Armor damaged in battle? Pay up???

[Andrew Green]

When he turned in his gear last week, Rebrook said he was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks. The bill included a $570 charge for his Kevlar vest and gear destroyed in battle, and $130 for other lost items.

http://www.wvgazette.com/static/stories/2006020719.html

This is just not right...

 

[Ping898]

No it isn't right, but hopefully the right people are involved now to make it right for this soldier and soldiers that would be affected in the future.

 

[terryl965]

That is our great goverment at work, we will pay Trillion to other countrys but GOD forsake one of our own losing something in battle.
I hope the Army get this taken care of.
Terry

 

[Cryozombie]

Funny... this sounds exactly like the story from "Over There"... if that made it onto the show sometime last year, Id think this has to be 1) more common than this one incident, or 2) Made up based on that show.

From experience, my vote is for #1.

 

[Flying Crane]

Hmmm... I know someone who spent time in Iraq as an enlisted man. I didn't hear this story from him firsthand, but heard it from a mutual acquaintance.

He said that the first thing they did when they got all their equipment issued to them was go thru it all and ditch everything that was not absolutely necessary because it is heavy and the temperature over there tended to be about 120 degrees Farenheit. This included high-tech things like night vision goggles. The more they could lighten the load, the easier life was. Then, to make sure it didn't fall into the hands of the enemy, they ran it over with a tracked vehicle and smashed it into the ground.

I never heard that they had to pay for any of it.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Funny... this sounds exactly like the story from "Over There"... if that made it onto the show sometime last year, Id think this has to be 1) more common than this one incident, or 2) Made up based on that show.

From experience, my vote is for #1.

I know some who are back home now and they had the same issue, of having hardware they checked out, and signed back in, be billed to them because no one else signed it back out.

 

[Blotan Hunka]

Sounds like BS to me, stateside yeah the Army will screw with you like that. In a combat zone you can loose, destroy, break almost anything you want and you just get new stuff.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Sounds like BS to me, stateside yeah the Army will screw with you like that. In a combat zone you can loose, destroy, break almost anything you want and you just get new stuff.

The one guy I know who was billed about 2k for night goggles lost them in a fire fight in Iraq rescueing another team under fire. He got new ones but was still billed for the old ones when he came back state side as a reservist.

 

[Don Roley]

Talk to some vets. I know guys who served in WWII who tell similar tales.

Things change, but the silliness of the military continues ever on.

 

[arnisador]

I hope this is just a paperwork snafu. I know you can be charged for missing items for which you are responsible, but I would hope that in a combat area one would be given considerable leeway to break/lose things.

 

[Ping898]

Wounded Soldier to Get Refund
Army Had Demanded Payment for Bloodied Body Armor
By ALLISON BARKER, AP

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Feb. 8) - A former soldier injured in Iraq is getting a refund after being forced to pay for his missing body armor vest, which medics destroyed because it was soaked with his blood, officials said Wednesday.
First Lt. William "Eddie" Rebrook IV, 25, had to leave the Army with a shrapnel injury to his arm. But before he could be discharged last week, he says he had to scrounge up cash from his buddies to pay $632 for the body armor and other gear he had lost.
Rebrook, who graduated from West Point with honors, said he was billed because a supply officer failed to document that the vest was destroyed as a biohazard. He said a battalion commander refused to sign a waiver for the vest, saying Rebrook would have to supply witness statements to verify the vest was taken from him and burned.
AP article

 

[Edmund BlackAdder]

Sounds bloody awful to me.

 

[Blotan Hunka]

Wounded Soldier to Get Refund
Army Had Demanded Payment for Bloodied Body Armor
By ALLISON BARKER, AP

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Feb. 8) - A former soldier injured in Iraq is getting a refund after being forced to pay for his missing body armor vest, which medics destroyed because it was soaked with his blood, officials said Wednesday.
First Lt. William "Eddie" Rebrook IV, 25, had to leave the Army with a shrapnel injury to his arm. But before he could be discharged last week, he says he had to scrounge up cash from his buddies to pay $632 for the body armor and other gear he had lost.
Rebrook, who graduated from West Point with honors, said he was billed because a supply officer failed to document that the vest was destroyed as a biohazard. He said a battalion commander refused to sign a waiver for the vest, saying Rebrook would have to supply witness statements to verify the vest was taken from him and burned.
AP article

An idiot supply pouge and a ***** CO. I thought so.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Well, this is a bit absurd....however, there is a reason why equipment is so tightly controlled.

I've worked in and around military bases. The black market is a thriving business. If every soldier were simply allowed to declare his property 'lost or destroyed' many would be supplementing their incomes even further. What's more, you have NO idea what would turn up 'missing'. The local pawn shops and army surplus stores are FULL of 'missing' magazines, kevlar helmets, vests, uniforms. Other things make it to the streets, too.....like handgrenades and the 'odd' anti-tank rocket.....and that's the stuff that makes it to the streets even WITH the 'tight controls'.

That having been said, supply should have more brains than to demand a man pay for a vest that was easily verifiable as destroyed because it was damaged and stained with blood.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Well, this is a bit absurd....however, there is a reason why equipment is so tightly controlled.

I've worked in and around military bases. The black market is a thriving business. If every soldier were simply allowed to declare his property 'lost or destroyed' many would be supplementing their incomes even further. What's more, you have NO idea what would turn up 'missing'. The local pawn shops and army surplus stores are FULL of 'missing' magazines, kevlar helmets, vests, uniforms. Other things make it to the streets, too.....like handgrenades and the 'odd' anti-tank rocket.....and that's the stuff that makes it to the streets even WITH the 'tight controls'.

That having been said, supply should have more brains than to demand a man pay for a vest that was easily verifiable as destroyed because it was damaged and stained with blood.

I have seen the problem in many other locations and jobs as well.

It is the new bottom level manager problem. They take them off, give them a lobotomy, and then read him the rules, and tell him/her that they will loose everything if they break the rules as they are written.

So, they do not use any judgement or common sense or intelligence (* Read Lobotomy *) and they follow the rules exactly. If it says did you "See" the destroyed item? They will not check the Yes box. If No, then please fill out form EJ-PBR47 in triplicate, per witness. A minimum of two witnesses required. (* Insert the next requirement as well *)

 

[sgtmac_46]

I have seen the problem in many other locations and jobs as well.

It is the new bottom level manager problem. They take them off, give them a lobotomy, and then read him the rules, and tell him/her that they will loose everything if they break the rules as they are written.

So, they do not use any judgement or common sense or intelligence (* Read Lobotomy *) and they follow the rules exactly. If it says did you "See" the destroyed item? They will not check the Yes box. If No, then please fill out form EJ-PBR47 in triplicate, per witness. A minimum of two witnesses required. (* Insert the next requirement as well *)

Hey....you are talking about the ARMY here..... they INVENTED the 'EJ-PBR47...in triplicate'. It is definitely NOT....a new problem.

We've come a long way, actually. Hell, the Zulu warrior under Shaka got executed if they lost their assegai (spear). The armies of Imperial Japan were told that each weapon they had was the PERSONAL property of the Emperor himself (they each had the seal of the Emperor on them)....with corresponding consequences if it was lost. Nothing new, folks....except that we are hearing about it in time to help the poor guy out before he gets his pay docked.