The subject photograph depicts some Scout Snipers from Recon posing with an objectionable flag in the background. The font used is unfortunate, and the fact that all of these Marines claim to not have known what it represents is indeed sad. In their eyes, SS stands for Scout Sniper. The logo, however, means something entirely different to those that are moderately informed about world history.
Our Commandant took one for the team and addressed this issue head on, but it's a sorry state of affairs when we're in a situation that requires him to do this (Article Here).
Some have said that our military should take greater steps to educate our personnel about such issues. I have to ask the stupid question: What the hell is going on in our (now politically correct) schools? Is it so out of fashion to teach the truth that our young adults don't know about Nazi Germany, or what they did during WWII?
I worry that one day, we will have to stop using terms such as, "warrior," "war fighter," "kill," "destroy," and the list goes on. We're in a hard business, and we require hard men (and women) to do this business. As much as we want to make warfare more pleasant, it never will be. Will our concern over who we offend affect our readiness?
I'm certainly not defending the use of the subject flag, but I do question the need for such a high level investigation, and the shaping of operations based on feelings.
In the mean time, a hearty salute goes out to our CMC for handling this in a professional manner. The uproar, hopefully, will subside and we can re-focus on the threats ahead.
As our military faces deep, possibly crippling cuts, those that have spent the better part of their adult lives serving our nation are, once again, being targeted.
SecDef Leon Panetta outlined his plan for saving dollars and many are concerned that it will adversely affect our defense capabilities and readiness. He centered on the fact that draw-downs would keep our forces above pre-9/11 levels, but not by much.
In addition, "the Pentagon recommended an increase in health care fees, co-pays and deductibles for retired military members." Really? I'm sure that a few stuffed suits will argue that this is smart business because it won't have any effect on readiness. I disagree, and here's why: Retirement benefits are incentives that directly affect long term retention of quality personnel. If retention suffers, readiness will suffer. Get it?
It's not rocket science, but this sort of thing sure seems to be beyond the grasp of those holding the purse strings.
Article here
I came across an article that informed me of Wikipedia's intent to "blackout" for a day in protest of some pending asinine legislation that many search engines and online providers of various media are in opposition to. To this announcement I say, "Well then, I guess lazy students and bloggers everywhere will have to use real references and sources for a day!" (article here) Perhaps I'm missing out on the significance of this event, but I think the sun will still rise tomorrow without this glorified social media site being up and running. Well, there could be some entertainment value to this; we'll see...
UPDATE: It seems that our elected tormentors have had a brief moment of clarity and have abandoned (for now) their efforts to pass idiotic and freedom-stomping SOPA legislation (article here). I do, however, doubt that Wikipedia is the source of this rare dose of common sense. There are far better ways to get the word out than by adopting an "I'll show you! I'll take my ball and go home!" approach. Other, more realistically managed websites simply encouraged patrons to contact their legislators. THAT is what got the attention of our slimy politicians. Hollyweird's tantrums bore no fruit...this time.
I watched the video that allegedly shows Marines urinating on dead Taliban bodies. My initial reaction was, "You guys are idiots; I can't believe you filmed that crap." What those Marines did was wrong, but the words "mountain" and "mole hill" come to mind right now. The incident is being investigated, and those responsible will be punished accordingly.
The emotion-based condemnation of these Marines is off the mark. Representative Allen West weighed in and I agree with him on a couple of points (article here). He initially states in his letter that what the Marines did was wrong; I agree with that. He also points out that there is a double standard in the media (and D.C.) by asking where all of the outrage was when American bodies were mutilated by our enemies; I agree with him on that, but I don't believe that the blatant media bias in any way lessens what has been done.
What do I think should be done about the incident? First off, let me say that the actions of these Marines is not in keeping with the high standards that we set for members of our Corps. Beyond that, I say let their command handle the situation with appropriate punishment and let's get our eye back on the ball.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! It's a beautiful fall day here in North Carolina, and I'll be frying a big ole bird soon.
My family and I have just relocated from Okinawa, Japan, to Eastern North Carolina. We spent some time on leave in California in order to visit family, followed by a circuitous drive across the nation. I've made some interesting observations during our transition. I used to think that people in America were very rude compared to the people of Okinawa; that belief was effectively dashed upon driving through and settling back into The South.
Folks on the coast of California met my expectations: Rude, impatient, and linguistically challenged (family and friends didn't seem to fall into this category). As we worked our way eastward, we met more folks that made me ashamed of the fact that I'm from California.
When we got to The South, we were reminded of why we liked it here so much in the past; the people are really that much nicer. If you look at someone on the sidewalk, they say hello. If you slow down and ask someone for directions, they help you out, and might even give you directions to their competition's place of business. The folks in the restaurants don't care that you sound different; they go out of their way to help you and make your meal pleasant. Many of the things I've seen here would be met with anger or violence on the Left Coast. It made me thankful that my parents raised me the way that they did (Neither of them are from California).
I have to say that our moving to North Carolina has reinforced my belief that California is a terrible place to live. Even with a huge hurricane on the way, this place is just so pleasant that it sneaks up on you. Coming from the jungles of Okinawa, the bugs here aren't even that bad.
I typed this out when we first got here, and it holds true today.
Here's a few shots of the damage from the typhoon...Luckily, we escaped any damage to our home. We watched a few patio covers get torn away and, as you can see above, there's a few trees uprooted and broken.
Here's a picture of the super typhoon that is heading our way. The island of Okinawa is circled in red. This storm comes at a perfect time, as we are in the process of moving out of our house. No need to clean the outside of our home, the storm will scour it for us! It does put a bit of a damper on our Memorial Day weekend.
Washin' the junk
In the earlier days of our Corps, our supply section was run entirely by Marines, and they were in charge of issuing out our field equipment (packs, helmets, tents, etc). We called it "782 gear," or, "deuce gear," for short. This was because you typically signed for the gear on a NAVMC 782 form.
Those days are long gone. Now, the gear is maintained and issued at a "Consolidated Issue Facility," run by...you guessed it, civilians. They're a bit nazi-like when it comes to cleanliness of the gear upon turn in. The ironic part is that most of my junk is obsolete and will be simply thrown away. I still have to scrub it with soapy water and basically waste a day of my life getting any dust or stains off of it.
It gets me one step closer to getting out of here though...
You know you have a tolerant wife when she doesn't complain about body armor hanging in her bathroom.
My wife and I have been keeping busy by preparing for our upcoming move. I tell myself that this is the longest we've been in one spot, but we've actually moved two times since arriving here in Okinawa. After almost twenty years in this gun club, we should be old pros at moving by now, right?
We know enough to get ourselves from point "A" to point "B," but it sure seems like this doesn't get any easier over time. I do sort of like going through some of the closets and such and finding things that I know I've looked for in the past: "Oh! That's where this was!"
Another fun fact is that summer is the busiest time for moving in the military; it's often referred to as "PCS Season." With that, everyone around us seems to be getting ready to move. In the past, if we were preparing for a move, we could count on giving away stuff to our neighbors. For example, the movers won't pack up cleaning supplies or liquids of any kind; this is the perfect stuff to hand off to a neighbor, but not if they're getting ready to move too!
It will be interesting to see how much our household goods weigh after the movers pack it up. I'll dig out the paperwork from when we moved here and compare notes! Perhaps I should make a small wager with my wife over how much junk we have accumulated since moving here.
