Getting Carded

I read [“In Focus” in “Chapter Activities”] on page 44 of the August issue, “I’m sorry, but your ID card has expired.” This might be a silly question, but when does a military retiree or dependent become “unretired”? It would seem to me that the military and personnel commands could save lots of time and money by not having an expiration date on the card.

Think of the time it takes to issue [an ID card]—filling out an application, taking a picture, laminating the card, etcetera. We’re talking a minimum of a half hour’s time plus [the cost of] materials to issue a new card, not to mention the retiree’s time and personal expense. 

I’m sure there’s someone out there who has the answer to this question.

It would seem simpler and easier if the card never expired. Then again, I guess a lot of us would have to use Grecian Formula to match the hair color on the picture after a while.

Harry Sadler
via e-mail

NASCAR: Off Track?

I am an Army recruiting company commander responsible for recruiting from a major metropolitan area in the northeast of the United States. I was very disappointed to read [the August issue’s] flattering article, “On Track,” about military recruiting sponsorships with NASCAR. 

To begin with, the subtitle “America’s fastest-growing sport—NASCAR— is helping the U.S. armed services drive up their recruiting numbers” is not supported by any facts or research by the author. She’s interviewed the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) leadership that developed and instituted the program, but included no interviews with sergeants—the field recruiters—to confirm that this expensive investment is delivering results. I’m not talking about goodwill established with a huge group of middle-aged racing fans—for that I am sure this sponsorship has achieved something, albeit difficult to measure. 

I command 32 recruiters and don’t have a single one who can point to an enlistment that had its roots in the NASCAR Winston Cup 01 car. I know I am not alone; the other four company commanders in my battalion will tell you the same thing. I challenge you to find even a handful of recruiting sergeants anywhere outside of the race-hungry Southeast who can support your article with enlistment achievements based on the NASCAR sponsorship. 

What I do face every day in my area is a recruiting command that doles out increasingly smaller dollar figures to the field force to support recruiting efforts. It’s rumored that Army Recruiting is spending tens of millions of dollars on its 01 car and NASCAR advertising, yet as the racing season began this spring the Army’s 240 recruiting company commanders all saw their civilian administrative assistants’ work week reduced from 40 to 32 hours because of USARECbudget problems! 

For my area, Army energies expended on marketing miss the mark. At the [then-]upcoming Labor Day weekend’s Cleveland National Airshow—the biggest event of the year in northern Ohio—the Army and Army Reserve won’t have one single modernized helicopter on the flight line. Meanwhile, the Navy and Air Force will have two dozen fighters and attack jets there for young people to crawl over, and four aircraft types will perform. 

I’ve sat and thought about how several million dollars could have been spent differently instead of paying for the 01 car’s poor on-track performance this season. There are plenty of options. One effective Army recruiting tool is the Adventure Van, a black-and-gold painted truck and semi-trailer filled with helicopter or tank crew simulators, interactive displays, and a mini movie theater. There are only two or three of these assets to cover the entire country. They are excellent venues for a well-trained recruiter to get face-to-face with young people and generate some interest in the Army while answering the questions the exhibits and displays generate. 

My recruiting battalion gets three or four days with one of these in an entire year. I can only guess what we could accomplish if my battalion had its own permanently assigned Adventure Van to stage at high schools, colleges, county fairs, concerts, and other public events all year long! How many Adventure Vans or other proven assets could have been provided to the recruiting sergeants with the taxpayer dollars that instead went to fund the Army’s Winston Cup team? 

Capt. Aaron Lilley, USA
Cleveland East Army Recruiting Company Commander
via e-mail

We’ve Come a Long Way

In April 1942, freshly stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., my fellow artillery battalion officers and I were denied entry into the Fort Lewis Officers Club because we were a national guard unit. ... We had been on active duty for more than a year and World War II was about five months old. Subsequently, I served a total of 23 years of active commissioned service in many commands in [the continental United States] and four foreign countries. ...

Admiral Ryan and Colonel Lacy have written timely articles, as about a quarter million reserve component members are in an active status. General Bruce Clarke used to tell us in 7th U.S. Army that the enemy bullets cannot read serial numbers (pre-[Social Security number] use).

Lt. Col. E.K. Ellsworth, AUS-Ret.
via e-mail

First in Flight

Col. William Vogel asserts in [August’s] “Encore” that Class 52C was the first to start flight training in the T-6. Not quite. Class 52A began in the T-6G, and I’m pretty certain there were others before us. But of one thing I am certain: Starting flight training in the T-6, with its big Pratt 1340 radial, narrow main gear, and tail wheel, was one of the worst decisions ever made in Air Training Command. We bent a lot of metal and killed a number of aspiring pilots. 

Fifty-two years and 19,000 pilot hours later, it remains one of the most demanding aircraft I’ve ever flown. The instructor pilots who climbed into the back seat to teach people such as this Illinois farm boy, who’d never been in an airplane in his life, were very brave men.

Col. Bob Downs, USAF-Ret. 
via e-mail

To Err Is Human

The caption on the picture on page 92 of the September issue of Military Officer reads: “The pyramid of the Magician is Uxmal’s tallest structure.” I think, with a bit of research, you will find that the picture is actually of El Castillo at Chichen Itza.

Lt. Col. W. Heckendorn, USAF-Ret.
via e-mail

On the [battle dress uniform] shown on page 97 of the September issue, I would swear that the name tape indicates Brown, not Greene, and that the insignia of rank appears to be master sergeant, not sergeant first class. You not only got the rank wrong, you seem to be colorblind.

CWO5 Timothy McGee, USA-Ret.
Las Cruces, N.M.

Editor’s Note: Our apologies to Army Master Sgt. Faron Brown, misidentified in the caption in question.