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MILITARY OFFICER
FEBRUARY 2011 $4.75 THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF MOAA | ONE POWERFUL VOICE®
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Ready to Respond
Shock trauma platoons work with Marine Corps units to bring advanced critical care to war’s front lines 54
OUT OF WHACK Debt commission proposes big cuts 31
the Navy now has camouflage blue uniforms to wear at sea. What are they supposedly hiding from? —CWO Dean
“ I see that Ab-Hugh, USN-Ret.
RED BALL EXPRESS Supply convoy helped the U.S. in Europe 50
BEFORE YOU FILE Be aware of these 10 tax changes 62
Budget Struggles With regard to the two letters published … under the heading “How Much Is Enough?” [Your Views, February 2011], I do not completely agree with either one. I simply think that taking cuts to earned benefits should be an option of last re- sort, only after deep cuts to the unearned entitlements that are really driving the budget problems. The entitlement state and uncon-
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trolled spending by both sides of the aisle are hurting the economy and dis- tracting from the true roles of our fed- eral government laid out in our Constitu- tion. After those roles are restored and the entitlements dialed back to the mini- mum “safety net” that they were pitched as in the 1930s and the 1960s, if there is still a budget issue (there will not be), we can talk about new fees, reduced earned benefits, etcetera. Hold the line until then!
—Lt. Cmdr. Joe Gherlone, USN-Ret. Stafford County, Va.
When I was in my senior year and about to graduate and be commissioned a sec- ond lieutenant of infantry in 1966, our ROTC detachment got in a new sergeant major. Sergeant Major Cofer had two stars on his combat infantry badge, hav- ing been in combat in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He was a survivor of the Bataan Death March. Needless to say, my classmates and
I were in awe of this superhero. I re- member many pearls of wisdom he told us. One especially stuck with me. He summed up how veterans were treated in post-war times by our government with this ditty:
God and the soldier we adore in times of danger, not before. Danger past and all things righted God is forgotten and the soldier slighted.
16 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2011 I hope with all the serious budget
struggles that lie ahead, this bit of his- torical perspective is not repeated. —Lt. Col. William F. Voth, USA-Ret. Enterprise, Ala.
After many years [since] retiring from the Navy, I continue to be aggravated by the … inequity between military and civilian/ civil service pay and benefits. As a Navy officer, I spent many years working with civilian DoD employees who were in subordinate positions but who got paid more and enjoyed greater benefits than I without enduring any of the hardships experienced by the military (such as not seeing my son until he was 10 months old due to deployment). Anyhow, the inequity bugged me then, and it continues to bug me now as attacks continue to be made on retired military benefits with no corresponding cuts in civil-service benefits. Can it be because they have a union and we don’t? Whatever the reason, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed and as far as I know hasn’t been. —Cmdr. John A. Kitko, USN-Ret. Brandon, Fla.
Medical Care and Corpsmen Having served in both Vietnam and Op- eration Desert Storm, I read with interest [“Ready to Respond,” February 2011]. Im- provements in medical responsiveness have been significant since 1990-91. I remember establishment of the first hospital facility at the Port of Jubail in Saudi Arabia. It was vast and clearly not moveable. Fortunately, there was never a significant need for it be- cause casualties were minimal. Marines are proud of our service,
but we know that doctors, nurses, [and] corpsmen … deserve recognition for their own military service — the U.S. Navy. They have saved many Marines and oth-
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