A Hard Road

I'm gonna pack up my suitcase
Put my misery inside
Throw in a bit of pain and trouble
And that's the road I'll ride
--A Hard Road, John Mayall

Bewildered, Bewildered
You have no complaint
You are what your are
and you ain't what you ain't
--Dear Abby, John Prine

You can't handle the truth
--A Few Good Men (1992)
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A lot of soldiers were in transit at the Atlanta airport last week. On layover, Ranger approached a large group of 101st Airborne troopers all of whom were all on R & R from Afghanistan.

First some sundry observations, then to the main point:

• Many of the soldiers had tattoos on their necks and arms. No comment.

• All of the soldiers had high and tight haircuts, not just the 101st people. Not one had hair that could be combed.

• All of the troops returning from Afghanistan looked healthy. None appeared exhausted or in need of R & R, at least physically.

But this is the main observation: None of the soldiers had CIB's, CAB's, jump wings or any combat-associated items on their uniforms. They did have right-sleeve combat patches and unit left sleeve patches, and some had Ranger tabs.

"So why don't you troops have jump wings, air assault badges or CIB's/CAB's?" After all, they are returning from a combat zone.

Answer: They all had these items authorized, but command policy was that they were not allowed to wear them on their uniforms while traveling on Conus R & R.

WTF? These soldiers fight, get wounded and die getting these badges and then they are not allowed to proudly wear and display them on their uniforms. What kind of wrong-headed thinking inspires such a policy?

Is the intent to hide the fact that these soldiers are in combat? If sanitation is the case and we can't handle the visual truth, then Ranger suggests it is time to just bring the troops home, rescind their awards and call it quits. When an Army authority can deny a combat soldier the honor or proudly wearing his CIB home on leave, then that Army is dealing duplicitously.

It is a policy which has lost my heart and mind. This policy is so strange that an idiot could not have developed it; it took an Army General to devise it.