SFTT's Unique Mission

Support our frontline troops with more than lip service—help them survive the rigors of war and reclaim their lives.

We are thrilled to announce that  Geoff “Jeff” Metcalf will conduct a LIVE RADIO INTERVIEW with Col. Roger Charles, editor Stand For The Troops, Wed. Jan 4th at 8PM PST (11 PM EST) Topic: Procurement Scandal over Shoddy Dept. of Defense Approved body armor.    SFTT readers are encouraged to call in and listen to the interview by calling in on the following numbers:

703-836-0384 (land line, VOIP) and (cell)

703-980-7551 plus 2d land line (VOIP) 703-836-6736.

Roger Charles, Vice Chair / Secretary of Stand For The Troops

A career Marine Corps officer from 1967 to 1990, Roger Charles has enjoyed a second career as an award-winning investigative journalist. He was a member in 2004 of the 60 Minutes II production team that earned a Peabody Award for the segment “Abuse at Abu Ghraib.”

Among his other journalistic achievements: Charles was awarded a Medal for Excellence in Investigative Reporting by journalism’s Investigative Reporters and Editors (I.R.E.) association for his 1992 Newsweek cover story, “Sea of Lies,” and was an Emmy finalist for best investigative piece for the Nightlight Special “The USS Vincennes: Public War, Secret War” in 1992.

For television, Charles has served as a consulting investigative reporter and contributor to segment development for 20/20 (a special project on the Oklahoma City bombing), ABC World News Tonight, Nightline, Frontline, Prime Time Live, BBC News, and CNN, among others.

Charles has served as an advisor on numerous stories for various print and electronic media outlets including: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, and The New Yorker. He has been published in Newsweek, Insight, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Chicago Tribune, Soldier of Fortune, Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, and the Marine Corps Gazette, where he served as editorial board member from 1987-1989. In 1996, Charles broke the story of the fraudulent use of combat insignia by Admiral Jeremy Michael Boorda, Chief of Naval Operations.

“I saw while I was on active duty that many of the national media that cover security and defense issues are truly ill-informed about basic things they need to perform their job properly,” says Charles of his shift to a civilian role as an investigative journalist specializing in a range of national security issues. “This just destroys any kind of credibility this reporting has for any military audience.”

In 1998, Soldiers For The Truth Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan, apolitical, educational foundation whose purpose is meaningful reform of the U.S. defense establishment, was formed, with Charles serving as the editor-in-chief of its newsletter, Voice of the Grunt. Charles remained active on the non-profit’s Board of Trustees until December 2004, when an ailing Hackworth asked him to assume the foundation presidency and Charles now fills the role of Vice Chair, “The foundation was created around three issues: leadership, training, and equipment,” says Charles. “Think of a stool with three legs. Remove any one of those legs and the stool falls apart.”

 POINT BLANK SETTLES BODY ARMOR SUIT WITH DOJ

 

 

Over a week ago, I attended a fascinating lecture and discussion with Dr. Henry Grayson, Chairman of SFTT’s Medical Task Force, on the exploration of new treatments for veterans suffering from PTSD.  The meeting was hosted at the headquarters of the Organization for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) in midtown NYC.

The meeting was designed to explore some of the new methods to treat veterans with PTSD. Together with the physicians and clinical psychologists and the management of CDS Warrior Salute, which has an exemplary program in Rochester, New York, Dr. Grayson explained some new techniques to help treat our brave warriors with severe cases of PTSD.  Stand for The Troops has been working for some time with Warrior Salute to identify cases of brave young men and women who urgently require care to help protect themselves and loved ones from the terrible consequences of PTSD.   Thanks to the generous support of Warriors Salute, we now have 6 veterans in their program and, we are thrilled to report that Sgt. Brad Eifert will be graduating this month to resume what we hope will be a productive and meaningful life.

This tragic illness is now reaching epidemic proportions and many service members are finding it difficult to find the quality help they need and deserve.  SFTT has gathered together an eminent group of concerned and highly qualified medical physicians to explore what can be done to help veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq reclaim their life.  The purpose of Dr. Grayson’s meeting with the staff of Warriors Salute was to explore new treatment modalities which have proved successful in treating stress disorders.

As a layman, it would be presumptuous of me to opine with any degree of authority on these “new” treatments, but Dr. Grayson seems open to most any method as long as it produces no harmful side-effects.  While it would be impossible to summarize the nine hour of training, Dr. Grayson uses muscle testing to detect trauma since our body and mind might be considered “one unified field.”   He then uses the information gathered from this “testing” to help clear the neuro pathways by eliminating the thought that produces the tension.  Found below is a video of Dr. Grayson’s muscle testing technique:

Once these negative thoughts have been “cleared” then new positive thought can be introduced by stimulating pressure points and the mind to react differently to stimuli.

As Dr. Grayson would be sure to point out, there is no one treatment to address the complex traumas associated with PTSD. The use of muscle testing or applied kinesiology is a non-evasive way to help diagnose and treat stress-related disorders. We believe that Warriors Salute will introduce this new treatment modality into their overall curriculum and extend the number of treatment options available to our brave warriors.

SFTT would like to thank Dr. Grayson and the management and staff of Warrior Salute and IATA for their work in helping service members regain their lives. We are all the better for it.

Richard W. May

 

CNN Reporter Drew Griffin got it right:  The $435 million no-bid contract to Siga reported earlier by SFTT this week is a sham and yet another example of the blatant corruption in government and the cozy relationship that exists between political fund-raisers and career procurement officers in government.   Nevertheless, director and mouth-piece for Siga, Fran Townsend was able to do a convincing cover-up in a CNN interview with an obviously uncomfortable Anderson Cooper and a frustrated Drew Griffin, who had the good sense to not lose his cool.  In fact, Fran Townsend may actually believe what she is saying, which is even scarier.

As a result, Siga shares soared the next day as market-mover Fran Townsend proves once again that dishonesty and hypocrisy is SOP for beltway insiders and nobody can do a damn thing!

This is good news for the folks in our military procurement process who use many of the same tools as Siga to re-write test procedures, get more friendly testers and simply pretend to have a competitive bidding process when everyone knows the system is rigged from the get-go.    I don’t know who is buying Siga Shares, but it is probably the same people who sold Siga shares  short when CNN first announced it was releasing the story.  Nice trade!

When young men and women are dying on the field of battle, it is a shame that we reward their heroism with former public servants who gorge themselves at the expense of  hard-working folks who expect more of their leaders.

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photo of a soldierStand For The Troops (“SFTT”) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Educational Foundation established by the late Col. David H. Hackworth and his wife Eilhys England to insure that our frontline troops have the best available leadership, equipment and training.

In the past four-plus years SFTT'S active campaign has focused on ensuring America's frontline troops get the best available individual protective equipment and combat gear.

Donations and contributions from concerned Americans help fund the SFTT website.

Hackworth Memorial DVD

photo of HackworthIncludes rare footage from Hack's memorial service at Fort Myers Chapel and burial in Arlington National Cemetery.
All donations received from purchasing of The Hackworth Memorial DVD go to Stand For The Troops a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, non-partisan apolitical foundation established by Hack and his wife Eilhys to make sure that America's front-line forces—the kids Hack loved out at the tip of the spear—always have the right training, leadership and equipment to meet their assigned missions and make it home alive and in one piece.

Our Campaigns

  • December 23, 2009: The law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP filed the final motion with the Federal Court in Washington, DC in the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) on behalf of the SFTT’s editor for forensic records held by the Department of Defense (“DOD”).
  • October 16, 2009: The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issues report to Congress calling for “independent expert assessment of Army body armor test results.” This damning report of US Army body armor test procedures is the outgrowth of a two-year investigative and educational campaign by SFTT to seek fair and impartial test procedures.

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