Letter From US Sgt Major To Senator Warner......what a read.

[cthrumatrix]

From Clifton P. O'Brien
Command Sergeant Major
United States Army

Dear Senator Warner,

My name is Clifton P. O'Brien II and I serve as the Regimental Command Sergeant Major of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) based at FT Campbell, Ky. We are the only Special Operations Aviation Regiment in the US Military and we have played a major role in every conflict since Operation "Urgent Fury" in Grenada. I am very proud of the 160th and the soldiers that serve here. I am a career soldier with 25 years of service. I have served 11 years in the 160th and other tours include the 82d Airborne, 101st Airborne, 2d Infantry Division, Miltary District of Washington, Recruiting Command, 8th Infantry Division and the 25th Infantry Division. Last month I submitted my retirement paperwork and will end my career at 26 years instead of 30. I could easily stay to 30, but I choose not to do so as I will try to explain in this letter.

snip

Listed below are the areas that is hurting recruiting, retention AND our credibility:

TRUST IN LEADERSHIP

This applies to our elected representatives. Many feel we are simply pawns with little value until we are needed. Promises are made, and quickly broken based on political climate. Unneeded programs are pushed and money not used to take care of the force. Pork Barrel politics are evident. Do we need what we did 20 years ago? Probably not. But we do need good, high quality soldiers and individuals with the desire to serve and make a career out of defending our nation and our interest.

Every time a program or benefit that was promised is cut it damages the credibility of our leaders. "Implied Promises" are a verbal contract, not written and we all understand that. But a contract is a contract and the old saying "you are only as good as your word" applies here. Break enough promises and people will walk away.
snip
http://www.rense.com/general39/letter.htm

It goes on to talk about each of the below...full paragraphs:
--------------------------------------------------------------
- Quality of life
- Medical & Dental benefits
- Pay
- Retirement

I don't think the people that serve in the military will be "givens" in 2004.

What a letter...I would like to see Warner's reply...better yet....how about Bush's?

[jiacinto]

1. And watch him be courtmarshalled

or punished.

[Tinoire]

10. Whatever for? He has every right to write that letter.

He's in full compliance with the UCMJ. They can't touch him.

[joanski01]

2. Unfortunately, they will

probably just tell him to "shut up", or you won't get your pension.

[chaumont58]

6. I don't think they can touch him

Anything that can even be perceived as punishment would be news the Bushies don't want right now. He's safe. When Hackworth did something like this back in '72(I think), he was actually worried about his life being taken. Short of that, this man is untouchable.

[5thGenDemocrat]

15. For writing a letter to a Senator on the Military Affairs Committee?

There isn't an officer in the US Army with the guts (or the sheer stupidity) to take on a US Senator. The military hates it when mere congressmen poke into its affairs -- there's NO WAY OBrien gets into trouble for writing to a senior Senator. His superiors won't like it much (and a CSM with 27 years in effectively outranks most officers, anyhow), but he's bulletproof, so to speak.
John
I wish the Sergeant Major the best -- he sounds like a first-rate NCO.

[cthrumatrix]

3. next move....shrub to outsource the military

"My son in law told me " I'm not staying in the Army because they make promises they don't keep, they say you will get this, then they take it away". We've cut the Army by more than 40%, stagnated pay, cut funding at every level, increased deployment time and took away promised programs and benefits. Then we wonder why our recruiting and retention is low."

http://www.rense.com/general39/letter.htm

[Malikshah]

14. And then History Rears Its Ugly Head...

Don't think it will happen in just that way but let's take a brief look at the history of empires


Any Empire worth its salt -- once it has expanded as far as it can or its leadership has become weak--ends up outsourcing its military

In other words,

They go from using the citizens of the "empire" to using "peripheral" peoples to fight their wars and to protect their leadership.

The Romans did it with the Germanic tribes
The Abbasids (Muslim dynasty during the "golden age") did it with the Turkish nomads
The Safavids (Persian empire during Ottoman period) did it with the Greeks, Armenians etc.

The Mamluks *Were* a slave-soldier empire
The Ottomans did it with the Janissary corps...

Of course--there is an argument that we've already done it here in the US with a military that is largely made up of "peripheral" peoples -- in this case, folks from the "socio-economic periphery"
(Before the flame wars begin--I was raised in a military family -- w/ 3 siblings in the Army and a father who did his 30 etc. and various tours in Vietnam, Gulf War I, etc.)

The Republican "hold" on the military needs to be shaken off--but it will only happen when the military rank and file realize that they've been diddled this time around.

[NashVegas]

4. Some Thoughts

1. Has this letter been independently verified? Not to be insulting, but this IS Rense we're talking about, and I've seen a good number of things there that left me with the feeling that site's run by crackpots.

2. If the letter is legitimate, it should be used as Exhibit A about the state of our country and our countrymen and women. It's 'all about the money' is a state we've known for 2 decades. It should be no surprise that same attitude has bled over to the military.

[Mairead]

9. Hackworth seems to think it's okay

[GOPFighter]

5. Bush couldn't care less.

Part of his economic agenda is to raise unemployment so high that peole will beg for any job, even minimum wage, even the military during wartime. The poor only exist to enrich the rich and to protect the rich. Kinda like fuedalism...

[Cha]

7. Wow! This letter is priceless and just what I've heard that they

are feeling in the military!

Thank you, matrix!

I hope all goes well with him! Too bad he can't hang in there until a Dem gets in and hopefully does right by our Military. :kick:

[MHS Chips]

8. The letter is at leas t4 years old.

He says in the letter that General Reimer is on the Joint Chiefs. General Reimer retired 4 years ago & was replaced by General Shinseki who just retired this summer.

Like a lot of internet email, ya gotta do a little research & e caveat emptor.

Having said that, a lot of what he writes is still applicable.

[Tinoire]

11. Hmmmm - Good observation but I have another

((and please forgive me, I'm a linguist by formation so very, very much analyze words and sentences...))

Letter is currently posted on front page of Special Operations.Com
http://www.specialoperations.com/Focus/letter.html

If you re-read the letter, you'll notice that he doesn't say Reimer is a JCS. He doesn't bring up Reimer until the next paragraph and only to mention Reimer's famous 1998 quote:

"If we do not do something, we run the risk of a return to the hollow Army and a risk of not being able to execute our national strategy."<1> -- General Dennis J. Reimer, 1998


It could also be that he saw Reimer speaking on C-Span. Reimer is still making the rounds as director of the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism and also as Vice Chair for the Committee on Army Science and Technology for Homeland Defense.

http://www4.nas.edu/webcr.nsf/0/f2fe1032d3bac04285256d56006c782b?OpenDocument

On edit: And damn my bad manners. Didn't even notice you were new - Welcome to DU! :toast:

[ShaneGR]

12. Yeah, it's written six years ago

The hearing on CSPAN, with the Joint Chiefs he names, took place in early 1998.

[newyawker99]

13. Hi MHS Chips!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: