Soldiers returning from Iraq offered firsthand accounts of the war's turmoil Thursday. Sponsored by the College Democrats, the panel met to discuss service obstacles as well as dangerous trends in military policy.
\You know so much about supporting the troops, especially since the election's taking place,"" said David Boetcher, a Gulf War veteran headed for Iraq in January. ""Our job is to get to the issues behind the rhetoric.""
Boetcher presented the audience with statistics showing how veterans are losing service benefits at a rapid rate. With lowered funding for support programs and the rising trend of soldiers being reactivated for a second tour of duty, there is little incentive to remain in the service.
Rather than being reassured, however, soldiers have begun to receive rude awakenings through a ""Fed Ex letter"" strategy. ""You get a package, and you have to show up [for service] two days later,"" Boetcher said. ""The military has a plan for action and it's not getting told.""
Jennifer Giese of the 826th Ordinance experienced this firsthand; she came home and found orders to report to Ohio's Fort Campbell. After spending 68 days on base due to confusion over troop deployment, she was sent to Tikrit and stationed at an abandoned Iraqi airbase.
While the unit suffered no fatalities in Iraq, they were plagued the entire time by supply chain glitches. The unit never received body armor, and had to resort to stealing scrap metal for vehicle armor. Bottled water had to be rationed due to shortages, but Giese later filled a swimming pool for a general's use.
""This was a complete, chaotic mess,"" Giese said. ""In my opinion there was no plan ... no one knew where we were going.""
Abie Pickett of the 229th Combat Support Equipment division agreed; she said by the time her unit arrived in Kuwait there was no space, save a building with shoulder-high debris.
According to Brenda Bickel-Bonds, whose husband Michael is serving in Iraq, soldiers also suffer from detachment due to the stretched manpower. She said her husband was taken away from his unit and stationed in Puerto Rico despite the fact he spoke no Spanish. Adding insult to injury, time served there did not count toward his total.
Boetcher said moves like this have lowered enrollment and confidence among armed forces, creating a serious issue in the military.
""The problem with this war is it's not dying down,"" Boetcher said. ""There's got to be something done, because it's [the military's] not going to last.""
