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

Category: Big Pentagon

  • Carolyn Stewart; Central Command whistleblower fired for curse words

    Carolyn Stewart spoke up about intelligence at CENTCOM evaluations of the war against ISIS being based on cherry-picked intelligence and now, contrary to whistle blower regulations, she’s being canned because some special snowflake heard her say curse words, according to the Daily Beast.

    “I went to other action officers to avoid Ms. Stewart,” one witness explained to the judge, in support of the decision to reassign her.

    […]

    Stewart’s alleged cursing came at a turning point in the war in Syria and against ISIS. In August 2013, the Obama administration was considering launching strikes in Syria for crossing the self-proclaimed “red line” and deploying chemical weapons. That same month, Stewart supposedly used foul language when a subordinate wrote an incomplete report. A year later, just after the self-proclaimed Islamic State took control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, CENTCOM alleged that Stewart cursed at a subordinate for filing an overtime form incorrectly.

    OK, everyone in this crowd who qualifies for dismissal under these same conditions, raise your hands. Look around the room.

    The Defense Intelligence Agency chief of staff, the third-highest ranking member of that office, testified for hours over why she decided that a few curses could not be tolerated in an office that helped determine which suspected ISIS members should be targeted for death from above….

    Yeah, I’d like to hear that testimony. I’d like to hear why the occurrence of two usages of unsavory language can eliminate the protections written into the Code of Federal Regulations and the United States Code.

    Thanks to Chief Tango for the link

  • Operation Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal

    Operation Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal

    Operation Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal

    The Pentagon announces it’s latest bit of ribbon, the Operation Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal for folks who have served in this, our third war in Iraq;

    The award is retroactive to June 15, 2014, and is for service members based in Iraq or Syria, those who flew missions over those countries, and those who served in contiguous waters for 30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days, officials said.

    The award distinctly recognizes service members battling terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. Service members who were killed or were medically evacuated from those countries due to wounds or injuries immediately qualify for the award, as do members who engaged in combat.

    Previously, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal recognized service in Iraq and Syria, and service members in neighboring countries such as Turkey will continue to receive that award.

    […]

    The award is separate from the Iraq Campaign Medal awarded for service during operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn, officials said.

    Thanks to Bobo for the link.

  • Another armored brigade to Europe

    Another armored brigade to Europe

    Last tanks

    Just three years ago, we were talking about the last tanks to leave Germany. Since then, the Pentagon changed it’s collect mind and moved another armored brigade to Europe. The Associated Press reports that yet another brigade is going to be stationed there early next year;

    The officials said the Army will announce Wednesday that it will be sending a full set of equipment with the brigade to Europe. Earlier plans had called for the Pentagon to rotate troops into Europe, where they would have used a set of training equipment pre-positioned there.

    The new proposal would remove the pre-positioned equipment, send it to be refurbished, and allow the U.S. forces to bring more robust, modern equipment in with them when they deploy. There are about 4,500 soldiers in an armored brigade, along with dozens of heavy vehicles, tanks and other equipment.

    The picture at the top is of the last US tank to leave Europe, in case you wanted to remember. We kept troops in Europe to prevent a Soviet invasion, and as soon as we leave, the Russians become a threat again. Sort of like the situation in Iraq. While we’re certainly not the world’s policemen, but, if not us, who?

  • Women not interested in combat jobs

    Women not interested in combat jobs

    USAToday reports that few women have shown an interest in working in the combat arms that Ashton Carter and Ray Maybus worked so hard to open to them.

    As part of an experimental program, 233 women who completed Marine Corps infantry and other ground combat schools are eligible for those jobs, but none has requested a formal transfer.

    […]

    Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said opening the jobs would improve combat effectiveness because the military would draw from a larger pool of applicants for the infantry and other specialties.

    “To succeed in our mission of national defense, we cannot afford to cut ourselves off from half the country’s talents and skills,” Carter said.

    The military hopes that women will be more interested as time goes by. Yeah, i wouldn’t count on it – most men don’t want to be in combat arms jobs. I expect that the social justice warriors won’t sit still for the low participation by women and start riding the Pentagon to force women into those jobs.

    The Marine Corps said it will move women into positions within infantry battalions to help mentor female Marines who may eventually enter the units.

    The service said it is sending training teams to bases around the world to begin an initiative to help with the transition. The initiative will address issues such as “unconscious bias,” Marine Col. Anne Weinberg said.

    I have an unconscious bias about people who can’t tell me how this helps us kill more the enemy, and why they’re trying so damn hard to shove a round peg into a square hole.

    Thanks to Chief Tango for the link.

  • Losey to Hunter: “weapons carousel” was a break in the system

    Last week we talked about the system which forced elite SEAL warriors to swap out their weapons as they transitioned into and out of the battle. Fox News reports that California Congressman and Iraq War veteran Duncan Hunter interceded on behalf of the SEALs;

    Hunter, a former Marine who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he spoke late last week with Rear Adm. Brian Losey, the top officer at the Naval Special Warfare Command in San Diego. Hunter said he is satisfied with the steps taken by Losey.

    […]

    Hunter said what Losey described during their call wasn’t a weapons shortage but a “break in the system” that affected only the SEAL teams assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group One in San Diego. Weapons that service members had used in training and planned to go into combat with were effectively being impounded for cosmetic flaws and other minor issues, according to Hunter.

    Essentially, a by-the-book approach was trumping common sense. “That does not meet commander’s intent,” Hunter said. “Commander’s intent is, ‘Who cares if there is a scratch on the butt stock.’ We’re not talking about the action, or the bolt or the barrel.”

    Something is wrong with a system that forces soldiers to report deficiencies to their congressional representative in order to get an answer to their supply questions.

    Thanks to Tom L. for the link.

  • Two more officers gone; How do we get them to trust us?

    I feel some more navel gazing from the Department of Defense is on the schedule. Rear Admiral Rick Williams, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 15 watched pRon for nine hours while his sailors were training, according to the Navy Times.

    All sailors go through regular computer training, particularly before getting underway, and Williams’ story shocked many who thought he should have known better.

    “Senior naval officers, especially those in command, are expected to uphold unimpeachable personal, moral and ethical standards,” Rear Adm. Russell Allen, deputy 3rd Fleet commander, wrote in his findings of fact. “Rear Adm. Williams’ personal violation of those standards, as detailed in this investigation, suggests he may have difficulty upholding those standards in the personnel he leads.”

    So he got fired for violating a lawful order and conduct unbecoming an officer. To his credit, he admitted the violation when confronted by investigators. If you’re interested, he seemed to be looking for videos with “cuck” in the title.

    Over at the Army Times, they report that Colonel James Laughrey has been sentenced to eight years in prison for aggravated sexual abuse of a minor and for making and possessing child pRonography.

    Laughrey pleaded guilty to 10 specifications and asked to be tried by military judge alone, according to information from the Military District of Washington.

    The judge accepted Laughrey’s plea, and the prosecuting attorneys dismissed the remaining charges and specifications.

    In all, Laughrey faced up to 91 years confinement, total forfeiture of pay and allowances and dismissal.

    The judge sentenced him to eight years confinement and dismissal from the Army. Laughrey will automatically forfeit all pay and allowances because he was sentenced to more than six months confinement, officials said.

    “How do we get them to trust us?” was the question they asked each other when the services assembled a group of officers in Colorado Springs to “clean up misconduct in the ranks”. I hope there were a lot mirrors in the room during the discussion so those officers would see where the problem lies.

  • Hunter: SEALs complain about “weapons carousel”

    California Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter tells Fox News that Naval Special Warfare operatives complain to him that their personal weapons are being rotated between troops leaving and entering the combat zones. That it’s not the problem that there isn’t money enough for each SEAL to have his own weapon, but rather, it’s a case of the penny-pinching perfumed princes at the Pentagon looking for ways to afford a housekeeper or cook at their flag officer’s quarters.

    The problem isn’t a lack of money, according to Hunter. Congress has frequently boosted the budgets of special operations forces in the years since the 9/11 attacks, he said. Rifles also are among the least expensive items the military buys, leading Hunter to question the priorities of Naval Special Warfare Command, the Coronado, California, organization that oversees the SEALs.

    “There is so much wasteful spending,” he said. “Money is not reaching the people it needs to reach.”

    Yeah, well, this is not my shocked face. The people who need equipment the least are the ones who get it first. We made our first trip into Iraq in Woodland camouflage BDUs while all of the forklift drivers in the port had desert fatigues. The only way I got my troops new socks was because one of my troops was married to a woman in the support battalion. One of my infantryman walked out of both pairs of his boots and it took an IG complaint to get him a new pair while every POG in KKMC had two brand new pairs of desert boots. I guess things don’t change.

    I’d use someone else’s underwear before I’d share my rifle.

  • More US troops for Europe

    More US troops for Europe

    Last tanks

    It was just three years ago that we read about the last tanks leaving Germany because the world had changed so much that the folks in the Pentagon figured that we didn’t need a presence like that in Europe. Well, now, because the pendulum has swung back in the other direction, Pentagon planners are worried that we don’t have enough troops in Europe, according to the Military Times.

    “We do not have, in my opinion, enough U.S. forces permanently stationed forward … so I believe that the permanent forces forward need to be reviewed,” [EUCOM Commander, Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove], who also serves as NATO’s supreme commander, told reporters March 1.

    These high-level discussions at the Pentagon come amid growing worry that U.S. and NATO forces would be quickly overwhelmed in a fight against the far larger Russian force aligned along NATO’s eastern border. A recent series of classified exercises, featuring scenarios forecasting Russian military advances into Europe, is summarized in a report released in February from the RAND Corp.

    We didn’t “need” 200.000 trops and thousands of tanks and personnel carriers in Europe during the 80’s but they were there as a deterrent. Funny how when they pull the forces out, there is suddenly a threat. I guess that what’s deterrent means.