Guarding Accuracy

[“Baghdad, USA,” February 2006] was well-written and informative, but it should be noted that the National Guard is also receiving pre-deployment training at sites other than Camp Shelby and Camp Atterbury. The 3rd Bn (TS)(CS/CSS), 311th Regiment and the Mobilization Assistance Team are performing in an excellent manner at Fort Dix, N.J. We need to also recognize these dedicated men and women for their efforts in preparing soldiers for deployment to Iraq.

Maj. Joseph T. LoCasale, USA-Ret.
via e-mail

Editor’s note: We also must apologize for mislabeling the 412th Engineer Command, and for misidentifying a member of the command in a caption on page 56 of the February issue.

Future Debate

Ralph Peters raises many good points in this thought-provoking article [“Our Brilliant, Bloody Future,” January 2006] and argues effectively against the unfounded and pessimistic notion that our country is in decline. However, I would like to note that unbridled optimism in the future engendered by a sense that the United States is destined to remain the dominant world power can be just as dangerous a notion.

All of the reasons that Peters lists for the ascendancy of the United States to its current position of military and economic power are well-reasoned and valid. However, there are many threats that he does not address that are not easily countered by the strengths of our society.

Dependency on petroleum is probably the most significant, particularly given that the majority of known reserves lie in regions of the world that are outside of our borders and in regions that are politically unstable. Deterioration of our manufacturing base as corporations become more internationally based and move operations offshore in search of lower labor costs is another. Add to this an education system that is not keeping pace with the rate of change in society and a growing sense of complacency among the general population brought on by many years of increasing prosperity, which has created a self-indulgent population that is not inclined to sacrifice personal pleasures for a common good.

I am afraid that I can’t quite agree that we are “at the beginning of a great age for the United States.” I would say, rather, that we have the potential to embark upon another great age if we can get our act together and craft effective, long-term solutions to the enormously difficult challenges that we currently face. This will take collective will and courageous political leadership, which has, unfortunately, not been readily apparent in recent years.

I would hate to be characterized as one of the pessimistic “diehards” Peters mentions in the first sentence of his article, as I too still believe in the potential of the United States to meet the challenges of the future and continue to prosper. However, I am convinced that this is not necessarily our destiny. Hard work and sacrifice will be required, and not just by the men and women in uniform.

Lt. Col. Thomas H. Koger, USMC-Ret.
via e-mail

“Our Brilliant, Bloody Future” … is one of the finest articles I’ve ever read in Military Officer. It not only comments on the history of our present society and its major issues, but [also] what we might expect for the future. The article is incisive, provocative, and a bit terrifying — without being apocalyptic.

One of Peters’ most telling comments was, “We must never again forget that the crucial relationship isn’t between the bomb and the target, but between the physical effects achieved and the psychological effect on the enemy.” People sometimes need to be reminded that the military doesn’t exist just to break things and kill people.

There is historic purpose in what the military does, but we need to return to a time when civilian leaders decided where and when we fought wars but let the military decide how best to prosecute them. Vietnam was the antithesis of that concept, and Iraq may not be far behind.

Lt. Col. Donald L. Gilleland, USAF-Ret.
Suntree, Fla.

Credit to Crew Members

Nice coverage of the contributions of uniformed [servicemembers] toward the cleanup after Hurricane Katrina [“Storm Stories,” January 2006]. However, NOAA pilot Lt. Michael Silah … says, “Our pilots were flying 12-hour shifts.” Can it be that, in a WP3D, only the two pilots took off for the 12-hour shifts, or might the rest of the crew, who deserve equal credit, also have been involved?

Extremely few military aircraft in any of the services are flown by one person; the F-16 and the U-2 come to mind. Most all military aircraft are flown by between two and 25 crewmembers, all of whom perform their part of the mission. Please give credit where credit is due. Most of the work was probably done by the crew members who weren’t the pilots.

Lt. Col. Bill Simon III, USAF-Ret.
State College, Pa.

Walking the Talk

Hardly a day goes by that we don’t see the president, the secretary of Defense, or a gung ho senator or representative extol the dedication, bravery, and sacrifices made by our gallant troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Also, hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about some failure to properly support and protect our troops, about the families of our troops back home facing severe hardships and struggling to make ends meet, or about some benefit for military retirees and survivors being chipped away at.

With respect to the latter … [the February] issue of Military Officer makes it starkly clear that there is a shameful incongruence between what our political leaders say and [what they] do. It is high time for these leaders who profess to “support our troops” to put their money where their mouths are. I applaud MOAA for its unwavering and true support of our active duty and retired military.

Maj. Dorian de Wind, USAF-Ret.
Austin, Texas

As We Go, This We Know

For quite a few years now, Military Officer has been a welcome part of the ritual of our household. Each month when the magazine arrives, I hand it to my wife and wait with anticipation while she turns to the “Sounding Taps” page to see if my name is included. When it is not, she hands the magazine back to me and, reassured, I settle down to enjoy the informative articles.

This may strike some as an odd procedure, for in the normal course of things you’d think a person would know whether or not he had died. But as they taught us on active duty, “There’s always someone who doesn’t get the word.”

Lt. Col. Donn Taylor, AUS-Ret.
The Woodlands, Texas