'The military simply does not care about its personnel' Letter to the Army Times

buffleheadcabin:

The deaths of five U.S. troops and nine Afghans due to officer incompetence and negligence are a shining example of why myself and so many fellow combat soldiers have left and continue to leave the military. I say “shining” because here we have two Marine Gunnery Sergeants, an Army 1st Sergeant, a Hospitalman 3rd Class and a 1st Lieutenant (all men who have contributed plenty to the armed forces) and this is how the military repays that loyalty and steadfastness—by hanging them out to dry on the battlefield. To make matters worse, the military does nothing to console and inform their family members or to punish the officers in question until a congressman pressures them accordingly, at which point they reluctantly “reprimand” a mere two of them. Simply put, this is an outrage. When senior NCOs die because their commanders ignore repeated requests for fire support, those commanders, at the very least, ought to be relieved.