Letters to the Editor for Tuesday, January 15, 2008

(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)

European edition

Protect our children

Recently, I approached a naval officer about his appearance at a bus stop. How did I know he was a naval officer? Well, it was the military uniform he sported; yes, the one with his name and rank. The reply he gave me was one of malcontent and disregard.

As a parent of children who use a local economy bus stop for Department of Defense Dependents Schools, I feel we must do our best to protect their safety. One way to protect our children against acts of terrorism is to blend into the environment. It is, however, impossible to blend in if servicemembers wear their military uniforms at public bus stops.

Although U.S. European Command policy permits wear of uniforms to and from duty stations with brief stops in between [depending on force protection conditions], we must use our best judgment as to which stops are safe. A servicemember in uniform at a local economy bus stop sticks out like a sore thumb. A servicemember in uniform at a local economy bus stop puts not only his or her children at risk but other children as well.

The Stuttgart community has made an effort to change our license plates so we fit in better in the local economy. Why not go the extra mile and not wear military uniforms outside our vehicles at bus stops? These are our children. They are worth much more than our pride.

Jodi Ventimiglia
Stuttgart, Germany

Pistol holsters dangerous

Muzzle awareness! Is it only an issue that concerns lower enlisted personnel? That would seem to be the case.

In 2005, while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III, I and several other enlisted members noticed a trend in the wearing of the chest strap type holster for the M9 pistol. I wrote a letter to Stars and Stripes then, but was surprised to see that a chief warrant officer had written also, and his letter was published, not mine, since they were almost verbatim in content. No problem, the topic was covered. Why is it still an issue?

I have seen this holster worn by many officers, military police, upper-level enlisted and special service personnel so that the muzzle of the M9 points straight back behind the wearer. Since one of the key safety concerns in theater is muzzle awareness, why is this holster authorized when it clearly violates a basic tenet of force protection?

I walk into chow halls all the time and am constantly staring down the muzzle of an M9 pistol. This is disturbing for two reasons: 1) It’s absolutely contrary to weapons safety taught to soldiers 2) It implies a condescending mind-set of our leaders.

I was taught even before coming into the Army that you should never point a weapon — loaded or unloaded — at anyone (combat operations excluded, of course). This is the most very basic element of firearm safety. So why is it being violated on a daily basis?

It’s dangerous and it’s a dangerous precedent.

Sgt. William S. Tully
Camp Taqaddum, Iraq

No place to be running

For a long time I have listened to and passed off comments and subtle complaints from German acquaintances about Americans being arrogant and not sensitive to the German public as being political and third-party rumor. No more.

I observed one of those complaints recently while driving to work in downtown Heidelberg. There, a soldier in physical training uniform (with appropriate reflective gear) was running on the sidewalk through people walking to their offices.

I am aware that some of our caserns are too small to conduct a decent PT running program, especially in Heidelberg, and most of the commanders conduct PT as discreetly as possible around the perimeter of the caserns in the early morning hours. There was no excuse for this soldier. The closest casern was miles away. Individually performing PT? Possibly, but when that is performed off the casern, it should be out of the public and not in either PT or any other uniform.

This is not our country and it is even frowned upon in the U.S. PT is not to be performed, individually or unit-sponsored, in a downtown shopping/business district, and especially not in uniform.

When was the last time commanders, sergeants major and first sergeants briefed their personnel on host nation sensitivities? Get involved.

If the soldier observed has no regard to the image he gives to members of the local populace and wants to be in their “face,” I’m sure a good first sergeant would like to be in his.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Walter J. Goerner (retired)
Heidelberg, Germany

TV page needs overhaul

The American Forces Radio and Television Service TV schedule in Stars and Stripes’ Europe edition needs fixing.

Navigating to the right from the extreme left column (showing the time) to find the broadcast start/end period of a program can be a hit-or-miss situation, unless someone uses a ruler or some other straight-edge to align the nine columns. It should be an easy task for the photo/graphics staff, given all of the sophisticated publishing programs that are available, to redesign the page. One possible simple solution would be to use bold underlining and various highlighting shades to align the times with the programs. This certainly would make the TV program page more user-friendly.

Normand R. LaBonte
Rodenbach, Germany

Good care in German hospital

My husband and I recently had an opportunity to visit our daughter and son-in-law in Frankfurt, Germany. Our daughter is a Department of Defense Dependents Schools teacher and her husband is a DODDS psychologist.

After spending three wonderful weeks visiting and traveling with them, my husband was taken ill the day before we were scheduled to fly back to California. He was taken by ambulance to St. Marienkrankenhaus in Frankfurt and ended up spending a week in the intensive care unit.

I decided to write this letter because our daughter and son-in-law told us that many military families stationed in Germany are very reluctant to use the German medical facilities. Since we have had firsthand experience with the German medical system, I wanted to reassure all of the American military families that if they ever find themselves in a position where they require medical care and they aren’t able to reach American medical services provided for military families, they should feel confident that the German medical facilities are excellent. The care my husband received exceeded our expectations. The doctors and nurses were caring and efficient, the hospital was exceptionally clean and well-run, and everyone was able to speak English.

I hope this letter helps reassure American military families that if they find themselves in a situation similar to ours, they can feel confident that the German medical facilities are a very good alternative to our American medical services.

Jo Lynn Allen
Fresno, Calif.

Pacific edition

Won’t go with AAFES’ flow

I was on leave from Dec. 17 until Dec. 30. I spent most of that time driving across the United States visiting friends and family. I drove from North Carolina to South Carolina, on to Tennessee and then to Missouri and back. Obviously, that was many, many hours of driving and a lot of money spent at the gas pumps.

I was surprised for two reasons, the first being that gas was comparatively cheap. During the whole drive across the U.S. on only one occasion did I find myself paying more than $2.89 per gallon and most of my time hunting for cheap gas was looking for gas below $2.73 per gallon.

This shocked me a lot. It’s been several years since I was home on leave instead of on temporary duty and had to pay for gas out of my own pocket. Therefore, I was paying attention to the price and seeing just how much the Army and Air Force Exchange Service inflates its price.

Now, reading "AAFES gas prices set to rise again" (article, Jan. 11, Europe and Mideast editions) is yet another shock. I guess there’s nothing we can do about it, since we’re dependent on AAFES while stationed overseas. But losing that dependency certainly gives me another reason to look forward to my move back to the States. Then I can (and will) decide to never, ever do business with AAFES again.

Christopher Duncan
Rotterdam, Netherlands

Don’t change AAFES’ system

Regarding the Jan. 11 letter "What happens to his 2 cents?": I am surprised that people aren’t educated about what the Army and Air Force Exchange Service does for our deployed servicemembers. I’m also surprised that the manager of that particular store wasn’t able to explain why AAFES rounds up and down.

That AAFES is there speaks volumes about its commitment to all servicemembers, and the fact that AAFES tries to save money by rounding up and down and then either taking the loss or donating overages to local military communities deserves recognition. The $1.98 is most likely a typical standard markup that each item receives. Would the reader be more willing to pay $2 for that item and be gouged another 2 cents?

Master Sgt. David N. Greene
Osan Air Base, South Korea

Army leave policy established

Here’s my comment regarding the leave and pass days ban ("New leave policy will cut GIs’ ‘free’ days off," article, Jan. 10, Okinawa edition; “New Army policy bans joining leave, passes,” Korea edition). I am an Army Reservist and it’s been known for years that soldiers can’t combine leave and passes without working one day in between.

I don’t see where the confusion could have been with this longtime policy, unless the active Army unit just does what it wants to do without any regard to Army policy. Maybe the command needs to be looked at closely to see how many other policies are being broken or bent.

Soldiers are known to stretch the policies if they get the chance, but this example shows that this soldier knew exactly what he was doing. And if this soldier didn’t know the policy, his noncommissioned officer in charge should have known the policy before signing the leave form.

Finally, the soldier’s NCOIC should have known of his soldier’s plans before the soldier was to take leave. That’s called being a responsible leader and knowing where your troops are at all times.

Master Sgt. Ehriq White
Vicenza, Italy

Troops aren’t given enough

In reference to "New leave policy will cut GIs’ ‘free’ days off": People ask why our military servicemembers do not want to join or re-enlist in the service.

The men and women of our services are sent to war, separated from families and friends, endure terrible living conditions, and then are still told they shouldn’t get any benefit for having done so. Victor Bosko (the Army’s staff policy proponent for leave and passes) states, “[Y]ou can’t treat the military like civilians,” but do we expect the same things from military and civilians? I don’t believe our military servicemembers are given enough for the job they do for America.

Lorraine Radtke
Mannheim, Germany

Returning vets are an asset

I am writing in response to "Older enlisted GIs adjust to military life," article, Jan. 1-2).

I would like to first say to them “welcome home.” We need them and thank them for returning to active duty. I applaud such courage, determination and selfless service.

We all know the military has been struggling with providing the necessary quotas in combating this global war on terrorism, and we are once again dropping our standards by accepting poor waivers, such as being very overweight, and knowing some of these young trainees have excessive disciplinary problems while also pushing them through basic training and advanced individual training in support of the war.

I am OK with that. It’s our job to get those young soldiers straight anyway, but also these older veterans should provide great knowledge and prudence to today’s operations for they are not new to this way of life.

I am the supervisor of a 40-plus returning vet from 3rd Infantry Division supporting a special operations detachment, and this soldier has been nothing less than an asset to the team. Bring those older soldiers in, the 40s are the new 30s anyway.

Staff Sgt. Freddy Bourgeois
Kalsu, Iraq

Know the real deal

First, for the specialist who said, “I would appreciate a newspaper that did not include bad news” in reference to an article about a tiger found beheaded and butchered in its cage in a zoo ("Butchered-tiger story upsetting," letter, Jan. 4): What kind of newspaper would Stars and Stripes be if it didn’t include both good and bad news? We live in the real world, and if this particular individual wishes to bury his or her head in the sand and pretend that bad news doesn’t happen, he or she shouldn’t read the newspaper — any newspaper.

Second, for the Coast Guard petty officer second class who said, “Parents don’t send their children to basic training to have them abused; they send them to be trained” ("‘Abusing’ is not ‘training,’" letter, Jan. 4): I need to point out that parents don’t send their children to basic training. Every member of the armed forces is an adult and each enlisted on his or her own, whether parents liked it or not. Basic training, no matter which branch, is not a youth camp or summer camp. It is training for combat and something all of us who wear the uniform entered into by our own choice, not our parents’. If a drill instructor violated the law and was abusing recruits, he should be punished, but let’s not start acting as though recruits are children; they are adults entering into an adult profession.

Sgt. 1st Class E.C. Altvater IV
Camp Humphreys, South Korea

Still wrong to ban gambling

Regarding the Dec. 30 article "Lawmaker looking for an end to on-base gambling": Been there, done that. Having served U.S. Army Europe for 19 years, it makes me laugh to see this go around again. In the late 1960s and early ’70s, the military banned slots in on-base clubs; only the Navy was smart enough to keep them. The Army and Air Force rethought it and brought them back.

I guess that the people introducing this bill aren’t old enough to remember the mistakes from the past. If the ban ever does take effect, better not let folks out the main gate — as they might play the slots that the Europeans have! Oh yeah, and no more permanent changes of station to half the states in the continental United States!

Sgt. 1st Class Dick Ennis (retired)
Boise, Idaho