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Revised uniform policy

I read with great interest the letter from Chief Warrant Officer 4 Paul M. Steele [“Wear policy,” April 7] regarding the Army Combat Uniform wear policy.

Steele writes “the ACU wear policy states that ‘the ACU will not be worn for commercial travel.’” This is outdated. The original policy, given in All Army Activities 078/2005 and dated April 20, 2005, prohibited wear of ACUs for commercial travel except for the rest and recuperation program.

This wear policy was reversed in ALARACT 218/2005, dated Oct. 26, 2005: “This policy allows commanders and leaders at all levels to make command decisions to allow soldiers to wear utility uniforms during commercial travel, based on the mission and threat … Soldiers may wear the ACUs for commercial travel, unless otherwise directed by the commander.”

The R&R program exception was removed in the November 2005 ALARACT due to the success of the R&R program, i.e., the wonderful treatment of soldiers in ACUs by the general public.

I agree with Steele about the wear of the ACU when other uniforms are more appropriate.

Maj. Michael S. Owens

Fort Hood, Texas

LOSING FAITH

Today I lost my faith in the Army promotion system. This is my case.

I have served for 19½ yrs in the Army as a 15T (UH-60 helicopter repairer). In this time, I have done eight deployments, including five combat tours (Panama, Somalia and three tours to Iraq) and three other tours (Haiti, Kuwait and Bosnia). I also have completed two tours to Korea.

I have done all the jobs that I should have done by now in my career, which include platoon sergeant, quality control noncommissioned officer in charge, flight instructor, standardization instructor, phase team leader, floor supervisor and crew chief.

I have never received a bad NCO evaluation report or ever been in any trouble that would show any disgrace to me or the Army.

So how is it that when I have done nothing wrong and everything that the Army has asked of me, I get passed over for promotion to E-7? I ask this because as I am overlooked, there is another E-6 who has two Article 15s (which caused him to lose rank) and not as many deployments as me, and he is selected on his first look.

It seems to me that in this day and age of numerous deployments, they would want to keep those who have stuck with them and who are willing to stay with them for as long as possible. Or is the old saying true: “To move up you have to screw up”?

Could someone please shed some light on this subject for me and tell me how we are choosing our leaders of tomorrow? Or is it just time for this old sergeant to move on and leave behind the Army he loves?

Staff Sgt. Robert W. Price II

Fort Carson, Colo.

BLUE-STAR HEROES

Did you know that within the walls of the Vacaville Convalescent & Rehabilitation Center, in Vacaville, Calif., is an unsung group of people? They call themselves the Blue Star Grandmothers, and I call them heroes.

They are veterans and spouses of veterans from past wars. They gave of themselves and their loved ones when called upon by our great nation and they have again joined the fight. They are armed with their own WMDs: weapons of mass delight. They use them to bombard our soldiers with care packages and letters from the home front.

We thank them for remembering us and letting us know they care. We thank them for connecting with us when they did not have to.

We have names for people like them, and our families. We call them our fifth rank, our silent rank. It is because of them that we can continue to carry on.

Sgt. Anthony J. Flores

Balad, Iraq

VOLUNTEERS IN VIETNAM

Regarding the March 24 letter from retired Capt. Terrance Shatto saying “we got the job done with draftees during Vietnam”: Contrary to popular belief, two-thirds of the Vietnam-era armed forces were volunteers, and only one-third were draftees.

This is in dramatic contrast to World War II, when two-thirds of the force was draftees and only one-third volunteers.

Lt. Col. Lewis Sorley (ret.)

Potomac, Md.

INSUFFICIENT EQUIPMENT

I am tired of the bad decisions being made by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Program Executive Officer Soldier and their staffs.

I am calling on all soldiers to call their senators and congressmen and let them know that we are not getting the equipment we need and want.

The Army is wasting money on insufficient equipment that it will need to scrap in the next five to 10 years.

The Army Combat Uniform is already a dead product. Any soldier who has tried to keep noise discipline with ACUs knows it is near impossible. When you need to get into a pocket or you rub against a tree you hear the loud ripping sound of the Velcro opening.

Should I even say anything about the color or pattern? All-purpose in what environment? I guess if we invade the moon we will be able to blend in. I don’t understand how ACU beat out Multicam.

On the issue over the M4 and M16, the Army needs to appoint a team of officers and noncommissioned officers who have been to combat in the last decade and have an idea of what the Army needs to replace this 40-year-old technology. I will give some great ideas: the Heckler & Koch 416, SIG 556, FNH (SCAR), Magpul Masada, and Patriot Ordnance Factory P308 or P415.

I read that the infantry branch and Program Executive Office Soldier could not agree on the future rifle for the Army. It makes me wonder if it was because PEO Soldier had the wrong idea of what was really needed in the field. It angers me when I hear the Army has decided to spend another $300 million on a weapon system that in most people’s eyes is due to retire.

Maybe I am naïve, but if you gave me the above weapons, I would have an answer for a new replacement in 90 days. I would be able to put each weapon through the most extreme conditions possible and shoot enough rounds to melt the barrels.

I think we rely on lab studies too much. Put me in Antarctica, the Kuwait desert and a Florida swamp for a month and you will get some good field tests.

I ask everyone, please let’s make this a top priority and stop ignoring the problem. Look what they have done to the Asymmetric Warfare Group by taking away their H&K 416s. I know there are many soldiers like myself who keep waiting for the brass to fight it out. If we don’t speak up now and let our voices be heard, only God knows how long this battle will go on and how many millions will be wasted.

Staff Sgt. Christopher R. Tallant

Fort Bragg, N.C.

NCO BREAKDOWN

I noticed Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph E. Veppert’s letter [“Retract E-6 change,” April 7] and completely agree. The current automatic promotions are hurting our Army for years to come by bequeathing future soldiers a severely weakened NCO Corps, which will later become a weakened Senior NCO Corps.

However, I disagree that the policy itself is folly. The policy stems from the fact that we are hemorrhaging NCOs, to the point where people echelons above my paygrade have decided they have no choice but to promote weak leaders and hope that they will get better.

But this is a symptom, not the problem itself. The problem is the slow breakdown of our military over the course of the Iraq occupation. Our military is designed to defend our country, not to indefinitely occupy a country where we are not welcome.

With no draft, soldiers who are forced to repeat combat tours with not enough dwell time — extended in some cases as long as 18 months — are leaving the Army as soon as they are done being stop-lossed. The policies in question are simply reactions to that.

I, too, would hope our senior leadership would reconsider its folly. But I place the buck higher. I hope that our senior leadership would reconsider the overall folly of continuing the Iraq occupation.

Sgt. Selena D. Coppa

Darmstadt, Germany

ARMY VALUE: OWN UP TO IT

In response to the March 31 News Breaks story about Lynndie England, [“Lynndie England apologizes, blasts media”] I am again outraged at yet another classic example of an American who refuses to take responsibility for her actions. She stated, “If the media hadn’t exposed the pictures to that extent, then thousands of lives would have been saved.”

She is directly and solely at fault for her actions. She should take some responsibility instead of blaming others for her mistakes.

Master Sgt. Jon Dillin (ret.)

Brick, N.J.