Free Republic

Marine Confesses He Witnessed Torture My fellow veterans please forgive me. But I must purge my soul. I only ask that you reserve judgment until you read all of if. I only want peace for all and a world free of torture. What I saw in the military was much worse than water boarding. The prisoners were taken to a 12 foot deep pool. Feet weighted they were forced into the pool. Those who hesitated, were moved onto a plank high above the pool and forced off. They were to stay in this deep water for over an hour feet...

KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE — U.S. Airmen assigned to the 521st Air Expeditionary Advisor Squadron (AEAS) here have begun training Iraqi Airmen to safely and effectively employ precision air-to-ground ordnance using the Hellfire missile capable AC-208 Caravan. The members of Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) Squadron-3 are already fully qualified to fly Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaisance (ISR) missions in the Caravan. The 521st AEAS Airmen are part of the Coalition Air Force Training Team (CAFTT), which is charged with training, advising and assisting Iraqi Airmen to support progressive transition of combat air operations to the Iraqi government. The training for the first...

Tucson's skies will see some extra military jet traffic from mid-April to early May. A dozen F-16 fighters are coming to town from Texas for two weeks of training at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The aircraft and aviators, from the 149th Fighter Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, will be here as part of Operation Snowbird, a training program for U.S. military pilots and those from allied nations. The program provides pre-deployment practice in desert and mountain terrain, simulating conditions the pilots may encounter during missions overseas. The sight of F-16s isn't uncommon in Tucson. The 162nd Fighter Wing, an...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq, March 24, 2009 – A thunderous boom resounded across the desert as debris and truck parts fell to the earth and Iraqi policemen rushed to the blast scene. Fortunately, this was not a scene at a crowded marketplace, but instead, a training range in Salahuddin province where Iraqi police honed their skills in crime scene investigation in the aftermath of a bomb. During the March 18 training, Iraqi police learned advanced post-blast analysis techniques in the classroom, and then applied the knowledge in a series of coalition-led training exercises. In the final exercise, explosives experts...

WHILE YOU WERE BEING DISTRACTED BY THE AIG SHAM OUTRAGE AND YOUR OWN CLASS ENVY…. the Obamessiah administration continues on with its plans behind the scenes. As we mentioned earlier in the week, The Obamessiah is pushing to community organize all of us into his own league of Socialist Brownshirts. The House passed the “Give Act” on Wednesday. How many GOP members caved and stabbed us in the back this time, you must be asking? 70. Full list of turncoats below the fold. Only one Democrat voted against it - Robert Berry of Arkansas. Kudos to him. The rest of...

Remember this? (see video at link) Obama's vision of a domestic security force "just as strong, just as well funded as our military" ( and presumbly loyal to him personally) just got a lot closer. The House of representatives has just passed HR 1388 otherwise known as the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. This reauthorizes through 2014 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, acts that originally, among other programs, funded the AmeriCorps and the National Senior Service Corps. However, it not only reauthorizes the programs, but also includes...

"The U.S. Public Service Academy will be an undergraduate institution devoted to developing civilian leaders for the public sector. Modeled on the military academies, the Academy will offer four years of tuition-free education in exchange for five years of civilian service following graduation. Its mission will be to educate, develop, and inspire civilian leaders who have the character, intellect, and experience necessary to serve the nation honorably and effectively, and who are committed to devoting their lives to public service. The initiative to build the Academy was launched by two Teach For America alumni in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,...

Contained in the Bill: Title VI - Sec. 1604. Duties. (5) The effect on the Nation, on those who serve, and on the families of those who serve, if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service. (6) Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2009 – U.S. forces in Iraq are equipping Iraqis with the skills they need to assume a greater role in their nation’s security. A bonfire lights the sky as noncommissioned officers from the 172nd Infantry Brigade welcome 22 graduates of the Blackhawk Warrior Leader Course into the leadership ranks at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, March 7, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Bethany L. Little  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. An integral part of that process is training, and U.S. forces are arming themselves with knowledge so they, in turn, can help outfit Iraqis...

Only hours before I took a class in order to carry a concealed handgun on Sunday, a man walked into the First Baptist Church of a St. Louis suburb and fatally shot the pastor with a 45-caliber pistol. This was on the same day that a man named Anthony Carter was shot in Chattanooga at the Emma Wheeler Homes and on the very same afternoon that LaTonya Stoudemire was critically stabbed on the city’s Heaton Street. As I studied the others who were taking the firearms class yesterday, it did not appear that a soul among them would shoot a...

MANAMA, Bahrain, March 9, 2009 – U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell left Karachi, Pakistan, today after a four-day port visit to participate in the international naval exercise Aman 2009, marking the first time a U.S. ship has pulled into Pakistan since May. The 10-day exercise, which began March 5, focuses on air, surface and maritime security training. It includes representatives from 38 countries, as well as ships from 11 nations that include the United States, United Kingdom, Pakistan and Australia. The at-sea portion of the exercise is being conducted primarily in the North Arabian Sea, off the coast of Pakistan....

In a new, year-long University of Pennsylvania survey of dog owners who use confrontational or aversive methods to train aggressive pets, veterinary researchers have found that most of these animals will continue to be aggressive unless training techniques are modified. The study, published in the current issue of Applied Animal Behavior Science, also showed that using non-aversive or neutral training methods such as additional exercise or rewards elicited very few aggressive responses. “This study highlights the risk of dominance-based training, which has been made popular by TV, books and punishment-based training advocates,”Herron said. “These techniques are fear-eliciting and may lead...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2009 – With U.S. operations in Iraq shifting from providing security to ensuring Iraqi sovereignty, troops there are stepping up their training of Iraqi forces. Iraqi policeman Lt. Ahmed, center, and members of his special weapons and tactics team look on during training at Convoy Support Center Cedar in Iraq’s Dhi Qar province in December 2008. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. James Jordan  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. U.S. soldiers in southern Iraq in recent days have trained Iraqi forces in everything from special weapons and tactics to criminal investigations to mortar firing. And,...

NAVAL SUBMARINE BASE KING’S BAY, Ga., Feb. 19, 2009 – The officers and enlisted members who serve aboard the U.S. Navy’s Trident strategic missile and guided-missile submarines are elite sailors requiring specialized training and skills. Navy Lt. j.g. Walter McDuffie, assistant operations officer assigned to the Trident ballistic-missile submarine USS Maryland’s “Blue” crew, uses a computerized virtual training program to “direct” his surfaced vessel during a training session at the Trident training facility at Naval Submarine Base King’s Bay at St. Mary’s, Ga., Feb. 18, 2009. DoD photo by Gerry J. Gilmore   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

NEVER-BEFORE-REVEALED TERRORIST TRAINING VIDEO EXPOSES 35 COMPOUNDS ON AMERICAN SOILBy Steve Foley - Posted on February 9th, 2009 Press Release from the Christian Action Network “Act like you are his friend. Then kill him.” – Sheik Muburak Gilani explaining how to kill American infidels Washington, DC—Christian Action Network will show Homegrown Jihad at the Landmark Theater in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2009, at 7:30 pm. There is no charge to attend the viewing. Copies can also be obtained at www.christianaction.org. The American public was never supposed to know. The 2006 Justice Department document that exposes 35 terrorist training compounds...

FORT HUACHUCA — The breakup of Yugoslavia led to the creation of many smaller countries and a time of turmoil. Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was founded in 1992, was one of those nations. Capt. Nedim Kaljanac, a Bosnian army officer attending a course for foreign officers at the Intelligence Center, said his nation was born when politicians used ethnic and religious differences in the region. The death of many people, mostly Muslims, in what has been called an ethnic cleansing led by people such as Bosnian Serb Radovan Karadzic, who hid for a dozen years before being uncovered acting as...

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 27, 2009 – New York Army National Guard members offered hands-on CH-47 Chinook helicopter training to Canadian air force aircrews readying for deployment at a flight facility here last week. Army Capt. Eric Fritz, left, and Canadian air force Capt. Martin LeFrancois sit in the cockpit of a New York Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter prior to a night flight outside of the Army Aviation Support Facility 2 in Rochester, N.Y., Jan. 20, 2009. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Aviation soldiers from the Guard’s Company B, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, who...

Master buys dog training software. Dog finds training software. Dog decides he needs no bloody training. Dog acts accordingly, destroys it, then goes after master and bites his or her ass.I really don't know if this photo is staged or not. And quite frankly, I don't care, because knowing—and loving—dogs, this is how things should be. At least, if we are talking about Jones here. Screw training, lips be damned. [Dark Roasted Blend]

Iraqi Air Force Warrant Officer Omar Saaed marks the cutting radius of his replacement sheet metal during the aircraft structural maintenance course at Al-Taji Air Base, Nov. 24, 2008. Photo by Staff Sgt. Paul Villanueva II, U.S. Air Forces Central, Baghdad Media Outreach Team. TAJI AIR BASE — U.S. Airmen involved in the rebuilding of a new Iraqi Air Force enjoyed many successes in 2008.  Among those success stories is the Basic Aircraft Maintenance (BAM) Course being conducted at the Iraqi Air Force Training School here.  The course is an entry level aircraft familiarization course covering general aviation, flightline safety...

Spc. Jeremy Mingle, of Homer, N.Y., shows an Iraqi Police officer how to safely and properly enter a building during a training session, Dec. 29, 2008. Photo by Staff Sgt. JB Jaso, 25th Infantry Division. ISTAQLAL — As Coalition forces here continue to transition operational responsibility to the Iraqi Security Forces, Soldiers continue to ensure the Iraqi Police in the Istaqal Qada are ready to protect the residents of this northeast Baghdad region. To that end, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers conducted tactical training with their Iraqi Police counterparts, Dec. 29.“We taught them entering and clearing rooms...