Married special-operations troops feel strains of war

MtnGoat · 04-25-2012, 08:55

Married special-operations troops feel strains of war

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

Sgt. Maj. Chris Faris and his wife, Lisa, talk to groups of special operations troops about their marital struggles in an effort to help them navigate their own.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/militar...FXLQ1A.twitter

cbtengr · 04-26-2012, 10:36

I thought that this article was a very good read. Its not that I did not have an appreciation of the sacrifices made on a daily basis by all of you QP's , I just didn't appreciate the magnitude of it. Tour after tour after tour, the CSM's story really touched me, especially about all those birthdays he missed. We owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be paid.

**Pete** · 04-26-2012, 12:55

OK - so you missed a birthday or three - DO LUNCH.

You're back at home station - go go go - get ready grab lunch and back to work.

But why not take an extra 30 minutes, grab a big box of Taco Bell Taco's - or whatever they like best - and "Do Lunch" with the munchkin.

Mine's 12 and still was the hit of the lunch room yesterday when I showed up "Jersey Mikes for her" - and I'm an old dude.

How many of you have done lunch with your 8ish year old kid and as they introduce you to their friends as "My Daddy" and they roll those big kid eyes up at you just all full of love and pride.

**The Reaper** · 04-26-2012, 17:39

I hear what the leadership is saying.

Now tell me how many deployments they declined to resource in the past 12 months to avoid breaking dwell time?

TR

Dusty · 04-26-2012, 18:42

What, are divorces illegal or something, now?

cbtengr · 04-30-2012, 18:24

"U.S. Troops have faced tougher battles with thicker skin"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion...war/54631060/1

I have been waiting for the letters to hit regarding last weeks article about the strain on marriages of our SF soldiers. The comments at the bottom of the letters from readers are of particular interest. Traumatized by the small stuff the guy from Mesa writes, and his bona fides are?

Dreadnought · 04-30-2012, 19:22

My wife sent me this article, and I thought it was a good read. Some people/relationships handle stress better than others.

Richard · 04-30-2012, 19:30

This was always an issue in Group - the issues were many - I'm glad to see that there is recognition of it and help for those who choose to seek it.

Richard

BigWave · 05-01-2012, 09:11

Some of the best friends I have had served in ODAs. Some of the strongest women I have met served as their wives. The guys were/are warriors, but I knew/know better then to ever cross the women. I have trouble enough keeping my marriage straight and I do not have to contend with an ops tempo and extended absences like y'all do. More power to you.

abc_123 · 05-03-2012, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

I hear what the leadership is saying.

Now tell me how many deployments they declined to resource in the past 12 months to avoid breaking dwell time?

TR

Perhaps another source of relief could be the ARNG units with a BOG : Dwell of greater than 1:5, 1:6 or even 1:8!

lindy · 05-03-2012, 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by abc_123

Perhaps another source of relief could be the ARNG units with a BOG : Dwell of greater than 1:5, 1:6 or even 1:8!

Sir,

I get what your saying and agree that there are guys who would be/are trying to jump on the chance to augment deployments but the damn process is fricken painful and both AD and RC leaders seem to lack understanding of MOS specific "PMT" that is required but unresourced.

20th SFG is comfortable with some support MOSes grabbing some uniforms, jumping on a plane, and OJT'ing in country.

That may work for some FOBBITs but it damn sure won't for us.

The Guard wants to help, we just need enabling support.

abc_123 · 05-04-2012, 05:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindy

Sir,

I get what your saying and agree that there are guys who would be/are trying to jump on the chance to augment deployments but the damn process is fricken painful and both AD and RC leaders seem to lack understanding of MOS specific "PMT" that is required but unresourced.

20th SFG is comfortable with some support MOSes grabbing some uniforms, jumping on a plane, and OJT'ing in country.

That may work for some FOBBITs but it damn sure won't for us.

The Guard wants to help, we just need enabling support.

No, I don't think you did understand.

Did I say anything about "augmentation"? Or the use of the Guard for some, "hey you" thing?

Individual augmentation is not the mission of the ARNG. That is what the USAR is for. We do it, but is a concious decision as it provides individual training and experience which benefits our formations and because there is a war on and sometimes you do what you are being asked to do to help out that effort vs. standing on principle.

As far as that "lack of understanding" goes... I'm confident that the RC side is aware of what is resourced and what is not and how the Guard should be used but sometimes is not.

lindy · 05-04-2012, 18:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by abc_123

No, I don't think you did understand.

Did I say anything about "augmentation"? Or the use of the Guard for some, "hey you" thing?

Individual augmentation is not the mission of the ARNG. That is what the USAR is for. We do it, but is a concious decision as it provides individual training and experience which benefits our formations and because there is a war on and sometimes you do what you are being asked to do to help out that effort vs. standing on principle.

As far as that "lack of understanding" goes... I'm confident that the RC side is aware of what is resourced and what is not and how the Guard should be used but sometimes is not.

I should have prefaced that my comments were from a support role vice 18-series viewpoint. Regardless, you are absolutely correct: I definitely do not understand how the Guard is resourced, especially for support elements. I only know what I've been exposed to and that is 24 months of "no": no State funding for X schools because we'll get that (specialized gear not in the inventory, comms, technical certifications, etc) during PMT before the next mob. The end result is a bunch of SIGINT soldiers who have no access to SIGINT until they get downrange...unless, of course, they go elsewhere.

From my perspective, MI Detachments should be either moved to the Reserves or required to be located in States with SCIFs and States that do not have SF companies so we can be ready when you need us to be. (Why isn't there a SF MI Det in the DC area? Oh, the national training opportunities!!!) If the status quo is maintained, it will take 3 months in country to get us up to speed before we can truly be effective direct support soldiers.

I fully understand that I am in a Support Company however, if the ODA that I'm attached to expects me to be proficient in my job, I will need to jump on a rotation with an AD Group.

We simply have neither the financial support nor any other support for specific technical MI training in garrison but we can run a range and PMCS the shit out of some vehicles!. We have two soldiers who have been waiting for 2 years to attend MOSQ training (State didn't have money for P&A) and the ONLY way for them to get MOSQ'd was to engage USASOC and the school to inform them these soldiers will be augmentees.

Forget Ranger (we're the only support soldiers in V coded billets), RSLC, or any ATTRS courses and don't even think about the contracted courses. This was even before the budget crisis. SFAUC? The flat range was pulled from us too (reportedly a committee decision unrelated to budgetary issues).

I'm not bitchin', although it sure seems like it, but rather just telling like it is. I am personally taking 14 days of leave without pay from my civ job to jump on an AT with another MI unit just to get some practical training. My unit's response: no money so I'll be drilling for points. Roger that.

My soldiers deserve a competent and skilled team leader. I believe the only way to achieve this in a timely manner is to jump onto an AD SF deployment. Hopefully, some burned out SOT-As can stay home this time.

plato · 05-04-2012, 22:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindy

From my perspective, MI Detachments should be either moved to the Reserves or required to be located in States with SCIFs and States that do not have SF companies so we can be ready when you need us to be.

If you're talking AD MID's as well, I'd lean in the opposite direction. One of the most beneficial effects on the 441st MID was its ownership by the 1st Group in the early 70's. They were trained by the SFOD's in as many SF "areas" as we could manage on Oki and deployed with them as often as possible. "Airborne" became a unit requirement, and we shipped many off to Ranger School. The adjustment of cross-hairs from ancient Asian History to local current culture, diseases, ethnic conflicts and customs, etc. gave us real and real-time benefits. When the "analyst" came back from a deployment with a detailed sense of "other stuff I wish I'd known", he became a real asset to a team the next time they deployed.

The Group S-2 can handle the SCIF and aim the MID in the right direction if there's trust all around.

lindy · 05-05-2012, 06:38

Plato,

In general, the AD SF MI Dets do not appear to have similar issues as Guard MI Dets do.

There seems to a general perception that 35Ps are qualified SOT-As right out of school when nothing could be further from the truth. Imagine a SF soldier going to a team after completely JUST his language and 18-MOS school and it would be the team's responsibility to OJT SUT, SERE-C, ASOT, and the CULEX: that is the problem we face. All required training but unresourced.

It is in fact all about trust.

Lindy