First Lt. William "Eddie" Rebrook IV, 25, of Charleston had to leave the Army because of his injuries. But before he could be discharged last week, he had to scrounge up cash from his buddies to pay for the body armor or face not being discharged for months — all because a supply officer failed to document that the vest had been destroyed more than a year ago as a biohazard.
Yes, it is stupid. But it is a bureaucratic thing and not an evil. It will be corrected. Some supply sergeant has to sign off on this lieutenant's equipment and a piece is not documented.
The same thing happened to me when I was leaving basic training. A couple crappy pieces of equipment I'd been issued when I arrived at Leonard Wood were suddenly deemed worn out when I was turning in my TA-50 (is that the right term?) at the end, though they were in basically the same condition as when I got them. So, I could stay in sunny Little Korea for a little longer to fight this outrage or walk across to the PX and buy two more of those little doodads. And then watch as the supply guy examined two brand spanking new thingies as if they might not be good enough.
And when I left the Guard for good, I received a bill for a piece of clothing I had lost in the field but had not documented. I received a very harshly worded letter from some supply officer somewhere demanding payment. So I sent a check.
This is more money and involves a wounded soldier, so it looks far worse, but it is the same thing. Lieutenant Rebrook, who has sacrificed a hell of a lot in service to our country, will not have to pay for this armor, I dare say. Nor should he have to. It is just an oversight and will be corrected. Senators Byrd and Rockefeller may work up a good speech but this is just an innocent oversight caused by the paperwork god's demand for gifts.
So lets not feel too superior about the Moslem cartoon outrage. People over here are perfectly capable of ginning up fake outrage for their own purposes, too.
