A little payback.

I owe BlackFive one for sending so much traffic my way so…
When Matt made his book The Blog of War available for download I decided that I needed to check it out. I have attempted to read this book several times. If I’m lucky I can get through one page before having to put it down. It hits to close to home. The stories are real and the emotions are real and us tough Green Berets are not supposed to cry. I know of no other book that portrays the life of the soldier better than this one.

Matt, thanks for the book but I’ll have to wait until I get home when all this is a memory and not the all encompassing present.

"I'll be home for Christmas" - Not!

Philippine troops hunting down the combined Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) terrorists in the hinterlands of Sulu were ordered "to neutralize high-value targets before Christmas."

I’m not listening to any Bing Crosby this year but this article also provides a little background on the murderers we are after.

Out of the Closet

I have finally checked and double checked, I have established the boundaries and I can now say…

I am reporting live from a combat zone in a tropical paradise.

I have been in the Southern Philippines for just over 2 months now as an advisor for the Philippine Army in their hunt for terrorists. The connection between Saddam’s Iraq and the Al Qaida terrorist groups in the Philippines is well established and concrete. The details are another article. One of the prominent terrorist organizations here is the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). They have been responsible for the assassination of U.S. personnel and continue to kill and kidnap locals. If you visit here often you will get to know more about the unknown front in the Global War on Terrorism.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mine was good; I had some time off with a chance to relax. Our turkey came a day early and we celebrated by inviting some of the locals. The meal was good, better than I expected but none of my mother’s cherry pie or our apple pie (I can make it as well as she can now) or my lemon meringue. My family will be eating it all in about 7 hours from now. I wish them well.

Those few of you that read this understand why I am here and I am thankful for your support.

Worth its own post.

Carolina wrote:

I think Rangel is simply saying something controversial to see his face in the news. I really don't think there is a chance of draft being make law. However, I have been thinking for some time thatit would be a good idea. It seemed so wrong that such a small percentage of people and their families, those in the military, were carrying all the load for the society as a whole. I thought it should be spread around more evenly. But I have been reading that many active duty folks don't want draftees, they want people who have chosen to be in the military. So now I am reviewing my stance

Carolina,

You are right, those of us currently serving do NOT want draftees. This conflict is precarious enough without having to worry about a disgruntled private watching my back. A draft is the worst think that can happen to the greatest military force on earth and I will not see our military ruined for the sake of fairness.

Life is not fair. As one of the "small percentage," I recognize this and I am willing to carry the load. My efforts will be focusing on finding and convincing more WILLING participants.

If you want to help, you can start by clicking one of the links to the right.

I've said it before...

BlackFive is discussing the latest Democrat strategy, reinstating the draft. I wrote about this before and my words are just as relevant today as they were 15 months ago. I also predicted that if the draft were to return the Dems would do it. Here's what I wrote:

I have seen the “we’re spread too thin” argument far too often and it usually precedes an argument for or against a draft. I am personally fed up with this ongoing logical shortsightedness. If we are spread too thin in is because of gross miss-management.

The Department of Defense is required by current law to maintain troop levels significant enough to fight on two different fronts and protect our shores. It should be obvious that we have found ourselves in this worst case scenario. Our current administration has proposed some force realignments but those were vehemently opposed by the left; apparently it would negate one of their valuable arguments against the Bush administration. This can help relieve some of our deployment load but there are other alternatives that have not been discussed.

The Air Force recently announced 3 month rotations. It’s nice to see that they have enough lift capabilities to transport 100% of their deployed force every 90 days. The Army is sticking with their 6, 9, or 12 month rotations depending on the type of unit deployed. Again, it’s nice to see them sharing the pie and letting more officers get their combat ticket punched but this is still rather inefficient and creates problems. I have personally seen many officers who have refused to takes the risks necessary to take the fight to the enemy because they wanted to ensure that all their little boys came home at the end of their rotation. They apparently thought that the war could wait for the next unit.

As an avid student of history, a term common 60 years ago comes to mind, “Duration +6.” This term was used to identify someone’s length of service. Another term from another previous war, “Till it’s over.”

Now for my proposal as one who would be affected negatively. Activate the 19th and 20th Special Forces Groups in their entirety along with all reserve PsyOps and Civil Affairs groups. Deploy the 3rd, 5th, 19th, and 20th Groups as needed and leave us there “till it’s over,” or at least until things quiet down enough for a force reduction. Make SF the main effort and turn both theaters over to U.S. Special Operations Command to control. This would require far fewer conventional troops and would be much more effective. Approximately 65 years ago the Germans overran the French in a matter of days because the French believed they could fight WWII with WWI tactics; let’s not make the same mistake.

So, I’m watching CNN again…

If it wasn’t for the fact that what I am doing is in complete contrast to what CNN is reporting, I just might believe this stuff. It would also be nice to get some real news reporting. Until then, I’ll continue to read the MilBlogs.

The other day I watched the Caliphate News Network feature a female soldier who was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress . Apparently she had been traumatized by the sight of empty coffins just waiting to be filled. My first reaction was, “you have got to be kidding,” my neighbor says, “that’s no different than working in a mortuary,” but the question I would like answered is, why is this considered a news story?

The clip continued with her claiming to have been sexually harassed while in the Army; I have no intention of countering the claim since I know how young men act especially when they see too few women. CNN quickly mentioned that she had been found guilty by court martial of being drunk while deployed in a combat zone and finishes with the comment, “like the war in Iraq, she has troubles that will last a long time.”

So, now we see the why. It’s just another way to show why the war in Iraq is so bad. CNN, with your insistence that you are not picking sides, you sure are showing your colors.

Veterans Day

I began Veterans Day before dawn. I showered for the first time in 2 days, because water is not an unlimited resource, and dressed myself in 70 pounds of combat gear. Wedged behind the wheel of an M1113 (armored HMMWV) we joined a convoy of medical professionals and drove to a nearby village where we set up a clinic in a small school. Approximately 500 people received free medical care in a safe environment because our Band of Brothers was willing to sacrifice our time away from family, some much coveted sleep, and several gallons of sweat.

That is what Veterans Day is all about, sacrificing for something greater than the individual, and carrying the torch for another generation.

And the winner is…

I watched the election results as they came in on the Caliphate News Network because my only other option was BBC. They did little to conceal their elation and showed nothing but DNC footage the whole day.

As a soldier taking the Global War on Terrorism to the enemy, I was very disturbed by the results. I now wonder how a congress soft on defense and with little regard for the soldier will face an enemy willing to kill himself to achieve his goals.

It is clear that the DNC was able to charge their power base by projecting President Bush as the Great Satin. They have apparently learned from Bill Gates (sorry Barb) that it doesn’t matter if it works or if it’s true, you just have to advertise it well enough. So, here I am, writing this article in Microsoft Word on a machine running Microsoft Windows because it is what the powers have made available and I do not understand Linux enough to use something better.

Did Bush and Co. make mistakes? Of course they did, the last person I knew who didn’t make mistakes was executed 2000 year ago. I have discussed areas where I thought they were handling the war in Iraq wrong. I can also give you a list of other policies that need to change but that would violate OpSec in a big way. This administrations greatest error is in its advertising. Saddam had WMDs! Now Syria has a beefed up mobile WMD program. We do not hear anything about that in the evening news. The GOP wants to privatize Social Security; is there a risk? Yes, but it’s much lower that the current guaranteed failure that the DNC wants to force into continuation. We don’t hear that on CNN either. How about socialized medicine? The DNC thinks it’s a great idea but they don’t want you to see the masses of Canadians who travel to the U.S. to get decent medical care.

Another of the GOPs mistakes is in their recent practices. Republicans have always been for fiscal accountability and our Republican Congress with a Republican President have thrown out all financial responsibility. In this and other areas, the GOP has offered Democrats in elephant pants. As a result, the Republican base had the choice between Democrat liberals and Republican liberals. Apparently, too many thought the choice was not enough to stop at the polls on the way home.

So, who won on election day? Of course, only time will tell, but if history has taught us anything; it wasn’t the soldier, it wasn’t the economy, and it wasn’t freedom loving Americans.