Tag: U.S. Army

This is a pretty cool story that the young girl from the great Korean revenge movie, “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” is now an officer in the U.S. Army serving in Korea:

An American child actor who played an important role in a critically acclaimed South Korean film is now stationed in the country her grandparents emigrated from in the 1970s. 

“Because of them, I’m here now,” Army 1st Lt. Kirsten Kwon told Stars and Stripes earlier this month. “They’re the reason why I’m an American citizen.”

Kwon, 28, is the executive officer of the U.N. Command Honor Guard Company, roughly 50 service members who carry out the command’s ceremonies, such as dignified remains transfers, and provide security for high-ranking officers. (……..)

Kwon’s film career began at age 10 when a South Korean casting director heard her speaking English and asked her parents if they were interested in a role for her in an upcoming movie.

That film, “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance,” featured a star-studded cast and was directed by Park Chan-wook, who is described as “the man who put Korean cinema on the map,” according to a New York Times Style magazine column from 2017.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Instead of going the Chapter route to remove non-vaccinated Soldiers from the ranks, the Army has instead decided to flag them, deny them promotions, and bar reenlistments:

The Army won’t promote or reenlist troops who refuse the coronavirus vaccine and who haven’t requested an exemption, according to a memo from the service’s top civilian leader.

The new rules apply to active-duty, Reserve and National Guard troops, including those in at least one state where the governor doesn’t require the vaccine.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in a Nov. 16 memo lays out what will happen if soldiers refuse the vaccine and don’t have an exemption request pending. They will have their records flagged the day they make their final vaccine refusal, after a meeting with a medical professional and a second order to get vaccinated.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but an interesting stat in the article is that about 72% of the Army is completely vaccinated. With the end of the war in Afghanistan I would not be surprised if another drawdown is coming and the non-vaccinated is turning into a way for the Army to cut its numbers.

Last December a battalion command team in the 2nd Infantry Division were suspended for anonymous racism claims. Well now it has been found out that the racist claims were unfounded though the battalion commander was relieved any way for a poor command climate:

In December 2020, Army officials announced the command team of the 602nd Aviation Support Battalion, Lt. Col. Sean McBride and Command Sgt. Maj. Mario Salomone III, was “immediately” suspended when 8th Army “received allegations of racism, bigotry and discrimination in one of our formations via the Eighth Army Anonymous Assistance line.”

However, the ensuing Army Regulation 15-6 investigation found that McBride and Salomone did not violate the service’s Equal Opportunity policies.

“I am continuing to pursue options for appeal of this investigation and am humbled by and grateful for the outpouring of support I’ve received from those I’ve served with over the past 26 years,” McBride told Army Times when reached for comment. “More importantly, I’m proud of the soldiers of the Warhorse Battalion who continued to provide dedicated support to their fellow soldiers despite a global pandemic and challenging command climate on the Korean Peninsula. It was an honor to serve as their commander and I remain tremendously impressed by their accomplishments.”

But McBride’s rebuttal memo, which Army Times also obtained, expressed dismay at how senior leaders had announced the suspension following anonymous complaints that ultimately weren’t substantiated as EO violations.

“Commanders at echelon made public statements announcing my suspension from command and accusing me and CSM Mario Salomone of racism, bigotry, and discrimination on their official Twitter feeds,” McBride said in the memo. “Articles [about the suspension] define my online persona to this day. My professional and personal reputation has been destroyed [by unsubstantiated allegations].”

Army Times

I highly recommend reading the whole thing at the link, but what made his case so unusual was how the senior military leadership in USFK and 8th Army on social media the racism claims that were ultimately unfounded.

Remember 2020 was the year of racial justice protests and that is the only explanation I can think of, of why something like this was tweeted out before any investigation was done. The Army leadership wanted to get ahead of any criticism of racism regardless of what the investigation found. LTC McBride essentially was “cancelled” by the Army. Good luck to him trying to fight back because it is going to be hard to get the Army to admit they screwed this up, but hopefully other senior leaders can learn from and prevent something like this from happening in the future.

I guess we will see if this is something that comes to more Army installations:

Leaders at Fort Knox, Kentucky, will punish dozens of soldiers unvaccinated against COVID-19 who were caught entering on-post facilities without wearing a face mask last week, Army officials confirmed.

“The Fort Knox senior commander [Maj. Gen. John Evans] and other commanding generals across Fort Knox are preparing to issue approximately 40 General Officer Memoranda of Reprimand to individuals found to have violated General Order Number 1, dated 17 May 2021,” said Fort Knox spokesperson Kyle Hodges in a statement emailed to Army Times.

Army Times

You can read more at the link.

Unfortunately the Army senior leadership brought this criticism on themselves. Everyone outside of the Pentagon could see this train wreck coming:

The chairwoman of a House Appropriations Committee subpanel slammed Army officials at a hearing Monday over what she called insufficient answers to questions on how the service is combating gender bias, specifically with its new combat fitness test.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., grilled Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston on why so many women are unable to pass the service’s new combat fitness test.

“The test shouldn’t be structured in a way that is unfair and makes it so lopsided that it’s impossible for women to really be able to succeed and that definitely will reflect in your recruitment and retention efforts. So it looks like you have a problem and I hope you recognize that,” Wasserman Schultz said during a hearing of the subcommittee on military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies about Army quality-of-life issues and installation updates.

The Army Combat Fitness Test has long been criticized by Congress for its design, which lawmakers say comes at a disadvantage for women who struggle to pass the test. Data revealed in April shows 44% of women failed the ACFT, compared to 7% of men, Wasserman Schultz said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the Pentagon’s efforts to create a gender neutral test caused them to become gender blind on what that would ultimately mean. You can’t implement a test that disadvantages females and think Congress is going to go along with it. The updated ACFT 3.0 eliminates the gender neutral elements of the ACFT which was one of the main reasons the test was created in the first place.

The way I look at this is that very few females want to join combat arms. Do I really care if for an example an Army nurse or a truck driver cannot do a leg tuck and instead does a plank? No I do not, so why kick this person out of the Army? The Army could not function if it kicked out the amount of females that the ACFT in its prior format would have removed from the force.

Captain Kristen Griest became the Army’s first female infantry officer in 2016 after becoming one of the first females to finish Ranger School. Now she is getting heat for demanding that females meet the same standards as men:

“I’m here saying, ‘Women can do more than we think.’ I have learned this,” she said in an interview, explaining her thinking. “Your gender is not as much of a limitation as you think it is.”

Griest, 32, has received a frosty response from some female service members and veterans, and was accused of “internalized misogyny.” Others have taken her side, or said that they understand her motivation. (……)

“To not require women to meet equal standards in combat arms will not only undermine their credibility, but also place those women, their teammates, and the mission at risk,” she wrote.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but she believes that women should meet the same standards as men on the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT). The problem with the test was that over 50% of women were failing it largely because of one event, the leg tuck. Because of this Congress forced the Army to relook the test and the leg tuck was changed to allow anyone to take an alternate plank test. The plank is easier for people struggling to do the leg tuck to pass.

Another change was in the scoring; before there was three scoring tiers based off of one’s duty description. For example if you were combat arms you had to score in the highest tier of the test; now everyone just has to pass the minimum scores to pass the ACFT. CPT Griest is unhappy about all of this and wants to go back to a test that over 50% of females fail in order to motivate them to get fit.

The way I look at this is that very few females want to join combat arms. Do I really care if for an example an Army nurse or a truck driver cannot do a leg tuck and instead does a plank? No I do not, so why kick this person out of the Army? The Army could not function if it kicked out the amount of females that the ACFT in its prior format would have removed from the force.