RANGER AGAINST WAR: Mad as Hell <

Friday, August 15, 2008

Mad as Hell


Hey! think the time is right for a palace revolution

But where I live the game to play is compromise solution

--Street Fighting Man
, Rolling Stones

Money, its a crime.

Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.

Money, so they say

Is the root of all evil today
--Money, Pink Floyd
_________________

Well, the Phony War on Terror (PWOT©) has come to visit Ranger's bank account in more ways than one.

For the last three months, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) ["It's About (Screwing) the Customer ©"] has been shorting my Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) by $1,350 a month.

Ranger wishes to enlighten our "We Support the Troops"
types out there in FOX TV land that all is not well in the homeland. Hopefully Commander in Chief sometime fly-boy Bubba will be concerned that one of his tired, old WARRIORS ™ is getting shortchanged by a grateful nation.

My particular problem is a microcosm of the macro problem facing soldiers, whether active, reserve forces or retired. The government wants our service but routinely and blithely fails to compensate us properly.

My CRSC is not a gift; it was earned in a rather unpleasant manner. That fact never changes, and injuries worsen with age. Ranger is not complaining. He was a volunteer, and stood up when George Bush stood down.

The military like to hype its "Wounded Warriors Brigade," but I am disinclined to awe since I see they can't even keep normal transactions disbursed.

A recent New York Times editorial on the problem of neglect for wounded soldiers quoted Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker' February appearance before a Congressional subcommittee: “The Army’s unwavering commitment and a key element of our warrior ethos is that we never leave a soldier behind on the battlefield — or lost in a bureaucracy.”

"That was thousands of wounded, neglected soldiers ago. There are now about 12,500 soldiers assigned to the warrior transition units — more than twice as many as a year ago. The number is expected to reach 20,000 by this time next year
(Wounded Warriors Empty Promises.)"

Count this soldier as one left behind and
lost in the bureaucracy. An administrator at DFAS in Cleveland calls his situation "a concern." But if it were her pay that went disappeared, Ranger reckons it would rise to a status above that of "concern."

To read the
Army Echoes is to be wowed by all the goodies and services supposedly rendered to military retirees, but obviously this doesn't extend to my compensation.

How does the government stiff someone for three months pay? Is the government so broke they must shortchange retirees? Is this systemic or a single screw-up? Is it a reaction against Ranger's anti-war stance? (Hyper-vigilance is a part of my training.)

Thankfully, my congressman is a Vietnam vet and so has sympathies to my population. His office is helping me cut through the tape too thick for our knives. So his helpful veterans issues person liaises with the VA. Having the proper letterhead means everything in matters of this nature. Everyone gets to do a job in these United States.

I pity the "wounded warriors" even more than their wounds, for their struggle with the Veteran's Administration has just begun, and will become a life-long project (unless they become disheartened or disgusted as so many do, and drop out.)

Their problems did not commence the day they were wounded, but the day they began applying for remuneration of service-connected disability in an adversarial claims process in which most veterans get short-changed in their ratings.

If you want to know more, ask a veteran.

Labels:

21 Comments:

Blogger FDChief said...

Some day I'll have to buy you a Talisker and tell you about the time that DFAS shredded my JUMPS file, flailed around helplessly than had to pay me via casual pay (in lieu of EOM pay) for the three months it took them to unfuck themselves, and then came back five years later and tried to collect the "extra" payments.

Worthless bastards.

Friday, August 15, 2008 at 7:50:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Chief ,
as of yesterday my pay is back on line BUT NO BACK PAY YET.Small steps.And of course theres no interest paid to us when they sit on our money.
If you ran your FDC like this you'd get relieved.We used to call AG types and their branch symbol- the shield of shame.What should we call the finance types ?

Friday, August 15, 2008 at 10:12:00 AM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This certainly is heinous. How did this turn of events come about? I'll tell you: the powerful people are shafting the common man once again. When will our leaders learn to conduct themselves in a treehouse that has pirates in it? Well, we all know the answer to that one. This is like Uruguay 1973 all over again.

Friday, August 15, 2008 at 10:12:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger The Minstrel Boy said...

never forget the harsh lesson taught to the "bonus army." to say nothing of the legion of morphine addicted amputees that roamed the nation right after the civil war.

promising the moon, then delivering something far below minimum has been the american way since they stiffed the continental army on land grants.

so far, they haven't fucked with mine yet. given half a chance i'm certain they could find a willing doofus to make "mistakes" with my file.

it helps to have a family full of lawyers though.

Friday, August 15, 2008 at 10:39:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger The Mad Dog said...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

President G.W. Bush will receive $160,000 per year in retirement pay (in addition to numerous other benefits, i.e. medical, travel, Secret Service protection) at the taxpayers expense.

The current salary (2008) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $169,300 per year.

Billions have been paid and will continue to be paid to Pentagon contractors such as Halliburton, Blackwater Worldwide and QinetiQ.

And now G.W.B. and the Social Security Admin. want to pay millions in social security benefits to ILLEGAL Mexican immigrants who have allegedly paid into the system.

I know where our CRSC payments and benefits are going.

References:

http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=52
(Presidential/Congressional pay and benefit info)

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm
(Congressional salary info)

http://www.fairus.org/
(SSA/illegal Mexican benefits)

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/19/6481/
(military contractor info.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton
(military contractor info.)

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20071001121609.pdf
(Blackwater Worldwide/USA info.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_USA
(further Blackwater info)

Friday, August 15, 2008 at 6:04:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Mad Celt,

Them that has, gets.

You are an expansive thinker, Mad Celt. You realize that's not exactly a vaunted quality in these United States ;)

It complements our writing well, though. Thanks for the data and references.

Friday, August 15, 2008 at 6:12:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger FDChief said...

"What should we call the finance types?"

Isn't the Pay Corps insignia a brass diamond? How about The Gold Bricks? Or, perhaps they should be placed in perspective with the rest of the suits: They may (club) you or (spade) you, but they will never (heart) you...

Friday, August 15, 2008 at 8:58:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Chief,

Clever; you are a wag!

Friday, August 15, 2008 at 11:08:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My take on this Ranger

Fairweather Patriot

www.elmercreek.com

free download
(sorry about the flagrent flogging)

You say support the troops, when we're at war
but when it's all over you're not there anymore
you say support the troops yet you soon forget their fate
you're just a fair weather patriot!

Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 12:14:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger The Mad Dog said...

Lisa: Thank you for the compliment...my head's swelling as I type this! On your flank...

tw: Open mouth, insert foot. Read EVERY post on "Ranger Against War" and I assure you that your opinion will change.

Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 7:59:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Mad Celt.
A little misunderstanding is going on here. I don't speak for TW but he's inside our wire. Both yours and mine- he is a solid friend .You have interpreted his lines as calling RANGER A FAIR WEATHER PATRIOT and I'M SURE THAT HE IS NOT.His lines are in fact a attack off these types. He's not maligning this Ranger. If he is then he can come back at us , but i'm fairly sure i'm on base here.
I thank you for pretecting my flanks. jim

Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 9:51:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

Hi Mad Celt,

Just read the msgs. and I see where the difficulty resides. It all comes down to a comma, namely a missing one:

::"My take on this Ranger"::

Should have one between "this" and "Ranger".

tw is a poet an songwriter, so this is a rare lapse ;) tw is indeed a friend.

Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 11:42:00 AM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ranger, sorry about that. My comment wasn't meant as an attack on you. It was meant as a comment, as was yours, on the plight of veterans.

I find it crime that in a country where the government pushes the indoctrination line "SUPPORT THE TROOPS", we veterans have had to fight for nearly every benefit we've gotten. For example, if it wasn't for groups like VVAW (40 yrs old this yr), there'd be no recognition or compensation for agent orange or PTSD.

I've always supported the troops. Some of my songs like Paradox may be a bit controversial but they're meant to expose the situations we put these boys in while we sit here in oblivion. BTW, FP was written way before the Walter Reed thing.

Mad Celt
Sorry for the confusion. Ranger is a true Patriot, not a fair weather one like so many Americans. RAW is my favorite blog and I enjoy their writing as I do your comments. I should probably have a proof reader(like Jim) for late friday night blogging.

Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 1:34:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

TW, thanks for closing the loop.I was hesitant to speak for you.,but i felt you were not being negative.
Mad Celt is now a member of our assemblage. jim

Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 1:55:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, TW, don't worry about it. After reading your post a couple of times, I picked up on what you were saying.

WRT to DFAS, well, gee, Ranger, in Army Echoes and other fora, the Chief of Staff assures me that we're all one team and that the Army takes care of its own. The unfortunate reality is that we all know that one has to take care of one's self in the Army. I've always advised younger soldiers that, in addition to mastering their own primary speciality, they also have to be their own personnel and finance officers.

In my experience, "trust no one other than the guy you can reach out and touch," isn't a bad working philosophy for military personnel. That's one of the reasons why I kept every goddamned piece of paper the Army generated about me, all the way through more than 20 years. I still have that stuff, even after being retired many years. That's because I know one can get bit in the ass anytime. My wife bitches about the boxes, but I can't hear her.

Never trust the system.

Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 5:19:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Mr. Natural said...

While Pelosi says shit like "bring me a crime and we will perhaps appoint a committee to investigate", god knows HOW MANY guys like you don't "slip through the cracks", more like get stomped through big gaping holes built into the system by a cynical congress and criminal "executive" branch.

I am a vet - released in 69 - discharged in '71. Back in the day I was REAL LUCKY not to get sent overseas...for me that would have made me a river rat...

Great blog you got here. Keep on keepin' on!

Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 11:41:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

publius,

Yes we agree and my career guidance ALWAYS stresses keeping every thing in yearly folders. Unfrtunately, 40 yrs ago I didn't know this.

In today's CRSC world there is a severe glitch built into the system: we must prove that an injury of 38 years ago was combat/realistic combat training related. Well 38 years ago we didn't have the foresight to get this on our sick slips/med records. My parachute injuries do not state parachute related- simply they are neck/back injuries since jumping was not on the doctor's report.

Although these injuries are Service Connected and recognized by the DVA as such there is a disconnect in awarding combat relatedness. This is harder to swallow than not getting/having a CRSC program. They honor us and screw us in the same breath.

My pay problem is not related to getting accepted in the program but rather getting paid after being in the program for a number of years.

Years ago Officer Records purged my files and I was too dumb to keep those items. A lick on my alfa. jim

Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 12:11:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger The Mad Dog said...

TW: We're five-by now.

Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 1:10:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Terrible said...

And I just read this morning where the Texas National Gaurd troops haven't been paid for 2 or 3 months also.

Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 10:59:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

terrible,

Since these troops are patriots I'm sure they don't mind not getting paid. We pay all the Iraqi whoremasters on time but not our soldiers.

War is swell. jim

Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 4:48:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

terrible,

sorry i was logged in as Lisa. jim

Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 4:52:00 PM GMT-5  

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