All these protests around illegal immigration have brought some interesting things to light. Most of all it makes me mad that our brave fighting men and women are in a foreign land, fighting to protect us, their greatest gift being away from home and family while keeping us safe. And here at home, the supposed elite and intelligentsia are subverting their efforts with election year vote getting and weak-kneed stances in protecting our country. It’s like someone has sent the entire defense of our country to another field of battle, and we’re left here hangin’ in the wind!

I bet if you asked our troops, “Would you rather be here at home guarding our borders?” you’d hear a resounding “YES!”

My favorite plane picture, ’cause it’s got our flag on an F-117! Oooh …

We all know that the fight is there, off our shores, to keep the pressure on and keep the hate machine from destroying us. Yet, within our own borders we are being overrun. Our leaders (sic) no longer realize that they are still lacking the smallest amount of courage when it comes to facing our enemies, staring him down, and putting him in his place. So, with that in mind, here’s my open letter to our lost boys in Washington:

TO: US Senators and Congressmen
FROM: Those who protect you every day
RE: Your Own Pursuit of PERSONAL GAIN!
CC: Everyone that REALLY supports us

Dear Sirs and Madames,

Please refrain from using us as pawns in your selfish pursuit of power, money, and vacuous praise from those in the media. When the President says, “Go!”, we go, no questions asked. Whether you like it or not, he’s in power - you wanna command us, GET THE TOP SEAT! All this shrill rhetoric and back-stabbing use of the media should be done on your own time, and without involving us in any way. You wanna smack your next door neighbor around from the great state of [ENTER STATE HERE], call ‘em on the carpet and do it. But, we are not the stone you throw in this fight to be top dawg.

Take it outside or get a room. It’s shameful!

Oh, and stop whining, quit the lies, and be honest and admit you all are just gathering votes in this election year. Sheesh, we’re not STUCK ON STUPID! Illegal immigration is, and has always been, against the law! Your great body of myopic pinheads have already set down the requirements and rules from which immigrants are allowed into this country. Open arms does not mean open pocket books. Stop giving away my hard earned money to keep you in office. Oh, uh-huh, right, you’re tough on terrorism, you’re a “hawk”, please! Find some BRASS ONES, Sheesh! If we waffled like you people do, hills get lost, morale falls fast, and good people second guess themselves - that is when people die!

Oh, right, you wanted to continue to get elected, get paid $140k a year, and treat us all as inferior dolts incapable of finding you out. Oh wait, all us uninformed doofuses have blogs - time to change your tune again before everyone else finds out. It’s a mess, and you all are at the root of it. Let’s be honest here, you really DO want illegal aliens in this country. You Democrats know that they benefit from your “MotorVoter Act” by using fake IDs and drivers licenses to vote for you Democrats! And, you shameless Republicans are giving away our right to enjoy our hard earned pay and benefits so you can get reelected and not have to make a stand.

And, McCain and Kennedy? What the HELL is going on?! Have the planets aligned in such a way that we are soon to be crashing into Uranus?! (pun intended) If you hate us so, just slap a “Kick Me” sign on my back!

That’s right, votes, power, poll numbers, new voters from other countries, fickle friends in the media, kisses from the Europeans … spare me.

You’ve got two hands and two feet, use them to do one of these two honorable things:

1) Stand up, wave Buh-Bye, and walk out
2) Pick up a shovel, dig some fence posts, come on out and truly support us

Your mouth? Keep it in park, we’ve heard enough!

Sincerely,

THE TROOPS AND PROUD AMERICANS FOR A SAFER COUNTRY

Wish they could hear us. If you haven’t already, please go here and vote. And then, use their contact for found here and give ‘em another ear full.

These pinheads.

See Ya!

Alright, Libby Dole is the front person for the NRSC (National Republican Sentorial Committee). I like her - I wish she and Condaleeza would run - or maybe back-to-back Republican women? 16 YEARS of great decisions from both these women would suit me just fine! Well, from my NewsMax mail I got a note to fill out this survey on illegal immigration - a where do you stand survey. The Republicans want us to fill this out, ’cause I guess they cannot hear us. Well, GO THERE NOW and fill this thaang out - shout as loud as you can!

You can get to them via this contact form, and make this even louder. These boneheads need to hear that we have had it with wishy-washy policies on immigration. Then, to top it all off, when illegal immigrants take us all down, the country hurts all over.

C’mon you rich pinheads! Mow your own lawns in protest! Take your own garbage out! Take the time to clean your own counters and take your friggin’ kids to school - YOURSELF!

Anyway, go fill out the survey. And, ensure that you have put this link up on your blog, too! We need as many people as possible to fill out the survey.

Be HEARD! Don’t let the HERD take over and trample you!

Alright, this is going to be one of the most amazing shots you’ll ever see! Did you know that at the Ronald Reagan Library they have a hangar? And, in that hangar rests the last Boeing 707 Air Force One VC-25 Tail Number 27000? And, did you know that they removed the tail stabilizer and replaced it with a plexiglas facsimile because the tail is on display in another part of the grounds? I mean, look, it’s right in front of you - the plexiglas tail section, see:

VC-25 #27000 Plexiglas Tail Section

So, David Copperfield was the guy who provided the construction support for this project. He first made it disappear and then reappear in the outer hall. Everyone figured, “That’s Cool, let’s just replace it with a plexiglas one ’cause that’s too heavy to move.”

OK, I’m done.

This photo was taken by none other than Damsel, of Cap’n Bob and the Damsel fame! She always takes some amazing shots! When I saw this one, I just had to ask her permission to show it on my blog. I’ll refrain from restating how Damsel took the shot. Let me just say that to have an eye for the subject is 90% of the photo. The last 10% is loading the film or medium, getting into position for the shot, holding the camera still, and then developing the roll (or copying the digital image - your choice). She nailed this one big time, in my opinion!

I love photography and how one gets to the image that is captured. And, when the image speaks to you, you just know …

Ya know?

If you are not already visiting Cap’n Bob and Damsel, GET OVER THERE! The photography is great, their travels are fun, and the stories are good too. If you love all things space, Cap’n has had some great stuff that just flat out debunks the whole “global warming hole of despair” that gets promulgated by the nut-job fringe. Check out these posts, you’ll learn something:

Global Warming - a Hot Topic
Ultimate Global Warming - SPF 2 Million Won’t Be Enough
Solar and Terrestrial Conveyor Belts
Fireball Global Warming Theory

And all of these were just this month!

Thanks again, Damsel and Cap’n Bob!

I just got pinged by LinkedInUSAF about this program. It seems that the state of Illinois has implemented a program supporting the US Military. Folks that are residents of Illinois before and plan to return after their tour can get an MBA through the University of Illinois, for free! Now, that four letter word is pretty important, wouldn’t you say?! Here is the info from LinkedInUSAF’s blog post:

Here is a link that provides the background on this program:

Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Program

Here is the quick version of eligibility from his site and the link above:

To be a qualified applicant, you must:

Have served at least one year of federal active duty service in the Armed Forces of the United States, unless you:

• served in a foreign country in a time of hostilities in that country, or
• were medically discharged and the medical reason for discharge was service related, or
• were discharged prior to August 11, 1967.
• Have received an honorable discharge for each period of federal active duty service, and/or be honorably serving.
• Not be a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
• Have resided in Illinois within six months before entering federal active duty service or within six months prior to entering the service.
• Have returned or plan to return to Illinois within six months after leaving federal active duty service unless you are residing with a spouse in continued military service and establish or plan to establish Illinois residency within six months of his/her leaving federal active duty service.
• Be enrolled at an Illinois public 2 or 4 year college.
• Reside in Illinois unless you are serving federal active duty service at the time of enrollment in college or residing with a spouse in continued military service who is currently stationed outside of Illinois.
• Not be in default on any student loan, nor owe a refund on any state or federal grant.
• Maintain the minimum grade point average (GPA) required by your college.

If you are currently serving in the Illinois National Guard you may also be eligible for the Illinois National Guard Grant Program.

If you receive benefits from the IVG Program while serving federal active duty service, upon discharge you will be required to verify that your service has been characterized as honorable.

Now some of you may be asking, “But, isn’t this a statewide program?”

Yeah, but I was contacted directly to help spread the word, by two very dedicated gentlemen looking to help our brave fighting men and women. I believe that the University of Illinois deserves the bulk of this post for that alone. It took a cold call to me, a short conversation, and some exchanging of LinkedIn connecting to seal the deal. No other college or university has done that with me, until now. Lion’s share goes to the one to execute and follow through.

Ya know the saying, “To the victor goes the spoils.”

Well, I have to agree, if the University of Illinois contacted me directly, they’d get the bulk of the page too.

I did a little extra hunting and found out that there is another place actively promoting this program. When I did a web-search I found a company called Bradley/Wiltjer, a marketing firm. They are trying to help U of I get the word out, too. You can go here to see their post about the program. And they also encourage you to read more about the Executive MBA Program at www.mba.illinois.edu/veterans.

So, get the word out and help some of our brave fighting men and women an MBA. I wish this was around when I was serving, as I suspect some of you do as well. Just because it wasn’t around when we were serving doesn’t mean we cannot help everyone else today!

Happy 3rd Anniversary of milblogging, running the great MiliBlogs webring, and giving me my first ever link so many moons ago (on another blog). Your roundups in the Dawn Patrol are great, and your posts are always a great read!

So, Greyhawk and Mrs Greyhawk, Happy Anniversary!

It hit me while I was reading a short history of Yamamoto’s demise in the current issue of Air Force Magazine: intel is something that makes or brakes a war. While I was amazed at the bravery and commitment of those P-38 pilots, the fact that we knew when and where Yamamoto would be was astounding. Questions ran through my mind:

• Who lost their life collecting this information (HUMINT)?
• Was anyone’s position given away as they transmitted the information (SIGINT)?
• Weren’t we close to having decoders for Japanese Communications (SIGINT)?
• Was a position overrun during a battle and we recovered information (HUMINT)?

And, what’s truly an example of the US Military’s commitment to the mission is that many men took a huge chance to strike back at the man who hit Pearl Harbor. Admiral Nimitz was in no mood to let this man escape - Nimitz wanted Yamamoto.

As it turns out, the US was working very hard at decoding Japanese communiques. Here’s a tiny snippet from Air Force Magazines article “Magic and Lightening” by Rebecca Grant, contributing editor of Air Force Magazine:

“Since well before Midway, Navy cryptographers had been breaking elements of the Japanese code through a secret program known as Magic. Even when the Japanese ciphers changed, the code-breakers could usually catch at least 15 percent of the contents of a message and decode more with the help of early IBM computing machines.”

“In April 1943, the chief of code and translation at Fleet Radio Unit, Pacific Fleet, usually scanned the messages. The American cryptographers knew that this message, while just partially decoded, was of immense value.”

“It fell to Cmdr. Edwin T. Layton, Nimitz’s fleet intelligence officer, to bring the news to the boss. There were definite risks in acting on partially decoded information, but Nimitz did not hesitate. The intelligence was sent to the area commanders, including Mitscher.”

The following image is the decoded transmission:

The source of the image is from “Lightning Strike: The Secret Mission to Kill Admiral Yamamoto and Avenge Pearl Harbor” by Donald A. Davis.

One last little snippet is here:

“‘What a damn fool thing to do,’ said an enraged Japanese commander when he saw the telegram.”

That my friends is the biggest argument for the secrecy of intel. No matter how confident you are, no matter how battered you think the enemy may be, no matter how few members of the opposition you face, keep intel close to the chest! Even the smallest bit of information can blow a hole so wide in your operation that you’ll wish you never woke up that morning.

I want to thank Amy Proctor, again, for the lively comments in the thread titled “Media Ignores Bush Exoneration”. I know, I seem like a broken record here, but she really has a Hot LZ going on over there! And when comments in that thread started to smell like the old conspiracy about Bush hiding all the information, I got to thinking about this story of Yamamoto being shot down because intel was compromised. There are so many bloggers out there without the experience of, or drive to learn about, relatively recent history and the role intel plays in a war. We all need to repeat to the unwashed masses out there that intel is always kept secret to save lives.

Remember, “Loose lips sink ships”!

No matter how hard a person tries to resist repeating the past, it just seems to happen. And if history is to repeat itself, why not choose the history that you’d like to repeat, thereby controlling the future?

Eh, I digress … these kids’ll never learn!

Oh! And you really need to read your Air Force Magazine this month! The fact that we sent just 18 P-38s up against Yamamoto’s 2 bombers and tons of Zeros as escorts - and we still bagged ‘im. The P-38s had to fly 30 feet off the water for over 500 miles (and no air conditioning in that black painted glassed in enclosure! Commitment? You betcha!

Ahhh, what a fine old bird she was - and FAST! Boy howdy, gimme a P-38 or a P-51. Hmmm …

It’s amazing what you can find when you are looking around for something else. You know, you went to go find a screwdriver and you came back with a hammer. OK, the goal was to find some information regarding a situation local to Texas. Instead, at the Longview News-Journal an interesting headline caught my eye: First Declassified Iraq Documents Released. I kept checking the date and stuff, but, yeah it’s actually recent - Wednesday night around 22:18 from the AP (Assoc Press). The story leads you to the Foreign Military Studies Office, Joint Reserve Intelligence Center, Document Exploitation Documents site. There I uncovered this interesting little document with the title, “Usage of Special Equipment”. I wondered what on earth could be in here, so, check it out:

[you’ll find this entry begins at page 3 of the PDF doc]
NVTC0152
Republic of Iraq
Office of the President No. 7371
Secretary Date: 3/31/1978
General Military Intelligence Directorate
Top Secret, Personal
To: General Staff Headquarters
Subject: Utilizing Special Equipment
1. The President/Leader (may God save him) ordered our
directorate to study, with the professionals, directing a
surprise strike against (Khomeini Guards bases located
within the quarters of the first division of Barazani’s
saboteurs) using special equipment, and the possibility of
executing it in any of the following methods (Air Force,
Army Air Force, artillery).
2- Studied the President Leader’s (may God save him) order
with the professionals, and we suggested the following:
A- Postponing the execution of the strike on Khomeini
Guards inside Barazani’s quarters until next June, because
these targets are located on the Iraqi-Turkish border. It
is preferable to change these targets to be away from the
Turkish boarders and villages.
B- Begin planning to execute similar limited operations
aimed at the bases of Iran’s agents.
2- Approval on both suggestions, under item 2 above, has
been obtained. Our Directorate studied the locations of the
Iran Agent’s bases, and choose the targets listed
hereunder, basing its decision on the size of the enemy
presence, the effect of this presence on internal security
in the Northern Region, and the available capabilities of
arms and fire power:
A- Bases of Iran Agents located in Balisan Basin (villages
of Balisan, Totama, Ghitti, Skeikh Wisan) next to the the
main road in Khlayfan Village vicinity.
UNCLASSIFIED //FOUO
UNCLASSIFIED //FOUO
NVTC0152
B. Bases of Iran Agents in the Basin of villages of
(Tkiyyeh,Bilkjar,Siyuisnan) annexing Karah Dagh.
4. The above mentioned targets, in paragraphs(A-B)under
item 3, are important bases for Iran’s agents and members
of Iranian enemies, are far away (as targets for special
equipment)from our units. They are considered more
appropriate than others to strike with our equipment for
being located in low regions which helps the chemical fumes
to settle. We can also treat them with available ways (air
force, tubular bombers, Samtiyyat (Helicopters) and at
night
5. Our directorate suggested striking both targets,
referred to in item 3, during this period using two thirds
of available special equipment (Ricin) plus one third of
available special equipment (Mustard Gas) and keeping the
balance for emergency situations that might arise in the
operation theater.
6. The top secret, personal and urgent letter No.953/965/k
dated March 29, 87 from the President’s Office Secretary,
stated the following:
“Approval of striking has been obtained provided the
results are exploited… for the purpose is not only to
inflict losses among the saboteurs, but also to coordinate
with the Corps… please advice prior to striking”.
Please be informed and order the execution of what was
stipulated in the above letter of the President’s Office-
Secretary, and advise your sanction. With esteem.
Signed
Major General
Chief of General Military Intelligence
Copy To: Office of the President-Secretary
Your top secret, personal and urgent letter
953/965/K dated March 29,87. Please review. With esteem
Usage of Special Equipment, CMPC-2004-002219-0 (PDF only)

[you’ll find this entry begins at page 13 of the PDF doc]
NVTC0152
Please refer to the number in full
The Martyrs will always be more
generous than us
Office of the President Secretary
General Military Intelligence Directorate
Top Secret, Personal and Urgent
Number?M1/Sh3/Q2/6414
Date/March 18, 1987
To/Presidency Office-Secretary
Subject/Utilizing Special Equipment
Your top secret -, personal and urgent letter 7/J2/808/K
dated March 12, 87
1. The following are our available capabilities to utilize
the special equipment against the Khomeini Guards bases
located within the saboteur’s quarters of Barazanis First
Division.
A. At the present time, climate conditions do not help in
Utilizing (Sarin) due to snow coverage of the designated
targeted areas, which could lead to diluting the said
element and transforming it to a non-poisonous element.
This condition applies to (Tabun) element too.
UNCLASSIFIED //FOUO
UNCLASSIFIED //FOUO
NVTC0152
B. A large quantity of (Mustard) gas is available, but its
potential effect is considered a (miracle) except in cases
where a concentrated dose is taken. In addition, its
evaporation becomes slow in snow regions.
C. Air force, tubular bombers and (Samtiyyat?) can be used
at night for this purpose.
2. We recommend the following:
A. Postpone executing the strike against Khomeini Guards
located within the Barazani Group’s quarters until next
June.
Because the targets lie in the Iraqi/Turkish boarders, it
is preferable we choose targets that will not impact the
Turkish boarder units, or the Turkish villages.
B. Start planning to execute similar limited operations
against the bases of Iran’s agents.
Please review, and advise us suggestions… With esteem
(signed)
Staff Major General
Chief - General Military Intelligence Directorate.
Usage of Special Equipment, CMPC-2004-002219-0 (PDF only)

Mentioned in these communiques is the use of ricin, sarin, to include for effect, mustard gas. They discuss the use of helicopters, rockets, mortars, all kinds of delivery. There is even a statement to delay the action due to the time of year (winter is bad for their activity it seems). And, they are explicit in carrying out an operation that is far from Turkey, but close enough to hit Iran - the goal being to take out the saboteurs, or the Khomeini Guards.

People, if the Administration continues to release more and more of these sorts of documents, it’s gonna be a field day for those of us that believe in what we have undertaken: the active and preemptive response to threats to our country.

This GWOT must be won. We must not give up. We must remain ever vigilant.

God Bless America, God Bless our fighting men and women and their families, and God Bless the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

UPDATE: go check out Amy Proctor’s recent post on WMDs, “Media Ignores Bush Exoneration”, and how the media refuses to exonerate President Bush. Basically, the Drive-By Media is blindly assuming we the people don’t read. Here’s a snippet from Amy’s post:

“Finally, President Bush has ordered that this critical evidence confiscated by U.S. forces after they liberated Iraq be made public. Bush’s initial order came on Feb. 16, the day after ABC News broadcast snippets from 12 hours of Saddam audiotapes obtained by FBI translator and former U.N. weapons inspector Bill Tierney.”

So, from the release of documents, I was able to find the above information related to Saddam authorizing the use of WMDs (ricin and sarin are WMD, you lost wondering puppies of stupidity!).

Thanks again, Amy!

You hate the US Military and you demand that defense spending halt - no more funding. You think that we spend too much to protect this country. You’d love to fix the world, starting at home, and fund other programs. Or, just send all the bucks to New Orleans and watch them party it away - ’cause, Bush caused the hurricane - you say New Orleans deserves it.

Funny. But to truly understand just how much is spent on salaries for our brave fighting men and women, materiel (weapons, vehicles, etc), and the operations, you need the right measuring stick. I mean, do you really know how long six inches really is?

I thought not.

In the March 2006 issue of Air Force Magazine (you need to be a member of the Air Force Assoc to subscribe), the Associate Editor Tamar A. Mehuron has the answer: measure against GDP (gross domestic product - stay with me here). To take this one step in providing you with the ammo to eliminate moonbat rhetoric, the following chart shows the US Defense Budget Spending to GDP percentage up against the top 50 countries in the world. Take a look for yourself:

We’re near the bottom, 22 up from the bottom. We spend 3.8% of GDP on Defense. These are in 2004 dollars, and does not take into consideration that which other countries hide from us. For this to be accurate, all parties should be reporting accurately. I suspect no one does, ’cause Iran, Lebanon, and China are all 1.1% to 0.1% (respectively) less than the US. That’s really not that much folks.

The UAE spends far less on defense. Wonder why? We help them and they don’t get attacked. Israel spends far greater, we help them, but they are surrounded - I’d rather have Israel spending more and be alive than the alternative.

Want your eyes to pop out of your sockets? Check out NORTH KOREA! They spend 25%!!! Whoa, Nellie!

Check out the Saudis, Syria, Yemen, Russia, and Cuba. They’re not exactly spending at Wal Mart prices either!

This whole post started in response to these comments I read about the UAE Ports Deal debacle on Sister Toldjah’s blog. One of her readers tossed out the tired and worn out drivel … oh, here’s the exchange:

“The next fuss will be over the greatest Socialist organization in America, the Defense Department. $600 billion dollars a year is far too much money to give to this entitlement program. 1/2 of that amount should be more then enough. Peace”
[Comment 88819]

“At the rate of $2 billion each and every week, time is the one thing we don’t have. New Orleans needs money, we need a universal health care system, we need a ton more money to get our seaports safe. We are still there only so bush and the boy’s can save face at this point. Peace”
[Comment 89196]

Now, after the first to lame attempts from the commenter without a blog of his own, CavalierX steps in with a good one:

“>At the rate of $2 billion each and every week

Aww, it’s kind of cute when Liberals pretend to be fiscal Conservatives…

>New Orleans needs money

…especially when the mask slips seconds later and they start screeching for money for their social programs. Personally, I don’t want my tax dollars rebuilding a city in a flood zone, below sea level, that was destroying the environment by its very presence. You do realise that the city was causing the mass destruction of the wetlands? Or don’t you care about the environment?”
[Comment 89362]
CavalierX

So, the unknown comic tries to pitch a slider:

“Tax dollars are money. Money is budgeted. Too much money is budgeted for the Defense Department. It should be cut by at least $225 billion in 2007. Peace”
[Comment 89555]

And, CavalierX hits it outta the park:

“>Too much money is budgeted for the Defense Department.

It’s the only Constitutionally-mandated expense, and one of the few legitimate expenses, of the Federal government. It’s all the useless feel-good programs that don’t actually have any effect on the problems they’re supposed to solve that waste my money. If it weren’t for the Defense Department, you’d be speaking German or Japanese. On the other hand, there would probably be forced euthanasia for the useless.”
[Comment 89557]
CavalierX

Really, we don’t spend very much. In fact, we should be spending more. Let’s just whack the pay scales in Washington DC and give that money to all these pet programs the moonbats want. Next, divert the other expenses to the Defense Budget and give all the fighting men and women more pay, more benefits, and full on retirement ’til we meet our maker.

Sounds fair to me!

Thanks and References
Bloggers I Read
Sister Toldjah’s UAE Port Deal Post

Reference
Air Force Magazine, March 2006 (Air Force Assoc)

Well, you’ve got some broad winged birds that have dove-like plumage.

From Buffs in Minot on alert

To C-17s at Ramstein ready to go

At both these bases the snow can fall fast and thick. I hope the entire Soldiers’ Angels Germany team are keeping warm and safe! The Ramstein photo was taken last Friday, but I am sure it is still mighty cold over there …

I remember one long swing shift I began to drive home to my apartment in Heusenstamm. The snow was falling thick, and we already had 6-9 inches of pack, and 3 more inches had fallen in an hour. My Triumph Spitfire wasn’t handling all that well - I mean, it didn’t weigh that much people!

I approached a stoplight where I needed to turn left to head home. I’ve driven in snow, but, something just didn’t feel right. Then, WHOOP, two 360s in the middle of the intersection! Good thing it was 01:30 and there were no other idiots driving from Rhein Main to Heusenstamm … just one. ME!

Memories …

I just finished a HUGE diatribe over at Amy Proctor’s Blog. Man, some of her subjects and the folks that post there get me all fired up! Sheesh … I saw that the Chief from The Truth was over there, so, howdy Chief!

Anyway, here’s my comment on the post called Academia VS. US Military:

For those that clearly have nothing good to say about the military, or have said that the entire US Military would be uneducated (stupid) if it weren’t for universities, or that our institutions today would be just fine without the US Military, many questions come to mind for me. And if I wrote those questions, I think some might take them as an afront, or something said that has no merit or rooted in fact. Instead, maybe I’ll just take a moment to reflect on what is going on around us all, yet from our side.

You may not want us. You may not like us. You think we are being elitist because we speak often of patriotism, duty, corps, self-sacrifice, honor, code, chain of command, leadership, past wars, conflicts, and covert ops. Some even think we are dumb and blind followers without a reasoning or rational bone in our bodies. You call us facists, baby killers, drones, jack-booted thugs, parasites, war mongers, pleebs (that’s a good one, I got that one in the Newark Airport while PCSing back from USAFE), and extremists. You think we are out of touch and spend too much of the budget and more should be going to our schools (hmmm, that’s a funny one too), or welfare, or just a cause to which you have become attached. You do not believe that any foreign force would actually attack us, in our sleep, without provocation, and try to destroy everything that makes this country great. You praise those that take to foreign soil and speak out against this country, yet look down your nose at the man or woman taking off their hat, placing hand over heart, during the National Anthem. You think it a cause to protest out in front of hospitals where young soldiers are in pain, families are visiting, and their pain is even greater. You do not know the copious amount of time spent studying world history, war, foreign and domestic battles or small skirmishes, political systems and culture, as well as language studies coupled with deportment (military bearing is the term we use). You may not believe in preemptive actions to stave off an even greater threat. You may think that HUMINT (human intel) and SIGINT (signals or communications intel) are abhorrent and should be stopped, even though you’d love to have the answers to a test you are about to take.

Let’s all be honest. There are a significant number of personnel in the US Military that are career military and have more experience, training, and love for this subject which affords them a sort of self-assuredness - often seen as arrogance. There is more to this than meets the eye, and with enough intel and experience, you might sing a different tune.

Dirty little secret: you need us.
Happy little fact: we know it.
Huge Guarantee: we’ll always be there to protect.
Obvious Result: we get no thanks, ’cause less and less of you learn because we have gotten better at what we do.
Biggest Reaction: we are degraded for being who we are.

And that last one, biggest reaction, my friends, is bigotry. Bigotry goes many ways, is in many forms, and takes all comers.

This has nothing at all to do with funds for universities. Research isn’t the only game in town. The private sector, especially entrepreneurship, is more beneficial to the US Military than universities. The situation where toys for the military come from universities is becoming less and less prevalent. Not everyone in development is swimming in degrees. Not every degree is applied to the actual job at hand.

It isn’t the book or the professor, it is the student. And, books don’t come from universities but private publishers. Odd how that works, too, you can pay to have your words printed and people will buy them. Amazing! Do I need a professor to make this all happen?

Boy Scouts, Recruiters on campus, Religion, Conservatism, Capitalism, US Military, Big Business, Pro-Life … c’mon, we all know the drill.

Rius has a great book, “Marx for Beginners” where I learned a great deal, sorta self-taught on some stuff (got your six, Chief). Walking through East Berlin during the height of the Cold War - more learning goin’ on. Standing face to face with a foreign power hell-bent on removing me from the face of the earth - try it, it’ll show you new paths to enlightenment.

CJ over at A Soldiers’ Perspective is trying to organize a letter writing campaign. If you are a regular reader over there, or have seen others posting about the situation I am about to describe, then you’re on “the list” and you know what ya gotta do - I’m just backin’ up CJ with extra motivation if you haven’t done your duty yet! .:. Hint .:. Hint .:.

If you are new to this issue, here we go.

CJ’s first post gave us all the background to the story regarding the treatment of Sgt. Rickey Jones’ family. Sgt. Jones, 21 and from Kokomo, Indiana, died while serving in Iraq. Here’s his photo:

When police have to be posted at someone’s home 24×7, the story is already getting ugly. Why would anyone need that level of security? I mean, Sgt. Jones died in Iraq, fighting for our country, our safety, and everyone’s freedom of speech.

He did not, however, die for some stupid groups freedom to destroy personal property, defame the family, and harass them at all hours via the phone line. The phone harassment should get the FBI involved, at the very least, since the phone is governed/regulated by the FCC - equaling Federal Jurisdiction. I know that if I do something stupid while using my 2M Handheld or HF Radio (I’m a HAMM), the FCC would come down hard and get other offices/authorities involved depending on the offense.

Where is the FBI now? I don’t know, but I’d add one small thread to this letter writing campaign and expand it to getting the FBI involved. Long shot? Sure, but hey, defame a soldier, go to jail!

IMHO

Now, defame is light when you take the words spoken in one of these phone calls:

“I’m glad your son is dead.”

What? Who are these callers anyway? Some strange sect/group of athiests that don’t believe in God, or the sanctity of life and death? Do these protestors range from the nail-IN-the-tree, lab burning, window-trashing types that make a big story everytime there is a G-7 meeting? No, these people are from, wait for it:

Westboro Baptist Church

Wow, I never would have guessed. You?

That said, I think that putting together a few letters to help this family through is the least we can do. In fact, my family and I are working on ours tonight.

The details on how, who, and when are on CJ’s site. The title is Letter Writing Request. I’ll repost a paragraph or two here to help ya out:

“I am trying to help organize a letter writing campaign to the family of SGT Rickey Jones’ family. As you may have read earlier, their home was vandalized by idiots who wouldn’t understand patriotism if it flew a plane through their bedroom window.”

“If you own a blog, please post this effort on your respective blogs and ask your readers to post it on their blogs. If you are as disgusted as I am and would like to write a letter to have delivered to this family, please email Lauren (mailto:MyWay716@aol.com) for more information. The good people over at Operation Military Pride are helping facilitate the delivery of these letters.”

Now, my being ex-USAF, I personnaly like CJ’s “idiots who wouldn’t understand patriotism if it flew a plane through their bedroom window”! Ha! If that just don’t give ya the right imagery?!

Oh, one more great paragraph:

“If you feel the same way I do, please email her and write this family a letter of support and love. Let them know that we appreciate their son’s service and mourn their loss. Let’s show them what America is really made of. This isn’t about whether or not you support the war. This is about common decency for a family that has suffered the ultimate sacrifice … having to bury a child. Thank you in advance. When this is over, I want the post office to have to hire new postmen just to handle the volume. Yes, it’s a challenge, as LinkedinUSAF would say.”

I caught this post over at LinkedInUSAF too … lot more calm over there …

[UPDATE: 5 March, 2006 at 14:21]
[CORRECTION - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION]
Buck over at Exile in Portales dug deeper into the story and alerted me that I missed a big piece of information: where to send your letters/snail-mail! I had not seen Heidi’s posting over at Euphoric Reality, which is where they included the mailing address for the local High School.

After writing to Lauren, CJ’s major helper, she would like you to contact her directly through the above e-mail address. She wants to ensure that we do not end up with another Joshua Sparling situation - and I agree! I have pulled down the address for the High School, and ask that you e-mail Lauren directly. Thanks.

I’d also like to add the folks that I know of who are trying to help, and have posted pleas for help in CJ’s letter writing campaign:

Euphoric Reality
Exile in Portales
You Betcha I’m a Proud Army Mom
Soldiers’ Angels - New York
Big Dog’s Weblog
Cao’s Blog
And THAT is MY Opinion
A Lady’s Ruminations
Gribbit’s Word
Conservative Insurgent
Ms. Underestimated
Iraq War Today
Landrys Life
Yikes!
A Rose By Any Other Name
Sparks From the Anvil
Blackfive
Right Truth
Conservative Cogitation
WhenEvilProspers
No End But Victory
In Training
Milblogging.com
Knowledge is Power

I’ll continue to update this list as more come online. Thanks to everyone I contacted in a separate e-mail for helping out and posting!     

Alright, this is truly a long flight. And, anyone that has been on a MAC transport (oops, AMC) knows that windows and flight attendants are - scarce?

You know, the general disorientation that comes with a long flight, crappy seats, the constant humm of the T-56s - oops, C-130 days flooding back here - umm, actually the Pratt and Whitneys whine. You look up, as Captain Erik Aadland does above (front row middle), and realize you are only 2 hours into the flight. Ugh. As time drags on you find yourself living the old adage: a soldier can sleep anywhere, anytime, if the opportunity presents itself. Just look, some of the most unpleasant conditions and folks are sleeping.

And then the bird hit the active runway, you taxi for a few moments, it seems like a lifetime, and then, chocks. Yeah! You get to really stretch your legs and that just seems like heaven. Now you’re out in broad daylight walking towards the “terminal”. We all know that Military Passenger Terminals are a far cry from the ones at home. As you head around the tail section of the plane, you see your destination just across the tarmac - and other folks are headin’ your way to get on the plane you just got off. Do they know how long their flight is going to be?

Actually, I think they do know how long the flight is, but they just want to sit down and sleep - for however long it takes to get home.

In those 5 words, the President of the United States:

• Separates the men from the boys
• Restates the classic oil and water conundrum
• Draws a line in the “sand” for those with no stomach
• Firmly states why the United States Military is what it is - the best

I’ll tell ya, when I hear words like those coming from a sitting President that has conviction and steadfast commitment, you just wanna re-up! At the very least you know that your CINC has got your six! At issue is if the rest of the electorate has the resolve to do what is right, what is needed, and what will keep us all safe.

Do you see a waffling, poll-numbers loving, womanizing, crocodile tears CINC here:

I know I don’t!

But, maybe that’s ’cause everything President Bush has done up to now has been to keep us all safe. We can all wander down the lane moaning and groaning about the spending, placating the Democrats on their stupid issues, and sucky candidates ad nauseam. But our true threat is far across the oceans, seas, and gulfs.

In President Bush’s speech in Afghanistan, found here at AF.mil, he went on to say:

“You saw our nation was attacked and when your country called you gladly served. This government will not blink, we will not yield. We are on the right course and the world will be a better place because of your service. God bless you for protecting our country.”

At every waking moment, every Sunday in Church, and whenever I see an Air Force plane, Navy ship, Army Duece-N-A-Half, USMC Hummer, or Coast Guard cruiser (we have those here in N. California), I wish them all God Speed and thank them for being there for my family.

When you write what you feel, and what you feel says so much to others, that’s when I enjoy my fellow Milbloggers. And, as she often does, Days Gone By puts it right out there for us all in her latest post:

She wakes up in the middle of the night
Wishing he were there to squeeze her tight.
But he’s been gone for what seems like years
And no one understands all her fears.
She waits by the phone every day
She looks up high and starts to pray
Another day and still no call
She closes her eyes and tears start to fall
He’s over in another land
Without her there to hold his hand
And she counts the days till he comes home
When she will no longer have to be alone.
She’s loved this man for so many years
And watched him go and then shed tears
But this is the life you choose to lead
When you fall in love with a United States Marine

Semper Fi!
dyzgoneby

Keep your chin up and remember that everyone else is out there praying for you both!

Pop on over to MilTracker.com for a smattering of good news from the men and women fighting the GWOT! It is a rare thing to get just good stuff coming from the blogosphere. I love it when someone takes the time to focus on the positive. I can honestly say that I hope to get some posts up there soon …

It means that my goal of being positive is just right for Phil’s posting board!

Thanks, Phil for “accentuating the positive”!

Just to give you a little background as to why another Milblog has hit the street! These days with the number of blogs growing at a rate that could bring Technorati to its knees, I figured it couldn’t hurt to have “just one more”.

Now, I know what you are thinking, “What is up with the name?!”

To be honest, I have worked with a few RSOs in my day. I may not have had an illustrious career supporting the “backseater”, but when I was there, fixing systems, Ops Checks, Preflights, Debriefs, and flat-out supporting the RSO was all I could think about! The missions that both the Pilot and RSO support are very stressful and dangerous. These men (it was only men when I was supporting the 9th AMS at Beale AFB) spent often times greater than 10 hours per mission. Their flight profile required tons of support from systems, to LOx, to fuel, to KC-135Q crews and aircraft, launch teams, recovery teams, debriefs, ground systems, specially trained medical staff, it just goes on and on …

The key is that I walked away with an even greater respect for the crews and the mission. I’ll never forget my days at Beale AFB, the faces and personalities, and the beautiful sunsets on the hammerhead as the diamonds in the ABs pop out - just like your ear drums!

So, enjoy this blog. It is going to be dripping in US Air Force love and support. But, don’t think that the only reason I am here is to talk about the USAF! There are bigger things happening in and around the Air Force that need a place to be heard!

This is that place!

Oh, a clue: RSOs are most notably the man in the back of the SR-71 Blackbird. Uh-huh. Goosebumps people!