Letters to the Editor for Saturday, July 2, 2005

European and Mideast editions

(EDITOR’S NOTE: These are the letters that appeared in each edition of Stripes on this publication date. Click here to jump ahead to the Pacific edition letters)

Women, minorities pull load

I was happy to learn from the June 27 letter “Co-ed Army raises costs” that there are actually people, such as the writer, for whom the equal opportunity mission was created. EO is not solely about women — it is about fair treatment regardless of race, color, religion, gender and national origin. Year after year, there are more EO discrimination complaints than there are sexual harassment complaints (FY04 Army Profile).

Per the letter writer’s suggestion, to save “EO costs,” we will need to remove both women and minorities from the military. I wish him luck “pulling the load” when Army strength drops by nearly half.

Pertaining to his concern for barracks utilization costs — yes, the 165,000 women soldiers use barracks. I suppose if there were men in these positions they would instead sleep outside to save costs? Perhaps he thinks we have the exact amount of men to fill the exact number of rooms that are at full capacity all the time.

The gem of his arguments regard pregnancy. Since 40 percent of all married female soldiers are in dual military marriages, he must also believe we should take judicial action against men should their wives become pregnant while on active duty or following deployment orders. However, he was referring to “self-inflicted” pregnancies, so I guess we would only charge those with pregnancies of biblical origin or the ever-so-common sperm bank method. Of the soldiers I have lost since I have been deployed — all men — three left for family emergencies and two for health issues (“self-inflicted,” of course).

By the writer’s rationale, we should get rid of all women, all minorities and all who have families. We already have recruiting issues, but if we only recruit and retain single, white males all the readiness problems will then be solved, right? Actually, we would be left with an Army of 348,000 doing the work of 1.04 million.

Capt. Caprice Cartier
Kuwait

Female soldiers doing the job

I am a female sergeant in the Army National Guard, and a single parent of one. I read Stars and Stripes often, and laugh at some of the articles and letters about women in combat.

I am currently serving in Iraq, and my unit mission is running gun trucks (convoy escorts). I am on a .50-caliber gun more than most of the guys here. I have been here since December, called to this unit to help fill empty slots created by both men and women who could not be here for one reason or another.

The comment of the writer (who never mentioned his rank) of “Co-ed Army raises cost” (June 27) about self-inflicted conditions is impossible. It takes two to get pregnant (even if it is in a doctor’s office), and male soldiers also create readiness issues.

My roommate is a 21-year-old who was just married before she was sent here. She is also a sergeant and .50-cal gunner. We both work harder than most of the guys in our unit. A lot of the men refuse to go on the road. Did I mention that the convoys get attacked or run into improvised explosive devices all the time? I can guarantee that most of the women here could run circles around a lot of the men.

The letter writer told women to watch the movie “Black Hawk Down.” The women in my unit are themselves already living in the combat environment.

I was wondering, along with the rest of the women in my unit, what the writer does in the military. And why is he talking all that trash when we are the ones in Iraq getting mortared and he is in Kuwait?

Elizabeth Jackson
Iraq

Leftist ideas rule academia

Kudos to the writer of the June 21 letter “Speech was anti-American” with its denunciation of the graduation speech by German professor Detlef Junker and all things leftist in Europe and academia. I taught courses at the University of Maryland 30 years ago while assigned to U.S. Army Europe. Then, as now, it was a second-rate academic institution, just as Europe is a second-rate, has-been world power.

Why do left-wing academics parade their failed ideas as “free speech”? Try to defend God, marriage, the Constitution, or any conservative value in academia and you will be shouted down. I resigned my commission and joined the Army National Guard after retiring from a career in finance. However, my first retirement job was an economics professor, where I found that there is no academic freedom — nor is there free speech — for conservatives in American academia.

Staff Sgt. Stephen D. Wilson
Camp Doha, Kuwait

Speaker has right to his views

Regarding the speech by Professor Detlef Junker (“UMUC graduation speaker stirs up controversy,” Stripes article, June 14) and the many negative comments I’ve read about it: Everyone has a right to express an opinion. I know this has been said before, but please realize that what makes this country so great is the blending of diverse nationalities, beliefs, ideas and cultures.

It just sounds like sour grapes to hear the negative comments regarding the University of Maryland University College graduation speech. It doesn’t help, and it isn’t right to express your opinion and then turn around and personally attack other people for expressing theirs.

Bernard Michael Burawski
Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Pacific edition

9 mm holsters need to go

I would like to comment on something that I cannot believe nobody else has mentioned — these makeshift 9 mm holsters. Anybody who has stood behind someone wearing one can relate. They are the holsters that ensure the pistol you are carrying is pointed directly at the person behind you.

I have always been taught that you do not point your weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot. Still, every day I find myself looking down the barrel of a 9 mm. I have a hard time believing that these holsters are issued, much less authorized. I fail to see the difference in these holsters and me walking around with my M-16 pointed at every soldier I come in contact with.

These holsters make me feel very uncomfortable, every time I see one. We have enough to worry about without the thought of being shot by someone who did not clear the weapon properly. These holsters are clearly unsafe. Let’s use a little common sense and get rid of the “point at your partner” holsters.

Warrant Officer 1 Travis Wells
Forward Operating Base Honor, Baghdad

AFN needs musical variety

Just a short note regarding American Forces Network radio as it pertains to Iraq. Can the program director explain why the overwhelming majority of broadcast time (24 hours) is devoted to the 18- to-30-year-old age group? While understanding that the majority of military personnel will fall into the above age bracket, it is nevertheless highly disconcerting that no apparent regard is considered by management to the more mature adult listeners out here. The paltry pablum of screaming noise that passes for musical talent these days does not necessarily entice us older folks to even bother turning on the radio.

Recognizing that many young troops have stereo DVD players wherever they may find room, it seems silly to believe they listen to AFN radio 24/7. Perhaps some actual variety in broadcast programming would draw older listeners back, or at least have them visit once in a while. Contemporary or smooth jazz, easy listening, or some form of less nerve-rattling garbage would be favorably received by people 35 and older.

Speaking bottom line, we would also have more discretionary income to purchase advertised products. Something to think about AFN?

Chuck Kiley
Camp Anaconda, Iraq