Send Me
March 20th, 2008 by Admin
One of the goals of the media and anti-war activists is to convince the American public that Soldiers can't take any more. Our morale is in the toilet. We can't keep in good Soldiers. Citizens aren't signing up for voluntary service. We're a bruised and broken military. But, those statements couldn't be further from the truth.
Almost on a daily basis, I get requests from Soldiers asking if there are deployment slots they can volunteer for. I'm currently the First Sergeant in an atypical unit that doesn't deploy for the most part. However, from time to time, we do get requests for Soldiers to fill slots with other units deployed or getting deployed. We have never had a shortage of Soldiers willing to volunteer for those slots. Yesterday, as do almost every week, I was asked if I could check to see if there are any slots they could volunteer for in Iraq. We're not broken and our morale is fine.
The military has exceeded not only its retention goals of Soldiers ALREADY in the military, most of whom have combat experience, but also in enlistments. Some will try to say that it's because of the money and other promises, but I don't think any amount of money could convince an unpatriotic American to join the military knowing that they will most likely end up in combat.
Soldiers never cease to amaze me with their positive attitudes and "send me" mentality.
"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." – Isaiah 6:8
Posted in Military Perspective
I just wish that the military in my country had the same morale but the draft kills most of our fighting will.
CJ:
While the military may well indeed have filled its enlistment goals, you cannot deny the fact that the standards for enlistment were lowered to allow otherwise previously "unfit" recruits to join the military.
PS What's with the Book of Mormon quote???
The military has lot lowered their standards any more than the rest of the country. With high school graduation rates dropping to just over 70%, it's inevitable that the military has had to adjust as well. One is seven Americans earned their high school credentials with a GED, with 70% of those only having a 10th grade education!! Again, and I hate to keep harping on your chosen moniker, but the critical facts are that it would be practically impossible to meet ANY recruitment goal without adjusting to what SOCIETY is doing, not the military. The military isn't lowering its standards – society is!
I never knew that the Book of Isaiah was a Book of Mormon scripture! Perhaps you can help me find it. I take it you're one of those liberals that are anti-christianity as well.
Isaac, just keep your head held high and do the right thing. Always do the right thing, brother!
This is such a coincidence. I just saw on the news this morning a piece about war protests in the people's republic of california, and it got me thinking about it all. I asked myself, "What are they protesting? The building of schools? The addition of water treatment plants? The renovation of hospitals? Or is it the defense of defenseless people?
And if they succeed in this, are they going to protest the peace corps? Or maybe march on the red cross? Because these too are surely part of Bush's diabolical plot of taking over the world by helping people.
Thanks for your blog. It's good to know that there are, in fact, people out there that realize our country is in a position to fulfill the pledge of the Allies after WWII and that we shouldn't have to be invaded or directly threatened to take out a shit head tyrant.
Oops! Got me on the scriptural thing. You are 100% correct; while Isaiah is quoted several times in the Book of Mormon, Isaiah is not, itself, a self contained book within the BoM. I stand corrected.
As to society lowering its standards, and hence the military, I have a tough time with that one. Indeed, were one to focus not on education, but the relative increase in the numbers of felony, misdemeaner or so-called morals waivers from 2000 through 2007, which have little to do with education, one might be inclined to reach a slightly different conclusion.
Let's not forget how we are unhealthy and out of shape too. The fact that people aren't taking care of themselves both in health and in fitness is part of the reason why the military has to lower their standards. Anybody wanna supersize that one, LOL!
Hey CJ,
So what's with all the IRR mobilizations? Why'd my buddy just get back from his third deployment after getting involuntarily recalled to active duty? Was no one in your unit available?
I haven't donned a uniform in over four years and I just received a "report to muster" order the other day. Doesn't sound good.
Just came across your blog tonight and had to comment. My son has just enlisted in the Army and will be shipping out to Basic next month. This is his choice and his decision that he has made entirely on his own and I am determined to support him even though I admit I don't fully understand everything fueling his decision. Of course as his mother I don't want him coming to harm, but he's a man now, and I'm proud of him for proactively taking a direction in his life that he feels will make him a better one.
Brandon (or should I say "Sir" again?), You know why you got called up so don't come in here pretending you're not a commissioned officer. If you really don't believe in the cause, I'm sure you can find a way to retire your commission. As an officer, I really expect a certain level of integrity and honesty from you, unless you're a west point grad – then I'm obligated to give you a hard time.
Enlistment/reenlistment rates have nothing to do with the realities of running the army, fighting terrorism on three fronts, and still maintaining a presence in all the places this country sends us. Every enlisted person knows that they serve 8 years total combined IRR/active duty time. The more active duty time you have, the less IRR time you're obligated to. As an officer, you also know that you received your commission from the President of the United States and serve at his pleasure. As a vice chairman of the extremely partisan organization VoteVets.org you have expended a lot of energy fighting Bush wherever possible.
I find it interesting that youcan find the time to come in here and ask rhetorical questions while refusing to answer my very pointed emails in private about your organization. Does VoteVets have something to hide?
As for my unit, NO. No one is available. I'm operating at 60% manpower and have three Soldiers deployed with other units to help them. More volunteer every day, but we're not an infantry unit and you are an infantry officer. Do you really want my Soldiers manning your squads and participating in operations they are untrained for? Isn't that what you complain about day in an day out? Get real and be honest, Brandon. You can't pull the wool over my eyes or my readers' eyes. We're not that ignorant of reality.
My husband is in Afghanistan now and he volunteered to go AGAIN! This is his second TDY. He joined voluntarily, has stayed in as an AD soldier and LOVES his job. Most of the guys WANT to go and they WANT to 'finish the job'. And honestly, I feel that it comes down to this…if I, as a proud Army wife and mother, am willing to give up my husband, my love, my soldier for 15 months so he can support you and your freedom, then why is it so hard for many of people to support them?
Hate the war, Love the soldier.
Brandon hasn't donned a uniform in over 4 years. Hum, that should make him an expert on Iraq. Yea, right. Seems like he missed at least all of 2005, 2006 and 2007. Those are 3 entirely different situations. I will get my info from people who were there in 2005, 2006 and 2007. They obviously have a little more current information … and apparently a little less political bias also.
Thanks CJ. You are awesome.
Oh, and Brandon….you got called up because
1. you must have volunteered sometime in your life, right?
and
2. because it's your turn. From my perspective, your replacing somone that deserves to come home to their families and live the life you have been for 4 years. It's time to give back a bit, huh?
These comments aren't meant to be hositle, but I am on my 4th month with 11 more to go without my husband. And it kills me that people are so self-righteous and selfish. If it wasn't for our children, I would be right there with him!
Actually, officers can't resign their commissions until they've met their eight-year requirement–the same as with enlisted soldiers. So we're all in the same boat in dealing with involuntary mobilizations.
But now I'm not clear about your point: You say that there's no trouble in filling slots for Iraq, yet you say your own unit is at 60%. That's a shortage, right? I certainly don't want non-infantry types filling infantry roles (as the Air Force and Navy have done in theater), but this goes back to the idea that there aren't enough troops to go around in bringing units to 100%. If retention, recruitment, and morale were where they needed to be, we wouldn't need IRR mobilizations, we wouldn't need to cross-level troops from low-priority units to high-priority units, and the Army wouldn't need to offer captains $35,000 cash bonuses. These signs are all indicative of a military that has been stretched too far, with too little, for too long.
And I'm not sure how you can say morale is high when soldiers are required to perform 15-month long tours. That is not only excessive, but it denotes mismanagement of the war at the highest levels of the government. We need to prioritize and, in my opinion, from a military standpoint, that means focusing on the fight against al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
As for your "very pointed emails in private," I haven't received any from you. I'd be happy to answer any of your questions in private, either by email or by phone. Let me know if you need any contact info. We should talk anyway. . .I'm curious to know what really happened to your 3-7 Scouts during the invasion on 21-22 March 2003. Did you know SSG Mahan?
So Brandon, how much active duty do you actually have?
You infer that you had an 8 year requirement before you can 'resign your commission'. You haven't worn the uniform in 4 years. Apparently you have less than 4 years active duty to your name.
All I can find about you is your postings for the democratic party in their weekly radio address, your postings on the hate site 'the dailyKos', your anti-bush votevets hate site and your attempts to sell your book. You post crap that misrepresents what Rush Limbaugh said. You post stuff here that misrepresents what our own military is doing.
You claim to be a big war hero, with silver stars and everything and all you seem to stand for is partisan political lies and distortions.
Did they tell you that Rumsfield has resigned? Maybe you haven't heard about the success of the surge and the successes in Al Anbar Province. Have you heard of ANY progress in Iraq? How many of the 18 Provinces do the Iraqie's now control? How many months do active duty Marines at the BN level serve in Iraq? How many months do Marine Reserve Units serve in Iraq at the BN level? How many tours has my Marine son been 'required' to take? What do you think 1-2-3-4-5-more … ? How many tours has my Marine nephew been 'required' to take? How about my nephew in the 4th ID? How many current active duty Marines have never put their boots down in Iraq or Afganistan, yet?
Mismanagement of the war at the highest level … so for that sin, we must pull all the troops out and let al-sadr and Iran take over …
CF, why do you misrepresent things? You know the difference between distortions and the truth. Why do you infer that we have a large population of our military that are felons? You say 'the relative increase in the numbers of felony, misdemeaner or so-called morals waivers from 2000 through 2007'. What are you saying, that we have 10, 20, 30, 75 percent of our military are felons? One might think that the left in this country would be overjoyed that we are attempting to re-abilitate criminals rather than just confine them over and over again.
Maybe if the hate mongers would quit trying to demonize the military and stop attacking our recruiting stations, we might indeed recruit more people. Clearly MOST of the Veterans on this site along with MOST of the Veterans family members are actually proud of the service and proud of the way our service members perform both at home and abroad. Why do you think it is necessary to belittle that? Do you actually want us to disband our military all together?
Sorry to be so 'ugly' but I get so fed up with crap. Facts are facts, distortions are distortions. Misleading people for the sack of political power is criminal whether it is George Bush or Hillary Clinton.
Okay, Brandon, we can make this public. We'll start with the most recent email in response to your organization's "contest" to award $5,000 to liberals running for office. Keep in mind that your website proclaims your goal to "Elect Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans to public office – regardless of party. Interestingly, EVERY candidate you endorse in the contest to send money to is a liberal democrat. Interesting. Here was my reply email. To be fair, this particular one was sent by Paul Hackett:
I sent this one in response to an email from your "organization" titled "Stamp Out Secret Bush Fundraisers" sent by Jon Soltz (another hack):
How many anti-Clinton ads do you have? Anti-Obama? Can't find any. I did watch your anti-McCain ad which I find fascinating since he's the ONLY candidate in the presidential race with any military experience. Again, VoteVets purports to "Oppose public officials who have failed our troops, Veterans, and nation on matters regarding the war and Veterans’ issues." McCain has done more for troops in Congress as a Senator than Obama and Clinton COMBINED!! He voted for troop funds when the other two Senators voted against it AND YOU TRASH HIM!! Come on! Man up, bro!
McCain also voted in favor of torture, thereby increasing the chance that our own troops will be tortured. He favors going to war with Iran, thereby increasing the likelihood that thousands more troops will be killed or injured and also increasing the likelihood that the US economy will wind up further in the toilet. McCain is little more than the clown George Bush.
Brandon you sound like a petty, bitter little boy who didn't get his way. Not like the Soldiers and Marines I talk to every single day. Their morale IS high. They ARE proud of what they are doing. THEY ARE deployed and have been several times. Why haven't you?? I talked to a Marine today who is on his 5th tour in Iraq. NOT because he was sent there. Because HE VOLUNTEERED to go each time. And if he can go to Afghanistan when this tour is up, he will be going for tour #6. I asked him why he wanted to go. He said thats where the bad guys are now. Not enough going on in Iraq any more to hold his interest I guess. (I believe that's called progress though I doubt you would understand the concept.)
I know another guy who served his 15 months over there and came home for two weeks and is back for another 15 months. They serve because the job isn't finished. They started something and want to finish it. Thats what I hear from all my guys. If it was a lost cause or hopeless and not worth it, these men, these HONORABLE men, would not be there apart from their families doing the job that they love. I can only guess with your bitterness that you exude, you regret your career choice. But the operative word here is CHOICE. So tell me, if you're unhappy with the choice YOU made, why are you blaming every one else for your lot in life? Why are you angry that you are being asked to fulfill the commitment you made when you made the CHOICE you did?? Why are you trying to tear down and belittle those who are doing what they love and believe in? Again, you sound like a petty bitter little boy who isn't getting to do things HIS way.
CF, AQ doesn't need an excuse to torture. They've been doing since before McCain voted on anything. Get real. I'm glad he favors going to war with Iran since they've been at war with us since 2003.
CJ, Are you suggesting, then, that we lower our standards to those employed by al Qaida – if they are going to torture, then we may as well, too? Pardon me if I interpret that mindset as somewhat hypocritical, as a common thread on this blog and others – ASM comes to mind – is condescension of al Qaida and others for fighting unfairly – e.g., by indiscriminant killing through use of roadside bombs. Or is that OK now, too?
CF, your time would be better spent encouraging the terrorists to give up than encouraging me to turn my rifle away from them! And for the record, I've never said I was for torture. I'm wholy against it. The problem is that you define torture differently than I do. I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping a guy away 72 hours straight until his inhibitions are weakened and I can work my jedi mind trick on him a lot easier. You call it torture. I don't think there's anything wrong with having a menacing dog bark and growl within inches of the enemy to scare the piss out of him – as long as that dog doesn't physically touch him.
What I won't do here, CF, is have a discussion with you one what we can and cannot, do and do not do, with respect to interrogation. I won't give the enemy that benefit. Let's just leave it at I don't believe in torture in Al Qaeda's sense – which is to behead, chop off fingers, and cause other bodily harm and injury. I don't think we ever have nor ever will "lower our standards to those employed by Al Qaeda" and for to say that displays a huge amount of ignorance on your part as what exactly we do with our POWs.
McCain voted against the intelligence bill because it goes too far in applying military standards to intelligence agencies.