Irregular Army

by Matt Kennard

  19 “Alcohol Abuse on Rise Among US Soldiers: Reports,” AFP, June 19, 2009.

  20 Ewen MacAskill and David Batty, “US Embassy Bans Alcohol at Guards’ Quarters After Claims of ‘Lewd’ Parties,” Guardian, September 3, 2009.

  21 Ibid.

  22 “Report: U.S. Sailor Arrested in Killing in Japan,” Associated Press, April 3, 2008.

  23 “Drunk American Kills Prized Bengal Tiger,” Sky News, September 20, 2003.

  24 “Afghan Drug Trafficking Brings US $50 Billion a Year,” Russia Today, August 20, 2009.

  25 Shaun McCanna, “It’s Easy for Soldiers to Score Heroin in Afghanistan,” Salon, August 7, 2007.

  26 http://www.heroin-detox.org/drug_czar.htm.

  27 McCanna, “It’s Easy for Soldiers to Score Heroin in Afghanistan.”

  28 Robert Lewis and Kate McCarthy, “War Vets Fighting Addiction,” ABC News, November 26, 2007.

  29 Lisa Daniel, “October is Drug Abuse Prevention Month,” American Forces Press Service, October 16, 2010.

  30 Hugh C. McBride, “Alcohol Abuse on the Rise Among Combat Veterans”; http://www.drug-rehabs.com/addiction_alcohol-abuse-among-combat-vets.htm.

  31 Gregg Zoroya, “More Soldiers Seek Drug Abuse Help,” USA Today, November 21, 2008.

  32 Ibid.

  33 Brad Knickerbocker, “Military Looks to Drugs for Battle Readiness,” The Christian Science Monitor, August 9, 2002.

  34 Elliot Borin, “The U.S. Military Needs Its Speed,” Wired, February 10, 2003.

  35 Ibid.

  36 Melody Petersen, “U.S. Military: Heavily Armed and Medicated,” MSNBC, May 19, 2009; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30748260/ns/health-health_care/.

  37 Ibid.

  38 Ibid.

  39 “U.S. Soldiers Involved in Drug Smuggling Ring,” ABC News, October 26, 2005.

  40 Ibid.

  41 David Adam, “Ecstasy Trials for Combat Stress,” Guardian, February 17, 2005.

  42 “PTSD Symptom Reduction by Propranolol Given After Trauma Memory Activation”; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00645450.

  43 Ibid.

  44 Clayton Dach, “America’s Chemically Modified 21st Century Soldiers,” Alternet, May 3, 2008.

  45 Brandon Keim, “Uncle Sam Wants Your Brain,” Wired, August 13, 2008.

  46 Brian Ross and Vic Walter, “‘Disposable Heroes’: Veterans Used To Test Suicide-Linked Drugs,” ABC News, June 17, 2008.

  47 Jake Tapper and Maddy Sauer, “Obama on Vet Drug Tests: ‘Outrageous’; Meanwhile WH Slams ABC News Report,” ABC News, June 17, 2008.

  48 Tony Newman, “Support the Troops: Especially When They Come Back with Substance Abuse Problems,” Commondreams.org, August 2, 2005; http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0802-21.htm.

  49 Alvarez, “After the Battle, Fighting the Bottle at Home.”

  50 Lewis and McCarthy, “War Vets Fighting Addiction.”

  51 McCanna, “It’s Easy for Soldiers to Score Heroin in Afghanistan.”

  52 Lizette Alvarez, “Concerns Grow About Treatment for Veterans,” New York Times, July 9, 2008.

  53 Alvarez, “After the Battle, Fighting the Bottle at Home.”

  54 www.thatguy.com.

  55 Penny Coleman, “Pentagon, Big Pharma: Drug Troops to Numb Them to Horrors of War,” Alternet, January 10, 2008.

  56 Petersen, “U.S. Military: Heavily Armed and Medicated.”

  57 Paul Harasim, “Grieving Family Hopes Army Finds What Prompted Suicide,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 11, 2007.

  58 David Olinger and Erin Emery, “Waging Internal War,” Denver Post, August 27, 2008.

  59 Ibid.

  60 Ibid.

  61 “Rep. Berkley Issues Statement on Truth about Veterans’ Suicides,” US Fed News, May 6, 2008.

  62 Olinger and Emery, “Waging Internal War.”

  63 Lizzette Alvarez, “Suicides of Soldiers Reach High of Nearly 3 Decades,” New York Times, January 29, 2009.

  64 Mike Mount, “June Was Worst Month for Army Suicides, Statistics Show,” CNN, July 15, 2010; http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/07/15/june-was-worst-month-for-army-suicides-statistics-show.html#ixzz

  18Bwhrq67.

  65 Aaron Glantz, “After Service, Veteran Deaths Surge,” New York Times, October 16, 2010.

  66 Michael Riley and Tom Roeder, “Intense Combat Tied to Homicides by Ft. Carson GIs,” Denver Post, July 16, 2009.

  67 Tom Roeder, “Fort Carson Report: Combat Stress Contributed to Soldiers’ Crimes Back Home,” The Gazette, July 16, 2009.

  68 Ibid.

  69 Bill Berkowitz, “The Military’s Mounting Mental Health Problems,” Alternet, April 30, 2004.

  70 Mark Benjamin, “Army Sent Mentally Ill Troops to Iraq,” UPI, March 12, 2004; http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2004/03/12/Army-sent-mentally-ill-troops-to-Iraq/UPI-97331079131967/.

  71 “Army Tours in Iraq to be Extended, Gates Says,” MSNBC, April 11, 2007; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18059112/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/army-tours-iraq-be-extended-gates-says/#.T3nSBL9rPNo.

  72 William Yardley, “Killings Add to Worries at Soldier’s Home Base,” New York Times, March 11, 2012.

  73 “Report: Suicidal Troops Sent into Combat,” Associated Press, May 13, 2006.

  74 Rick Rogers, “Some Troops Headed Back to Iraq are Mentally Ill,” Union-Tribune, March 19, 2006.

  75 “Report: Suicidal Troops Sent into Combat,” Associated Press, May 13, 2006.

  76 Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Palumbo, “Resiliency is the Key to Success,” Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Website, November 10, 2011; http://www.jber.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123279673.

  77 Petersen, “U.S. Military: Heavily Armed and Medicated” (from which the following quotations are taken).

  78 “WikiLeaks Accused Bradley Manning ‘should never have been sent to Iraq’,” Guardian, May 27, 2011.

  79 Evan Hansen, “Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Revealed,” Wired, July 13, 2011.

  80 Elizabeth Curlee, “Mental Illness in the Military on the Rise,” CBS News, June 15, 2007.

  81 Ibid.

  82 “Democrats Slam Budget Cuts for Veterans’ Services,” CNN, March 19, 2005.

  83 Thomas B. Edsall, “Funds for Health Care of Veterans $1 Billion Short,” Washington Post, June 24, 2005.

  84 “Bush FY 2006 Budget Proposal Might Mean ‘Deep Cuts’ in Veterans’ Health Care,” Kaiserhealthnews.org, February 13, 2005; http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2005/February/11/dr00028116.aspx.

  85 Editorial, “Veterans Without Health Care,” New York Times, November 9, 2007.

  86 Ibid.

  87 Ann Scott Tyson, “Pentagon Report Criticizes Troops’ Mental-Health Care,” Washington Post, June 16, 2007.

  88 Bob Egelko, “Veterans Not Entitled to Mental Health Care, U.S. Lawyers Argue,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 5, 2008.

  89 Linda D. Kozaryn, “President Honors Veterans, Families at USS Intrepid Ceremony,” American Forces Press Service, November 11, 2008.

  90 Matt Kennard, “Obama Under Pressure Over Veterans Benefits,” Financial Times, March 3, 2011.

  91 Matthew Kauffman and Lisa Chedekel, “Slipping Through the System Special Report: Mentally Unfit, Forced to Fight,” The Hartford Courant, May 15, 2006 (from which the following quotations are taken).

  92 Michael de Yoanna and Mark Benjamin, “I am Under a Lot of Pressure to Not Diagnose PTSD,” Salon, April 8, 2009.

  93 Roeder, “Fort Carson Report: Combat Stress Contributed to Soldiers’ Crimes Back Home.”

  94 “Study Finds Toops Shy Away From Mental Health Care,” CNN, April 30, 2008.

  95 Sgt. Joshua Risner, “Tour Raises Awareness of Mental Illness,” Army News Service, September 9, 2009.

  96 “One in Five Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Suffer from PTSD or Major Depression,” Rand Corp., April 17, 2008.

  97 Ann Zieger, “U.S. Mental Health Spending Rising Rapidly,” Health News, August 6, 2009.

  98 Wendell Marsh, “
Jobless Rate Among Veterans Highest in Five Years,” Reuters, February 5, 2011.

  99 Kennard, “Obama Under Pressure over Veteran Benefits” (from which the following quotations are taken).

  100 Robert Longley, “VA-HUD Issue First-Ever Homeless Veterans Report,” About.com, February 14, 2011; http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/resourcesforveterans/a/Homeless-Veterans-Report.htm.

  101 “Boxer Joins Colleagues, Veterans Advocates to Oppose Extreme GOP Proposal to Deny Housing to 10,000 Homeless Veterans,” Press Release of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, March 10, 2011.

  102 Craig Roberts, “HUD-VASH Vouchers Survive Budget Cut,” The American Legion, April 13, 2011.

  103 Rick Maze, “18 Veterans Commit Suicide Each Day,” Army Times, April 22, 2010.

  104 Matt Kennard, “US Companies in Iraq: Touting for Business,” Financial Times’ Beyond Brics blog, August 30, 2011.

  CHAPTER 3: PLUMP, YOUNG, DUMB––AND READY TO SERVE

  1 “Too Fat to Fight? Obesity Becomes National Security Issue, Weight Would Disqualify Many Potential Military Recruits,” University of Buffalo News Release, November 27, 2002; http://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=59700009.

  2 “An Overweight Army,” The Douglass Report, September 26, 2005; http://douglassreport.com/2005/09/26/an-overweight-army/.

  3 “Too Fat to Fight? . . .,” University at Buffalo News Release, November 27, 2002.

  4 Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, Volume 16, Number 01, Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, January 2009.

  5 “Top Army Recruiter Weighs Fat Camp for Recruits,” Associated Press, January 12, 2009.

  6 Julia Sommerfeld, “Battling the Bulge,” Knight Ridder News Service, May 12, 2003.

  7 Ibid.

  8 Chris Ayres, “US Troops are Losing Battle of the Bulge,” Times, November 18, 2002.

  9 Ibid.

  10 Alvarez, “Army And Marine Corps Grant More Felony Waivers.”

  11 Douglas Belkin, “Struggling for Recruits, Army Relaxes its Rules,” Boston Globe, February 20, 2006.

  12 Matt Kennard, “Army Discharge Stats Suggest that Wartime Breeds a New Attitude Towards Soldiers Who are ‘Different,’” Columbia News Service, April 15, 2008.

  13 “Top Army Recruiter Weighs Fat Camp for Recruits,” Associated Press, 12 January, 2009 (from which the following two quotations are taken).

  14 Bo Joyner, “Fit to Fight: Program Pushes Reservists to Pursue Healthier Lifestyle,” Citizen Airman, August 2004.

  15 Andrew Tilghman, “New Rules Allow More Body Fat With Age,” Marine Corps Times, March 31, 2008.

  16 “Obesity in the Military on the Rise,” RedOrbit.com, February 11, 2009; http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1637795/obesity_in_the_military_on_the_rise/.

  17 Documents obtained by the author from the Pentagon through the Freedom of Information Act.

  18 Ibid.

  19 Letters, Army Times, January 28, 2010.

  20 Sandra Jontz, “More Servicemembers Fighting Battle of Bulge,” Stars and Stripes, February 11, 2009.

  21 Oliver August, “‘Battle of the Bulge’ Begins as US Troops Stand Easy,” Times, November 13, 2009.

  22 Ibid.

  23 Mark Townsend, “British Army Changes Rules to Allow Obese Recruits to Enlist,” Observer, August 2, 2009.

  24 Ibid.

  25 Neva Grant, “Helping Dropouts Break the Cycle of Poverty,” National Public Radio, March 27, 2006; http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5300726.

  26 First Lt. Kyle Key and Spc. Austin Hurt, “Guard’s Patriot Academy Gives Dropouts Second Chance,” Army.mil, August 27, 2009; www.army.mil/article/26681/ (from which the following quotations are taken).

  27 Sgt. Brad Staggs, Indiana National Guard, “First Student Arrives for First Patriot Academy Class,” NationalGuard.mil, June 3, 2009; http://www.nationalguard.mil/news/archives/2009/06/060309-First.aspx.

  28 “Readiness Subcommittee Hearing on Budget Request for Army Reserve, Army National Guard and Air National Guard Training and Operations,” Gpo.gov, April 27, 2010; http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg58105/html/CHRG-111hhrg58105.htm.

  29 Diana Penner, “Centerpiece; Taking on a Challenge,” Indianapolis Star, August 27, 2009.

  30 Sgt. Mike R. Smith, “Guard’s Education and Youth Programs Take Center Stage in Atlanta,” National Guard Bureau, July 28, 2009.

  31 Sgt. Robert G. Cooper III, “Patriot Academy Offers Soldiers Second Chance at High School Diploma,” Arng.army.mil, August 26, 2009; http://www.arng.army.mil/News/Pages/PatriotAcademy.aspx.

  32 Sgt. David Bruce, “Patriot Academy Diversifies Student Body,” Army.mil, July 13, 2010; http://www.army.mil/article/42178/.

  33 “Ready, Willing, and Unable to Serve,” A Report by Mission: Readiness; http://d15h7vkr8e4okv.cloudfront.net/NATEE1109.pdf.

  34 Ibid.

  35 James J. Heckman and Paul A. LaFontaine, “The Declining American High School Graduation Rate: Evidence, Sources, and Consequences,” The National Bureau of Economic Research, February 13, 2008.

  36 Neva Grant, “Helping Dropouts Break the Cycle of Poverty,” NPR, March 27, 2006; http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5300726.

  37 Mark Thompson, “Army Recruiting More Dropouts,” Time, January 23, 2008.

  38 Henry Giroux, “Obama’s Betrayal of Public Education? Arne Duncan and the Corporate Model of Schooling,” Truthout, December 17, 2008; http://www.truth-out.org/121708R.

  39 Program’s website: http://www.ngycp.org/.

  40 Eric Eckholm, “Discipline of Military Redirects Dropouts,” New York Times, March 7, 2009.

  41 Ibid.

  42 “Ready, Willing, and Unable to Serve,” A Report by Mission: Readiness.

  43 “Army Opens Prep School for Recruited Dropouts,” Associated Press, August 27, 2008 (from which the following quotations are taken).

  44 http://www.arng.army.mil/News/publications/fs/2008/graphics/afr_fy08_text.doc.

  45 Army National Guard Annual Financial Report, FY2009; http://www.arng.army.mil/News/publications/fs/2009/index.htm.

  46 Appy, Working Class War, p. 32.

  47 Ibid.

  48 Thompson, “Army Recruiting More Dropouts.”

  49 “US Military Heads for Crisis in Recruitment,” New York Times News Service, June 12, 2005; http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/06/12/2003258996.

  50 Mark C. Young and Leonard A. White, “Preliminary Operational Findings From the Army’s Tier Two Attrition Screen (TTAS) Measure,” U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences; http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA481765.

  51 Tom Philpott, “Army Signs More Dropouts,” Military.com, November 22, 2006; http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,119382,00.html.

  52 Eric Schmitt, “Army Recruiting More High School Dropouts to Meet Goals,” New York Times, June 11, 2005.

  53 Fred Kaplan, “GI Schmo,” Slate, January 9, 2006.

  54 Schmitt, “Army Recruiting More High School Dropouts to Meet Goals.”

  55 Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (Free Press, 1994).

  56 Thompson, “Army Recruiting More Dropouts.”

  57 “DOD Instruction,” March 14, 2006, http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/130430p.pdf.

  58 Thompson, “Army Recruiting More Dropouts.”

  59 Young and White, “Preliminary Operational Findings From the Army’s Tier Two Attrition Screen (TTAS) Measure.”

  60 DOD Instruction, March 14, 2006, http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/130430p.pdf.

  61 Jennifer Kavanagh, “Determinants of Productivity for Military Personnel,” Rand Corp., 2005; http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR193.html.

  62 “Army Recruiter Threatens High School Student with Jail Time,” Democracy Now, August 7, 2008 (from which the following quotations are taken); http://www.alternet.org/story/94192/army_recruiter_threatens_high_schoo
l_student_with_jail_time/.

  63 Damien Cave, “Army Recruiters Say They Feel Pressure to Bend Rules,” New York Times, May 3, 2005.

  64 “School Recruiting Program Handbook, USAREC Pamphlet 350-13, September 1, 2004 (from which the following quotations are taken).

  65 Karen Houppert, “Military Recruiters Are Now Targeting Sixth Graders. Who’s Next?,” The Nation, September 5, 2005.

  66 “Detailed Information on the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Assessment”; http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/detail/10003233.2006.html.

  67 Andy Kroll, “Fast Times at Recruitment High,” Mother Jones, August 31, 2009.

  68 “Military Training Program for Teens Expands in US,” Agence France-Presse, November 25, 2007.

  69 Houppert, “Military Recruiters Are Now Targeting Sixth Graders. Who’s Next?”

  70 Mike McAndrew, “Teenagers, the U.S. Army Wants You,” Syracuse Post-Standard, June 22, 2008 (from which the following quotations are taken).

  71 ASVAB website; http://www.military.com/Recruiting/ASVAB/0,13387,,00.html.

  72 Ibid.

  73 “Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001)”; http://www.notyoursoldier.org/section.php?id=13.

  74 David Goodman, “A Few Good Kids?,” Mother Jones, September/October 2009.

  75 Robert Hodierne, “Concern Over US Army Recruitment,” BBC News, August 23, 2006 (from which the following quotations are taken).

  76 Jim Lobe, “School Military Recruiting Could Violate International Law,” Inter Press Service, May 14, 2008.

  77 Carrie McLeroy, “Army Experience Center opens in Philadelphia,” Army News Service, September 2, 2008.

  78 “Recruiting Center to Have Flight Sims, Video Games,” Stars and Stripes, June 16, 2008.

  79 Holly M. Sanders, “An Army of Fun,” New York Post, June 15, 2008.

  80 Kathy Matheson, “Flashy Army Recruitment Center in Pa. Mall Closing,” Associated Press, June 11, 2010.

  81 http://shutdowntheaec.net.

  82 “Computer Games Liven up Military Recruiting, Training,” National Defense, November 1, 2002.

  83 Clark Boyd, “US Army Cuts Teeth on Video Game,” BBC News, November 25, 2005.

  84 Anne Broache, “Video Games in Congress’ Crosshairs,” June 2, 2006; http://news.cnet.com/Video-games-in-Congress-crosshairs/2100-1028_3-6079654.html#ixzz18ZzXU6HT.