European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes Friday november 30,1990�?� desert shield troops stress cooperation this letter is in response to most of the opinions of the desert shield coverage in the stars and stripes letters column. I have never heard so much complaining Over How much coverage a unit gets Over another. News coverage is irrelevant to our Mission Here in saudi Arabia. We should be worried about the matter at hand. Worry about keeping your equipment combat ready keeping yourself and personnel technically and tactically proficient and being mentally and physically prepared in the event of a conflict. Nobody wants to know How much More a unit is suffering than the other or Why this unit is eating to rats while the other one is eating res or How the flies up North Are worse than the ones Down South. And the gripes Are blown so out of proportion its ridiculous. Enough the military supplies you with the necessities to live and survive Here. What you make of them is what you get out of them. So save the sob stories. You Are being paid to do a Job that you swore you would comply with when you raised your right hand and took that oath. You made your bed now lie in it. We Are All americans in the military whether we Are in the army Navy air Force marines the 24th or the 101st. They All have different missions and a different Way of implementing their service and support. How they use it depends on the individual it is issued to. Our stay Here in saudi Arabia will be As comfortable As you the individual make it. If you have to fan your water cans manually to be Able to make fluid intake bearable then do it. The Waters not going to get any cooler. The time used for complaining could be used to find a solution to the problem. So Stop worrying about How much coverage a unit is getting Over the other or How much our water is hotter to drink than theirs. The newspaper is not the one we should complain to. Complaints Are handled through your Normal support channels. All the complaints in that recent Issue made you All seem weak minded and immature with no grounds to base your accusations of Why you weren to getting enough coverage or Why a certain unit is getting better support than the other. Worry about the matter at hand a the possibility of conflict and our Mission Here in saudi Arabia. A sgt. Mario a. Ramirez operation desert shield we of the 82nd a fall american airborne div would like to reply to several letters and Tell you in depth about the 82nd living conditions in operation desert shield. The 1st so air17th Cav the Only airborne air cavalry in the . Army does not have any of the Plush accommodations that we read about. We also Are eating the same Sand and res at every meal. We understand that everyone has it pretty bad Over Here but done to say the grass is Greener on the other Side. There is no grass in the saudi desert. We understand All the units Over Here Are doing their fair share of the work Load and feel you should get the same coverage that we have. You  jump the gun by saying we Are living in Paradise because the news Media Haven to mentioned your units accomplishments. We the troopers of the 1/17 Cav understand and Are swatting flies just like you. A a staff sgt. Michael w. Carpenter a staff sgt Mario e. Samayoa operation desert shield speaking for the paratroopers of the 82nd airborne div we were outraged by the comments directed towards us by other units in theater. In Case some of you have forgotten this division took four killed and 76 wounded this year. In 1988 we jumped into Honduras for a show of Force engaged the enemy in Grenada in 1983, had 212 killed in Vietnam four combat jumps in Wii. Three Hundred and sixty five Days a year we have elements packed and ready for a a no notice deployment ready to jump anywhere in the world. In order to deploy Here we had been in the Field training for six weeks got called out prepped and had units on the ground Here in less than 24 hours. Accept the Challenge and drive on. It will make you better soldiers and you might be proud of yourself someday. A staff sgt. James l. Miller operation desert shield the 82nd does not control the Media so in a going to Tell you like it was told to us a suck it up and drive  and despite what you think or heard not All of the 82nd Are living at the  a sgt. Bobbi c. Smith operation desert shield As a member of the . Air Force deployed in support of desert shield i wanted to comment on some of the remarks that have been made by individuals from other branches of the service. My unit was the first of its kind to deploy Here in saudi Arabia. We arrived prior to any other Branch of service except for permanent party members. We have a Mission to provide combat support. Since arriving we have helped All branches of the services upon their arrival. We have gone out of our Way to help them. We Felt that since we were the first Here and already established that we should help our counterparts set up and become self supporting. Although each service has mainly done this themselves we have aided them by supplying water and equipment and generally pointing them in the right direction. We Are not a support unit for any other Branch of the service. In articles other individuals have almost referred to us As their support  we have a vital role to perform Here we Are self sufficient and by no Means Are we anyone a support  i do not refer to another Branch of service As our support people so i would prefer they not insinuate that we Are theirs. We. All have an important Mission and if fighting starts which we Hope it does no to we will All have to work together As a team to make it work. A tech. Sgt. Marvin h. Carwile operation desert shield we Are Here together now we each left behind a different set of circumstances. If one coping mechanism is to bring along an item from Home no matter what uniform they Wear who can say what is junk and what Isnit. I have brought Many unused items under the direction of my superiors. I could Call it a junk a but Hindsight is always 20/20. It is human nature to complain or become nostalgic about presently unavailable luxuries. I miss my Beer and done to feel guilty about saying so. It is True that my living conditions Are better than yours sound. But Why criticize someone for making the Best of a situation i work in a Hospital. We see patients 24 hours a Day execute mass casualty exercises and do whatever we can do to keep morale up. That May include activities you consider a luxury. I am proud to be Here doing the Job pm doing. In a not at the front but i still hold my head High. We All need to work As a team instead of antagonizing one another. I agree that the picture presented by the press has avoided a lot of the negatives. You done to seriously expect the top generals to say a the troops Are fed up with the whole mess and want to go Home a so lets express our opinions without taking a swipe at every military organization that Isnit in your boat. A staff sgt. Larry Morrill operation desert shield i recently left Germany to be stationed at it. Bragg. I really missed the stars and stripes but now Here i am in saudi Arabia Reading it again and feeling right at Home quibble and All. I am writing to you on behalf of All the Wori warts who continuously complain about the recognition of the 82nd and 101st getting All the glory other units having air conditioning cold sodas Etc. The complaints go on. I wish they would Stop and think of our fathers and grandfathers who dealt with much worse. Trench warfare in a sure was no Garmisch or Disneyland if you will but they adapted and drove on. My father told me about the heat of the vietnamese Jungles but he did no to say anything about air conditioners. He a told me about the elephant grass and How badly it Cut you but i never heard anything about 6-foot lawnmowers i think in be made my Point. I would like to ask the troops Over Here just to Stop and think. Having air conditioning and All is great but adapting to weather and terrain has to be done by drinking warm water eating res and following army or military training on desert environment. I Challenge anyone who says that if this operation goes past a peace keeping operation into War that we will win sitting behind air conditioners and sipping soda then jumping to the front lines of the desert heat with the Only Comfort being that another Day has passed Andl you Are still alive. I please use your Heads and train properly for things Tol come so you can go Back to your families in one piece. I Good Luck. I a sgt. Lee Magruder i operation desert shield i i am a Loyal Reader of your newspaper As Are All the soldiers in my unit. What we be found most enjoyable is i Reading the letters from the 101st airborne assault div i and the 24th Mech inf div. They complain that we of i the 82nd airborne div have been getting All the press i when i arrived Here in August we were the Only i american ground forces in country. When the press arrived a few Days later they naturally came to us. If i they had wanted to talk to the 101st, the 24th or the marines they would have had to Fly Back to the states. I in reference to the food we eat what every american i Soldier eats to rations and res. That a part of our i Job too. I in reference to the billeting we All eat Sand use pon1 chos for Shade and sleep on cots. I thought the cots were i a luxury because this is the first time in be used one since i in be been in division its kind of hard to fit in a Rucksack. I we Admire the heavy units with their tanks and self-1 propelled howitzers. But lets get real people. We re-1 main the Only division capable of our unique missions i and Are understandably proud of this. We done to just Call i ourselves an airborne division we practice it. I a sgt Andrew Navarro i operation desert shield i i cannot believe All of the letters from soldiers Partici-1 paring in operation desert shield complaining about not getting enough publicity. We Are Here in saudi Ara-1 Bia to deter iraqi aggression not to whine about who a in the stars and stripes. I i have been in country for Over a month now and 11 have yet to see Many of the a a deluxe accommodations mentioned in those letters. I think we need to get our priorities straight. We Are not keeping a a score Here in the 82nd airborne. A Steven n. Seaholm operation desert shield some of the soldiers have written reflecting frustration Over the 82nd airborne a luxuries. If supplies such j As food and ice Are the problem maybe this exercise will work out the bugs in their logistics. Our logistics Are quite accustomed to moving supplies wherever needed. In a certain everyone knows the 82nd can be flying combat ready anywhere in the world within 18 hours of a phone Call. With this awesome capability we were inevitably in saudi Arabia before these other units. Its like if you were the first one to a football game.  you take the Best seat to the Victor go the spoils. The Early Bird gets the worm. A David Poindexter operation desert shield yes yet another letter from a troop in the Middle East. In be just gotten fed up with some of these a a soldiers bad attitudes. Too Many people have lost sight of what the military is All about. Bottom line to support and defend our country not to give you training and a Job for a few years or Money for College. These Are Nice benefits but not the purpose of the military. In a also appalled by the Gross Lack of respect shown by the lower enlisted. We have to earn our position in the army its not Given to us. Although you Are not always treated As you feel you should be when you re told to do something just do it. Granted at times its difficult when you done to respect the person giving you the order but you should always respect their rank. To a lot of cos we re told that you Are our leaders and a role  please give us something to follow. Lead by example always. The fact of the matter is that we re Here Good or bad or indifferent. The saying a time flies when you re having fun has been proven Over and Over. Use your time constructively while you re Here earn promotion Points through military and civilian correspondence learn a foreign language Etc. Your situation is Only what you make it so please make it better and give those of us who Are proud to be wearing the uniform and helping our country a break a pfc. Tina m. Kopilchack operation desert shield