Basic Training

Franklin G. Allen Jr., a retired lawyer and World War II veteran who participated in the historic Remagen Bridge crossing over the Rhine River in 1945, died Monday of myeloma at the Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville. The former Roland Park resident was 90. Mr. Allen was born in Baltimore and raised in Roland Park. He was a 1934 graduate of Gilman School and earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1938. After graduating from Yale University Law School in 1941, Mr. Allen clerked for Judge Morris A. Soper of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for six months.

WASHINGTON -- On the 50th anniversary of all-female military units being integrated into the regular armed forces, the Senate may be about to end the practice of housing men and women together for basic training.The Senate version of a segregated housing proposal that has already passed the House could come up for a vote as early as Friday -- the date President Harry S. Truman signed a measure that gave women a permanent role in the active military and reserves.Approval of the legislation would force Defense Secretary William S. Cohen to retreat from his stand this week to keep men and women in the same barracks, though in separate areas, during the first weeks of military life.

Jeremy J. Montgomery of Taneytown recently enlisted in the Air Force's Delayed Enlistment Program.A 1998 graduate of Francis Scott Key High School, he will attend basic training Dec. 17 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.Montgomery will earn credit toward an associate's degree in applied sciences through the Community College of the Air Force upon completion of basic training and technical training school.FireUnion Bridge: Firefighters responded at 4: 43 p.m. Thursday to an open burning at Ladiesburg Road and Route 75.PoliceNew Windsor: A resident of Wakefield Valley Road reported to Westminster City Police on Thursday that someone damaged a fence on her property on Longwell Avenue.

WASHINGTON -- Congress has reached a testy compromise on whether male and female military recruits should train and be housed together, shifting the contentious issue to a federal commission that is to issue its own recommendations early next year.The House had approved legislation calling for separate housing and training during the initial phase of military training, while a Senate-backed defense measure said no action should be taken until the commission files its final report to Congress in March.

While the Army sex scandal has renewed a debate about whether men and women should train together, the top Marine general said yesterday that he would insist that his service continue to separate the sexes in basic training."

WASHINGTON -- With sex scandals breaking out all over the military, legislation to segregate men and women in basic training is gaining momentum in the House.But Republicans are deeply divided over the issue, and most Democrats and women of both parties in the House and Senate are criticizing it as a step backward for female troops that will do nothing to stop sexual misconduct in the armed forces."It's unrealistic for us to separate men and women for a period of training only to put them together to develop working relationships and camaraderie," said Rep. Susan Molinari, a New York Republican.

WASHINGTON -- In the wake of the sexual harassment scandal at Aberdeen Proving Ground last fall, a House task force charged with finding solutions to sexual misconduct in the military has come up with new concerns.Army recruits at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri complain that their basic training is soft, but drill sergeants say their careers will be hurt if they yell at the trainees. And chief petty officers aboard the USS John F. Kennedy say the sailors coming into the fleet cannot handle the stress of carrier flight operations.

IN COMBAT, soldiers live and fight in boots. That's why when I was in the military a decade ago, we did all our physical training, including long runs, in boots. Today in basic training, they run in lightweight running shoes.In combat, soldiers must surmount obstacles such as walls. Obstacle courses in basic training still have walls, but if you can't climb over them, you're allowed to run around them. That's fine if the enemy has erected walls only a few feet wide, but few are so obliging.

WASHINGTON -- A Pentagon advisory group for military women has found strong support from male and female troops for continuing gender-integrated basic training, contrary to the recommendations of a special panel created by Defense Secretary William S. Cohen."

AND IT came to pass in those days in Washington that a decree went out from the Pentagon. Eleven supposedly wise men and women were chosen to study the question of whether putting young men and women together in close quarters during basic military training might lead to sexual activity. At a cost to taxpayers probably surpassing the value of gold, frankincense and myrrh, the panel not only concluded that sex happens among recruits, but also that the sexes should be separated during the initial phases of military training.

At age 39, when many folks are starting to slow down a bit, Siobhan Healy enlisted in the Army National Guard. At basic training, she aced her physical fitness test, scoring even higher than the "perfect" total of 300 points. After 20 weeks of basic and advanced military training, she got home this month to Baltimore's Gwynn Oak neighborhood and her 13 children. Thirteen. Ages 18 to 2 years old. The last seven in a five-year span. Taking a breather? Nope. She has applied for a job with the Baltimore Police Department, started work on a degree in criminal justice and is preparing to be deployed with the 200th Military Police Company, based in Catonsville, for security duty at the presidential inaugural in Washington.

Cpl. John Seilback ran Sabre, his German shepherd, through an outdoor agility course. As Seilback called out commands in German, Sabre effortlessly leaped over hurdles, climbed walls and sped through a tunnel. "I give Sabre commands in German so he will only listen to me and no one else when we are on the street," Seilback said. "He can do this course with ease. He already knows what to do." Seilback was talking about Sabre's familiarity with a course that is part of the Harford County Sheriff's Office's new police dog training facility.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Wallace Tidwell was wise beyond his 40-plus years when I met him early on the morning of March 29, 1974. I had just arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, with a group of other equally green recruits from around the country. Tidwell was our military training instructor, responsible for turning us from scraggly, clueless civilians into well-drilled, sharp military personnel. Tidwell made two things clear to us immediately: He told us we could make no excuses if we messed up, and then told us what excuses are. This being a family newspaper and what all, I can't print those remarks.

From testimony of Jason Hurd of the Army's 278th Regimental Combat Team: One day, Iraqi police got into an exchange of gunfire with some unknown individuals ... [and] some of the stray rounds ... hit the shield of one of our Hummers. The gunner atop that Hummer decided to open fire with his 50-caliber machine gun into that building. We fired indiscriminately and unnecessarily at this building. We never got a body count, we never got a casualty count afterward. ... Things like that happen every day in Iraq.

Seaman recruits finish basic training Navy Seaman Recruits Sarah M. Garnett and Anthony M. Rogers recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. Garnett is the granddaughter of Aubrey E. and Catherine A. Joines of Woodbine, and a 2006 graduate of South Carroll High School. Rogers is the son of Tracy L. and Jon P. Raymond of Westminster and a 2006 graduate of Westminster High School. Navy Reserve Seaman Kevin G. Smith, brother of Wanda Smith of Mount Airy, and a 1990 graduate of Linganore High School, also completed Navy Training in Great Lakes.

Franklin G. Allen Jr., a retired lawyer and World War II veteran who participated in the historic Remagen Bridge crossing over the Rhine River in 1945, died Monday of myeloma at the Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville. The former Roland Park resident was 90. Mr. Allen was born in Baltimore and raised in Roland Park. He was a 1934 graduate of Gilman School and earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1938. After graduating from Yale University Law School in 1941, Mr. Allen clerked for Judge Morris A. Soper of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for six months.

WASHINGTON - Concerned that long deployments and an improving economy may thin its ranks, the Army announced yesterday that it is offering some prospective recruits up to $15,000 to enlist for three years - more than double the previous maximum bonus - and hiring 300 more civilian recruiters to persuade them to join the service. "It's got to be plenty tough out there to meet the quotas," said retired Lt. Gen. John M. Riggs, who stepped down this year as the officer in charge of building an Army for the future.

ARLINGTON, Va. - What was the cause of the loss of unit cohesion and breakdown of discipline at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq? Dave Bischel, a National Guardsman with the 870th Military Police unit who returned home last month from duty at the prison, was quoted in Friday's New York Post as saying: "There were lots of affairs. There was all kinds of adultery and alcoholism and all kinds of crap going on." When I was in the Army in the mid-1960s, I never saw or even heard of anything approaching this.

The annual Bay Bridge Walk will take place April 28, coinciding with an event in the Volvo Round-the-World Ocean Race. The 4.3-mile walk allows people to experience the bridge from a different vantage point. Normally held the first Sunday in May, the event attracts about 50,000 people. Buses will begin boarding participants at 8:30 a.m. at three locations: Naval-Marine Corps Stadium, Anne Arundel Community College and Chesapeake Bay Business Park. Cost for transportation is $1 for anyone 6 and older.

FRANK Grooms didn't even have time to kiss his mother goodbye. He didn't even get to hug the woman, or look in her eyes, or tell her that he loved her before he went off to war. Instead, in April 1943, Grooms, five months past his 18th birthday, received his "greetings from Uncle Sam," the draft notice that said he was to report for induction in the Army. So he left his house in the 900 block of Park Ave. and trekked to the draft board, which was just down the street. After he was processed, Grooms was marched back up the street, past his home and on to the 5th Regiment Armory.