Closing Thought–04Jul18

One of my fond (for lack of an adequate word) memories was my first taste of military life in basic training….I entered into the military in 1967 and Vietnam was going great guns and the country needed men to fight so the basic training went from 12 weeks to 9 weeks to get soldiers to the fronts.

I bring this up because the Army has done a re-take of basic training….but this time the excuse is not that more troops were needed on the “Front” but rather they need to extra time to make “grunts” more lethal……

The U.S. Army is refining a plan to extend by two months the service’s 14-week infantry one station unit training, or OSUT, so young grunts arrive at their first unit more combat-ready than ever before.

Trainers at Fort Benning, Georgia will run a pilot this summer that will extend infantry OSUT from 14 weeks to 22 weeks, giving soldiers more time to practice key infantry skills such as land navigation, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, fire and maneuver and first aid training.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/25/army-add-2-months-infantry-course-make-grunts-more-lethal.html

I must go down for the day….see you guys tomorrow….I hope everyone has a safe holiday……I smell a BBQ…….enjoy……chuq

“To Infinity And Beyond”

We have our military branches…Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard and now our president has ordered yet another branch of the military…a 6th branch……a Space Force.

Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard … and Space Force? President Trump, speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council at the White House Monday, ordered the Pentagon to create a sixth branch of the military, Politico reports. “We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal,” Trump said. “It is going to be something so important.” He specifically asked Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford to oversee the process. “Our destiny beyond the earth is not only a matter of national identity, but a matter of national security, so important for our military and people don’t talk about it,” Trump continued. “When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space.”

Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat and former astronaut, quickly tweeted that generals “don’t want” a space force. But some, including two Republican members of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, backed the initiative. Congress proposed, but ultimately rejected, a move to create a Space Corps within the Air Force while debating the fiscal 2018 defense policy bill; the House proposes the creation of a US Space Command in its version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, but it’s not clear if that will remain in the final version of the bill. Neither of those proposals, however, is quite the same as the creation of a standalone Space Force military service, an idea Trump first proposed in March. CNN notes that such an idea has “drawn skepticism” from the Pentagon in the past, and the Washington Post says experts have pointed out Trump can’t create a new branch of the military without congressional approval.

Seriously? Yet another military to be funded and not to worry the cowardly Congress will roll over and suck at the presidential teat….truly a group of cowards that do nothing but raise money and kiss up to the president.

BTW this is NOT a new idea at all……

The notion of a Space Force has long been bandied about in Washington. Last year, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama called for the formation of a space corps within the Air Force as a precursor to an independent service branch. (The Air Force, itself, was similarly established from the Army Air Corps.) The idea was shot down by Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who opposed the measure on the grounds that the military was trying to “reduce overhead,” and that a new branch would do just the opposite. Someone, however, must have made Trump think all of this was his idea. And now it’s policy.

http://theweek.com/articles/779779/does-america-really-need-space-force

Oh boy…..your child can grow up to be a Space Marine….bad enough that we are fighting on every continent on earth now Trump wants to extend it to space.

The beginnings of the Galactic Empire…..

A Space Force…..there are so many questions that need to be asked…….

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/18/17476266/trump-space-force-speech-questions

But his dream may be just that…a dream if the Congress does its job…that is…..

Creating a standalone service for space isn’t something the president can do on his own; he needs congressional authorization. But Monday’s announcement (here’s video, via Reuters), which follow broad endorsements of the concept by the Joint Chiefs’ office and various military branches, means that Senate holdouts who were taking their cues from the Air Force are likely to bow out of the fight.

That could clear the way for a Space Force to be in the 2019 defense authorization act, says Todd Harrison, who directs the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Aerospace Security Project.

https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018/06/what-trumps-space-force-announcement-means/149093/

“I oppose the creation of a new military service and additional organizational layers at a time when we are focused on reducing overhead and integrating joint warfighting functions,” Mattis said in October in a memo to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Nothing could be more wasteful and redundant than creating a new branch of the military for space. There is no compelling reason to create a new branch of the military. It would mean expanding an already bloated military budget while breaking apart an existing branch just for the sake of doing it.

Adventurism knows no bounds, right?

Memorial Day–2018

Closing Thought–28May18

Today is the day set aside to remember our dead from the many wars we have fought…..I take this opportunity to tell my readers a little something of myself and my service.

I served 2 and half years in Southeast Asia…..most of that time I was a LRRP…..a recon patrol for the 9th Infantry Division Mekong Delta, Republic of South Vietnam……the US Army in their infinite wisdom decided that the LRRPs were so successful that they would incorporate them into the 75th Regt the Rangers so from that point on the LRRPs are wrapped up with the history of the Rangers…but this idea was a bad one (my opinion)…..LRRPs worked in 4, 5 or 6 man teams and when the Rangers took over they wanted 8 man teams…got a lot of LRRPs killed because the team dynamic is different from 6 and 8 members……I will die a LRRP I did not want to be a Ranger in 1968 and that has not changed today….I do not care about the “coolness” of the Rangers…I [prefer to die a LRRP.

For those people that are not sure about LRRPs there is a documentary made on us…it tells our story well…..

Below is the photo of the gun I carried in Vietnam…..a .45 cal “Burp Gun”….since I carried a .45 pistol and the Burp was .45 I had to carry only one ammo….saved time and space on long missions.

Everyone please take a moment to remember our fallen countrymen in our many wars…..

This will be my only post today for I have a family I will spend time with……

Peace Out!

Troop Morale

To successfully fight a war then the troops must have a high morale rating…..The US has been fighting a war since 2001…..after 17 years just how is the morale of our troops?

Since 2009, $287 million has been spent on programs aimed at improving morale within the US military, which has shouldered two major overseas combat deployments over the past decade.

But these efforts may have been largely fruitless, as 52% of soldiers across all branches remain “pessimistic about their future in the military,” according to an April USA Today report.

For decades, analysts have consistently reported on supposedly declining US military morale, even before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Brookings Institution report notes: “Observers regularly fretted over low morale during the defense drawdown of the 1990s, during the start of the Iraq War, during the Iraq Surge, during the Afghanistan Surge; and at practically all the points in between … After each report of troop morale hitting ‘rock bottom,’ troop morale seems to slip lower yet and, still, the military soldiers on.”

Plus a new study shows that the morale of our troops is continuing to erode……

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/05/left-behind/556844/

It is time for the country to take stock of all these wars…..wars that we are fighting for no other reason than to keep defense industries in business.

Some have suggested that low morale lead to drug use during the Vietnam War as a contributor to our failure. Let’s not repeat the past.

Closing Thought–17Apr18

Back during World War 2 there was a small cadre of non-commissioned officers that were pilots…..one of my uncles on my gather’s side was one of these he flew a P38…..

I bring this up because the service is having a hard time with their pilots……they are considering a return to a historical thing…….

Eugene Taylor remembers how eager enlisted airmen like him were to fly.

Taylor, who enlisted in 1968 and deployed to Vietnam, first worked as an avionics technician. Nearly a decade later, Taylor, a tech sergeant, became a T-37 and T-38 flight simulator instructor with the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He became so adept that he was occasionally given the chance to fly the T-38, with permission from the pilot, during stateside flights.

It has been decades since enlisted airmen had the chance to sit in the cockpit. But as the Air Force faces the greatest pilot shortages since its inception, service leaders are contemplating a return to a model that includes enlisted pilots. A Rand Corp. study, set to be completed this month, is exploring the feasibility of bringing back a warrant officer corps for that purpose. And another, separate Air Force study is examining, in part, whether enlisted pilots could benefit from new high-tech training that leverages artificial intelligence and simulation.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/03/31/air-force-may-approve-enlisted-pilots-first-time-75-years.html

I do not see any problem with this…..I am sure that some self-centered tool will find a problem with having a lowly NCO pilot a multi-million dollar aircraft….but hey…if capable then let them do it.

My day has been tied up so I want to end it while there is time to enjoy some of my day….TTFN….chuq

Man’s Best Friend

Hopefully you remembered to Spring forward…..`the most worthless governmental program….daylight savings time.

Sunday and I am sitting in the garden with my best friend Jazzy, she and I became friends just after Hurricane Katrina and since she had nowhere to go she came home with me and we have been thick as thieves ever since.

I have always been a dog person…..cats are cool but to me nothing beats a dog…..so when I read some news about mistreatment of dogs I usually go ballistic…..so I read some disturbing news and the mistreatment is from the US military……

A report finds that the Army failed to do right by some of the more than 200 bomb-sniffing dogs that served with US soldiers in Afghanistan, detecting roadside bombs and saving lives, the AP reports. The Defense Department’s inspector general has determined that, after the program ended in 2014, some soldiers struggled or were unable to adopt the dogs they had handled. This included two dogs among 13 that were given to a private company to be used as service dogs for veterans but then abandoned at a Virginia kennel. The report says Congress amended the law in 2015 to give handlers top priority in adopting their dogs. The inspector general also faults the military for not properly screening those adopting the dogs, including law enforcement agencies and private individuals.

Conscription Is Not The Answer

For years I have been bitching about that their is NO shared experience by the American people when it comes to all these wars the US fights….I have even said that I might support the action to bring back the draft.

Not that I am a war lover on the contrary I am as antiwar as they come and have been since 1971. But when about 1% of the population knows the horrors of war then it is time for the rest of the country learn a thing or two.

I never thought a draft would make it easier only that more of the country would suffer the horrors military families face daily…..thus the country would possibly re-think the constant war footing.

Being a stand up type of guy I will offer up an opposite thought on conscription…….

Every now and then the old argument that the draft should be reinstated pops back up. Most recently it appeared here at The American Conservative in a piece by Dennis Laich and Lawrence Wilkerson that contended America’s all-volunteer force is deeply unfair. Without directly stating it, they implied that the draft should be brought back.

“Said more explicitly,” they write, “if the sons and daughters of members of Congress, of the corporate leadership, of the billionaire class, of the Ivy Leagues, of the elite in general, were exposed to the possibility of combat, would we have less war?”

Source: Bringing Back the Draft Won’t Stop Unnecessary Wars | The American Conservative

I will agree with their conclusion…..but restatement of conscription would resurrect a dead antiwar movement and maybe we could end some of the wasteful use of American lives.

This country desperately needs a renewed antiwar….seeing how Congress will do the job it is up to the people to bring all this insanity to an end.

Stand Up To End These Damn Wars!

Closing Thought–17Nov17

They are changing the requirements to get into the Army….it looks like mental illness is not a deterrent of military service anymore……

– People with a history of “self-mutilation,” bipolar disorder, depression and drug and alcohol abuse can now seek waivers to join the Army under an unannounced policy enacted in August, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.

The decision to open Army recruiting to those with mental health conditions comes as the service faces the challenging goal of recruiting 80,000 new soldiers through September 2018. To meet last year’s goal of 69,000, the Army accepted more recruits who fared poorly on aptitude tests, increased the number of waivers granted for marijuana use and offered hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/12/army-lifts-ban-recruits-history-self-mutilation-other-mental-health-issues/853131001/

I question the logic that goes into this decision. Is the Army hurting so bad that it has to lower its standards to enter? Is this wise? What about when the person leaves the Army and the problems that will have to be addressed once a civilian?

This is NOT the best idea they have come up with to increase the amount of people eligible to serve in the Army.

Anyone have a thought on this decision by the Army?

We Sent Them To War

This is a lengthy post but PTSD is too important for it to be shortened….please read and understand…..for too long people have looked down on suffers….this is a disease that we have caused because of our countless wars and the task we ask our troops to do.

We as a country have no problem sending our young to war……it is when they return home and are in the grips of PTSD that we have NO idea what to do.

Perhaps only ancient Sparta claimed to support its military more than the United States. From the “soldiers get priority boarding” ritual that happens only in American airports, to elections where a decision not to serve is forever held against a candidate, there are daily reminders that “the troops” are a presence in our society like few others.

The desire to claim a piece of that presence leads to elaborate lies, known as “stolen valor.” People buy regulation uniforms and walk through society showing off medals, telling fake war stories, and accepting unearned thanks. They want the juice without having endured the squeeze. They are out there this Veteran’s Day, and they are to be loathed.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/we-sent-them-to-war-now-its-our-turn-to-pay/

We as a nation need to educate ourselves on PTSD and the whole nation can become part of the solution instead of part of the problem as it is now.

“PTSD is going to color everything you write,” came the warning from a stepmother of a Marine, a woman who keeps track of such things. That was in 2005, when post-traumatic stress disorder, a.k.a. PTSD, wasn’t getting much attention, but soon it was pretty much all anyone wrote about. Story upon story about the damage done to our guys in uniform — drinking, divorce, depression, destitution — a laundry list of miseries and victimhood. When it comes to veterans, it seems like the only response we can imagine is to feel sorry for them.

Victim is one of the two roles we allow our soldiers and veterans (the other is, of course, hero), but most don’t have PTSD, and this isn’t one of those stories.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/moral-injury-modern-war/

A personal story from a father whose son survived war but not PTSD…….

When my son Ricky was in sixth or seventh grade, I got a call from the principal’s office. They said I needed to pick him up because he was covered in mud and couldn’t return to class like that. I thought, Okay, that’s kind of weird. Ricky never got into trouble. Normally when you get a call like that your kid did something, but no, mine was just dirty. My brother picked him up (I couldn’t leave work at the time) and said the dirt was so caked on, Ricky had to ride home in the back of his truck. It had rained the day before and, as it turns out, my son had decided to roll down a hill behind the school. He wasn’t aiming for the mud puddle at the bottom but there it was. When I got home and asked why he would do such a thing, he replied, “Because it was funny.” I couldn’t fault him because it was funny. That’s the kind of person my son was before he deployed to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army — he would do anything to make people laugh.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a46862/veteran-ptsd-suicide/

Another first hand account about dealing with PTSD and the mental anguish that will accompany the disease……

I don’t go out to parties very much anymore. I can’t remember the last time I was at a party where there was lots of alcohol or drugs, because I know for a fact using either of them would be bad for me. Not because they are illegal, necessarily, but because it wouldn’t be good for me. They would put me in a bad place.

I was never medicated for post-traumatic stress disorder, but I did go through a lot of therapy. I still go back occasionally if I’m in a bad place.

I joined the US army in 2005 and served until 2012. I went from second lieutenant to first lieutenant and then from first lieutenant to captain.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/11/veteran-remnants-unnecessary-war-171111210101769.html

The more we know about PTSD the more we can help those in need as they reach out for our help….please help when you can….our vets deserve a country that is willing to help when they are in need.

A simple thank you is not enough.

Armed Forces Day 2017

Saturday, May 20 is Armed Forces Day in the United States. It comes after Armed Forces Week and honors all five military branches: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Armed Forces Week begins the second Saturday of May and ends on the third Sunday of May. Armed Forces Day is always the third Saturday in May. Both Armed Forces Day and Armed Forces Week fall during Military Appreciation Month which includes Military Spouse Appreciation Day and Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day), according to Military.com.

You guys know me….,I gotta throw in some history whenever I can……and I can today.

Below are 5 facts about the day and how it came to be…..

Source: Armed Forces Day 2017: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

Hug a soldier today…..they deserve it.

Enjoy the rest of your day……peace out….chuq

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Tag: Military Service