Monday, August 16, 2004
Health care a top concern for veterans
By Howard Wilkinson
Enquirer staff writer
President Bush will speak to Veterans of Foreign Wars convention delegates here today about U.S. troop realignment, but they are likely to be most interested in what he has to say about veterans' health care.

And they will expect the Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, to address the same issue when he appears before the weeklong convention Wednesday.

"Health care is at the top of the agenda, always has been and always will be," said John Furgess, the Vietnam veteran from Nashville who will take over as commander-in-chief of the 2.6-million-member veterans' organization later this week. "Everybody here is looking forward to hearing what they have to say about it."

In recent years, a rising chorus of veterans' voices - including that of the VFW, which maintains a large lobbying unit on Capitol Hill - has been saying that the Department of Veterans Affairs has been running a health care system that is underfunded, overworked and often unable to meet the needs of veterans.

In many ways, the VFW and other veterans organizations, such as the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans, are the VA's greatest allies, leading the lobbying fight in Washington for more funding.

It is one reason why the VA has a highly visible presence at this week's VFW gathering in the Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center and why it has teamed up with the VFW to put on a health fair in Exhibit Hall A.

The health fair offers the veterans free blood screenings, blood pressure tests, eye exams and body-fat tests, along with a host of booths offering health information, including several from the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. It is open every day to the nearly 15,000 veterans and their spouses.

Sunday afternoon, Allen Ghimenti of Chicago, a combat-wounded veteran of the Vietnam War, walked among the health fair booths with some of his buddies from Illinois posts.

Ghimenti has a VA rating of 100 percent disability from the wounds he suffered when he was in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam; he walks with a cane and says he makes three trips to the North Chicago VA hospital every week.

He said he and many other veterans he knows are frustrated by the VA health system, particularly the long waits many of them have had to receive care in an overburdened system.

Ghimenti offered one example of how the system works. He said he flew to California in June to see his sister; the airline lost his luggage and he was without eyeglasses. After returning to Chicago, he called the VA to schedule an appointment for eyeglasses and was told he couldn't get in until October.

"So I just have to stumble around until then," he said.
Ghimenti's friend and fellow Vietnam veteran, Walter Michalski of Chicago, has a multitude of health problems.
None of them are service-related, but he depended for years on VA health care.
"I finally just gave up on them," Michalski said. "It was too frustrating dealing with the system."
Michalski said the system is "run by politicians instead of by veterans."
"They are spending millions every year building new buildings, which is money that could go directly to the health care for the veterans," Michalski said.

Both veterans said they would be listening carefully to what Bush and Kerry have to say this week.
What they - and their national organization - want to hear is a commitment to mandatory funding for VA health care.
Furgess said mandatory funding is needed so that the VA doesn't "have to compete with every other federal program for dollars."

Kerry has said he supports mandatory funding. According to Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, it is something President Bush is reluctant to do, but willing to discuss.

To Furgess and most other VFW members, there should be little debate about health care for veterans.
"It's something that was promised to the men and women who put on this country's uniform," Furgess said. "We just want to see that the promise is kept."

Ozarks Newstand:
Local veterans fear reduction in benefits
If any of us have a mental hygiene problem there is no one to talk to," he said. "I feel like that there are hundreds of guys that need this service."

The former Marine said his condition today is directly related to the incident in Vietnam that earned him a Naval hospital stay in Japan and a Purple Heart.

"I got wounded Nov. 16, 1970. I was a gunner and we were on a convoy hauling ammunition and hit a land mine," he said. "They said, 'How did any body ever live through that?' "

Hessler did live, but it ended his military career and affected the rest of his life.
"When I returned home I couldn't do anything," he said. "I was emotionally numb. I couldn't hold down a job. I drank."
Hessler said talking about those issues helps him manage today.
"I can't talk about my issues today and my past issues," he said.
That is because the social worker who facilitated that discussion with the group of veterans who needed those services is gone. Now it is a nurse practitioner filling that position Hessler said. He thinks replacing that position with a nurse practitioner who has a broader client base is detrimental.

"We had a social worker just for our clinic alone," he said. "This nurse is a nice person and leads our group once a week but she doesn't have any idea about PTSD. When you are talking about people who always have suicide in the back of their mind, one day a week isn't going to cut it. All I basically want is the truth-why we aren't getting a social worker."

Judy McKee, EEO manager and assistant public affairs with the Veterans Administration in Fayetteville, Ark., says the truth is the outpatient clinic in Mt. Vernon will be getting a social worker and more.

"It is my understanding that the social worker was half time," McKee said. "She worked mental health half time and she handled other veterans needs, like placement in nursing homes and other services. She retired about three months ago. I understand they will be recruiting for a full-time psychologist (who) will be doing psychotherapy and group counseling for our veterans."

In addition to the full-time psychologist, McKee said the social worker position will also be filled. "There are also plans, to recruit for a social worker," she said. "That will double the staff from what we had before."

McKee said that recruitment effort is underway now and the positions should be filled soon. According to information from McKee, the Veteran Administration handled 1406 more patients at the Mt. Vernon clinic this year than last year. She said she could not comment on the clinic's funding-whether it kept pace with the patient load. She said the clinic is part of a network of facilities with sites also in Harrison, Fort Smith and Fayetteville, Ark.

"There's not a budget for each site," she said. "It is a consolidated budget."
Chances are that consolidated budget may not stretch as far as some veterans want. Published news reports said that the proposed FY 2005 budget falls well short of VA projected needs.

Those shortfalls are in the areas of veterans health care and disability benefits.
According to information from U. S. Rep. Darlene Hooley, Oregon, who sits on the Committee on Veterans Affairs, the 2005 budget passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year falls $1.3 billion short of maintaining the current levels of health care to veterans. And, according to information from The American Legion, legislation to "redesignate VA heath care appropriations as mandatory funding," was defeated by one vote in the Senate June 23. The reason being was that mandatory funding that would ensure all veterans who seek medical care from the VA would receive it was just too expensive.

Michael Hill, Ozark, District 14th Commander with 18 VFW Posts in the area, fears the worst. He suffers from Gulf War Syndrome-the strange malady that includes neurological difficulties and deterioration of joints and discs. Those symptoms began to manifest in veterans after the first Gulf War.

"When we are gone to war they want us to be healthy," Hill said. "But when we come back and have problems they don't want to have anything to do with us. A lot of veterans don't know what to do because they are not getting the help they are needed."

Hill was a gunner's mate and worked on the missile systems during the Gulf War from 1990 to 1992. He is classified as disabled and was separated from the service in 1996. The 36-year-old said he has had several back surgeries and still suffers. He can't afford private insurance.

He said facilities like Mt. Vernon provide a vital service-services that should expand not shrink.
"There is a big possibility that there will be money cut that goes to the Mt. Vernon facility and others," he said. "Because the government is cutting back on the amount the government is putting into veterans benefits. They are taking money out of the veterans' funds and using it for other things-a lot less money is going towards veterans care. Mt. Vernon is only a clinic and they can't do specialty procedures.

Hill said he must travel round trip hundreds of miles to get the care he needs.
"I can't afford any insurance so I have to go to Little Rock for neurology and to Fayetteville for dental care, because the Mt. Vernon facility doesn't have the ability to do that."

He said the number of veterans needing help and not getting it can only get worse.
"It is definitely getting worse," Hill said. "There's going to be large number coming back from Iraq that will need services-more than now. They are just cutting services everywhere. We've talked to several now that are having medical problems."

Jessica Boulanger, press secretary for Congressman Roy Blunt, said this congress has and continues to place a high priority on veterans.

"Veterans' health care has increased by 75 percent since 1995," she said. "Right now it is funded at $28.3 billion for 2004."

Why are some veterans group and politicians complaining?
"The discrepancy might be that it is not funded that at the highest level that veterans groups want," she said. "We've increased veterans program by 58.4 percent since 1995 and spending per veteran is up 78.9 percent since 1995. Congressman Blunt is very committed to veterans, and that remains a top priority to the Congressman. It is something he takes very seriously."

The tide is turning for a disabled veteran
Story filed by NewsCenter16 Reporter
Mark Peterson
This week began with the Workman family facing eviction proceedings but it is ending with a huge sigh of relief.
Robert Workman is a National Guardsman who was injured serving in Iraq.
As NewsCenter 16 first reported on Wednesday , his family had fallen into dire financial straits. Robert is unable to perform his civilian job while Veterans Affairs has yet to act on his claim for disability benefits.

The reaction to the story has been overwhelming as the community stepped forward today to help the family.
"I've learned to become very humble about one thing: letting people help because I was always the type of person would rather give than receive this lately, these past two days - it's just overwhelming," says Workman.

By noon on Thursday anonymous sources had donated more than $2500 to assist the family.
Furthermore someone else stepped forward to donate living room furniture to replace items the Workman family sold to pay the bills.

If there are any military families experiencing difficulties, they can call the American Legion hotline at 1-800-504-4098.
Reservists Return To Find No Jobs
Associated Press
August 16, 2004
WASHINGTON - Increasing numbers of National Guard and Reserve troops who have returned from war in Iraq and Afghanistan are encountering new battles with their civilian employers at home. Jobs were eliminated, benefits reduced and promotions forgotten.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Labor Department reports receiving greater numbers of complaints under a 1994 law designed to give Guard and Reserve troops their old jobs back, or provide them with equivalent positions. Benefits and raises must be protected, as if the serviceman or servicewoman had never left.

Some soldiers, however, are finding the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act can't protect them.
-Larry Gill couldn't return as a police officer in Thomasville, Ala., because a grenade injured a foot, making it impossible for him to chase criminals or duck bullets.

-Jerry Chambers, of Oberlin, Kan., discovered budget cuts had eliminated his job as a substance abuse prevention consultant.

-Ron Vander Wal, of Pollock, S.D., was originally told his job as a customer service representative was eliminated. He was hired after filing a civil lawsuit seeking damages.

The Labor Department said complaint numbers would have been worse had the government not made an aggressive effort to explain the law to employers.

"Any increase in the number of complaints is a concern to us," said Fred Juarbe Jr., assistant secretary of labor for veterans employment and training. "At the same time, we're pleased by the fact that the increase in complaints is not at the level that would have been expected."

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said the department is drafting rules to spell out the law's protections for service personnel. "We've got to do everything we can to protect their re-employment rights," she said.

The department was receiving about 900 formal complaints a year before Sept. 11, 2001. The statistical picture since then, based on fiscal years ending Sept. 30:

-1,218 cases opened in 2002.
-1,327 cases in 2003.
-1,200 cases from Oct. 1, 2003 through July 31. If projected over 12 months, the figure would be 1,440, the department said.

The department upheld or settled soldiers' complaints in one-third of last year's cases, while another third were found to have no merit. The remaining cases are inactive or closed, often because the government lost contact with the soldier or the soldier returned to active duty.

When Guard and Reserve troops returned from the first Gulf War, there was one complaint for every 54 soldiers leaving active duty. Currently, with the government's aggressive drive to inform employers of the law, the figure has improved to 1 in 69.

The complaints represent a small percentage of the quarter-million Guard and Reserve troops who have left active duty since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Not all returning troops are bitter about their job loss.
Chambers, the substance abuse consultant, agreed budget cuts left his former nonprofit employer no choice but to eliminate his job.

"I don't fault them for that and I don't hold grudges," said Chambers. He was among the lucky ones, finding employment with his Reserve unit, the 1013th Quartermaster Co. based in North Platte and McCook, Neb. His unit has been mobilized anew, and he is again on active duty.

For others, finding their jobs gone was a hardship, emotionally and economically.
Gill, the former Alabama police officer with an injured leg, had to give up a career that began in 1992 and followed in the footsteps of his father and brother.

"My biggest concern is loss of income," he said.
While some troops fault former employers for firing them as they served their country, most complaints involved alleged denial of benefits, promotions and raises, said officials from the Labor Department and a Pentagon organization - Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

Army Col. Brarry Cox, who coordinates the ESGR's mediation efforts between employers and returning troops, said typical issues raised by soldiers include: "What about the 401 (k)? The end-of-year bonus? What about my evaluation? I was due a merit promotion that I missed.

"We try to talk employers through a logical approach: How were they (the employees) performing prior to active duty, where do you think they would have come out?"

The Labor Department, which has subpoena power, asks employers to justify firings or reduction of benefits and can refer complaints to the Justice Department for filing of civil lawsuits. Only a small percentage of cases get that far.

While the 1994 law strengthened previous protections, it doesn't help doctors, lawyers or small business owners who depend on maintaining a client base. It doesn't save jobs eliminated by plant closings or budget cuts. And it doesn't help injured troops who can no longer perform the work they once did.

Reservists and guardsmen who returned to the Prince George's County government outside Washington, D.C., were among those who fell into a gray area.

The county required that they exhaust their leave before receiving a county salary supplement that bridged the gap between military and civilian pay. This meant some employees had to count some of their time in a war zone as vacation days or forfeit the extra pay.

"Our members were not able to decompress," said Percy Alston, president of the Fraternal Order of Police lodge representing the county's police officers. His members have challenged the policy through labor grievance procedures and expect an arbitrator will decide the matter.

Bush's Troops Withdrawal Could Draw Votes
By DEB RIECHMANN
The Associated Press
Monday, August 16, 2004; 9:00 AM
WASHINGTON - President Bush's plan to call tens of thousands of U.S. troops home from Europe and Asia could gain him election-year applause from military families, but won't ease the strain on soldiers still battling violent factions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a speech Monday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati, Bush will announce one of the largest troop realignments since the end of the Cold War.

When New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his resignation on Thursday, he became the second consecutive elected N.J. governor to resign. When former governor Christine Todd Whitman resigned in January 2001 to become EPA administrator, who became acting governor?

Senior administration officials say Bush's plan affects 70,000 or more uniformed military personnel plus 100,000 of their family members and support personnel. A significant portion would be sent to bases in the United States, although others could be shifted to posts in Eastern Europe, they said.

U.S. armed forces stationed abroad in places other than Iraq and Afghanistan number about 200,000. About half are in Europe. The Pentagon advised German officials earlier this year that it was thinking about removing two Army divisions from Germany and replacing them with smaller, more mobile units.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld briefed his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov, over the weekend during a visit to St. Petersburg. He told reporters later that the Russians "have an interest" in the redeployment plan, presumably because some of the countries that could play host to U.S. troops are former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact states.

Bush's speech comes as the U.S. death toll in Iraq is approaching 1,000 and National Guard and Reserve troops are serving extended tours of duty.

Aides to Democratic challenger John Kerry blamed a lack of postwar planning by the Bush administration for the increased burden the reservists are shouldering. They also noted that the Massachusetts senator has proposed adding 40,000 troops to the regular Army and expanding special operations forces.

Kerry has said he would try to withdraw some troops from Iraq during his first six months in office. That idea has drawn criticism from Bush, who says that simply would urge insurgents to wait until the U.S. presence was thinned before attacking.

Both Bush and Kerry, who is to speak Wednesday to the 15,000 VFW convention-goers, have been trying to bolster their national security credentials.

The president is working to convince voters that he is a strong, unwavering leader who has taken steps to make America safer and is best to lead the battle against terrorists. Democrats countered by opening their July convention with a focus on Kerry's Vietnam combat experience, in contrast to Bush's non-combat role in the Texas Air National Guard during the war.

The VFW convention is getting special attention from both political parties partly because it is being held in Ohio, perhaps the hottest battlefield of this year's election. Bush carried Ohio by 3.6 percentage points in 2000 over Democrat Al Gore.

Later Monday, Bush travels to a campaign rally in northern Michigan, a state he lost to Gore. Bush's visit to Traverse City, Mich., will be first by a sitting president since Gerald Ford in 1975.

Air marshals cover only a few flights

By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Federal air marshals protect less than 5 percent of daily U.S. flights, and the numbers are declining, despite assurances by the federal government that most planes would be protected, according to estimates provided by marshals, pilots and a retired airline executive.
"They are flying on a relatively limited number of flights due to availability," said Capt. Stephen Luckey, chairman of the national-security committee of the Air Lines Pilots Association, which represents 64,000 pilots.

The number of federal air marshals who protect planes from terrorist attacks is classified, and the Department of Homeland Security has refused to discuss it.
The sources said they are confident that terrorists already know the numbers based on open-source documents that can be found on the Internet, ongoing surveillance in airports and aboard planes, and in news reports.
At their request, information about specific flights or airports has been withheld.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the marshals, pilots and retired executive say there are fewer than 3,500 air marshals to protect 35,000 daily flights. Taking into consideration time off for sick leave, vacation and training, the sources say only 500 to 1,000 flights per day are protected.
Daily flights average 35,000 in the summer and 25,000 in the winter. Some pilots and flight attendants say they rarely see marshals on board.
"What good is it if [marshals] are only on 1 percent of the flights?" said a federal air marshal.
Marshals, pilots and flight attendants say ongoing surveillance, combined with a mandatory dress code, makes the armed officials obvious to the flying public and to terrorists. Marshals also must show identification to the flight crew and board the plane even before first-class passengers and handicapped, further compromising their undercover status.
Valerie Mellon, a frequent flier from Pennsylvania who logs 80,000 miles a year, said she thought federal air marshals protect about 25 percent of flights and says she is "disappointed and scared" that the numbers are much lower.
Charles Serwin of New Jersey said he thought 50 percent of flights are protected.
"The government and the media make the public feel that all flights are carrying air marshals," Mr. Serwin said.
"I believe that it is pathetic," he said of the lower numbers.
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, members of Congress demanded that the Federal Air Marshal Service, with a mere 33 plainclothes officers, protect all airplanes in the United States.
"We expect before this is over, there will be two marshals on every airplane," said Rep. Don Young, Alaska Republican and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee just days after the attack.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, agreed and said the United States "has been warned."
"I think there ought to be air marshals on every plane, not just random - on every single plane," Mrs. Boxer said.
Air marshals guard every flight on Israel's El Al Airlines, a model that U.S. government officials viewed as ideal but impractical. Mr. Luckey agrees, saying it would take 25 to 30 times the number of current marshals to protect all daily U.S. flights.
"It's financially impossible to give us the adequate coverage by putting marshals on every flight like Israel. They have 36 planes, and we have 4,000 to 6,000 planes. It's cost-prohibitive; the government could not afford to hire that many, and it's not necessary to cover all flights," Mr. Luckey said.
David Adams, spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service, declined to comment on the numbers citing the classification status.
"People could figure out the ratio of which [planes] are covered and which ones are not. That's our position - the amount of personnel is classified, and we won't release it."
A briefing paper released by the Homeland Security Department on September 11, 2003, says, "Today, thousands of air marshals fly on tens of thousands of flights each month on a wide variety of routes and aircraft."
The government measures air-marshal protection by the number of flights they take, as opposed to the number of miles they fly, so marshals often fly two or three legs a day rather than long-haul flights, said one air marshal.
In March, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told a House appropriations panel that the number of air marshals is declining, but that planes could be protected by Secret Service agents and other federal law-enforcement officials traveling on government time.
Government officials also are counting on a program to arm pilots to protect the cockpit, but only 2,600 pilots out of nearly 100,000 have been trained to carry guns.
Mrs. Boxer said in a March 9 letter to Mr. Ridge that she was "shocked" by his statement that the number of marshals in the sky is declining.
"This is unacceptable," she said. "I strongly believe that air marshals are a necessary component to a secure aviation system. Now is not the time to cut the number of air marshals. We should be doing just the opposite."
Mr. Adams told Gannett News Service in late May the Federal Air Marshal Service is under a self-imposed hiring freeze, and an unnamed administration official told CNN that about 100 air-marshal positions would be eliminated this year.
With fewer planes being protected by air marshals, many in the ranks are riled over recent incidents that further have blocked marshals from protecting aircraft.
Two marshals were yanked from a Southwest Airlines flight from Cleveland in July for not adhering to a strict dress code that required them to be wearing sports coats. The flight continued without marshal protection.
A third marshal was grounded last week in Las Vegas, during the current high terrorist alert level, on suspicion of leaking disparaging memos from the Federal Air Marshal Service to journalists. He is washing government cars as punishment.
"Morale is low," one air marshal said.
Expert Links Probing Attacks to Fourth Generation Warfare
By Scott Wheeler
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
August 16, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - With much of the Northeast believed to be at high risk for a terrorist attack and an upcoming presidential election providing a ripe target, the U.S. finds itself in the middle of "fourth generation warfare," according to a defense analyst who was one of the first to define the phenomenon.

"One of the central characteristics" of fourth generation warfare, William S. Lind of the Free Congress Foundation acknowledged, is the so-called "probing attacks." Such attacks, conducted in open sight by men of Middle Eastern appearance, have included the videotaping of military bases and subway stations as well as suspicious behavior aboard commercial airline flights. In an Aug. 9 article, counter-terrorism investigators told CNSNews.com that hundreds, if not thousands of probing attacks had taken place all over the United States.

"It's one of the things that makes it very difficult for a state military to fight this kind of war because it can't tell who is a combatant and who isn't, and somebody may be one day and not the next and then be again the day after that," Lind told CNSNews.com .

Lind and a handful of other military experts developed Fourth Generation Warfare and codified it in a 1989 Marine Corps Gazette article entitled "The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation."

In the article, Lind wrote that such warfare was "likely to be widely dispersed and largely undefined; the distinction between war and peace will be blurred to the vanishing point."

A recent and widely reported example involved a Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Los Angeles. Journalist Annie Jacobsen was a passenger on the flight and described the incident in an article for "Women'sWallStreet.com."

"After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified," Jacobsen wrote.

When that flight landed, authorities detained the men, all Syrian, but released them. The passengers like Jacobsen were left feeling as though they had been terrorized and anti-terrorism analysts are still wondering what, if any purpose there was to the bizarre behavior by the Syrian men.

"What it represents is a type of warfare where the decentralization is so great that you have lots of people who have sympathy with the other side who just on a given day decide to do something and it may be something very small like the kind of thing that you are seeing" in the so-called probing attacks, Lind said.

"It makes us jittery. It increases their apparent power, it overloads our system trying to follow all of this stuff and make sense out of it."

In February 2002, The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported that an al Qaeda Internet publication referred to the 1989 article on fourth generation warfare and embraced it.

"'This new type of war presents significant difficulties for the Western war machine'" MEMRI quoted the al Qaeda publication as stating. The MEMRI report also quoted the al Qaeda article as claiming that fourth generation warfare tactics were used by Somali militiamen to defeat U.S. forces in a 1993 conflict.

"Fourth generation wars have already occurred and ... the superiority of the theoretically weaker party has already been proven; in many instances, nation-states have been defeated by stateless nations," the al Qaeda publication stated.
Posted on Sun, Aug. 15, 2004
Army on track to meet goal of re-enlisted soldiers
BY CHRIS VAUGHN
Knight Ridder Newspapers

FORT HOOD, Texas - (KRT) - Spc. Brian Harris made a cold calculation about his future in fatigues.
Then he signed the papers, raised his right hand and repeated the re-enlistment oath given by his platoon leader. He shook hands with the men from the 588th Engineer Battalion, posed for a picture and went back to work.

An Iraq war veteran, Harris weighed the probability of another long deployment before his initial enlistment would expire. He decided the best option was to re-up with a guarantee that he could move to Fort Lewis, Wash., near his hometown.

"I figured I would deploy again in the next year, so if I'm going to deploy, I wanted to deploy from home, and my wife can be close to home, too," Harris said.

The Army is defying the conventional wisdom that the Iraq war will empty its ranks, and it appears to be on track to meet its retention goals for early, midcareer and career-enlisted soldiers.

As of late July, the Army had re-enlisted 45,256 soldiers of the 56,100 it needs to meet its target this fiscal year, which ends in September. Short of an awful last two months, Army officials say they'll make their goal.

In a year of long deployments to Iraq, the scandal at Abu Ghraib prison and a decidedly bloody spring in which 278 service members died, retaining so many battle-tested corporals and sergeants is no small feat.

"In a way we're plagued by anecdotes where one soldier in a thousand is interviewed and complains that he can't wait to get out of the Army, so that means everybody must want out of the Army," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon. "That becomes the truth, but it isn't. We don't have any problem with retention."

The reasons, Army career counselors say, are many: an unsettling civilian economy, large bonuses, improved pay and combat itself.

As one soldier put it, a firefighter who never got to fight fires would be unlikely to keep riding the truck.
"I joined the Army to run around in the woods, blow things up and bite the heads off snakes," said Master Sgt. Jerry Johnson, who leads retention efforts in the 82nd Airborne Division.

"When I'm guarding something on post, when I'm doing book work or practicing map-reading, that's not exciting," he said. "That's not what I joined for. When I'm in a combat situation, I'm doing what I signed up to do."

The picture is not uniformly rosy. Plenty of soldiers are jumping out of uniform when given the opportunity.
The Army is straining to find fresh troops to rotate into Iraq and Afghanistan, and many experts believe that the Bush administration is close to breaking the Army and its reserves.

Close to half of the 135,000 troops in Iraq are reservists or members of the National Guard, and that proportion will increase in 2005.

The Army has tapped 5,600 former soldiers for recall into the active duty, and the service has had enough of a recruiting problem this year that it is sending many of its recruits into basic training before they want to go.

Thousands more soldiers are covered by a stop-loss order preventing them from leaving or retiring, a move that critics call a backdoor draft.

Lastly, there is some evidence that soldiers are retiring as soon as they hit the 20-year mark and become eligible for full retirement benefits.

Still, this year's re-enlistments are evidence that the exodus isn't overwhelming among the enlisted or the young officers.

Hilferty said the Army is losing 5.5 percent of its lieutenants and captains a year, significantly fewer than four years ago.

"We did think the Bosnia and Kosovo rotations in the late '90s would cause retention to go down," Hilferty said. "It didn't. The units who rotated through there had higher retention rates than those that didn't."

But Sgt. Maj. Mike Massey, the 4th Infantry Division's chief career counselor, said the Army's regular and long rotations around the globe may hurt it in the long run.

"A deployment helps retention," Massey said. "Back-to-backs won't."
Rested from his 12-month deployment to Iraq, Staff Sgt. Marcus Rose, 28, an 11-year Army veteran and the son of a career soldier, re-enlisted this month at Fort Hood for the "fourth or fifth" time.

"I've been around this my whole life," Rose said. "I'm used to the environment."
The 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment left Fort Polk, La., in March and April 2003, setting up a base of operations around Baghdad after the invasion. Month after month, the 4,300 soldiers stayed.

When their 12-month tour came up, they stayed longer still at the order of top commanders who needed the extra firepower for the violent coordinated uprisings of the spring.

It was July when the soldiers came home, 15 months after they left. Sixteen of them had been killed in action, 200 wounded.

The reaction?
"We go to war, soldiers deploy and re-enlistments go through the roof," said Staff Sgt. Mark Duffy, the senior career counselor in the regiment.

The regiment was given its objective months ago: re-sign 682 soldiers. It has delivered 966 so far.
It's been considerably tougher at the 4th Infantry Division, which returned from a yearlong deployment to Iraq in March.

The division, which has enlisted 88 percent of its target of 2,812 soldiers, is on pace to get 100 percent, but it hasn't been easy, Massey said.

"We are having to work harder than ever before," Massey said. "We're in a serious selling mode. That selling mode is the only thing that is taking us this far."

The 82nd Airborne, a division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., that has ranked among the most deployed since 2001, has met 92 percent of its objective.

For soldiers with 10 years of service or more, the division has met 105 percent of its goal; for soldiers on their first enlistment, 89 percent.

The Army gave a boost to retention efforts this year by releasing more than $100 million in bonuses.
Junior soldiers are pocketing lump sums of $5,000 to $10,000 and don't pay a dime in taxes if they re-enlist in a combat zone such as Iraq or Afghanistan.

Few soldiers with more than 10 years of service are eligible for them because the Army figures that if they've been in that long, they're likely to stay until the 20-year mark anyway.

What attracted many of the 2nd Armored troops, Duffy said, was the bonus and a guarantee that the soldiers could stay at Fort Polk for several more years, an offer made only at certain installations.

Allowing soldiers to stay at their bases eliminated many concerns, Duffy said, because families don't like moving as frequently as the Army usually requires.

Johnson, from the 82nd Airborne, said the bonuses are also adding to the length of re-enlistments.
"The soldiers would have enlisted anyway, but they'd probably only take a two-year commitment," he said. "The bonuses help them make a four-year commitment."

Sometimes, though, money isn't a factor. Spc. Bryan Murphy, 23, a Maryland native, re-enlisted - this time for four years instead of three - because he hadn't met his goal of making sergeant.

"I'm doing this for my son and to prove to myself that I could do something with my life," Murphy said.
Massey, from the 4th Infantry Division, said people would be surprised how far a simple bit of praise and appreciation of sacrifices goes with soldiers.

"They get that warm and fuzzy," he said. "They think, `Hey, they appreciate me. They value me.' If no one in their platoon or company ever tells them they're a good soldier and a valuable part of the Army, then they'll leave because they figure no one cares if they do."

A series of pay raises over the last four years has also contributed to re-enlistments, soldiers say. Since 2000, pay has increased about 25 percent, and housing allowances have gone up as well.

For example, a sergeant stationed at Fort Hood with a wife and two children earns $2,130 a month in base pay, plus $784 a month for housing: $34,968 annually. While deployed in Iraq, that sergeant would earn an extra $475 a month and pay no taxes.

The bonuses and pay raises, as well as an economy that is still recovering from recession, have all made the Army more appealing, soldiers said.

"I gotta tell you, I love all the negative press on the economy," Johnson said.
Maj. Ronald Elliott, a spokesman for the 2nd Armored, said his son reconsidered leaving the Army after returning from Iraq, where he served with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

"You're going to see those soldiers who will get out anyway, regardless of the deployment pace," Elliott said. "But the greater percentage see the cause as greater than their individual concerns."

The Wall Street Journal:
Mother of All Blackouts
Now there's a new threat to prepare for--an EMP blast that could black out the nation.

Saturday, August 14, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT
Today marks the anniversary of the blackout that shut down much of the Northeast a year ago. Anyone who lived through that power outage remembers the annoyance of life without lights, air conditioning, TVs, computers and all the other electronic equipment on which a modern society depends. Now, imagine a blackout that lasts for months, or years.

That was the job of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the U.S. from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack. The commission, created in 2000 to examine the possibility of EMP attack and its aftermath, just delivered a report to Congress. All we can say is, we hope someone in Washington is paying attention.

An EMP attack occurs when an enemy sets off a nuclear explosion high in the Earth's atmosphere. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the blast destroys the electronics and satellites in its field of vision. For a detonation above the Midwest, that could mean the entire continental U.S.

No American would necessarily die in the initial attack, but what comes next is potentially catastrophic. The pulse would wipe out most electronics and telecommunications, including the power grid. Millions could die for want of modern medical care or even of starvation since farmers wouldn't be able to harvest crops and distributors wouldn't be able to get food to supermarkets. Commissioner Lowell Wood calls EMP attack a "giant continental time machine" that would move us back more than a century in technology to the late 1800s.

The Commission notes that little in the private sector is hardened to withstand EMP attack and that the military has only limited protection. After an EMP assault, the nation would be highly vulnerable to secondary attack by conventional forces or a biological weapon.

China and Russia have the capability to launch an EMP weapon--and have let us know it. In May 1999, during NATO's bombing of the former Yugoslavia, members of the Russian Duma, meeting with U.S. congressmen to discuss the Balkans war, pointedly noted that a Russian EMP attack would paralyze the U.S. China recently published an article on EMP in a Chinese-language technical journal. To make sure the U.S. got the message, the article appeared in English.

But it's a relatively unsophisticated EMP weapon in the hands of terrorists that really scares the Commission. All it would take is one nuclear warhead attached to a Scud missile launched from a barge off the U.S. coast to shut down much of the country.

The Commission offers a series of recommendations for reducing U.S. vulnerability. It calls for better intelligence, particularly in coastal waters. Also needed are "vigorous interdiction and interception efforts" such as missile defense. Critical components of civilian infrastructure--especially the electrical power grid--need to be EMP-hardened. Most new units can be hardened for 1% to 3% of cost if done at the time of design and manufacture. Hardening existing systems can cost 10 times as much.

The EMP study, which came out the same week as the 9/11 Commission's report, got little media attention. It deserves more.

Aide: Bush to announce relocation plans for up to 70,000 troops

By Jon R. Anderson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, August 15, 2004
President Bush this week will announce plans to pull up to 70,000 U.S. troops out of Europe and Asia as part of a massive overhaul of U.S. forces overseas, according to a White House official.

Bush is expected to announce the changes Monday at a campaign speech to the Convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars in Cincinnati.

Currently, there are about 106,000 active-duty military members based in Europe.
About 70,000 of them are stationed in Germany, which is expected to take the lion's share of cuts, the official said. More than 15,000 U.S. troops based in Europe currently are deployed to Iraq, with an additional 15,000 having just returned from combat duty.

Another 100,000 troops are based in the Pacific, with main troop hubs in South Korea, Okinawa and mainland Japan.
"Next week, the president will be talking about new initiatives regarding the military," the White House official said. The initiatives, the aide said, are designed to "improve our capability to defend ourselves and our allies while easing the burden on the military and their families."

First Armored Division and 1st Infantry Division - which form the bulk of the Army's some 60,000 troops in Europe - are expected to relocate to the States as part of the overhaul. As part of the restructuring, some 100,000 family members and Defense Department civilians will return to the States as well, the White House official said.

Remaining forces in Europe are expected to be consolidated around the Ramstein military hub in western Germany and the Army's sophisticated training ranges in the Bavarian region of southeastern Germany.

A mobile infantry force equipped with the new light-armored Stryker vehicles is expected to be assigned to Grafenwöhr, Germany, where the Army is building facilities for a brigade-sized unit. Aviano Air Base in northern Italy also is expected to play a greater role for both Army and Air Force units.

Meanwhile, the Navy's European headquarters, located in London since the World War II, will be moved to Naples, which already is home to 6th Fleet, according to a report Saturday in London's Financial Times.

Naval Forces Europe spokesman Capt. Gordon Hume, reached last week, wouldn't comment on any pending plans for the Navy.
U.S. European Commander Marine Gen. James Jones has proposed under his "transformation plan" that those units cut from the permanent rolls in Western Europe would be replaced by smaller rotational forces that would be deployed to "lily pad" bases in Eastern Europe and Africa.

With operations in Iraq and Afghanistan already stretching the military thin, it's unclear how many stateside forces would be available for rotational duty to EUCOM.

Regardless, for more than a year U.S. military officials have been scouting potential bases in Eastern Europe, notably Poland and Romania, as well as several countries in northern Africa. The idea, Jones has argued, is to position forces closer to potential hot spots.

Jones has said any new bases will be relatively small in size and population - although capable of expanding as needs arise - and generally will not accommodate family members.

The proposed changes would not involve the building of large, major operations bases, such as Ramstein, but rather would rely on smaller, Spartan facilities to launch strikes against terrorists and provide austere training grounds.

Joe March
Director, Public Relations
The American Legion National Headquarters
700 N. Pennsylvania St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Tel: 317-630-1253
Cell: 317-748-1926
Fax: 317-630-1368