|
First, this is fucked up. There is a way this could be ended, but Bush won't allow it.
Yes, folks, it's time for a Five Minute Block of Instruction on Common Table of Allowances 50-900, "Clothing and Individual Equipment."
CTA 50-900 goes along with CTA 50-909, "Field and Garrison Furnishings and Equipment" and CTA 50-970, "Expendable/Durable Items," in making every unit a happy home.
I'm sorry to sound like a smartass here, but understanding the provisions of this CTA is crucial to knowing what the hell is going on here.
CTA 50-900 is broken into two major parts, individual issue and organizational issue. Individual issue is also called Clothing Bag. When I left the service in 1994, in the Clothing Bag for males were:
UTILITY UNIFORMS
Two sets temperate-wear BDUs
Two sets Hot Weather BDUs
Two BDU caps
Two pair combat boots
Four brown t-shirts
Six pair brown undershorts, soldier's choice of briefs or boxers
Six pair black wool socks
One belt with black buckle
Two field jackets
One pile cap
One duffel bag
SERVICE UNIFORMS (also known as dress greens)
One AG 344 service jacket
Two pair AG 344 service pants
Two garrison caps
Two long-sleeve shirts
Two short-sleeve shirts
One pair low quarters
One black necktie
Two white t-shirts
One overcoat
One belt with brass buckle
Two nameplates
One pair "US" insignia
One branch of service insignia
The female issue differed in the service uniform category--in there were two pair slacks, two skirts, a neck tab, two different kinds of service caps and a purse.
That's your Individual Issue. You get this in basic training. There are some items on the individual-issue list that are specific--for instance, most soldiers will never receive an MP brassard (the big leather armband that says MP on it that MPs wear) or an MP badge because they have no need for them. But they're in CTA 50-900.
Organizational issue is handled by the permanent-party unit you belong to. The list of all the crap that CAN be in here is long and you won't ever get all of it. Most soldiers have a sleeping bag. Most soldiers have a helmet. These days, most soldiers are at least supposed to have body armor. There are several duty uniforms on this list--mechanics' coveralls, flight suits, cooks' whites, desert camouflage. These must be turned in when no longer needed--in the case of the desert BDUs, that's as soon as they redeploy because someone else needs those uniforms.
(A sick little story about desert BDUs: My unit in Berlin sent four soldiers to Desert Storm. When the war ended, three of them came back within weeks, but my guy, who we'll call Bob, didn't get to come home. We called the headquarters Bob was assigned to and got him on the phone. "They won't let me come home. I don't have a desert uniform." You remember all the television footage of soldiers getting off airliners after Desert Storm, and it being just this sea of tan uniforms? Well...whoever in fuck was in charge of redeployment didn't want anyone showing up on television in a green uniform because it would have indicated that we weren't quite as prepared to go to war as Bush 41 said we were. So you had to have a desert uniform to come home. Bob spent the whole war at CENTCOM Headquarters Forward writing the daily intel summary which was presented to General Schwarzkopf. He didn't need a desert uniform because he never left the compound the entire time he was there. But they wouldn't let him go home without one. We put out a message to the intel community: Help us rescue our friend by loaning us a set of desert BDUs; you'll get them back just as soon as we get Bob back. Someone at Fort Meade had a set, and he sent them to us. (The commander of 3rd MI in Korea sent us a message, "if you want, I'll just fly an Improved Guardrail V (a Beechcraft King Air B200 with a LOT of electronics in the back) down there and get him," but we figured that was pushing it. We also knew the commander of 3rd Mi was very fond of Bob's skills, and we were afraid we wouldn't get him back.) The set we got was big enough to hold Bob and a friend, but they did what they were supposed to. We got Bob back intact, Bob sent the borrowed uniform back, all was well...until the Army sent Bob a bill because he didn't turn in the borrowed uniform.)
Back to the lesson: Soldiers are "pecuniarily liable for all organizational issue." Which is Army talk for "you break it, you buy it."
The Report of Survey is used to prevent soldiers from paying for battlefield losses. It works very simply: When a soldier loses or damages something, he can do one of three things: buy one just like it and turn that in, fill out a Statement of Charges and pay for it, or execute a Report of Survey. In the case of something you damaged on purpose or that's worth more than you make in a month, the Report of Survey is mandatory. The form is filled out by a Surveying Officer, who makes an investigation and recommends that either the soldier be held liable for the loss or that he not be held liable for it. In the case of these soldiers, were I the surveying officer I would write something like "SM (servicemember) participated in firefight 5km east of al-Ramadi, Iraq. SM was hit by three rifle bullets fired by Iraqi national and shrapnel from detonating mortar rounds. SM's uniform coat was pierced by the expended Iraqi ordnance, torn into strips by US Army medical personnel who used it as a field expedient tourniquet, and soaked with blood from SM's wounds. Recommend SM not be held pecuniarily liable." Problem is, Bush has kinda screwed the pooch plus the troops on this one: between tax cuts and the expense of this war, there's no money to replace the stuff that's getting shot up, so they almost have to charge these guys for the shit they destroyed in the war.
Now, the FUNNIEST report of survey I ever saw was one done on one of my guys at Fort Campbell. We were on a corps-level FTX. Fat Jack McMull, the corps commander, came up to Campbell to watch the proceedings. Fat Jack enjoyed driving himself around in the field. Unfortunately, on this exercise, one thing led to another..."SM's entire organizational issue was destroyed because I parked my jeep on it in the middle of the night. Recommend corps commander be held pecuniarily liable. /S/ John McMull, LTG, USA, Commanding."
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
