‘He Should Never Have Gone to Iraq’
More borderline troops are being sent to the front, sometimes with tragic results.
Pvt. David Dietrich had a history of cognitive problems. He struggled in boot camp at Fort Knox, Ky., striking at least one of his superiors as unfit for the military. Dietrich was so slow at processing new things, some fellow soldiers called him Forrest Gump. His squad leader, Pfc. Matthew Berg, says Dietrich couldn't hit targets on the rifle range and had trouble retaining information. "He was very strong physically, but mentally he wasn't really all there," Berg says. Recruited as a cavalry scout, one of the toughest specialties in the Army, Dietrich seemed to lack the essential skills for the job: concentration, decisiveness and the ability to move around without being noticed. He was sent for psychological evaluations at least twice, yet somehow Dietrich advanced—from Fort Knox to Germany and on to Iraq in November 2006. Eight weeks later, at 21, Dietrich was killed by a sniper while conducting reconnaissance from an abandoned building in Ramadi.
What was a guy like Dietrich doing in the military? At a time when an overstretched Army is sending into combat thousands of soldiers who once would have been considered mentally or physically unfit for duty, his story illuminates the complexities and human cost of the war—and shows how hard it is to find the line between tragic circumstances and military misconduct.
Dietrich's problems did not surface on enlistment tests. In Iraq, it's unclear whether his cognitive issues had something to do with his death. Yet his superiors had serious misgivings about the troubled soldier. One of them says he worried that Dietrich would pose a danger to himself and others if he was sent to Iraq and pushed to have him processed out of the military—only to be rebuffed by higher-ups. In conversations with NEWSWEEK, he asked not to be named for fear of jeopardizing his Army career. Berg, the squad leader, says he is speaking publicly because he feels partially responsible for Dietrich's death. "The Army was under a lot of pressure to graduate scouts at the time, and even now … no matter how competent or incompetent," Berg says.
His observation appears to be borne out by the Pentagon's own data. According to records made available to NEWSWEEK, the attrition rate for GIs with health, performance or conduct problems in their first months of Army service has dropped by as much as 45 percent since 2004. In other words, as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan strain the Army more and more, fewer problem soldiers are getting weeded out in basic training. An Army spokesman would not comment specifically about Dietrich's mental issues nor let NEWSWEEK see his medical file, citing confidentiality. But Col. David Hubner, commander of the 194th Armored Brigade, which trains Army scouts, said: "We feel confident in the soldiering skills of those who meet the standards of graduation."
Dietrich's problems started long before he enlisted. Abandoned as a child by his father and later by his mother, he lived with his grandfather in a cluttered trailer home for a time before entering the foster-care system, according to Craig and Jean Raisner of Marysville, Pa., where Dietrich grew up. Craig Raisner was Dietrich's troop leader in the Boy Scouts and he and his wife looked after the troubled youngster, although he never lived with them for more than a few weeks at a time. Both Raisners are professional educators and Jean's specialty is learning disabilities. She says Dietrich had a sunny smile and a tenderness about him that would sometimes give way to angry outbursts.
Jean says Dietrich was diagnosed at 16 as having severe processing problems. The determination was made by doctors at Philhaven, a facility in Pennsylvania for people with "significant mental health problems," according to its Web site. After a series of run-ins with his foster parents, Dietrich spent two months at Philhaven, then left the foster family and returned to Marysville, taking turns living in his car or with assorted friends. Despite the diagnosis, the Raisners say Dietrich's situation improved. He made it to school most days, and he completed enough coursework to graduate.
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Member Comments
Posted By: RetiredNCO @ 09/03/2008 2:08:48 PM
Comment: How is it that service members today are still sent to war and even allowed into the military. We can put a 2,000 lb guided bomb in an air shaft in Ramadi to deal with a much wanted killer yet we can't bring forward our mentally ill soldiers for treatment and seperation from service. Hmmm, okay how about this....The numbers of suicides are through the roof and off the charts in todays military. PTSD is off the charts in todays military. Mental issues are at the headlines in major papers and magazines and no one in this soldiers command had enough backbone to use their right to take this case higher until a competent leader could remove him from service? Something tells me that this dead soldiers leaders received medals for their leadership and performance while they should be investigated and brought onto the legal carpet. Unless of course this isn't wanted because it would expose too many more cases with similar results. The recruiter that recruited him, the drill sergeant that trained him, the instructor that qualified him and the unit leaders that allowed him on the plane to the Middle East....well, hats off to each of you. You have certainly raised the level of incompetence to a whole new bar. Sleep well and eat well. In the meantime, consider your options next time when another David Dietrich enters your radars. That is if you have them turned on and know how to read them.
Posted By: RetiredNCO @ 09/03/2008 1:36:13 PM
Comment: First and foremost, this story was very well written. As a retired military leader that served and was wounded and disabled in the Iraq War in 2005, this is not something new in the United States Army from my experience. Sadly, this soldier lost his life. Who fired the shot remains a question in my mind but, that is a whole other issue. My experiences while serving in my career found multiple cases where soldiers were a threat to themselves and many others in the line of their duties. This responsibility lies solely in the laps of Private Dietrichs' chain of command from his squad leader to his BN Commander. It is the daily responsibility of leaders in todays Armed Forces to see to it that the welfare and health of their soldiers are monitored and reported effectively AND immediately through the most senior leaders overseeing such said soldiers. That said, most can argue that Private Dietrich lied on his entrance exams when joining the Army. Case point here is that he was enlisting into Combat Arms and everyone knows where they end up in the battle field. Next, as a former Combat Arms soldier who served in combat training combat arms soldiers as a qualified FT Knox Instructor, not only did Private Dietrichs' leaders fail, so too did his instructors at Ft Knox and Kuwait that recertify 90% of U.S. Servicemembers before pushing north into enemy occupied Iraq.
Having a 19 Delta Qualified soldier stay behind in the rear to fill sandbags and pull meaningless details is not an acceptable form of handling a soldiers competence and capabilities when just over the wall lies the enemy. The fact that he made it through 19 Delta School at Ft Knox and then made it to a war zone is troubling and an open book for investigations by any competent law firm and all competent governments. This factual case DOES NOT PASS THE SMELL TEST at all corners and surely has the aroma of " our nation sent a mentally incompetent human being to war." Leaders at all levels are responsible for the failures and successes of the servicemembers in their chains of command period. Private Dietrichs' family needs more that a handfull of medals, and money and a flag. They need answers. Answers that far outweigh medals and money and yes, even this nations flag. Those answers needed are simply the truth because the truth far outweighs all things material.
I personally have seen the other side of mentally incompetent soldiers serving in a warzone. I know of two widows and 5 children that are without their loved one forever because leaders failed to remove such an obvious derelict. Private Dietrichs Bronze Star and Purple Heart were earned with a price that many have paid. I sense that many will continue to pay this price because of recruiting efforts that remain the toughest since the Cold War. My sincerest respects and sympathy to Private Dietrichs family and fellow soldiers.
Posted By: Ret 1SG @ 08/24/2008 9:25:54 PM
Comment: PaTriotDE - I agree with a lot of what you're saying except the part of the military only hated Clinton because of SOCOM. Served w/SOCOM, my problem was using the military as goodwill ambassadors to Samolia without adequate Intel assets, or correct TOE in case something went wrong. I went to school with Randy Shugart, and while not really close, considered him a friend. Seeing him and Gary Gordon drug thru the streets was Clinton's and Les Aspin's fault, period. He also had SEVERAL opportunities to nail Al Queda, and failed to act. He may have been a good president (I don't think so) but as CIC he was a disaster, and rates right up there with Jimmy Carter as worst CIC in the history of the US. If the Sha was still in Iran we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Also, as n96173 uses the word "military", you can bet it wasn't the Army or Marines.