Nov

2011

3:40pm, EDT

Senator reviews tech-aided reforms at Arlington

By NBC's Libby Leist

The senator in charge of an inquiry into the management of Arlington National Cemetery toured the cemetary on Friday, watching as as Army officials showcased new iPhone and Google imagery technology that is helping the cemetery keep track of nearly 260,000 headstones of fallen American soldiers.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said she is encouraged by reforms made by the Army to improve its recordkeeping at the cemetery after an explosive investigation last year revealed improperly marked or unmarked gravesites.

In an hourlong briefing, officials explained how they are improving their burial records by using an iPhone application used to take pictures of each individual headstone and upload the photos and information like date of birth and date of death to a central database. Officials are now comparing that information to their old print records. They estimate they are 86 percent of the way through.

McCaskill was also shown how Google imagery will enable families to look up online where their loved one is buried. The cemetery will also enable families to design their own headstone online. She described the technology as an improvement and "very cool." The hope is to make the gravesite records and interactive map of the cemetery available to the public by February.

"I think this process has been painful but I'm encouraged today. I'm encouraged because there are new systems in place, there are new processes in place," McCaskill said, after visiting Section 60 the site, many deceased soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

"Ultimately families are going to be able to pull up in their homes and look at the gravesite of their loved one. Be able to see the headstone and once again have that comfort of knowing they are laid to rest on the most sacred ground we have in this country," she added.

McCaskill blamed prior management and Army contractors who operated with "heartbreaking incompetence" in mismanaging the cemetery records.

"This place was being run by bailing wire and chewing gum, instead of with competent professionalism," she said.

A new management team was put in place in June 2010 to begin to address the problems.

McCaskill's Senate subcommittee on contracting oversight is set to receive a final report in December from the special cemetery task force. She told reporters she is confident that the Army has a handle on the problem of mismarked or unmarked gravesites.

"There had been a significant number of those uncovered, it does appear that that number is not growing as they continue to look at more and more of these individual gravesites. Most importantly, I think that going forward they are never going to have this problem again," she said.

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JoAnne in PA

As someone who's usually bringing up the rear on the technology train, I have to say I'm very glad to see dealing with this problem finally getting into the 21st century. Even one unmarked or wrongly marked grave in Arlington is one too many. That being said, there are many, many things there that are done beautifully, and anyone who has never attended the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns is missing out on a truly moving and uniquely American tradition. I'm getting goosebumps now just thinking about it.

6 votes

#1 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 4:01 PM EDT

Independent Redneck Va.

Amen JoAnne. I don't get down there but once every two or three years and sad to say it is for the Nam Era guys that are starting to age out. If you ever get the chance Changing of the Guard is one of those things that will stick with you forever.

5 votes

#1.1 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 4:21 PM EDT

Steeler Fan-380417

What a great way to use technology to provide certainty and also some comfort to the families of our fallen heroes. Thanks to Sen. McCasill for overseeing this process.

4 votes

#1.2 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 5:16 PM EDT

Mark in SoCal

Agreed, JoAnne, observing a Changing of the Guard, and a Wreath Laying ceremony at Arlington is deeply moving and something every American should experience.

2 votes

#1.3 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 6:12 PM EDT

Bob-1887910

"This place was being run by bailing wire and chewing gum, instead of with competent professionalism," she said.

She could have been referring to the entire federal government.

The Government, incompetent? Say it aint so. Per Obama, send another 500 billion ..it wil end up buried somewhere...

Dem Senator McCaskill.. gets to do some good work, before her connection to Obama gets her thrown out of office next year, along with many other Red State Dem Senators...

2 votes

#2 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 4:06 PM EDT

Wayne-1656909

Bob, I don't think we need partisan politics in this story. If you are like me and have family members lying in unknown graves in Federal cemeteries, you would understand. This one isn't about Obama. Give it a rest.

5 votes

#2.1 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 5:08 PM EDT

Steeler Fan-380417

Amen, Wayne. This is simply about doing the right thing and I'm glad Sen. McCaskill has seen to that.

5 votes

#2.2 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 5:24 PM EDT

JoAnne in PA

I'll echo Steeler Fan's sentiments, Wayne. For whatever it's worth, what you said about your family members is why I find the Changing of the Guard ceremony so moving. To me, it's not just for the guys in the tomb, it's for the servicemen and women in unmarked graves all over the world. My heart goes out to you.

"The Sentinel's Creed":

My dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted.
In the responsibility bestowed on me never will I falter.
And with dignity and perseverance my standard will remain perfection.
Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements,
I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability.
It is he who commands the respect I protect.
His bravery that made us so proud.
Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day, alone in the thoughtful peace of night,
this soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance.

2 votes

#2.3 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 5:36 PM EDT

Wayne-1656909

Thanks Joanne, I really do appreciate that. I am printing it.

2 votes

#2.4 - Fri Nov 4, 2011 5:38 PM EDT

GOPisextinct

Kind of off-topic, but our buddy Spanky expressed concern earlier in the day that "Fast and Furious" had allegedly allowed arms in the hands of Mexican drug lords.

Remember the Iraqi city of Al Qua Qua where American forces were told to allow unguarded explosives to be looted?

Serving up a big hello to Spanky. You mean like THIS "counselor"? Thanks for the reminder Spanky. What else you got?

"In October 2004, the Iraqi interim government warned the U.S. that nearly 380 tons of conventional explosives had been removed from the Al-Qa'qaa facility. The Bush Administration was criticized for failing to guard known weapons stashes of this size after the invasion. Critics of the Bush Administration claimed that U.S. forces were to blame for the looting, which put weapons that were formerly under UN control into the hands of insurgents.

The Bush Administration asserted before the 2004 U.S. election that the explosives were either removed by Iraq before invaders captured the facility, or properly accounted for by US forces,^[2] even while White House and Pentagon officials acknowledged that they had vanished after the invasion.^[3]

itnessed by U.S. Army reservists and National Guardsman from separate units as well as officials of the new Iraqi government.^[6] Frank Rich editorialized in the New York Times (May 15, 2005):

Many commentators expressed fears that the explosives had fallen into the hands of terrorists and would be used by the Iraqi insurgency to mount attacks against US and Iraqi troops. Many insurgent attacks have been carried out using improvised explosive devices made from military munitions, most often 122 mm artillery shells and landmines. IEDs made with high explosives are far more powerful and devastating and have been used in some of the most damaging attacks carried out in Iraq, such as the August 19, 2003 suicide attack on the U.N. headquarters, and the March 17, 2004 attack on the Mount Lebanon Hotel, both in Baghdad. It is not clear whether these attacks were mounted using explosives from Al Qa'qaa. However, on October 28, 2004 a video was released by a group calling itself "Al-Islam's Army Brigades, Al-Karar Brigade" in which a masked man claimed that "the American intelligence" had helped them to obtain a "huge amount of the explosives that were in the Al Qa'qaa facility" and that the explosives would be "use[d] against the occupation forces and those who cooperate with them in the event of these forces threatening any Iraqi city."^[10] And a December 2003 report from a joint Defense Department intelligence task force concluded that the insurgents in Iraq "retain access to virtually all the weapons systems and ordnances previously controlled by the Iraqi military, security and intelligence assets. Unsecured arms depots and storage sites, in addition to open and black market availability of weapons and ammunition, eliminate the need for the [insurgents] to maintain a formidable arsenal."^[11]

Montgomery McFate of the Human Terrain Team program noted in 2005:

“

The insurgency's ability to construct IEDs depends on the availability of bombmaking materials, particularly explosives. The widespread availability of explosives in Iraq means the insurgency will have the material resources to build IEDs for many years to come. Currently, approximately 80 tons of powerful conventional explosives (mainly HMX and RDX) are missing from the former Iraqi military base at Al Qaqaa. These explosives could produce bombs strong enough to shatter airplanes or tear apart buildings and are probably already in the hands of the insurgency. The director of the Iraqi police unit that defuses and investigates IEDs notes: "One of the coalition's fatal mistakes was to allow the terrorists into army storerooms.... The terrorists took all the explosives they would ever need."^[12]