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

Category: Military issues

  • Hagel: The world is exploding

    Hagel: The world is exploding

    Kerry Hagel

    On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was addressing a group of Marines in San Diego after he returned from a trip around Asia. He was asked a question by a Marine;

    Q: Good afternoon, sir. My question is that, given that the administration’s primary focus is on the Pacific theater, how has all of the issues popping up in the world today, Russia, Iraq, Africa, the rest of the theaters pretty much affected that current mission? And how do you foresee that affecting the mission in the future?

    SEC. HAGEL: Thank you. That’s a — go ahead, sit down — that’s a question I got often when I was in India and Australia. And the trip I just came from was my sixth trip to the Asia Pacific area in the last year-and-a-half. I’ve got four planned this calendar year. And so I get that question all the time. It’s a legitimate question for the very reasons you asked.

    The world is exploding all over. And so is the United States going to continue to have the resources, the capabilities, the leadership, the bandwidth to continue with the rebalance toward the Asia Pacific? And the answer is yes.

    […]

    And I think, as what I did in taking questions yesterday on this, it is pretty clear on where we are today and what we have committed to do, we are continuing to do. Start with the fact that both Secretary Kerry and I, the secretary of state, secretary of defense, were just in that area for a few days. I’ve been there six times in the last year-and-a-half. Look at the new things we have done in the Asia Pacific, the new initiatives.

    […]

    Now, that said, as I’ve said, with that rebalance, which will continue, and we are committed to do that, we’re not retreating from any other part of the world. Great powers can’t pick and choose which challenges and threats they’re going to deal with. There is no power on Earth like the United States of America.

    I guess what all of that means is “When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires Will come to you. If your heart is in your dream No request is too extreme, When you wish upon a star As dreamers do. Fate is kind She brings to those who love
    The sweet fulfillment of Their secret longing”.

    But that “the world is exploding” line should show up in some campaign literature this season, wouldn’t you think? The world is exploding everywhere but in the Pacific, but guess where this administration’s focus is. But, if we wish real hard, all of the world’s problems will just disappear and maybe the Chinese will do us a solid and start some shit in the Pacific for us.

  • US/Aussie agreement for 25 years of Marine training

    John Kerry and Chuck Hagel will sign an agreement with their counterparts later this week for the rotational presence of Marines who will train near Darwin, Australia for the next 25 years, according to AFP;

    “Approximately 2,500 US defence force personnel will come to primarily the Northern Territory to exercise on the vast, open Commonwealth (government) military exercise grounds that we have,” Johnston told a joint press conference with Hagel.

    “They will interoperate with Australia. They will do things that they want to, exercise activities that are important to them. We’ll assist them.”

    Johnston said as many as 1,200 US Marines and air force personnel were already rotating into Darwin during the current dry season in Australia’s tropical north.

    Of course, this all part of the “shift to the Pacific Rim” by this Administration, while there are still wars that concern us halfway around the world. Well, at least John Kerry has finally negotiated something that didn’t get thrown back in his face by an ally for a change. So we have that going for us. One in a row.

  • Russia boycotts US & EU food

    Retaliation from Russia for sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union will include all fruits vegetables and poultry according to Reuters;

    The measures will hit consumers at home who rely on cheap imports, and on farmers in the West for whom Russia is a big market. Moscow is by far the biggest buyer of European fruit and vegetables and the second biggest importer of U.S. poultry.

    RIA quoted the spokesman for Russia’s food safety watchdog VPSS, Alexei Alexeenko, as saying all European fruit and vegetables and all produce from the United States would be included in a ban drawn up on the orders of President Vladimir Putin to punish countries that imposed sanctions on Russia.

    And, oh, by the way, NATO claims that there are 20,000 Russian troops stacked up at the Ukrainian frontier;

    “We’re not going to guess what’s on Russia’s mind, but we can see what Russia is doing on the ground – and that is of great concern. Russia has amassed around 20,000 combat-ready troops on Ukraine’s eastern border,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in an emailed statement.

    Moscow could use “the pretext of a humanitarian or peace-keeping mission as an excuse to send troops into Eastern Ukraine”, she said. A NATO military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia’s build-up at the border included tanks, infantry, artillery, air defence systems, logistics troops, special forces, and aircraft.

    The Associated Press says that Putin is showing that he’s just as willing to hurt his own people as well as the Euros. But, I guess that they don’t understand that there are other places Russia can buy fruits and vegetables like China and South America.

  • Army’s 1st Vietnamese General

    Army’s 1st Vietnamese General

    Viet Luong

    Andy sends us a link to the Associated Press which reports that the Army has promoted the first Vietnamese-American General, Viet Luong, at Fort Hood, Texas;

    Luong and nine other family members escaped South Vietnam on a flight during Operation Frequent Wind in 1975. After a stay at a resettlement camp in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, the family settled in Los Angeles, the Killeen Daily Herald reported.

    Today, he is the 1st Cavalry Division deputy commanding general for maneuver and the first Vietnamese-born officer to reach the position of general staff or flag officer in the U.S. military.

    “The journey was arduous,” he said after his wife pinned his new stars on him.

    “I don’t like to tell that story too much. I’m deeply humbled. I do have some responsibility … to tell the story of our nation and what it stands for,” he said.

    From the Killeen Daily News;

    “Viet and sisters are Americans now by choice,” said Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, commander of III Corps and Fort Hood and reviewing officer for the promotion ceremony. “He has served this great nation honorably over the last many decades. … There’s no one in uniform today that epitomizes what it takes to be an American soldier more than Viet Luong.”

    I think the general’s comments are unfair to the millions of Americans who wear the uniform, but I see his point.

  • So, What Are They Saying in Montana?

    Wonder what they’re saying in Montana about Senator Walsh and his “unintentional mistake” of copying virtually verbatim around 25% of his War College final paper – including his conclusions – from other sources? As well as citing, but then lifting nearly word-for-word without indicating a direct quote, other sections? Well, let’s look:

    And even though it’s from Joliet, Illinois (Times Weekly) vice Montana, this editorial “gets it”:

     . . .

    So:  was cribbing that material instead of writing the paper yourself really worth it, Senator? “Oh, what a tangled web . . . . “

  • A Unique Purple Hearts Reunited Success Story

    PVT John Bateman, US Army, was an infantryman. During World War II, he was assigned to the 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.

    Bateman was assigned to the unit as a replacement. He joined the unit in Mindanao in the Philippines.

    One of the first people he met on arriving was John Trinca.  Both were from Chicago.  So they chatted a bit, then went on patrol.

    Unfortunately, not long after meeting Trinca – on June 3, 1945 – PVT John Bateman was KIA. Trinca was with him when he died.

    Bateman was awarded a posthumous Purple Heart.

    In the 1950s, Bateman’s Purple Heart was found by Tom McAvoy in the basement of a Chicago apartment building. It was on the floor in the basement of his apartment building – where the janitor was sorting igarbage.

    McAvoy, who was only a child at the time, removed the medal from the garbage and gave it to his mother. Being a child, he then forgot about it.

    A few years ago, one of McAvoy’s brothers mentioned to him that he’d found the medal in some of their late mother’s effects. McAvoy then realized that was the medal he’d found as a child – and decided to try and find the medal’s rightful owner.

    To make a long story short: eventually, McAvoy ended up in contact with Purple Hearts Reunited. Purple Hearts Reunited found Bateman’s son.  And this weekend, the medal is being returned to it’s rightful owner – the late PVT John Bateman’s surviving son, his NOK.

    That in and of itself is great – but isn’t what makes this case unique.

    In the process of finding Bateman’s son, Purple Hearts Reunited also located the man who was with Bateman when he died – John Trinca.

    Trinca will also be at the ceremony returning Bateman’s Purple Heart to his son. After 69 years, Bateman’s son will have the chance to meet and speak with the man who was with his father when he died.

    The Army Times has an article with more details. It’s longish, but well worth reading.  And the story is truly amazing – and inspiring.

    Kudos, Purple Hearts Reunited. Keep up the good work.

  • 550 Army majors to get pink slips

    The Associated Press reports that the Army announced that they’re notifying 550 folks in the rank of major that their service won’t be needed after next Spring. Of course, some of those folks are in Afghanistan today doing the people’s business, but the Army won’t tell us how many.

    [General John Campbell, the vice chief of the Army] said it’s difficult to avoid cutting deployed soldiers because of the timing schedules.

    All the soldiers being forced to leave have probably already been given a heads-up that they were at risk of the job cut and will meet with a senior officer, according to the Army.

    Those who are cut have nine months to leave the Army. And the soldiers who are deployed, including those in Afghanistan, will generally have about a month to move out of that job and go home to begin to transition out of the service.

    The cuts have been difficult for many young officers, particularly captains, who tend not to have enough years in service to retire.

    The Daily Caller publishes an article supposedly written by an anonymous “ranking Department of Defense official with a background in U.S. special operations and combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan” who doesn’t like the way things are going in the Defense Department;

    Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want.” He was criticized for that remark, but it reflected the reality that he had to go to war with — an Army that had been hollowed out after the Gulf War by the Clinton administration. War is not a video game. You cannot hit the pause button on a crisis and ask the defense industrial base and the armed services to give you what you need to fight a war. That only comes from long-term acquisition strategy driven by doctrine that accurately reflects future threats.

    If the administration does not reverse course on its defense strategy and ask congressional Democrats to reverse defense spending cuts, then our nation will find itself in a position where it is unable to defend itself and could become the victim of terrorism on U.S. soil once again.

    But we’ve all lived through it before and we all know that the real price for this administration’s lack of will to defend this country will eventually be paid by the soldiers who are next sent into battle.

    This administration took seven months after the fall of Fallujah to terrorists before they planned to sell Hellfire missiles to the Iraqis to defend themselves, which is the absolutely least they could do. They’re perfectly happy to let things go as they are, rather than do something to influence history, so we can just get used to the fact that this massive and ill-considered draw-down will continue unabated until we get a leader in the White House.

  • How Walsh Is Handling Questions About His War College Paper

    Many people have been talking about the alleged plagiarism of Senator John Walsh of Montanta. Walsh originally spoke out on the matter – first downplaying the issue, then blaming it on PTS.

    So what’s he saying about the matter these days? Watch for yourself:


    Kinda looks like he’s avoiding answering the young man’s questions to me. But what do I know?