A Spork in the Drawer

Meet Army Spc. Jeremy Hall

Hall is an Iraq vet, former Baptist, and current Atheist:

His sudden lack of faith, he said, cost him his military career and put his life at risk. Hall said his life was threatened by other troops and the military assigned a full-time bodyguard to protect him out of fear for his safety.

In March, Hall filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, among others. In the suit, Hall claims his rights to religious freedom under the First Amendment were violated and suggests that the United States military has become a Christian organization.

[...]

Two years ago on Thanksgiving Day, after refusing to pray at his table, Hall said he was told to go sit somewhere else. In another incident, when he was nearly killed during an attack on his Humvee, he said another soldier asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus now?"

Hall (who is not seeking compensation in his suit, just an affirmation of religious freedom in the military) also claims he was denied promotion because "I can't put my personal beliefs aside and pray with troops I wouldn't make a good leader."

Of course, there might be more to this story but it fits a pattern of proselytizing within the military. And perhaps we remember the "Christian Embassy" videos which feature high-ranking military officers in the Pentagon openly proclaiming that they put their faith above their duties to the country. And the Air Force has been cited as a particularly unpleasant place for non-conservative Evangelicals.

The last thing this country - hell, the world - needs is a military that sees itself as an avatar of any deity. That way leads to very bad things.

The CNN report of Spc. Hall can be viewed here.

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Simple Logic

Pfc. Monica Brown, an Army medic, risked her life to save fellow soldiers from a burning Humvee during a firefight in Afghanistan. For this she was awarded the Silver Star - the third highest combat decoration - and had it pinned on her chest by no less than Dick Cheney.

So a few days after the events in Afghanistan the Army did the logical thing - sent her somewhere safe because the law says No Gurlz Alowed in combat.

And yet the military is actively recruiting violent felons.

Logical, indeed.

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We Live In A Very Silly Country

Remember all of those problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center? Well, the Army has finally decided to do something to fix them:

A year after a scandal erupted over the long-term treatment of soldiers at the hospital, the Army has turned to Disney for help. "Service, Disney Style" is newly required for all military and other government employees at Walter Reed.

Lafferty and her fellow Disney trainer, Mike Donnelly, handed out little plastic Goofy and Mickey Mouse figurines as they led Wednesday afternoon's discussion with the workers -- some in uniform, some in scrubs, some in civilian clothes.

[...]

The Army is paying Disney $800,000 to help revamp attitudes at the hospital.

Yes, that's right, the filth, the crumbling structure, the untreated wounds (physical and psychological) are all going to be fixed by...Donald Duck.

Lafferty, who was a Navy lawyer before she started a second career with Disney, led the audience in a discussion of similarities between Disney and the Army hospital. (Both are dedicated to "making people feel better"; both are "subject to media scrutiny"; both are named after famous people named Walter. )

The Walter Reed employees learned the Disney lexicon. Employees are called "cast members." Customers -- or patients -- are "guests."

Yes, as a "guest" I really want a "cast member" to perform abdominal surgery on me. Or, hell, empty my bedpan.

As a contrast to the irate Donald Duck, the trainers showed a slide of a beatific Snow White, holding a broom in a spic-and-span room and surrounded by happy animals. (Lesson: "You can't sweep it under the rug," Lafferty said.)

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

It's at this point I start to wish for Gen. George S. Patton to come back to life and head over to Walter Reed. He's fix things up real fast. And it wouldn't be a Mickey Mouse fix either.

Not Gen. George S. Patton.




[Via The Washington Independent.]

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Now This Is Odd

Iraq:

NBC News has learned that the commander of the massive U.S. Army detention center in Baghdad, Camp Cropper, is under arrest for allegedly aiding the enemy.

The Army tells NBC News that military police first detained Lt. Col. William H. Steele several weeks ago. They are holding Steele in a detention facility in Kuwait. He now faces an Article 32 hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute him.

The Army issued this statement to NBC News, beginning with a litany of the charges Steele faces:

"One specification of a violation of Article 104, Aiding the Enemy; one specification of a violation of Article 134, retaining classified material; two specifications of violations of Article 133, conduct unbecoming an officer, for relationships involving an interpreter and another Iraqi female; five specifications of a violation of Article 92, failure to obey lawful orders for wrongfully storing classified materials, improperly marking classified materials, failing to obey an order from a superior officer, possession of pornography, and dereliction of duty as an approving official for the expenditure of government funds.

These charges are merely an accusation of wrongdoing. Lt. Col. Steele is presumed innocent unless and until he his proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of any alleged offense.

No other U.S. military personnel are believed to be involved in these offenses, nor is he charged with abetting American detainees."

Lt. Col. James Hutton, an Army public affairs officer, says he can't explain how or why Steele was allegedly “aiding the enemy.” An e-mail to Steele's wife was not returned, and Hutton said he doesn't yet have the names of Steele's lawyers.

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You Don't Say

Let's hope there isn't some actual reason for us to need our military:

In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this morning on Army and Marine Corps preparedness, retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales testified that two thirds of regular brigades and "virtually all of our reserve brigades are not combat-ready."

He added that "the stress of back-to-back deployments has created uncertainty and anxiety among military families that is affecting the morale and resolve of those who we will rely on to fight the Long War for a generation."

[...]

"We have jerked 20,000 sailors and airmen into ground combat roles," he said, "and taken them away from their required air- and sea-power duties. We have recalled as many as 15,000 IRR [individual readiness reserve]. In many cases these people had no current, relevant military skills. They were simply needed as bodies."

Remind me again why the BushCheney administration is a good thing.

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Human Costs

On the Army tour extensions:

"It flat-out sucks, that's the only way I can think to describe it," said Pvt. Jeremy Perkins, 25, who works in an engineering battalion that clears roadside bombs in the embattled city of Baqubah, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. "I found this out today from my squad leader. I still haven't told my wife yet. I'm just trying to figure out exactly how I'm going to break it to her that 'Honey, uh, yeah, might be home before our next anniversary. Sorry I missed the last one.' "

[...]

"This is tough news; it's upsetting news for the families," said Mindy Shanahan, whose husband, Col. Dan Shanahan, is commander of the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade and has been in Taji since October. His first deployment in Iraq was for 12 months in 2004 and 2005.

"It's another Christmas without my husband, and that's hard when you have young kids," said Shanahan, who lives at Fort Hood, Tex., the country's largest Army installation, with her sons, Patrick, 9, and Kevin, 7.

[...]

When the news of Gates's announcement broke, officials of Killeen Independent School District, where 52 percent of the 36,500 students are the children of Fort Hood soldiers, immediately sent e-mails to the school counselors to be "extra sensitive" to children and their mood on Thursday.

[...]

"I was mad before I even heard about the 15 months. I don't want to be here. I don't think you need to sit here an extra three months to help people do what they don't want to do for their dadburn selves," said Sgt. Shawn Miller, 30. "To me, if you've been here four years and the country ain't straight, why extend another three months? Why don't we just go?"

“I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume.”

-George W. Bush

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More For The Charnel House

King George's War:

US troops will now serve up to 15 months in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of the usual 12-month tours under new Defense Department rules.

[...]

"Effective immediately, active army units now in the Central Command area [Iraq and Afghanistan] and those headed there will deploy for not more than 15 months and will return home to home station for not less than 12 months," [SecDef Robert Gates] said.

Wanna bet that in 12 months that bit will be forgotten?

"I think that what this recognises, though, is that our forces are stretched," Mr Gates said.

No kidding.

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