reluctantly
Apr. 19th, 2009 07:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumI got a comment, which was immediately deleted. I'm not prone to calling that sort of thing out. Usually I unerstand the desire to make a private point.
This wasn't that. I won't post the user's name, but there are things which need adressing.
Subject: Half-dozen of your posts.
Bullshit. We're fixing this thing in house. I can't speak for the entire
Army or even for the Division that was in charge when last I was there,
but I can speak for the 800 or so men in my Task Force. And we weren't a
part of any of the stuff you talk about [in your blog]. In fact a large
part of our mission was capture and reconciliation.
Got it: some bad shit has been done. I also hope it all comes out and
that people are brought to punishment for their crimes. What you're doing
is painting a bad picture of Defense and the Army as a whole. You should
know better than that.
The short answer is... Bullshit.
One, this sort of thing was going on at Gitmo, until we don't know when.
Have I ever said it was done in the army at large? No. I defy anyone to go back through my posts and find me saying this is an endemic problem (though I have said it is systemic, there is an important difference).
Is the army being damaged? Yes. If nothing else (and it's a pretty big nothing else) perception of what is going on is changing. That changes the recruit base. I am not the only mid-level NCO (SSG/SFC) whom I know to have left/be leaving. One of the guys I was in Iraq with hung it up as soon as he got back. He had 17 years in. Wasn't worth it to stay.
That hurts. The backbone of the army is being weakened.
I can see where someone might think I was bashing the army as a whole. It's a false reading, but there are lots of sensitised people who take any criticism as attack. There is also the perception that the sheer quantity of posts shows a blanket condemnation, rahter than a close examination.
Then again, this is stuff which was, fundamentally, shifted to the CIA, so saying this is all about the Army is also a bit off the mark.
But if you think I'm being a fathead, doing more harm than good, etc., feel free to be public with it. It won't hurt my feelings.
This wasn't that. I won't post the user's name, but there are things which need adressing.
Subject: Half-dozen of your posts.
Bullshit. We're fixing this thing in house. I can't speak for the entire
Army or even for the Division that was in charge when last I was there,
but I can speak for the 800 or so men in my Task Force. And we weren't a
part of any of the stuff you talk about [in your blog]. In fact a large
part of our mission was capture and reconciliation.
Got it: some bad shit has been done. I also hope it all comes out and
that people are brought to punishment for their crimes. What you're doing
is painting a bad picture of Defense and the Army as a whole. You should
know better than that.
The short answer is... Bullshit.
One, this sort of thing was going on at Gitmo, until we don't know when.
Have I ever said it was done in the army at large? No. I defy anyone to go back through my posts and find me saying this is an endemic problem (though I have said it is systemic, there is an important difference).
Is the army being damaged? Yes. If nothing else (and it's a pretty big nothing else) perception of what is going on is changing. That changes the recruit base. I am not the only mid-level NCO (SSG/SFC) whom I know to have left/be leaving. One of the guys I was in Iraq with hung it up as soon as he got back. He had 17 years in. Wasn't worth it to stay.
That hurts. The backbone of the army is being weakened.
I can see where someone might think I was bashing the army as a whole. It's a false reading, but there are lots of sensitised people who take any criticism as attack. There is also the perception that the sheer quantity of posts shows a blanket condemnation, rahter than a close examination.
Then again, this is stuff which was, fundamentally, shifted to the CIA, so saying this is all about the Army is also a bit off the mark.
But if you think I'm being a fathead, doing more harm than good, etc., feel free to be public with it. It won't hurt my feelings.
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-21 12:34 am (UTC)I've found you to be consistent. Concise. And that you address things that need to be addressed.
Numerous mid-level NCOs leaving the services because they feel it's not worth it anymore is more than disturbing, it points out vividly that something is wrong and needs to be fixed.
It desperately needs to be fixed, because, as you pointed out, E-6s and E-7s are the backbone of our services.
And in case I haven't said it before, thanks.