Thesis Update

Okay, so maybe this is cheating for a post, but I figured I needed to say something since I’ve been so quiet lately.  Writing hasn’t really been my focus, or at least blogging hasn’t.

We had Sandy’s wife and her little one here for two weeks and I was having too much fun hanging out with them.  I always enjoy hanging out with the wife’s wife and this time the beastie was along for the ride.  It was a really good time, I just wish that the wife, twice removed, could have brought her husband to play too.  I guess somebody needed to be working though.

I’ve been busy working on my thesis/ research since the wife’s wife left.  I’ve got a few pages written on the thesis, but it is a slow process and I’ve forgotten how good I am at procrastinating.  “Oh, look!  Something shiny!”  As my adviser said on Monday though, we need to add some beef to the thesis, so I mentioned possibly getting some Weight Gainer 3000.  He laughed, but didn’t know that I was serious.  The bad part is that I know all the ideas are percolating in my brain, but getting them to the end of my fingers is proving to be more difficult than I remember.  Plus, while I really want to be home with Sandy and the animals, I am pretty sure I work a lot harder while I’m at school.  Weird.

“In other news…”

I am officially no longer a captain in the Army.  For some crazy reason they promoted me to major.  To some that would be Major Jack Ass, but whatever.  It is a little weird since I wore captain’s rank for almost seven years.  I’m sure that I’ll get used to it, but there is definitely a break in period.  I just wanted to say thanks to all those that have been supportive of me through the years.  Without the solid base of family, I’m not sure I could have made it this far.  Definitely a huge thanks to Sandy.  I couldn’t have done it without you.  I’m really glad I was sent to pick you up at the Newark Airport for that conference at West Point many many moons ago.

On that note, Sandy and I still don’t know where the Army is moving us next.  I submitted our preferences waaaay back on 22 October, but we don’t know yet.  Last month I finally bugged the guy about news and he said he’d tell us this month.  Then, right when I was about to send anthor email this month, he sent one out.  It basically said that there is another office weighing in on our assignments (mine and everyone else moving this summer) and he would try to let us know something by the 28th, but if we didn’t hear anything by then, just wait longer.  Gotta love it.  We plan on putting the house on the market next month, but we don’t know where we’re going yet. It’ll be a race to see which one gets here first; the Realtor sign or our orders to move.

And now I need to get back to my thesis…

Hand outs

I think just about everyone has someone that really likes forwarding emails, sometimes commenting on them and sometimes not, but either way forwarding multiple emails almost every day.  Well, I usually read just a little bit of the email and punch delete if I’m short on time, but if I have the time I might read all of it.  The other day I got one that I thought I would share in this forum.  From Rush Limbaugh:

By Rush Limbaugh:

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving our country in Uniform are profound No one is really talking about it either, because you just don’t criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I can’t let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you’re going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.

If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable.

Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there’s a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a scre eching halt.

Keep in mind that! some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it’s not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers. (Actually, soldiers are put in harms way by politicians and commanding officers.)

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well.

You see where this i s going, don’t you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It’s just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in the   Middle East while their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. Make sense?

**However, our own US Congress voted themselves a raise. Many of you don’t know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month. And most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn’t have to pay into the system.  If some of the military peop le stay in for 20 years and get out as an E-7, they may receive a! pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed them in harm’s way receives a pension of $15,000 per month.

**I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting.

“When do we finally do something about this?”

So after reading this one, I thought I’d check it out.  I googled the first sentence and it took me to this page.  To keep this post from being longer than necessary, check out the link and take a look at the analysis portion.  Part of the Limbaugh monologue is accurate, or close enough, but the last few paragraphs are off.

Still, this is something to think about.  Don’t get me wrong, I feel for anyone that lost a loved one in the attacks in September 2001.  It is unfortunate for everyone involved.

But do they really think that just because Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines volunteer to serve their country and possibly die for it, that their loved ones are any less deserving?

If the government is going to pay these survivors, what is the purpose of life insurance?

Is this the future of the Army?

A buddy of mine sent me this email.  The original email was written by one of my “peers,” but she got picked up for promotion early, what we call Below the Zone (BZ) in the Army.  Statistically, about five percent get promoted BZ to Major (MAJ).  For those that don’t know, Major (O-4) is the fourth rank as an officer and comes right after Captain (CPT, O-3).  The Major’s board is around the ten year mark as an officer.

Her complaint is that she is just on the opposite side of the cut-off for the bonus that was offered last fall.  For the first time (that I know of anyway), Army officers were offered a bonus to stay on active duty.  Normally, only Soldiers receive monetary bonuses for their continued service.  Money was not the only bonus offered, but it was obviously a pretty major one.  The officers could choose between $25-35K (depending on their initial branch in the Army), choice of duty location, and choice of military school.  Obviously the cut-off has to be somewhere; not everyone can be allowed this bonus, but it split my year group (similar to a class) between the Captains that are BZ and the Captains that are PZ (Primary Zone).

This first email is what the BZ Captain wrote, and then below it is a response from a Lieutenant Colonel (O-5, the rank immediately following MAJ).

Subject: Not the smartest email in the world Here is a perfect example of what not to do.  This CPT wrote every BZ CPT:
THE LETTER FROM CJ
Subject: BZ to MAJ – CPTs Bonus (MILPER 07-237)
Good morning, fellow BZers~
After discussing this MILPER message with my mentors and other BZers, I have decided that we should all do something about it.  I hope you don’t mind that I emailed you and took a few moments out of your day. I don’t know about each of you, but this bonus really makes me angry.  We are being punished financially by the Army for being better than our peers. We won’t pin until sometime next year; probably May-July and our peers will get $25-35,000 and get pinned in October.  I don’t know about you, but 4 months of MAJs pay isn’t equal to a $25,000 bonus in my eyes. If the bonus was for YG 2000-2004, I wouldn’t even worry about it. But we are YG99 and our peers, the ones that haven’t worked as hard as us, are getting rewarded.

So, why am I emailing you and bitching? Well, my mentors all agree that we are getting screwed.  And, they all think that we should all first contact our IG [Inspector General], then, write to our Congressmen.  My COL [Colonel] thinks that might make an impact.  It may not change anything, but it is worth a try. The 82nd Division IG has already contacted the HRC IG [Human Resources Command] and they told him it is all about the money. There is a shocker! They said there are already a bunch of IG complaints about the message, so let’s beat them up more. Just so you know, there are 177 of us on the list. If all 177 of us took the money, they would pay out close to $5 million.  That’s about 3 new Humvees, 2 new tanks OR ½ an aircraft. I think we are worth it.
Again, if this means nothing to you and you just think I am whining, hit delete and go on with your day. But, if you are pissed like me and want to do something about it, let me know.  Have a great day and congratulations on your promotable status!!
V/R~
CJ
[ Name removed ]
CPT(P), SC
Assistant Professor of Military Science/BN S3 [ school ] University ROTC

Now, when my buddy sent me this, there were so many forwards that the actual email was probably about 20 pages down (I didn’t print it in the hope of saving a forest or two).  This letter and the response that is below were passed around the Army for a while, got sent over to some guys in the Air Force and passed around there, and then back to the Army.  So you could say that it’s been around; literally around the world and back.  This is the initial response by a Lieutenant Colonel (LTCs normally have 15 plus years experience as an officer).  His response is classic and speaks volumes to the morals and attitudes of the older generation.

THE RESPONSE FROM LTC XXXX
Nick -
Let me open by saying I heartily dislike CPT (P) [ Name ].  First, because she has ‘CPT(P)’ in her signature block.  Second, because she’s preaching about how unfair life is while soaking in her own light at an ROTC position at [ school ] University.  I spent my entire time as a Captain in MTOE assignments … in Korea, 10th Mountain (twice), and Fort Polk (TDA …. but 11 rotations per year … in ‘nowhere Louisiana’).
Captain time in ROTC at [ school ] University? Yeah … she has a whole lot to complain about. And third, because of this line (among the many): ‘we are being punished … for being better than our peers’. ‘Better’? Near as I can tell, you have the no Respect, no Loyalty, no sense of Duty, no Honor, and no sense of Selfless Service … if that is ‘better than your peers’, then I truly fear for your Year Group.

Here are my thoughts.
To the authors -
For a bunch of BZ’ers, your math and strategic thinking skills are sub-standard. And you have a real Values crisis. Let me provide some mentoring. These two email strings validate some of the most terrible things that have been said about BZ Officers over my twenty+ years … that BZ Officers have a false sense of entitlement, that BZ Officers are arrogant, and that BZ Officers are elitist (in the Paris Hilton sense of the word). BZ Officers absolutely deserved to be selected BZ.  However, for every Officer who was selected BZ, there are three other Officers who were equally deserving … Officers with the exact same level of performance, and the exact same level of potential.  Any BZ Officer who doesn’t know that in his or her heart doesn’t deserve to be BZ. The differences between you and that Officer to your left who wasn’t selected is art and serendipity …. you worked for Ernest Hemingway,  while the Officer to your right worked for a Senior Rater who couldn’t write very well; your former Brigade Commander sat on the Board; the Board was looking for a particular skill set, and HRC [ Human Resources Command ] assigned you to that position two years ago; the Officer to your left had a personality conflict with his Rater in 2005.  Did any of you complain about the inherent unfairness of that process after you were selected BZ?  No?  I didn’t think so. Y’all would’ve had my absolute respect if en masse you had written to the ‘Army Times’ about how you felt the BZ-selection process was unfair to the Officer to your left … but you didn’t do that.
Instead, you want to write to the ‘Army Times’ and your Congressman about the unfairness of the CSRB process.   You’ve earned my disdain.  And so have the ‘mentors’ who are encouraging this Pity Party. Here is your Retention Bonus. Historically, BZ Officers have significantly out-performed their peers in terms of selection to senior commands, and the ranks of Colonel and General Officer.  I don’t have the exact numbers, but these figures are in the ball- park: although BZ rates run about 5%, fully 40% of all Battalion Commanders were BZ to MAJ or LTC; and the number of Officers BZ to MAJ or LTC who are NOT selected for Battalion Command is extremely low, probably less than 10%. With the advent of masked O3-and- below OER’s and universal CGSOC (CGSOC was a huge discriminator to BN CMD … In my YG, only 1 of 23 Signal Officers selected for BN CMD was non-resident), I think those percentages will be even higher. Your CSRB bonus is Battalion Command. And why is that important? Well, since these emails seem solely focused on money (and not Army Values), I’ll reply in terms of $$$ (as much as that disgusts me).
Last year, every single Former Signal Battalion Commander (FSBC) in the zone was selected for [COL]. Every one. Only one non-FSBC’s was selected, and he was a former Centrally Selected Division G6. Do you know how much more money a COL makes than a LTC? Do you know how much money a retired [COL] makes compared to a retired [LTC]?  Do you know how much money that adds up to over the course of a thirty or forty year retirement? A hell of alot more than $25K. In 2006, Vernon Wells received a signing bonus of $25.5 million from the Toronto Blue Jays. In January 2007, Bob Nardelli abruptly resigned as chairman and chief executive of Home Depot after only six years at the helm… the Atlanta-based company said Nardelli would receive a severance package worth roughly $210 million. Here’s a thought, write to the ‘Army Times’ about that. Number of Signal General Officers on Active Duty who were not Battalion
Commanders… Zero (0). Number of Signal General Officers on Active Duty who were never selected BZ… Zero (0).
Your CSRB is an EXPONENTIALLY better chance than your peers to lead and mold the Army of 2015 and beyond. Apparently, you think that opportunity is worth less than a check for $25K in 2007. Or, you think that the promotion board simply recognized your glowing superiority.  You should be absolutely ashamed of this conversation … except shame would require Values that I don’t think you possess.
One of the biggest challenges for a BZ Officer is that they start to believe their own press, and pretty soon, we have Terrell Owens in Battalion Command. The vast majority of General Officers are deeply, deeply humbled by their position … they fully recognize how many truly outstanding, equally deserving Officers were simply not selected to be General Officers.  You’ve been in the Army less than 10 years, and you’ve already lost all sense of humility.  Woe to the Army of 2015.
‘Well, my mentors all agree that we are getting screwed’. Go ask MAJ Ed Murphy about how he got screwed. Oh, that’s right, you can’t … he was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan.
Go ask his widow about how MAJ Murphy got screwed.
Y’all can compare notes.
‘I think we are worth it.’ I think you are worth exactly thirty pieces of silver.

- LTC XXXX

So, needless to say, I don’t agree with her thoughts at all, but I’m obviously not an unsubjective observer.  I was able to take that bonus (between $25K and $35K), so I’m obviously not “better than my peers.”  I think that this young BZ to MAJ needs to really investigate why she is serving and what it means to serve her country.  We don’t serve because we’re going to get rich.  Theoretically, we as Army officers know that we would be able to make more money as a civilian.

I think that there are two reasons why people stay in the military.  One, they have the calling.  They are patriotic warriors that serve their country in the hopes of making the world a better place.  Two, they stay in because they can get by if they’re mediocre.  Right now promotion rates to MAJ and LTC are in the 90th percentile, so if you’ve got a heartbeat and haven’t killed anybody other than who you’ve been told to kill, you will get promoted.  A mediocre officer can now be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel where before that was the benchmark for a successful officer.

It saddens me that an officer with an attitude like this has gotten promoted “ahead of her peers.”  It also really saddens me that her “mentors” thought that she was right and that she had a valid complaint instead of rebuking her and telling her to do some soul searching on why she was serving this nation.

Obama videos

Okay, the “Media’s Love Affair with Obama” video is apparently offline now.  I’ll leave the link in my last post in case it comes back online.  I have a feeling that it won’t for some reason.  I’m sure some of those media peeps are trying to sue someone in Sen. McCain’s camp for publishing that video or something like that.  Either way, here’s another good one that shows how confused/confusing Obama can be about the issues.

So where does he really stand on the issue?  Well, I guess that depends on when you are asking now doesn’t it.

Warriors

I was forwarded this link by my old boss and thought that I would share it here. It goes along the lines of “On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs” but it is actually Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen (well, maybe not Airmen) speaking their thoughts and about their experiences. Understandably, some of them get pretty choked up. Many of them have prosthetics to show for their time in the service. This is just the trailer of a DVD that will be released on 24 May.

http://www.warriorsthefilm.com/Movie.html

WARRIORS… in their own words

We have always had warriors, from as far back in history as one can go — warriors are timeless. Warriors have a moral code and are not simply trained killers (as they are all too frequently portrayed). If we did not have warriors, we would undoubtedly be speaking another language, German, Japanese, Chinese, or Russian. Warriors are born, they are not created. Certainly they are trained, but to be a warrior is a calling. We should be forever grateful to our warriors and to their families who are all so courageous. We should honor our warriors. Warriors are NOT, as they are commonly portrayed, victims with no where else to go but the military. This project will show people what intelligent, honorable, and brave people we have standing in the way of the free world’s demise.