Category: Military issues

The other day, we read about Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark whose wife watched him die during a Skype conversation they were having. Tman sends a link to an Associated Press report that the family has released a statement which describes her final moments communicating with her husband;

“Clark was suddenly knocked forward,” the statement said. “The closet behind him had a bullet hole in it. The other individuals, including a member of the military, who rushed to the home of CPT Clark’s wife also saw the hole and agreed it was a bullet hole.”

The statement says the Skype link remained open for two hours on April 30 as family and friends in the U.S. and Afghanistan tried to get Clark help.

“After two hours and many frantic phone calls by Mrs. Clark, two military personnel arrived in the room and appeared to check his pulse, but provided no details about his condition to his wife,” the statement said.

The Pentagon has said the cause of Clark’s death remains under investigation.

I know the wife isn’t a CSI, but this sort of speculation should propel the Department of Defense into telling us something about CPT Clark’s death. With the steadily increasing number of green-on-blue attacks, one would think if that wasn’t the case in this particular death, DoD would tell us that isn’t the cause of CPT Clark’s death.

The other day, we discussed the wife who was notified of the death of her husband by a “friend” on Facebook. This one is a little more immediate.

The El Paso Times reports that the wife of Army Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark, 43, of Spencerport, N.Y, a nurse, says that she watched his death during their regular Skype chat Monday night. The article doesn’t give the details of his death, and neither does the DoD news release identifying him.

A statement from the family said they are waiting for results of a military investigation.

“Bruce’s wife tragically witnessed her husband’s death during one of their regular Skype video chats,” the statement said.

“At the time of the incident, the family was hoping for a rescue and miracle, but later learned that it was not to be,” according to the family’s statement.

“Although the circumstances were unimaginable, Bruce’s wife and extended family will be forever thankful that he and his wife were together in his last moments.”

I just can’t imagine…but I think the Army needs to be a little quicker to bring out the circumstances, because a nurse’s death seems a little remote in relation to the battlefield. I’m not going to speculate on the cause of the captain’s death, but it seems a little strange that the Army is taking this long.

The Marine Corps Times reports that Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, the deputy commandant for combat development and integration stated the other day that the proposed infantry training for women will match the training that men receive in the same schooling.

“It’s the same exact program of instruction a male lieutenant who’s going to go on to become an infantry officer would get — exactly the same,” Mills said of the course. “That involves a wide series of classes.”

Like their male classmates in the program, female Marines can expect ample physical training, he said. Students spend several days — and nights — in the field, making long marches while weighed down with weapons, ammunition and protective gear.

“They’ll go through the same mental and physical tasks common to the duties of the infantry platoon commander out in the fleet,” Mills said.

The article goes to say that women won’t be awarded the infantry designator or be assigned to an infantry unit because of Department of Defense restrictions – that the course is just a test program for the inevitable inclusion of women in the ranks of combat soldiers. While I applaud the Marine Corps for their preparation for the impending change in regulations, I urge them to keep the activist elements (journalists, etc…) away from the training so they don’t get to scream “Unfair!” and interfere with the test period. Those people tend to misunderstand that training is for war and everything else is bullshit.

Art sends us a link to Bloomberg which looked into reports that spies are having an easier time gathering intelligence on our secrets since universities are so careless with sensitive information;

The disclosure, which prompted a rebuke from a U.S. State Department official, came from a Georgia Institute of Technology course for federal employees and contractors on infrared technology used in weapons-aiming systems for aircraft, ships and tanks. Asked by instructor David Schmieder to copy the course onto a DVD, Georgia Tech’s media staff instead uploaded it to servers.

“I completely forgot the course’s access was restricted,” Media Quality Control Supervisor Edward Bailey told university investigators, according to documents obtained from Georgia Tech through a public-records request.

Oh, well, that’s OK. I forgot you were a pale, pointy-headed dickweed, too bad we sent your pasty ass to prison, isn’t it? Hardly a fate Bailey needs to worry about;

While export-control violators are subject to imprisonment or fines, the federal government rarely goes after universities. Rather than investigate violations, the government depends on universities to disclose them. Once they do, it usually lets them off with a warning.

Yeah, well, maybe if they started tossing these poor forgetful souls into a prison once in a while, it’d improve their memories. Make them think about Bradley Manning living in just his underwear most of the day. So much for voluntary disclosure, though;

Georgia Tech didn’t tell the State Department for almost six months about the Internet linking of the infrared-technology course. The university then sought to minimize the breach by citing an assurance from an Army official that much of the information had been approved for public release. When the official denied making this statement, Georgia Tech filed a corrected report acknowledging the mistake. Still, the State Department, which reproved Georgia Tech for “serious violations,” didn’t seek penalties.

Oh, I’m sure Georgia Tech is shaking in it’s collective boots over the fact that they were “reproved”. How about fining them several million bucks to make sure the point is made and lasting. And while you’re at it, take your federal money somewhere that does respect the regulations. Or we can just continue to arm our enemies with our secrets and get more troops killed.

The first female commandant of the drill sergeant academy at Fort Jackson, SCM Teresa King is taking legal action to get her job restored, according to the Stars & Stripes/Associated Press. We talked about it here, and the conversation sparks up every now and again over there.

Command Sgt. Maj. Teresa King still does not know what exactly her superiors were investigating when they suspended her Nov. 29, according to her attorney, James Smith. He said the Army has declined to say specifically what it was looking into, beyond a general statement that it involved her conduct.

Smith on Monday filed a legal complaint with the Army against two of King’s superiors, and wants to have King reinstated to her position. Smith is also asking South Carolina’s two senior members of Congress, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. James Clyburn, for a congressional probe of King’s treatment.

Army officials said they wanted to study the complaint first before commenting.

I can understand that she wants answers, but, I doubt that I’d try to get my job back if it meant working for the same people who fired me. Once Big Army sets their sights on you, you can’t get out of range fast enough.

[King’s deputy, SGM Robert Maggard] said that even though only one former commandant of the drill sergeant school out of about a half dozen had been deployed to a combat zone in the past, much was made of the fact that King had not been deployed in combat. Those who serve in a combat zone are allowed to put a special patch on their uniform.

Well, when you’re training the people who are training other people to go to war, it seems to me that she should have nearly broke her legs getting to a combat assignment. I’m not a big fan of sergeant majors anyway, but one who sits out more than ten years of combat in the world is kind of suspicious. that’s one reason they need to get rid of that “staff sergeant major” bullshit. lead or get out of the way.

The Stars & Stripes is reporting that the Pentagon is setting up four screenings of closed circuit TV from the trials this weekend of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his four alleged 9/11 accomplices;

Friday, the Pentagon published an order by Army Col. James L. Pohl, the chief of the Guantanamo war court, to open viewing sites for the May 5 arraignment “due to the serious nature of the crimes alleged and the historic nature of military commissions.”

All five are accused of organizing, training and funneling funds to the hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001, and could face the death penalty if convicted at trial.

So, since everything is about me, anyway, I’ve applied to the Pentagon to allow me into the screening at Fort Meade, MD, and even if they don’t let me in, the guy assured me that I’d still get an opportunity to watch it live, so, you’ll get my mostly misinformed opinion of the trial while I “live blog”. There seem to be enough lawyers among the crowd here, they’ll keep me straight, though.