Armor damaged in battle? Pay up???
- Thread starter Andrew Green
- Start date
Funny... this sounds exactly like the story from "Over There"... if that made it onto the show sometime last year, Id think this has to be 1) more common than this one incident, or 2) Made up based on that show.
From experience, my vote is for #1.
From experience, my vote is for #1.
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
Hmmm... I know someone who spent time in Iraq as an enlisted man. I didn't hear this story from him firsthand, but heard it from a mutual acquaintance.
He said that the first thing they did when they got all their equipment issued to them was go thru it all and ditch everything that was not absolutely necessary because it is heavy and the temperature over there tended to be about 120 degrees Farenheit. This included high-tech things like night vision goggles. The more they could lighten the load, the easier life was. Then, to make sure it didn't fall into the hands of the enemy, they ran it over with a tracked vehicle and smashed it into the ground.
I never heard that they had to pay for any of it.
He said that the first thing they did when they got all their equipment issued to them was go thru it all and ditch everything that was not absolutely necessary because it is heavy and the temperature over there tended to be about 120 degrees Farenheit. This included high-tech things like night vision goggles. The more they could lighten the load, the easier life was. Then, to make sure it didn't fall into the hands of the enemy, they ran it over with a tracked vehicle and smashed it into the ground.
I never heard that they had to pay for any of it.
Technopunk said:
I know some who are back home now and they had the same issue, of having hardware they checked out, and signed back in, be billed to them because no one else signed it back out.
Blotan Hunka
Master Black Belt
Sounds like BS to me, stateside yeah the Army will screw with you like that. In a combat zone you can loose, destroy, break almost anything you want and you just get new stuff.
Blotan Hunka said:
The one guy I know who was billed about 2k for night goggles lost them in a fire fight in Iraq rescueing another team under fire. He got new ones but was still billed for the old ones when he came back state side as a reservist.
Wounded Soldier to Get Refund
Army Had Demanded Payment for Bloodied Body Armor
By ALLISON BARKER, AP
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Feb. 8) - A former soldier injured in Iraq is getting a refund after being forced to pay for his missing body armor vest, which medics destroyed because it was soaked with his blood, officials said Wednesday.
First Lt. William "Eddie" Rebrook IV, 25, had to leave the Army with a shrapnel injury to his arm. But before he could be discharged last week, he says he had to scrounge up cash from his buddies to pay $632 for the body armor and other gear he had lost.
Rebrook, who graduated from West Point with honors, said he was billed because a supply officer failed to document that the vest was destroyed as a biohazard. He said a battalion commander refused to sign a waiver for the vest, saying Rebrook would have to supply witness statements to verify the vest was taken from him and burned.
AP article
Army Had Demanded Payment for Bloodied Body Armor
By ALLISON BARKER, AP
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Feb. 8) - A former soldier injured in Iraq is getting a refund after being forced to pay for his missing body armor vest, which medics destroyed because it was soaked with his blood, officials said Wednesday.
First Lt. William "Eddie" Rebrook IV, 25, had to leave the Army with a shrapnel injury to his arm. But before he could be discharged last week, he says he had to scrounge up cash from his buddies to pay $632 for the body armor and other gear he had lost.
Rebrook, who graduated from West Point with honors, said he was billed because a supply officer failed to document that the vest was destroyed as a biohazard. He said a battalion commander refused to sign a waiver for the vest, saying Rebrook would have to supply witness statements to verify the vest was taken from him and burned.
AP article
Edmund BlackAdder
<B>Rabid Wolverine</B>
Sounds bloody awful to me.
Blotan Hunka
Master Black Belt
Ping898 said:
An idiot supply pouge and a ***** CO. I thought so.
sgtmac_46
Senior Master
Well, this is a bit absurd....however, there is a reason why equipment is so tightly controlled.
I've worked in and around military bases. The black market is a thriving business. If every soldier were simply allowed to declare his property 'lost or destroyed' many would be supplementing their incomes even further. What's more, you have NO idea what would turn up 'missing'. The local pawn shops and army surplus stores are FULL of 'missing' magazines, kevlar helmets, vests, uniforms. Other things make it to the streets, too.....like handgrenades and the 'odd' anti-tank rocket.....and that's the stuff that makes it to the streets even WITH the 'tight controls'.
That having been said, supply should have more brains than to demand a man pay for a vest that was easily verifiable as destroyed because it was damaged and stained with blood.
I've worked in and around military bases. The black market is a thriving business. If every soldier were simply allowed to declare his property 'lost or destroyed' many would be supplementing their incomes even further. What's more, you have NO idea what would turn up 'missing'. The local pawn shops and army surplus stores are FULL of 'missing' magazines, kevlar helmets, vests, uniforms. Other things make it to the streets, too.....like handgrenades and the 'odd' anti-tank rocket.....and that's the stuff that makes it to the streets even WITH the 'tight controls'.
That having been said, supply should have more brains than to demand a man pay for a vest that was easily verifiable as destroyed because it was damaged and stained with blood.
sgtmac_46 said:
I have seen the problem in many other locations and jobs as well.
It is the new bottom level manager problem. They take them off, give them a lobotomy, and then read him the rules, and tell him/her that they will loose everything if they break the rules as they are written.
So, they do not use any judgement or common sense or intelligence (* Read Lobotomy *) and they follow the rules exactly. If it says did you "See" the destroyed item? They will not check the Yes box. If No, then please fill out form EJ-PBR47 in triplicate, per witness. A minimum of two witnesses required. (* Insert the next requirement as well *)
sgtmac_46
Senior Master
Hey....you are talking about the ARMY here..... they INVENTED the 'EJ-PBR47...in triplicate'. It is definitely NOT....a new problem.Rich Parsons said:
We've come a long way, actually. Hell, the Zulu warrior under Shaka got executed if they lost their assegai (spear). The armies of Imperial Japan were told that each weapon they had was the PERSONAL property of the Emperor himself (they each had the seal of the Emperor on them)....with corresponding consequences if it was lost. Nothing new, folks....except that we are hearing about it in time to help the poor guy out before he gets his pay docked.
