I was walking through a parking lot today and saw what looked like a kid's drawing reading "Navy SEALs America's Team" on a bumper. Now as part owner of the Packers, I have never liked hearing the CowPokes called that, so I had a positive feeling and headed over to take a look.
I snapped a pic and we were headed into the store when a young man came over and asked if we wanted a couple of stickers. That was our introduction to Naval Special Warfare kids, a group dedicated to helping the children of our operators. I don't need to tell anyone hear about the ridiculously high op tempo for the teams, or the fact that the families move so often that home is more a word than a reality. That takes a toll on everyone and often the ones least ready or able to deal with it are the kids.
NSW kids helps them get tutors for school and counseling and other services to help them handle the life they didn't choose, but were born into. Started by a wife and family who lived this challenge, they are trying to make sure the weight of service doesn't fall too hard on the youngest. What a great idea and one that is truly needed. So let's help them with some donations.
Here is a video talking about what they do and why. Good luck to 'em. We need the families strong, so the pipe hitters can continue stacking dead tangos like cord wood.
Roseanne Barr re-disses the military & disgraces herself
Posted By Uncle Jimbo
McQ pointed out what a respectful view Roseanne Barr has of the military in the previous piece. She tells a Navy wife that she is on the dole, living off tax$$$ forever. I don't think I have to point out to you folks what a disgraceful, tacky and low thing that was to say. But apparently I do have to point that out to the waste of protoplasm that is Roseanne. McQ suggested that a quick note might be in order, so I sent out a salutation.
@Uncle_Jimbo dear military: YOU'RE WELCOME-I PAY YOUR SALARY-i pay 48% in tax-
Perhaps true, but kinda beside the point. The issue is whether the military deserves the pay that comes from taxing grotesquely absurd, non-talented assclowns like Roseanne. I parried with some vintage Obama.
@Uncle_Jimbo ur servants, NOT GODS. get it straight
I don't recall anyone insisting on God-hood, but some true colors flying with the reminder that the volunteer warriors who keep us all safe and free are simply servants. I yanked the giant chain she offered.
I have plenty of respect 4 Americans, even no-talent losers like u RT @TheRealRoseanne: @Uncle_Jimbo get some respect for americans.
I gotta admit I lied though, I don't have an ounce of respect for the foul, disgusting, corpulent pustule on the arse of mankind that is Roseanne Barr. It is just tough to make subtle, erudite debating points like that in a retweet.
So go ahead and f**k off now to avoid the rush Ms. Barr. You are not funny, not smart, not respectful & not worth even the time I just spent allowing you to demonstrate what a dung beetle you are. Uh-buh-bye.
Rosanne Barr–why are “celebrities” so steeped in ignorance so seemingly proud of it?
Posted By McQ
For the most part, I’m simply not a “hater”. I try not to allow certain types of people to get into my head.
But there are certainly people I dislike for various reasons. For instance in my house we don’t say the “F” word. That would be Fon** as in Jane Fon**.
In this day and age, we have a whole new crop of know-nothing celebrities who seem to revel in their ignorance and are happy to display it to everyone on a fairly routine basis. Take Rosanne Barr (please!) for instance. In a Twitter exchange with a Naval officer’s wife, she managed to quickly remove all doubt that she’s familiar with the concept of military service or what it means (or, more likely, is simply showing a side of her anti-military self) and even manages to make the point that she’s unfamiliar with the meaning of the words she uses. Her misplaced condescension is classic. It is the wife of the Naval officer who is entitled to be condescending with Barr, given Barr’s comment:
That’s right all you military types out there, you live off the dole. You’re simply welfare recipients which the government dresses up like trees (or sand or pixels) and deploys to areas where apparently other welfare recipients take pot shots at you and try to kill you.
Wow, I’ve heard of welfare to work programs, but surely this isn’t what they mean is it?
So what do you do when one runs across gross ignorance from someone who thinks they’re both intelligent and well spoken? OK, I said they “think” they are, I didn’t say a thing about that being true.
The point, of course, is you can’t let them get inside your head. They’re simply not worth it. However you can give them precisely the LOL their level of intellectual incompetence deserves. I mean, Barr’s claim is so laughable and so ignorant that you have to wonder why I’m even wasting my time on the crotch-grabbing, national anthem butchering embarrassment.
Well it was a slow day and I thought you might enjoy saying hi to her on Twitter, you know, just to pass the time of day, tell her how much you enjoyed her tweet about the dole and invite her to your next unit reunion. Because I think she deserves such invitations so she can see what people she claims are on the dole look like. In fact, maybe we ought to invite her to ICU at Brooke Army Hospital or Bethesda. I’m sure those welfare recipients would just be beside themselves with joy if she’d show up.
And then, perhaps those welfare recipients who wear the Medal of Honor might want to ask her to stop by their next little gathering so they too can actually see a real, live celebrity and revel in the glory of her fame.
You know, one of the mysteries of life is how a low-life oxygen thief like Rosanne Barr ever became “famous”. Or is it “infamous”?
Whatever.
Make sure you thank her for her service, will you?
1777: The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman whom Gen. George Washington will soon take under his wing, is commissioned “major general” in the Continental Army.
1945: The U.S. government warns Japan that eight cities will be destroyed if they refuse to surrender. Days later, atomic bombs fall on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the Japanese surrender before further cities are leveled.
1964: The U.S. Navy’s all-nuclear Task Force One - USS Enterprise (CVAN 65), USS Long Beach (CGN 9), and USS Bainbridge (DLGN 25) - pass through the Straights of Gibraltar, beginning their 30,565-mile cruise around the world. Including port calls, the fleet crosses the globe – unrefueled – in 65 days.
Adapted (and abridged) in part from “This Week in US Military History” by W. Thomas Smith Jr. at Human Events.
MEDEVAC volunteers - some military people you should know
Posted By Blackfive
Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility volunteers and personnel prepare to move a patient at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, July 23, 2012. The CASF is the relay between the CJTH and aeromedical evacuation missions.U.S. Air Force Photo by Capt. Raymond Geoffroy
Soldiers Angels Germany linked to this great story about our own military men and women in Afghanistan volunteering their off-duty hours to help our wounded:
Critical care for heroes Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility provides "stable care" function to battlefield care process
By U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Shawn David McCowan
112 0 0 102
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Robert DeSantis (left), 455th Expeditionary Medical Operation Squadron medical technician at the Craig Joint Theater Hospital, and U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Artemio Mangrobang (right), a Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility volunteer from the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, prepare to move a patient onto a hospital bus at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, July 23, 2012. The CASF is the relay between the CJTH and aeromedical evacuation missions. U.S. Air Force Photo by Capt. Raymond Geoffroy
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - The state-of-the-art Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Airfield is widely recognized as the premier medical facility in Afghanistan. CJTH treats about 4,000 patients each month - as many as 130 war-related injuries each day - yet more than 95 percent of their patients survive. The hospital has the most current equipment, expert staff, and pioneering specialty units. While media from around the world have spotlighted the hospital staff's accomplishments, innovations, and even unconditional care to locals and enemy combatants, no military hospital running 24/7 operations in a combat zone cannot operate as successfully as the CJTH with standard hospital staffing.
That is where the "CASF" comes in. The Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility provides a critical "stable care" function in the hospital's battlefield care process. Patients who arrive stabilized from the battlefield are transferred to this facility within the hospital while awaiting a flight to a medical center outside of Afghanistan. There, staff and volunteers work to keep wounded warriors as comfortable as possible until their flight. When it's time to move patients to or from aeromedical airlift, the CASF team calls on a group of unsung heroes - volunteers from units all over Bagram Airfield - who give much of their late night off-duty time to make a difference in their own way. The number of patients being moved varies greatly, but it always requires tight coordination. Amazingly, the transfer process takes only about ten minutes.
Airman 1st Class Robert DeSantis of Clearwater Fla., is a medical technician who works at the facility in a job called "Bulldog." He manages all of the patient transfers both into the CASF when they arrive, and out to an aircraft when they leave. He recognizes the value of those volunteers possibly more than anyone at the hospital...
More and a video about the CASF operation after the Jump.
A North Korean soldier watches as U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter tours the Military Armistice Commission building in Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea, July 26, 2012. With his stop in South Korea, Carter concluded a 10-day Asia-Pacific trip during which he also met with partners in Hawaii, Guam, Japan, Thailand and India. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley
Well I guess technically Valerie Jarrett works for Obama, but he sure seems to jump (or freeze) when she says as McQ notes in the previous story. This is not the first time I have heard very credible evidence that Obama was outsourcing decision-making on this to his political tools. The 24 hour delay due to "weather" that Miniter references in the new book was actually due to O's need for a poll to find out if he would be blamed for failing to call the mission a go, or if it went badly.
The truly sad thing is that this is the one accomplishment he thinks makes him worthy of another four years of destruction. Time to join Jimmah Cahtah building houses for all the poor you helped create Barry.
According to Richard Miniter in his book, “Leading From Behind”, the mission that eventually lead to the death of Osama bin Laden was the 4th mission attempt, the other three having been cancelled by President Obama at the urging of Valarie Jarrett:
At the urging of Valerie Jarrett, President Barack Obama canceled the operation to kill Osama bin Laden on three separate occasions before finally approving the May 2, 2011 Navy SEAL mission, according to an explosive new book scheduled for release August 21. The Daily Caller has seen a portion of the chapter in which the stunning revelation appears.
So far this all rests on an “unnamed source with Joint Special Operations Command who had direct knowledge of the operation and its planning.”
Sorry, despite the fact that I’m not at all a fan of this President, I’m also not much for anonymous single sources. However, this would certainly further damage the already widely panned “ "gutsiest calls of any president in recent history" claim even more. And, who knows, if true, there may very well have been legitimate reasons for the cancellations. The inclusion of Valarie Jarrett in the decision cycle, however, would lead me to believe otherwise.
Obama administration officials said after the raid that the president had delayed giving the order to kill the arch-terrorist the day before the operation was carried out, in what turned out to be his fourth moment of indecision.
At the time, the White House blamed the delay on unfavorable weather conditions near bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. However, when Miniter obtained that day’s weather reports from the U.S. Air Force Combat Meteorological Center, he said, they showed ideal conditions for the SEALs to carry out their orders.
So, there’s that to figure in the mix.
Funny, if true, and given all the stuff that was leaked about the raid to burnish the President’s rep, we haven’t heard anything about the possibility that it was cancelled three times prior to the successful raid or that, in fact, the weather wasn’t really a factor in the delay on the successful raid.
1780: A force of 600 militiamen, led by Col. Isaac Shelby, captures Thickety Fort (South Carolina) from British Loyalists without firing a shot.
1864: In a special-operation that proves disastrous for the initiators, Union Army troops under the command of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside detonate a mine, blowing a huge hole (or crater) in the Confederate defenses at Petersburg, Virginia. Several units of Union soldiers charge in after the explosion, but each unit is beaten back with heavy losses by Confederates under Brig. Gen. William Mahone.
1909: Days after a successful demonstration flight, the Army Signal Corps takes delivery of the “world’s first military airplane,” the Wright military flyer of 1909.
1919: The USS New Orleans (CL 22) lands a Marine detachment in Tyutuke Bay, Siberia, in support of a White Russian attack on Bolshevik forces.
1941: The river gunboat USS Tutuila (PR 4) becomes the first U.S. warship attacked during World War II when Japanese aircraft mistakenly bomb the vessel in Chunking, China.
1945: Days after completing its top-secret mission of delivering components of the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima to Tinian Island, the USS Indianapolis is hit by a Japanese torpedo. The cruiser sinks in the shark-infested waters within 12 minutes, and only 317 of the original 1,196 crewmembers survive. The Indianapolis is the last U.S. ship sunk during World War II and is the greatest loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.
1967: Fire erupts on the flight deck of the USS Forrestal when a electrical glitch launches a rocket into another plane’s fuel tank, resulting in a conflagration and series of explosions that would kill 134 sailors and destroy 21 aircraft.
Just as bad things need to be called out and corrected, as is the duty of all under the social compact, so to does good need to be recoginzed and rewarded. For without that, there can be no comparison, no challenge, and no change for the better.
I think anyone who spent time at Walter Reed, especially as a patient, would agree that the doctors, nurses, and basic care were top rate. Where there were problems, they tended to be on the administrative end, from failing to correct substandard facilities to making life (and paperwork) unnecessarily hard on the troops. It was a failing, and while acknowleged as a problem, little seemed to be done to correct the problems.
Well, Jonn over at This Ain't Hell just spent a week at the new Walter Reed, and now calls it the happiest place on Earth. Go read his report, and lets give praise where it is due. His report is good news, and shows that change can happen, and for the better.
"Grab it before the Pentagon orders it burned..." - Vanity Fair
"...nonpartisan patriotism is the common thread tying together these reflections, love letters and stories of combat. They make for riveting reading." - The Washington Post
Winner of the 2006 Gold Medal for Anthologies - Military Writer's Society of America
"This collection is an excellent introduction to an emerging form of war reporting." - Booklist
"...there is much to tell, and celebrate, in the tough, day-to-day work that our soldiers are doing in one of the most challenging environments any army has ever faced..." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
"...the collection is riveting...a worthy tribute." - The American Prospect
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Former Paratrooper and Army Officer, "Blackfive" started this blog upon learning of the valorous sacrifice of a friend that was not reported by the journalist whose life he saved. Email: blackfive AT gmail DOT com
Retired Special Operations Master Sergeant, Jim Hanson ("Uncle Jimbo") is now focused on writing about the military, politics, intelligence operations and foreign policy. Email: jimbo AT unclejimbo DOT com
Writer, photographer, and raconteur C. Blake Powers is the Laughing Wolf. He is independent in politics and covers topics including journalism, military, weapons, preparedness, space, science, cooking, food and wine, product and book reviews, and even spirituality. Email: wolf1 AT laughingwolf DOT net Laughing Wolf's Amazon Wish List
Grim -- an Old Norse name that means 'one who wears a mask' -- blogs on issues of intelligence, information operations, and foreign relations. Email: grimbeornr AT yahoo DOT com
Instapinch
Bill Paisley, otherwise known as Pinch, is a 22 year (ongoing) active and
reserve naval aviator. He blogs over at www.instapinch.com on a veritable
cornucopia of various and sundry items and will bring a tactical naval
aviator's perspective to Blackfive. Readers be warned: any comments of or
about the F-14 Tomcat will be reverential and spoken in low, hushed tones.
Email: wpaisley AT comcast DOT net
Mr. Wolf has over 26 years in the Army, Army NG, and USAR. He’s Airborne with 5 years as an NCO, before becoming an officer. Mr. Wolf has had 4 company commands. Signal Corp is his basic branch, and Public Affairs is his functional area. He recently served 22 straight months in Kuwait and Iraq, in Intel, PA, and senior staff of MNF-I. Mr. Wolf is now an IT executive. He is currently working on a book on media and the Iraq war. Functional gearhead.
In Iraq, he received the moniker of Mr. Wolf after the Harvey Kietel character in Pulp Fiction, when "challenges" arose, they called on Mr. Wolf...
Email: TheDOTMrDOTWolfAT gmail DOT com
Deebow is a Staff Sergeant and a Military Police Squad Leader in the Army National Guard. In a previous life, he served in the US Navy. He has over 19 years of experience in both the Maritime and Land Warfare; including deployments to Southwest Asia, Thailand, the South Pacific, South America and Egypt. He has served as a Military Police Team Leader and Protective Services Team Leader and he has served on assignments with the US State Department, US Air Force Security Police, US Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He recently spent time in Afghanistan working with, training and fighting alongside Afghan Soldiers and is now focused on putting his 4 year Political Science degree to work by writing about foreign policy, military security policy and politics.
McQ has 28 years active and reserve service. Retired. Infantry officer. Airborne and Ranger. Consider my 3 years with the 82nd as the most fun I ever had with my clothes on. Interests include military issues and policy and veteran's affairs.
Email: mcq51 -at - bellsouth -dot- net
Chris Carter is a former USAF firefighter and now civilian firefighter who covers military history, national security, and baseball. Find out more at his website.
Twitter: @CrushingChris EMAIL: crushnik AT yahoo DOT com
Tantor is a former USAF navigator/weapon system officer (WSO) in F-4E Phantoms who served in the US, Asia, and Europe. He is now a curmudgeonly computer geek in Washington, DC, picking the taxpayers pocket. His avocations are current events, aviation, history, and conservative politics.
Twenty-three years of Active and Reserve service in the US Army in SF (18B), Infantry and SOF Signal jobs with operational deployments to Bosnia and Africa. Since retiring he's worked as Senior Defense Analyst on SOF and Irregular Warfare projects and currently ensconced in the emerging world of Cyberspace.
Major Pain --
A Marine who began his blog in Iraq and reflects back on what he learned there and in Afghanistan. To the point opinions, ideas and thoughts on military, political and the media from One Marine’s View. Email: onemarinesview AT yahoo DOT com
Uber Pig was an Infantryman from late 1991 until early 1996, serving with Second Ranger Battalion, I Corps, and then 25th Infantry Division. At the time, the Army discriminated against enlisted soldiers who wanted use the "Green to Gold" program to become officers, so he left to attend Stanford University. There, he became expert in detecting, avoiding, and surviving L-shaped ambushes, before dropping out to be as entrepreneurial as he could be. He is now the founder of a software startup serving the insurance and construction industries, and splits time between Lake Tahoe, Boonville, and San Francisco, CA.
Uber Pig writes for Blackfive a) because he's the proud brother of an enlisted Civil Affairs Reservist who currently serves in Iraq, b) because he looks unkindly on people who make it harder for the military in general, and for his brother in particular, to succeed at their missions and come home in victory, and c) because the Blackfive readers and commenters help keep him sane.
COB6 spent 24 years in the active duty Army that included 5 combat tours with service in the 1st Ranger Battalion and 1st Special Forces Group . COB6 was enlisted (E-7) and took the OCS route to a commission. COB6 retired a few years back as a field grade Infantry officer.
Currently COB6 has a son in the 82nd Airborne that just returned from his third tour and has a newly commissioned daughter in the 4th Infantry Division.
Uncle Jimbo @Uncle_Jimbo 
Roseanne Barr @TheRealRoseanne 
