Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed “The making of a Thunderbird” [March 14]. I’ve been a fan of the Thunderbirds since the spring of 1961 and found your story captured the spirit of the team that I have known since that time.

It’s interesting to note that the Thunderbirds, as a team, has a legacy going back over half a century.

From 1959 to ’61, your newspaper published a series of articles written by Bruce Callendar on other air demonstration teams that flew before the public to promote air power.

In researching this topic for my own book, I found more than 45 Air Force and predecessor teams dating back to World War I. Taken in whole, it seems our Air Force has an even richer legacy.

Lt. Col. Gary C. Meeker

Miami

Are we listening?

I read about Gen. Richard B. Myer’s visit to Iraq. Gen. Myers was having lunch with several senior ranking Iraqi military and police officers. Iraqi Col. Shaker Faris made a comment that impressed me. He said that “it is crucially important that the coalition do more to control the movement of insurgents across Iraq’s borders so that we can control the inside of our country.”

Shades of lessons learned in Vietnam. The last time I saw that country I was a staff sergeant flight mechanic. Today I am a maintenance group commander.

In all the years that have passed since I was in ’Nam, one of the lessons learned, which is repeated over and over, is had the U.S. Army controlled the border and let the [South Vietnam army] take care of the Viet Cong, the outcome would have been different. I am no Army general and certainly no great strategic thinker, but I do think we are destined to repeat the same mistake in Iraq. Let’s hope that Gen. Myers paid attention to Col. Faris.

Col. Karl H. Kromer

Bear, Del.

Finding ways to heal

The Air Force Times editorial [“Don’t dismiss PTSD study”] and article [“Can Ecstasy relieve agony for vets?” March 7] on using Ecstasy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder deserve comment.

As a brain researcher and a psychiatrist familiar with methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or Ecstasy) and post-traumatic stress disorder, we were shocked. Why support investigation of a brain-damaging drug when a safe and effective approach is available?

As a group, veterans with PTSD experience emotional numbness, anxiety, depression, increased alcohol consumption, insomnia, family problems and increased unemployment, among other maladies.

The known effects of MDMA include sleep disorders, depressed mood, anxiety, impulsiveness, hostility, and impairment of episodic memory, working memory and attention. There are strong indications that some or all of these symptoms are caused by MDMA-induced brain damage. Who would want to exchange the symptoms of PTSD for the effects of MDMA?

It’s time we acknowledge that virtually all drugs have negative side effects and look more closely at the human potential for healing ourselves. Research now shows that stress reduction approaches can be effective for treating hypertension and heart disease, as well as anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Among these approaches, meditation has emerged as most effective for many outcomes. Within the different types of meditation, the transcendental meditation program has been researched most and has shown the largest effects in comparative studies.

Twenty years ago, Brooks and Scarano tested this program with Vietnam veterans, randomly assigning those diagnosed with PTSD to either meditation or psychotherapy. The results were clear. Compared to psychotherapy, three months practicing this meditation for two short periods a day brought significantly greater reductions in eight of nine measures, including emotional numbness, anxiety, depression, alcohol consumption, insomnia, family problems, unemployment and a scale for PTSD.

If a Veterans Affairs clinician prescribes the TM program as part of a veteran’s therapy, it is VA policy that the local VA medical center pay the course fee from its discretionary funds.

Kenneth G. Walton, Ph.D.

Fairfield, Iowa

James L. Fleming, M.D.

Lee’s Summit, Mo.

As a retired senior master sergeant, I travel with my wife as much as possible. During our travels we visit the military installations in our travel area. On a trip to Florida, we visited Hurlburt Field. This was a rewarding visit.

I am a Vietnam veteran. In the past, I have had some problems with Vietnam memories. The Special Operations Memorial (it is not a museum) is astonishing. It is hard to describe the effect it has on a veteran, except to say it brings peace of mind, even closure, for a difficult time. The displays and commemorative plaques are movingly impressive and meaningful. The display area is impeccable.

Of all the memorials and museums I have visited, this one is the most moving and rewarding. I encourage everyone to visit this memorial at Hurlburt Field. It will leave you with a lasting impression. It has brought me peace of mind.

Senior Master Sgt. Walter King (ret.)

Killeen, Texas

A ‘Mickey Mouse’ policy

The Air Force Personnel Center announced that the Lance Armstrong Foundation Live Strong bracelet is not authorized to wear while in military uniform. The center’s reason being the bracelet’s yellow color “does not conform with the conservative criteria for bracelets.”

However, consider this: Allowed in uniform are metallic prisoner-of-war remembrance bracelets in yellow, blue, green, red and silver; one-inch wide gold and silver bracelets; gold and silver watches (including Mickey Mouse) and watch bands with faces in assorted colors; and reflective safety belts in yellow, red, green, orange and blue, which are mandatory for airmen in Europe after dark.

Not allowed in uniform: A half-inch-wide bracelet of plain matte-yellow rubber embossed with the words “Live Strong.”

Why did the Air Force go out of its way to prohibit something that is causing absolutely no harm to its military image? It’s not a safety issue. It’s not offensive to anyone. Why did the Air Force spend time, money and energy to specifically prohibit it?

And who determines what conservative is?

The Air Force instruction regulating dress and appearance, 36-2903, states bracelets must be “conservative, no wider than one inch, and not present a safety hazard.” The instruction neither defines the word conservative nor says who determines what is or isn’t conservative.

In my 15 years of active-duty Air Force experience, the local supervisor or squadron commander makes that determination (as is the case for tattoos).

The Air Force has overreacted and overreached. The Lance Armstrong Foundation is an honorable charity raising millions of dollars for cancer research. Its fund-raising bracelet meets the Air Force’s standard for conservative and should be allowed to be worn while in uniform.

Just wait until Oprah hears about this.

Tech. Sgt. Jay Boda

Ramstein Air Base, Germany

Lies my service told me

In “Counter-recruiters competing with military” [March 21], Marine Maj. J.J. Dill said, “But saying that we’re tricking and lying, that certainly has an impact on a young person.” It is a well-known fact, at least to all military retirees of my generation, that the military and government of these United States have a long history of lying and/or deceiving recruits and members of the services, as vividly pointed out by the letter to the editor [“Differences in veterans,” March 21].

I am not a counter-recruiter. I retired from the Air Force in 1971 and still actively support many Air Force programs. However, knowing what I now know about our government and how it fails to keep the faith with its military members, I seriously doubt that I would again choose to risk my life and limbs for 24 years in the military. They definitely lied to us in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s about free medical care for life for the member and spouse, in exchange for 20 or more years of honorable service.

Today the courts, Congress and the military leadership show no inclination to rectify the lies told to the serving members that were sent in harm’s way to serve in Korea, Vietnam and elsewhere.

As an example of my free medical care for life, in 2004 I paid out well over $7,000 for eye care and glasses, dental care, dental plates and crowns, Medicare insurance premiums and prescription drug co-payments for my spouse and me. That is a long way from what was promised. The recruiters definitely lied and every prospective recruit has a right to be made aware of that fact.

Senior Master Sgt. Ivan P. Walker (ret.)