Thank You, Internet!

Range 15 Final Update

For those of you following along, the independent movie being made by Ranger Up and Art 15 clothing has done extremely well in its fundraising cycle.  It easily made its initial goal, and with three days remaining has more than doubled it.  If they get to $700K, they promise to add CAS and rotary wing air support to the final product.


Spiritual Warfare and Other Support - Abigail Kay

Via the irrepressible Shelle at Military Ovation:
 
HELLO ITTY BITTY PRECIOUS BABY!!! With the permission of milfamily Nathan and Christina, we are proceeding with generating as much support for Abigail as possible. Christina says,
 
"On Tuesday, Nov. 5th our precious Abigail Kay arrived weighing 1lb.14oz. Abigail was delivered early due to restricted blood flow through the umbilical cord. She is beautiful, strong, and very feisty (like her dad). Abigail is already eating and off of the ventilator receiving only 23% oxygen. She squirms at the sound of her big brothers and peeks her eyes open only for her daddy. We have a very long journey ahead but we are ready and are taking it day by day. Your prayers, kind words, and thoughts are very much appreciated and we are very blessed that Abigail has an amazing support team."
 
We encourage everyone to pray for this family. If you would like to send them a special note, gift card or a gift for Abigail, we are hosting a virtual baby shower to help and support this family--- we hope you also can join us.
 
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Send your support to: Military Ovation/547 S. 7th Street #241/Bismarck, ND 58504 and we will deliver your awesomeness to them. (Checks can be made out to Nathan and Christina.)

Sez me: Thank you all for your help!  


Pritzker Library: Top Ten Favorite Recruiting Posters

Chicago's Pritzker Military Library is a unique non-profit organization that is committed to maintaining and improving the public's appreciation of the military -- past, present, and future. In honor of the Library's 10th anniversary, its special collections staff has selected 10 of their favorite military recruitment posters from its collection to share.

See them here: http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/10/28/pritzkers_favorite_recruiting_posters

More about the Pritzker Library:  In addition to more than 45,000 books on military history and several thousand artifacts, the library's collection houses more than 1,500 prints and posters from the late 17th century to the present. It includes posters from all over the world, in nine languages. The bulk of the collection consists of propaganda posters from World War I and World War II, including works from Howard Chandler Christy, James Montgomery Flagg, and Norman Rockwell. The subject matter of these posters ranges from military recruiting, fundraising, and conservation to charity, education, and protest.

Not among their 10, these are my favorites:

Airborne

SF-Join A Minority Group

Green Beret

Special Forces



 

 


An Original "Steps Outside"

One of the early milbloggers is calling it quits.  If you want to get a good feel for what it was all about, and read some of posts that show the best and how it should be done, go start from the beginning and read forward. It was a hell of a good run, and it was an honor, a laugh, a tear, and occasionally this wolf probably looked like the dog in the spoof about the old lady driving.  Thanks brother. 

LW


My War Gone By, I Miss It So....

Try as I might, I could not have written a better explanation of how many veterans and warriors feel, everyday.  No one in your family really ever asks you; many times because I believe they are afraid of the answer.

Just a couple of cuts from this awesome piece.

I've spent hours taking in the world through a rifle scope, watching life unfold. Women hanging laundry on a rooftop. Men haggling over a hindquarter of lamb in the market. Children walking to school. I've watched this and hoped that someday I would see that my presence had made their lives better, a redemption of sorts. But I also peered through the scope waiting for someone to do something wrong, so I could shoot him. When you pick up a weapon with the intent of killing, you step onto a very strange and serious playing field. Every morning someone wakes wanting to kill you. When you walk down the street, they are waiting, and you want to kill them, too. That's not bloodthirsty; that's just the trade you've learned. And as an American soldier, you have a very impressive toolbox. You can fire your rifle or lob a grenade, and if that's not enough, call in the tanks, or helicopters, or jets. The insurgents have their skill sets, too, turning mornings at the market into chaos, crowds into scattered flesh, Humvees into charred scrap. You're all part of the terrible magic show, both powerful and helpless....

For those who know, this is the open secret: War is exciting. Sometimes I was in awe of this, and sometimes I felt low and mean for loving it, but I loved it still. Even in its quiet moments, war is brighter, louder, brasher, more fun, more tragic, more wasteful. More. More of everything. And even then I knew I would someday miss it, this life so strange. Today the war has distilled to moments and feelings, and somewhere in these memories is the reason for the wistfulness.

Go here to read more and thank you Brian for writing this.


1% of the 53%

53%b

I have watched with great interest what's going on around the country with these protests- and I'm sorry to say, I cannot, in any way shape or form, agree with anything these mis-guided, mis-directed, and lost 'kids' stand for.

They certainly don't represent anything me or my family has ever endured.  They do not come from anything like my background- not that that means as much, but these people obviously thought that by acting smarter than anyone brought them rights and priveleges no one else deserved. 

With that, and with the sites such as this one who are sharing who the REAL people of America are, I want to start something along the same lines.

The 1%ers. 

According to multiple sources, only around 1% of the population of the US has ever served in uniform- overall.  The percentage that has served in current conflicts is even smaller.  So how can these fools on Wall Street, or Main Street, or anywhere they are protesting, even imagine to represent us?  It's just not even feasible to contemplate.

Join me- in showing who the 1% are- who have been silent thru all of this.

Be- a 1%er

 


URGENT! Don't be like those Occupy Wall Street hacks...

Right.  You actually WANT a job.  You want to serve your country in some manner.  You want a job that can give you great experience, satisfaction, and fantastic compensation potential.

In short, you should look at one of these jobs.

Some friends of mine are seeking the following types of people, and believe me, you really need to take a hard look at these positions.  And if you know someone who would be interested, please pass this along!  (Because if you DO, and the person you've referred is hired, they'll give you a new Apple iPad2!)

IO/ MISO/PSYO Planners Wanted! Available for Immediate Placement.

Join an A-Team of Info Operations. We are seeking SC Planners to work Afghanistan, in support of USFOR-A, to provide expert advice and assistance with regard to specific influence products, target audience, analysis and communication methods at the local, regional, and national level.  Our SC planners will facilitate IO integration for combined military and civilian-military campaign plans for Afghanistan.

Candidates should have experience in joint/multi-national operations, experience in Information Operations, PSYOP, Public Diplomacy, Commercial Marketing or Influence Modeling, that can facilitate USFOR-A staff integration and synchronization, information flow, and dissemination as it relates to cultural, economic, political, religious, social, newsworthy, and tribal issues in each supported entities AOR.  We are looking for professionals who have knowledge of, and experience with, strategic message development in a cultural context that supports the overall strategic communication planning process.  Regional experience is a must

Successful candidates should meet the following minimum qualifications:

• Be a U.S. citizen with a valid, active DoD security clearance of SECRET or TOP SECRET.

• Have a minimum of five (5) years experience working in Strategic Communication/IO/PSYOP with U.S. military.

• Possess excellent written, oral, and interpersonal skills.

• Have a Bachelors or Masters of Arts degree in a social science discipline: history, sociology, psychology, political science, etc.

The following are additional, value added skill sets:

• MEL 4 or equivalent (SAMS a plus)

• Battle Staff Course with 2S Identifier

• PSYOP/MISO Officers Qualification Course

• FA 30/Information Operations Qualification course

Compensation Commensurate with Experience includes paid CONUS travel and paid vacation time plus discretionary performance bonuses.

Salary: Negotiable, but commensurate with current rates in theater. Place of Duty:  Kabul, AFG.

Please email your resume, level of clearance, timeline you are available to deploy to: [email protected].

Be sure to tell 'em Wolf sent ya...