Tag: US Army

Are You US Army Retired?

If so you might not want to pass this post by.

For a few years now the Army has failed to meet its projected enlistees…..and since the “c” word (conscription) scares the living B-Jesus out of Congress what is the Army to do to fill all those empty positions?

I wrote about this problem a couple of years ago and the incentives the Army was offering to coerce people to enlist…

Closing Thought–24Jan22

Ever heard of the program designated as “ALARACT”?

On March 20th, the US Army Publishing Directorate published ALARACT 017/2024.  The title of the form is “Utilization of the Army Retiree Recall Program” and it cites Executive Order 13223 under “References”.  Executive Order 13223 is a Bush-era EO from September 14, 2001 titled “Ordering the Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty and Delegating Certain Authorities to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation.”

The 18-page PDF for the ALARACT, which stands for “All Army Activities”, contains a slide titled “Directorate of Military Personnel Management.”  Under the first slide, it states:

“What is a Retiree Recall?  -A recalled retiree is a retired Soldier who is ordered to active duty from the Retired Reserve or the retired list under 10 USC 688/688a, 12301(a), or 12301(d) and serves in his or her retired status.  Retiree Recall is not an extension of your MRD.

Who can approve a Retiree Recall? -The Assistant Secretary of the Army (ASA) of Manpower and Reserve Affairs (M&RA) is the authorized approver to recall retired Soldiers.”

Lots more information in the article and if you are a retiree you might want to keep an eye on the situation and learn as much as possible about this program.

WWIII Alert: US Army Publishes ALARACT for “Utilization of the Army Retiree Recall Program”

If you thought you were safe because you are retired you might want to think twice and prepare for what may come.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Change Of Guns?

The US military is always looking to improve the killing power of their weapons. Our military is always looking for the optimum rifle for our troops in the field…..we went from the M-1 to the M-14 to the M-16 to the Car-15 they use today….and now the military is thinking of changing again….but to what?

I read the other day that the US is thinking of acquiring the AK-74….not to be confused with the AK-47….

The US Army has issued a sources-sought notice for Russian-made AK-74 Kalashnikov assault rifles or any copies made in other countries.

According to the service, the rifles must have a fixed stock and approximately 16-inch barrels.

Proposals may also include four 30-round steel or polymer box magazines, one cleaning kit, one oil bottle, one shoulder sling, and a user’s manual.

Responses to the notice should include the country of original manufacture, the army said.

“Weapon systems of interest are those that follow the design pattern of rifles from Romania (eg. md.86), Russia (eg. AK-74), and East Germany (eg. MPi AK74),” the notice reads. “Weapons manufactured elsewhere are also desirable provided they adhere to the AK-74 pattern.”

The US Army did not specify why it is seeking the assault rifles.

However, several defense outlets noted that the US military maintains stocks of various foreign armaments to mock enemies during simulation drills or to support research efforts.

The AK-74 Kalashnikov is a 5.45-caliber, air-cooled weapon widely used as the standard service assault rifle of the Russian military.

Based on the classic AK pattern, the rifle is designed to be reliable in adverse conditions and easy to use by military personnel with minimal training.

It has an overall length of 940 millimeters (37 inches) and a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute.

The Kalashnikov can integrate red-dot, telescopic, and night vision sights for improved accuracy in low-light conditions.

(thedefensepost.com)

Now I would like to ask….how would this happen if Russia is heavily sanctioned?

Buying from other outlets would seem to help purchasing pirated intellectual property.

Is that not what we accuse China of doing?

An interesting article…..and many questions.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Does The Army Have a Gang Problem?

Closing Thought–09Sep20

I have written in the past about the waivers that gang members can get so they can serve in the US Army…..how has that worked out in the last decade or so?

The most recent report from the Army on street and outlaw motorcycle gang activity in the ranks shows both trending upward, while incidents of domestic extremism remain roughly constant.

An internal report, obtained by Military.com through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows that gang members were tied to dozens of Army felony law enforcement reports and more than 100 criminal investigations in fiscal 2018, the latest year for which data is available. 

While these reports and investigations make up less than 1% of all Army law enforcement incidents, the new report shows that the little-discussed problem of military gang activity continues to be a headache for base commanders and other service leaders.

The Gang and Domestic Extremist Activity Threat Assessment from Army Criminal Investigation Command, or CID, is a regular report compiled at the behest of Congress. 

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-gang-violence-on-the-rise

Is the Army so desperate for recruits that it will take violent gang members to fill the quotas set for signing up new bodies for our wars?

This is a problem of their own making.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

National Airborne Day

Eighty years ago here, on August 16, 1940, while World War II was raging but before the United States had entered the war, a platoon of Soldiers completed four days of parachute jumps in a test that led to creation of the Army’s elite paratrooper units, known as the Airborne.

Russia and Germany already had parachute forces, and now the United States, not yet in the war, sought to build such a force of its own.

It established the U.S. Army Parachute Test Platoon, which began that first series of test jumps that ran from Aug. 13 through Aug. 16. Soon, U.S. Army Airborne units were formed.

Later, with the nation in the war on both sides of the globe, it was some of those same units that made history parachuting into the darkness over Nazi-occupied France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. They seized key terrain and disrupted German communications ahead of the massive Allied amphibious landings that began hours later on the Normandy coast.

August 16 is National Airborne Day, which President George W. Bush in 2001 established to commemorate the Test Platoon’s foundational efforts.

The day holds additional importance for Fort Benning, which, because of the test platoon, counts itself proudly as “the birthplace” of America’s Airborne. Moreover, it’s also home of the U.S. Army Airborne School, which trains paratroopers for the Army and for the other armed services.

“First and foremost, Fort Benning is the birthplace of the Airborne,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Robert K. Fortenberry, senior enlisted leader of the prestigious U.S. Army Infantry School here, and himself a veteran paratrooper and Infantry Soldier. The Airborne School is part of the Infantry School.

In past years, Fort Benning has marked National Airborne Day with spectator events in which historical re-enactors in World War II paratrooper uniforms jump onto Fryar Drop Zone from a World War II-vintage C-47 transport plane.

As this year’s National Airborne Day approached, Fortenberry reflected on the special role and qualities of the Airborne.

Being able to drop paratroopers into combat affords a relatively quick way to get a tough fighting force right in over the enemy’s head and landing in his backyard, there to wreak immediate havoc.

Airborne Troopers we thank you!

“lego ergo scribo”

MacArthur Was A Douche

Let’s change the tune from pandemics and racism…..a little history would fit nicely in that range…..

Yes I wrote the word “douche” and I feel he is so…..I can explain but I am sure there will be those that read the title and will not give an explanation a chance (but I am use to that ignorance)…..

There are many Americans that look to MacArthur as some sort of hero ….but like Patton he was more a jerk than a hero.

Why do I say this….well it is not me but rather something others have said (I will give my thoughts later)….

On June 17, 1932, 17,000 United States military veterans of World War I and 25,000 of their friends and family gathered in Washington, D.C. to demand early payment of their service certificate war bonuses.  Although the bonuses were not due to be paid until 1945, the Great Depression had hit the United States and these veterans were floundering financially.  General Douglas MacArthur, chief of staff of the Army, personally led US troops to forcibly drive away his fellow veterans, even though future 5 star general and president, Maj. Dwight Eisenhower (serving as an aide to MacArthur) counseled him not to have anything to do with the eviction.  Maj. George Patton, future General and World War II hero, personally led a cavalry charge against the protesting veterans, including a man that had saved Patton’s life during World War I.  The use of military force against unarmed US war veterans is just one of 10 arguably shameful or stupid things we are listing here to demonstrate why some people think that Douglas MacArthur was a jerk, not a hero. 

10. Return to Philippines.

Although the Japanese could have been defeated sooner had the US followed a different strategy, MacArthur insisted on retaking the Philippines first to satisfy his own ego and make good on his “I shall return” boast.  What an ego!  Perhaps “We shall return” would have been more tactful.

10 Reasons People Have Called General Douglas MacArthur a “Jerk”

Much like the president today MacArthur was a narcissist…..his ego was the only thing that matter even more so than the nation he served…….

Douglas MacArthur appears to have had an extraordinarily successful military career. He attained the rank of five-star general and was the Field Marshal of the Philippine Army. MacArthur also won a variety of awards including the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross (three times), Silver Star (seven times), and the Purple Heart (twice) among other medals. However, MacArthur has not fared too well in the annals of history as a growing number of people believe he was an extremely overrated commander.

In fact, certain polls rate him among the worst American commanders alongside luminaries such as the treacherous Benedict Arnold and incompetent Ambrose Burnside. According to his critics, MacArthur was arrogant and insubordinate; he also has the unique distinction of quarreling with three presidents.

This Insider’s Guide to General McArthur Reveals Whether He Was Really an American Hero or Overrated Narcissist

Yes he was overrated then and is still overrated……https://time.com/5724009/douglas-macarthur-is-one-of-americas-most-famous-generals-hes-also-the-most-overrated/

I first disliked him after learning that he lead the troops to attack protesting veterans that were demanding the benefits that the government had promised.

The more you learn the more you will see what a d/bag he truly was……

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Southern Strike 2020

Closing Thought–17Feb20

This may not be of much interest to most of my readers……I just want to point out the training that our troops must go through……….

I am a student of conflict and these days we fight terrorists not so much grand armies…..and my area has been part of the training to fight our enemies…….

Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center CRTC

Special Tactics Airmen and Green Berets from the 3rd and 20th Special Forces Group participated in Southern Strike 2020. The event was a large-scale, joint multinational combat exercise hosted by the Mississippi Air National Guard. This exercise provided special operators a unique training opportunity that provided tactical level training for the full spectrum conflict.

This rundown is from sof.news……

Exercise Scope. The time frame of the exercise was from January 30 to February 13, 2020. The Southern Strike exercise is a National Guard Bureau (NGB), Title 32 funded, tactical exercise program. The Joint Exercise Control Group (JECG) is comprised of military and civilian personnel with extensive SOF experience. The Mississippi National Guard hosts and supports this annual event.

Training Areas. The large-scale exercise took place in Mississippi at several military installations. Many of the primary (C2) events took place at the Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) in Gulfport, Mississippi. Outlying locations provided many of the field training opportunities. These included Camp Shelby, Fort Morgan (AL), Camp McCain Training Center, and Naval Air Station Meridian.

Participating Units. More than 2,000 service members from 22 states – and some international participants as well – conducted missions designed to enhance their effectiveness. The participating air units came from diverse fields to include ISR, close air support, airlift (fixed and rotary), and Aeromedical Evacuation. Active duty, National Guard, Reserve units were all represented. The countries of Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, and the Netherlands all provided military personnel.

List of Units:

  • 3rd Special Forces Group
  • 20th Special Forces Group
  • Dutch SOF
  • Air Force Special Operations Surgical Team (SOST)
  • 125th Special Tactics Squadron (STS) (ANG)
  • 183rd Airlift Squadron
  • 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment
  • Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 (Seabees)
  • Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 60
  • 49th Fighter Training Squadron
  • 119th Wing
  • 266th Range Squadron
  • And many more . . .

Exercise Features. The Southern Strike 2020 event featured counterinsurgency, air supremacy, close air support, en route casualty care, non-combatant evacuations, maritime and riverine special operations. In addition, staffs were provided the opportunity to further develop staff functions and procedures.

SOF Ground Unit Training. Ground units from Special Tactics, 3rd Special Forces Group, and the 20th Special Forces Group conducted a variety of missions supported by air assets. COIN, Direct Action, Close Air Support, and other missions were exercised. There was a lot of air activity due to the huge role played by the air units. This afforded the SOF ground elements plenty of opportunities to conduct air infils, exfils, close air support calls for fire, helicopter hoist operations, and more.

Our military is prepared for the wars to come…..

Personally I would prefer that we worry about the failure of our infrastructure….we have always had a superior military….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is The Military Ready?

Those drums are muted…for now.

There is no doubt that the US has the strongest and best equiped military on the planet……this post is more about strategy than ability…..the two can be separated.

With the assassination of the Iranian general there seems to be an uptick in the concern that the US may be approaching a coming war with Iran with its eyes closed.

Is war coming?

That will depend on the idiots around the table.

But say it does…..The US should not be too cocky…..think back to the 1980s and the Iran-Iraq War…..

Too young to remember that far back?

A short reminder.

We have had our nacho president Tweeting ignorance almost daily….keep the 1980s in mind when plotting  the insanity of a war…..

The president deployed the stereotype of Iranian cunning to imply that they tricked a naïve president, Barack Obama, into signing a flawed nuclear deal. According to the world’s foremost nuclear security experts, however, the accord was ensuring Iran’s compliance, thereby preventing a nuclear weapons program—that is, until Trump subverted the agreement in 2018.

More importantly, Trump’s words underscore the idea that Iranians are cowardly and militarily ineffectual, but make up for such unflattering character flaws by swindling their foes during negotiations to achieve victory.

Iran’s last war, however, should dispel any notion of cowardice and military weakness—a history President Trump and anti-Iran hawks like National Security Adviser John Bolton must face with clear eyes if the United States is to avoid another needless, catastrophic war in the Middle East.

Don’t Underestimate Iran’s Ability to Fight a Bloody War

Keep that in mind and now I want to pass on something I read about our military……

While the Army exhausted itself fighting two frustrating and inconclusive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last 19 years, both Russia and China embarked on grand strategies of regional hegemony designed to undermine the rules-based international order that emerged after World War II under American leadership. Both of these rising powers have developed myriad ways to sew discord and dissent in America’s network of alliances and to expand their spheres of influence.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-us-armys-worst-tradition-never-ready-for-the-next-war

Let me say right here…I am NOT saying we have a crappy military…..what I am saying is that the leadership depends too much on past accolades never preparing for the next war with fresh thinking.

Iran will be NO different.

Chest thumping is not fighting a war…..a macho display is just a cowards way to try and lather up the public.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–21Nov19

After I returned from Vietnam and left the Army I was a staunch opponent of ROTC on college campuses and later in the program called JROTC…where the military comes tomhi9gh schools and recruits…..my opposition was for naught for the program made it into the high schools in my area.

The rising costs of war and the dwindling amount of recruits has made the idea of a “national service” return to the backrooms in the Pentagon….

Over the past five years, retired Army Maj. Gen. Dennis Laich and Col. Larry Wilkerson along with members of the All-Volunteer Force Forum have traversed the country in an effort to address what they see as a looming crisis in the military — dwindling numbers of qualified and interested recruits for a military straining at the seams.

And they’ve got the solution: Bring back the draft.

The pair, along with William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy spoke to a crowd of a few dozen attendees in the Capitol Visitor’s Center Tuesday.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/11/19/rising-costs-dwindling-recruit-numbers-increasing-demands-may-bring-back-the-draft/

So the Army has decided to avoid the unpopularity of a draft the Army has decided that brain washing the young would be acceptable…..

Well the Army is beefing up their JROTC program…..

One of the Army’s biggest strategic challenges over the next few decades will be continuing to staff its all-volunteer force amid a shrinking population of capable and interested youth — but high school JROTC units could be part of the solution.

The Army has been “tearing apart” its recruitment data to figure out how to boost its accessions in an increasingly competitive job market. One of the solutions potentially on the horizon involves more focus on the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at high schools.

The service, which is trying to grow to 500,000 active-duty soldiers by 2028, has found that Americans at high schools with JROTC programs are more than twice as likely to enlist after graduation, according to Maj. Gen. John R. Evans, Jr., who helms Army Cadet Command.

“And you don’t have to even participate in the program,” Evans told a crowd at an Association of the U.S. Army forum Wednesday. “The mere presence of the program at your high school has at least a corollary effect on your desire or your willingness or your propensity to serve your nation. So, pretty powerful data point there for us.”

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/11/07/how-increased-footprint-in-high-schools-may-help-army-fix-recruiting-shortfall/

I still believe that ROTC does not have a place on a campus unless it is a military academy…..and the young do not need a good washing of the brain…..they need an education not uniforms.

But that is me.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Closing Thought–23Sep19

First day of Autumn……

Image result for Autumn

 

Be All You Can Be….and only one weekend a month…..all this is the promise of the US Army Reserve…..and leaked document tells that it is all kinda bullsh*t……

The recruiting commercials for the Army Reserve proclaim “one weekend each month,” but the real-life Army Reserve might as well say “hold my beer.”

That’s because the weekend “recruiting hook” — as it’s called in a leaked document compiled by Army personnel for the new chief of staff — reveal that it’s, well, kinda bullshit.

When they’re not activated or deployed, most reservists and guardsmen spend one weekend a month on duty and two weeks a year training, according to the Army recruiting website. But that claim doesn’t seem to square with reality.

“The Army Reserve is cashing in on uncompensated sacrifices of its Soldiers on a scale that must be in the tens of millions of dollars, and that is a violation of trust, stewardship, and the Army Values,” one Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, who also complained that his battalion commander “demanded” that he be available at all times, told members of an Army Transition Team earlier this year.

https://taskandpurpose.com/army-reserve-weekend-readiness

Does anyone find this at all surprising?

After serving in the Army I do not find it at all surprising….just doing business as usual.

If your child is considering join the Army Reserve please let them see this post before they decide to sign anything.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Closing Thought–05Aug19

A good follower and commenter on IST, GP Cox…….https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/ ……..has brought this to my attention and wanted me to pass it along to my readers.

Fort Jackson South Carolina holds many memories for me for that is where I took my basic training in the Army….and now they are making news to help military families deal with what the soldier is dealing with in his/her service to the country.

Basic Combat Training just got a lot more interesting for one Fort Jackson battalion.

The families of Soldiers taking part in training with the 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment, now have access to a course titled, “Basic Training for Families.” The course connects spouses and family members with Soldiers in BCT through the Army Family Team Building initiative.

“I had concerns about the type of spouses we were creating,” said Tina Justice, leader of the battalion’s Family Readiness Group. “We weren’t really teaching them to be self-reliant, empowered spouses. It’s very overwhelming when you first enter the Army life. The goal was to create a system to help families when they have questions, and give them the tools to do the work, themselves.”

https://www.army.mil/article/120545/the_family_challenge_battalion_launches_program_to_prepare_families_for_military_life

I have written before about the contributions the families make in service to the nation…..https://lobotero.com/2017/11/11/our-debt-to-military-spouses/

These brave people should not be marginalized or forgotten for they make the service of their loved ones possible.

If you feel you must thank someone then thank a military family member that is holding the family together and helping their loved ones cope as well.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”