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

Category: Military issues

  • The PTSD foregone conclusion

    One of our readers, Jerry, sends along a link to an ABC article about Post Tramatic Stress Disorder;

    abc-ptsd

    Now, I’m all in favor of anything that puts “the spotlight” on PTSD in our military community, but there’s absolutely no evidence that the Fort Hood incident had anything to do with PTSD, but ABC is bound and determine to make it a foregone conclusion in the discussion;

    In the wake of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 5, that left 13 people dead, allegedly at the hands of a fellow soldier, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, soldiers who struggle with stress like Swain, have come back into the spotlight.

    I cannot understand why it’s so hard to say the words that Hasan is another jihadist, or that Hasan is another disgruntled employee, or that Hasan wasn’t wired correctly. There is mounting evidence that he was influenced in this endeavor by his culture and there is absolutely no evidence he suffered from PTSD.

    My guess is that the media has decided that Hasan suffered from PTSD because they still blame it on Bush, and it avoids the glaring fact that all of this crap about our fear of racial profiling is absolutely wrong-headed.

  • My Veterans Day thanks

    On Veterans’ Day 1993, I was on my 80 days terminal leave from the Army, working as a security guard on a construction site, waiting for the Spring semester to start at SUNY Oswego. I’d had a sudden interest in politics and started reading the newspaper again. The Syracuse Herald reprinted a column from Chicago’s Mike Ryko that day which has stuck with me every Veterans Day since.

    When I started reading blogs a few years back, I was pleased to see that Matt Burden had also read that particular column and republishes it every year. So let me add my endorsement to the message. Anyone who has survived that first soul-shattering morning of basic training and stuck out their military service for the remainder of their commitment in spite of it, has my unending admiration and respect, no matter what job the military assigned them.

    I’ve known real honest-to-God heroes who slogged across Europe, across the Pacific, through the jungles of Burma, Central America and Vietnam. Guys who stood on the Eastern border of Western Europe, the northern border of South Korea. Folks who met the enemy from the land, sea and air, and folks who’ve never heard a shot fired away from the marksmanship range. They’re all Veterans and all can claim a measure of pride in their service, voluntary or otherwise.

    One old guy I knew from my hometown was a member of the VFW, the American Legion and marched in every parade in town because he was proud of his service during World War II. The old guy had been an Army meat cutter stationed in Buffalo, NY for the entire war but he never put on airs or made up stories and I doubt anyone in town was prouder of their service. And he had every right.

    Anyway, go read Royko’s article at Blackfive.

    Thanks to all of the veterans who make this humble blog a part of their day, and a special thanks to the spouses who bear our burdens at our side and to those who didn’t serve but support us.

  • “Service is embedded in their DNA”

    The Washington Times has an article this morning about a report of a survey from Civic Enterprises that advises local and national leaders to tap into the reservoir of talent in today’s returning veterans instead of looking at the veteran community as a burden and damaged goods;

    The results of the survey, being released Wednesday, show that 90 percent of returning veterans want to continue to serve their communities in some capacity.

    “The public perception is that they are damaged in some way when they come back,” said John Marshall Bridgeland, chief executive of Civic Enterprises. “They view veterans as already having served their country and think they should be left alone because they have given the ultimate sacrifice, risked their lives, and that their service is done.

    “But what this survey shows is that service is embedded in their DNA,” Mr. Bridgeland said. “They believe they have a lot to teach, especially to young people.”

    Although 89 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans agreed that other Americans could learn from their service, only 44 percent said they consider themselves leaders in their communities.

    Nearly 70 percent said they have not been contacted by a community group or place of worship, while 54 percent said they were contacted by a veterans service organization. However, of those who did speak with veterans groups, only 21 percent were asked to serve their communities.

    As one veteran in the survey said: “Recognize our usefulness. We are not charity cases. We are an American asset.”

    Time reports from the same survey;

    And not surprisingly, many people have found themselves trying to lend veterans a helping hand rather than asking for their help. While 7 out of 10 returning vets were offered a service from local do-gooders, only 1 in 5 was asked to serve. In particular, veterans say they are eager to serve by helping other veterans, aiding in disaster relief, helping the elderly and troubled kids and protecting the environment.

    Not unsurprisingly, the Hollywood version of the returning veteran is wrong, just like it was wrong three decades ago. You can read the entire survey report (in .pdf) at Civic Enterprises, LLC.

  • The “trickle” is on!

    According to the Washington Times, President Obama has decided to listen to his general and start his own “surge” in Afghanistan. But it’s less like a surge and more like a trickle;

    Military officials said Obama will have choices that include a phased addition of up to 40,000 forces over some six months or more next year, based on security conditions and the decisions of NATO allies.

    Several officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been made also said Obama’s announcement will be much broader than the mathematics of troop numbers, which have dominated the U.S. debate.

    Officials said a substantial increase in troops is all but inevitable, but the precise number is less important than the message that an expansion and refocus of U.S. commitment in Afghanistan would send.

    Boy, that ought to scare the be-jeebus out of those militants – knowing that the math isn’t as important as the message. The message ought to be worth a few hundred extra al Qaeda lives. The message I see is that the administration is acting real reticent about committing a sufficient number of forces to win the war in Afghanistan. It looks to me as if he’s found a way to vote present on being decisive.

    A decisive commander would have all of his troops on the ground as soon as the mountain snows recede (since he couldn’t summon the fortitude to decide during this year’s fighting season), but this guy won’t even have all of his forces on the ground in the Spring. And they’ll be trickling in during a six month period. Yeah, my confidence level is high.

  • Twenty years gone

    Border crossing at Coburg

    It’s hard to believe that it’s been gone almost as long as it existed, but today marks the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the scar that marred Europe’s maps and landscape for more than a quarter century. Most of the world leaders are gathering in Berlin this week to celebrate the end of that monument to the imprisonment of the human spirit.

    After 28 years as prisoners of their own country, euphoric East Germans streamed to checkpoints and rushed past bewildered border guards, many falling tearfully into the arms of West Germans welcoming them on the other side.

    The fall of the Wall sent shockwaves around the world that night, abruptly ending the Cold War and paving the way for the unification of Germany, which had been divided since the end of World War II.

    “The destruction of the Iron Curtain on November 9, 1989 is still the most remarkable political event of most people’s lifetimes: it set free millions of individuals and it brought to an end a global conflict that threatened nuclear annihilation,” British weekly The Economist said this week.

    Well, not all of the world’s leaders will be there – ours won’t. But then, he has no sense of history that doesn’t relate directly to him.

    Modlareuth, Germany "Little Berlin"

    Anyway, I wrote a post about one of my experiences on the border in the early 80s along with some pictures, in case you missed it back then. Here are some more of my pictures from that thankfully bygone era;

    4 Border Marker

    5 The Wall

    East German Border Guards

    9 Watch Tower

    7 Watch Tower

  • Veterans lobbying Congress today

    While the dithererer-in-chief contemplates his inaction, veterans groups are stalking Congress in their offices this morning. Vets for Freedom are meeting as I type this to plan out their day in the halls of Congress in conjunction with Michelle Bachman’s troops.

    Meanwhile, VoteVets’ Executive Director focuses on the really important issues, according to Politico;

    In 2007, Veterans for Freedom supported the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq, and VoteVets.org opposed it, advocating a drawdown from Iraq instead. But for now, the organization is still debating its position on the war in Afghanistan, said VoteVets Chairman Jon Soltz, and it is concentrating its efforts on climate change.

    Don’t forget Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. While Obama fiddles over the war in Afghanistan, Jon Soltz prefers to focus his energies on social issues because whenever he shoots his big mouth off over actual military and veterans’ issues, somehow he always turns out to be wrong. It’s hard to believe that someone who has over three months experience in a combat motor pool could be wrong about military issues, but apparently it happens.

    How many things can you find wrong in this paragraph;

    The [VFF]’s founder, David Bellavia, who in 2008 ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New York, attacked Kerry and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2005 for supporting statements that Iraqis wanted the United States to leave their country, claiming in an article on FrontPageMag.com that the comments were “a political attack on the troops, an attack that is aiding our enemy.” The publication is run by Holocaust denier David Horowitz.

    Bellavia was ONE of the founders of VFF, he didn’t unsuccessfully run for Congress (the party machine asked his to withdraw in favor of a candidate who could fund his own campaign) and I have no idea where the article’s author, Jen deMascio, got the idea that David Horowitz is a Holocaust denier – but I’ve got an email into her to get her source on that specious charge.

    Of course, deMascio, has found a group she likes out of the three she discusses – the new one that I introduced to you the other day “Veterans for Rethinking Afghanistan” and our new friend Jake Giliberto, who just happened to email me after the last piece I did on his. But DeMascio writes;

    “Listen, you’ve got to stop falling in love with the military solution; it’s not feasible,” said Jake Diliberto, one of the group’s founders. “This is a war of poverty and cultural misunderstanding, and it’s an Afghan problem that we don’t have the means or the wisdom to figure out.”

    So what’s Jake’s solution? Just let Afghanistan go back to being a stone age shit hole like we did in 1988. That worked out well for us the first time, didn’t it? Well, the “Rethinking Afghanistan” was started by a filmmaker and we know how much more intelligent filmmakers think they are than the rest of us – so let’s ask Hollywood to formulate our foreign and defense policy instead of generals.

    I like Jake, he’s real friendly and fairly bright, but he’s being used by the peace movement, just like all of those IVAW clowns. The peace movement doesn’t care about them or their opinions beyond the fact that they can wear T-shirts proclaiming the proper message.

  • Reflecting on AF policy

    When I went to my son’s Basic Training graduation at Lackland AFB, I chuckled to myself the whole time I was there. It seems the Air Force had gone completely nuts in regards to preventing accidents involving pedestrians and automobiles. The speed limit on the base was like 2 mph, there were no sidewalks along roadways. Pedestrians carried two flashlights and wore a reflective belt everywhere. The nanny state had gone nuts.

    Well, according to the Stars and Stripes, that anal type of over protectiveness has followed them to war.

    Airmen concerned about becoming glow-in-the-dark targets are sounding off about those shiny Air Force safety belts that clash with their cammies.

    Airmen — and other servicemembers — have taken their gripes and giggles about the belts to the Web by starting a Facebook page titled (what else?): “I hate reflective belts.”

    Air Force policy requires the belts to be worn during reduced visibility, such as inclement weather; on a flight line; and when a commander deems necessary, said Paul Carlisle, acting deputy chief of Air Force Ground Safety, via telephone from Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

    They must be worn in traffic environments, whether it is on a street or in a parking lot, he said.

    The purpose is to increase airmen’s visibility, Carlisle said.

    Yeah, that kind of negates the effect of camouflaged uniforms, doesn’t it?

    Here are some of the comments on Facebook;

    Chuck Norris was reported to round house kick people in the face who wear diso belts. Mr. T latter “pittyed the fools” for being so gay.

    Reflective belts actually wear Chuck Norris to keep them safe at night.

    Do pilots have to wear them when they eject?

    It automatically deploys with the chute and it has it’s own emergency beacon.

    it is the cooooolest when you have to wear them in Iraq. I picture the Taliban just laughing their asses off looking at a bunch of disco belts running around. We look like homos

    I don’t know, on a slow news day when no one is sending me links, it just seemed funny.

  • 1 dead, 8 injured in training accident (Updated)

    An Army helicopter crashed into a Navy ship off of Virginia’s coast early this morning killing one service member and sending eight others to the hospital. I guess it’s a tough reminder that training for war is just as difficult as the actual war.

    According to news reports, all of the survivors are stable, whatever that means.

    UPDATE at 1400Z23102009: More on the accident from the Associated Press;

    Service members were rappelling down a rope from the helicopter to the USNS Arctic around 8 p.m. Thursday off the Virginia coast near Fort Story when the crash happened, Navy spokeswoman Lt. J. G. Megan Issac said.

    The helicopter crashed into the ship’s stern and ended up on its side, Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby, commander of the Military Sealift Command, said at a news conference Friday morning at Naval Station Norfolk. A small fire on the ship’s deck was quickly extinguished.

    “It was a routine visit, board, search and seizure exercise that takes place between Army and Navy units on a fairly regular basis,‘’ Buzby said, adding that ships like the Arctic are used because they are similar to merchant ships.

    The exercise trains the service members on how to quickly board a ship that might be threatened by pirates or terrorists, for instance, Buzby said.

    The Arctic has returned to Naval Station Norfolk, and the damaged helicopter remained aboard the ship.

    The names of the casualties haven’t been released yet.