Coming Unglued

[thedrifter]

01-21-2005 <br />
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Guest Column: Coming Unglued <br />
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By William S. Lind

[hrscowboy]

does any of this thread sound like Vietnam gentleman? The press never reported the real deal...

[HardJedi]

From what I have read in the history books about vietnam, and from what some who were there have told me, yeah, a bit it does, Cowboy.

[Namvet67]

hrscowboy....shades of Vietnam for sure. There were 4 wars going in Vietnam, all at the same time. I corps, 2 corps, 3 corps amd 4 corps. All that happened in those wars was not all reported and lots not even recorded. My war was I corps and I've talked to soldiers and Marines from the other wars and each story has a little different twist. It's time to wake up!!!!

[BHABIT]

As in Vietnam the war has returned to politics and DC policies. One can not fight a war and win if he is incapable or unwilling to be as ruthless or more than his enemy. Our polititians have always tied our hands, our press has always drawn out the bleeding hearts by portraying war as if death and atrocities shouldn't happen and finally the lack of commitment from the American people.

War is NOT a game as most portray it... it is a phyical force of will when diplomacy fails.

There should be absolutely NO rules in war except to WIN... untill then the debate will go on.

[thedrifter]

01-24-2005

Previously in DefenseWatch



Editor’s Note: The following articles previously published in DefenseWatch addressed the issue of abuses in the Pentagon’s “Hostile Fire Pay/Imminent Danger Pay” system and from junketing senior officers.



“Flying the General’s Band,” Guest Column, DefenseWatch, Dec. 28, 2004:



After reading Col. David Hackworth’s column on DV C-130 abuse in CENTCOM (“Calling Gen. Abizaid,” DefenseWatch, Nov. 29, 2004), I want *DefenseWatch readers to know that the same type of thing is going on in USAFE. Gen. Robert H. “Doc” Fogelsong has taken several trips to different African nations using a KC-135. We don’t have many of them that we can use to task air refueling missions with within our theater, so each one we lose for something like this means we normally cancel real missions.



“Calling Gen. Abizaid,” *Col. David Hackworth, DefenseWatch, Nov. 29, 2004:



According to the ditty, “They fly through the air with the greatest of ease, these are America’s brass-buttoned VIPs.” Actually, the U.S. Air Force calls these airborne admirals and generals “Distinguished Visitors,” but whatever the label, they’re jet-setting at taxpayer expense and screwing over the troops they lead. … What’s got me zeroed in on the brass this time around is word that critical C-130s – the tactical workhorses of our Air Force – are being used to fly VIPs around Iraq on missions that reek of joy-riding.



“Sailing to the ‘Golden Circle’ ”, Ed Offley, DefenseWatch, Feb. 26, 2004:



Last spring, Congress directed that all military personnel who spent any amount of time in a war zone would be entitled to a “combat zone tax exclusion” for that month. This meant that even if the person found himself or herself in such a designated area for just one day, he or she could keep all of the money normally deducted for federal income taxes for the entire month. … The same situation occurred in terms of receiving “imminent danger pay,” a bonus of $225 per month regardless of rank. The law provided that each enlisted person or commissioned officer receive the monthly bonus no matter how short – e.g. one day – he or she was physically present in a designated war zone.



The problem confronting Navy leaders was that the legislation did not cover naval crews serving in the Eastern Mediterranean, including the Truman and Theodore Roosevelt strike groups. The unspoken premise was that while their work was arduous and important, the ship’s crews were no more exposed to danger – combat aircrews aside – than if they were engaged in routine training off the Virginia Capes. But rather than lobby for a change in the law, the Navy essentially went looking for a loophole large enough to drive a Nimitz-class carrier through. And they found a beauty.



“The Grunts Patrol, the Generals Junket,” Guest Column, DefenseWatch, Sept. 30, 2003):



What I am talking about … are the frequent interlopers from staff positions (O-4s through O-10s) throughout the military who Blackhawk into [Kosovo’s Camp] Bondsteel to eat lunch, shake a hand or two, and its wheels up by sundown – all the while collecting the same hostile fire pay as one of us who spends the entire month here. As if this were not enough of a slap in the face, they also get the month’s tax-free status. Of course, all of their pay isn’t tax free (only that portion up to what the Sergeant Major of the Army makes) but it is a lot more than any of the soldiers who put it on the line make – something up to $5,000 of their salary will be tax free for less than a day’s work. One of the preferred tricks is to come on the 31st of the month and leave on the 1st of the next month, thus gaining two months of benefits for two days.


http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Defensewatch%20Special.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=4&rnd=167.28916300561175

Ellie

[thedrifter]

01-24-2005

For the Record: Imminent Danger Pay Regulations



Compiled by DefenseWatch Staff



Imminent Danger Pay:


A member of a uniformed service may be paid special pay at the rate of $225 for any month in which he was entitled to basic pay and in which he:



* Was subject to hostile fire or explosion of hostile mines;



* Was on duty in an area in which he was in imminent danger of being exposed to hostile fire or explosion of hostile mines and in which, during the period he was on duty in that area, other members of the uniformed services were subject to hostile fire or explosion of hostile mines;



* Was killed, injured, or wounded by hostile fire, explosion of a hostile mine, or any other hostile action; or



* Was on duty in a foreign area in which he was subject to the threat of physical harm or imminent danger on the basis of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions.



* Reserve members are also eligible for Hostile Fire and Imminent Danger Pay.



Combat Zone Tax Relief:



Updated May 15, 2003



[Update: An April 11 DoD memo certifies that Iraqi Freedom personnel stationed in Turkey and Israel and deployed to Mediterranean waters east of 30 degrees east longitude are now eligible for combat zone tax relief. Also, service members deployed in the same Mediterranean water area now qualify for imminent danger pay. Effective date for the added combat zone tax relief in Turkey and Israel is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2003. Water-deployed eastern Mediterranean personnel started their tax relief status on April 11, the same date they became eligible for imminent danger pay. A previous executive order has covered combat zone designations for countries such as Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.]



If you are a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who serves in a combat zone (defined below), you can exclude certain pay from your income. Enlisted personnel, warrant officers, and commissioned warrant officers can exclude the following amounts from their income:



* Active duty pay earned in any month you served in a combat zone;

Imminent danger/hostile fire pay;



* A reenlistment bonus if the voluntary extension or reenlistment occurs in a month you served in a combat zone;



* Pay for accrued leave earned in any month you served in a combat zone. The DoD must determine that the unused leave was earned during that period;



* Pay received for duties as a member of the Armed Forces in clubs, messes, post and station theaters, and other nonappropriated fund activities. The pay must be earned in a month you served in a combat zone;



* Awards for suggestions, inventions, or scientific achievements you are entitled to because of a submission you made in a month you served in a combat zone;



* Student loan repayments that are attributable to your period of service in a combat zone (provided a full year's service is performed to earn the repayment);



You do not have to receive the pay while you are in a combat zone, are hospitalized, or in the same year you served in a combat zone. However, your entitlement to the pay must have fully accrued in a month during which you served in the combat zone or were hospitalized as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred while serving in the combat zone.



Partial (month) service. If you serve in a combat zone for one or more days during a particular month, you are entitled to an exclusion for that entire month.



Definition of Combat Zone


A combat zone is any area the President of the United States designates by Executive Order as an area in which the U.S. Armed Forces are engaging or have engaged in combat. An area usually becomes a combat zone and ceases to be a combat zone on the dates the President designates by Executive Order.



Afghanistan. By Executive Order No. 13239, Afghanistan (and airspace above) is designated a combat zone beginning September 19, 2001.



The Kosovo area. By Executive Order No. 13119 and Public Law 106-21, the following locations (including air space) were designated as a combat zone and a qualified hazardous duty area beginning March 24, 1999.



Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro)

Albania

The Adriatic Sea

The Ionian Sea - north of the 39th parallel (including all of the airspace in connection with the Kosovo operation.)



Persian Gulf area. By Executive Order No. 12744, the following locations (and airspace) were designated as a combat zone beginning January 17, 1991.



The Persian Gulf

The Red Sea

The Gulf of Oman

The part of the Arabian Sea that is north of 10 degrees north latitude and west of 68 degrees east longitude

The Gulf of Aden

The total land areas of Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates

Serving in a Combat Zone



Service in a combat zone includes any periods you are absent from duty because of sickness, wounds, or leave.



If, as a result of serving in a combat zone, a person becomes a prisoner of war or is missing in action, that person is considered to be serving in the combat zone so long as he or she keeps that status for military pay purposes.



You are considered to be serving in a combat zone if you are either assigned on official temporary duty to a combat zone or you qualify for hostile fire/imminent danger pay while in a combat zone.



Nonqualifying presence in combat zone. The following military service does not qualify as service in a combat zone:



Presence in a combat zone while on leave from a duty station located outside the combat zone,

Passage over or through a combat zone during a trip between 2 points that are outside a combat zone, and

Presence in a combat zone solely for your personal convenience.



Qualified hazardous duty area. Beginning November 21, 1995, a “qualified hazardous duty area” in the former Yugoslavia is treated as if it were a combat zone. The qualified hazardous duty area includes:



Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatia

Macedonia



Members of the Armed Forces deployed overseas away from their permanent duty station in support of operations in a qualified hazardous duty area, or performing qualifying service outside the qualified hazardous duty area, are treated as if they are in a combat zone solely for the purposes of the extension of deadlines. These personnel are not entitled to other combat zone tax benefits. However, if you satisfy additional requirements, you may be entitled to full combat zone tax benefits:



Qualifying service outside combat zone. Military service outside a combat zone is considered to be performed in a combat zone if:



The service is in direct support of military operations in the combat zone, and

The service qualifies you for special military pay for duty subject to hostile fire or imminent danger.

Military pay received for this service will qualify for the combat zone exclusion if the other requirements are met.



Amount of Exclusion


If you are an enlisted member, warrant officer, or commissioned warrant officer and you serve in a combat zone during any part of a month, all of your military pay for that month is excluded from your income. You can also exclude military pay earned while you are hospitalized as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred in the combat zone. The exclusion of your military pay while you are hospitalized does not apply to any month that begins more than 2 years after the end of combat activities in that combat zone. Your hospitalization does not have to be in the combat zone.



If you are a commissioned officer (other than a commissioned warrant officer), you may exclude your pay according to the rules just discussed. However, the amount of your exclusion is limited to the highest rate of enlisted pay (plus imminent danger/hostile fire pay you received) for each month during any part of which you served in a combat zone or were hospitalized as a result of your service there.



Hospitalized while serving in the combat zone. If you are hospitalized while serving in the combat zone, the wound, disease, or injury causing the hospitalization will be presumed to have been incurred while serving in the combat zone unless there is clear evidence to the contrary.



Hospitalized after leaving the combat zone. In some cases the wound, disease, or injury may have been incurred while you were serving in the combat zone, even though you were not hospitalized until after you left.



Form W-2. The wages shown in box 1 of your 2002 Form W-2 should not include military pay excluded from your income under the combat zone exclusion provisions. If it does, you will need to get a corrected Form W-2 from your finance office. You cannot exclude as combat pay any wages shown in box 1 of Form W-2.

Ellie