<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>My suggestion to congress . . . </div><div><br></div><div>GIVE A DAMN ! ! !</div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy of the Army Times at</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.ArmyTimes.com">http://www.ArmyTimes.com</a></div><div><br></div><div>-------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div><span class="maintitle" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); font-weight: bold; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">39 ways you [active service members] pay for Washington’s failures</span><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> </span><p align="justify" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span class="abody"></span></span></p><div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><span class="abody">Over the past two weeks, Military Times has contacted hundreds of active-duty members to ask how the budget crunch is hitting home for them. Here’s a sampling of what we heard:</span><span class="abody"> </span></div><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">Paying out of pocket to get the job done</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">1.</span><span class="abody"> A staff sergeant at</span><span class="abody"> Beale Air Force Base, Calif.</span><span class="abody"> , is buying office supplies with her own money and telling her airmen to</span><span class="abody"> bring trash bags from home.</span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div>“I ended up spending $150 on a printer cartridge for the printer we use,” the aircraft maintainer said. “These items should be provided and [the senior noncommissioned officer] should be stepping up and buying stuff out of pocket if needed, not just ignoring it and letting us airmen and young NCOs fix the problem.</div><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">“We are fed up.”</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">2.</span><span class="abody"> A Marine sergeant at</span><span class="abody"> Camp Pendleton, Calif.</span><span class="abody"> , says his unit can’t order trash bags, pencils and</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">paper until July; Marines are paying for such items out of pocket.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">3.</span><span class="abody"> A Navy doctor in</span><span class="abody"> South Carolina</span><span class="abody"> was told there is no more money available to help him keep up with the certifications he needs to maintain his medical license. “I’m left to fork over hundreds to thousands of dollars per year to maintain my licensure, a prerequisite for actually treating patients.”</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">4.</span><span class="abody"> A Navy master-at-arms in</span><span class="abody"> California</span><span class="abody"> said he has recently been paying so much out of pocket for</span><span class="abody"> expenses that should be covered by the military that he’s thinking about deducting the expenses on his tax return.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">5.</span><span class="abody"> A Marine officer at</span><span class="abody"> Camp Lejeune, N.C.,</span><span class="abody"> says some schools and training programs are no longer handing out hard copies of reading materials, offering instead a digital file distributed by email. “That placed the onus on the individual to either use or buy a laptop or tablet, pay to have it all produced at Staples, or print it at home and burn through ink. … It was not</span><span class="abody"> required, but most realized that it would behoove them to adjust to this new electronic way of doing business.”</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div><br></div><div><span class="abody">Life on installations is changing</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">6.</span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "> Soldiers at</span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "> Fort Stewart, Ga., </span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">have begun cutting grass, raking pine straw and removing downed tree limbs as part of garrison</span><span class="abody" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; ">commander’s effort to save on contractor costs.</span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "> </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span class="abody"><br></span></div><div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; ">7.</span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "> The Defense Commissary Agency announced that if sequestration kicks in, all commissaries worldwide will close each Wednesday from late April through September. DeCA officials say Wednesday is their slowest average sales day of the week.</span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "> </span></span></div><span class="abody"><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">8.</span><span class="abody"> Some church services were canceled for the rest of this fiscal year at</span><span class="abody"> Naval Air Facility El Centro, Calif.</span><span class="abody"> , because the base is low on money.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">9.</span><span class="abody"> Families at</span><span class="abody"> Chièvres Air Base, Belgium</span><span class="abody"> , heard Feb. 12 that their “Self Help” store was closing, meaning military families will no longer have free access to lawn mowers and other yard equipment, rock salt for icy sidewalks, trash bags and other household goods.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">10.</span><span class="abody"> Fitness center hours are being cut back at a number of bases, including</span><span class="abody"> Moody Air Force Base, Ga.</span><span class="abody"> , and</span><span class="abody"> Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii</span><span class="abody"> . At Pearl Harbor, the gym used to close at 10 p.m.; now it’s 8 p.m., which makes it harder for sailors who work overtime to get in a workout. A Navy hospital corpsman taking night classes at a nearby school said he can’t make it to the gym in the evenings now. “We have to wake up even earlier the next workday to get a gym session in,” he said.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">11.</span><span class="abody"> An airman at</span><span class="abody"> Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.</span><span class="abody"> , says the honor guard’s clothing budget was cut and some airmen must wear pants with hems too high above the shoes.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">12.</span><span class="abody"> At</span><span class="abody"> Fort Drum, N.Y.</span><span class="abody"> , officials in January said they would close an on-base childcare center, but immediate outcry from families prompted them to revise their plans and continue to offer some child care at a reduced level. “If they closed, it would be devastating to people around here,” said Kristan Phillips, the mother of a 17-month-old boy and the wife of an Army staff sergeant. “I still wonder if this childcare center will stay open. I hope it does, but I’m a little worried about it.”</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">13.</span><span class="abody"> A Marine sergeant says the gym at</span><span class="abody"> Camp Pendleton</span><span class="abody"> </span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">is no longer handing out fresh towels to save money on laundry costs and has canceled its satellite radio subscription.</span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">TDY cut to the bone</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">14.</span><span class="abody"> At</span><span class="abody"> Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.</span><span class="abody"> , an Air Force tech sergeant said he arrived at his unit a few months ago as temporary duty</span><span class="abody"> was being curtailed, so he has never met many of the people he works with day-to-day. “I’ve unfortunately had to learn about the units I’m supporting by reading up on them rather than a two-day site visit,” he said. “A piece of the personal stake and</span><span class="abody"> professionalism is lost through teleconference, but with travel being so restricted, this is the new normal.”</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">15.</span><span class="abody"> One Navy recruiter says travel budget cuts are forcing him to cover his largely rural region entirely by phone, which hurts his</span><span class="abody"> ability to draw the most highvalue prospects. “I assure you that selling a highly qualified minority (and the family) to join the Navy over the phone is not going to happen,” he said.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">16.</span><span class="abody"> At an infantry training school for Army captains at</span><span class="abody"> Fort</span><span class="abody"> Benning, Ga.</span><span class="abody"> , personnel officials used to come and meet face to face with junior officers to discuss their follow-on assignments, but one captain said that is now done by video teleconference.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; ">17.</span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "> An Army judge advocate general said a near-freeze on TDY money is keeping young military lawyers from getting the specialized training they need. “Practically all TDY travel has been canceled, depriving many soldiers of valuable training,” the JAG said.</span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "> </span></span></div><span class="abody"><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><br></div><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">18.</span><span class="abody"> A major at</span><span class="abody"> Army Forces Command headquarters in North Carolina</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">said travel to and between the command’s 17 national locations was routine until this year, when it was sharply curtailed.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">19.</span><span class="abody"> A soldier in Afghanistan said about a dozen troops from his brigade were planning to fly home to visit the Army’s training center at</span><span class="abody"> Fort Polk, La.</span><span class="abody"> , to debrief units slated to take over the same area in Afghanistan this year, but that trip was canceled at the last minute.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">20.</span><span class="abody"> An Air Force pilot said the sudden dependence on videoconferencing has spiked demand for the few conference rooms that are equipped with video gear, especially facilities cleared for classified information.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">21.</span><span class="abody"> A senior NCO Marine at</span><span class="abody"> Camp Lejeune</span><span class="abody"> says his unit’s use of government vehicles is being tightly scrutinized.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">22.</span><span class="abody"> One Army captain spent weeks haggling with bureaucrats to secure the right “funding codes” for a three-week class he’s taking in South Carolina. “Now more than ever, it is hard to nail down who is going to pay for something. I had to fight with the unit that owns the schoolhouse for the school I am attending,” the captain said.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">23.</span><span class="abody"> The</span><span class="abody"> Marine Corps Reserve</span><span class="abody"> command in New Orleans</span><span class="abody"> says severe limits on temporary travel are hitting them especially hard. No travel can mean no training for reservists. “Our lifeblood here … is having the ability to travel around to our 183 Reserve sites,” said one Marine officer.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">Training takes big hits</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">24.</span><span class="abody"> A Marine lieutenant colonel at</span><span class="abody"> Quantico, Va.</span><span class="abody"> , is urging his Marines to get their pistol and rifle qualifications out of the way early this year in case budget cuts shut down the shooting range. “We are trying to front-load all of the training we can into the early part of the year,” the officer said.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">25.</span><span class="abody"> At</span><span class="abody"> Fort Drum</span><span class="abody"> , simply getting rounds of ammunition for routine training is increasingly difficult, fueling frustration among many soldiers. “It seems now that it’s a constant battle to get the required amount to train my guys. I get it eventually, but it is like pulling teeth,” said 1st Lt. Ahmed Danso-Faried, a platoon leader with the 10th Mountain Division. “To be overly conservative of rounds makes no sense to me. Some things require thriftiness and any logical person won’t deny that. But when it comes to training soldiers, it’s almost criminally irresponsible to be thrifty.”</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">26.</span><span class="abody"> A Marine corporal in</span><span class="abody"> Japan</span><span class="abody"> said his field operations training was a disappointment because each howitzer received only 90 rounds rather than the 500 that has been the standard allotment in recent years. “It made things go a lot slower,” the corporal said.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">27.</span><span class="abody"> The Navy recently canceled a nationwide drill involving base security operations and said it will instead hold a series of local security drills.</span></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div></span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">28. Army Medical Command</span><span class="abody"> in January abruptly canceled a twomonth senior leadership course for E-7s because of money concerns at Joint Base San Antonio-Sam Houston, according to one Army sergeant first class.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">29.</span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> The Army at</span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> Fort Hood, Texas</span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> , is scaling back Warrior Adven</span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">ture Quest trips, part of a resilience program that sends soldiers just back from deployment out for high-adrenaline</span><span class="abody" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> activities such as rock climbing, mountain biking and kayaking. It’s designed to reduce future misbehavior and accidents. The </span><span style="text-align: justify; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">program is shrinking from 17 slots to five, according to an Army official familiar with it.</span></div></font></span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">30.</span><span class="abody"> At the</span><span class="abody"> U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.</span><span class="abody"> , funding at the library is running low, forcing the cancellation of many subscription services used by students and faculty. The dean is thinking of canceling the “semester abroad” program for this fall, and summer programs will be scaled back or canceled, according to a Jan. 13 memo obtained by Military Times.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">31.</span><span class="abody"> At the</span><span class="abody"> Naval Academy</span><span class="abody"> , summer training may be canceled for midshipmen.</span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody"><b>32. </b>A Navy corpsman attending school in San Diego said she was told that her reassignment to her next duty station may be delayed due to budgetary problems.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">33.</span><span class="abody"> An Army wife at</span><span class="abody"> Fort Hood</span><span class="abody"> is</span><span class="abody"> growing concerned after her husband, a helicopter crew chief, came home and told her his command says helicopters will be fixed only if they are considered unsafe. “Our guys, up to this point, have been really welltrained,” the Army wife said. “I trust them. I have trusted the equipment. I just hope the Army doesn’t give me reason not to.”</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">34.</span><span class="abody"> At</span><span class="abody"> Minot Air Force Base, N.D.</span><span class="abody"> , buying airmen a pair of coldweather boots now requires a commander’s approval. “This is a change from the days where there was no question on funding for boots. Airmen needed them; therefore, we purchased them with no question as to whether the funds were available,” said deployment manager Jessi Gray.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">35.</span><span class="abody"> The Navy Blue Angels and</span><span class="abody"> Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demo teams are expected to cut their performance schedules.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">36.</span><span class="abody"> A Marine gunnery sergeant at</span><span class="abody"> Camp Pendleton</span><span class="abody"> says printers are in short supply. “This causes the company clerk to constantly be bombarded with requests to print different items for different individuals. These issues will only get worse as the computers we currently have start to fail and there is no money to replace them,” the gunny said.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">37.</span><span class="abody"> Marines at the engineer school at</span><span class="abody"> Camp Lejeune</span><span class="abody"> abruptly canceled an array of classes for enlisted troops until the commander “gets a better picture” of the budget situation, according to one junior officer. The first classes to be “turned off” are those “non-[military occupational specialty] producing” schools that teach skills but do not lead to a new career designation, the officer said.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">38.</span><span class="abody"> An Army captain in a tank battalion at</span><span class="abody"> Fort Benning</span><span class="abody"> said “all training has been canceled through the fiscal year.” His unit has decided that even starting up their M1A2 Abrams tanks is too expensive, and the command is talking about putting them on trailers for storage.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody" style="text-align: justify; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">39.</span><span class="abody"> A Marine sergeant who recently deployed to</span><span class="abody"> Japan</span><span class="abody"> said the battalion-size field exercise that was planned was reduced to a company-size drill. “The whole point of a battalion field op is to have everyone working together. New guys are just missing out on that and aren’t going to see that until combat happens,” the sergeant said.</span><span class="abody"> □</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span></span></div></span></span></div></span></div><div><br></div><div>-------------------------------------<br><br><div>Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .</div><div><br></div><div>"Moscow Cares"</div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div> </div><div><div>Tom "Proud to be a Filthy Liberal Scum" Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"<span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">There's room at the top they are telling you still</span><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "> </span></div><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill </span><br style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></div><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);">- John Lennon<br></span></font><div> </div></div></div></body></html>