bobdina
09-01-2010, 08:44 PM
Reservist: Unit not Ready for Deployment
September 01, 2010
Chicago Tribune
A U.S. Army Reserve sergeant from Chicago bypassed the chain of command and asked two Illinois lawmakers to intervene because he felt that his unit was woefully unprepared to deploy to Afghanistan this fall.
Alejandro Villatoro, 28, is one of about 160 soldiers from across the Midwest in the 656th Transportation Company, based in Hobart, Ind. He said he didn't want his unit to be unprepared like his was in 2003.
In Kuwait, Villatoro said, his unit conducted missions with trucks used in the Korean War and trained using Vietnam tactics, like digging foxholes. When his unit invaded Iraq, some soldiers did so with scant bullets.
"This is an example of what a commander does, where they put the mission first before the safety," said Villatoro, of Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. "My concern is I want to put safety first to make sure that our soldiers are properly trained before we take on a mission."
Villatoro contacted the offices of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez. Staff members from each office said they attended a joint meeting in August with an Army Reserve official about investigating Villatoro's concerns.
First Lt. Caleb Shinn, commander of the 656th, stressed that his unit has several more weeks of training and must be certified at least twice that the soldiers are ready for combat.
"We worked closely together," Shinn said of Villatoro. "At no point did he bring (his concerns) up to me, that I'm aware of."
Three weeks after he contacted the Tribune and lawmakers, Villatoro said his unit was informed that training would be more thorough and that soldiers with concerns should use the chain of command rather than the news media.
It's unusual for a sergeant to reach out to Washington about readiness, said Richard H. Kohn, a University of North Carolina professor of military history.
Military officials have argued about readiness since after the Vietnam War, bickering about standards and whether they are the same for active soldiers and reservists, Kohn said.
The lines are blurred, it often is a question of funding and there's constant pressure from the top down to report "we're ready" because it reflects on the chain of command, Kohn said.
"These commanders are taught to make do," Kohn said.
Troops in the 656th learned in February they would be leading convoy missions to patrol Afghanistan, yet they hadn't been trained to drive mine-resistant, top-heavy vehicles yet, said Villatoro, who joined the Reserve 10 years ago.
Funding was cut for their two-week training in June, Shinn confirmed. Instead of days full of activity, soldiers simulated online scenarios they might encounter overseas. They didn't have training equipment such as blank bullets, pyrotechnics or soldiers from other units who would act as the enemy, Villatoro said.
They crammed in computer classes about what do to if they became prisoners of war and maneuvered vehicles around dummies strewn on the side of the road that acted as explosives. Soldiers were supposed to radio someone to disarm them, but the radios didn't work, Villatoro said.
Most of Villatoro's concerns don't consider up to five weeks more of training the unit is scheduled to complete before it leaves for Afghanistan, Shinn said.
Villatoro said the unit is scheduled to deploy near the beginning of October.
"It's kind of like a crawl, walk, run phase," Shinn said. "We're more in the walk phase."
Soldiers in June weren't in the training phase yet to be using training equipment, Shinn said, adding that some soldiers were sent to Texas to master the mine-resistant vehicles.
Villatoro acknowledged that he tried only once to talk to Shinn, but said he wasn't allowed to talk to his commander.
Gary Tallman, a U.S. Army spokesman, said military officials have been contacted by members of Congress about Villatoro's allegations and would look into them.
"We won't deploy a unit that isn't prepared," Tillman said. "We owe them that much."
September 01, 2010
Chicago Tribune
A U.S. Army Reserve sergeant from Chicago bypassed the chain of command and asked two Illinois lawmakers to intervene because he felt that his unit was woefully unprepared to deploy to Afghanistan this fall.
Alejandro Villatoro, 28, is one of about 160 soldiers from across the Midwest in the 656th Transportation Company, based in Hobart, Ind. He said he didn't want his unit to be unprepared like his was in 2003.
In Kuwait, Villatoro said, his unit conducted missions with trucks used in the Korean War and trained using Vietnam tactics, like digging foxholes. When his unit invaded Iraq, some soldiers did so with scant bullets.
"This is an example of what a commander does, where they put the mission first before the safety," said Villatoro, of Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. "My concern is I want to put safety first to make sure that our soldiers are properly trained before we take on a mission."
Villatoro contacted the offices of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez. Staff members from each office said they attended a joint meeting in August with an Army Reserve official about investigating Villatoro's concerns.
First Lt. Caleb Shinn, commander of the 656th, stressed that his unit has several more weeks of training and must be certified at least twice that the soldiers are ready for combat.
"We worked closely together," Shinn said of Villatoro. "At no point did he bring (his concerns) up to me, that I'm aware of."
Three weeks after he contacted the Tribune and lawmakers, Villatoro said his unit was informed that training would be more thorough and that soldiers with concerns should use the chain of command rather than the news media.
It's unusual for a sergeant to reach out to Washington about readiness, said Richard H. Kohn, a University of North Carolina professor of military history.
Military officials have argued about readiness since after the Vietnam War, bickering about standards and whether they are the same for active soldiers and reservists, Kohn said.
The lines are blurred, it often is a question of funding and there's constant pressure from the top down to report "we're ready" because it reflects on the chain of command, Kohn said.
"These commanders are taught to make do," Kohn said.
Troops in the 656th learned in February they would be leading convoy missions to patrol Afghanistan, yet they hadn't been trained to drive mine-resistant, top-heavy vehicles yet, said Villatoro, who joined the Reserve 10 years ago.
Funding was cut for their two-week training in June, Shinn confirmed. Instead of days full of activity, soldiers simulated online scenarios they might encounter overseas. They didn't have training equipment such as blank bullets, pyrotechnics or soldiers from other units who would act as the enemy, Villatoro said.
They crammed in computer classes about what do to if they became prisoners of war and maneuvered vehicles around dummies strewn on the side of the road that acted as explosives. Soldiers were supposed to radio someone to disarm them, but the radios didn't work, Villatoro said.
Most of Villatoro's concerns don't consider up to five weeks more of training the unit is scheduled to complete before it leaves for Afghanistan, Shinn said.
Villatoro said the unit is scheduled to deploy near the beginning of October.
"It's kind of like a crawl, walk, run phase," Shinn said. "We're more in the walk phase."
Soldiers in June weren't in the training phase yet to be using training equipment, Shinn said, adding that some soldiers were sent to Texas to master the mine-resistant vehicles.
Villatoro acknowledged that he tried only once to talk to Shinn, but said he wasn't allowed to talk to his commander.
Gary Tallman, a U.S. Army spokesman, said military officials have been contacted by members of Congress about Villatoro's allegations and would look into them.
"We won't deploy a unit that isn't prepared," Tillman said. "We owe them that much."