Saturday, June 16, 2007
It Was Twenty Years Ago Today, A Drill Sergeant Yelled At Me
Twenty years ago today, I entered basic training. It was a bit much for eighteen year olds, that is why they like eighteen year olds. You genuinely do get scared when the mean man with the big hat yells at you. Three years of service completed, I put the experience mostly behind me, save for a scare during Gulf War The First where my specialty was getting called back into active duty, and I almost got put back in too.
I have much to say about the military and the war and will do so in an expansive post later. It never leaves you though. I check the casualty lists for names of people I knew who were lifers. Hopefully, they have retired now, and are safe and healthy.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Served 15 Months in Iraq? This Non Alcoholic Beverage Is For You
The most anti-freedom legislation passed in recent history may have been the highway bill championed by then Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole. States would not get federal highway funds unless they raised their drinking age to 21. I served in the military shortly after this went into effect, and it drove me insane. We still drank, mind you. We just couldn't go into a bar.
It must be especially infuriating to some of our combat troops today. There are likely people in the theater on their second tours who haven't hit 21 yet. After being handed a rifle, ammunition, a grenade or two, and told to distinguish between shia and sunni, between civilian, terrorist, insurgent, militia, and policemen, body stank from sweat in the desert's 120 degree heat, you get home after your tour that has been extended to fifteen months, and are promoted early as a Non-commissioned officer because of the bang up job you did. You are told that you are not responsible enough to handle a Budweiser when you walk into a club because your birthday isn't for three weeks.
The following is a true story. After serving 2 and a half years in the army, my magical moment had come. I turned 21 on a Saturday, so my older buddies hung out with me until midnight Friday night and headed to the coolest bar in town. We had just got back from a 2 week field excercise the week before, and all I could think about was getting to go out with the guys.
We arrived at about 12:30 and we were asked to show ID. My friends got in, but the bouncer informed me that it was still Friday evening, and he wasn't sure if it was legal for me to drink. Being the smart ass I was, I asked him if it was the fourth now or the fifth. What day was it? It took 10 minutes of haggling just to allow this soldier who had volunteered to take lives, and risk his life in to a club to have a drink. It spoiled the start of the evening, but we did recover.
Until there is a movement to totally change the law, I have a modest proposal. Anybody flashing a military ID card is allowed to have a beer. Until you raise the age of enlistment, it's silly to keep this discriminatory law in place. You can sign contracts, buy a house, take out a loan, smoke cigarettes, decide if a person approaching the $300,000 vehicle the military trusts you to drive is worthy of life or death.
I think you can be trusted with a cold one.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
SOME of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.
Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.
There also are reports that the US and Israel are seeking to get countries including Iraq to allow Israel to use their airspace to launch attacks against Iran. Israel is officially denying the speculation. However a defense official did was talking to the media.
Britain's Daily Telegraph quotes an unnamed Israeli defense official as saying planning negotiations are under way for all possibilities, including strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities.
Armegeddon's coming soon, and I don't have a thing to wear.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Army and Marine Corps are letting in more recruits with criminal records, including some with felony convictions, reflecting the increased pressure of five years of war and its mounting casualties.
According to data compiled by the Defense Department, the number of Army and Marine recruits needing waivers for felonies and serious misdemeanors, including minor drug offenses, has grown since 2003. The Army granted more than double the number of waivers for felonies and misdemeanors in 2006 than it did in 2003. Some recruits may get more than one waiver.
The number of felony waivers granted by the Army grew from 411 in 2003 to 901 in 2006, according to the Pentagon, or about one in 10 of the moral waivers approved that year. Other misdemeanors, which could be petty theft, writing a bad check or some assaults, jumped from about 2,700 to more than 6,000 in 2006. The minor crimes represented more than three-quarters of the moral waivers granted by the Army in 2006, up from more than half in 2003.
As a veteran, this absolutely disgusts me. To this day, the President, the hawks in the Congress, and the elite in this country do not go on tv and request people to join the service. Ever notice that? While only a few members of congress have children in the service, we have finally stopped convincing enough poor inner city and rural kids to join to keep this war going on. We have been told to shop. We have been told the rich need tax breaks, the first time taxes weren't raised to support a major military effort since the Mexican-American war in 1848. But we aren't asked to serve.
The war being a stupid mistake is obviously one reason why this is occuring. The other of course is that national leaders don't want to be the people to tell their constituents to send their kids into a meat grinder. It's bad sometimes for votes when you think of the kids who went away on your suggestion returning in a coffin, or in a wheelchair.
If our leaders don't even have the guts to meekly suggest that our best and brightest youth join this war, they have no business continuing it on the back of criminal labor.
