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I don't think that I can take it...

Your comment should read India has to stop looking at its relationship with the US through a Pakistan prism. We very clearly see two different countries. India will not accept that. Ever wonder why India and Pakistan are in different regional combatant commands?

This is one area where most Indians are very rigid in their outlook. I would say with 90-95% of Indians (educated or not) I talk with regarding foreign policy, security policy, etc. that within 10 minutes, no matter what topic or what region we are discussing, they will bring the discussion around to US relations with Pakistan.

Frankly, it is very predictable and pretty tiresome.

Ping

Yeah, that was it, not the Pope John Paul II, not Reagan, not Thatcher, not Walesa, not Trident, Peacekeeper or Pershing II missiles, not the expansion and modernization of the conventional US Navy. Nope, those things were waaaay overrated.

A now forgotten and then unwatched Olympic-wannabe sports event broke the back of European Marxism-Leninism.

Faux Pan-Asian Solidarity Paranoia alert

The title of the movie translates from Punjabi to English as "Those who speak are pure." It is a phrase from Sikh religious texts. Its secondary use is as a traditional Sikh/Punjabi war-cry.

The correct reply would be, "True, undying God."

The movie is supposed to be a comedy actually and that is part of the controversy. Had it been a religiously themed movie, there would likely have been less to no isue with the title of the movie.

Sikhs are not wannabe Muslims. Not even close. They do share some commonality with Hindus, a bit more than they may want to believe, but much less than Hindus tend to believe. If anything, they probably have more in common with Roman Catholics in terms of rituals, "saints" and hierarchy than any other religion.

Well, Pierce has an ENORMOUS burden of proof now.

And if he pulls the "my records are classified" nonsense, he is even stupider than I thought.

On that, you will just have to trust me.

Turns out he may be an Air Force contracting officer.

Gummy and all,
If that guy is the same as our Mike Pierce, it is even more despicable because he is portraying himself as an officer of another service and he is trading on the good name and reputation of warriors currently in the fight without sharing the real day to day risks and year to year sacrifices.

No one who serves honorably in uniform, whether for 2 years or 38 years, has to carry any shame in what they do to contribute to the mission. We alone have a global military which has real global responsibilities and worries outside of the current war. Not everyone can be a Special Missions Unit operator. We need good truck drivers, cooks, riflemen and even USAF contracting officers.

This guy has some serious low-self esteem issues.

As for all those who met him and saw his ID card (which, unless it is the new CAC card is/was not too hard to fake), until very recently, all frauds perpetrated their actions in person, mostly just telling stories at the bar or the VFW, or American Legion hall but some of them were fairly sophisticated and had uniforms, ribbons and even fake documents, thereby being able to hoodwink veterans organizations and even politicians.

Google "fake SEALs" or "fake POWs" or "fake Medal of Honor" just for a start. Jug Burkett wrote a great book on the phenomenon about 6-7 years ago from the Vietnam era.

A very good and valid question. I contemplated it myself briefly.

Yes it is of course possible he is using fake names, but very, very unlikely. I expect him to use that as his excuse if he comes up again.

Why use a name anyway? And his screenname is a no-no, also. If he is really involved with Special Operations, he would seek to keep anonimity in every instance possible. He has allowed pictures of himself to be posted on this website from various political rallies in California. I have been a registered member since the 2000 election mess and was a lurker for a few months prior. I will never disclose my identity. I am a political citizen, but an apolitical officer.

1LTs are not in SOCOM except for a handful of guys in the Ranger Regiment. That was a big tip off. He might now claim he is with a Civil Affairs or Psychological Operations unit. OK, except he was pretty unambiguous about being Special Forces. The media uses those terms (Spec Ops and Spec Forces) interchangeably; no one in the Army does.

Professional soldiers, especially officers, do not attend political rallies. If they do, they do not actively participate like getting up on stage. It is not illegal as long as you are not in uniform, but it is just not done. We serve the Constitution. This type of activity taints us and makes easy fodder for those who claim the military is a bought and paid Republican constituency.

Again, I checked two different datbases and used broad search parameters. He is a fraud. The burden is on him.

Doug,

This guy is a fraud. He is not on any database in the Army. Neither is his alter ego, 1LT Marc Owen. Nothing even close.

And if he was a true SOCOM guy, a) he would never divulge his name in a public forum like this and b) there would still be ways we could verify he was in, i.e., he would be in some databases but without any unit identifier (as some non-special operations folks also have).

Right on. This guy is a fraud. I checked.

You are right, some people will do anything for a thread...like perpetuate a fraud.

Socomofficer is a fraud. He is dishonoring those of us in uniform as he is not in the Army in ANY CAPACITY.

I checked for him and his buddy "1LT Marc Owen" on both the World Wide Locator and the Army Knowledge Online White Pages.

If he were in the Army, he would at least be listed on AKO. Army, National Guard, Reserves, DA civilians, even the classified guys have AKO accounts.

He is a fraud as is 1LT Marc Owen. They do not exist as members of the US Army in any capacity. I just checked two internal databases.

Your suspicions are good. He is a fraud.

Not listed on the master Army database in any combination of name spellings. Also, everyone has an Army email account-active, reserve, National Guard. Even the classified Special Missions guys.

If he really was in a real "SOCOM" unit, he would NEVER let his name be disclosed on a partisan and a public forum.

She has also just recently been signed up by Arianna Huffington to write for her new celebrity weblog.

I am quite proud to serve as a member of America's senior service. BTW, Soldiers are not in the Army; we are the Army.

You need to read less David Hackworth and more books. BTW, he is a friend of mine and I am a friend of his. I have met him and we correspond fairly regularly. So hold off before you resort to lumping me in with the perfumed princes.

You are correct in that Parachute wings do not automatically a leader make. Neither does the Ranger tab. But I seem to know a lot of Marines who went, graduated or want to attend that course. It is an indicator. Gen. Pace probably went as a Midshipman or as a young 2nd Lt. So for his 3-weeks at Fort Benning, Georgia, 30 plus years ago, you deem him less than optimal for the position of Chairman? Your problem is not with him, it is with HQMC and Uniform Branch.

Next, you are refering to a distinguished group of officers from a day when virtually no one had civilian graduate degrees. They went to military schools, often for years and taught though. Their equivalent education was easily Masters level if not Doctoral. Patton had a personal library that would rival almost any high schools. There was even a book written about his books and reading habits. Eisenhower, a middling student at West Point, graduated first in his class at Command and General Staff School and from there his career took off.

Westmoreland was a terrible strategic leader, but he was quite a superb tactical leader if you actually go into the record (he commanded the 187th ARCT in Korea). He could not transition to the mindset required. But I can easily cite Ridgway, Taylor and Gavin to counter Westy.

As for Grant, he spent the pre-Civil War years pickling his liver as a failed businessman, not commanding troops. Now McClellan on the other hand had a quite extensive troop command resume.

I assume you meant A.A. Vandergrift, and not Vandergriff (the surname of a a less well-known, but still distinguished and well-published soldier and close friend of mine).

You win stupidest post of the day.

Re: His wearing of the Parachutist Badge. Airborne school is both a technical skill school and a leader development school. A man who will jump out of a perfectly good airplane with a parachute on his back, packed by a complete stranger, shows a disposition toward confidence, trust and physical courage.

Re: His going to graduate school and earning a Masters Degree, consider this quote,

"The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools."
-Thucydides

Thucydides wrote a book. Try reading it.

I'd bump Japan to 2 and India to 3, otherwise a much smarter list. I'd only include the EU so long as it includes the UK, otherwise, no way.

Of course, making a prediction of how the world will look in 25 years is teetering on the brink of madness.

Who predicted anything remotely close to the current state of the world in 1988? 1994? 1999? Much less 1980.