Tag: U.S. Army

Congratulation to these soldiers at Ft. Bragg:

Women quietly broke through barriers last fall when they became the first in the Army to earn the prestigious Expert Infantryman Badge at Fort Bragg.

The badge, which was created in the 1940s, only recently opened to women when the Department of Defense struck down regulations that prevented them from serving in infantry jobs. The women earned the badge during testing with hundreds of male candidates in November — about two years after infantry jobs opened to women.

“This historic achievement is a reminder of the great things we can achieve when women are seen and treated as equals and given the same chance to contribute to their country,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said in a statement. The Democrat from Illinois was among the first Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but what is ironic about this is that female ROK soldiers have been able to earn the EIB before female US Army soldiers:

https://www.rokdrop.net/2016/06/female-rok-army-captain-awarded-us-army-expert-infantryman-badge/

I can only imagine what the Family Readiness Group (FRG) meetings would have looked like if this soldier’s gangster husband showed up to them:

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang denied bail Wednesday for the accused pimp who federal prosecutors describe as violent and intimidating.

Isaiah McCoy is charged with sex trafficking by force.

Wearing a white, inmate jumpsuit and a belly chain, McCoy did not speak in court, allowing his assistant federal public defender Max Mizono to argue that McCoy is not a danger to the community or a flight risk.

McCoy’s wife, Army Sgt. Tawana Roberts, also remains at the federal detention center. Her bond hearing is scheduled for Jan. 24.

The couple was arrested on Jan. 3 by police in an undercover prostitution sting at a Waikiki hotel.

One of the pieces of evidence being used against the couple, a Facebook Live video posted two months ago, in which Roberts and McCoy are in a hot tub.

McCoy jokingly asks as he grabs his wife, “How much is this going to cost me?”

Roberts responds: “You already know the going rate for me … five stacks.” That’s slang for $5,000.

But, according to HPD documents obtained by Hawaii News Now, Roberts agreed to take $500 from an undercover officer in exchange for sex acts.

The day after the two were arrested by HPD, a federal grand jury indicted them in the expansive human trafficking case.

McCoy has been in Hawaii less than a year after he was released from Delaware’s death row.

He married Roberts a few months ago. She is a food service specialist at Schofield Barracks.

McCoy is not allowed on post because of prior convictions for burglary, robbery and drug crimes.  [Hawaii News Now]

You can read more at the link, but this McCoy character is quite the walking crime spree.  His wife is not much better considering she was arrested working as a prostitute over in Waikiki.

It looks like the final decision on the “Pinks and Greens” will be coming soon:

The U.S. Army will make a final decision in a matter of months on whether to switch back to its classic World War II-era “pink and green” dress uniform as part of an effort to more closely link troops to the service’s history, the Army said.

The uniform would replace the current Army Service Uniform — introduced in 2008 — which would be used as a more formal dress uniform.

The proposed change has the support of the Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey, who donned a prototype at the Army-Navy game in December.

“That (World War II) was a point in history where soldiers were highly respected and there was a sense of nationalism in the country. When you looked at them you said that is an American soldier,” Dailey recently said.  (……)

A switch, however, appears inevitable. The Army has showcased the uniform at prominent events, such as the Association of the U.S. Army convention in October and the Army-Navy football game.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but just like replacing the Army Combat Uniform (ACU) with the current Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) was the right answer despite the ACU’s short life cycle, I think replacing the ASU with the “Pinks and Greens” is the right answer as well.

Here is what the US Army Secretary Dr. Mark Esper had to say to say recently during a visit to Camp Humphreys:

Soldiers won’t have to move as often, spouses will find it easier to get jobs and there will be access to cheaper produce if the new Army secretary has his way.

Secretary of the Army Mark Esper addressed these issues with soldiers, civilians and family members during a town hall meeting this week at the 8th Army’s new headquarters south of Seoul.

Esper — a Gulf War veteran and former Raytheon lobbyist who took the Army’s top job in November — said he hopes to give troops the choice of staying longer at duty stations.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but one of the ideas being looked in regards to lower produce costs on post is to have local Korean farmers open up their own food stalls on Camp Humphreys.

A US Army general is in trouble for disrespecting a Congressional staffer:

The U.S. Army says “appropriate administrative action” has been taken against a two-star general faulted for mistreating a congressional staffer, but the service refused to specify the steps it took against Maj. Gen. Ryan Gonsalves.

“The matter is now closed,” Army spokeswoman April Cunningham said in a statement.

Gonsalves, who served as commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Infantry Division until August, had been in line for a promotion. In July, he was nominated by the Army for a third star, but the White House rescinded the nomination on Nov. 27, after an inspector general’s probe.

The allegations against Gonsalves centered on complaints that he failed to treat a female congressional staffer with “dignity and respect” during an October 2016 meeting at his Fort Carson headquarters.  [Stars & Stripes]

So what was the horrible thing that MG Gonsalves did?  He called a Congressional staffer “sweetheart”:

The IG says it was able to substantiate an accusation that Gonsalves called the congressional staffer “sweetheart” during a meeting about the 4th Infantry Division’s mission, which amounted to a violation of Army command policy.

The IG complaint also said that Gonsalves took issue with the staffer’s youth and told her she should take detailed notes on why the military needed funding “since she was a Democrat and did not believe in funding the military,” the IG report said.

You can read more at the link.

The below video is from an interview that CNN’s Brooke Baldwin did with a US Army Lieutenant Colonel who get emotional talking about his family’s safety in South Korea:

I can understand why this officer got emotional talking about his family’s safety, but this is probably not the best image for the US Army to put forward.  It seems to me that if he is so fearful for his family’s safety he should of did an unaccompanied tour to Korea.

I am surprised Bergdahl received no jail time:

A military judge’s decision Friday to issue no jail time and a dishonorable discharge for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl unleashed a wide range of emotions.

Several expressed anger that Bergdahl, 31, didn’t get the punishment they thought he should have, while others expressed understanding that he didn’t deserve more jail time.

Leading the charge of angry reaction was President Donald Trump, who went after the decision by the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance.

He sentenced Bergdahl to forfeit $10,000 in pay, a reduction in rank to E-1 private and a dishonorable discharge, barring him from receiving any medical or other benefits entitled to most veterans.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but I have always thought that Bergdahl should have at least received the Charles Robert Jenkins punishment.  What Jenkins did caused far less risk for US troops because nobody had to search to find him when he defected to North Korea unlike Bergdahl who initiated a massive search which put soldiers lives at risk.  Jenkins also spent far more time in captivity than Bergdahl, 39 years compared to Bergdahl’s 5, and yet Jenkins received a month of jail time and Bergdahl received none.

Finally Jenkins was not released in exchange for a group of terrorists like Bergdahl was.  Just these facts alone should warrant jail time for Bergdahl if Jenkins received jail time.  I wonder if the judge presiding over the case even considered Jenkins past sentence as a precedent before issuing his ruling?

My personal opinion on this is that I would rather have a smaller group of highly qualified soldiers than a larger group of soldiers with standards dropped.  However, the Army is saying they are only allowing in soldiers who have admitted to marijuana use which is on the lower end of criminal activity:

Faced with increasing demand for new soldiers, the Army has reached deeper into the pool of marginally qualified recruits, offered hundreds of millions in bonuses and relaxed the process for granting waivers for marijuana use.

The Army will reach its goal of 80,000 new soldiers without compromising quality, predicted Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow, who leads its recruiting command. The need for new soldiers comes as Congress has reversed trends begun in the Obama administration to downsize the military. An additional headwind for recruiting in all the service branches: a growing economy where civilian jobs, not joining the military, attract young people.

“It’s in an environment where unemployment is 4.5%,” Snow said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if this will mean weight and fitness standards for soldiers coming out of basic and AIT will be lowered as well like there were before?

If only half the accusations this retired Lieutenant Colonel makes in this opinion piece are true there are still some serious issues at West Point:

The recent coverage of 2LT Spenser Rapone — an avowed Communist and sworn enemy of the United States — dramatically highlighted this disturbing trend. Given my recent tenure on the West Point faculty and my direct interactions with Rapone, his “mentors,” and with the Academy’s leadership, I believe I can shed light on how someone like Rapone could possibly graduate.

First and foremost, standards at West Point are nonexistent. They exist on paper, but nowhere else. The senior administration at West Point inexplicably refuses to enforce West Point’s publicly touted high standards on cadets, and, having picked up on this, cadets refuse to enforce standards on each other. The Superintendent refuses to enforce admissions standards or the cadet Honor Code, the Dean refuses to enforce academic standards, and the Commandant refuses to enforce standards of conduct and discipline. The end result is a sort of malaise that pervades the entire institution. Nothing matters anymore. Cadets know this, and it has given rise to a level of cadet arrogance and entitlement the likes of which West Point has never seen in its history.  [Medium]

With courses like this an avowed anti-American communist like 2nd Lieutenant Spenser Rapone was able to fit right in at West Point:

Even the curriculum itself has suffered. The plebe American History course has been revamped to focus completely on race and on the narrative that America is founded solely on a history of racial oppression. Cadets derisively call it the “I Hate America Course.” Simultaneously, the plebe International History course now focuses on gender to the exclusion of many other important themes.

On the other hand, an entire semester of military history was recently deleted from the curriculum (at West Point!).

I recommend reading the whole thing at the link, but LTC Heffington’s accusations definitely explain how Rapone was able to graduate.  It also explains how cadets are able to make political statements in uniform with no consequences.  If things are as bad at West Point as claimed Rapone ought to apply to become an instructor because he would be the perfect teacher to instruct a “I Hate America Course”.

Considering how good the old “pinks and greens” uniform looks it is a shame the US Army ever went away from it in the first place:

At AUSA PEO Soldier is demonstrating a prototype World War Two Pinks and Greens-style service dress uniform.

SGT Schacher and SFC Johnson wear prototypes of male and female versions of the uniform. This is only a prototype, intended to solicit feedback and there is currently no requirement for a new Service uniform. However, if this concept is adopted by the Army, the final uniforms will be different.  [Soldier Systems]

You can see additional photos at the link, but imagine how awesome this uniform would look if soldiers were allowed to wear “The Ike Jacket” with it as well:

I think the biggest challenge that would prevent this change is simple uniform change fatigue.  The Army has gone through so many uniform changes in the past few years leaders may be hesitant to make another change; even a change that would be for the better.