Like the last time, our National Guard is prepared for the worst as Gustav gets closer to making landfall later this week. I just wanted to share a few pictures of their preparations. I hope to have an interview up this week (hopefully live) on the You Served Podcast with a member of the unit.
Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Majeau, a supply sergeant with the Louisiana National Guard’s 204th Theater Airfield Operations Group, unloads a pallet of packaged meals in Hammond, La., for soldiers activated in conjunction with the approach of Hurricane Gustav, Aug. 29, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Stephanie J. Cross, Louisiana State Aviation Command.
U.S. Army Spc. Cory R. Prince checks a radio, Aug. 28, 2008, to make sure it is working properly in preparation for possible hurricane relief operations after Gustav makes landfall. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Nathaniel P. Orphey.
Army Pfc. Seth D. Watkins, Army Spc. Donovan Q. Lemieux, and Army Sgt. 1st Class Todd F. Stremlau of of the Louisiana National Guard’s 204th Theater Airfield Operations Group load tents on a tactical vehicle in Hammond, La., Aug. 29, 2008, as part of preparations for the expected landfall of Hurricane Gustav. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Stephanie J. Cross, Louisiana State Aviation Command.
Spc. Joseph P. Gauthier of Natchitoches, La., member of Detachment 1, A Co., 199th Leadership Brigade Support Battalion, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, in Colfax, La., gives the thumbs up to Soldiers working to fill a Palletized Load System water hippo. U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Rebekah L. Malone, 225th Engineer Brigade Unit Public Affairs Representative.
Members of the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team stage their vehicles next to the Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Aug. 29, 2008. The soldiers are activated for security missions in support of hurricane operations throughout the state. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael L. Owens, 241st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
Members of the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team stage their vehicles next to the Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Aug. 29, 2008. The soldiers are activated for security missions in support of hurricane operations throughout the state. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael L. Owens, 241st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
Members of the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team stage their vehicles next to the Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Aug. 29, 2008. The soldiers are activated for security missions in support of hurricane operations throughout the state. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael L. Owens, 241st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
U.S. military vehicles are staged and ready, Aug. 28, 2008, to bring clean water in the event that water becomes scarce after Gustav, expected to be a Category 3 hurricane, makes landfall. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Nathaniel P. Orphey.
Army Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Landreneau, Louisiana adjutant general, talks to reporters about the Louisiana National Guard’s preparedness for hurricane operations at the Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Aug. 29, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael L. Owens, 241st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
Sgt. Michael Slaytert osses a water hose to Spc. Joseph P. Gauthier as they prepare a tanker that could be used to provide drinking water to coastal residents if Tropical Storm Gustav hits. The Soldiers are members of Detachment 1, A Co., 199th Leadership Brigade Support Battalion, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, in Colfax, La.
Not much has changed. In my position, I get to fly a LOT. More than I care to actually, but it’s necessary. For the most part, I have some great experiences, but every now and then, I can’t help but relate to this clip from the Carole Burnett Show. I laughed my tail off watching it! It’s long, but worth it.
I know: “Not another IVAW attack piece.” Yup, that’s right. But, they just do the dumbest things and I can’t help myself to discuss the ignorance. This time, they “protested” at the DNC, otherwise known as “home base” for the anti-war movement. If you ask me, it’s like protesting against PETA to force them to stop wearing furs.
IVAW started their absurd little charade by marching to the convention location in formation. They then stood in formation until someone from Obama’s campaign came out and agreed to let them speak on the podium! hehe. I so wish they would have allowed that. Supposedly, someone did come out and bring in a couple of the members, Jeff Key and psycho Liam Madden, were led into the stadium and met with members of Obama’s campaign.
The ignorant Soldiers, none of which I saw wearing infantry blue on their branch insignia or cords, then staged fake patrols through the city. I can’t emphasize enough how silly these people looked traipsing through the streets of Denver with their hands up to represent their weapons. You’ll have to watch their video yourself here.
Does the IVAW leadership and sheepish followers really think we’re that stupid? There are videos ALL OVER THE PLACE of Soldiers in patrols on the streets of Iraq. I challenge you to find videos of REAL Soldiers patrolling even remotely similar to the way these morons were. Then, they upped the ante of silliness by adding in angry crowds. To quell the riots, the “Soldiers” pointed their hands weapons at the angry crowd. This breaks all the conventional wisdom and TTP elements trained in any military I’m aware of. That’s because the reality of this is that probably very few of these “Soldiers” have ever even participated in a combat patrol. They broke just about every rule of combat patrols on the books.
I’m not even going to address the illegality of some of the uniforms worn during the event. I’ll save that for someone who really thinks these people represent anything but a Tom and Jerry episode.
As you may or may not know, You Served is the proud new home of the hottest military podcast on the net! Hosted by our good friend and frequent You Served contributor CJ Grisham, the You Served podcast is going to be a weekly 1 hr spotlight featuring interviews, news, discussion and much more.
The first official live show is streaming tonight, August 29th at 10 pm CST. Next week, we will assume our traditional prime time slot of Thursday nights at 6 pm.
Join us as CJ talks about military voting, political activity in uniform (and out), plus guests SGT Freedom and CPT Jeremy Hopkins. Listen live here on our blog (use the player above) or head to BlogTalkRadio.
This is a great article that explores some of the history of our early relationships with Afghanistan and how complicated it can be politically when you go into another country. A Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), usually is in place in every country that we have US forces. So this is a bit different than the norm.
Our profiles of milbloggers are an ongoing feature here at You Served. This week, we spoke with Bryan from ‘A Major’s Perspective‘. See what he had to say here below. Thanks for taking the time Bryan!
You Served: What made you decide to start Blogging?
A Major’s Perspective: During my first deployment overseas to Iraq I was extremely fortunate to work with reporters such as Jim McMillen (AFP), Stefan Zaklin (EP), and Michael Yon(Independent Blogger). I saw the hard work they were doing trying to tell the entire story of the American Soldier to the American People. I felt as a professional military officer it was my duty to do this also. As I returned from Iraq, though, one event led to another and before I knew it I was heading back on my second deployment to Afghanistan. When I returned this time, I was going to school at the Army’s Command and General Staff College, and had the time to reflect and write. I took advantage of that time, and launched my blog shortly afterward. As a Military Officer I believe we have a duty to explain to the American People what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan and to tell them all the good that is happening. Good that is being done both by the Iraqi’s and Afghans and by our troops. Every day in both of my deployments I witnessed an event that the American People should have known about, but somehow never did. If we don’t tell those stories of compassion, personal fortitude and courage, no one will.
The media still refuses to acknowledge and cover the successes in Iraq except in passing. They continue their defeatist mantra as if their very existence depended on it. Yet, they continue to lose revenue in advertising and readership. A sane individual would see the connection. I just received this great update from Colonel John Folsom, who plays a major role in running Wounded Warrior Family Support, formerly Wounded Warriors before getting sued by the asshats at the Wounded Warrior Project (*spit*).
By You Served Editorial Staff
Posted in Military News
You Served got an email from Pat Chance over the weekend we thought we’d pass along . . .
Dear You Served,
My name is Pat Chance. I submitted Steve Stephens name for the American Hero Award. I simply wanted to let you know that he has organized a 9/11 remembrance walk in Washington D.C. I was wondering if there is a way that VA MortgageCenter.com could have a link to the website about this?
I finally got a chance to meet Steve and his new wife, Angie in Annapolis, MD.! He seems like such a wonderful person and is so committed to helping others!
He will be going overseas for a few weeks with the military in the near future. He already has funds together so that when he finds out the needs of the locals over there, items needed can be immediately sent. I will e-mail you with details when he completes the project. He is someone that makes a positive difference wherever he goes!
Not that this is new news, or surprising but it does highlight the fact that it is a challenge and I am not sure there is an easy answer. Living a year on natural juice (adrenalin) is an awesome experience. I have talked about it many times in my blog and what a powerful drug adrenaline can be. I have also talked about how “boring” life is after first getting back from combat because of the lack of a thrill in every day, mundane life.
This is the reason soldiers come back and take on high-risk activities like extreme sports, motorcycles, and even drinking and driving. As of Aug 15th 43 soldiers have been killed in the Army on motorcycles alone. This is a huge jump over last year (37 in all of FY2007 and we still have 2 months left in this FY) and is a problem recognized by the Army, including the highest levels. SMA Preston has sent out several All-Army messages talking about motorcycle safety, etc.
As much as there is a rush of adrenaline that must be weaned out of the system, there is also physical and emotional pain, memories, and other thoughts that need to be dealt with or suppressed in some cases. It is these issues that are sometimes dealt with by consuming large amount of alcohol or even legal or illegal drugs.
Now all of this is an issue with any soldier coming back that has experienced ‘real’ combat first hand, but it is even worse among reserve component (Reserves and National Guard) soldiers. This article highlights something I have been saying in military circles since 2004, while most of my company was in Iraq. Having gone to war before while on Active Duty I recognized that there was really no mobilization (pronounces mobe) or de-mob time. No mob time is fine as Active Duty soldiers are training all the time since that is their full time job. No de-mob time outside of a mandatory 14 day block leave was fine too, because as soon as we got back from leave, we were all still around each other. We could talk about our experiences, the things we saw, the smells, the feelings, etc. We de-mobed within the unit and with each other. We recognized issues with certain guys and we either handled it ourselves or referred them to professional help if we thought they needed it.
While my company was in Iraq in 2004, I realized that they would not have that time. Originally the Army was calling for a 1-3 month demob time where the soldiers would stay on active duty, go through extensive medical and mental de-mobing and even do some training to ensure they were still at the level of soldiering needed to perform as a National Guard soldier. However not long after they left, we got word that because of the op-tempo of units the de-mob time would be cut down to one week, if that (another problem of the one year and go deployment doctrine). Of course after being gone for a year away from family and friends, that was fine with the guys. They were ready to get away from war and even the military for a few months. It was while they were gone that I started raising this issue with higher command, with the veteran counselors and even with the families themselves (during FRG meetings). It was clear to me that reserve component soldiers aren’t afforded the same “natural” de-mob time that active duty soldiers are afforded.
As soon as a National Guard soldier is released from Active Duty, they are without income. Because of the laws on the books protecting reserve component soldier’s jobs, they are not required to return to work for 90 days after being mobilized for 180 days or more. However, most cannot afford to take 90 days off without pay. So they usually take 2-3 weeks off and then they are back to the work place. Typically 4 weeks after walking out of a combat zone and being armed to the teeth where people are trying to kill them, they are back working in a cube, driving a UPS truck, selling clothes in the Gap, or whatever they did. They are back among civilians who have no idea what that person gone through and cannot even relate if they tried. They are back among a country that is so great and powerful, it has not really sacrificed at all while that soldier has sacrificed every friggen day for the last year. A county at the mall, while that soldier has been at war.
So the soldier is on his/her own, trying to cope, trying to deal with a severely drastic re-adjustment back into civilian life, trying to live every day like status quo. The soldier wants to get home, and they will take the fastest track to do that. This means saying they have no medical issues and they are fine, that emotionally and mentally they are fine and they can be handed back over to society. While this is great for the soldier and the people close to the soldier in the short term, it is not always good in the long term. The demons will start to come out of the shadows around the 30-45 day mark. The honeymoon will be over, reality will set in that they are not going back, that this is not R&R leave and that they must face life of a-hole drivers, oil changes, paying bills, and nagging significant others (wives, girlfriends or even parents).
This is why I know we have the problems highlighted in this article and other problems that are known in the military community, but not necessarily known by the civilian populous. I am not sure of the correct answer or way to fix this, and I am not sure anyone else is either. I think the right answer would be to get back on the path that the military initially promised of 90 days of continual active duty in order to help soldiers naturally de-compress amongst each other. However almost nobody, including me when I got back, would like that. We want to just go home and spend time at home, not going to formations, or reporting into the armory every day.
The New York National Guard has instituted 30, 60, 90 day reintegration program but from what I have seen of it, it is primarily focused on married soldiers. However I think there is some attempt to aim it towards soldiers with fiancés, girlfriends/boyfriends, and parents. I don’t think it has really been tested yet, and it has just recently been introduced so I think it will be a while before we can see any metrics or results on it. Who knows if it will help, but at least they are trying.
I’ve been fighting to get the truth out to the public about as long as I’ve been back from Iraq. I’ve tired greatly from the “Bush Lied, People Died” crap that seems to have taken a chokehold on the anti-war mantra! The problem is that Bush didn’t lie about anything and definitely didn’t kill Soldiers. Those Soldiers were killed by terrorists, insurgents, and the Iraqi Army under Saddam Hussein.
Randall Hoven has a great article on the American Thinker called Who Lied About Iraq? He dispels a lot of the myths that I’ve been combatting for a few years myself. It’s good to know that I’m in good company. So, in the spirit of Obama’s “Fight The Smears” website, I offer you Hoven’s words:
The False Story
“The United States invaded Iraq based on false premises. The administration orchestrated a public relations drive to prove that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and connections to the 9/11 terrorists – both proved false.” USA Today
While these two sentences came from USA Today, they describe the words behind the music of the “Bush lied, people died” meme echoing throughout the media chambers since at least 2004. The lies in just these two sentences are almost Shakespearian in their layered texture. The statement even lays out a false premise in accusing the Bush administration of using false premises. If lying is an art, our media have mastered it.
The Premise
Our invasion of Iraq was not based on a public relations drive; it was based on Public Law 107-243, otherwise known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, passed by the 107th Congress in October of 2002 . (Herein referred to as the “Authorization”.) It passed the House with a vote of 296 to 133 (by 69%) and the Senate with a vote of 77 to 23 (by 77%), including 58% of Senate Democrats. In short, it was overwhelming; it was bipartisan; and it was law.
Did the Authorization try to “prove that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction”? Was that proved false?
No and no.
Did the Authorization try to “prove that Iraq had connections to the 911 terrorists”? Was that proved false?
Again, no and no.
What are some of those “other things” that made Iraq in “materiel and unacceptable breach of its international obligations”?
* Iraq agreed to a cease-fire when it surrendered in Desert Storm in 1991. It was in “direct and flagrant violation of the cease-fire.”
* Iraq agreed to eliminate its WMD programs in 1991. It was later caught continuing those programs, concealing them and thwarting weapons inspectors to the point of kicking them out of the country.
* Iraq agreed to “end its support for international terrorism” in 1991. It continued to “aid and harbor” international terrorist organizations, including those “that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens.”
* Iraq “engaged in brutal repression of its civilian population.”
* Iraq refused “to release, repatriate, or account for non-Iraqi citizens wrongfully detained by Iraq, including an American serviceman.”
* Iraq failed “to return property wrongfully seized by Iraq from Kuwait.”
* Iraq attempted “to assassinate former President Bush.”
* Iraq fired “on many thousands of occasions on United States and Coalition Armed Forces engaged in enforcing the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”
* Iraq persisted in violating multiple United Nations resolutions. Congress authorized the President “to use United States Armed Forces pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 (1990) in order to achieve implementation of Security Council Resolution 660, 661, 662, 664, 665, 666, 667, 669, 674, and 677.”
If Saddam’s Iraq was not an “outlaw regime,” then there is no such thing.
I’ve only provided some excerpts here, so you’ll have to read his article to get the whole story. I guarantee you’ll be educated.
