Category: Army News

Back in July, the media and the Army celebrated Erika Lopez, from Tennessee, when she enlisted to be the first woman to become a combat engineer.

[Knoxville Army recruiter] Sgt. 1st Class Charles Ellis [said] “She was very excited about it she said ‘Hey that’s what I want to do’. She came into the army to better herself and set the example for her family.”

Sgt. Ellis knew her decision was unique, but for Erika, the magnitude of it didn’t set in until later. “It makes me feel really excited that no woman has ever done it before.”

Lopez was a mother of two boys, one was born when she was 16 years old. She shipped in September, and went to basic training, but she must have somehow injured herself during training, because she was on convalescent leave by the end of the year. According to the updated story, sent to us by Bobo, she was supposed to report back from leave on January 4th, but she was a no-show.

Spokesperson Tiffany Wood issued a statement saying, “After 30 days in an AWOL status, a Soldier is considered a deserter and a
federal warrant is issued for his or her arrest. ”

Wood says once Private Erika Lopez is arrested she’ll be taken to the nearest military installment and handed over to military police.

So, she’ll be a deserter in the morning. Another historical moment for the social justice warriors.

According to the Washington Times, a missing inert Hellfire missile that was shipped, ostensibly, to Europe for training instead reappeared in Cuba and US officials aren’t sure how that happened.

According to the report, the missile was inert and U.S. officials don’t fear that Cuba could build Hellfire missiles on its own. But, while the U.S. doesn’t yet know what Cuba did with the missing missile, some of the sensors and guidance equipment could have been shared with U.S. adversaries.

U.S. officials also don’t know whether the mistake was merely an innocent shipping error, or something nefarious.

“Did someone take a bribe to send it somewhere else? Was it an intelligence operation, or just a series of mistakes? That’s what we’ve been trying to figure out,” one U.S. official told the Journal.

Since there is a boycott on stuff we ship to Cuba, especially military hardware, it’s logical to imagine that it wasn’t an error, but that it was done intentionally. BBC tells the tale of the circuitous trip taken by the missile;

Quoting sources close to the investigation, the Wall Street Journal said that the missile had been shipped to Spain in early 2014 to be used in a Nato training exercise.

It was then taken through Spain and Germany and eventually to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris where it was to be shipped back to Florida.

However, it was instead loaded on to an Air France flight to the Cuban capital, Havana.

Bobo sends us a link to The Army Times which reports that the Army is asking the troops about uniform changes, you know, because there isn’t enough crap going on in the world, you should be worried about a new Army Regulation 670-1, too. I know that the troops rejected that hideous “Ike jacket” thing once, but it’s back – I guess someone with stars really likes the idea, so they’re going to put it to a vote one more time. It’s not like the Army isn’t listening;

The survey has already led to one change: Soldiers are now allowed to wear black socks when they’re doing PT.

That’s why you have that private in your PT formation dressed like a 70-year-old retiree on vacation in Florida. Maybe they should put a “Members Only” collar on that Ike jacket to complete the look. More useless, pointless ideas;

Eliminating the female drill sergeant hat, with all soldiers instead wearing a single campaign hat.
Going to a single blue service cap, or “bus driver cap,” for male and female soldiers to wear with the Army Service Uniform,
Requiring senior noncommissioned officers and higher to wear the blue service cap, instead of the beret, while in the Army Service Uniform.
Changes to the fit and material of the white shirt for the Army Service Uniform.

I’m thinking that they should put those people who come up with these ideas back to work doing something useful, like giving them a rifle and train them to do something related to killing our nation’s enemies. By the way, that Ike jacket is absolutely hideous and it won’t do anything but keep the PX tailors busy.

After a particularly bloody pillow fight a few weeks ago, officials at the US Military Academy has forbidden the traditional Plebe pillow fight for first year students, according to USAToday;

First-year students, or “plebes,” organize the annual fight to help the group bond after a summer of intense training.

The event, which appears to have been held almost every year since 2001, was particularly violent this time. In one case, a cadet was hit from behind and knocked unconscious, according to a West Report report of the incident. He was given first aid by a cadet who was a certified Emergency Medical Technician.

Other injuries included a broken nose and a fractured cheek. A photograph posted on Twitter showed a cadet wearing a helmet and body armor with blood pouring from his nose and mouth.

I’m sure the plebes can find another way to “bond”, you know, like Army training. Push ups always bind me to my friends. If pillow fights are too violent for the freshmen, maybe they need to find another endeavor anyway.