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Letters

BURGERS VS. COFFEE

I was amused to see the Green Bean Café will not get the ax, while other fast-food restaurants in Afghanistan will [“A Whopper of a decision,” Feb. 22].

I understand the decision to close many of these concessions. However, Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s statement that “MWR should never be the distracter that changes the focus of the mission” is unfair.

Having deployed five times in my career, I assure you the distraction to get a good cup of joe is more prevalent than someone wanting to order a new car, buying a loved one a piece of jewelry or simply getting a break from the dining facility and ordering a Whopper.

People leave work centers to go to Starbucks and the Green Bean Café day in and day out. I can’t remember a time when someone left their duty location to go order a new car.

Another drawback to this order is that it preserves jobs for Afghan employees, but cuts jobs for the Americans.

— Master Sgt. Brian K. McGee, RAF Mildenhall, England

DON’T tinker with CFT

I had to smile at the thought of a bunch of airmen doing the fireman’s carry, dragging each other and just getting some plain old good training [“Train like Marines,” March 1].

The smile disappeared when I got to the part that said exercise physiologist Neil Baumgartner, who overhauled the Air Force’s physical fitness test in 2004 and 2009, wants to customize the Combat Fitness Test for various career fields.

With all due respect to Baumgartner, this is a prime example of how the Air Force takes a simple concept that works and complicates it, much to the frustration of the airmen.

The CFT works for the Marines because every Marine is a rifleman — whether he is a cook, pilot, personnelist or grunt. They will be prepared to function, fight and win, no matter where they work.

The Air Force should try to instill that mindset in all the airmen. No matter where they work, they may need to run for cover, carry a wounded wingman or pick up a rifle and fight.

Many people are of the mindset that they will get in shape while deployed. It’s too late by then; they need to perform when their boots hit the ground.

I can hear the groans and comments already: “The Air Force is not the Army or Marine Corps,” “If the other services are so great, join them,” and “There’s no time to PT because there’s too much work to do.”

We all took the same oath of enlistment. That means we volunteered to do a job, and keeping physically fit to fly, fight and win is a part of that job. All airmen must take the initiative to prepare themselves for any challenge they may face while serving. Not only is it their duty, but it can improve their health and quality of life.

— Staff Sgt. Martin J. Corcoran, Bradley Beach, N.J.

‘don’t ask’ fallout

Mutual respect is an admirable but unrealistic goal.

Recent court decisions and statements from the White House, when combined with the militancy of the movement to end “don’t ask, don’t tell,” show that when people speak out against gay behavior, they are marginalized, stifled, bullied and disciplined.

Military members will not be able to speak honestly out of fear they will be punished and sent to reprogramming for their paradoxically “intolerant” behavior.

Chaplains may also be censored to help reinforce “mutual respect,” with the associated “zero tolerance” of dissenting opinions.

This loss of freedom of speech and religion will be a sad, but inevitable, outcome of repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

— Col. Christopher J. Lisanti (ret.), Schertz, Texas

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If gays are allowed to serve openly in the military, the true military professionals will obey and enforce the new policy.

That is what we do. Our personal feelings on issues do not matter — those feelings always take a back seat as we uphold the highest standards of discipline.

As proof of this, many of us know people serving in the military who are gay, and in accordance with current policy, we have said nothing.

The part of this that gets me wound up is it appears that we are being used as pawns to benefit a single political party to push a political agenda that is detracting from our politically neutral mission to ensure national defense.

— Master Sgt. W. Van Beasley II, Aviano Air Base, Italy