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

Category: Military issues

  • A Syria Update

    It’s being reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guard members – posing as “religious pilgrims” – were captured by Syrian rebels ten days ago.  They apparently were there to offer clandestine support for the Assad regime.

    This makes me wonder about a few things.

    1. Would Iran have sent these “pilgrims” had the US not announced support for the Syrian opposition?
    2. Did the Obama Administration even foresee and consider this possibility?
    3. “What we do now, Keemosabe?”

    Oh, and I’d also guess Iran is hedging their bets in Syria too.  I’d be shocked if they aren’t making quiet overtures to some of the more hardline Islamist elements of the Syrian opposition – just in case.

    As I’ve said before:  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this . . . .”

  • Donating to a Charity That “Helps Vets”? Might Want to Check It Out First

    Charitable giving is good.  But there are good charities and there are those who give the word “charity” lip service.  It always pays to check before you send that check.

    For example:  are you thinking of donating to Help Hospitalized Veterans  – or any other organization founded by Roger Chapin?  If so, you might want to read this article first.

    Help Hospitalized Veterans  is pretty efficient at raising money – an average of $40+M a year over 10 years.  But it seems they’re not exactly one of the more effective charities when it comes to putting that money to good use.  In fact, it seems there are quite a number of questionable practices at  Help Hospitalized Veterans, such as

    • $80,000 golf memberships for board members
    • Loans and grants by Help Hospitalized Veterans to other organizations founded by Roger Chapin
    • Only around 35% of donations actually going towards program costs
    • Highly inflated and “spiked” salaries for senior officials, including Roger Chapin and his successor
    • A $2M “golden parachute” retirement for Roger Chapin when he retired from the charity in 2009

    Indeed, this isn’t the time Roger Chapin and Help Hospitalized Veterans have been in the public spotlight.  They were investigated by Congress in 2008 for allegations of mismanagement.

    But this does appear to be the first time they’ve been taken to court.  The state of CA is suing them for financial improprieties as a charitable organization.  The state is seeking the ouster of the current president and several board members – and to recover at least $4.3M that’s alleged to have been misspent.

    I’m not against the head of an organization with annual revenue of $40M+ receiving a good salary.  But I do have a problem with charities using donations as a “cash cow” and skimming big bucks off the top for salaries and perks for their leadership, then spending barely 1/3 of what they take in on actual charitable programs.  And based on what’s been made public to date that’s certainly what seems to have been be going on at Help Hospitalized Veterans – though it has yet to be proven in court.

    Given what’s been discovered at Help Hospitalized Veterans I’d also be wary as hell about giving my money to any other organization founded by Roger Chapin, too.  He’s apparently founded over two dozen other organizations besides Help Hospitalized Veterans.

    Hey, Yon:  if you want to spend time bitching about a charity, you really might want to check these guys out instead of Soldier’s Angels.

  • A Belated Valor Award – With a Backstory

    In the early morning hours of June 13, 1968 – in Kontum Province, South Vietnam – an enemy unit moved into position for a night attack on a US camp.  SGT Frank Spink was on guard duty.  At 3AM, he noticed the enemy night attack about to begin, sounded the alarm, and engaged the enemy.  His actions gave sufficient warning to his unit to allow an effective response and prevent his camp from being overrun.

    His actions also drew the enemy’s full attention, however, and nearly cost SGT Spink his life.  He was severely wounded by enemy rocket fire during the attack.  His life was likely saved by his lieutenant, who rendered immediate aid during the battle.  SGT Spink did, unfortunately, lose an arm due to his wounds.

    For his wounds SGT Spink received a Purple Heart.  He was also recommended for the Silver Star, and apparently the award was approved.  Unfortunately, because of some administrative SNAFU, it was also never presented to SGT Spink.  Nor was SGT Spink aware of it.

    That’s where this story would normally have ended – no presentation, and no story.  Just another deserving but unknown hero denied proper recognition by a regrettable admin SNAFU.

    Except here, years later, someone followed up.

    Everyone in the military gives LTs and ENSs grief.  Much of the time, that’s well-deserved.  Virtually all new officers – particularly non-prior service ones – are naïve as hell.  Some new “butterbars” actually think they know their ass from a hole in the ground the day they’re commissioned.  And a few are really obnoxious and arrogant “pieces of work”.

    But most junior officers know they’re ignorant, and listen to (and learn from) their NCOs.  One thing most junior officers learn quickly from their NCOs is to take care of their troops.  And the good ones remember that for the rest of their lives.

    A few years ago SGT Spink’s former lieutenant was doing research on his old unit.  He came across paperwork for Spink’s Silver Star.

    He got in contact with his former soldier, and thanked him for saving lives that long-ago night.  He found out that Spink had never received his award.

    The former lieutenant and another vet then took action.  And though it took a while, the rest – as they say – is history.  A longstanding SNAFU was finally corrected; a deserving hero was recognized.  Earlier this week, SGT Frank Spink, US Army, was presented his Silver Star. Belatedly, yes – but he received it.

    Kudos, SGT Frank Spink.  Through your valor, many friendly lives were saved.  We belatedly honor your actions – and your heroism – on that long-ago day in June of 1968.

    And kudos also to John McHenry, SGT Spink’s former lieutenant, who followed up and took care of his soldier.  And to fellow veteran Fred Golladay – who, along with McHenry, simply wouldn’t let the matter rest.

  • Breanna Manning gets a rash, makes news

    Breanna Manning, the formerly male soldier who is responsible for the release of hundreds of thousands of pages of classified material to the website Wikileaks, had his lawyer release a 110-page report about little missy’s pretrial confinement. The report apparently tells the grueling story of how he got a rash from the suicide prevention blanket he was made to use, according to the Associated Press;

    Manning claims to have developed a rash from being forced to sleep beneath a suicide-prevention blanket. He claims he suffered an anxiety attack after being harassed by guards.

    The Defense Department has said Manning’s treatment was in line with procedures designed to prevent inmates from hurting themselves or others. His lawyers claim there was no legal justification for such restrictions.

    Of course, if his release of hundreds of thousands of pages of classified documents only results in his victims getting a rash, they’ll be real lucky.

    “Harassed by guards” is probably sissy code for “wouldn’t talk to me”. I’m pretty sure that no one dared violating any of little Miss Manning’s rights or sensibilities because of the profile of this case among the smelly hippie crowd. Of course, to that crowd, the fact that Manning is in prison is somehow abuse.

  • Not A Good Week in the ‘Stan

    Fox News is reporting yet another Green on Blue incident in Afghanistan, this time in Helmand province.  Three US troops are reported dead at the hands of an individual wearing an ANA uniform.  The individual was reportedly “helping” US forces train local police.

    This is the third green-on-blue incident reported this week.  The article gives no indication whether or not the US troops were in possession of their weapons at the time of the incident.  However, the shooter apparently did escape.

    The Taliban has predictably claimed responsibility, and further claims that the killer joined the insurgency “after the attack”.  Believe that last point if you want; I’m not sure I do.  I’m guessing there’s a good chance the Taliban is telling a half-truth and that he may have been a Taliban plant all along.

    The incident is reportedly under investigation, and further details were not available.

    I’m glad I’m not at Bagram AB this week.  Standing at attention, saluting, alongside Disney Avenue during 3 different Fallen Comrade ceremonies in the same week would be kinda tough.

    And I don’t even want to think about what their unit comrades, friends, and families are going through right now.

    May the dead rest in peace, and may God comfort the bereaved comrades, friends, and  families of the fallen.

     

    Edited by the author to add information that should have been obvious, but in the pre-6AM hour when this was written unfortunately was omitted  – and shouldn’t have been.  Unit comrades, friends, and families obviously are hit harder by something like this than anyone else.  My apologies for failing to emphasize that initially.

  • Racists in the military

    You know what I hate more than the media slicing up veterans? I hate veterans doing that to each other;

    “Outside every major military installation, you will have at least two or three active neo-Nazi organizations actively trying to recruit on-duty personnel,” said T.J. Leyden, a former white power skinhead in the U.S. Marines who now conducts anti-extremism training.

    That’s from a link that Art sent us from a Hampton Roads local TV station. With all of the years I spent in the Army, almost all of it on military installations, I never witnessed anyone being recruited by a neo-Nazi group. And then this quote;

    To J.M. Berger, a counterterrorism analyst and editor for IntelWire.Com, the military attracts extremists because of the weapons training it provides.

    “One thing that we really have to keep in mind is that extremists are often explicitly interested in joining the military because they get training that they can use later,” Berger told CNN, adding that “there have been some explicit discussions among leaders of some of these groups that their followers should join the Army to get trained.”

    And what, exactly, are they going to do with that training? Seriously. This miniscule portion of the population is going to raise up and use their military training to take over country? Or will they just use it to make pin-prick insurgencies that will make them more hated than are already?

    I’m pretty sure that most gun owning Americans would say they’ll protect their homes and families from neo-Nazis just as quickly as they’d defend against anyone from the other end of the political spectrum.

    Leyden, the former white supremacist who wrote the book “Skinhead Confessions: From Hate to Hope,” said he openly displayed his extremist leanings while serving in the Marine Corps in the late 1980s.

    “I used to hang a swastika flag on my wall locker and everybody in my unit all the way up to my commander knew it,” he said. “The only time they ever asked me to take it down was when the commanding general would come through, just so they wouldn’t get in trouble. And afterwards, I would put it right back up and they were perfectly fine with it.”

    He noted that his brother’s unit had less tolerance for such displays.

    Yeah, I don’t see that happening. A Nazi flag would last about three seconds in any of my units and more than likely, it’d be one my privates who would have removed it before I saw it.

    According to the Department of Defense website, the task force visited 28 installations and interviewed more than 7,500 soldiers. It found that less than 1% said they had seen soldiers or civilian employees involved with extremist groups.

    A decade later, the Southern Law Poverty Center reported in 2006 that some high-profile members of extremist groups were serving in the U.S. military.

    Yeah, we talked about the SPLC report a few years ago. The assclowns went on what the Neo-Nazis told them about their military service but never bothered to check on them. We could find no record of them ever serving. So if you suspend common sense, it’s easy to believe SPLC.

  • MDA Gets New Director, Apparently For Good Reason

    Rank has its privileges. To an extent, that’s as it should be.

    But sometimes, those in high positions abuse their positions and their authority. To me, it’s particularly galling when they do so through abusing their subordinates. And as the case of our recent Johnson of an adulterous former Brigade Commander shows, sometimes they get away with being abusive for a while before getting nailed for other reasons.

    However, every once and a while an abusive senior leader gets fired simply for being an asshole. And it seems that’s happened at MDA.

    The SECDEF has announced that LTG Patrick O’Reilly, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, is being replaced and will retire. His replacement will be RADM James D. Syring, who has also been nominated for promotion to Vice Admiral.

    Apparently LTG O’Reily was a . . . real piece of work. According to a recent DoD IG Report, LTG O’Reily reportedly “engaged in a leadership style that was inconsistent with standards of senior Army leaders and a violation of military [ethics] regulations.” Examples given were

    • yelled at subordinates in public and private
    • demeaning and belittling employees
    • behaved so poorly that six employees quit
    • loudly attacking senior staff members on a personal rather than professional level
    • telling a senior official over the phone, “If I could get my hands through the phone right now, I’d choke your f—-ing throat.”

    Really classy behavior, general.

    Yeah, I understand that individual leadership styles vary.  Yeah, I understand that a leader sometimes has to be an asshole towards a few who just don’t “get it”.  And yeah – I understand the need to “kick ass and take names” sometimes, even at very senior levels.

    But there’s a right – and a wrong – way to do that. And attacking subordinates publicly, on a personal level, ain’t the right way to do it. What I learned was “praise in public; chew ass in private; and don’t get personal.”  It sounds to me like O’Reily was rather out of control.  IMO, the Army probably did the right thing in “encouraging” O’Reily to retire – now.

    Obviously the DoD IG – and senior DoD leadership – agrees.

    Maybe O’Reily “caught the PTSD” worrying about how that next BMD test would turn out. If so, maybe the VA can get him into an anger management class or two during his retirement.

  • Tell Me Again Why We Should Support the Syrian Opposition . . .

    . . . when some of the major players are our enemies?

    Why do I say that? The Muslim Brotherhood has apparently set up shop there and raised a militia to fight against the Assad regime. They aren’t exactly friends to the West or western culture. And al Qaeda is apparently also there working behind the scenes with the Syrian opposition. I just don’t get it.

    And if the way Libya and Egypt have turned out are any indication, apparently neither does the Obama administration.