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Clarksville (TN) Leaf-Chronicle
February 2, 2008 Gates listens to soldiers', spouses' concerns
By Jake Lowary, The Leaf-Chronicle
Sgt. Lamarr Barnes wants more time with his family between deployments. Tasha Buchanen wants better care at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital. These were some of the concerns Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates heard Friday during his first official visit to Fort Campbell.
Barnes of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, is due to deploy to Afghanistan in March and hopes to spend more than a year with his family when he gets back.
"I want the deployments to change," Barnes said. "Instead of it being a year off, let it be 36 months so we have time to watch our kids grow up."
Buchanen, whose husband, Pfc. Theodore Richard Buchanen, assigned to Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, is currently deployed to Salerno, Afghanistan, wants the care at BACH to be more like that of a civilian hospital.
"What goes on sometimes here on base (is) not really fair," Buchanen said, stressing that her experiences in both military and civilian hospitals have not been the same.
"I wish the military hospitals would get the funds, get the education they need to be the same" as civilian hospitals, she said.
Gates met with about a dozen wives and a dozen soldiers in separate closed meetings Friday. And most thought Gates took their concerns to heart.
"I kind of expected a rose answer ... but he really, honestly cared," said Emily Bhatta, 25, whose husband is currently deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Brigade, 133rd Cavalry Regiment. "I really think some of the things we shared bothered him a little bit."
And Gates himself hopes to get something done to appease the concerns he heard.
"They are amazing people, but they need a lot of help," Gates said. "I tried to give them an opportunity to tell me what's on their minds, issues that they're dealing with and some places I can do a little bureaucracy busting."
The biggest concerns he listened to ranged from day care hours and issues related to programs for younger kids to challenges with medical care. But the length of deployments was a critical concern for many of the people with whom he met.
"There is no question that 15-month deployments are a real strain," Gates told reporters after the closed meetings with the two groups. "I tried to express to them that we understand how much of a strain it is, and our hopes to move them to 12-month deployments soon."
February 2, 2008 Gates listens to soldiers', spouses' concerns
By Jake Lowary, The Leaf-Chronicle
Sgt. Lamarr Barnes wants more time with his family between deployments. Tasha Buchanen wants better care at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital. These were some of the concerns Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates heard Friday during his first official visit to Fort Campbell.
Barnes of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, is due to deploy to Afghanistan in March and hopes to spend more than a year with his family when he gets back.
"I want the deployments to change," Barnes said. "Instead of it being a year off, let it be 36 months so we have time to watch our kids grow up."
Buchanen, whose husband, Pfc. Theodore Richard Buchanen, assigned to Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, is currently deployed to Salerno, Afghanistan, wants the care at BACH to be more like that of a civilian hospital.
"What goes on sometimes here on base (is) not really fair," Buchanen said, stressing that her experiences in both military and civilian hospitals have not been the same.
"I wish the military hospitals would get the funds, get the education they need to be the same" as civilian hospitals, she said.
Gates met with about a dozen wives and a dozen soldiers in separate closed meetings Friday. And most thought Gates took their concerns to heart.
"I kind of expected a rose answer ... but he really, honestly cared," said Emily Bhatta, 25, whose husband is currently deployed to Iraq with the 3rd Brigade, 133rd Cavalry Regiment. "I really think some of the things we shared bothered him a little bit."
And Gates himself hopes to get something done to appease the concerns he heard.
"They are amazing people, but they need a lot of help," Gates said. "I tried to give them an opportunity to tell me what's on their minds, issues that they're dealing with and some places I can do a little bureaucracy busting."
The biggest concerns he listened to ranged from day care hours and issues related to programs for younger kids to challenges with medical care. But the length of deployments was a critical concern for many of the people with whom he met.
"There is no question that 15-month deployments are a real strain," Gates told reporters after the closed meetings with the two groups. "I tried to express to them that we understand how much of a strain it is, and our hopes to move them to 12-month deployments soon."