Archive for December 5th, 2006

Injured USS FRANK CABLE (AS-40) Sailors Will Get Valour-IT Laptops

December 5th, 2006 by xformed

I missed the news of the steam line on the USS FRANK CABLE (AS-40) rupturing and burning 8 sailors this past weekend, but I just received an email forwarded by Soldier’s Angels from LTC (Ret) Jim Riley:

From: Riley, James D CONT BAMC-Ft Sam Houston TX < [email protected]>
Date: Dec 5, 2006 1:36 PM
Subject:
To: Soldiers Angels

Patti

I can’t get post or even read most of the BLOGS at work. I thought you might like to update BLACKFIVE on the sailors injured in the boiler explosion. Here is what I would like to say if you’d like to send it to them

Just wanted you to know Soldiers’ Angels is on the ground in San Antonio and in an protective overwatch position & I am personally looking out for the injured sailors and their families. We will support them in any way we can as their treatment progresses. The families have arrived and are being tended by the staff and chaplains.

Thanks to Blackfive and the other MIL Bloggers, Soldiers’ Angels will be providing a new laptop for each of these six heroes as soon as they get out of the ICUs and we hope they will be blogging their story themselves very soon. Our prayers are with them and
their families.

Jim (LTC, Med Svc Corps, ret), Director, Medical Spt Ops Soldier’s Angels

Bubblehead is on the story.

For all who chipped either effort or money or both at the fund drive for Valour-IT, this is the result of your dedication to supporting our troops and, in this case, the sailors in particular.

For anyone else late to the game, Valour-IT donations are accepted year round…. (hint, hint!)

Category: Charities, History, Military, Navy, Supporting the Troops, Technology, Valour-IT | 1 Comment »

The Ratchet and the Governor – Tools for Today – Part IV

December 5th, 2006 by xformed

In Part III, I discussed how, if you have an understanding of organized sports, then you can use that understanding to look at the cultural, strategic and tactical issues we currently face.

As I have thought about this series more, I see something about sports we come to accept that provides more of the “governor” on our actions. This is the concept of “rules.” One of the things we do do well is translate our set of rules from the stadium to the field of actual conflict. We have a clear concept of some “authority” that contains the conflict to morally acceptable boundaries. In this same mold, we have, for a very long time in history, understood the “enemy” would be bound by the same rules. Not that sometimes there wasn’t a foul or penalty, but until the widespread introduction of guerrilla warfare in the post Korean War era, we could count on some gentlemanly (as difficult as it is to associate that adjective to this situation) acceptance and we went on with our wars.

So, here we have a governor on our actions and we are baffled when the other side completely disregards the rules. More amazingly, we have been in the state of shock since sometime in the 1960’s, and, our enemies have caught on to our befuddled state and then begin the pull tension on the cable, and we have long been hearing the ratchet click, all the while, wondering what “that clicking noise” is.

Now, toss into the mix that the referees and umpires, which we acknowledge their authority, have decided any action we take in the battle is certainly unacceptable, yet the activity of the enemy is accepted, as it is our use of force from decades gone by (disregarding much of it has been in response to aggression against us) calls for atonement now, and breaking the rules is the remedy.

In various sporting events, we have been know to wonder out loud(ly) if the refs are on the payroll of the other team. We are certainly in that situation, and not even having to wonder about one ref, the United Nations administration that accepted kickbacks in the Oil for Food scam. No wonder we can’t get a reasonable “call.”

Our feet are stuck in the sand (maybe concrete, hopefully not dry yet), awaiting the arrival of a fair umpiring staff to arrive, and it’s not looking good. While we know the calls are bad, we still stick to the rules we believe are acceptable. Not to imply we shouldn’t, it’s just that the rest of the world has thrown out the Laws of War and the Geneva Conventions, which took many millenina to make for humanity in thge first place.

But, I merely state the obvious.

This very week (how nice of them to comply with my blogging schedule), the Iraq Studies Group (ISG) will approach the President and make an attempt to open the hood and adjust the governor down below where it already is, further limiting our ability to continue in the conflict. I take issue with the composition of that body, for it appears only Chuck Robb has any combat experience, and he wasn’t a career military officer, able to gain significant hands on experience in the management of large scale battles that might help formulate a reasonable and achievable course of action. Certainly the inclusion of those with high level State Department and White House Cabinet level jobs on their resumes is good, but I’m not sure what Supreme Court Justices can bring to the table other than a legalistic set of blinders.

Read the rest of this entry »

Category: History, Leadership, Military, Military History, Political | Comments Off on The Ratchet and the Governor – Tools for Today – Part IV

Don’t Study Vietnam, Study McArthur and Marshall

December 5th, 2006 by xformed

BFO moment.

Why are we still looking at war strategies for Iraq? Not to say there isn’t a need for such thinking, but I think it’s better applied to the larger issue of worldwide terrorism.

As far as Iraq, we need to be face down into how the Marshall Plan and General McArthur’s methods for Germany and Japan were formulated and then put into place….

This is a teaser. I have to hit the raod, but I’ll be working on this thought much, much more!

Category: Geo-Political, History, Leadership, Military, Political | 3 Comments »

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