January 23, 2012
Seabees Team Makes History in Afghanistan
This team of eight women completed construction of four barracks buildings in the mountains of Afghanistan in November. (Department of the Navy
Seabees team makes history in Afghanistan
It was an unusual job even for the Seabees, the U.S. Navy's construction forces trained to hold a hammer in one hand and a Beretta M9 in the other.
First, the team selected to build barracks high in the mountains of Afghanistan consisted of eight women, who are all stationed at Naval Base Ventura County. And second, the women completed the job far ahead of schedule.
Beating deadline made up for long days and freezing nights in tents without plumbing, building four 20-by-30-foot structures, said Gafayat Moradeyo, the mission commander. But when the women returned to Bagram air field, their Afghanistan base, they learned that they had nailed another achievement: a place in naval history.
Military officials say they are the first all-female construction team to take on a construction job from start to finish in the Seabees' 70-year history. And they did it in record time in the barren rocky mountains of Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and the focus of recent combat efforts.
At first, the women had their doubts about the achievement. But after checking with military historians and naval museums, they confirmed their status, said Shelby Lutrey, 29, one of the builders.
"It's definitely something to be proud of," she said. "There is nothing wrong with hard work and good results."
The Seabees were created during World War II to fill a critical demand for construction workers who could also fight. Today, there are nine battalions operating out of two U.S. bases, deploying overseas to build airstrips, bridges, roads, living quarters, just about anything needed in a military operation.
Women first joined the Seabees in 1972 and, 22 years later, earned the right to serve alongside their male counterparts in combat zones, said Russell Stewart, a spokesman with the U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Four.
The team members have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for years — some are on their third overseas tours. In mid-November, when the call went out for a team of Seabees to build barracks huts, the women put up their hands, Stewart said.
There weren't a lot of male Seabees available at the time, and Moradeyo, from the Chicago area, saw it as an opportunity for the women to prove themselves. At Bagram air base, the mission commander gathered her team, laid out what needed to be done, assembled the building materials and packed a pallet of construction tools for the trip to Helmand province.
Moradeyo and Lutrey, who are still in Afghanistan and were interviewed by phone, demurred when asked if they got any ribbing from their male counterparts. But Stewart, the Seabee spokesman, said that, initially, there was plenty of skepticism.
"Unlike most times Seabees show up to a new location, this team was welcomed with rolling eyes and comments on the order of, 'Really, a group of girls?'" Stewart said.
The builders reportedly changed minds in short order. Working 12-hour days, they agreed on site to double the size of their task, adding an operations center and a gym to the barracks already planned.
Mornings were so cold that ice coated the piles of wood, soaking their gloves as they began throwing up the buildings. They took showers using freezing water pulled by bucket from a well. They ate rice and beans. They disposed of solid waste in a bag and then burned it in a pit, Lutrey said.
"When you join the military, that's what you expect," said the native of Scottsdale, Ariz. "It might not be the most comfortable, but it's necessary."
The women worked so well together that they finished the job, including installing electricity and utilities, in two weeks. It normally takes about three weeks to complete such a project, Seabees officials said.
Lutrey chalked it up to a strong team spirit. They knew the post's soldiers had been living out of tents and mud huts, she said, and they wanted to prove the team's efficiency by quickly providing more comfortable shelter.
"It was probably one of the smoothest builds I've done while in Afghanistan," said Lutrey, who's in her third year of service. "We had a lot of camaraderie. We pushed each other to get the job done."
Besides Moradeyo and Lutrey, the work was completed by Kadisha Lee, Carla Diazcastillo, Amber Mann, Kacie Dunlavey, Jessica Vera and Shayla Miles.
Will the team stay together? Not likely, Moradeyo said. Seabees, each with differing areas of expertise, rotate in and out of construction teams. Moradeyo, for instance, was on another assignment in an undisclosed location last week with a different group of builders — one that included men.
Though immune to the deprivations of working under austere conditions, she said stray thoughts of home enter her mind sometimes as she looks down at her cracked hands and dirt-rimmed nails.
"I think, 'Oh my god, I need to get a manicure,'" she said. "And then I keep going."
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Wild Thing's comment........
This was interesting to me, I actually never thought of women being Seabees before.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 10, 2011
Happy 236th Birthday US Marines - 10 Nov 2011
Happy 236th Birthday US Marines - 10 Nov 2011
Thank you Marines for all you do and the sacrifices you make and have made for all of us and for America.
Wild Thing
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (2)
May 09, 2010
US Military Tribute - Far Away - Nickleback
Wild Thing's comment.......
Our country has been so very blessed for the men and women that have served in our military and those today.
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:47 AM | Comments (4)
May 07, 2010
Navy Seal Matthew McCabe Was Found Not Guilty
Praise God! U.S. Navy SEAL, Petty Officer 2nd Cl Matthew McCabe has been acquitted of charges he assaulted an Iraqi prisoner! Two other SEALs were acquitted of similar charges earlier.
Here is video of Fox News' Bret Baier announcing the acquittal, and then interviewing McCabe about the verdict! It took a military jury about 1 1/2 hours to come to the decision.
"I'm ridiculously happy right now," McCabe told Baier. McCabe and the other two SEALs had refused to accept a "reprimand," and instead were willing to face Court Martial in the interests of the truth.
God bless them each one for their service, and for the incredible integrity and honor they have displayed. They never should have had to face this, but they have revealed the highest character in how they have handled it!
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Navy Seal Matthew McCabe was found not guilty
FOX
A Virginia military jury found a Navy SEAL not guilty Thursday on all charges he punched an Iraqi suspected in the 2004 killings of four U.S. contractors in Fallujah.
“I’m really happy right now,” Matthew McCabe, the Navy SEAL, told Fox News shortly after hearing the outcome of the court martial. “It’s an amazing feeling. I’m on cloud nine right now.”
McCabe, a special operations petty officer second class, called the proceedings “troubling at times,” adding “having your career on the line is not an easy thing to handle.
McCabe was the third and final Navy SEAL to be prosecuted in the case. He had faced charges of assault, making a false official statement and dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee. McCabe was accused of punching last year is Ahmed Hashim Abed, the suspected mastermind of the grisly killings six years ago.
After the court martial, the 24-year-old from Perrysburg, Ohio, thanked the public for its continued support.
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Rep. Dan Burton Statement On Navy SEAL Matt McCabe Being Found Not Guilty
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN-05) issued the following statement after Navy SEAL Matt McCabe was found not guilty of all charges related to the alleged abuse of an al-Qaeda terrorist detainee:
"My heartfelt congratulations go to Petty Officer McCabe and his family. I know they have endured many stressful months in anticipation of this trial. With all three Navy SEALs now cleared of all charges in this case, I believe this sends a very positive signal to the men and women in uniform who are fighting for America around the world today.
"I join the many thousands of Americans who cheer for SEALs McCabe, Keefe, and Huertas tonight, and on behalf of the 35,000 who signed my petition for these three heroes, I thank them for their honorable service, and welcome them back to duty."
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Wild Thing's comment........
Thank God!
They should never! have been charged!!!!!!!!!!!! The whole dang case was a travesty from the gitgo.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (5)
May 06, 2010
Obama Did This Last Year Now NATO Commanders Are Pushing For a New “Courageous Restraint” Award
NATO Commanders are pushing for a new “courageous restraint” award to recognize and celebrate the troops who exhibit extraordinary courage and self-control by not using their weapons even when their lives are at risk.
NATO commanders are weighing a new way to reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan: recognizing soldiers for “courageous restraint” if they avoid using force that could endanger innocent lives.
The concept comes as the coalition continues to struggle with the problem of civilian casualties despite repeated warnings from the top NATO commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, that the war effort hinges on the ability to protect the population and win support away from the Taliban.
Those who back the idea hope it will provide soldiers with another incentive to think twice before calling in an airstrike or firing at an approaching vehicle if civilians could be at risk.
Most military awards in the past have been given for things like soldiers taking out a machine gun nest or saving their buddies in a firefight, said Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Hall, the senior NATO enlisted man in Afghanistan.
“We are now considering how we look at awards differently,” he said.
British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, the NATO commander of troops in southern Afghanistan, proposed the idea of awarding soldiers for “courageous restraint” during a visit by Hall to Kandahar Airfield in mid April. McChrystal is now reviewing the proposal to determine how it could be implemented, Hall said.
…”There should be an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the troops who exhibit extraordinary courage and self-control by not using their weapons, but instead taking personal risk to de-escalate tense and potentially disastrous situations,” the statement said.
NATO commanders are not planning to create a new medal or military decoration for "courageous restraint," but instead are looking at ways of using existing awards to recognize soldiers who go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties, Hall said.
But some U.S. Army soldiers here at Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Kandahar province are skeptical that the chance of winning an award is going to change the way troops make decisions on the battlefield.
"Not a single one of these guys does it for the medals," said Capt. Edward Graham, referring to the soldiers in his company.
Graham, whose company is part of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, said soldiers are constantly forced to weigh the duty they have to protect their colleagues against the goal of avoiding civilian casualties.
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Wild Thing's comment........
I cannot handle this crap. This is just another liberal way of saying “we hope your troops die” while claiming to be about peace. THIS IS WAR YOU MORONS. Getting along is for PEACE TIME. OMG where did America go? I want her back!! GOD please bless our soldiers and protect them.
Actually this has been in place foe our troops since last spring ...FROM Obama! Along with if they capture a terrorist, they have to read them their Miranda Rights.
Obama's R.O.E. 's have resulted in a doubling, per month, of losses for our troops.
Here's a grim example: Even when they were pinned down and being killed - and assured command there were no civilians (and what if there had been, if the shooters were in the midst of them - I don't know what's happened to the original video with the actual voice of the radio man desperately trying to get air cover - that was refused - and 4 died - there’a video here - but not the original one - more of the administrating demanding a scrub “for security reason” - but the story is here - and it it NOT the only one! Our troops hands are tied and they are little bu Judas goats now.
Story is at this LINK.. CLICK HERE
I HATE Obama to the core!!!!!!! And I HATE NATO!
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Comments (4)
Prosecution Rests in Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe’s Court Martial
Prosecution Rests in Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe’s Court Martial
NORFOLK
The prosecution has rested its case in the military trial of 24 year old Matthew McCabe, the Navy SEAL accused of assaulting a suspected terrorist he had helped capture last September in Iraq. Ahmed Hashim Abed, accused of killing four American contractors in Fallujah six years ago, claims he was beaten while in the custody of McCabe and two other Navy SEALs.
Earlier, as prosecutors called their witnesses, Navy Petty Officer Third Class Kevin Demartino, who is not a SEAL, testified that he saw McCabe deliver a "right punch to the chest" of his detainee.
Demartino was in charge of the detention facility where the disputed incident occurred, and was responsible for the prisoner's safety. He testified that after he witnessed the assault, three Navy SEALs left the detainee's cell. Demartino says Abed had fallen from his chair to the floor and there was blood coming from under the prisoner's hood.
A Navy commander who was in charge of all American forces in Fallujah at the time, also testified today. He says he noticed Abed's bloodied mouth the next morning and asked Demartino what had happened, but didn't get an answer.
Asked on cross examination why he said nothing at first about the alleged assault, Demartino told the court "I had a choice of being in good graces with the Navy SEALs or being in good graces with God." Demartino admits he's guilty of dereliction of duty for not immediately reporting what he saw.
Abed is the alleged mastermind of the grisly attack on four Blackwater contractors who were ambushed and killed in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004. Their bodies were burned and dragged through the streets as crowds cheered. Two of the bodies were hanged from a bridge over the Euphrates River.
This is the second day of testimony in the case of McCabe, the Navy SEAL from Perrysberg, Ohio. A seven member jury is hearing the case, presided over by a Judge Advocate General, Captain Moira Modelewski. Two other SEALs faced trial in Baghdad and were found not guilty last month. Demartino gave the same testimony in those earlier trials.
Abed's taped testimony was heard in open court Tuesday. He said he was handcuffed and blindfolded and placed on a chair in the holding cell. He claims he was hit on the back and shoulders and knocked to the floor. He says he was kicked in the stomach and sworn at while he was down. But he says he could only see one person's feet and legs from under his hood and cannot identify his assailant.
The defense claims Al Qaeda detainees are trained to claim abuse and that Abed caused his own lip to bleed.
Abed testified in person during the previous two trials, but the defense in this case declined the opportunity to confront the accuser in court. If McCabe's lawyers had wanted Abed to testify in person, the trial would have been held in Iraq, where Abed remains a prisoner of the Iraqi government.
In his testimony Wednesday, Petty Officer Demartino said two of the Navy SEALs in the holding cell at the time of the alleged assault basically told him not to worry about any injuries to Abed. On the witness stand, Demartino says he was told by Pettty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, "Don't feel bad for this guy." And, according to Demartino, Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas said, "He's killed Americans." Keefe and Huertas are the two SEALs earlier acquitted in this case.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
I hope that Navy Petty Officer Third Class Kevin Demartino, who is not a Navy Seal, enjoys the wrath and scorn of his peers everyday for the rest of his career in the Navy. The PO is an informer and a Judas. Maybe he will leave the service and be on leftist TV and other groups I bet, because they would be the only ones to accept him, unless he becomes a high official in the Obama administration.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (4)
May 01, 2010
Troops in Afghanistan Perform 'Telephone'
This video remake of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" video was reportedly filmed at a FOB in Farah Province, Afghanistan by Army troops assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. According to The Smoking Gun, the video was choreographed by Aaron Melcher, a 24-year-old married soldier from North Carolina.
LOL this was a lot of work they put into this. They should force the Taliban to watch this. Remember how the terrorists complained when they had to listen to Barney the children's show etc. over and over again. hahaha
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:45 AM
April 30, 2010
More From ANTI-American Mikey Weinstein 's (Military Religious Freedom Foundation) Says Army Symbol Is Religious, Should Be Changed ~ WTF!
A religious watchdog group says a cross and motto on the emblem of an Army hospital in Colorado violate the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state and should be removed.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation asked the Army this week to change the emblem of Evans Army Community Hospital at Fort Carson, outside Colorado Springs.
The emblem says "Pro deo et humanitate" or "For God and humanity."
Fort Carson commanders will review the complaint, Lt. Col. Steve Wollman said.
He said the emblem had been approved by the Army Institute of Heraldry and has been in use since 1969.
Wollman said references to doctors serving God and humanity date to the time of Hippocrates, a pre-Christianity Greek physician.
Wollman said the cross, which has a pointed base, is both an emblem of mercy and a symbol dating to the Middle Ages, when pilgrims carried a cross with a spiked base to mark the site of a camp.
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said that's a reference to the Crusades and could embolden U.S. enemies who want to portray the war on terror as a Christian war on Islam.
"This continues to add more fodder to the argument that we are Crusaders," Weinstein said. "It's exactly what fundamentalist Muslims want."
Weinstein's foundation, based in Albuquerque, N.M., last week persuaded the Army to withdraw an invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham to speak at the Pentagon on May 6, the National Day of Prayer.
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
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Wild Thing's comment........
What a total POS this Mikey Weinstein is. What's wrong Mikey and what the F kind of name is that for a grown man....oops sorry guess that was a strectch huh Mikey to call you a MAN! Mikey Weinstein.... muzzy sympathizer!
God will judge America and it won’t be pretty. I truly fear for the future of our beloved America.
These people on the left are tripping our country from our heritage - one piece at a time!
The motto of Fort Carson’s 10th Combat Support Hospital is “IN CRUCE VINCAM” which translates to “I Shall Conquer By The Cross”. And the CSH’s distinctive unit insignia has two *gasp!* crosses on it (one maroon and one white). That would really make their heads explode!
"...constitutional requirement for separation of church and state..."
There is no separation of "church and state" in the Constitution. It does forbid the creation of a state religion (such as the Church of England). The language of the First Amendment says that Congress will not pass any laws regarding the establishment of a religion. That means that the Federal government (and now the states) may not create an established religion. An established religion is one that is favored above others through financial and other support that is not available to other religions. For example, the Church of England is the established religion of Great Britain. It receives financial support from the State. The 26 most senior Bishops (including the Archbishops of Canterbury and York) sit in the House of Lords and vote on legislation as a right of their position in the Church. That is an established religion. We do not have an established religion in the U.S. Putting up a cross on public land to commemorate war dead or “In God We Trust” on our money isn’t creating an established religion either.
Mikey Weinstein can go take a flying leap!
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:55 AM | Comments (11)
April 18, 2010
Global Shield Interval Take Off (MITO) launch of B-52’s and K-135’s
This is how we did the MITO back in the day, BEFORE the colapse of the Soviet Union. These are B-52G's and KC-135A's from the 416 BMW, at the former Griffiss AFB, NY. The Buff with the old "lizzard" paint scheme is piloted by Capt. John Hannen. The loud voices you hear are the maint specialists that stayed up all night getting the air[lanes ready.
From BobF:
"Video of a Global Shield Minimum Interval Take Off (MITO) launch of B-52’s and K-135’s back in 1987. This was back in the glory days of the Strategic Air Command under President Ronald Reagan. What you’re seeing in the video is taking place, simultaneously, at every SAC base in the United States. Every B-52 in the video was eventually sent to the boneyard by HW Bush to be chopped up according to STAT Treaty. We went from a fleet of 300 of these monsters to under 70 today.
You’ll notice the KC-135’s are flying heavy by the amount of runway they’re taking and they’re also trying to fly under the jet wash of the BUFF’s. The turbulence really bounces them around. "
From a comment at YouTube::
"I'm counting 12-17 seconds in between each plane. Absolutely stunning"
Wild Thing's comment.......
LOVE it! I wish we still had all of these. I hate it so much how there have been cut backs in our military.
I want it all for our troops and more.
.....Thank you BobF, for sending this to me.
BobF
SMSgt, USAF
1973 - 1999
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (6)
February 24, 2010
Around Afghanistan by Michael Yon
Around Afghanistan
22 February 2010
“Johnny Boy” Captain John Holland was walking out to the aircraft just as I arrived at the flight line.
Captain Holland asked, “Are you ready?”
“Yes Sir.”
The Marjah offensive—billed as the biggest US/NATO/Afghan assault on the Taliban ever—had begun. With it, the attention of nearly all the reporters covering Afghanistan is focused on Marjah. Yet fighting continues across the country, in provinces with names unfamiliar to most people. Men and women are wounded. Some die. Some are saved by dedicated medical crews, and by the pilots who fly into combat to ferry wounded to some of the best trauma facilities in the world, right here in Afghanistan.
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An ambulatory patient strapped on his seatbelt and a sedated Canadian soldier was loaded.After detailed preparations, checks and rechecks, they were ready to receive a critical care patient. Medical staff explained that this Canadian soldier had been wounded during training by a Claymore mine. In total, four Canadians were wounded when another Canadian soldier, Corporal Joshua Caleb Bake, was killed near Kandahar.
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Doctor Chris Ryan works with the wounded Canadian soldier. During flight from Kandahar to Bastion to Bagram, the team was at his side constantly checking this or that.The CCATT (Critical Care Air Transport Team) consisted of Tech Sergeant Matt Blonde (respiratory therapist); Major Debbie Lehker (nurse); and Lieutenant Colonel Chris Ryan (doctor). I asked Doctor Ryan what precautions troops should take to reduce the wounds he is seeing. Some of the advice was obvious. NCOs push soldiers to wear their ballistic glasses, for instance. Burns were a constant, serious problem in Iraq, but less so in Afghanistan, due to the nature of the bombs.
Dr. Ryan mentioned that Special Operations folks often take the worst injuries because their body armor offers less coverage, and so they often take from 1-3 amputations. He gave considerable credit to special operations medics. “They are studs,” he said. High praise indeed, coming from someone with his experience.
Strykers are great vehicles, but none of our vehicles is ideally suited for combat here. Stryker vehicles typically have about three soldiers standing up in hatches, sometimes on MRE boxes. Dr. Ryan said that when the bombs detonate under the vehicles, soldiers often suffer 5-7 fractures in each leg. Other fractures include feet, pelvis, back, ribs, arms, and neck.
Doctor Ryan stressed repeatedly the value of wearing seatbelts. The bombs smash you into the vehicle. Dr. Ryan served with Dustoffs during the worst times in Iraq. He’s seen many more wounds than most soldiers will ever see. So I listened to him. But often when soldiers see me putting on a seatbelt in a Stryker, they warn me to take it off. “Wear it if you like,” they say, but they warn that if we get launched and are upside down, I’ll be stuck in a possibly burning vehicle. This has happened plenty of times. So we all carry seatbelt cutters that can also be used to strip off boots and uniforms of wounded soldiers. But the soldiers are adamant that wearing seatbelts worsens your odds. I do not know who is correct. You get thrown hard without them, and stuck with them.
So, I asked Command Sergeant Major Jeff Mellinger, who served almost three straight years in Iraq. We drove thousands of miles around the country, visiting units everywhere. CSM Mellinger also visited Combat Support Hospitals twice per week. He read every single casualty report—thousands—and was the CSM for General Casey then General Petraeus. In short, CSM Mellinger knows the combat side, and the statistical side. Today he is the CSM for AMC—Army Materiel Command—with responsibility for every bean, bullet, bandage, helicopter, tank and seatbelt in the Army inventory. He talks bluntly and I take his word as the final statement.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
Michael Yon's website has a whole page of photos and his write up . It is well worth going over to it and reading his page and seeing the photos he has posted there.
http://bigjournalism.com/myon/2010/02/22/whispers/
.... Thank you Jim for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:47 AM
February 09, 2010
Obama Forces Military Hospitals to Stock Morning After Pill
Obama Administration Forces Military Hospitals to Stock Morning After Pill
Obama administration issued a new order for the U.S. military requiring all military hospitals and health centers to stock the morning after pill. The Department of Defense will soon begin having military medical facilities stock the Plan B drug, which can sometimes cause an abortion.
The Obama administration's decision came after the Pentagon's Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, an advisory panel, made the recommendation to stock the drug.
The PPTC suggested stocking both Plan B and the Next Choice generic of the morning after pill.
The decision is the latest to have President Barack Obama overturning pro-life policies during the Bush administration and follows him forcing Americans to pay for abortions and embryonic stem cell research with their tax dollars.
Obama's decision is not going over well with Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America.
"The military needs to focus on its prime mission, yet leftists view it as a means to promote their agenda," she told LifeNews.com. "The morning-after pill is highly ineffective in preventing pregnancies and completely useless in preventing sexually-transmitted diseases. But it's a political tool for abortion advocates."
Wright worries the decision is the first step to pushing abortions at military hospitals.
"By making this drug required, the next step will making drugs like RU-486, the abortion pill, mandatory," she said. "And doctors or pharmacists who have objections will be purged from the ranks."
"The military needs to focus on discipline and proper behavior - because lives depend on it - not promoting risky behavior," Wright continued.
Nancy Keenan of NARAL, a national pro-abortion group, lobbied the Obama administration to overturn the policy and applauded the decision to do so.
"It's a tragedy that women in uniform have been denied such basic health care," she said in a statement. "We applaud the medical experts for standing up for military women."
Keenan said the more than 350,000 women in the military would be benefited by the decision.
But Jeanne Monahan, director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council, told the Washington Post she also disagreed with the decision.
"It can prevent the embryo from implanting and therefore destroy a human life," she said.
"Women serving in the military deserve to know the truth about their medications. Because this can be the difference between preventing and destroying life, a requirement to carry this drug could violate the conscience rights of military personnel who have moral objections," Monahan continued.
Wright also worries the military will eventually promote Ellaone, a new drug that is billed as a morning after pill that works up to 5 days after sex, but, in reality, is an abortion drug.
"A new drug similar to RU-486 can reportedly be used as a 'morning-after pill'. So designating the morning-after pill as required to stock, and easy to obtain, may open the door for an abortion pill - which undisputedly kills an unborn child and can be extremely dangerous to the mother - to fit in that category," she concludes.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
And yet the VA can not provide Diabetics but two test strips per week At least that is what I have been told by seveeral Veterans.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:49 AM | Comments (3)
February 06, 2010
Honoring Four Chaplains Day....The Four Chaplains
The Four Chaplains were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the troop ship USAT Dorchester during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats and gave up their own life jackets when the supply ran out. The chaplains joined arms, said prayers, and sang hymns as they went down with the ship.
The Four Chaplains:
Rabbi Alexander Goode
Rev. George L. Fox
Rev. Clark V. Poling
Father John P. Washington
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The U.S.A.T. Dorchester was an aging, luxury coastal liner that was no longer luxurious. In the nearly four years from December 7, 1941 to September 2, 1945 more than 16 million American men and women were called upon to defend human dignity and freedom on two fronts, in Europe and the Pacific. Moving so large a force to the battlefields was a monumental effort, and every available ship was being pressed into service. Some of these were converted into vessels of war, others to carrying critical supplies to the men and women in the field. The Dorchester was designated to be a transport ship. All non-critical amenities were removed and cots were crammed into every available space.
The intent was to get as many young fighting men as possible on each voyage. When the soldiers boarded in New York on January 23, 1943 the Dorchester certainly was filled to capacity. In addition to the Merchant Marine crew and a few civilians, young soldiers filled every available space. There were 902 lives about to be cast to the mercy of the frigid North Atlantic.
As the Dorchester left New York for an Army base in Greenland, many dangers lay ahead. The sea itself was always dangerous, especially in this area known for ice flows, raging waters, and gale force winds. The greatest danger, however, was the ever present threat of German submarines, which had recently been sinking Allied ships at the rate of 100 every month. The Dorchester would be sailing through an area that had become infamous as "Torpedo Junction".
The crossing was filled with long hours of boredom and misery. Outside, the chilly Arctic winds and cold ocean spray coated the Dorchester's deck with ice. Below deck the soldiers' quarters were hot from too many bodies, crammed into too small a place, for too many days in a row. Finally, on February 2nd, the Dorchester was within 150 miles of Greenland. It would have generated a great sense of relief among the young soldiers crowded in the ship's berths, had not the welcomed news been tempered by other news of grave concern. One of the Dorchester's three Coast Guard escorts had received sonar readings during the day, indicating the presence of an enemy submarine in "Torpedo Junction".
Hans Danielson, the Dorchester's captain, listened to the news with great concern. His cargo of human lives had been at sea for ten days, and was finally nearing its destination. If he could make it through the night, air cover would arrive with daylight to safely guide his ship home. The problem would be surviving the night. Aware of the potential for disaster, he instructed the soldiers to sleep in their clothes and life jackets....just in case. Below deck however, it was hot and sweaty as too many bodies lay down, closely packed in the cramped quarters. Many of the men, confident that tomorrow would dawn without incident, elected to sleep in their underwear. The life jackets were also hot and bulky, so many men set them aside as an unnecessary inconvenience.
Quiet moments passed as silent death reached out for the men of the Dorchester, then the early morning was shattered by the flash of a blinding explosion and the roar of massive destruction. The "hit" had been dead on, tossing men from their cots with the force of its explosion. A second torpedo followed the first, instantly killing 100 men in the hull of the ship. Power was knocked out by the explosion in the engine room, and darkness engulfed the frightened men below deck as water rushed through gaping wounds in the Dorchester's hull. The ship tilted at an unnatural angle as it began to sink rapidly, and piles of clothing and life jackets were tossed about in the darkness where no one would ever find them.
Slowly soldiers began to find their way to the deck of the ship, many still in their underwear, where they were confronted by the cold winds blowing down from the arctic. Petty Officer John J. Mahoney, reeling from the cold, headed back towards his cabin. "Where are you going?" a voice of calm in the sea of distressed asked?
To get my gloves," Mahoney replied.
"Here, take these," said Rabbi Goode as he handed a pair of gloves to the young officer who would never have survived the trip to his cabin and then back to safety.
"I can't take those gloves," Mahoney replied.
"Never mind," the Rabbi responded. "I have two pairs." Mahoney slipped the gloves over his hands and returned to the frigid deck, never stopping to ponder until later when he had reached safety, that there was no way Rabbi Goode would have been carrying a spare set of gloves. As that thought finally dawned on him he came to a new understanding of what was transpiring in the mind of the fearless Chaplain. Somehow, Rabbi Goode suspected that he would himself, never leave the Dorchester alive.
In the chaos around them, life boats floated away before men could board them. Others capsized as panic continued to shadow reason and soldiers loaded the small craft beyond limit. The strength, calm, and organization of the Chaplains had been so critical in the dark hull. Now, on deck, they found that their mission had not been fully accomplished. They organized the effort, directed men to safety, and left them with parting words of encouragement. In little more than twenty minutes, the Dorchester was almost gone. Icy waves broke over the railing, tossing men into the sea, many of them without life jackets. In the last moments of the transport's existence, the Chaplains were too occupied opening lockers to pass out life jackets to note the threat to their own lives.
In less than half an hour, water was beginning to flow across the deck of the sinking Dorchester. Working against time the Chaplains continued to pass out the life vests from the lockers as the soldiers pressed forward in a ragged line. And then....the lockers were all empty...the life jackets gone. Those still pressing in line began to realize they were doomed, there was no hope. And then something amazing happened, something those who were there would never forget. All Four Chaplains began taking their own life jackets off....and putting them on the men around them. Together they sacrificed their last shred of hope for survival, to insure the survival of other men.... most of them total strangers. Then time ran out. The Chaplains had done all they could for those who would survive, and nothing more could be done for the remaining...including themselves.
Those who had been fortunate enough to reach lifeboats struggled to distance themselves from the sinking ship, lest they be pulled beneath the ocean swells by the chasm created as the transport slipped into a watery grave. Then, amid the screams of pain and horror that permeated the cold dark night, they heard the strong voices of the Chaplains. "Shma Yisroel Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echod." "Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done."
Looking back they saw the slanting deck of the Dorchester, its demise almost complete. Braced against the railings were the Four Chaplains...praying...singing, giving strength to others by their final valiant declaration of faith. Their arms were linked together as they braced against the railing and leaned into each other for support, Reverend Fox, Rabbi Goode, Reverend Poling, and Father Washington. Said one of the survivors, "It was the finest thing I have ever seen this side of heaven."
And then, only 27 minutes after the first torpedo struck, the last vestige of the U.S.A.T. Dorchester disappeared beneath the cold North Atlantic waters. In it's death throes it reached out to claim any survivors nearby, taking with it to its grave the four ministers of different faiths who learned to find strength in their diversity by focusing on the Father they shared.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
I had never heard about this story before. Thank you RAC for this video. Michele Bachman does a wonderful reading of what happened. I wish more of our politicians would care about our history and what our Veterans have done.
Their willing, knowing and loving ultimate sacrifice of their lives in service to God and country so "that others may live"....what heroes our country has had and has today.
Here is video of singer Wintley Phipps singing their story in the song, "Four Chaplains on the Sea of Glory":
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......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (5)
January 28, 2010
A Stirring Tribute by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North USMC (Ret)
This video tribute on the front lines is the story of true patriots, told by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North at the NRA Annual Meetings in 2009. It's a stirring profile of the spirited, courageous guardians of our precious freedoms. America's best .
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Wild Thing's comment.......
This is soooo awesome! It gave me goosebumps! Thank you Oliver North. And a HUGE thank you to all of our troops and Veterans.
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....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (3)
January 24, 2010
U.S. Marine Corps Ends Role in Iraq
The US Marine Corps finished their work in Iraq on Saturday
U.S. Marine Corps Ends Role in Iraq
The U.S. Marine Corps wrapped nearly seven years in Iraq on Saturday, handing over duties to the Army and signaling the beginning of an accelerated withdrawal of American troops as the U.S. turns its focus away from the waning Iraqi war to a growing one in Afghanistan.
In Baghdad, meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden held talks with Iraqi leaders amid growing tensions over plans to ban election candidates because of suspected links to Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The White House worries the bans could raise questions over the fairness of the March 7 parliamentary elections, which are seen as an important step in the American pullout timetable and breaking political stalemates over key issues such as dividing Iraq’s oil revenue.
The Marines formally handed over control of Sunni-dominated Anbar, Iraq’s largest province, to the Army during a ceremony at a base in Ramadi — where some of the fiercest fighting of the war took place.
If all goes as planned, the last remaining Marines will be followed out by tens of thousands of soldiers in the coming months. President Obama has ordered all but 50,000 troops out of the country by Aug. 31, 2010, with most to depart after the March 7 parliamentary election.
The remaining troops will leave by the end of 2011 under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact.
As many as 25,000 Marines were in Iraq at the peak, mostly in Anbar province. The few thousand who remain — except for U.S. Embassy guards and advisers in Baghdad — are expected to ship out in a matter of weeks.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
Hello Harry Reid , I thought you told us we lost in Iraq. Thank You George Bush for providing the leadership to get the job done. Thank you, Lord, for these brave men and women.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (5)
Lockheed's HULC Super-Soldier Exoskeleton Gets More Juice
Lockheed's HULC Super-Soldier Exoskeleton Gets More Juice
Even the finest super-soldier suit can end up as expensive deadweight if the batteries run out of juice. Lockheed Martin wants to avoid that fate for its robotic exoskeleton by turning to fuel cells that can power the suit for days, The Register reports.
Lockheed's Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) is a mechanized frame that allows soldiers to march or even run easily with loads of 200 pounds, as well as squat or kneel without trouble. But the current li-ion batteries supporting the suit typically run down after just a few hours of walking, not to mention running.
That could all change with fuel cells that could sustain 72-hour missions on a single charge, and provide power sockets to spare for military accessories that require their own batteries. Lockheed announced its choice of the Protonex Technology Corporation to develop such fuel cells on Wednesday.
We here at PopSci love our Iron Man suits, and so we're happy to see longer-lasting versions in the works. After all, it'd be a shame for our robotic warfighters to run down when the Energizer Bunny keeps going on its dinky batteries.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
More improved equipment for our troops. Amazing stuff!
.... Thank you Jim for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:45 AM | Comments (6)
January 23, 2010
Lt. Andrew Kinard, and Trace Adkins, and the West Point Cadet Glee Club
Lt. Andrew Kinard, Trace Adkins, the West Point Cadet Glee Club at the Academy of Country Music Awards
2009
Las Vegas, 5 April 2009. Trace Adkins sings ...."Till the Last Shot's Fired"....with the West Point Cadet Glee Club
"Somebody from the ACM asked if I'd perform that song" he says. "They'd heard the performance on the new record and they were looking for a way to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project and they called and asked if I'd do it."
He said yes, of course, and recently spent a few hours one afternoon at West Point practicing with the glee club. "It was a thrill," Adkins said of visiting the military academy.
"It's the least I can do," said Trace, who has performed on some USO tours and visited injured soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center
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Wild Thing's comment.......
I posted this before, and it is so very special it is a real honor to post it again.
Lt. Andrew Kinard a warrior and an American hero. He was on the stage with Trace Atkins and introduced the song. Thank you Lt. Andrew Kinard, words cannot be enough for my gratitude that you loved America too and served our country. To say thank you to our wounded troops seems so small for all they have sacrificed and for all our Veterans and our troops active today. But it is a start, that first acknowledgment that America has been great and free because of each one of them. Never will we forget one single warrior, one single Veteran or service member..... Never.
Marine Lieutenant Andrew Kinard was on patrol in Iraq and was hit by an IED (three other Marines were hit, too). Apparently, before shock set in, Kinard established security and asked about his men, then passed out. The damage to his body was extremely severe. I don't know who the hospital corpsman was who assisted Lt. Kinard, but I know that Kinard went into cardiac arrest twice and lost most of his blood - whoever that corpsman is, he is a miracle worker. Andrew was flown to Al Asad (by that time had used 67 units of blood), then Germany and now Bethesda. He has lost his right leg above the knee, the left leg at his pelvis, and he has lots of internal damage to his intestines, kidneys, etc. He's on a ventalator. He is fighting infections. He's been awake only a few times since his injury...
Marine 2nd Lt. Andrew Kinard of Spartanburg received a hero's welcome at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Wounded Marine to meet fellow warriors
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.
from April of 2007
"Welcome home, Lieutenant."
There was something victorious about the way Marine 2nd Lt. Andrew Kinard exited the beige minivan that brought him here from Ellis Airport Sunday.
It wasn't arrogance. Andrew often said he felt "honored" by the support he'd received. He regularly took the attention off himself, turning instead to his fellow Marines who kept fighting in Iraq when he was unable to.
"I just represent one person, out of all these Marines that really were willing to give their all," Andrew said. "I want to make sure to emphasize those who couldn't make it, the Marines who paid the ultimate price."
The nonprofit Hope for the Warriors foundation made possible the trip from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and gave Andrew a $22,000 all-terrain wheelchair that can easily plow through snow and accommodate any hunting he might like to do.
He will spend most of this week at the Warrior House I, an on-base home fitted with a handicapped-accessible ramp and amenities. He'll have dinner with a general, and maybe get to play X-Box on a big-screen television with his buddies.
But the highlight of the week comes today, when Alpha Company -- Andrew's company -- gets home from a seven-month deployment.
In all, about 270 Marines and sailors from various arms of the 2nd Marine Division's 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion will roll into
Camp Lejeune today.
It's a moment Andrew has been waiting for since fully waking up in a hospital a month after the blast.
And, it's a moment that almost didn't happen.
Andrew had emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage just two weeks ago, a surgery his family wasn't sure he'd recover from in time to make it here.
But for months, the young Marine has been saying that "even if they had to push him down in a hospital bed, he was going to be here," his father, Dr. Harry Kinard said.
"This homecoming helped him get where he is today," said Cpl. Patrick Elswick, who has been with Andrew throughout his recovery.
"All the little details, and the struggles he had, this was his main focus. Even when he had setbacks, he'd work extra hard to get here."
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:50 AM | Comments (4)
January 18, 2010
U.S. Army Maj. Jim Gant The Green Beret
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Jim Gant, the Green Beret who could win the war in Afghanistan
Sunday, January 17, 2010
It was the spring of 2003, and Capt. Jim Gant and his Special Forces team had just fought their way out of an insurgent ambush in Afghanistan's Konar province when they heard there was trouble in the nearby village of Mangwel. There, Gant had a conversation with a tribal chief -- a chance encounter that would redefine his mission in Afghanistan and that, more than six years later, could help salvage the faltering U.S. war effort.
Malik Noorafzhal, an 80-year-old tribal leader, told Gant that he had never spoken to an American before and asked why U.S. troops were in his country. Gant, whose only orders upon arriving in Afghanistan days earlier had been to "kill and capture anti-coalition members," responded by pulling out his laptop and showing Noorafzhal a video of the World Trade Center towers crumbling.
That sparked hours of conversation between the intense 35-year-old Green Beret and the elder in a tribe of 10,000. "I spent a lot of time just listening," Gant said. "I spoke only when I thought I understood what had been said."
In an unusual and unauthorized pact, Gant and his men were soon fighting alongside tribesmen in local disputes and against insurgents, at the same time learning ancient tribal codes of honor, loyalty and revenge -- codes that often conflicted with the sharia law that the insurgents sought to impose. But the U.S. military had no plans to leverage the Pashtun tribal networks against the insurgents, so Gant kept his alliances quiet.
No longer. In recent months, Gant, now a major, has won praise at the highest levels for his effort to radically deepen the U.S. military's involvement with Afghan tribes -- and is being sent back to Afghanistan to do just that. His 45-page paper, "One Tribe at a Time," published online last fall and circulating widely within the U.S. military, the Pentagon and Congress, lays out a strategy focused on empowering Afghanistan's ancient tribal system. Gant believes that with the central government still weak and corrupt, the tribes are the only enduring source of local authority and security in the country.
"We will be totally unable to protect the 'civilians' in the rural areas of Afghanistan until we partner with the tribes for the long haul," Gant wrote.
A decorated war veteran and Pashto speaker with multiple tours in Afghanistan, Gant had been assigned by the Army to deploy to Iraq in November. But with senior military and civilian leaders -- including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates; Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan; and Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command -- expressing support for Gant's views, he was ordered instead to return to Afghanistan later this year to work on tribal issues.
"Maj. Jim Gant's paper is very impressive -- so impressive, in fact, that I shared it widely," Petraeus said, while McChrystal distributed it to all commanders in Afghanistan. One senior military official went so far as to call Gant "Lawrence of Afghanistan."
The abrupt about-face surprised the blunt-spoken major. "I couldn't believe it," Gant said in a recent interview, recalling how his orders were canceled just days before he was set to deploy to Iraq. "How do I know they are serious? They contacted me. I am not a very nice guy. I lead men in combat. I am not a Harvard guy. You don't want me on your think tank."
Gant, who sports tattoos on his right arm featuring Achilles and the Chinese characters for "fear no man," is clearly comfortable with the raw violence that is part of his job. An aggressive officer, he is known to carry triple the ammunition required for his missions. (One fellow soldier referred to this habit as a "Gantism.") But he is equally at ease playing for hours with Afghan children or walking hand-in-hand with tribesmen, as is their custom.
As a teenager in Las Cruces, N.M., Gant was headed to college on a basketball scholarship and had no plans to join the military until he read Robin Moore's 1965 fictionalized account of Special Forces actions in Vietnam. Captivated by the unique type of soldier who waged war with indigenous fighters, Gant decided to become a Green Beret and scheduled an appointment with his father, a middle school principal, to break the news.
Enlisting in the Army soon after his high school graduation, Gant became a Special Forces communications sergeant and fought in the Persian Gulf War. Later, as a captain, he served combat tours in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, and one in Iraq during the height of the violence there in 2006 and 2007.
Intellectually, Gant is driven by a belief that Special Forces soldiers should immerse themselves in the culture of foreign fighters, as British officer T.E. Lawrence did during the 1916-1918 Arab revolt. In Iraq as well as in Afghanistan, Gant relied on his Special Forces training to build close bonds with local fighters, often trusting them with his life.
In Iraq in December 2006, a roadside bomb flipped over Gant's Humvee twice and left it engulfed in flames, with him pinned inside. Members of the Iraqi National Police battalion that Gant was advising pulled him out. Soon afterward, Gant led those same police in fighting their way out of a complex insurgent ambush near the city of Balad, saving the lives of two policemen and an Iraqi girl while under heavy fire, and deliberately driving his Humvee over two roadside bombs to protect the police riding in unarmored trucks behind him.
Gant earned a Silver Star for his bravery, but he remembers most the goat sacrifice the police held for him that day. "We had just won a great battle. We had several [police] commandos there, with several goats, and they were putting their hands in the blood, and putting their handprints all over us and on the vehicles," Gant recalled in a 2007 interview. He felt both strange and honored. "It's something I will never forget," he said.
Under Gant's plan, small "tribal engagement teams," each made up of six culturally astute and battle-tested Special Forces soldiers, would essentially go native, moving into villages with rifles, ammunition and money to empower tribal leaders to improve security in their area and fight insurgents. The teams would always operate with the tribes, reducing the risk of roadside bombs and civilian casualties from airstrikes.
The U.S. military would have to grant the teams the leeway to grow beards and wear local garb, and enough autonomy in the chain of command to make rapid decisions. Most important, to build relationships, the military would have to commit one or two teams to working with the same tribe for three to five years, Gant said.
Such a strategy, he argues, would bolster McChrystal's counterinsurgency campaign by tapping thousands of tribal fighters to secure rural populations, allowing international troops and official Afghan forces to focus on large towns and cities. Building strong partnerships with the tribes, whose domains straddle Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, could also prove critical to defeating insurgents entrenched in Pakistan's western tribal areas, he contends.
Adm. Eric Olson, who leads the 57,000-strong Special Operations Command, said in the latest issue of Joint Force Quarterly that Gant's proposal is "innovative and bold" and likely to have "strategic effects." And in recent congressional testimony, Gates agreed that the U.S. military should step up cooperation with Afghan tribes, saying many security responsibilities are likely to fall on them rather than the Afghan army or police force.
Thorough intelligence analysis should drive the selection of the tribes, Gant said, noting that the U.S. military has already gathered much of the intelligence. "There are 500-page documents breaking these tribes down. You would be shocked how much we know about who is who," he said.
Gant's proposals go well beyond the more cautious tribal-outreach efforts underway in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military is experimenting with neighborhood-watch-type programs such as the Community Defense Initiative, in which Special Forces teams partner with tribes selected by an Afghan minister. With time running out, Gant believes tribal engagement must be bolder. "We are trying not to lose, not trying to win," he said. (Gant's experiences helped shape the CDI effort, and he is currently preparing to return to Afghanistan to implement his vision, according to a senior military official.)
Still, Gant acknowledges that his strategy has risks. The teams would depend on the tribes for their safety. "American soldiers would die. Some of them alone, with no support. Some may simply disappear," he wrote in his paper on the strategy. Another possibility is that intertribal conflict would break out between two or more U.S.-backed tribes. "Could it happen? Yes. Could it cause mission failure? Yes. Could we have to pick sides for our own safety? Yes," Gant said. But he believes that if American advisers forge strong ties with the tribes, the chances of such conflicts can be minimized.
Gant's greatest fear is that the United States will lack the fortitude to back the tribes for the long haul, eventually abandoning them. He, for one, plans to stick with his tribe in Afghanistan, at least to fulfill a personal promise to return to Konar province to see elder Malik Noorafzhal, now 86.
"I am not here to imply that I think I could win the war in Afghanistan if put in charge," Gant wrote in his paper. ". . . I just know what I have done and what I could do again, if given the chance."
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Wild Thing's comment........
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (5)
January 06, 2010
U.S. Judge Drops Charges Against Blackwater Guards ~ Happy New Year Blackwater!!!
U.S. judge drops charges against Blackwater guards
A federal judge dismissed all charges Thursday against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007.
Citing repeated government missteps, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed a case that had been steeped in international politics. The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. The Iraqi government wanted the guards to face trial in Iraq and officials there said they would closely watch how the U.S. judicial system handled the case.
Urbina said the prosecutors ignored the advice of senior Justice Department officials and improperly built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity. Urbina said the government's explanations were "contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility."
"We're obviously disappointed by the decision," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said. "We're still in the process of reviewing the opinion and considering our options."
Prosecutors can appeal the ruling.
Blackwater contractors had been hired to guard U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The guards said insurgents ambushed them in a traffic circle. Prosecutors said the men unleashed an unprovoked attack on civilians using machine guns and grenades.
The shooting led to the unraveling of the North Carolina-based company, which since has replaced its management and changed its name to Xe Services.
The five guards are former Marines Donald Ball, Dustin Heard and Evan Liberty, former Army sergeant Nick Slatten and Paul Slough, an Army veteran.
Defense attorneys said the guards were thrilled by the ruling after more than two years of scrutiny.
"It's tremendously gratifying to see the court allow us to celebrate the new year the way it has," said attorney Bill Coffield, who represents Liberty. "It really invigorates your belief in our court system."
"It's indescribable," said Ball's attorney, Steven McCool. "It feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders. Here's a guy that's a decorated war hero who we maintain should never have been charged in the first place."
The five guards had been charged with manslaughter and weapons violations. The charges carried mandatory 30-year prison terms.
Urbina's ruling does not resolve whether the shooting was proper. Rather, the 90-page opinion underscores some of the conflicting evidence in the case. Some Blackwater guards told prosecutors they were concerned about the shooting and offered to cooperate. Others said the convoy had been attacked. By the time the FBI began investigating, Nisoor Square had been picked clean of bullets that might have proven whether there had been a firefight or a massacre.
The case fell apart because, after the shooting, the State Department ordered the guards to explain what happened. In exchange for those statements, the State Department promised the statements would not be used in a criminal case. Such limited immunity deals are common in police departments so officers involved in shootings cannot hold up internal investigations by refusing to cooperate.
The five guards told investigators they fired their weapons, an admission that was crucial because forensic evidence could not determine who had fired.
Because of the immunity deal, prosecutors had to build their case without those statements, a high legal hurdle that Urbina said the Justice Department failed to clear. Prosecutors read those statements, reviewed them in the investigation and used them to question witnesses and get search warrants, Urbina said. Key witnesses also reviewed the statements and the grand jury heard evidence that had been tainted by those statements, the judge said.
The Justice Department set up a process to avoid those problems, but Urbina said lead prosecutor Ken Kohl and others "purposefully flouted the advice" of senior Justice Department officials telling them not to use the statements.
It was unclear what the ruling means for a sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway, who turned on his former colleagues and pleaded guilty to killing one Iraqi and wounding another. Had he gone to trial, the case against him would likely have fallen apart, but it's unclear whether Urbina will let him out of his plea deal.
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McCain Hopes Blackwater Charges Reinstated
McCain: "Our sympathy goes out to the families of those killed and injured in this very unfortunate and unnecessary incident"
Senator John McCain told Iraqis that he 'hopes and believes' that criminal charges against five Blackwater security guards accused of killing Iraqi civilians will be reinstated. (Jan. 5) (The Associated Press)
Wild Thing's comment.......
The unhinged lefty kooks will go psychotic over this one. Obama and Erick Holder must be really ticked off.
Then there is the anti-POW family John McCain and his total RINO statement. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
This is great news. Thank GOD for this ruling.
Now- if we can only get this for our Navy SEALs.
....Thank you Jack for sending this to me.
United States Army
1965-1971
Army Combat Engineers
Quang Tri & Chu Lai '68 -'69
67-69
Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (7)
Michael Yon Handcuffed At Seattle Airport For Refusing to Say How Much He Earned
"Michael Yon ........There is some confusion about who arrested me. TSA was not involved. The Customs people (CBP) were the actors who handcuffed me."
Milblogger and author Michael Yon was handcuffed today at the Seattle airport for not telling the Customs people his net income.
He posted this on his facebook page:
Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eve…ntually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies.
And, here’s his follow-up post:
When they handcuffed me, I said that no country has ever treated me so badly. Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect can that can be expected from our border bullies.
Wild Thing's comment............
Unless it is a law how much money one can earn, it is none of their business. At this point in time, other that providing i.d. when asked, actually ordered because every thing they direct you to do is an order, you are under no obligation to tell them anything. At least as far as I know.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:40 AM | Comments (8)
January 04, 2010
Merry Christmas From Afghanistan ~ God Bless Our Troops and Keep Them Safe!
Seasons greetings from CAAT 1, WPNS CO, 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines. (filmed on site at Alpha 1)
(As it pans across the platoon halfway through, please excuse them looking like they're watching a crucifixion; by this point they've heard the song several hundred times :) .......Merry Christmas!
"Merry Christmas From Afghanistan"
Merry Christmas from Afghanistan, oh man, it's that time of year,
and the birth of Jesus doesn't seem to please the terrorists down here;
I'd like to take a moment for you folks at home to make it clear;
Merry Christmas from the Eastern Hemisphere.
Merry Christmas from Afghanistan, way back in the USA,
You've got mistletoe and falling snow, we've got sandstorms and grenades
But what the hell, it's just as well we celebrate it anyway,
Merry Christmas from 5,000 miles away.
And I remember many Decembers, sitting 'round that tree,
And now I'm in an outer cordon sitting 'round an IED,
I've traded yams and roasted ham for a chicken noodle MRE,
Merry Christmas from out here in the middle east.
So merry Christmas from Afghanistan, from our AO to yours,
I'll be watching illegal DVDs and defecating out of doors,
Put my pedal to the metal man, I'll settle for that medal of honor when I when the war,
Single-handedly from my armored drivers door.
Yuletide salutations from our vacation in the sand,
from this E-3 Lance Coolie and up the whole chain of command
Between Al Qaeda, Al Jazeera, Mujahadeen, and the Taliban,
It's a very merry Christmas in Afghanistan.
From south Montana, to northwest Indiana, to the shores of North Caroline,
From NYC to LA's beaches and down the Mason-Dixon Line,
It's that season where we're freezing, but all in all, we're doing fine,
So merry Christmas from Afghanistan tonight.
It's that season where we're freezing, but all in all, we're doing fine,
So Merry Christmas down the Final Protection Line!
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Wild Thing's comment.........
We are so blessed as a country, we have the most awesome people serving in our military. God bless this hero and all of our troops.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (4)
January 01, 2010
Injured Airman Senior Airman Tre Porfirio Has Groundbreaking Surgery
Senior Airman Tre Porfirio needed several surgeries and lost his spleen, pancreas and small intestine.
While serving with an Army unit in Afghanistan, 21-year-old Air Force Senior Airman Tre Porfirio was shot three times in the back by an insurgent Nov. 21. Seventy-two hours and 8,000 miles later, Porfirio was at Walter Reed with injuries so extensive it would require 11 surgeries to reconstruct his abdomen.
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Injured airman has groundbreaking surgery
By Tom Spoth - Staff writer
Three shots rang out.
Senior Airman Tre Porfirio went down.
To save his life, doctors had to remove his pancreas during one of 11 surgeries to repair the damage caused by an Afghan insurgent.
Without his pancreas, Porfirio would normally face life as a severe diabetic, with daily insulin injections and a higher risk of blindness, kidney failure, amputations and strokes.
But groundbreaking surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., is expected to keep that from happening. Surgeons at Walter Reed, working with a Florida doctor who developed the procedure, took cells from Porfirio’s pancreas and injected them into his liver.
The surgery was the first known successful transplant of insulin-producing cells after severe trauma resulting in the complete loss of the pancreas, according to Walter Reed officials. If all goes as planned, the cells inside Porfirio’s liver will produce insulin that normally would come from his pancreas.
The procedure began the night before Thanksgiving, when doctors at Walter Reed packed Porfirio’s pancreas in ice and shipped it by airplane to Dr. Camillo Ricordi at the University of Miami.
Ricordi’s team spent six hours isolating the “islet cells” that produce insulin, then suspended the cells in a special cold solution and sent them back to Walter Reed. On Thanksgiving Day, Walter Reed doctors performed the transplant.
“Being able to serve a wounded warrior who risked his life to defend us all, I can think of no better way to spend Thanksgiving,” Ricordi said.
Porfirio had been in Afghanistan for about three months when he was shot three times in the back Nov. 21 while inside a combat operations post, said his father, Karl Porfirio.
The 21-year-old communications technician remained conscious until he was being flown back to Bagram Airfield and “remembers holding his guts in his hand,” his father said.
Credit for his son’s survival can be traced all the way back to Afghanistan and the first soldier who picked him up, Karl Porfirio said.
“By all means he should’ve bled to death and he didn’t,” he said. “He’s a lucky man and I’m a lucky dad.”
The surgery is so far viewed as a success.
“The liver is doing the job of the pancreas,” Karl Porfirio said. “They already have evidence that it’s working. They’re hoping he won’t be insulin dependent.”
Tre Porfirio is still recovering at Walter Reed. His father said in late December that Tre had begun eating solid food, and could speak in a whisper and get up for short periods. He made his first trip to the cafeteria on Christmas, and met a special visitor to the hospital — Vice President Joe Biden.
Porfirio also had some visitors of his own, from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he is assigned to the 88th Communications Squadron — squadron commander Lt. Col. Rick Johns and Porfirio’s best friend, Senior Airman Scott Cross.
“It's absolutely a miracle that he's alive and making this rapid progress,” Johns said. He noted that the nonprofit organization Luke’s Wings has helped provide transportation for Karl Porfirio, as well as Tre’s two brothers and his girlfriend, to visit Walter Reed.
Karl Porfirio said Tre will probably be at Walter Reed for at least 30 more days. Once he is released, he hopes to rejoin his squadron at Wright-Patterson, his father said.
“I’m proud of my son — he’s a good guy, he’s a good airman,” Karl Porfirio said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen down the road, but we’re hopeful.”
A little more as well from this other article: LOVE the quotes by the doctor.~ Wild Thing
Doctors Perform Groundbreaking Surgery at Walter Reed
Over the last eight years of war, doctors at Walter Reed have seen only 28 pancreatic injuries, and only one of this devastating nature, officials said. The surgical team called the University of Miami and put together a plan to ship the damaged pancreas to Florida to harvest the cells that produce insulin -- called islet cells -- and immediately ship them back to Walter Reed to be transplanted into Porfirio’s liver.
All of this had to be done overnight, the day before Thanksgiving.
“I knew who the main players were in this case,” said Dr. Rahul Jindal, transplant surgeon. “I picked up the phone and called [Dr. Camillo Ricordi, chief of cellular transplantation, University of Miami] and, without hesitation, he said, ‘For a wounded warrior, I’ll bring my whole team.’”
“Being able to serve a wounded warrior who risked his life to defend us all, I can think of no better way to spend Thanksgiving,” Ricordi said.
Porfirio’s blood tests show his harvested islet cells are functioning well, and he is gaining back his strength every day, doctors said.
Wild Thing's comment.........
Blessings on everyone involved. Thank you for caring about our heroes.
Thank you thank you!!!! Heroes all.
Prayers for all our wounded heroes! And God bless those wonderful doctors!
.
....Thank you Jack for sending this to me.
United States Army
1965-1971
Army Combat Engineers
Quang Tri & Chu Lai '68 -'69
67-69
Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (6)
December 29, 2009
Amazing Blackhawk Ridge Landing on Mountaintop in Zabul, Afghanistan
A compilation of three clips showing a UH60 Blackhawk landing on a mountaintop in Zabul, Afghanistan, to insert coalition ground forces on Nov. 6th.
SOF Special Operations Forces A tribute to all international Special Operations Forces and Police Forces in the war against oppression and terrorism.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:40 AM | Comments (4)
December 26, 2009
A Soldier's Christmas - Call to Action
A father meets a phantom soldier on Christmas Eve. He's reminded of our military history, founding of our country. He's called to defend freedom at home. Six minute featurette based on Michael Marks' poem. Poem was made popular by LCDR Jeff Giles, CS, USN, stationed in Al Taqqadum Iraq.
Wild Thing's comment.......
This is so awesome!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (4)
December 25, 2009
"The Good Lord and the Man" by John Rich
The song is about John Rich's grandfather , a World War II veteran who won six purple hearts, the details Rich injects into the opening lines provide the set-up for a heartfelt homage to his Grandfather Rich: “Well he was one of the millions/Who signed up to defend us, long ago in 1941/When they sucker punched us in Pearl Harbor, he fought under MacArthur/Seventeen with an Army Thompson gun.”
Lyrics to The Good Lord and the Man by John Rich
Well he was one of the millions
who signed up to defend us
long ago in 1941
when they sucker punched us in Pearl Harbor
he fought under Macarthur seventeen with an army Thompson gun
Well he stormed a lot of beaches slept in jungles with the leaches
he saw things young man should never see
and when they shot him in the shoulder
he got back up and he marched over
left a lot of brothers dead in kawagalie
If it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
there wouldn’t be a breath of freedom in this land
and I see people on my T.V. taking shots at uncle Sam
I hope they always remember why they can
cause we’d all be speakin’ German livin’ under the flag of Japan
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
Well I’m the grandson of a soldier and I’d fight the whole world over
if duty called and freedoms on the line
but thanks to the greatest generation and the ones still fighting for our nation
I’ve never had to kill for my way of life
If it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
there wouldn’t be a breath of freedom in this land
and I see people on my T.V. taking shots at uncle Sam
I hope they always remember why they can
cause we’d all be speakin’ German livin’ under flag of Japan
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
there wouldn’t be a breath of freedom in this land
and I see people on my T.V. taking shots at uncle Sam
I hope they always remember why they can
cause we’d all be speakin’ German livin’ under flag of Japan
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
if it wasn’t for the good lord and the man
Wild Thing's comment............
Great song! I have never heard this one before. I really like it.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (3)
December 23, 2009
Thank You Troops!
Our Troops are so awesome!
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:49 AM | Comments (3)
December 21, 2009
US Navy Presidential Ceremonial Honor Guard Drill Team
.
Wild Thing's comment....................
I LOVE it!
......Thank you SSGT Steve
SSgt Steve
1st MarDiv, H Co., 2nd Bn, 5th Marine Regiment
2/5 Marines, Motto: "Retreat, Hell"
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (4)
December 18, 2009
God Bless Our Republic and our Warriors Our Troops and Veterans
.
WORDS AND MUSIC BY
S. Householder
I’ve got the reach and the teeth of a killin’ machine, ith a need to bleed you when the light goes green, best believe, I’m in a zone to be, from my Yin to my Yang to my Yang Tze.
Put a grin on my chin when you come to me, ‘cuz I’ll win,
I’m a one-of-a-kind and I’ll bring death to the place you’re about to be: another river of blood runnin’ under my feet.
Forged in a fire lit long ago, stand next to me, you’ll never stand alone. I’m last to leave, but the first to go, Lord, make me dead before you make me old.
I feed on the fear of the devil inside of the enemy faces in my sights: aim with the hand, shoot with the mind, kill with a heart like arctic ice
I am a soldier and I’m marching on, I am a warrior and this is my song I bask in the glow of the rising war, lay waste to the ground of an enemy shore, wade through the blood spilled on the floor, and if another one stands I’ll kill some more.
Bullet in the breach and a fire in me, like a cigarette thrown to gasoline, if death don’t bring you fear, I swear, you’ll fear these marchin’ feet.
Come to the nightmare, come to me, deep down in the dark where the devil be, in the maw with the jaws and the razor teeth, where the brimstone burns and the angel weeps.
Call to the gods if I cross your path and my silhouette hangs like a body bag; hope is a moment now long past, the shadow of death is the one I cast.
I am a soldier and I’m marching on, I am a warrior and this is my song
My eyes are steel and my gaze is long, I am a warrior and this is my song
Now I live lean and I mean to inflict the grief, and the least of me's still out of your reach. The killing machine’s gonna do the deed, until the river runs dry and my last breath leaves.
Chin in the air with a head held high, I’ll stand in the path of the enemy line.Feel no fear, know my pride: for God and Country I’ll end your life.
I am a soldier and I’m marching on, I am a warrior and this is my song
My eyes are steel and my gaze is long, I am a warrior and this is my song
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:46 AM | Comments (4)
December 16, 2009
U.S. Army Paratroopers Call In A-10 Gun Run In Korengal Valley
U.S. Army Paratroopers from 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, "The Rock", 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, call in an A-10 Warthog to engage Insurgent position with 30mm gatling gun in Korengal valley, Afghanistan.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (4)
December 15, 2009
Anti-Military Obama's New Military Rules Of Engagement More Rules In How To Kill Our Troops
It's not just the enemy killing U.S. soldiers
You won't believe new rules of engagement in Afghanistan
by F. Michael Maloof
New military rules of engagement ostensibly to protect Afghan civilians are putting the lives of U.S. forces in jeopardy, claim Army and Marine sources, as the Taliban learns the game plan based the rules' imposed limits.
The rules of engagement, or ROEs, apply to all coalition forces of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Their enactment is in response to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's complaints over mounting civilian deaths apparently occurring in firefights.
Despite the fact that the newly arrived U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, imposed the more restrictive ROEs to minimize the killing of innocent civilians, however, the Taliban is well aware of them and has its own forces acting in ways to counteract them.
The impact of new restrictions has created increasing frustration and concern among U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops who now are compelled to follow these rules despite the danger of letting the Taliban live to fight again another day.
Critics see the new ROEs being more oriented toward defensive rather than offensive operations, as evidenced by recent charges of murder against two U.S. Army snipers because they had targeted a Taliban commander who reportedly wasn't holding a weapon.
The actual ROEs are said to be classified U.S. and NATO secrets, but based on individual soldier accounts, those restrictions include the following:
* No night or surprise searches
* Villagers are to be warned prior to searches
* Afghan National Army, or ANA, or Afghan National Police, or ANP, must accompany U.S. units on searches
* U.S. soldiers may not fire at insurgents unless they are preparing to fire first
* U.S. forces cannot engage insurgents if civilians are present
* Only women can search women
* Troops can fire on insurgents if they catch them placing an IED but not if insurgents walk away from where the explosives are.
Often, rules of engagement require varying levels of approvals before action can be taken. In one case, villagers had tipped off U.S. forces of the presence of a Taliban commander who was threatening village elders.
To get permission to go after him, U.S. troops had to get 11 separate Afghan, U.S. and international forces' approval to the plan. The approval, however, did not come until well into the next day. By then, the Taliban commander had moved on, to the consternation of the villagers who had provided the tip. Observers have claimed that it can take some 96 hours to acquire all the permissions to act.
In other cases, the use of force against insurgents may be blocked if they lower their guns, only to have those insurgents return later to attack.
Also, ISAF troops cannot engage insurgents if they are leaving an area where an IED has been planted. In one case, insurgents planting an IED had detected the presence of U.S. forces and immediately began leaving the area, tossing evidence of their preparations along the way. U.S. forces could not fire on them.
The ROEs in some cases have gone beyond limiting ISAF troops in their operations. In one case, ROE restrictions were in effect when four U.S. Marines twice pleaded by radio for artillery support in combat action in Kunar Province in Afghanistan – and twice they were refused, before they were killed.
Rules Of Engagement Are A Dilemma For U.S. Troops
Tom Bowman and Renee Montagne
December 11, 2009
As part of the new American counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, soldiers and Marines must work first to protect the Afghan population. Given the choice between killing the enemy or risking civilian lives, they have been willing to let the enemy go. NPR's Tom Bowman was in Afghanistan earlier this year and witnessed troops grappling with the dilemma of whether to shoot.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
Next, we have a story that underlines the difficulty of fighting a war amid a civilian population. It's the story of U.S. Marines who had Afghans in their gun sights, Afghans who looked like they might be planting a bomb. The Marines had to decide whether to pull the trigger. Their decision says a lot about the rules of war against insurgents in Afghanistan.
NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman watched the story unfold during a recent visit to the country, and he joins us now to talk about it. Hello.
TOM BOWMAN: Hi, Renee.
MONTAGNE: Now the rules of engagement have changed lately for troops in Afghanistan.
BOWMAN: That's right. General Stanley McChrystal, the overall commander there, tightened up these rules on when soldiers can fire. And he did this because there was - there were too many civilian casualties in Afghanistan. But this all illustrates the basic dilemma for U.S. troops. They want to kill insurgents who are trying to kill them, but their job is to make sure they only fire when they're very sure of their targets.
MONTAGNE: So, Tom, tell us what it was that you saw?
BOWMAN: Well, Renee, we were in this combat outpost down in southern Afghanistan, in the Helmand River Valley, and we were inside this center, a command center, watching a video screen. They were watching live while these guys were digging a hole for a roadside bomb. And there were other indicators, too, besides digging the hole. There was a guy swimming across a canal with this wire, and the wires are used to detonate the bomb.
Unidentified Man #1: I have two guys on the west side of the cow buoys(ph) running wires across the canal to the west side, where a (unintelligible) an IED the other day. So, they're watching them right now.
BOWMAN: There were a couple of guys keeping watch and stopping traffic. And the Marines were intercepting a radio call from these suspected insurgents while they were doing these other activities.
MONTAGNE: And on the radio, they were saying we're planting a bomb?
BOWMAN: And on the radio they were talking about planting a bomb.
MONTAGNE: So from the Marines perspective, the Afghans really did appear to be insurgents. So what did they do?
BOWMAN: Well, they felt comfortable. They had all the indicators that these guys were insurgents planting a bomb. So they thought about using a machine gun to shoot these guys. There was another combat outpost not too far away. The problem was there was a compound of houses between where the Marines were with their machine gun and the guys planting the bomb.
So then they decided to bring in the helicopters and use the machines guns and the helicopters to shoot these guys. As the helicopters came in, these guys look up in the air and start walking away. One of the guys was carrying a yellow jug - and that's become the icon of the roadside bomb. They mix fertilizer and diesel fuel in this, and that becomes a part of the bomb. And then we saw one of these guys throw this jug into a haystack.
Unidentified Man #2: And hiding the jug into the hay pile right now, and then are walking near the open field, so just wait until...
BOWMAN: And they were gone. It was all over. They could no longer shoot at them.
MONTAGNE: So why didn't they shoot at them?
BOWMAN: Well, they thought that they were still too close to this compound of houses to allow these helicopters to use their machine guns to shoot, so they decided against it.
MONTAGNE: So, in being very, very careful about shooting at what they absolutely believed to be insurgents, they ended up, in effect, losing these guys. How did that make them feel?
BOWMAN: Well, they weren't happy at all. And some of them stormed out of this command center. And we talked with one of them afterwards. This is Lieutenant James Wendy(ph).
Lieutenant JAMES WENDY (U.S. Marines): There's no way that anyone other than the enemy would've been injured.
BOWMAN: So, why weren't you allowed to shoot?
Lt. WENDY: Honestly, I don't know. I'd like to say I wish we could play by the big boy rules, you know, but, you know, it's just the way it is. And if I had known how frustrating it'd be and was able to better prepare myself for that mentally, I think that maybe I would've been better off.
MONTAGNE: What about the military leaders? Is it reaching the top? Are they hearing these complaints about these rules of engagement that are so restrictive?
BOWMAN: You know, they are hearing these complaints. And I had a few minutes this week with their overall commander, General McChrystal, and I told him the same story, Renee, I told you. And I asked him about the rules of engagement. Here's what he had to say:
General STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL (U.S. Commander, Afghanistan): I've been at this a long time now, since 9/11, and there were a tremendous number of times when I've seen activities done, which, on the surface of what was seen, looks exactly one way, looks completely convincing. And then in the aftermath, what you saw was incomplete. In fact, what we find is civilian casualties who are unarmed civilians.
I think when we err on the side of maturity and caution, there is a cost. And I know that we're asking an extraordinary amount from them to operate with such restraint and self-discipline, but I think it's how we win the war.
BOWMAN: So, that being said, there's still a widespread frustration among the troops, of feeling that their hands are tied in going after insurgents.
MONTAGNE: NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Thanks very much.
BOWMAN: You're welcome, Renee.
Wild Thing's comment.............
I can’t tell you the level of rage this makes me feel!
"And I know that we’re asking an extraordinary amount from them to operate with such restraint and self-discipline, but I think it’s how we win the war." ~ McChrystal
He actually said this...OMG! And the other things as well.
Obama and McChrystal presented these ROE back in July of this year. IMO I think McChrystal is of the same mind set as Obama, I truly do.. A good Commander would NEVER sacrifice his troops the way McChrystal has and do so willingly. McChrystal has done this willingly. NO RESPECT for the man. He deserves none. not from me, and not from the Troops he is PERSONALLY endangering. And OBAMA does not care about our troops in any way, shape, or form. BUT McChrystal is NOT. He is supposed to care. He is supposed to protect the lives of those under HIS command, even if he must defy obama to do it.
And LOOK at this POS in our military! The Generals are part of the problem. PC Islamic bootlickers.
Look at this one.
US Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond: Islam is a Beautiful Religion - June 26, 2009
Representatives of the Islamic Society of Colorado Springs met Thursday with Fort Carson military leaders at the Army base to discuss ways to improve cultural awareness and an understanding of Islam among deploying soldiers.
Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division, initiated the meeting in hopes of developing a better cultural-awareness program for the thousands of soldiers already at Fort Carson and the hundreds expected to arrive this summer.
“We want to talk to (soldiers) about this beautiful religion,” Hammond said at the one-hour meeting, attended by local Islamic leaders Arshad Yousufi, Farouk Abushaban and Dawud Salaam; 4th Infantry Division cultural adviser Al Azim; and four other Army leaders.
OMG, this is so totally insane!
Nothing good will come from Obama's anti- military R.O.E.'s. You can't micromanage a firefight and as the case of the Marines killed in the Kunar province in August demonstrates, micromanaging is deadly to our troops. It is impossible to prevent civilian casualties during a time of war. We will only lose more of our troops attempting to do so and the enemy knows the Achilles heal by which to exploit and use to their advantage. The enemy gets to use their full arsenal and tactics on our troops but our guys have to fight hamstrung by the ROE’s. Utter and complete BS.
“We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We’ve lost today,” Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter’s repeated demands for helicopters. ~ RIP Major Williams, 9/09/2009
Here are two more that I have heard of from our troops.
Can’t fire on women carrying ammo to the fighters who are shooting at our troops. Cease fire when the women are passing out the ammo.
Can’t fire at the Taliban with the binoculars, adjusting the mortar fire on our troops. He is not holding a “weapon,” merely binoculars to help improve the aim of the mortar teams killing our troops.
Here are MY own R.O.E.
Consider no target off limits under any circumstances if our troops are being fired on.
No exceptions.
Using the killing R.O.E.'s of Obama, if a soldier has a doubt it can cause a hesitation that could cost them their life and the lives of the rest of our troops.
Fight to win
There is great danger to our troops and other NATO troops as well.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:55 AM | Comments (16)
December 14, 2009
Stand With Dan Burton! Save Ouor Navy SEALs!
You Can Sign the petition to send a message that you stand with Dan and the 3 Navy SEALs for defending America.
Petition to Adm. Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations:
Dear Adm. Roughead:
In a heroic action on the night of September 3, Navy SEALs captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq, Ahmed Hashim Abed. Abed is believed to be the man behind the barbaric attack in Fallujah in 2004 in which four Blackwater security guards were ambushed, their bodies mutilated, and then hung from a bridge.
Now, because Abed complained that someone smacked him in the face after he was captured (he apparently exhibited a bloody lip), three of the SEALs – Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Julio Huertas – are facing a January court martial for prisoner abuse (or making false statements to conceal it.)
SEALs are characterized by bravery, skill, and honor. They operate under stressful conditions that we cannot even imagine. And in this war – against a ruthless, implacable and barbaric enemy – we believe that their conduct must be judged in that context.
You, as Chief of Naval Operations, have the ability to prevent these men from facing disciplinary action that would end their careers and – we firmly believe – destroy the morale of all our Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force special operators.
Please take action immediately to dismiss these charges and restore these men to duty with honor.
Wild Thing's comment......
I am signing every one of these petitions for our Navy SEALs. Somehow we have got to get through to the people in charge to stop this insanity!!!
We have got to stand strong on this or they will do this to every one of our troops.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:47 AM | Comments (4)
December 13, 2009
There Are Two Petitions To Free Our Navy SEALs
Navy SEALs Accused of Abusing Detainee
Sean Hannity interview with Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe’s lawyer.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Now two Navy SEALs were arraigned earlier today on charges that they mistreated an Iraqi suspect accused of murdering four American contractors in Fallujah. Now, a third SEAL is set to be arraigned later. Now, one of the SEALs, 24-year-old Matthew McCabe, is accused of punching the detainee after his arrest. Mr. McCabe is receiving growing support from American citizens. In fact, protesters gathered in Norfolk, Virginia, today to protest the government's decision to try the SEALs.
And Mr. McCabe, well, he's speaking out, too. Here's what he told reporters earlier today.
MATTHEW MCCABE, NAVY SEAL: I'm kind of like caught off-guard a little bit, especially when the situation hit the media and definitely by seeing my own picture in the media is kind of — it's not standard protocol.
HANNITY: And joining me is Neil Puckett, who is Matthew McCabe's attorney.
Mr. Puckett, thank you for being with us.
NEIL PUCKETT, MATTHEW MCCABE'S ATTORNEY: Thank you, Sean.
HANNITY: I want to go through the facts of the case as we know them. First of all, the Iraqi detainee himself, that bridge incident where people were — contractors were hung from a bridge, this is the type of terrorists we're talking about in this case, correct?
PUCKETT: That's the exact terrorist we're talking about, Sean.
HANNITY: Yes, all right. So just for the sake of explaining to everybody, one of the things that I found most fascinating about this — and I got to give credit to Jed Babbin and Rowan (ph) Scarborough, who both wrote about this.
Chapter 18, Al Qaeda has a training manual. In this training manual that was released by the U.S. Justice Department, it says, "Members must complain, Al Qaeda members, of torture and mistreatment inflicted on them if they're captured." It's part of their training. Correct?
PUCKETT: That's correct, Sean. And it's to be expected in every situation in which they're captured.
HANNITY: All right. So explain, then, how — because as I understand it, the Navy SEALs actually handed over to the Iraqi authorities this suspect and then was given back, and at one point there was some blood on him. Explain how do we even get ourselves in this situation, then?
PUCKETT: Sean, we get ourselves in this situation by listening to the Iraqi complain, taking his complaints seriously, investigating our own SEALs, American fighting men, and taking a terrorist's word over theirs.
HANNITY: Well, — but I want you to go into more detail here, though. So we handed over this terrorist, this murderer to the Iraqis, he's given back to the Americans.
And he just — all he has to do is accuse Navy SEALs, a terrorist makes an accusation. Explain how we got to the point where the SEALs are now put on trial for doing the very job that they're supposed to do.
PUCKETT: Well, Sean, the SEALs are being put on trial because they're suspected of — my client, Matthew McCabe, is suspected of punching the detainee. So the American command structure felt like it needed to take some action.
And they were going to punish all three of these SEALs with something called Article 15, non-judicial punishment. That was a predetermination of guilt. They all understood that. That was telegraphed to them. They all separately refused that non-judicial punishment, as is their right. And the commander, Major General Cleveland, decided to refer their cases to court-martial based on legal advice he received from his legal adviser.
HANNITY: All right. So let's go to Article 15 under the Uniform Code on military justice and explain it in a little bit more detail.
They were requested to pretty much admit some guilt in this, even though they had none. And some of the other SEALs are being accused of covering up. The one SEAL, quote, "Might have punched him," your client.
So the worst-case scenario is they're being accused of punching a terrorist that had hung contractors from a bridge in Fallujah.
PUCKETT: That's exactly right, Sean. And the point here is that I think small unit leadership failed. In the military, small unit leadership is equipped to deal with allegations or suspicions of misconduct at their own local level.
So even if there were some appearance of impropriety, I think it would have been totally reasonable for the direct supervisors of these SEALs, not knowing who did anything, if they did anything, to simply say, "Look, it looks like this guy had blood on him. If are any of you guys are responsible, knock it off. I don't want to see this happen again," assuming they think the SEALs even did it.
HANNITY: Is there — is there any evidence that we know whatsoever? Because in all my research and reading, I don't see any evidence any place anywhere except that the charge was made by the terrorist. Is there any other evidence that we know of involved in here, any eyewitnesses, anything?
PUCKETT: Well, that's a good question, Sean, because as of today we still don't have the evidence from the investigation released to any of the defense attorneys yet, the military or the civilian attorneys. So we don't know what the evidence is.
HANNITY: And what is your plan now for your client and for the other SEALs? Where do you go from here?
PUCKETT: Well, our plan for payoffs for McCabe is simply to enter a plea of "not guilty" and to be tried by his peers at a court-martial to begin on 19 January, 2010. And I want to thank you for recognizing how serious this case is.
HANNITY: Well, I've got to tell you something. Unless some other evidence emerges here, it seems to me that our military chain of command or, for whatever political reasons or motivations may be involved, they would take the word of a murdering terrorist over our Navy SEALs, which is the best of the best. It just doesn't make any sense to me. So...
PUCKETT: It doesn't make any sense, and it's not too late for them to withdraw and dismiss the charges.
HANNITY: All right. Well, we will watch the case slowly, and we hope that's — that's the case in the end. Thank you, Counselor, for being with us.
PUCKETT: Thank you, Sean.
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Here is the LINK for the Petition
I sgned this one and posted it before. Also there is another one that I have also signed.
You can CLICK HERE to sign this one as well. The Human Events petition below goes to SECDEF Gates.
Hon. Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
The Pentagon
Washington, DC
Dear Secretary Gates:
We, the editors and staff of HUMAN EVENTS, and the many Americans who have attached their signatures to this petition, hereby request your personal intervention to dismiss the charges against Navy SEAL operators SO2 Jonathan Keefe, SO1 Julio Huertas and SO2 Matthew McCabe.
These three men are charged with abusing a terrorist they captured in a daring nighttime raid on or about 1 September 2009. On that night, they — as part of a platoon from SEAL Team 10 — captured and detained Ahmed Hashim Abed, one of the most barbaric and dangerous terrorists in Iraq. The terrorist — in a move that is literally right out of the al-Queda training manual — complained of abuse, apparently alleging he was struck in the stomach.
We had hoped that the SEALs’ commanders would dispose of this matter at the lowest level — with a scolding and perhaps a few hundred pushups — for anyone actually guilty of inflicting an inconvenience on this bloody-handed barbarian. But on 29 September 2009, Gen. David H. Petraeus signed a letter authorizing MGen. Charles T. Cleveland to dispose of the allegations of misconduct. In that letter, Gen. Petraeus said that MGen. Cleveland could, “…dispose of these matters in any manner you deem appropriate. This includes the authority to convene courts-martial at any level up to and including General Courts-Martial and to refer charges concerning these individuals to any court-martial.”
The three now face special courts-martial next month. We believe their commanders — including General Petraeus — have failed you, the SEALs and the American people by not preventing the matter from going this far.
You are the person next in line above General Petraeus in the chain of command. You can, legally under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, intervene to dismiss the charges against the three SEALs and direct that they be restored to duty.
We respectfully request that you do so forthwith. For this matter to continue — and to place the honor and fighting future of these three men at stake — is manifestly a gross injustice.
Interviews and local coverage
Two Navy SEALs accused of mistreating an alleged terrorist denied the charges Monday — one during a formal arraignment and the other in more plain-spoken terms after the court proceeding.
“No — the answer’s no, point blank,” said Special Operator 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, as he met well-wishers outside Naval Station Norfolk.
McCabe is one of three Navy SEALs charged with mistreating Ahmed Hashim Abed, the suspected mastermind of the March 2004 attack that killed four Blackwater employees. The SEALs have also been credited with his capture.
The grisly ambush created worldwide headlines as the bodies of the burned and mutilated victims were displayed for the press to photograph.
…Capt. Moira Modzelewski, who presided over the arraignment, set a Jan. 11 trial date for Huertas and Jan. 19 for McCabe.
The case has attracted widespread public attention. About 20 members of Congress have signed a letter circulated by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., calling on Defense Secretary Robert Gates to intervene.
It has also attracted grass-roots support from people like Richard Berndt, of Virginia Beach, who arrived at the naval base at 6 a.m. with a sign that read, “You Fought For Us — Now We Fight For You.”
“I just feel I owe these guys everything I can give them,” said the 24-year Navy veteran. “They just need our support.”
Donna Zovko, the mother of one of the four slain Blackwater employees, drove from Cleveland, Ohio, to stand with the supporters. In one emotional moment, she found herself next to Marty McCabe, the father of the accused Navy SEAL.
The two shared a few words before embracing.
Until the charges became public, Zovko had never known the names of the SEALs credited with Abed’s capture.
“It took me a few minutes to talk to her,” McCabe said later. “I kind of got choked up. This is closure for her.”
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:40 AM | Comments (2)
December 10, 2009
Remembering The Battle of Chosin
The fighting around Chosin Reservoir lasted from November 26 to December 11, 1950.
North Korea 1950- 1st Marine Division- Chosin Reservoir: After having forced the invading North Korean forces out of South Korea, the 1st Marine Division was merciless attacked by invading Chinese Forces. Forced to with drawl 65 miles to the south in -40 degree blowing snow, a trip that took many days, they were repeatedly attack. This is their story as told in a ballad written by Frank G. Gross, USMC Chosin Reservoir survivor.
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Wild Thing's comment........
We will never forget!!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:45 AM | Comments (3)
December 08, 2009
Two Navy SEALs Arraigned in Military Court
One of the SEALs is accused of punching the detainee after his September arrest, while the other is accused of lying to investigators. A third SEAL also accused of lying to investigators about the episode will be arraigned later.
All three men have men have received an outpouring of support from people who view them as heroes.
A Facebook page created to support the SEALs had more than 45,000 members as of Friday.
Support The Navy Seals who Captured Ahmed Hashim Abed....the Facebook page.
Two Navy SEALs Arraigned in Military Court, Accused in Mistreatment of Iraqi Suspect
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va.
Two Navy SEALs accused in the mistreatment of an Iraqi suspect in the 2004 slayings of four U.S. contractors were arraigned in military court Monday, and one SEAL said he was gratified by support from the public and some members of Congress.
The judge scheduled courts-martial next month for Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe of Perrysburg, Ohio, and Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas of Blue Island, Ill. A third SEAL will be arraigned later.
The SEALs have received an outpouring of public support on the Internet, and a California congressman has led a campaign urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to intervene. About three dozen protesters, including the mother of one of the slain contractors, stood outside the Norfolk Naval Station gate Monday morning holding signs of support.
McCabe is accused of striking the detainee in the midsection, dereliction of duty for failing to safeguard the detainee, and lying to investigators. He deferred entering a plea until his Jan. 19 trial.
McCabe told reporters he was confident he would be exonerated.
"I feel very good about it," he said as he made his way through the crowd of supporters, shaking hands and thanking them. "The support is phenomenal. It makes us feel better, all these people being behind us."
Huertas pleaded not guilty to charges of dereliction of duty, lying to investigators and impeding an investigation. His trial was set for Jan. 11.
"He's been a hero — two tours of Iraq and one tour of Afghanistan — and now this is the thanks he gets," Huertas' civilian attorney, Monica Lombardi, told reporters after the arraignment.
Military attorneys were not available for comment.
McCabe and Huertas both deferred a decision on whether to be tried by a military judge or jury. Lombardi said they couldn't choose because they still have not received the prosecution's evidence.
The men could have accepted a nonjudicial reprimand but wanted to go to trial to clear their names, Lombardi said. A reprimand could have resulted in a loss of rank; if they are convicted at trial, they could get up to a year in jail, a bad conduct discharge, or a loss of rank or pay.
McCabe declined to talk to reporters about specifics of the case. His father, Marty McCabe of Las Vegas, said all his son did was his job.
"It just turns my stomach to have these people send him over there and put him in harm's way, and then they don't have his back when he gets home," Marty McCabe said.
Military officials have cautioned against a public rush to judgment, saying a true picture will emerge when all the evidence is heard. However, more than 45,000 people have signed onto a Facebook page supporting the SEALs, and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said in a letter to Gates last week that the prosecution was an overreaction by the military.
The charges stem from an alleged assault after the SEALs captured Ahmed Hashim Abed in early September. Abed is believed to be connected to the killings of four Blackwater security guards who were protecting a convoy when they were attacked by Iraqi insurgents. Their burned corpses were dragged through the city, and two of them were hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River.
Donna Zovko of Cleveland, whose son Jerry Zovko was among the slain contractors, said the prosecution of the SEALs who captured Abed was "very heartbreaking."
"For these young Navy SEALs, I am very thankful and hopeful that they will be OK," Zovko said.
Along with McCabe and Huertas, Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe of Yorktown, Va., is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false official statement. His arraignment has not been scheduled.
The SEALs, based at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Norfolk, are not in custody.
Wild Thing's comment........
The fact that this has even gone this far is an outrage, and we citizens need to pressure our lawmakers and breakers telling them that along with the ObaMoronic decision to try KSM and friends at Ground Zero this traitorous prosecution of these Navy SEALs won't fly with we already angry Americans.
Obama is the commander-in-chief. He could have stopped this travesty from happening. He is allowing SOCOM to betray our soldiers because he is the most anti-military President in history. By allowing the terrorists to have any standing and file a bogus complaint like this he is betraying these Navy SEALs.
These liberals are raping our soldiers. They are freaking tearing down our military limb from limb.
Posted by Wild Thing at 01:48 AM | Comments (10)
December 07, 2009
Caller To Rush Limbaugh ~ Navy SEALs Case Being Pushed By Obama
This forst part of the video is about the rally in NY to protest the Khalid Sheihk Mohammed (KSM) trial that will be in New York City.
Actor Brian Dennehy is among those protesting the trial.
And the second part of the video is about our Navy SEALs.
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House Republicans Seek Reprieve For Navy SEALs
WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers are seeking a reprieve for three Navy SEALs facing court-martial because one allegedly punched a suspect after arresting him for an ambush killing of U.S. contractors in Iraq.
Rather than accept a reprimand, the sailors chose to fight the charges in a military court. Their appeal greatly raises the stakes because a guilty finding could bring stiff punishment.
A letter that Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif, circulated in the House said prosecuting the three SEALs "seems to us to be an overreaction by the command."
One of the SEALs is accused of punching Ahmed Hashim Abed in the face after his September arrest; the others are accused of falsifying statements on the episode.
Hunter, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the men could face loss of rank, up to one year of confinement, a bad conduct discharge and forfeiture of a portion of their pay each month for up to a year.
About 20 lawmakers signed the letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, including House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Here is the letter from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif) to Secretary Gates
December 2, 2009
Honorable Robert Gates
Secretary of Defense
The Pentagon
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Secretary:
We are writing to express our grave concerns over reports that three Navy SEALs will face court-martial proceedings over their handling of one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq. Based on the information we have, we believe that prosecution of these men is not warranted.
As you are aware, in September, the three SEALs in question captured Ahmed Hashim Abed, the alleged planner of the March 2004 ambush in Fallujah that resulted in the killing of four Blackwater contractors. We all remember the horrifying pictures showing two of these individuals, whose bodies, after being burned and mutilated, were hung on a bridge over the Euphrates River.
Since 2004, Abed evaded capture. However, in September, Special Warfare Operators 2nd Class Matthew McCabe and Jonathan Keefe, and Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Julio Huertas, undertook a mission that resulted in Abed’s capture. Soon after his capture, an investigation was conducted based on reports that Abed had been struck in the stomach by one of the SEALs. As we understand it, there was no allegation of torture or sustained abuse. There was simply just this one alleged act. Prosecuting individuals for such a limited act seems to us to be an overreaction by the command. As a result of the investigation, the three SEALs refused to accept non-judicial punishment, believing, according to one of the defense attorneys that they are innocent of the charges. If convicted, they could face significant punishment of up to one year’s confinement, a bad conduct discharge, forfeiture of a portion of their pay each month for up to a year and a reduction in their rank.
It appears from all accounts that these SEALs are exceptional sailors, demonstrated by the fact that each had recently been advanced in rank. They captured a terrorist who had planned an attack that not only killed Americans but also maimed and mutilated their bodies. We believe that prosecution of these sailors for such an apparently limited action will have a negative impact on others in the military who risk their lives in dangerous, often ambiguous situation. Again, we strongly believe that these court-martial proceedings are not warranted and would urge that you review this matter.
Last week on the Rush Limbaugh a retired military intelligence officer called up and had this to say about the Navy Seals case.
He stated that the case of the 3 seals was being pushed relentlessly by the White House. He said that it was pay back for the action taken by the SEALS to kill the pirates that held hostage the skipper of a ship, which was a world-wide event. Obama had set the rules of engagement in such a manner that they almost precluded killing the pirates. A shot could be taken only if the death of the skipper appeared imminent. The seals were on site for 38 hours and had several chances to take out the pirates, but were held back. Finally, the on-site commander determined that the skipper was threatened and ordered the shot. The White House was furious. Obama claimed that he ordered the shot to gain public support, but this was clearly not the case. So, now it is pay back time for the seals.
READ transcript below:
RUSH: Greg in North Carolina, great to have you on the phone here, sir. Welcome to EIB Network.
CALLER: Hi, Mr. Limbaugh, how are you?
RUSH: Fine, sir.
CALLER: Good. I just wanted to call and kind of give a little more insight on this SEAL team situation. I was in the teams for 20 years. I have multiple-decade military service and came in not long after Vietnam. I also worked for Blackwater for a few years in Iraq and know one of the guys that was killed at Fallujah quite well. But, anyway, the point I’m going to get at here is that I think there’s quite a bit of evidence that this is kind of a backwash from the situation of a couple months ago when the SEAL operators rescued Captain Phillips off the coast of Somalia. You may recall that situation.
RUSH: Yes, I do.
CALLER: Well, the truth behind that situation is that the SEAL operators were kept off the scene for well over 36 hours. There was a lot of foot dragging by the commander-in-chief’s people in letting them in the theater. After they were in theater and in place they were given a very restrictive ROE: Rules Of Engagement. The ROE was so restrictive that really they couldn’t engage their targets. There were two previous opportunities to rescue Captain Phillips, and they were not allowed to take those opportunities.
RUSH: Let me stop you here because people may not know. We’re talking Somali pirates. We’re talking about the Maersk cargo ship that a bunch of Somali pirates, teenagers, took over. One of them eventually died, and the media credited Obama — honest to God, folks, the media credited Obama — with giving the order to pull the trigger. Now you may resume the story, sir.
CALLER: Okay. When they finally did engage the hostiles, they did it liberally interpreting the ROE, and the on-site commander finally was kind of fed up with the situation and gave them a weapons-free command and they were able to engage and rescue Captain Phillips. The fallout from that was immediate and rather violent in its anger. The White House people — I don’t know the president himself, I just know their representatives with the chain of command — were absolutely livid with this and they did not want the rescue to be conducted in the way that it was. You know, I cannot prove this because I would have to give names and I’m not giving names for obvious reasons. But the bottom line is that on very good, solid inside information, the national command authority past the Pentagon was not happy.
RUSH: So let me cut to the chase here. So what I think I hear you saying is the blowback that you mentioned is, this is payback for the SEALs violating the ROE on this captain of the Maersk; and this is the chain of command reasserting itself, letting everybody know who’s boss and what’s going to happen to you if you don’t follow orders?
CALLER: That is my rather experienced opinion — and, frankly, the opinion of others
Six Important Facts About the Assault Charges Three Navy SEALs Face for Doing Their Jobs
In recent years, I’ve published too many posts about members of the Armed Forces facing undeserved charges:
•First, it was the so-called “Haditha Marines” [1] who faced trumped-up charges, thanks largely to idiots like Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) declaring them guilty before a mainstream media eager to paint them in a bad light.
•Next, it was Army Ranger 1st Lt. Michael Behenna [2] who was wrongly convicted of executing an Iraqi detainee, Ali Mansur, on May 16, 2008, and is now serving a 25-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
•Now, I’m following the case of three Navy SEALs facing assault charges [3] related to their capture of Ahmed Hashim Abed. Who is Abed? He’s the alleged planner of the March 2004 ambush, killing and mutilation of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah, Iraq. The SEALS gave this enemy combatant piece of dirt a fat lip while apprehending him.
As my first investigative reporting effort related to the SEALs’ case, I offer six important facts about the case you’re likely not to read about in the mainstream media supplied to me by a source whom I cannot name inside the Pentagon:
1) The charges or accusations against the three Navy SEALs were not made from within the SEAL community. Sources tell me they came from someone within the Navy’s Master-at-Arm community.
2) The SEALs were presented with the option of going to Captain’s Mast for these charges but declined this form of non-judicial punishment and opted for court-martial instead. Why? Because they did not want to be judged by those outside of the SEAL community and believed the court-martial route would assure them the representation necessary to prove their innocence.
3) At no time did anyone within the Naval Special Warfare community have any control over these accusations or events other than providing advice or guidance to the accused SEALs.
4) The integrity of the chain of custody of the prisoner is at question.
5) There are extenuating circumstances that indicate there is questionable evidence in some of the accusations made.
6) Evidence will come out in a court-martial that might not have come out in a Captain’s Mast in favor of the accused SEALs.
Wild Thing's comment.........
These men are heroes, not criminals. They should be treated with dignity and honor
I believe the caller to Rush's show. Obama and his administration have consistently shown us they do not put our troops first, do not respect them. Obama favors the Muslims!!!
My prayers go out to these SEALS.
These men are being prosecuted because they did their job and because they did it well. This is what they are supposed to do. And aside from Fox News, the media is IGNORING this story!!!
Our soldiers and sailors are the men and women that have kept terrorists at bay for eight years. These are the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for you and your families. These are the men and women who have the enemy on the run right now so that you can sleep peacefully at night.
These are the men and women being shot at, blown up, injured and killed, and they are shooting back at the enemy to defend you against terrorists that would otherwise be in your town, shooting at you, taking your loved ones hostage and beheading them.
The prosecution of our Sailors for the alleged action against a terrorist is madness.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:49 AM | Comments (6)
December 05, 2009
Navy Seals Could Face One Year In Prison ~ See This Ad And Link So We Can Show Our Support For Our Navy Seals
Support The SEALs: Drop the Unfair and Outrageous Charges NOW!
The hearing is scheduled for December 7.
SupportTheSeals.com is currently running 30- and 60-second ads on cable TV outlets in order to pressure the House, Senate, Administration and Military to drop the charges against these three brave heroes.
2004 ...Fallujah, Iraq. Four civilian U.S. contractors were transporting supplies for a catering company. They were ambushed, killed, their bodies burned and dragged through the streets, then hung from a bridge on the Euphrates River.
A NAVY SEAL TEAM captured one of the military’s “most wanted” terrorists, the one responsible for the heinous crime. Now 4 of our bravest and finest are facing prosecution because the scumbag terrorist claimed he got a bloody lip while in their custody.
SO-2 Petty Officer Second Class Matthew McCabe is accused of punching the terrorist, and is also charged with dereliction of duty for “failing” to safeguard the murderer. SO-2 Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe and SO-1 Julio Huertas are being charged with dereliction of duty and making false statements. The prisoner alleges that he was punched in the face by McCabe, but it isn’t clear if the injury occurred while he was in custody or when he was captured. Please note: He was not water-boarded. He was not interrogated agressively. He was not electro-shocked or tasered. His fingernails were not pulled out. Nor was he boiled in oil, or whatever other torture he may deserve. He most certainly was not shot, burned, mutilated, nor hung from a bridge. He got a bloody lip.
The Navy Seals could face one year in prison
The Navy Seals facing court martial for the alleged abuse of a terror suspect arrested for killing four Americans face up to a year in military confinement, discharge for bad conduct, and forfeiture of two-thirds of their pay for a year, if convicted, according to defense attorneys.
The three Navy Seals--Matthew McCabe, Jonathon Keefe, and Julio Huertas--will be arraigned on Monday in Norfolk, Va. They are facing a special court martial--which is equivalent to a misdemeanor charge--and have each denied the allegations of abuse and cover-up.
Further, their attorneys said that the possibilty that they would not be able to cross-examine their clients' accuser would be grounds for dismissing the case.
The accuser, Ahmed Hashim Abed, is the alleged architect of the murder of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. The bodies of the four Americans were burned and hanged from a bridge for display.
The three Navy Seals--Matthew McCabe, Jonathon Keefe, and Julio Huertas--will be arraigned on Monday in Norfolk, Va. They are facing a special court martial--which is equivalent to a misdemeanor charge--and have each denied the allegations of abuse and cover-up.
The trial date for McCabe, the Seal charged with the alleged assault, is tentatively set for Jan. 19, 2010, McCabe’s attorney Neal Puckett said.
Defense attorneys told CNSNews.com that they are waiting to see the evidence from military prosecutors because it is still under review to determine if it is classified. Even the charges, the only court filings in the case thus far, are still under review.
“The government has not handed over anything,” Huertas’ attorney Monica Lombardi told CNSNews.com. “They are now claiming that things are classified, but they are not saying what’s classified and what’s not classified. I filed my discovery request, and they denied it, pending a classification review. … We have no photographs of the alleged injuries.We have no medical reports of these alleged injuries."
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'Miscarriage of Justice'
Rep. Dan Burton on the Navy SEALS Court-Martial: “I would have done much worse. The al-Qaeda Manual says complain of torture if you’re caught.”
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Wild Thing's comment.........
There will be a rally to support these SEALs on December 7th in Norfolk, Virginia.
This is a complete outrage and mockery of our US Military. As Americans, we CANNOT stand for this and MUST show our support for our troops who are constantly being put in harms way to protect the country that is now bringing them under fire. We must send a message that “political correctness” has reached a boiling point and that these service men will not be hung out to dry.
Support the Nave SEALs Facebook site:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=201355981560
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:55 AM | Comments (9)
December 01, 2009
News Of Our Troops and Contact Information To Support Our Navy Seals
Trees for Troops is once again giving servicemembers overseas a whiff of home. Volunteers have organized to ship thousands of Christmas trees to military men and women around the world.
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From the Cry Freedom 2010 website,......check it out.
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UPDATE and contact information regarding our Navy Seals.
Three of America's finest sons; Navy SEALS Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Julio Huertas are facing arraignment on Pearl Harbor Day and then Court Martial. Their crime? Allegedly punching one of Iraq's most wanted terrorists, Ahmed Abedm, and giving him a bloody lip.
The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called a captain's mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.
Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.
Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.
Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.
Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.
Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.
Neal Puckett, an attorney representing McCabe, told Fox News the SEALs are being charged for allegedly giving the detainee a “punch in the gut.”
You can read the full story at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576646,00.html
This is a complete outrage and mockery of our US Military. As Americans, we CANNOT stand for this and MUST show our support for our troops who are constantly being put in harms way to protect the country that is now bringing them under fire. We must send a message that “political correctness” has reached a boiling point and that these service men will not be hung out to dry.
Voice your opinion by contacting the following:
To file a citizen complaint regarding the treatment of these Navy Seals, please call 813-828-4976 on Monday…
or send emails now to:
holly.silkman@soccent.centcom.mil
US Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps :
The Office of the Judge
Advocate General : Public Affairs : 1322 Patterson Ave., Suite 3000 :
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5066
Comm: (202) 685-5493 :
Phone Numbers: Washington Navy Yard: (202) 685-5190 :
Pentagon, Room 4C642: (703) 614-7420 :
AJAG, Military Law : 1254 Charles Morris St., SE
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5047
Comm: (202) 685-7053
Also here is the link at Facebook :
Support The Navy Seals who Captured Ahmed Hashim Abed
Wild Thing's comment........
What the heck happened to our nation? This is a war and we want to prosecute the good guys because a bad guy got a bloody lip? We used to try to win wars and gain victory by killing people and blowing things up. Not in Obama’s world.
The monster they caught is the torturing, murderous thug who burned and destroyed the bodies of four Americans and then hung what was left of their bodies from a bridge Euphrates River in Fallujah, Iraq back in 2004. The piece of dirt they captured is a terrorist, despite the fact the Obama administration, even the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Seals, won’t even use the word “terrorist” because it might…get this…offend someone!! Team Obama wants to make sure he gets a fair trial and is afforded all the rights of a U.S. Citizen. In the meantime, the Obama administration wants the good guys behind bars!!!
What about the victims hanging from the bridge?
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (10)
November 29, 2009
Breathtaking Spy Plane Footage
Please amazing video of the SR-71 Blackbird as it goes 13 miles up.
Isn’t it amazing the technology that comes from a nation that supports a free enterprise system of advancement, and whats hated by Obama and those who seek to destroy it.
The music is called "Flight" performed by Ty Unwin especially for this show.
The view from a U-2 cruising at 70,000ft as the sky above turns black and the curvature of the Earth is visible.
Despite first flying over 50 years ago, the U-2 continues to serve in the USAF, having outlasted its Mach 3 replacement, the SR-71 (also from Lockheed).
The only people to have gone gone higher on any sort of regular basis were SR-71 pilots. Astronautics have, of course, gone higher still, but certainly not on a regular basis.
And this below is the training for the flight.
Also features some extra scenes and alternative commentary from the flight itself .
The civilian in the plane is James May, he is is best known as co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. He also writes a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph's motoring section.
He currently lives in Hammersmith, London with his girlfriend Sarah Frater, and with his cat Fusker.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (10)
Sgt. Josh Revak Singing "Empty Boots," His Self Penned Memorial to Fallen Soldiers
Josh Revak had finished his five-year service — 22 of those months in Iraq —with the 1st Brigade, 37th Armor Regiment
I served in the active army from Jan 30, 2002 until Jul 1 2007. During my first deployment in November 2003, my friend Tim Hayslett was killed. All I could do was write a song for him. When the Command Sergeant Major heard the song, he asked us to play at the memorial. The soldiers grieved more then they had in the past memorials, as we made it very personal. We agreed to play every memorial service after that. Unfortunately, the memorial almost always was honoring a friend of mine. I would write a song for each memorial and play during the ceremony.
After I had written for several memorials and had been wounded myself, I learned that my friend and guitar teacher, Aaron Jagger, was killed. He had played at all those memorial services with me. The pain of losing him left me crushed. I recorded the album In the Hours of Darkness in memory of him. It is what he would have wanted me to do. I was awarded two Purple Hearts from wounds received in Ramadi, Iraq on June 26, 2006. All together, I spent 22 months in Iraq. Since the military, I have settled down in Ham Lake, Minnesota with my wife and daughter, and we have a child on the way. I am still recovering from wounds received in combat.
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Song Description
The song “Empty Boots” was written after I had already been wounded and was recovering in Germany. Andrew Daul, a really good friend of mine, was killed. I had attended one too many memorial services, and was haunted by the memories of several friends’ empty boots, helmets, dog tags and rifles--displayed as the last reminders of their voices and faces. The song derived from these haunting feelings. I recorded the song in Nashville, using the Grand Ole Opry band as the studio musicians and featuring Gene Chrisman on drums. Gene has a musical track record that is truly one of a kind: he has played with Elvis, Jerry Lee Louis, and the Highwaymen, just to name a few.
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Wild Thing's comment......
Here is his MySpace Page
God bless you Josh and thank you!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:47 AM | Comments (6)
November 23, 2009
Checking in With Our Troops In Afghanistan
Along Afghanistans porous border with Pakistan, the U.S. Army is focused on reaching out to Afghan villagers and building local institutions. Immense Mountains and abject poverty stand out as obstacles to success, but it is the human terrain that presents the greatest challenge.
In this mini-documentary, Lt. Jake Kerr Combat Platoon out of a remote outpost in the Dangam District of eastern Afghanistans Kunar province,
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More news of our troops..............
An army soldier keeps position on a hilltop post in Mamond assisting the aerial assault by fighter jets. – Photo by AP.
KHAR: At least 18 militants were killed and eight others wounded in air raids and clashes with troops in Mamond and Khar tehsils of Bajaur tribal region on Sunday.
Two soldiers were injured.
Officials said that jets bombed militants’ hideouts in Spery, Kherkai and Sewai areas of Mamond tehsil.
Local people said that in two hours of bombing, five militants, including two foreigners, were killed and four others were injured.
Security forces fought pitched battle with militants in Khar, thwarting their plan to attack security posts in Lowi Sam, Enzari and Rashakai.
An official said that about 40 to 60 militants were to take part in the attack. He said 11 militants, including their leader named Rafiullah, were killed. Security forces brought the body of Rafiullah to a camp.
Militants have stepped up attacks on security forces in Mamond and other areas in Bajaur.
The house of a militant was destroyed in Terkhu area. Local people said that two militants hiding in the house were killed.
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AH-1 Cobra helicopters patrol over Afghanistan assisting ground units with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:48 AM | Comments (1)
November 21, 2009
US Army Unit to Return to Region of Deadly Battle
Army unit to return to region of deadly battle
VICENZA, Italy
The 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment is heading back to the same region where it took part in the Army’s deadliest battle in Afghanistan.
While the rest of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team is heading to Logar and Wardak provinces for its upcoming deployment, the 2-503rd will be assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, said Maj. Thomas Gilleran, 173rd public affairs officer.
The 4th Brigade Combat Team is serving in Kunar province, the same region where the 2-503rd served in 2007-2008.
During its 14-month tour, "The Rock," as the unit is known, engaged in hundreds of contacts with enemy forces, including the battle of Wanat, in which hundreds of insurgents attacked a small, remote Army outpost. In the hours-long battle, nine 2-503rd soldiers were killed and more than two dozen were wounded.
The region is still volatile.
Since the beginning of October, 12 soldiers assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team have died, including eight who were killed Oct. 3 in Kamdesh district in an attack similar to the one at Wanat.
Kamdesh is in Nuristan province and northeast of Wanat. Kamdesh is one of a collection of isolated valleys near northeastern Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan where U.S. troops have faced fierce resistance in recent years. Military and outside analysts have described the insurgency in northeast Afghanistan as a hybrid of local, tribally based fighters loosely allied with the Taliban and other insurgent networks. The military initially ascribed the Kamdesh attack to tribal militias but later blamed the Taliban.
Battalion leaders confirmed the 2-503rd’s upcoming assignment.
More than 3,000 troops based in Germany and Italy are taking part in the 173rd’s upcoming deployment, which was first announced in July.
Gilleran said Friday that advance elements from the brigade are already in the country and he expected the unit would take control of its area of operations from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division "in the near future."
"We will have pieces of the brigade continue to deploy over the next few weeks," he said.
Wardak and Logar provinces are directly south of the provinces of Parwan, the home of Bagram Air Field, and Kabul, the country’s capital.
South of Kabul, Logar province has long been the heart of insurgent activity targeting the capital city.
Desert conditions and rocky, mountainous terrain embrace lush green valleys where fruit orchards and wheat fields feed the capital. But a scarcity of water and the terrorizing reign of the Taliban have left the villagers poor, scared and often unwilling to side with an absentee government.
In some parts of the province, 3rd Brigade Combat Team soldiers have been training a ragtag Afghan police force, while others are pushing out on patrols to villages, getting to know friendly faces, and often, trying to win over ambivalent, or even hostile, villagers.
It’s the 173rd’s third deployment to Afghanistan since 2005.
"Hopefully, we will set the conditions ... so that we as a brigade will no longer have to go back (to Afghanistan)," Gilleran said.
Wild Thing's comment..........
The long history of this unit in particularly Vietnam are a testament to those who serve and have served in it.
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:48 AM | Comments (4)
November 15, 2009
Apache Takes Out IED Emplacement Team With A Hellfire Missile In Iraq
AH-64 Gunship Takes Out IED Emplacement Team With A Hellfire Missile In Iraq.
Checking in with our troops and various images from AFGHANISTAN
Staff Sgt. Steven Dubois of Remus, MI and the U.S. Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry loads a rifle magazine with ammunition at firebase Restrepo. Dubois' tattoo reads "For The Fallen" and lists the names of 17 of his friends who have died in combat during his tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Why Winning Matters
by Chuck Holton Boots on the Ground
I don't claim to be an expert on the war in Afghanistan. But for the last month or so, I've had the privilege of living with a bunch of people to whom I would give that classification - men and women who are in the war zone, putting their lives on the line every day.
And from my conversations with these experts, I've come to the conclusion that there are three main reasons why winning in Afghanistan is vital to our nation and to all those who claim the Christian faith. (Let me be clear that I don't count those two groups as one and the same, but neither are they mutually exclusive.)
Two of the reasons we need to win are practical, and one is philosophical.
1. The Taliban
If the world body were to abandon Afghanistan tomorrow, the country would revert to Taliban rule in very short order. This isn't because the Afghan people necessarily desire to live under extreme Sharia law. But without anyone to protect them from the Taliban, these brutal extremists will have free reign over much of the country, with the Panjshir valley a notable exception.
The opium trade would flourish, giving the Taliban millions in cash with which to extend their military reign of terror, and America's enemies like Al Qaeda would have won a vital strategic location from which to plot and execute attacks on our interests around the globe.
2. Opium
Ninety percent of the world's illegal opium comes from Afghanistan. Not only does every kilo of heroin produced there materially benefit those who have sworn to destroy us, every kilo actually DOES possibly destroy some small part of Western civilization by ruining lives that might otherwise be productive.
We need to be in Afghanistan for the same reason we need to be in Colombia - and have been for more than two decades. Heroin is an insidious weapon that poisons free societies. We need to be investing heavily in countering this threat around the world - not just in Afghanistan, but especially there.
3. Freedom
For some people in America, saying "we're over there fighting for freedom" has become a worn-out phrase since 9/11. But from a Christian standpoint, consider this: There isn't a single established Christian church in Afghanistan today. About 99 percent of all Afghans are Muslim.
And they should have every right to BE Muslim if that is what they choose, but that's the point - there is no choice in Afghanistan today. If an Afghan wants to be Buddhist, or gnostic, or Christian, or anything other than Muslim, he either hides his beliefs or potentially forfeits his life.
The last time I checked, our Declaration of Independence still reads,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...
I see nothing in this assertion that excludes men who don't happen to be Americans. I'm not saying this war is some kind of religious crusade to spread Christendom to the uttermost parts of the earth - but I'm saying America was founded on the belief that every man deserves the right to control his own destiny. And that's not a right enjoyed by most Afghans today.
Why does this matter to our national security? America has always stood as a beacon of hope for the opressed around the world. It is this fact that has made our nation great - we stand for liberty. Many countries enjoy bountiful natural resources. Many cultures embody a strong work ethic. These traits don't set the United States apart - liberty does.
Once that light begins to fade - so too will America.
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A U.S. Army Pilot flying a UH-61 Blackhawk helicopter, drops ammunition and water to U.S. Soldiers, from Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, following a three hour gun battle, in Waterpur Valley, at Kunar province, Afghanistan, Nov. 3, 2009. (U.S. Army Sgt. Matthew Moeller/Released
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U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment and Afghan soldiers wait to leave Patrol Base Hasan Abad ,in the Garmsir district of Helmand province, Afghanistan
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US Army (USA) Soldiers assigned to 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Assault), prepare to search a taxi truck, loaded with civilians, at a vehicle check point located near the village of Sulamain Khel, Afghanistan. USA Soldiers are operating 18-miles from the Afghanistan and Pakistan border
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Spc. Matthew King of Lompoc, California reads a card from his mother during a rare mail call in Forward Operating Base Zerok in Paktika province, Afghanistan. Conditions are harsh for the soldiers of the 3-509 US Army's 25th Infantry Division and their Afghan Army counterparts at the Zerok field base near the border with Pakistan. The troops stationed at the base frequently patrol the adjacent mountains on foot and endure frequent attacks by militants, as well as living without showers or laundry for months.
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U.S. Army Soldiers awake, in their hasty fighting position, after a night patrol in the mountains, near Sar Howza, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Sept. 2009. The Soldiers are deployed with Bulldog Troop, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith/Released
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Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (9)
November 14, 2009
Soldier ReUnited With His Dog
His dog's name is Gracie.
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Wild Thing's comment........
This is such a feel good video. I love it!!!!
.....Thank you Rhod for sending this to me.
Rhod
Vietnam War Veteran
25th Inf Div 66 and 67
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:47 AM | Comments (3)
November 13, 2009
USNA Subbed Mids To Look More Diverse
USNA subbed mids to look more diverse
By Philip Ewing
Staff writer
Naval Academy leaders removed two midshipmen from a color guard that performed at the World Series last week because they were white men, and replaced them with a non-white man and a white woman so the academy could present a more “diverse” profile, according to several sources, a move that has reportedly angered mids and alumni.
As it turned out, the color guard still ended up all white because the male replacement forgot parts of his uniform.
Two white, male members of the color guard learned Oct. 28 they were being replaced with a white woman, Midshipman 2nd Class Hannah Allaire, and a non-white man, Midshipman 2nd Class Zishan Hameed, on orders of the school’s administration, according to an internal e-mail message provided to Navy Times by an academy professor. With a national television audience, Naval Academy leadership worried the color guard it planned to send wasn’t diverse enough, the e-mail said.
However, after the color guard arrived in New York for the game Oct. 29, Hameed, whose family is from Pakistan, realized he had left his dress shoes and cover in Annapolis. Midshipman 1st Class Aaron Stroud regained his place and served as a rifleman for the presentation of the colors. Allaire carried the other rifle and the four original members marched with the flags.
Naval Academy spokesman Cmdr. Joe Carpenter responded to questions about the midshipmen replacements in a written statement Thursday after the color guard story was first reported on the blog “CDR Salamander.”
Carpenter quoted a statement from Naval Academy Commandant Capt. Matt Klunder, who said he wanted to respond to questions about why some of the members of the color guard weren’t able to march at the World Series.
Academy officials actually sent an eight-person color guard to the baseball game, Klunder said, but the full squad couldn’t perform after Hameed forgot part of his uniform, because color guards need an even number of members. So it wasn’t that the academy administration yanked members of the color guard because they were white men, it’s that Hameed’s “uniform inventory problem,” as Klunder called it, meant that only six mids could march, instead of eight.
But a Naval Academy press release on the morning of the game said six mids were presenting the colors at the World Series, and identified them all by name. Stroud and the other white male mid who had been cut went to the game, according to the e-mail obtained by Navy Times — fortunate, because Stroud was needed to take Hameed’s place — but they never expected to be able to march that night.
Carpenter said the initial press release included only six names because the public affairs office didn’t know who else would be joining the World Series color guard. When it learned the names of the other two, the public affairs staff decided it would be too late to put out an updated announcement, he said.
The administration’s decision upset many of the mids, according to the e-mail. But after Klunder heard complaints about the situation from alumni and family members, the brigade’s company commanders were ordered to tell their midshipmen they were forbidden from discussing the color guard story with people outside the Yard, according to a source familiar with the situation who was not authorized to discuss it.
The source said current midshipmen and alumni were frustrated that one of them was denied the chance to march at the World Series, despite having earned it, and that the administration was trying to squelch discussion of it.
Carpenter said he didn’t know who told the midshipmen not to talk about the situation.
The Naval Academy color guard, which is a voluntary extracurricular group, has 28 total members from all four classes.
Naval Academy Changed Color Guard to Appear More Diverse at World Series
Naval Academy leaders are under fire after altering the composition of the military color guard at a World Series game last month so the group wouldn't be made up only of white men.
Capt. Matthew Klunder, commandant of midshipmen, disputed that version of events. He said he considered replacing two members but decided to add two extra people instead, expanding the group from six to eight members.
Only six people ended up participating in the Game 2 routine at Yankee Stadium, Klunder said, because one of the two additions — Midshipman 2nd Class Zishan Hameed — forgot parts of his uniform. The color guard performs in even numbers, he said.
Color guard members were upset by the decision to change the makeup of the group .
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Wild Thing's comment..........
This news item has been a hot topic on USNA Grad sites and is just what it seems. The fact that one of the “replacements” forgot his hat and shoes makes it even more illustrative of the kind of things that are going on at USNA and in the military.
At least this event didn’t get anyone killed, but the PC bent of our military leaders(who are no leaders) inspired by their political bosses is going to be the death of our great military.
Diversity isn’t a strength, character and performance are strenghts.
I really hate to see this kind of thing happening. The military more then anything else needs to be free of this kind of thing. Men and women that serve have their lives at risk and they don't need this put into the mix.
How about individual qualifications instead of quotas? PC and diversity seems to rule everything in this country.
The P.C. crap invades the military mostly from the Congress and the Administration and it is imo part of the reason we have 13 dead soldiers at Fort Hood.
As Nick ( Angry Old Salt) said about this story :
"internally the Navy I know and love wants to treat everyone the same regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin - it is Congress and Big Navy though that decided that equality isn't enough.But this is about PC crap and it is an enemy of our military in all branches."
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:49 AM | Comments (7)
November 12, 2009
" Remember Me" ~ A VERY Special Video
Music is "Pacific Wind" by Ryan Farish
The video was put together by a young lady of 15 years named Lizzie Palmer.
God Bless Lizzie for stepping up to the plate and using her talents to support our soldiers in such a dramatic way. Would that there were 1,000 more just like her. She's done more to help win the war on the homefront--where it is currently being lost--than all the chicken-necked RINOs in Congress put together.
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Wild Thing's comment..........
I have posted this before, last year. But I really believe it is something that should be seen more often.
It truly is an awesome video.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (2)
November 11, 2009
No Decision on Troop Increase
Foxnews: "I wanna bring you a bit of Breaking News courtesy of Major Garrett, he is now reporting in terms of a decision on whether to deploy more troops to Afghanistan...Major has said that the White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has said this morning that the President has actually not yet made a decision at this point, there are some reports out there (that would be CBSNEWS that hit the Drudgereport yesterday at 5:00p.m.)from other media outlets that he was very close to or had made a decision and it would be in the neighborhood of 30K, Major is saying that he is being told that the President HAS NOT made a decision, any announcement will not come until after the President returns from a trip to Asia...He does not return to the United States until the 20th of November"
Barack Obama will likely hold off deciding his strategy and troop strength levels until December, according to a New York Times report on his upcoming meeting Wednesday with his national security advisers.
This would make four months since Obama's hand-picked Afghan General Stanley McChrystal made an urgent request in August for 40,000 to 80,000 reinforcements, warning the war would be lost within twelve months without them.
Obama recently asked for new troop level options and for reports on the provincial Afghan governments.
Obama has made numerous excuses for delaying his decision, most prominent of them the election controversy over Hamid Karzai's reelection as Afghanistan's president. The election was resolved last week. Obama's latest excuses were his Asia trip this week and a Nato meeting on the 23rd, until the Times article raised a new excuse--the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November:
Officials said that no decision was expected from Mr. Obama on Wednesday, but that he would mull over the discussions at the meeting during a trip to Asia that begins Thursday. Mr. Obama is not due back in Washington until next Thursday. Officials said that it was possible that he could announce his decision in the three days before Thanksgiving, which is on Nov. 26, but that an announcement in the first week of December seemed more likely.
Wild Thing's comment.........
God help our troops, please. Their commander-in-chief won't.
Obama took the 3 am phone call; rolled over, said wake me at noon. Obama thinks he can get away with voting “present” on the Afghanistan War - troop request.
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:48 AM | Comments (5)
November 10, 2009
A Tribute To The United States Marine Corps ~ Happy 234th Birthday
Nov.10, 1775 – Nov.10, 2009
The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James T. Conway delivers the 234th Marine Corps Birthday message. " Carrying On A Legacy Of Valor "
It honors all Marines past and present. A special tribute to today's Heroes, Cpl Jonathan T. Yale, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines and LCpl Jordan C. Haerter, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. These fine Marines were KIA 22 April, 2008. Their heroic actions that day, saved the lives of over 50 Iraqis and Marines. They were both posthumously presented the Navy Cross for Extraordinary Heroism on February 20th, 2009. The Navy Cross is our nations second highest award for valor in combat. Jonathan was 21 years old, Jordan was 19 years old.
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Authorized by an Act of Congress dated Nov.10,1775, the U.S. Marine Corps has served as an integral arm of the Department of the Navy since the Revolutionary War. From its legendary founding at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, the Marine Corps has won reknown as America’s "Soldiers of the Sea".
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"Retreat Hell! We've Just got here!" Attributed by MajGen Ben Fuller to Col Frederick M. "Dopey" Wise, CO 2d Bn., 5th Marines, 2dDiv, AEF in France, on being informed that the French troops were retreating and being advised to do likewise, Wise reportedly erupted with an expletive.
"Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?" GySgt. Daniel J. "Dan" Daly, USMC near Lucy-`le-Bocage as he led the 5th Marines' attack into Belleau Wood, 6 June 1918
"I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." 1stLt. Clifton B. Cates, USMC in Belleau Wood, 19 July 1918
"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle."
Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, U.S. Army, Commander of American Forces in World War I
"What shall I say of the gallantry with which these Marines have fought! Of the slopes of Hill 142; of the Mares Farm; of the Bois de Belleau and the Village of Bouresches stained with their blood, and not only taken away from the Germans in the full tide of their advance against the French, but held by my boys against counter attacks day after day and night after night. I cannot write of their splendid gallantry without tears coming to my eyes." MajGen James G. Harbord, USA, in his book, "Leaves from a War Diary"
In the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the Marines made their famed assault on Chapultepec Palace in Mexico City, which would be later celebrated by the phrase "From The Halls of Montezuma" in the Marines' hymn.
During World War I veteran Marines served a central role in the late American entry into the conflict.The Fifth and Sixth Marine Regiments fought their way to everlasting glory at Belleau Wood, creating the Marines' reputation in modern history. While its previous expeditionary experiences had not earned it much acclaim in the Western world, the Marines' ferocity and toughness in France earned them the respect of the Germans, who rated them of stormtrooper quality. The Corps had entered the war with 511 officers and 13,214 enlisted personnel, and by 11 November 1918 had reached a strength of 2,400 officers and 70,000 men.
In World War II, the Marines played a central role in the Pacific War, executing a series of daring amphibious landings on such islands as Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa, Guam, Tinian, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
"Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning." Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, Tarawa, 21 November 1943.
During the battle of Iwo Jima, photographer Joe Rosenthal took the famous photograph of five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, having come ashore earlier that day, said of the flag raising, "...the raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years." The acts of the Marines during the war added to their already significant popular reputation. By war's end, the Corps expanded from two brigades to six divisions, five air wings, and supporting troops, totaling about 485,000 Marines. In addition, 20 defense battalions and a parachute battalion were set raised.[37] Nearly 87,000 Marines were casualties during World War II (including nearly 20,000 killed), and 82 were awarded the Medal of Honor.
"By their victory, the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy
The Korean War (1950-1953) saw the hastily formed Provisional Marine Brigade holding the defensive line at the Pusan Perimeter. To execute a flanking maneuver, General Douglas MacArthur called on Marine air and ground forces to make an amphibious landing at Inchon. The successful landing resulted in the collapse of North Korean lines and the pursuit of North Korean forces north near the Yalu River until the entrance of the People's Republic of China into the war. Chinese troops surrounded, surprised and overwhelmed the overextended and outnumbered American forces. X Corps, which included the 1st Marine Division and the Army's 7th Infantry Division, regrouped and inflicted heavy casualties during their fighting withdrawal to the coast, now known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
"Don't you forget that you’re Marines - First Marines! Not all the communists in hell can overrun you!" Col Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, rallying his 1st Marines near Chosin Reservoir, Korea, December 1950
Marines would continue a battle of attrition around the 38th Parallel until the 1953 armistice. The Korean War saw the Corps expand from 75,000 regulars to a force of 261,000 Marines, mostly reservists. 30,544 Marines were killed or wounded during the war and 42 were awarded the Medal of Honor.
The Marine Corps served an important role in the Vietnam War taking part in such battles as Da Nang, the Relief of Hue City, and the Battle of Khe Sanh. Individuals from the USMC operated in the Northern I Corps Regions of South Vietnam. While there, they were constantly engaged in a guerrilla war against the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) and an intermittent conventional war against the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Portions of the Corps were responsible for the less-known Combined Action Program (CAP) that implemented unconventional techniques for counter-insurgency and worked as military advisors to the Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps. Marines were withdrawn in 1971, and returned briefly in 1975 to evacuate Saigon and attempt a rescue of the crew of the Mayagüez.
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 led to the largest movement of Marine forces since World War II. Between August 1990 and January 1991, 24 infantry battalions, 40 squadrons (more than 92,000 Marines) deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Desert Shield. The air campaign of Operation Desert Storm began Jan. 16, 1991, followed by the main overland attack Feb. 24 when the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions breached the Iraqi defense lines and stormed into occupied Kuwait. Meanwhile, the threat from the sea in the form of Marine Expeditionary Brigades held 50,000 Iraqis in check along the Kuwait coast. By the morning of Feb. 28, 100 hours after the ground war began, the Iraqi army was no longer a threat.
"I can't say enough about the two Marine divisions. If I use words like 'brilliant', it would really be an under description of the absolutely superb job that they did in breaching the so-called 'impenetrable barrier'. It was a classic - absolutely classic- military breaching of a very very tough minefield, barbed wire, fire trenches-type barrier." Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, U. S. Army Commander, Operation Desert Storm, February 1991
Today's Marines remain a vital link in America's fighting forces on land, at sea and in the air. They pride themselves on professionalism, brotherhood, esprit de corps and being "First To Fight". They serve with distinction on the ground and in the air above Iraq and Afghanistan.
"These are my recruits. I will train them to the best of my ability. I will develop them into smartly disciplined, physically fit, basically trained Marines, thoroughly indoctrinated in love of Corps and country. I will demand of them, and demonstrate by my own example, the highest standards of personal conduct, morality, and professional skill."
"Drill Instructor’s Creed" as it appeared in the Parris Island "Boot" newspaper, Aug. 31, 1956
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:49 AM | Comments (12)
November 08, 2009
Semper Fi Join Me In Project Valour-IT ~ Marine Team!
By Cordell Keith Haugen
He was sitting on a park bench, hunched and looking low. It was hard to imagine how he'd looked so long ago. His beard was long and shaggy now; his sparse hair white as snow but his steel gray eyes were piercing and I turned away to go.
He looked lonely and forgotten and maybe homeless too. Like life had dealt him a bad hand maybe quite a few. He was probably abandoned by those who didn't care I wondered what had happened. What drove him to despair.
He said, "Son, I'm a Leatherneck, of wars before your time." His eyes grew still more piercing as he looked deep into mine. "Your uniform says you're a Devil Dog, the man I've waited for. And there's something I want to tell you -- things I've never said before."
The tattoos on his weathered arm read "Mom" and "Semper Fi." "Let's sing our hymn together, son, once more before I die." As we sang of Montezuma's halls and the shores of Tripoli, the old man stood straight and tall and he looked down at me.
"Bury me at Arlington; put an EGA upon my chest. Tell all the world I died for them that I was one of the best. I was with the Fifth on Iwo and I fought in Korea too. During that ugly war in Vietnam, I stood proud, and cheered for you.
"Get me a straight edge razor, lad and give me a good clean shave. I want to look my very best as I go to my grave. Cut my hair; shine my boots; let me borrow your best blues. You have them back after I'm gone and all my medals too.
"I don't want no flowers, an American flag will do. My life was lived and given for the Red and White and Blue. Whisper 'Semper Fi' my boy, so loud that all will hear. Fire them rifles in the air; they're music to my ear."
As he told me his last wishes. I saw him standing tall. I could see the ribbons on his chest, in the dim light of the Mall. And as he closed his steel gray eyes, I thought about the Corps. He'd lived the life of a real Marine, who could ask for anything more?
"Whisper 'Semper Fi,' my lad," his voice lingered in my mind I thought about all my buddies, those I'd left behind. Today, I'd met a real Marine, a hero through and through.
Forgotten by his country, but not by me and you.
Project Valour-IT helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries. Items supplied include:
*Voice-controlled Laptops – Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.
*Wii Video Game Systems – Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
*Personal GPS – Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:48 AM | Comments (3)
Military Releases Names of Dead and Wounded in Fort Hood Shooting~ We will never forget !
At an Army press conference at Fort Hood, the names of the 13 victims from the shooting rampage were read out loud. A spokesperson said these were more than names, they were heroes.
The fatal victims of the Ft. Hood shooting, as released by the Department of Defense on Saturday:
Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, 55, Havre de Grace, MD
Maj. Libardo Caraveo, 52, Woodbridge, VA
Cpt. John P. Gaffaney, 54, San Diego, CA
Cpt. Russell Seager, 41, Racine, WI
Staff Sgt. Justin Decrow, 32, Plymouth, IN
Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, Kiel, WI
Spc. Jason Hunt, 22, Tillman, OK
Spc. Frederick Greene, 29, Mountain City, TN
PFC Aaron Nemelka, 19, West Jordan, UT
PFC Michael Pearson, 22, Bolingbrook, IL
PFC Kham Xiong, 23, St. Paul, MN
Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21, Chicago, IL
Michael G. Cahill, Cameron, TX [civilian]
Day is done,
gone the sun,
from the lakes
from the hills
from the sky,
all is well,
safely, rest,
God is near.
Fading light,
Dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky
Gleaming bright,
From afar,
Drawing, near,
Falls the night.
Thanks and praise,
For our days,
Neath the sun
Neath the stars
Neath the sky,
As we go,
This, we, know,
God is near.
Anysoldier.com compiled a list of wounded from various news reports as follows
http://www.anysoldier.com/WhereToSend/
Sgt. Patrick Blue III, 23, of Belcourt, N.D., was hit in the side by bullet fragments during the attack
Amber Bahr, 19, of Random Lake, Wis., was shot in the stomach.
Keara Bono Torkelson, 21, of Ostego, Mo., was shot in the back left shoulder.
Alan Carroll, 20, of Bridgewater, N.J., was shot three times.
Reservist Dorothy “Dorrie” Carskadon of Rockford, Ill., was critically injured.
Staff Sgt. Joy Clark, 27, of Des Moines suffered a gunshot wound
Spc. Matthew Cook, 30, of Binghamton, N.Y., was shot in the abdomen
Staff Sgt. Chad Davis of Eufaula, Ala., was wounded.(?? one of ours? attempting to find out...)
Pvt. Joey Foster, 21, of Ogden, Utah, was shot in the hip
Cpl. Nathan Hewitt, 26, of West Lafayette, Ind.
Pvt. Najee Hull, 21, of Chicago was shot three times, once in the leg and twice in the back.
Justin Johnson, 21, of Punta Gorda, Fla., was shot in the chest and leg.
Staff. Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, of Richmond County, N.C., was shot multiple times.
Shawn Manning, 33, formerly of Redman, Ore., was shot six times
Army 2nd Lt. Brandy Mason, of Monessen, was wounded.
Reserve Spc. Grant Moxon, 23, of Lodi, Wis., was shot in the leg.
Sgt. Kimberly Munley, 34, of Killeen is the Fort Hood civilian police officer who was shot multiple times by the suspect.
Sgt. John Pagel, 28, of North Freedom, Wis., who was shot in the arm and chest.
Chief Warrant Officer Chris Royal, 38, of Eclectic, Ala., was shot three times.
Maj. Randy Royer of Dothan, Ala., was shot.
Pvt. Raymondo “Ray” Saucedo, 26, of Greenville, Mich., had a bullet graze his arm.
George Stratton III, 18, of Post Falls, Idaho, was shot in the shoulder.
Patrick Zeigler, 28, of Orange County, Fla., was critically wounded
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:45 AM | Comments (5)
November 07, 2009
Thank you Sgt Kim Munley ~ American Hero!!!!
Sgt Kim Munley has been hailed a heroine after taking on the lone gunman who went on a shooting spree at a huge military base in Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others.
Texas police officer is a hero for shooting Fort Hood killer Nidan Hasan 4 times during his killing rampage.
A police officer who intervened to stop a shooting spree at America’s biggest military base was hailed today a heroine as she received treatment for the wounds received in a shoot-out with the gunman.
Major Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist due to be posted to Afghanistan, shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 others after opening fire with two handguns at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon.
But the death toll from the rampage could have been far worse had it not been for the actions of Sergeant Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer stationed at the base who was the first on the scene as Major Hasan picked off his victims.
Sergeant Munley managed to hit Major Hasan four times but was herself hit by a bullet that passed through both her legs, according to witnesses.
Fort Hood shooting: Kim Munley hailed for bravery in shooting Hasan
Mrs Munley was one of the "first responders" who returned fire after army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan went on the rampage at the sprawling Fort Hood base in Texas.
She shot Hasan four times but was herself wounded in the gun battle. Her condition is now stable, according to military officials.
"They both exchanged fire and both were wounded," said Col John Rossi during a press conference at the giant base. "Her efforts were superb." The colonel also praised "the heroic efforts of our great soldiers at the scene".
The police officer has been praised for her bravery and for preventing what could have been an even worse massacre.
Hasan, who was about to be posted to Afghanistan, was found alive and taken under armed guard to a nearby hospital.
He was in a serious but stable condition and not in imminent danger of dying. He was unconscious and on a ventilator.
Mrs Munley is married to Matthew Munley, a staff seargeant who has done two tours of Iraq, and they have a three-year-old daughter Jayden.
The family home, on a street near Fort Hood, has many empty homes because those who live there have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Her brother-in-law Bryan Munley said: “There’s nothing that stands in her way. It completely makes sense that she did what she did. Without her, there would have been a lot more people killed. She is definitely a tough woman.”
Neighbours recalled that she thwarted burglars who tried to break into her house last year, telling them: “If you come in I’m going to shoot.”
Erin Houston said: “I just felt more protected knowing she was on my street.”
Her father Dennis Barbour and stepmother Wanda Barbour run a fishing tackle shop in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.
Wild Thing's comment........
Thank you Sgt. Kim Munley, for saving more lives at Fort Hood, being courageous enough to incapacitate the perpetrator Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, while being wounded. Our entire and very grateful nation is extremely proud of you, Sergeant Munley.
You Muslim's a woman shot your unclean brother like the rodent he is!
Bush would have already hailed her as a hero … Obama is to busy saying I, I, I to acknowledge anyone else as a possible spotlight center.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (10)
Fort Hood Survivors and More On TERRORIST Nidal Malik Hasan
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The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included a pregnant woman who was preparing to return home and a newlywed who had served in Iraq.
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Fort Worth soldier was hero in Fort Hood rampage
Pfc. Marquest Smith, a former Fort Worth resident who joined the Army just over a year ago, was in a small cubicle inside the Soldier Readiness Center when he heard popping sounds. A bullet tore through the cubicle wall and lodged in the heel of his boot.
Within 15 minutes, the 21-year-old soldier was rushing through the chaos in the huge processing center to pull four wounded victims to safety and help take them to the hospital. The gunman fired toward him from across the room as Smith was fleeing the building.
Other tales of heroism spread throughout this grief-stricken base Friday as it struggled with the aftermath of the worst attack ever at a U.S. military installation. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey, who arrived at Fort Hood with new Army Secretary John McHugh, called it "a kick in the gut."***
Eight of the wounded were treated and released, and of the 30 originally hospitalized, 23 — including the alleged gunman — remained in hospitals late Friday. Thirteen flag-draped coffins were placed aboard a C-17 and flown to a military installation in Dover, Del., for final funeral preparations.
McHugh, who succeeded Pete Geren of Fort Worth as army secretary Sept. 21, told reporters that the FBI and Defense Department are conducting a joint investigation into Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was felled in an exchange of gunfire with a civilian policewoman.***
Hasan, who sustained at least four gunshot wounds, was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio at mid-afternoon, the Army said Friday night.***
Col. John Rossi, at mid-evening Friday, said Hasan apparently fired more than 100 rounds of ammunition from his two handguns, a 5.7 mm semiautomatic and an older model Smith & Wesson .357-caliber revolver.
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Bernie Goldberg saying that if Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan was a "White Male Christian" instead of a Muslim, his religion would be the top story in the mainstream media. But because he is Muslim, most of the mainstream media refuse to even consider that his Islamic beliefs are central to his commit a terrorist act.
Shooter advised Obama transition
Fort Hood triggerman aided team on Homeland Security task force
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter in yesterday's massacre at Fort Hood, played a homeland security advisory role in President Barack Obama's transition into the White House, according to a key university policy institute document.
The Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University published a document May 19, entitled "Thinking Anew – Security Priorities for the Next Administration: Proceedings Report of the HSPI Presidential Transition Task Force, April 2008 – January 2009," in which Hasan of the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine is listed on page 29 of the document as a Task Force Event Participant.
Hasan received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University School in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.
Noting that the Obama administration transition was proceeding, the GWU Homeland Security Policy Institute report described on the first page the role of the Presidential Transition Task Force as including "representatives from past Administrations, State government, Fortune 500 companies, academia, research institutions and non-governmental organizations with global reach."
While the GWU task force participants included several members of government, including representatives of the Department of Justice and the U.S Department of Homeland Security, there is no indication in the document that the group played any formal role in the official Obama transition, other than to serve in a university-based advisory capacity.
Daniel Kaniewski, deputy director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University affirmed to WND in a telephone interview this morning that the Nidal Hasan listed as attending the meetings of the HSPI Presidential Transition Task Force was the same person as the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre.
Kaniewski said Hasan attended the meetings in his capacity as a member of the faculty of the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, not as a member of the HSPI Presidential Task Force.
Kaniewski believed Hasan applied on the institute's website to attend the meeting and was accepted because of his professional credentials.
Kaniewski could not tell WND whether or not Hasan made comments from the audience that influenced the task force recommendations or not.
He further confirmed Hasan had attended several meetings held by the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University and that the institute is currently searching conference records to see if it is possible to determine what additional institute conferences he attended.
.
Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.
After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.
But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner." Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?
Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That's the least that should occur.
Indeed, an argument could be made that Obama should have canceled the Indian event, out of respect for people having been murdered at an Army post a few hours before. That would have prevented any sort of jarring emotional switch at the event.
Did the president's team not realize what sort of image they were presenting to the country at this moment? The disconnect between what Americans at home knew had been going on -- and the initial words coming out of their president's mouth was jolting, if not disturbing.
It must have been disappointing for many politically aware Democrats, still reeling from the election two days before. The New Jersey gubernatorial vote had already demonstrated that the president and his political team couldn't produce a winning outcome in a state very friendly to Democrats (and where the president won by 15 points one year ago). And now this? Congressional Democrats must wonder if a White House that has burdened them with a too-heavy policy agenda over the last year has a strong enough political operation to help push that agenda through.
If the president's communications apparatus can't inform -- and protect -- their boss during tense moments when the country needs to see a focused commander-in-chief and a compassionate head of state, it has disastrous consequences for that president's party and supporters.
All the president's men (and women) fell down on the job Thursday. And Democrats across the country have real reason to panic.
Wild Thing's comment........
Amazing ithat a Chiacgo nbc wrote the article about Obama. Good for them. I posted this video the other day and we all commented on it. But this article is good and really points out what a total FAILURE Obama and how he could care less. He should not even need a team of people to tell him to "act" sorry or sad or outraged. Damn HIM!
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Comments (9)
November 06, 2009
Ft. Hood Primary Shooter ( JIHAD ) Major Malik Nadal Hasan Is Still Alive
Fort Hood Press Conference -- Primary Shooter Major Malik Nadal Hasan Is Still Alive -- FOX News
The gunman, first said to have been killed, was wounded but alive in a hospital under military guard, said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort Hood. He was shot four times, and was on a ventilator and unconscious, according to military officials. "I would say his death is not imminent," Cone said.
The man was identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old from Virginia.
The suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was on a ventilator and unconscious in a hospital after being shot four times during the shootings at the Army's sprawling Fort Hood, post officials said. In the early chaos after the shootings, authorities believed they had killed him, only to discover later that he had survived.
Information on Fort Hood Terrorist Malik Nadal Hasan
Military officials say the suspected shooter is not dead, as was originally reported. He is alive, and has been treated for his wounds.
Military officials say the suspected shooter at Fort Hood was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to the Texas base in July.
The officials had access to Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan's military record. They said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because military records are confidential.
Federal law enforcement officials say the Hasan came to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.
The Virginia-born soldier was single with no children. He was 39 years old.
He is a graduate of Virginia Tech University, where he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1997. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
Colleague Terry Lee on Fort Hood Shooter Malik Nadal Hasan -- He Wanted Muslims to "Stand Up"
Below is complete video of the Press Conference, including the questions from the media:
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MUSLIM DENIAL......again ! ~ Wild Thing
Al Siddiq, president of the Islamic Center of Waco, followed the unfolding news of the Fort Hood tragedy anxiously, as a veteran of the U.S. Army himself, as a friend of some Muslim soldiers currently stationed at the Central Texas post and as a Muslim who has become wary of backlash.
Siddiq said the Muslim Islamic community is very concerned that the shooter on Fort Hood was a Muslim because Muslims tend to get all thrown into the same category. Since 9/11, Siddiq said, when an individual Muslim acts stupid, it affects the entire Islamic community. The concern is backlash against other Muslims, he said.
“We’ve been very fortunate in Waco,” Siddiq said. “But there’s always a backlash.” Siddiq said he had a great experience in the U.S. Army, both in Korea and stationed at Fort Campbell.
“That’s what hurts me the most,” he said. “The Army has accommodated Muslims. Not any other Army can offer what the U.S. Army offers.”
Siddiq said what he has heard is that the Fort Hood shooter may be a convert to Islam. He said he thinks the problem some converts have is not based on the Islam religion, but on the resentment toward the U.S. government that they bring to their faith.
Malik attended prayer services nearly every day in Silver Spring for several years. Six months ago Hasan came to the attention of the FBI because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings.
After lauding a Muslim U.S. Army soldier who killed comrades in Kuwait in 2003, Hasan wrote in an online posting, “If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers … that would be considered a strategic victory.”
At Fort Hood, Hasan exhibited a troubled state of mind. Retired Col. Terry Lee, who worked with Hasan at the psych ward at Fort Hood, told Fox News that about six months ago he heard Hasan say, "Maybe the Muslims should rise up and fight against the aggressor," in Iraq and Afghanistan -- referring to the U.S. Army
Authorities said the gunman was shot but was not killed. Two other soldiers suspected in what appears to be the worst mass shooting at a U.S. military base were also apprehended, officials said.
Tom Hunt, himself a former Army sergeant who was stationed at Fort Hood, said his son called about an hour after the shooting to tell him he was safe.
James Hunt, 27, serving with the 510th Combat Engineers, was with his platoon at the base’s Soldier Readiness Center where soldiers who are about to be deployed undergo medical screening. He is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in January.
But because James had broken his foot several weeks ago, he was sent outside and told to get some extra paperwork that would clear him for deployment. James was waiting in the parking lot of the center when the shooting started, his father said.
“Everybody started running and shouting, and he saw the wounded come out,” Tom Hunt said. “He didn’t hear the shooting, but he said it was ‘a bloody mess.’”
Hunt said his son told him he loaded up many of the wounded and drove them to the hospital. The wounded relayed what they saw inside when the shooting happened.
“They were telling him that one guy was shouting something in Arabic while he was shooting,” Tom Hunt said. “He couldn’t say much more than that.”
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Wild Thing's comment.......
This is an outrage against our Servicemen on OUR soil.....this person is a terrorist.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:55 AM | Comments (20)
Clinic Cat MAX On Orders to Luke Air Force Base
Max, a 21-pound gray tabby cat, is on official Army orders to the Luke Air Force Base Veterinary Clinic in Glendale, Ariz. Not only does he increase the morale of the staff and visitors to the clinic, he also officially provides "Fat Cat Security and Pest Control" as stated in his orders
Clinic cat on orders to Luke Air Force Base
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS)
During the past ten years, the Luke Air Force Base Veterinary Clinic has seen six civilian and military veterinarians come and go, as well as countless veterinary technicians and other workers. But there has been one constant, and his name is Max.
Max, a 21-pound gray tabby cat, was brought into the vet clinic in July of 1999 after he was discovered in a gutter.
"He was a six-week-old kitten when he arrived," said Joan Seifert, 56th Force Support Squadron veterinary clinic office clerk. "Nobody called and said they were missing a kitten, so he hung out here and we decided to make him our clinic cat. We got him neutered and declawed in the front, and he has been living here for the past ten years."
When Max first started his duties as clinic cat, he would roam the office all day, interacting with pets and their owners. He even helped the staff with some of their more difficult patients.
"We had a chihuahua in here one day, and we were trying to get him into a cardboard carrier," Ms. Seifert said. "Every time we tried to put him in the box, the chihuahua would try to bite us. Max must have heard us struggling, so he came running around the corner and batted the chihuahua in the face. The dog was so baffled, we were able to close the carrier."
Max isn't concerned with size, either. Big or small, he takes on all comers.
"Earlier this year, I was outside just before the sun came up," Ms. Seifert recalled. "I was looking for Max and started to walk out toward the parking lot when I saw what I thought was a dog trotting toward me. All of a sudden, as the 'dog' got close, I saw it was a coyote. I started backing up toward the door. By that time, Max had spotted the coyote. He let out a shriek, puffed up and took off after him. I screamed, 'No, Max, no!,' but he just took off after it and came in a few minutes later looking like, 'It's ok, I took care of it.'"
But, Max is just doing his job. He is on official Army orders to Luke to provide "fat cat security and pest control." He also searches out lizards, spiders or any other pests that are brave enough to roam in or around the clinic.
"He is on a calorie-controlled diet, but he supplements it pretty good with all the lizards he catches and eats," Ms. Seifert said.
Though Max is a perfect bodyguard and exterminator at the clinic, he also plays an important role in base public relations. At least once a week, an Airman, family member or civilian will come to the clinic asking if the staff still has "that big cat."
"We had a colonel from the Aerospace Medical Squadron call up and ask if Max was available because he wanted to bring his family over to see him," Ms. Seifert said. "I told him I would check his schedule and of course Max was free. The colonel brought his family over to see him."
The vet staff also recalled a little girl who lived on base. Her family didn't have pets, so her father would bring her to the clinic to play with Max. Other Luke members bring their cameras and snap photos of him.
"He plays into it when he knows he is getting attention or when people come and take photos," said Michaela Debelius, 56th FSS veterinary technician. "He loves it."
Debelius' husband, Staff Sgt. Ralph Debelius, 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron Air Ground Equipment mobility manager, visits Max every day.
"I am a big cat person and he increases my morale on a daily basis," Sergeant Debelius said. "He is really friendly, and he has this kind of feisty attitude. He has a lot of personality and is great for a good laugh."
Max's charm isn't reserved only for humans, either. He's also made friends with a few of the military working dogs who are housed right next to the kennel. When one of them, Kisma, comes over for an appointment, Max will jump up on the table right beside him and cuddle up.
Kisma's handler, Senior Airman Steven Bruner, 56th Security Forces Squadron MWD handler, says he has never seen anything like it before.
"They told me before I came over here for the first time, that Kisma was pretty friendly with the cat," he said. "I was surprised."
Max has grown and changed with the clinic over the years. Now, instead of roaming the clinic freely, Max has a large, fenced area in the back of the building where he can hang out.
"If we have him out on a clinic day, when customers start to come in I say 'OK Max, come on in the back,' and he comes," Seifert said. "Cats are trainable. It takes a lot of patience and they have to want to do it, but he listens better than a lot of people's dogs do."
Max would be offended if he knew he was compared to a dog, but he does seem quite canine-like as he sits at the front door of the clinic waiting to be let in.
"He sits there and meows until you let him in," Mrs. Debelius said. "And he meets us every day at the door to say good morning."
And ready to protect the clinic's staff from coyotes and lizards alike.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Love this story. The Vet we go to for Sebastian and Missy has his cat at work each day. There are also a lot of soldiers and Air Force from McDill Air Force Base here that go to the Vet we go to.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:48 AM | Comments (4)
Afghanistan ~ The Soldiers Speak
From The Washington Times
Special forces for special Afghan rescues
Dangerous missions to save severely wounded
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan | A cool wind rushed through the open back doors of the Black Hawk, rattling the ventilators, IV tubes and defibrillators as the rescue helicopter banked sharply and rose into the sky.
It was headed for a site on Kandahar's Highway 1, dubbed "Death Highway" by coalition troops, where a powerful improvised explosive device had just struck a U.S. convoy.
The mission - to pick up the dead and wounded - was all too familiar for the members of the Air Force's 55th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, better known as the Guardian Angels, based at Kandahar Air Field.
"This is the toughest thing we do, but we bring everyone home and we leave no one behind," said Capt. Steve Colletti, director of operations, before donning his gear and boarding the HH 60G Pave Hawk, a modified Black Hawk helicopter.
"Every time we pick up injured troops, it hits us deep in the heart," he said. "We've become the 911 response for southern Afghanistan - whether that's our troops or Afghan citizens."
The past week has brought plenty of heartache for the medical combat specialists, considered the "special forces" of the Air Force. A day earlier, they had spent an afternoon airlifting 17 severely wounded members of the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team to the trauma center at Kandahar Air Field. One American and one Afghan soldier were killed in that IED attack.
For the nearly 68,000 already here, the debate is not academic.
It "was a pretty bad day," said Maj. Ben Conde, from Denver, who flew the missions to rescue the 17 injured troops and bring home the two killed in action. "It was a day we never wish would happen again."
"These aren't numbers, these are our family, our brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and children," said Pararescueman Vincent Eckert, from Tucson, Ariz. "We've kind of become a jack of all trades. These are the things we do so that others may live. We're not bomb droppers - our mission is to save lives."
The members of the squadron are called pararescuemen or parajumpers - PJs. All are trained trauma medical technicians who can perform battlefield surgery - including amputations - under enemy fire.
If necessary, the PJs parachute to their victims. Trained to work in almost any weather, they are physically fit enough to perform rescues deep underwater or high in the mountains.
During the Vietnam War, PJs recovered downed pilots in enemy territory and developed a tradition of getting two green feet tattooed on their bodies, representing the mark the helicopters leave on the ground.
In Afghanistan, the group rescues troops, brings sick Afghans from remote locations to big field hospitals and helps others in need of medical treatment.
On Saturday, members of one unit lingered after finishing a shift. Some worked out in a makeshift outdoor gym, while a second shift prepared for the long night ahead.
Staff Sgt. Matthew Schollard, 28, a pararescueman from Tuscon, played his guitar and joked with his buddy, Staff Sgt. Scott Dowd, 27, also a pararescueman from Tuscon.
Only 45 minutes after the second shift arrived, pagers went off.
Immediately the flight engineers, gunners and medics grabbed their M-4 carbines and medical gear and rushed to two helicopters.
On one Black Hawk, Capt. Colletti sat on one side and Senior Airman Lucas Ferrari sat across from him. They clutched their weapons closely to their chests and flung their feet out through the open doors as they watched the ground below, flying over Kandahar's mountains and above the red desert that would lead them to the casualties.
Kandahar city disappeared in the distance.
A billowing cloud of pink smoke rose into the sky from a road near a small farming compound.
Capt. Colletti and Airman Ferrari pointed below and put their thumbs up.
"We're here," Capt. Colletti wrote down on his notepad, which he kept in his ballistic vest. He pointed his weapon down toward the fields where insurgents were still firing on the Army convoy as the rescuers arrived.
The Black Hawk circled strategically, banking sharply, with the wreckage below framed through the open door. Smoke billowed from the site of the explosion.
The rescuers jumped off the second helicopter before it landed on a ravine, kicking up dust and dry grass.
Senior Master Sgt. David Swan, 42, from Corning, N.Y., and Staff Sgt. Joshua Keyes, 30, of Alturas, Calif., rushed to a wounded soldier without hesitation. The soldier, nestled in the litter, was stabilized on the helicopter by the medical team.
The helicopters flew back to Kandahar Air Field's trauma hospital.
The soldier, although severely wounded, survived. The Washington Times is withholding his name until his relatives can be notified.
A second flight was even more difficult. The rescue unit was flying back to retrieve the remains of a dead soldier, whose name The Times is also withholding.
The squadron placed the young man's remains in a small black bag, carried the bag on board the chopper and draped it with a U.S. flag, then lifted off from the highway where he had taken his last breath. There was silence on the flight back.
From the sky, the villages and farmland looked benign, even beautiful. Some Pashtun villagers circled the area where the convoy was struck. A small group cheered as the body was loaded onto the craft. Others watched silently.
"It never gets easy," said Master Sgt. Swan, after the group had returned back to base. "This past month has been hard on our troops. We do our job and we never leave anyone - not anyone behind."
Wild Thing's comment.......
I don't understand how Obama and those like him can sleep at night, knowing their indecision is costing the lives of our warriors our heroes. There must be a special place in hell for people like that.
Prayers for the friends and families of the fallen and wounded.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:45 AM | Comments (2)
November 05, 2009
Deadly Mass Shooting At Fort Hood Army Base In Texas
At least 7 are dead and 30 were injured after 3 gunmen opened fire on a crowd at Fort Hood in Texas.
Reuters reported:
At least seven people were killed and 12 wounded in a shooting at the Fort Hood, Texas, U.S. Army base Thursday, local media reported.
One gunman was in custody and another was on the loose at the military base, one of the largest military installations in the world, local media reported. There could be a third shooter involved, MSNBC reported.
Via FOX News– The FBI says terrorism was not involved. The shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center at Ft. Hood. 6 of the 7 victims were military.
The base is still on lockdown.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) reports on MSNBC that there may be 30 wounded.
McClatchey reports that the shooters used M-16 rifles.
KCEN-TV in Waco
KCEN-TV reports that about '500 military personnel are moving sacross the base' in order to secure it. Two suspects now in custody.
KWTX-TV and CNN reporting nine dead.
KCEN-TV is now reporting that there are two additional areas reporting shots fired. This is unconfirmed.
Reporting - 12 dead and 31 wounded.
UPDATE:
SNIPPET: “KILLEEN, Texas - Officials at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen say 12 people are dead and about 30 are wounded in a mass shooting on the Fort property.
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE NOW
According to officials, a soldier carrying two handguns opened fire at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Soldier Readiness Center at the post in Killeen, Texas.
“It would be an environment that would be very susceptible to casualties or injuries,” Killeen City Manager Connie Green said.
Officials said the gunman was shot and killed after quick response from security officers.
At least two other soldiers were taken into custody.
Army personnel said a civilian police officer was among the deceased. At least six of the wounded were military.
“We’re praying that those who are injured … are not seriously injured,” Green said.
The Fort Hood public affairs spokesman said the Army has set up a special operations center to handle the response.
The official base Web site posted a message that it is on lock down and in an emergency situation. It also urged people to stay indoors.
Nine schools on the base — seven elementary and two middle — are included in the lock down.
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Military Major Malik Hassan, a convert to Islam, originally from Virginia, is the Prime Suspect and now dead, killed by two PD Ofc
The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said.
The general said there were "eyewitness accounts of more than one shooter," and the others were tracked to an adjacent facility.
Cone said that a gunman entered a facility known as the Soldier Readiness Facility, where soldiers who are preparing to deploy go for last minute medical check ups and dental treatment. Sources told ABC News that the soldiers gathered there were getting ready to deploy to Iraq.
The gunman used two handguns, Cone said. He wasn't sure if the shooter reloaded the weapons during the attack.
"The gunman opened fire and essentially due to the quick respond of the police forces was killed," said Cone.
The shooter was killed by civilian law enforcement and one police officer died in the shootout, Cone said.
The gunman's suspected accomplices were taken into custody in an adjacent facility known as the old SportsDome Complex.
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OMG...OMG....Fort Barack Obama Gives "Shout-Out" Before He Comments on Shooting -- FOX News
Wild Thing's comment......
Prayers for the victims and their families. I will update as things come on the news.
I am not positive , but I think this is the Facebook for the shooter that was shot.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Malik-Hassan-Malik/1008970609
He is convert no less; the most dangerous type of jihadi. In a sane version of America, all madrassas and mosques would be shut down immediately !! And also when anyone in our military converts to Islam they should be kicked OUT asap!!!!!! Isalm is not religion, it is a LAW they follow, it is dangerous to our troops and to all of us. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK! Like the Muslim convert grenade thrower in Kuwait. He didn’t want to fight against his Muslim brethren.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 PM | Comments (21)
November 04, 2009
In Country With the Our US Army and US Air Force
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U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Stephen Barnes continues with his mission even thought the crotch of his pants were ripped off during a dismounted patrol across the Tangi Valley in the Wardak Province of Afghanistan Aug. 29, 2009. Barnes is a squad leader assigned to 1st Platoon, Apache Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade /Photo Released) 10/29/2009
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U.S Army Spc. David Oliver, of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, is enjoys his last cigarette before going out on a mission at Forward Operating Base Lane in Zabul province, Afghanistan, Oct. 11, 2009. The 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army Europe is deployed throughout southern Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Tia P. Sokimson/Released) 10/30/2009
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U.S. Air Force explosive ordnance and disposal technicians, and U.S. Army Sgt. Zachary Cleland, a combat engineer assigned to Alpha Company, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, talk after finding an improvised explosive device during a patrol in the streets of the Tangi Valley in the Wardak Province of Afghanistan, Aug. 28, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade / Released) 10/29/2009
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An Mi-35 Hind helicopter fires its 12.9mm gatling gun during a training sortie over southern Afghanistan . U.S. Airmen with the 438th Air Expeditionary Training Group use the helicopter to train Afghan aviators while deployed to Kandahar Air Field. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Angelita Lawrence/Released)
[The Gatling gun, lower left pointing upward, is inactive here.]
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:45 AM | Comments (7)
November 02, 2009
The Warrior Song
No matter what branch of the United States Armed Forces you serve under or have served under, this song is dedicated to you.
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Wild Thing's comment.........
Love it, it is so great to see people making things like this video. And doing songs like this.
.....Thank you BobF, for sending this to me.
BobF
SMSgt, USAF
1973 - 1999
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:46 AM
November 01, 2009
F18 Air Strike and a Walk Through Abandoned Taliban Training Camp
F/A-18 Hornet catches jihadist firing rockets at US base in Iraq, uses its M61 Vulcan gatling gun to turn them into pieces and spread them across the desert.
Anyone want to move in??? LOL NO thanks!
The Pakistani military has taken members of the media on a tour of what it says is an abandoned Taliban training camp in the volatile Swat valley.
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Posted by Wild Thing at 12:48 AM | Comments (4)
October 27, 2009
U.S. Troops Hope Afghanistan Sacrifices Not In Vain
Army Sgt. 1st Class Teresa R. Coble, 27, of Germantown, with the 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment from Fort Bragg, N.C., continues to work while in a bunker at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan on Thursday, during the second rocket attack in a week.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Teresa R. Coble
U.S. troops hope Afghanistan sacrifices not in vain
Doubts, determination to finish mission fill days
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan
The sirens blared as a Taliban rocket attack rattled troops across Kandahar Air Field for the second time last week.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Teresa R. Coble and other members of her unit at the base's media-support center hit the floor, lay flat on the dusty cement and protected their heads with their hands. Later, the unit moved to cement-reinforced bunkers until the all-clear sounded.
While the Obama administration debates whether to send tens of thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan and Afghans prepare to vote for president for the second time in four months, some of those already braving rockets and bombs worry that their mission has lost the support of the U.S. public and that their sacrifices - and those of their fallen comrades - have been in vain.
"What about the troops who died giving their lives for this mission?" Sgt. Coble asked as she waited for the rocket alert to finish.
By next August, Sgt. Coble, 27, from Germantown, will have served more than 30 months combined in Iraq and Afghanistan, far from her only child, five-year-old Troy Davis.
"We would not be honoring the lives of the troops who died if we left here without finishing our mission, and many troops are concerned that the American people have forgotten why we came here to begin with," she said.
"If we left Afghanistan right now, its equivalent to somebody going up to help a rape victim, engaging in a fight to help that rape victim, then giving up because they didnt want to get hurt themselves and allowing that rape to continue," she said. "Because essentially thats what the Afghan population is: They are victims, and we need to follow through with what we promised."
Others interviewed by The Times were less supportive of the eight-year war and less certain that adding more U.S. forces would defeat a tenacious and growing Taliban insurgency or reduce corruption in the Afghan government. Several asked not to be named so that they could voice their opinions candidly without retribution from their superiors.
One young soldier, who had arrived at Kandahar Air Field from a forward operating base along the Pakistan-Afghan border, said his unit had suffered a number of casualties.
"I used to believe in what we were doing here," the soldier said. "I'm not too sure anymore. It's just we don't know what the endgame is. We've been getting hit hard out here. What are we here to win? I have to believe that what Gen. [Stanley M.] McChrystal is doing is going to work.But who knows how long that will last before someone else decides to change the game plan again? I mean, do the people in Washington even remember we're here?"
Others said they had difficulty working with some members of the Afghan National Army, which they described as disorganized and in some cases untrustworthy. Gen. McChrystal, the commander of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, seeks to increase the size and quality of the Afghan army as the mainstay for Afghan security in the future.
"I don't trust them," said one U.S. soldier who said he had worked closely with Afghan military personnel during multiple tours in Afghanistan. "They make it impossible for us, and we have to work around it. I understand that we're trying to aid the Afghans in securing their own country, but we're up against some of the worst corruption I've ever known. It puts our lives in danger."
In Kabul, Army Maj. Pedro Espinoza said he supported Gen. McChrystal's plans and believed in the mission despite its difficulties.
"I have hope in what we're doing here," Maj. Espinoza said, as he donned armor in preparation for the short ride from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters to Kabul airport. "Look, if I didn't have hope, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. It's as simple as that."
Polish Col. Jacek Rolak, who was also in the convoy, wasn't as hopeful. He joked with Maj. Espinoza and said he was grateful to be leaving Afghanistan.
"I'm not too sure things will work out the way we would like," Col. Rolak said. " I'm not sure what's going to happen, or how good any strategy is in Afghanistan. Guess we just wait and see."
U.S. troops here deal daily with death and injury, seeing comrades hurt and watching flag-draped coffins go through forward operating bases on their final trip home.
Many are also haunted by the faces of Afghan people the U.S. is trying to help.
In Kabul, Army Pvt. 2nd Class Logan Purtlebaugh sent e-mails to her family from the comfort of her bunk bed. Her Myrtle Beach pink blanket, books strewn on her bed and periodic breaks to brush her long, blond hair made the 19-year-old seem more like a university student in a dorm than a soldier in a barracks. The young chaplain's assistant with the 82nd Airborne, 4th Brigade, at Camp Lindsey, not far from Kandahar Air Field, was on a nine-day break in the Afghan capital.
The policy debate back in Washington was not on the mind of this soldier from Bloomington, Ind.
Instead, she was thinking about the accidental death of an Afghan child she recently had witnessed in Kandahar.
"It's the first time I'm dealing with death," said Pvt. Purtlebaugh, who is on her first deployment. "I'll never forget what happened."
She folded down her laptop and stared into the darkness.
"He ran out in front of the MRAP [Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle], and there was no time for the driver to stop," she said. "The little boy's head was decapitated. It was horrible for everybody involved. Especially for the family of the boy."
The young victim "seemed to be about the same age as my seven-year-old sister, Madison Purtlebaugh," she said. "I really miss home, but this is where I want to be. I believe in the Afghan people. I have hope despite everything."
Sgt. Coble urged Americans to think about the sacrifices U.S. troops have made in Aghanistan and the consequences of narrowing the mission before it has more time to succeed.
"We're not just numbers," she said. "I'm not going to say morale is high with everything going on at home. We're here for a reason. This is not a draft military. When people go out on the streets in America and say, 'Bring our troops home,' it infuriates me. Don't go out there talking about bringing our troops home, let us decide when to come back home. We're here because we want our children, my son, to have a safer world, and we know the risks."
Morale dips for American Marines in Afghanistan
A mile from South Station, an outpost of US marines in Helmand province, the tribal chief was openly hostile. “The Americans threaten our economy and take our land for bases. They promise much and deliver nothing,” he said.
“People here regard the American troops as occupiers,” said Haji Khan, a leader of the Baluch tribe, who rules like a medieval baron. “Young people are turning against them and in time will fight them.”
Inside South Station, soldiers are proud of the progress they have made. Until they arrived, this remote part of Helmand had not had a government presence for years. But many are pessimistic about where the conflict is heading.
“I’m not much for this war. I’m not sure it’s worth all those lives lost,” said Sergeant Christian Richardson as we walked across corn fields that will soon be ploughed up to plant a spring crop of opium poppy.
A New Yorker who joined the marines after 9/11 and served two tours in Iraq, Richardson, 24, said his men had achieved much. “You can see we are making progress, slowly. But when we leave, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda will surely return.”
With enough effort, resources and time, the marines are confident the population can be won over. But, with the platoon’s influence limited to a small area around their base, many soldiers wonder if the Taliban and Al-Qaeda may simply outlast them, or if the US and Afghan governments have the resolve to send enough troops to win.
Third Platoon, Charlie Company of the 2nd Light Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion, came last July to Khan Neshin, as far south as Nato soldiers have reached in Afghanistan. It was part of a summer offensive by more than 4,500 troops of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which has joined British and other forces trying to turn the war in Helmand.
Although they have read the manuals on counterinsurgency and heard generals speak about how to defeat the Taliban, the reality has been bloody, painful and frustrating.
The platoon knows there are at least 20 booby-trapped bombs on the high ground around the base. More than half the men have already been caught in blasts. One marine explosive expert was killed; others suffered broken legs and amputated feet. Three have survived two explosions and come back to fight again.
General Stanley McChrystal, the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, says the mission is to protect the population and isolate them from the Taliban, but the marines are finding it no easier to defeat the Taliban than it has been for the British, who have fought in the province for three years. Villagers are rarely willing to express a simple opinion, let alone inform soldiers where the enemy is hiding. One marine described the way the Taliban blended with the population as “unbelievably frustrating”.
In terrain crisscrossed by canals with weak and narrow bridges, the platoon has to approach villages on foot. Even when they have surrounded the Taliban, the marines have found the enemy has an uncanny ability to slip away in the ditches. All this adds to the strain of facing improvised explosive devices, which are the main threat.
“We are all brothers here,” said Lance-Corporal Corey Hopkins, 22, from Georgia. “And it hurts to see your brother hurt or put him in a bag for the last time. It pisses you off. It makes you mad. You know people out here know what’s going on, but they won’t tell you.”
The marines hope to open a school and provide medical facilities. They are also offering to pay Khan and others to provide jobs to improve the canal system.
Later, a marine intelligence officer said the drug economy and the feudal system made the strategy of winning hearts and minds extremely complex. As drug producers, men such as Khan had a “working relationship with the Taliban”.
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Wild Thing's comment..........
This treatment of our troops by Obama as their CIC is absolutely unacceptable, all the while Zero touts his latest idea, “muslim technology fund”. Unbelievable, and UNFORGIVABLE.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:48 AM | Comments (16)
October 25, 2009
Portrait Does Justice to a Soldier's Sacrifice ~ Thank You Army Sgt. Rich Yarosh !
Army Sgt. Rich Yarosh stands near an oil-on-canvas portrait of himself Friday at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in Washington. Yarosh, 27, was left scarred and disfigured after an explosion while he was fighting in Iraq three years ago.
Portrait Does Justice to a Soldier's Sacrifice
Arlene Coffman stared at the man in the painting. He had no ears, no nose, no eyebrows. Instead of smile lines by his eyes there was scar tissue. Tears welled in her eyes.
"It's incredible. It's hard to describe because it's so moving," said Coffman, 64, visiting here from Pebble Beach, Calif. "Most portraits bring emotions. This one is emotional in a different way."
The face in Coffman's gaze belongs to retired Army Sgt. Rich Yarosh. On Sept. 1, 2006, he was in the turret of a Bradley assault vehicle when it hit a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He and two other soldiers were engulfed in flames. One later died. Yarosh suffered burns on 60 percent of his body, lost part of his right leg and has limited use of what's left of his hands.
Three years later, most of it spent in an Army hospital, and after 35 surgeries, his scarred countenance is now proudly featured at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery here. The painting is one of 49 finalists out of 3,300 entries in the museum's second Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. It will hang in the building for the next year with iconic images of presidents, scientists and celebrities.
"I didn't want the depiction of his injury to overwhelm the depiction of his humanity," said Matthew Mitchell, the Amherst, Mass., artist who painted Yarosh as part of a project called 100 Faces of War Experience. Despite the soldier's obvious wounds, said Mitchell, "He's a whole person."
That's something Tony Bass recognized. A portrait of the New York psychoanalyst stares across the second floor gallery toward Yarosh's. Both men were among the first to view the paintings when the competition exhibit opened to the public Friday.
"There's a sense of his having survived this horrendous trauma, a sense of his spirit coming though," said Bass, 58. "The eyes and the stance – it's an amazing picture of someone prevailing in the face of almost unbelievable tragedy."
Museum curator Brandon Fortune, who organized the competition, said Miller's portrait of Yarosh was "quite traditional" in its head-and-shoulders composition. "It has gravitas, that dignity that really gives it its power," she said.
"He looks calm, like he's dealing with it," said Carmen Diaz, 66, of Alhambra, Calif. "He's gone through the worst in life and yet he can smile. He can sit for this. He's going on."
Yarosh, now 27 and back home in Windsor, N.Y., didn't accept his new look easily. He didn't see his face until five months after the explosion – and then only by accident when he glimpsed himself in the reflection from a laptop computer screen.
"It took another six months to get used to it, especially to going out in public," said Yarosh, who says he still scares little children sometimes. "I'm so used to it now. I still get looks but it doesn't bother me."
Several visitors wandering the gallery seemed drawn to his portrait. Many stopped to read Yarosh's own words about his ordeal in Iraq: "That day started the same as every other day, but that day has never ended."
The portrait is "beautiful but also alarming," said Odile Schalit, 24, of New York. She wondered what it would be like to lose control over her own face, that most basic ingredient of identity. Then, gesturing around, she said, "After seeing this, so many of the other portraits seem so self-indulgent."
Yarosh said he always wanted to sit for a portrait and is thrilled with the one Mitchell painted. He says the artist captured him "perfectly," even though his lack of ears and a nose meant Mitchell had to paint "totally outside his box" to convey the soldier's character.
"It's more than just a portrait, more than just a painting," Yarosh said. "It's a story."
Museum volunteer Heidi Whitesel, 67, of Gainesville, Va., said it was fitting that the soldier's portrait hung among those of others who made a difference in history. Their achievements, she said, were often made possible by the sacrifice of those in the military.
"He's transformed his personal tragedy into an inspiration for others," she said. "It helps us to walk a little more in the shoes and have less fear and more respect."
Some visitors chatted with Yarosh, who arrived before the museum opened. Others, though obviously moved by his likeness, seemed ill at ease when they realized he was nearby. Some glanced his way before moving to another gallery.
For a few, the portrait was political, a reminder of the horrors of war and the wrongness in particular of the one in Iraq. ( ASSHOLE COMMENT ~ Wild Thing )
"Every kid standing in line to go in the Army should look at this," said Bill Meyer, 72, a retiree from Baja, Mexico. "It makes me very glad I chose not to go in the service." ( ASSHOLE comment!!! ~ Wild Thing )
Kathryn Chase, 58, of Austin, said, "It's wonderful someone is recording these tragic stories. I'm very opposed to that war but really respect the people sacrificing in it."
Yarosh said he is "not a symbol of the war gone wrong" and remains "100 percent proud of my service" in Iraq. He hopes those who see his portrait come away with the same sense of pride.
A group of parents and their home-schooled children from Woodbridge, Va., who were on a field trip shared Yarosh's pride and were also grateful for his sacrifice.
"This reminds me that our life is so easy compared to the soldiers fighting the war on a daily basis," said Linene Kleppe, 36, whose husband is in the Air Force but whose job working with satellites has kept him off the battlefield. She asked her four children what they thought about the painting.
"I don't really know," said daughter Madigan, 8. Staring more intently, she added, "He looks like he's been in a lot of battles.
"He's just a guy with an Army shirt on," said her brother McCoy, 6. "He's happy. He's not scary."
Yarosh's father holds a photo of the soldier taken before his injury in Iraq. On Sept. 1, 2006, the Bradley assault vehicle Yarosh was manning hit an explosive device. Engulfed in flames, he jumped from the top of the vehicle and rolled around on the ground to try and snuff out the fire. Yarosh eventually fell into a water-filled canal, where the flames were extinguished. He suffered burns on more than 60 percent of his body.
Yarosh's body is covered in scar tissue, and he's lost parts of his nose, ears and his right leg. His fingers are permanently bent and rigid.
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Wild Thing's comment.........
This is a wonderful article minus the two scumbag assholes two comments. A story about an American Hero and I am honored to post this story!!! Thank you Army Sgt. Rich Yarosh for your service to our country, I can sit here in safety because of you sir.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:49 AM | Comments (3)
October 24, 2009
Wounded Warriors Return to Iraq for a Bit of Closure & Camaraderie
Wounded Warriors Return to Iraq for a Bit of Closure & Camaraderie
Wild Thing's comment........
Recently on Fox News, Julie Banderas featured a special segment of wounded warriors who returned to Iraq for a homecoming, of sorts, to try and find some closure of their time in the battle. What a touching story this was, and what a reminder it is that we owe our very freedoms to these men and woman so we may enjoy the lives we are currently living.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (6)
October 21, 2009
The U-2 Dragon Lady Endures
Staff Sgt. Austin P. Dibenedetto, 380th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, gears-up for the U-2's departure, Oct. 18
The Lady Endures
Story by 2nd Lt. Kidron Vestal
The year was 1968.
The Tet Offensive began in Vietnam. Simon & Garfunkel premiered the soundtrack to The Graduate. Martin Luther King 'had a dream.'
The U.S. Air Force had a vision. The plane known as the U-2 Dragon Lady, Aircraft No. 068-0337, came on board to offer strategic, aerial capabilities equal to none. It exceeded its 25,000th hour of flight, Oct. 18, in a mission out of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Southwest Asia.
America's premier, high-altitude intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance plane is the second U-2 to reach this milestone. Aircraft No. 068-0329 clocked a quarter of 100,000 hours, April 4, also of the 380th AEW. These two are the first of 33 U-2 airframes worldwide to achieve this feat.
The plane, with a wingspan of 105 feet, is maintained by military members and civilian contractors. Many elements come together on this piece of equipment, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Superintendents help oversee the maintenance operations of their dedicated crew chiefs, and assistant dedicated crew chiefs, who care for the plane as though she were their own.
"Every day, they come to work knowing they are responsible for the most critical high-altitude intelligence asset in the world, and they are dedicated to ensuring every mission is delivered on time and ready for the fight," said Capt. Vaughan Whited, 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron officer-in-charge.
This celebrated plane has overcome much in its 41 years. Over the course of Aircraft No. 0337's life, it has bellied in three times, each requiring a major overhaul.
Capt. Whited said, "The technicians and contractors continue to synergize their best maintenance practices in order to ensure she keeps flying strong."
The plane's design is accommodating for the ISR mission, not necessarily for an ease in maintenance. This makes No. 0337's achievement even more remarkable.
Tech. Sgt. Dave Wright, 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron expeditor, says the airframe is more labor-intensive than others, given its age and the changes in technology over time. When designed, some things were not considered, he said.
"Most aircraft have access panels and a hydraulic system that is easily accessible. The U-2 does not," said Sgt. Wright. While this might appear as a blunder, there may be a good explanation.
Col. Ricky R. Murphy, 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Group commander, said, "The U-2 is unique in that to maximize combat capability, there's no redundancy in the primary systems on the aircraft...as to minimize weight and maximize loiter time over the area of operations."
There are various platforms of ISR systems, with cameras that capture the broadest, most in-depth imagery of anything out there, said Capt. Whited.
Because of their maintenance, the systems are, "Consistently reliable every time," said Col. Murphy.
Ten thousand five-hundred feet of Kodak film is used on the weapon system, in addition to digital and satellite documentation. Artistry for this airframe is not limited to such imagery, however.
Staff Sgt.'s Jason A. Ortiz and Michael L. McVey, 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, sketched with chalk symbolic designs on the airframe, prior to the flight.
Consistency was a highlight of the day, echoed by Chief Master Sgt.'s William K. Renner and David E. McGuigan, 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron (Chief McGuigan, Group).
"Looking at it long-term shows you how you have consistent maintenance practices over time," said both gentlemen near-simultaneously. Four decades of 'getting it right' led us to Oct. 18.
Success did not come by accident. Every factor for attention is considered, even for the operator.
Given the aerial elements that the pilot will face at 70,000 feet, Lt. Col. Robert B. Wehner, 380th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, received pure oxygen for one whole hour prior to flight. Thus, his pre-flight inspection was executed by another pilot, as is the practice for every U-2 mission.
"There is a huge amount of trust there for a pilot, between the maintainers and other pilots," said Capt. Whited.
Even with the layered workload, he continued, "Many have said the U-2 is the most demanding and rewarding aircraft anyone could fly."
The Dragon Lady was once assigned to the CIA, and flew special operations worldwide. After a reassignment to the Air Force, the U-2 was present for every major allied contingency to date. She is used for diverse missions as well, including the mapping of wildfires in California and providing oversight to the Counter Drug War in Panama years back.
Over the years, the wingspan grew, the cockpit was upgraded, and the engine became more fuel-efficient. Other than that, the plane is the same as it was when embraced by the Air Force.
For the pilot who flew the Dragon Lady into its honored status, Colonel Wehner said, "If that airplane feels as good as I do, I guess that's a good thing for both being 41 years old."
The men and women of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing support Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (4)
October 12, 2009
Camp Keating 12 Hour Battle ~ Interviews Of Our Heroes
THIS WAS BEFORE THE ATTACK HAPPENED.
" I forgot I had this, but was looking through all of my pictures and videos of COP Keating since it's been in the news lately (COP Keating is gone now). This place will always hold a special place in my heart as this is where I felt most at home when in Afghanistan. I was trying to make a video diary for my mother and put a face on the men of the 6-4 cav because she was sending care packages to them, but I stopped because I just felt like an intruder. I meant to go back and do a sactioned video diary with the Mayor of the base, but never got around to it. "
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US forces leave isolated Afghan base after attack
On the day of President Obama’s glorious Nobel Appease Prize victory, a Taliban henchman gloats in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Kamdesh siege. The battle marked the largest loss of U.S. life in a single skirmish in more than a year. Besides the eight Americans slain, three Afghan soldiers and an estimated 100 insurgents died, according to NATO.
Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the U.S. bombarded the outpost with airstrikes after leaving, as well as the local police headquarters.
“This means they are not coming back,” Mujahid said. “This is another victory for Taliban. We have control of another district in eastern Afghanistan.”
“Right now Kamdesh is under our control, and the white flag of the Taliban is raised above Kamdesh,” Mujahid said.
A senior official of the Nuristan provincial government confirmed Taliban forces were in control of the village and Afghan police and soldiers had withdrawn from the district. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Provincial police chief, Gen. Mohammad Qasim Jangulbagh, said the pullout “has had a direct affect on the morale of Afghan forces.”
“If Afghan soldiers are losing support, how can they stay there?” he asked. “We need the coalition to send their forces back. We need more police, more soldiers.”
The battle marked the largest loss of U.S. life in a single skirmish in more than a year. Besides the eight Americans slain, three Afghan soldiers and an estimated 100 insurgents died, according to NATO.
Nick Paton Walsh joins U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan as they come under attack.
Interviews with soldiers at Combat Outpost Keating (Aug 2009)...THIS VIDEO IS FROM CNN AND THAT AWFUL Michael Ware!
Wild Thing's Comment........
CIC Obama did NOTHING! Other then giving the Generals and our troops the FINGER!
The Taliban must have enjoyed the CNN * piece because it gave them perfect intel.
And when someone from the outpost informed the local village elders that the camp would be closed in two weeks-
what did the wonderful locals do-the ones are guys are giving their lives to protect ?
They ran to the Taliban and ratted out our guys.
Attack soon , before they leave.
We have a CINC who has been and continues to be - Derelict in his duty .
That conclusion is inescapable and glaringly obvious .
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U.S. soldiers recount fierce Afghanistan battle
The assault began at dawn, as bullets and rockets peppered the remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan.
The insurgency was so fierce, according to one soldier, that the troops couldn't get to their mortars to fire back.
"They were under heavy enemy contact," Sgt. Jayson Souter said, describing the October 3 attack that pinned his comrades at Combat Outpost Keating, a remote base in Nuristan province.
Four servicemen -- Souter, a fellow soldier, an Apache helicopter pilot, and a gunner -- talked to a military reporter about their roles during the Keating attack in an interview posted by the Department of Defense on Facebook and NATO's International Security Assistance Force YouTube Channel.
The United States says about 200 insurgents -- mostly local fighters, with some Taliban organizers and leaders -- had been planning the attack for days, hiding mortars, rockets and heavy machine guns in the mountains.
The battle started early on October 3 and lasted for 12 hours. At the end, eight American soldiers and more than 100 militants were killed and buildings at the outpost were destroyed.
Fire support officer 1st Lt. Cason Shrode said the initial round "didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary." There was a lull and then there was a heavy attack.
"We started receiving a heavy volley of fire. Probably 90 seconds into the fight they ended up hitting one of our generators so we lost all power," Shrode said in the interview posted online by the Defense Department. "At that point I knew that this was something bigger than normal."
Troops called in air support. Helicopter gunner Chad Bardwell said he had to confirm the fighters he saw on ridgelines were the enemy because he had never seen such a large group of insurgents. ( from Wild Thing ...this is because of the R.O.E and how they have to be careful not to fire on civilians which is BS! It is getting our troops killed! )
"We tried to stop them as they were coming down the hill. ... We were taking fire pretty much the entire day," he said in the Defense Department interview.
Chief Warrant Officer Ross Lewallen, the Apache pilot, said a few aircraft were damaged in what was a "time-consuming endeavor" governed by tough terrain. He said the morning battle was "significant," but later troops were able to identify targets and eliminate larger weapons.
"One of the primary reasons for the fight taking so long is that it is an extreme terrain," he said in the same interview.
Lewallen said the valley sits beneath mountains to the west and north.
"There's a lot of cover so you really can't detect the enemy until they start moving again," he said, adding that it was tough for medical evacuation aircraft to land "because we were still trying to control" the outpost.
The intense assault on Keating led to fires. There were five main buildings at the post and four of them burned. Soldiers eventually ended up going into one building.
"The next morning it was pretty much ash besides that one building. I mean that's the way to describe it. Most of it had burned down. So we were pretty much at one building and the rest was just a shadow of what it used to be," Shrode said in the Defense Department interview.
Lewallen said what came together was "air-ground integration."
"All the training we've done before deploying here; it really clicked that day," he said in the interview. "We started realizing that the guys on the ground knew what they needed to tell us to get the job done. It made things that much easier."
He disputed media reports suggesting that there weren't enough weapons and troops. He said 40 minutes into the fight, air power arrived.
We had everything we needed. It was just a big attack with a lot of people. Bad things happen -- but I think we did well, under the circumstances."
Reflecting on the fight, Souter said, "Everybody basically came together and in the mix of it all, they were donating blood for the wounded that we had. They all pulled together to make sure that we can pull our boys out of this."
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Raw Video: Camp Keating Interviews -- from the soldiers who were there, and the pilots who flew in. Interview by ISAF Media.
NATOs main role in Afghanistan is to assist the Afghan Government in exercising and extending its authority and influence across the country, paving the way for reconstruction and effective governance. It does this predominately through its UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force.
Since NATO took command of ISAF in 2003, the Alliance has gradually expanded the reach of its mission, originally limited to Kabul, to cover Afghanistans whole territory. The number of ISAF troops has grown accordingly from the initial 5,000 to around 50.000 troops coming from 42 countries, including all 28 NATO members.
ISAF is a key component of the international community's engagement in Afghanistan, assisting the Afghan authorities in providing security and stability and creating the conditions for reconstruction and development.
Part 1
Pilots and Soldiers talk to a military reporter about their roles in the recent insurgent attack on Combat Outpost Keating near Jalalabad, Afghanistan and give detailed accounts of the events of this specific attack. Part 1 of 5.
Interviewees:
• 1st Lt. Cason Shrode (US), Fires Support Officer
• Chief Warrant Officer Ross Lewallen (US), Apache Pilot
• Sgt. Jayson Souter (US)
• Chief Warrant Officer Chad Bardwell (US), Apache Gunner
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Raw Video: Camp Keating Interviews-2
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Raw Video: Camp Keating Interviews-3
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Raw Video: Camp Keating Interviews-4
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Raw Video: Camp Keating Interviews-5
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Camp Keating - after the attack 1
Camp Keating, Afghanistan (former Kamdesh PRT)
Outside 360-degree view of the now abandoned and destroyed Camp Keating in Kamdesh, Afghanistan. This footage was taken in 2007. The bridge was just outside the base, immediately above the HLZ. The Camp Keating perimeter is outlined in HESCO barriers.
The strength, courage and steadfast determination of the US personnel who lived, fought and died here should never be forgotten.
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after the attack 2
Camp Keating, Afghanistan (former Kamdesh PRT)
Wounded U.S. Soldiers Refused to Leave Taliban Fight
( ABC News' Karen Russo was the only reporter to get to the scene of this bloody firefight between U.S. troops and hundreds of Taliban insurgents when she went in on a MEDEVAC helicopter. Here is her report: )
Flying into the besieged Afghan base during a nighttime firefight this weekend was a harrowing mix of overwhelming noise, stomach dropping maneuvers and shadows hurrying through the gloom.
When the chopper lifted off moments later with three wounded soldiers, it left behind others who were wounded but refused to be MEDEVACED out of the combat zone so they could return to fight with their buddies.
Fighting raged at two remote U.S. outpostsnear the Pakistan border this weekend, that left eight U.S. soldiers dead and 24 wounded. The battle was fought from Friday night through Sunday as hundreds of Taliban insurgents and their allies tried to overrun the Americans.
During the fighting, the insurgents succeeded in breaching the outer defense of the base at times before being repelled with the help of attack helicopters, fighter jets and drones. It was the bloodiest battle in a year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
During the fight, the MEDEVAC team at a nearby base waited - with both patience and frustration.
MEDEVAC teams are known for flying into some of the most deadly areas in the world to rescue injured soldiers. MEDEVAC helicopters are unarmed so they often need supporting aircraft to protect them, and sometimes the cover of darkness is their only defense.
On Saturday night, the team finally received the go-ahead as the sun set. Within moments of receiving the call, we rushed to the helicopter and quickly sped to the outposts.
As we were flying into the attack space, the MEDEVAC team with one medic and a doctor were preparing for the oncoming patients, setting up IV's, pulling out medical equipment and making other last minute preparations.
Apache helicopter gunships escorted us as we neared the combat zone to ensure our safety as we hovered at 10,000 feet awaiting word to descend. When word came, we plummeted in a corkscrew manner, making the descent in a matter of seconds, landing in a valley at the bottom of steep mountains. It felt very vulnerable to attack.
One of the pilots said that even though he had night vision goggles and ordinarily he can see in that sort of situation, because the fighting was intense there was so much smoke it was actually fogged over and it was difficult for him to see. Fortunately he could make out the landing zone, but it was touch and go.
Once on the ground, I hopped out of the chopper, but could see little other than smoke wafting through the moonlight, likely from a fire that was burning much of the base. Then I could make out the shadows of soldiers as they carried the wounded towards the helicopter.
Any noise of the conflict was drowned out by the propellers of the helicopter. The area smelled of burned out pine trees something one solider described as "death and hell."
Three wounded soldiers, one U.S. and two Afghan, were carried down the steep incline and quickly placed on the helicopter.
Some of the injured refused to be MEDEVACED out of the combat zone and continued to fight despite their wounds, according to soldiers at the base. Soldiers told the MEDEVAC crew that troops were donating blood during the battle, so it could be transfused into wounded comrades.
Between the gloom of night and the smoke, it was too dark to see much and the roar of the chopper made it almost impossible to hear commands.
I was quickly sort of touched by a crew member to get on the flight. I hopped on and even before I was on, the medical team was already working on the wounded.
Doctors wore night vision goggles, but still found it difficult to see. One doctor said it was like working by touch.
We were on the ground for a little more than five minutes, but in the chaos of noise and darkness, it felt like it could have been anything from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.
Moments later, the chopper lifted into the air and flew to the nearest medical facility. Despite the heroism of the crew, one of the soldiers died after reaching the facility. It wasn't immediately announced whether the soldier who died was American or Afghan.
The eight American troops killed in the battle were all from Fort Carson in Colorado Springs:
"In the deadliest day for Fort Carson since Vietnam, eight soldiers from the post’s 4th Brigade Combat Team died in Afghanistan on Saturday when insurgents attacked a pair of remote outposts in Nuristan province.
The Army hasn’t identified the dead, but several military sources confirmed that all eight were from the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade, which went to war in May and in recent days began withdrawing from remote areas to better provide security in cities and villages.
“My heart goes out to the families of those we have lost and to their fellow Soldiers who remained to finish this fight,” Col. Randy George, the brigade’s commander, said in a statement late Saturday. “This was a complex attack in a difficult area. Both the U.S. and Afghan Soldiers fought bravely together; I am extremely proud of their professionalism and bravery.”
Please take time to read the profiles of the American soldiers who died in the siege at Kamdesh.
The Colorado Springs Gazette tells their stories HERE and also HERE
Many were fathers. All were patriots. They were stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. They leave behind grieving wives, girlfriends, young children, family, and friends. Remember their names. Remember their heroism:
Spc. Stephan Lee Mace, 21
Sgt. Joshua Kirk, 30
Pfc. Kevin Thomson, 22
Spc. Christopher T. Griffin
Spc. Michael P. Scusa, 22
Sgt. Vernon W. Martin
Sgt. Justin T. Gallegos, 22
Sgt. Joshua M. Hardt, 24
Spc. Mace’s family is speaking out. Let’s pray the White House is listening:
Stephan Mace of the Army’s 61st Cavalry Regiment knew the Taliban would be waiting for him when he returned to eastern Afghanistan in September.
During a two-week leave in early September, the 21-year-old specialist sat on his father’s couch in Winchester, Virginia, and discussed his concerns over Forward Operating Base Keating in Kamdesh District, a region known as a Taliban stronghold.
“He talked about the village next to the base, that it had 300 Taliban, and they couldn’t do anything about it because they were in mosques hiding or with other civilians,” says his father, Larry Mace.
“They knew they were there and they couldn’t do anything about it and they killed them.”
Added comment from Wild Thing,
In comparing the size of the area......South Vietnam was 62,000 square miles, heavy foliage in the jungles and tunneling . Afghanistan is four times as big at 252,000 square miles,much of which is extremely mountainous and challenges even modern warplanes. That is, the enemy on high peaks know the helos must fly in a certain valley to come to support a besieged forward operating base.
Think about the number of troops and warplanes we had in VN, at 62,000 square miles, compared to a much smaller number in Afghanistan, at 252,000 square miles.
Those combat support aircraft are spread mighty thin, and flying times are long.
For combat casualties, this is BAD. It’s like being shot in West Texas, and being medevaced to Houston for treatment, via a slow helicopter. In Iraq, from wounding to hospital is measured in minutes, in Afghanistan, it may be HOURS.
Obama needs to realize this and listen to the General that has been boots on the ground and knows. Unlike Obama that cannot even take the oath of office without messing up. He needs to understand our troops have got to OWN the mountain areas not only the lowlands.
The location of Camp Keating reminds me a lot of like Dien Bien Phu. It too was set in a bowl surrounded by hills.
With Obama as CIC it is a Kluster Foxtrot!!!
He McCrystal not needed in talks taking place in DC re strategy - told him to wait - after all, he had basketball to play. Then he comes out with the Taliban not really an enemy, has role in Afghanistan’s future and let's leave the Taliban alone and only go after the al-queda and add into that the stupidest R.O.E. that I have heard of totally dangerous to our troops.
And let's not forget this as well....from another date where Obama is at faullt with his .R.O.E.'s
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
‘We’re pinned down:’ 4 U.S. Marines die in Afghan ambush
U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren’t near the village.
“We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We’ve lost today,” Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter’s repeated demands for helicopters.
Survivors in Afghanistan Need Immediate Help - 56 Soldiers Lost EVERYTHING
Please join me in contributing to the Combat Outpost Keating Relief Fund.
Mothax at the American Legion’s Burn Pit blog writes that “[i]n the battle for Combat Outpost Keating, the men of Bravo Troop 361 Cavalry lost every possession they had, save for the clothes on their backs.”
Also Tankerbabe has a list if you want to sent a package and what is still needed.
All personal belongings were destroyed. They lost everything. But the army is attempting to get them new uniforms.
They needed everything from underclothes, all personal hygiene supplies, cold weather gear - remember, they are in the high Hindu Kush mts. = some of the most severe winter weather on earth - and no comfy barracks, etc., - They needed heavy wool socks, wool helmet liners, balaclavas, gloves, long johns, , fleece blankets, etc etc...and they lost their iPods, DVDs, and other little things that helped keep them sane.
That is a lot of stuff to replace quickly for 56 soldiers.
Guess what - within 3 days of flurry - ALMOST everything on the list has been raised and is one the way. Fantastic!
WE KNOW. WE CARE.
Here is where to donate online using your credit card.
Here is where to mail checks:
COP Keating Relief Fund
PO Box 1954
Indianapolis 46206
Here is an online form that you can send in with your checks. Make sure you have COP Keating Relief Fund on the check so we can allocate it correctly.
If you want to send stuff today, and do it completely on your own, please mail to:
CSM Robert Wilson
TF Mountain Warrior
FOB Bostick
APO AE 09354
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Comments (6)
Weapons Failed US Troops During Afghan Firefight
The Army's new rife project was cancled. Here's what the SpecOps guys buy and use - according to what I could find.
SCAR (SOF Combat Assault Rifle) FN SCAR: Mark 16 and Mark 17- Special Forces Combat Assault Rifle (USA/Belgium
FN SCAR-H/Mk.17 rifle prototype in CQC (Close Quarter Combat, short barrel) configuration, 7.62x51 mm NATO version
FN SCAR-L/Mk.16 rifle partially disassembled; note additional quick-detachable barrel
The M240, formally identified as the United States Machine Gun, 7.62 millimeter, M240, is a family of belt-fed, gas operated middle sized machine guns firing the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. The M240 was adopted by the U.S. Military following a world-wide contest for a reliable 7.62 mm machine gun for use as a coaxial weapon for armored motor vehicle applications. The Coaxial edition of the legendary Belgian FN MAG 58 (Mitrailleuse d'Appui General or General Purpose Machine Gun), created by FN Herstal, won this contest. Despite not being the lightest medium machine gun in service, the M240 is highly regarded for reliability, and its standardization among NATO members is also seen as a major advantage. The demonstrated consistency of this weapon, 26,000 Mean Rounds Between Failure (MRBF), makes it the world's most dependable machine gun. ( The Gun Source )
Weapons failed US troops during Afghan firefight
It was chaos during the early morning assault last year on a remote U.S. outpost in Afghanistan and Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M4 carbine had quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base. The machine gun he grabbed after tossing the rifle aside didn't work either.
When the battle in the small village of Wanat ended, nine U.S. soldiers lay dead and 27 more were wounded. A detailed study of the attack by a military historian found that weapons failed repeatedly at a "critical moment" during the firefight on July 13, 2008, putting the outnumbered American troops at risk of being overrun by nearly 200 insurgents.
Which raises the question: Eight years into the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, do U.S. armed forces have the best guns money can buy?
Despite the military's insistence that they do, a small but vocal number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq has complained that the standard-issue M4 rifles need too much maintenance and jam at the worst possible times.
A week ago, eight U.S. troops were killed at a base near Kamdesh, a town near Wanat. There's no immediate evidence of weapons failures at Kamdesh, but the circumstances were eerily similar to the Wanat battle: insurgents stormed an isolated stronghold manned by American forces stretched thin by the demands of war.
Army Col. Wayne Shanks, a military spokesman in Afghanistan, said a review of the battle at Kamdesh is under way. "It is too early to make any assumptions regarding what did or didn't work correctly," he said.
Complaints about the weapons the troops carry, especially the M4, aren't new. Army officials say that when properly cleaned and maintained, the M4 is a quality weapon that can pump out more than 3,000 rounds before any failures occur.
The M4 is a shorter, lighter version of the M16, which made its debut during the Vietnam war. Roughly 500,000 M4s are in service, making it the rifle troops on the front lines trust with their lives.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a leading critic of the M4, said Thursday the Army needs to move quickly to acquire a combat rifle suited for the extreme conditions U.S. troops are fighting in.
U.S. special operations forces, with their own acquisition budget and the latitude to buy gear the other military branches can't, already are replacing their M4s with a new rifle.
"The M4 has served us well but it's not as good as it needs to be," Coburn said.
Battlefield surveys show that nearly 90 percent of soldiers are satisfied with their M4s, according to Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, head of the Army office that buys soldier gear. Still, the rifle is continually being improved to make it even more reliable and lethal.
Fuller said he's received no official reports of flawed weapons performance at Wanat. "Until it showed up in the news, I was surprised to hear about all this," he said.
The study by Douglas Cubbison of the Army Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., hasn't been publicly released. Copies of the study have been leaked to news organizations and are circulating on the Internet.
Cubbison's study is based on an earlier Army investigation and interviews with soldiers who survived the attack at Wanat. He describes a well-coordinated attack by a highly skilled enemy that unleashed a withering barrage with AK-47 automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
The soldiers said their weapons were meticulously cared for and routinely inspected by commanders. But still the weapons had breakdowns, especially when the rifles were on full automatic, which allows hundreds of bullets to be fired a minute.
The platoon-sized unit of U.S. soldiers and about two dozen Afghan troops was shooting back with such intensity the barrels on their weapons turned white hot. The high rate of fire appears to have put a number of weapons out of commission, even though the guns are tested and built to operate in extreme conditions.
Cpl. Jonathan Ayers and Spc. Chris McKaig were firing their M4s from a position the soldiers called the "Crow's Nest." The pair would pop up together from cover, fire half a dozen rounds and then drop back down.
On one of these trips up, Ayers was killed instantly by an enemy round. McKaig soon had problems with his M4, which carries a 30-round magazine.
"My weapon was overheating," McKaig said, according to Cubbison's report. "I had shot about 12 magazines by this point already and it had only been about a half hour or so into the fight. I couldn't charge my weapon and put another round in because it was too hot, so I got mad and threw my weapon down."
The soldiers also had trouble with their M249 machine guns, a larger weapon than the M4 that can shoot up to 750 rounds per minute.
Cpl. Jason Bogar fired approximately 600 rounds from his M-249 before the weapon overheated and jammed the weapon.
Bogar was killed during the firefight, but no one saw how he died, according to the report.
Wild Thing's comment......
Our troops are brave, well trained professionals and so many have sacrificed their lives for our country. I do a lot of volunteer work with the military and with Veterans. When I meet our troops and Veterans in person, online, at the VA, the Disabled Veterans group or other places I am involved with I truly couldn’t be prouder of them.
I put a few guns for the graphics they are beautiful! The bottom lilne for me is I want the best for our troops whatever it takes, and I could care less what it costs financially.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:49 AM | Comments (9)
October 10, 2009
Obama Is Directly Responsible For The Unnecessary Deaths Of Our Servicemen
Frontline: 10-minute rough cut of the first act of "Obama's War", part one of the PBS documentary
This video is from an upcoming PBS Frontline special called Obama’s War.
This special airs on October 13th at 9PM.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
Any American who would leave our men on the battlefield there and not send them the reinforcements they need should be shot.
Obama has tied our military’s hands behind their backs by the restrictive ROE - and the Taliban are taking full advantage of it. Unleash the dogs and let our military do their job!
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (10)
Sergeant Jeremiah Workman ~ Thank You!
h/t WOT
His Book:
Shadow of the Sword: A Marine's Journey of War, Heroism, and Redemption
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"Derek Sholl's new song, "When They Come Back" captures beautifully the experience of our returning combat veterans as they struggle to make the transition from warrior to civilian while dealing with the physical and mental wounds they've brought with them from the battlefield. Sholl avoids the ultra-patriotic tone of such songs as Toby Keith's American Soldier and Courtesy of the Red White and Blue for a much more honest and personal accounting of what it means to be an American warrior growing up and following in his father's footsteps.
With his powerful voice setting the emotional tone of the song, and the lyrics speaking honestly and with intensity rarely seen in the pop music scene, "When They Come Back" is destined to speak for a generation. This is a rare gem, one that will stand for years to come. And decades from now, when the veteran is asked by his son or grandson, "What was it like?" the answer will be, "Listen to this song. That's the way it was for all of us."
- John R. Bruning, Co-Author of "Shadow of the Sword"
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Sergeant Jeremiah Workman shares his story at the American Veterans Center's 2008 conference. Workman received the Navy Cross for his actions during Operation Phantom Fury during the Second Battle of Fallujah.
According to the citation, he was awarded for extraordinary heroism, while serving as a squad leader for the Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Workman, exemplifying the old adage "no man left behind," repeatedly exposed himself to a hail of enemy fire to retrieve isolated Marines trapped inside an insurgent-infested building.
Ignoring heavy enemy fire and a storm of grenades raining down on his position, Workman fearlessly laid down enough cover fire to allow the trapped Marines to escape.
After seeing the first group of wounded Marines safely to a neighboring yard, Workman rallied additional Marines to his side and provided more cover fire for an attack into the building to rescue other Marines still trapped. He continued to fire even after receiving numerous shrapnel wounds to his arms and legs after a grenade exploded in front of him, stated his citation.
Workman's efforts did not stop after the second rescue attack. Ignoring his wounds, Workman once again united his team for a final assault strike into the building to retrieve remaining Marines and to clear the building of insurgents.
"Basically, we got ambushed," he said. "There were insurgents on the second floor in a bedroom. We fought our way up the stairs. There were grenades going off around us (and) small arms fire everywhere."
During the course of the fight, Workman was responsible for the elimination of more than 20 insurgents.
While the citation states he "reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps," Workman does not dwell on the fact that he is a Navy Cross recipient. All that matters in the long run are the lives lost and saved during the war, he said.
"The first thing I thought about was all the Marines we lost over there," Workman said, reflecting on that fateful day. "I don't look at myself as being any different. I did what any other Marine would have done. There are thousands of other Marines over there (in the Middle East) that deserve to be awarded, too."
Workman's modesty is evident to his fellow Marines here as well.
"I have a lot of respect for Sergeant Workman," said Staff Sgt. Jeff Moses, operations chief for Delta Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion. "He's been very humble about everything. (What he did) is just amazing."
Wild Thing's comment........
Thank you Sergeant Jeremiah Workman! God bless you!
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:45 AM | Comments (13)
October 09, 2009
Mother and Son Serve Together in Afghanistan
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Seth Alderman, a squad leader for the military police in the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, waits for his squad prior to a mission out of Combat Outpost Sabari in the Khost province of eastern Afghanistan. Photo by Pfc. Andrya Hill
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Mother and Son Serve Together in Afghanistan
Story by Pfc. Andrya Hill
Deployed Soldiers have all kissed their families good-bye, and headed off to war with the expectation of learning to handle the constant heartache of missing their loved ones.
However, in a rare exception, two Soldiers in eastern Afghanistan have found unexpected relief from this typical situation by being assigned to the same location at Forward Operating Base Salerno in the Khost province.
U.S. Army Maj. Una Alderman, the chief nurse officer for the 452nd Combat Support Hospital, received deployment orders after her son had already been serving in Afghanistan.
“His mailing address said Salerno, and then I found out that was where I was going. I just couldn’t believe it,” she explained.
Her son, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Seth Alderman, a military policeman with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, out of Alaska, was equally surprised.
“When I came here with 4-25 in March, she was on orders waiting to deploy, but we didn’t know where,” he said. “When I found out she was coming here, to Salerno, I just thought ‘Wow.’ It was a huge surprise to both of us.”
Seth works on Combat Outpost Sabari, just a few miles from FOB Salerno, and convoys between the two locations each month.
“Having her here really gives me something to look forward to when I come to Salerno,” he said.
While their close proximity is unique to the deployed environment, and provides a form of solace in the midst of war, it also enables more frequent visits than they have experienced in the U.S.
“It is nice because I live in Wisconsin, and Seth lives in Alaska. We’ll be able to see each other on a more regular basis here, instead of every year-and-a-half,” Una said.
Both Soldiers said they have tremendous support from their colleagues, and other Soldiers are excited about their opportunity.
“There is a lot of joking around from my Soldiers, but there is also a level of respect. They think, who else’s mom is over here, really?” Seth said.
Combat brings a level of daily danger and with Una working in the hospital, and her son working on the ground, they each have had to face the possibility of continuing their jobs in an unfortunate tragedy.
“I am a mom, he is my son, so I do worry,” said Una.
Despite her motherly worry, Una, with help from others is able to focus on her mission.
“I have a lot of support from the colleagues that I work with, and we will do the job regardless,” she said.
Seth has a half-year remaining in his year-long deployment, and Maj. Alderman has just begun hers. They said they are appreciative of the time they will get to spend together, and are looking forward to the new level of camaraderie, as fellow Soldiers, as well as mother and son.
“I am really proud to be in the Army,” Una said. “The people I am here with are just outstanding Soldiers, so I think it is going to be a very good year, a very meaningful year. Besides my children, this is probably one of the most meaningful things I’ll ever do in my life, and adding that Seth is here, at least until February or March, it makes it that much better.”
Wild Thing's comment..........
Great story!! I have posted several where there is a father and son, or two brothers, etc. But this is the first one of a son and his Mother serving together.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:50 AM | Comments (4)
October 05, 2009
Apache Engage 3 Terrorists in Iraq
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Wild Thing's comment...............
Way to start the day of right! OH yesssssss!!!
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:55 AM | Comments (8)
September 28, 2009
USN SEAL Lt. Daniel Cnossen Needs Our Support
USN SEAL Lt. Daniel Cnossen, WIA 9/8/09 needs YOUR support~SEAL Team One, USNA '02
USN SEAL Lt. Daniel Cnossen is a member of SEAL Team One based in Coronado, CA. He is also a 2002 graduate of the United States Naval Academy
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On September 6th, 2009, Dan returned to Kandahar, Afghanistan. With less than 36 hours on the ground, his team received their first mission task targeting Taliban operatives. During the mission, Dan activated a land mine and lost both legs, and sustained traumatic internal injuries. Currently he is at the National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland where he is fighting a new battle. Like any other challenge in his life, Dan will face this one with courage and dedication. Already, friends and family have witnessed Dan’s unbelievable strength as he begins what will surely be a long and difficult recovery. Despite the challenges ahead, Dan remains positive and exudes his kindness and true appreciation for friends and family, and for life.
Although known to some as Danny boy or Danger Dan, to others as Cnoss, C-Nasty, Disco Dan, or Batta Bing, and to some just plain Dan, we all know and love Dan Cnossen as a courageous and determined leader, a strong and selfless man, and a dedicated and unconditional friend. Though he can be described as introverted and a bit stoic, Dan’s friends prefer to use the words soft spoken and humble instead. A truly genuine and loyal person, Dan is also known to have a way with words, creating laughter in the wake of his humor, and amazement from his friends and family with his curiosity and zest for life.
His life’s motto, “Life is all about extremes” plays out everyday in both his professional and personal life, and he is excited by and drawn to activities that challenge him both physically and mentally. From the moment he learned about the US Navy SEAL program, he was hooked by the pure challenge, and immediately dedicated himself to preparing for it. In his free time Dan took on many adrenaline-filled adventures: climbing Mount Machu Picchu, Peru; hiking Patagonia’s Torres del Paine, Chile; mountaineering through Samaria Gorge, Crete; free-climbing Mount Whitney, CA; skiing the back country of Mount Baker, WA; and swimming the Mediterranean and Dead Seas. Dan’s sense of adventure has also taken him to Argentina, Uruguay, Columbia, Egypt, Jordan, Guatemala, Turkey, Mexico, and Spain.
Among his local adventures, Dan loves to rock climb and run. Those who know him from the Naval Academy share memories of sneaking off the Navy yard to join Dan on these (and other) extreme excursions. Dan amazed friends when he would sign up for a 50-mile race or ultra-marathon just weeks before a race. Taking on these unbelievably difficult tasks only further exemplifies Dan’s immense mental and physical strength, and true passion for challenge, adventure, and reaching life’s absolute limits. Some people train their entire lives to accomplish what Dan would decide to do on a whim.
Dan was born and raised in Topeka, Kansas on a small farm owned by his grandfather, and spent his childhood working on the farm, reading, running, boxing and playing soccer. Upon arriving at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1998, Dan had never seen the ocean, had never learned how to swim, and could barely make it across the pool. Dan only saw this as yet another challenge, and because he was fully dedicated to succeeding, he sought out friends to help him learn how to swim. Dan would often skip lunch and head to the pool, and immediately joined the Navy Triathlon Team to further strengthen his swimming abilities. But being a member of the team wasn’t enough. By his senior year, Dan was elected a captain, and lead the team to a national championship. Friends watched as Dan woke up at 5am every morning to run, and then return to the gym or pool for a second and even third workout everyday. Each day Dan focused tenaciously on his ultimate goal of becoming a US Navy SEAL.
Upon graduating from the US Naval Academy in 2002, Dan headed to San Diego, CA with several classmates, and immediately began fulfilling his orders to Basic Underwater Demolition and SEAL school (BUDs Class 242). He successfully completed some of the most mentally and physically rigorous training in the United States military, and succeeded in fulfilling his life-long goal. Dan was pinned as a US Navy SEAL, and reported to his SEAL Team, stationed in Coronado, CA.
As a junior officer, he served two deployments in Iraq, one to the Philippines, and supported JSOC with a deployment to Afghanistan.
You can go here to Dan's website and see the Video....if you click at the top where it says updates you can also comment at the guest book or othe next page to give support. ~ Thank you.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
This is from Rob, one of Dan's closest friends:
Family & Friends,
Just wanted to send you all a quick update on Dan...He is doing great and everyday is getting better and better. Yesterday, the ICU took Dan off the ventilator and to everyone's surprise he started talking. Dan remembers pretty much everything in detail, and his spirits are as high as ever. He understands his injuries and is anxious to start his rehab as soon as possible. He was even cracking jokes about the number of pullups he'll be able to knock out.... and how fast he'll be swimming with bionic fin attachments. He will be undergoing a surgical wash out today and will continue his surgical debridement/reconstructive surgeries every other day for sometime, hopefully to be out of the ICU in two weeks or less. He has the verybest surgeons... the White House medical team in fact. He wanted me to pass along to each of you that he loves you all and looks forward to seeing you all soon. Out of respect for Dan's family, and the necessity for Dan to get as much rest as he can while in the ICU, he wanted me to pass along that unless you are family or very close and immediate friend to please wait to visit until he is out of the ICU in 1-2 weeks. So far the support has been tremendous and the NSW community has taken great care of Dan and his family. Please feel free to send cards or notes of support to Dan and the family. As Dan begins the road to complete recovery, please continue to keep his Mother Alice and his Sister Leslie in your thoughts and prayers as well as the men in Dan's platoon as they begin their deployment. A few of us in the D.C. area will continue to be with Dan multiple times a week and I will be sending out a weekly SITREPs for you all. Please feel free to send me contact info of anyone else that wishes to be on the Distro list to track his progress.
Best Regards,
Rob
UPDATES:
September 22, 2009
Dan had passed his swallow test...so now he can drink and eat anything he wants.
Surgery yesterday went really well - they revised the amputation on the right leg, so he now has bilateral above-the-knee amputations. Always looking at the positive, Dan pointed out that he'd rather have both of his legs the same length anyways. The doctors are still trying to find the best way to control his pain, because he can't be on such heavy-hitting pain medications when he leaves the ICU. So they are trying some new options right now to see what will be most effective for him when he moves to the 5th Floor.
September 24, 2009
He has been so sleep deprived, and surgeries every other day take their toll. So, we do appreciate everyone's understanding of his need for privacy, rest, following doctors and nurses' orders and just plain healing over time. It's amazing how his body is healing itself in so many ways. We especially appreciate the special fancy air bed ICU ordered for his body, which just isn't used to spending so many hours flat in bed. The doctors are still working on pain management, and getting Dan off his epidural. He's had a consistent fever the entire time he's been here, and the epidural is the suspected source of the infection, so they're slowly weaning him off it. He's currently in surgery right now to stabilize the back side of the pelvis with surgical pins. Plastic surgery has been consulting on his inner thigh wounds - one leg should close and heal on its own, but the other will require skin grafts. Tomorrow he will go back to the OR again for more wound cleaning - this will be 3 surgeries in 3 days.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:50 AM | Comments (4)
September 24, 2009
Vets For Freedom Petition: Give Our Generals in Afghanistan What They Need!
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The Obama administration is waffling on providing our troops what they need for success in Afghanistan. The internal debate in the White House swings between declaring defeat and sticking it out, but no voices appear to be raised in favor of Victory. So the procrastination drags on and our troops and the people of Afghanistan suffer for it.
Sgt. Daniel Bell, the Missouri State Captain of Vets For Freedom asks that you sign this petition to pressure the president to give General McChrystal what he needs to do the job!
Sgt. Daniel Bell writes…
Fellow Vets for Freedom members:
My name is Sergeant Daniel Bell and I’m the Missouri State Captain of Vets for Freedom. Much more importantly, I served as a Special Operations Medic under General Stanley McChrysal in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Serving under General McChrystal–one of the most frequently deployed service members to Iraq and Afghanistan–gave me a first-hand perspective on this man’s dedication to our country. Whether I was listening to one of his briefs, or flying alongside him on a mission, Gen. McChrystal’s decisive leadership was always evident.
He always instilled confidence in the men of his task force by leading the way–and being on the ground–during dangerous missions. If there ever was a commander who knows what is taking place on the ground, and understands why type of strategy we need to win, it is Stan McChrystal.
There is no military leader I respect more than General McChrystal. Our troops in Afghanistan could not have a more competent and dedicated commander, and I’m committed to doing anything possible to ensure General McChrystal is given the support he needs to turn the tide in Afghanistan.
Please join me in supporting General McChrystal by signing the Vets for Freedom “Give the Generals What They Need” Petition.
Move out and draw fire!
Sergeant Daniel Bell
U.S. Veteran, Iraq and Afghanistan
Missouri State Captain, Vets for Freedom
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Here is what the Petiton says:
To the President
We, the undersigned U.S. war veterans and patriotic Americans, petition you with one simple request:
Listen to the commander on the ground in Afghanistan—General Stanley A. McChrystal—and provide him with the troops he says he needs to win the war in Afghanistan.
By accepting the troop recommendations of General McChrystal—and his boss General David Petraeus—we have a chance to turn the war in Afghanistan around. This is a moment in history we must not miss.
Like General Petraeus in Iraq, General McChrystal is an outside-the-box thinker who thrives in the ambiguity of asymmetrical battlefields. Like General Petraeus in Iraq, General McChrystal has the right strategy—a comprehensive counterinsurgency plan.
In 2007, General Petraeus was given the troops he needed (the "Surge") to win, and Iraq has turned around—resulting in dramatically lower U.S. casualties, a more stable Iraq, and a drawdown of American forces.
General McChrystal—and all our brave Soldiers and Marines on the ground—deserve the same chance to win in Afghanistan. They deserve the additional troops needed to turn a winning strategy into a winning result.
We fully acknowledge that the war in Afghanistan has been tough, and is currently headed in the wrong direction. And as you have said, it has been under-resourced, under-funded, and under-manned for years. You have also said that it is a war we must win. We agree on all fronts.
Unlike Iraq, there was consensus at the beginning of the war in Afghanistan that America must be successful in toppling the Taliban and dismantling Al Qaeda, for the safety of our country. Eight years later, the consensus on the war in Afghanistan is fractured; however we believe—as do you—that the need for victory has not changed.
During this time of domestic uncertainty and global threats, winning the war will require steadfast Presidential leadership; a Commander-in-Chief who is unwilling to be swayed by lagging poll numbers or party leaders who want to block troop increases.
Now is the time for your leadership. If you listen to commanders on the ground, give them what they need, and stand behind our warriors in Afghanistan—we will stand with you. If you don't, and would rather fight the "war of necessity" with one hand tied behind our back, then we will loudly object.
Many—in fact a majority—said the war in Iraq was "unwinnable," yet our troops persevered and turned the tide. Despite the drumbeat of detractors—on both sides of the aisle—this is another war we can win. But we must act now.
We owe it to the Marines and Soldiers slogging it out with insurgents every day to get this right. If we do, they'll fight, they'll persevere, and they'll win. If we don't, we are setting them up for failure. No less than America's greatness—and the legacy of America's finest warriors—is at stake.
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Wild Thing's comment......
This is soooo important. Nick and I both have signed this petition.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:37 PM | Comments (4)
September 23, 2009
Enemy of Troops as CIC Not Listening to Generals nor Troops!
Is It Amateur Hour in the White House?
Analysis: the leak of Gen. McChrystal's report shows the Obama administration is mishandling Afghanistan.
The administration's handling of Afghanistan policy has been amateur hour. The leak of General Stanley McChrystal's assessment of the dire situation there faces President Obama with by far his most serious foreign-policy challenge. It's also a challenge to what appears to be his whole approach to foreign policy.
Buzz about the leak of McChrystal's report focuses on two questions. Who slipped the document to the great Bob Woodward of the Washington Post? That's fun, but not serious. And who's responsible for allowing President Obama to get into this mess? That is serious.
What mess? That, of course, is the administration's immediate spin. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even maintained—under politely insistent inquiry by The Newshour’s Margaret Warner—that while Gen. McChrystal might be making one set of recommendations, the administration is talking with others who disagree. Really? Is Obama running an administration where an analysis required of a four-star general confirmed into his job by the Senate—an analysis drafted by an international civilian and military team of experts recruited for the task—can be second-guessed by some guy someone at State knows in a think tank? What's worrying about this administration is that the answer may be: yes.
In his campaign, Obama opposed the invasion of Iraq but safeguarded his national-security credentials by supporting the war in Afghanistan. A war, he said, America had to win—but to which, he charged, the Bush administration had failed to devote the necessary resources. In office, Obama ordered up a new Afghanistan strategy, and announced this on March 27 as the product of what he called "a careful policy review." Shorn of rhetoric, the new strategy actually accepted all the Bush administration's goals in Afghanistan—defeating the insurgents; preventing Al Qaeda from reestablishing a sanctuary there; working to set up a democratic and effective government; training Afghan forces to take over from U.S. troops; coaxing the international community to give more help. The review even added a new goal: saving Pakistan—or, as the review put it, "assisting efforts to enhance civilian control and stable constitutional government in Pakistan and a vibrant economy that provides opportunities for the people of Pakistan. And to accomplish this breath-taking set of objectives? Obama had already agreed to send another 17,000 troops to Afghanistan to safeguard polling in the Afghan presidential election in August. Now, as part of his new strategy, he agreed to send an additional 4,000 troops to train Afghanistan's own forces.
What remains a mystery is whether Obama thought those 21,000 would be enough, or whether he was ducking a tough decision to send the numbers really needed. If he did believe 21,000 would suffice, who was advising him? The strategy Obama adopted—one that he inherited from a rethink all but completed in the last months of the Bush presidency—was what the military calls COIN: counter-insurgency. That means protecting the Afghan population from the Taliban and their allies so they can then be wooed into supporting the government and then, hopefully, turning in the insurgents. Whether counter-insurgency is a plausible strategy in Afghanistan is much debated within the military. But that's the strategy Obama adopted in March. What was always clear was that COIN would need thousands more troops. The mystery is whether Obama realized this.
Even at the start of the year, the then commander in country, General David McKiernan, was asking for 10,000 more combat troops than the 17,000 Obama agreed. The administration decided to defenestrate McKiernan in May. A new strategy required a new commander. Now Obama's new handpicked commander, Gen Stanley McChrystal, has concluded that he will need another 45,000 troops to carry out Obama's strategy. Plus, by the way, a vastly expanded, better organized, and costly effort to carry out the civic improvement projects that are an essential part of COIN strategy.
McChrystal hasn't plucked his demand for troops from thin air. They are the product of what the Army calls a TTT analysis—TTT meaning "troops to task": how many troops to cover X thousand square miles of that desolate country, and protect Y millions of its population. McChrystal's math is that to cover six vital provinces in southern and eastern Afghanistan under the most urgent threat from the Taliban and its allies, and to bring security to the Afghans living in them, will take close to 45,000 additional troops. (The analysis allows for U.S. troops to replace European units soon to leave the south, plus a few to shore up the north.) McChrystal was planning to submit this troop demand as an appendix to his overall assessment. Now, at the command of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, McChrystal has submitted to two constraints. He has postponed sending up these calculations until the administration chooses to ask for them. And he has refined his needs into three categories: reinforcements of 10,000, 30,000, and 45,000. The administration will certainly call these "options." They're not; they're "risk assessments." Given only 30,000, McChrystal has calculated, he will have to leave important areas of south and east Afghanistan unprotected. Given only 10,000, more areas will remain unprotected. (McChrystal's numbers, though not formally submitted, are circulating in Washington like samizdat writings banned in the Soviet Union.)
Suddenly, the strategy Obama announced in March is being ditched. Back then, Obama said that Afghanistan had not received (from the Bush administration) "the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently needs." Specifically, he charged, the resources U.S. commanders needed "have been denied." "Now, that will change," he said. As late as last month, Obama was declaring the struggle in Afghanistan "a war of necessity" where victory was "fundamental to the defense of our people."
That, it appears, was then. Now, faced with the bleak assessment of the general he sent out to turn things round, Obama is equivocating, saying: "One of the things I'm absolutely clear about is that you have to get the strategy right, and then make a determination about resources." He has ordered yet another review of strategy, a review which the chairman of the joint chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, said was going back to "the first principles, if you will."
What's going on ? The March 27 "White Paper" laid out what Obama called his administration's "comprehensive new strategy."
The administration spin is that the debacle of the Afghan presidential elections, which President Hamid Karzai appears to have won by industrial-strength vote-rigging, has altered the situation. That's nonsense. Everyone knew Karzai would do whatever it took to win. (The U.S. in practice settled for that months ago, having tried but failed to find a plausible competitor to Karzai.) If the U.S. does have vital national interests at stake in the region, those remain, no matter how disputed the Afghan government is (or however ineffective the government in Pakistan). Lousy local governments just make the job tougher.
Now though, Obama and his administration give every sign of being torn, unable to decide to fulfill Obama's pledge to resource this "war of necessity." Meanwhile Obama is losing control of the debate about Afghanistan back home. Congressional heavyweights like Senator Carl Levin, chair of the Armed Services Committee, and Senator John Kerry, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, have voiced their doubts about U.S. policy in Afghanistan. The administration has been trying to prevent Gen. McChrystal from coming back to give Congress his views. That was always short-sighted; now that his assessment has leaked, it's untenable.
Afghanistan is by far Obama's toughest foreign-policy test. Iran, North Korea and the Israeli/Palestinian impasse are important issues. In each, Obama finds himself confronting a collision between rhetoric and reality. But those are tests of diplomatic adroitness and leverage. Afghanistan too has turned into a test between rhetoric and reality. But Afghanistan is different. It's also a sensitive domestic issue, because what is immediately at stake are the lives of American kids in uniform.
Comparisons with Vietnam may be overblown, and are certainly misguided in detail. But the political parallel seems ever more appropriate. Like Lyndon Johnson, Obama has inherited from his predecessor a messy war with only indirect connections to vital U.S. national interests. LBJ had a soaring domestic agenda, but he didn't know how to handle Vietnam. Obama, with comparable domestic ambitions, appears not to know how to handle Afghanistan. Vietnam sank LBJ's presidency in his first term. Afghanistan could do the same to Obama.
Sangin, Afghanistan
The roads are so littered with enemy bombs that nearly all transport and resupply to this base occurs by helicopter. The pilots roar through the darkness, swoop into small bases nestled in the saddle of enemy territory, and quickly rumble off into the night.
A witness must spend only a short time in the darkness to know we are at war. Flares arc into the night, or mortar illumination rounds drift and swing under parachutes, orange and eerily in the distance, casting long, flickering but sharply defined shadows. The worst that can happen is that you will be caught in an open field, covered by nothing and concealed only by darkness, when the illumination suddenly bathes you in light. Best is to stay low and freeze and prepare to fire, or in the case of a writer, to stay low and freeze and prepare to watch the firing.
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Helmand Province, Afghanistan
With the war increasing, Air Force Pararescue has been crisscrossing the skies picking up casualties.
Images and descriptions from Michael Yon's blog
Thank you Michael for all you do!!!
Troops React to McChrystal Report
The soldiers I have talked to in Afghanistan say they would welcome more troops, as Gen. Stanley McChrystal has recommended - any help they can get to get out of here and get back home.
The war here is under-resourced, under-funded and until recently largely ignored in favor of the war in Iraq. There is double the number of troops in Iraq than in Afghanistan right now - and many wonder why Iraq was allowed to distract us from the gains made here early on in the war.
But even if more troops are sent to Afghanistan - it’s not enough, they say. The key to winning - whatever that means - is getting the Afghan government and security forces to stand up for themselves and to stop the corruption that is so prevalent here. The soldiers can train Afghan army and police all day long, but until there is a comittment on their part to make things better, it won’t do any good.
The sense is that U.S. and NATO troops are just holding on here, doing what they can during their deployment until the next unit comes along. They understand the need to protect the people - a main tenent of counterinsurgency - but that also means fighting the enemy. And that has become more difficult as McChrystal and Afghan President Hamid Karzai continue to require that Afghan security forces accompany them on patrols and arrests. Simply put, that’s just not a realistic request. There are too few Afghan forces here and the ones that are on the payroll often don’t bother to show up to work.
Still, even if more troops and more Afghan forces were in place to combat the enemy and provide security for the people - many soldiers question the end-game in Afghanistan - especially as Pakistan and other nations continue to provide a safe haven for the bad guys.
As one soldier put it to me: “It’s like a game of whack-a-mole. You hit one and they pop up somewhere else.”
All said, the soldiers here are dedicated. They want nothing more than to make a difference. They want to “win” - not only to make the world a safer place, but for the friends they have lost in this long, deadly war.
McChrystal to resign if not given resources for Afghanistan
by Bill Roggio
Within 24 hours of the leak of the Afghanistan assessment to The Washington Post, General Stanley McChrystal's team fired its second shot across the bow of the Obama administration. According to McClatchy, military officers close to General McChrystal said he is prepared to resign if he isn't given sufficient resources (read "troops") to implement a change of direction in Afghanistan:
Adding to the frustration, according to officials in Kabul and Washington, are White House and Pentagon directives made over the last six weeks that Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, not submit his request for as many as 45,000 additional troops because the administration isn't ready for it.
In the last two weeks, top administration leaders have suggested that more American troops will be sent to Afghanistan, and then called that suggestion "premature." Earlier this month, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that "time is not on our side"; on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urged the public "to take a deep breath."
In Kabul, some members of McChrystal's staff said they don't understand why Obama called Afghanistan a "war of necessity" but still hasn't given them the resources they need to turn things around quickly.
Three officers at the Pentagon and in Kabul told McClatchy that the McChrystal they know would resign before he'd stand behind a faltering policy that he thought would endanger his forces or the strategy.
"Yes, he'll be a good soldier, but he will only go so far," a senior official in Kabul said. "He'll hold his ground. He's not going to bend to political pressure."
On Thursday, Gates danced around the question of when the administration would be ready to receive McChrystal's request, which was completed in late August. "We're working through the process by which we want that submitted," he said.
The entire process followed by the military in implementing a change of course in Afghanistan is far different, and bizarrely so, from the process it followed in changing strategy in Iraq.
For Afghanistan, the process to decide on a course change began in March of this year, when Bruce Reidel was tasked to assess the situation. This produced the much-heralded yet vague "AfPak" assessment. Then, in May, General David McKiernan was fired and replaced by General McChrystal, who took command in June. General McChrystal's assessment hit President Obama's desk at the end of August, almost three months after he took command. And yet now in the last half of September, the decision on additional forces has yet to be submitted to the administration.
Contrast this with Iraq in the fall of 2006. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was fired just one day after the elections in early November. The Keane-Kagan plan for Iraq was submitted to President Bush shortly afterward, and encompassed both the assessment of the situation and the recommended course of action, including the recommended number of troops to be deployed to deal with the situation. General David Petraeus replaced General George Casey in early February 2007, and hit the ground running; the surge strategy was in place, troops were being mustered to deploy to Iraq, and commanders on the ground were preparing for and executing the new orders. The first of the surge units began to arrive in Iraq only weeks later, in March.
Today, the military is perceiving that the administration is punting the question of a troop increase in Afghanistan, and the military is even questioning the administration's commitment to succeed in Afghanistan. The leaking of the assessment and the report that McChrystal would resign if he is not given what is needed to succeed constitute some very public pushback against the administration's waffling on Afghanistan.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
Good article, gets into how McChrystal arrived at his numbers. Surprising to find it it Newsweek. It’s being in Newsweek means that the One really is in trouble.
Obama is nothing more then a community organizer if that, he's all about government social welfare programs for the inner city...he’s a military illiterate with a non-American upbringing and no world view....he’s the same as Maxine Waters or Shiela Jackson Lee.
And this was on CNN...."Now, President Obama has to man up and decide: is he going to fight this war or is he going to oversee an American defeat.....said by the vile horrible Michael Ware to the almost as horrible Anderson Cooper.
Obama has no policy for Afghanistan, he ONLY has R.O.E. for our troops.
Damn Barack Hussein Obama to the eternal flames of hell
Michael Yon has also posted Kagans' report (from AEI) re: AfPak. It reflects what McChrystal (and many others) are saying. Bambi better get off his butt and get moving.
Afghanistan Force Requirements (PDF) - Kagan Report
Obama's R.O.E.s
“AMBUSHED MARINES’AID CALL REJECTED”
"NATO-led forces are investigating the death of four Marines in eastern Afghanistan after their commanders reportedly rejected requests for artillery fire in a battle with insurgents, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. Tuesday's incident was "under investigation" and details remained unclear, press secretary Geoff Morrell told a news conference. A McClatchy newspapers' journalist who witnessed the battle reported that a team of Marine trainers made repeated appeals for air and artillery support after being pinned down by insurgents in the village of Ganjgal in eastern Kunar province. The U.S. troops had to wait more than an hour for attack helicopters to come to their aid and their appeal for artillery fire was rejected, with commanders citing new rules designed to avoid civilian casualties, the report said."
“WE’RE PINNED DOWN:’4 U.S. MARINES DIE IN AFGAN ABUSH”
We walked into a trap, a killing zone of relentless gunfire and rocket barrages from Afghan insurgents hidden in the mountainsides and in a fortress-like village where women and children were replenishing their ammunition.
"We will do to you what we did to the Russians," the insurgent's leader boasted over the radio, referring to the failure of Soviet troops to capture Ganjgal during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation.
Dashing from boulder to boulder, diving into trenches and ducking behind stone walls as the insurgents maneuvered to outflank us, we waited more than an hour for U.S. helicopters to arrive, despite earlier assurances that air cover would be five minutes away.
U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren't near the village.
"We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We've lost today," Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter's repeated demands for helicopters.
Four U.S. Marines were killed Tuesday, the most U.S. service members assigned as trainers to the Afghan National Army to be lost in a single incident since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Eight Afghan troops and police and the Marine commander's Afghan interpreter also died in the ambush and the subsequent battle that raged from dawn until 2 p.m. around this remote hamlet in eastern Kunar province, close to the Pakistan border.
“GIS TOLD NOT TO RISK CIVILIAN LIVES”
KABUL -- Beginning today, American Soldiers in Afghanistan will be under orders to back down when they're chasing Taliban fighters whenever they think that civilians might be at risk.
"General McChrystal has been given instructions when he left here that, in all military operations, that we redouble our efforts to make sure that innocent loss of life is minimized, with zero being the goal," Jones said, noting that, "In one mishap you can create thousands more terrorists than you had before the mishap."
The new order, however, is likely to draw criticism from some U.S. troops, many of whom feel the rules that govern how they fight the war already are too restrictive.
Many troops here say they depend on air power and heavy weaponry because there aren't enough ground troops to chase Taliban forces on foot. Jones said no additional ground troops will be sent this year, even though some ground commanders want them.
"Everybody had their day in court, so to speak, before the president made his decision," he said. "We signed off on the strategy, and now we're in the implementation phase."
McChrystal's order will instruct Soldiers to "think about what else can we do," said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, the military's top spokesman in Afghanistan. "We cannot keep going down the path of putting civilians at risk. ... People want to see changes in behavior."
“OBAMA’S RULES OF ENGAGEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN COSTING OUR TROOPS LIVES”
Four U.S. Marines died Tuesday when they walked into a well-laid ambush by insurgents in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province. Seven Afghan troops and an interpreter for the Marine commander also died in the ambush and the subsequent battle, which lasted seven hours.
Three American service members and 14 Afghan security force members were wounded.
It was the largest number of American military trainers to die in a single incident since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
The battle took place around the remote hamlet of Gangigal, in a valley about six miles from the Pakistani border, after local elders invited the U.S. and Afghan forces for a meeting.
American officers said there was no doubt that they’d walked into a trap, as the insurgents were dug in at the village, and had preset their weapons and their fields of fire.
It was a trap alright....but one they could of extradited themselves out of if not for the rules of engagement laid out by Obama's General, General Stanley McChrystal:
Airstrikes by coalition forces in Afghanistan have dropped dramatically in the three months Gen. Stanley McChrystal has led the war effort there, reflecting his new emphasis on avoiding civilian casualties and protecting the population.
NATO fixed-wing aircraft dropped 1,211 bombs and other munitions during the past three months — the peak of the fighting season — compared with 2,366 during the same period last year, according to military statistics. The nearly 50% decline in airstrikes comes with an influx of more than 20,000 U.S. troops this year and an increase in insurgent attacks.
The shift is the result of McChrystal’s new directives, said Air Force Col. Mark Waite, an official at the air operations center in southwest Asia. Ground troops are less inclined to call for bombing or strafing runs, though they often have an aircraft conduct a “show of force,” a flyby to scare off insurgents, or use planes for surveillance, Waite said.
“BAGRAM INMATES CAN CHALLENGE DETENTION: PENTAGON”
The Pentagon is to give some 600 prisoners held in the US air base in Bagram, Afghanistan, the right to challenge their detention, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Monday.
"It's basically a review procedure that ensures people go in front of a panel periodically to give them the opportunity to contest their detention," he told reporters.
The inmates would be aided by a uniformed "personal representative" who would "guide them through this administrative process, to help gather witness statements," Whitman added.
“ANALYSIS: WHITE HOUSE POSTPONING HARD CALLS ON WAR”
The Obama administration is holding off major decisions that could put its military forces on a firmer war footing in Afghanistan even as doubts grow about whether the United States can win there.
Many military and diplomatic leaders have urged President Barack Obama to send thousands more Marines, soldiers and pilots to try to reverse Afghanistan's crumbling security situation.
But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said no decision about adding troops is expected for "weeks and weeks," following what he described as intensive evaluation. The troop decision will be a first indicator of whether Obama intends to double down in Afghanistan, becoming a wartime president in earnest.
“NO DEADLINE FOR TROOPS WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN: OBAMA ADMN”
The Obama Administration has declined to set a deadline for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, arguing that the situation there is different from that of Iraq and 9/11 plotters are still holed up in the Af-Pak region and planning attack against the US.
"We have a different situation in Afghanistan. It is actually the place that - Afghanistan and Pakistan - where the folks who attacked us on 9/11 are holed up and plotting against us still," David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to the US President, told the NBC news channel in an interview.
“MILITARY LEERY OF AFGHANISTAN ESCALATION WITH NO CLEAR GOALS”
As the Obama administration and Congress begin a heated debate about how many more American troops to send to Afghanistan, military observers, soldiers on the ground there and some top Pentagon officials are warning that dispatching even tens of thousands more soldiers and Marines might not ensure success.
Some even fear that deploying more U.S. troops, especially in the wake of a U.S. airstrike last week that killed and wounded scores of Afghan civilians, would convince more Afghans that the Americans are occupiers rather than allies and relieve the pressure on the Afghan government to improve its own security forces.
The heart of the problem, soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and some officials in Washington told McClatchy, is that neither Barack Obama's White House nor the Pentagon has clearly defined America's mission in Afghanistan. As a result, some soldiers in the field said, they aren't sure what their objectives are.
Current officials and military officers who're wary of escalation refused to speak on the record because they aren't authorized to talk to the media and because doing so would be hazardous to their careers.
"Gen. McChrystal's latest assessment reportedly indicates that the situation in Afghanistan is 'serious,' " said former deputy secretary of state and Pentagon official Richard Armitage, referring to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan. "President Obama needs to define, more clearly than he has so far, what our country's objectives in Afghanistan are and his strategy for achieving them. Without that, it's impossible to assess whether the mission requires additional troops."
“U.N. LAWYERS TARGET U.S. TROOPS”
“Justice: As if fighting a war in Afghanistan isn’t hard enough, ambitious global prosecutors have rolled into Kabul looking to charge U.S. troops. Intentional or not, such legalism will sap U.S. morale as it did in Vietnam.
At about the time NATO’s new secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, warned NATO’s European members against an early pullout, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, whose body is charged with looking for international war criminals, announced he was looking for new “clients” from anyone with a grievance in Afghanistan.
At a briefing Wednesday in The Hague, Moreno-Ocampo said he had launched a new war crimes inquiry, seeking information about “torture” especially — a European obsession — and had already mined the human rights groups for stories. He added he was also “very open” to more information from foreign governments.
Oh, he’d been evenhanded in his Monday-morning battlefield quarterbacking of course, promising he’d prosecute both Taliban and NATO troops as moral equals.
But it doesn’t take a genius to know what the spotlight-loving attorney (who once launched his own reality TV show back in Argentina) is really after: Americans in the dock as war criminals.
Ground intelligence sources who might have warned them were reportedly more fearful of Taliban retaliation than convinced that American troops would be able to defend them, given the weakening will of the West. They opted to survive.
Now, the latest legalistic block against winning is an international prosecutor looking for NATO troops to prosecute.
Back in 2002, President Bush told the ICC that there wouldn’t be any of that, and he rescinded the U.S. signature from the Rome Statute that would have opened the door to that. Today, there’s a legal battle going on at the ICC to make U.S. troops subject to doing it and there’s no signal from the White House that it will stop it.
Don’t think Moreno-Ocampo won’t do it. His history as a prosecutor suggests an affinity for publicity over justice, which is just what the anti-American crowd wants.
Posted by Wild Thing at 07:40 AM | Comments (15)
September 22, 2009
Happy 62nd Birthday To Our US Air Force September 18th
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The United States Air Force, the youngest of the Armed Forces, a happy 62nd birthday!
Prior to its official founding in 1947, the U.S. military’s air component existed from 1909 under multiple labels such as: Aeronautical Section, Signal Corps, Aviation Section, Signal Corps, United States Army Air Service, United States Army Air Corps, and United States Army Air Forces.
World War II demonstrated the true value of aircraft to the military, and on July 26, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, creating the National Military Establishment. The United States Air Force officially stood up as a separate military component, equal to that of the other services, with the swearing in of the first Secretary of the Air Force, W. Stuart Symington.
Happy 62nd Air Force, and thank you for your service.
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CAMP VICTORY, Iraq -- Members of the Sather Air Base honor guard post the colors while more than 200 servicemembers stand at attention during the opening of the Air Force's 62nd birthday celebration held at the Al Faw palace here Sept. 18, 2009. Lt. Gen. Mike Hostage, Air Force Central Command commander, was in attendance as well as Maj. Gen. Joseph Reynes Jr., Air Component Coordination Element director, who served as the keynote speaker for the evening. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Johnny L. Saldivar)
CAMP VICTORY, Iraq
More than 200 servicemembers attended a ceremony celebrating the Air Force's 62nd birthday at Al Faw palace here Sept. 18, 2009.
Lt. Gen. Mike Hostage, Air Force Central Command commander, was in attendance as well as Maj. Gen. Joseph Reynes Jr., Air Component Coordination Element director, who served as the keynote speaker for the night.
Upon arrival at the palace, attendees mingled during a social time before proceeding to the ball room for the official ceremony.
For Fairfield, Calif., native Senior Airman Jessica Trackwell, Task Force 134 Detainee Operations executive assistant, the birthday celebration was on opportunity for those in uniform to interact outside of a work environment.
"These events help boost morale of the Airmen out here," said Airman Trackwell, who is deployed from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. "We get to come together and get to know one another and remember what the Air Force is all about."
Although the atmosphere was light, General Reynes pointed out the seriousness of the event and said there is probably no better place to celebrate the Air Force birthday than at Al Faw Palace with the "great joint team" in attendance.
"Celebrating the United States Air Force's birthday provides Airmen an opportunity to reflect on the exceptional men and women who have built our heritage and to look forward to the challenges that lie ahead," General Reynes said. "Today some Airmen will learn about the history of the Air Force and others will experience a renewed sense of pride. We should all take a moment to remember and honor our history and those who answered our nation's call. We are their legacy."
With another year of service to the United States under its wings, the Air Force will continue its mission to fly, fight and win.
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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan
Hundreds of Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines celebrated the 62nd Air Force birthday with tradition, solidarity and a show of force Sept. 18 here.
A reveille ceremony was held at 6 a.m.at the base flag poles in Camp Cunningham, named after Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham, an Air Force pararescueman who gave his life in Afghanistan in March 2002 while saving 10 wounded Army Soldiers.
"While we're celebrating the Air Force's 62nd birthday it is important to remember that we're involved in a joint fight serving the Army and other Coalition ground forces bringing this counterinsurgency to an end in Afghanistan," said Brig. Gen. Steven L. Kwast, the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing commander. "What a fine way to celebrate our heritage; we came from the Army (and) we have the same foundations. We celebrate that heritage by fighting together with our sister services and coalition partners. We're bringing freedom and liberty to this part of the world by taking care of the insurgents' sanctuary to where they cannot run and they cannot hide."
Both coalition members and other American servicemembers said they were thankful for the Air Force's support and efforts for their troops on the ground and in contact with the enemy.
"We have a great working relationship with your pilots and the close-air support we receive from you has no limitations," said Polish Army Lt. Col. Slawomir Warnbier.
Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 James Wright of the 101st Airborne from Fort Campbell, Ky., echoed Colonel Warnbier's sentiments about the Air Force's role in Afghanistan.
"The Air Force airdrops are providing needed support to Soldiers in the field; getting people and parts to our guys in the (forward operating bases) and in the mountains," Mr. Wright said. The Air Force is doing a great job and it's great to have them out here."
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Wild Thing's comment.....
I am a few days late for this and I apologize. It is the first time that has happened. grrr
HUGE Happy Birthday and a bigger thank you to our US Air Force!!! Love the Air Force, heck I love all of them.
God bless the USAF, buand also to o the US Army Air Corps. They started it all heh heh and thank God they did!
......Thank you SSGT Steve
SSgt Steve
1st MarDiv, H Co., 2nd Bn, 5th Marine Regiment
2/5 Marines, Motto: "Retreat, Hell"
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:55 AM | Comments (11)
Thank you and Welcome Home Patrick!
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"Here are some pictures of myself and brothers while in Iraq 2003. Alpha Company 1-15 Infantry"
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Wild Thing's comment.......
I am so pleased to show you these photo's of Patrick. HUGE thank you Patrick for serving our country!! I heard from him a couple of days ago and was so thrilled to meet him through his email and be able to thank him for all he has done to help keep us the land of the free and for his service to our country to keep us safe.
THANK YOU Patrick!!! And thank you to all the others in the photos as well.
God bless you!!!
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (10)
September 16, 2009
Phantom Thunder III and Family First Fest At Fort Hood
Here is an aerial photo of just a portion of the riders that took part in the first to be annual Fort Hood Phantom Thunder motorcycle ride. This is the brain-child of LTG Rick Lynch, commander of Fort Hood and a Harley rider.
Safety classes and vehicle inspections were held prior to the ride, then the soldiers were treated to a carnival and pretty much, a day off.
Gather the Family for an afternoon of fun featuring live music by country music duo Martin/Ramey and national country music recording artist Darryl Worley, and a comedy performance by former Soldier Joe Saba.
For the kids, there will be inflatables, pony rides, and face painting.
Enjoy a micro race car track for adults and children! AAFES will be selling motorcycle gear for all you riders from Phantom Thunder.
Bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy the sun, sand and a fun afternoon of FREE activities for all ages.
Food, beverages and alcohol will be available for purchase. Family First Fest is FREE and open to all. All events will take place at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreational Area Live Oak Pavilion. BLORA beach front will be open.
Family First Fest officially kicks off at 3pm, but the work day on Fort Hood ends at 12pm, so come out early for a DJ and beach activities beginning at 12:30pm.
Patrons are encouraged to ride the free on post shuttle to BLORA. The shuttle will be running from 12-9:30pm.
For more information, call 254-288-7835 or visit www.hoodmwr.com
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009
Time: 3:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: BLORA Live Oak Pavilion
Phantom Thunder III and Family First Fest: September 17
Gas up the hog for Phantom Thunder III, a motorcycle safety ride led by LTG Rick Lynch. The ride will depart from Hood Stadium at 1pm and arrive at BLORA at 3pm. Participation is free and open to all. Proper riding safety gear is required.
For more information on Phantom Thunder, call 254-553-3871.
After the ride, gather the Family for an afternoon of fun at Fort Hood’s Family First Fest, from 3pm-8pm at Belton Lake Outdoor Recreational Area Live Oak Pavilion. Family First Fest features an exciting live entertainment line-up: country music duo Martin Ramey, and award-winning country music artist Darryl Worley, best known for hit songs “Have You Forgotten” and “I Miss My Friend”.
Gather the Family for an afternoon of fun featuring live music by country music duo Martin Ramey and national country music recording artist Darryl Worley, as well as a comedy performance by former Soldier Joe Saba. Bring the children to enjoy free inflatables, face painting and pony rides. The fest kicks off at 3pm, but the work day on Fort Hood ends at 12pm so come early to enjoy a pre-party with live DJ and activities beginning at 12:30pm. FREE and open to all!
This event is free and open to all. Food, beverages and alcohol will be sold. In order to alleviate traffic, patrons are
encouraged to ride the free on-post shuttle to BLORA. BLORA is located on North Nolan Road 10 miles from East Range
Road. Access to the park is also possible from FM 439 and Sparta Road. For more information, call 254-288-7835 or
check out www.hoodmwr.com
Future Events:
1st Cavalry Division Fall Festival
Come join us for a fun-filled day for Soldiers & Families of the 1st Cavalry Division
Saturday, 10 October 2009 at the 1st CAV Division Horse Stables from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Mark your calendars!!!
Free Family Portraits
What: Soldiers' Angels - Portraits of Love, Free Family Portraits for Families of Deployed Soldiers. Professional
Photographers are volunteering their time and talent to help send a piece of home to Soldiers abroad.
When: 15-30 September, 2009
Times: 1200-2000 hours Monday through Friday and 1000-1700 on Saturdays
Where: Oveta Culp Hobby Soldier & Family Readiness Center, building 18000, Battalion Ave
Why: Soldiers' Angels (Non Profit Organization) & the Photo Imaging Manufacturers & Distributers Association (PMDA)
collaborated to create a project called "PMDA Soldiers' Angels Portraits of Love." Their goal is to provide 10,000 free Family photos to Families of Deployed Soldiers.
How: Interested Families should call 288-2794 to schedule an appointment for their photo. Each Family photo session will last no more than 15 minutes.
Families must show proper military ID to participate.
Family members must provide the Soldier's mailing address during the photo session.
One 5X7 Family portrait will be mailed to the deployed Soldier at no cost and another free 5X7 photo will be available
for the Family.
Wild Thing's comment.....
This is so cool, I love it. I love that Fort Hood does this for the families and the troops. AWESOME
For those of you that have Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Lynch/100699965545?ref=mf
And this if Fort Hood on Facebook
.... Thank you Jim for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:48 AM | Comments (8)
September 15, 2009
Allah Calls Another Home
Terrorists blow themselves up while U.S. gunship holds fire
Wild Thing's comment.......
Now THAT is sweet! Bye Bye!
.... Thank you Jim for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at 05:48 AM | Comments (8)
September 14, 2009
American Service Member Shot Over Drink of Water!!
American shot over drink of water
In Kabul, the capital, an American service member and an Afghan police officer got into an argument because the American was drinking water in front of the Afghan police, who are not eating or drinking during the day because of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, said the district chief, Abdul Baqi Zemari.
The police officer shot the American and seriously wounded him, while other American troops responded and seriously wounded the police officer, Zemari said.
Lt. Robert Carr, a U.S. military spokesman, confirmed an incident between Afghan police officers and a U.S. police mentoring team. He could not provide information on the conditions of the two men.
Wild Thing's comment......
Because "Mohammed said it", Muslims assume that they can impose their 7th century bullshit on all humanity. This is how a Muslim is toward someone trying to help them from being overwhelmed by even more radical and fanatical Muslims, if that's possible.
There can be no compromise with Islam as Islam will never compromise. Islam will always take anything offered by the West and shit on the West in return. Gratitude is not a part of Islam.
We are in a global war for survival against a fanatical, barbaric system posing as a religion. It is a matter of life or death. And it is going to happen here in our country. We have yet as a country to come down hard on followers of Isalm, they have gotten a free ride in our country and it just gets worse.
This soldier should have been thanked and praised and given the chance to have as much water as he wanted.
Turn it into a parking lot over there and come home!!! And as far as Obama is concerned..... screw Obama and his R.O.E.'s. He can just apologize later, he does that anyway when he speaks about America.
......Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (15)
September 13, 2009
Senate Panel Seeks End to F-22 Export Ban
Senate panel seeks end to F-22 export ban
September 10th, 2009
A Senate panel urged the Air Force on Thursday to start developing an export model of its F-22 Raptor, the most advanced U.S. fighter jet, even as it voted to end U.S. purchases.
Japan, Israel and Australia have shown interest in buying the supersonic, radar-evading F-22 Raptor, designed to destroy enemy air defenses in the first days of any conflict and clear the way for other missions.
Foreign sales were banned by a 1998 law aimed at protecting the "stealth" technology and other high-tech features said to have made the F-22 too good for money to buy.
If enacted, the measure adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee would let the Defense Department prepare a modified F-22 that protects classified and sensitive information, technologies and U.S. war fighting capabilities.
"The committee urges the Air Force to start this effort within the funds appropriated in Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force, for the F-22 aircraft," a report accompanying the bill said.
Neither Lockheed Martin nor the Air Force had any immediate comment.
Creating an export version would preserve U.S. jobs and an option to buy more F-22s later, without having to pay the full cost of restarting production.
The U.S. Air Force has estimated Japan would have to spend as much as $2.3 billion for development of its own version of the Raptor. For years, Tokyo has sought to buy two squadrons of the F-22, possibly 40 planes, a request that has become more compelling amid tensions with neighboring North Korea.
The bill, adopted 30 to 0 in 15 minutes without debate, largely backed program cuts sought by President Barack Obama. Overall, it provided $636.3 billion for defense in fiscal 2010, which starts October 1.
The measure would kill a combat search-and-rescue helicopter, a presidential helicopter and a missile-defense project called Kinetic Energy Interceptor.
It includes $128.2 billion for "overseas contingency operations," primarily to keep fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The legislation would cap the U.S. F-22 "Raptor" fleet at 187, down from an original Air Force Cold War-era plan to buy as many as 750 of the air-superiority fighters.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, announcing plans to terminate the F-22 on April 6, said doing so was "not a close call." He said the military should gear up more for wars such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The bill, which must be reconciled with the House of Representatives' version, provided no funds for a second, interchangeable engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The alternate engine, which Obama considers wasteful, would be veto bait, the White House has said. In July, the House approved $560 million for the second engine development as part of its 2010 defense appropriations bill, despite the veto threat.
General Electric Co and Rolls-Royce Group PLC, partners in the second engine, have said they are confident a House-Senate conference committee will preserve competition for the F-35 engine.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, the Hawaii Democrat who chairs the appropriations committee and its defense subpanel, told reporters he did not know how the second engine's fate would play out.
"Apparently the Senate is not for it, so we'll go into conference on that basis. But as always, my mind is open," he said.
The Senate panel put rival United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney unit, maker of a fully funded engine for the F-35, a step closer to a monopoly over a projected $100 billion market.
At issue is the engine and its aftermarket for three variants of the F-35, a single-engine Lockheed Martin fighter in early stages of production. It would replace at least 13 types of warplanes, initially for 11 nations.
The Senate committee, in sync with recommendations made Wednesday by its defense subpanel, broke with Obama on Boeing Co's C-17 cargo plane. It added $2.5 billion to sustain the production line by buying 10 more in 2010. The administration wants to end the C-17 program without further purchases.
The House approved $674 million in its defense appropriations bill to buy three more C-17s.
The full Senate could vote on the defense bill as early as next week. House and Senate representatives then meet to mesh their legislation before it is sent to the White House. The House-Senate conference is on track to take place by the end of this month, said Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the Senate panel's top Republican
Wild Thing's comment........
This an update to my other post awhile back about this.
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:40 AM | Comments (4)
September 12, 2009
U.N. Lawyers Target U.S. Troops
U.N. Lawyers Target U.S. Troops
Justice: As if fighting a war in Afghanistan isn't hard enough, ambitious global prosecutors have rolled into Kabul looking to charge U.S. troops. Intentional or not, such legalism will sap U.S. morale as it did in Vietnam.
At about the time NATO's new secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, warned NATO's European members against an early pullout, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, whose body is charged with looking for international war criminals, announced he was looking for new "clients" from anyone with a grievance in Afghanistan.
At a briefing Wednesday in The Hague, Moreno-Ocampo said he had launched a new war crimes inquiry, seeking information about "torture" especially — a European obsession — and had already mined the human rights groups for stories. He added he was also "very open" to more information from foreign governments.
Oh, he'd been evenhanded in his Monday-morning battlefield quarterbacking of course, promising he'd prosecute both Taliban and NATO troops as moral equals.
But it doesn't take a genius to know what the spotlight-loving attorney (who once launched his own reality TV show back in Argentina) is really after: Americans in the dock as war criminals.
The atmosphere that makes a prosecutor like Moreno-Ocampo ambitious enough to go after Americans instead of a real monster like, say, Fidel Castro, can only occur when the West's will has weakened, as Rasmussen warned.
After all, if a war to defend our civilization can be reduced to a series of police-brutality cases, then Afghanistan isn't about victory.
This is underscored by Washington's conflicting aims.
Though our president has rightly boosted the number of troops in Afghanistan, he's created a climate of doubt by declaring the war on terror an "overseas contingency operation" and stating he doesn't believe in "winning." It's poison for morale and gives momentum to the kind of bureaucratic, legalistic and defeatist thinking that preceded our bitter pullout in Vietnam.
Moreno-Ocampo's entry into Afghanistan is a sign that legalism has begun to overtake victory as a goal, at a time when our Taliban foes still believe in victory.
On the battlefield, our troops are increasingly constrained by legalistic rules of engagement.
Case in point: On Tuesday, four U.S. Marines and seven of their Afghani allies walked into a well-planned ambush and were killed in the Kunar province near the Pakistani border.
"We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We've lost today," Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, told his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter's repeated demands for helicopters, McClatchy Newspapers reported.
Rules of engagement condemned them to die because they couldn't get air cover.
According to McClatchy: "U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren't near the village."
Meanwhile, all pullout talk condemned those U.S. troops, too.
Ground intelligence sources who might have warned them were reportedly more fearful of Taliban retaliation than convinced that American troops would be able to defend them, given the weakening will of the West. They opted to survive.
Now, the latest legalistic block against winning is an international prosecutor looking for NATO troops to prosecute.
Back in 2002, President Bush told the ICC that there wouldn't be any of that, and he rescinded the U.S. signature from the Rome Statute that would have opened the door to that. Today, there's a legal battle going on at the ICC to make U.S. troops subject to doing it and there's no signal from the White House that it will stop it.
Don't think Moreno-Ocampo won't do it. His history as a prosecutor suggests an affinity for publicity over justice, which is just what the anti-American crowd wants.
Back in 2008, he ambitiously charged a sitting president, Omar Hassan Ahmad al Bashir of Sudan, with genocide, using a public application for an arrest warrant instead of a sealed warrant. The latter would have been more likely to bring justice to Darfur's victims. He went for the TV cameras instead.
Someone like that won't hesitate for a minute to make a big show of putting U.S. troops in the dock for "war crimes" no matter what the impact in Afghanistan. That's defeat.
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Wild Thing's comment......
“rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren’t near the village.”
Obama's hate for America, hate for our military and his love for Muslims is literally getting our guys KILLED. There isn’t a word in the English language or any other language for how mad I am!
Just a reminder to add to this John McCain's treachery in this it is from January 28, 2005.
Citizens for Global Solutions Applauds Senator McCain’s Support of the International Criminal Court
In a BBC Worldservice televised debate before the World Economic Forum on Friday January 28th, Senator John McCain (R- AZ) declared his support for the United States joining the International Criminal Court (ICC), asserting: “I want us in the ICC.”
McCain’s comments drastically change the debate on the International Criminal Court, in part because the United Nations Commission of Inquiry report, expected to be released mid-next week, likely will recommend a UN Security Council referral of the Darfur situation to the ICC.
McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Service Committee, did raise concerns. “I’m not satisfied that there are enough safeguards,” he said. Nonetheless, his declaration at the World Economic Forum was the strongest indication to date that he would be in favor of the United States joining the ICC in the near future.
Speaking alongside McCain was Senator Joseph Biden (D- DE), ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Like McCain, Biden stood in support of the United States inclusion in the ICC, and likewise, expressed a desire to have greater safeguards for U.S. officials. Noting that European Union (EU) states had rejected the safeguards when the ICC’s statute was agreed in 1999, Biden declared, “that can change, should change, will change.”
The BBC World Television debate, in which McCain made his comments, will be broadcast again on The BBC World on Saturday.
McCain’s comments come at a critical time in the history of the International Criminal Court. The administration is debating internally and at the United Nations, the best method for justice and accountability in Darfur, western Sudan. Many observers expect a Security Council a debate over a referral of the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court.
Posted by Wild Thing at 08:47 AM | Comments (4)
September 11, 2009
Questions Raised Over Raid to Free Journalist in Afghanistan
Times reporter kidnapped by militants in northern Afghanistan is freed by British commandos
A New York Times reporter taken hostage by militants was rescued from a hide-out in northern Afghanistan early Wednesday in a daring raid that left his translator, a British soldier and civilians dead.
Journalist Stephen Farrell was kidnapped Saturday while interviewing villagers in the northern province of Kunduz about NATO air strikes that reportedly left as many as 90 people dead.
Farrell's interpreter, one of the British commandos sent to rescue them and several others died when a firefight broke out during the raid.
According to the Times, Farrell called an editor at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and declared, "I'm out! I'm free!" The Times did not know about the military operation.
Farrell described to the Times hearing helicopters approach the hide-out as special forces dropped onto the home, prompting his Taliban captors to flee. He and interpreter Sultan Munadi followed, with the translator hollering, "Journalist! Journalist!"
Surrounded by bullets, Farrell dived in a ditch, but Munadi was struck by either allied or militant gunfire.
"He was lying in the same position as he fell," Farrell told the Times. "That's all I know. I saw him go down in front of me. He did not move. He's dead. He was so close, he was just two feet in front of me when he dropped." A spokesman for the Kunduz governor said a Taliban commander, the owner of the house and another woman were killed. British defense officials confirmed one of the commandos also perished.
Farrell, 46, a longtime journalist in the region who began working for the Times in 2007, had wanted to interview villagers near the site where U.S. jets dropped two bombs on tankers hijacked by the Taliban. Reports said villagers collecting fuel from the tankers had died.
Authorities had warned journalists that the area near the tanker strike was Taliban-controlled and dangerous. The Times did not publicize the kidnappings out of concern for the hostages' safety.
Questions raised over bloody raid to free British journalist in Afghanistan
Military officials tonight defended the decision to launch a dramatic raid to rescue a British journalist from the Taliban, in which his Afghan assistant and a soldier were killed, against angry criticism in Afghanistan that the operation had been ordered while talks for his release had already begun.
Gordon Brown hailed the helicopter assault, carried out by the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Marines, as an act of "breathtaking heroism" and said the bravery of the soldier who was killed would not be forgotten.
Stephen Farrell, a 46-year-old New York Times reporter who had been held by the Taliban in Kunduz for four days, was freed as a result of the raid in the early hours, but the Afghan journalist working with him, Sultan Munadi, was killed.
There were reports that at least two others were killed, possibly a woman and the owner of the house, but details remain unclear.
Sources in Kabul claimed that at the time of the assault, talks were under way with the Kunduz leadership of the Taliban and a deal seemed possible.
Munadi had been allowed to call home at 10.30pm yesterday. According to his family, his captors made no threats against his life, and told his mother there were just "a few issues" to resolve before he would be set free.
A western diplomat in Afghanistan said Farrell was being held under the orders of Mullah Salam, the Taliban's "shadow governor" of Kunduz.
"He was out of money and open to doing a deal. The plan was to keep negotiations local and appeal to the decency of Afghans to do the right thing and release a civilian journalist. But then MI6 charged in and, with next to zero knowledge of the local situation, decided to launch an operation," the diplomat said.
British officials, however, said the rescue operation, by the Special Forces Support Group flying in US helicopters, had been ordered after intelligence, including intercepts, suggested that the journalists' lives were in imminent danger.
"An opportunity arose and it was seized," said one official.
The New York Times editor, Bill Keller, said Farrell had told him the situation in the Taliban hideout where they were being held had been growing more menacing just before the raid. Keller said he did not know what had triggered the assault, but it is possible the military had intercepted plans to move the journalists or to do something to them.
Moeen Marastial, an MP for Kunduz, said the Taliban had left the British with no choice but to launch a rescue.
"The people in Kunduz had been talking to the Taliban about getting him released. The local people were telling them that they have to release them or otherwise there will be another Nato airstrike and more civilians will be killed. But the Taliban had been promising, promising, hour by hour, but they never released him," he said.
The reporters had gone to a village which had been the target on Friday of a Nato air strike on two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban. The tankers exploded, killing a crowd of civilians, and anti-western feeling in the area was running high.
The New York Times was caught entirely by surprise by the rescue mission.
The newspaper had asked British officials to use force only as "a last resort," according to sources close to the negotiations. However, British officials made it clear to the newspaper straight after Farrell and Munadi were kidnapped that their policy was to carry out raids when they deem fit. The US government seeks consent from the next of kin first.
The first news of the raid came when Farrell called his editor in the early hours of yesterday morning to say he was free.
"We were all in a room, the Talibs all ran, it was obviously a raid," Mr Farrell said, according to the New York Times. "We thought they would kill us. We thought, should we go out?"
He said the two journalists hid behind a wall as the fighting went around them, and at one point Munadi, a 34-year-old father of two, raised his hands and walked into the open, shouting: "journalist, journalist". But he was shot down by "a hail of bullets".
Afghan reporters and interpreters who work with foreign journalists have been incensed by the incident. They congregated at the northern edge of Kabul to honour the return of Munadi's body. "The media community is very angry," said Ali Safi. "They are saying that these foreigners launch these operations only to release their own people."
The raid has heightened an internal Nato debate on how to respond to the kidnapping of journalists working in dangerous areas, often against the advice of Afghan and alliance officials.
"This guy was told not to go in there. He was told by local officials," said a western military source. "But being stupid should not give you a death sentence. How do you decide when not to go in? That's the hard thing? When do you give a bad man with a gun the right to decide. You always go back and get someone."
The source said if a raid had not been ordered, the military would have been criticised for "standing by and doing nothing".
A diplomat in Kabul suggested the British may have acted to make the point that they did not do deals for hostages.
The prime minister said: "Hostage-taking is never justified, and the UK does not make substantive concessions, including paying ransoms. But whenever British nationals are kidnapped, we and our allies will do everything in our power to free them."In the last two years, six foreign journalists have been kidnapped in Afghanistan by insurgents and criminal gangs. Five were released after negotiations and one, David Rohde, another New York Times reporter, escaped after seven months in captivity.
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Wild Thing's comment........
Farrell wanted to do a hit piece about how evil NATO forces intentionally killed innocent civilians. He was warned not to go into the Taliban controlled area but did so anyway. Should have let the Taliban keep him.
It is really stupid to risk the lives of soldiers in the rescue of journalists who are writing stories alleging atrocities by those very same soldiers.
I’d rather see 100 NYT reporters remain in captivity forever than have ONE soldier from our country, or ANY of our allies, die while rescuing them.
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....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 07:40 AM | Comments (2)
September 09, 2009
Gen. McChrystal and His ROE for Rules of the Road
Hazards of driving in Afghanistan. Jalalabad road in Kabul is the main road servicing Camp Phoenix.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Commander, General Stanley McChrystal, has issued a directive stating his requirements for all ISAF personnel to adhere to appropriate legal driving procedures and behavior in Afghanistan.
“The manner in which ISAF forces interact with and treat the Afghan people directly correlates to our ability to earn their trust and support. ISAF forces are highly conspicuous when travelling in vehicles and I expect ISAF members to drive in ways that respect the safety and well-being of the Afghan people,” said General McChrystal.
In his guidance, McChrystal emphasizes safe driving to be an essential ingredient in the successful prosecution of the ISAF mission. “Safe and considerate driving represents a visible and tangible sign of our commitment to the people of Afghanistan,” General McChrystal said.
The Theatre Driving Principles direct ISAF personnel to adhere to safe driving practices, such as respecting Afghan traffic rules and regulations, driving at an appropriate speed, and driving defensively. It is the responsibility of every member in the chain of command to encourage and reinforce a culture of safe driving with ISAF, the directive concludes.
Wild Thing's comment.....
"The Theatre Driving Principles direct ISAF personnel to adhere to safe driving practices, such as respecting Afghan traffic rules and regulations"....
I am sorry but .......what??????
Our troops should be given applause for the great driving they are already doing. ( tapping the General on the shoulder.....psssst can you hear me now????? )
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:48 AM | Comments (6)
September 07, 2009
Miracles On The Front Line: Snipers Defy Odds, Death In Afghanistan
Miracles On The Front Line: Snipers Defy Odds, Death In Afghanistan
h/t Pat Dollard
MIANPOSHTEH, Afghanistan
For seven hours, the Marine sniper team waited, crouching behind a concrete block in a dusty courtyard, at the edge of an adobe compound. They were pretty sure that a group of local Taliban militants was on the other side of the compound wall. But the snipers couldn’t strike until they had some proof.
So they stayed there, in silence. They downed energy drinks to stay awake. They urinated in bottles and defecated in bags, so they wouldn’t leave evidence of their presence behind.
Team leader Sgt. Erik Rue kept himself sharp by running scenarios in his head of what could happen next: What if the Taliban burst in, guns blazing? What if they enter unarmed? What if there are children in the way? What if the courtyard is overrun by the militants? Where do we go then?
U.S. Marines and Taliban guerrillas have battled in the villages and compounds of this farming community nearly every day for eight weeks. It’s become one of the epicenters of America’s renewed war effort in Afghanistan. But during most of those shootouts, the two sides have been hundreds, even thousands, of feet apart. On Tuesday, they fought at point-blank range.
And despite all those hours of what-ifs, Rue and his team couldn’t have predicted how this gunfight would play out. By the time it was over, at least two men were dead. Another took a bullet to the chest but escaped unharmed. And another had his gun shot out of his hands. Four more survived what should have been a lethal bomb blast. “It was a fuckin’ pretty eventful day, to say the least,” Rue says.
After waiting for so long, the sniper team decided to try something new to flush out their targets. Rue — a smallish, slight military brat with a clean-shaven head and world-weary brown eyes — whispered into his radio to his headquarters, about a mile away.
Bring some helicopters overhead, he said, and make a low pass. The guys over the compound wall might start shooting at the helos. And then we’ll have proof of their hostile intent. The helicopters — already circling over another group of Marines engaged in a firefight — began to swoop in towards the snipers’ position. They made their pass.
But the men on the other side of the wall didn’t take the bait. If they had guns, they didn’t bother shooting them at the Cobra gunship and the Huey attack chopper.
Staff Sgt. Doug Webb was getting sick of waiting. The tattooed, twitchy Long Island, New York, native wanted to figure out if these guys were Taliban or not. Right now.
He scooted into a small room, adjacent to the courtyard. On the western wall of the room, at floor level, was a yard-wide “mousehole.” Webb lay his chest on the floor, and stuck his face in the hole.
At first, all he could see were ankles and feet. All he could hear were four male voices, speaking Pashto. Then he recognized a single word: “Taliban.” Webb looked up, and saw that one of the men had a vest packed with ammunition. And an AK-47.
Webb came back into the courtyard — and almost got shot himself. He surprised his teammate, Sgt. Nick Worth, who drew a pistol on him. “Whoa!” Webb whispered. Worth returned the gun to its holster.
“Man, I just saw a guy with an old-school mujahideen chest rig and a weapon,” Webb whispered excitedly. But the guy — and his three pals — appeared to be walking away from the snipers on a north-south trail, at the compound’s edge. If the snipers were going to attack, they had to do it right away,
“Fuck it. Now or never,” Rue said. He sent three snipers to the roof, and ran out of the courtyard with three others: Sgt. Ryan Steinbacker, Cpl. Fred Gardner, and Worth. They entered an east-west alleyway, perpendicular to the trail that Webb had spied through his mousehole.
They reached the intersection, and saw one man in the distance to their left. Luckily, he didn’t see them in the alleyway. Then, a second man, wearing brown tunic and a black hat, turned the corner. He was maybe five feet from the snipers. His eyes widened with surprise.
“I gave him half a second. He swung around his AK,” said Worth, who was carrying a Benelli 1014 shotgun. “Then I put four buckshot rounds in his chest.” Rue added a few more shots. The man crumpled to the ground.
A third man in a white robe was in the distance, about 150 feet to the north. He raised his AK-47 and fired at the snipers. Steinbacker dropped to one knee and shot the man with his M4. He dropped.
Almost immediately, a barrage of bullets came flying in directly at the snipers, from the cornfields in the west and from the trees to the east. Clearly, there were more than four militants on the area. Many, many more. And some of them could shoot.
Lance Cpl. Justin Kuhel, positioned on the roof, had the M203 grenade launcher blasted out of his hand. Lance Cpl. Justin Black, next to him, took a shot in the center of his chest. It spun him around. He collapsed on his forearms.
“It felt like I got hit with a hammer,” Black says. He reached his hand underneath his armor plates. Luckily, there was no blood.
But Black was clearly in trouble. “After I got hit, I’m laying there. And I saw rounds hit right in front of me. I thought, ‘Man, this might be it.’”
It was another now-or-never point for the Marines. The fire from the corn was about to separate the sniper groups from one another — and make them much easier to pick off. “Pull back! Pull back!” Rue yelled.
They ran back to the courtyard, and took up guarding positions at the entrances. “Hey, are you all right? Are you all right?” the snipers asked each other.
They gawked at Black’s perforated chest plate, and wondered how the hell he was still alive. The snipers knew he wasn’t the only lucky one; that storm of lead from the cornfield could’ve killed any of them. “I felt invincible until then,” Black says. “Then it’s, ‘Aw, fuck. I can get shot.’”
The gunshots died down, for a minute. Rue’s mind turned to those two Taliban bodies, outside on the trail. American forces could glean valuable information from their weapons, their documents, their radios, their fingerprints. But the Taliban were famous for removing their dead almost instantly.
Once again, it was now-or-never time. Rue and Webb went out to get the bodies. The Marines grabbed the first dead militant by the ankles, and dragged it back into the courtyard. He had his AK-47 still slung across his chest, and a rice bag, filled with ammunition.
Again, the Marines took fire from at least two different positions in the corn. Again, the fire died down. It was time to make a run for the second body. They hurled themselves into the alleyway, and made a right on the trail.
Ordinarily, Marines here have avoided these obvious footpaths; local militants have turned the trails into death traps, filled with improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. But there was no time to cut through the fields. As they moved, Webb noticed a purple sack. “I bet this guy left us a little present,” he thought. “That’s probably a bomb.”
That’s when the thing exploded.
A thunderous boom rang out. A cloud of dirt engulfed the snipers. Webb fell forward. “I saw a white flash and stars, like I got hit in the face,” he says. Days later, he’s complaining of memory losses. Webb and several other members of the team have been diagnosed with concussions. But somehow, none of them were seriously hurt.
“That’s fucking it! Everyone back inside!” Rue shouted. In a daze, they stumbled back to the courtyard.
Not long after, a handful of infantrymen from a Marine platoon wandered into the compound. They were later joined by the rest of their squad, and a second unit from nearby Echo company.
The firefight continued. But now it was the Taliban who were outgunned. The Cobra and the Huey blasted thousands of rounds into the treelines and buildings that the militants were using as firing positions.
That allowed the sniper team a chance to exit the battle, nearly 12 hours after they had first slipped into that courtyard. Scampering along the side of a canal, they walked out as they entered — in silence.
Rue, for one, is still surprised they made it all back intact. “Being that close to the IED blast and everyone walking away — that’s a miracle,” he says. “Receiving such heavy fire down an exit point without getting shot — that’s a miracle. And two guys getting shot and not getting hurt. That’s in the category of a miracle, too.”
Echo company and the Taliban are still battling around those compounds, more than 36 hours after the sniper team’s initial attack. But the conflict has returned to its normal routine. The two sides are back to firing at each other from hundreds of yards away, not right up-close.
And the sniper team has been confined to base to recover from that harrowing morning.
Wild Thing's comment.........
Thank God for miracles and thank God for our troops.
Posted by Wild Thing at 04:55 AM | Comments (8)
September 06, 2009
U.S. Marines in Helmand 2009
Thousands of Marines have descended upon the Helmand River valley in Afghanistan, a Taliban stronghold that is known for poppy growing.
LT. Col Christian Cabaniss
" 2nd Battalin Marines, we took terrible in WW11 we got to live up to that ..........I think we are all just trying to live in our big brothers shadow you know WW11, Vietnam and all that that's all its about, its about pride ,no one can else take that away from us. the hard work just began and we will do it every day for the rest of our deploymenrt. They'll know that they did something that they made a difference, you know when they are grandfathers, you know when they are grandparents when they are sitting around on the sofa and are talking to their grandkids 40 years from now, their grandkids wil ask them what they did in afghanistan in the summer of 2009 they will sit up a little bit straighter and talk about what they did how they had a part in a significant role in changing"
video ends there, but I tried to get as much as I could of what he said.... what an awesome man this is, a true leader.....an American Hero!!
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Wild Thing's comment......
The video ends there, but I tried to get as much as I could of what he said.... what an awesome man this is, a true leader.....an American Hero!!
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:49 AM | Comments (4)
DEA "The FAST Team" in Afghanistan
Over a village in southern Afghanistan, an American helicopter circles and lands. Armed men jump out and huddle near a compound wall. A translator speaking through a megaphone announces a police action and says the men are coming in.
It's one of the most politically unstable corners of the world, but the men aren't on a typical mission for troops in Afghanistan. In fact, they aren't even soldiers, and, despite what it looks like, this is not a U.S. military operation. This is the American Drug Enforcement Administration.
"It's never just about seizing and destroying the drugs," team leader Frank Tarentino told "Nightline." "It's really more about the taking down, dismantling, the disruption of organizations. ... This operation will start to generate intelligence and information that will assist for following operations."
For nine years the DEA has quietly toiled away in Afghanistan to stop drug traffickers. But now the agency is at the center of the Obama administration's strategy in Afghanistan.
This elite group of DEA Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Team members -- nicknamed the FAST Team -- has taken its drug-fighting expertise to Afghanistan because the country is the source of an estimated 90 percent of the world's heroin.
Money from that drug trade is believed to generate $125 million a year and fund the Taliban and the growing insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as possibly al Qaeda.
Tarentino leads his men on four-month deployments in Afghanistan. Their mission is to collect evidence and build legal cases against drug dealers. Often, they target smaller dealers to build larger cases.
In compounds raided by the agents with "Nightline" cameras rolling, the FAST team seized opium, heroin, hash, weapons and evidence, and arrested several suspects.
In one case, suspects fled, leaving weeping women and children behind, and the tea they were drinking still warm.
In another case, agents arrested a man for possession of hash.
"I need for you to talk to the women, that they are placing the husband under arrest for illegal possession of narcotics," Tarentino told his translator as a suspect was handcuffed and a nearby woman and baby cried.
The arrested man spoke to his family in Pashto.
The interpreter explained that he told his distraught wife that he was only being taken away for questioning -- but Afghan drug laws are strict, and he was likely going to jail for 15 years. The suspect was blindfolded and put in a helicopter.
"We have successfully removed many Afghans, roughly eight, to the U.S. for prosecution," said Tarentino. "Most notably, the largest trafficker in all of Afghanistan is sitting in a U.S. prison right now."
Wild Thing's comment.......
This is the first I have heard about this.
Posted by Wild Thing at 02:45 AM | Comments (4)
August 31, 2009
The U.S.Army Version of the Kite
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Wild Thing's comment........
This is sooooo amazing. Precision parachuting by army paratroops. I love things like this. What feat this is and the practice and timing it took to do such a thing.
AWESOME!!!!!
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at 07:50 AM | Comments (9)
August 30, 2009
Marines Will Not Seek to Reinstate Charges Against Top Officer in Haditha Case
Colonel Chessani has been a scapegoat for 4 years now.
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Mustang Captain Don Greenlaw has been a tireless advocate for the freedom of the 3/1 Marines - he is a great man.
MILITARY: No criminal charges in Haditha deaths for Marine officer
Case against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani will go before Board of Inquiry
The Marine Corps has dropped its pursuit of criminal charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking officer accused of misconduct after 24 Iraqi civilians were slain in the city of Haditha in 2005.
Instead, Lt. Gen. George J. Flynn has decided to handle the matter administratively by appointing a three-member Board of Inquiry that will meet at Camp Pendleton this fall.
The board of Marine Corps officers will determine if Chessani should be reduced in rank if it finds he engaged in substandard performance of duty, misconduct and professional dereliction of duty.
Its finding will serve as a recommendation to the Secretary of the Navy, who will make the final decision.
At stake is Chessani's rank after he retires from the Marine Corps, a retirement that has been on hold pending a decision in the Haditha matter. Chessani's retirement pay will not be affected by any decision to reduce his rank, Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Roger Galbraith said Friday.
Chessani attorney Brian Rooney said his client, who remains on duty at Camp Pendleton as a base security officer, is happy the two charges of dereliction have been dropped.
"Colonel Chessani is relieved that the case is out of the criminal realm where it never belonged because he never did anything wrong," Rooney said. "In order to reduce him in rank, the board has to find there was misconduct and we don't believe it will."
Rooney said Chessani's other attorneys plan to call several witnesses they believe will show he reported the Haditha killings up the chain of command and was never directed by his superiors to order a full-scale probe into the events of that day.
"We expect to present a very robust case to the board," Rooney said.
Former Marine Corps judge and attorney Gary Solis said convening a Board of Inquiry to decide Chessani's fate is a rare step.
"This is beyond unusual," said Solis, who teaches military law at Washington's Georgetown University. "I have never heard of a senior officer being subjected to a Board of Inquiry. My guess is that at worst he will be found to have exercised substandard judgment and be admonished."
Chessani commanded Camp Pendleton's 3rd Marine Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, at Haditha when the civilians were slain after a roadside bombing that killed one Marine and injured two others on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005.
Several women and children were among the slain when troops led by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich stormed several homes where they believed the people responsible for the bombing were hiding.
Military investigators later said none of the slain could be tied to the insurgency, prompting an international outcry that led to criminal charges against eight Marines ---- four triggermen and four officers accused of failing to investigate.
Last year, a military judge ordered the charges against Chessani dismissed, citing the appearance of unlawful command influence. A military appeals court later upheld the dismissal.
Solis said recommendations reached by a Board of Inquiry are generally followed by the Navy Secretary, a civilian appointee.
"I would be very surprised if Colonel Chessani is reduced in rank," Solis said. "This is a man who for 18 years has given great and good service to the Marine Corps and risked his life. I don't think his reward for all that will be anything too severe and he may even escape an admonishment."
As for the remainder of the men charged with criminal wrongdoing in Haditha, most of the cases were dropped before trial. The only defendant to see his case go to trial was found not guilty of lying to investigators and trying to destroy evidence.
With Friday's announcement regarding Chessani, the only remaining defendant is Wuterich, who led his squad on a deadly chase through several homes near the bomb site.
Wuterich's trial on multiple counts of voluntary manslaughter and related charges remains on hold while a military appeals court considers whether CBS News should be forced to turn over outtakes of a "60 Minutes" interview with Wuterich.
Wild Thing's comment......
This is great news that they won't try to reinstate the charges.
BUT it is unconsionable that they are even considering that travesty of a Board of Inquiry.
The Colonel DID NOTHING WRONG!!!! He shouldn't have to face the consideration of a reduction of rank. A promotion is in order, not a demotion.
And now they should HANG John Murtha for what he said and especially saying it while we are at war. Can't they do something when a person in goverment so obviously sides with the enemy during war time??? GRRRRRR
Only Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich is left and I'm sure his life is hell.
Posted by Wild Thing at 06:49 AM | Comments (8)
August 26, 2009
GTMO's 'Floyd the Barber'
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Air Force Tech Sgt. Ronald Comer, an information management specialist deployed here with the 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron in support of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, cuts Air Force Lt. Col. John Dulin's hair at Camp Justice, July 13. Comer has been cutting the hair of fellow Airmen since day one of his deployment to JTF Guantanamo. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released by a court. The JTF conducts intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination for the protection of detainees and personnel working in JTF Guantanamo facilities and in support of the War on Terror. JTF Guantanamo provides support to the Office of Military Commissions, to law enforcement and to war crimes investigations. The JTF conducts planning for and, on order, responds to Caribbean mass migration operations.
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by Sgt. Michael Baltz
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba
Many people have nicknames, and Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ronald Comer is no different. He has earned the nickname of "Floyd the Barber," a character from the Andy Griffith Show.
Comer, an information management specialist with the 474th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, has been cutting the hair of fellow Airmen since day one of his deployment to Joint Task Force Guantanamo.
"I never cut hair before," Comer said. "The first night here, some guys wanted a haircut and I just started practicing. I now have over 40 customers."
Along with a table of magazines to read while people wait for a haircut, Comer has his own barber's chair, trimmers, razors and clippers.
"I don't charge anything, I am just helping out the guys," Comer said. "It builds morale. It keeps them within regulation and looking good. It also saves them the hassle of sitting in line and getting a haircut. I do get tips every now and then, but it isn't necessary."
Comer has evolved from day one; cutting more than 400 heads of hair since he has been here.
"I can do a fade," Comer said. "I am pretty picky about things, so I try to do a good job. I cut their hair to fit their head. I want them to be proud of it."
Comer is dedicated to keeping his clients looking sharp.
"I can't cut people's hair when they are busy, so I am pretty flexible," Comer said. "I usually cut hair when people have free time or in the evening or on the weekends. I did one last week at 7 a.m."
Comer doesn't claim to be perfect and admits to making mistakes along the way.
"I have put the wrong guard on before, but it all worked out," Comer said casually. "I just cut it shorter."
One person he is sure to take care of is the 474th ECES commander, Air Force Lt. Col. John Dulin.
"It is a great thing he is doing, it allows everyone to look good," Dulin said. "He gives a good haircut. We give him the time and ability to do it."
Dulin said there would not be any repercussions if Comer made a mistake.
"He hasn't messed up my hair," Dulin said. "Yet."
Unfortunately, the females haven't been able to enjoy Comer's haircuts.
"They won't let me cut their hair," Comer said gloomily.
"I am going to start cutting my wife's hair though; it will save me some money," Comer added jokingly.
As far as continuing his new role in the unit, it will not end anytime soon.
"My unit members] want me to keep on cutting their hair when I get home," Comer said. "I have already made a deal with a few of them to keep on doing it on drill weekends."
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:50 AM | Comments (8)
Sister, Brother Reunite in Iraq
Chief Warrant Officer Heath Wieseler chats with his sister, Sgt. Andrea Wieseler, in a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter on COB Speicher Aug. 13. Heath and Andrea spent a few days together after not seeing each other for more than two years.
Sister, Brother Reunite in Iraq
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq
Deployments usually separate Soldiers from their families. However, for one Red Bull Soldier, it provided the chance to reunite with her brother.
Sgt. Andrea Wieseler, a telecommunications sergeant with the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, hadn't seen her brother, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Heath Wieseler, in more than two years. Heath, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, is deployed to Contingency Operating Base Speicher with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Mountain Division.
Andrea's supervisors allowed her to take some time to meet up with her brother.
"I have been waiting for this since the day I arrived in Iraq," Andrea said.
Although Heath knew there would be a possibility Andrea would get the opportunity to come up and see him, she surprised him early. He was on a mission to drop off passengers at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. At the last moment, he was informed he was to pick up passengers to take back to COB Speicher, not knowing one of those passengers was his sister.
They flew to COB Speicher and after Heath landed the helicopter, they greeted each other with a hug and the emotions started to flow.
"It caught me by surprise when I looked back to see her get on the helicopter," Heath said.
It turned out they were able to spend a few days to catch up on old times and have some great laughs.
"Everything worked out perfect," said Andrea. "I was so happy to have him pick me up in his helicopter; he is a real hero to me."
Heath has traveled a lot in his 16 years of active duty. Military training and travel have prevented him from returning to his hometown of Howard Lake, Minn., to see his family.
"It was so great to have Andrea around," Heath said. "It was nice to be with family, someone you can share common things and talk about family back in Minnesota."
The two of them spent time talking, laughing and sharing events of the past two years. Heath talked about his wife Geri and sons Tyler and Trevor, while Andrea shared her experiences of the deployment so far and the friendships she has made.
"I was so excited; it was a dream come true," Andrea said. "I waited a long time for this."
Wild Thing's comment......
What a neat story, I am thrilled they got to see each other in Iraq. That time together will be special to them for the rest of their lives.
God bless Sgt. Andrea Wieseler and her brother Chief Warrant Officer Heath Wieseler.
Posted by Wild Thing at 03:40 AM | Comments (5)
August 23, 2009
2/8 Marines Engage in Six-hour Firefight With Taliban Insurgents
Staff Sgt. James Simmons, a platoon sergeant with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, takes a quick pause during a seven-hour firefight as an U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber drops a 500-pound bomb on insurgent positions here, Aug. 13. Simmons is from Winter Park, Fla.
2/8 Marines Engage in Six-hour Firefight With Taliban Insurgents
by 1st Lt. Kurt Stahl
MIAN POSHTEH
Marines and Afghan National Army soldiers departed their outpost on a combat patrol, Aug. 13, that turned into the largest firefight here since July 4.
The Marines of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, waged an intense six-hour battle with Taliban insurgents who opened fire on the patrol just after 8 a.m.
After moving only about one mile from their combat outpost, the Marines received a heavy volley of enemy gunfire from multiple directions. Without hesitation, the Marines and ANA returned fire to suppress the enemy positions, began maneuvering on the insurgents and call for fire support.
"We sent out the combat patrol anticipating contact," said Capt. E.A. Meador from Laurel, Miss., the company commander. "They always try to hit us in that area."
Within minutes, an AH-1W Super Cobra and a UH-1N Huey were on station overhead to help suppress and engage enemy targets. The Cobra fired several five-inch Zuni rockets into one of the compounds from which the patrol was receiving sustained fire.
The friendly forces maneuvered through thick corn fields with slippery mud while enduring temperatures that exceeded 120 degrees in the afternoon. The muggy heat rose from the corn fields as if it were a sauna, and the Marines sunk into the mud with each step making it feel like weights were attached to their ankles.
"I didn't think it was possible to move so fast through mud like that," said Lance Cpl. Timothy Daughtry, a squad automatic weapon gunner.
In addition to those already challenging conditions, each Marine carried no less than a 60-pound combat load to include body armor, ammunition and water at a minimum. Despite the potential distractions offered by these extreme conditions while under fire, the Marines executed sound judgment calls and made rational decisions without hesitation.
"At the squad and platoon level, the Marines are out there every day and do a phenomenal job," said Meador. "They come back beat and tired, but they are always ready to do it again the next day."
During the engagement, the squad leaders were encouraging and directing their Marines to ensure they were doing everything they could to stay effective and in the fight. No matter how tired they became as time wore on, the voice of experience could be heard across the battlefield.
"Push forward. Keep your dispersion," called out Sgt. Jonathon Delgado, a squad leader from Kissimmee, Fla., as his Marines pressed through the corn field to maneuver on one of the compounds hiding the enemy.
By 1 p.m. – five hours into the engagement – many of the Marines had run out of water. So, water and ammunition redistribution began from those who still had a reserve and continued throughout the remainder of the day as needed.
During the firefight, the Marines were successful in calling in several types of precision ordnance on the insurgent fighting positions, which included rockets fired by the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems based at Camp Dwyer 15 miles away; 81mm and 60mm mortars; and a 500-pound bomb from a U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber.
"We caught them by surprise with our indirect fire assets and inflicted heavier casualties than in the past," said 1st Lt. Kyle Kurtz from Greensborough, N.C., the company's executive officer.
The Marines and ANA eventually maneuvered up to and cleared the insurgent positions initially used to launch the ambush. One moment they were fighting in open fields, and the next they were clearing rooms the insurgents had used as fighting positions – two very different and challenging combat techniques. One squad, expecting to encounter some resistance, went to clear the western compound where the patrol had initially taken heavy fire. As they entered the compound, the only thing that was they found were brass casings and links from the enemy's machine guns.
"It was tense going through the compound," Daughtry commented. "You never know exactly what is coming around the corner."
Between the sprints across the corn fields under fire to clearing compounds, the Marines felt lucky to have made it through the day unscathed.
"I definitely think I have had an angel watching out for me at times," said Lance Cpl. Josh Vance, a team leader from Raleigh, N.C.
In past firefights here, insurgents have kept their distance when engaging the Marines, but things were different during this battle.
"This was the first time in a while that we were able to close with the enemy so effectively," Kurtz said. "We were within 50-75 meters – right on top of them."
The platoon-sized element that took the initial contact was only one surprise Company E had for the insurgents this day. When they started to run, a second platoon was sent out to meet them.
The Taliban militants displaced to another location they had used to launch attacks from in the past – a large wall. During the follow-on fight, the Marines were able to cut off the insurgents' escape route and deny them the ability to use the wall for effective future attacks.
"It was a very successful day for us," said Kurtz.
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