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

Author: Sporkmaster

  • Bronze Star Woes.

    I have been away from my home computer and will be away for awhile. My internet is spotty at best so I have been lacking in the posting. But I saw this and thought that this needed a post. It all starts with a TSGT being awarded a Bronze Start for here tour in the Stan. Here is the back story found on thelittlep

    JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas — An NCO from the 802nd Comptroller Squadron earned the Bronze Star March 14 for her actions in Afghanistan.

    Tech. Sgt. Christina Gamez, a financial analyst in the 802nd CPTS, received the Bronze Star for meritorious service from Brig. Gen. Theresa A. Carter, 502nd Air Base Wing commander, prior to a commander’s call at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

    The Bronze Star is the U.S. military’s fourth-highest individual decoration for bravery, heroism or meritorious service.

    Gamez distinguished herself by meritorious achievement as the NCO in charge during a 365-day deployment, January 2011 to January 2012. While in Afghanistan, she accurately executed operational funds across eight remote bases, providing commanders with flexibility in support of counterinsurgency efforts. Gamez trained 68 operational fund teams, reviewed 34 projects and funded 280 joint acquisition board packages enabling critical base sustainment.

    It seems that the flak behind it was bad enough to have the story pulled from the Air Force’s website. Granted for how many times have we seen the Bronze Star get awarded to Senior level NCOs and Company Grade Officers during deployments but I never remember anything like this happen in the Army. Even the Air Force Times is covering it saying that there was another TSGT that was on the reciving end of harsh words. They even titled it that they were being “bullied”” on the front cover. I tried to find the story but I think that it is too new.

    The story drew 70 online com­ments between March 26 and March 29, mostly from people who were livid because they said Gamez did not deserve to be recog­nized for doing her job.“I was the camp soccer mom because I was always taking care of people, so that’s the kind of pace I keep, whether it’s here or there,” Gamez said. “I knew that when I was deployed I needed to stay as busy as possible and that’s my normal.” Gamez was shocked that adults could be bullied like this.

    “To all those who have gone out­side the wire and are going outside the wire wearing 70lbs of gear and return with no more than a thanks for doing your job, I’m sorry you have to see people get BSM that don’t deserve them,” one commenter wrote on the Air Force website before the story was removed.

    Anyways. It is not like this has happend before. Or that people in the Military know how the Bronze Star is given out. I mean there were more Bronze Stars given out during OIF 2003-2010 than the Combat Action Badge, by about 30,000. If the Combat Action Badge has a negative image about being just handed out then what does this say about the Bronze Star without Valor?

    But honestly for some reason I am not bothered by her getting a BSM. I mean I would rather worry about Admin personal that lie about their awards to rip people off.But what say you?

  • A scheme only a Private could think of.

    Ok, putting aside that trying to steal someone’s identity to use their good name and criedt to fix your life is wrong. But to try to do it to Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft is stupid. Do you really think that one would get away? That seems what Private Brandon Lee Price tried to do.

    In the complaint unsealed Monday, federal investigators allege Brandon Lee Price changed the address on a bank account held by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, then had a debit card sent to his Pittsburgh home so he could use it for payments on a delinquent Armed Forces Bank account and personal expenses.

    Price called Citibank in January and changed the address on an account held by Allen from Seattle to Pittsburgh, then called back three days later to say he’d lost his debit card and asked for a new one to be sent to him, an FBI investigator wrote in a criminal complaint filed in February.

    I mean who does this. This person is not a random face. He is the co-founder of the company that has made the OS everyday computer use. Do you really think that every red flag would not be raised? Could it get any worse after getting caught stealing the identity of Paul Allen? Yes it can.

    Investigators found Price was listed as Absent Without Leave from the Army and wanted as a deserter, authorities said in the complaint. He was arrested March 2 and ordered detained until April 2 unless the Army takes him into custody.

    Doing all of the above while AWOL and a deserter in a time of War? Oh and because of the draw down expect your days in the military to be numbered. But since you went AWOL to begin with I am sure that is not a big concern in your mind What WILL be a concern is a less then desired discharge and your name coming up on every background check you will apply for any job that has any real meaning. That is assuming that you do not get thrown in jail for this little stunt. All for what again?

    The card was used to attempt a $15,000 Western Union transaction and make a $658.81 payment on the Armed Forces Bank loan account the day it was activated, according to the complaint. Surveillance footage also captured him attempting purchases at a video game store and a dollar store, authorities alleged.

    David Postman, a spokesman for Allen, said the fraud was detected by the bank, who alerted law enforcement officials. The only transaction – out of four listed in the complaint totaling $15,936.99 – that apparently made it through was the loan payment, Postman said.

    So all of that for $658.81?

  • Honorable finish indeed.

    Here is something I found today. Just a forewarning, this will tug at the heart.

    A long illness claimed the life of 2nd Lt. Matt Blount Saturday. The Jacksonville man, diagnosed with cancer, had fought long to become a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve, which had become difficult because of his condition. Surrounded by loved ones at his home on Wednesday, he was sworn in and signed his oath, completing his lifelong dream.

    You know what? When people talk about why people in the military are respected. That when faced with a truly implacable opponent how would one reaction. For 2nd Lt. Matt Blount the answer was clear.

    He joined the Army ROTC program at Jacksonville State University in 2007, and received an overall “Excellence” rating at the Leaders Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) in 2009, and was in his senior year when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma (Bone Cancer).

    Not letting that slow him down, Matt completed all of his military science and academic coursework and requirements for commissioning, to include APFTs, while undergoing chemo-therapy in 2010.

    Take a few minutes to that that truly sink in. That he was doing physical training when there was every reason not to. This is important considering when a portion of the military that abuses sick call to avoid PT. If he is able to do this, we are capable of pushing yourself further. Something to think about.

    At any time after he found out about his diagnosis, Matt could have quit. He could have easily stopped learning, testing and working, but he kept going. He said that was because of a passion that is kept lit by his wife, Melinda Blount.

    “It was because of my dedication to my wife that I set my goal and kept going,” said Matt. “I could not have done it without her. She is my biggest supporter and advocate all the way through.”

    Very true words, I know that everything I have done and been able to do is because of the love and support from my better half.

    Most of this has been covered by our friends over at Blackfive.

    But there is one thing that I wanted to talk about why people want to imitate people like 2nd Lt. Matt Blount. Imitators like Daron Soard. Just like 2nd Lt. Matt Blount both wear 173rd as a combat patch. Unlike Daron Soard 2nd Lt. Matt Blount earned a combat patch from the 173rd. I cannot tell what his current unit is due to the ASU not having a a patch for the current unit. But I am willing to go out on a limb that he was in the unit. Oh and did I mention that 2nd Lt. Matt Blount has a CMB? Oh and unlike Daron Soard, 2nd Lt. Matt Blount’s diagnosis is not suspect.

    When it comes right down to it, it is how we handle adversity that defines who we are. Even though his body was not able to fight off the cancer, it a victory because he achieved his dream. That is something that the poser will never understand. EVER.

  • Another Wedding Poser

    Ok it has been awhile but I figured that this was worth the time. Granted with the poser bar being raised on a daily bases, I am not sure it will have the same “Shock and Awe” as some of our others phonies. But it should be enough to give a general WTF theme going on here. I present you newest Wedding Poser: Daron Soard.

    Ok, lets see. Here he is wearing a Ranger Tab on BOTH shoulders. His Rack is completely out of order. In there I see a Afghanistan Campaign Medal, but no Combat Stripes on the right arm. Also according to his Facebook page he is a Scout and is Airborne certificated.

    POWNETWORK have been following him since October of last year. But I considering the photos of his way out of regulation uniform would be worth writing about.

    Update:Seems that he also has a criminal history too.

  • Getting Out Update: ACAP and Retention

    Well it is official, I made my intention to the Retention representatives that I wanted to ETS out of the Army. That was a painful conversation to say the least. But then again so has almost every conversation has been like that.

    To sum it up nicely it can be described in how I will fail at life if I ever left the Army. One of the biggest things that came up was having a letter of acceptance. I understand the idea, but I am not aware of any job or college that will save you a spot for over a year before you arrive? From what I understand that is a problem with the Guard and Reserve in keeping their jobs when they deploy. So what makes you think that they will do that when there are plenty of people that are ready to be hired/admitted right now?

    There were some other things that I do not think that he was understanding or making a attempt to understand, but that would go on for awhile. But the conversation felt like breaking up with a crazy Ex.

    1. You cannot live without me.
    2. Your leaving the best thing in your life.
    3. You will come crawling back begging me to take you back.

    Yea not fun, but I am glad that it is done so that I can begin the ACAP process.

    I registered at the ACAP website and completed the DD Form 2648 online. For the most part it was a long list of programs that I could be offered during and after my ACAP process. For example the VA benefits and GI Bill. I just have to find a ACAP facility to go in and have it signed.

    Speaking of which I have a few questions that I wanted to ask anyone who has used or using to attend college. Because according to theGI bill website , they get slammed with requests at the beginning of each semester. So I want to make sure that I turn my application in with plenty of time. But because the school semester that I am looking at (Fall 2013) is so far off that they might say that I making my request too early. The earliest that I could apply for admissions would be Early in 2013. (I want to go to UTSA Pre-Nursing program).

    Going back to the ACAP process, I am making a list of items that I would like additional help and guidance with. For example the Individual transition plan. I have a good idea of what I want to do. I just need help putting together the minor details. For example like how can I obtain additional certification such as CPR instructor. The idea is I can secure a Medial Assistant job in case there is a wait time when I finish all of my per-nursing classes waiting to be admitted to UTSA Health Science center. Also I am still up in the air about going into the National Guard, be it Air Force or Army. But then again I do not have enough information right now about what is going on with the drawn down is effecting them. I have been watching the open MOS slots for the Texas National Guard in the mean time.

    But overall things are going in the right direction. As before any advice or information is welcomed.

  • London Review of Books: “Lone gunman not the exception”

    Again one thing that is nice about having many different people on Facebook is that I get a broader view of what is being said around the web. In this case comes from the website called London Review of Books. In this article by Tariq Ali called “The Not So Lone Gunman” goes to paint every Solider as another crazy GI gun spree waiting to happen.

    In most colonial wars people are arrested, tortured at random and killed. Not even a façade of legality is considered necessary. The ‘lone’ American gunman who butchered innocents in Afghanistan in the early hours of Sunday morning was far from being an exception. For this is not the act of a deranged maniac killing schoolchildren in an American city. The ‘lone’ killer is a sergeant in the US army. He’s not the first and won’t be the last to kill like this.

    It seems by this being in the US Army is worse then being a deranged maniac killer. Good to know. It gets better.

    The Russian occupation of Afghanistan also witnessed ‘lone gunmen’ behaving in this fashion, but better-educated than many of their US counterparts they would write about the whys and wherefores in anguished diaries after they had been withdrawn

    Yep lets through in the dumb GI meme while we are at it.

    The ‘enemy’ is not hidden. It is the public. So wiping out women and children is part of the war. Helicopter gunships, bomber jets and drones are more effective killers than ‘lone’ gunmen.

    So were we have been conducting a massive kill all women and children campaign since 2001? I thing that anyone that ever did a Combat Air Patrol over Afghanistan would be quick to disagree. But he don’t let reality disprove another baby killer meme. I am not even sure how to respond to the last paragraph outside of profanity. I wonder if anyone here can do any better.

    So what is to be done? Get out now. These wars that dehumanise the ‘enemy’ also dehumanise the citizens of warmongering nations. We are made to live in a state of ignorance, but by our apathy contribute to making sure that such a state continues indefinitely. The individual gunman will soon disappear from our thoughts and we can then settle down to the routine killings that take place every day, carried out collectively on the orders of politicians that we elect.

  • Coming to NYC “An Army of Rape: Why Supporting the Troops is Wrong! “

    I went over to the facebook page that was in this post. There is one comment that I could not pass up.

    Looking at the names involved that this conference this is going to be a real meeting of the minds. We have Sunsara Taylor, Carl Dix and Mathis. I find it funny that people are still refer him as a member of IVAW. Not to mention the direct statement that Carl Dix is a Communist.

    I tried to look for anything on the net but nothing so far. But considering that anything Mathis does is kept quiet for fear of use ruining it with his past.

  • Vets Helping Vets: Follow Up.

    While my family was at the ceremonial start for the Iditarod, I ran into the president of the veterans group called “Vets helping Vets”, Calista Anderson. I had written about them in the past but I wondered how they were doing. I had not received a reply to my email and I am very bad at directions even thought I have been living in Anchorage for the past two years. So I got a chance to talk to her and see how they are doing.

    According to Ms Anderson, the organization is running a thrift shop to help raise money to help the local veterans in the area. Also she said that if a Veteran needs a item, like a winter coat the they git it out for free. Here is a quick description of their goals for the shop on their Facebook page.

    Vets Helping Vets is an organization that assist veterans in many ways, we like to say from a “Toothbrush to Transportation”. We help our veterans with clothing, warm winter gear, bus passes, food, jobs, and transporting to various locations, i.e. VA, jobs, housing, etc. We provide a hand “UP”, not a hand “OUT” and strive to make a difference “One VETERAN at a time”. Our nations heroes need our help and support, past, present and future, as they have and continue to preserve our freedom that provides the way of life we partake in today. Thank you !

    This seems like a good group that is doing a good thing despite what happened with the previous President. But because most people do not watch the local TV news few people know what has been going on with them. So like the previous post I want to make sure that these efforts do not go unnoticed. Also to see if that I can bring attention and turn that into further assistance for their cause. For example you can contact Senator Bill Wielechowski since used a photo taken with them about supporting local veterans.

    Oh and just a FYI this is the photo of Jerry L. Butler, who is currently on the run after being accused embezzling almost all of the organization’s money. So if anyone sees him please report him to the local authorities.

    If anyone wants to contact them to help just leave a comment with you email and I will give you their contact information.