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

Author: Sporkmaster

  • Yea great idea. Why didn’t we think of that, oh yeah it is stupid.

    I have friends who are active in the group Rethink Afghanistan. Sometimes the post stories and comments that seem more like satire. But lately I am having a hard time telling the difference anymore. This one is a perfect example.

    Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times column shares a shocking statistic that shows the U.S.’s warped priorities in Afghanistan: if we brought home just 243 troops, we’d save enough money to pay for all higher education everywhere in Afghanistan this year.

    Yep cause the fact that Afghanistan’s illiteracy in that most people in Afghanistan cannot read and write. So the money that would be freed up would be used for post secondary education would not be abused for other things.

    “Remember Afghanistan has been at war for 30 years, and neither the Soviets who were here before the Taliban nor the Taliban put people through school. So education was not prized. As a matter of fact, the Taliban shut down the schools.”

    But with the time proven statement of “Nothing is impossible to those that do not have to do it” have people over at Rethink Afghanistan is a great idea.

    Mr. [Greg] Mortenson says that $243 million is needed to fund all higher education in Afghanistan this year. He suggests that America hold a press conference here in Kabul and put just 243 of our 100,000 soldiers (each costing $1 million per year) on planes home. Then the U.S. could take the savings and hand over a check to pay for Afghanistan’s universities.

    The war in Afghanistan isn’t making us safer, and it’s not worth the cost. The fact that bringing home 243 troops could pay for all higher education in Afghanistan this year shows that there are much, much better ways of stabilizing Afghanistan and improving the lives of Afghans if we’re willing to let go of military force as the answer.

    Yea with so in review how does passing around this little gem that would not only not work but no one that thought of it will be willing to make it work. But it sounds nice, which is more important then anything else.

  • Spc. Ryan Longnecker: A two year mystery.

    I came across this story a few minutes ago. The short version is that a National Guard Soldier goes missing and reported AWOL. A few months later post personal at Camp Shelby found the remains are what to be believed to be the missing Solider. Two years later, the authorities are still not sure what caused the death of Spc. Ryan Longnecker.

    It started out that a a National Guard Solider missed movement for a deployment in 2007. That by itself would not be unheard of but then it gets interesting. It seems that when he went missing he had a M4 Assault Rifle and a M9 handgun. Both that remained missing until the remains were found along with the weapons.

    His family was told that he had run away to avoid deployment and that he was on the run. His body was found in the motorpool still wearing his uniform with both weapons. Everything seemed to be hush hush about it outside of the base.

    Also how this is being handled as far as not giving any information in regards to what happened to Spc. Ryan Longnecker, how he went missing, and why after two years no one really knows what happened. If this is kept fresh perhaps we might have a chance to find out what happened.

    I will never leave a fallen comrade.

  • Need Navy help with a possible Poser.

    I was cursingcruising POW network and ran into a new one that caught my eye.

    He was wearing the rank of a Petty Officer second class in aviation mechanic but I most of his medals were Army and the ones on there raised some questions. Not to mention the order.

    The Claim according to POW network.

    Claims he is in the Navy and he is originally from the Virginia Beach/ Norfolk area but currently resides in Madison, Virginia. Claimed that he would be stationed in Norfolk then he said he was going to move to Spain then he said he had a choice between going to California, Florida, and Hawaii. All of the sudden he could not go to Hawaii because his commanding officer, a lieutenant, was arrested and he was promoted to lieutenant. Then he could remain living in Madison because he got a job at the Pentagon working for the CIA. Now, he does not have to go to active duty because he is using his GI bill to get his college degree.

    According to his myspace page he is 33 years old and he could have possibly earned the Southwest Asian Service Medal. But were the Campaign Star, every medal should have at least one. Also how can one who is suppose to be a former NCO in the Army and Navy mess up in putting a decoration after the service medals and the NCO Professional Development Ribbon. Just about everything is in the wrong order. Also the lack of a GWOT medal and Star on the National Defense Medal also stands out.

    Also this is were I wondering from those who are in the Navy/Marine side. What medals/ribbons would someone have after coming over from other Branches. Also is there any medals/ribbons that the Navy does not allow to transfer over to the Navy Uniform? Also I have a question about keeping rank coming from other Branches.

    Non-Navy Veterans

    If the Veteran holds a skill that is directly covertable to a Navy Rating, they are usually enlisted at one paygrade lower than they held at time of discharge, but not lower than E-3. If the veteran does not have a skill directly covertable to a Navy rating, they enlist at the grade of E-3, regardless of previously held rank, in most cases (there are a few exceptions).

    For those who hold a skill that is directly convertable to a Navy Rating, the following criteria must be met:

    * E-1 through E-3 –Must have 6 or less years of prior service, and no more than 5 Years Broken Service.

    * E-4 –Must have 6 or less years of prior service, and no more than 3 Years Broken Service.

    * E-5 -Must have 8 or less years of prior service, and no more than 3 Years Broken Service.

    * E-6 – Must have 12 or less years of prior service, and no more than 3 Years Broken Service.

    In addition to the above criteria, all prior service must be able to complete 20 years of service by age 55. No waivers are authorized.

    The Device on the Good Conduct Medal suggest 6 years + and with the regs it again could be possible. But I am not so sure. Also I found a list of Petty Officers second class with the name of the person showing up under a section called Ati2 I have not been able to find anything on what that means. I was hoping to see one someone might know.

    I suspect a fake but I am not 100% sure yet, that is the reason why I have not put up his name or photo. I emailed his wife and asked similar questions about the medals and ribbons so I hope to get a reply soon.

    ADDED:
    I have some new info that says that he joined the Navy in 2003 and left the Navy in about 2009. So that brings into question were are the Navy Good Conduct medals, Marksmanship ribbons and GWOT service medal.

    He goes from giving good conduct in the Army to not getting a single Good Conduct medal in the Navy? Or not going to a rifle range in six years? Plus no one telling him about the GOWT medal?

    Now his wife is claiming that the medals that he is wearing are from a late family member that served 20 years in the military. He was just wearing them to “honor” her.

  • Japan’s Saving Private Ryan.

    Since most of the recent post have been about current events, so I thought a change of pace with military history in entertainment media which brings us to this movie. I found about this movie from a clip on youtube. Otoko Tachi no Yamato that was made in 2005 and was never released outside Japan. But from what I have watched so far looks really good. Here is a quick review to get a general idea of what is going on in the next video.

    Makiko Uchida arrives in a southern Japanese port hoping to find a boat that will take her to the final resting place of the Battleship Yamato on the 60th anniversary of its sinking. She is rebuffed by all until she reveals to Katsumi Kamio that she is the daughter of Petty Officer Uchida. Kamio is surprised for he thought unlike himself, Uchida had been lost when the Yamato was besieged and sunk on April 7, 1945 by American aircraft which prevented its fulfilling a final suicide mission against the American fleet battling to capture Okinawa. Kamio and Uchida were part of a close set of comrades that proudly and bravely served on board this, the largest battleship ever constructed. He agrees to journey with Makiko with only the help of Atsushi, a 15 year old deckhand. As he pilots the way throughout the rough 15 hour journey Kamio reminiscences about life aboard the Yamato during the war and also about the sailor’s mothers and girlfriends left back home.

    This is the trailer. A recommend for anyone interested in military history.

  • Latest message from the land of Rainbows and Unicorns.

    I really have a strong love/hate relationship with this group. On one hand I respect that while other people talk about what is going on in Afghanistan they are there and have been for quite a while. They are trying to help by talking to the population to give a connection to the people outside of Afghanistan. But that is where the respect ends.

    On the other side they have managed to do nothing productive besides making feel good videos with such generic like “Why not love”. Think Bobby Whittenberg without the anger management issues. Todays videos are no exceptions.

    To make matters worse and more insulting is that JTC has been working with people that have not only not using him as a way of finding out how to have a direct impact on Afghanistan with needed supplies and other items, but actively ignored it. Preferring to make stories about how nothing we are doing is working and indirectly giving press to the Taliban. Yes DC am talking to you on this one.

    Stop making the risk that these people are taking in vain and get a program started to see that they are not just wasting their time and health.

    Like now, yes you Rethink Afghanistan, get off your computer and do something about this.

  • Shirtless poser seeks undeserved praise (Kyle Barwan).

    Shirtless poser seeks undeserved praise (Kyle Barwan).

    I wanted to post this phony before I closed out because of what he lied and how he did it stand out from your normal faker. Meet Kyle Barwan, (listed at the bottom of the page. )

    He is claiming that he was a ” Ranger, MP, 1st Cavalry, a sniper, a First Lieutenant, and claimed to have served a tour in Iraq.”

    Also claimed that he earned a Silver Star by pulling eight guys to safety after a IED blast.

    Also he tries to act like he has been there done that on FaceBook.

    The only real problem is that he he has only been in the National Guard and was kicked out for impersonating a Officer in 2007. Oh and he is claiming that he part of ROTC and recenty went to Camp Atterberry

    Considering he did such a bang up job pretending to be Army Lieutenant do we really want him to be in charge of real troops?

    Added: Also Amy found a MySpace page that has the same info as our friend here.

    UPDATE:

    I found what was posted his Myspace account for the entry Army Sniper. Also he has another one that refers to being in Iraq.

    UPDATE November 24 2010:
    Police in Knox County are holding Kyle Barwan of Crestwood, Illinois on charges of possession of cocaine and impersonating a public servant, and even more charges may be coming.

    Yep still at it.
    http://swfs.bimvid.com/bimvid_player-3_2_7.swf?x-bim-callletters=WPSD

    Update: goes under the following names/usernames.

    Kyle Reacher, Kyle Felucifer, Klutch, Klutch_Reborn.

  • Peace with Honor Reloaded.

    Well at least people are starting to think about what happens with Afghanistan when we leave. The bad part it is just a re-visited plan used over 35 years ago.

    How to Leave Afghanistan Without Losing

    I am going to start were it goes wrong.

    In conjunction with the disengagement process, the agreement would set in motion U.N.-brokered peace negotiations. The Taliban has long demanded a disengagement timetable as the precondition for peace. Ironically, however, its emotional appeal comes primarily from its role as the standard-bearer of opposition to foreign forces. Thus, when and if the United States does present a timetable, it will be cut down to size. The Taliban will be in a strong bargaining position, but only as the dominant force in the ethnically Pashtun south and east of the country.

    The focus of peace negotiations could then be redirected from the terms for power sharing with the Taliban in Kabul to the nature and degree of the power to be ceded to the Taliban in its Pashtun strongholds.

    Yea except for one minor problem, the Taliban does not share power. Feels like a bad pun off of Lord of the Rings.

    This approach is likely to get Pakistani blessing as the best deal available under present circumstances. Islamabad’s leading strategist on Afghanistan, former Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan, suggested such a shift in focus in a Washington meeting on June 17, observing that the Taliban has “important regional influences where they should be accommodated.”He specified Khost and Paktia as examples of provinces where Taliban control might have to be accepted, and he implied that Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’s Army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, had explored such arrangements in their two Kabul meetings in early June.

    Yea, it gets better.

    The provinces under Taliban rule would have a significant stake in stable relations with Kabul as a source of foreign aid for dams, roads, and other economic infrastructure projects.

    Yea like they are doing a great job of that now.

    Afghanistan’s neighbors would be more likely to help contain the Taliban under a U.N.-brokered agreement than under wartime conditions in which they want to avoid identification with an unpopular U.S. military presence.

    Of course they are because they know the UN is not going to do a thing no mater how may times they break the agreement.

    But lets not forget the real danger, out of control Generals.

  • Responses to the Fort Hood Protests.

    Some of the responses to the Fort Hood protest Fail are worth looking at.

    This was posted over on the Rag Blog, a site I have been following for sometime now. So I wanted to highlight two posts there.

    Great story, Al, and three cheers for these courageous war resisters! This is how the war in Viet Nam was finally brought home, by the active participation and leadership from veterans and now, as significantly, from active duty family members.

    I also remember the Oakland draft protests that stopped the troop trains in, I think, 1965 Based, as are these present protests, in total solidarity with the soldiers who are being sent to die in the meat grinder of capitalism.

    We know why kids enlist. Fun, travel, adventure — and now, promises of relevant training and education in a tight, competitive employment market. For working single parents, it can be the only way to support a family. And certainly, the courts continue to channel youthful offenders to the military to get some “discipline”.

    But the so-called all-volunteer military is no more voluntary than it has ever been. In times of economic prosperity, a draft is needed to support the personnel requirements of war. In times of recession or depression, it isn’t. But we don’t have to send our military off to fight and die as oppressors. Can’t we think of useful, peaceful work that can be done here?

    Besides the obvious, has anyone even heard of these Oakland protests? If they did happen in 1965 you can see how much of a impact they really had. Very similar to the Fort Hood protests.

    The second was was to me.

    I say RIGHT ON to the veterans & military family members who took part in this blockade/protest action!!!

    @ masterspork who suggests we should be “looking into Matthis Chiroux past” I have this to say:

    In March 2008 Matthis was a soldier at the US Army’s 5 Corps in Heidelberg Germany when myself and another Vietnam vet named Darnell Summers addressed the troops during a 24 protest at the entrance to this base. I ended my speech saying:

    “To you other men and women on guard duty or listening out of the barracks windows I have this to ask: Are you going to be a sucker for the lying politicians? Are you going to be a mindless fool and obediently march off to take part in the murderous occupation of people in a foreign land who never did you any harm? Or are you going to follow the great traditions of GIs during the Vietnam War by Refusing, Resisting and Rebelling against this unjust war? The choice is your’s. Do the right thing!”

    I first directly met Matthis in April 2009 immediately following the mass anti NATO protests in France which I also took part in.

    To see a news article about his role during this 4 day protest action see:

    From these past actions; through his flag burning back in March of this year; up to his present work supporting GI Resistance Matthis appears to be following the slogan of the GI Movement during Vietnam: “MAKE YOU OWN HISTORY–OR THE MAN WILL MAKE IT FOR YOU!!”

    So once again it is more important about what he is supporting then who he is. Also this person goes by the name Dave. Does that ring a bell about who this person is?

    Also with this in mind I found a article that states that the “anti-Troop” message of the Vietnam era protesters was just a myth of the media. I wonder if when they will do that for the OIF/OEF.