Police: Soldier Shot Himself To Avoid Deployment

What a coward. "I'm scared of facing the enemy and getting shot so I'm going to shoot myself, take out the middleman!" Too bad GEN Patton is dead, we could use him now-a-days. He would have already won in Iraq and would have had Bin Laden's head on a stick by now. I've been to Iraq twice, never thought once of hurting myself to get out of it.

Blackhawk Vet wrote:

What a coward. "I'm scared of facing the enemy and getting shot so I'm going to shoot myself, take out the middleman!" Too bad GEN Patton is dead, we could use him now-a-days. He would have already won in Iraq and would have had Bin Laden's head on a stick by now. I've been to Iraq twice, never thought once of hurting myself to get out of it.

There's nothing wrong with being scared. It's what you do while you're scared that makes the difference. I was scared a few times in Iraq on each tour. I can empathize with the guy, but what he did was wrong. The ones who run BEFORE they get sent into theater in the first place are the ones who really piss me off.

Darren M wrote:

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There's nothing wrong with being scared. It's what you do while you're scared that makes the difference. I was scared a few times in Iraq on each tour. I can empathize with the guy, but what he did was wrong. The ones who run BEFORE they get sent into theater in the first place are the ones who really piss me off.

I agree with you there. BTW, Thank you for your service. If you aren't scared during combat then you're either crazy or already dead.

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
— John Stuart Mill

Blackhawk Vet wrote:

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I agree with you there. BTW, Thank you for your service. If you aren't scared during combat then you're either crazy or already dead.
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
— John Stuart Mill

agreed.

Seriously, why did this guy ever get into the military? There is no draft. Hasn't been for decades. When one goes in, there is the oath one takes. And if you take the money, ya have to take the job offered for it. Pretty much a motto for every business out there.

Did he think he was going to have a cushy job for 20+ years and then reap all the benefits of retirement, without there ever being a chance to be deployed? or to have any other serious work to go along with the military career?

Good heavens. I'd be more worried out the soldier that had absolutely no fear what so ever of getting hurt in a war. Those kind usually have no respect for human lives, their own or anyone else they works with. One can be brave, but must also have a healthy attitude about it.

Little Cat wrote:

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agreed.
Seriously, why did this guy ever get into the military? There is no draft. Hasn't been for decades. When one goes in, there is the oath one takes. And if you take the money, ya have to take the job offered for it. Pretty much a motto for every business out there.
Did he think he was going to have a cushy job for 20+ years and then reap all the benefits of retirement, without there ever being a chance to be deployed? or to have any other serious work to go along with the military career?
Good heavens. I'd be more worried out the soldier that had absolutely no fear what so ever of getting hurt in a war. Those kind usually have no respect for human lives, their own or anyone else they works with. One can be brave, but must also have a healthy attitude about it.

The bravest act one can commit is to face their fear and overcome it. Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.

Blackhawk Vet wrote:

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The bravest act one can commit is to face their fear and overcome it. Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.

oh yeah.

To live on your knees, is to never be truly living. Just merely existing.

Little Cat wrote:

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agreed.
Seriously, why did this guy ever get into the military? There is no draft. Hasn't been for decades. When one goes in, there is the oath one takes. And if you take the money, ya have to take the job offered for it. Pretty much a motto for every business out there.
Did he think he was going to have a cushy job for 20+ years and then reap all the benefits of retirement, without there ever being a chance to be deployed? or to have any other serious work to go along with the military career?
Good heavens. I'd be more worried out the soldier that had absolutely no fear what so ever of getting hurt in a war. Those kind usually have no respect for human lives, their own or anyone else they works with. One can be brave, but must also have a healthy attitude about it.

According to the story the guy had already been there. He was home on mid-tour leave and didn't want to go back. He's in the same brigade who lost 8 soldiers in the nasty firefight at Camp Keating, and around another 20 soldiers since they got there. Sometimes fear overwhelms even the most macho person you've ever met. I've seen it firsthand, and that's why I said I can empathize with him. I don't condone the action, but I feel for the guy. It had to have been more than "I don't want to go back because it sucks."

I don't mean to sound crass if it comes out that way, but this really is one of those cases that if you haven't been there, or haven't walked a mile in the boots of a combat veteran with head issues, then you don't know what you're talking about, and merely parroting one of the party lines. For the guy to choose shooting himself as an end to the means most definitely wasn't a spur the moment decision. I'd be willing to wager that if he didn't have a support network (e.g. Girlfriend) that he probably would have taken his life instead.

Everybody has had one of those "I don't want to go" moments, but 99.9% of us go ahead and go because our friends are going, and that's what we signed up to do. While those moments are extremely fleeting, they still happen. I had 19 years in, AND an approved retirement packet when OIF kicked off. I went, but could have fought it if I'd wanted to.

I came back with a pretty bad case of PTSD, and was self-medicating with a bottle every night. Nice retirement...I finally got fixed, and haven't had a drink in over 2 years. I don't like drinking anymore, and that's the only reason. Drinking takes me back to a time when I wasn't right in the head. My wife and I celebrated out 20yr anniversary back in August, and it was the first one I can remember where I was actually happy and looking forward to it.

I know this post was on a tangent, but I hope all who come back with issues can get the help they need to deal with their demons. Nobody knew I had any other than me and the bottle. They just knew I was drinking more than I used to. I'll bet again that the soldier who shot himself was hitting the bottle pretty hard too while on leave.

Fobbits will tell you war stories, and grunts will drink themselves to death and never say a word about what happened.

Darren M wrote:

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According to the story the guy had already been there. He was home on mid-tour leave and didn't want to go back. He's in the same brigade who lost 8 soldiers in the nasty firefight at Camp Keating, and around another 20 soldiers since they got there. Sometimes fear overwhelms even the most macho person you've ever met. I've seen it firsthand, and that's why I said I can empathize with him. I don't condone the action, but I feel for the guy. It had to have been more than "I don't want to go back because it sucks."
I don't mean to sound crass if it comes out that way, but this really is one of those cases that if you haven't been there, or haven't walked a mile in the boots of a combat veteran with head issues, then you don't know what you're talking about, and merely parroting one of the party lines. For the guy to choose shooting himself as an end to the means most definitely wasn't a spur the moment decision. I'd be willing to wager that if he didn't have a support network (e.g. Girlfriend) that he probably would have taken his life instead.

Most important is that he does get help. No person should ever be pushed to that point.

Yes, I've been there. Not with his exact case, but...The worst I've seen was over there was the tip of that proverbial ice berg. I was still what what called a civilian that became a refugee during the first Gulf War. I was the one being whisked away when the shooting began. Saw some of it first hand before I was told to evacuate. Scary. Never was expected to go forth deeper into the hot zone.....Soldiers have my respect and thanks for that. It might have easily been me as a "guest" of Iraq or just some civilian statistic. Thankful it wasn't.

What I don't grasp with this guy is, if someone does sign up for that kind of duty and then decides that it isn't for him, why did he stay in the service? Was he not allowed to resign his commission or not reenlist (sry don't know his rank)? And if he was not allowed to leave, why did no one prepare him for this? and why did no one see this coming with the guy? This is very sad and scary.

Little Cat wrote:

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Most important is that he does get help. No person should ever be pushed to that point.
Yes, I've been there. Not with his exact case, but...The worst I've seen was over there was the tip of that proverbial ice berg. I was still what what called a civilian that became a refugee during the first Gulf War. I was the one being whisked away when the shooting began. Saw some of it first hand before I was told to evacuate. Scary. Never was expected to go forth deeper into the hot zone.....Soldiers have my respect and thanks for that. It might have easily been me as a "guest" of Iraq or just some civilian statistic. Thankful it wasn't.
What I don't grasp with this guy is, if someone does sign up for that kind of duty and then decides that it isn't for him, why did he stay in the service? Was he not allowed to resign his commission or not reenlist (sry don't know his rank)? And if he was not allowed to leave, why did no one prepare him for this? and why did no one see this coming with the guy? This is very sad and scary.

He was a Sergeant (E-5) so he'd probably been in 3-7 years, and I'd guess closer to the lower number being combat arms. It could have been his first tour in A-Stan, but he may have had a fairly easy tour in Iraq before that. I hear Iraq is totally different now when compared to 2003-2006. Except for the occasional exploding vehicle or person, it supposed to pretty nice. The brigade that Sergeant is assigned to is set up along the border of Pakistan, including the Korrengal valley. That's the same area that the Soviets caught the most hell when they were there. People have different trigger points. While Iraq may not have fazed him, Afghanistan obviously did. Believe it or not, I'm sure guilt has set in by now, and he wishes for nothing else than to be back with his unit. I've seen that happen too. If guilt hasn't set in and he is still happy he's not back in Afghanistan, then I hope nobody else goes through the personal hell he's obviously been through.

To answer your question, there is no resigning unless you're an officer, and not under orders for deployment, or deployed. Once you become a enlisted careerist (10 years+) then you can, but not before, and only when you're not under orders for deployment or deployed, which equates to a very narrow window of time. People PCS (change units) when they return too, and might wind up in a new unit that deploys a few months later. Great times...great times....