What is everyone's problem with the US Army runners being Kenyan?

ChrisStewart wrote:

WCAP is legal immigration. You don't like it? Fine. But the military has been training Olympic athletes since 1896. It's a part of sport. Military service has been a path to LEGAL immigration throughout our history. You want your tax dollars back for what we are paying to send those two guys to Rio? Give me your address and I will send you a penny to cover your share. Given the size of our military budget it will be rounding up considerably.

I welcome those two guys to the US and to our Olympic team. I salute them.

- As long as you know what you're paying for .... assuming your American.

- WCAP is a scam .... the newspaper's report about the terrible shape that the US Army's in from a readiness perspective, but at the same time they maintain programs like WCAP that have nothing to do with national defense. What's the WCAP doing to make Specialist Chelimo a better soldier conducting Water Purification operations?

- Fauble & Derrick: thank the US Army for your 4th & 5th place finishes .... and just to think --- you helped pay for it on your taxes.

Lulz at his expense wrote:

Go Army (right behind Navy) wrote:

Last time I checked you had to be an American citizen to run in our Olympic trials, so all those runners out there were American citizens. No Kenyans in that race.

You win the award for being the most cucked PC poster of the day, hands down!

i mean he's right?

america has no official language or race...

What a bunch of crybabies.

- Trust me, no soldier deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria right now is yelling "Hooah!" or "Army Strong!" .... they're wondering when Shadrach & Leonard are going to pay their real dues in combat.

You don't think the Army will get a good ROI? The Army once paid for a guy to compete in the Olympic pentathlon. He stayed in and turned out to be one of our top generals. He often credited the experience as helping to keep him in. His name? George S. Patton.

The US military has many programs including WCAP for morale and recruiting - Blue Angels and Thunderbirds have hundreds on their team and a huge budget to provide shows for morale and recruiting. Every service has a Band and the soldiers/airmen/sailors job is to play music. No one is complaining about that massive budget or their tax dollars going to those programs.

When I was in the Navy and I only got out 10 years ago - so many people I served with were from other countries and were recruited by the US military. My friend was from a poor village in Spain and when the US Navy recruiters came to his village to recruit, he signed up. The US Navy flew him to the US without speaking any English, and he got up an hour earlier than others at bootcamp to learn English. Another friend of mine served 4 years in the US Army while a citizen of South Korea. Another shipmate of mine was from Venezuela and not a US citizen. He served honorably on the ground in Desert storm. A large number in the US Navy joined from the Phillipines. This is nothing new at all.

Lickety Split wrote:

- Trust me, no soldier deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria right now is yelling "Hooah!" or "Army Strong!" .... they're wondering when Shadrach & Leonard are going to pay their real dues in combat.

I'm a Staff Sergeant been in 5.5yrs, promoted ahead of peers. Never deployed. Have I not "paid my dues"?

Alan

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- Disagree, folks are demanding that the military cut back ...

- I'd cut the Thunderbirds & Blue Angels in a heartbeat!

- Maj Browne's manipulated WCAP to base in Beaverton/Mammoth because that's where he's from and where he can learn/network for his post-National Guard career in a couple of years coaching athletes. This is as oppossed to the WCAP training at a base to reduce costs ... plenty of altitude spots in the DoD, plenty of gyms .... already paid for.

Because they aren't representing Kenya in the Olympics, I think. Why would they want to represent the US when they could win medals for their country of origin.

Runningart2004 wrote:

Lickety Split wrote:

- Trust me, no soldier deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria right now is yelling "Hooah!" or "Army Strong!" .... they're wondering when Shadrach & Leonard are going to pay their real dues in combat.

I'm a Staff Sergeant been in 5.5yrs, promoted ahead of peers. Never deployed. Have I not "paid my dues"?

Alan

- Thank you for your service, but only you can answer that question .... not something most Soldiers would advertise in today's trying times.

Hobo76 wrote:

You don't think the Army will get a good ROI? The Army once paid for a guy to compete in the Olympic pentathlon. He stayed in and turned out to be one of our top generals. He often credited the experience as helping to keep him in. His name? George S. Patton.

- A "One Off" .... name another one

- Guarantee that he wasn't training out of Beaverton or Mammoth just because that was where the Coach was based.

- I do see congruence w/martial sports such as the Modern Pentathlon, Wrestling, Martial Arts, Shooting, etc with miltary activities.

Other than one member of the wrestling team all current member list their home town as a US city.

All six distance runners are from Kenya, sound like the coach does not know how or is not very good at recruiting local talent and has to go overseas to find a 2:18 marathoner

Opinions here on what should be cut like bands and Blue Angels are irrelevant. Facts are facts.

The fact is they are LEGAL US citizens. Whatever anyone's opinion is, the fact is they became US citizens by joining the Armed Forces - most of you criticizing them could never make it through bootcamp. I know from doing military medical and discharge boards how weak most "whiners and complainers" are. The people on here "whining and complaining" fit the type who wash out of the military and aren't tough enough to finish even bootcamp.

I, for one am grateful to them for their service to or country.

Deploy to Afghanistan wrote:

The day after the Olympics end and for those that do not qualify deploy them after next Saturday

They enrolled to serve so fulfill their wishes

But as the army admits

"And while the army allows most WCAP trainees to treat sport as their full-time job, the occasional soldier-athlete does get deployed overseas."

Six Kenyan runners - wonder which one will be the one to get deployed - my bet none

They are making more than working at a running store and they can treat their full time job as running - what a deal

In 2014 the Basic Pay for a 1LT was $$$$40,165.20 and you get to treat running as a full time job - sweet

If it is such a great gig then maybe some American born distance runners should step up to the plate and join.

Franken wrote:

Opinions here on what should be cut like bands and Blue Angels are irrelevant. Facts are facts.

The fact is they are LEGAL US citizens. Whatever anyone's opinion is, the fact is they became US citizens by joining the Armed Forces - most of you criticizing them could never make it through bootcamp. I know from doing military medical and discharge boards how weak most "whiners and complainers" are. The people on here "whining and complaining" fit the type who wash out of the military and aren't tough enough to finish even bootcamp.

I, for one am grateful to them for their service to or country.

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WCAP doesn't "smell" right ......

Observation: Maj Browne's milked the WCAP for everything its worth during his almost 20 year career .... making at best cameo military deployments that he just couldn't avoid and most likely congruent with his post-Olympic career vs pre-Olympic. In other words he worked Iraq & Afghanistan around his track and field career. Then again ... it's probably why a West Point grad's retiring as a Major -- good on "big Army"!

Observation: Maj Browne's manipulated the WCAP to train in Beaverton/Mammoth at an additional expense to the government taxpayer to better serve his personal situation. No doubt, assigning these athletes ... ahem, soldiers ... to the normal WCAP Detachment their at Fort Carson and in the vicinity of USOC Training Center would have been more appropriate and certainly saved the taxpayer money. Instead, Maj Browne avoids a Colorado Springs assignment & reinforces his "Nike Network" connections to no doubt set conditions for "Browne 2.0" when he retires from the military next year. No doubt, he has aspirations of becoming Salazaar's next Magness but this time w/o the drama .... there is nothing Beaverton/Mammoth have on Fort Carson/Colorado Springs other than "This is where Major Browne lives!"

Observation: No doubt, Maj Browne's led a WCAP "word-of-mouth" campaign has spread amongst NCAA Kenyans .... enlist, fast-track immigration to dual citizenship, train professionally, get a 2nd salary w/sponsors, avoid Iraq & Afghanistan deployments, have a better chance at making US Olympic/WC teams than in Kenya, get the GI Bill & other benefits on the way-out ... what a deal as long as you avoid combat! Do we really think Major Browne's not out their with a whisper campaign to the NCAA Kenyans?

Recommendation: Fire Major Browne and hire Capt. Florent Groberg (Medal of Honor) to run this WCAP.

Why be so hard on Browne. Look at ADP's Scott Simmons. He specializes in Kenyan athletes and has had a few Army guys on his roster. I think he may have even temporarily coached the Army team in Colorado prior to Browne taking over.

Why is this such a big deal. If these athletes are American citizens it shouldn't matter. We all came here from somewhere else, didn't we.

I do think it's odd that Simmon's coaches a lot of foreign athletes who end up running for other countries. Canova does the same thing, AND he trains runners in their home countries.

Maj Browne's misusing's government taxpayer money for his own benefit -- that's why!!

Lickety Split wrote:

- Trust me, no soldier deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria right now is yelling "Hooah!" or "Army Strong!" .... they're wondering when Shadrach & Leonard are going to pay their real dues in combat.

Don't something like 8 out of 10 Army soldiers have non-combat roles?

- Don't know the tooth-to-tail ratio

- That said, someone's short somewhere w/WCAP & I'm not buying the morale/retention arguments.

- Doubt either Shamrock or Leonard have yet to report to a "real" Army unit after their initiall training.