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Maj. Gen. Gary S. Patton, twice told Lt. Cmdr. Jeremy Young to “STAY IN YOUR FU*KING LANE”

WASHINGTON – A two-star Army general, reprimanded once already for misconduct, is being accused of obstructing another investigation into patient abuse and fraud at a U.S.-funded hospital in Afghanistan made infamous for its grisly conditions, according to a new watchdog report.

The Project on Government Oversight recently published a redacted version of the Pentagon inspector general report on Maj. Gen. Gary S. Patton. It’s the second time in less than a year Patton has been cited for his role in obstructing an official investigation into the conditions at Dawood National Military Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Dawood, which has gotten millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer support, has been plagued by graphic accounts of abuse. Congressional hearings in 2012 aired accounts of “Auschwitz-like” conditions at the facility. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, at the time pointed to evidence of Afghan soldiers enduring starvation and "botched operations," and accounts that doctors conducted procedures "without anesthesia or painkillers." Doctors and nurses, he said, demanded bribes for care, and left patients who didn't pay to die "in their hospital beds."

But investigators say Patton stonewalled when questions were raised.

According to the newest July 28 inspector general report, Patton ordered a Navy officer who had been working at the hospital to stop talking to Department of Defense inspectors investigating reports of wrongdoing and negligence at the Afghan facility.

Patton twice told Lt. Cmdr. Jeremy Young to “stay in your f-----g lane” and told him “if you don’t know about bones, don’t talk about bones" – a comment made after the subordinate showed officials an X-ray of a broken femur that had been poorly patched up, according to the report.

Patton’s order, made during a hospital tour – which included the patient ward, pharmacy and intensive care unit -- allegedly stopped the subordinate from telling the DOD investigative team touring Dawood about the rest of the conditions at the hospital, which U.S. taxpayers have spent $200 million supporting.

In its 19-page report, the IG recommended that “the Secretary of the Army take appropriate actions against MG Patton,” but did not disclose what those actions should be.

The IG says its recommendation was based on personal interviews with Patton, Young, and 22 witnesses, in addition to reports and testimony from eight officials interviewed during previous investigations related to Dawood.

But to some lawmakers, the IG’s office should have responded sooner.

“Based on the evidence to date, those involved should be held accountable, including the Inspector General’s office which turned a blind eye to the corruption that triggered the whistleblowing,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told FoxNews.com in a written statement.

Young was in charge of taking a group of Afghans and members from the DOD on a hospital tour. According to the IG report, he “identified significant issues regarding [Afghan] health care,” including “grossly substandard care,” “inability to procure medication and supplies,” and patients “treated incorrectly” due to lack of knowledge or “possibly from some negligent decision.”

The Dawood tour also was supposed to include stopping by the rooms of five patients who “would exemplify” how the hospital operated. However, after the first patient visit, the team could not locate the second patient “either because he was in surgery or had been moved.”

The tour then led to a third patient’s room where the lieutenant showed an X-ray to illustrate that the Afghan doctor did not do a good job during surgery to repair the man’s femur. It was then that Patton “came storming out of the room,” and reportedly told others waiting in the hallway, “We have to stop [informant] from briefing DODIG on this.”

The latest allegations follow a finding in August 2013 that concluded Patton, along with his superior Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, tried to pressure others from contacting Pentagon investigators about patient fraud and neglect at Dawood.

"It appears that, along with previous independent testimony, another report has shown that Generals Caldwell and Patton engaged in a pattern of alleged misconduct in connection with whistleblowing at the Dawood National Military Hospital in Afghanistan,” Grassley said.

Last December, following the results of the first finding of obstruction, Patton stepped down as the director of the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

Multiple requests to the Pentagon and Army for comment were not returned.

Full story: Fox News

#US Army #general accused #obstructing

FORT LEE, Va. (AP) — A female soldier with a gun inside a key building turned the weapon on herself, causing an injury, but didn't wound any others as a heavily trafficked Virginia Army base temporarily went on lockdown Monday morning.

Early reports indicate that the soldier fired one shot inside a four-story building that is the headquarters for the Army's Combined Arms Support Command, according to a military news release. The shooter was taken to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and her condition wasn't known, according to the Army. VCU confirmed that it received a patient from Fort Lee but did not give other details.

The Army statement did not identify the shooter and said officials would not immediately release any further information.

Fort Lee is 25 miles south of Richmond and 130 miles from Washington. It is the Army's third-largest training site, according to Fort Lee's website. Its daily population is about 34,000, with members from all branches, their families, civilians and contractors. The Army website also cites enormous growth and renovations at Fort Lee over the past decade as a result of realignment and closures of bases across the U.S.

CASCOM is responsible for training more than 180,000 students annually. Maj. Gen. Stephen R. Lyons became the new commanding general of CASCOM on Aug. 22.

#USArmy #Fort Lee #Virginia #female soldier #turned the weapon on herself

The Army's iconic physical fitness uniform is undergoing a colorful change, the service has announced.

The well-known black-on-gray "Army" T-shirt will be swapped with a gold-on-black version to match Army colors; the use of lighter, moisture-wicking fabrics; and a better fit for men and women.

"It is a new icon," said Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler, the service's top enlisted official.

Between October and the end of the year, the Army will debut the new PT duds, referred to as the Army Physical Fitness Uniform. The nearly 40 changes in the new uniform are intended to mean better performance, aesthetics and comfort. And it will give troops a more modest set of trunks. Soldiers complain the trunks are too revealing during situps.

"It just fits better, it looks better," Chandler said. "Lots of folks that we talked to said, 'I would actually wear that downtown or at the mall.' So I just think it is a really great win for the Army. Because everything we changed were things that soldiers said that they would like to see different."

The product manager for Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment, Col. Robert Mortlock, said the changes were initiated by soldiers in 2012 who voiced dissatisfaction with the Improved Physical Fitness Uniform, in use since 2000. From there, the Army vetted changes with soldiers through two large surveys and lengthy wear tests at posts around the Army.

The precise fielding schedule is not ready, but the uniform will start appearing in military clothing stores between October and December, it will be issued in Initial Entry Training, and Advanced Individual Training in the spring of 2015, and noncommissioned officers who train incoming will get it some time before then. It will be issued for Army National Guard, Army Reserve, and Reserve Officer Training Corps soldiers next summer.

The old uniform will continue to be worn until the stocks are depleted in order to be "fiscally responsible," Mortlock said.

"As soldiers wear out the IPFU, they will be able to buy the APFU as it becomes available in (military) clothing stores."

The wear-out date for the old uniform is estimated for around October 2017, and the mandatory possession date for the new one will around October 2017. The wear-out and possession dates for the new black caps (replacing the green ones) will come one year later.

The five piece ensemble — jacket, pants, long-sleeve shirt, T-shirt, and trunks — will feature the new fabrics, tagless labels and the gold logo on black fabric. To save money, the reflective elements from the IPFU are absent. Female sizes will be available for the jacket and pants, but women did not need them for the trunks, according to Mortlock.

Dropping reflective materials and a liner from the pants will allow the Army to charge about $3 less per set than the IPFU, in spite of the various improvements, Mortlock said. The costs of individual items, and the related clothing replacement allowance for the next fiscal year, aren't expected to be finalized for another couple months.

The decision to ditch the reflective materials was in part because of stealth risks in the war-zone. When needed, soldiers can wear reflective belts.

Despite soldier requests, the uniform does not include anti-microbial properties that would have helped reduce odor. Officials decided more research into their long-term effects was warranted, Mortlock said. The Army Surgeon General's Office and Natick Labs are studying the issue.

The Army studied whether a black uniform would make soldiers hotter but tests using a "sweating mannequin" showed the moisture-wicking material compensated for the color difference, Mortlock said.

On top of all these changes, the Army is also going to introduce an optional ensemble that looks the same but offers a higher-performance fabric. The uniform would be lighter but less durable, and be available in military clothing stores in December. The ensemble will appear the same, and items from each can be mixed, but soldiers will have to buy them with their own money.

Generally, the "optionally purchased" APFU will cost 10 percent to 20 percent more. The T-shirt will cost substantially more: $20 to $25, in contrast with the Army-issued $5 shirt, Mortlock said.

The APFU is the culmination of several years' work. More than 76,000 troops responded to an all-Army survey in early 2012 about the PT uniform, complaining about trunk modesty, outdated fabrics and the lack of female sizing, according to Mortlock. Some 170,000 soldiers responded to a second survey, rating Army-proposed color scheme and design options.

"Right now, soldiers just don't like their gray set, so what we tried to do is give them a workout kit they would be proud to wear not only during their workout, but outside," Mortlock said.

Full story: WFMY News Channel 2

#U.S. Army #PT Uniforms #Get Makeover #blue falcons

The US Defence Department releases archive footage of comedian Robin Williams, who has died aged 63, entertaining American troops stationed overseas. In the footage, Williams is seen performing in front of army personnel in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. US president Barack Obama on Tuesday paid tribute to Williams and his generousity towards the US forces

#US Army #releases footage #Robin Williams #entertaining troops #Rest In Peace Mr. Williams

U.S. Army contracting officers overpaid an American company upgrading Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters as contract costs increased almost 70 percent, according to an audit by the Pentagon inspector general. The Army Contracting Command has responded that it will seek to recoup $128,990 of $151,543 in what the audit called “excess fees” paid since 2010 to Columbia, Maryland-based Science and Engineering Services Inc. The remaining $22,553 in fees was justified, according to the audit by the inspector general dated July 28. While the amounts wouldn’t put a dent in the Pentagon’s $496 billion annual base budget, the inspector general’s report is the latest of three to question the contracting practices of an Army-run office set up in 2010 to manage the purchase and maintenance of foreign-made helicopters such as the medium-lift Mi-17 transport helicopters sold to U.S. allies Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. The two earlier audits also found lax oversight, including a failure to “document price reasonableness” of Mi-17 upgrades. The Russian helicopters are considered simpler to operate and maintain than their more sophisticated American competitors, and some Afghan and Iraqi pilots are already trained and experienced in flying them. The audits didn’t touch on a politically charged debate about whether the U.S. should continue to buy new Mi-17s from Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-run arms trader, to be provided directly to Afghanistan. That program has drawn congressional criticism since 2012, first over the company’s role in selling armed helicopters to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and then because of deteriorating relations with Russia over Ukraine. ‘Limited Assurance’ Instead, the audits examined contracts to overhaul and upgrade small numbers of Mi-17s bought from other sources to train U.S. and Afghan maintenance personnel. The newest audit on upgrading Mi-17s said the Army “had limited assurance that it received fair and reasonable prices” for cockpit modifications under the 2010 contract, now valued at $15.2 million, up from $9 million. The company had received $14.1 million as of February, according to the audit labeled “For Official Use Only” that was obtained by Bloomberg News. Not including contract overhead, the cost for the five cockpits modified rose to about $2.8 million per aircraft from $1.5 million, according to the audit. The modifications upgrade Russian helicopters with U.S.-style radios, gauges, clocks, relocated instruments and added lighting. Company’s Response The chief executive officer of closely held Science and Engineering Services, Edward J. Sinclair, a retired Army brigadier general who commanded the service’s Aviation Warfighting Center until 2006, didn’t return a call for comment. Stephen J. O’Connor, the company’s Washington-based attorney, said in an e-mailed statement that the “subject matter of your article is currently under investigation by federal authorities and SES will make no comment regarding the subject matter pending such investigation.” O’Connor, a founding partner of Tobin, O’Connor and Ewing, didn’t divulge the nature of the investigation. “The Army is currently conducting a thorough review of the findings and recommendations,” Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumann said in an e-mailed statement. “Upon completion of this review, the Army will take appropriate action to address the need for any corrective measures, to include the potential recoupment of funds,” she said. “No further Mi-17 cockpit modifications are planned under this specific contract.”

Full story: Bloomberg

#U.S. Army #Paid Too Much #Upgrading Russian Copters #Audit #Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters #Blue Falcons

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Of the more than 1,100 Army captains notified last month their military careers would soon end, 87 were deployed worldwide and 48 were serving in Afghanistan at the time, Army officials said Wednesday.

The rank of captain has been symbolized by double silver bars since 1832, and is sometimes referred to as railroad tracks. Photo: Robert Barnett/U.S. Air Force

WASHINGTON — Of the more than 1,100 Army captains notified last month their military careers would soon end, 87 were deployed worldwide and 48 were serving in Afghanistan at the time, Army officials said Wednesday. The Army has been talking for months about the need to separate the captains as well as more than 500 majors this summer as part of the broad Army drawdown, but it’s the first time details have emerged about the sobering business of delivering pink slips to troops in harm’s way. The separations have become an issue on Capitol Hill, with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., questioning ISAF commander Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford about it during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week. “Obviously that has to have an effect on the morale of our officer corps,” McCain said. “A serious blow, I would think.” Dunford, who was answering questions during a hearing on his nomination to become Marine Corps Commandant, agreed. “Absolutely, and probably more importantly, senator, than the officer corps is the message it sends to young soldiers whose company commander is forced to redeploy as a result of a reduction in force,” Dunford said. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is urging the Senate to act, having learned of the situation only after the House had passed its defense spending bill. Cotton, a former Army infantry officer with a tour each in Iraq and Afghanistan, wants senators to introduce an amendment that would deny funding of the distribution of pink slips in Afghanistan. “The men and women deployed overseas have left their homes and families to fight for our country,” he said in a written statement. “It’s deplorable the Obama administration would treat them this way. This action is yet another shameful display of President Obama’s disregard for our country’s warfighters.” According to Army officials who spoke Wednesday on the condition of anonymity, deployed troops who receive separation notices return to the United States as quickly as possible. For staff officers, that can happen within days, while others who wield more authority, like company commanders, may need up to 30 days to wrap up their assignments and return. The 500 to 550 majors will receive word of their impending separations in late July or early August, officials said. Further early retirement and officer selection boards could be announced for late this year and early next year, an Army official said. Those notified have nine months to transition out of the active duty Army, and many are expected to continue in the Army Reserve. Somewhere between 800 and 900 NCOs are likely to be selected for separation in 2015 as brigade combat teams are inactivated, another official said. About 500 were selected early this year. The Army intends to shrink to an active duty end strength of 510,000 troops this year and fall to 490,000 in 2015, officials said. From there, end strength will likely fall by another 40,000 by 2019 as a result of declining military spending. If elected officials don’t find a way to forestall automatic budget cuts known as sequestration scheduled to return in 2016, Army leaders say the active force will fall to 420,000.

Stars and Stripes >> Full Story

#1100 Army captains #Army #US Army Cuts Starting #bluefalcons

“ I just scrape my name off all the pill bottles and throw them all away." - Will, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army

For many people with post-traumatic stress disorder, you've ever been, at the worst possible moment.

"I always see his face," says Will, who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Army. "And in my dreams it's the same thing. ... I always walk over to him, and instead of this Afghani kid that's laying there, it's my little brother."

The memory that triggers Will's nightmare happened during his tour in Afghanistan. Will, 33, who asked that NPR not use his last name, was on patrol when a kid came up to the Humvee asking for water. Then he bashed Will's medic in the face with a rock. The boy's father appeared with a gun and started shooting. Amid a scuffle, the child picked up the gun and Will shot him at close range.

"After I did that, all I remember is that I was shaking," Will says. "And one of my soldiers took my weapon away and said: 'It's OK primo [cousin]. It's gonna be OK.' "

Troops coming home from war, like Will, are often prescribed drugs for PTSD and other conditions. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are on opiates for pain, and 1 in 3 veterans polled say they are on 10 different medications.

While there is concern about overmedicating and self-medicating — using alcohol or drugs without a doctor's approval — there are also some veterans who are trying to do the opposite: They're kicking the drugs, against doctor's orders.

Full Story --> NPR

#Veterans #Prescription Pill Habit

Veteran With Concealed Carry Permit Shoots Back At Chicago Gunman

One of the spate of shootings that took place in Chicago, Ill. over the July 4th holiday weekend involved a veteran with a concealed carry permit who was forced to a shoot a man who began firing on him and a group of friends.

The incident occurred Friday night, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The veteran and three of his friends were leaving a party on the city’s south side. When the group reached their vehicle, a container with liquor was sitting on top of it. A woman from the group asked another group gathered next door who the liquor belonged to and removed it.

The move angered 22 year-old Denzel Mickiel, who approached the veteran and his friends shouting obscenities. The man then went into his residence and returned with a gun.

As Mickiel opened fire on the group, the veteran took cover near the vehicle’s front fender, according to assistant state attorney Mary Hain, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The veteran fired two shots, hitting Mickiel both times.

Two of Mickiel’s friends also began shooting at the group, which was able to flee the scene in their vehicle.

Mickiel was transported to the hospital and is in critical condition. A woman in the veteran’s group was hit twice – once in the arm and once in the back – but was stabilized and taken to the hospital.

Mickiel is charged with attempted murder and will be held on $950,000 bond.

Had Friday’s shooting occurred a little more than a year ago, the veteran would not have been legally permitted to conceal carry his firearm.

Illinois was the last U.S. state to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons with a permit, finally passing a law on July 9, 2013. The state began issuing conceal carry permits in February.

Seven people died and approximately 50 were injured in shootings that took place in Chicago over the weekend. The city has among the highest violent crime rates among major U.S. cities.

Full Story: DailyCaller.com

#Concealed Carry Permit #veteran #Shoots Back #Chicago Gunman

"Volatile questions about troops’ future pay and benefits, overall personnel costs need to be cut dramatically."

For years, the Pentagon’s top brass has called for an overhaul of the entire military compensation system, claiming that the cost of troops’ pay and benefits is soaring unsustainably and threatening future funding for readiness and weapons modernization.

But a highly influential panel of experts appears to be unconvinced.

The Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission, created last year by Congress to tackle politically volatile questions about troops’ future pay and benefits, issued an interim report July 3 that showed skepticism about whether overall personnel costs need to be cut dramatically.

The 358-page report offered the clearest window yet on the commission’s work that will conclude next February when it submits a slate of recommendations to Congress. That could potentially jump-start efforts on Capitol Hill to restructure a military pay system that has remained largely unchanged since the 1970s.

But the report noted that while military personnel costs have grown, so has the overall Pentagon budget. And the percentage of money spent directly on pay and benefits has remained steady as a percentage of the total Pentagon budget — about one-third — since the 1990s.

“These simple trends need to be examined in greater detail before any conclusions can be drawn regarding fiscal sustainability,” the report said.

The commission said it’s important to compare military personnel costs to other financial indicators. Since 1998, personnel costs are outpacing growth in civilian wages as measured by the Labor Department’s Employment Cost Index. However, those same military personnel costs are not rising much more than the the total size of the economy as measured by the gross domestic product.

Moreover, the report noted that current pay and benefits have kept recruiting and retention strong despite the strain of constant wartime deployments since 2001.

“The current compensation system has sustained the All-Volunteer Force through 13 years of continual war,” the report said. “The question facing this Commission ... is not ‘Can the compensation system be made to work?’ but ‘Can it be made to work better?’ ”

The commission signaled an interest in giving troops more choice in their compensation package. The report noted that the private-sector job market has moved toward “cafeteria-style benefits,” allowing workers to choose from a menu of options and also opt into 401(k) retirement plans that workers keep when changing jobs.

“Many employers are finding it advantageous to allow employees to tailor their working conditions, hours of work, place of work, and benefits to suit their individual needs,” the report said. “These trends toward greater flexibility and choice in the broader society have implications for the cost-effective design of the military compensation system.”

The commission signaled an interest in targeting women by noting that data suggest “trained and qualified female service members leave military service earlier than they otherwise might due to a lack of flexible career options. As such, increased flexibility for female service members may improve both retention and cost effectiveness, particularly in skill sets with high training costs.”

For the reserve component troops, the commission’s report noted the surge in mobilizations since 2001 and said reserve compensation deserves special attention due to the likelihood that operational requirements for the reserve components will “continue to grow as the active-duty force gets smaller.”

The commission signaled a reluctance to scale back family services by noting that today’s military is more family-oriented than it was at the dawn of the all-volunteer force 40 years ago, with the percentage of married troops growing from 40 percent in 1973 to about 55 percent today.

“These trends have substantial implications for compensation programs that support spouses and dependents, especially quality-of-life and family support programs that provide support during frequent deployments of service members,” the report said.

The commission also expressed some concerns about the prospects for future midcareer retention.

Today’s military is far more educated, largely due to the technical skills and taxpayer-funded educations that service members receive. This “may serve to increase the cost and difficulty of competing for, and retaining, employees with advanced or specialized knowledge and skill sets,” the report said.

The report pointed to numerous reasons why personnel cost will not continue to grow at the same rate as the past 13 years. “Much of this growth is attributed to inflation (particularly medical inflation), policy-driven increases in compensation to counteract recruiting and retention challenges, and personnel funding that supported 13 years of war,” the report said.

The report also noted that the rise in personnel costs in recent years has been driven in part by the addition of new benefits rather than by the natural growth of regular compensation programs. For example:

■ In 2001, Congress created the Tricare for Life benefit that provides extends access to the military health system to retirees over age 65.

■ The costs to fund the Basic Allowance for Housing have grown because in 2005, BAH covered only about 85 percent of average off-base housing costs; Congress voted to increase that to a current level of 100 percent over several years.

■ In 2004, some disabled veterans became eligible to receive benefits from both Defense and Veterans Affairs departments under a policy known as concurrent receipt.

Full Story: ArmyTimes.com

#pay and benefits cuts #cut dramatically #cutting compensation #military retirment

Army Fires Officers After Ordering Them to Move

A U.S. Army captain with more than a dozen years in the service, including multiple tours of duty in combat zones, assumed his job was safe.

The non-commissioned officer-turned-officer knew the service was downsizing after more than a decade of war. But he figured he'd be one of the lucky ones, in part because of his tours in Bosnia, Kosovo and, most recently, Afghanistan. What's more, he had just received orders to move to a new duty station.

So he and his wife, who's newly pregnant with their first child, signed a lease and put a deposit on a home at the family's next location. A few days later, he was called into his post's commanding general's office and informed that, effective almost immediately, he would no longer be in the military.

"I was led to believe that everything was good to go, and next thing you know, Monday morning, you're having to talk to the man," said the captain, who requested anonymity to speak freely about the incident and without professional repercussions. "You never think it's going to happen to you."

The Army last week began notifying about 1,100 captains that they will be purged from the ranks. The same fate is awaiting about 500 majors, who beginning this week will be told their active-duty careers are over. They're among nearly 2,500 officers and NCOs who will be involuntarily separated this year as part of an ongoing drawdown of forces.

After growing in size to 570,000 soldiers in 2008 at the height of the war in Iraq, the Army has less than 520,000 soldiers today and is on pace to shrink to 490,000 soldiers by next year. It's bracing for even further contraction driven by automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.

The Pentagon's proposed budget for fiscal 2015, which begins Oct. 1, calls for the service's headcount to decrease to 440,000 to 450,000 soldiers by fiscal 2017. If sequestration remains in effect, the number may fall to as low as 420,000 soldiers – tens of thousands less than what the Army's top officer, Gen. Raymond Odierno, said is needed to adequately respond to conflicts around the world.

Even officers who escaped the current round of dismissals criticized the move, saying it encourages talented leaders to leave the service.

"It really is disheartening to see the Army engaging in force shaping in the manner that it is," one said. "I've seen many of my fellow company-grade officers decide to get out because of the uncertainty over pay and future promotions. We're losing those who can get jobs, which means the Army is losing the talent it should be retaining."

Christina Magill, a spouse at Fort Hood, Texas, said her husband was among those who received news that he's being cut. A 2007 year-group captain with a total of 15 years in the military, including five years in the Army National Guard, was blindsided by the decision, she said.

"One of the guys he worked with ... kept telling us it wouldn't be him because he was too good of an officer, and there were too many others they would need to weed out," she said. "I am shocked and a little angry and very scared of what it's going to be like."

Magill said the commander didn't know whether her husband's time in the Guard would count toward his 15 years of service. If it does, he'll be able to receive early retirement. If not he'll be left with the separation pay and the hunt for a new job.

"This is all we have known, so it's going to be hard," she said. "We will be married 10 years in a few weeks and we have spent it all as an Army family."

An officer separation board that met earlier this year reviewed captains and majors with between six and 18 years of service, while a selective early retirement board considered captains and majors with 18 years or more of service, according to an Army Times report.

Paul Prince, an Army spokesman, said the panels didn't disproportionately target those with prior service, either as enlisted personnel or members of the National Guard or Reserve. Rather, many officers who were commissioned in recent years had prior enlisted service, he said.

"Because of the need for rapid growth to meet increased force structure during the years 2006 through 2011, the Army opened its most responsive commissioning program, Officer Candidate School (OCS), to larger numbers of enlisted soldiers," Prince said in an e-mail. "Many of these OCS officers came with significant enlisted service.

"Our boards carefully evaluated the eligible populations by year group and specialty, and selected officers to separate from active duty based on performance and potential for continued active duty contributions," he added. "Many of those selected were well-qualified officers who have served honorably, completed multiple deployments and have performed well in their career fields."

Prince did acknowledge that some officers who were separated had already been reassigned to a new duty location as part of a permanent change of station, or PCS, but declined to say how many until the notifications are completed in early July.

"The Army moves and plans moves for a large percentage of its officer force during the summer season," he said. "As a result, it is certain that a small number of officers selected to separate by the officer separation or early retirement boards will have been previously identified for reassignment and are in the process of moving."

Thus, some officers who were let go are scrambling to find a home, as well as a job. Thankfully for the captain who's expecting his first child, his landlord is allowing him and his wife to continue to rent the house at their current location without any hassle. He just wishes the Army gave him more answers.

"It sounded very scripted," he said of his dismissal. "I didn't feel like they were very prepared for questions."

Full Story: FoxNews.com

#Army #USArmy #captain #early retirement #separation pay #Fort Hood Texas #budget cuts #involuntarily separated

The just-retired long-time NSA chief, Gen. Keith Alexander, recently traveled to Australia to give a remarkably long and wide-ranging interview with an extremely sycophantic “interviewer” with The Australian Financial Review. The resulting 17,000-word transcript andaccompanying article form a model of uncritical stenography journalism, but Alexander clearly chose to do this because he is angry, resentful, and feeling unfairly treated, and the result is a pile of quotes that are worth examining, only a few of which are noted below:

AFR: What were the key differences for you as director of NSA serving under presidents Bush and Obama? Did you have a preferred commander in chief?

Gen. Alexander: Obviously they come from different parties, they view things differently, but when it comes to the security of the nation and making those decisions about how to protect our nation, what we need to do to defend it, they are, ironically, very close to the same point. You would get almost the same decision from both of them on key questions about how to defend our nation from terrorists and other threats.

The almost-complete continuity between George W. Bush and Barack Obama on such matters has been explained by far too many senior officials in both parties, and has been amply documented in far too many venues, to make it newsworthy when it happens again. Still, the fact that one of the nation’s most powerful generals in history, who has no incentive to say it unless it were true, just comes right out and states that Bush and The Candidate of Change are “very close to the same point” and “you would get almost the same decision from both of them on key questions” is a fine commentary on a number of things, including how adept the 2008 Obama team was at the art of branding.

The fact that Obama, in 2008, specifically vowed to his followers angered over his campaign-season NSA reversal that he possessed “the firm intention — once I’m sworn in as president — to have my Attorney General conduct a comprehensive review of all our surveillance programs, and to make further recommendations on any steps needed to preserve civil liberties and to prevent executive branch abuse in the future” only makes that point a bit more vivid.

AFR: Can you now quantify the number of documents [Snowden] stole?

Gen. Alexander: Well, I don’t think anybody really knows what he actually took with him, because the way he did it, we don’t have an accurate way of counting. What we do have an accurate way of counting is what he touched, what he may have downloaded, and that was more than a million documents.

It’s hard to recall a better and clearer example of how mindless and uncritical the American media is when it comes to the unproven pronouncements of the U.S. Government. Back in December, 60 Minutes broadcast a now-notorious segment of pure access journalism in which they gullibly disseminated one false NSA claim after the next in exchange for being given exclusive(!) access to a few Secret and Exciting Rooms inside the agency’s headquarters. Theprogram claimed that Snowden “is believed to still have access to 1.5 million classified documents he has not leaked”. On its Twitter account, 60 Minutes made this claim to promote its show:

How Edward Snowden managed to steal an alleged 1.7 million documents from the NSA. Sunday: http://t.co/gbrIu5yMcc

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) December 13, 2013

Mike McConnell, the vice chairman of Booz Allen and former Director of National Intelligence in the Bush administration, then claimed that ”Snowden absconded with 1.7 million to 1.8 million documents.”

Ever since then, that Snowden “stole” 1.7 or 1.8 million documents from the NSA has been repeated over and over again by US media outlets as verified fact. The Washington Post‘s Walter Pincus, citing an anonymous official source, purported to tell readers that “among the roughly 1.7 million documents he walked away with — the vast majority of which have not been made public — are highly sensitive, specific intelligence reports”. Reuters frequently includes in its reports the unchallenged assertion that “Snowden was believed to have taken 1.7 million computerized documents.” Just this week, the global news agency told its readers that “Snowden was believed to have taken 1.7 million computerized documents.”

In fact, that number is and always has been a pure fabrication, as even Keith Alexander admits. The claimed number has changed more times than one can count: always magically morphing into randomly chosen higher and scarier numbers. The reality, in the words of the General, is that the US Government ”really [doesn't] know[] what he actually took with him” and they ”don’t have an accurate way of counting”. All they know is how many documents heaccessed in his entire career at NSA, which is a radically different question from how many documents he took. But that hasn’t stopped American media outlets from repeatedly affirming the inflammatory evidence-free claim that Snowden took 1.7 million documents. As usual, even the most blatantly unreliable claims from National Security State officials are treated as infallible papal pronouncements by our Adversarial Watchdog Press.

There’s an equally vital point made by Alexander’s admission. The primary defense of the NSA and its defenders is that one need not worry about the staggering sums of data they collect because they have implemented very rigorous oversight mechanisms and controls that prevent abuse. Yet Edward Snowden spent months downloading a large amount of highly sensitive documents right under their noses. And not only did they have no idea that he was doing it, but now – even after spending large sums of money to find out – they are still completely incapable of learning which documents he took or even how many he took. Does that at all sound like a well-managed, tightly controlled system that you can trust to safeguard your most personal data and to detect and prevent abuse of this system by the tens of thousands of people who have access to it?

AFR: What is your personal opinion on the decision to award a Pulitzer Prize to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers for their “revelation of widespread secret surveillance by the National Security Agency, helping through aggressive reporting to spark a debate about the relationship between the government and the public over issues of security and privacy”?

Gen. Alexander: I’m greatly disappointed that we have rewarded those who have put so many lives at risk. I think that’s the best way to say that. . . . At the end of the day, I believe peoples’ lives will be lost because of the Snowden leaks because we will not be able to protect them with capabilities that were once effective but are now being rendered ineffective because of these revelations.

There are few things in life more ironic than being accused by U.S. Generals, including those who participated in the war in Iraq, of being responsible for the loss of lives. For that sort of irony, nothing will beat that episode where the US Pentagon chief and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that WikiLeaks – not themselves, but WikiLeaks – has “blood on its hands” by virtue of publishing documents about the U.S. war in Afghanistan. In the world of the U.S. National Security State and its loyal media, those who go around the world killing innocent people over and over are noble and heroic, while those who report on what they do are the ones with “blood on their hands”.

But what makes this claim so remarkable is how often it is made and how false it always turns out to be. The accusation about WikiLeaks was ultimately demonstrated to be false. The same was true of the identical claim made about NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, and the leaker who exposed the Bush-era warrantless eavesdropping program, and Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg, and virtually every other person who has brought unwanted transparency to what the U.S. Government is doing in the dark. But accusing whistleblowers and journalists of causing the deaths of innocent people is a tactic people like Gen. Alexander continue to embrace because it’s virtually never pointed out by our stalwart media how many times that claim has been proven to be an utter fabrication.

#the intercept #Glenn Greenwald

Florida will sue the Department of Veterans Affairs because the agency is "stonewalling" state health care inspectors who have been denied access to veterans hospitals, Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday.

The announcement sets up a legal fight between Florida officials who say they need access to VA facilities and records to protect veterans and VA leaders who insist that no state has oversight of federal hospitals.

And it ensures that veteran care will figure prominently in Scott's current re-election bid. Democrat Charlie Crist, Scott's likely opponent, is attacking the Republican governor for refusing to expand Medicaid. That, Crist said, denies veterans medical care even as Scott rails against the VA.

State Agency for Health Care Administration inspectors have been turned away from several VA hospitals in Florida in recent months, including the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa and the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center near Seminole.

"We're committed to being the most veteran-friendly state in the nation, and reports of deaths, neglect, poor conditions and a secret waiting list in federal VA hospitals in Florida are unacceptable," Scott said in a written statement. "Transparency and accountability are critical to supporting our veterans, and this suit will fight the federal VA's continued practice of stonewalling our inspectors."

VA regional spokeswoman Mary Kay Hollingsworth declined to comment. Hollingsworth sent a statement to news outlets this month defending VA care and denying reports of a secret waiting list at the VA hospital in Gainesville. She said audits of Florida VA hospitals "have indicated that our employees have exhibited nothing but passion and dedication to serving our veterans."

Scott's announcement comes the same day as a Haley spokeswoman confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times that the VA's Inspector General's Office visited the hospital a week ago. What the IG is investigating is unclear. A Haley spokeswoman referred questions to the IG Office, which did not return calls for comment.

The IG said this month that it is investigating 26 VA facilities nationally for a variety of allegations, from treatment delays to falsified records.

Crist said the state's failure to expand Medicaid denied medical care to 41,000 Florida veterans.

"The VA could do a better job," Crist said. "There's no question about that. … (Scott) ought to turn his focus, instead of suing people, on helping veterans in Florida and making sure they get the health care they deserve by expanding Medicaid."

Scott's office did not say when the VA lawsuit would be filed.

"It is my understanding that AHCA representatives have continued to arrive unannounced at VA medical centers within the state of Florida," said a recent letter sent to state officials by the VA's top attorney, Will Gunn. "Please be advised that VA and its medical centers are components of the federal government and as such are not subject to Florida laws."

The VA has been shaken in recent months by numerous allegations of poor care, wrongful deaths, secret waiting lists and delays in veterans receiving care at VA hospitals around the nation.

The Times on Saturday reported the story of a Largo veteran, Horace Lalley, a patient at the Young VA Medical Center, who died in 2012 of bladder cancer that his family says was misdiagnosed for years as a urinary tract infection. The VA is investigating the case.

#Gov. Rick Scott #tampabay.com

The Pentagon is to destroy more than $1 billion of excess ammunition, it has been revealed. The small-arms ammunition and missiles could still be usable, but this can not be ascertained because the Defense Department's inventory systems can't share data effectively, according to a Government Accountability Office report obtained by USA TODAY. This ineffective inventory, valued at $1.2 billion, means that the Army, Navy and Air Force can not even share numbers about the number of excess bullets they are keeping.

The report revealed that the 'the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps operate with formats that are obsolete' - only the Army uses the standard Pentagon format.

This is despite decades of work trying to develop a single database. It also revealed that the services hold an annual conference to share information about extra ammunition, but statistics detailing the spare ammunition disappears from the books after the meeting.

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said to the publication: 'Despite years of effort, the Army, Navy and Air Force still don't have an efficient process for doing something as basic as sharing excess bullets. 'This Government Accountability Office (GAO) report clearly shows that our military's antiquated systems lead to millions of dollars in wasteful ammunition purchases.' The news comes as today Congress slowed a Pentagon proposal to cut subsidies to military commissaries where service members and their families shop at a reduced cost, as well as other proposed changes to benefits. The House Armed Services Committee unveiled its draft legislation Tuesday, and Republicans and Democrats on the military personnel subcommittee are expected to approve it Wednesday. It's one of the initial steps as Congress begins crafting its annual defense policy bill. Rep. Howard 'Buck' McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the committee, said the legislation rejects Pentagon proposals 'that would have increased out-of-pocket costs for military families, including the elimination of most TRICARE plans, and reduction of housing allowances and commissary benefits.'

In proposing its fiscal 2015 budget, the Pentagon called for a $1 billion cut over three years to the subsidies for commissaries, reducing the amount to $400 million. The Defense Department is also calling for smaller housing allowances and changes in the health care program. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and senior military officials have argued that the reductions in benefits are necessary as the increasing personnel costs are coming at the expense of the military's readiness and warfighting ability. Lawmakers have been unwilling to reduce or change benefits for service members and their families, even more so in an election year. Military organizations fear that the reductions in subsidies to the commissaries will force several to close. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., a member of the subcommittee, said the government asks members of the all-volunteer force to fight and their families to make sacrifices. Cutting benefits is 'so symptomatic of asking people to do something and the government not fulfilling its promise,' she said. Facing strict budget limits, the full committee will meet next week to determine how to pay for their changes to the Pentagon budget. They are likely to restore about $100 million of the $200 million cut to the commissary subsidies in the fiscal 2015 budget. In its legislation, the panel would require the defense secretary to 'to conduct a review, utilizing the services of an independent organization experienced in grocery retail analysis, of the defense commissary system.' It also seeks an 'anonymous survey of random members of the armed forces regarding pay and benefits, including the value that members place on forms of compensation, relative to one another, including basic pay, allowances for housing, bonuses and special pay, health care benefits, and retirement pay.' Earlier this year, Congress reversed course, voting to restore full cost-of-living pension increases for younger military retirees. Less than two months earlier, lawmakers had backed a modest cut.

#The Pentagon #1.2 billion ammo

End of US military presence and takeover of security is main desire of country's officials and residents, says Hamid Karzai

President Hamid Karzai welcomed a US plan to bring home almost all American soldiers from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, saying the country was ready to take responsibility for its own security and the move could pave the way for Taliban peace talks.

Many Afghans are happy to see their forces in control after years living alongside heavily armed foreign soldiers, but also worry that the shaky national police and armed forces might struggle to hold off insurgents without foreign air power, intelligence and other help.

The top US commander in Afghanistan rushed to assuage those concerns, saying the deal was not a "zero option" that would leave the country's security forces isolated after 2016, acknowledging critical components such as the fledgling air force would probably get intense and longer-term support.

Funds and equipment would still flow, General Joseph Dunford said, and the handful of troops at the nearby embassy would do more than just guard diplomats inside, continuing with a long-term training mission.

"President Obama also said we will continue to have a robust military presence in the embassy here to continue with the 'train, advise, assist' mission subsequent to that time," Dunford told a news conference in Kabul.

He declined to comment on the number of soldiers, but the footprint will almost certainly be tiny. That would allow both Americans weary of the war and Afghans weary of US and Nato troops to claim that the foreign military mission will be over.

"The end to the US military presence and the takeover by Afghan forces of security responsibilities was a main desire of both the president, the government and of the people of Afghanistan," Karzai, who steps down in just over two months, said in a statement.

"The government of Afghanistan is grateful to the international community for its assistance and remains confident that the Afghan forces will, as they did throughout history, protect their people and territorial integrity with courage and valour," he added.

Karzai and others also expressed hope that the drawdown might finally pave the way for elusive progress in long-running efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban, who often say they are fighting to evict non-believers from their country.

"The Taliban have always demanded their departure from Afghanistan ... and if we can move towards peace we won't need thousands of soldiers," said Waheed Mozhdah, analyst and former official in the pre-2001 Taliban government. "If the Americans planned to stay for ever, it would be a reason for the war to continue."

Still, the Taliban have vowed to fight Afghan forces even as foreign troops head home, denouncing the Kabul government as a puppet regime.

And though the Afghan police and army are much improved since Nato began training in earnest half a decade ago, they still struggle with serious problems from drug abuse to high dropout rates.

Violence is rising nationwide, and alone they are weak on basic capacities from intelligence gathering and heavy weapons to air support and logistics. The air force not expected to operate independently until 2017 at the earliest.

Women's rights activist Samira Hamadi said: "I think this is the right time, it will be a test for the upcoming president. In terms of our national security forces we have come a long way, they are in the lead now but the important thing is how it will continue."

Women's modest gains of the past decade hang on maintaining security so that they can go out to work or seek justice, she warned. Along with many others, Hamadi has been closely monitoring the fate of nearby Iraq, where conflict spiralled after the 2011 departure of US forces.

"Our leaders have to really look at the Iraq situation and study it very closely and make sure they don't make the mistakes that were made there," she said. "In Iraq the aid wasn't cut off but there was weak leadership and lack of interest in long-term stability."

#Hamid Karzai #withdraw troops #Afghanistan

• Angel M Sanchez appears at pre-trial hearing • At least one assault alleged to have occurred in Afghanistan

A former drill sergeant at a Missouri army post is accused of sexually assaulting several female soldiers during the past three years, including at least one while he was deployed in Afghanistan.

Staff Sergeant Angel M Sanchez appeared at a pretrial hearing at Fort Leonard Wood on Wednesday and could face a court-martial later this year, the Washington Post reported.

Military prosecutors allege that, among other things, Sanchez used his position as a drill sergeant on the army post to threaten some of the women he is accused of assaulting. He is accused of sexually assaulting four women and assaulting eight others by touching them inappropriately, Tiffany Wood, a Fort Leonard Wood spokeswoman, told the newspaper.

Sanchez served one tour each in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning a Bronze Star. He arrived at the Missouri post in August and trained new soldiers with the 14th Military Police Brigade, but he no longer performs drill-sergeant duty and now works an office job with his unit, Wood said.

Several of the women Sanchez is accused of attacking testified at Wednesday's hearing.

Sanchez's lawyer, Ernesto Gapasin, told the paper "there are a lot of issues with the credibility of the witnesses and the government's case". He said Sanchez was told of the charges by his commanding officer on 13 May.

According to the charging documents, Sanchez's alleged crimes date back to his year in Afghanistan, which lasted from March 2011 to March 2012. Prosecutors allege that during that time, Sanchez raped a female service member in a temporary housing unit for women on the base. He is also accused of sexually harassing female soldiers during that time.

Prosecutors also allege that Sanchez committed several sexual assaults at Fort Leonard Wood between 17 September 2012 and 31 January of last year. In one attack, Sanchez made a soldier fear she would be kicked out of the army if she didn't engage in sexual acts, the charging documents state. He forced her to perform oral sex on him in an office he shared with other drill sergeants, military officials said.

Sexual assault has been a front-burner issue for the Pentagon, Congress and the White House over the past year, triggering Capitol Hill hearings and persistent questions about how effectively the military is preventing and prosecuting assaults and how well it treats victims. Fueling outrage have been high-profile assault cases and arrests, including incidents involving senior commanders, sexual assault prevention officers and military trainers.

At the same time, the military has long struggled to get victims to report sexual assault in a stern military culture that emphasises rank, loyalty and toughness. Some victims have complained they were afraid to report assaults to ranking officers for fear of retribution, or said that their initial complaints were rebuffed or ignored.

The Senate passed a bill in March that would remove military commanders' ability to overturn sexual assault convictions, provide alleged victims with an independent lawyer, and require convicted military members to be sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, at the minimum. The House has not voted on the bill.

#Fort Leonard Wood U.S. Army #Drill Sergeant #Afghanistan

Officials identify three victims and say gunman Ivan Lopez's mental condition was not a 'direct precipitating factor'

The senior officer at Fort Hood said Friday an “escalating argument” with fellow soldiers preceded a shooting rampage in which a soldier fatally shot three people and wounded 16 others before killing himself this week.

Lt Gen Mark Milley said investigators believe Spc Ivan Lopez’s mental condition was not a "direct precipitating factor" in the shooting, a day after officials said it appeared to be an underlying factor in the attack.

Also Friday, Lopez's father said his son had struggled with the recent deaths of his mother and grandfather and the stress of being transferred to a new base.

Lopez's father, who shares the same name, said his son was receiving medical treatment but was a peaceful family man and a hard worker.

"This is very painful for me," the elder Lopez said in the statement from his native Puerto Rico, calling for prayers for the dead and the 16 people who were wounded in the shooting rampage. "My son could not have been in his right mind. He was not like that."

As investigators continued to examine how and why the soldier brought a gun on to the Texas base and began a shooting spree that injured 16 others, details emerged of the victims.

On Friday, the army identified them as: 39-year-old Daniel Ferguson, of Mulberry, Florida; 38-year-old Carlos Lazaney Rodriguez, of Puerto Rico; and 37-year-old Timothy Owens, of Effingham, Illinois.

Sergeant 1st Class Daniel Ferguson was from a small Florida town near Tampa. He had just returned from Afghanistan, WTSP News reported. Ferguson's fiancee, Kristen Haley, is also a soldier stationed at Fort Hood and was nearby when the incident started. She said that he used his body to keep a door closed so that Ivan Lopez could not enter.

"If he was not being the one against that door holding it, that shooter would have been able to get through and shoot everyone else," she told the station.

Sergeant Timothy Owens, 37, was originally from Illinois and later lived in Missouri. The father of two teenage children, he had recently remarried and was working as a counsellor. His mother, Mary Muntean, told the Associated Press that he dropped out of high school in 1995 and joined the army in 2004.

She said she was still celebrating a recent reunion with a daughter she gave up for adoption at birth when she saw the news on television and was unable to reach her son. She took phone calls from his wife, telling her first that he had been shot and was in hospital and then that he had died from a chest wound.

"She said, 'Mom, I want to tell you how sorry I am. Tim's gone.' I broke down. I'm 77 years old and I can't hardly take this," Muntean said.

Sergeant Carlos Lazaney Rodriguez was planning to retire from the military soon, according to CNN. The 38-year-old reportedly had family in Puerto Rico and Florida and had served in the armed forces for 20 years. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Rodriguez spent time as a supply sergeant at a barracks in Hawaii before leaving for Fort Hood in 2011.

"He was the epitome of what you would want a leader to be in the army," Joshua Adams, who served in the same company as Rodriguez, told the newspaper. "He has always taken care of soldiers. He survived all these deployments, just to come back … It's super unfortunate."

Investigators have said Lopez was undergoing treatment for mental problems including depression, anxiety and insomnia and was being assessed to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder. They said he was taking medication and had undergone a full psychiatric evaluation last month which did not indicate any likelihood of violent behaviour.

Lopez, a married 34-year-old from Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, lived in an apartment near the base with his family. US army records show he entered active service in June 2008, and spent time in Egypt and Iraq. He received several awards and decorations and arrived at Fort Hood last February from another Texas base, Fort Bliss.

His mother reportedly died suddenly last November. A family spokesman said Thursday that Lopez was upset that he was granted only a 24-hour leave to attend his mother's funeral in November. That leave was then extended to two days.

The Lopez family said in their statement on Friday that "recent changes when transferring to the base surely affected his existing condition because of his experiences as a soldier." Ivan Lopez said his son "must not have been in his right mind" and asked for prayers "for the affected families".

Lopez died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after he was confronted in a parking lot on the base by a military police officer.

Security protocols were reviewed after the base was the scene of another mass shooting in 2009 that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30. However, Milley said that Fort Hood is so large that it is not feasible to conduct detailed searches of everyone who enters.

Lopez bought the semi-automatic handgun used in the attack a month earlier from a local store called Guns Galore. Nidal Hasan, the shooter in the 2009 rampage, also bought his FN 5.7 tactical pistol at Guns Galore.

Soldiers are not allowed to bring unregistered personal weapons on to the installation.

The nearby Scott & White Memorial Hospital said on Friday that it is continuing to treat four of the victims and that the most-seriously injured patients are showing signs of improvement. "One patient is in good condition and will most likely be discharged today. The three patients previously listed in critical condition have been upgraded to fair condition and are expected to remain in the hospital for the next several days. Five patients have been discharged from the hospital," it said in a statement.

#Fort Hood shootings USArmy

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