First off, I'd like to let you people who read this thing know that our readership now includes my battalion commander... which could be good or bad.
Before i start: I'd like to say this: The Army's official policy on blogs is that as long as they don't violate OPSEC, they're good. Now, is this policy being followed? Nope...
Numerous soldiers' blogs have been shut down for being critical of things in the army. I found this quote by Jason Hartley, whose blog was shut down, and he was demoted and fined.
"All in all, I think Army leadership can't grasp
that it's possible for a soldier to be critical or satirical of the
Army but still be pro-Army. I've been in the Army 14 years. I love
being an infantryman. But there are so many great stories that don't
get told because there are so many people who don't want their
illusions molested. Or because telling them apparently constitutes a
violation of OPSEC."
"My advice for soldiers who want to blog is to retain legal counsel
before you start blogging. Have every legal detail worked out
beforehand in regards to what you can and can't blog about. That way
when your commander tells you to take your blog down, you can tell him
to take the matter up with your lawyer. I had no idea my blog would
become such a big issue, but if I had to do it over again, I would have
gotten a lawyer before I started or at least made a call to the ACLU."
"Even so, Hartley may get the last word. His book,
Just Another Soldier: A Year On The Ground In Iraq, is due to be released Oct. 1."
Now, I don't think this particular post will cause too much racket, but it may. Because I'm about to be critical.
Some of the training here at Camp Shelby has been good. Interacting with arabic-speaking people, squad dismounted and mounted live fire exercises, stuff like that. All good stuff.
However, the fact that I've had no less than 15 IDENTICAL classes on IEDs is absolutely ridiculous. Going through a training lane ONE TIME in an entire day is ridiculous. Waking up at 430, and having the range go hot at 10, is RIDICULOUS.
And what's more, they keep telling us that the training isn't to standard because "the training is designed for non-infantry personnel, such as cooks, admin people, etc."
Are you telling me that this post has never mobilized an infantry unit before? What are we to do? Sit back and go through the motions in training that's way below our skill level? Couldn't the Army have a separate training plan for those of us who aren't rear area pogues? Guess not. So, we sit through classes taught by people who have LESS experience doing the stuff than we do, and they teach it to a lower standard. When I was in the Army the first time, when we went to a range, we shot it over and over until we got expert. Here, they push us through, and if a soldier qualifies at the absolute bare minimum, the training is over for him.
Another thing that chaps my hide is the way people arbitrarily decide uniform policy that renders our issue useless. The boonie hat, for example, is authorized with the ACUs in army policy, AND it's on our packing list to take to Iraq. But some Sergeant Major decided that he didn't like it, and forbids its wear on Camp shelby. First of all, it's more comfortable, second, it protects your face from the sun, AND it looks better. Which is why it's on the list of required items for Iraq. Yet we're not allowed to wear it because some non-infantry guy doesn't like it.
Also, we went through an issue of clothing called RFI. They gave us better sunglasses, better boots, and other such items. Included in this was a fleece skull cap and fleece jacket for cold weather. Both items are, per army policy, authorized with the ACU uniform so that soldiers can have protection from the cold. We used to wear skull caps with BDUs in my unit for the same reason. But once again, some jerk decided he didn't like it, so now when it's cold, soldiers have resorted to BUYING their own neckgaiters to protect their ears, because they haven't been issued yet. Never mind that the skull cap would protect us, and we recieved it for free... Nah, screw that. We can't wear it.
And I also have this nice, warm fleece jacket that's collecting dust on a hangar.
Tell you what, Oh Great Powers That Be. Spend some time in the field overnight in the cold. Do a couple maneuvers when the temperature is low. THEN look at me with a straight face and tell me you don't want me to wear the protective gear that the ARMY ISSUED ME.
These are the kind of reasons that made me leave the army in the first place.
UPDATE: Geez. I never imagined that so many of my family and friends would be worried about me after this post. Let me stress this: I love my country, I believe in what we're doing in Iraq, and I believe that the majority of my chain of command is excellent. I'm also extremely happy with my platoon, the guys I'm gonna go to war with. And much of the training we've recieved has been VERY useful. But, when I see things that could possibly get people killed, I'm not going to sit on it. This blog is a place for me to air my thoughts, both good AND bad, and I will use it as such. Don't worry. I'm not going AWOL, I'm not trying to stir up trouble. I'm just venting, because I'm worried about the men I lead, and I don't want any of them to go home in bags.
James