THE FOLLOWING IS A RESPONSE TO 101 complaints allegedly from a group of West Point Cadets sent to us from the Defending America newsletter.

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Dear Hack,

Why are we listening to whiny brats who have not even BEEN IN THE SERVICE for very long? They are getting things second and third hand. The environment at West Point is make-believe, not the real world. YOU owe it to those of us who are making the Army work to print the following rebuttal.

1. "This ain't fun anymore".

Its up to YOU to use your intellect and initiative to make it FUN. This is a Gen-X whine of itself.

2. "Zero defects environment know as 'supervision.' "

Its up to YOU the junior leader to prove that details are being met and EARN the right to less supervision.

3. "Corps commanders dictating when a company commander can use a computer."

Thats why you take that officer's pay and buy YOUR OWN computer, Son.

4. "Forty percent retirement."

The military is not about "ME", its about defending freedom and the nation. If you are thinking about retirement your heart is in the wrong place. What kind of retirement did all our war dead get?

5. "Four words: Operations Other Than War -or- Stability and Support Operations."

FOUR WORDS BACK: TRUTH----DUTY-----HONOR---COUNTRY.

RESPONSE TO YOUR WORDS:

WAA. Would you rather sit in Germany playing "war games" or would you rather be DOING SOMETHING TO PREVENT WAR from breaking out on the European continent? So you cannot bar hop in Bosnia. WAA. That's why we are Soldiers to defend freedom not get drunk/laid. Remember the "civil disturbance" in the Balkans that started WWI? Too bad we didn't have a SASO in effect then, huh? Or were you too hung over in history class to remember this?

6. "METL Task: Conduct Family Support Group Operations."

Its up to YOU to make time for war fighting METL tasks. If there is a will there is a way.

7. "Senior leadership out of touch with the muddy boots Soldier."

That's why YOU stay in and change things, so when they retire there are good leaders to take over. "They" win when YOU give up.

8. "Farce, er, Force XXI."

Come up with BETTER IDEAS. Make a web site. That's what we did:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/2116

If you criticize you have a responsibility to do better. Or at least try.

Its easy to criticize, its harder to make things better.

9. "Information Warfare - total BS."

According to who? Because it doesn't stroke your ego for battle glory? We need SITUATIONAL AWARENESS on the battlefield or else men die needlessly. ANYTHING we can do to reduce the fog of war is good.

10. "The road to a Hollow Army is lined with good intentions."

And the road to defeat is paved by so-called "good men" doing nothing and quitting.

11. "The new Heavy Division design (less combat vehicles but more AO)."

Where are YOUR ideas for a better heavy division? Where were you when the M8 Armored Gun System light tank was cancelled?

12. "Steadily eroding benefits."

Go up to #4 and read about petty selfishness. What were the retirement benefits for George Washington's men?

13. "No guarantee of health care for retirees."

You have a voice, contact Congress FIX THE PROBLEM Gen-Xer.

14. "The civilian-military pay gap."

WAA Squared. Real heroes do not mind if in their lifetime they are not rewarded. Its called LOVE. If you LOVE something you GIVE to it, if you expect something back you are TRADING.

15. "Soldiers on food stamps."

Teach them to budget their money better. Stop them drinking their $$$ away at off post bars. Make sure dead-beat dad Soldiers do not spend up their money while their families go without at home.

16. "Not enough money to maintain proficiency on basic METL tasks."

THIS IS BULLSHIT. You lack the imagination and will power to make training occur. Go to our web site if you cannot figure out a way.

17. "The ascendancy of the techno-geek Soldier over the warrior."

And who is this? A jerk who wants to fight the enemy even with hand weapons? We tried that in Vietnam and we lost.

18. "Email in the field -- you can't get away from the paperwork."

Email is a powerful TOOl, use it or it will use you.

19. "Morale in a tailspin."

If you listen to self-defeatist whiny Gen-X crap like this! Reread what you have written. Would a Chamberlain, Gavin, Ridgway or a MacARTHUR have written these 101 whines?

20. "Little support or understanding from Congress or the American public."

TOTAL BS. Watch the Discovery Channel, TLC, public TV, (how many Hollywood movies of late????) public awareness and support for war and veterans is at an all time high. Ask the average John Q Citizen about the Apache helicopter, the Abrams tank or the American Paratrooper.

21. "Not enough training ammunition to maintain qualification on individual weapons."

More BS. You do not need ammunition to maintain weapons skills. Ever hear of dry firing drills? More lack of experience and skill on your part.

22. "Commanders checking the block for the next rank."

Fix this when YOU become the commander

23. "Mission first, Soldiers whenever its convenient."

The MISSION does come first, hard for the Gen-X mind to understand this, how we won on D-Day and other places where death was almost certain. Good leaders find ways to get the mission done and save the men. But the "ME" part (read your whines about ME concerns) has to go for this to occur.

24. "Peacetime mentality."

Whining about benefits IS a peacetime mentality.

25. "Congress can always legislate less retirement and benefits."

Thats why we need BETTER CONGRESSMEN, duh.

26. "Three words - Task Force ________ (fill in your name here)."

How about Task Force Black? TF All American? Or the many TFs of late that have brought us victories in Panama, Haiti? The names are the assembled units NOT YOURS.

27. "One word - Bosnia."

Beats the "one word" (acronymn) of "WWIII", doesn't it? Or did you flunk European history? If a conservative Republican President had sent us to Bosnia, would you then be in favor of it?

Doing the right thing is right, even if it comes from someone you do not like.

28. "The Generation X Soldier (the word "Soldier" used loosely)."

Just as loosely as you jump from whining about combat stuff to personal selfish concerns. Which is it? Warriors don't whine about retirement benefits. Their focus is VICTORY ON THE BATTLEFIELD so their men do not come home in body bags.

29. "The new PT standards -- my 52-year old dad and 27-year old wife have almost the same minimum time for the run."

Since when is PT a competition between each other? What matters is mobility on the battlefield not who is doing what compared to whom. The current APFT is a sports fitness test, so your criticism is baseless. So your Dad and wife are in the Army, too? Have they ever lectured you on sniveling?

THE FIX:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/2116/apft.htm

30. "A 2-month NTC train-up".

So how does your unit get ready? Taking polls? Preparation is apart of being ready to do battle.

31. "One year away from my wife, and I wasn't even in Korea".

WAA category again. Years ago, you were not even allowed to have a wife and be in uniform.

32. "Five deployments to Kuwait since 1991 and we haven't gotten to kick Saddam's ass".

Maybe the next time. Beats shooting blanks at each other in CONUS, though.

33. "The typically routine canine-and-equestrian (dog-and-pony) shows."

Its up to YOU to make better training occur. When you rise to high rank DON'T do "dog and pony" shows.

34. "It's better-to-look-good-than-be-good mentality."

Then BE GOOD. Stop worryng about what others are doing.

35. "The Total Army concept -- yeah, I believe that."

Smart ass sarcasm doesn't help. Elaborate don't be a Gen-X scorner. If you believe it, act it.

36. "Conducting coordination via email."

Better than no coordination at all, huh?

37. "The slow death of the warrior spirit."

Which is??? Define. I take it you want to be stupid and get drunk and brotherly??? Doesn't work that way. War has changed by the weapons used to conduct it. Grow up. We do not have time for spit and polish nonsense which Frederick the Great admitted was just to keep the troops busy and out of trouble,. We do not have time today for such nonsense. Are you aware the latest Russian made ATGMs do not have firing signatures? Too busy making complaints and not enough studying your profession?

38. "No more nudie mags at the PX."

Get a living REAL woman, stop jacking off.

39. "The Army Values card and dogtag."

Come up with better ideas and means to identify Soldiers. Good values are good regardless if they are on a card or in your heart or written on a piece of scrap paper.

40. "We're always fighting the Krasnovians."

Go to your training, S-2 shops and see to it that the North korean OPFOR model is utilized.

41. "Years and years of staff time; only months of Green Tab time."

Its part of learning your profession. without logistics and staff work, wars cannot be fought. Grow up.

42. "Having to HET tanks, BFVs, and howitzers all over the battlefield."

Better than fighting light and getting clobbered, huh?

43. "Briefing 120 Powerpoint slides for a Training Calendar Brief."

Get better at it. Use it as a chance to incorporate new ideas.

44. "Civilians inconvenienced by a little training noise."

WAA. Sounds like the thunder of freedom.

45. 'Not enough money for a company commander to take his company out for a week."

NONSENSE. DO IT. Stop making excuses. If you can't figure it out, email me and I'll show you how: itsg@hotmail.com

46. "One word -- simulations."

One word: TRY. Do better. Create your own in the field FTXs.

47. "Increasing cynicism."

Stop writing nonsense like this 101 whines and start DOING and things will get better.

48. "The new OPMS XXI Functional Areas."

YOUR ideas????

49. 'CAS3 - a good way to waste 6 weeks of your life and learn nothing."

If you learn NOTHING its your own closed mindedness and fault.

50. "Politics, politics, politics."

ALL that I have heard from you in this list. Whiny politics of a young man not willing to fight for excellence within his profession. Where have you talked about reverse slope defenses? Or AIRLAND battle? Or the urbanization of the battlefield? Or Sun Tzu?

51. "Anyone with a personality beaten until they fit the mold."

Be yourself. Be real. Takes courage, not whining. If you are a whiny, offering-no-solutions type, than YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOURSELF, then by all means "Be yourself".

52. "Too many feel-good buzzwords."

WAAH. Noone asks you to use them. Courage and self-esteem are not buzzwords they are words to rally behind, like DUTY--------HONOR-----COUNTRY.

53. 'Train as you fight and fight as you train and all the other cliches"

See above comment. They are not cliche's to those that give a damn about the men, the mission and the TRUTH. Its up to YOu to live up to those ideals and nOT be a hypocrite.

54. 'Inflated Unit Status Reporting."

DON'T DO IT.

55. 'Two nearly simultaneous conflicts -- too much risk."

In war there is inherent risk. God Commanders use it to their favor: think D-Day landings in bad weather catching Germans by surprise etc.

56. "The Joint Chiefs - they call it like it is when it gets really bad."

GOD BLESS GEN Shelton. This is a positive point, knucklehead! Remove this from your whine list.

57. 'Failure to meet recruiting goals (not even close)."

Nonsense. Go out and recruit, do better. Maybe if we made enlisted people into officers as a natural career progression choice at the E-7 mark we'd be much better off---with less immature officers with no time in the enlisted ranks trying to lead those who are more qualified.

58. "Pulling 600 NCOs from field units to bolster recruiting efforts."

You have to work for the future, too.

59. "Personnel shortages."

See above.

60. 'Deploying two infantry battalions to JRTC at 100 percent strength and using the 11Bs from three battalions to do it."

SO? Ever hear of mass or economy of force? Better to train 2 full than 3 half filled BNs. What do you think happens in war when men are lost?

61. "Active duty commanders of Reserve/Guard battalions."

GOOD IDEA. Unites the force. Open your puny cadet minds.

62. "Junior officers and NCOs resigning -- more than just a good economy."

Many lack the moral courage to fight for their ARMY. Well, damn it..THIS IS OUR ARMY...THIS IS OUR COUNTRY. Good men have always had to fight for goodness. Parrotting the complaints of the feint at heart does not rally the men to victory. "THEY" (those whose policies you oppose) win when YOU quit.

63. 'The BS meter -- pegged at 100%."

This list of complaints is total BS because at its core is NOT a commitment to xcellence and fixing the problems.

64. 'Units pretending to be deployable and have a real-world mission."

Better to say you wll do something and trying thamn to be negative and defeatist. Ever hear the phrase; "No unit that ever passed inspection was combat ready and no unit that was combat ready ever passed inspection? There is truth in this.

65. "Digitalization."

Good thing. Again its an advantage WE can have, should have and should exploit so we do not fight the enemy even or from a numerical disadvantage.

66. "Don't tell me how to suck eggs; tell me you want it done and I'll figure it out."

Negative. Some of the small details ARE important. Remember 2.34" bazookas versus T-34/85 tanks in Korea?

67. 'Using the mid-70's Army as the definitive benchmark for bad times."

This is a good measuring point for how far we have gone. We have a long way to go, too.

68. 'Brigade and higher staffs at 100 percent personnel while combat battalions suffer.'

Get into a position of responsibility in S-1, G-1 and change this.

69. 'Let's not train if it even sounds unsafe."

Make it safe and then do it.

70. "A brigade budget only 60 percent of what it was 2 years ago."

So? You do not need all that money to train if you are creative.

71. "The incompetents get promoted because personnel are in short supply."

And the whiners become career officers?

72. "Everyone saying it will get better and it hasn't for the past several years."

Its up to YOU to MAKE IT BETTER.

73. "Peers telling me it's bad everywhere -- it isn't just me."

Patton said "never take counsel of your fears". You are doing it now. Get busy. Make your corner of the Army excellent. It starts with you.

74. "More work for less people."

So? Its good for lazy Americans who do not even know what toil is.

75. "The Pasta with Vegetables MRE - it isn't a meal if it doesn't have meat."

No, but Soldiers with religious concerns might like it. "Withhold not good to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it".

76. "The arbitrary means of awarding MSMs and other awards."

So? Who is pre-occupied with personnel awards? Your heart is in the wrong place. How many awards have you written up your hard working nlisted men for?

77. "If you can succeed in the Army, you can succeed on the outside."

TRUE.

78. "Two A.M. wake-up calls because Joe got himself in jail again."

Its called L-E-A-D-E-R-S-H-I-P. That so called "bad Soldier" might be the one who saves your officer whining derrier in the next conflict. Remember what 114 deserters did for LTC Chamberlain at Gettysburg? You sound like the Captain who wanted to have them shot. Or did you read the notes and cheat, not reading the book KILLER ANGELS like you should have?

79. "Four A.M. wake-up calls for urinalysis except they don't tell you so you show up with an empty bladder and then chug water for an hour to fill up your cup and then piss all day."

WAA. If you are OIC tell the men beforehand to be hydrated. they should be hydrated anyway for better health/Soldier performance. The "they" you are talking about is YOU.

80. "Maybe being cold, wet, hungry, and tired in the field isn't proof of manhood."

HELLO! Thats why we have better field equipment and layering principles that need to be incorporated into the way we wage war.

81. 'Hearing the word "hoo-ah" and instantly understanding its 72 meanings.'

BRAVO! You are multi-lingual.

82. 'Poor radio communications and it's my fault because I'm on a mountain with a OE-254 and a power amplifier while you're in a cave trying to reach me on a whip."

WAA! Thats why war is "hell" and why we have Commo Sgts and messengers and alternate modes of communication. Remember the digitization you criticized earlier? That can correct the dependance on voice communications between units.

83. 'Powerpoint slides, information papers, color charts, and other staff officer products."

YOU are not a staff officer so do not sweat it. When you become one, use play-dough and sand tables if you like. Break the mold.

84. "That's the way we've always done it here."

Then its time for you to show another way. Do you think General Gavin or Billy Mitchell had it easy?

85. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

If you learn a Soldier is gay, give him a chance to change or process him out of the Army.

86. "Two words: political correctness."

Two better words: TRUTH---HONOR. Or : "STOP WHINING".

87. "Promoting 2LTs to 1LTs in 18 months so they can fill a CPT slot because we're short."

So? Maybe they will bring new ideas to the job.

88. "No one is saying how great things are."

BS! We are! In the next email we will list 200+ reasons why the U.S. Army is great for your THANKSGIVING meditation. In the meantime, take a short trip over to our AES web site and read a few web pages:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/2116

89. "My kids -- yeah, I've seen them once or twice this month."

WAA. Noone asked you to be a father or to be a Soldier.

90. "Tired of trying to make a difference and nobody cares."

WE CARE. Get in touch with those that are thankful for what you have done and are doing. "Nobody cares" is a lie.

91. "The Cold War is over and its an uncertain future, baby."

Its called L-I-F-E. Learn to live it to its fullest and BE GLAD WE WON THE COLD WAR. Have you said thanks to all those that won that one?

92. "The next big enemy doesn't emerge for 20 years -- let's just linger until then."

NONSENSE. We have enemies rapidly preparing for the next "big one". Get into that school library and start reading Jane's Defense Weekly, Armed Forces Journal international etc and wake up.

93. 'I never was a "morning person."

YOU are NOW. DEAL WITH IT.

94. "It briefs well."

Who cares about this? Will it fight? Will it win wars?

95. 'Very few people willing to tell it like it is and take the ass-chewing anyway.'

BALOGNEY. There are dozens of us who tell it like it is and are making things better. Join us. Repudiate this whining list and get BUSY.

96. 'The second greatest military in the world -- what we got rid of in the last 8 years."

More defeatist non-sense. Blaming Clintonistas and budget cuts will not explain the choices we ourselves made.

97. "My war stories don't seem so funny anymore."

If they were really from a war they shouldn't be funny in the first place.

98. "Computer skills are valued more than warfighter skills."

People fight wars and people use computers. If you cannot use the computer as a warfighting tool, you are ignorant of the day/age we live in.

99. "You love the Army more than it loves you."

NEGATIVE. We love the Army because ITS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. The Army protects our nation and way of life which is based on personal freedom. Freedom isn't free. It has to be earned and retained at great cost by those who would take it away. USE that freedom to make things better.

100. "Making simple things into 20-ARTICLE OPORDs with graphics and matrices."

When you show you have a complete understanding, and your men the same, you can then reduce to single page OPORDs like Gen Truscott was able to do in WWII. There are no short cuts.

101. "The thrill is gone."

NONSENSE. You need to take a long walk to your library and read a buiography of a great man like a Chamberlain, Gavin, Patton, Lee, or a Ridgway and see what they were up against in their day/time and realize the SAME LEVEL OF COURAGE is required to win today's battles.

ITS UP TO EACH GENERATION....TO FIGHT THE EVIL OF ITS DAY.... OUR TIME HAS COME....

IT IS NOW.

Airborne!

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