More dirty tricks

By David Hackworth

It’s a given that corporals and second lieutenants do dumb things and
in the process take their share of hard knocks. If they didn’t screw up,
make mistakes or go charging off in the wrong direction, just how in the
world would they become smart sergeants and smart generals?

By the time these leaders get a star or two, they’ve been thumped
enough times that they’ve learned how to keep from being burned.

At least that’s the theory.

But Brig. Gen. John Craddock, who runs the 7th Army Training Command
in Germany, is living proof that this isn’t always the case. He just
sets off booby trap after booby trap as he stomps his way through Master
Sgt. Donald Neil’s career.

Neil is the fine Explosive Ordnance Disposal soldier I wrote about in
this space several weeks ago, the master sergeant who told his
commanding general — through his now-running-scared chain of command —
that his training areas were unsafe and needed to be cleaned of
dangerous munitions before soldiers were killed.

Instead of responding “Thanks, Sarge, you’re right” and fixing the
problems, Craddock burned Neil by removing his security clearance,
questioning his sanity and allowing the general staff to play fast and
loose with the rules.

Now the game’s getting dirtier. Craddock has sent a textbook-case
letter of how our taxpayer dollars are wasted — a “letter” that’s
actually a 200-page manuscript — to have Neil’s EOD badge removed. This
is like trying to pull an M.D.’s license because the doctor made a
correct diagnosis.

In the document, which for starters is riddled with errors and enough
false statements to be laughed out of court, Craddock insists Neil was
“grossly negligent and derelict in the performance” of his duties. But
had the general closely read the “Get Neil” work of fiction put together
by his staff, he’d have come across a memo in which Neil’s predecessor,
Master Sgt. Roger Hess, stated six months before Neil came on the scene
that live artillery rounds were exactly where Neil reported them.

Craddock’s rationale for removing Neil’s EOD qualification has more
holes in it than my grandmother’s screen door after she unloaded her
shotgun at a prowler.

Of course, if the general couldn’t even spell “ordnance” correctly,
as his 200-pager attests, how could he be expected to do the necessary
homework to make his request to defrock Neil even guardhouse-lawyer
correct?

The problem is that the request is going from one general to another,
not to court. In a court, even a military one, Neil would get a fair
trial. Not so with the old-boy network, where it’s SOP for generals to
scratch each other’s backs.

Neil — who’s risked his life for 21 years defusing dangerous things
that could’ve easily blown up in his face for what now proves to be a
very vindictive Army — is one of the best EOD guys in uniform. His
record is beyond impeccable.

EOD guys all over the world who’ve worked with Neil say he’s “the
finest EOD man I know.” They’re uniformly outraged — and not only about
Neil and his fight with Craddock. They say that EOD guys and gals get
similar hosings all the time.

Remember, these are the heroes who risk their lives for us 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year. And now, with terrorism being the new face of war,
their job is even more dangerous.

In 40 years of writing military stuff, I’ve never received so great
and so angry a response. Lawyers have written and want to defend Neil
for free. EOD union officials are lining up their cannons.

Several lawmakers say if Craddock succeeds in stripping Neil of his
badge, it will prove the federal Whistleblower Protection Act (Title 10
U.S. Code, Section 1034) has less teeth than Jell-O.

The problem with our all-regular military is that too many people are
out to protect their jobs. If you had a draftee Army, every man would be
a whistleblower, because whistles are issued at the Reception Center.
But these days there are few folks around like Neil who put principles
ahead of paychecks.

Craddock is on the major-general list. But he shouldn’t be promoted
until he can spell “ordnance.” And exercise justice.

David Hackworth

Col. David H. Hackworth, author of "Steel My Soldiers' Hearts," "Price of Honor" and "About Face," saw duty or reported as a sailor, soldier and military correspondent in nearly a dozen wars and conflicts -- from the end of World War II to the fights against international terrorism. Read more of David Hackworth's articles here.