Some things never change.

[Advisor]

Found this on Hack's website. Sounds just like Nam. Guess the perfumed princes never learn.

06-17-2004

The Rats At The Top

I was a Civil Affairs Officer in Baghdad during OIF I. Our CA Brigade was responsible for the Greater Baghdad AO and in the process, made me ashamed to call myself an American soldier. My battalion was at the Airport, enduring rockets, mortars, and MRE's, while these straphangers lived in luxury and relative safety during the entire year. They arrived in theater on 1 April 2003 and were looking for a way to get out by 2 April. The very first briefing they held was on the awards! I mean, that was their #1 priority. The general consensus among the top brass was that we would be re-deployed by September; in July, they were told to disengage and not take on any more large projects. Our tiny battalion (21 CA soldiers) spent 2 million dollars and renovated 25 schools, clinics, etc. But, I'm not bitter...

Conversely, the brigade staff enjoyed maid service, ate at the Rashid Hotel daily, and seemed concerned with going to the local bazaar more than attempting to rebuild the infrastructure. They also had this innate ability to reinforce the Active Army's already jaundiced opinion of Reservists. There was a rampant Cowboy mentality among the brigade and the command. You mentioned in one of your articles about the light-skinned HUMVEE's. How about no-skinned SUV's? Despite a General Order prohibiting their use "outside the wire", several LTC's, Major's and at least one General were caught in ambushes in their Ford Explorers.

At Walter Reed, there is a young soldier whom has been paralyzed from the neck down because he was out jewelry-shopping with a Colonel and a senior NCO, with no force protection. He had stayed behind in the HUMVEE while the other 2 were in the store. A man stepped out of a crowd and fired a bullet into his neck. Some of my troops were supposed to accompany them on this "shopping spree", but they never met up with them. Later that day, I was reading the Daily Significant Activities Report and saw mention of the shooting. There was a not-so-subtle difference: The team had been conducting a "mosque assessment" and they had been accompanied by force protection. This is a bald-faced lie and the entire incident was covered-up.

We were forced to operate in HUMVEE's with no armor for the first 7-8 months of our deployments. Despite repeated requests, our small battalion did not have cell phones and our full complement of ceramic plates, front AND back, until 10 July. And that was only after 2 of our soldiers were wounded. Then, stuff seemed to fall out of the sky!

I have agonized over the past year whether or not to go public with any of this. I was afraid that I would be perceived as Un-American. That is not the case, I know. If you have the welfare of the soldiers in mind, that's being a true American.

A PISSED SOLDIER

[Arrow]

At Walter Reed, there is a young soldier whom has been paralyzed from the neck down because he was out jewelry-shopping with a Colonel and a senior NCO, with no force protection. He had stayed behind in the HUMVEE while the other 2 were in the store. A man stepped out of a crowd and fired a bullet into his neck. Some of my troops were supposed to accompany them on this "shopping spree", but they never met up with them. Later that day, I was reading the Daily Significant Activities Report and saw mention of the shooting. There was a not-so-subtle difference: The team had been conducting a "mosque assessment" and they had been accompanied by force protection. This is a bald-faced lie and the entire incident was covered-up.


A PISSED SOLDIER

If this account is true. The man telling the account should have the guts toget the story out. He should also have the courage to sign his name to the account. I'm not saying it didn't happen or it couldn't happen.I'm just saying that if it did someone should step forward and hold these people accountable.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke-