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

Category: Military issues

  • Foreign-Born Civilian Navy Engineer . . . and Apparent Spy

    Seems that a foreign-born, 35-year-old engineer has been arrested by the FBI. The charge; attempting to provide design and vulnerability information concerning the Navy’s most advanced carrier currently under construction to a foreign government.

    It gets even better. The guy apparently immigrated and became a citizen fairly recently – he appears to have begun the process of attaining US citizenship in 2007. But it looks like he must have worked fast; he apparently was granted a security clearance fairly recently.

    Luckily, the “foreign agent” to whom the guy provided the info he’d obtained was an FBI undercover agent. So perhaps we dodged a proverbial bullet here.

    Unfortunately, the bastard isn’t facing the death penalty. He’s facing two charges, each of which have a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison. That’s . . . unfortunate. IMO, he should be looking at hanging – but I’d have settled for a needle instead.

    Both Fox News and the Washington Times have articles giving more details. They’re IMO worth reading.

    Interestingly, I’m not finding much else about this in the rest of the media. I wonder if the fact that the guy was born in Saudi Arabia – and was trying to provide the information to the government of Egypt – might have something to do with that?

    I guess spying on behalf of an Islamic nation must not be news. And that a recently-naturalized individual from a country with a huge Islamic extremist population applying for a security clearance during a time when we’re at war with Islamic extremists doesn’t merit enhanced scrutiny. Even if he’s from the country that, well, provided almost all of the terrorist bastards that perpetrated the 9/11 attacks.

    I swear, at times I think some folks working for the Five Sided Asylum really are crazy. Or perhaps simply have the intellect of a rock with lips.

  • Purple Hearts for Fort Hood Shooting Victims? Maybe.

    Well, that could be the result if the latest Defense Authorization Act (DAA) passes and is signed.

    Per the Army Times, 2015 DAA being considered by Congress

    . . . stipulates that Purple Heart medals will be awarded to “members of the armed forces killed or wounded in domestic attacks inspired by foreign terrorist organizations.”

    The Army Times article has more details. IMO, it’s worth a read.

    IIMO it’s way past freaking time for this to have happened. Better late than never, I guess.

  • USAF Missile Launch Officer Facing Court-Martial for Drugs, Obstruction

    Jonn and I have written before about the troubles in DoD’s Nuclear Kingdom. Well, looks like there’s a bit more fallout (intentional pun) from those investigations.

    Besides cheating on annual proficiency exams and poor leadership, the investigation turned up leads indicating possible illegal drug use. Those leads were turned over to AFOSI, who investigated the matter.

    It looks like the leads were worth following. One 2d Lt is now facing court-martial for drug and obstruction of justice charges; the court-martial will start 21 Jan 2015. Three others were also investigated, but to date charges have not been preferred against them.

    The UK newspaper The Independent has a short article giving more details; ditto Fox News and several local Montana media outlets. All appear to contain about the same information.

    Looks like fixing the Nuclear Kingdom’s problems may take a while. That should be no surprise, though. Changing an organization’s culture always does.

  • Maybe It’s the French Who “Get It” These Days

    Many TAH readers have a low opinion of France. And in truth, the French have their faults.

    But in some respects, they seem to “get it” better than we do.

    First, they actually decided to do something meaningful about the recent Russian “adventure” in the eastern Ukraine. Specifically, they’ve suspended delivery of a warship they built for Russia . They’re also doing the same with a second ship under construction.

    And now, one of their politicians has recommended that the Devil’s Island prison near Guyana be reopened – and used to house French residents convicted of terrorism. He also said that it would be a good place for those who’ve fought for ISIS and/or al Qaeda.

    Makes sense to me, and the guy advocating this sounds like a smart man. I wonder if we could lease some space there – or work out a dual-use agreement?

  • Another SECDEF Candidate?

    Well, we seem to have a new candidate for SECDEF.  Reportedly the current secretary of DHS, Jeh Johnson, is now on the POTUS’s “short list” for appointment to that position.

    Yeah, that Jeh Johnson – the same Jeh Johnson who seems to have a problem being particularly truthful when speaking to the press.  And who assured everyone months ago that DHS could “stem the tide” of illegal immigration.  And as General Counsel for DoD, who gave the SECDEF some truly “head-scratching” advice?
    Yeah, that Jeh Johnson.

    Sounds like he’ll “fit right in” in the new job, doesn’t he?  Well, at least in this Administration he will.

    Then again, since he’s already a longtime      DC clown krewe member      Administration insider, that’s kinda a foregone conclusion.

  • US Tanks to Eastern Europe

    US Tanks to Eastern Europe

    In April, 2013, the last US tanks left Germany for the first time since 1945, but now, the Obama Defense Department, according to AFP, says they’re sending tanks back, tanks, not troops. The armored vehicles will be pre-positioned in Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries;

    Nearly 50 armored vehicles are already in place and another 100 M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles will be “pre-positioned” in Germany and possibly elsewhere for the US troops conducting drills with NATO partners, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges told AFP in a phone interview from Estonia.

    “The troops will come over and train, and they’ll go back. The equipment will stay behind,” Hodges said.

    The arrangement was “a lot cheaper” than transporting tanks across the Atlantic and more efficient for the training mission, the general said.

    You know what would have been even cheaper? Not removing the tanks from Europe in the first place, maybe having a little bit of foresight and realizing that it only invited Russian aggression. But, see they were probably reading the Washington Post that declared tanks are now obsolete.

    So, now that I’m using pictures of the “last convoy” from Iraq, I can now use my “Last tank” from Germany photo, too.

    The article says that the 1st Cav is going to be the first unit to rotate into the pre-positioned equipment. I’m pretty sure that they already did that in the late 70s, you know, during the Carter years.

  • About Those “9,800” US Troops Staying in Afghanistan Next Year . . . .

    Jonn wrote earlier today about US troops remaining in Afghanistan after the end of this year. Specifically, the word was we’re leaving “nearly 10,000” troops (9,800, specifically) there after the end of this year – 8,000 to support the NATO mission, with the rest dedicated to antiterrorism and/or other actions.

    But it turns out that figure the POTUS and Pentagon keep throwing out there is a bit . . . . misleading. So I thought I’d help clarify.

    The figure of 9,800 remaining in Afghanistan is consistent with what the POTUS claimed in May. Then, the claim was that we’d draw down below 10,000 troops by the end of this year; by another 50% (to less than 5,000) by the end of 2015; and to just those troops necessary for embassy security by the end of 2016.

    And that would be all well and good. Except . . . I checked some recent news stories about the subject.

    Guess what? My trouser leg is wet – yet again. And once again, it ain’t rain.

    Seems as if some of our NATO allies have recently indicated there will be a delay in fulfilling their commitments to the Afghan mission. That delay will leave a gap in the short-term – in early 2015, to be precise.

    Wanna guess who’s going to step in and fill that gap – to the tune of up to another 1,000 troops beyond those 9,800 originally planned? Naw, don’t bother to guess. Just read this link from Reuters carefully.

    The Pentagon is calling this “a ‘bridging solution’ until other nations fulfil their pledges later in the year or the troops are no longer needed”. But don’t worry. While the Pentagon acknowledged holding discussions with NATO partners, spokesman RADM John Kirby stated, “As we stand here today, there is no change in the 9,800 force level.”

    Look, we who’ve been in the military understand reacting to changes. And we understand that “the enemy has a vote”, and their actions can change our plans. The same is true of our allies.

    But GMAFB, Admiral. We weren’t supposed to send combat troops to Vietnam either, – just a few “advisers”. You’d think the Pentagon would have learned from Vietnam that misleading the US public about how many troops we’re sending to a foreign war is a “seriously bad idea”. So how about you just tell us the truth about what’s going on here, OK?

    Sheesh. This clueless DC clown krewe current Administration doesn’t appear to know its butt from a hole in the ground when it comes to national security and international relations. January 2017 can’t get here fast enough.

  • “Don’t call me a POG”

    In the Marine Corps Times, they published an article about meany infantrymen calling support troops POGs (Personnel Other than Grunts).

    While at the barracks aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, one weekend, a group of [Gunnery Sgt. Hector Vicente’s] junior Marines from the entry-level school for personnel administration stopped by on their way to the beach.

    “Gunny, we were out last night at Buffalo Wild Wings and some Marines walked by and called us ‘boots’ and ‘POGs,’” one private first class said. “Why would a fellow Marine do that?”

    It wasn’t the name-calling itself that bothered Vicente, who, as a career support Marine, knew that the terms were often thrown around within the Corps as part of its coarse culture. It was the fact that one group of Marines was trying to belittle and humiliate another group of Marines in public.

    “It truly saddens me when a group of PFCs ask me why they would be called ‘boot’ and ‘POG’ while they are dining at a restaurant,” Vicente said. “That act to me is truly disheartening.”

    Well, you know, they were going to administrative school. And, you know if it had been Army guys at the table, the clerks would have busted on them for not being Marines. It’s been going on since folks started putting on uniforms. Witness a cut from Audie Murphy’s “To Hell and Back” when some infantrymen met some Air Corps folks;

    I remember reading a weeks-old Stars & Stripes newspaper while we were deep inside Iraq after Desert Storm “ended” about some Army guy who was driving a truck around Iraq and he said something about grunts “living like animals” sleeping on the ground going without showers for weeks, with only a shallow trench for a latrine. Yeah, he talked about us like we were a lower form of life than him.

    We walked our socks to death and we couldn’t get socks from S-4, but one of my troops was engaged to a female soldier in the support battalion who got us huge boxes full of socks that weren’t getting to the grunts.

    When we got back from Iraq, I stayed behind in Saudi Arabia with my drivers and vehicles to ship them back to Germany. Next to the air conditioned buildings we stayed in was a pool where they had ice cold Coca-Cola, loud rock music, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gym equipment – all stuff we hadn’t had for months. It was run by Marine POGs who wouldn’t let us in – particularly one little weasel WO2, who didn’t want a bunch of grunts drinking his Ice Cold Cokes and getting their grubby bodies in his nice clean pool. And probably snagging their POG women out from under them.

    The POGs I knew deserved the treatment they got. The fact that the Marines are trying to crack down on inter- and intra-service rivalry is just more of this crap about treating people like special little snowflakes, that shit they hear in schools to insulate youngsters from the realities of the world.

    The best quote in the article comes from Max Uriarte, the creator of Terminal Lance;

    “If you’re a POG, I would just own it. ‘Yeah, I’m a POG and it’s awesome,” Uriarte said. “I have more respect for people who just own what it is they’re doing than who try to be something that they’re not. Let the grunts have their misery because that’s what they want anyway.”

    Because we love our misery.