Cuts, Cuts, and More Cuts

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel 
(original photo from military.com - linked below)

I just read the article "Hagel Can't Offer Hope in Budget Cuts" from military.com and it's full of the same depressing news that I've been hearing for a long time. Congress can't get their act together and pass a balanced budget. He stated that the furloughs "which have forced a 20 percent pay cut on most of the military's civilian workforce, probably will continue next year and might worsen!"

I am now dealing with this on a weekly basis. There are a lot of areas on post that are just closed or have reduced staff certain days of the week. The job they need to do doesn't go away, so it just gets backed up. Now these civilians have a 20% pay cut and a bigger workload. It doesn't just cause them problems, but it causes problems for the soldiers as well. Now places can be busier than ever because of the shorter hours and soldiers have less time to access these services. My mother-in-law now has to deal with a paycheck that is 20% smaller...and that's not an easy thing to do. In addition to the financial pain and the longer wait times, it's causing pretty low moral from everyone affected.

The whole thing just sucks! You know who it doesn't suck for? Congress...they don't have their pay reduced by 20%, they don't have to deal with any of the issues they are causing. This is some pretty disappointing news. Of course the military budget has to be cut, we are finishing up two wars and we are downsizing...but there has to be a better way.

**Update** It's Friday here on Ft. Lewis and at some places it seems like a ghost town. Waller Hall where everyone processes in and out usually has a full parking lot, today there are open spaces everywhere you look. This isn't the only place like this on post, these furloughs are affecting the ability of the soldiers stationed here...everything has to be put off until later.

Medal of Honor - SFC Petry

 Medal of Honor recipient SFC Petry

I had the opportunity to listen to SFC Petry tell his story yesterday at our battalion town hall meeting. There are many soldiers who have been deployed and paid the ultimate sacrifice. There are also many that have been injured while serving. I'm currently in a WTB (Warrior Transition Battalion) which is full of broken soldiers who have injuries from physical to mental. SFC Petry is a ranger that has been deployed multiple times, seen soldiers die and get injured. He was injured and ended up earning the medal of honor while trying to throw an enemy grenade back after it landed next to his soldiers. He lost his right hand in the attempt and now wears a prosthetic right hand. You can read all about him at http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/petry/.

He shared his story about his life both before and after getting injured. He is a humble guy who really wants to help out others. During his speech, he mentioned something that really stuck with me. He was visiting a couple other wounded warriors at a hospital and said a gentleman came up to him and thanked him for his service. SFC Petry has a prosthetic right hand now, and that same gentleman mentioned something about the sacrifice SFC Petry has made and then went on about his business. SFC Petry said he has come a long way and can get pretty much everything done along with his prosthetic hand. He also got shot in the legs and those wounds still constantly hurt him today unlike his prosthetic hand. The couple of wounded warriors that he was visiting during this process both looked normal on the outside, but they had suffered bullet wounds that tore up their insides. They were both in pain constantly and one had a colostomy. You couldn't see the bag that held his feces because it was under his shirt. SFC Petry said that there are a lot of us that don't have wounds you can see, but just like the constant pain in his legs, these soldier are dealing with pain in some sort or another.

All of us in the WTB can relate to this message. This happens to be my case. I didn't get deployed and I may look normal on the outside, but I'm in quite a bit of constant pain on the inside because of my issues. Hopefully others will remember that even if the wound isn't visible, a lot of us are still dealing with injuries and pain all the time.

SFC Petry elected to stay in the service and is still contributing everyday even with his prosthetic right hand and the constant pain in his legs that nobody sees. It was an honor to meet him and hear his story.

When All Else Fails...Become a War Hero!

I was looking over my last few posts and they have been a little negative. Either about our government or the army. So this one is going to be a little more positive! An old co-worker of mine when I worked in the newspaper business posted an article on facebook that made me curious, so I had to check it out.

The article is titled "The Rock 'n' Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero". The title itself was interesting enough for me to check out, but there was another reason...the person it was about, is a guy who grew up in the town of Poulsbo...not too far away from where I grew up. The article is about a guy named Jason Everman who not only was kicked out of one band right before they made it big, but two bands right before they exploded! The two bands in question are local bands from Seattle that I also love, but had never heard this story. Jason Everman was kicked out of both Nirvana and then Soundgarden right before they made it in the music business.

Most people would probably give up and live in a depressed state for the rest of their lives I imagine. All the "what ifs" would haunt you forever. This guy instead took a U-turn and decided to join the army. He went to Ft. Benning for basic training (like me). He loved it so much and had the drive to not only become an army ranger, but then special forces. He was in Afghanistan and Iraq and ended up being a decorated war hero. The story is amazing and you should take the time to read it by clicking on the link above!

Now Our Government is Censoring it's own Soldiers

This kind of pissed me off when I read the headline that stated "US Military Blocks Access to The Guardian Website for Troops Around the World". After reading the story I had to check out The Guardian website for myself. It's just your typical news website, but because it published some stories that our government does not like, it gets put on the blacklist. This is something that one would expect to see the Chinese government doing or perhaps the North Korean government...not the U.S. government! I mean we are the land of the free and the home of the brave right? Our soldiers fight for that freedom, but they don't deserve their own freedom on the internet. They only get to see what the government censors decide is OK for viewing. That is not freedom folks! The comments after the story state exactly what I'm thinking.

Communist governments and dictatorships control the flow of information to control their people. Our government is starting to do the same thing. I am seeing this more and more all the time. It starts with something small and just keeps happening more and more. I used to think those who always complain about our mainstream media filtering content were nut jobs with crazy conspiracy theories...but after being overseas and having my eyes opened a bit, I'm not so sure now.