Just be glad if you aren't in the military!

Army audit reports gas masks defective
Chemical weapons alarms also on the fritz

Kathleen Sullivan, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, December 26, 2002

As American troops prepare for a possible war with Iraq, the Army is downplaying an internal report that says more than half of its gas masks and nearly all of its chemical weapons alarms were either "completely broken or not fully operational."

Capt. Benjamin Kuykendall, an Army spokesman, said the 2001 report by the U. S. Army Audit Agency "does read pretty bad."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/12/26/MN48679.DTL



Gulf War vets worry Pentagon won't provide for troops
While opinions differ on wisdom of a new Mideast conflict, most advise GIs to look out for themselves

Kathleen Sullivan, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, December 26, 2002

It's been nearly a dozen years since they returned home from war in the Persian Gulf, where they flew fighter jets, launched missiles, took part in tank battles and provided logistical support.

Today, most veterans of the 1991 war are watching from the sidelines as the nation debates the wisdom of another invasion of Iraq.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/12/26/MN153801.DTL