US Military
The top officers in the Army and Marine Corps testified on Tuesday that they believe it is time for women to register for future military drafts, following the Pentagon’s recent decision to open all jobs in combat units to female service members. …
A soldier in Alabama bought Taco Bell for two hungry kids on Tuesday prompting one of the children to say, 'you know, I want to be just like you some day.'…
…Staff Sgt. Robert Van Hook, a critical skills operator with the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, was presented with the Silver Star on Jan. 15. …credited with “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy” while serving as the element leader of Marine Special Operations Team 8224 while deployed to Afghanistan's Herat province in 2013…
“Any Raider could have been switched out with me and done the same exact thing,” he said. “A Raider isn’t going to let anybody down: not the brothers that went before him, not the Marine beside him. He might have done it differently, but he would have got the job done.”…
The 12 Marines who went missing after their two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters apparently crashed off the coast of Hawaii during a nighttime training mission last Thursday evening have officially been declared dead.…
…Arkansas teen …Anthony Bauswell, 18, has the rebel flag inked on his rib, with the words 'Southern Pride' emblazoned underneath. Bauswell was in the process of enlisting at the Marine Corps Recruiting Center in Conway on Monday when the recruiter said it made him ineligible. …
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon jet crashed over northwestern Arizona on Thursday morning. The condition of the pilot was not immediately known. …
After five days without finding any survivors, the Coast Guard suspended its search for 12 Marines who were missing since Jan. 14 when their two CH-53 helicopters crashed off Oahu.…
The U.S. military released new details on Monday about how 10 Navy sailors were taken captive briefly by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf last week, but it remains unclear how the sailors first ended up in Iranian territorial waters before their capture. … A defense official said that the boats veered into Iranian waters first, and then one of them experienced a mechanical problem.…
The US Coast Guard said two Marine helicopters have collided off the Hawaiian island of Oahu. ……each aircraft had six people aboard.…no immediate word on what caused the collision or if any survivors had been found. …
…Jimmy Hatch, a Navy SEAL senior chief who led a platoon into a fierce battle to try to rescue Bergdahl, was shot and badly wounded on that mission. Beside him, service dog Remco lay mortally wounded, after running through a hail of bullets at two Taliban fighters hiding in a ditch, exposing their whereabouts. …
…“Today’s the day I remember and honor the sacrifices our fellow Airmen made for us, our country, and our freedoms,” announced Special Agent Heather Garver, Air Force Office of Special Investigations and part of Task Force Crimson. “While we mourn the loss of our family members, and care for our injured, we must remain united. Our fallen heroes would want us to bounce back and press on with the mission we are here to carry out. We may be wounded, but we’re not broken.”…
…In November, Marine veteran Charles Anderson passed away in Lincoln. At the time of his passing, Anderson's family could not afford to bring his body back home to Oklahoma, prompting them to ask the Patriot Guard Riders to deliver his ashes. … "We're standing for him today because he stood for us back in the Vietnam War. It's a brotherhood. It's something that's never going to be broken. We're doing out part to get this man home to his family before Christmas," American Legion Riders Post 11 Commander Mike Gentes said.…
80 soldiers from China’s People’s Liberation Army are visiting Joint Base Lewis-McChord…
It’s the first time Chinese troops have been invited to train in the continental United States…
'Confederate Veterans Lives Matter' Claims Tulsa Parade Unfairly Denied Float… The Confederate Veterans Lives Matter Group formed this summer after hearing South Carolina banned the rebel flag. …
Amid Controversy, Muslim Group Participates In Tulsa Parade To Honor Veterans
A college student, inspired by his Iraq War vet father's struggles with night terrors, is being recognized for an invention to help those suffering from the condition. Macalester College senior Tyler Skluzacek said he was in sixth grade when his dad, Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Skluzacek, spent a year in Iraq.…
…Carr published the video, called "Hawg" (above), on his blog's YouTube page, and it hit more than 935,000 views since it went live on September 4. Its popularity is related to how much the A-10 is beloved by airmen who work and fly the airframe, as well as troops on the ground who need it for close air support. It's also a really good documentary about the A-10's combat role. So why would the Air Force not release it?…
After this decision by the U.S. Army, NO ONE should enlist… Where is the moral compass of the U.S. Army?… SFC Martland is fighting for his military career while a pedophile is laughing. Let me put this simply, if I were SecDef, that bastard would not be laughing, and SFC Martland would be my enlisted aide.… This is a call to action, melt the Pentagon phone lines…
SGM Ernie Tabata, Legend in the Special Forces community, departed on his Final Infil 10 August 2015… an SF legend, is Distinguished Member of the Regiment, his service, military and as civilian instructor spanned 59 years. He trained and was loved by legions of SF demo men.…
In an amazing act of patriotism and honor, bikers across the nation made sure the remains of Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Johnathan Turner–a veteran of seven tours in Iraq and Afghanistan–made it home to his mother.…
CHEYENNE - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a new statement that seeks to address media reports that military personnel and their families have been targeted by Middle Eastern men here and in northern Colorado.
The statement was issued late Thursday afternoon. It says the FBI in Denver has "found no credible threats to military personnel or their family members in Colorado or Wyoming.
"The FBI continues to coordinate with its military and law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of our communities," the release continued. "The FBI asks the community to remain vigilant and report signs of suspicious activity to law enforcement."…
…honored "for courageous action and wounds received on Tarawa…
When light broke on an early morning last month, 94-year-old Herb Morris was flying again.
On this flight, however, the former military aviator was not at the controls but being honored as a special passenger on a plane headed for a daylong tour of veterans monuments and memorials in the nation’s capital.
The retired Air Force major joined more than 80 retired servicemen and women from across Oklahoma who flew from Tulsa to Washington, D.C., on June 9 as part of the nonprofit Honor Flight Network. Bartlesville residents Bonnie Clavijo, Duane Marquis, Hadwen Clayton, Harold Hawley and Charles Martin, and Dewey resident Lee Stone also took part in the trip.
Morris described the busy day as a “wonderful experience” and “very well organized.” …
…“She said, ‘You’re in the military?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ …She said, ‘I can’t serve you.’ … I asked, ‘Are you serious?’ She looked at me like she was offended…”
…And so it goes that commander-in-chief Barack Obama can once again lay claim to having achieved something that no previous president has — gapped the Persian Gulf of an American CVBG. Of course lots of folks will say what difference at this point does it make? It’s simple. We will not have a platform by which we can launch strikes against ISIS — not that they’ve been overly effective anyway, since we don’t have G-FACs (Ground Forward Air Controllers).…
…Ladies and gents, resulting from the text message I received yesterday, I can confirm that the United States Navy is bringing charges against Lt. Cmdr Timothy White for illegally discharging a firearm on federal property. … What kind of freaking idiots are in charge of our Armed Forces — pardon me, our “unArmed Forces”? What would they prefer that Abdulazeez had been able to kill all the Marines and Sailors at the Naval Support Reserve Center? …
…In response to the recommendations, McCall posted on Facebook, “To the higher powers that be: You have suggested we Marines NOT wear our uniforms to recruiting stations for “our own protection”. Let me make myself clear. If I’m not going to hide in Afghanistan during a war, why in the hell would I EVER hide in my own country?”
“The day us Marines run and hide from our enemies will be the day this country falls,” he continued. “We won’t EVER let that happen. We WILL continue to wear our uniform with pride.”…
…The couple found the 70-year-old dog tag in their garden in Sedley, Virginia. … Alison posted the story on Facebook, and after a number of messages, shares and likes, a family member of Willis saw the post and contacted him. Before they knew it, Willis showed up at their house. Interestingly enough, Alison and Kelby’s home once belonged to Willis. He moved there after WWII, and that’s how his dog tag ended up there. …
At 18, Willis served in Germany during the war as a “tail gunner in a B-24 Liberator bomber.”
He’ll be celebrating his 89th birthday August 31.
“It was a sentimental feeling and historical feeling for me and I wanted to keep it for my grandchildren,” he said. “I’m just a blessed man. I’ve really been blessed.”…
…Defense Department asked armed citizens to stop guarding recruitment centers.
"The presence of armed civilians, it said, might cause safety problems….
…head of the US Northern Command has now issued a directive to authorize recruiters not to be able to carry weapons at the centers but he wants them to implement new security measures like “closing the blinds at the office.” …