Remember when no one wanted to see a US Military uniform with American Flag arm patches or our standard helmets/cover? Remember when our fighting men and women were being sent to fight and protect on foreign soil, yet were commanded by another country’s General? I’m not talking about Vietnam, I’m talking about during the Clinton Years. In fact, when we were asked to help out countries in trouble, the rest of the UN Security Council said we couldn’t be in our own uniform. We needed to be “softer” as a fighting force, ’cause we were just the Rent-A-Cops for the UN.

Huh? Who’s your Daddy? Boutros Boutros-Ghali? Or what about the UN’s 7th Daddy, Kofi Annan?

I THINK NOT!

Would you rather have a President, CINC, that watches your six or one that sells you out for BILL-YUNS?!

Does anyone know how much was spent in Somalia? This is only one of the many “conflicts” we were asked to participate in during Billy Boys reign. I checked, and straight from this UN Report, for UNOSOM I & II, this one mission looks like this:

LOCATION: Somalia
HEADQUARTERS: Mogadishu
DURATION: March 1993 - March 1995
STRENGTH: Approximately 28,000 military and police personnel; there was also a provision for some 2,800 international and locally recruited staff
FATALITIES: 147 (143 military personnel, 3 international civilian staff and 1 local staff)
EXPENDITURES: $1,643,485,500 net

Hey, did you catch that last one? $1.65 Billion, net … uh-huh, they said net. I’d like to know what was really spent, gross dollars, but we all know that would be too much to stomach. And, are we sure that the monies spent weren’t actually an international pay off to terrorists for political hay? If you read the UN report you’ll see the number of times the program was extended, the countless “warnings” to disarm, and the lame attempts to put pressure on the Somalian leaders to form a real government. It starts to look like those tin horn dictators were just looting the bank - our bank accounts people!

Oh, and to find out the troop strength and breakdown, ya gotta go allllll the way to the bottom of the report. I’ll save you some time:

“The original authorized strength of UNOSOM II under resolution 814 (1993) was approximately 28,000 military personnel and some 2,800 civilian staff.”

And these are the countries that participated (31 is a good showing, I might add):

“Military personnel were provided by the following countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Zimbabwe.”

Now, here’s the kicker:

“Supporting UNOSOM II in the field, but not part of it, were approximately 17,700 troops of the United States Joint Task Force in Somalia. A Quick Reaction Force was part of the United States presence.”

That QRF consisted of the team of US Army Rangers that lost lives in Somalia (God Rest Their Souls!)

After March of 1995, Mr. Clinton authorized sending the 3rd ID, Company A, to Macedonia under the command of a Finnish General. Then SPC Michael New said, NO! to ripping off his American Flag from his uniform, and NO! to prancing around in a baby blue friggin’ helmet! What did it get him? I suspect some of you know the story - tossed out on his ear! Well, he landed in the brig first.

For the love of his Country, and he was ONE out of 550 that mustered to the parade ground in full US Military uniform. Yep, 549 obeyed a direct order to report to the command of another country’s General. At their level they were told that the order came directly from the CINC. To Michael, and to me as well, it began to look like after all the destruction being leveled at the US Military, it had finally happened: secession of US Force to a foreign power. What to do? His US Army was gone, and what he had signed up for was no longer something of valor.

Umm, my question is, who had Michael’s six? One man standing alone in a sea of Chain of Command mayhem. Were the Joint Chiefs really on board with the order, or was something else happening at the time?

Ever read Presidential Decision Directive 25 (PDD-25)? There is only a summary available right now. You can get a pretty good idea of how the CINC is the one responsible for Michael’s six by reading this summary/review online. Pay special attention to the sections that cover the Commander-in-Chief Clause and Command versus Operational Control.

This is what was happening to the US Military, by 1997:

• Wholesale distrust of the military within the United States of America, and outside
• Continuous breaking down of morale by force reductions and lack of materiel support
• Restriction of future development programs and research into new defense technologies
• Wasting money and time by politicizing the use and usefulness of the US Military
• US Military becomes the world’s police force and Meals-On-Wheels in blue hairnets
• The World’s Liberator and Repatriating Firm in a near state of disrepair
• Billions to Trillions of dollars flowing from the US into other countries under less than admirable deals

I’ll tell ya, I came in under Carter and left way before Clinton took hold. I know that some of you served under Clinton. I wish that there were Milbloggers back in the day. Maybe things would have been different?

However, if we begin to take our eye off the ball, this could happen again. So far, evil forces like “she who shall be nameless” have not been able to wander the globe unchallenged, or those protesting outside Walter Reed Hospital have been forced from their position, or those that seek to defame a family in mourning have not gone unanswered. We need to continue to put pressure on our elected officials. We have an obligation to protect our country from those that seek to destroy us, inside and outside our borders. And, we can handle the snide, stupid, jealous talk from the EU, Hollywood, and supercilious college professors. These detractors forget that:

• They do not know the strength and commitment of the US Military.
• They do not know the strength and commitment of the spouses, children, parents, grandparents, and friends of our fighting men and women.
• They do not know the strength, commitment, and constant love and support by the Milblogger community.
• They do not know the strength, commitment, and ever vigilant watch over their six by the CINC, President George W. Bush.

Do I hear a God Bless America and her US Military?! I thought I could hear you from here!

Short Technorati search for other posts about Michael New
Far Right-Wing Minded
Chaos-In-Motion
Three Knockdown Rule
Clear and Present
Smash Left Wing Scum

Short Technorati search on PDD-25
The Glittering Eye
Get the US Out of the UN - Now!

Backup Material for UNOSOM II, Michael New, and PDD-25
UNOSOM II by DPI
Michael New - How it all began
Unclassified Summary of PDD-25 (details of Secret PDD 25 are concealed from public scrutiny)
“Command” versus “Operational Control”: A Critical Review of PDD-25
Commanding Officer Oath - UN Deployments
No World Court, No World Army

Much of the history behind this story can be found by talking to WWII bomber pilots about the British Ferry Command. For extra color, ask Chuck Yeager about why I say the sound barrier went quiet, in memory, on the 10th of August, 1980. From the story on AF.mil, let me just drop some amazing firsts:

• Flew and tested the first turbo-supercharger ever installed on an aircraft engine in 1934
• Set three major flying records in 1937 and won the prestigious Bendix Race in 1938
• First person to fly and test the forerunner to the Pratt & Whitney 1340 and 1535 engines
• Flew and tested the first wet wing ever installed on an aircraft
• Helped design the first oxygen mask, and then became the first person to fly above 20,000 feet wearing one
• First flight on the Republic P-43, recommended a longer tail wheel installation (later installed on all P-47s)
• Flew many experimental flights for Sperry Corporation, testing gyro instruments (oooh, first INS, say Yeah!)
• Set three speed records, won the Clifford Burke Harmon trophy three times, and set a world altitude record of 33,000 feet – all before 1940

Now, if I said the name, you might say, “Wow! I know who that is!” But, I figure a little more dust-N-cobwebs need to be shaken from the old belfries. So, I must go on. Before I do, I think that a reality check is in order. Were you thinking all this time that all this was achieved by a man? You’re wrong. Read on:

• In 1941 she captured an aviation first by being the first woman pilot to pilot a military bomber across the Atlantic Ocean
• She was soon recruiting women pilots to ferry planes for the British Ferry Command, and became the first female trans-Atlantic bomber pilot
• Another renowned female pilot, Nancy Harkness Love, suggested the establishment of a small ferrying squadron of trained female pilots which was approved
• General H.H. Arnold asked her to command, staff, and train women to fly, which ultimately became the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots
• In 1948 she became a member of the independent Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserve. She had various assignments which included working on sensitive projects important to defense
• She was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for services to her country during World War II
• She was the first woman to break the sound barrier in an F-86 Sabre Jet in 1953
• She set a world speed record of 1,429 mph in 1964
• She retired from the Reserve in 1970 as a Colonel
• At the age of 70 she took up soaring
• In 1971, she was named Honorary Fellow, Society of Experimental Test Pilots and inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame

This great woman is none other than Jacqueline Cochran!

[Graphic compliments of the U.S. Air Force]

In fact, to put a finer point on it, this paragraph says it all:

“She recruited more than 1,000 Women’s Airforce Service Pilots and supervised their training and service until they were disbanded in 1944. More than 25,000 applied for training, 1,830 were accepted and 1,074 made it through a very tough program to graduation. These women flew approximately 60 million miles for the Army Air Force with only 38 fatalities, or about 1 for every 16,000 hours flown. Cochran was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for services to her country during World War II.”

She was also the Grandmother of the United States Air Force, in my opinion.

“Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran was a leading aviatrix who promoted an independent Air Force and was the director of women’s flying training for the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots program during World War II. She held more speed, altitude and distance records than any other male or female pilot in aviation history at the time of her death.”

We all, those of you Air Force types out there reading, can thank Jacqueline Cochran for pushing to have an independent Air Force. She, and other very dedicated individuals, made a branch of the service from an already strong tree, the United States Army.