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

Let's be clear .... I'm all about legal immigration and NOT ALL ABOUT funding the Army to train Olympians.

"We realize that soldiers who are serving in this unit obviously are not serving in a line unit somewhere," says Willie Wilson, a retired sergeant major who manages the Army's 30-year-old WCAP.

Old quote but still relevant

It's relevant that the Army's confusing its missions & that taxpayers and other soldiers are subsidizing Shamrock & Leonard's success.

I don't know anything about this program apart from what's been presented in this thread and links in this thread, but it seems to me the purpose of this program is to recruit people with very specialized skills whether it be by degree or by experience (languages). These are very real needs. To attract the necessary talent there needs to be some incentives. I have no issue with the Army providing this type of incentive.

How would you propose that the Army meet these specialized needs?

- Not tracking what specific skills either Leonard or Shadrack have other than to speak Swahili & run fast. The latter isn't necessarrily a military skill.

- See the link with Coach Dan Browne .... Major, Oregon National Guard on Active Duty that's F/T coaching track .... hardly a reference to the military in the entire video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-M7HKPyHPc

- Guys in the military breaking their ass everyday ... these clowns getting the bennies, additional sponsor dollars, etc. Irritates me to no end!

There are programs designed to recruit foreign applicants with special skills that are required for military purposes. Members have the ability to fast track citizenship and have an expectation of actually serving for military reasons.

Running fast is not a special skill that is of particular importance.

Do not mix up a program that is primarily a recruiting/marketing/ego trip program supported by tax payer dollars without adding to the safety of the real soldiers that are deployed to high risk areas.

- I'm confident Swahili's not considered a Critical Language.

- If US Army WCAP is designed to recruit/market the Army then it deserves even more scrutiny ... are the majority of folks really inspired to enlist when they see Shadrack and Leonard be Olympians?

- Just saw Leonard's interview ... at least he was wearing a Army T-shirt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c0ht4TsSHc

- These guys aren't even living on a Army post --- Beaverton, Mammoth, --- costing taxpayers even more money. I guarantee that Leonard and Shadrack are either Guardsmen or Reservist brought on to Active Duty (salary, benefits) to run track.

- I am glad to hear that the Army National Guard recognized that Dan Browne's really a track coach not a real military officer .... his current rank as a Major in the Oregon National Guard indicates that he's been passed for promotion to LtCol. Army WCAP gets under my skin .....

Ok lickerty. Based on your sour puss attitude towards the army plus your somewhat limited knowledge of the army it begs the question. Why were you chaptered? Chapter 13 or 14 ?

Lickety Split wrote:

- I'm confident Swahili's not considered a Critical Language.

.

And you're wrong.

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

- Chaptered?

- I've never been in the Army

- What I do know is WCAP's a scam on the American taxpayer.

- Amen, a kindred soul on WCAP

Lickety Split wrote:

Let's be clear .... I'm all about legal immigration and NOT ALL ABOUT funding the Army to train Olympians.

Many of the greatest Olympians were in the armed forces, and their only real responsibility was to train. Billy Mills, the American who won the 10,000 in Tokyo in 1964, was in such a situation. Emil Zatopek was a military officer. Many Kenyan runners are in the police or military. So--you are arguing against a type of program that is nearly institutionalized in the Olympic movement. Don't like it? Ok, but it seems our sport has bigger fish to fry. Is your argument really about appropriate use of defense department funds, or are you really more concerned about foreign born runners "taking" spots from nice white boys?

Those of you who are arguing that "only people born in the USA should be on our Olympic team" don't really understand the implications of your position. A number of our best runners were born outside the USA. Sanya Richards Ross was born in Jamaica. Alberto Salazar was born in Cuba. Meb Keflezighi was born in Eritrea (or was it still Ethiopia then?). Why weren't you complaining about Salazar making the Olympic team, or Sanya?

My point is that you see something right now that you don't like--two Kenyan immigrants on our 10k team--and you want to "fix" that "problem". Well, we have been welcoming people to this country for a long time under all sorts of circumstances, and given the many challenges that this sport is facing from corruption to cheating--it seems we have more important things to worry about than the "racial authenticity" of our Olympic team. I find your positions to be pretty depressing.

-------------------------------------

- A clumsy attempt at accusing me of being a racist. I find your position pretty pathetic ....

- I agree with LEGAL Immigration: Salazar, Sanya, Meb, etc

- I disagree with the US Army's WCAP model:

* Make Maj Dan Browne the Coach .... this is his primary military duty.

* Recruit the fastest foreigners with a Green Card from the college ranks and have them enlist in the Guard or Reserve .... no doubt, whichever requires the least commitment. Let's remember, these foreigners most likely recvd athletic scholarships subsidized by the respective state taxpayer.

* Fast track them to US citizenship given their military service

* Bring them on Active Duty where their sole military duty is to train for the Olympics.

* Complete their enlistment & then provide them with the GI Bill to fund their post-grad.

- Why are only Kenyan's racing to the WCAP?

- Wasn't the Oregon Project's initial goal was to develop American athletes?

OK the Olympics will be over shortly

So since WCAP was supposed to be a limited term program (I believe 2 or 3 years), will these critical skills soldiers be allowed to remain in WCAP and train for other races.

If they were recruited to win, then if they do not qualify for the Olympics they should be redeployed immediately as a soldier who can train on their own time without any special treatment from the Army.

They were given the chance to make the team and failed time to make them do the job they signed on for.

The food specialist guy did not qualify in the marathon, has a best of 2:18, has been in the Army since January 2010 and is still listed as part of WCAP.

Is he taking a spot of a potential recruit that has real potential for 2020?

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

With BAH and BAS it's more like $50-60k plus free healthcare. Plus they also probably get TDY money or some other sort of travel money.

Lots of uneducated folks responding to these threads.

Alan

Deploy to Afghanistan wrote:

OK the Olympics will be over shortly

So since WCAP was supposed to be a limited term program (I believe 2 or 3 years), will these critical skills soldiers be allowed to remain in WCAP and train for other races.

If they were recruited to win, then if they do not qualify for the Olympics they should be redeployed immediately as a soldier who can train on their own time without any special treatment from the Army.

They were given the chance to make the team and failed time to make them do the job they signed on for.

The food specialist guy did not qualify in the marathon, has a best of 2:18, has been in the Army since January 2010 and is still listed as part of WCAP.

Is he taking a spot of a potential recruit that has real potential for 2020?

Obviously the program has had issues with recruitment. I'm sure the program is open to anyone who meets the standards. So what potential recruits are we talking about?

Also the Army has tons of programs that don't have anything to do with killing the enemy. Are all of these programs wasting tax dollars?

Alan

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.

Deploy to Afghanistan wrote:

OK the Olympics will be over shortly

So since WCAP was supposed to be a limited term program (I believe 2 or 3 years), will these critical skills soldiers be allowed to remain in WCAP and train for other races.

If they were recruited to win, then if they do not qualify for the Olympics they should be redeployed immediately as a soldier who can train on their own time without any special treatment from the Army.

They were given the chance to make the team and failed time to make them do the job they signed on for.

The food specialist guy did not qualify in the marathon, has a best of 2:18, has been in the Army since January 2010 and is still listed as part of WCAP.

Is he taking a spot of a potential recruit that has real potential for 2020?

- I agree ... they need to go back to the Operating Forces: my bet is that even the non-qualifiers don\\\'t return ... they just continue to train on taxpayer dime.