Mock, Paper, Scissors

The worst part may be that they gave the survey in the first place.

Mandatory U.S. Army Survey Says: Non-Believers Unfit To Serve

….

Now, getting back to the Army’s “Soldier Fitness Tracker” survey …

After taking the survey, and finding out that, as a non-believer, the Army considers him unfit to serve, Sgt. Griffith sent out an email to all the organizations and individuals involved in Rock Beyond Belief, and people sprang into action. MRFF has a prominent law firm on it, and several of the bloggers among the recipients of the email immediately posted about this jaw droppingly outrageous “religious test.”

One of these blog posts, written by Al Stefanelli, has now gone viral. Al’s post, which begins, “Did you know that the United States Army is concerned with the spiritual well-being of their soldiers? Did you know that if you choose not to believe in the supernatural that the United States Army can consider you unfit to serve?,” can be found here, and a follow-up post here.

….

—TexBetsy

By not letting anyone actually ever come home, of course!  This is appalling!  (My bold.)

Gates announces temporary increase in U.S. Army

* U.S. Army to grow by up to 22,000 soldiers for 3 years

* Increase intended to ease strain of two wars

* Initial $1.1 billion cost won’t require new funding (Adds cost estimate and fresh quote in paragraphs 6 and 7)

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday announced a temporary increase in the size of the U.S. Army that would boost the force by up to 22,000 troops for three years.

He told reporters at a news briefing that the increase, intended to cope with strains from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, would raise the total strength of the Army to 569,000 soldiers.

“The Army faces a period where its ability to deploy combat units at acceptable fill rates is at risk,” Gates told reporters. “This is a temporary challenge which will peak in the coming year and abate over the course of the next three years.”

The increase is smaller than a plan backed by Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which would have added about 30,000 troops to active duty.

The expansion was recommended by the Army’s civilian and uniformed leadership and strongly backed by President Barack Obama, Gates said.

The Pentagon plans to absorb an initial expansion cost of $1.1 billion through fiscal year 2010, which begins Oct. 1, without additional funding from Congress. But Gates suggested more funds could be necessary in fiscal years 2011 and 2012.

“These additional forces will be used to ensure that our deploying units are properly manned and not to create new combat formations,” he said.

Gates authorized a permanent increase in U.S. Army strength soon after he became defense secretary in 2006, believing the largest branch of the U.S. military did not have enough forces to support heightened operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That increase, which was recently completed, boosted the Army’s size by 65,000 soldiers to 547,000. It also added 27,000 Marines to the U.S. Marine Corps.

But they’re not calling it stop-loss.  It’s “dwell time”.

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I know the Marines need more recruits, but they need to look elsewhere.  I am not sure where exactly this young man fell on the autism spectrum, but the marines need to take a careful look at their recruiting practices.

Marines Under Investigation After Autistic Man Allowed to Enlist

Pvt. Joshua Fry, Recruited From Group Home, Is In Camp Pendleton Custody on Child Porn, Military Charges

By SARAH NETTER

Joshua Fry’s career as a Marine never should have been.

Now his recruiter and other military personnel who pushed the autistic 20-year-old through boot camp could face criminal charges.

The Marines are investigating a series of events that led an autistic man from California to not only enlist, but make it through boot camp and into combat training.

(ABC News Photo Illustration)

Fry, who has a history of being abused and neglected and has a criminal record, is sitting in a cell at Camp Pendleton on disciplinary charges as the military investigates why a Marine recruiter picked Fry up from a California group home for the mentally disabled and drove him to a recruitment center to sign him up.

“An investigation into the circumstances of Private Fry’s accession in the Corps, could lead to subsequent administrative or criminal proceedings against those directly involved, if warranted, ” a high-ranking Marine based at the Pentagon told ABCNews.com.

The Marine, who is familiar with the Fry case, requested not to be identified, but said the Marines are prepared to hold accountable anyone who may have acted improperly during Fry’s time with the military.

“The American people rightfully expect a lot of their Marine Corps,” he said. “If there is a perception that something is afoul, we will aggressively root out the truth.”

Experts say the case of Joshua Fry, who will face court marial on July 20 on charges of possessing child pornography and unauthorized absences, highlights a disconcerting trend of the military accepting candidates that never would have been considered a few years earlier as the forces struggle to supply the manpower for the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It’s hard work being a recruiter anyway,” said Beth Asch, a senior economist at Rand Corporation, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based non-profit think tank. “And when you’re not a successful one, it’s an issue.”

via ABC news

Most of my trip to the beach was fun, and I loved getting back into the sand and the ocean. But there was a disturbing site at breakfast the first day — even more disturbing even than the manners of 15 yr old boys. The young man at the next table had a crew cut and one of the most disturbing t-shirts I’ve seen in a long time. I’ve reproduced the wording above but couldn’t find a website selling the actual shirt.

Here’s my question and it’s an old one: How do we as a society retrain returning soldiers and marines to think of the people of Afghanistan, Iraq or any war zone as PEOPLE again instead of motherfuckers, terrorists, or any of the derogatory and dehumanizing terms they have been indoctrinated into believing of them?

Let me know when you come up with an answer and maybe we can keep the next generation after them from going to war.

Let’s please take a moment today to remember those who’ve died in service to our nation. May those who’ve died be remembered as a blessing.  May none others join them unnecessarily and may we care fully for the wounded of body and soul.  May we end our current conflicts with no further loss of life on any sides, and may we avoid future conflicts in favor of peaceful coexistence.

Is the military in an uproar over being compared to assassins? Who in Congress has spoken out against this? Who in the administration? Who at CBS? NYT editorial board? Who among the retired generals who parade on TV?

This WTF Moment Brought to You by CBS Sports

from Group News Blog by The Littlest Gator

This is a quote from a magazine interview in April with CBS Sports golf analyst David Feherty;

[I]f you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there’s a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death.

This guy is out of control. What and unbelievably obnoxious and irresponsible thing to say in print. Inciting to violence, slandering men and women in the military. He’s the unbalanced one, not our troops. VetVoice has the story and response here.

This guy needs to be fired, and I encourage you to tell CBS so. You can also contact some of the CBS advertisers and tell them how you feel. You can see who advertises with them by clicking through the ad gallery here.

also John Aravosis’s perspective:

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KBR breaks through the basement and heads straight towards hell.

ZP Heller: KBR Sued for Giving Soldiers Ice with ‘Traces of Body Fluids and Putrefied Remains’

from Huff Po by ZP Heller

The scandals for KBR just keep coming. The former Halliburton subsidiary responsible for the sexual assault of Jamie Leigh Jones and the accidental electrocution of a U.S. soldier is now the subject of a class-action lawsuit for exposing employees to “unsafe water, food, and hazardous fumes” at the largest U.S. installation in Iraq.

According to the Army Times, Joshua Eller, a former technician with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, said that while he was stationed at Balad Air Force Base in 2006, he experienced skin lesions that spread and became worse, along with debilitating blisters on his feet, vomiting, cramping, diarrhea, and severe abdominal pain.

OMG! They can’t even provide water without poisoning our troops!

As former KBR Water Purification Specialist Ben Carter described in this clip from Iraq for Sale and in his Congressional testimony, KBR failed to provide adequate water safety in Iraq, resulting in toxic drinking and bathing water. This war profiteer also failed to manage a medical incinerator properly, instead disposing medical waste and human remains in an open air burn pit. Eller claims that at one point, he saw a wild dog running around the base with a human arm in its mouth that KBR had dumped into the pit. And the grizzly kicker: the suit accuses KBR of using mortuary trucks that “still had traces of body fluids and putrefied remains in them when they were loaded with ice” later served to U.S. troops.

It’s high time we hold KBR and Halliburton accountable. Hopefully, President-elect Obama and Congress will support Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s bill to phase out private military contractors altogether over the next five years. Until then, I fear these scandals stemming from KBR‘s blatant disregard for the welfare of our soldiers in Iraq will continue.

And how much is Cheney still raking in from these people??

(Sorry that this is old news, but I don’t think we’ve talked about yet, and the story’s just under a week old. But why hasn’t it been front page news everywhere all week? —Betsy)

Damn I hate the Bushies. If you’re poor or your kids are sick, just stay in the army. Marriage by webcam. That’s great family values!

Direct link to video.

What is the National Guard? What’s their purpose? Who’s in charge of the Alaska National Guard? According to the wiki …

The Alaska Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army’s available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.

The Alaska Army National Guard is composed of approximately 1850 soldiers and maintains 77 armories and other facilities, including Fort Greely (as of 2006).

Alaska Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same ranks and insignia are used and National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards. The Alaska Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in or to the state of Alaska.

[snip]

infantry battalion was deployed to the middle east in 2006. Additional deployments are scheduled for 2007. The Alaska Army National Guard’s aviation units have seen a series of company sized rotations to Iraq, unfortunately including the loss of a helicopter and crew in January 2006.

These deployments seem small in comparison to the units that other states have deployed. However given the small size of Alaska’s population and National Guard they represent a very large percentage of the Alaska Army National Guard. When young men are deployed there is a particular impact on smaller “Alaska Bush” villages that have a subsistence lifestyle.

According to Global Security,

The governor commands AKNG while it is not in active federal service. The principal executive officer of DMVA, the adjutant general, is an appointee of the governor. The Army National Guard component and the Air National Guard components are each commanded by an assistant adjutant general appointed by the adjutant general with the concurrence of the governor.

What does Mc$hame think?

MCCAIN CONFUSES NATIONAL GUARD AND U.S. ARMY…. Maybe John McCain’s staff just isn’t prepping him very well, or maybe McCain is blowing off those who are trying to help him stay on track. Either way, the hits just keep on coming.

“McCain said this near the end of the clip below, as he’s talking up Palin’s foreign policy/national security credentials:

‘I also know, if I might remind you, that she is commander of the Alaska National Guard. In fact, you may know that on Sept. 11 a large contingent of the Alaska Guard deployed to Iraq and her son happened to be one of them. So I think she understands our national security challenges….’

“The ceremony Palin attended at Fort Wainwright last week didn’t involve the Alaska National Guard. Palin’s son is in the Army, and his unit — 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division — deployed to Iraq.”

It’s just one of those sloppy examples of McCain’s near-constant confusion that contributes to the larger problem.

But the underlying point of this mix-up is that McCain is still struggling to convince people that Sarah Palin is a credible voice on foreign policy and national security issues. His arguments thus far have been a) Alaska is near Russia; b) Palin is the ostensible head of the Air National Guard; and c) Palin’s son is a soldier.

Of course, the first is absurd to the point of being insulting; the second overlooks the fact that Palin has no national security responsibilities with the Guard and has never had to make a command decision in her brief gubernatorial tenure; and the third does not constitute knowledge or background on national security issues.

At this point, McCain just ought to stop trying. The whole pitch isn’t going well.