Yet Another 10 Things I Do Not Know or Understand

[thedrifter]

10-23-2003

Yet Another 10 Things I Do Not Know or Understand

By Matthew Dodd



It?s time once again to confess that there are many things I do not know or understand about life in and around this great military of ours. Despite my ever-growing list of unanswered questions, I continue to strive to increase my knowledge and minimize my personal and professional ignorance.



Still, sometimes, some things just do not make sense to me and I am left to wonder, ?Why, or how, or why not??



Based on some recent observations and interesting tidbits from the Pentagon as well as insightful DefenseWatch reader feedback, here is the newest Top 10 roster of things I do not know or understand:



10. Is it just a coincidence that almost all public media attention on the ambush of the ill-prepared 507th Maintenance Co. in Iraq focused on Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who is white, while comparatively little has been reported about Spc. Shoshana Johnson, who is an African-American single mother, was shot twice, and taken prisoner along with Lynch; and Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, who was a Native American mother of two, who reportedly fought back against the ambushers, who subsequently died from injuries sustained in her vehicle?s crash, and whose body was recovered ten days later in a shallow grave outside the same hospital from which Lynch was rescued?



9. How come the nation barely noticed the recent death of Gen. Ray Davis USMC, a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient, former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a true gentleman considered by many to be a national treasure?



8. Was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, really as surprised as an Oct. 17, 2003 Los Angeles Times article made him appear about a recent ?morale poll? of troops in Iraq?



?Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard B. Myers expressed concern Thursday over a survey suggesting major morale problems among U.S. troops in Iraq, saying he was worried that he and other top officers were sometimes allowed to talk only to ?all the happy folks? when they visited service members .? ?I want to see the folks that have complaints. And sometimes they won't let them near me.?



7. If homeland security is really a national priority, why is our southern border security so undermanned, under-funded, and overwhelmed by thousands of illegal aliens every year?



6. Why have field grade and general/flag officers from all the services had formal schools and courses to prepare them for joint duty assignments for years, but their senior enlisted personnel have had to rely solely on ?on-the-job-training? in their joint duty assignments? (U.S. Joint Forces Command has belatedly taken this issue for action and is on the verge of establishing a senior enlisted leadership development program for joint duty assignments.)



5. Does anyone realize that the New York Yankees have an annual payroll of about $150 million, while the Department of Veterans Affairs will pay the 136 living recipients of the Medal of Honor $1,000 per month starting on Nov. 1 (up from the current $600 per month) ? for an annual ?payroll? of only $1.632 million?



4. How far will environmentalists be allowed to go in trying to restrict land usage on the nation?s 425 military installations and directly and indirectly undermine military readiness by limiting the size and realism of essential combat training?



3. Why has there been so little coverage and reflection on the 20th anniversary of the Oct. 23, 1983 Beirut bombing in which a suicide truck bomb blew up the Marine battalion landing team headquarters, killing 241 Marines and sailors serving as peacekeepers?



2. Why has the ongoing Afghanistan friendly-fire/dereliction of duty general court-martial of pilot Maj. Harry Schmidt ? who requested this court-martial after rejecting the Air Force?s offers to accept guilt and career-terminating non-judicial punishment ? received a mere fraction of official Air Force attention and publicity that his Article 32 hearing (which pushed for assault and manslaughter charges) generated?



1. In what is the most exciting news I have read in a long time, the Army Times reported on Oct. 20: ?Senior Army leaders are convinced that the focus on technical skills, particularly in the non-combat arms branches, has resulted in a neglect of basic combat skills.? My only question is: Now that they have finally identified the problem that has been festering for years, do those army seniors have the courage and leadership to fix it?



Looking back on my newly expanded list of thirty things I do not know or understand (see also ?Ten Things I Do Not Know Or Understand,? DefenseWatch, Dec. 19, 2001, and ?Ten More Things I Do Not Know Or Understand,? DefenseWatch, Feb. 6, 2002),

my final question is: How many questions must I ask before we start to get answers to at least some of them?



I guess that last question makes it thirty-one things I do not know or understand.



Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com.

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/c...54829816523261


Sempers,

Roger