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

Category: Big Army

  • A Hero Recognized

    In September 2012, over the Labor Day Weekend, a family went to the beach at Panama City Beach, Florida.

    The husband and his daughter decided to go swimming.  That turned out to be a bad move.

    Beaches in that part of Florida are beautiful, and are world-renowned.  And September is usually a very nice month.  The Gulf of Mexico is still warm, and is usually reasonably placid.

    But at times, those beaches are prone to riptides and undertows.  Those can often be strong – and sometimes are deadly.

    The man and his daughter were caught in a riptide.  They were in serious trouble.

    Fortunately, a man named Thomas Oroho was also at the beach that day, along with some professional colleagues.  He heard the distressed man’s wife call for help. He went into the potentially deadly riptide.  He swam to the two distressed swimmers and, with the assistance of two of his colleagues who also entered the ocean that day, brought them to safety.

    The name may be familiar to some of our readers who are active-duty Army Aviators.  That’s CW4 Thomas C. Oroho, US Army.  The two others who assisted him were soldiers from his unit.  Regrettably, their names are not readily available.

    CW4 Oroho was presented the Soldier’s Medal at Davidson Army Airfield on 1 November 2013 for his heroism last September.  His comments in the Army’s press release for the ceremony speak for themselves:

    “I’m overwhelmed,” Oroho said after the medal presentation. “I don’t think I did anything that any other Soldier wouldn’t have done.”

    No information is available as to what awards, if any, were granted to recognize the assistance of the two other soldiers.  Hopefully their contributions to the rescue were appropriately recognized by their chain-of-command.

    I don’t use the term “hero” lightly, especially in a nonmilitary context.  But IMO, here it’s apropos.

    Kudos to a true hero:  CW4 Thomas O. Oroho, D Company, 12th Aviation, US Army.

    Well done, Chief.  Damn well done.

     

    Note to our non-Army readers:  the term “Chief” is used in the Army as an acceptable, informal, short form of address for a Chief Warrant Officer.

  • Amid budget cuts, DoD spends on 680 “green” projects

    So, we saw earlier today that the Pentagon is slashing personnel costs and they claim that technology is the way to go in the next war – I guess what they really mean is that cuts to benefits and the number of troops is better spent on political projects like “greening” the military. From the Washington Times which uncovers 380 environmental projects;

    Among the 680 projects: 357 based on solar development, 289 based on thermal, 29 on wind and five others that haven’t been disclosed but rather labeled as “electricity generation,” The Blaze reported, citing a Defense Department document.

    The idea behind the green-energy move is to limit the United States’ reliance on overseas energy sources — a line of logic that argues such scale-backs will actually bolster America’s security.

    “The primary thing to remember about all this is that we’re not doing it to be ‘green’ people,” said Mark Wright, a spokesman for the Defense Department, in The Blaze. “We’re doing it because it reduces energy dependency, helps protect service members and costs less money. The fact that it is good for the environment is a very fortunate happenstance.”

    Well, that’s a laudable goal, indeed, but if they were serious about reducing dependency on foreign oil, the first thing they would do is put millions of Americans to work developing and refining our own energy resources rather than spending time and energy on unproven sources.

    In a link from The Blaze sent to us by Chief Tango, some experts are doubtful that the particular projects upon which the DoD is spending their share of tax payers dollars will actually produce any measurable effects;

    Nick Loris, a senior policy analyst in energy and environment with the conservative Heritage Foundation, told TheBlaze the green projects don’t add to the readiness of the U.S. military, only inhibit it.

    “This is another way to create crony capitalism where the government is using taxpayer money to fund politically preferred technologies,” Loris said. “People don’t really notice it as much if you’re greening the military, but even environmental groups are saying a lot of these things aren’t even protecting our environment, in fact they make it worse. Not only are we wasting taxpayers’ money but there is dubious environmental benefits as well.”

    And, you were worried that the Pentagon was going to waste that $770 million that they raided from our Tricare surplus.

  • Déjà vu all over again at the Pentagon

    The Stars & Stripes reports that the Pentagon has forgotten all of the lessons that they should have learned after every war of the twentieth century. They think they can cut troops and buy more technology to replace those boots that should be on the ground in the next war;

    In a speech at a Washington security forum sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Hagel signaled that one of the hard questions facing military leaders at a time of plummeting military spending — whether to retain a hefty active-duty military with older equipment and technology, or cut troop numbers and focus on modernization — has largely been answered.

    The future of the U.S. military won’t be one in which large numbers of troops grow accustomed to garrison life on major bases, he told the audience.

    Instead, to prepare for a chaotic and “historically unpredictable” future global security environment, the military must focus future spending on beefing up advanced capabilities like cyberwar, special operations, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, Hagel said.

    It’s the same policy that the Defense Department touted after WWI, WWII, Vietnam and the Gulf War and each time there was a price to paid for trying to save money by not investing in the troops and depending on technology. The price was paid in blood at Kasserine Pass and in the Pusan Perimeter. In Iraq and Afghanistan, troops transitioned under fire from the “Meals on Wheels” missions of the 90s to actual combat operations. Nothing replaces Joe Snuffy defending the ground he stands on with his battle rifle firmly held and pointed at the enemy.

    In another Stars & Stripes article, “the experts” are drawing down the pool of youngsters from which they can recruit future soldiers by slashing benefits;

    In testimony Tuesday, David Chu, former undersecretary for defense personnel, told the panel that studies have repeatedly shown that younger troops prefer bigger pay raises now to costly pension promises later. Changing those benefits could save the department billions annually.

    But he also acknowledged that’s a difficult sell.

    “Just mentioning retirement has poisoned the discussion,” he said. “Even the (troops) who likely won’t reach the 20-year retirement are worried that we’re breaking faith with them, that we’re breaking promises.”

    David Chu has been trying to slash troops’ pay and benefits since he served in the Pentagon under the Bush Administration, so I’m not surprised that he’s on a panel that plans on hacking up pay and benefits for a more receptive administration that thinks that recruiting will remain constant while they slash compensation.

    I predict that troops will soon be training with 2x4s for rifles and jeeps with “Tank” signs hanging off the sides like they did before World War II. I remember driving down Sicily Drop Zone at Fort Bragg, jumping off the back of duece-and-a-halfs to practice assembly on the drop zone because there was no money for aircraft during the Carter years.

    Still, Commission Chairman Alphonso Maldon Jr. told members Tuesday that he’s confident they can spark an important rethinking of how to better compensate troops while reigning in personnel costs.

    “We have to get this right,” he said. “We may not have another chance like this.”

    Translation: We might not get another administration willing to screw national security to the wall.

  • TRADOC wants your input on women in the Infantry

    Chief Tango sends us a link to the Army Times which reports that the Army Training and Doctrine Command wants to know what you think about women in the Infantry. I guess it’s because they’re too lazy to check all of the opinions you’ve expressed on the internet;

    The survey is meant “to identify any potential challenges associated with opening the 11 series MOS to female Soldiers,” according to the survey website.

    The Training Command Analysis Center is conducting the survey as part of its cultural gender integration study, one of two assessing the impact of integrating women into combat arms.

    The Army sent infantry soldiers a link to the survey in early October. It includes about 120 questions asking for soldiers’ opinions on whether women will be able to handle the physical demands of the job, what the impact on morale will be if women join the infantry and their opinions on whether women will expect special treatment for “female problems.”

    Apparently the survey asks questions about whether or not you’d follow orders issued by a woman. You know how to answer that one, right? I’ve had male commanders whose orders I questioned. COB6 and I can name one who tried to get us shot up by friendly fire.

    I like the Marine Corps idea better – they’re actually putting women through the paces to work out the problems rather than taking the lazy way out with a survey. But, hey, we don’t call them Big Army for nuthin’.

  • Robert Rheault, 87

    COL Robert Rheault (Ret), US Army, passed away on 16 October 2013.

    COL Rheault’s name may ring a bell.  He was commander of the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam in 1969, and oversaw (among many other things) Project GAMMA – at the time of the “Green Beret Affair”.   The resulting scandal ended his career.

    I won’t comment further, except to say that – if reported accounts are accurate, as they seem almost certainly to be – I can’t condone what happened and Rheault’s apparent participation.  I can certainly understand it, though.

    No intent here to either lionize or criticize the man.  I just thought his passing merited mention.

  • Last jump

    Kevin sends us a link to Clarksville Online which reports that F Company, 5th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault,) Pathfinders has conducted their last parachute jump. the unit is coming off of jump status. For the uninitiated, Pathfinders are the fellas who mark drop zones and landing zones for aerial assets such as other paratroopers and helicopter-borne forces, mostly behind enemy lines. Taking away their ability to be inserted by parachute takes a tool out of their kit.

    Airborne insertion is only one way our skills can be delivered, said Beville. We can air assault in, which gives us the most exact delivery, but when that’s not possible we can jump, truck or ruck our way in to where we need to be. Jumping is, by far, our most discrete method. Being able to get into an area quietly is often instrumental in not kicking the hornets’ nest.

    I’m not sure what the Army is thinking, or if they’re even thinking, but having a bunch of leg pathfinder companies seems pretty useless to me. It’s like a transportation company in which no one has driver’s licenses. Or something. The next time the 101st needs Pathfinders to mark a landing zone in enemy territory, like they did in Desert Storm, deep in Iraq, I hope the enemy understands and doesn’t hinder them driving to the landing zone. Or they ignore the first helicopters carrying the Pathfinders to site.

  • The rush from readiness

    The Army Times reports that the Army is accelerating their draw down by two years. It will result in the elimination of 10 more brigade combat teams (BCTs).

    What was supposed to be a four-year process to cut the Army’s end strength by as many as 80,000 soldiers, inactivate 10 BCTs and reorganize the remaining BCTs will now be compressed into two years, officials said.

    “The impact of sequestration in [fiscal 2013], coupled with the threat of continued sequestration levels of funding, is forcing the Army to implement significant reductions to end-strength, readiness and modernization in order to generate short-term cost savings,” Col. Daniel King, a spokesman for Forces Command, said in a statement. “We are accelerating the downsizing of the Army’s active component end-strength to 490K by FY15 instead of FY17. Additionally, we will maintain a certain number and mix of units at a higher level of readiness to meet contingency requirements.”

    Do they realize that there’s still a war going on? I guess the hippies finally got their wish. I hope our future enemies take this into consideration when they attack us.

    There’s a list of the BCTs to be eliminated at the Army Times link if you want to see if the unit you served with got the axe.

  • Time running out for new ink

    Remember when the threat of new gun control laws cleared off shelves of firearms and ammunition earlier this year? Well, the same principle applies to new Army regulations forbidding certain tattoos according to The (Raleigh) News & Observer as soldiers line up to get their “grandfathered” ink before the new Army regulations kick in in the next few weeks.

    Somehow, the impending restriction is related to the supposed end of the wars in the Middle East;

    With that war over and cuts in troop strength expected as the United States withdraws from Afghanistan next year, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler said last month a new, stricter policy is in the works and could take effect in 30 to 60 days.

    Current soldiers who have tattoos that violate the new regulations would be “grandfathered,” but new recruits would have to remove skin art that stretches onto the extremities before they would be allowed to join.

    The changes have created a tick in business at some of the two dozen or so tattoo shops in Fayetteville whose customers include soldiers at Fort Bragg.

    I guess people with tattoos can’t kick doors down and can’t hump their rucks up and down the gently rolling terrain of Fort Bragg. They probably can’t shoot straight either. Or pick up pine cones. So, CSA SMA Chandler is doing the same thing for the tattoo business surrounding military communities that the gun control people did for the firearm business.