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Letters

HUMANS HAVE LIMITS

I have been privileged to be both a soldier and a physician serving in the Army for more than three decades. I now serve as an Army Reserve physician and a full-time civilian medical educator.

From the very first days of training, I reinforce a basic truth in my new physician graduates’ mind-sets that:

1. They are human.

2. They are entitled to be human.

3. Humans are, by their inherent nature, subject to frailties.

These fundamental truths have kept many a young physician from a complete mental and professional breakdown when they lose a patient or make a tragic patient-care error.

As soldiers, we are expected to do extraordinary tasks and endure almost unbearable hardships. But the fundamental truth remains, that as brother and sister professional warriors, we too remain human, have the right to be human and are subject to human frailties.

The simple acknowledgment of this truth throughout the commands will relieve some of the needless self-imposed burdens of survivor guilt, combat losses, collateral damage and the other atrocities of war.

We volunteer to serve our nation as no other citizen does. We are indeed a special, and at times elite, force performing in accordance with our nation’s needs and political agendas. We are proud soldiers, but we are human warriors, not machines. Celebrate the wonderment of being part of the human family, push your talent to the limits, but understand there are indeed limits to being human.

Col. David W. Towle

Watertown, N.Y.

IT’S TIME TO END ‘DON’T ASK’

The June 8 Army Times editorial [“Don’t rush ‘don’t ask’”] seems to be an implicit endorsement of banning homosexuals from serving in the military.

The editorial staff is certainly allowed to express this view, but I am optimistic that President Barack Obama and the Pentagon have a view that seeks to promote service in the military by allowing all who are willing to serve to do so.

The Army Times statement that allowing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender personnel to openly serve is a “distraction” serves to insult those LGBT currently proudly in uniform, and their families, especially those who have been injured or killed in combat. It also serves as a continuing excuse of refusing to bring the military into the 21st century.

The editorial implies that when there are no more wars nor domestic troubles, then would be the perfect time to discuss overturning “don’t ask.”

However, the opposite argument seems to hold more water. We are now at a time of two major combat operations, as well as our other global and domestic missions, when we need to expand our force strength. Now is the time to stop kicking out qualified personnel of all ranks simply because of sexual orientation.

I look forward to our policies catching up with where the American people already are, and those of the “old guard” being brought kicking and screaming into the present (as usual).

Former Capt. Phillip Gilfus

Fayetteville, N.C.

SURVIVOR BENEFITS FIGHT

Just wanted to thank you for the wonderful editorial regarding the Survivor Benefit Plan/Dependency and Indemnity Compensation offset [“End unfair offsets,” June 22]. I am one of those widows whose husband contributed to the Survivor Benefit Plan and paid into it each payday so I would benefit for half of his retirement after his death.

He was also a 100-percent disabled veteran and received VA compensation for 10 years. When he passed away, I had to choose between the VA compensation benefit (tax free) and the Survivor Benefit, although they are two different benefits. It’s outrageous that lawmakers and the government are able to delay benefits to survivors and disabled retirees when so much is wasted on less-deserving programs. Hopefully, we will get justice before all of us are gone.

Renee Snow

Vacaville, Calif.

TAKE RESPONSIBiLITY

I agree with the article in the June 1 issue of Army Times that there are some problems with absentee voting in the Army [“Plan in works to allow online absentee voting”]. While some problems can be solved by Defense Department intervention, soldiers must take some responsibility themselves.

For last year’s presidential election, I registered to vote in February to ensure I had time to vote in the primary as well as the general election. Every week, our Unit Voting Assistance Officer, who is also my platoon sergeant, went in front of the company formation and implored soldiers, “Come see me to register to vote, don’t wait until the last minute.” Until the end of October, there were not many individuals seeking information/assistance on registering. When soldiers came to the UVAO at the last minute, he had them fill out a Voter Registration Card and an absentee ballot and gave them the appropriate address to mail it to.

While I do not know how many of these ballots were accepted and how many were rejected, I do know if these individuals had taken the time to register early, there is a much greater chance that their vote would be accepted. It is time that we start to re-emphasize personal responsibility instead of transferring it to the military.

Staff Sgt. David A. Copeland

Vilseck, Germany

The real ‘stupid rules’

I just read the “stupid rules” article [“No brainer,” June 1], and I have to say I am appalled at some of the simple-minded answers and complaints that were written. I mean, yes, some of the complaints such as the PT belt thing and the umbrella rule are totally ridiculous, but a two-star general [Maj. Gen. Michael Oates] gives you the gift of sending complaints directly to the guy that can fix it, and these guys are [wasting] their golden ticket on the umbrella rule?

With all the major problems in the Army that ranking officers are oblivious to, these guys want to complain that they can’t have a pit bull on post?

If I had a golden ticket to bring any problem to light, I would write a book. I’d write a book about things like the fact that our “train up” for deployment was nothing short of an embarrassment to the war-fighter profession. Or maybe that fact that most of the training I have seen in recent years is so safe that it has lost any real value and we end up crawling through the dirt, literally saying, “Bang, bang! I got you!”

Or maybe the fact that in many units marksmanship is not even a required skill. If you can’t shoot, it’s OK, you’re still a warm body that can fill a slot on paper.

Let’s not forget things such as vehicle upgrades that are done with no input taken from the guys that actually use the vehicles, resulting in worthless or dysfunctional gear. Or my personal favorite — the contractors that sit on their butt and charge Uncle Sam ungodly amounts of money.

I applaud Maj. Gen. Oates for taking such action in asking the troops directly what the issues are. I think every unit, from battalion on up, should have some form of complaint system, organized by issue. Done correctly, I think a system like this could streamline the Army and up unit efficiency severalfold.

Spc. Robert Martin

Valencia, Calif.