Obama Listens to Generals Just Like Mr. Bush…

Okay, take yourselves back to March 2008.

Obama said that while President Bush has said that he follows the advice of his generals regarding Iraq, when they give the president advice he doesn’t like — cautioning against the War in Iraq, for example — Bush doesn’t listen to them.

Let’s move forward to September 2009.

The top military commander in Afghanistan warns in a confidential assessment of the war there that he needs additional troops within the next year or else the conflict “will likely result in failure.”

And here we are today…

Several weeks worth of war cabinet meetings have not made Obama’s staff and NSC advisers any more comfortable with Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s troop request.
They say that President Obama continues to be skeptical about the true applicability of the Iraq model, even allowing for McChrystal’s insistence that it can be modified enough.

Filed under: Democrats, Foreign Policy, Global Threats, Military, Politics

Memorial Day – 2009

In honor of my father, passed away this year.  Served honorably in the United States Air Force and retired in 1979.  God keep him and may he rest in peace.

Prayers For Our Soldiers

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Filed under: Memorial Day, Military, Thoughts

Cheney and Obama duke it out…

CNN is running a non-scientific poll on whether Mr. Obama was right on stating he want Guantanamo Bay closed or Mr. Cheny is correct in not closing it.  So, here’s my chance to poll my few readers to get their reaction.  Yes, mine is non-scientific too, but lets see what my results are.

By they way, any guesses how CNN’s poll turned out?

Filed under: Global Threats, Military, Politics

Battleship Row during the Pearl Harbor Attack

The surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan.

Before dawn on 7 December 1941, the American strategic center of gravity in the Pacific reposed in the seven battleships then moored along “Battleship Row”, the six pairs of interrupted quays located along Ford Island’s eastern side. Quay F-2, the southernmost, which usually hosted an aircraft carrier, was empty. Northeastward, Battle Force flagship California was next, moored at F-3.

Then came two pairs, moored side by side: Maryland with Oklahoma outboard, and Tennessee with West Virginia outboard. Astern of Tennessee lay Arizona, which had the repair ship Vestal alongside. Last in line was USS Nevada, by herself at quay F-8. These seven battleships, ranging in age from eighteen to twenty-five years, represented all but two of those available to the Pacific Fleet. The Fleet flagship, Pennsylvania, was also in Pearl Harbor, drydocked at the nearby Navy Yard. The ninth, USS Colorado, was undergoing overhaul on the west coast.

Battleship Row during the Pearl Harbor Attack

Filed under: Military

My Dinner with a Hero…

Tonight I went to my local restaurant for a simple dinner and a beer. While there, a young man struck up a conversation with me.  He never introduced himself, but through our conversation, I found out that he was an above knee amputee from being wounded in action in Iraq.  I soon discovered he was also a member of the Army’s Golden Knights.

There was no bragging, no war stories, just simple conversation.  As I was leaving just a few minutes ago, I said my good byes, thanked him for the conversation and got his name.  With a simple hand shake, he said his name was Daniel.

So, when I got home, I “googled” the Army Golden Knights and found out who his is…

Filed under: Military

Veteran’s Day; An Old Soldier’s Prayer

On November 11, 1921, an unknown American soldier from World War I was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of WWI veterans and in conjunction with the timing of cessation of hostilities at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). President Warren Harding requested that: “All … citizens … indulge in a period of silent thanks to God for these … valorous lives and of supplication for His Divine mercy … on our beloved country.” Inscribed on the Tomb are the words: “Here lies in honored glory an American soldier know but to God.” The day became known as “Armistice Day.”

In 1954, Congress, wanting to recognize the sacrifice of veterans since WWI, proposed to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day in their honor. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander in WWII, signed the legislation.

I have fought when others feared to serve.
I have gone where others failed to go.
I’ve lost friends in war and strife,
Who valued Duty more than love of life.

I have shared the comradeship of pain.
I have searched the lands for men that we have lost.
I have sons who served this land of liberty,
Who would fight to see that other stricken lands are free.

I have seen the weak forsake humanity.
I have heard the traitors praise our enemy.
I’ve seen challenged men become even bolder,
I’ve seen the Duty, Honor, Sacrifice of the Soldier.

Now I understand the meaning of our lives,
The loss of comrades not so very long ago.
So to you who have answered duties siren call, May God bless you my son, may God bless you all.

Lewis Millett

Filed under: Military, Veteran's Day

I Met a Rock Star Today!

Well, not really.  But to any Officer in today’s military, he would be our version of a rock star.

Last week, I came up to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA to attend a course in National Strategic Studies.  Today, our guest speaker was not only one of the most able speakers on the subject, but he’s also a V.I.P. of the campus.

John O. Marsh, Jr., was born in Winchester, Virginia, in 1926 and attended the public schools in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

We had the absolute honor to have the Honorable John O. Marsh spend an hour with the class and discuss some wonderful historic days of the Ford Administration and his time as Secretary of the Army.

He was a counselor to President Gerald R. Ford from 1974–1977; and resumed the practice of law with the firm of Mays, Valentine, Davenport, and Moore. He is currently a member of the Board of Visitors of the Virginia Military Institute.

Mr. Marsh served as Secretary of the Army from 1981 to 1989, holding the office longer than any previous Secretary. During his tenure, the Army observed the Bicentennial of the founding of the United States, implemented the provisions of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, making their services more oriented to joint operations, and reorganized the Army Staff to eliminate duplication of functions. He is chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board.

Filed under: Military

Saturday Afternoon at Fort Bragg

Went out for a spin today, washed the ole F-150 to get 6 weeks of North Carolina grime off the windshield.  On the way off base, spied this little beauty sitting in a parking lot down the way from the 82nd Airborne Headquarters.

God bless the Soldiers.  But, wow, some of them simply have no taste in automotive design.

Don’t even know how to  describe it.  Maybe “red neck” with a touch of “ghetto”???

Filed under: Military, Technology

Iran Tests Fires Missiles

The picture speaks for itself…

Groupthink :: View topic – Life Imitates The Cube: Iran’s Mullahs Photoshop A Missile

Filed under: Iran, Islam, Military, Muslim

Pilot error led to strafing of SUV

Think you had a bad day?  It won’t seem so once you read this.

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — An F-16 pilot misidentified a rented sport utility vehicle when he blasted it with a 20mm cannon during a late-night training exercise in April, according to an Air Force investigation.

Filed under: Guns, Military

Honor the fallen: DoD Identifies Army Casualties

This has not been a good couple weeks.  Our Civil Affairs community has lost another soldier.  MAJ Scott Hagerty was killed in action this week.

Unfortunately, the nature of our missions endangers our CA Soldiers daily by placing them deep into the battlefield with the role providing reconstruction efforts.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 480-08
June 05, 2008

---

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died June 3 in Zormat, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

            Killed were:

            Maj. Scott A. Hagerty, 41, of Stillwater, Okla., who was assigned to the 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, Pasadena, Texas.

            Pfc. Derek D. Holland, 20, of Wind Gap, Pa., who was assigned to the 228th Brigade Support Battalion, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Bethlehem, Pa.

            For further information on Hagerty, media may contact the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command public affairs office at (910) 432-2035.

            For further information on Holland, media may contact the Pennsylvania Army National Guard public affairs office at (717) 861-8468.

DefenseLink News Release: DoD Identifies Army Casualties

Filed under: Civil Affairs, Military

Honor the fallen: Navy Lt. Jeffrey A. Ammon

Unfortunately, one more of my past students has fallen in combat.  Lt. Ammon graduated from one of our classes and deployed to Afghanistan shortly after.  Please remember him and his family in your prayers.

Navy Lt. Jeffrey A. Ammon, 37, of Orem, Utah; assigned to the Commander Navy Region Northwest, Bangor, Wash., and was serving in Afghanistan as a member of Provincial Reconstruction Team Ghazni; died May 20 in Aband District, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device.

Bangor Navy engineer killed in Afghanistan
The Associated Press

BANGOR, Wash. — A nuclear submarine engineer has been killed by a homemade bomb in Afghanistan, where he was working with a reconstruction team by making small businesses loans.

The Defense Department says 37-year-old Lt. Jeffrey Ammon died Tuesday from injuries sustained while working with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Ghazni.

He was attached to Navy Region Northwest at Bangor, where a spokesman, Sean Hughes, says Ammon had been in Afghanistan 14 months.

Honor the fallen: Navy Lt. Jeffrey A. Ammon

Filed under: Civil Affairs, Military

SPC Richard Torres; another Prisoner of War – Army Times

Too many folks are unaware of this American Soldier being held prisoner in a foreign country.  SPC Torres took a wrong turn in El Paso and is now cooling his heals in one of Mexico’s worst prisons on weapons charges.

EL PASO, Texas — When he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, Spc. Richard Torres was carrying a small arsenal in his car: an AR-15 assault rifle, a .45-caliber handgun, 171 rounds of ammunition, several cartridges and three knives.

Having spent the last few years in close proximity to young Soldiers, this sounds about typical.  Actually, I wonder why he’d only have the AR-15 and a .45.  Some pretty boring firearms by my local standards.

Torres, 25, said he had been driving all night to get from Fort Hood, in central Texas, to Fresno, Calif., where his mother lives. He planned to celebrate her birthday and put the weapons in storage while he deployed to Honduras to join the war on drugs. The guns were Torres’ personal property and not required for his military duties.

We need to spread the word about this poor kid, he doesn’t need to be rotting in prison for taking a wrong turn!

Related reading:

Hood soldier ordered to stand trial in Mexico (April 27)

Soldier arrested in Mexico formally charged (April 24)

Hood GI arrested in Mexico with weapons in car (April 22)

Future unclear for soldier jailed in Mexico – Army News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports – Army Times

Filed under: Military

Pentagon’s New Roadmap for War and Peace

Learn the difference between Leviathan and SysAdmin.  Warning, this video is not for Liberals, Democrats, Peaceniks, Treehuggers, Concientious Objectors, or NRA hating card carrying ACLU members…

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/33

Filed under: Global Threats, Military, Politics, Thoughts

Off to Omaha…

I’m being sent off to Omaha on TDY at last minutes notice.  Perhaps when I get back, I’ll get that ole motherboard fixed and get myself active on blogging again…

Thanks for continuing to visit, there’s so much going on in the world and not being able to participate in the discussion is killing me.

Be back soon.

Filed under: Education, Military, Thoughts