Strained, Army Looks To Guard For More Relief

While this is going on there is also a proposal to eliminate consent of the governors to mobilize National Guard troops. The nation's governors are closing ranks in opposition to a proposal in Congress that would let the president take control of the National Guard in emergencies without consent of governors. The measure would remove the currently required consent of governors for the federalization of the Guard, which is shared between the individual states and the federal government. This of course only applies to disasters and civil emergencies. Militarily for defense, the President has always had the authority to federalize the guard. This is a double edged sword. On the one hand it provides a centrally managed front to manage disasters (would have helped with Katrina) and relieves the states of tons of financial burden. On the other hand, federalizing the Guard would prevent them from performing in a law enforcement capacity. The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C 1385) passed in 1878. This proposal is a direct result of Governor Blanco never officially requesting federal help, so what we have now is each side shaking their perspective fingers at each other. This of course solves nothing. The real problem with this proposal is that the president decides what constitutes a crisis, as seen by some of his recent comments about what he feels he has the authority to do this will only result in the guard being used and abused. So the result is people can’t go home but the contractors keep getting richer…ahh the American dream

By Thom Shanker and Michael R. Gordon
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 —
Strains on the Army from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become so severe that Army officials say they may be forced to make greater use of the National Guard to provide enough troops for overseas deployments.
Senior Army officers have discussed that analysis — and described the possible need to use more members of the National Guard — with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s senior adviser on personnel, David S. C. Chu, according to Pentagon officials.
While no decision has been made to mobilize more Guard forces, and may not need to be before midterm elections, the prospect presents the Bush administration with a politically vexing problem: how, without expanding the Army, to balance the pressing need for troops in the field against promises to limit overseas deployments for the Guard.
The National Guard has a goal of allowing five years at home between foreign deployments so as not to disrupt the family life and careers of its citizen soldiers. But instead it has been sending units every three to four years, according to Guard officials.

Gay translators

Soldiers versus Bush

GLOBE EDITORIAL
Soldiers versus Bush
September 18, 2006
IN THE FIGHT over rules for the interrogation and trials of terrorism suspects, there is a split -- not so much between Republicans and Democrats or the White House and the Senate, but between leaders like President Bush with no combat experience and those like Colin Powell who know combat and want to maintain the Geneva Conventions as a protection for US troops. Powell prefers the bill before Congress sponsored by Republican Senators John McCain, John Warner, and Lindsey Graham, all of whom have considerable military experience. Their bill, which the Senate Armed Services Committee approved Thursday, has deep flaws of its own, but it is a better basis for legislation than Bush's proposal to gut the Geneva Conventions.
The military has to take the long view because it knows that if the United States strays from the Geneva Conventions, other countries will, too. As McCain said yesterday on ABC-TV, ``We are more exposed than any other nationality because we have more people all over the world." The military also knows that harsh interrogations often yield false information from prisoners eager to say anything to win better treatment. One terrorism suspect, Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, ``confessed" knowledge of links between Al Qaeda and Iraq after the Central Intelligence Agency handed him over to Egyptian authorities. According to the recently released Senate report on prewar intelligence, Libi had made up the information to avoid cruel treatment by the Egyptians.
Neither Bush's bill nor the Senate committee's deserves passage as written. Each would strip the 400 or more detainees at Guantanamo of any right to appeal their cases to federal courts. Except for a handful of them, none has been charged with war crimes or terrorism. Some undoubtedly would present a threat if released and should be held longer, but others were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. All of them deserve recourse to courts to challenge their continued detention.
At his press conference Friday, Bush challenged Powell's statement that Bush's redefinition of the Geneva Conventions would encourage the world to ``doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism." Bush construed this to suggest a comparison between US behavior and that of ``Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective." The proper comparison, though, is not with the conduct of terrorists but with the principles the United States has maintained in every war it has fought since adoption of the Geneva Conventions.
Those are the principles the Supreme Court upheld in June. Congress should follow suit by passing an amended version of the Senate committee bill that does not subject detainees to the limbo of Guantanamo with no access to the courts.

Financing and education

There's been a lot of talk lately about the high cost of education and increasing levels of student debt. With all the fuss, you would expect that lucky high school seniors receive a bill with their acceptance letters for the expensive educations they are about to pursue. Undoubtedly, this is the case for some students. But for most of us, our plunge into student debt is much slower and more insidious. Like drug dealers, the loans start small and cheap, lulling students into a false sense of security where they can focus on their studies – for a while. By the time the full effects of debt creep in, it is too late.

Show me the money

After kvetching for more than 12 months I have been paid leave (3.5 days) that the army (guard) has owed me since 2003. It was 11.5 days last year right before New Orleans. Such incompetence makes one wonder how these idiots keep getting promoted. I think the answer is rather simplistic; when dealing with a problem soldier a commander has three choices: try to fix the problem, attempt to discharge the soldier, or promote the soldier and send this person elsewhere.

a dog will fly

The train was quite crowded, so a U. S. Marine walkedthe entirelength looking for a seat, but the only seat left wastaken by a well dressed, middle-aged, French woman's poodle.
The war-weary Marine asked,"Ma'am, may I have that seat?" The French woman justsniffed and saidto no one in particular "Americans are so rude.
My little Fifi is using that seat.
"The Marine walked the entire train again, but the only seat leftwas under that dog. "Please, ma'am. May I sit down?I'm very tired."She snorted, "Not only are you Americans rude, you are also arrogant!
"This time the Marine didn't say a word; he justpicked up the little dog, tossed it out the train window, and sat down.
The woman shrieked, "Someone must defend my honor! this American should be put in his place!
"An English gentleman sitting nearby spoke up, "Sir, you Americans often seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You hold the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your autos on the wrongside of the road. And now, sir, you seem to have thrown the wrongbitch out the window.

A short clarification

For some my politics might seem a little odd being that some of my thoughts that I have posted here represent someone who might be a “gasp” liberal or at very least a person with liberal leanings. More surprisingly is that I used to belong to the Republican Party. Most responsible individuals become affiliated with a political party that closely meshes with their values. Once upon a time it was the GOP; but over the years the Republican Party has been taken over by the religious right. I firmly believe that religion and politics are a volatile mixture; and of course with the events of the last 24 months have left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Also I have always been a little quirky from time to time. While many of my comrades in arms thought that placing illegal combatants in Cuba without charge or due process, I felt this is wrong after all how long it will be before the fine folks in Washington trim a little fat of off the constitution and just eliminate due process all together. It bothered me to no end being told by an Officer do violate the constitution like what happened while we were in New Orleans (4th Amendment).I often look at my understanding of all matters political to be a work in progress. One of my core beliefs comes from Judaism’s concept of social justice or justice should be evenly distributed to all persons not just the wealthy.

Crap i'am a jewish socalist how did that happen

You are a Social Liberal (80% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (20% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Khatami says 9/11 attackers will not go to heaven

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has condemned the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and said those who carried them out will never go to heaven.
"During the calamity of September 11, two crimes were committed: one was the killing of innocent people and the second was making this crime in the name of Islam," said the former president, who is on a speaking tour of the United States.
"We, Muslims, should condemn this atrocity even more strongly," Khatami told the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"Terrorism, which means killing civilians in whatever name or title, lacks morality, and nobody who lacks such principle will go to heaven," Khatami continued. "Those who kill others and commit acts of terror, if they identify themselves with Islam, they are lying." Americans mark the fifth anniversary of the attacks on Monday.

zum sein oder nicht

In my years of military service I have had the pleasure to serve with men and women from all segments of American society. I have also encountered my share of bigots one of these sticks in my mind as we approach Yom-Kippur I will not mention his name because after all I wouldn’t want to out him as the ignorant boob he is. We were deployed at Ft. Carson Colorado and many of us had just returned from leave. So this Sergeant walks up to me and shows me his new hunting knife and strike me dead on the hilt was what appeared to be a swastika. On closer examination it turned out to be the 45th infantry division’s old insignia and Indian symbol for good luck. But the knife itself was an exact replica of a Hitler youth knife. This really bothered me so I emailed and then called my Rabbi in Colorado Springs she of course had never dealt with such an issue before. I then talked to my squad leader and as I told him what happened he actually got really angry so he then went to the Sergeant major who told me that “you can’t be religious because you curse” This had little to do religion as far as I was concerned; this guy decided for whatever reason that it would be humorous to flaunt a symbol of tyranny in my face, after all everyone know I am Jewish and at times rather vocal about having time off to go to a synagogue. I can’t get kosher MRE’s without kvetching to someone outside of my chain of command, but this moron can decide what level Yiddishkeit I can or can’t display. He then goes on to tell me that I shove my religion down the throats of others, hmmm sounds like a bit of projection going on to me. I constantly have to deal with references to Jesus this and Jesus that. But if I try to educate people on why we Jews do the things we do then I am forcing my opinions on others. Now that I am back in Oklahoma and just a Guardsman I still can't get kosher rations I still have violate the Shabbos at least once a month and still have to deal with people who seem for all intensive purposes to be Stuck On Stupid.

Goodbye GOP

Its official I am no longer affiliated with the Republican Party. I took the liberty of redacting some personal information to protect my identity from any unscrupulous persons. I initiated this process as a protest to the commander in chief signing memos to circumvent U.S law, for the illegal C.I.A detention facilities outside the united states and the lastly the spineless republican law makers who wont stand up to the boss out of fear of being labeled an appeaser. Now if my new party can actually focus on the matter at hand. Keeping Dick Chenny out of white house in 2008.

OKLAHOMA OK

A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Texas LongHorn fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they are fans too.

Not really knowing what a Texas fan was, but wanting to be liked by their teacher, their hands fly into the air. There is, however, one exception.

A little girl named Janet has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different. "Because I'm not an a Texas fan" she reports.

"Then," asks the teacher, "what are you?"
"I'm a proud Oklahoma University - Boomer Sooner fan" boasts the little girl.

The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Janet why she is an Oklahoma fan.

"Well, my Dad and Mom are Sooner fans, so I'm a Sooner fan too" she responds. The teacher is angry now "That's no reason," she says loudly.

"What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was an idiot. What would you be then?"
Janet smiles and says, "Then I'd be a Texas fan."

GO SOONERS!!!!

Denzel Visits Brooks Army Medical Center

I Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the United States, especially burn victims. There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the Hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time.While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his checkbook out and wrote a check for the full amount right thereon the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it. The question I have is why does: Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything America trash and Denzel Washington's Patriotism doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the Local newspaper in San Antonio

Corn

This is from my visit to Germany in 1998 We had been divorced less than a year and I was participating in training in Hohenfels Germany at the CMTC combat maneuver training center. On a weekend pass I took a train from Hohenfels to Rothenburg to call on the Ex wife. Mainly this was to achieve closure and to visit some friends in Rothenburg. I did manage to deal with some unresolved issues and am a better person for it. When I moved from Germany in 96 the plan was I would find an apartment then once that had happened she would join me; well she deviated from the plan found a boyfriend got pregnant and asked for a divorce. For months and months I pondered what I did wrong or why she suddenly changed. So when I heard that my unit was sending 12 bodies to Germany I raised my hand and said sure the Thomas will go. At the end of the day I realized that the problems were always there I just refused to acknowledge them. Also it came up that she also has issues with abandonment as her father left when she was young; so in her mind I had deserted her when I moved back to the states and as a result reached out for companionship of any sort. Not much of an excuse for adultery but after all she is European and they do view things just a tad bit differently than Americans. So I acceptance of each others short comings we barbequed some corn and had a nice quiet evening. I wonder sometimes if Kerstin is somewhere in Europa still searching for corn.

American beauty Redacted

It is official my cognitive psychology professor need an assistant, yesterday while taking a quiz many of us noticed many of the questions were not even covered in the first few chapters of the text nor by the lecture notes. It turns out that she had grabbed the wrong quiz from her office. She also developed her own format for essays in her class, as if APA style isn’t good enough. Well no matter tonight is abnormal psychology and we are viewing a film “American beauty” and after we get to write a about the abnormal behavior as portrayed by the actors.
I have seen this movie before and it re enforces my belief that many marines are latent homosexuals. Referring to that we all project the image we wish to be viewed as by the rest of society. So those that strut around and shout “look at me a big tough marine” and quite possibly have not confronted the feminine aspects of their personality shall all ways be less that whole.

Huricane Katrina a year later

One year hurricane Katrina came ashore and devastated the gulf coast region. I thought I take a moment to scribble a few of my thoughts regarding a Blogger who just doesn’t get it. We have sparred over many an occasion mainly over my assertion that society did indeed break down in the aftermath of the hurricane. The following post is not mine but come from gales in his name she is one of these neo Christians that just make my skin crawl. Her comments are regarding former residents of New Orleans that were evacuated after hurricane Katrina. I respect gale for her opinions but at the same time she demonstrates a lack of understanding towards a people that have lost not just their jobs and their homes, but these people lost something else that the good church people tend to overlook. What they lost is the one thing that most of us take for granted our day to day lives. In the time it took the state and federal governments to actually respond the citizens that became evacuees had lost everything that was familiar. She titled her post “do we all come from the same place” I found her lack of knowledge to be troubling for a woman who plans to pursue a career in social services and even more so she is a former resident of the big easy. Much of the conversations I have had with her revolve around her using labels to describe the hurricane survivors, such as those people, the refugees this is not how a logical person thinks of a victim of disaster. At a much deeper level she projects the image of a caring person when in fact the reason for her disdain is that she recognizes things in the evacuees at Gruber that she finds distasteful in herself. But what do I know I am just a grunt who had to help these so called refuges. It would be nice if people would stop kicking their fellow man when he (or she) is down but I have some to expect that type of behavior from the residents of Tulsa Oklahoma “gods’ country” as the Tulsans refer to it.

Sep 24 2005, 08:18 PM

I spent some time at Camp Gruber today with the last of the Katrina refugees that are still there. I was working in the clerical section, answering the phones, running messages to the people. They fed us breakfast and lunch and we ate the same food the people staying had. The food was not bad. The people that were there for the most part were the ones that were expecting the government to hand them their living. One lady came into the building I was in and asked about the red cross putting them in a hotel. The red cross gave $360 per person to each family there. The woman was told that she would have to pay for her hotel with her own money and she started going off about how she was educated and went to one of the best colleges in New Orleans, and that no one told her that she would have to use that money for that. She went off on the fact that the red cross should pay for her hotel and that she should not have to use that money they give her for that. It was explained over and over and over again that the money was for her to use as she felt she needed to use it. She insisted that no one ever told them how to use that money and she did not feel that she should have to pay for her own hotel. The churches that are picking up the people and taking them to their community find that the people trash out the vans and buses that are used to bring them to their new homes. The churches are getting tired of it. The people just throw paper, cups, cans and bottles all over the grounds and the army is just not used to that.

Taking the heat round

Looks like our frat boy commander in chief is at it again, when he isn’t to bust groping heads of state his next favorite activity is sticking it to the Combat soldier. Oh combat the one thing he didn’t do when he was in the guard. It seems that the white house plans to drastically cut funding for treatment of war-related brain injuries and research on war-related brain injuries. These are the kind of traumatic brain injuries one might get while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. These injuries can be sustained by the following IEDS, gunshot wounds, eating army rations. For a nation at war with the boggy man it makes no sense to cut funding to the before mentioned research’ if anything slash funding to all these contractors that are getting wealthy at the expense of a few thousand dead G.I’s

The lost boys

I want to touch on a subject that remains untouched by the mainstream media. This of course is missing children more specifically the lost children of New Orleans; let’s narrow it down even more. These children I am referring to were the ones that were in foster care who with their foster parents were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Many of the hundreds of children that wee wards of the state have vanished with their foster parents. Child protective services all over can only scratch their heads and wonder where did these people go to. Have any Ideas Let Thomas know what you think.

Dirt Dart

The name dirt dart is a tow gunner’s reference to a missile that doesn’t hit its intended target but strikes the ground near the target, this can happen to several factors including gunner tracking error, the optical cable breaks or the soldiers prerogative to miss. That must confuse many people why would a soldier miss the chance to take out a tank? Well the answer is simple when a tow hits its target and the thing functions as it was designed to it just doesn’t blow up it melts the steel on the tank anyone unfortunate to be on that doomed vehicle is burned alive. Nice thought isn’t it, the framers of constitution made sure that punishment was not to be cruel and unusual I think that an anti tank rocket violates that one don’t you? One could argue that the rules towards citizens do not apply in modern warfare. I would disagree with that point while the cruel and unusual is referring to punishment after all our response to being attacked is a form of retribution or punishment to the offenders. Another thing you might want to ponder is that our soldiers are psychologically conditioned to respond without a second thought. But do we de program our fighting men the answer is no. You might want to chew on that awhile before sending America’s sons and daughters to pay the butchers bill.

Tube Worms

Here is some basic information about the light infantry mortar. Please note that this information can be found on the net from a variety of sources so to the best of my knowledge this is not a violation of Operational security. The M224 60mm LWCMS is ideally suited to support airborne, air assault, mountain, ranger, Special Operations Forces and light infantry units. The M224 can be drop fired (conventional mode) or trigger fired (conventional or hand-held mode). A lightweight auxiliary base plate is used when firing the mortar in the hand-held mode. The M224 60mm Lightweight Mortar is a smooth bore, muzzle loading, high-angle-of-fire weapon. The cannon assembly is composed of the barrel, combination base cap, and firing mechanism. The mount consists of a bipod and a base plate which is provided with screw type elevating and traversing mechanisms to elevate/traverse the mortar. The M64 sight unit is attached to the bipod mount via a standard dovetail. An additional short range sight is attached to the base of the cannon tube for firing the mortar on the move and during assaults. It has a spring-type shock absorber to absorb the shock of recoil in firing. The M224 replaced the older (WWII era) M2 and M19, 60mm Mortars. These weapons only possessed 2,200 yards of effective range. The M224 was designed to fire all types of the older ammunition, but its primary rounds are of the newer, longer-range type. Mortars can provide a heavy volume of responsive, accurate fire with a variety of ammunition. They are ideal for attacking close in targets, targets on reverse slopes, and those targets in areas difficult to reach with low angle fire. Mortars are particularly effective in providing white phosphorous and illumination support. Mortars are transported by vehicle, helicopters, or by man pack. Mortars can be man packed in terrain where vehicular support is restricted. However, in a fast moving operation, the mobility of mortars, coupled with their limited range capability, may be a restricting factor. Mortars also have the capability to be fired from a light armored vehicle Mortar fires can be massed on a target by the organic unit. However, massing of mortar fires outside the zone of action of the organic unit is difficult due to the limited range of the mortar. Responsiveness is an inherent characteristic of mortars. The high angle trajectory and long time of flight causes the mortar to be vulnerable to enemy counter fire. Active and passive measures are used to increase survivability. Because ammunition for mortars may have to be man packed, the sustainment of mortars may be difficult. So mortars should be employed as an immediately available source of fire support for the infantry commander. Other indirect fire weapons are used when they can achieve the desired results. The 60 mm mortar section employs three mortars. When the mortar section is in General Support [GS], it supports all rifle platoons as directed by the company commander. By keeping the section in GS the company commander retains flexibility, ease of coordination of fires, and the ability to mass fires. Direct tactical control of the section remains with the weapons platoon commander. Fires are controlled from the company command post when observation of the entire company zone of action is possible from that position. If not, the mortar section leader mans an observation post to control the fires. GS is the preferred method of employment. The mortar section may be employed in Direct Support [DS] of a specific unit of the company; e.g., a rifle platoon. The section leader establishes direct liaison with the supported rifle platoon commander and conducts fire missions as requested by him. The weapons platoon commander is responsible for the control of the section’s actions to include positioning and displacement. The mortar section, or an element thereof, may be attached to a rifle platoon. Attachment is justified when the mortar section cannot give adequate support to a rifle platoon by operating in GS or DS. Situations for attachment arise when a rifle platoon is: Operating as the advance party in an approach march; operating as a patrol whose route takes it out of mortar range; or conducting a withdrawal or is situated in a platoon strong point. When a mortar squad is attached to a rifle platoon, the rifle platoon commander assumes the tactical command, supply, and administrative functions normally exercised by the weapons platoon commander. Attachment is the least desirable method of employment. The employment of separate mortar squads attached to individual platoons lessens the destructive power achieved by consolidating the section. Attachment also increases the problems associated with ammunition distribution and re supply and a mortar without ammo is nothing more than an awkward club, as well as fire control.

The M224 Mortar System consists of the following major components:

M225 Cannon Assembly (14.4 lbs)
M170 Bipod Assembly (15.2 lbs)
M7 Baseplate (14.4 lbs)
M8 Auxiliary Baseplate (3.6 lbs)