This does not surprise me. I was in the Army close to 40 years ago, and if you lost or damaged any of your issued equipment, you had to replace it or sign a document called a “statement of charges” where the cost was deducted from your pay. This could run from damaging the front door of your wall locker to flipping a jeep. Don’t remember this happening in combat situation, but I’m not surprised.
Unfortunately, this is typical Military/Government bureaucracy! They have little knowledge about anything except regulations. No actual human interference desired or expected.
Lock, you are correct about the statement of charges. I nearly got to buy a $100,000 Xenon search light that broke off the mount on my M60A2 during gunnery at Grafenwoehr. We hit a washboard section of the tank trail and got all shook up, I went up nearly out of my commander’s hatch and then fell to the floor when my seat fliped up. I got a broken nose out of it. The two tanks in front of me, the CO and Plt Ldr didn’t get damage to the tanks but the CO ended up on the back deck with 2 or 3 broken ribs and the Plt Ldr only went as far as the bussle rack.
An examination showed that the mount portion of the search light broke, thus I (and my crew) were absolved of not properly mounting the searchlight and being charged for it.
During combat, the CO can write off equipment lost in combat. Apparently this CO either didn’t do it or the paperwork was lost. Knowing how the Army has NOT been keeping proper records during the last 9 years of combat, I’m no surprised at the latter.