Now that the Defense Finance and Accounting Services have paid out to 1700 service members who were stop/lossed the $500/month they were owed, the Army and Air Force tell us that the rules were changed by Congress so that many soldiers and airmen are no longer eligible for the payments. From the Stars & Stripes;
The bill makes clear that troops who re-enlisted or extended their contract and collected a bonus while being held under stop-loss do not qualify for the compensation.
The temporary halt will last until the Army gets a list of soldiers who received a re-enlistment or retention bonus while being stop-lossed, said Army spokeswoman Jill Mueller.
“The services didn’t decide this,” Mueller said on Wednesday. “This was decided by the legislature and we are executing their will.”
Of course, no one mentioned this before the election when Democrats were holding this up as proof that they support the troops, and we find out now after months of chatter about their promises of largesse. Funny how that works, ain’t it?
I thought that discussion about Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo’s policy against pregnancy in his combat zone had pretty much petered out. No one wanted to look more stupid than they do already. But I was wrong. Four not-unknown Senators criticized the general for even thinking of a mild punishment for fornicators in a combat zone;
The request from Democrats Barbara Boxer, Barbara Mikulski, Jeanne Shaheen and Kirsten Gillibrand came Tuesday after the general who issued the policy began backing away from it, explaining that he never intended to court-martial or jail women who become pregnant under his command.
Their stupid argument goes like this;
“This policy could encourage female soldiers to delay seeking critical medical care with potentially serious consequences for mother and child,” the senators wrote in a letter to McHugh. “We can think of no greater deterrent to women contemplating a military career than the image of a pregnant woman being severely punished simply for conceiving a child. This defies comprehension.”
See, if we were talking about women who get themselves pregnant in CONUS or Germany or Japan, or, heck, even Korea, I’d agree. but we’re talking about IRAQ – the war those ditzes said was lost a few short months ago. The place that the media is always reminding us is still suffering massive terrorist attacks.
Actually, I’m stunned that everyone still has their panties wadded up over this General’s attempt to curb a drain on his manpower and his combat readiness – IN COMBAT!
But the senators said in their letter to McHugh that while they understand Cucolo’s pledge not to imprison offenders, the policy creates a “threat of criminal sanctions” which goes “far beyond what is needed to maintain good order and discipline.”
Oh, really? This from the chick who chastised another general for calling her “ma’am”. She understands “good order and discipline”? It seems to me that if people are getting each other pregnant at a rate that a general decides he needs to nip it with a policy change, there’s already something wrong with good order and discipline.
The last thing the general needs is a pack of rabid, post-menopausal hippies looking over his shoulder while he fights a war – a war the aforementioned rabid, post-menopausal hippies had declared lost.
I defy anyone to prove to me that pregnancy in combat is inevitable. Even Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) from Casablanca recognized that war trumps love when he told Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) “I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”
A top Taliban commander told the Associated Press that he’s moving to meet the US surge in Afghanistan;
Waliur Rehman told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Monday night that the Pakistani Taliban remain committed to battling the army in South Waziristan tribal region, but they are essentially waging a guerrilla war.
Rehman is a deputy to Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, and the man in charge of the group’s operations in South Waziristan.
“Since (President Barack) Obama is also sending additional forces to Afghanistan, we sent thousands of our men there to fight NATO and American forces,” Rehman said. The Afghan “Taliban needed our help at this stage, and we are helping them.”
Of course the thing he didn’t mention is that Pakistan has forced his troops out of Pakistan. And the Taliban’s surge has gone unnoticed by the US military;
“We have not noticed any significant movement of insurgents in the border area,” [Col. Wayne Shanks, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan] said.
In the meantime, a CNN poll indicates that although most Americans are opposed to the war, they also support the “surge” of US troops;
Fifty-nine percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday morning said they favor the president’s plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, with 39 percent opposed.
“Most of those who oppose Obama’s plan would like to see the U.S. immediately withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.
The survey indicates that a majority of the public opposes the war, with 55 percent of respondents opposed and 43 percent in support of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.
So, as long as we’re there, we might as well win, Rehman’s ghost ninjas notwithstanding.
I was in Vermont teaching ROTC during Operation Just Cause. When I went to bed on December 19th, I’d heard the news that a large number of transport aircraft had just left Fort Bragg, and I never thought they were headed to Panama. The following morning I woke my Panamanian wife to tell her we were at war. One of my cadets had a brother in the 82d and called to ask what was going on – like I’d know.
My brother-in-law was a sergeant in the Panama National Guard (which was actually the federal troops under Noriega) – he decided not to got to work that day and reported in when Noriega was finally taken in to custody. He retired from the Panama Defense Force three years ago. My nephew is a corporal in the PDF’s Traffic Police.
My mother-in-law had gone to school with Noriega and 12 years earlier, when he was a lieutenant colonel, had asked him to help get me released from the local jail (named Carcel Modelo) when I was jailed on some trumped-up kidnapping charges. He didn’t help, and I was released after two weeks with no charges brought against me.
So we go back every year, and I’ve never noticed any animosity towards Americans. Of course, it helps that they have the highest standard of living in Central America, much of it because of American tourists and the willingness we have to spend a lot of money there (they still use the dollar, but they call it a Balboa). They’re generally glad that Noriega is gone, some of them miss the Americans, but they’re doing well enough on their own.
A salute to the fallen of Just Cause from my buddies at Paratrooper.net;
ARMY
Staff Sgt. Larry Barnard 3/75th Rangers Hallstead, Pa.
Pfc. Roy D. Brown Jr. 3/75th Rangers Buena Park, Calif.
Pvt. Vance T. Coats 82nd Airborne Division Great Falls, Mont.
Spec. Jerry S. Daves 82nd Airborne. Division Hope Mills,N.C.
Sgt. Michael A. Deblois 82nd Airborne Division Dubach, La.
Pfc. Martin D. Denson 82nd Airborne Division Abilene,Texas
Pfc. William D. Gibbs 7th Infantry Division. Marina, Calif.
Spec. Phillip S. Lear 2/75th Rangers Westminster, S.C.
Spec. Alejandro Manriquelozano* 82nd Airborne Division Lauderhill, Fla.
Pfc. James W. Markwell 1/75th Rangers Cincinnati, Ohio
Cpl. Ivan M. Perez 5th Infantry Division Pawtucket, R.I.
Pfc. John M. Price 2/75th Rangers Conover, Wis.
Pfc. Scott L. Roth 89th Military Police Brigade Killeen, Texas
Pvt. Kenneth D. Scott 5th Infantry Division Princeton, W.Va.
1st Lt. John R. Hunter 160th Aviation Victor, Montana
CWO2 Wilson B. Owens 160th Aviation Myrtle Beach,S.C.
CWO2 Andrew P. Porter 7th Infantry Division Saint Clair, Mich.
Pvt. James A. Taber Jr. 82nd Airborne Division Montrose, Colo.
NAVY
Lt. jg John Connors Special Warfare Group Arlington, Maine
BM1 Chris Tilghman Special Warfare Group Kailua, Hawaii ENC
Donald McFaul Special Warfare Group Deschutes,Ore.
TM2 Issac G. Rodriguez III Special Warfare Group Missouri City,Texas
MARINE CORPS
Cpl. Garreth C. Isaak 2nd Marine Division home town unknown.
Another of our “wars of imperialism” in which we didn’t occupy or annex the country. When will we learn to get it right?
I read this article last night in the Stars and Stripes, thought about commenting, then changed my mind. Until this morning when I saw that Kate Hoit, one of the newest bloggers at Vote Vets decided to write about it. Basically, the article and the policy are very simple – women in combat shouldn’t get pregnant and Major General Anthony Cucolo, the commander of Multi-National Division-North, Iraq, decided to make it a command policy and threatened his command with court martials for violating that policy.
Should soldiers be wise when partaking in sexual activities? Of course. Use a condom. Get on birth control. Emergency contraception should be readily available (which it seems we are fighting for now). I learned about sex education in 6th grade. If I don’t want a bundle of joy I’m not going to have sex, or I’m going to use a condom, or I’m going to take a pill everyday at 12:30pm. If I’m serving in Iraq or Afghanistan I’m going to put my mission first. I’m going to do everything possible to not get pregnant. Maj. Gen. Cucolo III is naive for thinking he can solve the pregnancy problem by banning it. What soldiers need is a shot of common sense.
Um, common sense like engaging in the practice of abstention? Condoms fail, but abstention works every time it’s tried. I know VoteVets’ official policy is that gays can’t be expected to control themselves in this new world in which everybody is screwing everyone else at every opportunity – but this is war, for Pete’s sake.
I’m not so naive that I think sex doesn’t happen in war, but making pregnancy a crime seems a good way to prevent a practice that is costly for the military, and unhealthy for it’s participants (I don’t think I would have wanted have sex with any woman who wanted sex with unkept, unbathed me when I was in Iraq).
Ms. Hoit acts like there’s no choice in sexual activity. Although, I’ll admit that there are probably instances in which the woman has no choice, however, I suspect that’s not the case in most instances. If there are as many rapes in the military as many claim, this policy should increase the reporting rates, shouldn’t it? And that’s good, right?
Somehow, mentioning that this is the 21st century and insinuating that casual sex was invented in Ms. Hoit’s lifetime seems to be the height of naivete. Calling a military policy which is aimed at the health and readiness of military members naive is just ignorant.
And, oh, Kayla Williams, since I know you keep an eye on this blog for the mention of your name, if I hadn’t made a promise to one of our mutual friends, I’d be tearing you up, too. That promise is wearing thin.
The Obama Administration has dusted off a Clinton-era strategy of dealing with terrorists by firing off a couple of Cruise missiles into Yemen. ABC explains the objective;
One of the targeted sites was a suspected al Qaeda training camp north of the capitol, Sanaa, and the second target was a location where officials said “an imminent attack against a U.S. asset was being planned.”
Of course, none of our resident anti-war folks are calling this an “attack [on] a third world country that didn’t attack us” and it appears that the Obama Administration has found value in the Bush Doctrine of preemptive strikes in dealing with terrorists. But luckily for Obama, he doesn’t have to deal with the Left questioning his motives and accusing him of using fear mongering to accomplish political objectives.
The Stars & Stripes reports that 34 terrorists were killed in raids in Yemen. The main target of the strike, a guy who escaped from prison in Yemen, reportedly avoided his ultimate demise, though.
Al-Raymi is one of 23 militants who broke out of a prison in San’a in February 2006 and is at large. Yemeni authorities have said they believe he was involved in the July 2007 suicide bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis visiting a temple in central Yemen.
Christopher Boucek, a Yemen expert at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said al-Raymi is deputy commander of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and has managed to escape several previous attempts by authorities to get him.
The Yemeni embassy denied that the US used missiles, contrary to ABC’s report. Of course, eye witnesses in the AP report at S&S report that most of the dead were civilians.
Seven time World Log Rolling Champion, wounded Iraq Veteran, military blogger and all around good man: J.R. Salzman
Probably everyone knows by now that Tiger Woods was named the AP Athlete of the Decade. I am not here to say it wasn’t deserved. His record is incomparable: 64 tournament wins, 12 major championships. I’ve always been a fan of Tiger’s, but possibly for a different reason: his dad was Special Forces during Viet Nam. In fact, while I was training for my stint in the Ghan, Tiger came down to Bragg and ran with the troops and gave out some golf lessons. The whole debacle going down now makes me sad, because Tiger should be known for what he does with his putter, and not what he does with his…..um….putter.
But, Athletes should be rated on how they compete in Athletics. We don’t rate our church leaders on how well they hit a dimpled ball, and neither should we rate our sports stars on how they conduct their private business.
But, it is only human to factor in such things. It’s why everyone loves or hates Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco, and why my favorite players have always been Mark Bavaro and Larry Izzo. But, a good case can be made that the most deserving person for Athlete of the Decade is 7 time World Log Rolling Champion, wounded Iraq Veteran, military blogger and all around good man: J.R. Salzman.
For those of you unfamiliar with logrolling, (shame on you) here is the wiki definition:
Logrolling, or birling, is a sport that originated in the lumberjack/log driver tradition of the northeastern United States and Canada, involving logs in a river (traditionally) or other body of water. After bringing their logs downriver, the lumberjacks would have a competition to see who could balance on a log the longest while it is still rolling in the river.
The contest involves two lumberjacks, each on one end of a log floating in the river. One or the other starts “walking” (or “rolling”) the log, and the other is forced to keep up. The contest involves attempting to stay on the log while attempting to cause the competitor to lose their balance and splash into the water. It is also commonly known as log birling.
JR had a MILBLOG while he served overseas, and it’s kind of interesting to follow his adventures there if you have time, so go read Lumberjack in the Desert. If you have less time, go and read the long ESPN article about JR, and his road to recovery.
Now, none of you have any strong desire to have me recount it all, and you’d rather watch video. Well, so would I. So I am including two (TWO!) videos for you. If your house is on fire, only watch the second (shorter) one. They are largely the same, but the first and longer one was done prior to July of this year. The first is roughly 9 mins, the second is about 2.
Before you click play though, I advise you to come up with an excuse for why your eyes are watery. I went with “Damn dusty apartment, must be my allergies.”
One good thing that came of our day of silence yesterday (and that post will remain stuck at the top through Saturday, so PLEASE GO READ) was that a mutual friend of mine and JR’s sent me his Facebook page. Naturally I friended him, and started up a conversation with him. He and his wife are doing well, and JR remains in school. In fact, he’s studying for finals right now. When I asked him how everything was going he replied:
I’m finishing a paper now, I have a final from 2000-2200 tonight, and another tomorrow from 0800-1000 followed by another from 1400-1600. I still have another eight pages of writing to finish up after that and another final on Monday. But I’m hanging in there and I’m in the top 5 or 10 in all my classes. Not bad for a guy with TBI and one arm.
When I got back to law school classes when I returned from GWOT, I had some hard times. All my original classmates had graduated and I found myself with new folks who didn’t know me. There was an article one day in the law school newspaper by a first year whining about how it was the hardest year anyone could go through. I wanted to strangle that person with dental floss. I mean seriously, are you really complaining because you missed some sleep while sitting in your heated apartment, Simpson’s on in the background while you cogitate on the Law Against Perpetuities? JR is doing it missing an arm and with a bruised grape. I know it is all perspective on these things, but damn, the man is in the top 10 in his class.
This morning when I logged on to get a picture of JR for this post I noticed his Facebook Status:
JR Salzman is wondering if anyone wants to go snowboarding at Afton either fri night or sat to celebrate my Alive Day. (Beers could follow)
I wish I had a car, because I would be driving to Wisconsin right now. Either way, Friday at our company Christmas party I will raise a frothy beverage and thank the Almighty for bringing JR through this, and for the men and women who helped him get back up on his log.
The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that the US military has found evidence that, with support from Iran, the Taliban has been able to download video from drone aircraft;
The drone intercepts mark the emergence of a shadow cyber war within the U.S.-led conflicts overseas. They also point to a potentially serious vulnerability in Washington’s growing network of unmanned drones, which have become the American weapon of choice in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Obama administration has come to rely heavily on the unmanned drones because they allow the U.S. to safely monitor and stalk insurgent targets in areas where sending American troops would be either politically untenable or too risky.
The stolen video feeds also indicate that U.S. adversaries continue to find simple ways of counteracting sophisticated American military technologies.
When the Soviets became completely reliant on airpower to defeat the mujahadeen in Afghanistan, that reliance was defeated by US Redeye missiles. Heavy reliance on drones has made our entire strategy vulnerable to a $26 software program.
