CANNONEER

Military Education

2005-02-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

Now we have another demonstration of two things.

Formal military education is unimportant for learning war fighting.
The Army is in dire straights personnel wise.

Why else would the Sec Def say that during times of stress officers should be pulled from schools? Why would the 4th ID pull all of their officers from CGSC?

FORM OVER SUBSTANCE

2004-08-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

A good friend told me this past week everyone in his headquarters in D.C. had to troop down to the operations NCO and sign for a "Warrior Ethos" tag. This Tag informed them what the ethos was. I remember having a retired four star tell a group that an organization that hands stuff like that out and has cute sayings is in trouble.

I wonder if the soldiers and marines at Bastogne, Wake Island, Bataan, or the Chosen Reservoir had those little tags? I bet their warrior ethos came from something much more meaningful and much deeper.

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JUST THE FACTS MAM'

2004-08-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to listen an interview in progress conducted by a newspaper reporter (maybe age 19) and a Veteran's for Kerry Chairman for a the state I live in. While I agree with his basic premise on the war in Iraq, I had to grit my teeth. First let me say that arguing the facts will work out much better then spinning the facts. Let’s look at the things I overheard.

1. "The National Guard was never intended to be used the way it is being used. It was meant to protect state X and to respond to natural disasters----wrong." Look at the history of the National Guard in World War II and in Korea. Divisions were called up for Federal service and in the case of World War II they served for the duration. That's 1941 to 1945 boys & girls. The same was true of state units from World War I and going back to the Spanish American War. Vietnam was the only war I can think of where the Guard and Reserves were primarily used as means to avoid the draft. Our Army was designed on purpose to require the use of the Guard and the Reserves shortly after the Vietnam War by then Chief of Staff Creighton Abrams. It was done with the full support of the Congress.

2. "Our troops have M-113's Armored Personnel carriers like the one's I had in Vietnam--wrong." The only similarity is the hull. The drive train is no longer gasoline powered and the armor includes upgrades to prevent spalling. It goes cross country at a much higher speed and much smoother. It has night vision capabilities. In fact some feel it is superior to the new Stryker vehicle. The differences in the vehicle are like comparing a 1950 Ford to a 2004.

3. "Lack of vest and armored Hmmv's--correct." In all fairness I'm not familiar of any war where we were ready logistically or doctrinally. Congress likes to fund things other then the military (except in election years) and the military likes to train for the last war. As late as 1997 I was still fighting simulations in the Fulda Gap of Germany against an Army that had changed its' name but it was still the old red menace. I never once fought one that had anything like the Fedayeen attacking convoys in the rear area. Generals unfortunately rarely get good grades for imagination.

The bottom line is that we can win the argument on the War in Iraq by using the truth and facts. That pertains to both sides of the argument on this war. The other thing is the Democrats need to get over their schizophrenic relationship with the military and the Republicans need to wake up and realize they don't own our vote and dismiss us as robots that can't think.

GOING AFTER THE DELAYED ENTRY PROGRAM

2004-07-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe it, but I've heard the Army is going to try and take enlistees out of the FY 2005 pot and move them into FY 2004. This means they are so desperate for enlistments that they are eating their own seed corn. Everyone who gets shipped to basic early will have to be replaced next year. The poor recruiters will never catch up at that rate. Someone needs to be honest and admit we've got problems in the area of accessions. Not hard to figure out when you link this to the call up of the IRR (to include a 67 year old retired M.D. and a retired helicopter pilot with a 20% disability for a back injury) and the stop loss program.

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EQUAL PAY EQUAL WORK?

2004-07-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

Equal pay for equal work. Remember that battle cry? Now we have Sen. Lautenberg proposing that soldiers who have been held beyond their original release date by the Stop Loss be paid an additional $2,000.00 per month. Now you have two Privates in a fox hole sharing MRE's and being shot at. One is paid $2,000.00 more then the other Private. Equal work and equal risk, right? This won't work. If I was the Private being paid $2,000.00 less you don't think I'd have a case of the butt? Damn right I would. This will only serve to create a wedge in units and hurt morale. If you oppose the war in Iraq, say so. If you oppose the Stop Loss program, say so. Don't try to back door your issues like this. You'll only hurt troops that need all the help we can give them. Unfortunately, both Republicans and Democrats seem to view our troops as political hockey pucks during an election year. Ever wonder how many of our great patriots in the congress have kids serving in combat? My understanding is one. Now that is real commitment to the war on terror.

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WHO SHOULD FIGHT TERRORISM

2004-06-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

I think something that needs to be considered is do we have a counter-terrorism force that is properly designed and empowered to conduct the war we are currently in? Presently we are using primarily conventional forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to conduct this mission. These forces are performing admirably, but are they the right tool for the job? Army and USMC conventional units spend a great deal of time training for a myriad of missions they may be required to face. This is a little like trying to make them into a jack of all trades when it comes to combat task. FM 7-15 the Army Universal Task List states that "Commanders who employ conventional forces against organized terrorist forces operating within their areas of operation are conducting conventional offensive operations (emphasis added), not counter-terrorism operations (FM 3-07)". This illustrates that the Army may not have the right mind set for the current fight. Now I'll agree that the SOF community probably does. But their has always been a problem in the Army with a us versus them mentality between the convention Army and the SOF community. Battalions, Brigades, Divisions, and Corps are probably not the right tool. Remember the old saying that if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail? I propose an honest study needs to be made that ask if an independent counter-terrorism force needs to exist. I'll also go so far as to say that it should be allowed to operate both outside and inside the borders of the United States. Having an artificial boundary drawn that causes a hand off to a different agency doesn't make sense. I also think we should think outside the box and ask if it should even belong to DoD?

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STOP LOSS

2004-06-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

First let me say that I think some of the stop loss indicates a problem in accessions at the SPC and below level. Holding on to these soldiers is wrong. However, I have little sympathy for the NCO's and Officers who have had their retirements delayed. Empathy I have truck loads of, sympathy I don't. When you are a dog faced soldier and re-enlist after the first time you are a professional soldier. If you accept a commission, you are a professional soldier. I realize that a lot of plans are dashed and that a lot of families are hurt. The problem is that you knew the chances of that going in. In a time of war all bets are off and the troops deserve the kind of leadership experience you provide. We can grow privates pretty quick. Non Commissioned Officers and Officers take a lot of time and experience.

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LOYALTY AND DEBATE

2004-06-15T05:36:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting short article on Soliders for the Truth yesterday that quoted COL Macgregor (Ret). He's the individual who wrote Breaking the Phalanx and Transformation Under Fire. Both very good books on where the Army should be going on the subject of transformation. With the Army facing a future that could be pretty earth shaking, I find it interesting that we don't have a place where debate among professionals can take place. For this debate to happen their has to be some reasonable feeling that your opinion won't sink your career. COL Macgregor's first book made him a dead man walking, and the second strapped him to the gurney. Their have been some attempts like companycommander.com, but it has been taken over by the Department of the Army so I doubt it will serve the purpose. You can't even get into the site without a permission slip anymore because of "OPSEC". Besides DA isn't the proper manager of the type of venue I'm talking about. In fact they may be the worst choice. The Army often thinks that sycophancy and loyalty are synonyms. Unfortunately AUSA isn't a good choice because they rely on funding from some of the very people that the debate may harm, government contractors selling equipment and services to the Army. That creates a conflict of interest when you try to debate the merits of things like the Stryker. At the other end of the spectrum the debate has to be kept at a professional level so someone has to be the honest broker or you'll quickly be overwhelmed by flames and rants. Sorry, everyone can't really carry a Field Marshal's baton in his knapsack like Napoleon said. That leads to some bitterness which then leads to agendas that just won't fit. Regardless, we need the debate. How does the Army approach fourth generation warfare? Do we continue to do it with second and third generation equipment and doctrine? We need to figure this out.

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COL CUSTER WE ARE OUT OF AMMO

2004-06-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

Interesting to see that DoD has finally admitted that the one little ammo plant in Independence, Missouri can't produce enough small arms with three shifts for all of DoD. Some of us have known since April of 2003 that their was a problem and if you look at the GAO documents they've known about it for longer then that. Just lately a soldier in Walter Reed Army Hospital was complaining about going out on operations without a full basic load.

Generals by in large don't get the intricacies of ammunition resupply at the strategic level. I remember a Field Artillery School Commandant who was singing high praises of the rate of fire for the then newly proposed Crusader 155mm. It was to have a very high rate of fire capability. I asked him if they were going to upgrade the ammo resupply capability ( to include production) so it could shoot that fast? His face went blank. I was talking logistics and that made his head hurt. I guess his theory was if we build it, they will come. Who knows what they really think. One thing they apparently didn't think about, or if they did they didn't talk out loud, was ammo for a protracted conflict.

Volunteer Army and Protracted War

2004-06-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well, today's announcement that the stop loss program has been expanded proves a point. Everyone seems to forget that the concept of the volunteer army was intended to be a peace time system not for a protracted war. If that were not the case, then a stop loss should be unnecessary. The Army says they are meeting their own re-enlistment and enlistment goals, but they must be having a problem meeting the required end strength. Maybe these goals are another case of lowered expectations. Is this just another case of fighting a war and not wanting to make the American citizen feel the pain? Can you spell DRAFT (to include family members of those working within the D.C. beltway)?

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9mm Versus The World

2004-06-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

Ever since we first deployed troops to Afghanistan their have been complaints from the field that the M9 pistol is failing to feed and when it does the 9mm round isn't lethal enough.

Most of the failure to feed problems are caused by poor magazines. The springs appear to be weak. A fifteen round magazine would be able to handle fifteen rounds, not ten, not 9 or any other number. The fix for this problem is to let the contract to someone who can build quality magazines. I have 1911 .45 Cal magazines made in the 40's that functions fine. It can be done.

On the area of the 9mm, I suspect that the probability of the military (DoD) going to a new gun in a new caliber is remote. The current MILSPEC 9mm in loaded in the area of a +P+ load. That's pretty hot. The problem lies with the bullet. With the international laws we can't go to a hollow point like your local police department. However, I think we may be able to go to a bullet that has a flatter tip which would transmit more of the energy into the target and decrease the over penetration.

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New Rifle for a Few

2004-05-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Rumor is that the SOF community may be getting a new rifle in the caliber of 6.8mm to replace the 5.56mm. This is probably a response to complaints received in Afghanistan that the M16 just couldn't get it done, particularly at ranges beyond 300 meters. Shots beyond 300 meters in terrain like Afghanistan are probably useful and I bet they could be in Iraq. As would the increased penetration against vehicles. My question is, if the 5.56mm isn't up to the task why are we buying into the XM8 rifle as a replacement to the M16 family if it is in 5.56mm?

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WHAT IS TORTURE?

2004-05-26T04:35:00.000-07:00

I'm getting emails and hearing others say that no real torture took place at the prison in Iraq. Let's talk about stress positions. If you would allow me to place you in a stress position you'll understand better. At first it will simply be uncomfortable. Soon it will become painful. In a few hours you will experience pain that is equal to my pulling your teeth with a pair of vice grips. Oh yeah, you'll urinate and defecate on yourself and then pass out eventually. Sound like the college pranks I've heard described?

The other fact is that we haven't seen 10% of the available pictures. Folks are trying to view this whole incident through the prism of political advantage or disadvantage. Americans need to look at this war with cold hard facts and stop trying to use it to get someone elected or reelected. We need to do the right thing for America and not for the Republicans or the Democrats. Maybe for some the ultimate stress position is having to admit the truth.

For those who still want to say that torture of prisoners in the case of Iraq violates no law I refer you to Summary of International and U.S. Law Prohibiting Torture. I only to this to say that hiding behind a false premise is flawed. If you believe that we should violate the law due to the needs of the moment, then be honest and say that.

Gen. Zinni and 60 Minutes

2004-05-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

I had received some prior notice of Gen. Zinni's appearance on 60 Minutes tonight. It seems that my friends on the Republican side were already up in arms over his appearing and taking the position that those who mapped out the strategy in Iraq should take responsibility for the current situation.

I don't really want to get into was the overall strategy right or wrong or should we have gone into Iraq to begin with. My experience is that everyone is so polarized by this that you can't change anyone's mind anyway. I just don't understand why no one should be responsible for anything. The Post "conflict" operations, which really are more accurately called post maneuver phase, have not gone well. They also have not gone as predicted. The planning assumptions were obviously incorrect. Now let me say that anyone can be wrong and that doesn't mean they are evil or bad people. It just means they were wrong. I think it also means they take ownership and responsibility.

People at the top are right because they are right, not because they are Republicans or Democrats. Party affiliation has nothing to do with the truth.

Charles de Gaulle: The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

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JUST SUPPOSE

2004-05-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

OK, lets suppose that you believe that the abuse at the prison is overblown and America has the right to do it to gain intelligence information. Then why are our leaders throwing these young enlisted men and women to the wolves?

1. They knew and are throwing them over to save themselves. SPINELESS

2. They knew and are hoping that the investigation doesn't go any higher. SPINELESS and SCARED.

3. They didn't know despite letters to congress from soldiers and despite earlier letters from the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International. INCOMPETENT

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THE WHEELS OF MILITARY JUSTICE

2004-05-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Lots of action on TV last night over the beginning of the first courts martial of one of the MP's accused of POW abuse. Yes, I said POW. The Pentagon made the decision long ago that prisoners in Iraq qualified under the Geneva Convention.

While everyone seems to yelling about the fact that only SSG and below soldiers are charged so far, I wouldn't place any bets just yet. The Pentagon and the President probably know that convicting only junior grade enlisted and NCO's won't fly with the American public (read voters) or with the world in general. Therefore, I predict some commissioned officers will be charged. Their are two important questions that will arise from this. How high up the chain of command will they be, and what will be the punishment if convicted.

If they don't come from a position in the chain of command above the MP Brigade and the MI Brigade, I'll be very suspicious. As I've said before, someone above those two organizations had to coordinate the effort.

Needless to say if the punishment comes under that long standing military rule of different spanks for different ranks, it will be a sham.

One other interesting developments is that it appears that some of the accused have hired civilian lawyers. Smart move on their part. Remember when the SF Group Commander and his staff were charged with murder during Vietnam? One little country lawyer from North Carolina made that house of cards collapse. He really spoiled the Army's day on that one. They couldn't get away with the old "bring the guilty folks in" line at the beginning of the courts martial.

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NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND ABU GHARIB

2004-05-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

When I was a relatively new OCS trained 2LT I signed into my first Artillery Battalion assignment. The Battalion Commander greeted me and took me down the street to A Btry 3-21 FA and delivered me to 1SG Dinsmore. He signed for me on a temporary hand receipt and began that process of teaching me how to be a good 2LT. A couple of years later I commanded another battery in that same battalion. In this case 1SG Bynog took charge of teaching me how to be a good commander. Years later now in Recruiting Command 1SG Hopkins kept my fat out of the fire and taught me about having a positive mental attitude when times are tough. I owe a lot to these fine NCOs. I could go on about Platoon Sergeants and Chiefs of Section, but I'm sure most of us have the same experiences.

This brings me to the question where were the descendants of those 1SG's I describe above? Where were they at Abu Gharib prison? Where was the CSM and 1SG charged with taking care of those soldiers. I can tell you that 1SG's Dinsmore, Bynog, and Hopkins would shut that crap down in a New York second. Because they new right from wrong and didn't want to see their troops hurt by a bad decision.

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MORE PHOTOS MORE SPIN

2004-05-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Everyone who thinks that these six or seven MP's woke up one morning and went crazy all on their own raise your hands. Now you all move to the back of the class. New photos are being released that show additional MI Bde folks involved. Since the MI folks didn't work for the 800th MP Brigade that's another separate chain of command. Who above those two separate chains of command coordinated and synchronized the system they were using? Can't be the female USAR General, she didn't have authority over the MI. Can't be the MI Bde commander because he/she didn't have authority over the MP's. Had to be someone who had both of those commanders by the old stacking swivel.

The Army now says that the methods and techniques used at Guantanamo would be inappropriate for Iraq as the determination was made that Iraqi prisoners qualify under Article 5 of the Geneva Convention. If that is true why did they send the commander of Guantanamo to Iraq to discuss the techniques he was using. My bet it was to pass on how to do it "my way".

Form Over Substance

2004-05-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Their is a nice picture circulating by email this week. It's the one of the President George Bush running with an Army soldier who is recovering from an amputation. A very nice picture. The problem is, if he really feels something for that individual why doesn't he fund the Veterans Administration? His current budget proposal takes the VA below the rate of inflation. That is in effect a cut my friends. If you're going to talk the talk, walk the walk. His budget is almost 2 billion below what almost everyone else says is the need. The soldier in the picture will eventually rely on the VA for his needs.

HOW LONG?

2004-05-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

As I was riding into work I was rolling around some thoughts on how long can we continue to sustain this war at our current level of effort. By this I mean do we continue the Army, Corps, Division, and Bde fight, or do we need to re-think our methodology for the long haul? Regardless of who is elected this fall, this war (I'm talking the war on terror, not just Iraq) will continue well beyond the end of their Presidency. I'm not sure we can keep up the tempo for that long as far a the financial and human resources. Also, do we really need to? Maybe another possibility is to look at the model we used in Afghanistan. If you haven't read the book "The Hunt for Bin Laden" by Robin Moore. I'm proposing that we need to look at a possible scenario where we rely more on the Special Operations Command and the CIA to fight the war on terrorism. They did it in Afghanistan and with some modifications for a given situation they could do it again. I'm not sure we shouldn't have looked harder at that option for Iraq. Maybe supporting to Kurds and telling the Turks to take a hike would have been better.

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THOSE DARN CONTRACTORS

2004-05-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

A lot is being made of who was in charge of the contractors who were doing the interrogations. Pretty simple to explain. Every contract with the Federal Government has two people named by name responsible for the supervision of the contract and the individual contractors. Their is the contract officer representative and the contract officer technical representative. These are employees of the Federal Government or members of the Army. In the contract are task and deliverables, including a requirement to render to the COR and the COTR a report on a recurring basis. There is a good place to start since the COR and the COTR have a legal responsibility to fulfill. Once you begin to twist them they'll sing. Once you twist the contractor for filing a false periodic report, they'll sing. Then follow those little bread crumbs out of the forest and to the witches house. Now, that won't be the only trail and it won't finish the investigation, but I'll bet it'll help get things moving. Threaten a major company like CAIC with being banned from all Federal contracting and they'll sing from the highest tower.

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Command

2004-05-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

How many of us remember when we were commanders and were told "A commander is responsible for everything his unit does or fails to do"? Take note that the word responsible is there.

This past week I overheard a young officer talking about how it was unfair to hold brigade and higher commanders responsible. Wrong! Rarely would they be held criminally culpable due to the distance they have from the commission of a crime. However, they are responsible to set a command climate and commander type oversights to prohibit or at least discourage acts like we've seen coming out the prison in Iraq. Failing to do that means they bear some responsibility and deserve to at least be relieved of command. They in fact have demonstrated they are not commanders, but only office holders.

I've also heard such excuses as "no one yelled about the Geneva Convention when they hung the burned bodies of the contractors on the bridge." I hope America is better then those that committed that act. Besides, the ones that committed that act aren't in prison because we backed down in Fallujah. Plus my mother taught me the old line about not robbing banks because others do. I don't know how far up the chain this goes. NEWSFLASH****Neither do the people on AM radio.

Let's look at a couple of facts:

1. Photos and video exist. Would you take digital photos and distribute them if you thought what you were doing was illegal? Who told them is was OK? Who old the ones that said it was OK, it was OK?

2. People other then MP's and prisoners are in some photos. The photos contain three kinds of people according to my understanding. MP's, contract CIA interrogators, and Army military intelligence soldiers. We just jumped to three different chains of command with that one. Therefore, it can't be just "seven renegade MP's". Too many people in the room.

"They don't deserve any rights under the Geneva Convention because the weren't wearing uniforms." I suggest they read beyond article 4 and jump all the way to article 5. Hint, it talks about when they don't have to wear uniforms. If their is a dispute as to which article applies then the Geneva convention requires that a commission be convened by a competent authority to settle the dispute on each individual. Bottom line you can't wish it away.

50th anniversary

2004-05-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry to say I have been remiss. Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the fall of Dien Bien Phu. Hoist one tonight and give a toast to those brave soldiers who fought the good fight and went into captivity at the hands of the Viet Minh.

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Abu Ghraib and Interrogation of Prisoners

2004-05-07T06:39:00.000-07:00

One of the advantages I’ve gained by having spent a career in the Army is I freely announce to the world, I don’t have the answer to all questions. I’ll leave that to people like Rush Limbaugh and others on AM radio.

I like everyone else was aghast when I saw the pictures from the prison. Now that some time has passed I’m reflecting on the issue of how you interrogate prisoners when dealing with possible terrorist. I had just finished "The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria 1955-1957" by General Paul Aussaresses. If you haven’t read it, I’d suggest it. He takes a very contrarian view on the issue. He feels that you have to utilize torture in some cases. This comes back to Alan Dershowitz theory that he called the “ticking time bomb”. You’ve got a suspect who is part of the plot and the bomb is set to go off very soon. It’s planted near a grade school. What do you do? Quick, time is wasting and there isn’t time to evacuate every possible target in a 100 mile radius. Maybe your kid is in one of the possible targets! See, it isn’t easy, and their certainly isn’t a cookie cutter solution.

However I see what went on in Abu Ghraib as being more of a general non-discriminatory reign of terror. What evidence did they have that any of these prisoners were involved in any planned future terrorist act? Or were they swept up in a round up and in the wrong place at the wrong time? Most probably had nothing to give under interrogation. Based on the photo’s and the fact they even exist, it’s safe to say the operation was being run more like a college dorm free for all and not a professional detention center/interrogation effort. Like I said, I don’t have the answers to this problem. The only one I do have is that the commanders should be relieved for running what appears to be a shoddy free for all.

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Why are we waiting to provide armor to soldiers?

2004-05-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

Why are soldiers in Iraq still waiting for armor when we have M113A2/A3's in Kuwait and thousands more in the USA? Makes no sense. The M113 provides superior armor and mobility over an up-armored Hummer. The Hummer was never designed to be that heavy. Think about the toll it will take on the engine and transmissions. Plus the Hummer is still more prone to wreck when the IED goes off due to a lack of mass. I'll agree that a wheeled vehicle like the Stryker is better for convoy escort because of distances traveled, but for patrols of various types and in combat assaults the M113 is superior. Good soldier's are dying for a lack of armor.