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

Author: Hondo

  • More Troops to Jordan

    The SECDEF has apparently ordered the deployment of 200 additional US troops to Jordan.  The troops will come from the HQ of the 1st Armored Division, and will apparently be heavy on communications and intelligence support personnel.

    The reason given by a Pentagon spokesman for the deployment of additional forces is to (1) assist the Jordanian military, and (2) “be ready for military action” should that be ordered by the POTUS.

    I hope this is just the Pentagon erring on the side of caution.  But as I’ve said before about the US and Syria:  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this . . . . ”

     

     

  • Towards Trouble

    I wanted to write something about this.  But I couldn’t think of much to add that would be apropos.  Plus, it’s kinda hard to write when you’re having trouble focusing on the screen.

    Well done, Soldiers.  Damn well done indeed.

    Same is true about this story.  Well done, Mr. Arredondo.  Well done.

    I’ll just add one observation:  they ran towards trouble – not away from it.

  • Airman Injured at Boston Marathon

    The Military Times reports that a member of the USAF was seriously injured at the Boston Marathon bombing.  The name of the individual has not been released.

    Rest easy, my brother- or sister-in-arms.  Recover fully and quickly.

    If you’re so inclined, please ask CINC-All to speed this Airman’s recovery and comfort their family.

  • MP Sentenced for Espionage

    SPC William Colton Millay was an MP in Alaska.  He was also apparently a highly disaffected soldier as well as a white supremacist.

    Millay was so disaffected he decided to up the ante.  He made contact with someone he thought was a Russian agent.  He claimed he had access to sensitive information, and offered to sell it to the Russians.  He then passed the “Russians” sensitive information via a dead-drop.

    Unfortunately for Millay, the “Russian agent” he contacted turned out to be someone working for the FBI.  Oops.

    Millay was court-martialed.  His lawyer negotiated a plea agreement, and he pleaded guilty.

    He was sentenced to 19 years and a DD by the court-martial panel.  Because of the terms of Millay’s plea agreement, his sentence will be capped at 16 years. He’ll get credit for 535 days served awaiting trial and sentencing.

    Perhaps he and Manning can share a cell at Leavenworth.

  • Well Done, Captain

    During the last days of World War II in Europe, an American soldier – PFC George Charles Hankey – was killed.  He died on May 1, 1945.  He was buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France.

    PFC Hankey’s family was notified of his death.  His little brother Alvin was 7 at the time.  He idolized his brother older, and thought of him often growing up.

    PFC Hankey’s medals – including a Purple Heart – were given to his widow.  Unfortunately she also died a few years later.

    PFC Hankey’s funeral flag was given to his mother.  But for whatever reason, PFC Hankey’s mother didn’t want his medals.

    The medals disappeared.  And in most cases, that’s the end of the story.  Except this time . . . it isn’t.

    Fast forward about 60 years – and enter CPT Zachariah Fike, VT ARNG.  CPT Fike founded and runs a nonprofit foundation called “Purple Hearts Reunited”.  The name of the foundation very succinctly describes its mission.

    PFC Hankey’s medals were found recently in an old cedar chest.  Someone contacted Purple Hearts Reunited.

    PFC Hankey’s name was engraved on the back of his Purple Heart.  That allowed Purple Hearts Reunited to locate his nearest living relative:  his little brother, Alvin Hankey, now in his mid-70s.

    Alvin Hankey recently received his late brother’s Purple Heart – along with his brother’s Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Campaign Stars, World War II Victory Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and Airborne Wings.  With the medals and badges was a photograph of his older brother in uniform.

    PFC Hankey’s medals are hardly the first returned by Purple Hearts Reunited.  Rather, they’re only one case among many.

    Kudos, CPT Fike.  Damn well done.

    . . .

    Purple Hearts Reunited is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit corporation.  Their Facebook page, which IMO is worth a visit, is

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Purple-Hearts-Reunited-INC/252965351489307

    They accept donations via PayPal.  Should you care to donate the old fashioned way, donations can also be mailed to

    Purple Hearts Reunited INC
    P.O. Box 3
    Burlington, VT 05402-0003

    If you’ve got some spare $$$ after taxes, this might be a good place to send a few of them.

  • “With dynamite, my dear colleague.”

    We sometimes denigrate the French.  And in truth, they’ve not exactly been our country’s most constant ally since World War II.

    Nonetheless, the French have produced many distinguished military leaders.  This includes one many Americans likely have never heard of:  Lieutenant General Jean Ganeval.

    Then-Brigadier General Jean Ganeval was the Commandant (Military Governor) of the French Sector of Berlin throughout the Berlin Airlift.  (Like the rest of postwar Germany, Berlin was still under military occupation in 1948; and like the rest of Germany, Berlin was also divided into four occupation sectors:  British, US, French, and Soviet).  Ganeval’s authority within the French sector of Berlin was considerable, approaching that of a colonial governor or viceroy.

    Direct French participation in the Berlin Airlift proper was limited.   This was not due to politics or historical animosity; by 1948 France was involved in a war in Indochina they would ultimately lose, and the majority of the French Air Force’s transport assets were engaged in supporting that war.  France could supply its occupation troops in Berlin by air, but not much more.

    Nontheless, France – and Ganeval – played an essential role in the Berlin Airlift.

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  • Forty-Four Years: In Memoriam

    We call the period between the end of World War II and the end of the Soviet Union the “Cold War”.  And in truth, it wasn’t an all-out, no-holds-barred global fight like World War II.

    But it wasn’t always particularly “cold”, either.

    The US and USSR (through allies) engaged in numerous wars by proxy throughout that period.  Korea, French Indochina, the Hukbalapap Rebellion in the Philippines, Quemoy/Matsu, the Arab-Israeli Wars, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Congo, Angola, Afghanistan, Grenada – the number of proxy conflicts, as well as casualties, were extensive.

    Even disregarding proxy wars, direct hostile fire incidents involving US and/or either Soviet or Soviet-client forces were not unknown.  Some such incidents are reasonably well-known:  the 1968 seizure of the USS Pueblo; the murder of MAJ Arthur Nicholson in East Germany in 1985; the 1976 Panmunjom Ax Murder Incident; the 1983 downing of KAL-007.  But our collective memory for many if not most such incidents has faded to the point that most are remembered only dimly, if at all.

    Such Cold War hostile fire incidents were far more common than most people realize.  The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office maintains a list of 126 US personnel still unaccounted for due to 14 Cold War aircraft losses.  Two of these incidents (and 18 of the personnel still unaccounted for) were apparently not due to hostile action – but the other twelve aircraft and 108 personnel were indeed lost due to hostile fire.  And these 14 incidents are nowhere near a complete list of even Cold War aerial hostile fire incidents; it records only those where US personnel are still missing and formally unaccounted for.  A more comprehensive list of such Cold War aerial hostile fire incidents may be found here.  There were also numerous other hostile incidents on ground and at sea.

    Perhaps the deadliest single Cold War hostile fire incident involving US forces is today virtually unknown.  Like the USS Pueblo, it was the result of hostile action by a Soviet client – North Korea – and involved the US Navy.  But unlike the USS Pueblo, no US survivors returned.

    The 44th anniversary of that incident occurs shortly before midnight EDT tonight.

    (more…)

  • About That “Accidental Declassification” . . . .

    Here’s an update concerning that Congressional testimony about North Korean missiles and nuclear warheads.

    Jonn’s article Friday indicated that GEN Martin Dempsey, CJCS, was “taken by surprise” by the revelation by Congressman Doug Lamborn that North Korea may possess low-reliability nuclear warheads for long-range missiles.  That revelation was apparently the unclassified conclusion of a DIA assessment report.

    Congressional staffers had confirmed via classified e-mail exchange with DIA personnel that the statement was indeed unclassified.  Pentagon sources later claimed the line had been “mistakenly declassified”.

    Well, that may or may not be true.  But it turns out that classification questions might not have been the only reason that GEN Dempsey was shocked to hear it made in a public forum.  According to the Army Times,

    In a new twist, a House source tells [Military Times sister publication] Defense News that a DIA congressional liaison told a senior House Armed Services Committee aide that while the finding was unclassified, the Obama administration wanted to keep it under wraps. (emphasis added)

    . . .

    During the email exchange with the senior House Armed Services subcommittee professional staffer, the DIA legislative liaison told him, in the House aide’s words: “The administration didn’t want this getting out.” (emphasis added)

    The Administration has, quite predictably, backed away from the DIA assessment of North Korean nuclear capabilities.  The DNI has stated that “the DIA finding is not shared by the other U.S. intelligence agencies”, while a Pentagon spokesman has said that it would be “inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed, or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced in the passage.”

    That may be true.  But about the latter, I’ll observe the following:  neither had the US prior to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Trinity was a ground-based test of a non-weaponized nuclear device – not an operational test of a deliverable bomb.

    Stay tuned.  This one could get quite interesting.