Simply Stuck on Stupid

A soldier, 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV, was charged $700 for losing his body armor and other items. Of course the body armor wasn't really lost - it saved his life when the soldier was hit by shrapnel and discarded in the process of the medics saving his life.

Rebrook’s right arm was shattered in an explosion while he was standing in the turret of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in January 2005. Field medics removed his body armor, and it was later incinerated, Rebrook said. A Black Hawk helicopter airlifted him to a combat support hospital in Baghdad.

Rebrook, who graduated with honors from West Point, said he was never given any records that documented the body armor loss.

When he turned in his gear last week, Rebrook said he was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks. The bill included a $570 charge for his Kevlar vest and gear destroyed in battle, and $130 for other lost items.

Rebrook said he was asked to provide statements from witnesses that he lost his body armor in battle.

He said he thought he could write a memo, explaining that the body armor was stripped from him after he was injured. But that wasn’t sufficient, he learned last week.

“I understand what they were saying, but from my perspective it was a hard pill to swallow,” Rebrook said Tuesday.

The Pentagon bureaucracy screwed up royally in this one and needs to make amends quickly.