US Military
Another grim milestone: Over twice as many US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan under Barack Obama than under George W. Bush.
Pentagon Plans For Telepathic Troops Who Can Read Each Others' Minds... And They Could Be In The Field Within Five Years
Shirley Marks was five feet tall and barely 100 pounds in 1943 when she finally managed to enlist in the Marine Corps, after trying three times to meet the physical requirements. It was World War II, and she, like 23,000 other American women, answered the call to serve at home so that male Marines could fight overseas. After boot camp, she boarded a troop train to San Diego, where she was assigned to drive trucks at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. …
179 The Army plans to stick with its current helicopter inventory over the next two decades, opting to wait until 2030 at the earliest to revolutionize a fleet flown hard around Iraq and Afghanistan. Army helicopters will receive upgrades over the next two decades, as they always have, but the austere budget environment has forced the Army to try and keep its current fleet in the air for as long as it can. Army aviation leaders have gotten the message that helicopters don't sit atop the service's modernization priority list. Any money the service has in its shrinking defense modernization budget will go to new radios, the Ground Combat Vehicle and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
They are ripping out Military apart piece by piece
Weichel saw the massive truck bearing down on the girl and grabbed her out of the way. But in the process, the armored truck ran him over, Riel said.
The little girl is fine. Weichel died a short time later of his injuries.
"He was a big kid at heart. He always had a smile on his face, and he made everyone laugh," 1st Sgt. Nicky Peppe, who served with Weichel in Iraq, is quoted as saying in an Army story.
"But as much as Weichel was funny, he was also a professional. When it was time to go outside the wire for a combat patrol, he was all business."
One of the BEST reactions! Jun 12, 2010 Welcome Home [Video]
I'm uploading this for family. This was the day I came back from Kandahar in Sept. 2005. Life has changed since then. But Gracie is still a good dog.
[From 2008. Over 9 million views, and deservedly so. Video]
…chief of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center for the past six years, he has functioned in a funereal capacity for al-Qaeda. Roger, which is the first name of his cover identity, may be the most consequential but least visible national security official in Washington — the principal architect of the CIA’s drone campaign and the leader of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. In many ways, he has also been the driving force of the Obama administration’s embrace of targeted killing as a centerpiece of its counterterrorism efforts.
Colleagues describe Roger as a collection of contradictions. A chain-smoker who spends countless hours on a treadmill. Notoriously surly yet able to win over enough support from subordinates and bosses to hold on to his job. He presides over a campaign that has killed thousands of Islamist militants and angered millions of Muslims, but he is himself a convert to Islam.
Besides waiting nearly a week before identifying the Army staff sergeant who's accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers, the U.S. military scrubbed its websites of references to his combat service. ... Several former military officers said they were perplexed that the Army would try to remove information that already had been public. One called it "unusual." Experts agreed that the effort was futile. ... [h/t War News Update]
“It’s not shocking to me,” said Kevin Baker, a former staff sergeant with Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. “There are hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers who are screaming for help, but they aren’t getting it. And this was what, his fourth deployment? That’s pretty ridiculous.”
Dewey [Okla] dedicated its Fallen Heroes Memorial at a ceremony this morning in Don Tyler Park. The memorial, which was 5 months in the making, is dedicated to the members of the armed services who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country.... The memorial has six flag poles, one each for the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard and one for the American flag... close to the road so they would be visible to people as they pass by.... built without the use of any public funding....
"A lone Tomb Sentinel, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), walks his tour in humble reverence during Hurricane Irene in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Aug 27. Members of The Old Guard have guarded the Tomb every second, of every day regardless of weather or holidays since April 6, 1948."
Two weeks after a Texas congressman tried force a House vote on his bill mandating that servicemembers be paid first in the event of a government shutdown, only nine representatives have signed on. The so-called discharge petition requires 218 signatures.
A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit.
Members of the U.S. military and their families who were stationed overseas during the 2010 elections were disfranchised at an alarmingly high rate, according to a new report released today by the Military Voter Protection Project. MVPP surveyed 24 states. Of the 2 million military voters covered by the report, 15.8 percent requested absentee ballots, but only 4.6 percent cast absentee ballots that were counted. This is at least partly due to the difficulty and uncertainty of the process. Both numbers were below the 2006 midterm election figures, when 5.5 percent of military and overseas voters cast absentee ballots that were counted. MVPP also found that local election officials in 14 states and the District of Columbia failed to comply with the federal requirement that all absentee ballots must be mailed at least 45 days prior to the election.
Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry United States Army For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the vicinity of Paktya Province, Afghanistan, on May 26, 2008.
With Mine Division 34, Salute began the pre-invasion sweep for the landings in Brunei Bay, Borneo, on 7 June 1945. The next day, she struck a mine, buckled amidships, and both bow and stern began to sink. Two landing craft attempted to salvage the minesweeper, but they were unable to control her flooding, and the ship sank.
Delta Airlines has changed its luggage policy regarding U.S. Servicemen and women. The policy change comes after soldiers returning from Afghanistan claim the airline charged them hundreds of dollars in extra baggage fees.... They were told they had to pay an extra $200 for a fourth bag as excess luggage....
Seventy-seven Air Force cadets are being sent to a local hospital after a lightning strike at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center near Hattiesburg, Miss. While there did not appear to be serious injuries, two of the cadets were taken by amdulance to the hospital....
Pages
Top 25 Blog-Heap-o'Links Headers
Mindful Webworks for art's own sake (and some for fun). The art and wonder of it all await your scrutiny.
Webworks dedicated to getting people and property from here to there in an intelligent and automated way, and all the history and means of transportation.
Webworks directly concerning (as opposed to merely inspired by) the Urantia Papers.
Subscribe to Urantiana
Webworks regarding human liberties and similar social and legal fundamentals.
Presented in illustrated documentary, what we know of his story, and the history of our community he inspired.
LEGAL AND SAFE! But your mother might not approve.