Soldiers kicked out of Afghanistan for bomb photos

[Makalakumu]

I'm sure everyone has heard of the practice of writing messages on bombs and taking pictures of them before they are deployed. Apparently, in New Zealand, if you do this, you will be removed from the combat theater and the action will be judged as unprofessional and inappropriate.

See this article

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10597952

"Irrespective of the investigation into whether the acts contravened military law, the NZDF sets and expects very high levels of professionalism and behaviour from its people - this is especially the case in an operational theatre where the protection of information is vital to the overall security of New Zealand interests and activities," AVM Stockwell said.

And

"These three are returning to New Zealand because of a series of actions and errors of judgment on their part that did not meet the standards we expect of our people."

This got me thinking about the various deep cultural differences that have developed between the various countries that once could count a number of things in common. In the USA, this practice would be praised, but over the pond, it is condemned? Does the US have a cavalier attitude toward war that is generally looked down upon by the rest of the world or are the Kiwis being overly sensitive to something everyone else is doing?

What do you think?

 

[crushing]

If both US and Kiwi soldiers feel compelled to put messages on bombs, attitudes between these two groups would appear to be more similiar than different, at least with regard to this particular issue. The difference is not with the real people or 'regular Joes', but with those (or at least one person) with authority a person that may be more influenced by politics.

There may be units in the US military that have similar standards of conduct regarding messages on ordinance based on the orders of their CO. I sure wouldn't rule that out.

Because killing people with a bomb is one thing, but taunting them is just unacceptable!

 

[Archangel M]

In the USA, this practice would be praised, but over the pond, it is condemned?

??????

The men took the photos and sent them to Demon energy drink company.

Let's not go making assumptions about what would or would not be praised in OUR military especially if you have no first hand knowledge.

 

[Archangel M]

Soldiers are disciplined/punished/court martialed on an almost DAILY basis throughout the US military. What gets made "news" is the issue.

The media just likes to pick out interesting stories for one of two reasons IMO. Either because they are interesting or because they are controversial. If the media outlet has a bias against the war I would go for the second.

 

[Makalakumu]

??????

Let's not go making assumptions about what would or would not be praised in OUR military especially if you have no first hand knowledge.

Considering the photos that I've seen come back and get published, this seems like it would be par for the course. However, you are correct, I wouldn't know exactly what is appropriate in OUR military. I only get to see what is shown in our media and on the internet and from the little that various friends and family can tell me. It's a limited perspective.

 

[Makalakumu]

Soldiers are disciplined/punished/court martialed on an almost DAILY basis throughout the US military. What gets made "news" is the issue.

The media just likes to pick out interesting stories for one of two reasons IMO. Either because they are interesting or because they are controversial. If the media outlet has a bias against the war I would go for the second.

Would US soldiers be disciplined for the same thing?

 

[Archangel M]

Sending photos to a commercial entity like "Red Bull"?? (or in this case Demon)

Yup.

The story chose to focus on the "our soldiers are not allowed to take photos" side of the issue, while slipping in the fact that they stuck a "Demon Energy Drink" sticker on the bomb and sent it to the Demon Energy Drink company (probably for a contest or something). THAT IMO is the real issue here. If it was a photo sent home to mom and dad I doubt it would have been made such an issue.

 

[KELLYG]

Further down in the article

"These three are returning to New Zealand because of a series of actions and errors of judgment on their part that did not meet the standards we expect of our people."

Maybe this was not an isolated incident.

 

[CoryKS]

Would US soldiers be disciplined for the same thing?

Depends on what they wrote. Writing messages on bombs is a tradition that goes way back, but the ease with which these photos can now be disseminated means that it's much more likely that someone's sensibilities will be offended. I recall that there was a big stink-up early on in the Iraq War when soldiers were writing messages like "Happy Ramadan, Saddam" on the bombs. Anything that would potentially send the Arab street into a raging, eye-rolling frenzy was to be avoided.