You may have noticed the disclaimer at the bottom of the page that states “In accordance with Multi National Corps-Iraq policy, this website has been registered with my command.” The requirement for this registration is a little controversial among Milbloggers in Iraq, because lets face it, on occasion we dis on our commanders, and we would rather they didn’t read our words. I admit that knowing the boss might be reading does cause me to hold my tongue a little, or at least choose my words wisely. I understand the reasons for the requirement, and as long as it is not used as a tool to censor viewpoints and opinions, I have no problem with it. The stated reason for registration is to make sure that Bloggers don’t violate operational security requirements. This concern is valid. If you notice, I have never mentioned the specific FOB I operate out of, nor do I use the names of people I am here with, the names of villages in the area, or ever discuss upcoming operations. My name is not easily available here. Those of you who know me know where I am and who I am, and for the rest of you, as much as I would love to be completely transparent, it would not be safe for me, my family, or the soldiers I am here with to do so. I use Tracksy to track hits on this site, and I have seen hits here from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, and several other countries around the world. And my Blog has only been up for a couple weeks! Now I’d hate to be accused of profiling, but this information makes the intel sgt. in me think that perhaps the bad guys could be using Milblogs to troll for information. Well they ain’t gonna get it from me.
However, it does seem they were getting it from this guy: PFC Leonard Clark. If nothing else, this guy is guilty of being an idiot. Looking through some of his writings, and the writings of some of his supporters, gives me a lot of insight into who Clark is, but doesn’t answer this question; why is he a 40 year old E3? He deployed as an E4, which means that he either joined the Guard recently, or he has not been promoted in about 20 years. Not exactly a normal situation in either case. I haven’t been able to find out how long Clark has been in the military but I am curious. It would fill in a lot of questions I have about this guy.
Clark accepted article 15 punishment for releasing classified information. Additionally, he is a bad soldier with a lousy attitude. Either way, he is endangering other soldiers and hurting the morale of his unit. I am all about free speech and have spent my adult life defending it, but get a clue Private! If you have in fact experienced all you claim, you know that this is the real deal, and your actions have consequences. Think about them before you hit the “publish” button.
3 comments:
It seems as if PFC Clark is a bit on the slow side! I have to second the motion that he's probably done some other stupid stuff in his past to be a PFC, or a SPC for that matter! Wow....guess the saying 4 for life might hold true....but in his case, he'll be lucky if he doesn't get discharged!
Also, I do recall a specific incident not too long ago involving an embedded reporter (Geraldo if memory serves me correctly), who gave away VERY important information during the initial wave of invasion! Hello?!?!?! Did he not learn from that or was he hiding in a hole during that part of the war? My reaction is just wow....he's an idiot!
Probably stupid. During WWII the Chcago Trib printed the top secret info that we had cracked the Japanese code. That info could have cost tens of thousands of American lives, but the Japs didn't read the Trib. BTW, nobody is censoring me; now if only I had something important to say......
Just as a comment it is very possible for a person in the National Guard to be an E-4 for their entire career with absolutely no negative reflection on them or their intelligence. If you are in a unit where there is only an e-4 slot in your MOS and you don't want to change jobs or units you just stay E-4. IN the same sense, there may be slots for promotions but they are full. It is not uncommon for one person to retire and have six people get promoted the next month as they all move up to the next position.
This being siad, I know nothing at all about Mr. Clark. Haven't read his blog and have never heard of him before.
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