The drawdown diet: Marines steamed by loss of hot meal at Afghanistan base
By Bill Briggs
NBC News contributor
May 31, 2013
Marines at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan will lose a key daily meal starting Saturday, causing some to forgo a hot breakfast and others to work six-plus hours without refueling on cooked food, according to Marines at the base and Marine Corps officials.
The midnight ration service — known there as “midrats" — supplies breakfast to Marines on midnight-to-noon shifts and dinner to Marines who are ending noon-to-midnight work periods. It's described as one of the few times the Marines at Leatherneck can be together in one place.
The base, which is located in Afghanistan’s southwestern Helmand Province, flanked by Iran and Pakistan, also will remove its 24-hour sandwich bar. It plans to replace the dishes long offered at midnight with pre-packaged MREs, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Cliff Gilmore, who has been deployed in Afghanistan since February.
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Friday, May 31, 2013
Victim's family wants body of killer removed from honored burial place
Victim's family wants Army vet's body exhumed, moved from military cemetery
May. 31, 2013
By Dan McFeely
The Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — Just weeks after his daughter-in-law was brutally gunned down during a shooting spree, Frank Koehl learned that her killer, who had committed suicide, was buried with military honors.
The remains of Michael LeShawn Anderson are resting beside other military veterans — many of them decorated heroes — at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Mich.
That’s a violation of federal law, and as the first anniversary of the tragic killing arrives Thursday, Koehl is on a mission to have Anderson’s remains dug up and removed.
“It was just a total insult,” said Koehl. “It just rips at your heart.”
The shooting spree shocked Indianapolis and residents of an apartment complex on the northeast side of the city where the shooting took place. Anderson shot four people and a dog that day before shooting himself. There was no known motive, no evidence of drugs in his system and no signs that he was suffering from any mental disorder.
While family members were still in shock over the sudden loss of Alicia Koehl, 45, a wife and mother of two who was shot 13 times and bled to death in her office, her killer’s body had been claimed by his family members and taken back to his hometown of Albion, Mich.
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May. 31, 2013
By Dan McFeely
The Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — Just weeks after his daughter-in-law was brutally gunned down during a shooting spree, Frank Koehl learned that her killer, who had committed suicide, was buried with military honors.
The remains of Michael LeShawn Anderson are resting beside other military veterans — many of them decorated heroes — at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Mich.
That’s a violation of federal law, and as the first anniversary of the tragic killing arrives Thursday, Koehl is on a mission to have Anderson’s remains dug up and removed.
“It was just a total insult,” said Koehl. “It just rips at your heart.”
The shooting spree shocked Indianapolis and residents of an apartment complex on the northeast side of the city where the shooting took place. Anderson shot four people and a dog that day before shooting himself. There was no known motive, no evidence of drugs in his system and no signs that he was suffering from any mental disorder.
While family members were still in shock over the sudden loss of Alicia Koehl, 45, a wife and mother of two who was shot 13 times and bled to death in her office, her killer’s body had been claimed by his family members and taken back to his hometown of Albion, Mich.
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Chandler brings resilience, accountability message to Fort Hood
Everyone has that one buzz word that can send their blood pressure up in a nanosecond. For me, that word is "resilience" because I believe it is more responsible for military suicides than anything else. It is almost as if they do not understand what that word even means while they produce program after program using it. There are over 900 Suicides Prevention Programs all based on this "abhorrent" approach.
This is from my book, THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR
That word does not make them unbreakable and as for being resilient, they were long before the military got their hands on them. It takes a special person to be willing to go through what they do for the sake of someone else. Think about it. Would you go through job training the way they do? Leave your family and friends behind for some other country? Would you be willing to go through what they do while deployed? This isn't even addressing the risks of combat itself. They were resilient already. What they were not capable of is being machines. The fact they actually push past all of it until the members of their unit are all home safely is a testament to how resilient they truly are but that has more to do with them and less about the brainwashing the military did to them.
When I read the following headline, it felt as if my brain was going to explode. I am grateful the word was used without being tied to this program. Chandler talked more about military sexual assaults and being accountable than what I thought this was going to be all about.
This is from my book, THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR
The program was designed for school age children and the creator didn’t think there was a single reason it wouldn’t work on the military. Experts started to line up and explain that to put a “program” into this kind of setting without being tested were not justified to justify the Army program.
Bryant Welch was a bit harsher but closer to telling the truth about what many experts had confirmed in a nicer way.
“They had schoolchildren, each night, write down three positive things about themselves. And then they noticed in a follow-up study that those children felt better about themselves. But to go from that to saying that we can have a soldier in a foxhole who says positive things about himself and follows the precepts of this program, is going to watch his buddy blown to smithereens and spend four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and come out feeling better about himself, there is a shallowness to the assessment that, from my vantage point, I find abhorrent.”
DR. BESSEL VAN DER KOLK, Boston University School of Medicine: “It doesn't make sense from a neuroscience point of view, because -- and what all of our research shows is that trauma affects cognition. And the very piece that you need to think clearly and to be optimistic gets severely impacted by being traumatized. So, traumatized people cannot think straight because their brains are sort of locked in horror and terror.”
“Recently, the Army released an evaluation of the program, which said, in part, "There is now sound scientific evidence that Comprehensive Soldier Fitness improves the resilience and psychological health of soldiers.” But there is disagreement over that statement in psychiatric circles from doctors and Ph.D.s who say the evaluation is flawed and doesn't prove anything. Meanwhile, the Air Force is in the process of implementing its own version of the program.” (Army Program Aims to Build Troops Mental resilience to Stress, PBS News Hour, Judy Woodruff, December 14, 2011)
That word does not make them unbreakable and as for being resilient, they were long before the military got their hands on them. It takes a special person to be willing to go through what they do for the sake of someone else. Think about it. Would you go through job training the way they do? Leave your family and friends behind for some other country? Would you be willing to go through what they do while deployed? This isn't even addressing the risks of combat itself. They were resilient already. What they were not capable of is being machines. The fact they actually push past all of it until the members of their unit are all home safely is a testament to how resilient they truly are but that has more to do with them and less about the brainwashing the military did to them.
When I read the following headline, it felt as if my brain was going to explode. I am grateful the word was used without being tied to this program. Chandler talked more about military sexual assaults and being accountable than what I thought this was going to be all about.
Chandler brings resilience, accountability message to Fort Hood Soldiers, civilians
May 31, 2013
Army
By Sgt. Ken Scar, 7th Mobile
Public Affairs Detachment
FORT HOOD, Texas (May 31, 2013) -- Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III spent three days here this week, and managed to cover a good portion of the largest military installation in the country during that time.
"I came to Fort Hood to meet with Soldiers and their families, talk to leadership, and see what's going on at the 'Great Place,'" he said, noting he has been stationed here a few times in his military career.
"It was important for me to come down and listen to what Soldiers have on their minds, and deliver some messages from the Army leadership about where we are, where we're going, and what we need to focus on."
Chandler's busy schedule took him from one event to the next nonstop, from a Memorial Day commemoration in Georgetown, Texas, to a 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment tank range, to assemblies, meals and functions in dining facilities and meeting rooms.
Along the way, he had positive things to say about the Soldiers he met.
"If you think about it, most of these young men and women came in the Army after 9/11," he said. "They volunteered to serve their nation in a time of war, knowing they were probably going to be deployed in harm's way. I came in the Army in 1981, during the Cold War. We mostly did training. I'm not sure, if I was 18 again, if I would choose to join the service knowing that."
"All of the services add up to about 3.1 million people," he noted. "There are about 330 million people in our country. You got the top one percent of the American people out here doing amazing things each and every day. If you can't get excited by that, I don't know what's going to get you motivated."
"What I want to relay to every Soldier is that it's preventable," he continued. "If we choose to be professionals, who are engaged with each other, if we're a person of character willing to do what's supposed to be done even when no one is looking, if we're committed to each other and our Army, then we'll be successful in preventing sexual assault from happening. It's not someone else's problem. It's an Army problem."
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Family of unarmed Camp Pendleton Marine killed by police to receive $4.4 million
Family of Camp Pendleton-based Marine who was fatally shot by a San Clemente deputy to receive 4.4M
DA's office determined shooting was justified
ABC News
Posted: 05/30/2013
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The family of a Camp Pendleton-based Marine who was unarmed when he was fatally shot by a deputy in San Clemente will receive $4.4 million from Orange County to settle a federal lawsuit.
Sgt. Manuel Loggins Jr., 31, was shot early Feb. 7, 2012 in the parking lot of San Clemente High School, where authorities said he had crashed his GMC Yukon through a gate. At the time, Loggins had his daughters, 9 and 14, in the SUV and had been regularly taking them to the school to do prayer walks around its athletic field.
Loggins was standing outside of his vehicle when he was shot. His daughters remained in the SUV, away from the line of fire.
Orange County supervisors voted April 23 to authorize their attorneys to negotiate a settlement. Officials did not release any details about the settlement beyond the sum, said Howard Sutter, a spokesman for the county chief executive's office.
When supervisors voted to pursue the settlement, Orange County Board Chairman Shawn Nelson said, "Obviously it's a terrible tragedy every way around... It's just a tragedy and there isn't anyone involved who wouldn't agree."
Nelson said the supervisors had a "duty on behalf of the taxpayers" and "to do right by the people who put in a claim."
The Loggins family's attorney, Brian Dunn, was not immediately available for comment.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced Sept. 28 that his office determined Deputy Darren Sandberg was justified in fatally shooting Loggins.
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Pendleton Marine Shot During Traffic Stop ID'd
DA's office determined shooting was justified
ABC News
Posted: 05/30/2013
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The family of a Camp Pendleton-based Marine who was unarmed when he was fatally shot by a deputy in San Clemente will receive $4.4 million from Orange County to settle a federal lawsuit.
Sgt. Manuel Loggins Jr., 31, was shot early Feb. 7, 2012 in the parking lot of San Clemente High School, where authorities said he had crashed his GMC Yukon through a gate. At the time, Loggins had his daughters, 9 and 14, in the SUV and had been regularly taking them to the school to do prayer walks around its athletic field.
Loggins was standing outside of his vehicle when he was shot. His daughters remained in the SUV, away from the line of fire.
Orange County supervisors voted April 23 to authorize their attorneys to negotiate a settlement. Officials did not release any details about the settlement beyond the sum, said Howard Sutter, a spokesman for the county chief executive's office.
When supervisors voted to pursue the settlement, Orange County Board Chairman Shawn Nelson said, "Obviously it's a terrible tragedy every way around... It's just a tragedy and there isn't anyone involved who wouldn't agree."
Nelson said the supervisors had a "duty on behalf of the taxpayers" and "to do right by the people who put in a claim."
The Loggins family's attorney, Brian Dunn, was not immediately available for comment.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced Sept. 28 that his office determined Deputy Darren Sandberg was justified in fatally shooting Loggins.
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Pendleton Marine Shot During Traffic Stop ID'd
George W. Bush Bikes With Injured Vets
George W. Bush Bikes With Injured Vets
Reflects On White House Decisions, Life After The Presidency
Huffington Post
Jon Ward
Posted: 05/30/2013
CRAWFORD, Texas -- George W. Bush had been riding his mountain bike for almost four hours, and he was out of gas.
I was 12 riders behind the former president as we cycled, single file, along a winding trail cut through Bush's 1,500-acre ranch. We had been riding almost nonstop, in 90-degree heat, for 30 miles, over terrain that was at times technical, challenging and potentially hazardous. Rocky sections delivered a pounding to both bike and rider. Roots threatened to upend us. At one point, a narrow path along a ridge line dropped off steeply to the right, 50 to 75 feet to the gorge below. Bush had called the section "hairy."
It was the second day of Bush's third annual Warrior 100K, a three-day mountain bike ride that he has hosted at different locations since leaving the White House, to which he invites military veterans, many of whom had been seriously wounded in the wars he initiated. It's a ritual of thanks and bonding that might seem fraught from the outside, but that everyone who takes part seems to enjoy.
This year, 75 riders participated in the event over Memorial Day weekend, 13 of them veterans wounded physically or psychologically, or both. The rest of the peloton was made up of a few guests of the veterans, Secret Service agents, mechanics, medics, an assortment of people who have ridden with Bush over the past several years, and a few odds and ends, like me, the only reporter along for the entire ride.
Reflects On White House Decisions, Life After The Presidency
Huffington Post
Jon Ward
Posted: 05/30/2013
CRAWFORD, Texas -- George W. Bush had been riding his mountain bike for almost four hours, and he was out of gas.
I was 12 riders behind the former president as we cycled, single file, along a winding trail cut through Bush's 1,500-acre ranch. We had been riding almost nonstop, in 90-degree heat, for 30 miles, over terrain that was at times technical, challenging and potentially hazardous. Rocky sections delivered a pounding to both bike and rider. Roots threatened to upend us. At one point, a narrow path along a ridge line dropped off steeply to the right, 50 to 75 feet to the gorge below. Bush had called the section "hairy."
It was the second day of Bush's third annual Warrior 100K, a three-day mountain bike ride that he has hosted at different locations since leaving the White House, to which he invites military veterans, many of whom had been seriously wounded in the wars he initiated. It's a ritual of thanks and bonding that might seem fraught from the outside, but that everyone who takes part seems to enjoy.
This year, 75 riders participated in the event over Memorial Day weekend, 13 of them veterans wounded physically or psychologically, or both. The rest of the peloton was made up of a few guests of the veterans, Secret Service agents, mechanics, medics, an assortment of people who have ridden with Bush over the past several years, and a few odds and ends, like me, the only reporter along for the entire ride.
Bush is aiming to push veterans aid efforts away from a focus solely on sending money to those in pain, toward a goal of helping as many as possible stand on their own two feet, be they flesh or metal.
An undercurrent flowing through remarks by Bush and others during the three days was a concern that returning veterans not be turned into charity cases, whether injured in the body or the spirit. During a press conference, the former president said the Bush Institute's "first focus is on helping vets find jobs."
"I mean, after all, these men and women have shown incredible courage, they've understood what it means to accomplish a task, and they'll be great employees," Bush said, the 13 wounded warriors standing on either side of him. "And so that's what we're doing at the Bush Center. It's all aiming to make sure that the outpouring of support that is pretty predominant in our country is channeled in a way that is effective."
I asked him about that comment the next day when we spoke.
"Yeah, see here, one of my concerns at the Bush Institute is that the outpouring of support for our vets, while impressive, could be misguided," he said.
He talked for a moment about making sure that financial donations go to organizations that are spending money on veterans, not overhead, and that are having a real impact. Then he talked about post-traumatic stress disorder.
"If you talk to some of these vets, if they level with ya, they'll say one of our biggest concerns is that PTSD is viewed as a disability and employers don't want to hire a disabled person. So one of the things we're going to try to do is help destigmatize the injury," Bush told me.
Of the 13 veterans invited to the ride, only four of them had visible wounds (Gade, who also rode last year, was not one of the designated veteran riders for 2013). A number of others listed PTSD as an official diagnosis.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Manuel Colon, 39, was out on patrol with an Afghan Army unit in Lwara, Afghanistan, in 2004 when improvised explosive devices injured several of the Afghan soldiers.
"When you're talking about coming back and trying to figure out body parts to specific people that are still alive, they're yelling and all this stuff, and putting them all down and trying to figure out what was going on. The burning of the skin, the smell, the blood," Colon said. "That one specific thing just kind of sticks to my mind over and over again."
"Can PTSD be treated? I believe possibly," Colon said. "I'm not a doctor. But it all depends on the individual themselves … How much did they endure? How much was implanted in their mind that just can't be erased? And some of us are dealing with it better, and some of us are not dealing with it that well."
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