After 12 years of war, what else could you possibly want? A CALL TO ACTION!!!!

I have sat here, patiently, attempting to do my duty as the spouse of an officer in the U.S. Army.  Be supportive.  Be respectful.  Well, that’s it.  I can no longer be respectful of a government that does not respect the many sacrifices the members of our military and their families have given over and over, time and time again.  

Recently, the retirement benefits of our military, current and past, have been slashed.  Not in the way that most civilians understand, but in a very underhanded manner…basically costing my husband $125,000.  Stretched over time, that may not seem like it will be a huge impact to us.  But regardless of how it seems, the reality is that it will affect the decision we make when we choose our “forever” home, how much assistance we will be able to afford to give our children when they choose what college to attend.  It could ultimately affect whether they choose to go to college.  

Now, as if that weren’t enough, it seems like our housing allowance is in jeopardy.  So let me explain to you why our housing allowance is so critical and important.  We move.  We move a lot.  Housing is different in each and every place we move.  Think about it this way.  We could be in some rural, small town in Alabama or Missouri one minute and then in Hawaii or California another.  So housing is calculated separately from base pay because of that very reason; the cost of living varies from place to place, state to state.  When a civilian accepts a job, that money is always calculated into their base pay according to where the job is located.  Since we are such a transient population, it’s entirely impossible to do that.  Also, we only receive a housing allowance if we live off post or if the on-post housing is privatized.  Unfortunately, most military posts have a housing shortage and we are required to rent or even purchase off-post.  Regardless, it’s a burdensome process, but it’s a process we go through every few years…some almost every year.  

The change that is being proposed, according to Army Times, (*disclaimer:  I’ve only had the opportunity to read the cover so I am making a few assumptions about the proposal based on my experience and history.) is that Single Soldiers and Soldiers with Dependents will receive the same BAH.  As of now, those with Dependents get extra to cover the housing needs of having a family.  Now, I am absolutely not opposed to allowance equity.  I’ve often wondered about it in the past.  But, we know with all the cuts of late, single soldiers aren’t getting an allowance boost.  So what does that mean?  That means that they will CUT the housing allowance of all those classified as “with dependents” (*).  

I’m fairly positive that the cost of living ANYWHERE is NOT going down, so I can’t possibly figure out how a family is going to work, yet another, cut into their budget.

Retirement Benefits….Tricare Reimbursements….Housing Allowance…Seriously?  Why don’t you just cut their pay?  That’s what it’s coming down to, right?  

Our military families are what makes this country great…we are the BACKBONE of this country.  Its strength was built upon our sacrifices.   Our government and those that stand idly by allowing this to continue to happen over and over again are the reason why our country is circling the drain.  Harsh, but true.  

When my husband told us that he was deploying…well, at first I was ok with it.  I didn’t question that at all.  But over time, I began to see all that which our government was doing through a much different lens.  I’ve been through deployments and separations before, but for whatever reason I was viewing this one with much more clarity.  Maybe it was because I wasn’t pregnant or post-partum.  Who knows! 

My point is, each and every day that goes by…Each and every decision against the military and military family that is made by our government…Each and every time we’re told to “Embrace the suck”…I begin to realize that maybe it just isn’t worth it all.  It isn’t worth the sacrifice my children are making. 

There are few constants out there for a military family member and there are even fewer out there for the soldier; so when we make a commitment to our country, we expect the same in return.  Those constants don’t come in the form of our soldier being home at dinner time, or the weekends.  That which is constant to us is separation and the fear of loss…a lot of it…many years of it.  Another constant that we SHOULD be able to count on are the monthly entitlements that we have been promised, including housing and medical care.

So here are some examples of the things that our government deems more worthy than our military:

•            $5 million worth of crystal glassware to accompany the $400,000 worth of booze purchased by the State Department. (Heritage Foundation, Dec 2013)
•           $1 million rock “sculpture” for the embassy in London to presumably let all the UKers there know how much we appreciate their relationship. (Heritage Foundation, Dec 2013)
•           $1 million heated pavement at a bus stop in Arlington, VA presumably so the cold-hearted government workers commuting into DC won’t freeze to death. (Heritage Foundation, Dec 2013)
•           $10 million to “subsidize” the promotional campaign for Superman: Man of Steel to inform theater-goers of all the great and awesome opportunities the Army National Guard has to offer; never mind the fact that they will cut 8,000 people from their personnel roster, not to mention the 200,000 that will be cut from the Army.   Sunk cost?  Yeah, probably! (The Wastebook, Dec 2013)
•           $500 million to guarantee loans to those looking to purchase homes in resort communities, such as Hawaii.  (The Wastebook, Dec 2013)
•           $360,000 to NASA for bed rest research…that’s right, 70+ days for 20 people to lay around and do nothing! (The Wastebook, Dec 2013)
•           $280,000+ to send a bunch of music executives around the globe promoting “Indie Rock” music because THEY need to “find new revenue streams.” (The Wastebook, Dec 2013)
•           $295 million TAX REFUND to Facebook.  This one speaks for itself, but just to remind you…that little geek is worth about $40billion!  (The Wastebook, Dec 2013)
•           $1.95 million for Senate Staffers to get Lifestyle Coaching.  Do we really care if they party themselves into oblivion or that they are stressed out and over-worked?  (The Wastebook, Dec 2013)
•           $65 million of Hurricane Sandy Emergency Funds were spent on tourism related television ads.  (The Wastebook, Dec 2013)

These are ONLY a few handpicked items to show you just how much crap is being wasted out there and then when the turnip is bled dry the government comes knocking on the Military Familiy’s door.  Why?  Why are those stupid issues more important?  Why does the military have to “embrace the suck,” as Nancy Pelosi put it?  Why can’t those Senate Staffers embrace a little?  What about those damn music executives?  Are the gold-lined pockets falling apart to the point that we, the military family, should make that sacrifice?  Can the State Department just use a Red Solo Cup like everyone else?  Was it necessary…really necessary to buy that expensive crystal?  

Nowhere else to cut, huh Nancy?  Huh, Mr. President?  Hey, Paul Ryan…couldn’t negotiate ANYTHING else? I suggest you get your head out of your ass look a little harder!  

Whether you agree with this war or not makes no difference.  This country asked its military and their families to make a sacrifice and they did that...they do that every day.  So now, you owe them your voice.  Stop posting all the sweet, heart-felt little memes all over Facebook saying how you support the military.  Stop and show them.  Stand with the military and be their advocate...their UNION!  

Call your worthless Congressman…Call your worthless Senator…hell, even call the White House…and demand that they stop breaking their promises to our military and their families.  Tell them to stop making their burden greater and their sacrifices worth less.  Tell them STOP before there is no one else left to fight for this country. Tell them to stop before all the ones willing to volunteer to fight stand up, give them all the middle finger and walk away!  Who will defend The Constitution then?

Learning New Dialects by Steve

               Why do I hate new jobs?  Well first, any time I enter a new environment, I’m completely conscious of the fact that I’m out of place…at least that’s my perception.  I feel like I can’t walk or talk properly, I feel like I drop things, I actually feel physically off-balance to the point where I’m terribly conscious of my body, position, and gestures.  I just don’t like to be in those new situations.  Some simple things that occur is forgetting, in that first day, how to get the restroom, to my room, or to the office.  These perceptions influence how I hear what people say and the things that I infer from statements.  It’s a highly sensitive, and likely flawed perception of reality.

                So what would I be doing for the next year?  The office that I was assigned to was the CJ5 Future Plans (FUPLANS) as an Operational Planner in Team 1 for Campaign Plans.  Theoretically, this organization looks 6-24 months out at problems facing the coalition.  In reality, around me were people figuring exact numbers of troops at different locations and portraying those sums, in PowerPoint form, for presentation, analysis, and decision.  These men and women were from around the globe (the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Germany), all here as a contribution of their nation to this pseudo NATO effort…why pseudo?  Australia has very little personal investment in the North Atlantic…they aren’t in NATO yet they’re in Afghanistan operating within a NATO led effort called ISAF.  Everyone was fully engrained in their various systems (U.S. Secret, ISAF Secret, and Unclassified) which brings me to my first problem.

The office is dark and gloomy with rows of hastily constructed, well-worn plywood desks with overhead shelving with a file cabinet on the end of each row.  Computer systems primarily covered the desks while papers and folders adorned the overhead shelving.  The file cabinets served two purposes, neither of which was intended by their designer I’m sure…body armor was placed on top, while “care-package” snacks occupied the drawer.  It soon came to my attention that any food left on top of the cabinets were considered excess and free game for anyone walking down the center aisle.  The smell was one that you only encounter in enclosed environments where individuals are highly stressed…it’s very specific and hard to describe.  The classic military act of taking a building with a cohesive layout and constructing plywood walls everywhere to suit its purpose and inevitably blocking air-flow, doesn’t help dissipate the odor.

I am sat at a desk that has fallen victim to what we like to call in the army, cannibalization…i.e. the act of taking parts from an otherwise working system (or the system that has one part broken/missing) and using it as parts for other closer to working systems in need.  Now the act of cannibalization is very controlled when it comes to vehicles and weapons, but seems to be completely unregulated when it comes to office equipment.  So I have one monitor instead of the standard two, I have one out of three computers, and at first, I can’t even find a mouse to use.  The computer keyboard that I have isn’t even equipped with a Common Access Card (CAC) reader.

                Conference rooms are key locations on any new majors’ tour, and while they made this tour as well, calling them conference rooms, in some cases, may be a little misleading.  Some looked like nothing more than a high map table with chairs around it that encroached into the coffee area…oh, and the coffee area?  A Bunn machine, suited more for a diner, occupied one corner flanked by a cornucopia of various machines for brewing coffee and tea.  This is a coalition, right, and everyone else in the world drinks large amounts of tea…regularly.

                To use any one of the above computer systems, it takes the holy triumvirate of contributing parts to make the system work.  I must be granted and account (which takes between 1-3 business days…yes, some parts of the military have business and non-business days), I must have the hardware (computers, monitors and interface devices), and I must have active ports to pipe in information.  Ahhh, opportunity for another catch, as soon as new hardware is plugged into the existing physical ports, the cyber flow is cut off to that port because of the unauthorized entry…but, according to those in the know, it’s quicker to get the violation and have it rectified than to have a new port established…it’s essentially like getting stopped for speeding as an expedient method of discovering the correct speed limit.

                Now I feel out of place and unknowledgeable, and don’t even have the means to rectify it.  The Army is a culture with its own language…as is evidenced by this blog, acronyms rule the day.  What is becoming even more evident, is that within this language there are many different dialects or other languages.  I’m no language expert, but I’ve heard it said that learning Italian after knowing Spanish is like cheating…maybe each new location is akin to picking up another romance language after knowing one…perhaps it’s like learning Mandarin after Cantonese or Pashto after Dari…whatever the case, at every location, there are terms that only the attuned ear can understand.  When I arrived at Army North, the DSCA dialect took me weeks to master, and it was the same for the ISAF/NATO dialect…acronyms were thrown around without notice, and I was left to try to distill what I could and not look to stupid by asking questions.  Regardless, it served no good, and only made me feel more out of place.

                The good news about the Army is that it doesn’t let you settle in any one place for too long, so transition stress becomes known and anticipated….I’m not sure that makes it easier, but at least I’m not confused that I’m stressed for apparently no reason.

                The Team works from 8 am to 9 pm, but they take lunch and dinner and everyone, depending on work load takes a break in the afternoon to get things done while facilities are still open…some do Physical Training, others just drop laundry or even take a power nap.  Thursday night are movie and pizza night in the office at 6:30 pm, Friday is a late call at 1 pm, and Sunday is a late call at noon…there are no non-business days in the CJ5.  Overall, while they work hard and surge when they have to, they are set to keep fighters going through 9-12 months of straight strenuous, cognitive work.

                Here we go…into the grind…as soon as I can get a frickin’ computer account!