Category: Army News

We talked about Private First Class Emmanuel Mensah a few weeks ago when he lost his life while rescuing folks in a burning apartment building in New York City. The Army Times reports that PFC Mensah will get the Soldiers Medal;

Army Secretary Mark Esper approved the Soldier’s Medal for Mensah on Jan. 1, a New York Army National Guard official told Army Times on background.

“Our command recognized the appropriate nature of Pfc. Mensah’s actions and took immediate steps, as early as December 30, to capture statements regarding this young soldier’s actions and worked with Army leaders to process the award submission as quickly as we could,” the official said in an email.

According to a USAToday link sent to us by HMC Ret, the Army is having trouble finding qualified recruits in southern States.

The regional distinction also suggests that government policy can influence fitness, and the South may be falling behind the rest of the country. “Some of the greatest public health achievements have come as the result of state-level policy change,” the study found.

Eleven states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia — had among the highest rates of recruits who become injured during basic training.

The article claims that only 23% of prospects are fully qualified compared to 50% of candidates during World War II.

That number also includes those not qualified because of other factors, such as a criminal record or lack of a high school diploma. But physical fitness remains a growing problem for the military.

“What we’re seeing is a less fit population,” said Mark Hertling, a retired three-star general who served on the president’s physical fitness council under President Barack Obama.

The solution, according to the “experts” is more sidewalks.

Bornstein and Hertling said the Army cannot fix the problem without support from society. The study cited bringing physical education back to schools or improving infrastructure, such as sidewalks, to encourage walking.

Or parents who will kick their kids out of the house a couple of times a day.

In November, we read that Major General Ryan Gonsalves’ promotion was being held up because he had mistreated a Congressional aide. Bobo sends us a link to Stars & Stripes which reports that the general had called the aide “sweetheart” according to an Inspector General’s report on the incident.

The complaint cited accusations that Gonsalves took issue with the female congressional staffer’s youth, and that the general said she should take detailed notes on why the military needed funding “since she was a Democrat and did not believe in funding the military,” the IG report stated.

Multiple members of the congressional delegation described Gonsalves’ remarks during the meeting as “sarcastic and unprofessional,” the report states. Another male staffer described the remarks as “sexist, inappropriate and unprofessional,” according to the report.

At one point during the meeting, the female staffer passed a note to a colleague that read: “Did this guy really just call me sweetheart?,” the report states.

Accounts of the meeting differed, however. Some people in attendance defended Gonsalves, saying he acted professionally, though their names and positions were redacted from the report.

The IG report cites another allegation that Gonsalves asked the staffer her age. When she responded, Gonsalves spoke about his time as a young Army officer serving along the Fulda Gap during the Cold War. Gonsalves is then accused of telling the staffer to take notes so her “Democratic boss” would understand the military’s needs, according to the report.

The general denies the allegations, but the IG report doesn’t believe him. Either way, it doesn’t constitute “mistreatment” like the initial reportage charged. Again, I have to say “So f’n what?” Who cares about a 20-something congressional staffer’s feelings? Also, I have to think that the staffer was poking the bear and antagonized the general, the article doesn’t explain what prompted the general to ask her age.

Stars & Stripes reports that Sergeant Michael T. Trask, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, and a member of the 3rd Infantry Division, has died from injuries sustained in a live-fire exercise at his home station on Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Trask was posthumously promoted to sergeant, according to the Army. Some of Trask’s awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

His death was at least the second of a soldier this year that occurred during a live-fire training exercise.

The Army isn’t discussing the incident while an investigation is conducted.

Training for war….

According to Fox News, the Army’s 101st Airborne Division has taken delivery of the new Sig Sauer XM17 Modular Handgun System (MHS) pistols.

The Sig Sauer 9mm XM17, and the more compact version XM18, are replacing the M9 as the Army’s service pistol.

This is the first change in about three decades since Beretta’s M9 was first introduced as the Army’s sidearm in the Cold War era back in 1986.

Over the next 10 years, the Army will distribute the new handguns to all Army units.

The XM17 is a variant of the civilian P320, one of Sig’s more popular handguns.

I have two Sigs, a Scorpion (carry version) and a Spartan (both in .45) and I’m pleased with their out-of-the-box performance, I have to think that the XM17 is similar. They have to be better than the M9.

Both pistols can be outfitted with suppressors. To attach lasers and lights, there’s an integrated MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail.

There’s also self-illuminating night sights for optimum combat effectiveness in challenging light conditions.

The sights on my Scorpion are similar, and they work really well – better than the iron sights on my ancient Remington Rand.

The Army’s intent is to issue the handgun down to Team Leader- and squad leader-level. They expect to buy 195,000 over the next ten years.

Thanks to HMC RET for the link.