America.gov reference

Provincial Reconstruction Teams or PRTs are the key to Afghanistan and it becoming a sovereign nation that can defend its own borders, protect its people, and sustain an infrastructure. These PRTs are located all over the country and are commanded and staffed by whatever country has responsibility for that area. The US used to run the ones down where I was, but that is where the Polish have stepped in to help. This has freed up more US assets to focus on the real fight and work on eliminating the enemy.

You can read a lot more about PRTs at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provincial_Reconstruction_Team

Of course the basic concept of war is to kill so many of the enemy’s people that they eventually give up because they don’t want any more to die. However if the enemy has a bottomless pit of bullet fodder because they are brainwashing them all over the world, then the next step is to empower the local people, help them build an infrastructure, give them something to be proud of and want to protect. This approach should empower the people to stand up on their own, produce goods, and foster a lifestyle where they do not scrounge for everything and they have to be so corrupt.

I dialed into a bloggers roundtable yesterday with BG Dennis Rogers and CSM Deborah Strickland, Deputy Director and Command Sergeant Major of Installation Management Command respectively. While waiting for the attendees to dial in, Matt and I spoke a little about his recent trip to China and the fact that Blackfive is actually banned in China!! So, kudos to Matt for that esteemed honor!!

We were gathered to discuss the recent video that surfaced on YouTube about the barracks at Fort Bragg. The video depicted deplorable conditions, to include sewage leaks in the latrines and mold in various locations. It was assembled by the father of a Soldier who had recently returned from a deployment to Iraq staying in those very same barracks. Naturally, he was very upset with what he saw.

The entire issue with the barracks at Fort Bragg and other locations boils down to a single point of failure - NCO Leadership. As I’ve said numerous times here and everywhere else, our job as NCOs is to take care of Soldiers. Since the beginning of our military it has been an NCO responsibility to ensure that the living quarters of our Soldiers are up to standard. Naturally, that standard depends on the NCO inspecting the area, but there is a general agreement about the living conditions in which our Soldiers reside. The issue at Fort Bragg was an NCO leadership failure at every level from the most junior of NCOs to the to the most senior on the installation.
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With a highly politicized election year upon us, it’s important for military members to understand and abide by the rules and regulations that govern our involvement in the political process.  If we aren’t aware of our boundaries, we can’t exercise our rights as citizens of this great country. 

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We have launched a new section of the commercial side of VA Mortgage Center.com that highlights state-specific benefits for Veteran home buyers.

While the core benefits of using a VA loan over conventional loans apply nationwide, we think it’s important for residents of each state to be aware of what unique rules and stipulations exist in the state they are purchasing in.

Part of the purpose of You Served is to keep the online community informed on VA benefits - so we are kicking off a weekly section of the blog that will focus on 1 state per week. We hope it can get some traction with not only the consumers in each area but also realtors and appraisers who might find it useful.

Keep an eye out for the first post in the coming week . . . and thanks for reading everything from our Staff, Troy and the outstanding CJ here at You Served!

I couldn’t say this any better and I’m a Soldier:

Black & White on the Grey Matters 2 (War)

Really?

There’s been a lot of talk by those who detest this administration and are clinging to anything they can that “supports” their notion of an unjust war.  One of the reasons they site for why we shouldn’t be at war in Iraq is that the military has had to resort to “lowering our standards” with more moral waivers than ever before.  The fact is that moral waivers have been increasing since prior to the war in Iraq.

Under pressure to meet combat needs, the Army and Marine Corps brought in significantly more recruits with felony convictions last year than in 2006, including some with manslaughter and sex crime convictions.

 Data released by a congressional committee shows the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007. And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350.

Those numbers represent a fraction of the more than 180,000 recruits brought in by the active duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007. But they highlight a trend that has raised concerns both within the military and on Capitol Hill.

I have another perspective I’d like to share.

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I learned an important lesson on April 1st - People are gullible!! I also learned that you can draw a lot of attention by saying the right (or wrong) thing on a military blog. Not long ago the military tried to crack down on military bloggers with new and improved regulations (we didn’t take it lying down!). In an effort to prevent drawing unwanted attention by Big Brother, I humbly offer some rules to those military bloggers concerned about crossing the line (and how to avoid it).
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=77695

Until we are able to either convince the enemy that this will not be tolerated (via dying) or we are able to convince the local people that they need to step up and not allow this to happen, progress will never be substantial. The people of Afghanistan are largely illiterate and the coalition forces are trying hard to change that. We have built school after school over there. Businesses, private citizens and even civil groups have worked hard or donated money and items to supply schools or at least supply village children that don’t have a school yet with the necessary supplies.

The story in the link above just sickens my heart, because I was there and I saw what little to nothing these kids had in everyday life and how an open courtyard underneath the blistering sun served as a school because there was nothing else. The Taliban and their supporters only attack these schools because they allow females to attend. When I was there, I was on more presence patrols than I can even count, and the first thing we would ask people was “where is the school?” And if there was one we then asked “are girls allowed to attend”. If the answer to both was “yes”, then we knew there was a good chance that no Taliban lived in the village. That did not mean no bad guys lived there, it just meant no Taliban lived there. If the answer was “no” to one or both of those, especially the second question, then we knew with certainty that Taliban either lived there or came through often enough that the local people would not even chance allowing a girl to attend school.

The kids of Afghanistan have it hard enough. Just being born there has the odds stacked against them. If they are a girl then they have a hard life no matter where they turn until they return to the earth. I always felt the most sorrow for the little girls because I knew dogs were treated better than them and that were born into a life of abuse, unfairness and hardship. Now that we have essentially kicked the Taliban out, our country along with all of those of the coalition forces are trying to spread education and maybe give those little girls a fighting chance one day.

Until we can kill all Taliban and send them home to Allah, little girls will never have a chance at a life.

I found this story from November 07 and can’t believe it’s taken me six months to find it. It’s very motivational. I like that the story includes all first responders and along with the military.
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Thanks to the Girl Scouts and the Community Associations of The Woodlands, military personnel serving in Iraq will be treated to 1,222 boxes of Girl Scout cookies!

Girl Scout Troops 8683, 11007 and 4384, along with Girl Scout leaders Susan Welbes and Neslihan Tesno, who are also Community Associations employees, coordinated the effort with The Woodlands Association Director Anthony Fasone.

By working at more than 40 “cookie booths” over a six-week period, the girls and their sponsors solicited purchases of boxes of Girl Scout cookies to send overseas. Buyers of the cookies were encouraged to sign a banner (shown in photo) which will be sent with the cookies.

Members of The Woodlands Professional Firefighters Association generously sponsored the postage costs of this venture.

Cards and letters of appreciation and support are important to young people serving far from home in dangerous and inhospitable locations. Citizens who would like to participate in supporting the troops can get involved by visiting www.AnySoldier.com or www.BooksForSoldiers.com.

Shown with all of their cookies just prior to boxing them for shipment are, back row, left to right: Anthony Fasone, Justin Hill, Susan Welbes, Lt. John Frost, Gary Bennett, Jason Enyart, Brice Parmer, Jimmy Ballinger, Neslihan Tesno, and Steven Crenshaw. Front row: Claire Wright, Angelica Saena, Kayla Fetterhoff, Alexandria Elder, Sarah Welbes, Megan Malpass, Liz Saenz, Katherine Tesno and Courtney Boney.