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Letters

Not ‘just doing our job’

With the recent articles about the lack of decorations being awarded in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom [“Who merits medals?” Feb. 16; “Death before this honor,” March 23], I had to write. Part of it is a confession and part is a request for commanders, airmen and Central Command to fix the problem.

During the summer of 2006, I deployed as an A-10 pilot with the 303rd Fighter Squadron (rainbowed with the 81st Fighter Squadron) to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. As an additional duty, I was designated the awards and decorations officer for the squadron.

I witnessed many heroic acts that hot summer during a large Taliban offensive, mostly from watching gun camera tapes and hearing the stories when exhausted pilots walked back into our deployed squadron after a mission. Every day and night, our A-10s were involved in complex, high-stress missions that stretched the limits of our training and skills.

On many of the average missions, we were directed to check in with a joint terminal attack controller who was under direct fire. Every day people were killed, saved and, occasionally, victims of fratricide. I am sure that there are many, many undocumented individual stories and forgotten heroes.

When I offered to write the narratives and fill out the paperwork for medals for an extraordinary mission, I was directly told, “We are A-10 pilots; That is what we do. We don’t need any medals.” At the time, I bought it. It was less work for me anyway.

But looking back, I completely let down my fellow combat pilots.

Although it is noble and chivalrous to say we were “just doing our job,” it takes away from legitimate history and an opportunity to give folks well-deserved credit.

Just doing our job is going to drill, sitting in a safety brief, going to the local range and dropping six practice bombs, then having a beer at the squadron bar. It is not just doing our job to work 14-hour days in a combat site, taking risks that would never be considered in peacetime. It is not just our job to fly a seven-hour sortie, clean off your airplane of bombs and bullets, conduct multiple night air refuelings, and continue to do low passes over enemy positions.

Putting weapons on target to save a pinned-down convoy or spec ops squad through the fog of war — confusion, smoke, night-vision goggles, flares, 1970s-era technology, unbelievably bad radio transmissions — isn’t just doing our job.

I am sure that many of the acts I witnessed that summer were worthy of Bronze Stars and Distinguished Flying Crosses, and one may have been worthy of a Silver Star or an Air Force Cross. This was the real deal. And what did these guys get? An Air Medal — like everybody else who flew 20 routine missions, dropped off some pallets, delivered some gas, etc. I am not taking away from these crucial missions; I am just saying that the current system is flawed, and many heroic acts were not recognized or recorded.

I am writing to ask something of three groups:

1. Any combat pilot who did anything remotely extraordinary: Document it, even if it was four years ago. Fill out a Central Command Form 1 and tell the story. Track down your wingman to verify it. Send it in. See what happens. You are not grandstanding or looking for praise — you are codifying and recording history. It is OK to be recognized for the most intense summer of your life, where you fought valiantly for your country and came home proud of what you accomplished.

2. Deployed squadron leadership: Take your troops’ accomplishments seriously and recognize them. Ensure a system is in place to fill out the forms and route them correctly.

3. Central Command: Man the shop and process the paperwork. I have a feeling that in some dark corner in Tampa-stan, there is a tiny office of overworked people trying to contend with massive mounds of awards paperwork. Invest in this area, recognize your troops and accurately codify the heroic acts and history that have been going on in Iraq and Afghanistan daily since 2002.

Lt. Col. Chris Stokes

Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

2 takes on chiropractic

The April 6 letter by Glenn Manceaux, president of the American Chiropractic Association [“Tricare and chiropractic”], deceptively suggests that chiropractic is a legitimate therapy that should be extended to American service members.

Every double-blind study on the subject has found no effects beyond placebo, and quite a few have reported ministrations causing further injury due to misplaced beliefs on the part of the chiropractor.

I find Manceaux’s willingness to deceive and potentially harm our valiant service members revolting.

If folks really want only a massage, please visit a masseuse and save some money; they’re less likely to cause permanent nerve damage. Otherwise, I think we owe our men and women in uniform better than pseudoscientific treatments with a rising body count (see http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html).

2nd Lt. Brandon Phillips

Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.

It was spring 1991. Desert Storm had just ended, and airmen were redeploying back to the continental U.S. At Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., we heard that then-President George H.W. Bush was going to visit the base to welcome the airmen back. As the Air Base Operability officer at the time, I was in charge of base operations, where all personnel from transient aircraft disembarked.

On orders from the wing commander, we loaded up all the furnishings in base operations and replaced them with choice furnishings from base housing to make base ops look as inviting as possible.

While loading a heavy couch onto a truck, I felt something move in my upper back.

The next day, I had trouble moving my arms without pain and went to the base hospital. They gave me some pills for pain. On the third day, I had sharp stabbing pains in my back that only allowed me to take short half-breaths.

Taking the advice of one my noncommissioned officers, I went to see a chiropractor downtown. He did a sharp readjustment of my spine that eliminated 90 percent of the pain. After two more adjustments, the pain was completely gone.

In the time since then, I have occasionally had episodes where I strain in an unusual posture that causes my back to go out again. In the beginning I tried doctors a few more times, but they were ineffective in relieving the pain. The chiropractor never failed to give me quick and effective relief.

After I retired and moved away from Shaw in 1993, I found another chiropractor in my community who had mastered sharp manipulation. I see him about once every two years or so and he has never failed to relieve my pain. In addition to his effectiveness, my chiropractor also charges much less than a physician. Chiropractors should be included in the military health system.

Maj. Albert M. Carter (ret.)

Greensboro, N.C.

Bring back decals

I really miss the U.S. Air Force decals placed on vehicle windows and car registrations, although I do understand the need for 100 percent ID checks and budget restraint.

However, I’ve polled thousands of Air Force retirees here in the San Antonio area and found that many are willing to pay a fee for those “glory day decals.” There is a deep sense of pride that separates us from civilians.

There may be enough interest in ordering the decals and paying for the postage.

Maj. Ralph E. Barksdale (ret.)

San Antonio