Analyst's note: You will want to click on the title above to read the original article source. I've also included below related comments from friend that provide insight into what it takes to lead a combat unit of warriors. Among other things, it takes watchful and consistent leadership at every level. Christian soldiers being called bigots by an unsuitable Army General is an example of something the Army doesn't need heading a fighting force.
This full article and related comments give our "civilians" readers just a peek into what leadership -- not management -- is all about. We "manage" things and "lead" people.
As for me, I remain in favor of the draft. That way our civilians remain actually committed to our warriors as opposed to just verbally "supporting the troops." Talk has always been cheap. Semper Fidelis.
WASHINGTON — When Lt. Col. Dave Wilson took command of a battalion of the 4th Brigade of the 1st Armored Division, the unit had just returned to Texas from 14 months traveling some of Iraq's most dangerous roads as part of a logistics mission.
What he found, he said, was a unit far more damaged than the single death it had suffered in its two deployments to Iraq.
Nearly 70 soldiers in his 1,163-member battalion had tested positive for drugs: methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. Others were abusing prescription drugs. Troops were passing around a tape of a female lieutenant having sex with five soldiers from the unit. Seven soldiers in the brigade died from drug overdoses and traffic accidents when they returned to Fort Bliss, near El Paso, after their first deployment.
"The inmates were running the prison," Wilson said.
What Wilson had to deal with, however, was hardly an isolated instance.
With the U.S. drawdown in Iraq, the Army is finally confronting an epidemic of drug abuse and criminal behavior that many commanders acknowledge has been made worse because they'd largely ignored it during nearly a decade of wars on two fronts.
The Army concedes that it faces a mammoth problem. [....]"
Here are interesting related discussions from fellow Marines. Thought you might benefit from considering these comments from some of this country's warrior leaders proven in the cauldron war.
Friend #1: [....] here is my take. I already had a bad feeling ever since I saw the YouTube Gang party video at the Ft Bragg NCO Club. If I had been CG of Ft Bragg I would have had the entire command fall out in skivvies and all those with gang tattoos would have gotten a BCD that day! In USMC boot camp we used to have fingernail inspection. Still not sure what that was for, but the DI's were on top of everything. I know from current first hand reports that US Army drill Sgt's are NOT!
We cannot have black, Hispanic and Aryan Nation NCO gang members leading our troops. Or gangs in our military. Talk about a conflict of interest in command decisions, this is the worst! Even happened to the USMC in the 1970's. Al Gray cleaned up the USMC -- Who will fix the US Army?
I now fear we have a very detrimental "Adverse Selection" of volunteers in our military. I used to be opposed to a draft but I have changed my mind. We need a cross section of Americans in our military from ALL walks of American life. And no evaders. That is what places like Leavenworth are for. And if you run to Canada or elsewhere you must NEVER be allowed to return!
We cannot allow a growing gang presence in a military that is getting closer and closer to having to protect America IN America... Period!!
Friend #2: The U.S. Army now begins its 10th continuous year in combat. The first time in its history the United States has excused the vast majority of its citizens from service and engaged in a major, decade-long conflict instead with an Army manned entirely by professional warriors.
This is an Army that, under the pressure of combat, has turned inward, leaving civilian America behind, reduced to the role of a well-wishing but impatient spectator.
A decade of fighting has hardened soldiers in ways that civilians can't share.
America Respects its Warriors, but from a DISTANCE.
I believe there is a tremendous amount of guilt in civilian society for not having participated in this war. Hell, this is not a criticism. People thank "the military" for "their service but it" "...Rings Hollow." There's an awkwardness there that has increased over time.
Decidedly, one has to understand we have an ARMY "Unit that just return from combat duty...then we have to assume that the 'leadership is lacking' and not demonstrating it cares for its troops."
The leadership needs to provide subordinates with definite, positive assistance to correct professional and personal difficulties. I like to quote our Marine Corps: "...We takes care of our Own."
Obviously, this was definitely "lacking with this Army Unit, which failed to demonstrate a strong ability to identify, analyze and solve problems." One salient point to note here is that these troopers felt that even the Army Chief of Staff was more concerned with invoking diversity, political correctness, and giving too much attention to Muslim groups within the Army.
I am supposing that they even failed to meet the Army Unit when it returned from Iraq to CONUS. Our Marine Corps would have the POTUS and the CMC, to include the SECDEF to greet the returning Unit inside an auditorium. This should be a standing policy.
It would be comforting to know the ethnicity grouping of the Unit... Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine that they are having this problems with drugs, alcoholism, suicide, etc...
A lot of "them" are here, returned home, and "with the perception that society has no further use for them." The Army has become home for a lot of restless souls who can never really go back to civilian life where the unemployment is at 10.5 and all they are looking forward to is to be placed in another unit for return to a combat zone. Sad.
