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

Author: Hondo

  • Two Cautions for Our Military Reservist Readers

    A number of our readers are current or former Reserve Component (RC) personnel. Some of those may be still serving in the Reserve Components while also approaching the age at which contingency service would allow early receipt of retired pay.

    For that likely small subset, I’d like to offer two points for consideration.

    First: early receipt of retired pay does not equate to all of the bennies of full military retirement. Specifically, RC personnel receiving early retired pay are NOT eligible for normal military retiree TRICARE coverage.  Full TRICARE entitlement for those who retire under RC rules does not happen until age 60, regardless of retired pay status. So even if you qualify for early receipt retired pay, you’ll need to plan on obtaining healthcare from other than TRICARE until you hit the big six-zero.

    Second:  if you’re a serving reservist, have recently been promoted, and are getting close to or are eligible for early retired pay – you might want to check time-in-grade requirements for your current grade before you apply for that early receipt of retired pay.  The ABCMR recently ruled that such a retirement is voluntary vice involuntary.  Thus, TIG requirements to retire at that grade are not waived; if you don’t have enough TIG to retire at that grade, you won’t.

    While the linked case is Army-specific, I’m also reasonably sure that that’s the case for all services.  Applying for retired pay – early or otherwise – under RC rules is a voluntary action.

    Everyone’s situation is different. In some cases the grade reduction might be worth it to receive retired pay earlier; in others, it won’t. Everyone has to make that decision on their own.

    Just be forewarned if you’re in that situation.

  • USAF “Honors” A1C Spencer Stone – With a Noncombat Decoration

    We all know that two American military personnel – A1C Spencer Stone and SPC Alek Skarlatos, Oregon ARNG – along with a civilian friend, Anthony Sadler recently were instrumental in stopping a terrorist massacre on a French train. Specifically, they disarmed a terrorist armed with an AK-47, a pistol, and a box cutter who was threatening passengers on the train.

    Well, the USAF has announced that they will honor A1C Stone. They’re going to give him the Airman’s Medal – a NONCOMBAT decoration.

    In the words of Max the Volkswagon: “Dat’s . . . kool.”

    Don’t get me wrong. Yes, the Airman’s Medal is a high honor. But to me, even though it’s a high honor it seems completely inappropriate for this situation. The USAF should know that.

    The criteria for the Airman’s Medal is that it may be awarded “to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States or of a friendly nation who, while serving in any capacity with the United States Air Force … distinguished himself or herself by a heroic act, usually at the voluntary risk of his or her life but not involving actual combat.”

    So, here we have an Airman who engaged an armed enemy in hand-to-hand combat, during a time at which said armed enemy was attempting to attack friendlies. And yes, I do mean “armed enemy”; we’re still fighting terrorists and terrorism worldwide today.

    But to recognize the Airman involved for his heroism in doing that, the USAF is going to give him a decoration for noncombat heroism.

  • “Toby Miles”, You Got Some ‘Splainin’ To Do

    In fact, it looks like “Toby Miles” could well be in big trouble.

    What, you don’t recognize the name?  Well, don’t feel bad.  That’s by design.

    That was the name used for the third email account Lois Lerner used to conduct “official business” while executing her politically-driven hatchet work at the IRS.  The IRS apparently “just realized that” while responding judge’s order to turn documents related to Lerner over to Judicial Watch .

    The Washington Times has a good article on this bit of new news.  It’s IMO worth a read.

  • US: ISIS Used Chem Weapons Against Kurds

    US authorities have confirmed that ISIS used chemical weapons in an 11 August 2015 attack against Kurdish forces.

    After the attack, numerous Kurdish personnel became ill.  Kurdish forces obtained shell fragments from shells used by ISIS during the attack and provided them to the US for analysis.

    Preliminary analysis indicates that the shell fragments tested positive for agent HD – sulfur mustard.

    It is not known where ISIS obtained these agents.  Both Syrian and Iraqi stocks are a possibility, since ISIS has occupied large portions of each nation and both are reputed to have stockpiled chemical weapons in the past.

    But remember:  don’t worry, be happy.  Iraqi and Syrian WMDs don’t pose any threat – in fact, the former don’t even exist .  Nothing to see here; move along.

     

    (I trust the fact that the final paragraph above is sarcasm is quite obvious.)

  • US-South Korea Military Exercise Halted – Maybe

    In response to the DMZ incident yesterday, the US and South Korea reportedly halted their annual joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian.  This year’s exercise had begun on Monday, 17 August 2015 and was originally scheduled to end on Friday, 28 August 2015.

    It is not clear whether the exercise has resumed, might be resumed, or if the remainder has been cancelled outright.   Some reports indicate that the exercise has indeed been resumed.  Others only indicate it has been halted.

    The halt occurred after an exchange of artillery fire across the Korean DMZ.  US defense officials publicly announced the halt, while asserting that they were “monitoring the situation”.  Later claims were that it was a “planned halt” and a halt to consult with South Korea regarding the DMZ incident.

    Hmm.  I guess sabre-rattling – even with a needle-thin, weak, and unreliable tool like the one ND:tBF waves around publicly from time to time – can be effective if your opponent lacks both backbone and guts.  Gee, who’d a thunk it?

    Well done, Obama Administration.  You just caved, and gave the Dork of NorK – AKA Fatboy Kim – exactly what he wanted.

    Why in the hell do you think the DPRK chose this week to lob a few shells southwards?  North Korea has tried for years to get annual US-ROK exercises cancelled or halted; they’ve occasionally been successfu at doing that.  By making this halt public – and by appearing confused and uncertain about what you were doing – you just handed North Korea a major propaganda victory on that score.  That’s true even if the exercise was only halted temporarily.

    But don’t worry, folks; everything will be all right.  After all:  caving and giving a sabre-rattling despot exactly what he wanted worked perfectly well back in the 1930s, right?

  • Godspeed, Mr. President

    Word is that former POTUS Jimmy Carter’s cancer has spread. Published accounts indicate at least four “small” metastases are present in his brain.

    Carter is reportedly in good spirits, says that pain so far has been “very slight”, and that he hasn’t experienced weakness or other debilitating effects. He started treatment for his metastatic cancer yesterday.

    I’d guess most here don’t much care for former President Carter.  I’ve made no secret of the fact that I personally don’t care for him at all.

    Still: if you’re so inclined, perhaps make the time to ask CINC-ALL to give the man strength and, if He so decides, a full recovery. Though I don’t much care for former President Carter, he’s not on the short list of those I feel are deserving of an exit due to terminal cancer. I’ve asked the Deity to bless and watch over him.

    Godspeed, Mr. President. Best wishes for your recovery.

    . . .

    FWIW: Carter’s cancer apparently is melanoma – the most deadly type of skin cancer. If any reading this happen notice the classic signs of skin cancer on yourself or a loved one, have them checked out pronto.

  • Doesn’t Pass the “Smell Test”

    Well, the Army’s drawdown is underway.  And even decorated heroes aren’t immune.

    It seems that at least one 11-year Special Forces Sergeant First Class and bona fide decorated hero is being forced out.  His name is SFC Charles Martland.

    He’s been described by former teammates as “the finest soldier they have ever served alongside”.  He was awarded a Bronze Star with V-Device for combat heroism in Afghanistan.  He was runner-up for 2014 Special Warfare Training Group Instructor of the Year.

    But it seems Martland’s records went before a recent Quality Management Program review board.  His file apparently contained a bad evaluation – a “Relief for Cause” evaluation, to be precise.  He was selected for elimination by the board, and he’s being forced out.

    What did Martland do to get relieved for cause?  Well, I’ll tell you.

    Martland’s team was engaged in training Afghan police.  However, while doing that they discovered that one of the “fine individuals” they were training was also a child rapist and a woman-beater.

    Specifically, the SF team supporting the training discovered that that individual had raped a 12-year-old Afghan boy.  The boy’s mother brought her son to the SF detachment for medical care.  When he was examined, the rape was discovered.

    The individual found out that his crime had been discovered.  He then located the boy’s mother beat her for exposing his crime.

    Martland and his team leader afterwards confronted the rapist about what he’d done.  When they confronted the rapist, that “fine individual” told them essentially that it was no big deal – and then laughed in their faces.

    At that point, Martland and his team leader physically shoved the rapist and woman-beater; he fell to the ground.  The rapist was bruised, but otherwise unhurt – unfortunately.  I’d personally be OK with the bastard having ceased consuming oxygen at that point.

    However, the low life bastard afterwards apparently reported the confrontation to other US authorities.  This ultimately led to Martland and his team leader being relieved.

    Yes, you read that correctly.  They were relieved of duty because they confronted a child rapist and woman-beating low-life bastard without seriously injuring or killing him.

    Sorry, but that doesn’t make any freaking sense.  Wrong?  Perhaps technically.  But also IMO completely understandable.  Hell – in my book, if anything those two should have been commended for keeping their anger in check and not summarily killing the bastard on the spot.

    Martland’s team leader opted to leave the Army some time ago.  However, Martland stayed in the Army instead.

    But now he’s getting pitched.

    Fox News has further details here. You should read the linked article.

    But maybe you should wait until later to read it if you’re having high blood pressure issues right now.

  • Korean DMZ Tensions Rise

    This time, we have actual shooting.

    A few weeks ago, two South Korean soldiers on a DMZ patrol were injured by a land mine.  South Korean authorities claimed the landmine had been clandestinely planted by North Korean soldiers working in the DMZ.

    South Korea then resumed high-volume propaganda broadcasts (via loudspeaker) across the DMZ.  They’d been suspended for a while.

    North Korea in turn called this a provocation.  They resumed their own propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts.  But they also gave the South Korean authorities a deadline to terminate their broadcasts.

    That’s where things stood until yesterday.

    Yesterday, North Korea’s “deadline” passed.  So according to South Korean authorities, North Korea fired several artillery rounds.  However, only one reportedly made it to South Korean territory.  The rest reportedly failed to make it across the North Korean side of the DMZ.   (Edited to add:  other sources say that North Korea fired one rocket.)

    South Korea responded in kind.  South Korea says they fired “dozens” of 155mm artillery rounds into the North Korean sector of the DMZ.

    Yahoo News has an excellent article from AFP on the incident.  It’s not too long, and is IMO worth reading.

    I guess ND:tBF (AKA the “Dork of NorK” AKA “Fatboy Kim”) must have needed another distraction for his population to take their minds off the fact that they’re starving.  Either that, or he was frustrated because his starving peasant underlings had eaten all the bugs in NorKland.

    But I’m thinking a North Korean artillery unit may be in deep sh!t if reports that all but 1 round fell short of South Korea are correct.