Free Republic

By the time Barack Obama left office, every branch of the military was smaller than it had been on September 11. But the change in size concealed the true impact of America’s most left-wing president in undermining our national security and weakening us in the face of our enemies. "I've got a pen, and I've got a phone,” Obama famously boasted. He used the pen to unleash a blizzard of executive orders and memorandums. Some led to outraged protests, but some of his most devastating penned assaults on our nation’s military flew under the radar. One of those took place...

Full Title: Navy retaliated against SEAL Keith Barry after refusing to sign paperwork admitting guilt, he says – Navy denies . Navy Seal Chief Keith Barry has been through hell and back. He was released from jail in 2017 after serving three years for a crime that he didn’t commit, after it was discovered that one of the top lawyers in the Navy personally tried to ensure he was found guilty. -snip- Three years after the conviction, and after two failed appeals, it was revealed in 2017 that the convening authority in his case had been pressured to rule against...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A two-star general who recently headed the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson was denied a promotion to three-star after referring to a congressional staffer as "sweetheart" during a meeting in 2016. That's according to military news outlet Stars and Stripes, which reports that Maj. Gen. Ryan Gonsalves was administratively reprimanded after an investigation into the incident. His specific punishment, aside from being denied the promotion to lieutenant general, wasn't released by the Army. It stems from a meeting in October 2016 between Gonsalves and office staff with Rep. Jim Langevin (D-Rhode Island) at Fort Carson....

It'll be "very hard" for President-elect Trump to undo many of the social changes President Obama implemented in the military should he decide to do so, the Army secretary said on Thursday. Eric Fanning acknowledged that the path to social change over the course of history "has never been purely linear." "But I do think it's very hard to roll things back completely," Fanning said at the Defense One Summit in Washington. "Society is changing very quickly." He also said the decisions the military has already made will make it more difficult to kick people out of the service who...

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Ft. Hood murderer Nidal Hasan recently sent a six page letter to Pope Francis about waging Jihad, further clarifying Hasan's murder of 13 people and the shooting of 30 others in 2009 was Islamic terrorism, not work place violence as the politically correct Obama administration has said and argued. Last night on The Kelly File Hassan's current attorney, John Galligan, said he doesn't understand where the classification of "workplace violence" comes from in this case. "I don't know where they come up with the term 'work place violence.' I've been in the Army 30 years, I've been in the practice...

The Obama administration lately has demanded much from American soldiers, who now face possible reductions in the number in their ranks as well as higher payments toward their health benefits. That’s in addition to duty in Afghanistan, or worse. In the latest slap to the face of U.S. Department of Defense personnel, Obama now is asking those soldiers to oversee the digging of toilets at a girl’s school in Kenya, his “home country,” as First Lady Michelle Obama once publicly put it. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command is tasked with coordinating the endeavor, involving the construction of a building containing...

Defense: Budget cuts, sequestration and indifference to maintaining what was once "the arsenal of democracy" have led to units that are not deployment-ready and soldiers with weapons their grandfathers could have used. The standing ovation given at the State of the Union to Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg, seriously wounded in an Afghan war that his commander in chief did not believe was winnable, was well deserved. It also served as a tribute to all the heroes we send into battle, particularly under rules of engagement that often make the proverbial "one hand tied behind your back" a preferable option....

Starting Jan. 1, every woman in the Marines Corps was supposed to meet a new physical standard by performing three pullups. But that has been put off. The Marine Corps announced it quietly. There was no news conference — just a notice on its social media sites and an item on its own TV show, The Corps Report. Lance Cpl. Ally Beiswanger explained that the pullup test had been put off until sometime next year, to gather more data and "ensure all female Marines are given the best opportunity to succeed." So far, female Marines are not succeeding. Fifty-five percent...

The U.S. Army is drawing some unfriendly fire about an email obtained by POLITICO recommending that photos of “average-looking women” should be used for stories about female soldiers. The email, written by Col. Lynette Arnhart, was meant to advise Army spokespeople about how they should educate the public about the Army’s integration of women into combat. “In general, ugly women are perceived as competent while pretty women are perceived as having used their looks to get ahead,” Arnhart wrote. “There is a general tendency to select nice looking women when we select a photo to go with an article (where...

A controversial 600-plus page manual used by the military to train its Equal Opportunity officers teaches that "healthy, white, heterosexual, Christian" men hold an unfair advantage over other races, and warns in great detail about a so-called "White Male Club." “Simply put, a healthy, white, heterosexual, Christian male receives many unearned advantages of social privilege, whereas a black, homosexual, atheist female in poor health receives many unearned disadvantages of social privilege,” reads a statement in the manual created by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI).-snip- “I’m participating in teaching things that are not true,” the instructor told me. He...

Barack Obama spoke at the Pentagon yesterday concerning a major downsizing of the U.S. military...Obama spoke about cuts to military budget and changes to our overall military strategy. Facing almost $500 Billion dollars in spending cuts over the next ten years, drastic reductions in our forces are coming. Obama is tossing out 70 years of doctrine which recognizes that we need a military capable of fighting a Two-Ocean War... Now, before you roll your eyes and think that I am just going to beat up on Obama, I will point out that he is actually basing his plan on one...

Two defendants in military sexual assault cases cannot be punitively discharged, if found guilty, because of “unlawful command influence” derived from comments made by President Barack Obama, a judge ruled in a Hawaii military court this week

Reports indicate that Marine General James Mattis is being forced out of CENTCOM for questioning certain aspects of the Obama administration's Middle East policy. In particular, it appears his questions surrounding the U.S. response to Iran's nuclear ambitions drew the ire of civilian military and security advisers. These civilians were apparently upset by the way Mattis pushed them to "consider second and third-order consequences of military action against Iran." Nor did they appreciate the way he pushed them to think long term and consider what the U.S. will do if Iran develops non-nuclear weapons that can be used to keep...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The two women at the center of David Petraeus' downfall as CIA director visited the White House separately on various occasions in what appear to be unrelated calls that did not result in meetings with President Barack Obama. A White House official said Paula Broadwell, who was writing a book about Petraeus and eventually became his paramour, attended meetings in June 2009 and June 2011 on Afghanistan-Pakistan policy in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is located on the White House complex not far from the West Wing. Florida socialite Jill Kelley, who initiated the investigation that...

A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine cruised within 200 miles of the East Coast recently in the latest sign Russia is continuing to flex its naval and aerial power against the United States, defense officials said. The submarine was identified by its NATO designation as a Russian Seirra-2 class submarine believed to be based with Russia’s Northern Fleet. It was the first time that class of Russian submarine had been detected near a U.S. coast, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of anti-submarine warfare efforts. One defense official said the submarine was believed to...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin praised Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer for having “cojones” in pressing the state’s controversial immigration law. Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Palin used the Spanish slang for testicles when asked about last week’s injunction against the most controversial parts of Arizona’s law and the state’s effort to press forward with its immigration enforcement plans. “Jan Brewer has the cojones that our president does not have,” Palin said. “If our own president will not enforce our federal law, more power to Jan Brewer.” Palin called the judge’s ruling in the injunction sought by the White House “unfortunate”...

Moscow, May 10 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The troops of US, France and Britain were also part of the ‘Victory Day’ parade on the Red Square for the very first time. The Russian troops were also there in full force, but at the same time there was some emphasis on the international military forces as well. This move to have the international forces as part of the Victory Day celebrations on the Red Square has upset many Russian citizens. The Victory Day celebrations are a process of commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. And this day has mostly been used...

With the passage of the tough new anti-illegal immigration act in Arizona, some illegal Mexican immigrants have begun to return to Mexico without waiting for it to go into effect.

Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cell phones to snap pictures. "You guys make a pretty good photo op," the president said. Standing on a riser wearing a blue suit and red tie, with a cluster of troops and a large American flag behind him, Obama expressed "the gratitude of the American public" and said his meetings in four countries over eight days in Asia will help deliver a "safer more prosperous world for all of...