Target Centermass

Category: Military

  • Project Valour-IT Drive Update

    Yeah, the inter-service rivalry is meant as a motivation. But c’mon, folks, we’re talking about getting voice-assisted laptops for wounded troopers who could use them to keep in touch with loved ones and hold onto their grasp of the world. Do you really need motivation to give?

    Well, if so, here’s a little bit of the reality faced by those whom you could help, courtesy the Gun Line (hat tip to the Gunn Nutt):

    Take a look at your hands… Go ahead, take a look…

    You can do some amazing things with this construct of four fingers and a thumb:

    You can:

    1. Pick your nose.
    2. Scratch an itch.
    3. Communicate (on L.A. highways it can be done with one digit.)
    4. Scritch the cat, dog, ferret, ect. behind the ears…
    5. Pat your loved one on the derriere.
    6. Caress your loved one’s… (well, you get the picture…)
    7. Shoot a pistol.
    8. Throw your kid a baseball (your accuracy varies…)
    9. Write a letter.

    Let’s write a letter, shall we?

    First you have to clear off a place at the dining room table or your desk. Then you have to figure out where the kids hid all of the pens. Then you have to find a sheet of paper that hasn’t been scribbled on. Then you have to kick the cat off of the chair. Then you have to get up and find your address book. Then you have to kick the cat off of the chair (again.) Then you take pen in hand, shoo away the cat who has migrated from the floor to the tabletop and wants to help check your spelling.

    And then you can actually start writing.

    Takes – what?- about ten minutes…

    Now let’s write a letter after being hit with an IED…

    Go read the rest. And then give. Please. You can give at Blackfive, who is heading up the efforts of the Army branch.

    You can give here at Target Centermass, also supporting the Army branch:


    You can also visit a centralized listing of the blogs involved by branch, and the opportunity to see the latest donation totals and to give your share to any branch you wish. It may be a rivalry, but it’s all for the same team in the end.

    As of this writing, over $14,000 has been raised between the four branches in a little over a day. Hooah! But there’s still a ways to go — the drive will continue until Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11.

  • A Little Inter-service Rivalry

    For a very good cause.

    Army. Navy. Air Force. Marines. What a great place, it’s a great place to give.

    Blackfive has the story of a charity drive for Project Valour-IT, a very worth effort by the Soldiers’ Angels organization.

    Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military medical centers. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the ‘Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field without having to press a key or move a mouse.

    Good enough cause, right? Well, just to add a little competition to the fundraising, this drive is being handled seperately by the different branches, with Blackfive leading the Army team. Check out the cause, then cruise over and help out, if not for the Army team then for any of the other branches. Blackfive has links to the others.

    I’m going to give. Will you?



  • Cool MilBlog Site

    And getting cooler every day.

    Two weeks ago, the Gunn Nutt introduced me to a new site, MilBlogging.com. From their About page is the following:

    Milblogging.com’s mission is to help visitors to quickly and easily find milblogs from all over the world.

    Milblogging.com is the ultimate starting point for online milblogging. The world’s largest index of military blogs – searchable by a variety of attributes – providing an unprecedented depth of information necessary to find your favorite milblog. Any visitor can find the right milblog that interests them generally in fewer than five clicks. Registered users can submit military blogs. Registration is free!

    I was intrigued enough to see if some of the MilBlogs I frequent were there. Oh sure, the biggies were already listed, but a good number of the ones I read regularly were still missing, including … ahem … Target Centermass. I meant to register and start submitting. No, really, I meant to. Obviously, it was something that could wait a day. Or two. Or …

    Well, today I was scanning back over the weekend at the martini dude, and he pointed me back to MilBlogging.com. I checked it out again and it is most assuredly growing fast. Oh yeah, TCm was added on Oct. 26. Thanks to whoever was so kind as to swing that.

    Okay, MilBlogging.com just made the sidebar. Now, they really need to come up with some buttons.

  • U.S., Japan Upgrade Defense Alliance

    The United States has taken a step forward in integrating its Asia-Pacific defenses with key ally Japan.

    US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has declared the US-Japan security pact a “global alliance” following agreement on an unprecedented level of operational co-operation between American and Japanese forces.

    While the headline item for Japan from the weekend agreement is the removal of 7000 US marines from Okinawa, its fundamental thrust is a rapid integration of the military commands and their operational capabilities.

    The document also foreshadows a strengthening of tentative security links between Japan and Australia, the key southern partner in the Americans’ Asia-Pacific alliance network.

    It calls for US and Japanese forces to regularly exercise with third countries and to strengthen co-operation with them “to improve the international security environment”.

    Required exercises with third parties could lead to interesting politics. Obvious number-threes like regional allies Australia and South Korea would certainly be understandable, as would be a naval inclusion of the Brits. Some other matchups may raise more eyebrows and political storms, both regionally, globally and internally to Japan.

    “This relationship which was once only about the defence of Japan and stability of the region has come to a global alliance,” Dr Rice said in Washington yesterday after she and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed an interim “force posture realignment” agreement with their Japanese counterparts.

    “This relationship which was once only about the defence of Japan and stability of the region has come to a global alliance,” Dr Rice said in Washington yesterday after she and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed an interim “force posture realignment” agreement with their Japanese counterparts.

    “We’re now talking about joint activities in various areas between Japan and the US in order to improve the peace security around the world,” said Japan Defence Agency director-general Yoshinori Ono.

    Mr Ono said the alliance “opened a new era” but was careful to insist Japan’s expanded role would not contravene the country’s pacifist constitution.

    All well and good, until possible global realities add pressure to include nations in future exercises that may have serious ramifications on the Japanese homefront and abroad. Exercises with the U.S., Japan and India would be intriguing for the possible future of the war against radical Islam, but also may really be addressing an issue in direct conflict with Japanese legal constraints. Likewise, the hot potato of exercises with Taiwan would definitely give light to a political powderkeg. Despite that, this Taiwan matchup is a rather likely scenario that must be prepared for and gamed in detail.

    However, matters covered by the new US-Japan agreement, including joint missile defence arrangements, push constitutional boundaries, particularly the official interpretation that the war-renouncing Article 9 forbids Japan from engaging in “collective self-defence” with its allies.

    While the ruling Liberal Democratic Party proposes amending Article 9 in its new constitutional draft, the suddenly urgent pace of US-Japan alliance “transformation” is racing ahead of the constitutional debate.

    It is late 2005. Japan’s constitutional constraints are the results of the nation’s aggressiveness over sixty years past. It is time for a revision — it is time for a great nation and regional and global power to unshackle itself, say it can act responsibly on the global stage, and become the contributor that it should be.

    How confident is the U.S. in Japan’s future? Well, it seems they are willing to become even more technologically intertwined with the nation for a shared cause.

    The Americans will deploy the powerful X-Band anti-missile radar system and share its information with Japan, which will further bind together Japan’s planned ballistic missile defence system and the US Pacific BMD network.

    Common causes. Common potential enemies. This is a good step forward, with a lot of potential for thorns and blessings.

  • A Focused Look at Utah Guard Re-enlistment

    While this is an interesting examination at life today’s National Guard and retention issues, I encourage the reader to continue to the very end. There is an absolute gem of a quote there by 1LT Bishop, a firefighter in the real world. Here’s a hint: I generally approve of reasonings that take into account “candy-asses” and the world in which we live. Hooah, sir!

  • House Easily Votes to Allow Base Closings

    I personally find today’s base closure vote to be very good news.

    The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to allow the first round of U.S. military base closures and consolidations in a decade, clearing the way for facilities across the country to start shutting their doors as early as next month.

    In a 324-85 vote, the House refused to veto the final report of the 2005 base-closing commission, meaning the report seems all but certain to become law in mid-November. Targeted facilities then would have six years to close their doors and shift forces as required under the report.

    Both the House and Senate must pass resolutions rejecting the report to stop the Pentagon’s sweeping restructuring of its far-flung domestic base network. But, as expected, the House effort by Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., failed. And there’s no similar attempt under way in the Senate.

    Opposition to closing bases dropped steadily in both chambers as the nine-member commission changed parts of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s original recommendations and issues like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita commanded Congress’ attention.

    The panel sent President Bush its final report in September. He signed off on it and sent it to Congress on Sept. 15. That began a 45-legislative day period for Congress to reject the report.

    I entirely understand the need for legal constraints upon the nation’s military, and that it is best for the republic that our armed forces be answerable to and be held accountable by our civilian political leadership. However, I find it disgusting that this so often leads to local or petty politics coming into play in the administration of our military, all too commonly in a manner that is contrary to what is actually best for the military and our nation’s defenses. This story contains a fine example.

    Congressional critics and many local officials fear the impact of base closures on their area economies – and on their political futures. They argue that the United States should not restructure military bases while the U.S. military is engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    LaHood, whose district includes a base in Springfield, Ill., that is to lose 15 National Guard fighter jets, urged his colleagues to vote to reject the report “in support of those that are citizen soldiers who come from those communities.”

    Closing bases during wartime, he said, “is the wrong message to send.”

    This round of base closures, better described as a DoD restructuring, does not call for a reduction in strength or capability. Instead, it is intended to move us further from a Cold War footing and to reduce unneeded expenditures. Troop levels and lethality are not being cut whatso-freakin’-ever. Does the congressman actually believe that our radical Islamist enemies will take one ounce of encouragement from the removal of 15 jets from Springfield, Land o’ Lincoln version?!!

    Luckily, this kind of tripe was not allowed to stand.

    But Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who supports closing bases, said: “these issues have been thoroughly discussed and debated.”

    The Pentagon, the White House and GOP congressional leaders – and even many Democrats – contend that eliminating extra space will free up money that could be used instead to improve the United States’ fighting capabilities, and help reposition U.S. forces to face current and future threats.

    In a statement, the Bush administration said that halting the round of base closings now “would harm U.S. national security interests by preventing improvements designed to address the new demands of war against extremists and other 21st century needs.”

    Overall, the report calls for closing 22 major military bases and reconfiguring an additional 33. Hundreds of smaller facilities from coast to coast also will close, shrink or grow, under a plan that the commission says will mean annual savings of $4.2 billion.

    Since the post-Cold War “peace dividend,” an idea perhaps too eagerly latched onto and prematurely dismissive of other growing global threats, became a rallying cry in the early ’90s, politics have weighed far too heavily in the base-closure process. The Pentagon did not get its way entirely this round, but it looks like this may be the closest we’ve come to actual defense benefit carrying the day.

  • War Leaves Guard Short on Critical Equipment

    The National Guard has been forced to go hat in hand before Congress as overseas deployments have taken a hit on equipment stocks.

    The Army National Guard has lost so much critical equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan that its ability to respond to a national emergency could be severely hampered, says a government report released Thursday.

    Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told the House Government Reform Committee that the Guard needs $1.3 billion to replace or upgrade radios, helicopters, tactical vehicles, heavy engineering equipment, chemical detection gear and night-vision goggles, which are essential to responding to national emergencies such as the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes and terrorist attacks.

    Blum’s testimony, along with that of other top National Guard and military officials and the governors of Idaho and Pennsylvania, coincided with the release of a new Government Accountability Office report, which says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left many Army National Guard units dangerously short of critical equipment. The shortages threaten the National Guard’s ability to prepare its forces for future missions at home and overseas, the auditors found.

    “The bottom line is that our inventory is now at 34 percent” of what it should be, Blum said.

    The article cites three key reasons for the equipment shortcomings, which may have an impact on the Guard’s ability to fulfill stateside emergency responsibilites.

    • The largest reliance upon Guard forces since World War II
    • Stocking of Guard equipment at 70 percent of actual allocation under the assumption that, if activated and deployed overseas, “they would have time to obtain the rest before deployment”
    • Unprecedented demands for key items by current deployment stresses

    On the bright side, there are signals of relief coming from Capitol Hill.

    Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., said he and Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., are working to ensure that the National Guard gets the $1.3 billion it needs in the next supplemental spending bill.

    “Quite simply, we are robbing the nondeployed Peter to pay the deployed Paul,” he said. “I understand the need to prioritize, but this shouldn’t have to be a zero-sum game.”

    That is good to hear. Whatever one’s views on the current overseas military efforts, the idea that those operations should be allowed to affect the Guard’s stateside responsibilities is, in my view, indefensible.

  • Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

    Nah, but here’s 250 Iraqi dinars, guaranteed by Saddam Hussein himself.

    I’ve blogged before of my old Guard buddy and college friend Bill, both preparing for Iraq and while in the Sandbox. Recently, I mentioned he had mailed me some Saddam-adorned cash. At the request of elgato, seconded by the Gunn Nutt, I’ve scanned in the largest bill, both front and back. Click on the images for bigger versions.

    Front:
    Big Bucks
    Back:
    No Whammies

  • MilBlogs: Something Bookish This Way Comes

    Matt at Blackfive, one of the very best MilBloggers out there, has a huge announcement — a planned publishing of a military blogging anthology.

    Simon & Schuster has agreed to publish a collection from military bloggers sometime in late 2006. I submitted the proposal and will be the editor and one of the many authors.

    We will bring together the best of the military blogs, the purest distillation of the myriad voices of this war. These bloggers provide a powerful insight into the military, the War on Terror, and the heart of our nation. By bringing these voices together, we offer the first real-time, “oral” history of a war while it still going on. We will provide stories from many of the military blogs that cover the full range of the experience of this war – from the decision to serve in the military to their return home, from the front lines to the home front, and from the med-evac units and hospitals where the price of freedom is paid in blood and suffering to the friends that made the ultimate sacrifice.

    In his announcement, Matt requests reader input on possible material. Also in the post is a description of MilBlogging enticing enough to be worthy of the book’s cover jacket.

    In the past, the experiences of war have produced poetry and novels and memoirs. The War on Terror is different: we’re seeing through a new set of eyes, a new kind of literature. In real time, on the Internet, officers and enlisted men and women are chronicling the war on weblogs.

    […]

    Imagine if the men and women fighting World War II could have somehow told their stories daily for all to hear…imagine if Audie Murphy or George Patton could have broadcast their experiences of a battle the day after it occurred – while the experience was still fresh in their minds and without time taking the edges off of their memories.

    That’s what military bloggers are doing today – offering unfettered access to the War on Terror in their own words – each one speaking to anyone, everyone who has access to the Web. For the first time, the public does not have to wait months or years to hear what happened from the individual soldier’s point of view. They don’t have to settle for the government’s approved messages. These bloggers are soldiers who return to their bases and type their daily experiences onto the Internet for anyone to read. Never before has this happened, has the information come so fast, so real and so unfiltered. This is the power of a blog.

    Normally, knowing all too well the grumbling, griping nature soldiers seemingly instinctively put on along with the uniform, I would be hesitant about such instant access to a world-wide audience for everyday troops. Surprisingly though, with few media exceptions, the blogs of the troops have been the only voices showing the actual action of this war and demonstrating the generally positive morale of those fighting it. The media has brought us the casualty figures, but the MilBloggers have brought us the stories of the war.

    Hat tips to Outside the Beltway, the Mudville Gazette and the Gunn Nutt for repeatedly pointing me to this story today.

  • England Convicted, Awaiting Sentence

    As if the overly-publicisized photos weren’t enough, there’s finally a guilty verdict to the case of the Abu Ghraib scandal’s poster girl.

    Army Pfc. Lynndie England, whose smiling poses in photos of detainee abuse at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison made her the face of the scandal, was convicted Monday by a military jury on six of seven counts.

    England, 22, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of committing an indecent act. She was acquitted on a second conspiracy count.

    The jury of five male Army officers took about two hours to reach its verdict. Her case now moves to the sentencing phase, which will be heard by the same jury beginning Tuesday.

    England tried to plead guilty in May to the same counts she faced this month in exchange for an undisclosed sentencing cap, but a judge threw out the plea deal. She now faces a maximum 10 years in prison.

    I’m glad the smitten-moron defense didn’t carry the day. Now, I hope for the maximum penalty for a woman who did everything she certainly knew was wrong. Granted, she had no clue what the impact on global affairs would be, but she certainly knew the UCMJ and her lawful orders.