Military Officer - September 2006 - (Page 12) yourviews “Does the Pentagon think today’s servicemembers are that dumb?“ — Maj. Charles A. Debney, USA-Ret. Don’t Forget Nurses “Proactive Patient” [July 2006] is right on the mark, but it has one glaring omission: nurses. Nurses are the folks who have the most intimate contact with the patient. Patient education and care are the essentials of their business. … Nurses are ideally placed in the health care system to understand all its parts and their interactions. They make perfect guides and coaches for anyone trying to navigate the complexities that make up modern health care. The highly educated and truly dedicated nurse is the best ally patients and physicians have as they work toward ideal outcomes. Lt. Col. J. Rozelle, USA-Ret., MS, RN via e-mail Officer reports that DoD is proposing vesting a retirement system of less than 20 years’ service and raising high-year tenure levels. Then [in “Washington Scene,” July 2006] it reports that the “Senate [would] authorize military services to offer payments up to four times involuntary separation pay amounts to encourage voluntary separations to achieve force reduction requirements.” In other words, DoD wants servicemembers to forgo leaving the military when [they are] able to obtain a better-paying civilian job (unless they are a general officer), in exchange for the real possibility of being RIFed later down the line and getting a smaller retirement. Maj. Charles A. Debney, USA-Ret. College Station, Texas Danger Zone Thank you for Don Vaughan’s excellent article about Army EOD training [“In the Danger Zone,” July 2006]. Our brave young troops are indeed doing a critical job with an exceptional tradition. The Navy has its own version of Lt. Col. Thomas Kane, USA: California-born U.S. Not That Dumb Are today’s servicemembers that dumb? Or should I ask, does the Pentagon think today’s servicemembers are that dumb? Military 1 2 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2006 Naval Academy graduate and Royal Navy volunteer Lt. Draper Kauffman, RNVR (later, Rear Adm. Draper Kauffman, USN) had a full year and virtually all of the Battle of Britain period under his belt defusing unexploded bombs (UXB) throughout England and Scotland when the Army’s Bomb Disposal School began instruction in Maryland. … Kauffman did not obtain a commission when he graduated with his Annapolis class because he failed the eyesight test. [After service in the French army and the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, he interviewed for EOD school in 1940.] In the year to follow, Kauffman was blown off his feet in a headlong sprint away from a UXB when his cold fingers slipped, triggering the detonation mechanism, and was the first — or one of the first — to defuse a bomb rigged with a photoelectric cell fuse specifically installed to kill EOD personnel. … Kauffman’s specialty was the German parachute mine, and he was cited for gallantry and gazetted in the London papers for a particular UXB success. … Kauffman was awarded a Navy Cross immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, when he defused a 500-pound unexploded Japanese bomb, and got a second Navy Cross later in the war for ordnance work on enemy beaches. Among his later flag officer assignments, [he] was superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy. The Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile fast frigate USS Kauffman (FFG-59) was christened in honor of Draper Kauffman and his father (a vice admiral and Navy Cross recipient in World War I). The ship’s coat of arms incorporates the Navy Cross medals each of them
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