Category: Antiwar crowd

One of the “actions” that IVAW is planning for this weekend is the deployment of Indiana-based 656th Transportation Company. According to one of their so-called Non-commissioned Officers, SGT Alejandro Villatoro, his troops aren’t trained for the up-coming mission to Afghanistan;

The main reason I am doing this is that I want people to know the lack of training and education our soldier have been receiving, and the focus on the mission is just not adequate to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. All I am asking is more time to reevaluate the training and mental health of these soldiers before sending them into war.

He claims that his troops haven’t had time to train on the weapons they’ll be using or the vehicles they’ll be driving. Sounds like they’ll be using Star Trek phasers and driving spacecraft, huh? Nope, the weapons he hasn’t had sufficient training on are the .50 cal machine guns which have been in the Army’s inventory since before World War Two – it was designed by John Browning just after WWI.

Do you mean to tell me that there’s been no time in the last 90 years that Villatoro’s troops couldn’t find time to acquaint themselves with the simplest and most durable weapon on any battlefield in the history of warfare? Why would Villatoro complain about his shortcomings in public since it’s his job to train his troops to a standard for combat?

The unit spent two weeks training up prior to the deployment and he didn’t go to the arms room and sign out an M2 and go over the weapon and it’s characteristics and maintenance? Firing it from a vehicle mount is easy – you put the wooden grips in your chest, squeeze the butterfly trigger and walk the rounds into the target with your body.

And the vehicle they’re not trained on is the MRAP – I’m sure they’ll get training when they get there, because strangely, the Army figures it’s more important to have MRAPs where they’re needed rather than dormant in an Reserve unit motorpool.

Villatoros claims he’s afraid that it’ll be a repeat of the invasion of Iraq when he had to drive a truck with a standard transmission and he didn’t know how to drive a stick. Really? A guy in a Trans Co. that couldn’t drive a stick? How stupid would we have to be to believe that one?

First of all, besides 60s era duece-and-a-halfs, what Army vehicle has a stick? Even five tons were automatic before the 90s. Secondly, since the whole Advanced Individual Training for truck drivers is getting a license and qualified on trucks, who didn’t have the opportunity to drive the old stick shift trucks?

Even if the Reserve Trans units still had old sticks, it was the NCO’s fault the troops didn’t know how to drive them. Just like it’s Villatoro’s fault his troops aren’t trained. Instead of training them the young sarge was probably playing spades instead of overcoming the shortfalls in the unit’s training plan. That’s what young sergeants are for, buck.

In addition, Villatoro is claiming the unit is deploying “wounded” soldiers;

Some mentally ill soldiers are able to keep their diagnoses secret from the military, which is not screening before deployment, while those with known mental illnesses are deployed regardless.

Wait a second, troops don’t tell their supervisors that have mental problems and some how that equates to the military “not screening”? Sounds to me like those soldiers want to deploy with their unit – how is that the military’s fault?

This young buck sergeant needs to do a long, slow self-evaluation on the flight over and admit that he’s the one screwing his troops and not the command structure. Oh, by the way, Villalobo is an IVAW member.