This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Hondo

  • I Finally Broke the Code!

    You folks in the Navy think you’re so damn smart.  You encrypt your enlisted rank abbreviations so that no one knows what rank you are!

    But that won’t work any more.   I’ve finally done it.  I’ve found the decryption key!  Here it is!

    Yes, I’m being facetious above.  But I – and I’m sure many others – find Naval enlisted rank/rate abbreviations confusing as hell.   Being from another service (Army), I’ve never been able to make much sense of them.

    The linked document is what appears to be a relatively complete listing of Naval rank abbreviations – archaic and current – I found on a website belonging to the VA’s National Cemetery Administration.  I certainly will find it useful.

    I’m sure I’m not alone in being “lost” on this subject,  so I thought I’d post it here also.  Hopefully some others will find it useful as well.

     

    (Edited to add:  a shorter version of the current Navy enlisted rank/rate abbreviations,along with an explanation of the method to construct them, can be found here.  Hat tip to TAH reader CBSenior for this second list.)

     

     

  • Down In the Silos – a Follow-Up

    A follow-up to yesterday’s article.  It seems the SECDEF now has gotten wind of that recent not-so-stellar inspection within the USAF missile community.

    He’s not pleased.  And he’s now reportedly asking for details.

    That doesn’t bode well for anyone involved.  IMO that’s particularly true for those launch officers who got “benched” and for the unit’s chain-of-command.

    I’m thinking the wing CO – as well as the affected squadron and flight COs, if a significant number of the “benched” launch officers were clustered in the same squadron or flight – might want to start working on their resumes.  And I’d guess the officers who got “benched” might want to start thinking about alternate long-term career plans, too.

    When the SECDEF personally starts asking for details about problems in your unit, if you’re the CO that is not a good thing.   Ditto if you’ve done something personally to cause or contribute to the incident.

    Frankly, I just don’t see senior USAF leadership as having the stones to tell the SECDEF, “Sir, we got this; back off and let us fix the problem.”  That’s especially true after the nuke-related incidents in 2008 that led to several very senior USAF officials getting fired.

    That would mean that “Big Air Force” is willing to own up to being partly responsible for the situation – years after they should have fixed things.  I just don’t see that happening.  Instead, I’m guessing they’ll look for someone to take the fall – whether it’s deserved or not.

  • An Interesting Musical Perspective

    Saw this and smiled.  Then I thought MCPO NYC USN (Ret.) – and a few other regulars here at TAH – might get a chuckle out of it too.

    Remember that Korean rapper “Psy”?  The one responsible for “Gangnam Style” – along with some truly vile anti-American crap from several years ago?  And who later issued an obviously “crocodile tears” apology for his earlier garbage when he got invited to perform for the POTUS, claiming his previous anti-American screed was just a “deeply emotional reaction to the war in Iraq”?

    Well, it seems as if some folks in the US music industry just aren’t Psy’s fans.  In particular, the outspoken lead singer for the group Green Day – Billie Joe Armstrong – doesn’t seem to be.

    On his Instagram account, Armstrong recently wrote (referring to Psy):

    “This dude is the herpes of music.  Once you think it’s gone, it comes back.”

    Can’t say I’ve ever been that much of a Green Day fan.  But after reading the above I just might have to give them another listen.

  • Federal Fiscal Follies – The Disability Scam (an Update)

    Thought I’d drop a quick update on another Federal program rife with fraud.  Yeah, yet another one of those Progressive “good ideas” that ended up paving the road to a famous but not-so-good destination.

    According to the Social Security Administration, nearly 11 million Americans were receiving Social Security Disability payments in April. The precise total was 10,962,532 individuals.

    For comparison, Greece’s last census put the population of Greece at 10,815,197.

    You read that correctly.  Today, we’ve got more people drawing Social Security Disability in the USA than Greece has people.

    The number works out to almost 3 ½% of the total US population on 30 April 2013.  And as I’ve written before, investigation indicates that about 1/4 of all Social Security Disability cases granted recently appear to have been granted improperly.

    April also marked the 195th consecutive month that the number of persons receiving Social Security Disability payments increased.  That’s 16 years and 3 months of consecutive increase in the Social Security Disability lists.

    It’s beginning to look like Social Security Disability is at risk of becoming just another free handout program.  Hell, for around 1/4 of those recently approved, that’s exactly what it appears to be.

    Wonderful. Just freaking wonderful.

    Oh that ain’t workin’
    That’s the way you do it
    Get your money for nothin’ . . . .

  • Meanwhile, Down In the Silos . . . .

    Seems as if things didn’t go that well when a USAF Missile Wing received a periodic inspection.

    Turns out in one area they barely passed.  What area?  “Minuteman III missile launch operations.”

    Maybe it’s just me, but  I’d say that’s a rather critical task for a USAF Missile Wing.

    The unit CO still has a job – for now, anyway.  But 17 launch officers have been pulled from their assignments for at least 60-days and relegated to “bench warmer” status.  Presumably that will include some extensive retraining.

    The USAF has had some high-profile nuclear incidents over the past decade or so.  In 2008, things got so bad that the SECDEF fired some of the USAF’s civilian and military leadership due to a series of incidents, including one in which a bomber armed with live warheads flew cross-country without authority.   And a report that same year by a Pentagon advisory group indicated that there had been a “dramatic and unacceptable decline” in the Air Force’s commitment to the nuclear mission.

    Looks like some of those same problems might remain 5 years later.

    Yeah, using nuclear missiles has always been something no one liked to think about.  It’s also probably something that’s extremely unlikely.

    But it’s still a critical mission.  And IMO, it’s just a bit too important to “back burner” and take less than deadly serious.

  • Bill Brockbrader – Last Follow-Up for a While

    Bill Brockbrader – AKA “Bill Wood” AKA “the Psychic SEAL” – has been featured here previously at TAH.  But it looks like he’ll be out of circulation for a while.

    Brockbrader was convicted in December 2012 of failing to register as a sex offender.  In late March, he was sentenced to 30 months (2 1/2 years) in prison – plus an additional 10 years on probation afterwards.

    This guy is a loon, a totally worthless POS, and a waste of oxygen.  Among his “claims to fame”:  sexual contact with a 12 year old; sex with a 15 year old; time in the Navy brig, Miramar NAS, for sex crimes; false claims of being a SEAL; bizarre claims about Area 51; claims that either the WTC or Pentagon on 9/11 was hit by a “Tomahawk missile” vice an airliner; repeatedly disabling his court-ordered monitoring equipment; and a bunch of other idiotic and criminal crap.

    Oh, and he also was trying to claim “whistleblower status” to report “war crimes and misconduct” by DoD in the late 1990s/early 2000s.  Nice guy, eh?

    Then the tool actually had the gall to request post-conviction release, and to make statements in his own behalf for the judge to consider.  Bad move, Billy-boy.  The prosecutor got to question him – and absolutely tore him a new anus, if not 2 or 3.   And the judge denied his request, of course.

    Courtesy of Don Shipley’s Facebook page and YouTube Channel, you can listen to the courtroom audio of that here (part 1) and here (part 2).  It’s about 17 1/2 min total.

    Yeah, Brockbrader even sounds like a whiny phony loser who’s still in denial.  With that attitude, I predict he’ll really “fit right in” wherever he’s sent to do his time in prison.

    Seriously:  this guy is a perfect example of a low-life shitbag.  Prison couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.

    Mondo hat-tip to Don Shipley for the above audio.  Thanks, Don.

  • Federal Fiscal Follies: Unemployment Compensation – A Follow-Up

    I’ve written previously here about Unemployment Compensation (UC) here and here. Longtime TAH readers know I don’t think very highly of the UC program.  I’ve long held it’s rife with abuse.

    I hate to say I told you so, but . . . a recent study confirms that last fact. The study estimates that in 2011 alone, there was an estimated $3.3 billion or more in outright fraud nationwide concerning UC.

    The study was conducted for the St Louis Federal Reserve. It indicated that $108 billion was paid out nationwide in UC in 2011. Of that amount, approximately $3.3 billion – or about 3% – was found to have been paid out fraudulently.

    Personally, I think that 3% number is almost certainly way low. I’m guessing the study’s authors were conservative and only used “slam dunk” cases of fraud in their study.  That almost certainly grossly underestimates the actual level.  I’d guess the actual percentage is easily 2 or 3 times that.

    The details are sickening. One guy used UC to build a house. Another guy had friends in various HR departments covering for him, primed to say he was looking for work but “wasn’t a good fit” for any of their jobs when in fact the man was not looking for work at all.

    And even better:  approx $2.2 billion in UC – or about 2/3 of the documented fraud total – was paid out to people who actually were working, but who “forgot” to report that fact.  Hell, we’ve seen one guy doing that honored here at TAH.

    Wonderful. Just freaking wonderful.

    Oh that aint workin
    Thats the way you do it
    Get your money for nothin . . . .

     

     

  • 68 Years Ago

    “At 0001 hrs BDST 7 May 1945 the mission of this Allied force was accomplished.  signed Eisenhower.”

    In case you don’t recognize it:  the above bold text was the message sent by GA Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander, AEF, to GA George C. Marshall, CSA, on the surrender of Nazi Germany. The image is the document of unconditional surrender on the part of the German High Command.

    After more than 5 years and 8 months, World War II had effectively ended in Europe.  It would continue in the Pacific for another 3 1/2 months.

    Happy VE Day, all.