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Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/02/2012 10:21:49

Good Morning.

Today is our 4,013 day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2, 126
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1, 065

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$1, 378, 645, 425, 000 .00


So, last night I trucked up to the campus of Umass Lowell for a little debate. It was the usual combination of platitudes, insults, and acrimony, not helped in the least by what's been termed a "Replacement Moderator". While the race may have national implications....it's still a local race.

Senator Scott Brown is an active member of the National Guard, and has been to Afghanistan while in uniform. Curiously, though....other than a single reference to his service, neither candidate spoke much about veteran's issues last night except in broad generalities.

So I'll start with one that an election may affect....don't you think our veterans deserve a cost-of-living adjustment? Like most bills, this was held up by the confusion and delay caused by the GOP, and now with Congress fleeing for home for the elections, it's still languishing on somebody's desk.


The chairwoman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee blames Republicans for preventing passage of a cost-of-living adjustment in veterans’ compensation before Congress left town on Sept. 22 for a six-week pre-election break, raising the possibility that the payment increases could be late.

The postponed bill would provide almost 4 million veterans and survivors the same Dec. 1 percentage increase going to Social Security and retired pay for the military and federal civilians. The increase is expected to be at least 1.3 percent.

While Social Security and government retired pay increases are automatic, veterans’ compensation rises only if Congress approves an increase and the president signs it into law. Since 1983, Congress has never failed to give veterans the same increase as other federal beneficiaries, although the annual bills have been delayed before.

The Veterans Affairs Department said Thursday in a statement it could not guarantee January checks would include the increase unless it is passed by Congress by Nov. 13, which happens to be the first day of scheduled legislative business when lawmakers return after the Nov. 6 elections.

“Should Congress pass the COLA after that date, VA would have to make complex programming changes to the system that could not be accomplished in time to pay the COLA increase on January 1,” the statement says. “Consequently, the … increase would have to be paid retroactively.”

VA has waited longer than that in the past. In 2005, the veterans’ COLA wasn’t signed into law until Nov. 22. In 2003, the measure wasn’t signed by the president until Dec. 3. VA officials said these late bills required special processing and retroactive payments.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the veterans’ committee chairwoman, fired a broadside against Republicans for blocking a bill just a week after Senate Republicans also blocked action on the Veterans’ Job Corps Act.

“We still don’t have any indication why someone would block a cost-of-living adjustment for veterans and their surviving spouses, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet,” Murray said in a statement. “My hope is that whichever senator has decided to hold up this bill will at least come forward to own up to it. That way we can move forward to overcome their oppositions and get our veterans the support they need.”

Part of the blame for the delay is that the Senate waited so long to pass the bill.


There was a brief discussion last night about getting the troops out of Afghanistan. Senator Brown gave the usual platitudes about "commanders on the ground" and "no deadline", but was generally in agreement about getting the hell out. Ms. Warren took the "Get out now" line. There are troops coming home right now, and I saw a curious story yesterday morning. The 82nd airborne is back home, and do you know what happens when thousands of troops get back to the States after spending months overseas with pockets full of money they had noplace to spend? Fort Bragg is having a boomlet.


The 82nd Airborne is home.

You can see it on Yadkin, Reilly and Skibo roads, where traffic looks more like the buildup to a holiday than a lazy day in late September.

Or in the businesses and restaurants around town, where many managers and employees have reported longer lines or busier dinner rushes because of soldiers freshly returned from the war in Afghanistan.

Nearly 9,000 paratroopers - the size of the town of Dunn - have returned to Fort Bragg over the past several weeks, coming in droves and welcomed home a few hundred at a time in ceremonies at Pope Field.

The last soldiers returned Friday, marking the first time since 2010 that the entire 82nd Airborne Division has been home, a rarity in the post-9/11 world.

While the soldiers adjust to life back home, the community has to adjust to their return, as well.

On a recent Sunday on Yadkin Road, Paul Owens' barbershop was filled with the buzz of clippers and growing piles of discarded hair.

The Drop Zone/Fox Hole at 6466 Yadkin Road offers haircuts and boot shines for a largely military clientele.

Over the past months, Owens said, the shop struggled with so many soldiers overseas. Now, he and others who do business in the shadow of Fort Bragg are starting to see business boom again.

It's the cyclical nature of Fort Bragg, said Owens, who has cut hair in the shop for nearly two dozen years. He weathered Desert Storm and now the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"We've been noticing for the last nine years," Owens said. "This isn't just happening now. (Their return) is really a blessing for them and us. I'm looking more than forward to it."


But it's just as well that they're starting to come home. Again, I saw something in the news that utterly floored me. I'd imagine it's extraordinarily difficult for an affluent, western, Christian soldier to head into one of the poorest and religious hardline places on earth without offending someone. The military has a fine tradition of producing pamphlets for our soldiers on how to "fit in"...we even had one for troops heading to England of all places during WWII. But it's taken until now for a pamphlet to be produced for Afghanistan. Curiously enough, it's being distributed to the Afghans, and they're the ones who are adjusting to the Americans instead of the other way round. Whether you agree with that or not, you must agree that this probably should have been done on October 7, 2001?


KABUL — During the Vietnam War, American soldiers shipped out armed with government-issued guides to the distant land and the mysterious people.

In Afghanistan, the U.S. military has tried training sessions, embedded cultural advisers, recommended reading lists and even a video game designed to school the troops in local custom.

But 11 years into the war, NATO troops and Afghan soldiers are still beset by a dangerous lack of cultural awareness, officials say, contributing to a string of insider attacks that have threatened to undermine the military partnership.

So the Afghan army is trying something new: a guide to the strange ways of the American soldier. The goal is to convince Afghan troops that when their Western counterparts do something deeply insulting, it’s likely a product of cultural ignorance and not worthy of revenge.

The pamphlet is intended to “strengthen our understanding of our [NATO] counterpart,” according to an English translation of the pamphlet that was provided to The Washington Post. But in doing so, it also reveals seemingly minor — and rarely acknowledged — cultural faux pas that have created palpable tension between the two forces.

“Please do not get offended if you see a NATO member blowing his/her nose in front of you,” the guide instructs.

“When Coalition members get excited, they may show their excitement by patting one another on the back or the behind,” it explains. “They may even do this to you if they are proud of the job you’ve done. Once again, they don’t mean to offend you.”

And another tip: “When someone feels comfortable in your presence, they may even put their feet on their own desk while speaking with you. They are by no means trying to offend you. They simply don’t know or have forgotten the Afghan custom.” Pointing the soles of one’s shoes at someone is considered a grievous insult in Afghanistan.

The guide also warns Afghan soldiers that Western troops might wink at them or inquire about their female relatives or expose their private parts while showering — all inappropriate actions by Afghan standards.

While some of the tips may be amusing to an American audience, the intention is deadly serious.
Fifty-one coalition troops have been killed this year by their Afghan counterparts. While some insider attacks have been attributed to Taliban infiltrators, military officials say the majority stem from personal disputes and misunderstandings.


Finally this morning...I leave you with the "Jesus Rifle". Eleven years on, and we're still doing stupid shit like this?
 

106 comments (Latest Comment: 10/03/2012 05:03:48 by livingonli)
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