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

Author: Hondo

  • DoD: We’re Cutting our Civilian Workforce Too

    DoD has announced their intent to cut a substantial number of civilian jobs over the next 5 years – between 40,000 and 50,000.  The planned cuts will amount to between 5 and 6 percent of the DoD civilian workforce.  Approximately 12,000 are planned for next fiscal year alone.

    (For those interested, DoD currently has around 1.4 million personnel in uniform full-time.  DoD civilian employment at the end of September is projected to be roughly 777,000 – or just over 1/3 of DoD’s total full-time direct employees.  For comparison, an equivalent cut in uniformed strength over 5 years would be between roughly 70,000 and 84,000.)

    Many of the cuts are supposedly tied to a proposed future Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action.  However, the actual closing of bases won’t begin until 2016 in order to “allow the economy more time to recover”.

    Funny – I seem to remember the POTUS telling us for a couple of years now that the economy was “improving”, but maybe my memory is wrong.  And I seem to recall that something else that will happen in 2016, too.

    In any case:  further consolidation of military health care facilities was identified as a way to reduce civilian employment.  The end of the war in Afghanistan was also identified as a potential source of civilian employment reductions.

    I have to say I’m a bit skeptical on the feasibility of that “health care facility consolidation” claim.  IMO, that might work in some locales where multiple major military installations currently and such consolidation hasn’t already happened.  But in many places, military healthcare downsizing/consolidation has already happened.  Many Army installations I’ve been to during the past few years no longer have a full Army hospital; instead they have “Army Health Clinics” or “Army Health Centers”.  That’s true today at some good-sized installations like Fort Rucker, Redstone Arsenal, Fort Meade, or Fort Huachuca.  So I’m kinda wondering about the mechanics and feasibility of that part of DoD’s plan.

    DoD has indicated that they hope to achieve this reduction through “attrition”.  They’re considering offering early retirement incentives and hiring freezes to try to cut end strength without having to let people go involuntarily.

    Something tells me that might just not work as well as expected.  Unlike uniformed military, DoD civilian employees haven’t gotten a yearly pay raise since January 2010.  Their pension (such as it is under the current system – it ain’t particularly generous any more) is based on their salary during their highest 36 continuous months of employment.  This usually ends up being the last 3 years of civilian service – and sequestration furloughs later this year will screw with that average.  I’m guessing quite a number of folks who are retirement eligible will hold out to see if they (1) start getting pay raises again as the economy improves as well as (2) letting their “high 3 average” recover from sequestration before they start punching out.  Many will also want (or need) to work post-retirement, so a poor economy will also be a disincentive to retire immediately.

    Bottom line:  it ain’t just the uniformed side of the house that’s feeling the downsizing pinch in DoD.  And for those of you in uniform who were planning to retire or separate and move to a civilian job with DoD, it looks like the potential for hiring freezes just raised the bar for getting hired as a government civillian substantially, too.

  • Another World War II Vet Passes

    An older gentleman, aged 87, passed away on 11 April 2013.

    Like many of his generation the man was a vet.  He quit high school during his senior year, enlisted in the USMC at age 17, and spent 2 1/2 years in the South Pacific.

    After his return from war he went to college, discovering an interest in art.  He met his future wife; their marriage lasted until her death over 60 years later.

    He became a comic, and a damn good one, not too long afterwards.  He spent the rest of his professional life entertaining people and trying to make people laugh.

    The man’s name?  Jonathan Winters.

    Rest in peace, Jonathan Winters. Rest in peace.

    Added Sporkmaster: I think my lack of age is showing here. I was looking at his photo and it looked familiar but I could not place it. Looked him up and then I saw a much younger photo of him in the movie “It’s a Mad Mad Mad World”. My father showed it to me when I in my early teens. So to help those in the thirty and under age group I am adding a video of the best scenes of that movie with Jonathan Winters.

  • Two More Are Home

    DPMO has announced the identification of two US MIAs – one from from World War II, and one from Southeast Asia.

    SSG Ray E. Thompson, US Army Air Forces, formerly of Portland, OR, was buried on 10 April 2013, in Pendleton, OR. On May 7, 1944, Thompson was a member of the crew of a B-24D Liberator that departed Nadzab, New Guinea. Due to mechanical troubles, the B-24D was delayed in departing the airbase and was unable to join the formation after takeoff.  The aircraft, SSG Thompson, and the nine others aboard the plane were never seen again after takeoff. In 1946, the War Department declared all ten men presumed dead.  SSG Thompson’s remains were recovered in 2008 and definitively identified using modern forensic techniques.  SSG Thompson appears to have been a crew member on board 1LT John E. Terpning’s aircraft.

    Maj. James E. Sizemore, US Air Force, formerly of San Diego, CA, was lost on July 8, 1969, near Xiangkhoang Province, Laos.  He was declared formally accounted for (remains repatriated and positively identified) on 9 April 2013.  Maj. Sizemore and his navigator, Maj. Howard V. Andre, Jr., were lost when their A-26A was downed by ground fire during an armed reconnaissance mission conducted as part of “secret war” operations in Laos (Operation Barrel Roll).  At the time of loss, they were assigned to the 609th Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom Air Base, Thailand.  Maj. Andre’s remains have yet to be repatriated and/or declared definitively identified.

    Rest now in peace, my elder brothers-in-arms.  You’re finally home.

    . . .

    Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,900 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,650 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

    If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.

  • Text of Senate “Compromise” Gun Bill

    Purportedly available here.

  • “Show Me”

    Recently the Missouri Highway Patrol was asked by unnamed Federal officials to give them a full listing of Missouri concealed carry permit holders.  The request was apparently a verbal one; no written request seems to exist.

    Regardless, the full list of roughly 185,000 Missouri concealed carry permit holders was obtained by the Missouri Highway Patrol – and apparently provided by them to Federal authorities –  on two occasions.  The first time was November 2011; the second, January of 2012.  At some point, the list may have been briefly posted to the Internet as well.

    According to Missouri State Senator Kurt Schaefer, the apparent rationale for requesting the list was so that “they (presumably Federal authorities) can match up anyone who had a mental diagnosis or disability with also having a concealed carry license”.  The list was allegedly provided to the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General.

    Missouri is “the Show Me state”.   But somehow, I just don’t think that motto is supposed to apply to any and all random questions asked by Federal officials regarding personal information protected by Missouri state law.

    Needless to say, the implications of this blatant misconduct by both Federal and Missouri State officials are deeply disturbing.

  • Follow Doctor’s Orders, Lose Your Constitutional Rights

    It looks like that could now be the case in the People’s Republic of New York.

    A lawyer in the Buffalo area is reporting two cases where handgun ownership permits were suspended purportedly because the permit holders were taking anti-anxiety medications.  The attorney is representing either one or both of the individuals involved in those cases.

    Presumably, these individuals were taking their anti-anxiety medications because their physician had prescribed them.

    Full details are not available, so there may be other factors involved.  But even so, this raises a number of troubling questions:

    • Who told police that these individuals were taking anti-anxiety medications?
    • Absent other factors indicating risk, isn’t such notification a violation of privacy laws concerning information contained in personal medical records?
    • Is the use of a medication alone sufficient reason to suspend a constitutional right?  If so, which ones? How about other medications, like opiate pain killers prescribed post-surgery?
    • How many police officials in NY take anti-anxiety medications?  Are they now being removed from their jobs, since firearms proficiency is a key element in performing the duties of law enforcement?
    • Are other professionals in occupations with public health and/or safety responsibilities (e.g., doctors, nurses, pharmacists, bus drivers, etc . . . . ) going to have their professional credentials suspended under similar circumstances?
    • What about spouses and other family members?  Do their permits get suspended if anyone in the household is taking a “prohibited medicine”?

    Looks to me like “somebody’s got some ‘splainin’ to do” here, Lucy.  And, frankly, I hope that ‘splainin’ is done by the idiot(s) who made this stupid decision – while they’re standing in line at the unemployment office.

    That almost certainly won’t happen – this occurred in the People’s Republic of New York.  But it should, and one can hope.

  • Déjà Vu All Over Again – Redux

    The current Administration has decided that it’s now OK for the US to provide direct military assistance to the new government of Somalia.  Specifically, the POTUS has determined that it is appropriate for the US to provide defense equipment and services to the Somali government.

    Yes, “defense equipment and services” means exactly what you think it does:  arms, equipment, and people to train Somali government forces.  No, plans to deploy US forces to Somalia have not yet been announced.  Yet.

    Why?  Because according to the POTUS, the US providing defense equipment and services to Somalia “will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace.”

    Damn.  I have that strange “I’ve seen this movie before, and the ending sucked” feeling.  Now why is that?

    Oh, yeah – now I remember.  The movie I’m thinking of told the story of events 20 years ago.

    It was called “Black Hawk Down”.

  • More of That “Arab Spring” Freedom

    I thought the whole point of that “Arab Spring” stuff was to get rid of restrictive, autocratic governments and to promote freedom.  And I thought that’s why the current administration supported the “Arab Spring” movements in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt while they deposed stable governments in each nation.

    But I must have been wrong, at least when it comes to Egypt.

    It seems as if Egypt has now started arresting activists – as well as comedians accused of insulting President Morsi.  Hmm.  Those same kinds of things are what Mubarak did, if I recall correctly – and was one of the reasons why the “Arab Spring” folks wanted him gone.

    Egypt is also debating new laws that will give the state sweeping powers to regulate civil society.  Hmmm.  I seem to recall Mubarak being castigated for doing that also.  But maybe I’m wrong about that, too.

    And I don’t recall Murbarak ever declaring NGO funds provided from sources abroad to be “public funds” – like one new law supported by Morsi and his ilk in Egypt’s parliament would do.

    But fear not:  that decision to support the Arab Spring protestors and throw valued US allies out on their ear was a good one.  Otherwise, the POTUS and his staff wouldn’t have made it, right?

    Yeah, right.  I’m really getting the impression of “déjà vu all over again” – 33+ years later.  Think Teheran, 1978.

    We’re still paying the price for that Carter-era idiocy.  I wonder how long we’ll be paying for this latest naïve foolishness?