Category: Military issues

I guess budget cuts in the UK are more severe than they are here. In a link sent to us by Andy to the UK’s Daily Mail, they claim that troopers will no longer receive parachute training;

[Former Parachute Regiment officer Dan Jarvis, now a Labour MP], who led paratroops in battles against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2007 to 2008, said: ‘Our paratroopers in the second and third battalions, 2 Para and 3 Para, cannot jump any more because they are being denied training and resources.

‘Every year there used to be huge parachuting exercises with around 800 paratroopers jumping together.

‘Now only 80 troops are jumping in these exercises. Parachute training is being phased out to nothing.’

The article continues to point out some of the recent military operations which required the use of parachuting forces. The US has had two strategic parachute operations in the war against terror, and there was one each into Grenada and Panama in recent history. But the Brits complain that they haven’t had one since the Suez Canal thing in 1956.

Sad, sad shit.

We lost eight brothers-in-arms yesterday in military aircraft crashes.

A helicopter crash near Kandahar, Afghanistan, claimed the lives of five US soldiers yesterday.  Initial reports indicate no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash.

A separate incident in Washington state yesterday was also deadly.  An EA-6B attached to VAQ-129 and operating out of NAS Whidbey Island crashed in a rural area yesterday, killing 3 Navy personnel.

There were no reported survivors in either incident.  Names of those killed have not yet been released.

Rest in peace, my brothers-in-arms.  May God comfort their surviving family and friends.

I know, it sounds like satire, but not that I can determine. There really is a Lieutenant Colonel Jon Trainer in the Ohio National Guard who is a chaplain. But according to the Dayton Daily, he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for his Power Point presentation. Apparently he arrived in the command in Afghanistan just when those Korans were accidentally burned;

The ensuing outrage claimed more than 30 lives, including two U.S. troops and two U.S. military advisers.

Within 48 hours, Trainer developed a PowerPoint presentation on the proper handling and disposal of Islamic religious material that was seen by every American — military and civilian alike — in Afghanistan. The presentation then was distributed to the U.S. for use in all pre-deployment training.

Ya know, I don’t want to downplay the good chaplain’s role in this whole thing, but it was pretty much overblown to begin with. The only reason those people over there stop rioting is when they’re tired of being killed and maimed. How did the rioters know that there was even a PPP?

He probably did more to earn his than I did for mine, but, ya know it’s no wonder that the Department of Defense is putting the Distinguished Warfare Medal higher in precedence than the BSM if this is what they think of it.

Thanks to Arby and Charles for the links.

Yeah, that what he said – “lavish”. David Wood at Huffington Post wrote today that it’s a cryin’-ass shame that military pay has caught up with civilian pay. The above title of my post was taken from what Wood’s post was titled before they changed it to be less inflammatory.

But, basically, Wood, who has never been in the military, by the way – he’s a Quaker and a conscientious objector – says that the last two defense secretaries warned that paying an armed force what it’s worth is dangerous. Of course, those last two defense secretaries both served under this president. The last one, Panetta, didn’t mind spending DoD’s money to fly his command post to California every weekend irrespective of the costs.

Base pay and housing allowance boosts the income of an Army master sergeant with 10 years of service, living at Fort Drum, N.Y., to $84,666.48 a year, according to the current Pentagon pay tables. This sergeant would pay a tax rate of 15 percent, a $6,417.40 tax advantage over civilians.

An Army captain with six years of service with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, earns $85,330.80 a year in pay and housing allowance — not counting bonuses, tax-free danger pay for service in a war zone and other benefits. A brigadier (one-star) general at Fort Drum, with 16 years of service, is earning $131,652 a year plus a housing allowance of $2,247 per month.

Now, think about it for a minute – I’ve lived at Fort Drum and I know what housing is available there – it’s not like these guys are living in McMansions. Does Wood think the Army should pay military members less than what their housing costs? Or should they just shut off all housing allowances? And what’s lavish about paying for living costs?

When I left the Army as an infantry platoon sergeant, I was responsible for $8 million worth of equipment and deploying with more firepower than a World War II infantry battalion – what’s that worth? Probably more than the $25,000 I was being paid at the time.

I hate to say ‘I told you so’, but I did back in 2008.

Thanks to ROS for the link.