Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) defends her 'combat veteran' status

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/news/military/sen-joni-ernst-defends-her-combat-veteran-status/article_ee30aaa4-f15b-5396-beeb-24570ad67979.html

POSTED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015 2:00 AM
By Joseph Morton / World-Herald Bureau

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, on Monday stood by her self-description as a “combat veteran” for her service in Iraq and criticized those who have questioned her use of the phrase.

Ernst’s comments to reporters came after a piece in the Huffington Post highlighted that she never came under fire as she led an Iowa Army National Guard transportation company in 2003 and 2004.


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Joni Ernst

The piece raised the idea that Ernst is giving the public a misimpression about just how harrowing her time in Iraq and Kuwait really was.

Ernst said it’s entirely appropriate for her to use the phrase combat veteran. The Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs classify Ernst as a combat veteran based on her service in a combat zone.

FULL story at link.

[spanone]

1. she looks like 1955

where on God's green earth do they find these bozos?

[Fred Sanders]

2. Ernst is right. Ernst is a 'combat veteran' like Brian Williams is a 'journalist'.

[on point]

3. She's a dark ages fool, but she qualifies as a vet in my book. Leave her alone on this.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

6. Nobody is questioning whether she is a Vet or not

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

4. So she now must admit she never ONCE was in combat, or came under fire, but because

of the way the status is assigned, she can call herself a combat veteran.

Got it.

The kind of person you would want to elect would be the type who UNDER emphasize this type of thing, not uses other people's real service to bolster herself just because of the way the category is listed.

If you dont understand this, then there is nothing to talk about.

What really matters is she is a god damn fucking nightmare, her agenda will kill lots of people.

[VanillaRhapsody]

5. Then my father....the USCG Veteran who served during that war....was a "combat vet"

As a "BRAT" even I know he wasn't and neither was she! She can be a member of the VFW (and my father couldn't)....but combat? Nope...

[braddy]

13. If the Pentagon and VA classify him as such, I guess so.

[GGJohn]

18. Was he in a designated combat theater?

If so, then he's a combat vet.
In Vietnam, all US military personnel were awarded the Vietnam Service and Vietnam Campaign decorations, regardless if they were in combat or were REMF's and never saw any combat.

[VanillaRhapsody]

27. No he was only a supply ship...he is NOT a combat Veteran and NOT eligible for VFW

he IS American Legion.

He was Coast Guard...a Lifer.

[GGJohn]

28. From one Lifer to another,

I salute your father.

[onethatcares]

7. how does she feel

about the way the party she belongs to disrespected Max Cleland?

[Bandit]

10. Or how about Senator Kerry

I would love to find the pictures of Republicans wearing their little Purple Heart Bandaids showing how much they respect our men in uniform..

[vankuria]

44. The Purple Heart 'bandaids"

Should NEVER be forgotten and thrown in the GOP's face every single opportunity, and the way they trashed Sen. Kerry's military service to his country as well.

[MohRokTah]

8. Veteran? Yes. Combat Veteran? No. eom

[onenote]

17. Actually, she is a combat veteran as that term has been defined by the military

I have no use for Ernst whatsoever. But making an issue of whether she was a combat veteran, when the military clearly defines her status as such is a loser's game. Transportation company members (maybe not from her unit but from others) came under attack while in Iraq and some died. I've always stood by the standard that the length of time that you need to be in combat theater to claim combat veteran status is the amount of time it takes for you to get killed.

She's a jerk and she probably violated various provisions of the military code when she attacked President Obama and called for him to removed from office, but arguing about her status as a combat veteran is a waste of time.

[MohRokTah]

19. She was NEVER in a combat zone.

She sent members of her unit into Iraq, but she did her entire tour without ever once leaving Kuwait.

[onenote]

22. Link?

[MohRokTah]

25. "She spent 14 months in Kuwait in 2003-2004 as a company commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Ernst#Military_career

http://theiowarepublican.com/2010/joni-ernst-announces-bid-for-kim-reynolds-iowa-senate-seat/

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Legislators/legislator.aspx?GA=85&PID=11232

http://www.joniernst.com/

[GGJohn]

29. Not one of those links says rather or not she ever accompanied

transport vehicles into Iraq.
But that's irrelevant, Kuwait was in a designated combat zone, which makes her a combat veteran.
That said, she's still an asshat.

[GGJohn]

24. Kuwait was a designated combat zone during Op. Iraqi Freedom,

ergo, she was in a combat zone and is designated as a combat veteran.

[Omaha Steve]

21. Wait for it...

[MohRokTah]

23. Had she once accompanied members of her unit out of Kuwait and into Iraq, I'd give her a break.

But she spent her tour in Kuwait in the rear with the gear.

[yeoman6987]

31. Total combat veteran

This is embarrassing and we will lose on this. She has so many things to criticize her with. This is totally not one of them!

[olddots]

9. she is a cartoon charactor

in a cartoon world of make believe bullshit based on ignorant lies .

Please be seated in the 2016 clown car Joni .

[former9thward]

11. According to the Army anyone in Iraq is a combat veteran

who served after November 11, 1998.

http://www.co.st-lawrence.ny.us/data/files/Departments/Veterans/Combat%20Veteran%20List%20of%20Locations%20and%20Time%20Periods.pdf

[Bandit]

12. She never was in Iraq

She was stationed in Kuwait.

[former9thward]

14. The OP says she served in Iraq in two different paragraphs.

But anyone who served in Kuwait from November 11, 1998 on served in a combat zone according to the Army at the link I provided.

[Ex Lurker]

15. "combat veteran" has a very specific meaning

On a veteran's forum recently, a CIA officer who claimed to have been a combat veteran came under a lot of criticism. He most assuredly was in a combat zone and came under fire, but it was not while a member of the US armed forces, and that didn't meet the criteria. I'm not talking about some legal definition, but the meaning of the term among veterans themselves.

[longship]

16. Senator Helmet-Hair (R-IA)

Couldn't resist.

[TwilightGardener]

20. Stolen-valor fraud. Being in a war zone doesn't equal

"combat veteran". My husband was in Iraq, forward-deployed from elsewhere in the Middle East, he doesn't call himself a combat veteran, despite the DoD designation. Never engaged the enemy, never came under fire.

[GGJohn]

26. According to the DoD,

yes it does.

[TwilightGardener]

32. I understand the DoD designations.

I'm saying most vets who aren't self-aggrandizing assholes would concede that just being in a designated combat zone isn't enough grounds to comfortably claim that one is a "combat vet"--especially if they weren't where the real action was. Obviously, Ernst uses the term to give people (many of whom aren't that familiar with the military) the idea that she was more of a warrior than she really was. Which is stupid, because I give her credit for serving at all, no need to try to grab a little extra glory.

[GGJohn]

33. Fair enough.

Do we know if she ever accompanied a convoy into Iraq?

[TwilightGardener]

36. I don't know.

[GGJohn]

37. Be interesting to find out,

if so, then she is a true combat vet, not just one because of the military's definition.

[TwilightGardener]

39. Again, not really. Not unless she got shot at, or shot someone, or got

blown up. Just cruising through isn't enough to plausibly claim "combat". Technically, yes, but in the most truthful sense, no. She could certainly refer to her service without using that designation--a wiser politician would know better than to do that.

[braddy]

40. She was only a Company Commander, I would be surprised if she didn't.

Last edited Wed Feb 11, 2015, 01:41 AM - Edit history (1)

[old guy]

30. Perhaps by strict definition.

To me she is a combat veteran the same as McCain is a war hero. Not.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

34. She's already picking out a flight suit for her carrier landing

in case she wins.

[Omaha Steve]

35. My dad got one of these!!!

My dad in the 40's couldn't email home. No phone calls. No trips home in 5 years.

Tell me again Joni what you did?

[GGJohn]

41. CIB is awarded only to Infantry units,

that's why she doesn't have one.
I flew numerous attack missions during my Army career, but was not eligible for the CIB because I wasn't part of an Infantry unit.

[Nye Bevan]

38. If the Pentagon classified her as a "combat veteran", and it seems that they do,

this is a losing argument.

[onenote]

42. +1

[erpowers]

43. My Understanding

My understanding is that anyone who spends a certain amount of days in a combat zone is a combat veteran. Even if the person only spent time in the green zone and only filed papers they are a combat veteran if they spent enough time in the country where the war was taking place. So according to military rules Joni Ernst is a combat veteran even if she did not get shot at, or shoot a weapon.

[jmowreader]

45. I'd say we go with the DoD and VA's characterization of her service

REMFs get war patches too.

[arthritisR_US]

46. She gets away with it because of Penatgon

semantics.