TO THE EDITORS:

The recent debacle at Fort Hood has prompted me to make some random comments about our current military philosophy. Granted, it's a new generation, there have been changes and it appears we are not in the current wars to win.

As a WWII GI in Europe, I had the best training any United States soldier could have. Sadly, that is not universal today.

I won't comment about the psychological preparation but as I look back, our training mentally conditioned us to be tough. I was not one, but any veteran of the Battle of the Bulge will attest to that.

During basic training in the states, there was no live ammunition available anywhere on the base except when we went to the target range. Every round was accounted for. The same applied to hand grenade practice. The grenades were assigned and a noncommissioned officer was responsible for each and every one.

Why would a medical doctor need or have access to ammo? No medic of any rank carried firearms or ammo. Where was that discipline and control at Fort Hood?

In the nightly news, I see photos of combat soldiers bunched up for search and destroy missions. They are not dispersed and are sitting ducks for disaster which appears in news statistics everyday. Don't tell me this is a different kind of warfare. Where is the basic military and survival discipline today?

I fear that unless there is some strong leadership in place, the situation will continue to deteriorate, affect the next generation, lead to a military draft, and our national resources will slowly be depleted. The situation at Fort Hood is an example of this deterioration.

Pfc. Richard M. Herr
264th Engineer

Combat Battalion

ETO 1943-1946

Lancaster