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

Category: Military issues

  • The Richard E. Owens saga in the Washington Post

    Brigid Schulte of the Washington Post sent us a link to her article about the search for a resting place for Purple Heart certificate of Richard E. Owens who died in a plane crash over Normandy more than a decade before any of us were born. I’m sure TSO, who is mentioned in the article a few times, will have something to say about it in the coming days, but I just wanted to mention the story, even though my roll in the unfolding story was minor (mostly I acted as a switchboard operator forwarding emails).

    I’m proud that TAH played a part in reuniting the parties and objects involved. This whole story adds an entirely new dimension to the Ranger’s Creed line “I will never leave a fallen comrade….”

  • Oh, great

    It looks like there are going to be some nasty, trash-tossing, unshaven, noisy tourists that smell like diesel fuel wandering around Fort Benning unsupervised.

    The chairman of a foundation says a $75 million National Armor and Cavalry Museum will be built at Fort Benning.

    Retired Maj. Gen. George H. Harmeyer says the new museum will be near the Infantry Museum and will be constructed with a combination of public and private funds.

    Harmeyer is chairman of the National Armor and Cavalry Heritage Foundation, which will raise the private money needed to turn a storage facility into a museum.

    Thanks to Just A Grunt for the link.

  • Ingrates

    Apparently, Old Europe wants us to pull our nukes out of Europe according to a Stars & Stripes article.

    The countries — Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway — will discuss the issue with the rest of their NATO allies at a November summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

    “This does not mean a call for an immediate withdrawal for all these weapons,” Bart Ouvry, spokesman for Belgium’s Foreign Ministry, said by telephone on Thursday.

    Ouvry declined to elaborate, saying he would reserve further comments for his partners at the NATO meetings.

    The Federation of American Scientists, using information gathered from public records, has calculated in recent years that nuclear weapons were removed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and RAF Lakenheath, England. Based on inspection data, the group said, that means U.S. nuclear weapons in northern Europe remain at Büchel Air Base, Germany; Kleine Brogel Air Base, Belgium; and Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands. The majority of U.S. nuclear weapons are thought to be kept at three bases around the Mediterranean Sea: Aviano Air Base and Ghedi Air Base in Italy and Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.

    Fine if they want to remove the single class of weapons that has kept the peace in Europe for the longest period in it’s history, pull ’em out tomorrow – along with the troops that stalwartly faced East for six decades. Move them forward so they can ground guide the Russians through New Europe. Maybe Luxembourg can hold back the onslaught by themselves.

    Like I’ve said here before, the most grateful Germans lived within sight of the intra-German border, heard the mines detonate and listened to the dogs tearing apart human bodies during failed escape attempts. It’s time to give them what they’ve wanted since the Reagan Administration – the view down the bore of an AK47.

  • Fishy investigation at Ft. Jackson

    Rurik sent me this article, by way of Rick Moran at American Thinker blog about the funny crap happening in that food poisoning plot at Fort Jackson last year. First of all, why are we hearing about it from Congressman Joe Wilson and not from the media? And why have four of the five Muslims being investigated in the plot, been discharged while CID is still holding their computers and investigating the fifth?

    Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said the soldiers’ laptops had been seized and were being analyzed. Congressional officials with knowledge of the case said cell phones and Arabic writings had been confiscated as well.

    Wilson said the soldiers were discharged because of unrelated incidents of minor theft.

    In his first public comments on the case, Wilson said FBI forensics experts were working with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division in the probe.

    “The initial investigation confirmed that (the five soldiers) had not made any effort to poison food and that allegations about their disloyalty were inaccurate,” Wilson told McClatchy Newspapers. “There was further investigation. I have not received any word of it being over. I think they would tell me.”

    Well, then why have they been discharged if there’s a “further investigation”? I can understand the administrative discharge since it the fastest and easiest way to get them out of the Army – but why when the investigation hasn’t concluded? After what I saw in the aftermath of the Nidal Hasan murders, when the Army starts acting funny, they’re up to no good.

  • Coast Guard Chief wants to slash Homeland Security role

    Remember when they moved the Coast Guard to the Homeland Security Department from the Transportation Department to more accurately reflect their role in the war against terror and bring them under the control of a central authority that could utilize them properly? Well, Obama’s pick to lead the Coast Guard wants to slash funding for incidentals like Guarding Our Coast and Training to Guard Our Coast, according to a memo the Associated Press got in their grubby little hands.

    An internal memo from Vice Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr., Obama’s nominee to become Coast Guard commandant, says that starting in 2012, he would slash funding for programs in the agency’s homeland security plan, including patrols and training exercises.

    The memo, marked “sensitive – for internal Coast Guard use only,” was obtained by The Associated Press.

    Papp’s outline is significant because it could mean major changes for the more than 200-year-old agency that took on substantial homeland security duties after Sept. 11, 2001. Obama’s 2011 proposed budget cuts for the Coast Guard have already caused outrage from some lawmakers.

    According to Papp’s memo, he would scale back the Coast Guard’s counterterrorism priorities in favor of running traditional search-and-rescue operations that save people in imminent danger on the water and maintaining the maritime transportation system.

    So I’m guessing the War on Terror has ended and no one told us.

  • Brits honor hero dog

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    TSO sends this article about Treo, a working dog in the British Army who was awarded his country’s highest honor;

    In August, 2008, while working as a forward detection dog in Sangin, Treo found a “daisy chain” improvised explosive device (IED) – made of two or more explosives wired together – that had been carefully modified and concealed by the Taliban at the side of a path.

    A month later, his actions saved another platoon from guaranteed casualties, again by finding a daisy chain IED.

    Now he is being rewarded with the Dickin Medal – the animal equivalent of a Victoria Cross – the highest accolade for a military animal.

    This fellow looks a little too young, but apparently he’s joined the ranks of the retired;

    Treo retired and is now enjoying life with handler Sergeant Dave Heyhoe back at 104 Military Working Dogs Support Unit, in North Luffenham, Rutland.

    We, at This Ain’t Hell, love dogs and we’re glad that this little cutie survived the war and gets to enjoy his retirement. I wonder if there’s anything else we should know about that goes along with being awarded a medal named “Dickin”.

  • General Casey Breaks Ranks

    I’m not a George Casey fan. His handling of the Ft. Hood massacre and its aftermath were absolutely horrible. But I need to give credit when credit is due and commend him and for breaking ranks with his bosses in the administration by raising legitimate questions about the repeal of DADT in front of the Senate.

    From Reuters:

    A key senator suggested a possible compromise: suspending discharges of gays from the military under the current policy, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” for a while.

    “That would mean that if for some reason it is not repealed, down the road, the current discharge policy would stay in place,” Senator Carl Levin said.

    Some polling says most Americans favor repealing the policy requiring gay service members to keep quiet about their homosexuality. But any change must be approved by Congress, and some lawmakers say they will be guided by the military brass.

    Both Army General George Casey and Air Force General Norton Schwartz told lawmakers they were worried about the impact of such a change on a U.S. military under stress after years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Like I said in my last post about DADT, this is not a priority for the Obama administration. They punted by saying it was up to Congress to repeal the ban and the closer we get to the elections the less we will hear about it.

  • Mountain Warfare training

    A video from Fox News about Mountain Warfare Training in California;

    I met some of the guys at the Mountain Warfare Training Center when it was at Camp Ethan Allen in Vermont when I taught ROTC at UVM. They’re a sturdy, fearless bunch.