Soldiers not even allowed to joke about Flyboy AWOL

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2003/11/10/hsorensen.DTL

IN OTHER NEWS, "Our Man in Iraq," Sgt. Mike, wrote a couple of weeks ago that the one place in Iraq where a soldier might be safe was inside a tank. Too much armor to pierce.

But now that has changed. "The Hajji wanted a tank," he wrote last week. For months now, the resistance has been targeting them. Tanks are (or were) the only thing we had that they just couldn¹t mess with. Now it seems they¹ve got it right."

Also from Sgt. Mike: "I¹m really tired of memorial services. Had three already this month, and Ramadan just started. Hajji gets more active in the winter."

And: "I¹m not sure you know this, but as service members we are not allowed to even make jokes about the commander-in-chief. Most of us aren¹t talking -- even in private -- about the future. No one is speculating about corruption or even stupidity on high. I think most of us are intentionally remaining as ignorant of current events (outside of our immediate surroundings) as we possibly can.

[nostamj]

1. a joke about the CIC

would be redundant anyway...

I HATE REPUBLICANS

[JailBush]

2. I wonder if they'll spill their guts when they return to civilian life

or if Team Exxon has made that illegal, too.

[alcuno]

3. "remaining as ignorant of current events"

Sounds like they are modeling themselves after Commander Doofus.

[nostamj]

4. well, all they get is FAUX News...... n/t

[scottcsmith]

5. I almost got in trouble for something very similar

I was stationed aboard USS Blue Ridge during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, as a military journalist. Blue Ridge was one of the first ships to arrive in the Persian Gulf after Iraq invaded Kuwait, and she was one of the last to leave. I got there at the end of Sept., 1990.

Part of my job was managing the ship's closed-circuit television station. I did the programming (selected what aired), did a live, on-air newscast most nights, and other assorted duties.

Now, I don't recall the date, or if what I did was before Desert Storm or during Desert Storm.

You know how all the cable news networks have that crawl at the bottom of the screen, with all of that data and text? We had a very primitive version of that for our TV station. I was scheduled to go on a "working party" (it's not a party, it's just work), helping to bring in supplies while we were at sea. The process was basically this: a helicopter would drop off pallets of supplies and we'd form a chain of 50-100 men to get everything where it needed to go.

One of the news items I typed into the crawl had to do with a visit by Vice President Dan Quayle to the region. I added some sarcastic commentary to the copy (I think it was along the lines of 'Oh, aren't we lucky to have Quayle come to visit') and went off to my working party. When I returned several hours later, my immediate supervisor told me that some high-ranking officers had seen the crawl and were a tad offended by my remakrs. The remarks were removed by my supervisor, so I don't think they ran for very long. For some reason I did not get in trouble.

About the only time during the Gulf War that I didn't like the fact I was a journalist was when "Good Morning America" did a live broadcast from Blue Ridge for Thanksgiving, 1990. I was assigned as an unofficial production assistant, meaning I babysat the GMA people and helped carry their equipment all day, without a break. After doing this for eight or nine hours, I got the word that I had to wash and wax the deck in the hallway outside our offices.

Enough sea stories...

[alcuno]

6. Welcome to DU, scottcsmith

and thanks for serving the country. So YOU'RE the one responsible for that crawl on the bottom of my TV.

[leftchick]

7. welcome to DU scottcsmith......

thank you for your service! :toast:

[scottcsmith]

8. Thanks for the thanks...

Lots of friendly folks here at DU, thanks for the thanks.

[proud patriot]

9. We have got to get these guys the hell out of there

:-(

[Nobody]

10. That reminds me of a joke...

Dubya Bush landed on an aircraft carrier and decided to make his photo op even more impressive. So he picked a likely sailor and said "So, how do you like serving?"

The sailor said, "I can't complain, sir."

And John Ashcroft, on land getting the audio feed, said to himself, "And he'd better not."