Today, the Army announced that it had fired the commander of Walter Reed hospital due to the fiasco that the media has been reporting, but I think the blame goes a little beyond the commander.
You see, the Army has clamped down on funds for the entire force. Everyone is dealing with budgets that are literally 40% of what they use to be. What I truly think happened is that the commander and his leadership made an attempt to spend money where it was most effective - new machines, beds, etc for the troops that where coming in. The bunk house, as bad as it was, was probably considered something that they would pull down and rebuild. They probably didn’t want to use it, but by the time they had to, there where no funds to fix it.
You should see some of the things the Army is doing right now to save money. They tried to fire over 600 people in Europe (yes, Stars and Stripes used the word “Fired” and it offended most of the civilians that where effected) that where considered term or temp employees (temps are temps. Term employees are people who have jobs for 1-2 years, but their positions are fully funded throughout the time period - the money is already there.) The Army also rifted (ie: laid off) over 600 IT workers in Europe. Most recently, to save money, the military has decided to cancel any coming home parties for the troops. Now, its 2 hours of boring speeches, hugs and kisses and your home. No sitting down with all your friends and catching up on everyones life at once while the kids play, you relax, etc.
I have a conspiracy theory too. The Army decided that they where going to change the weight standards for Females in Oct. Unfortunately, it had a huge effect on moral. While the Army touted the program as a step forward, when you looked at the raw data from the female side of things, they where getting the short end of the stick. I know many many females that are worried about being booted because of this change. Mark my words, March 31st is going to be a nasty day. 2 months after that, you will see a surge in Females being booted out. After another year, you will see another surge.
My theory is that the Army, ultimately, doesn’t want women around more than they need to be. They make up a good deal of the military and are starting to see combat - that worries the top brass. On top of this, some unit booted a soldier when she only had a few months left before retirement - she sued the pants off the Army and won.
Oh, don’t know what they use to figure out if you’re overweight? A scale and a measuring tape. No dunk tank or anything. There are so many errors in this process it’s not even funny.
Mark my words - in June, there will be a surge in Females getting out of the military.
