Armed Forces with Low Morale

This is a dangerous combination. It's like old dynamite, it's safe enough if you don't perturb it. I write this as a warning for what I hope turns out not to be true; atrocities and retribution warfare.

In the book, "Into the Storm: A Study in Command", co-author and former Sgt Major of the Army (a very respected man and position) Fred Franks described the morale of the Army in 1974 at the end of the Vietnam war as the lowest it could be and still be cohesive. The Officers and NCO corps had been filled with the (in my words) ones that had nowhere else to go.

In 1974 I enlisted to escape rural Alabama, and in 1976 I was ordered to Germany and to B Battery 3/71; a a Nike Hercules Missile Site. I was writing my biography for the my campaign site and came across this posting of pictures of B 3/71 overlapping the time I was there; honestly, thank goodness I'm not in them, since you can never predict the if, when, or circumstances that would propel you to run for public office.

The point of this posting is to describe the affects of low morale. These were the soldiers that would rail up the missiles and push "the button" on the forward lines. And, as you scan the picture, it's pretty obvious that off duty involved a lot of "glassy eyes" and alcohol.

The work schedule was described as 24-on-24-off. All preparation and travel time came out of your 24. The steady schedule of exhaustive hours, interspersed with tactical drills and the infamous "30 Man Backup". The 30-Man Backup scenario is this: it's midnight, about time to call it a night and the call "30 man back up"; helmets and web-gear, draw your weapon. So, you grab your helmet and web-gear, go to the latrine to fetch your buddy who is vomiting his guts up, and help him find his gear (or vice-versa, tonight your being helped), go to the arms room and are issued your M-16 and 90 rounds of ammunition. The ammunition comes to you as 3 items, 2 magazines each in two plastic wrappings and one unwrapped full magazine. The two wrapped sets go into your ammo pouches. The unwrapped magazine immediately goes into your M-16.

On 30-man backup, you are only supposed to lock the magazine in your weapon, mostly so you don't lose it in the dark. There are no accidents with weapons, whenever a weapon is issued to you, you are responsible for its actions. So, there is constant chamber checking, now couple with a lot of alcohol and glassy eyed tired guys. You cannot imagine how fast an M-16 empties a magazine. A few such incidents occurred during my stay; nobody got hit and certainly nobody was killed, but a lot of good careers were ruined for a round(s) that went off. The worse hit were the "lifers", they wanted a career; and their future now had an asterisk beside it.

Military Police, MPs, provided the security around the launch site perimeter. They signed up for the drill team: polished boots and shoes, and shiny hard brimmed hats. These guys came in with a spirit that made them glow in the dark. What they got was the mud between two barb wire fences that had to have been transplanted from a closed concentration camp. Normally, they pulled their shifts in the guard towers, but when visibility dropped to where they could not see the other towers, they spent the night in the mud walking back and forth constantly reporting to the man on either end. They to suffered from firing an inadvertent round. But worse, they were forever hounded by the command; getting caught with reading material or get overwhelmed with exhaustion and doze-off was the end of the dream of reaching Command Sgt Major.


What's not seen in the pictures is the blotter of "extra legal" events that happened in our tiny community of small arms and nuclear missiles. Mere assault and battery: pffft, get a bandaid. The more outstanding crimes and unlikely criminals included the near killing of 3 women by one of our own and our entrepreneurial heroin smuggler that finally got caught with a kg coming back from Amsterdam.

Although, we spent much on-duty time under arms in defense of the missiles there was no shooting war and except for the Bader-Meinhoff and The Black September Groups nobody wanted to attack us. And, yet the morale was bad.

After years of siege, an army breaks down. There is nothing in the Army manuals that will either prevent it nor cure it. The old saying, the beatings will continue until morale improves, is more truth than legend.

I write this because I don't want to hear of the atrocities that come with men and now women under arms with low morale. I don't want to hear about male soldiers raping their female partners in uniform, corruption, rape, murder, and otherwise illegal shootings and killings. I don't want it for any of them and I don't want it for us. There is no worse affect on our support for the military.

I know this is going to sound corny, but understand these men and women volunteered for service and I really believe they would like to be thanked publicly. I suggest they be given a chance to show their pride. Upon return to the United States, a Governor (any Governor) should request the President of the United States to order that they be assembled 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile from the capitol building, and proceed to report to that governor the successful completion of their duty. In other words, a parade. Shiny boots, new uniforms, and clean weapons on the streets they went to protect. Every citizen that gives a damn should show up and applaud their service. Yes, it's an empty gesture, but it would go a long way I think to refresh the pride of service and prevent the ill affects of low esteem and morale. Think about it. It's much better than the alternative of ruined lives.

John Morgan Democratic Candidate For Florida House of Representatives, District 82