Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, spoke at the City College of New York yesterday and urged Congress to pass the New GI Bill.

Powell said he favors legislation introduced by Virginia Sen. Jim Webb because it would pay for a larger share of a veteran’s education costs than does a rival bill.

The Webb bill would cover the cost of tuition at any public college in a veteran’s home state, and would pay a monthly stipend equivalent to housing costs there. A House version of that legislation is expected to come up for a vote next week.

Click here to read the full article.

LTC Gentile writes intelligent commentary that doesn’t fit into neat categories. What it does is ring true as honest observation by a real commander - a Soldier’s Soldier. He is able to point out the need for aggression while fighting while empathizing with real people:

Consider the case of an infantryman currently serving an extended tour in Iraq or Afghanistan. Imagine he is either a junior non-commissioned officer or commissioned officer about 28 years old. He very probably is married with two young children. He is on his third deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan over the last five years with this current one lasting 15 months. On each of these deployments he conducts patrolling and operations “outside of the wire” in the face of hostile fire. He, and more important his family back home, lives with constant mortal fear. When he returns home, his commander tells him the likelihood of returning to Iraq in as little as 12 months. This combat soldier and his family are exhausted. They are an example of the Army writ large.

If the Army is not broken, it is getting very close to that point.

I’ve long thought that “broken Army” is a misnomer, much like trying to gauge morale of troops on deployment. But LTC G has a point

History has shown what happens to armies when they are stretched to the limit. In World War I, against the German army in the trenches of the western front, the French army in 1917 saw a few of its frontline units mutiny against senior military authorities and refused to fight after a series of disastrous offensives.
The American army will not mutiny like some French army units did in 1917.
Indeed the American army’s professionalism and commitment to duty will cause it to continue to persevere as long as it is ordered in Iraq and Afghanistan. But through its perseverance it will be ground down to a shell of the American army that existed before 2001.

LTC Gentile frames his arguments around the fighting spirit of the Armed Services but places them in political sphere of the entire nation, making a point that is important for us all. And this point is that the administration still has yet to level with the American population in a way that insures they really hear the information and have to make an informed choice. That means come home from the mall and decide where to put your money and just maybe, your kids.

Armies in a democracy like the United States do not exist as an end in themselves. They exist to serve the Constitution. If the American people and their political leaders see the causes of Iraq and Afghanistan worth the risk of breaking the American army, then so be it. As a serving Army officer of more than 20 years’ active service (to include two combat tours in Iraq), I accept that fate. But the American people and its political leaders should know that the Army is getting dangerously close to the point of breaking.

Read his entire column here: Army officer asks, how long can America’s troops hold up to the strain? Find the others and read them too.

One of Peter’s Rules for the Obsessive-Compulsive is “If you can’t beat them - join them. Then beat them.”  The Army seems to be working on this by finally embracing motorcycles and facilitating riding groups and mentoring of newer riders by more experienced ones.  This might not seem like a high priority issue until you fill an equation with the toxic mix of money saved from a fifteen month deployment, a young Soldier just off the plane from Iraq and a mega-horsepower cycle on Texas roads.  One of the recurring talking points issued by the Army covers May as motorcycle safety month and why it’s important to troops and their families.

To date, this fiscal year, the Army has lost 25 Soldiers to motorcycle accidents, an increase from the 13 Soldiers last fiscal year in the same time period. Trends show that 60 percent of this fiscal year’s fatalities are within the ranks of E5 through O6 and 68 percent are over the age of 25. Additionally, 17 of the fatalities involved sportbikes.

So they’ve started motorcycle riding groups for units like family readiness groups.  There was a time in the 70s when a motorcycle rider could barely get on Fort Hood.  Now, thanks to societal changes, good leaders, and possibly even the PGR it almost seems patriotic.

Ride to Remember: Fort Hood motorcyclists honor fallen MPs
Fort Hood motorcyclists braved the early morning chill and gathered at the visitor control center at 8 a.m. Sunday for the 3rd Annual Fort Hood Ride to Remember to honor 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Soldiers who died in combat.

CSM Donald Felt, from the Greywolves of 3d BCT, 1st Cav, and now the interim Division CSM took more than 150 Soldiers for ride last week.  As reported in the Copperas Cove Leader Press (and apparently not online):

Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Felt said he came up with the idea for the bike ride because he wanted the soldiers to experience camaraderie and enjoy the Texas countryside without drinking and while wearing safety gear.

“It’s a team-building experience and we’re trying to instill a sense of safety,” he said.

This is real leadership in action and to be saluted. The Greywolves took as many or more casualties as any other single brigade combat team in Iraq.  They’ve all been there two or more times and fought through one of the longest deployments just last year.  CSM Felt is working hard to keep from having any more.

One of the brigades from 4th ID is in Iraq now with a prototype recording sensor that will aid in collecting data on brain trauma.  Here is a story about a good award the DoD made to help fund an actual detector of Traumatic Brain Injury that will give troops and commanders as well as health care professionals near instant feedback.  If this proves to work it will be a great tool. One more step must be added to the treatment regimens though.  With up to a third of the troops exposed to these kinds of injuries, an accurate detector will make it very hard to justify leaving injured troops on the battlefield to continue operations.  What will be the unit’s answers to replacing these injured Soldiers when there is already no redundancy or undermanning as it is?

DOD funds project to develop brain trauma detector  By Peter Buxbaum

The grant will underwrite an eye-tracking device to spot lapses in the ability to synchronize motion, an indicator of brain trauma.
The entire article may be viewed at http://www.govhealthit.com/online/news/350342-1.html

I may do this a lot (do I? braggin’ on Texas - hey, it’s what I know) but Texas may also be unique in having both the need and the resources all sort of centrally located. With the largest concentration of troops and families at Fort Hood, Brooke Army Medical Center and the Center for the Intrepid at San Antonio, large VAs in Waco and Temple, a robust National Guard deployment cycle, and both A&M and the UT Health Science, all the pieces are here.  Here is a good grant to advance the studies of both the injury and the treatments of PTSD.

SAN ANTONIO (March 19, 2008) — A $33 million research program — the largest ever undertaken to help armed forces personnel cope with combat-related traumatic stress — will likely ensure better detection, prevention and treatment of traumatic stress’s often-devastating effects and improve countless lives, study leaders said today at a press conference at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.  HSC NEWS - The University of Texas Health Science Center - The Office of External Affairs

We know that different people react to different circumstances differently (duh!) and so too, to different treatments.  What this study will do is start determining why in a systematic manner and that can lead to docs being able to prescribe treatments more accurately.  There are a lot of moving pieces in PTSD research and treatment now.  Some troops may feel that they are being experimented on and, to a degree, probably anyone getting treatment for PTSD is.  But by seeking out help if you need it, you may both have your injury treated and also help out your buddy or comrade get a more effective treatment.  And that’s a good thing and the right thing to do. 

So, for you, for your family, and for your buddies - seek out and get the treatment you need for the injuries you received - visible or not.

MTV is airing a report on just how meager current GI Bill benefits are for our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Evan Aanerud didn’t think he’d have to work full time to put himself through school. He joined the Marine Corps Reserves to fulfill two childhood dreams: to serve his country and to go to college. The 24-year-old’s dad was a recruiter for the Corps, so he’d heard of the GI Bill, the program that provides money for education to veterans, and he knew from the ads he saw on television that the military would help him pay for college.

“When I came back from Iraq, I was surprised with the amount of money I ended up getting from the GI Bill,” he said. That amount was $282 a month when Evan was at a community college. When he transferred to California Polytechnic State University and the rules surrounding his GI Bill benefit changed, he got $430 a month. “That’s about the cost of one-quarter of the books, and that’s about all that I got,” he said.”

The piece will be airing today and tomorrow at these times:

MTV: Friday at 3:50am, 7:50am, 10:50am

MTV2: Thursday at 10:30am and Friday at 6:30am

MTVU: Thursday at 7:45pm, 9:45pm, 11:45pm and Friday at 1:45am, 3:45am, 5:45am, 7:45am, 9:45am, 11:45am, 1:45pm, 3:45pm and 5:45pm.

Click here for a sneak peek and to read the article.

For an MTV staffer’s blog entry about the GI Bill, click here.

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to attend an event at the New America Foundation titled Beyond the Torture Debate. At first I wasn’t really sure what to expect as the use of torture and the abuse of prisoners is tangential to the usual veterans’ issues we deal with here in DC. As a former officer and professional soldier however, the issue is never far from my thoughts. Speaking at the event was Philippe Sands, author of the book Torture Team: Rumsfeld’s Memo and the betrayal of American Values of which is the source for this months expose in Vanity Fair. Joining Mr. Sands was COL (Ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The discussion was both riveting and lively, as Mr. Sands has conducted on-the-record interviews with all of the major players involved and Col Wilkerson was able to give a perspective from inside the administration. Essentially, both men convincingly expressed the view that there was a conscious decision made by senior administration officials to reform the law allowing for harsher methods of treatment and interrogation. Furthermore, that this pressure to change the existing law came not from commanders in the field, but from senior administration lawyers, bypassing the normal established methods of decision making. In short, they changed the legal definition of torture and ignored Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention in order to interrogate and detain prisoners of the War on Terror. With the surfacing of internal memos relating to enhanced interrogation techniques -(many of which are considered torture by military field manuals), and the Supreme Court’s 2006 5-3 decision that Common Article 3 does apply to the War on Terror, the House Judiciary Committee is now perusing action on several individuals to include David Addington (then council, current Chief of Staff to the Vice-President), and John Yoo (Legal council to the Department of Justice 2001-2003).

These decisions fundamentally altered the rules of acceptable behavior in wartime - a line that all leaders who have served in combat have had to monitor in one form or another. In a combat environment, it takes strong leadership to maintain discipline and prevent abuse. As soldiers operating on the streets, we are faced daily with decisions that can have moral and legal consequences far beyond the next engagement.

Early on in my deployment to Iraq, my platoon was patrolling regularly around North Baghdad. Four of my soldiers were on their second tour with only 6 months between deployments. We were in the middle of a combat zone and several of my soldiers were still dealing with PTSD from their first deployment. One of my gunners began to make mistakes. At first they were silly, but out of character for an outstanding NCO. As the weeks progressed, his attitude and his mistakes began to add up, until finally the full potential of this problem became clear.

We were searching a truck that was out past curfew and I noticed that the driver (a teenager) had a sticker of Muqtada Al-Sadr on his window. He claimed that vandals put it there and he hated Sadr. I could immediately tell he was lying to me, as he was wearing a Sadr t-shirt while professing his hate for the Mahdi Army leader. I told the platoon to search the truck and immediately heard the sound of breaking glass and popping tires. As I turned around to see what was happening, I saw my “problem” NCO vandalizing the Iraqi’s truck.

I immediately stopped him and had a Section Sergeant supervise the search while I questioned the driver. After the patrol was complete, I talked to my NCO. Fortunately, his outburst was against an inanimate object rather that a detainee, but it became clear how easily one can succumb to the stress and anger of the moment. Luckily, we caught it before it became a serious issue. The decision was made to take him out of action for 30 days while he dealt with his issues and sought help.

My NCO sought counseling and did eventually return to duty. But the point of my this story is just how easily PTSD compounded by multiple deployments and little dwell time can affect our judgment in combat and further blur that line or right and wrong.

This is why the torture issue is so important to us as veterans and professional soldiers. As deployments continue to cycle and the numbers of troopers with multiple deployments continue to rise, it is up to all of us to ensure that we stay on the side of right. The key here is leadership, at every level of the chain of command. The last thing we need is our civilian command deliberately blurring the line, costing soldiers the credibility that they need to execute their mission.

Iraq

Iraqi Army Soldiers have been using loud speakers to clear the streets of civilians in  Sadr City, in what appears to be preparations for a continued push against the Shiite extremists in the area.  In other news in Iraq, it has been reported that the US military confirmed that a former detainee of the Guantanomo Bay Prison was involved in a suicide attack in Iraq on April 26.

Afghanistan

The Navy has announced it will honor Navy Seal Mike Murphy, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan, by naming one of its last Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyers after him.

Washington

A group of fiscally conservative democrats is threatening to block the emergency supplemental war spending bill due to the fact that the new GI Bill by Senator Webb is not offset with tax hikes or spending cuts.

Veterans, Troops and Other Military News

Over 43,000 troops that were listed as medically unfit for duty in the months leading up to their deployment were sent to Iraq or Afghanistan anyway.

Today’s new cosponsors of HR.5740

Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (NY-5)
Rep. Timothy Walberg (MI-7)
Rep. Steve King (IA-5)
Rep. Sam Johnson (TX-3)
Rep. Ander Crenshaw (FL-4)
Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-11)
Rep. Sam Graves (MO-6)
Rep. Kenny C. Hulshof (MO-9)
Rep. Bart Stupak (MI-1)
Rep. Ron Lewis (KY-2)
Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-12)
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA-47)

Click here for the full list of cosponsors.

This info is from the tax office on Fort Hood but applies to a range of deployed troops.  There are some extra steps you may have to take to get your check back.  Tell your buddies

Economic Stimulus Payments and Military Personnel
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General Information:
o Starting in May, the IRS will issue economic stimulus payments of up to $600 ($1,200 for married couples) plus a $300 payment for each qualifying child younger than 17.
o The payments are based on 2007 income tax returns (Thus, you MUST FILE to get a payment!). The payments for individuals will begin to phase out starting at $75,000 in adjusted gross income ($150,000 for married couples).
o The stimulus payment is only available to taxpayers with a valid SSN.
o To find out how much you are getting, click on “Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator” at www.IRS.gov
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