Troops Die While Bureaucrats Blunder: The Fight Against Red Tape

Time and time again, we've seen troops and veterans suffering at the hands of an inept government bureaucracy. Wounded troops have been forced to repay their enlistment bonuses. Amputees fell through the cracks at Walter Reed. And 400,000 veterans are still waiting months (and even years) for their disability benefits.

Well, here we go again:

Christopher M. Simmance helped keep the peace as an American Soldier in the Middle East, but when he returned home and later suffered a breakdown, he was turned away from the VA hospital because the government didn't acknowledge his overseas duty.

The whole story is here. Overall, at least 2,000 veterans across the country are struggling to correct mistakes on their military records - mistakes that have cost some of them their jobs and their health care coverage. The wait to correct these errors can stretch for as long as three years. In the meantime, the veteran is not eligible for any of the services or benefits to which they are entitled.

But the battles against the bureaucracy are not only fought by the wounded.

Army Sgt. Kendell Frederick, who had tried three times to file for citizenship, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq as he returned from submitting fingerprints for his application.

There are roughly 7,200 service members or veterans waiting on their citizenship applications, despite a 2002 pledge from the Bush administration to fast track paperwork for immigrant members of the U.S. military. They have to wait months, and sometimes years, for their applications to navigate lengthy background checks, misplaced paperwork, confusion about deployments, and a plethora of other bureaucratic obstacles.

Troops in Iraq getting shot at right now are also bearing the burden of bureaucracy. Our slow acquisitions process and the inadequate oversight of military procurement can have dire consequences for troops in theatre:

Casualties could have been reduced by half among Marines in Iraq if specially armored vehicles had been deployed more quickly in some cases.

That's according to a new blockbuster report to the Pentagon.

This is just unacceptable. For every bureaucratic snafu and oversight failure, there are thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans paying the price--with their lives and limbs. That's why Government Accountability is so important, and why we have included it as one of the five key areas of IAVA's 2008 Legislative Agenda.

But accountability isn't very popular in Washington right now. The fate of one of our successes from last year's Legislative Agenda has just been thrown into jeopardy. The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act established a new Wartime Contracting Commission to investigate fraud and waste by defense contractors. But in his signing statement, President Bush has objected to this new "Truman Commission" on the grounds that it might tie his hands as Commander-in-Chief.

Senator Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran whose son served in Iraq, championed the new commission, and has sworn the commission will go forward. He rammed it home on the Senate floor stating:

"If the Administration would like to explain to us what their constitutional issue is with a piece of legislation that the President has just signed, we would be happy to hear that. In the meantime, we are moving forward with this Commission. It is vitally important to accountability in the government, and I'm very proud to have introduced it. We are marching forward."

Troops and veterans will be marching alongside Senator Webb on this. And we need the American people to do the same.

Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff

Comments

[SonnyBono]

Listen it's not the bureaucrats - ITS THE POLITICAL APPOINTEES THAT ARE ASSIGNED TO RUN THE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES - remember "heckofajob brownie" at FEMA. FEMA worked when professionals ran it but then Bush/Cheney appointed people based on their loyalty to Bush/Cheney and we know what happened.

True - all parties have appointed their share of hacks but the current administration takes it to the limit and beyond - the armoured vehicles for example - check the political donations of the companies and their owners and you will find the trail as to why contracts were issued.

Bush has led the way in trying to make more and more federal jobs by appointment rather than merit so he can fill the government with people just like him - people who have contempt for government and absolutely no ability for the positions they occupy.

Like fish - this government rots from the top down - remove Bush/Cheney and notice the improvement.

[bengalnomad]

jim webb is a hero ongoing, serving his Country for decades. he walks the walk. he transcends the political spectrum of our shameless special-self interested corrupted two party system. i respectfully move Jim Webb be nominated the next Administration's Secretary Of Defense, if not Vice President. Salute ! bengalnomad USARVN 1969/70

[Maschine]

MRAP MRAP MRAP, its all I hear.

The American Citizens should be made aware that hundreds of troops and thousands have been maimed because the DOD Failed to deliver.

Force Protection out of SC was the only manufacturer building quality MRAPS. Thousands of lives have been saved becasue of their product. OVer 3500 IED hits and only 5 casualties. For the number crunchers, multiply the 3500 by a conservative 3 soldiers saved and you get a Retrun on Investment that is unmatched.

What does the DOD do , instead of ORDERING the manufacturing of this product, they give EIGHT companies 30 Million dollars each to copy Force Protectiuon vehicles. They wast 6 months testing them, then decide to buy the more expensive and untested vehicles from other companies.

As of today, in 12 seperate IED hits, The Navistar MaxPro has yielded, 1 death and 4 severly injured soldiers ( broken feet ), 2 demolished vehicles. Multiply that by 3500 IED hits and the losses will be staggering.


Whats even more embarrasing for the DOD is why TExtron, and especially OSHKOsh trucks aren't ORDERED to build any of the platforms. Are you kidding me. Two of the biggest manufacturers sitting on the sideline twiddling their thumbs.

From day one I said this MRAp DOD procurement was a scam. The DOD could have saved 200 Million by simply ordering every manufacturer to build the US MADE Cougar in January of 2007. There would have been at least 10 Thousand of these vehicles saving lives right now in theatre.

That is the crime. and no one will pay for it except soldiers and their families..­...SHAME.


PS: Trent Lott's office knew Mavistar was getting their first order before the DOD even announced it. Peculiar wouldn't you say. Oh, i forgot, Lott's new job is lobbying for Navistar.

[schatsie]

Love ya, great post and response! Keep up the good work!

[realitytrumpsbull]

Paul, I be a veteran, I also be an eligible candidate, I've stayed true to the colors by not participating AND voicing my polite but pointed dissent against this entire travesty of a military whatchamac­allitclust­erblank gross abuse of the pubic purse. My birthday is also Veteran's Day, November 11. Get me a birthday present, Paul. Get me elected. Tell what could be MY troops that I've walked in their boots, well, old-style LPC's at any rate, and I got me an honorable discharge to go with em. I believe it's a soldier's duty to question EVERYTHING, and I could be a much BETTER soldier if you were to consider assisting me in getting elected. Support my solo campaign to get elected, to be the next Occupant. Maybe it's a little nuts, but maybe we need a little constructi­ve/creativ­e semi-insanity in order to extract ALL our IGJoes from the far and distant points to which they've been incompetently and larcenously scattered and dispatched and re-cycled until they go nuts and kill themselves from following what is very decidedly a bad pattern. Elect Bert Walker, pass it on. I'll settle their hash. And, I'll make sure the veterans have the tools and resources needed to recover from what's happened to them. By the time I am finished, I intend to have the Army's books thrown open so that I may discover, how, exactly, it is, that OUR Joes came to be deployed in foreign lands under weak leadership, and leeched off of systematically in more ways than I can count. But, give me the opportunity, and I intend to find out. Because this is getting stupid, the other candidates would die in the desert even under external guidance, and I can walk my own path. Vote for Bert, tell em, 'bert told you'. I'd be happy to debate the other Candidates, but I think they would shrivel and die under my questions, plus, if we're at war, they have NO business playing footsie with Wolf Blitzer. I know how to 'tune in CNN', too. Shut it OFF. Pass THAT along, too. We've become our own worst enemy because we no longer recognize who we are. But I'll put our Joes back on US soil, in 3-pointed hats with muskets if need be, just to make the point. I'll take 'point'.

[Berettasskeeter]

Sorry, I see nothing new here, and no suggestions on improving the situation. As a retired Marine with 26 years of active duty under my belt, I'm familiar with all of Paul's complaints. Some are valid, such as the VA's abominable waiting periods, but who 's to blame? A series of Congresses, since the VA was instituted, have chosen not to appropriate sufficient money. A series of Presidents, during the same period, have allowed it to happen. Bush is not the problem. Bureaucracy is!
Webb is one of my heroes, not because he swapped political parties, but because his cause is just, if I don't always agree with his choice of friends.
The MRAP will be a disaster for the Corps. Marines are not a heavy force, and should not be a heavy force. It sounds good at the moment, but the time will come when we regret it. Further, the Marines are starting to re-think their requests for the MRAP.
Semper fi

[Maschine]

Marines may not be a "heavy " fighting Force, but there are more of them alive becausee of Cougars made by Force protection , as US based company, making a US product that has the enmy freaked out on how to stop it.

Every battle is different. Because the forces are now locked in and are sitting ducks, these trucks are at least saving their lives.

If you change the combat mission and how forces train, then the very least you can do is give them the armour.

[Obamacan]

Semper Fi,
The Corps has always gotten Navy "hand-me-downs" so I have no problem with them getting some new stuff to assist in this theater. But fighting using an old paradigm could get in the way of progress. Mraps will go thru their actual battlefield testing and we'll see if they support the mission. If not, CANC em'. But if they can augment our forces on the ground and save lives, thay are worth it. The Corps has evolved alot in just the last 10 years, I don't see the equipment also evolving to be a bad thing. Remember it's just a tool.

[GPRogueCowboy]

McCain vs. Democrats
He says Al Qaeda In Iraq will establish bases in Iraq to train terrorists to attack America IF WE LEAVE.

We have trained over 350,000 Iraqi Security Forces to protect Iraq.

The latest estimates are that there are LESS THAN 2000 Al Qaeda Terrorists in Iraq.

No Democrat has proposed grounding our eyes in the sky or our Navy Air Corp and Air Force.

When we remove our troops on the ground Al Qaeda will not be able to create a training facility for anything. We will blow it to bits before the first terrorist is trained.

McCain more than anyone should know the US Air Power Capability.

Jim Frego
Grants Pass, OR

[NoFactsJustTruth]

I've a feeling, Paul, things in Iraq are about to go to hell in a hand-basket. The 80,000 man Sunni army of previos insurgents we've now stood up(to oppose Al Qaeda) is supposedly infiltrated with Al Qaeda, and the 'gloves-off' civil war of 2 years ago is likely about to again explode. We're already seeing increased violence EVERY day, even while the preznutz and johnnymac cliam how successful EVERYTHING is.

While citizens really have not forgotten about Iraq, the economy's going out to lunch also, and many like myself are worried about keeping a job. Gas is headed for $4.00 a gallon and NOTHING will improve as long as 12 BILLION a month is flushed for the preznutz' shnit he started in Iraq ...for THEIR natural resiources.

I heard today there are Marines headed there for a 5th tour with 60% of their force, however, being first timers. It was only a matter of time, Paul, before OUR experienced soldiers, including officers I hear, had decided they'd had enough and called it quits in record numbers. Most soldiers take their oaths seriously, and they've been left with eventually fighting 'enemies domestic' , or leaving rather than watch military readiness, and OUR country, ...perhaps disappear altogether.

[msfiskvletterman]

2/28/08
7:30pm
Alexandria, VA

Fraud, waste, and abuse--the auditors look for it and report it and make recommendations for correcting it.
A good thing, right? Well, the auditors are hated by the inefficient because they will get a poor review when their blundering is uncovered and targeted by criminals who will be prosecuted if their fraudulent activity is discovered. How about a little support for the auditors--things might improve.

(I am a former U.S. Army auditor.)

[nunzia]

Mr. Reickhoff - I've seen you several times on tv and I want to thank you for your courage, your intellect and your strength. It's a rare event for me to have that response to someone talking on tv, but you are clearly a cut above and I want you to know it's apparent to those watching.
Thanks.

[paulrieckhoff]

Thanks, Nunzia. I really appreciate it.

[PhillyBlues]

When the Republicans won the 2000 election, then President-elect Bush told those in the military that 'help is on the way'. His words, however, have not equalled his actions. Our Veterans Administration has been allowed to decay even further than it was during President Clinton's administration. Mental Health care for returning vets is already months behind. He allowed the Iraq War to be fought with insufficient men, material or even a plan to administer occupied Iraq after Saddam Hussein's government fell and his army retreated.

As a newly retired Navy vet, I don't think President Bush took care of us at all and if that was his version of 'help' then I would have preferred to not have his help at all.

[esquire07]

The troops really do not matter.

All that matters is Oil and Arms profits. The troops are merely there to protect business interests - nothing more. It is very sad but true.

And, all the murder and spreading of hate and viloence the troops are inflicting upon the people in of Iraq will come back 100X over to the people of America. Simple Karma.

So long as someone is making a buck, the troops will continue to die. Its just business.

So sad for those poor clueless young men and women who think they are "serving their country."

[floydSmoot]

Thanks Paul.

More than a conservative or liberal agenda, people are hungry for competence in Washington. It is not a coincidence that the congress and senate have a lower approval rating than the worst president in the history of the republic. Hopefully, people like Senator Webb are part of this "change" I hear so much about.

[pinetrekker]

While some candidates whine about bias media attention and radio talk show hosts are the pick of the day celebrities on every major news station and websites, our nations loyal and brave soldiers dutifully battle abroad yet to find if they are lucky enough to make it home alive they have the ungracious task of battling for what this nations owes them. Treatment of physical and emotional wounds, a sense of security and acknowledgment of service rendered with honor and broken families trying to manage the faith that help is there to aide and guide them. It is truly shameful our elected officials still
find other priorities and excuses to keep neglecting those who are willing to sacrifice the most.
I agree we need and need to demand action from Washington and the Bush administration and we need more media attention and press on the troops and their families. America needs to be reminded daily of the cold harsh reality our troops and vets are dealing with.

[snownobile]

Paul is the kind of person we need in government , now.
We need to stop electing the same crap time after time.

[desmirl]

Paul,

Senator Webb cares for the welfare of our troops because he's been there with them. Contrast his stance with that of Bush (TANG service in which he missed a bunch of drills) and Cheney (had other priorities that serving in uniform). We live in a time in which not only do politicians revile and ignore the cause of veterans, but the voters seem to be able to overlook these deviant attitudes and support the vilest of CHICKENHAWKS!