GI Special:

thomasfbarton@earthlink.net

3.12.07

Print it out: color best.  Pass it on.

 

GI SPECIAL 5C12:

 

 

"It Is Not A Good Idea For You To Give Me A Weapon Right Now"

"I’m Going To Tell Them I’m Not Going To Go.  They Are Going To Give Me A Weapon.  I Am Going To Say, 'It Is Not A Good Idea For You To Give Me A Weapon Right Now’"

Soldiers Fighting Back Against Murderous Traitors In Command At Ft. Benning Who Send Unfit Soldiers Unable To Wear Protective Gear Back To Iraq;

Officers Caught Committing Medical Fraud & Faking Medical Records:

The Rat General Kiley Knew Of These Criminal Acts And Did Nothing;

An Honorable Master Sgt. Reported To Him What Was Going On

 

[Yeah, this is the same bottom feeding scum sucking Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley who used to be in command of Walter Reed, and refused to act for years on the endless reports of the horrible conditions there.  He’s got a perfect record for treating injured troops like shit.]

 

[So here it is again, one more time.  Same old story.  Used up, thrown away, and the politicians couldn’t care less. 

 

[To repeat for the 3,489^th time, there is no enemy in Iraq.  Iraqis and U.S. troops have a common enemy.  That common enemy owns and operates the Imperial government in Washington DC for their own profit.  That common enemy started this war of conquest on a platform of lies, because they couldn’t tell the truth: this war was about making money for them, and nothing else.  Payback for Kiley and all the rest of these worthless, lying, soldier-hating assholes is so far overdue it’s lost someplace in the previous century.  T]

 

[Thanks to Phil G, who sent this in.]

 

 

March 11, 2007 By Mark Benjamin, Salon.com

 

FORT BENNING, Ga. -- "This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear.

 

"This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers," he said angrily.  "If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight.  If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight."

 

As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle.

 

Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.

 

On Feb. 15, Master Sgt. Jenkins and 74 other soldiers with medical conditions from the 3rd Division’s 3rd Brigade were summoned to a meeting with the division surgeon and brigade surgeon. 

 

These are the men responsible for handling each soldier’s "physical profile," an Army document that lists for commanders an injured soldier’s physical limitations because of medical problems -- from being unable to fire a weapon to the inability to move and dive in three-to-five-second increments to avoid enemy fire.

 

Jenkins and other soldiers claim that the division and brigade surgeons summarily downgraded soldiers’ profiles, without even a medical exam, in order to deploy them to Iraq.

 

The 3,900-strong 3rd Brigade is now leaving for Iraq for a third time in a steady stream.

 

In fact, some of the troops with medical conditions interviewed by Salon last week are already gone.

 

Others are slated to fly out within a week, but are fighting against their chain of command, holding out hope that because of their ills they will ultimately not be forced to go.

 

Jenkins, who is still in Georgia, thinks doctors are helping to send hurt soldiers like him to Iraq to make units going there appear to be at full strength.

 

"This is about the numbers," he said flatly.

 

That is what worries Steve Robinson, director of veterans affairs at Veterans for America, who has long been concerned that the military was pressing injured troops into Iraq.

 

"Did they send anybody down range that cannot wear a helmet, that cannot wear body armor?"

 

Robinson asked rhetorically. "Well that is wrong. It is a war zone."

 

Robinson thinks that the possibility that physical profiles may have been altered improperly has the makings of a scandal.

 

"My concerns are that this needs serious investigation.  You cannot just look at somebody and tell that they were fit," he said.  "It smacks of an overstretched military that is in crisis mode to get people onto the battlefield."

 

Eight soldiers who were at the Feb. 15 meeting say they were summoned to the troop medical clinic at 6:30 in the morning and lined up to meet with division surgeon Lt. Col. George Appenzeller, who had arrived from Fort Stewart, Ga., and Capt. Aaron K. Starbuck, brigade surgeon at Fort Benning.

 

The soldiers described having a cursory discussion of their profiles, with no physical exam or extensive review of medical files.  They say Appenzeller and Starbuck seemed focused on downplaying their physical problems. 

 

"This guy was changing people’s profiles left and right," said a captain who injured his back during his last tour in Iraq and was ordered to Iraq after the Feb. 15 review.

 

Appenzeller denied that the plan was to find more warm bodies for the surge into Baghdad, as did Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the brigade commander.  Grigsby said he is under "no pressure" to find soldiers, regardless of health, to make his unit look fit.

 

Grigsby said he does not know how many injured soldiers are in his ranks.  But he insisted that it is not unusual to deploy troops with physical limitations so long as he can place them in safe jobs when they get there.  "They can be productive and safe in Iraq," Grigsby said.

 

The injured soldiers interviewed by Salon, however, expressed considerable worry about going to Iraq with physical deficits because it could endanger them or their fellow soldiers.

 

And while Grigsby, the brigade commander, says he is under no pressure to find troops, it is hard to imagine there is not some desperation behind the decision to deploy some of the sick soldiers.

 

Master Sgt. Jenkins, 42, has a degenerative spine problem and a long scar down the back of his neck where three of his vertebrae were fused during surgery.  He takes a cornucopia of potent pain pills. 

 

His medical records say he is "at significantly increased risk of re-injury during deployment where he will be wearing Kevlar, body armor and traveling through rough terrain."  Late last year, those medical records show, a doctor recommended that Jenkins be referred to an Army board that handles retirements when injuries are permanent and severe.

 

A copy of Jenkins’ profile written after that Feb. 15 meeting and signed by Capt. Starbuck, the brigade surgeon, shows a healthier soldier than the profile of Jenkins written by another doctor just late last year, though Jenkins says his condition is unchanged.  Other soldiers’ documents show the same pattern.

 

One female soldier with psychiatric issues and a spine problem has been in the Army for nearly 20 years. "My (health) is deteriorating," she said over dinner at a restaurant near Fort Benning. "My spine is separating. I can’t carry gear."

 

Her medical records include the note "unable to deploy overseas."  Her status was also reviewed on Feb. 15.  And she has been ordered to Iraq this week.

 

The captain interviewed by Salon also requested anonymity because he fears retribution.  He suffered a back injury during a previous deployment to Iraq as an infantry platoon leader.  A Humvee accident "corkscrewed my spine," he explained.

 

Like the female soldier, he is unable to wear his protective gear, and like her he too was ordered to Iraq after his meeting with the division surgeon and brigade surgeon on Feb. 15.

 

He is still at Fort Benning and is fighting the decision to send him to Baghdad.

 

"It is a numbers issue with this whole troop surge," he claimed. "They are just trying to get those numbers."

 

Another soldier contacted Salon by telephone last week expressed considerable anxiety, in a frightened tone, about deploying to Iraq in her current condition. (She also wanted to remain anonymous, fearing retribution.)

 

An incident during training several years ago injured her back, forcing doctors to remove part of her fractured coccyx.  She suffers from degenerative disk disease and has two ruptured disks and a bulging disk in her back.

 

While she said she loves the Army and would like to deploy after back surgery, her current injuries would limit her ability to wear her full protective gear.

 

She deployed to Iraq last week, the day after calling Salon.

 

Her husband, who has served three combat tours in the infantry in Afghanistan and Iraq, said he is worried sick because his wife’s protective vest alone exceeds the maximum amount she is allowed to lift.

 

"I have been over there three times.  I know what it is like," he told me during lunch at a restaurant here.

 

He predicted that by deploying people like his wife, the brigade leaders are "going to get somebody killed over there."

 

He said there is "no way" Grigsby is going to keep all of the injured soldiers in safe jobs.

 

"All of these people that deploy with these profiles, they are scared," he said. He railed at the command: "They are saying they don’t care about your health.  This is pathetic.  It is bad."

 

His wife’s physical profile was among those reevaluated on Feb. 15.

 

A copy of her profile from late last year showed her health problems were so severe they "prevent deployment" and recommended she be medically retired from the Army.

 

Her profile at that time showed she was unable to wear a protective mask and chemical defense equipment, and had limitations on doing pushups, walking, biking and swimming.  It said she can only carry 15 pounds.

 

Though she says that her condition has not changed since then, almost all of those findings were reversed in a copy of her physical profile dated Feb. 15.  The new profile says nothing about a medical retirement, but suggests that she limit wearing a helmet to "one hour at a time."

 

Smith is trained by the Army to be a truck driver.

 

But since he is in constant danger of falling asleep, military doctors have listed "No driving of military vehicles" on his physical profile. Smith was supposed to fly to Iraq March 9.

 

But he told me on March 8 that he won’t go.

 

Nobody has retrained Smith to do anything else besides drive trucks. Plus, because of his condition he was unable to train properly with the unit when the brigade rehearsed for Iraq in January, so he does not feel ready.

 

Smith needs to sleep with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine pumping air into his mouth and nose. "Otherwise," he says, "I could die." But based on his last tour, he is not convinced he will be able to be in places with constant electricity or will be able to fix or replace his CPAP machine should it fail.

 

He told me last week he would refuse to deploy to Iraq, unsure of what he will be asked to do there and afraid that he will not be taken care of. Since he won’t be a truck driver,

 

"I would be going basically as a number," says Smith, who is 32. "They don’t have enough people," he says.

 

But he is not going to be one of those numbers until they train him to do something else.

 

"I’m going to go to the airport, and I’m going to tell them I’m not going to go. They are going to give me a weapon. I am going to say, 'It is not a good idea for you to give me a weapon right now.’"

 

The Pentagon was notified of the reclassification of the Fort Benning soldiers as soon as it happened, according to Master Sgt. Jenkins.

 

He showed Salon an e-mail describing the situation that he says he sent to Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley.

 

Jenkins agreed to speak to Salon because he hopes public attention will help other soldiers, particularly younger ones in a similar predicament. "I can’t sit back and let this happen to me or other soldiers in my position."

 

But he expects reprisals from the Army.

 

Other soldiers slated to leave for Iraq with injuries said they wonder whether the same thing is happening in other units in the Army.

 

"You have to ask where else this might be happening and who is dictating it," one female soldier told me.

 

"How high does it go?"

 

 

 

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

 

 

Task Force Lightning Soldier Dies In Non-Combat Related Incident

 

March 11, 2007 Multi National Corps Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20070311-10

 

TIKRIT, Iraq – A Task Force Lightning Soldier died Sunday in a non-combated related incident, which is currently under investigation.

 

One U.S. Soldier Killed, Two Wounded Southwest Of Baghdad

 

March 11, 2007 Multi National Corps Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20070311-16

 

A MND-B unit in support of an on-going air assault mission southwest of the Iraqi capital was struck by a roadside bomb, killing one Soldier and wounding two others on March 11.

 

One U.S. Soldier Killed One Wounded In Salah Ad Din

 

March 11, 2007 Multi National Corps Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20070311-11

 

TIKRIT, Iraq – Task Force Lightning Soldiers were attacked while conducting combat operations in Salah ad Din province today. 

 

One Task Force Lightning Soldier died as a result of injuries sustained from an explosion.   

 

One other Soldier was wounded and taken to a Coalition medical facility for treatment.

 

U.S. Drone Down In Ur

 

11 Mar 2007 Reuters

 

A U.S. drone for air surveillance went down in Ur district in northeastern Baghdad, police said. The U.S. military confirmed that a drone was recovered but it was intact.

U.S. Convoy Ambushed In Farah

 

REALLY BAD IDEA:

NO MISSION;

HOPELESS WAR:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW

Thanks to Kevin Ramirez, CCCO.  He writes: Pics showing what happens when US bases get mortared/rocketed.  Obviously taken by a GI.  I found them online, and don’t know who took them.

 

 

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

 

 

U.S. Convoy Ambushed In Farah

 

11/03/2007 BAKU TODAY

 

A bombing tore through a joint Afghan and US-led coalition force convoy in western Farah province Sunday killing a policeman and injuring three others, said Ikramuddin Yawar, police chief for the western provinces including Farah.

 

There were no casualties among the US-led troops in the incident in Farah province’s Bala Blok district, the commander said.

 

Assorted Resistance Action

 

11/03/2007 BAKU TODAY

 

Taliban insurgents ambushed a police patrol in southern Afghanistan killing eight, a police commander said.  The patrol was ambushed in the southern province of Kandahar late Saturday, the commander of border police in the province, General Raziq, told AFP, adding "eight policemen were killed."

 

The rebels were able to flee following a "brief" gun battle after the attack in Arghistan district, said the commander, who uses only one name.  They appeared not to have suffered any casualties, he said.

 

"We’ve launched an operation against the Taliban who were behind this attack. So far we have had no success," he said.

 

Three policemen were killed in another gunfight in Kandahar province on Friday.

 

Taliban fighters attacked a convoy on the main highway in the province, sparking a gunfight, the interior ministry said Sunday.

 

 

TROOP NEWS

 

 

Bush Regime Supports Troops Like A Noose Supports A Hanging Man:

They’re Fighting GI Bill Boost For Reservists;

[It’s About The Money, What Else?]

 

March 12, 2007 By Rick Maze, Staff writer, Army Times [Excerpts]

 

The Bush administration opposes efforts in Congress to upgrade GI Bill education benefits for reservists because of a basic philosophical difference about why the benefits are paid in the first place.

 

For the bipartisan group of congressional sponsors of GI Bill legislation and for the coalition of military advocacy groups pushing for improvements, the purpose of the benefit is to make education more affordable to people who have served their country.

 

Bush administration officials, however, see the modern Montgomery GI Bill that was created in 1985 as a combination recruiting, retention and readjustment tool, with recruiting and retention atop the priority list for the National Guard and Reserve.

 

From the Defense Department’s perspective, readjustment — the key purpose of GI Bill benefits when the original program was born after World War II — is not important for members of the National Guard and reserve, even those mobilized for deployment into a combat zone.

 

Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., the subcommittee chairman and a key sponsor of a GI Bill overhaul plan, said he thinks the Bush administration is wrong because the employment market has changed.

 

Guard and reserve members, like other American workers, instead of working for only one employer during their lives, now often change jobs, and could use GI Bill benefits to help prepare for a new job in a new field.

 

Snyder also said many Guard and reserve members are returning from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan to find they must seek new employment because their jobs disappeared while they were gone.

 

Moreover, he said, there is a basic element of fairness in simply doing the right thing for military members.

 

 

He mentioned better health care for reservists being a higher priority in reserve satisfaction surveys, but conceded that the Bush administration probably would not willingly spend $13 billion to improve reserve health benefits, either.

 

Snyder’s personnel panel is considering a GI Bill upgrade that would increase benefits for Guard and reserve members, allow reservists the same rights as active-duty members to use benefits after getting out of the service and consolidate the program under VA, stripping the Defense Department of its authority over reserve benefits.

 

Snyder said he is willing to make one concession to the administration — leaving authority and funding for the enlistment "kickers" under the Defense Department — but otherwise is not going to let administration opposition stop him.

 

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:

BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW

A US Army soldier, a double amputee who was injured in Baghdad, Iraq, tries out his prosthetic limbs after having them adjusted at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, in 2006.  (AFP/File/Jim Watson)

 

The Army’s Best Carbine:

Better Than The M4 — But You Won’t Get One

 

#1:

"When I Heard That There Was A Better Weapon On The Market And That It Was Being Denied Due To Being Too Expensive …. It Made Me Wonder About How Much A Soldier Is Really Worth"

 

March 12, 2007

Letter To The Editor

Army Times

 

Your article "The Army’s best carbine: Better than the M4 — but you won’t get one" [Feb. 26] had me fuming.

 

I have been deployed to Iraq and face another deployment coming up shortly.  I have been face-to-face with the enemy, and luckily, my weapon did not jam.

 

When I heard that there was a better weapon on the market and that it was being denied due to being too expensive to invest without a "significant leap in technology," it made me wonder about how much a soldier is really worth.

 

If I invest the cost of one Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance payout of a soldier saved by issuing a significantly better weapon to the distribution of that weapon, saving hundreds (of soldiers’ lives), then should cost be a factor?  Aren’t we saving hundreds of thousands (of dollars) in SGLI and benefits?

 

If this weapon saves hundreds because it is more reliable, where is the issue?

 

I am a soldier that served on the front lines.  My heart is with my comrades out there. Use my SGLI to pay the difference.

 

We don’t need a significant technological leap, just a weapon that doesn’t jam.

 

Warrant Officer 1 William Jones

Fort Rucker, Ala.

 

******************************************************************

 

#2:

"Political Shenanigans Cannot Make A Pig’s Ear Into A Silk Purse"

 

March 12, 2007

:: Article nr. 31328 sent on 13-mar-2007 03:16 ECT

www.uruknet.info?p=31328

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