ABOARD AN AIR FORCE PLANE – When Defense Secretary Robert Gates visits wounded troops these days, most of the people he sees are troops he has sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.
It helps that the troops he visits want to “win the fight,” Gates told reporters Thursday on a flight back from Pope Air Force Base and Fort Bragg, N.C., where he talked with troops and families.
“One of the things that helps me deal with the fact that I am sending them in harm’s way is that I do every damn thing I can to give them everything they need to win, and to come home safe,” he said. “That’s essentially the only way I can deal with that is knowing that I am doing everything I can to give them what they need.”
About six months after assuming office, Gates formed a task force to get Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to U.S. troops as quickly as possible. The heavy vehicles have proven to withstand blasts better than Humvees.
Since June 2007, about 10,000 MRAP vehicles have been fielded to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gates noted on Thursday that the MRAP program was the first since World War II to go from concept to full production within a year, adding that he recently saw a picture of an MRAP vehicle with protection against Explosively Formed Penetrators that withstood a blast from such a bomb.
“All the kids survived – walked away from it,” he said, exuding a sense of satisfaction.
Since taking office, Gates has made a point to meet with both troops and their spouses to solicit input and advice.
After Thursday’s meeting with military spouses, Gates said he plans to look into why certain education benefits and family programs available to troops at E-5 and below but not more senior noncommissioned officers.
“Those are the kinds of things that I hear about that I never hear about in Washington, D.C.,” Gates said.
He said he will also look into why there are no safeguards to make sure that the children of fallen servicemembers can continue to attend Department of Defense Dependents Schools.
Families of fallen servicemembers have to go through three traumas: The loss of the loved-one, moving off post and leaving the schools where children feel comfortable, Gates said.
“I think we ought to be able to do something about at least a third of those,” he said.
The widow of a fallen soldier brought the issue to Gates’ attention earlier in the week at a summit on caring for wounded servicemembers and their family members as well as the families of fallen troops.
Dana Lamberson, wife of Sgt. 1st Class Randall L. Lamberson, said her children have to be granted a waiver each year to continue to attend DODDS schools.
“That doesn’t sound right to me ... That’s a problem I think we ought to be able to fix — but we’ll see,” Gates said on Thursday.
