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MILITARY MATTERS
Newsletter #62
6/27/00
Howdy all, and welcome to the 62nd edition of Military Matters, the newsletter for About.com's U.S. Military Information Page. If you need information about anything concerning the Military, please try http://usmilitary.about.com. If you know anyone who is interested in military matters, please feel free to email them a copy of this newsletter.
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BACK-ISSUES: Back-issues of Military Matters are now available to read online at:
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/newsletters/blnewsletters.htm
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Orlando Bound? Planning to visit Orlando, Florida this Summer? Guest-author Tony Conboy III has the scoop on special military discounts.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/weekly/aa062700a.htm
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Previous Poll: Is America's military (1.4 million active & 1.3 million Guard/Reserve) too big or too small?
2 percent said A - Too Big; 52 percent said B - Too Small; 7 percent said C - Just Right; 8 percent said D - Need
more Guard/Reserve, Less Active Duty; and 30 percent said E - Need more Active Duty, Less Guard/Reserve.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/polls/blmilitarysize.htm
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This Issue's Poll: Should America's Veterans Forgive Jane Fonda for her Actions during the Vietnam War?
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/polls/bljanefonda.htm
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NEWS AND COMMENTARY:
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Members, of course, may post responses to any of these story items right in the message Forum.
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simply click on the button "Enter as a Guest." You can view the entire story by clicking on the link,
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Navy Begins Search for Super Hornet Home: VIRGINIA BEACH -- The Navy on Monday will begin a two-year process to
decide where it will base as many as 148 Atlantic Fleet F/A-18 Super Hornet jets. The decision could ultimately
determine the future of Oceana Naval Air Station, the Navy's prime home for the fleet's earlier Hornet models and
all F-14 Tomcats, which are to be replaced by the Super Hornets.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2733.1
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Russia Fought "Secret War" in Korea: The archives of the old Soviet Union
show that it was Soviet pilots in their MIG-15s who flew 70 percent of the combat missions against the Americans.
And Soviet pilots who were responsible for the majority of American air combat casualties. It was an Air Force
in disguise. The Soviet pilots put on Chinese uniforms. The markings on their planes were changed. They were even
ordered to communicate over the radio in Chinese.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2730.1
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Critic says Pentagon Trying to Silence Him: As the debate heats up over whether
the United States should build a national missile defense, one of the program's leading critics, an MIT professor,
is charging the Pentagon with trying to silence him. This week, three agents from the Pentagon's Defense Security
Service arrived unannounced at Theodore A. Postol's office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They said
they came to show the outspoken physicist classified documents, Postol said. But Postol said he refused to look
at the papers stamped ''SECRET.'' Recalling the Army's attempt to classify his critical analysis of Raytheon Corp.'s
Patriot missile after the 1991 Gulf War, he believes the agents' visit was a ruse to prevent him from speaking
out further against the proposed antimissile system, which has already cost at least $60 billion. ''I definitely
saw this as potential for entrapment and a means of intimidation,'' said Postol, so miffed he wrote a letter to
John Podesta, President Clinton's chief of staff, after the Wednesday morning visit. ''By showing me classified
information, they could say I was talking about classified information. I saw it as a means of abridging my First-Amendment
rights.''
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2728.1
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Giving Advice not Always Good for Recruiting: RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- As an Air Force recruiter,
I talk with potential airmen every day. I know how easy it is to turn them off to the Air Force without realizing
you do it. So many young people have left my office fired up and ready to join, excited about serving their country
in the world's finest Air Force, only to return a few days later telling me that they met someone in the Air Force
who told them they were making a mistake. I believe most of the Air Force people who give advice to potential recruits
honestly think they are helping the individual. Unfortunately, this is often not the case.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2714.1
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22 Asian-Americans Given Medal of Honor: As German machine gun fire sprayed over the heads of his platoon trapped
at the bottom of the hills of Biffontaine, France, Pvt. George T. Sakato decided to take his chances and charge.
Rushing relentlessly up a hillside full of imminent death, the 23-year-old soldier rallied his fellow infantrymen
and destroyed the enemy stronghold. Nearly six decades after Sakato's act of heroism with the fabled 100th Infantry
Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, nearly six decades after Sakato and other Japanese American soldiers faced
widespread prejudice in the country they served, President Clinton yesterday awarded him and 21 other World War
II Asian American veterans the congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's most prestigious military award for valor.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2710.1
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Korea Summit may Mean Changes in U.S. Military: The Pentagon line on last week's historic summit between the leaders
of North Korea and South Korea is that it was good news, but fundamentally nothing has changed--the United States
still must keep its 37,000 troops on the Korean peninsula and proceed with plans for a national missile shield.
Yet behind the scenes there is a growing sense among defense experts and security analysts that the changes that
could flow from the summit are enormous. "I think it will mean a significant rethinking and restructuring
of U.S. forces in Asia," said retired Army Col. Larry M. Wortzel, a former U.S. military attache in Beijing
who is now an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "I think it still is possible that U.S. forces
could be stationed in Korea and Japan 10 years from now, but in a very different form and configuration."
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2709.1
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Should Stay-at-Home Veterans get Combat Medals?: In an age when B-2 Spirit bombers routinely fly halfway around
the world to deliver their payload, Air Force leaders say it's time to reconsider the way war-fighting medals are
awarded. "The nature of warfare has changed," said Gen. John Jumper, who led U.S. Air Forces in Europe
last year during the air war over Yugoslavia. "A geographic boundary does not relate to the way we are fighting
today." Jumper, now head of Air Combat Command, argued in a June 13 interview that too much emphasis continues
to be placed on whether participants were actually in the theater of operations. The trouble is, the Air Force's
theater of operations includes home bases that can be thousands of miles from the enemy. Traditionalists, especially
those in the Army and Marine Corps, counter that combat decorations should be reserved for those who are actually
near the action, within reach of danger. But these days, air wars are all about long-distance warfare.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2702.1
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Army Reserves Advertising for More Women: For the first time in six years, the Army Reserve is making its monthly
recruiting goals. The reason: women. Reserve recruiters are courting young women with a sleek ad campaign that
marks a departure from ads aimed primarily at adventure-seekers. "The ads, we hope, will fit in with something
like Seventeen magazine and will say, 'You can be a woman and be in the Army, too,' said Maj. Mark Zimmer, program
manager for Army Reserve recruiting. The Army Reserve should be an attractive option for women, Zimmer said. Since
it comprises mostly combat support and combat service support positions, women are eligible to hold close to 95
percent of all jobs.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2700.1
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Los Alamos - A Long History of Security Problems: LOS ALAMOS, N.M. –– Reports of security breaches and missing
computers have thrust the Los Alamos National Laboratory into an unwanted spotlight. But guarding the nation's
nuclear secrets has been a daunting task for the lab since its scientists began working on the atomic bomb more
than half a century ago. Experts say it was a clash of cultures--scientific vs. military--that made security difficult
from the lab's earliest days during World War II.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2681.1
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DOD Considering Offering Laser Eye Surgery: WASHINGTON - DoD officials are looking into the possibility of offering
laser eye surgery to military beneficiaries. Several studies are under way to determine if laser vision correction
stands up to the rigors of military life, said Dr. John Mazzuchi, deputy assistant secretary of defense (health
affairs) for clinical and program policy. "Our first concern is for the active duty force," Mazzuchi
said. "If this method works for them, the eye is stable over time, and the military environment doesn't harm
them, then I think this is something we will do for them as a readiness issue."
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2747.1
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State Department Bars the Term, "Rogue State": WASHINGTON -- The term "rogue state," generally
applied by the State Department to nations on its list of countries that sponsor terrorism, has been stricken from
the official lexicon. It has been replaced by the more benign "states of concern." Spokesman Richard
Boucher said Monday the change was instituted because of a "certain evolution" among some countries in
the rogue state category.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2690.1
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Pentagon Clears the Way for Korean War Medal: WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon has cleared the way for U.S. veterans
of the Korean War to accept and wear a medal offered by the South Korean government as a tribute to their service
and sacrifice. South Korea originally offered the medal in 1951 to all who fought under the United Nations banner,
but the U.S. government turned it down because American law at that time prohibited members of the military from
wearing medals issued by foreign governments. Congress changed the law in 1954, but the South Korean government
didn't renew its offer of the "Republic of Korea War Service Medal" until 1998.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2718.1
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Plan Hopes to Stem the Tide of Accidental Marine Deaths: The Corps has a new mission for all Marines: Be careful
out there, on the job and off-duty. The initiative, known as the Marine Corps Safety Campaign Plan, is expected
to hit the streets by mid-July. The plan will outline what Corps officials are calling a "cultural shift"
in the way Marines think of safety issues. "We talk about safety as parts of other things we do," said
Gen. Terrence Dake, assistant Marine commandant. "We've all had safety stand downs. You do that for a day,
and you have an impact over a very short term." The new plan will create a servicewide policy, making safety
a priority in every training or operational effort Marines engage in.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2695.1
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NCOs, Petty Officers Unhappy with 1 Jul Pay Raise: Midcareer petty officers and noncommissioned officers met with
a senior member of Congress June 12 to express their displeasure with the July 1 targeted pay increases. They are
unhappy the pay-table reform gives many officers monthly raises of $200 or more, while most chief petty officers
and senior NCOs get just $20 or so. After meeting with about 150 enlisted members of all the services at the Pentagon,
Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he's open to further
discussion about paying senior enlisted more.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2694.1
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Raising the Roof on Bonuses: Congressional negotiators will decide between two competing plans to attract military
recruits by increasing the use of bonuses. Both the House and Senate Armed Services committees expressed concern
about the services' ability to attract qualified youths and agree that dangling bonuses in front of potential recruits
is a solution. But they took different approaches in their versions of the fiscal 2001 defense authorization bill.
A House-Senate conference committee writing a compromise defense bill will reconcile the differences later this
year. Congressional leaders hope the negotiations are completed in time for a final bill to be passed before lawmakers
break for the month-long August recess.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2697.1
<A HREF="http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2697.1">AOL Link</A>
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The Latest on Retiree Health Care Legislation: Thousands of military retirees believe the government promised to
provide them and their families with free health care for life. But that promise, made by recruiters, has worn
thin over the years. Many retirees say they can not obtain medical care because of military base closings, and
those 65 and older often find Medicare a less generous substitute. The retirees have increasingly complained about
their options in the last year, and a number have joined together in a grass-roots e-mail network to bring their
grievance before members of Congress. While it appears to fall short of what numerous military retirees want, Sen.
John W. Warner (R-Va.), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and his committee colleague, Sen. Tim Hutchinson
(R-Ark.), have offered a plan that represents an important step toward a resolution.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2682.1
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Court Reverses Sex Abuse Conviction Against Dependent: NEW YORK - A U.S. federal appeals court has reversed the
sex-abuse conviction of a man who fathered a child with his 13-year-old stepdaughter at a U.S. military base in
Germany. The appeals court said the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., was not the appropriate place to bring
charges against a civilian for a crime committed in Germany. It then dismissed the indictment against the defendant,
Milton Gatlin. In 1993, Gatlin married Gail Taylor, a U.S. army sergeant stationed at an army base in Darmstadt,
Germany. The appeals court said in August, 1996, while his wife was on duty in Bosnia, Gatlin, who was 34 at the
time, began having sex with Sergeant Taylor's 13-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2668.1
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Five Kicked out in Ongoing Drug Investigation: Five junior airmen at Yokota Air Base, Japan, were kicked out of
the service on drug charges, and another 14 military and civilian personnel at the base may face charges. Yokota
officials said the suspects were not part of a drug ring, but some of the alleged drug offenders know each other.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2706.1
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Retirement Homes Could Cost Troops More: A Senate-passed proposal to change the fees at the U.S. Naval Home in
Gulfport, Miss., could force the Pentagon to collect an extra 50 cents a month from enlisted service members in
order to keep military retirement homes alive, defense officials say. At the urging of Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.,
the Senate majority leader, the Senate added a provision to the 2001 defense authorization bill that would change
the fee charged to residents at the Naval Home from the current percentage of income to a flat fee.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2704.1
<A HREF="http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2704.1">AOL Link</A>
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Congress Prevents Administration from using VA Funds for Tobacco Suit: The House last night dealt a serious blow
to the Clinton administration's efforts to sue the tobacco industry by voting 207 to 197 to cut off a vital portion
of funds to finance the government's litigation. The government is seeking tens of billions of dollars in damages
from large tobacco companies to cover federal health care programs' costs of treating cigarette-related illness.
President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno warned before the vote that the government would have to drop
the landmark suit without the money. The Justice Department decided to assess the departments of Veterans Affairs,
Health and Human Services and Defense to help cover roughly half of the $40 million that will be spent on the case
through 2001. In return, those agencies would share in whatever funds the Justice Department derives from the litigation.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2684.1
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Navy Investigators Targeting Gay Bars: Navy investigators are routinely sending informants and undercover agents
into Washington area gay bars to identify military personnel among the clients, and then using sting operations
to catch some of them in drug trafficking, according to Navy officials and testimony in a recent military court
proceeding. Local and national gay advocates contend that the probe circumvents the Pentagon's "don't ask,
don't tell" policy and might be a way of drumming gays out of the military, albeit for drug involvement. The
Navy denies that accusation, saying the year-old operation aims only at drug trafficking and has never been used
to enforce the continuing ban on homosexual activity by service members.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2680.1
<A HREF="http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2680.1">AOL Link</A>
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U.S. Veterans Return to Korea: PANMUNJOM, Korea (AP) -- Fifty years after North Korea attacked the South as Koreans
slept, Korean War veterans gathered at former battlegrounds to remember the "Forgotten War" that lasted
three years, cost millions of lives and left a small peninsula nation divided. One American veteran brought the
South Korean flag he saved from his days as a U.S. marine in the early 1950s; another returned to the port city
of Inchon where his flotilla launched the daring landing that would change the course of the 1950-53 war.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=2731.1
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You can read more military news on the About.com U.S. Military Site at:
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/newsindex.htm
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Around and About:
The American War of Independence: The Thirteen Colonies grew tired of their tyrannical British masters and ended
the bloody relationship. Learn why the 4th of July is celebrated in America.
http://militaryhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa062500a.htm
<A HREF="http://militaryhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa062500a.htm">AOL
Link</A>
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Property Shipments. Getting ready for that Summer PCS move? Check out this information on property shipments.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/allhands/blpropertyshipment.htm
<A HREF="http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/allhands/blpropertyshipment.htm">AOL Link</A>
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John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum: The fabulous attraction at Fort Bragg.
http://fayetteville.about.com/library/weekly/aa062600a.htm
<A HREF="http://fayetteville.about.com/library/weekly/aa062600a.htm">AOL Link</A>
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CHAT: Dennis Fauchier (DennisHOST) will be hosting General Military Chats every Saturday from 6:00 PM (EST) to
7:00 PM (EST) and every Wednesday from 12:00 PM (EST) to 1:00 PM (EST). Edward Hanrahan (AssassinHOST) will host
every Saturday night from 9:00 PM (EST) to 1:00 AM (EST).
http://usmilitary.about.com/mpchat.htm
A HREF="http://usmilitary.about.com/mpchat.htm">(AOL Link)</A>
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MILITARY HUMOR: An explosion last week killed a wild-living navy boilerman and he found himself in hell. Being
used to stoking fires and extremely hot temperatures, he found hell actually quite comfortable. When Satan went
to check out the new arrival, he found him sitting in his room smiling.
"You like this?", Satan asked.
"Yes, sir", said the sailor, "this feels like a spring day to me." Not wanting the new guy
to be too comfortable, Satan turned up the heat a bit. When he went back the next day to see how his new arrival
was doing, the sailor was still happy; he hadn`t even broken a sweat.
"I like this kind of weather", he told Satan.
For the next few days in a row, Satan again turned up the heat, but each day the Sailor looked as comfortable as
ever. By last Sunday, Satan decided to try something different. Rather than turn up the heat even more, he turned
it off. Icicles formed in the sailor`s room! When he checked on the guy, the room was icy and he was shivering,
but he had a grin from ear to ear, bigger than ever. Satan was exasperated!
"Why are YOU so happy?" he demanded from the sailor. "It`s FREEZING in here!"
"Well, I`m from Denver," said the sailor. "and evidently the Broncos just won the Super Bowl!"
For more military humor, check out the Military Humor Netlink on the About.com U.S. Military Site at
http://usmilitary.about.com/msubmenujokes.htm
A HREF="http://usmilitary.about.com/msubmenujokes.htm">(AOL Link)</A>
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With those words of wisdom, I once again leave you.,
Rod Powers
About.com's U.S. Military Information Site
