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Supporting CJ Grisham
I love the Army. Always have. But that doesn’t mean at times that certain folks don’t make boneheaded decisions. This post is about one of them.
To get the full story, it is best to read the Army Times cover story from their “Off Duty” section, although I think it was also in the Navy Times, the Marine Corps Times etc. But for a brief synopsis, here is what “Mr Wolf” from Blackfive, a Legionnaire and a friend had to say in discussing the shut down:
FOR TODAY, Wednesday 16 December 2009, many if not most, fellow milblogs — including This Ain’t Hell, From My Position, Miss Ladybug, Boston Maggie, Grim’s Hall, and those participating in the Wednesday Hero program — are going silent for the day. Some are choosing to go silent for a longer period of time.
The reason for this is two-fold. First, milblogs are facing an increasingly hostile environment from within the military. While senior leadership has embraced blogging and social media, many field grade officers and senior NCOs do not embrace the concept. From general apathy in not wanting to deal with the issue to outright hostility to it, many commands are not only failing to support such activities, but are aggressively acting against active duty milbloggers, milspouses, and others. The number of such incidents appears to be growing, with milbloggers receiving reprimands, verbal and written, not only for their activities but those of spouses and supporters.
The catalyst has been the treatment of milblogger C.J. Grisham of A Soldier’s Perspective (http://www.soldiersperspective.us/). C.J. has earned accolades and respect, from the White House on down for his honest, and sometimes blunt, discussion of issues — particularly PTSD. In the last few months, C.J. has seen an issue with a local school taken to his command who failed to back him, and has even seen his effort to deal with PTSD, and lead his men in same by example, used against him as a part of this. Ultimately, C.J. has had to sell his blog to help raise funds for his defense in this matter.
A few words on this. I know CJ fairly well. He’s just a wonderful guy. The Army has made great pains to change the internal climate regarding PTSD to a place where service-members were no longer ashamed to get help for any PTSD they might be suffering from. There is obviously some work to be done on that account, but of everyone I have met, no one has been more open and honest about the issues they face than CJ.
CJ isn’t just a blogger. In fact, the Army Times article makes it clear in the first paragraph that CJ is in trouble now for what he has always done, leading from the front:
Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham is not the type to shy away from a fight. Decorated for valor in Iraq, the 15-year Army veteran is also saluted as one of the most popular, if sometimes controversial, bloggers in the military. Where the average life expectancy of a blog is said to be less than three months, Grisham’s has survived for six years.
I don’t usually find CJ all that controversial, maybe because I know him so well. I’ve talked to him on a few occasions regarding this debacle, and he’s understandably very frustrated. I would be too. Yes, he has been highly critical of the President on many issues, but most bloggers at times have written things about their elected officials, and CJ is careful to let everyone know that this is his position as a citizen, and not something that reflects the army as a whole. The really egregious part of CJ’s problems is that his command won’t even tell him what he has done wrong.
So, I commend to your reading both the Army Times article and the Blackfive discussion of it. CJ has had to get lawyers now to go in and try to clear his name. Much like with the dubious DHS report from last year that maligned veterans and service members, CJ is arrayed against a host of folks who cling to the most worn-out of prejudices. Take for instance this part of an open letter written by one of the PTA members:
This has moved beyond a uniform issue, this had became a personal vendetta between everyone. Mr. Grisham felt as if his Constitutional rights were violated. I ask you the question call me a liberal or tratior to our country if you must, but how many others rights were violated during interogations? How many of them were innocent? I am not ignorant to what goes on during war by any means. I know first hand how they rape and toture their male captives, I’ve seen the physical wounds that many civilians would not believe.
This lady apparently knows first hand how service members rape and torture Iraqi detainees? Really?
Anyway, the milblogs have gone silent today. Now, because this is an organizational blog, and I am not in charge of it, we can’t go that route. But, I suggest to you that possibly I might be a bit busy today, and there is always a chance this post could remain on top for at least a day. Make of that what you will, but I hope the Army sees that Milbloggers are not the enemy. Let’s hope they get this simple message by the actions of CJ’s friends and admirers.
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 0715 and is filed under Uncategorized, top stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[...] Blogs (in no particular order): A Soldier’s Perspective You Served Bouhammer The American Legion Laughing Wolf Hugh Hewitt This Ain’t Hell Castle Argghhh Boston Maggie Blackfive Miss Ladybug [...]
I understand why the U.S. military is discouraging blogs, particularly those written by and for our GIs on the front lines. Long before there was an internet, back in the 1960s during the Viet Nam War, we had the “bullshit band,” also called the “bullshit frequ.” It was usually a tactical radio used in the wee hours of the morning, tuned to one of the international emergency frequencies. Many GIs would do the same thing all over the country. We would play music and talk with each other about anything and everything.
I found out many years afterwards that the enemy extrapolated much valuable intel from those sessions, and one can only speculate what that translated into lost American lives. I am glad to see that this old lesson was not lost to the ages, and that the open and notorious internet security vulnerabilities will not provide today’s enemies with a treasure-trove of intel, at our troops’ expense.
It is disturbing that someone so naive as Dave feels free to share his views. Unfortunately, the military has become so “political” that many members are afraid to say what they want without fear of reprisal. Often, these blogs allow them to “vent” their frustration with the burocracy that has become our military. Our enemies glean more information (and of more sensitive nature) from CNN and Congressmen than most common everyday members have anyway. Wake up….
It’s too bad the “sillyvilians” out there don’t know what’s really happening in the real world of the military, and the left wing in this country is not helping a bit. While “political correctness” in the USA is not the whole problem, if sure has contributed to the current mentality. Ft Hood’s killings by the doctor that no one wanted to speak up about, especially the senior commands for fear of being critized and “offending” some people, is bad news in our armed services today. It’s too bad that the Sargent has to forgo this crap when there should be someone in the command structure standing up for him. And, as for the PTA member, if he/she chooses to be offended that their problem, and the command should recognize that. Diplomacy can only go so far before it becomes offsive in itself.
Dave, it seems our enemies don’t haveto worry about getting intel from our GI bloggers, since they have hacked into our drone video feeds, they get real time intel already.
Once again, out militay are being treated very shabbily.
One of the axioms to live by, was we knew our officers would take care of us as well as they could.
It seems that axiom, went by the board.
The liberals of our country appear to be perfectly willing to see them buy the farm as long as no one in the country we are fighting, gets hurt.
I saw this go down in VietNam, I commend the people in the military and can’t say I would blame you, if you just handed it to them and let all of the pc people handle it, by theirselves.
Stand up for what you believe in even if you are the only one standing !
All you good folks coming to Huntsville for BRAC……this is what you have to look forward to. A corrupt, backwards, backwoods, little cotton town in the deep South cashed in on BRAC and can’t even handle administration in a small middle school without something like this blowing up.
[...] of our day of silence yesterday (and that post will remain stuck at the top through Saturday, so PLEASE GO READ) was that a mutual friend of mine and JR’s sent me his Facebook page. Naturally I friended him, [...]
Fortunately, our military is not a democracy. Even the dolts in the USSR found out that a democratic military (Soldier Soviets) is one humungous mistake. I didn’t like the undemocratic nature of the military so I took my leave when it became available after nine years. Any other member of the service can do the same thing if they take a dislike to the discipline. The enemy can glean an awful lot of intel from seemingly innocuous dialog, and can benefit significantly as well from the vocal fragging that goes on in one of these uncontrolled blog environment.
Politics and bitching do nothing. As a former soldier I have no words of hate or encouragement. Just let us come home and live.