Since he never chose to respond to me - and

Joe for Clark

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Thu May-10-07 08:08 PM
Original message

Since he never chose to respond to me - and

I debated about posting this - this went out after the "extension" See what we deal with -

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the past couple weeks, the brigade has suffered the effects of poor
Operations Security management at multiple levels. This has got to
stop. Now.

Approximately three weeks ago, a contractor whose firm supports our
Soldiers in Iraq announced that the firm would continue to support the
brigade throughout its extended tour in Iraq. This announcement
preceeded the official announcement by over a week, generated many
rumors (some of which were true, some of which were not), and caused our
families and Soldiers additional stress.

Eight days ago, a thoughtless, heartless bureaucrat in the Pentagon
released the information about the brigade's extension to the press;
consequently, Secretary of Defense Gates announced the move on the news
to all of us - families, deployed Soldiers and the Rear Detachment -
without warning and with the most callus of means: the television.

These actions are not confined to companies and bureaucrats; we have
individuals associated with us who have been careless with information
recently.

In one incident, a family shared a sensitive e-mail from her FRG leader
detailing our plans to react to the announcement of the brigade
extension. Two days before the announcement, this plan was highlighted
in a story in the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

I have personally conducted one Field Grade Article 15, non-judicial
punishment that resulted in the Soldier's loss of rank, pay and extra
duty, because a Soldier notified people about the loss of a Soldier
before the family was notified. Three similar cases have been dealt
with by the brigade in Iraq.

Soldiers have shared detailed, sensitive and personal information with
spouses back here. To an extent this is expected; all of us need
someone to whom we confide our most personal feelings and this is often
our spouse or a parent or a close friend. I cannot condemn anyone for
talking through the issues our Soldiers deal with on a daily basis with
their loved ones. What we cannot do is share that information. If your
spouse, son, daughter, fiancee or close friend confides in you, keep
their confidence and do not spread that information with others. Rear
Detachments and deployed commanders will ensure that news is transmitted
at an appropriate time. I will personally ensure that information, once
it is confirmed and that our families have had to opportunity to deal
with that information, is provided to all our FRG members.

It has been a challenging 11 months, and everyone is tired. Please
don't get complacent and decrease your vigilence or commitment to
providing Operations Security for our deployed Soldiers. The systems we
have developed in the Rear Detachment work. We remain committed to
ensuring that you are informed about operations overseas and that you
have what you need to best deal with this stressful time.

Hang in there,

You know what an article 15 is - you don't think that is a threat??

My family would have the little prick removed for cause - and that is a fact.

And this kind of thing is going out to every military family over the country.

SO when I say they are not qualified to work the late shit at MCDonalds - I mean it word for word.

Bastard -

Joe