Mil-links

Posted By McQ • [July 23, 2012]

Stuff from the inter-tubes you might find interesting:

Actor Ernest Borgnine recently passed away.  He was most famous for his role in the TV sitcom “McHale’s Navy”, but he was also a 10 year Navy vet and and veteran of WWII.  He was buried with full military honors at his request:

"Ernie, as you may know, loved and adored the Navy, and the sea, and all of you," said Tova Traesnaes Borgnine, the late actor's wife. "I know Ernie's looking down on us right now and blessing all of you and all of your fellows across the world for all you do for our country, for our people, and especially for us today."

After serving in the Navy for ten years, Borgnine left the service at the end of World War II as a Petty Officer 1st Class. Ten years later, he won an academy award for his performance as the lead in "Marty."

He went on to star as the title character in the hit '60s sitcom "McHale's Navy." In 2004, then-Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry D. Scott awarded Borgnine with an honorary advancement to chief petty officer.

"When Ernie was promoted to honorary chief ... there was never, of all the honors - even Ernie's academy award - never anything that meant as much to him," said retired U.S. Navy Capt. Kathi Dugan, one of Borgnine's closest friends. "He had tears in his eyes."

They were just a different generation.  Rest in peace, Ernie and thank you for your service to our country.

Jonn at TAH points to an article in Stars and Stripes that points out that Iran’s “sticky bombs” are beginning to show up in Afghanistan:

“All the proof and evidence is that these come from a neighboring country,” Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of the Interior.

The recent attacks happened in quick succession:

- On July 13, Hanifa Safi, Laghman province’s head of women’s affairs, was killed and 11 other people were injured by a magnetic bomb attached to her car in Laghman’s capital.

- Three days later the same type of bomb blew up a district governor’s car in Kunduz, killing a bodyguard and wounding eight others.

- On Wednesday, 22 NATO supply trucks were blown up in quiet Samangan province by suspected sticky bombs.
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- Also Wednesday, police in neighboring Baghlan province caught suspected insurgents trying to attach magnetic bombs to yet more supply trucks.

As Jonn notes:

Of course, that’s because this war against terror has always been Iran’s proxy war and they should have been serviced along with Iraq. The Iranian government declared war on the US in 1979, we’ve just been too naive to recognize that fact through six presidencies.

I couldn’t agree more.  While Saddam was a bad guy, the real sponsor of terrorism in the region is Iran and is, one day, going to have to be dealt with.

If you’re interested in the new Air/Sea doctrine and wondering how it will be implemented, a new paper entitled “The F-35 and the Future of Power Projection” has been published by Joint Forced Quarterly that gives you a read on a large piece of the “Air” part.  It tells how the F-35 is more of a revolutionary than evolutionary aircraft and requires we rethink how we employ our fighters in the future.   Its sort of long, but worth the read.  If you haven’t the time here’s a fair summary.

By the way, as I wondered in my post about Iran and the closing of the Straits of Hormuz, do those defense experts who claim we don’t need any more advanced weaponry read the news?   Iran is an obvious hot spot and then there’s China:

China's powerful Central Military Commission has approved the formal establishment of a military garrison for the disputed SouthChina Sea state media said on Sunday, in a move which could further boost tensions in already fractious region.

China has a substantial military presence in the South China Sea and the move is essentially a further assertion of its sovereignty claims after it last month upped the administrative status of the seas to the level of a city, which it calls Sansha.

The official Xinhua news agency said the Sansha garrison would be responsible for "national defense mobilisation ... guarding the city and supporting local emergency rescue and disaster relief" and "carrying out military missions".

Just a little nugget from which you can draw your own conclusions.  Mine?  China’s feeling froggy and doesn’t see anyone out there that can or will stop them.  A tester for a larger operation?  Who knows – obviously conjecture at this point.  But to pretend China is a docile regional power seems naiveté of the highest degree.  Don’t forget this is the country that considers its oceans to be “blue soil”.

Finally, it may be a vote buying scheme, but it is still much needed:

President Barack Obama plans to announce the first major overhaul Monday in more than 20 years of the military's much-derided program to help veterans make the transition from the military to work or school.

The changes, to be announced in a broad speech about national security and foreign affairs at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nev., aim to transform what has been a cookie-cutter program with inconsistent results into one that lasts longer, is more personalized and better tethered to the civilian world new veterans will encounter, senior administration officials said Sunday.

One improvement: an 187-page Power Point presentation on entering the private sector that service members have to view has been slimmed down to 49 slides.

For new veterans, the problem of transition into the workforce is acute. Veterans who have served since September 2001 had an unemployment rate of 9.5% in June, compared with the overall national rate of 8.2%. And for veterans aged 18 to 24, the rate in June was 23.3%.

Had to laugh at the slimming down of the Power Point presentation.  But it may be indicative of the “improvements”.  With this administration, you have to concentrate on what they actually do, not what they say they’re going to do.  And yes, Obama is upside down in veteran votes according to the polls.  My guess is this will all take place after the election, which may mean it doesn’t take place at all, even if he wins.

But we all are sure to agree, for the most part, veteran transition programs within the military are pretty much a farce.  And they are not much better on the outside.  Improvement is something that we should hold their feet to the fire over – regardless of who wins in November.

~McQ

Twitter: @McQandO

---

Comments

Mil-links

Stuff from the inter-tubes you might find interesting:

Actor Ernest Borgnine recently passed away.  He was most famous for his role in the TV sitcom “McHale’s Navy”, but he was also a 10 year Navy vet and and veteran of WWII.  He was buried with full military honors at his request:

"Ernie, as you may know, loved and adored the Navy, and the sea, and all of you," said Tova Traesnaes Borgnine, the late actor's wife. "I know Ernie's looking down on us right now and blessing all of you and all of your fellows across the world for all you do for our country, for our people, and especially for us today."

After serving in the Navy for ten years, Borgnine left the service at the end of World War II as a Petty Officer 1st Class. Ten years later, he won an academy award for his performance as the lead in "Marty."

He went on to star as the title character in the hit '60s sitcom "McHale's Navy." In 2004, then-Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry D. Scott awarded Borgnine with an honorary advancement to chief petty officer.

"When Ernie was promoted to honorary chief ... there was never, of all the honors - even Ernie's academy award - never anything that meant as much to him," said retired U.S. Navy Capt. Kathi Dugan, one of Borgnine's closest friends. "He had tears in his eyes."

They were just a different generation.  Rest in peace, Ernie and thank you for your service to our country.

Jonn at TAH points to an article in Stars and Stripes that points out that Iran’s “sticky bombs” are beginning to show up in Afghanistan:

“All the proof and evidence is that these come from a neighboring country,” Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of the Interior.

The recent attacks happened in quick succession:

- On July 13, Hanifa Safi, Laghman province’s head of women’s affairs, was killed and 11 other people were injured by a magnetic bomb attached to her car in Laghman’s capital.

- Three days later the same type of bomb blew up a district governor’s car in Kunduz, killing a bodyguard and wounding eight others.

- On Wednesday, 22 NATO supply trucks were blown up in quiet Samangan province by suspected sticky bombs.
Advertisement

- Also Wednesday, police in neighboring Baghlan province caught suspected insurgents trying to attach magnetic bombs to yet more supply trucks.

As Jonn notes:

Of course, that’s because this war against terror has always been Iran’s proxy war and they should have been serviced along with Iraq. The Iranian government declared war on the US in 1979, we’ve just been too naive to recognize that fact through six presidencies.

I couldn’t agree more.  While Saddam was a bad guy, the real sponsor of terrorism in the region is Iran and is, one day, going to have to be dealt with.

If you’re interested in the new Air/Sea doctrine and wondering how it will be implemented, a new paper entitled “The F-35 and the Future of Power Projection” has been published by Joint Forced Quarterly that gives you a read on a large piece of the “Air” part.  It tells how the F-35 is more of a revolutionary than evolutionary aircraft and requires we rethink how we employ our fighters in the future.   Its sort of long, but worth the read.  If you haven’t the time here’s a fair summary.

By the way, as I wondered in my post about Iran and the closing of the Straits of Hormuz, do those defense experts who claim we don’t need any more advanced weaponry read the news?   Iran is an obvious hot spot and then there’s China:

China's powerful Central Military Commission has approved the formal establishment of a military garrison for the disputed SouthChina Sea state media said on Sunday, in a move which could further boost tensions in already fractious region.

China has a substantial military presence in the South China Sea and the move is essentially a further assertion of its sovereignty claims after it last month upped the administrative status of the seas to the level of a city, which it calls Sansha.

The official Xinhua news agency said the Sansha garrison would be responsible for "national defense mobilisation ... guarding the city and supporting local emergency rescue and disaster relief" and "carrying out military missions".

Just a little nugget from which you can draw your own conclusions.  Mine?  China’s feeling froggy and doesn’t see anyone out there that can or will stop them.  A tester for a larger operation?  Who knows – obviously conjecture at this point.  But to pretend China is a docile regional power seems naiveté of the highest degree.  Don’t forget this is the country that considers its oceans to be “blue soil”.

Finally, it may be a vote buying scheme, but it is still much needed:

President Barack Obama plans to announce the first major overhaul Monday in more than 20 years of the military's much-derided program to help veterans make the transition from the military to work or school.

The changes, to be announced in a broad speech about national security and foreign affairs at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nev., aim to transform what has been a cookie-cutter program with inconsistent results into one that lasts longer, is more personalized and better tethered to the civilian world new veterans will encounter, senior administration officials said Sunday.

One improvement: an 187-page Power Point presentation on entering the private sector that service members have to view has been slimmed down to 49 slides.

For new veterans, the problem of transition into the workforce is acute. Veterans who have served since September 2001 had an unemployment rate of 9.5% in June, compared with the overall national rate of 8.2%. And for veterans aged 18 to 24, the rate in June was 23.3%.

Had to laugh at the slimming down of the Power Point presentation.  But it may be indicative of the “improvements”.  With this administration, you have to concentrate on what they actually do, not what they say they’re going to do.  And yes, Obama is upside down in veteran votes according to the polls.  My guess is this will all take place after the election, which may mean it doesn’t take place at all, even if he wins.

But we all are sure to agree, for the most part, veteran transition programs within the military are pretty much a farce.  And they are not much better on the outside.  Improvement is something that we should hold their feet to the fire over – regardless of who wins in November.

~McQ

Twitter: @McQandO

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