[Night Stalker]

Well, there is no such thing in the Army as "Shooters" and "NonShooters" anymore, as there is no such thing as a "Front Line" in Iraq. I do know from soldiers returning from Iraq that not all "Combat" troops even had the IBA to start with. But, that situation has been rectified and ALL soldiers receive the IBA as part of the RFI. "Combat" Troops still receive preferential treatment, though. I am not trying to disparage the Killers, but Log troops are more often exposed to harms way no a days than the Killers.

I can confirm Felix's sentiment about pilots - they are prima donnas. It's been awile since I've worked with the system, but the anit-missle system they have on Apaches and Black Hawks is more than enough to handle the guided threats in Theatre. The problem the pilots are facing is that often they are shot at with RPGs, unguided rockets. There is no warning system or defense against that, only alertness and manuvre.

My initial read on this situation is that these soldiers were feeling deep efects of combat stress. They were uneasy about being sent out close to nightfall, and were down right jittery because there would be no air cover (a luxury, not a requirement). They were scared and used any excuse and played the "Safety Card" to not do their job.

I've had troops play that card many times for something they didn't want to do, at the time at least. "We can't put up that antenna now. It's dark and unsafe." "Well, get some HMMWVs, turn the head lights on and put that fikken antenna up! NOW! It'll take less than 10 min and ya'll get done faster if you quit bitching!"