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

Category: Military issues

  • College graduation under the camo net in Kandahar

    The folks at the 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), whom TSO and I watched case their colors in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan a few months back, send us the news that they’ve just conducted the first ever graduation ceremony while they’re deployed to Kandahar;

    KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan. (May 23, 2012) – Sgt. Sharon Samuel, a logistics noncommissioned officer with Company A, 209th Aviation Support Battalion, stood in line sandwiched between two taller male Soldiers with a look of impatience on her face.

    After months of studying and taking online classes, Samuel would shortly take part in Kandahar Airfield history. As Samuel looked around, immediately she snapped to attention as Brig. Gen. Kristin K. French, commanding general, 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) walked towards her smiling.

    With a simple handshake and whisper of congratulations, Samuel started to walk to her seat with her head held a little higher.

    Thirty Soldiers participated in the first-ever Kandahar Airfield college graduation ceremony on May 23 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

    “This is awesome because when you look back at the sacrifices you’ve made, a day like this motivates not only you, but your soldiers,” said Samuel.

    The soldiers would be the first group ever to partake in the unique graduation ceremony where caps and gowns were blanketed by afghan dirt and sand.

    “It feels different graduating like this, but this is a part of history and something like this supports the idea of pursuing my education further,” said Samuel.

    As she gave the ceremonial opening remarks, French told the soldiers that learning should be an everyday part of their lives.

    “Continuing one’s education can be a challenge, but it is clear none of you have chosen the conventional path to getting more education,” said French. “I encourage you to look at challenges not as obstacles, but as opportunities.”

    After her speech, the general handed out diplomas to graduates as “Pomp and circumstance” by Sir. Edward Elgar blared in the background.

    At the end of the ceremony French stayed to shake hands and pose for photos with troops.

    “It just shows how much she cares about the Soldiers and I’m glad she could come here to be with them,” said Paul Karczewski, a Kandahar Airfield education center counselor. “To have not only their commanders here, but to have a general acknowledge their hard work.that’s something very special.”

    After shaking the general’s hand again, Samuel said she planned to celebrate the occasion in a low-key manner.

    “I’m going to get a large pizza for my night shift staff and we’re going to chill out,” said Samuel. “I may not have my family here, but my Soldiers are also my family too.”

    I guess that’s why it’s called “continuing education”. Heartfelt congratulations to the graduates from the staff at TAH. My supervisors did their best to keep me from continuing my education while I was on active duty, I hope you all realize how lucky you are to have leaders like this.

  • US Special Forces parachuting into North Korea?

    Several of you sent us this link since yesterday, Old Trooper and ROS among others. It’s about Army Brigadier General Neil Tolley, commander of US special forces in South Korea, telling a press conference that US Special Forces are parachuting into North Korea reconning tunnels and emplacements inside the hermit kingdom;

    “The entire tunnel infrastructure is hidden from our satellites,” Gen Tolley said. “So we send (South Korean) soldiers and US soldiers to the North to do special reconnaissance.”

    “After 50 years, we still don’t know much about the capability and full extent” of the underground facilities,” he said, in comments reported by the National Defense Industrial Association’s magazine on its website.

    I don’t know how true it is, but it seems odd to me that he’d tell the media about things that would send the perpetually paranoid Norks into a tizzy. I suspect there will be a spate of airliner shoot downs in the next couple of months as a result of this disclosure.

    But, it sounds like a misinformation campaign to me. I mean, operations like this never get disclosed to media, especially if they’re ongoing operations. But, what do I know about how this administration fights it’s wars?

  • About Heroes and Heroism . . .

    A recent short discussion here got me to thinking.

    Yeah, I know – that’s dangerous. But I sometimes take that risk. And yeah, it often gets me in trouble. (smile)

    What follows is my perspective, my opinion. I don’t claim to be a world-class expert on the subject.

    But I have spent my entire life associated, in one form or another, with the US military. So perhaps I’m not completely out to lunch here. And I apologize in advance for the length. Consider yourself forewarned. (smile)

    Obligatory disclaimer: although I’ve used male gender pronouns and the term “soldier” in what I’ve written below, my intent is neither to be service-specific nor gender-exclusive. In what I say below I’m referring to military personnel of both genders and to members of all services – Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. I simply find repeatedly writing “his or her”, “himself/herself”, “soldier/sailor/airman/marine”, and similar wordy expressions cumbersome as hell.

    Terms of Use – and Abuse

    The terms duty, courage, and heroism often are used carelessly in discussions of military conduct. They seem sometimes to be used nearly interchangeably.

    To use them interchangeably is not correct. These terms refer to three different concepts. They are interrelated, but they are distinct.

    One of these terms – heroism – is far more commonly abused than are the other two. IMO it’s now so abused as to now obscure its meaning.

    But understanding the other two concepts is essential to understanding the third. So I’ll discuss all three.

    Duty

    Duty is not strictly a military concept. It’s actually fairly universal. But it’s the most fundamental of the three concepts.

    Religions talk about moral duties. Politicians and polysci professors talk about the duties of citizens. Occupations and professions impose duties. Parents and children have duties. The law can impose duties –sometimes even making it your duty to pay a duty. (smile)

    The concept of duty is very simple to understand. Essentially, performing your duty means “fulfilling your obligations.” Plain and simple.
    (more…)

  • Memorial Day and ordinary men

    Admiral “Bull” Halsey once said “There are no extraordinary men…just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.” And that is what this weekend celebrates. Ordinary men (and women) dealing with extraordinary circumstances, and although many of us who’ve known personally those men and women who have given the last full measure and we honor their memory every day, some Americans have to be reminded of their blessings of liberty and peace. That’s unfortunate, but at least they remember sometimes. That’s why I graciously accept their Memorial Day greetings, and their “thanks for [my] service” because this holiday is to remind them of the people who’ve sacrificed for them – because you and I don’t need to be reminded.

    Memorial Day Unknown Soldiers 042

    Among millions of others, we live with the sacrifices others have made for us and that is part of the burden we bear.

    Tim's girls

    If it takes a holiday to remind Americans what has been done in their name, then I’m all for it;

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    I think that Halsey’s comment was valid in the context of his time, but in these days of an entirely volunteer military, there are extraordinary people who take time out of their lives to participate in something for the greater good rather than the selfish good.

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    Anyone who enlisted in the military after 2001 knew with near certainty that they would end up being a pop-up target no matter what their job was – truck driver, cook or infantryman.

    Memorial Day Unknown Soldiers 037

    It takes an extraordinary person to run towards the sounds of the guns while most of his countrymen, the ordinary people, merely hope that someone will, someone who is not them. In these days, it takes extraordinary people to confront extraordinary circumstances, and not a day goes by that I don’t thank my Creator that such people exist in these times.

  • Pittard hoisted by his own petard

    The other day, several of you sent me links to the statement by Fort Bliss commander, Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard who wrote on his blog that soldiers who commit suicide are selfish. According to Star & Stripes, the blog post, written in January and since removed read;

    “I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act. Soldiers who commit suicide leave their families, their buddies and their units to literally clean up their mess. There is nothing noble about suicide. … I am personally fed up with Soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”

    That was written after General Pittard attended a funeral of one of his soldiers who had committed suicide on Christmas Day. I’m sure the general felt frustration and regret for the loss of life, but he wasn’t really helping the situation. Anyway, he has since recanted that statement, recognizing that his statement wasn’t at all helpful. From CNN;

    After meeting with a retired military member recently about the blog, Pittard decided this week to retract the blog and explain himself, according to his office.

    His retraction reads in part: “In my commentary published January 19, 2012, I stated suicide was a selfish act. Thanks to many of you and your feedback, I have learned that this was a hurtful statement. I also realize that my statement was not in line with the Army’s guidance regarding sensitivity to suicide. With my deepest sincerity and respect towards those whom I have offended, I retract that statement.”

    Yeah, it was a poor choice of words, written from an emotional response and retracting it doesn’t really make it not exist, aside from the fact that the internet always remembers, so do people.

  • Smoke and Mirrors at the AF Academy

    Military.com and Associated Press report on the president’s speech to graduates at the Air Force Academy yesterday and it’s a bunch of unadulterated crap, piled high and deep. He welcomes them into a world without war and an appreciative and respectful community of nations thanks to his administration.

    Obama told the cadets that they are the first class in nearly a decade to graduate into a world that has no Osama bin Laden, no war in Iraq and no questions about when the war in Afghanistan will end.

    The president said a disappearing “dark cloud of war” will mean a less strained and better prepared military, and more use of other U.S. power – diplomatic, economic and humanitarian.

    “Even as we’ve done the work of ending these wars, we’ve laid the foundation for a new era of American leadership,” Obama said. “And now, cadets, we have to build on it. Let’s start by putting aside the tired notion that says our influence has waned, that America is in decline. We’ve heard that talk before.”

    Yup, war is ended, just because we choose not to admit that there are people trying to kill us by the buckets full of blood. We’re still the leader of the free world just because we say so, even though we haven’t done anything successful in the past four years to lead anyone towards anything constructive. And just because this administration refuses to admit that there have been real terrorist attacks between our shores, that means they haven’t happened. Just because an old intelligence estimate says that Iran isn’t building nuclear weapons, well, they aren’t.

    Mostly, when talk started that “America is in decline” we elected leaders who stopped that process from happening. I can’t get out of mind his speech to the American Legion Convention last September when he told the congregation that he wouldn’t balance the budget on the backs of veterans while his administration was planning to do just that. His words never match reality, just how you should perceive his reality.

    But, then I’m probably just a racist. And mad enough to spit.

  • Obama Administration objects to terrorism

    Well, actually, they object to the Fort Hood murders being characterized as terrorism and it’s one of their myriad reasons to object to the National Defense Authorization Act set to be debated in the Senate after Memorial Day, according to Bridget Johnson at PJ Media in a link sent to us by Old Trooper;

    The statement [from the Office of Management and Budget] then outlined some of “a number” of “concerns” — 32, to be exact — including limitations on nuclear force reduction and a provision to block repatriated Guantanamo detainees from traveling to the U.S.

    No. 26 on the list of veto-worthy offenses is objection to awarding Purple Hearts to the victims of the Fort Hood and Little Rock shootings.

    “The Administration objects to section 552, which would grant Purple Hearts to the victims of the shooting incidents in Fort Hood, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas,” the veto threat states. “The criminal acts that occurred in Little Rock were tried by the State of Arkansas as violations of the State criminal code rather than as acts of terrorism; as a result, this provision could create appellate issues.”

    Yeah, see, that’s the problem when we subjegate our national security policy to the legal system. Stupid arguments about jurisdictional issues that interfere with an actual policy which hinder an effective defense.

    This halfwitted exclusion of these acts as terrorist-related is purely a case of national cognitive dissonance. Those soldiers were shot and killed because they were soldiers and executing their duties in compliance with our national defense policy. Just like the people who get shot or killed in Afghanistan.

  • Why The Military Times Is A Joke

    At the Military Blogging Conference a few weeks ago, Jonn made the case (rightly so) for going after the media and calling them out when they do wrong. Well what happens when the media is supposed to be “our media.” The publications and press that cover the military exclusively?

    We’ll call them out too.

    This is the latest cover of the Marine Corps Times, which falls under the umbrella of the Military Times. Take a good look. It’s not Weekly World News, Star Magazine, or the National Enquirer. It’s a publication that is sold at every Marine Corps installation and read by Marines worldwide.

    The most important story, or lead, is about a “swinger couple”. That’s the attention grabber. That’s the one that’s supposed to make you pick this up and take it to the register and put down three dollars and fifty cents.

    Now look to the right: 2 Navy Crosses, which they then term, “Legendary Badassery”. Yeah, that was certainly the case. Then right below that, the Faces of the Fallen. Apparently the fact that two Marines earned our nation’s second-highest award isn’t exciting enough.

    During the engagement, Wooldridge snatched a machine gun from the hands of an enemy fighter and, following a tense struggle on the ground, killed his opponent by striking him in the head with the weapon’s butt stock. The remaining Taliban then retreated, ending a potentially deadly ambush against Wooldridge’s platoon, according to an account of the battle provided to Marine Corps Times in late 2010.

    This must be a pretty boring story, according to Military Times. The rest of the media will not cover these amazing acts of heroism — at least not enough. They are brushed aside as one-minute segments at the end of the broadcast, pushed to page D12 of the newspaper and forgotten. Politics, the economy, and what Lady Gaga is wearing is much more important.

    And Military Times has fallen in line.