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

Category: Big Pentagon

  • Petraeus’ stars on the chopping block?

    Petraeus’ stars on the chopping block?

    According to the Daily Beast, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter may be considering a reduction in rank for General David Petraeus to Lieutenant General (three stars) because of his flirtation with malfeasance in regards to Paula Broadwell, his extra-curricular activity while he commanding troops in the war against terror and she was, ostensibly, writing his biography. Carter considering the reduction in rank is supposed to send a message to flag officers to rein in their bad behavior;

    “The secretary is considering going in a different direction” from the Army, a defense official told The Daily Beast, because he wants to be consistent in his treatment of senior officers who engage in misconduct and to send a message that even men of Petraeus’s fame and esteemed reputation are not immune to punishment.

    Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook told The Daily Beast that Carter had requested the information ex-Army Secretary John McHugh had when he made his recommendation on the matter, before reaching a final decision. McHugh had recommended taking no action against Petraeus.

    Well, if the goal is to send a message, I doubt it will work. If a four-star general doesn’t know that an extra-marital affair could get him in trouble, there is a failure of the system. In addition to dipping his pen in the company ink, he also lost control of classified information – there is no cure for stupid. But, yeah, take his rank, cut his pension, cut the pensions of all of those flag officers, while you’re at it, whether they did something bad or not. Might as well cut the pensions of retired Congress people, too.

    According to Pentagon figures, a four-star general with roughly the same years of experience as Petraeus was entitled to receive a yearly pension of nearly $220,000. A three-star officer would receive about $170,000.

    Yeah, it won’t balance the budget, but I doubt he’ll miss the money.

    Thanks to Kristoffer for the link.

  • Military bands and entertainment groups on chopping block

    Military bands and entertainment groups on chopping block

    Bobo sends us a link to the Stars & Stripes which reports that the Pentagon has found $500 million/year that they can slash from their budgets – the money allocated for their bands and their entertainment groups, like the Air Force’s Tops in Blues and the Army Soldier Show. The Army has cancelled it’s Operation Rising Star tour, it’s version of American Idol, as well.

    The Defense Department is set to spend around $1.5 billion on bands and other entertainment programs across the military branches, the Fiscal Times has reported.

    Other Army units are also seeing their bands disappearing. The Army announced last month that the 40-member 392nd Army Band, in Fort Lee, Va., will be reduced to a dozen soldiers in 2016 as part of the Army’s overall budget cuts.

    Warrant Officer Kevin L. Pick, the band director, told the local Progress-Index newspaper that the band, once an integral part of the community and on track to play 500 dates between 2015 and 2016, will end. “It will be a shock,” Pick said.

    All told, nearly 200 Army band member positions are being eliminated Army-wide, with cuts planned for the the U.S. Army Signal Corps Band based at Fort Gordon, Ga.; The 98th Army “Silver Wings” Band based at Fort Rucker, Ala.; and the 113th Army Band based at Fort Knox, Ky., the Army has announced.

    Well, I’d rather see these kinds of cuts instead of cuts to the A-10 Warthog program. Now, if they can see their way clear to cut staffs at the Pentagon and put some of those people back on the lines.

  • DoD Creates the R(EMF) Device

    As TAH reader D indicated in his comments to a recent article, DoD has completed a comprehensive review of military awards and decorations policies.   A summary listing all the changes to be made as a result of the review can be found here..

    Most of them seem to make at least some sense.  However, one of them rather “jumped out” at me when I saw that summary.  Check out this change, which apparently will be implemented PDQ (emphasis added):

    Remote Operations

    19. As the impact of remote operations on combat continues to increase, the necessity of ensuring those actions are distinctly recognized grows. Accordingly,the Department will create a “R” device that may be affixed to non-combat performance awards to specifically recognize remote but direct impact on combat operations.

    20. The Department will adopt a common definition of “Direct Impact on Combat Operations” for purposes of recognizing remote impacts on combat operations through award of the “R” device.

    If you’re thinking that sounds kinda familiar . . . well, if you’re a longtime TAH reader it should.  Take a look at this article from somewhat over 2 1/2 years ago.

    Yep.  Looks like DoD is implementing my recommendation, whether they realize it or not.

    The 5-sided asylum can give the “R” device whatever formal title they like.  But whatever they call it, I claim the vernacular/common slang “naming rights” to it.  It’s the REMF device.

  • “Red Line”, Eh?

    Former SECDEF Hagel is in the news again.  And this time, it looks like he’s talking about his former boss.

    In a recent interview, Hagel claims that he gave the OK in 2013 to plans for a strike on Syria – on Damascus, specifically.  Hagel indicates he OKed those plans on 30 August 2013, after Assad’s forces had apparently used chemical weapons. The POTUS had very publicly previously indicated that use of chemical weapons by Assad was a “red line” that would result in US action.

    Hagel claims, point blank, that the POTUS overruled him later that day, while forces were standing by awaiting orders to execute.

    Here’s what the Administration had to say in reply:

    A senior administration official defended the decision to Foreign Policy, saying Obama was not prepared to take military action without consulting Congress first – and the diplomatic deal that had Assad relinquish his weapons resulted in a Syria “free of its chemical weapons program.”

    Pure bullsh!t. The current Occupant, 1600 Penn Ave, Wash DC, and his enablers didn’t give a hoot in hell about Congressional authorization for the use of force when we conducted military operations against the government of Libya in 2011 – nor did they comply with the War Powers Act’s requirements for Congressional notification as the operation dragged on. The Administration’s claim here nothing but a transparently obvious attempt at spin. Nor do I believe for one minute that Syria has given up 100% of their chem weapons, either.

    Fox News has a longish article about Hagel’s claims. Regardless of what you think of Hagel, this one’s probably worth reading.

  • Jenny North on women in combat arms

    Our friends at Victory Girls Blog published a commentary from Jenny North, a female Marine officer who has spent some time training male and female Marines. She writes about her experiences as company XO at Support Company (Medical Rehabilitation Platoon and Physical Conditioning Platoon);

    Support Company was the place where recruits were sent if they were unfortunate enough to have an injury during training, or they needed to improve their physical conditioning in order to keep up with training. Males and females maintained separate platoons and each had their respective same sex drill instructors. At Support Company, males and females frequently trained together and of course all drill instructors, whether female or male had the power to correct, and instruct, any recruit of any sex.

    […]

    Something that has always struck me as I remember my female recruits, and my female drill instructors, was how small in general they all were. I often wondered why did the Marines attract all these tiny little girls? It was a question I got a lot myself as I too was only 5’4”, and I was quiet – not a stereotype you would peg to become a Marine.

    […]

    These females…took on manly challenges and found ways to be successful, even when they might not have the brute strength to muscle through.

    I will agree with Ms. North. I trained women when I taught ROTC at the University of Vermont and as a TAC NCO at Advanced Camp, and although women were physically at a disadvantage when competing with men, they didn’t lack heart. Ms. North continues that women do seem to suffer from physical injuries more than men, mostly because of their “hearts” – they want to succeed with their male peers, but sometimes the simple mechanics of their bodies get in the way. Ms. North advocates fixing the promotion system more than integration of males with females in combat arms, which makes just too much sense. The Social Justice Warriors will never admit that women aren’t the equal of men through no fault of their own. Blame nature, but don’t needlessly put lives on the line.

  • Carter opens all military specialties to women

    Carter opens all military specialties to women

    Jerry920 sends us a link to the Associated Press which reports that Ashton Carter, the Secretary of Defense has directed the service chiefs to open all military occupational specialties to the fairer sex, you know, despite the push back that he got from some of them.

    The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, former Marine Corps commandant, had argued that the Marines should be allowed to keep women out of certain front-line combat jobs, citing studies showing that mixed-gender units aren’t as capable as all-male units. Carter’s decision was a rejection of that argument.

    Carter’s order will let women serve in the military’s most grueling and difficult jobs, including as special operations forces, such as the Army Delta units and Navy SEALs, according to the defense official.

    The decision comes after several years of study, and will wipe away generations of limits on how and where women can fight for their country.

    Yeah, several years of study that was wasted, because we all knew how it was going to end regardless of the results of the studies. Now we can waste more money to make the social justice warriors happy – the same social justice warriors who aren’t the least bit interested in occupying those jobs themselves.

    So, when are Carter and the others going to answer my question – how will this help us kill more enemy and win wars?

  • McCain: Army misfires on pistol purchase and Marines buy the M4

    McCain: Army misfires on pistol purchase and Marines buy the M4

    The Army replaced the venerable M1911 handgun with the M9 about 30 years ago. I remember when it happened. Now, they’re considering making a change to the handgun that soldiers will carry into combat, but Senator John McCain says that the process is needlessly complicated adding a cost to the gun that the Army will eventually pick up according to the Washington Times;

    “The Army’s effort to buy a new handgun has already taken 10 years and produced nothing but more than 350 page[s of] requirements micromanaging extremely small unimportant details and Byzantine rules and processes the Army wants followed, many of which are unnecessary or anticompetitive,” he said.

    Mr. McCain said the excess paperwork is adding $50 in cost per-gun, or about $15 million “wasted on paperwork and bureaucracy.”

    I don’t know what the problem could be – some units already have handguns other than the M9, why they can’t make their choice from a combat proven platform is beyond me. Of course, I was mad when they went from the 1911 to the M9, so what do I know?

    Meanwhile, the Marine Corps has decided that they’ll make the M4 their standard battle rifle, according to the Marine Corps Times;

    Commandant Gen. Robert Neller has signed off on the switch making the M4 the primary weapon for all infantry battalions, security forces and supporting schools no later than the end of September 2016, according to an internal memo released by Lt. Gen. Ronald Bailey, deputy commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations via the Automated Message Handling System.

    […]

    “We found out that the M4 actually outshoots the A4 at all ranges out to 600 meters with the new ammunition,” [Chris Woodburn, a retired lieutenant colonel who now serves as the deputy Maneuver Branch head for the Fires and Maneuver Integration Division of Marine Corps Combat Development Command] said, referring to the 5.56mm AB49 Special Operations Science and Technology cartridge the Corps is looking to make the standard.

    Of course, many Marines were using the bolt action 1903 while they were fighting the Japanese in the Pacific and Army units were using the semi-automatic M1 Garand. the Marines hate change, I guess.

  • House to approve defense bill that Obama will veto

    House to approve defense bill that Obama will veto

    Fox News is reporting that Congress is set to approve their defense spending bill for next year, however, the White House is set to veto it, mostly because it busts spending caps while Congress will not do the same for non-defense spending. The bill funds the Defense Department through the Overseas Contingency Operations portion, which is not subject to spending caps

    The argument is whether Congress should break through spending caps when it comes to defense, but adhere to them for domestic agencies. Obama and his Democratic supporters say no. Republicans, citing global threats around the world, say yes.

    […]

    Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters on Wednesday that he wants Obama to veto it.

    “Attempts to evade the question of overall fiscal responsibility with the so-called OCO gimmick … is objectionable to me and to others in other agencies, and I think ought to be to the taxpayer, and certainly to the warfighter,” Carter told reporters.

    Yeah, well, our withdrawal from our leadership role in the world has created several crises throughout the world from Africa to Afghanistan. Our mishandling of the war against ISIS, al Qaeda, the Taliban has a cost in dollars as much as a cost in blood. Congress and the White House have been hacking away at the defense budget so much so that we can’t afford to have our Navy at sea to protect our interests. Do I need to mention throwing billions at a fighter that probably won’t be able to fire it’s round at the enemy for another 5 years? You know, in spite of the fact that we’re at war.

    They’ve raided the veterans’ healthcare surplus while jacking up our healthcare costs without blinking an eye. That 1.3% pay raise for the troops is below the projected inflation rate. Both the White house and the Congress has been shooting craps with the defense budget and gambling away our national security and this is the first attempt by either to correct that shortfall.

    You know what? No other department of the Government, or office of Congress, has sacrificed a penny to balance the budget except the Defense Department. And no other department of the government has handed the President as many successes as the Defense Department and this is how he thanks them – using them as a political tool to continue his legacy.