depicted as recently. Or stated differently, lets say those who have been proclaiming "Support the troops - bring them home!" are realizing the troops aren't supporting them. What can they do? They can claim the troops are different now. There was a time when service in U.S. military was honorable and professionally rewarding. But because of politicians who use the military to pump up corporate profits instead of defending us, that was a long time ago. Americans with personal integrity should boycott the volunteer military and discourage everyone they care about to do the same. "They come from parts of the country where jobs are hard to find," an acquaintance condescendingly excuses the enlistees. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? I'd rather sleep under a bridge, eating trash out of a Dumpster, than murder human beings for Halliburton. Get the message? It's Ted Rall's latest screed. (Via Michele - and don't miss her commentary here) Ted's a creepy sort of guy, of little consequence, and most Americans would rightfully dismiss him as a member of the extreme and loony left, and not mainstream. Others might hail him as a visionary, a trendsetter. Think about the Seattle area -- Bainbridge Island to be exact -- and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance. (Via Chief Wiggles) Did I mention talking points? Here's apologist Kevin Dwyer, executive director of the (presumably Bainbridge Island) Chamber of Commerce: Dwyer added: "I believe (Jason's) mom when she said her son was called 'a murderer.' But I'm sure it wasn't so much directed at the kid as it was the president. A soldier with a sign represents that." An interesting echo of this quote from Rall: "When Bush launched an illegal war," a European reader wrote to Time magazine after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, "he created an atmosphere that led some Americans to believe that anything goes. Please, America, don't blame the soldiers. Blame Bush, and hold him responsible in November." The left is struggling with itself as it stumbles towards blaming the troops, a subset of the population it desperately wants to believe supports them. (Some do, most don't.) But that desperate lefty cling is starting to slip. The tidal shift was first hinted at here, followed by a flood of Abu Ghraib coverage. Ironically, it's the Abu Ghraib story that prevents the left from turning all-out against the troops. For now they need the accused of that crime to be hopeless victims, and they need the administration to be the real bad guys. But they are getting tired of waiting for the troops to revolt. They don't want to accept that the troops might actually support the mission in Iraq, but they are beginning to prepare quotes for that moment when they can no longer deny it. The blogger at Fear and Loathing generally leaves politics out of his posts. Here, for instance, is a conclusion to a recent entry: I had to pull radio watch in the War Room last night, and somebody left a copy of the April edition of People Magazine there. So on radio watch, I read how Survivors Rob and Amber are in Love, Kelly Osborne is in Rehab, Omaarosa has a suprising past, and how Reese Witherspoon and hubby Ryan Phillippe bought a house in Los Angeles for 4.9 million. And you know what, after reading that magazine, for a split second, I was glad I was here in Iraq, and not back in America. Hopefully he'll never have any more serious reasons to feel that way. Posted by Greyhawk / July 15, 2004 4:40 PM | Permalink 3 TrackBacksGreyhawk over at Mudville Gazette synthesizes a lot of things we've seen in the media over the last week, well worth reading: The left is struggling with itself as it stumbles towards blaming the troops, a subset of the population... Read More Greyhawk over at Mudville Gazette synthesizes a lot of things we've seen in the media over the last week, well worth reading: The left is struggling with itself as it stumbles towards blaming the troops, a subset of the population... Read More This, via Greyhawk, is one of the funniest things I've heard in a while: I had to pull radio watch in the War Room last night, and somebody left a copy of the April edition of People Magazine there. So... Read More 6 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
Negative reporting on morale, etc. is done with an eye towards lowering enlistment rates (among other things). I expect some media sorts would like statements about lower enlistment standards to be self-fullfilling prophecy.
It's deliberate misinformation, the talk about lower standards as is the talk about reinstituting the Draft. Part of it is to try to turn the youth against the Administration, the Draft bills introduced in Congress were introduced by people who constantly vote to gut the Services.
Another important part of it is people like Rall who just can't STAND the simple fact that to enlist one has have higher IQ scores than are required to get into the vast majority of colleges and universities. What's that do to their sense of smug superiority? How does a Leftist assistant professor in his forties, still not tenured feel knowing that a twenty year old Spec five is maintaining an M1-A Abrams or an Apache helo? How about that 22 year old Elltee in charge of an infantry platoon? The perfesser can't even get his class to pay attention. They've spent their whole lives being smarter than everyone else (according to them) and TALKING about how they are going to change the world...someday. Now there's a bunch of people in funny clothes that don't even have graduate degrees from prestigious universities that are actually changing the world.
They just can't stand it.
I am so sorry that you, who are fighting for our country, are subjected to the hate speech of some of these hatemongers. I am so proud of the job you are doing. I am so happy that Saddam is no longer in power and the Iraqis have a chance at self government because of the blood and toil of our military. What happened to Jason should never happen. I did Email him to let him know how proud I am of him. Our military and our President are in my prayers.
Not to imply recruits are overpaid, but at least one of Ralls arguments withers with a simple on-line fact check. Here's Ted's line:
"Not only is working as a hired gun for the U.S. government bad for your soul, it's a bad deal financially. Starting pay in the U.S. armed forces runs about $12,000 per year, about the same as working at McDonald's. "
Here's reality:
An E1 new to the military earns 1086 dollars a month base pay for her first four months of service - usually covering the period of basic and advanced training. (This figure x 12 seems to be what Ted is touting) During this period they are housed and clothed while receiving job training, medical, and dental care at no cost to them.
4x1086= 4344.
Then, they get a pay raise to 1193 a month, just for surviving training. This only lasts 2 months, for a total of 2386 dollars, which added to the first four equals 6730. At the six month point an Army recruit earns a promotion to E2, and a raise to 1337 dollars. Six months of that equals 8022, for a total of $14750 base pay, while still receiving the benefits listed above.
You can supply the value of those medical benefits, but Ted was off by more than that. The allowance for food puts another 250 a month into the troop's pockets, 3000 a year for 17750 total.
Married recruits will also draw an additional location-based allowance for housing. 750 a month for Omaha Nebraska, 1300 a month for Honolulu. Let's add 900 a month x 12 for another 10,800 per year. We're up to 25,550 for the first year.
Is that enough? It certainly isn't - considering the jobs these young men and women are doing, but it's certainly more than people like Ted Rall deserve for what they do (and do poorly in Ted's case).
Now add enlistment bonuses for some specialties - lets say 5 thousand dollars - and you can start to see why cretins like Ted may feel a bit jealous of those who are willing to risk their lives for his freedom of twisted speech.
Of course, they're also earning GI Bill benefits, VA home loan eligibility, and a sense of honor, service, character, and self-discipline that Ted and his ilk will never comprehend.
Not bad for a person with little more than a High School diploma in hand.
And then to start year 2 our GI gets a promotion to E3 and a raise to 1400/month, plus whatever cost-of-living raise congress allows.
Did I mention the 30 days paid vacation they've accumulated?
How about the 100% tuition assistance many receive for college courses taken while on Active Duty?
So again, is it enough? No - they deserve more. Is it a number so small that only the lowest forms of human life would take the bait? No- else Ted would have signed up long ago.
Delta: You're right, there's the potential for wishful thinking on the part of the anti-war-for-oil crowd to turn into something else... a self-fulfilling prophecy. But the evidence isn't in yet, and what there is argues people are agreeing with you and me and still enlisting/re-enlisting.
Peter: I had to leave College in no small part because of what you're talking about. I had an African history prof who wouldn't take my paper on white african mercenaries because they weren't, well, black. And whites aren't aftrican. Including my mother, who's not african, even though she was born in South Africa. Jo-berg.
Greyhawk: By no means am I arguing that Rall is anything other than a piece of shit. I would argue that he serves a purpose in that he radicalizes Americans against his point of view. In any case, you're technically correct in your statistics, but I do feel the Army discriminates against the single Private financially by giving married Privates more money and more freedom with BAS and BAQ.
The solution is to take the value of those "benefits" -- except for medical, which should obviously cannot be made optional -- and hand it out to all Privates regardless of marital status. That way they can choose to pay for those army "benefits" or not.
I mean, seriously, how much would you pay for an MRE? And how much would you pay for a bunk in some dumpy barracks? How much does it cost to sleep under the stars at night in a sleeping bag, woken up at least once a night during peace-time training for radio watch?
Be interested to see your thoughts on this one. But I can't think of any other institution that allows this kind of discrimination.
I've seen a lot of bad marriages inspired by Army policy...
f
You're right Fred, but as with many things I'm sure fiscal reality is the overall reason for the pay disparity.
I'd add that married troops are perhaps easier to retain - the same is generally true for any business anywhere - and perhaps "worth" the extra bucks.
On the other hand, I know lots of senior ranking folks who are not now (but often have been) married and who contribute a lot more hours to the cause than most husbands/wives/fathers/mothers do. They will likely be promoted first as a result.
Such is life. Choose your poison.;)