The Political Conundrum!

So who is going to be the General or other person held accountable for the waste of millions, if not billions, of dollars for the outfitting of our Army in ACU uniforms and gear? I want to know why the Army did all these supposed tests that proved the current UCP (uniformed camouflaged pattern) ACU was so good and better than other patterns. Yet just a mere 5 years later and three new additional tests, the UCP Pattern failed miserably and was not even in the top patterns that did the best at their job, providing camouflage. The new multi-cam pattern did so well in all three tests that now the Army is about to spend $300 million dollars to begin outfitting new units going into Afghanistan with the new multi-cam pattern.

Not only are they doing that, they are starting to remove some of the much-complained about velcro enclosures and replacing them with buttons again. This is the uniform that was sold to the Army population and America as the one size, fits all uniform. One with velcro so soldiers would save money on sewing. Now after just a short five years the uniform is being replaced with one that does a great job of providing camouflage and is practical. I am not sure why they had to do all these tests, just look at the units that had already implemented the multi-cam pattern from their own budgets; Delta Force, Special Forces and Ranger Battalions. Honestly that should have been enough right there as those professional soldiers only use what is best to do the job. They don’t acquire gear that just looks cool or because a friend is selling it. They get what works.

To put it in perspective, the woodland style Battle Dress Uniform was in service for a little over 20 years in the Army. It had one, maybe 2, changes done to it during that entire time. That was it. It worked, it was a uniform and it did its job at the time. During Desert Storm we had the old “cookie chip” desert uniform which seemed to work for me when I wore it. Not long after the end of Desert Storm the Army adopted the tri-color desert uniform, which was worn from Somalia through the Global War on Terror (in desert environments) until the Army shoved the ACU down our throat. The ACU is currently going through its fifth revision in just five years. So five changes in five years versus two changes in twenty years.

Now let me be clear to say I like the way the ACU felt and fit. I remember getting my first pair at Camp Shelby when I was preparing for Afghanistan and loving how they felt like pajamas compared to the BDU. But even then when my team and I got our ACUs and were trying them out, we questioned the effectiveness of their camouflage. It looked like it would work great in an urban environment in the desert (i.e. Baghdad), but not in a pure desert environment. Maybe the designers and deciders at the time were actually that short sided to use Bagdad as the environment we would always fight in. I am not sure, just an assumption on my part. The bottom line was that we did not have to be human factors specialists or environmental scientists to know the ACU was not going to provide the camouflage we needed in Afghanistan.

It just pisses me off that the Army KNOWINGLY selected and fielded the wrong uniform. It makes me think of the stories my Dad would tell me about the Army buying weapons from Westinghouse during the Vietnam war back when Ladybird Johnson was a huge stock owner of Westinghouse Corporation at the time. So I wonder what General or CSM or engineers who were part of the ACU selection process that went to work for the company that made the ACU? Not making any accusations, just curious.

The bottom line is that we have wasted a lot of money on uniforms, gear, etc. in the ACU pattern knowing the whole time that the uniform’s camouflage capabilities were crap. Was someone afraid to speak up, did someone have a hidden agenda for personal gain or selfish reasons? It is a shame and a sham that the uniform which was supposed to be the “one size fits all” uniform is not making grade and in fact was failing the test well before it ever got issued.

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of all the media attention in the latest criminal allegations against "Jihad Jane" is that Colleen LaRose of Pennsylvania is only the latest example of this odd emerging trend in homegrown terrorism. Indeed, LaRose is hardly alone in this category, whether we speak of London resident Samina Malik, an active user on jihadi social networking forums who busied herself with transcribing Al-Qaida training manuals into English during spare time at her job working in secure areas of Heathrow Airport--or Canadian citizen Beverly Giesbrecht (a.k.a. Khadija Abdul Qahhar), who was taken hostage by the Taliban during rather suspicious travels through North Waziristan. Both men and women who were once written off as hapless wannabes and mere "jihobbyists" are unexpectedly rising to the occasion, in often quite desperate bids to prove their total commitment to the cause.

These individuals are, more frequently than not, English-speaking with only a cursory knowledge of Arabic or the Middle East. Their pedigree is less than elite, and they lack the traditional connections back to Al-Qaida's central leadership. Yet, even Al-Qaida's senior echelon now openly recognizes the critical value of these potential "lone wolf" operatives. In several prominent publications--including both the latest video from American Al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn and the most recent official magazine from Al-Qaida in Yemen--the terror group has openly broadcast its pleasure and interest in the actions of such independent actors as Ft. Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan and Jordanian webmaster and CIA bomber Humam al-Balawi (a.k.a. Abu Dujanah al-Khorasani). Gadahn specifically pointed to the example of Ft. Hood and urged American Muslims, "it is rapidly becoming clear that this already hot global battle is about to get even hotter. This is a war which knows no international borders and no single battleground, and that’s why I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam. This is the golden, once in a lifetime opportunity to reap the rewards of Jihad and martyrdom we have been waiting for, so unsheathe your sharpened sword and rush to take your rightful place among defiant champions of Islam like Mir Aimal Kansi, Muhammad Bouyeri, Nidal Malik Hasan and many others like them... it is for you – like your heroic Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan – to decide how, when and where you discharge this duty."

In this regard, I draw particular emphasis to the words of the "media emir" of the now-infamous Ansar al-Mujahideen web forum, Abu Omar al-Maqdisi:

"We were ordinary members at the al-Ekhlaas forum and we learned a lot from the brothers who took charge of jihadi media work before us—and it is only normal for us to start our own active campaign at the first chance we got. And that’s what we did, so we established this site, and told everyone we knew from the al-Ekhlaas network about this forum…We went outside the usual jihadi media route, but we terrorize in the real world as much as we terrorize online, so whoever wishes to join is welcome, and those who don’t should hold their tongues about us and go away. And although low in number, we are strong in determination, and anyone who joins us will realize that immediately.. say, if any of the brothers at al-Fajr Media wishes to receive assurances about us and if you are in communication with them, then inform them that we would like to meet with them. We ask them to come here and distribute a bulletin outlining the action plan for the al-Ansar network—and we are willing to blow ourselves up near the infidels at any moment, and if they have enough resources to provide us with the necessary financing, then a terrorist is ready."

I was just informed that March is the month of Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness month. Since I have been diagnosed and deal with TBI myself, this is an important topic to me personally.

I was forwarded the article below from Care Meridian (http://www.caremeridian.com/) and I wanted to post it here to help raise awareness to the injury and its impact.

Traumatic Brain Injuries in the Military

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is becoming a common wound of modern warfare. It has even been coined the “signature wound” of the War on Terror. While TBI is becoming more
prevalent in wartime activity, many service men and women continue to go undiagnosed. Institutions, like the US Department of Veterans Affairs, are working to make quick and accurate diagnoses in order to prescribe appropriate and effective treatment.

TBI is caused by forced trauma to the head, either by being shaken or hit. The severity of a TBI varies from case to case, but symptoms range from mild concussions to a debilitating state. The majority of TBI’s acquired by military personnel are classified as mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI). Initial symptoms of MTBI consist of loss of consciousness, disorientation, loss of memory, headache, and temporary loss of hearing and vision. They are often partnered with anxiety, irritability, difficulties processing information, limited concentration amongst other problems experienced down the road. While MTBI is most common amongst the men and women of the armed forces, more severe cases of TBI are
happening much more frequently and often require the victim to attended specialty rehabilitative nursing centers, like CareMeridian.

The most common cause of a TBI in the military is due to blasts. There are three degrees of
blast injuries where a TBI is common; Primary (due to blast itself), Secondary (due to objects being propelled by a blast) and Tertiary (due to a collision with a third party object). According to the Veterans Health Initiative, active male members of the military from the ages 18-24 are hospitalized with a TBI at a rate of 231 per 100,000 and females 150 per 100,000. Based on military force projections this would mean that 4,141 military personnel are hospitalized on average each year with a TBI, and these numbers often rise during wartimes.

The best prevention for veterans to avert the long-term effects of a brain injury is to recognize the symptoms of a TBI. Once the symptoms are identified an individual should take basic precautionary measures in order to begin the healing and recovery process until a more specific diagnosis can be made.

Service men and women give so much to protect this country and they deserve to come home to a happy and healthy life. Creating awareness about TBI will help ensure their long term health. By helping our veterans, their friends and their families recognize the early warning signs of a TBI, treatment can be sought as early as possible.