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

Category: Military issues

  • Tell Me Again Why We’re Involved?

    During the last two months, there have been armed clashes between two Syrian rebel factions on the northern outskirts of Aleppo.  The area is contested territory, and apparently both factions want to possess it.

    One of the groups is called Fursan al Haq, or “Knights of Righteousness”. They previously controlled the territory, but in February were displaced by “Syrian Democratic Forces” that moved into the area from the east.

    This wasn’t an isolated occurrence, either.  Similar clashes have been reported earlier this month in the town of Azaz, and in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood.

    Here’s the “punch line”:  Fursan al Haq is backed – an armed – by the CIA.  The Syrian Democratic Forces?  They’re backed and armed by the Pentagon.

    Yeah, you read that correctly.  Two of the Syrian rebel groups the US has backed to oppose Assad are currently fighting each other instead.

    Sheesh.  When the factions we back start fighting each other, you really have to wonder if we’re backing the right groups – or if we even have a freaking clue about what’s really going on in Syria.

    As I’ve said repeatedly:  perhaps Syria is indeed a case of, “Better the Devil you know . . . than the Devil you don’t.”  IMO, other than countering Da’esh and its allies we have “no dog in the fight” in the Syrian Civil War.  And had we not involved ourselves in Syria, I suspect Assad’s regime would have done a much better job taking care of Da’esh and its allies than we’ve done so far – at least in Syrian territory.

    This article from The Virginian-Pilot gives more details.  IMO it’s worth a read.

  • Air Force Security guards investigated for drugs

    Air Force Security guards investigated for drugs

    90 mw002

    According to the Associated Press, fourteen members of the security force guarding nukes at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming are being investigated for illegal drug activity.

    [General Robin Rand, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command], speaking by telephone from his headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, said the 14 airmen under investigation range in rank from Airman 1st Class to Senior Airman and are members of the security group at F.E. Warren that is responsible for securing the missile fields and convoys that move nuclear weapons.

    Rand said the 14 are accused of off-duty drug “activity,” which he refused to further define. He said the allegations were “credible.”

    None of the folks involved were officers in charge of the readiness of the 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles, but they were part of the security force. Privates will always do private shit no matter how much money they make, I guess.

  • 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.

  • Military Times’ poll of the troops

    Military Times’ poll of the troops

    The Military Times has published a poll they did of less than a thousand military voters (as well as from the the Reserve and Guard) and published it under a headline that announces that the military supports Trump and Sanders.

    Troops and Trump

    The article mentions the fact that retired Marine General James Mattis got a single write-in vote.

    Broken down by services, a majority of those polled in the Marines and the Army support a Trump candidacy by about 30% each, and the majority of voters in the Navy and Air Force support Sanders. It generally illustrates how the military is just a mirror image of the general public.

    If this poll affects anything in the election, it should influence Hillary Clinton to drop out – she does poorly among all members of the military, across all of the services, despite her name recognition. That’s not surprising given her own well-known dislike for members of the military, the troops only return those feelings.

  • Ending the 20-Year Military Retirement: Buyer’s Remorse?

    Jonn’s written previously here at TAH about that new military retirement plan the current       gang of fools and tools running the show in DC       Administration      conned Congress into passing        convinced Congress to approve.  The bottom line:  the former 20 year military retirement plan goes away, effective for people entering in 2018, in favor of a “blended” plan much like Federal civilian employees have today. (Ask most Federal civilians how much of a “good deal” the current Federal retirement system is compared to its predecessor, CSRS – which was somewhat similar to the military’s 20 year retirement. But you might want to be prepared to get an earful at high volume when you do so.)

    A major criticism of the “new plan” before it was approved was that it made early service too lucrative, and that this would lead more troops to bolt early  – resulting in a loss of experience/expertise. Well, guess what:  the Pentagon apparently is now having second thoughts for precisely that reason.

    In this year’s Defense Budget Request, DoD has proposed modifications to the changes implemented just last year.  Bottom line is that the newest proposed changes are designed to keep people in the service by making later service more attractive than earlier.

    Gee.   Seems to me that’s kinda exactly what the 20 year retirement did.  Except IMO it did it much better than either this new “blended system” or the latest changes DoD proposes to same will.

    But heaven forbid DoD admit it goofed and backtrack, even when it makes perfect sense to do so.  Just look at the F-35!

    The Army Times IMO has an article giving an overview of the Pentagon’s latest proposed changes.  It’s a bit longish, and the overall situation is somewhat complex.  But if you have interest it’s certainly worth a read.

  • Bergdahl Court-Martial On Hold

    It appears that Bergdahl’s court-martial is now on hold.

    Bergdahl is facing court-martial for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.  His defense team has asserted that they need access to certain classified materials to defend Bergdhal.  The prosecution disputes this.

    The trial judge granted Bergdahl’s defense be given access.  However, the prosecution has appealed this decision to a higher military court.  We’re now awaiting that appeals court decision – and everything else is on hold until that decision is announced.

    As Political Insider notes here, the defense’s assertion is bull regarding the charge of desertion. Proving the specific form of desertion with which Bergdahl is charged merely requires proving that he absented himself to avoid hazardous duty. Leaving post without authorization in a combat zone to go AWOL constitutes exactly that, and proving that is simple – he either did or he did not absent himself. Nothing classified about that, and nothing classified needed to defend the case.

    Bergdahl’s legal team may or may not need access to classified materials in order to defend him against the charges of misbehavior before the enemy. Depending on precisely what evidence or theory the prosecution plans to present to prove that charge, the defense could indeed need access to classified information to defend.

    However, I think it’s far more likely that this is a classic instance of graymail. My guess is that the defense team is merely trying to prevent the public from finding out just how badly Bergdahl behaved while enjoying Thursdays with the Taliban and/or the Haqqani Network. Doing so might be necessary to preserve future book deals and such. So they’re requesting info to material that’s highly classified and hoping that the government flatly refuses to comply and the judge pitches the case.

    Stay tuned.

  • Today’s shocker; women oppose being required to register for the draft

    Today’s shocker; women oppose being required to register for the draft

    The Hill reports that Rasmussen Reports took a poll and found that 52% of women oppose being forced to register for the Selective Service. But 61% of men said that it’s only fair.

    Voters in surveys for years have supported women in the military being allowed to fight on the front lines and perform all the combat roles that men do. Women are more enthusiastic about this than men are.

    Thirty-six percent (36%) of men think the United States should have a military draft, a view shared by just 21% of women. Men are also more supportive of requiring U.S. citizens to spend one year in public service.

    Voters under 40 oppose a military draft more than their elders do. These younger voters, the ones who would be drafted if a draft was reinstated, are slightly less supportive of making women register as well.

    Well, it’s probably not that much of a shocker at all. It’s easy to “want’ something, but it’s not easy to actually “do” something. The social justice warriors are mostly not draft age, nor are they of the age of women who would serve in the military, let alone actual combat, so the most important thing to them is the “equality” of it all. But the demographic who are closer to the age of the women who would actually be affected by these policies, they are less likely to support the the idea of it all.

    It was a nice “idea” when it was women who volunteered for military service, but now that the choice might not be theirs, well, it’s a different story, isn’t it? Who got their panties wadded when it was just men who had to register? They keep using that term “social justice” but I don’t think they know what it means.

  • Military Service and “Real Jobs”

    A comment made here recently brought this little bit of history to mind.

    After retiring from the USMC, John Glenn entered politics. He ran as a candidate for the US Senate in 1974 from his native Ohio as a Democrat.

    His opponent in the Democratic primary was Howard Metzenbaum – a successful businessman and the incumbent Senator against whom Glenn was running.  (Metzenbaum had been appointed to fill the Senate vacancy created when Senator William Saxbe resigned to become US Attorney General earlier in 1974.)

    Metzenbaum was not a military veteran. During the primary campaign, he made the statement to the effect that Glenn – because he’d been career military – had “never worked for a living”.

    The following was Glenn’s response, delivered on 4 May 1974 during Glenn’s public remarks at the Cleveland City Club in Cleveland, OH.

    “Howard, I can’t believe you said I have never held a job.

    “I served twenty-three years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on twelve different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn’t my checkbook; it was my life on the line. It was not a nine-to-five job where I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank.

    “I ask you to go with me, as I went the other day, to a Veterans Hospital and look those men, with their mangled bodies, in the eye and tell them they didn’t hold a job. You go with me to any gold-star mother and you look her in the eye and tell her that her son did not hold a job.

    “You go with me to the space program, and go as I have gone to the widows and orphans of Ed White and Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee, and you look those kids in the eye and tell them that their Dad didn’t hold a job.

    “You go with me on Memorial Day coming up and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends than I’d like to remember, and you watch those waving flags. You stand there, and you think about this nation, and you tell me that those people didn’t have a job.

    “I’ll tell you, Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men – some men – who held a job. And they required a dedication to purpose and a love of country and a dedication to duty that was more important than life itself. And their self-sacrifice is what made this country possible.

    “I have held a job, Howard!”

    Glenn won the primary handily.  He was elected to the Senate in the general election that year.

    For what it’s worth:  in my view, Glenn got it exactly right.  The military is called “the profession of arms” because it is exactly that:  a profession, on par with any other professional occupation.

    It may be different from most, but yes:  it’s a “real job”.

    Sources:

    https://library.osu.edu/documents/ohio-congressional-archives/documents/Gold%20Star%20Mother%20speech.pdf

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Metzenbaum

    (Edited to add:  I’d forgotten that at least partial video of Glenn’s speech exists.  If you’re interested, you can view it here.)