Army's rules separate a soldier from a faithful front-line friend

Any group of fighters that would harm a dog to bait in service personal deserves to be fed to the dogs.

So war is hell. What else is new(s)?

(nice tabloid headline and lead by the way)

A little piece of what feels like home is good for one's morale. Why was she reduced in rank from Sgt (e-5) to
Pfc (e-3)--- was it because of the dog?

9

so war is hell, but we still we are human. Steve what combat area did you service ?

You learn to folllow rules and regulations in the service and having a dog was one she decided not to follow.
It was a waste of good newsprint to even consider this story. Sorry
former SGT hope you will learn as a PFC what real service is. There are
plenty of animals in the good old USA that need help when you are discharged.

I realize the heads of military are in a tough position here, but I really think the cases with adopted dogs are isolated incidents.
As a token of appreciation towards these soldiers, couldn't the leaders allow the dogs to come home. We're spending billions of dollars on this war. I don't think spending a few more bucks to help pets and keep our brave soldiers happy

I realize the heads of military are in a tough position here, but I really think the cases with adopted dogs are isolated incidents.
As a token of appreciation towards these soldiers, couldn't the leaders allow the dogs to come home? We're spending billions of dollars on this war. I don't think spending a few more bucks would really hurt the budget when the end result is helping pets and keeping our brave soldiers happy

Oh, for crying out loud. Change the stinking policy. Put the dog in quarantine for 60 days to check its medical condition and let the soldier adopt the animal. Yes, I was in the military in a war and you know what? The military sometimes has STUPID policies. This is one of them.

According to the article, she was reduced in rank for directly disobeying two direct orders (one of which was apparently a general order regarding "pet adoptions" in the field, and the other of which was directed at her specific situation). Short of saying "Gee, Sgt. Beberg, we didn't know YOU would want to adopt a dog-- what were we thinking??" I don't know what else the Army could have done.

In Islamic cultures, dogs are regarded as "unclean" animals-- that is, there is not the widespread affection and tenderness for them that we take for granted here. Indeed, our affection for dogs, and our willingness to keep them in our houses as pets, is to Islamists another proof of our culture's decadence. There can be other problems as well for soldiers on the ground in Iraq-- what if their position comes under attack, and there is no time to adequately confine the dog? What if the dog doesn't have the sense not to give away its best friend's position? What if the unit is concealed, and the dog doesn't know when to shut up?

All of this to say-- despite our instinctive distaste for rules, a lot of them are in place for a reason. In the case of the military, the rule is there because, in the past, soldiers died because the rule wasn't there.

the ARMY DONT CARE ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS KILLING NOT A PERSONS WELLBEING I WILL SAY A PRAYER FOR YOU AND THE DOG ,,,, GOOD LUCK

What is wrong with everyone, this dog has saved a life of a soldier, by giving her a peace of mind, alittle touch of home, and santiy(spelling). If she is willing to give this dog his shots and even fix him and then paid for his way home then she should be aloud to bring him home. I am a resuer(spelling) of animals. Then animals need move people like us. With a war torn country I feel for the animals they seem to have NO one to speak for them I think it is about time. They are God creatures I have a son over there and he has saved the life of a kitty. Our men and women are putting their lives on the line like them have alittle peice of home with a pet.

It would not be a bad idea for a base's Morale, Welfare, and Recreation team to have community pets that they keep on base (similar to companion pets in hospitals). I would be a little surprised if they don't have those official pets already so pet fans can get their fix. Individual service members shouldn't be distracted with keeping a pet during deployment, especially combat units.

nam vet wrote:

A little piece of what feels like home is good for one's morale. Why was she reduced in rank from Sgt (e-5) to
Pfc (e-3)--- was it because of the dog?
9

She disobeyed 2 direct orders. Plus, she stated that the dog issue wasn't directly responsible, but was brought up at her disciplinary hearing as an example of irresponsibility, so there may be more behind her story.
I feel for her too, and there have been examples of adopted animals throughout the history of the military (one of our battalion companies adopted a goat), but as we know, regs are regs.

NObs wrote:

Any group of fighters that would harm a dog to bait in service personal deserves to be fed to the dogs.

this is nothing new...didn't the vietnamese use children as bait?? nam vet???
thank you to all of our service people, vets and current
let them keep their doggy woggys....cripes, change the damned policy

if ur stuck over there serving ur country an puttin ur life on the line everyday helpin those people, u should be able to take in a dog have a friend an not only help out the people in iraq but do more good by helping out stray animals. if we are there to do good then by all means do good for everything. an sending ur pal home shouldnt be an issue come on give me a break. i think its time the military change its rules

It is a time honored tradition, strays and the soldiers who adopted them. We had a couple on our firebase who kept the rat population down and morale up. They could get killed as much as we could when Charles came calling..they shared our fate and our food. Not to mention, they were pretty good about noticing dinks in the wire before the claymores went off. Just another reason to look the other way. The dogs should be able to come home with its dominant partner. They are survivors too. Get em their shots and rotate with the guys. After a long LRRP a warm beer and cold nose made you feel human for 5 minutes. Saved our humanity and sanity.

If the dog can bring some comfort to our troops then let the dog stay. Our troops have put their lives on hold to protect us. Letting them have a pet for comfort is the least the military can do.

andy g wrote:

It is a time honored tradition, strays and the soldiers who adopted them. We had a couple on our firebase who kept the rat population down and morale up. They could get killed as much as we could when Charles came calling..they shared our fate and our food. Not to mention, they were pretty good about noticing dinks in the wire before the claymores went off. Just another reason to look the other way. The dogs should be able to come home with its dominant partner. They are survivors too. Get em their shots and rotate with the guys. After a long LRRP a warm beer and cold nose made you feel human for 5 minutes. Saved our humanity and sanity.

Brother, I couldn't agree with you more. In Ratchet's case, that poor mutt represented Life from a flaming garbage heap! The Army as usual sometimes doesn't get it when comes to humanity or sanity issues. We both realize that a pet is more therapeutic to our psyche than any shrink in the field. Let the pets rotate with the folks coming home. Ratchet will be welcomed in Minnesota.

More disgusting behavior from our Republican 'leaders.' These creeps don't want our soldiers to have dogs, armor, support, health benefits, clean hospitals or education benefits when they come home. Absolutely disgraceful! This is NOT what America is about.

Sorry Sid this policy has been in place for much longer then Bush has been in office. You my friend are an absolute tool and about as dumb as they come. You would blame anything and everything on Bush if you had a chance, sadly it shows your ability to see the truth in ANY situation.

While this policy is very tough on the soldiers, it is a policy none the less. There are plenty of animals in the US that are at the pound/shelter. The biggest difference is these animals in Iraq are there WHEN the soldiers are going through probably the most stressfull position in their lives. I think there should be some compromise made.

But when idiots like Sid try to put blame where blame doesnt belong it really hurts the overall discourse of the conversation.