October 16, 2004

• Having been in the Air Force and worked alongside the Army, I can't imagine any situation that would cause a team of soldiers to just 'go on strike' like this. This whole thing, whether it's a morale or an equipment issue, reeks of serious problems in the chain of command. The question is how high does it go?
• From the reactions of the reservists it sounds like they really didn't understand how serious it would be to refuse an order. Thay said they were arrested "on a bogus charge", "they are holding us against our will", "we are now prisoners"... How could they not know the effects of their actions (or in this case, inaction)?
• "When I talked to him about a month ago, he was fine," Stratford said. "He said it was like being at home." I think he's trying to tell you something, Mom.
• Sounds like somebody violated the old axiom, never give an order that's not going to be followed. A good CO and a good top NCO would have seen this coming. If they were really good, they would have gotten more escorts, or more armor plate, or changed the route or the time of the convoys. Less good, they would have identified any potential ringleaders and put the fear of god into them ahead of time. Still less, when the situation blew up they would have fried the most outspoken of the resisters while quietly allowing the rest to return to duty. That this made the papers tells me several people screwed up. My guess is these guys are all getting serious punishment, which will later be reduced. One or two officers' careers may be quietly over.
• There's a pharmacist here in WI that refused to give birth control to a young woman because it bothered him. Now they (state legislature) want to make it so other pharmacists won't have to suffer from sleepless nights knowing they enabled some coed to not get knocked up by her one-nighter. Many think he's a hero. I think he's crybaby pansy. Same goes for those folks. No offense. I know thier position has to suck. I do not envy them. But they wanted the college tuition and the fun army campouts and yummy MREs. Now's the time they have to pay up. I dislike it too - but the risk in joining the military is some idiot son of an asshole actually using the military for something stupid. Does noone watch Full Metal Jacket anymore ? They don't say in the USMC "U Signed the Motherfucking Contract" for nothing. I feel bad for those kids, but what did they expect ? Patton once slapped a man for less than that, and was considered a hero for it.
• I understand you feelings FuzzyButt, however from what I heard on the news was that these guys were reservists/national guards that didn't want "fun army campouts and yummy MREs". More likely they thought that they'd be deployed to help out during floods in the midwest or huricanes in Florida, not fighting for someone else's oil. There is a difference.
• I don't see how. If you want to help out in floods and stuff, you could join the red cross - or the forest service (I did two summers fighting fires for fun and profit in the mid 90s), and there's no chance of being sent to far and distant lands to meet interesting people who want to kill you. joining the military, in any sense, is like an inverse lottery. You'll probably come out ahead - but a certain subset (who rarely deserves it) loses big and gets a neatly folded flag for thier next of kin. They bought the ticket. Now they should claim thier prize. (Listen, I know it's easy for me to say from the cushy confines of the FuzzyButt household, but honest to god, I did my turn in the corps with no illusions about what it meant. I'm not that smart to begin with so these people cannot claim thier ignorance of obvious reality as an excuse for cowardice.)
• But that is just naïvite or hopefulness, squidranch (not on your part, mind you). Whatever you may think of the reasons for this war or any war, by definition the role of the Reserve is to shore up the regular forces - beyond the domestic role you describe - when and were needed, in this case Iraq. Wars (justifiable or not) can happen quickly. That being said, I agree with atchafalaya. This type of situation doubtless happens every day in Iraq and is diffused by cooler/smarter heads on both sides of the dispute. That said, IMO the whole situation in Iraq stinks of death and corruption. I can't believe the results of this poll that say that people in the military and their family members overwhelmingly have a "favourable view" of Bush. Even though the sample is stateside I'm still surprised given the current disaster in Iraq.
• I lost some good shipmates when I was in the USN. They died because of the command's casual disregard for our lives. The CO was trying to score some political points by showing off his awesome power, and it cost lives. He was relieved of his command; at the same time, they had a bunch of chaplains come in and "train" us to accept what happened without raising questions. I support this troop. They were looking out for their shipmates (the equivalent), while their CO was trying to score some points by throwing away their lives. The contract say they'll defend the US, not that they'll kill and be killed for politics and ego-rubbing. Possible charges they face under the UCMJ: article 85: desertion - in a time of war: possible death sentence article 89: disrespecting superior officer article 90: disobeying a superior officer - in a time of war: possible death sentence article 92: failure to obey regulation article 94: mutiny or sedition - possible death sentence article 99: misbehavior before the enemy - possible death sentence article 134: general article Other articles may be possible, too. These are just the ones I'm sure are under consideration. Because of politics, they might not get charged with some or most of these. A bunch of khakis will sit arond trying to figure out how much they can punish them without creating more bad PR. The troops might get lucky.
• i remember the end of the first gulf war. i was flying home from georgia when a kid came up to me and asked to talk. i told him i really couldn't hear him because of the pressure in my ears. he was in uniform, he was going home, he liked comic books i was reading and wanted to talk. we took seats in the front and he told me he joined for the tuition to julliard. he was at most 19. he had no idea what could happen. people tell me what recruiters tell them: that they can travel and screw foreign women. it's a different place. the cut backs made it necessary to use reservist for this war. we were not prepared for this. we were not told. people on reserve are not all weekend warriors. some people have a family tradition or feeling of civic duty. some people were recruited while drunk not uncommon. in other countries, mandatory public service is not just military, but day care, etc. other countries usually check their resources before pushing the activation button. other countries don't blow a wad on an already depleted economy. other countries can check first instead of having to talk to large mobs of people respesenting large mobs of people. other countries have federal laws that don't vary state to state. other countries have election day off. other countries have very different circumstances and often can fit in the ass end of texas
• I can imagine Cheney's daughter: "What a bunch of sissies! Taking a bullet to the head will put hair on your chest. Shut up and obey, already."
• I think the first charge under the UCMJ should be in the name of GW Bush for his reserve disobedience. Let's get that settled, then we can worry about these other guys. I don't have an idiotic yellow ribbon magnet on the back of my SUV, but I do support the men and women in the military. Unlike Bush, I believe they need to be paid fair wages, given the retirements they were promised at the beginning of their careers, and afforded the education and health care they and their families deserve. Fuzzy, since you've read the combat lit from Viet Nam, remember "fragging?" That's another way noncoms and enlisted voted not to be sent on non-volunteer suicide missions. I'd say the CO got of light on this one.
• off! off light
• from CNN: He asked his mom to find out what the penalties were if he refused or if he "struck a superior officer." She said she e-mailed him back not to hit an officer. Mom always does know best.
• Salon: Revolt in the ranks in Iraq - The inside story of the Army platoon that refused to carry out a "death sentence" mission. (Click on the Free Day Pass to read full article)
• Excellent article, mecurious. Thanks. This changes my mind about the situation, not that my opinion matters one whit. I think those kids were right to refuse the order, and I think their CO should be relieved of duty. Between this and the prison scandal and some of the other stuff I've read, it must be the biggest SNAFU in forty years over there. I'm very glad no one close to me is involved and I wish I could think of a way to fix it. If I were the praying type.........
• Good article, Mecurious Monkey. Thanks
• I believe they need to be paid fair wages, given the retirements they were promised at the beginning of their careers, and afforded the education and health care they and their families deserve. We are.
• We are. Correction: you think you are.
• In Australian army (I read somewhere) a soldier is obliged to follow all LEGAL orders. Suicide missions (if this is what this was) are strictly VOLUNTARY. I guess it is a cultral thing, this "My country right or wrong" [it used to be called "Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori"]. Whatever you call it, it really sucks. You gotta feel for those poor, dumb bastards; 19 and in the wrong war :(
• Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it isn't the soldier's place to define 'Suicide Mission.' And as far as 'lawful' goes, the US has that too. We also have more lawyers per capita than any other country, so 'lawful' can pretty much mean whatever the fastest talker wants.
• NY Times article: Soldiers Saw Refusing Order as Their Last Stand Funny how none of these stories except the Salon article mention that the fuel was "contaminated" and had been refused by one outfit already. I'd like to know more about that aspect of the story. If it was, how did it get contaminated? How do they test before accepting shipment? Why would the army expend energy and lives trying to pawn it off on another outfit. Sounds more like Keystone Cops, than the military of the Last Superpower.
• This article from an Australian media outlet (news.com.au) mentions the contaminated fuel and says that helicopers would have gone down using it. "They saved lives" says the story. Yet it also says "The mission was carried out by other soldiers." Makes you wonder about another possible cause, the next time you hear about a helicopter going down over there.
• I would have done exactly the same thing in their place I think, but obviously something needs to be done about their acitons, as much as the whole thing stinks. Hopefully the hardcore right will put Bush on the spot saying he needs to hang the lot and make him commit one way or the other. That's the best thing that could come out of this. Everything else about it sucks. If they kill them, who knows how the rest of the military will react? Will people wise up and never trust the governement (in its current state) again? Will that be this "war on terror/nuclear weapons'" Kent State point? Will whatever administration is in power have the wisdom to yeild and push a revision in the law where the CO may be the only one held responsible? Maybe they'll just give 'em life, but how many reservists with similar orders would make the same choice if that was the case? Will we speed up our withdraw to avoid the reprocutions from whatever punishment we put on these people? If we do, will the terrorists be content with an unoccumpied Iraq or will they use Iraq in the fucked up state we left it to fuel the fires of hate against us? Maybe the whole thing depends on some kind of strong leader to guide us to accept the best decision, as unpalatable as it will ultimately be. But that doesn't mean we don't need some one smart enough to find the least worst senario.
• Unit commander relieved of duty. Until now, I didn't realize their commander was female. I'm sure that played a part. Militards really dislike taking orders from women.
• So they're poor put upon reservists before, but now "militards"? That's just a really unnecessary prejudice to express here. There are people here in the military, who have family in the military. I myself tried to join the reserve but couldn't. Does that make me a "militard"? People join for many reasons. Some join out of poverty, I wanted to join to learn skills and discipline. But many, many join out a real desire to serve their country, and to have a career that means more to them than just pushing pencils or working on the line to make some company more money. It must be very hard on all, but especially on reservists who may not have been as prepared for stresses of oversea service in a warzone. Maybe there are some gender issues within the institutional culture of the military, or that unit. It's not a problem in all units. But to insult them like that is just mean and childish.
• Unlike you, I did serve in the military. I learned the term "militard" while serving in the military. Like you, I too have family in the military. I'm intimately familiar with the many reasons people joined, so save your lessons for someone else. "Militard" is term applied to a specific subset of people within the military, other names for them include "diggits" or "gung-hos." These are the people who embrace the worst aspects of military culture. You don't get to redefine the term to signify every person who's had some kind of contact with the military. That's not up to you. You also don't get to lecture me about what the military is like. I did my time. I fucking know what it's like.