By an Army veteran in Richochet
Like many other Americans, I’ve been following the strange (with a factor of 10) odyssey of Army Private Travis King. In case you’re not familiar with that name, this is the young man who voluntarily left his unit and ran to the benevolent arms of the North Koreans.
It seemed to me that there were many pieces to this puzzle (as there usually are) but, typically, the problem is putting those pieces together. So far, this is what I know.
On Tuesday, July 18, Pvt. King left his tour group at Panmunjom (the Korean DMZ) and ran laughing (“manically” as some of the startled tourists called it) directly toward a startled North Korean guard. Understandably, he was swiftly taken into custody and, as of today, the North Koreans will only say he is a prisoner.
Working my way backward, I saw that Pvt. King had been in the Army for about 2-1/2 years and was still an E-2.
That fact set off red flags galore; right away, I could see this young man was a “dud,” “bolo,” or any one of the terms we used in the Army for those who simply couldn’t “get with the program.”
As it turned out, King had just been released from a South Korean prison after serving 47 days for a drunken altercation with locals.
This was on the heels of an incident occurring last year when King was AWOL from his daily formation and, when reached away from the base, told his CO that “he refused to return to his post or America.”
Sounds like a real Super Trooper to me.
To me, this is where it gets really puzzling.
I looked up his MOS and saw that he was a Cavalry Scout, a job that didn’t really fit with his attitude.
Based on my own Army experience (admittedly, over 50 years ago), the Scouts were sent out in front of the main formation to perform reconnaissance on such things as passable roads and bridges, possible enemy formations, and a number of other things. It was definitely not for the faint of heart.
To top it off, these recon folks were required to be experts in land navigation and map reading.
Did King really have all those job skills? For that matter, how did he ever complete Basic Combat Training?
But my questions were far from finished.
According to what I have learned, Pvt. King had been informed that he was going to face a “pending administrative separation action for foreign conviction” upon his return to the United States.
After a one-week “observation” (following his release from the South Korean jail), he processed out from his previous unit and was escorted (by two “officials”) to a civilian airport and was allowed to proceed unaccompanied to the terminal.
According to the same “officials,” there was no reason to suspect he would fail to board his flight. Huh?
This is what should have happened: He should have been placed in irons and taken to a military base (probably Osan AB) by two MPs. He then should have been returned to his home base, Ft. Bliss, TX, to face court martial for his actions and shipped to Ft. Leavenworth, KS, for a few years to ponder his actions.
To me, it seems as if the ball was dropped by several sets of hands.
Assuming that he really did graduate from BCT and AIT with no problems, did he believe that everything was going to be roses from there?
Did he not understand that at each juncture of his Army career, he would be required to prove his fitness all over again?
Where were his Training NCOs, First Shirts, and other assorted personnel who were supposed to be overseeing his development as a Soldier?
When Pvt. King again and again proved his unfitness as a Soldier, why wasn’t he cashiered earlier?
And, finally, why was this dud trusted to simply fly back to CONUS on his own?
So far, the Army isn’t releasing much information. I suspect that I am not the first to be asking all these questions. Perhaps the Army is attempting to cover their butts as they usually do. Maybe we will get the entire picture in a few days, months, or years. . . . (read more on Richochet)
Additional from the writer:
I suppose one of my reasons for this OP is that this kid was/is completely unfit for life in the military and that the new DEI policies made it extremely hard for the Army to give him his walking papers. I purposely left out his picture (he’s black) because I wanted people to look at the Army instead of this kid.
There are plenty (and I mean plenty) of highly qualified black folks serving in today’s Army. I would have thought that at least one in this kid’s unit would have taken him aside and explained the facts of life.
The fact that it didn’t happen tells me that his own unit gave up on him and left him to his own devices which proved to be extremely destructive.
Bottom line: Heads should roll (or at least lose stripes) over this situation.
In my experience, good cohesive units (especially good combat units; these folks were right up close and personal with the DMZ) are very wired in to one of their own. He had plenty of folks who should have been looking out for him.
That remark he made to his C.O., that he did not ever wish to return to America, should have made it clear to his entire chain of command that he should have been in custody until he was in his stateside unit (Ft Bliss, TX).
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