AN EXPENSE SOLDIERS SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED TO PAY

One thing I've learned about Washington is that sometimes they deal more with fiction than reality. A movie writer once told me the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.

Well, here's something that made no sense whatsoever but was a terrible reality that faced 48 members of the Nebraska National Guard last December. They weren’t going to be home for Christmas because of an arbitrary and unreasonable rule.

They were members of the 110th Medical Battalion based in Lincoln who were going to be left stranded at Fort Lewis, Washington last December when training was suspended and the base was shut down for the holidays. They were allowed to come back to Nebraska until training resumed after the first of the year with one major hitch… they would have to pay the travel costs themselves. Military rules prohibited using funds from the Department of Defense to pay for their travel.

Business Comes To The Rescue
Families of some of the service members contacted me asking for help. I, in turn, got in touch with the Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce which immediately mobilized into what became known as "Operation Airlift". They raised some $40,000 in private funds in about 3 hours. More than half came from a very generous banker, Roy Dinsdale, who regularly helps members of the armed services and their families. This was a unique circumstance that called for special action from special people but it shouldn’t have been necessary.

An Embarrassment
This should never have happened. These brave men and women who were preparing to go to war had to rely on the generosity of the Nebraska business community so they could come home for Christmas when it was really the Nation’s responsibility to get them here. It shouldn’t have happened and it won’t happen again.

To correct the situation I introduced an amendment to the 2009 National Defense Authorization bill that has been approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which I am a member. This amendment allows the Secretary of Defense to use Department of Defense funds to pay for travel if a reserve or guard member is more than 300 miles from home and is placed on leave for 5 days or more because of training suspensions or staffing issues which was the situation at Fort Lewis.

A No Brainer
My colleagues saw right away that this needed to be corrected. It was hard to understand why it had never been fixed before. The rule was probably an unintentional oversight that had affected other service members in the past but was never brought to the attention of someone who could change it.

The impact on the budget should be minimal but even it weren't, the cause is just. When we call upon men and women who voluntarily serve our country we, as a Nation, must not call on them to pay for expenses that are the responsibility of the federal government. We must stand up for those in uniform just as they stand up for us.

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	Column	May 12, 2008
AN EXPENSE SOLDIERS SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED TO PAY One thing I've learned about Washington is that sometimes they deal more with fiction than reality. A movie writer once told me the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense. Well, here's something that made no sense whatsoever but was a terrible reality that faced 48 members of the Nebraska National Guard last December. They weren’t going to be home for Christmas because of an arbitrary and unreasonable rule. They were members of the 110th Medical Battalion based in Lincoln who were going to be left stranded at Fort Lewis, Washington last December when training was suspended and the base was shut down for the holidays. They were allowed to come back to Nebraska until training resumed after the first of the year with one major hitch… they would have to pay the travel costs themselves. Military rules prohibited using funds from the Department of Defense to pay for their travel. Business Comes To The Rescue Families of some of the service members contacted me asking for help. I, in turn, got in touch with the Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce which immediately mobilized into what became known as "Operation Airlift". They raised some $40,000 in private funds in about 3 hours. More than half came from a very generous banker, Roy Dinsdale, who regularly helps members of the armed services and their families. This was a unique circumstance that called for special action from special people but it shouldn’t have been necessary. An Embarrassment This should never have happened. These brave men and women who were preparing to go to war had to rely on the generosity of the Nebraska business community so they could come home for Christmas when it was really the Nation’s responsibility to get them here. It shouldn’t have happened and it won’t happen again. To correct the situation I introduced an amendment to the 2009 National Defense Authorization bill that has been approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which I am a member. This amendment allows the Secretary of Defense to use Department of Defense funds to pay for travel if a reserve or guard member is more than 300 miles from home and is placed on leave for 5 days or more because of training suspensions or staffing issues which was the situation at Fort Lewis. A No Brainer My colleagues saw right away that this needed to be corrected. It was hard to understand why it had never been fixed before. The rule was probably an unintentional oversight that had affected other service members in the past but was never brought to the attention of someone who could change it. The impact on the budget should be minimal but even it weren't, the cause is just. When we call upon men and women who voluntarily serve our country we, as a Nation, must not call on them to pay for expenses that are the responsibility of the federal government. We must stand up for those in uniform just as they stand up for us. ###