Target Centermass

Category: Military

  • Akbar’s Defense: Kuwait Attack Not Premeditated

    Think your job is tough? Try defending this scumbag.

    An Army sergeant charged with a grenade attack that killed two U.S. officers in Kuwait went on trial Monday, with his lawyer trying to stave off a possible death sentence by arguing that his client suffered from mental illness.

    But a military prosecutor said Sgt. Hasan Akbar knew exactly what he was doing, pointing to his detailed diary entries before the March 2003 attack and the fact that he stole the grenades and cut power to his camp just before striking.

    Well, those do seem to make a strong case for premeditation.

    Premeditation is the central issue in the court-martial of the 33-year-old Akbar, who confessed several times and allegedly told investigators he carried out the attack in the opening days of the Iraq war because he was worried that U.S. forces would harm fellow Muslims.

    With the fact of the attack not in dispute, his lawyers hope to spare him a possible death penalty for premeditated murder by alleging a history of mental illness that stretched back to his teen years and was apparent to the military.

    “The enemy was in Sgt. Akbar’s mind, and had been there 15 years,” defense lawyer Maj. Dan Brookhart told the military jury in his opening statement.

    Brookhart said Akbar’s mental illness stemmed from the sexual abuse of his sister by his stepfather, and as a teenager he was diagnosed with depression and an adjustment disorder. He also developed a sleep disorder and sometimes fell asleep while standing up. In the Army, his problems led to Akbar being demoted from a squad leader’s position and being given menial duties in his combat engineer company.

    Cry me a freakin’ river.

    “He was basically a failure as a soldier,” Brookhart said. He noted that as the 101st awaited orders to invade Iraq in the spring of 2003, Akbar was panicked by talk among his colleagues about their plans to kill Iraqis and rape women.

    Military prosecutor Capt. John Benson countered that evidence indicates Akbar did extensive planning. In diary entries and actions – which included stealing grenades and turning off a generator that lit the camp – Akbar laid the groundwork for his fatal attack.

    The brigade was on alert for an enemy attack, Benson said, but “their enemy was already inside the wire.”

    Fourteen soldiers were wounded, either by the grenades or when Akbar opened fire with a rifle in the ensuing chaos.

    One of the wounded, Capt. Mark Wisher, testified Monday about being blown through the air by the blast. He was wounded on the right side of his body and suffered a collapsed lung, lacerated liver and punctured diaphragm.

    “I heard something hit the wooden floor of our tent and then bounce. I’ve seen movies, Hollywood movies, and grenades sounded like that,” said Wisher.

    The court-martial marks the first time since the Vietnam War that a soldier has been prosecuted for the murder of another soldier during wartime.

    Barring dramatic new evidence, and I honestly don’t expect any, I say kill him. Unfortunately, in our “enlightened” age, I wouldn’t count too heavily on justice deserved being served.

  • What I’m Reading Tonight

    Hey, as a proud member of the Coalition of Unpaid Bloggers, I have long reserved the right to remember this is just a hobby.

    I’ve looked for stories to blog about and, while some have been interesting enough to read, none have gripped me enough to comment on them tonight. That said, I’ll leave you with the stories that came close.

    Sadr Loyalists Plan Campaign to Oust US

    Iraqi President Foresees US Troop Withdrawal Within 2 Years

    The Chinese-Japanese Cold War

    States Scramble to Defend Military Bases from Closing (this topic I expect to blog on as the process continues)

  • NATO Sees U.S. Military Changing Strategy

    This piece is particularly interesting for its inclusion of Africa into plans for restructuring overseas deployment of U.S. forces.

    U.S. forces stationed in Europe will increasingly shift their stance toward Africa and the former communist countries in eastern Europe as they move to counter terror threats in those areas, the top European commander said.

    […]

    “The difference between the EUCOM of the 20th century — which I regard as the Cold War century — and the EUCOM of the 21st century is the family of threats that it faces, ranging from terrorism to radical fundamentalism to narcoterrorism to illegal trafficking of all sorts,” [NATO supreme commander Marine Gen. James. L.] Jones said at EUCOM headquarters in Stuttgart.

    […]

    Many of the changes, like consolidating different Army headquarters under one roof in Wiesbaden, are simply a continuation of post-Cold War cutback that began in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    But deeper changes are on the way, as the U.S. looks less to large, fixed bases like those it has had for decades in Germany, to smaller, more bare-bones installations where troops could be moved quickly for training or to deal with a crisis.

    […]

    The large air bases at Ramstein and Spangdahlem, as well the nearby support community of Kaiserslautern, will remain hubs. The Army will concentrate on existing posts in Wiesbaden and Grafenwoehr. EUCOM headquarters will remain in Stuttgart, while both the Army and Air Force will remain in Aviano, Italy.

    But increasingly the focus is shifting toward Africa, seen as a potential haven for Islamic extremists who have been ousted from places like Afghanistan.

    Already five such agreements exist with countries in Africa, including the predominantly Muslim nations of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

    In Europe, the focus in increasingly turning to the new NATO members of the former Warsaw Pact. A special Eastern Europe Task Force would involve rotating troops on a regular basis for training exercises, including some with local militaries.

    Bases in Bulgaria and Romania, both of which hosted the U.S. military during the Iraq war, have been earmarked to host forces, but would differ from those in Germany in that they would offer only skeletal infrastructure and no families would accompany troops there on their tours of duty.

    Excellent. This shows that we are not just looking one or two steps down the road in the war against the Islamist terrorists. We are already game-planning and laying the groundworks to prepare for a possible theater shift many turns down the road. Just doing so may be sufficient to head off the threat before the proverbial pass.

    However, many dangers have always awaited in the Dark Continent.

  • Court Won’t Stop Guardsman’s Deployment

    It’s called a contract for a reason: you signed it and it is binding.

    For the second time in two days, a federal appeals court declined to halt an Oregon National Guardsman from being deployed to Afghanistan on Friday.

    Emiliano Santiago, 27, an electronics technician and a helicopter refueler now living in Pasco, Wash., is fighting his deployment because his 8-year service agreement expired last year. His lawyers told the court Santiago is the victim of a “backdoor draft.”

    On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Seattle, declined to halt his looming departure. On Thursday, the court declined to rehear the case with 11 judges.

    No U.S. federal appeals court has sided with similarly situated military personnel fighting their deployments.

    The courts have generally upheld the so-called “stop loss” law that authorizes President Bush to suspend service agreements of many armed forces personnel for national security reasons. Thousands of soldiers have been redeployed under stop loss orders.

    The last paragraph there is rather misleading. The president is not suspending service agreements with the stop-loss program. Rather, he is exercising an option in the contract signed by Santiago, an option that his service commitment may be extended beyond terms specified.

    While I have sympathy for Santiago personally, I hold no sympathy for his cause. Put the uniform back on, Emiliano, and report — your country has legally called you.

  • Tartan Day Link Dump

    Tartan Day

    Why April 6th?

    Gathering of the Blogs — Hosted by Ith at Absinthe & Cookies.

    Sport Kilt — kilts easy on the budget, limited selection but some clans available, as well as desert camo.

    Alexis Malcolm Kilts — kilts moderately priced, with a wide selection including tartans of all the branches of the U.S. military.

    Interactive Weaver — Design your own tartan.

    The Black Watch — the famed Scottish regiment that briefly served along side Americans in Baghdad.

    Save the Scottish Regiments — a campaign to, well, save the Scottish regiments.

    ElectricScotland.com — all things Scottish on the internet, be it history, geneology, clans or travel.

  • And The Army Goes Rolling Along

    Sure, I was a treadhead, but even I know the Army needs wheels. And wheeled vehicles, specifically the Humvees and Strykers, have certainly been in the news as a result of their participation in the Iraqi theater. Let’s check the latest, shall we?

    U.S. Commanders Seek More Armored Humvees

    For the fifth time in the past year, U.S. commanders running the war in Iraq have told the Army to send more armored Humvee utility vehicles to protect U.S. troops.

    Just as the Army was reaching its target of 8,279 factory-built armored Humvees for delivery to Iraq, U.S. Central Command last month raised the bar again, to 10,079, Army officials disclosed Tuesday.

    The Army has been accused by many in Congress of lagging behind in providing armor protection for troops, hundreds of whom have been killed or wounded in ambushes and roadside bombs in Iraq. The Army says it has pressed the vehicle manufacturer for as many as possible, and it has been chasing a moving target set initially at 1,407 by commanders in Iraq in August 2003.

    When the war began in March 2003, few might have imagined that the all-purpose Humvee, the modern version of the unarmored Jeep, would need to be reinforced in large numbers. But soon they became a prime target of the insurgents’ roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

    By April 2004 the requirement for factory-built armored Humvees had reached 4,454, and commanders in Iraq subsequently raised it to 6,223 in June, 8,105 in August and then to 8,279 in December.

    Those are in addition to thousands of regular Humvees to which makeshift armor and ballistic glass have been added to reinforce their doors and windows against the blast from roadside bombs and land mines. Armor also has been added to supply trucks and older troop carriers.

    The new armored Humvee target of 10,079 is not expected to be achieved before July, according to Army projections based on the factory’s recently increased production rate of 550 vehicles per month. It will take a few additional weeks beyond July to ship the extras to Iraq.

    Will that delivery be the end of the prolonged controversy? I seriously doubt it. Hell, it probably won’t even be the end of the numbers game.

    Army officials acknowledge that putting armor on Humvees is not a perfect solution. For one thing, it has added to the wear-and-tear on the heavier vehicles and increased fuel consumption, thereby requiring even more supply convoys that are a common target of insurgents.

    “No amount of effort in armoring will make our soldiers completely invulnerable, but we owe it to them to provide the best possible protection,” Army Secretary Francis Harvey wrote in a letter to the editor of USA Today on Monday.

    Wise words, remaining true through every evolution of warfare.

    Soldiers Hail New Stryker Troop Transport

    For soldiers inside the U.S. Army’s newest troop transport vehicle, the armored combat Stryker rides like a cross-town bus as it sways softly atop its rubber tires, its brakes hissing quietly — before the back shoots open and troops leap onto the streets of one of Iraq’s most dangerous cities.

    Some 300 Strykers are patrolling northern Iraq after their September 2003 introduction — vanguard of a multibillion dollar program that commanders say boosts their chances in a largely hit-and-run battle with insurgents.

    Rank-and-file soldiers hailed the Stryker during recent patrols in Mosul as faster, quieter and safer than other combat vehicles — despite last week’s internal Army study that found numerous design flaws.

    “We’ve been hit with (roadside bombs) and rocket-propelled grenades several times. We have taken direct machine-gun fire,” said Spc. George May of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division based in Fort Lewis, Wash. “The Stryker has saved everyone’s lives at least once. It’s perfect for what we’re doing, which is urban warfare.”

    Strykers are designed to carry troops on patrols and into combat — like Bradley fighting vehicles, or the Humvees that have came under criticism for lacking proper armor. But while the boxy Strykers somewhat resemble tanks, they generally lack heavy cannons and are propelled by wheels instead of tracks.

    […]

    Soldiers say the Stryker is quieter, allowing them to sneak up on the enemy. And they say its partially jerry-rigged armor guards them better than Humvees.

    Unlike the tank-like, tracked personnel carriers that predominate across the rest of Iraq — such as the Bradley — the four wheels on either side of the 19-ton Stryker give it speed, stealth and mobility that allows it to outmaneuver insurgents, officers say.

    “For what we’re doing, I think the Stryker is excellent,” said May, a 27-year-old native of Upper Dublin, Pa.

    The Strykers themselves have also not beem free of concern.

    Still, an Army report from the Center for Army Lessons Learned found the vehicle bogs down in mud and the engine strains under 5,000-pound armor added by the Army.

    The metal mesh armor, designed to deflect rocket-propelled grenades and large shrapnel from improvised bombs, has earned it a nickname: “the bird cage.”

    The report also said the armor’s extra weight has caused problems with the automatic tire pressure system, requiring crews to check the tires three times a day.

    “The Army should not put inadequately tested equipment in the field, as it creates a false impression that the troops are properly equipped to fight in combat,” said Eric Miller, who investigates defense issues for the oversight group.

    It is interesting to read of the future force the Army plans to field.

    The $7 billion Stryker program is intended as a stepping stone to the ultimate goal: a high-tech family of fighting systems known as the Future Combat System, expected to include unmanned ground and aerial vehicles.

  • A Quiz on Honor

    Compare and contrast the character of the following:

    A) Those who recently vandalized the Medal of Honor Memorial in Indianapolis (hat tip to jcrue at doubleplusgood infotainment)

    B) The Medal of Honor recipients remembered by that memorial, the only one in the nation paying tribute to all who have earned our military’s highest distinction.

    For extra credit, examine the cowardly nature of the vandals’ criminal act and how it differs from the courage shown by our nation’s latest Medal of Honor recipient, Sergeant First Class Paul Smith.

  • Wrapping up a Crappy Day

    Death

    The long, sorrowful struggle over Terri Schiavo’s life ended Thursday morning when she died in her hospice bed almost two weeks after the removal of her feeding tube, her parents and siblings absent, the husband they reviled at her side.

    Deaths

    A U.S. military transport plane crashed in central Albania while on a training mission Thursday, and nine American personnel aboard were believed to have been killed, Albanian officials said.

    Pushing Death

    A frail and pained Pope John Paulwas battling on Friday to overcome a fever and urinaryinfection after his health took a dramatic turn for the worse,sending waves of anxiety around the Roman Catholic world.

    A Vatican official said the condition of the 84-year-oldPontiff had stabilized during the night thanks to antibiotics,but medical sources said the next 24 hours would prove crucial.

    Italian media reported that John Paul received on Thursdayevening the sacrament for the sick and dying commonly known asthe Last Rites. It is given to the very seriously ill but doesnot necessarily mean death is imminent.

    And the one that hit me closest, my favorite comedian.

    Death

    Thanks again for the laughs, Mitch.

    Tomorrow should be a better day, with an expected milestone for Target Centermass and the season finale for SciFi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica (hint: expect cliffhangers). Goodness knows, the day couldn’t be much worse. At least I hope not.

    This is Gunner. Out.

  • Amputees Begin Returning to Battlefield

    I sit here, barely able to blog, overcome by awe.

    Cpl. Jemel Daniels was a gunner on patrol with his unit in Iskandere, Iraq, when his Humvee hit a makeshift bomb on the side of the road.

    “I shot out of the turret 30 feet into the air and fell into a ditch on the side of the road. My friends dragged me across the road. Just two of us actually got out and three passed away,” the corporal said.

    Daniels works out hard without appearing to give much thought now to his injuries — an amputated left leg, a battered arm and a shattered right foot now stabilized by painful steel pins running through it. None of his wounds have deterred his future plans.

    “I’m staying active duty,” he said.

    Go read the rest. Seriously. Between tales of perserverence such as this and sacrifice such as that of Sergeant First Class Paul Smith, I can only shake my head at the valor of our troops, both on and off the battlefield.

    Does the service bring out the best in a person, or is it that our best are drawn to the service? Perhaps a mixture of both, as honorable people see their fortitude strengthened by camaraderie and shared burden. Either way, we are truly blessed as a society to have such heroes among us.

  • Bush to Award First Medal of Honor for Iraq Service

    Sergeant First Class Paul Smith will become the first recipient of our military’s highest award next Monday when President Bush presents the Medal of Honor to SFC Smith’s family.

    The first Medal of Honor awarded for service in Iraq will be presented next Monday in a ceremony at the White House, White House spokesman Scott McClellan announced Tuesday.

    For the family of Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, the honor, the nation’s highest military award, brings conflicting feelings: pride that he’ll be remembered among America’s bravest soldiers, grief that he died two years ago in Iraq.

    “At least my mind is at rest because with the Medal of Honor, Paul’s name will go on in history,” his wife, Birgit Smith, said Tuesday from her home in Holiday, Fla. “His name will never die. This is very important to me.”

    President Bush will present the medal to Smith’s 11-year-old son, David, during the White House ceremony, Birgit Smith said.

    There’ll be a second ceremony next Tuesday morning at the Pentagon. Then in the afternoon, the family will attend another ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, where Smith’s headstone will be unveiled.

    Smith was nominated for the Medal of Honor by commanders of the 3rd Infantry Division after his death on April 4, 2003.

    Smith, 33, died behind the trigger of a .50-caliber machine gun as he fought off an Iraqi attack near Baghdad’s international airport. He’s credited with saving more than 100 American lives and killing at least 50 Iraqis.

    I missed the news when the award was announced in February, but Blackfive had the story, pointing towards this account.

    What Paul Smith did on April 4, 2003, was climb aboard an armored vehicle and, manning a heavy machine gun, take it upon himself to cover the withdrawal of his men from a suddenly vulnerable position. Smith was fatally wounded by Iraqi fire, the only American to die in the engagement.

    “I’m in bittersweet tears,” said Smith’s mother, Janice Pvirre. “The medal isn’t going to bring him back. … It makes me sad that all these other soldiers have died. They are all heroes.”

    With the medal, Smith joins a most hallowed society.

    Since the Civil War, just 3,439 men (and one woman) have received the Medal of Honor. It recognizes only the most extreme examples of bravery – those “above and beyond the call of duty.”

    That oft-heard phrase has a specific meaning: The medal cannot be given to those who act under orders, no matter how heroic their actions. Indeed, according to Library of Congress defense expert David F. Burrelli, it must be “the type of deed which, if he had not done it, would not subject him to any justified criticism.”

    From World War II on, most of the men who received the medal died in the action that led to their nomination. There are but 129 living recipients.

    Smith is the first soldier from the Iraq war to receive the medal, which had not previously been awarded since 1993. In that year, two Army Special Forces sergeants were killed in Somalia in an action described in the bestselling book Black Hawk Down.

    The officer who called Birgit Smith on Tuesday nominated her husband for the medal.

    Lt. Col. Thomas Smith (no relation) sent in his recommendation in May 2003, beginning a process that involved reviews at 12 levels of the military chain of command before reaching the White House. On Tuesday, Lt. Col. Smith expressed satisfaction that the wait was over, and great admiration for his former subordinate.

    In the Army, he said, you hear about men who won the Medal of Honor. “You think they are myths when you read about them. It’s almost movielike. You just don’t think you’d ever meet someone like that.”

    […]

    Lt. Col. Smith commanded the 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, during the American attack on Iraq, which began March 20, 2003. On the morning of April 4, the engineers found themselves manning a roadblock not far from Baghdad International Airport.

    A call went out for a place to put some Iraqi prisoners.

    Sgt. Smith volunteered to create a holding pen inside a walled courtyard. Soon, Iraqi soldiers, numbering perhaps 100, opened fire on Smith’s position. Smith was accompanied by 16 men.

    Smith called for a Bradley, a tank-like vehicle with a rapid fire cannon. It arrived and opened up on the Iraqis. The enemy could not advance so long as the Bradley was in position. But then, in a move that baffled and angered Smith’s men, the Bradley left.

    Smith’s men, some of whom were wounded, were suddenly vulnerable.

    Smith could have justifiably ordered his men to withdraw. Lt. Col. Smith believes Sgt. Smith rejected that option, thinking that abandoning the courtyard would jeopardize about 100 GIs outside – including medics at an aid station.

    Sgt. Smith manned a 50-caliber machine gun atop an abandoned armored personnel carrier and fought off the Iraqis, going through several boxes of ammunition fed to him by 21-year-old Pvt. Michael Seaman. As the battle wound down, Smith was hit in the head. He died before he could be evacuated from the scene. He was 33.

    Thank you, Sergeant First Class Paul Smith.