https://twitter.com/thejointstaff/status/647129992745340929
151 years ago, General Sherman gave America its best definition of war http://t.co/a77zK5otZO pic.twitter.com/u0jVxDvIGb
— Task & Purpose (@TaskandPurpose) September 12, 2015
Serving with Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA) is an experience with a long history for US military servicemembers in Korea. So when I was recently browsing through the Stars & Stripes archives this article about a KATUSA leading a US Army infantry squad caught my attention:
From the November 8, 1967 edition of the Stars & Stripes.
The KATUSA Sergeant J.S.Song due to his competence was chosen as a squad leader for Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division that served on the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Back then just like today most KATUSAs are not given positions with such responsibility due to language and cultural differences. The fact that Sergeant Song was given such a position especially back then when combat on the DMZ was a common occurrence shows how competent of a KATUSA Sergeant Song was. Here is what his Platoon Sergeant Guy E. McKean and Sgt Song himself had to say about be given this leadership opportunity:
It is stories like this that makes me wonder if Sergeant Song ever did return to being a farmer after his service was completed. If so he would be an old man now, but hopefully he still has good memories about his time leading US troops on the DMZ.
This photo taken on Aug. 21, 2015, shows military trucks and other mobility equipment ready at a U.S. Army unit in Dongducheon, northeast of Seoul, amid heightened tensions raised by the two Koreas’ shelling across the inter-Korean border the previous day. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered front-line troops to have full combat readiness against South Korea as he declared a “quasi-state of war.” (Yonhap)
As long as the US military keeps a robust air and naval presence in and around Korea I think this should stop North Korea from miscalculating. However, it doesn’t change the fact that cutting down to 420,000 soldiers for the US Army will be devastating:
United States Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno has warned that reductions in U.S. forces could lead to a misjudgment by North Korea.
Odierno, who is retiring next month, said on Friday in a meeting with reporters that if the United States sends a wrong signal to its potential enemies, it could lead to their misjudgment.
He expressed concern that reductions in U.S. troops would spread the perception that Washington’s response capabilities will weaken.
Odierno said that he considers Russia as the biggest threat to the United States, saying that what Russia says and acts shows the Cold War did not end in the right direction. [KBS World Radio]
Considering how much of the Army soldiers in USFK are now rotational it is not surprising there were not force cuts in USFK:
America’s commitment to the Pacific pivot and unease about a more assertive Russia appear to be driving the Army’s decision not to reduce troop numbers in Japan, South Korea and Europe.
The Army plans to cut 40,000 soldiers and 17,000 civilian jobs over two years, but details released Thursday show the plan affects only the Pacific on the western side, with U.S. Army Pacific saying Hawaii and Alaska will lose 3,800 soldiers. None of the cuts will affect units in Europe.
Officials have yet to determine which Army civilian personnel will lose their jobs, and they warned that there will likely be further troop reductions if Congress and the White House can’t avert another round of defense budget cuts. Those opposed to the cuts question their wisdom amid a number of troubling developments: Cold War-style tension with Russia, Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, and the rise of the Islamic State in the Middle East.
If there are further cuts, the Army — which will shrink from 490,000 to 450,000 active-duty soldiers — will be “incapable of meeting current deployment requirements and responding to overseas contingency requirements,” U.S. Army Pacific said in a statement. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link.
It is one thing to be a toxic leader, but to be fat and demand others cover up for you being fat is even worse:
An Army colonel fired from her job in April tried to intimidate subordinates to bend the rules after a tape test found her to be overweight, according to an Army investigation.
The investigation also found that Col. Glenda Lock, commander of McDonald Army Health Center, fostered a “toxic” work environment. Her own command sergeant major described her as a “dictator,” according to the investigation obtained by Army Times through the Freedom of Information Act.
Though Lock did have some supporters, many of the dozens of witnesses in the report portrayed Lock as an authoritarian leader and sometimes-abusive “bully” who decimated morale, citing several specific examples including belittling of subordinates and retaliatory reassignments.
Army Times reached Lock by email, but she declined comment.
“I will again hold my comments for now. Thank you for the opportunity to provide my perspective on this action,” Lock’s email said. [Army Times]
You can read more at the link, but I have seen some senior leaders that don’t pass the eyeball test in regards to weight and in this case a First Sergeant stuck to enforcing the standard despite the threats from Colonel Lock.
This is just another example of someone thinking the entire US is like the South:
Army officials are investigating a diversity training briefing at Fort Gordon, Ga., in which a slide about “white privilege” was inappropriately shown to soldiers, according to an Army spokeswoman.
The Equal Opportunity briefing took place Thursday for about 400 soldiers of the 67th Signal Battalion, Capt. Lindsay Roman, an Army spokeswoman, said Friday. The slide titled “The Luxury of Obliviousness” has bullet-point items about “white privilege.”
One item reads, “Race privilege gives whites little reason to pay a lot of attention to African Americans or to how white privilege affects them. ‘To be white in America means not having to think about it.’ ” [USA Today]
You can read the rest at the link, but when I was growing up and since then living in various majority Hispanic communities I was very aware of being white.
I wonder how long it will be before someone cries racism/sexism or whatever other -isms there are out there to get this policy revised like we saw with the hair policy:
If you want to go out in public on Fort Leonard Wood you better ditch the tank top, pull up your saggy drawers and shave that scruff.
Maj. Gen. Leslie Smith, the Missouri post’s commanding general, issued new appearance standards in a Nov. 10 policy update.
The rules not only crack down on sloppy dress, but skimpy outfits as well: No short skirts, exposed midriffs and revealing undergarments.
The rules fall under the post’s Command Policy 18, which used to be called “Wear and Appearance of Uniforms.” Now it’s called “Wear and Appearance of Uniforms and Civilian Attire,” which really brings into focus the expansion of the policy to include not only soldiers in civilian clothes, but also spouses, kids, guests – anyone who comes on post. (Army Times)
You can read more at the link.
I get it that this guy is a criminal, but how stupid are these soldiers for giving him the money for safekeeping in the first place?
WACO, Texas — A Texas man who faked being a Fort Hood soldier has been sentenced to two years in federal prison in a bank scam targeting new Army enlistees.
Daniel Lee Rosales of Killeen was sentenced Wednesday in Waco. The 21-year-old Rosales in September pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a loan or credit application.Investigators say Rosales in 2013 posed as a sergeant to befriend new enlistees and encourage them to apply for signature loans at banks to build up their credit. Rosales instructed the enlistees to provide false residential and marital information to obtain bigger loans.
Prosecutors say the real soldiers, after getting the funds, turned over most of the money to Rosales for what he called “safekeeping.”
Rosales must repay the victims more than $28,000. (Army Times)
