Free Republic

The Army is prioritizing 37,000 soldiers for assignment to units heading downrange after a records review showed that four in 10 on active duty have never deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan ...But after scrutinizing Army personnel records, Human Resources Command officials in Alexandria, Va., have identified 37,000 soldiers who have yet to deploy and have no reason not to serve in combat. ...Other areas where records indicate never-deployed soldiers tend to work are operations support, particularly in the fields of space operations, foreign area officers, nuclear and counter-proliferation, signal, telecommunication systems engineering, strategic plans and policy, simulation operations and information...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Law enforcement documents have revealed security measures at Fort Huachuca in Arizona were changed after warnings of a possible terror attack. The documents said an estimated 60 Afghan and Iraqi terrorists were planning with the help of Mexican drug cartels to sneak into the United States through underground tunnels and attack the base, the largest intelligence-training center in the country, with high-powered weapons, The Washington Times reported Monday. "A portion of the operatives were in the United States, with the remainder not yet in the United States," said one of the documents, a Federal Bureau...

Living conditions for the armed forces will remain substandard for 20 years unless improvement work is given a higher priority, MPs have said. The Commons public accounts committee said half of the Ministry of Defence's housing for single soldiers was poor, as well as 40% of its family homes. Committee chairman Edward Leigh said the government should "get its priorities straight". But Defence minister Derek Twigg said improvement work was "making progress". 'Tennis courts' The committee noted that the MoD had cut £15m from its estates management budget in 2006/07 after "unforeseen rises in the cost of fuel and other...

Am working on a write piece for newspaper on last night's stacked deck debate. Does anyone have any FACTUAL information on military or civilian career of Brigadier General Kerr, last night's Clinton-planted questioner? Need to know typical DD214 stuff: Time in service, commissioning source, assignments, any combat or combat area time, active duty service other than ACDUTRA, service schools completed (CGSS, War College, etc> decorations received, Branch, (Infantry, Armor, etc.) when he revealed sexual orientation, any outstanding service good or bad, civilian career, etc. Understand promotion to BG may have been honorary on retirement from Guard, not federally recognized. Any...

WASHINGTON (Nov. 28, 2007) - The Army announced today that it has taken initial steps to plan for reduced operations at all Army bases while the congressional review continues on funding for operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and requirements associated with the Global War on Terror. With no funds provided for GWOT requirements since the beginning of the fiscal year, the Army has had to use operation and maintenance dollars budgeted to organize, train, equip, and field forces, as well to sustain Soldiers and their Families, to fund war related activities. Gen. Richard A. Cody, vice chief of staff of the...

We need a little fun

The real, unreported surge in Iraq is the massive increase in Iraqi Army units. As the US plans to draw down in Iraq, there will be two Iraqi Army units to fill in for every US unit departing Iraq.

Soldiers strained by six years at war are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. While the totals are still far lower than they were during the Vietnam War, when the draft was in effect, they show a steady increase over the past four years and a 42 percent jump since last year. “We’re asking a lot of soldiers these days,” said Roy Wallace, director of plans and resources for Army personnel. “They’re humans. They have all...

Defense: Fred Thompson wants a million-man ground force and more modern equipment on the ground, in the air and on the water. The arsenal of democracy needs some retooling. After the Vietnam conflict, the U.S. military was depleted and exhausted. Then came Jimmy Carter and by the time Ronald Reagan came along we had planes that couldn't fly and ships that couldn't sail for lack of maintenance. The Gipper rolled up his sleeves and built his 600-ship navy, gave the Air Force the latest fighters and bombers and an Army capable of deploying half a million troops for Desert Storm...

Current press reporting is focusing on the US reductions and ignoring the reason for the "surge". It was to buy time for the Iraqis to stand up their own forces and for political reconciliation. While the political part is reported on, the progression of the Iraqi Army has not been. - In November 2006, the Iraqi PM announced the expansion of the IA by 3 Div HQs, 5 Bde HQs, 20 Battalions and a SOF Battalion. At that time, the IA had 10 Divs, 35 Bdes, 98 Bns, and 2 SOF Bns. - In the last year the IA has...

Happy Veteran's Day! World War I ends At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure. On June 28,...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Army is spending $2.6 billion on hundreds of European-designed helicopters for homeland security and disaster relief that turn out to have a crucial flaw: They aren't safe to fly on hot days, according to an internal report obtained by The Associated Press. While the Army scrambles to fix the problem — adding millions to the taxpayer cost — at least one high-ranking lawmaker is calling for the whole deal to be scrapped. During flight tests in Southern California in mild, 80-degree weather, cockpit temperatures in the UH-72A Lakota soared above 104, the point at which the...

SIERRA VISTA — Al Simpson didn’t get much of a chance to find out what Army life was all about when he enlisted. His learning was cut short after he arrived in South Korea and was captured by the enemy two and a half months later. It would not be until two and a half years later when Simpson tasted freedom. One would think being a prisoner of war would have been enough of military life for Simpson. But it wasn’t. “I really didn’t get to know Army life,” the now 75-year-old man said. “So I re-enlisted.” And Simpson re-enlisted,...

Associated Press Rank-and-file Democrats expressed dismay on Friday over their party's latest anti-war strategy, with some members reluctant to vote to bring troops home around Veterans Day. The House was on track to consider legislation next week that would give President Bush $50 billion for operations Iraq and Afghanistan but insist that he begin withdrawing troops. The measure identifies a goal of ending combat by December 2008, leaving only enough soldiers and Marines behind to fight terrorists, train Iraqi security forces and protect U.S. assets. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed off plans for a Friday vote after caucus members told...

Would anyone like a free dinner at Golden Corral? Well, there is an easy way if you are an American military veteran. Golden Corral just announced this year’s Military Appreciation Monday will be November 12, 2007, from 5 to 9 pm. For the past 6 years, Golden Corral has been honoring the US Military with a free “thank you” dinner and beverage at any Golden Corral restaurant on Military Appreciation Monday (first Monday after Veteran’s Day), to honor any person who has ever served in the United States Military. In the past the only requirement to receive the free meal...

<p>A U.S. District Court judge today granted a preliminary injunction that bars the Army from proceeding with a second court-martial trial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, the first Army officer to face prison for refusing to deploy to Iraq.</p> <p>Watada's court-martial in February ended in a mistrial, and his attorneys have claimed that Fifth Amendment constitutional protections prevent Watada from being tried twice for the same crime.</p>

President Bush suffered the first veto override of his seven-year-old presidency Thursday as the Senate enacted a $23 billion water resources bill despite his protest that it was filled with unnecessary projects. The vote was 79-14 to pass the bill. Enactment was a foregone conclusion, but it still marked a milestone for a president who spent his first six years with a much friendlier Congress controlled by his Republican Party. Now he confronts a more hostile, Democratic-controlled legislature, and Thursday's vote showed that even many Republicans will defy him on spending matters dear to their political careers. The bill funds...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2007 – Every time he meets someone -- be it the newsboy, the bagger at the local grocery or the spectator at the high school football game -- Army Sgt. Charles “Rob” Myers mentally puts them into one of two categories: those he can recruit into the Army and those who can help him recruit someone else. “When I go out and talk to people, if they’re between the ages 17 and 41, I automatically assume that they’re somebody who could join the Army,” he said. “If they’re outside that age group, I consider them somebody who...

Plan to Take Land Spurs Debate On Patriotism, Property Rights WALSENBURG, Colo. -- Herman Moltrer returned from Vietnam to be a cattle rancher on the broad shortgrass prairie that stretches as far as the eye can see in southern Colorado. The rugged work earned him a living and a little something extra for his soul, but now he fears he may have to sell his land, at someone else's price. The U.S. Army wants 418,000 acres of private ranch land to triple the size of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, a training area considered suitable -- some would say essential...

A Family of Heroes By MAUREEN ROSE - Turret Staff Writer FORT KNOX — The Army’s aviation community is known as a tight-knit family. But the folks with the 8th Battalion, 229th Aviation Regiment (Attack), headquartered at Fort Knox, have taken the family thing to an historic level. The Aviation Support Facility supervisor Dennis McNamara wears two hats, like all the people in the unit. In addition to being a civilian supervisor, McNamara also is an Army Reserve first lieutenant and an Apache helicopter instructor pilot in the 8/229th. McNamara, affectionately called “D-Mac” by his coworkers and family, chalked up...