But surprise!  The military supports every commander in chief equally.  Why?  Because it’s our duty.  Anyone who claims otherwise is an unpatriotic wing-nutty windbag.

Over in the world of the politically insane, a video is floating around their sad excuse for blogs.

I present to you exhibit #1 of a video splice showing ex-President Bush speaking to a group of Marines with a video of President Obama addressing a different group of Marines.

And if you read the analysis by Mudville, it’s easy to see they’re correct.  Obama’s group of Marines are OBVIOUSLY standing at attention which means one thing… you don’t f**cking move.  Period.  Bush’s group of Marines were allowed full liberty of their emotions which is evident in the way their commander announced Bush’s arrival to the stage.

Not a fair comparison.  Not a valid argumenet. DE-BUNKED!

I think I took an interest in the following report because I was stationed on the U.S. military’s largest logistical base in Iraq during my deployment.  The base was a well oiled machine of supplies, troops, and equipment.  If the U.S. military knows how to do one thing, it’s logistics.  Moving equipment fast and with efficiency.

Logistics is something most people consider a secondary concern for a military but in reality, the supply corp is the heart of any military.  I was honestly a little shocked, when reading about the Iraqi logistical problem.  I assumed this would be a top priority of the coalition forces when prepping the Iraqi military to stand on it’s own two feet.

Apparently, we’re leaving this challenge for the Iraqis to figure out for themselves:

There was the time the Iraqis spent millions of dollars on ammunition from Romania, only to discover that it was defective or didn’t fit their U.S.- or Russian-made weapons. Or when the Iraqis bought portable kitchens which didn’t work in the field.

[...]

“They are at the basic level. They can feed themselves. They can fuel themselves. They can arm themselves,” said Australian Brig. Gen. David McGahey, who heads the U.S.-led task force aimed at helping the Iraqi armed forces fend for themselves after the eventual pull out.

But “giant gaps” remain in the Iraqi supply system, particularly a shortage of mechanics for vehicle maintenance and repairs, that may take “years and years” to close, he added.

Other challenges, commanders say, is a lack of modern technology to track parts and services. Iraq uses an antiquated paperwork system.

[...]

The Iraqis had long depended on American logistics and supplies as their main lifeline in the fight against militants and their own struggles to rebuild.

Since late last year, however, the U.S. has stopped fueling and feeding the Iraqis.

“We are not giving them parts. We are not giving them fuel. We are not fixing it for them,” said Army Col. Ed Dorman, who works on logistics and supply for Multi-National Corps Iraq.

And a larger problem besides an antiquated record keeping system and shortages in technical repairmen is the corruption:

The Iraqi army pays its brigade commanders a weekly cash stipend to feed troops. The U.S. military has praised the program for putting money back into Iraqi communities.

But reports have surfaced of some commanders putting dozens of soldiers on leave every week to pocket unspent money.

“They get the same amount of money if they have 25 people there or 50 people there,” said the military official.

Please read the complete article here.

I mean really, are we surprised at all?

In the age of computerized high-tech warfare, it is not just American hardware available on the black market. Now there is also vital technology and information up for grabs and — as military officials here and in the U.S. fear — leaking into the wrong hands in this region where the Taliban and elements of Al Qaeda have a known presence.

I was recently able to purchase a U.S. military laptop for $650 from a small kiosk, which is known as the “Sitara Market,” on the western edge of the sprawling open-air markets on the edge of Peshawar.

The laptop, which has clear U.S. military markings and serial numbers, contained restricted U.S. military information, as well as software for military platforms, the identities of numerous military personnel and information about weaknesses and flaws in American military vehicles being employed in the war in Afghanistan.

[...]

NATO supply convoys have been repeatedly attacked in the last six months and looted periodically inside Pakistan en route to military bases in Afghanistan. These attacks are a major source for the military equipment that ends up in Sitara market, according to Pakistani and U.S. officials.

But there are other avenues as well. The shopkeeper selling the laptop, who did not reveal his name, said the laptop offered to GlobalPost was brought in by one of his “suppliers” who specialize in smuggling across the Afghan border.

“I’ve had two or three like this come in the past few months,” he said about the laptop glistening on a glass counter under the sun.

It was displayed in the shop amid racks of combat fatigues and Kevlar vests and tool kits. A few shops down, U.S. military issue stabilized binoculars are on sale for about $100 and a night vision mount for an automatic weapon went for approximately $300. Gore-Tex boots and Oakley sunglasses line the displays of several nearby shops.

[source: Military.com]

Ever wonder where those stereotypes of Arab-Americans come from?

An Iranian-born man faces up to five years in federal prison for conspiring to violate a U.S. embargo by providing Iran with military aircraft parts.

Hassan Keshari pleaded guilty Monday to a single count in Miami federal court.

Prosecutors say Keshari, a 48-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who was living in California, was a middleman between Iranian buyers and a supplier based in South Florida. The supplier also has been charged and is scheduled to go to trial in May.

Keshari lawyer David O. Markus says his client is cooperating with investigators and wants to get the matter behind him. The parts were for such aircraft as the F-14 fighter jet, the C-130 cargo plane and the AH-1 attack helicopter.

[source]

That’s right readers, I’m getting ready to head off for another training school, so with that in mind, I figured I’d leave one last little collections of links and snipes before I depart.

First off, Army… Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Over. Wow, you know, it was bad enough a few years ago when you sent a few calls to duty to the homes of soldiers who had already died overseas, now here we have yet another whoops moment in the military sending letters of condolenses to families of fallen soldiers.  Sounds like a reasonable thing to do, but addressing each and every letter with “Dear John Doe”… dude.  Weak.  To make up for it Army Chief of Staff General George W. Casey Jr. is sending a personal apology letter to the 7,000 family members.  Well, while their heart was in the right place, gang, something to learn here, sometimes you need to put a personal touch to these things, blanket statements wind up seeming a little hollow even when you don’t fuck them up like this.

In other news, Pakistan’s National Security Advisor was fired after announcing to the Indian media that the last surviving terrorist from the attacks on Mumbai is in fact a Pakistani.  Well, looks the the Pakistan gov’t really didn’t want that being talked about, eh?  Hmm… I wonder why that could be.

Well, I suppose I’ll go ahead and end on a fun note, and what’s more fun than porn?  Yup, you heard me right.  Porn.  Have I got your attention?  It appears that the Big 3, and the lending firms aren’t the only people who need a bailout these days.  Larry Flint and the douche… ahem… sorry, Joe Francis… are both claiming that tough times in today’s economy are sinking the porn industry, and they should get help from the government too.  Wow… ok.  Now at this point I have to ask myself whether I’m the better man who wouldn’t make a greatly inappropriate comment here, or… ah screw it…  I guess business everywhere is kind’ve like a porn star, it blows.  Sorry, it’s all I had.

Ok, so… I guess that’s it.  Hopefully I’ll catch you all again soon.  Take care all.

~Skitz

I know usually Ms. Missive handles such things, but I was looking at the news today and found so much I wanted to talk about that I figured I’d take a crack at it.

Does anyone remember the Cold War? If not, you might want to do some research, because it looks as though we could be headed there again as the leader of the U.S. Strategic Command, Air Force Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, t0ld a crowd of gov’t, military, and civilian officials that we need to begin modernizing our Nuclear Weapons Programs so we can stay competetive with China, and Russia.  Whooo hooo!!!!!  Remember students- duck and cover, underneath your desks and you’ll be just fine…  (Also of note is the controversial mentioning of Israel’s Nukes, which Israel’s Gov’t doesn’t actually acknowledge even having… hmm…)

Speaking of wars cold or otherwise… Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is offering a new agenda for the U.S. Military, talking about how “Shock and Awe” was pretty jacked up and is ineffective against the type of forces that we’ll be facing in our country’s future, and we need to learn to fight on a smaller skirmish type scale.  Good advice.  Then again, I don’t know how the above Nuke plan will fit in- that’s about as “Shock and Awe” as you can get.  I mean, I’d be pretty shocked to see a mushroom cloud…

But no worries, if it’s skirmishes we need to fight, we’ll have more than enough troops, because believe it or not (scoff) according to NBC’s Nightly News, as the economy continues to suck, Military reenlistments thrive.  Hmm… go figure.

And finally, when looking towards the future as a new President prepares to take office, it’s comical to note that Obama looks to be showing up Prez Bush by taking in intel briefings 7 days a week, as opposed to Bush’s 6. Oh snap!

The Observer, a news site sponsored by France’s channel 24, picked up on the launch of TroopTube by the U.S. Army.  Myself and Colby Buzzell  were asked to give our opinions of the militaries answer to banning YouTube from government systems:

A year and a half after US soldiers were banned from using YouTube and MySpace, the army has come up with an alternative. Forget the all-singing all-dancing mindless, amusing rubbish – this one’s loaded with pep talks and shout-outs. Not convinced? Neither are our Observers, former soldiers in Iraq.

[...]

Jami Gibbs started writing her milblog when she was deployed to Iraq in 2005. Today she runs and writes the blog Patriot Missive, which she co-founded. 

“Considering the highly censored nature of TroopTube, I envision the majority of videos approved for public viewing as “keep in touch” clips. By that I mean videos specifically made for a service member or a family member while they’re separated on deployment. Quite frankly, these videos have little value to the general public; there isn’t much incentive for other people to “tune in” to TroopTube.

 

During the 14 months I spent in Iraq, I sent a few videos home in the holidays for my family. It wasn’t difficult for me to simply send the video file as an attachment in an email. If you have a webcam and an email address, there isn’t much to it. That’s why I’m wondering why it’s necessary to create a website for that purpose – it seems like an unnecessary middle-man to me. 

The reality is that everything is censored. Would a soldier who has uncensored internet access take time to view TroopTube?  No. Would a soldier deployed to Iraq who only has access to a censored DoD computer use TroopTube? Sure, why not. If anything, only out of sheer boredom.

Emotionally, TroopTube is interesting but not particularly useful like YouTube. TroopTube is simply patriotic, YouTube is resourceful. It’d be unfair to compare the two since they are functioning in two completely different ways.”

What do you think of TroopTube?

Nearly everything is in a damn crisis these days.  Prepare yourself for crisis overkill because the Army isn’t far behind:

Krepinevich’s report [pdf] is titled “An Army at the Crossroads.” But a more appropriate title would have been an “Army in Crisis.” In the report he writes: “[The Army] risks a catastrophic leadership failure of a kind not seen since the late stages of the Vietnam War, a failure that took the Army over a decade to repair.”

His central message is alarming: the quality of the Army’s soldiers is in sharp decline, from enlisted personnel to NCOs to officers. It’s a “particularly discouraging” trend for the Army as it is happening despite the service’s “increasingly aggressive” use of financial incentives including bonuses and a salary increase of 33 percent between 1999 and 2005.

The Army has lowered standards to fill recruitment quotas, including weight and body fat restrictions, number of high school graduates and is allowing in more recruits with moral waivers. Krepinevich sees troubling signs of a repeat of the Vietnam era “shake-and-bake” sergeants, with the widespread promotion of inexperienced enlisted soldiers ill suited to the challenge of leading small units in combat.

None of his findings are a surprise.  We’ve noticed a sharp decline in the quality of soldiers for years now while trying to maintain recruitment goals.  Strange how it coincides with the Iraq war.

But read on.  It’s actually a brilliant article in the need for our Army to reinvent itself… again:

There are not enough hours in the day to train soldiers to be competent, let alone excel, at the very different skill sets demanded of every mission. The difference in competence between line infantry and artillerymen turned motorized infantry doing “cordon-and-knock” operations in Baghdad is night and day. The Army can have either a culture and language expert who can operate effectively amongst tribal cultures or a top drawer tank company commander skilled in fire and maneuver.

Krepinevich says the Army has no choice but to produce specialized soldiers as warfare, particularly irregular warfare, has grown far too complex to do otherwise. The Army has specialized for decades, he notes, with Special Forces, airborne, air assault and high end warfare optimized units. That specialization should be weighted toward irregular warfare, since the national strategy and pretty much every other planning document says the U.S. is in an era of persistent irregular warfare.

[source: Military.com]

I’ve always held the opinion that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is the most idiotic military policy in history. Not only does it infringe on civil rights, it also weakens a military that relies on volunteer soldiers. I think the most famous example are the Army Arabic translators who were discharged for homosexuality during the most crucial need for their skills.

We’ve been hearing a lot of “change” rhetoric from President-elect Obama this last year. I’m sure everyone’s whispering their suggestions to Obama these days.

How much pull do you think over 100 retired generals and admirals will have regarding our military’s disgraceful “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy:

“As is the case with Great Britain, Israel, and other nations that allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality,” the officers wrote.

As for Obama’s opinion, don’t expect the policy to change any time soon even though he spoke out against ‘Dont ask, Don’t Tell’ during his candidacy. It’s quickly becoming a very low priority for his cabinet:

While Obama has expressed support for repeal, he said during the presidential campaign that he would not do so on his own – an indication that he would tread carefully to prevent the issue from becoming a drag on his agenda. Obama said he would instead work with military leaders to build consensus on removing the ban on openly gay service members.

“Although I have consistently said I would repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ I believe that the way to do it is make sure that we are working through a process, getting the Joint Chiefs of Staff clear in terms of what our priorities are going to be,” Obama said in a September interview with the Philadelphia Gay News.

Because the process has worked SOOOO well in the past.

YouTube is banned on DoD computers so most troops overseas don’t have access to it.  Apparently, the DoD is having a little guilt trip over that decision.  Here’s a compromise the military came up with:

After banning YouTube, military launches TroopTube

TroopTube, as the new site is called, lets people register as members of one of the branches of the armed forces, family, civilian Defense Department employees or supporters. Members can upload personal videos from anywhere with an Internet connection, but a Pentagon employee screens each for taste, copyright violations and national security issues.

Honestly, I’m not really seeing the point in a website designed after YouTube but reserved only for military.  TroopTube is only going to be a touchy feely propaganda filled video site with lots of tears from Mom and lots of awkward “I’m doing fine” moments from the soldiers.  Really, they could just send those videos directly to the person by email anyway.  All uploaded videos will be reviewed by Department of Defense official so you know we won’t actually see anything of mass value (cough… shit blowing up and sex).

Can we say appeasement?

[hat tip: milblogging]