Soldier's Home : Air Force

Airline Goes Bankrupt, Homecomings Delayed

David Botti — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:03:04 GMT

The Air Force Times reported today that the bankruptcy of a civilian airline under contract to provide flights for the military is delaying homecoming for some troops. ATA shut down the day after filing for bankruptcy on April 2--the airline's second bankruptcy in nearly three years. An army spokesman told the AF Times that troops could expect delays of two to six days for the next several weeks.

ATA was part of the FedEx Teaming Arrangement, a group of airlines contracted by the military to transport troops and their families overseas. The Indianapolis Star reported on the circumstances of the local air carrier's demise:

Hampered by unprofitable routes, ATA lost $75 million last year and was in talks with five potential suitors when FedEx, with apparently little explanation, decided to cut off the Indianapolis carrier's only money maker: military charters...Its roots were passenger charters that led the carrier, earlier known as American Trans Air, to branch out into troop charters. ATA operates a $340 million-a-year airborne bus line ferrying troops and their families to and from places where the U.S. military stations troops worldwide.

Back on the home front, military families awaiting the return of their stranded loved ones are speaking out. The Hartford Courant has the story of one father who reached out to his old college roommate, Miramax Films co-founder Harvey Weinstein, for help:

"I'm just a frustrated parent right now — even though my son might be OK with what's going on right now," William Currao said Monday.

Currao, desperate for a better answer, called U.S. Rep. John Larson and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd. He even reached out to his old college roommate and Miramax Films co-founder, Harvey Weinstein, who is friends with the Clinton family.

"He's been a great friend and I've never asked him for anything," Currao said. "I just wanted to run this by him. Maybe I can get him to send out his jets over there to get the whole battalion picked up."

The ATA-related stranding of a number of Vermont soldiers in Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq prompted a letter from the Vermont Congressional Delegation to Secretary of Defense Gates. The letter cited that many of the soldiers had their combat tours extended from 12 to 15 months as a result of the surge--and, it's time for them to come home. From the letter:

The parents of two different Vermont soldiers have contacted our offices to express frustration that their sons are facing delays in coming home. First and foremost they wish to know when their loved one will be returning home, and second, they want answers about how this delay was allowed to happen.

As a result of the troop surge, many of the service-members participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom have had their deployments extended from 12 to 15 months. Ask any of these men and women when they are going home and most can give you a precise day and time. The same is true of their families who have been eagerly anticipating the return of their loved one. To be told within days of shipping out that your trip home has been delayed until a date uncertain is demoralizing. Unnecessary delays also result in additional troops remaining in a war zone beyond when their presence serves any constructive purpose for the war-fighting effort.

Earlier this month, Aviation Week gave some background on the FedEx Teaming Arrangement:

The military airlift business was a steady and lucrative one, transporting military personnel and their families to and from overseas postings. In September, the FedEx team won a $1 billion firm-fixed price contract from the U.S. Transportation Command covering a year’s worth of flying for the entire FedEx team. Apart from FedEx itself and ATA, members include Air Transport International, of Little Rock, Ark.; Purchase, N.Y.-based Atlas Air, Northwest Airlines, Omni Air International, Inc., of Tulsa, Okla., and Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, also based in Purchase.

Interactive Map Showing Hometowns of Casualties

David Botti — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:36:36 GMT

A reader recently pointed me to an incredibly detailed interactive map indicating the hometowns of U.S. military casualties from Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Based on information available from the Department of Defense, the map's creator has allowed viewers to filter the map by branch of service, military operation, sex, and age. Check it out here. It first appears zoomed in on the New York City area, but one can view anywhere in the country.

From the Website's mission statement:

In mid 2007 oobgolf.com launched an advanced golf course finder for our users. We recently made the decision to use that same technology and development resources to map the hometowns of soldiers who have died in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. This was not done as a political statement. We simply felt that this tool provided a unique way for Americans to connect to these fallen soldiers in a new more personal way.

The Latest Military Survey

David Botti — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:01:26 GMT

Touting their new study as the most comprehensive survey of the U.S. military community in the past 50 years, Foreign Policy magazine is presenting the results of its discussions with more than 3,400 officers holding the rank of major, or lieutenant commander, and above. Here is a brief sample of the survey's findings:

These officers see a military apparatus severely strained by the grinding demands of war. Sixty percent say the U.S. military is weaker today than it was five years ago. Asked why, more than half cite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the pace of troop deployments those conflicts require. More than half the officers say the military is weaker than it was either 10 or 15 years ago. But asked whether “the demands of the war in Iraq have broken the U.S. military,” 56 percent of the officers say they disagree. That is not to say, however, that they are without concern. Nearly 90 percent say that they believe the demands of the war in Iraq have “stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin.”

The magazine also asked participants to rate the health of the branches of service on a scale of one to 10, with 10 meaning they are most concerned. The Army came in highest with 7.9, followed by the Marine Corps with 7.0. The average score for all for all four branches was 6.6. The officers also said they would advise against waging a new war given the current state of the military. Despite these findings, the survey also reported 64 percent of the participants characterized morale as high.

The survey also asked officers their opinions on the governmental leadership of the nation. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 saying they have a great deal of confidence, the study reports these numbers:

Presidency: 5.5 (16 percent had no confidence at all)
CIA: 4.7
State Department: 4.1
Veterans Administration: 4.5
Department of Defense: 5.6
U.S. Congress: 2.7

To fix the state of the U.S. military, the study found 40 percent of participants say special operations capabilities should be expanded. In addition, there were more circuitous ideas:

Above all, though, the officers are clear that the chances for victory do not rest on the shoulders of the military alone. Nearly three quarters of the officers say the United States must improve its intelligence capabilities—the highest percentage of any of the choices offered. Active-duty officers and those who have retired within the past year give a much higher priority to nonmilitary tools, including more robust diplomacy, developing a force of deployable civilian experts, and increasing foreign-aid programs.

It's a fascinating study, and one that can help break down some uniform misconceptions people have of the military. Now that this study is concluded, let's see a survey of 3,400 corporals and sergeants.

Identifying the Missing: It Happens All The Time

David Botti — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:48:42 GMT

Every so often the Department of Defense issues press releases announcing the identification of remains from U.S. troops missing in action. Usually found in Korea or Vietnam, these releases remind us there's a number of U.S. military personnel still missing—and that there's an active effort underway to find them. Those responsible for the effort are known as the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC).

So far, December has seen six such announcements from the DoD. Appearing in-between notifications of War on Terror fatalities and officer promotions, it's easy to overlook the return home of veterans from long ago wars. Excerpts from the DoD press releases for the past month:

Staff Sgt. Maurice H. Moore, U.S. Army, Vietnam War

On May 12, 1968, North Vietnamese forces overran the Kham Duc Special Forces camp and its surrounding observation posts in Quang Nam-Da Nang Province (formerly Quang Tin Province), South Vietnam. Moore was one of the 17 U.S. servicemen unaccounted-for after the survivors evacuated the camp. Search and recovery efforts at the site in 1970 succeeded in recovering remains of five of the 17 men. A sixth man was returned alive during Operation Homecoming in 1973 after having been held prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese.

Between 1993 and 2006, joint U.S./Vietnam teams, led by JPAC, conducted eight investigations and four excavations in the vicinity of the camp site. The team interviewed former North Vietnamese officers and soldiers who participated in the battle. Some recalled seeing the bodies of U.S. servicemen near one of the observation posts, and U.S. eyewitness accounts placed Moore near the post.

1st Lieutenant Dixie S. Parker, U.S. Army, Korean War

Parker was assigned to Battery B, 8^th Field Artillery Battalion, 25^th Infantry Division then occupying a defensive position overlooking the Kuryong River in P’yongan-Pukto Province, North Korea. On Nov. 27, 1950, Parker was killed in his foxhole while serving as a forward artillery observer. His body was not recovered.

In 2000, a joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea team, led by JPAC, excavated a site overlooking the Kuryong River in P’yongan-Pukto Province where U.S. soldiers were believed to be buried. The team recovered human remains and non-biological evidence including Parker’s identification tags and first lieutenant rank insignia.

PFC Donald M. Walter, U.S. Marine Corps, Korean War

Walker was assigned to the Service Company, 1^st Service Battalion, of the 1^st Marine Division deployed near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. On Nov. 27, 1950, three Communist Chinese divisions launched an attack on the Marine positions. Over the next several days, U.S. forces staged a fighting withdrawal to the south, first to Hagaru-ri, then Koto-ri, and eventually to defensive positions at Hungnam. Walker died on Dec. 7, 1950, as a result of enemy action near Koto-ri. He was buried by fellow Marines in a temporary United Nations military cemetery in Hungnam, which fell to the North Koreans in December 1950. His identity was later verified from a fingerprint taken at the time of the burial.

During Operation Glory in 1954, the North Korean government repatriated the remains of 2,944 U.S. soldiers and Marines. Included in this repatriation were remains associated with Walker’s burial. The staff at the U.S. Army Mortuary in Kokura, Japan, however, cited suspected discrepancies between the biological profile from the remains and Walker’s physical characteristics. The remains were among 416 from Operation Glory subsequently buried as “unknowns” in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (The Punchbowl) in Hawaii.

In April 2007, the JPAC exhumed remains from The Punchbowl believed to be those of Walker. Although the remains did not yield usable DNA data, a reevaluation of the skeletal and dental remains led to Walker’s identification.

Col. Douglas H. Hatfield and Capt. Richard H. Simpson, U.S. Air Force, Korean War

On April 12, 1951, Hatfield and Simpson were two of eleven crewmembers on a B-29 Superfortress that left Kadena Air Base, Japan, to bomb targets in the area of Sinuiju, North Korea. Enemy MiG-15 fighters attacked the B-29, but before it crashed, three crewmembers were able to bail out. They were captured and two of them were later released in 1954 to U.S. military control during Operation “Big Switch.” The third crewmember died in captivity. He and the eight remaining crewmembers were not recovered... [In 2000, a team] excavated an infantry fighting position in Kujang County where they recovered remains which included those of Hatfield and Simpson.