Category: Big Pentagon

The Washington Post print as facts some stupid report from the Pentagon which is based on pure speculation. Take this paragraph for example;

Statistics released Monday show that 6,172 sexual assaults were reported in fiscal 2016, up from 6,083 in 2015 and 6,131 in 2014, the report said. The figures include everything from groping to rape, and is still believed to represent progress because a Pentagon survey found that the frequency with which a sexual assault victim reports an attack has increased from about 1 in 14 in 2006 to about 1 in 3 last year. That ratio was about 1 in 4 the year before.

How do they know that the frequency that victims report sexual battery has improved? I mean, if it’s not reported, how does anyone know that it happened at all? It’s because of a survey;

The Pentagon arrived at its findings both by compiling sexual assault reports and carrying out a survey in which more than 150,000 of the Defense Department’s 1.2 million men and 227,000 women responded. The survey found that about 14,900 sexual assaults of some kind occurred in 2016, down from about 34,000 in 2006.

Everyone always tells the truth in surveys. How many of those surveyed were in the military eleven years ago?

And there’s this gem;

Women remain at a greater risk of sexual assault in the military because about 85 percent of the force is made up of men….

I suppose that all men tend to commit sexual assault, so if we recruit more women into the military, that will tilt the scales in their favor.

It’s not the military culture that causes sexual assault, it’s the popular culture that worships at the alter of the mistreatment of women. I’ll wager that women in the military are safer than they would be if they were on a college campus – and less than 50% of college students are men.

I guess the social justice warriors in the Pentagon want to prove their value to the bureaucrats.

Thanks to Chief Tango for the link.

According to Fox News and BBC, they’ve uncovered more photo-sharing websites besides the now-defunct Marines United Facebook page which reportedly posted photos of female servicemembers in various stages of undress. From Fox News;

Male service members from all military branches have been sharing nude photos of women on an anonymous website called Anon-IB, BBC reported Friday.

The servicemen allegedly post photographs of clothed female colleagues and ask anyone on the message board if they have any “wins” – the term used for nude photos, according to BBC.

“Any wright patt wins? I’ll start off with some,” one anonymous user posted on the message board, referring to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

From BBC;

Although the Marines United Facebook group has now closed, there are at least half a dozen similar groups or sites, Marine officials told CBS News.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is due to hold a hearing on the issue next week.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has launched an investigation and has asked whistleblowers to come forward with information.

From CBS News;

CBS News has learned the investigation has spread to all branches of the military.

The website titled Anon-IB first gained notoriety for publishing nude photos of celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence. But it also contains a message board for military personnel where men from all branches of the military exchange comments and nude photos of female service members, sometimes identifying them by name and/or duty station.

Maybe they can bring back Marty Dempsey and he can teach the Pentagon how they can look the other way.

Thanks to Mick for the links.

The Daily Caller reports that Chairman of the House Committee on Armed Services Mac Thornberry told the media that Defense Secretary James Mattis is having trouble rebuilding the military because of Obama holdovers;

“I am concerned that … to fix these problems [it] is going to take a lot more money, and yet a lot of the folks who are coming up with the budget to fix them are the same people who have been fighting every step of the way against our efforts to fix these problems,”

[…]

Thornberry emphasized that Mattis can’t solve the problem by himself, and that the slow process of filling defense roles at the Pentagon is preventing the Trump administration from fulfilling its promise to rebuild the military. He also said the issue goes beyond budgets, and that the U.S. has a moral obligation to support the troops.

That’s no surprise, and it’s why Mattis was hired for the job. I expect Mattis to erect gallows in the Pentagon parking lot. Or guillotines.

It’s the way things work; the Left dismantles the defense structure so they can feel good about themselves hoping that the Right will rebuild it.

Thanks to Mick for the link.

A couple of readers are excited that they might be able to shop at the Military Exchange system on line soon. From Military.com;

After two years of study and debate, the Department of Defense has made a policy change, effective next November, to allow 16 million honorably discharged veterans to shop online for discounted military exchange products.

Peter K. Levine, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, signed a memorandum Wednesday announcing the benefit expansion, effective Veterans’ Day Nov. 11, and giving Congress the required 30 days’ notice before actions begin to implement the plan.

Months of preparation are needed to make e-shopping portals more robust and to allow the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) time to create software for verifying veterans’ status using Department of Veterans Affairs records.

It’s really not that big of a deal. Area Exchange managers raise their prices to match those outside the gates of military bases – the only real benefit is that instead of paying state taxes, you’re paying the same amount to support the Morale and Welfare funds, or UPS. It’s not the PX/BX that you remember. It’s really just another way that the Pentagon can rake in veterans’ money.

The only reason I ever shopped there was to screw O’Malley out of tax revenue in Maryland.

According to AFP the Pentagon is reconsidering the way it will recoup Iraq War bonuses from National Guard troops. You’ll remember that initially it was a situation where troops had to prove their innocence after the bonuses were recovered and about 17,000 Guardsmen were targeted to be involved in the process;

About 1,000 soldiers will have to present their case and argue over whether their debt should be forgiven.

“Most of the cases in which we’ll be recouping will actually be cases in which the soldiers did not fulfill their commitment,” Levine said.

“There will be some cases in which we have fraud or evidence of fraud or knowledge or should’ve known.

“But most of the cases in which we’ll be recouping, we will be recouping because the soldier didn’t fulfill their commitment.”