Gonna take a break from the usual postings about Iraq, and talk about veterans issues from my perspective. I was eating dinner and checking the news, when I came across this article and it made me mildly uncomfortable:
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/03/9923187-ex-soldier-in-mount-rainier-killing-stationed-at-deeply-troubled-base
Although my initial thought was that MSNBC is kind of white washing most soldiers with a broad stroke, from observations it seems like Fort Lewis does indeed have a lot of issues - my personal experience was that I went there for over two weeks for the Warrior Leader Course, and while we were cleaning up around the training area on the last day of our field exercise... we found the remnants of a meth lab and called CID (United States Army Criminal Investigation Command) to investigate. I learned out that the Tacoma area is big on meth and other drugs, and I'm not sure if it's necessarily related to the military though it wouldn't be surprising.
I too don't want to be guilty of painting too many people over with one broad stroke, but the 2nd Infantry Division, where that soldier was from, does seem to have a lot of dysfunction - it produced the infamous killteam in Afghanistan that killed and mutilated Afghan civilians, and from what I gather was at least somewhat responsible for the deterioration of security conditions in Mosul long before I arrived there. It had been peaceful when General Petraeus and the 101st Airborne were conducting operations there in 2003, yet when elements of 2ID arrived, the terrorist groups operating there had been bold enough to virtually wipe out Mosul's police force at the time, circa 2004. Maybe they didn't have as many resources as General Petraeus, maybe they didn't practice counterinsurgency as well, I don't know.
Rolling Stone Killteam Article: very sensationalist, yet it needs to be read:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327
A friend with much military experience, stated his belief that a lot of the issues stem from the years of heaviest fighting in the war, coupling with the buildup of new Stryker-based units and lowering of standards in order to get enough people to fight, directly contributed to Stryker units seemingly having more issues than anyone else. He had also operated south of Mosul with the 101st in 2003, and when I asked him about contacts or information he could give me on the area for a mission I went out on, he said that his local contacts were all killed after 2ID took over.
With that kind of background, I'm not surprised by all the shenanigans that have been happening within that division and I don't want to condone murder... but I feel for the young men and women that get put into impossible situations and are expected to make something out of it.
It's sad that this kind of thing has to happen, and for young people to have to go through something so stressful as a deployment in the first place. Away from any semblance of normal social constructs, deployed life can be reminiscent of "Lord of the Flies" and people act in ways that they never would at home. I know this from first hand experience because I did a lot of things that I wasn't proud of over there (obviously nothing crazy) and looking back, I can tell that a lot of it was pressure to fit in with the group dynamic. I guess a general put it best, the issues that most young soldiers face and just how different their lives have diverged from that of mainstream America, particularly since less than 1% total of America's population have served during the past 10 years of constant war:
"At 24 years of age, a soldier, on average, has moved from home, family and friends and has resided in two other states; has traveled the world (deployed); been promoted four times; bought a car and wrecked it; married and had children; has had relationship and financial problems; seen death; is responsible for dozens of soldiers; maintains millions of dollars worth of equipment; and gets paid less than $40,000 a year." - General Peter W. Chiarelli
How do we deal with these issues, particularly PTSD? How do you teach someone so young to have integrity? What's the best way to characterize soldiers? I guess bottom line for me is, war is a complicated affair, and our policymakers are, on some level, blinded by their delusions of doing good in the world or righting some perceived injustice, whether it be Paul Wolfowitz or Samantha Power. I have a lot more thoughts, but I need to sleep - will finish up these thoughts later.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/03/9923187-ex-soldier-in-mount-rainier-killing-stationed-at-deeply-troubled-base
Although my initial thought was that MSNBC is kind of white washing most soldiers with a broad stroke, from observations it seems like Fort Lewis does indeed have a lot of issues - my personal experience was that I went there for over two weeks for the Warrior Leader Course, and while we were cleaning up around the training area on the last day of our field exercise... we found the remnants of a meth lab and called CID (United States Army Criminal Investigation Command) to investigate. I learned out that the Tacoma area is big on meth and other drugs, and I'm not sure if it's necessarily related to the military though it wouldn't be surprising.
I too don't want to be guilty of painting too many people over with one broad stroke, but the 2nd Infantry Division, where that soldier was from, does seem to have a lot of dysfunction - it produced the infamous killteam in Afghanistan that killed and mutilated Afghan civilians, and from what I gather was at least somewhat responsible for the deterioration of security conditions in Mosul long before I arrived there. It had been peaceful when General Petraeus and the 101st Airborne were conducting operations there in 2003, yet when elements of 2ID arrived, the terrorist groups operating there had been bold enough to virtually wipe out Mosul's police force at the time, circa 2004. Maybe they didn't have as many resources as General Petraeus, maybe they didn't practice counterinsurgency as well, I don't know.
Rolling Stone Killteam Article: very sensationalist, yet it needs to be read:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327
A friend with much military experience, stated his belief that a lot of the issues stem from the years of heaviest fighting in the war, coupling with the buildup of new Stryker-based units and lowering of standards in order to get enough people to fight, directly contributed to Stryker units seemingly having more issues than anyone else. He had also operated south of Mosul with the 101st in 2003, and when I asked him about contacts or information he could give me on the area for a mission I went out on, he said that his local contacts were all killed after 2ID took over.
With that kind of background, I'm not surprised by all the shenanigans that have been happening within that division and I don't want to condone murder... but I feel for the young men and women that get put into impossible situations and are expected to make something out of it.
It's sad that this kind of thing has to happen, and for young people to have to go through something so stressful as a deployment in the first place. Away from any semblance of normal social constructs, deployed life can be reminiscent of "Lord of the Flies" and people act in ways that they never would at home. I know this from first hand experience because I did a lot of things that I wasn't proud of over there (obviously nothing crazy) and looking back, I can tell that a lot of it was pressure to fit in with the group dynamic. I guess a general put it best, the issues that most young soldiers face and just how different their lives have diverged from that of mainstream America, particularly since less than 1% total of America's population have served during the past 10 years of constant war:
"At 24 years of age, a soldier, on average, has moved from home, family and friends and has resided in two other states; has traveled the world (deployed); been promoted four times; bought a car and wrecked it; married and had children; has had relationship and financial problems; seen death; is responsible for dozens of soldiers; maintains millions of dollars worth of equipment; and gets paid less than $40,000 a year." - General Peter W. Chiarelli
How do we deal with these issues, particularly PTSD? How do you teach someone so young to have integrity? What's the best way to characterize soldiers? I guess bottom line for me is, war is a complicated affair, and our policymakers are, on some level, blinded by their delusions of doing good in the world or righting some perceived injustice, whether it be Paul Wolfowitz or Samantha Power. I have a lot more thoughts, but I need to sleep - will finish up these thoughts later.
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