Varied questions drawn from troops in virtual town hall meetings

President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen launched Internet meetings last month to field questions from troops and the public. Their responses differed in numbers, tone and tenor, ranging from the thoughtful to the profane.

Obama and Gates kicked off their virtual town hall meeting on Aug. 18 for troops serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries in the Central Command area of operations. The online meeting, which is still accepting questions, has received the most number of questions, with troops sending 171 text questions as of Sept. 2.

Gates also set up a separate, text-only question forum on Aug. 19 and received more than 100 questions.

Mullen, who kicked off his Ask the Chairman virtual town hall meeting on YouTube on Aug. 19, received the fewest responses, 52 text comments and 17 video comments. Gates and Mullen ceased taking questions on Aug. 31, and the Obama-Gates meeting plans to take questions until Sept. 25. None posted a reply before this article was posted.

A number of questions submitted to the Obama-Gates town hall focused on strategy and tactics in Afghanistan as well as multiple combat deployments. A deployed Marine asked, "With regards to the policy in Afghanistan, where did we lose sight of the mission here? We are supposed to be chasing the Taliban, not shaking hands, giving out candy and free health care."

Another Marine told the president, "I'm currently serving on my second tour in Iraq after only seven months back in CONUS. . . . I respectfully request to know what is being done to lessen the burden on military families who are experiencing 1:1 dwell ratios [time home to time deployed] due to ongoing combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan."

An enlisted soldier starkly portrayed the price troops pay from multiple deployments. "Why is it that the deployment length isn't going down . . . but the number of troops to task per deployment is going up . . . all the while the numbers per service is getting cut. Won't that make it harder for the ones that are still under contract and have to go on tour after tour after tour? It's no mystery why the divorce rate in the armed services is so high. You can't keep a stable home if you aren't there!!!"

The questions and comments submitted to Gates' stand-alone meeting tended to deal with nitty-gritty Defense issues, ranging from the new Army-class A uniform and the Defense Travel System. The uniform, which switches out decades-old green for a blue one, "makes us look like mall cops, not soldiers," one commenter told Gates.

The Defense Travel System does not meet the needs of the military "and has negatively impacted my job on three occasions," a commenter told Gates.

Text comments to Mullen had a more political tinge, often expressed in language that was more profane. The video comments to Muller, however, were, for the most part, well-thought out and focused on narrow military issues.

These included a succinct plea for information on when Defense will change its policy on the service of gay people in the military, and a comment from a Georgetown University student about the utility and cost of the Navy's new Littoral Combat Ship.

Mullen plans to tape replies to the video comments on Sept. 10, and eventually would like to respond live and in real time, said Navy Capt. John Kirby, Mullen's public affairs officer. He said Mullen was "delighted" with the response to the virtual town hall meeting, and added Mullen intends to hold the meetings on a regular basis, possibly monthly.

Despite a good response to the online sessions, a deployed Army soldier suggested that Obama and the Defense high command stop trying to connect with the troops virtually and instead come to the combat zones. "Why do all these obnoxious 'town hall' meetings? If you have questions for us, please come and ask us. Walk a mile in our shoes and see what real military is like, not what the diplomatic, out-of-touch generals/admirals put forth. We are normal citizens with the desire to serve our country. We believe in liberty and the Constitution and are willing to sacrifice our own rights, which we do as military members, to protect those rights of others. Come and see instead of holding a 'town hall.'"