The guy who taught me how to scuba dive used to be in the special forces. He got out and did regular military duty, and that's when I met him. He spent some time in South America doing drug interdiction stuff. Basically his group went around destroying drug operations. Burning fields of the stuff, blowing up planes, etc. They ended up missing a rendezvous point to get evacced as they got caught in a firefight, during the shooting the Sat-phone he had got shot and basically was ruined. They spent a few months down there MIA using their survival skills till they found a remote US radar station, (basically because they were assumed dead and had no way to contact the military with the phone being wrecked). They made contact, and once their identities were verified they finally got out.
After they were back for a while, recovering and getting some R&R this guy got a bill from the military for 10k for the Sat-phone. They said since it wasn't damaged in an official battle he had to pay for it. He had to fight that for several months before it finally got straightened out. I got the impression that was one of the major factors in him deciding to get out of the special forces. The last I talked to him, he was eagerly awaiting retirement so he could start up a Dive shop.
Unfortunately there is a lot of beuracracy and red tape in the military, and often the supply guys are just going by the book when stuff like this happens. Usually it gets worked out, after jumping through a few hoops. I'm sure this guy will end up getting re-imbursed for the charge he incurred, at least one would hope so.
Edited, Wed Feb 8 10:34:09 2006 by Kakar
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Some people are like slinkies, they aren't really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.