Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Military veterans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military veterans. Show all posts

Sunday, November 11, 2018

A Prayer for Veterans: for the Men and Women in Uniform


A Prayer for Veterans: for the Men and Women in Uniform

11Nov2018 I was looking for a prayer for an upcoming Veterans program in case I was asked at the last minute to step in with a prayer. Looking for some inspiration, I found this prayer after a quick search: “A Veterans Day Prayer: For Those Who Protect Our Nation,” by Debbie McDaniel Crosswalk.com Blogspot for Debbie McDaniel of Fresh Day Ahead – from 11Nov2016 It may be found here: https://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/debbie-mcdaniel/a-veterans-day-prayer-for-those-who-protect-our-nation.html

Ms. McDaniel – if it is not okay that I have shared your prayer here – just email me at kevindayhoff at gmail.com and let me know and I will immediately take it down. THX – And thanks in advance for a great Veterans Day prayer.

+++++++++++

We honor you today Veterans, and all those who wear the uniform, as we pray...and give thanks...and remember.

The Lord bless you greatly for your service and sacrifice.

And may God bless America!

Dear God, We thank you for the freedom you have given to us, and for the price that was paid by Christ so that we could live free. We remember today. The cost of it all. The great sacrifice for freedom.

We thank you for the brave who have fought, and continue to fight, so courageously for our nation. We ask for your covering and blessing over them and their families. We pray that you would be gracious and encircle them with your peace. We pray for your great favor and goodness to be evident in their lives.

Please be with the men and women in uniform, who serve our communities and nation every single day. We ask that you provide your protection, that you would be their guiding force who leads the way, and their rear guard who keeps them safe from behind. We ask that you would draw them to yourself amidst the dangers they face in a dark world, for you are the Truth, you are the Way, you are the Light.

When the voice of hate rises up against them, we ask that you would silence it. When the plans of the enemy rise up to cause them to stumble, we ask that you would thwart it. When the forces of evil rise up to strike them down, we ask that you would stop it. Lord, we know how powerful you are, all have heard of your Great Name, and we ask that you would indeed be the wind beneath their wings, the power behind their efforts, the heart behind their service, as they are on the front lines against evil in our world today.

Help them to walk wisely. To stay covered in your armor. Give them godly discernment. Make them constantly aware of what lurks close by. Help them to be men and women of prayer, realizing that this is where their greatest help comes from. Help them to stay united and strong, bold and resolute, determined and unwavering.

Lord bless all those who wear the uniform, who serve our cities, our nation, our people. Bless their families. Bless those they love. Give them your great favor, this day, and every day.

Thank you that in our nation today, we are free to worship. We are free to pray. We are free to read your Word.  We are free to speak.  We are free to share. For this, we are incredibly grateful. Yet, we understand how quickly these freedoms can be taken away. Give us an increased awareness of the spiritual battle we're in. Help us to stand strong in you and for your purposes.

Thank you that as believers, we can be assured, you never leave us, and you are with us always, in this life, and the next.

Amen.

(This article also appeared here: http://debbiemcdaniel.com/2016/11/11/veterans-day-prayer-protect-nation/#) Debbie McDaniel is a writer, pastor's wife, mom to three amazing kids (and a lot of pets). Join her each morning on Fresh Day Ahead's facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/DebbieWebbMcDaniel, for daily encouragement in living strong, free, hope-filled lives. Find her also at http://twitter.com/debbmcdaniel and http://www.debbiemcdaniel.com.


++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/
Scribd Kevin Dayhoff: http://www.scribd.com/kdayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems: http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/ 
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/ 
Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf

Monday, April 04, 2016

Irony Ensues after VA Secretary Asked Famous Veteran To Contact him

Irony Ensues after VA Secretary Asked Famous Veteran To Contact him


Nov. 12, 2015 – April 4, 2016



Always remember that at this point there are compelling and persuasive arguments for a single-payer health insurance public policy. Folks who advocate for such an approach are to be respected. Because of the Healthcare Affordability Act – Obamacare, insurance is rapidly becoming so expensive that employers can no longer afford it.

And because of the Healthcare Affordability Act, more and more individuals do not have health care coverage. Bankruptcies as a result of the cost of healthcare are rapidly increasing – and medicine has become so bureaucratized that one may wonder if the purpose of the healthcare delivery system today is to adhere to the rules of the Dept. of Health and Human Services or see to it that the patient gets better.

However, the biggest argument against a single-payer healthcare system run by the government is the healthcare provided by the Veterans Administration – motto: giving you a second chance to die for your country. 

Irony Ensues after VA Secretary Asked Famous Veteran To Contac...See more videos from Western Journalism at http://w-j.co/videos
Posted by Western Journalism Video on Thursday, November 12, 2015

See more videos from Western Journalism at http://w-j.co/videos
Posted by Western Journalism Video on Thursday, November 12, 2015
*****

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

NYT: Some Top Officials Knew of V.A. Woes, Before the Scandal - By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. DEC. 25, 2014

Some Top Officials Knew of V.A. Woes, Before the Scandal

By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

DEC. 25, 2014 


Long before revelations in the spring that the Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix had manipulated waiting lists to hide that veterans were facing long delays to see doctors, senior department officials in Washington had been made aware of serious problems at the hospital, according to filings before a federal administrative board.

The documents in the case of the Phoenix hospital director Sharon Helman, who had been contesting her Nov. 24 firing, provided new details of how much officials knew about the medical center, including patient backlogs, shortages of medical personnel and clinic space, and long waiting lists…


*****

Sunday, March 30, 2014

GOP slams VA: 'Bureaucracy run amok' | TheHill

GOP slams VA: 'Bureaucracy run amok' | TheHill: "By Bernie Becker"

President Obama should back a measure to streamline a Veterans Affairs “bureaucracy run amok,” a House Republican said in the party’s weekly address Saturday.

Rep. Jackie Walorksi (Ind.), a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, called on the White House to support a bill that would empower the VA secretary “to fire senior officials who aren’t up to the job,” helping to clean up the department’s current backlog on disability claims that averages 330 days a case.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/202096-gop-on-veterans-affairs-backlog-bureaucracy-run-amok
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook


'via Blog this'
*****

Monday, November 11, 2013

African-Americans have fought for our freedoms since the founding of the Republic

African-Americans have fought for our freedoms 
since the founding of the Republic

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, Sunday, November 10, 2013

This is a longer version of an article that appeared in the Baltimore Sun November 8, 2013 for Veterans Day “Black Americans have fought for Republic since its founding [Eagle Archive]” By Kevin Dayhoff, Find the article here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/carroll/westminster/ph-ce-eagle-archives-1110-20131108,0,7516674.story



This coming Monday, November 11, is Veteran’s Day. For many it is a day to pause and remember that the freedoms we enjoy have been paid for in full by the service in harm’s way by our country’s nearly 22 million military veterans.

According to the local Molleville Farm Post # 467 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, in 2008 9.2 million veterans were older than 64 years of age and 1.9 million were younger than 35.

In 2009, 1.5 million of our veterans were female, 1.1 million Hispanic and 2.3 million are African-American.

“If you study American history very closely, you will see that African-Americans have been stepping up to the plate to defend our nation since the founding of the Republic,” according to Brig. Gen. Linda Singh, 49, the recently appointed commander of the Maryland Army National Guard.

A month ago, on October 11, Singh was one of two keynote speakers at the 11th annual Carroll County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Branch # 7014 Freedom Fund Banquet in Westminster – along with U.S. Congressman Elijah Cummings, D-Dist. 7.

Soon after Singh assumed the commander responsibilities in August, she appointed Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Beyard to serve as the Maryland Army National Guard Command Sergeant Major. Many know Beyard, who served twice in the Middle East between 2006 and 2012, as the Westminster city director of housing and preservation services.

Singh is the first African-American – and the first woman to assume the position of commander. “I did not rise to my current assignment by myself. I stood on the shoulders of giants. For much of America's history, one nagging fact of life for African American military members is that they were risking their lives for second­ class citizenship up to the time of the war in Vietnam…

“If you ask why they would do this the answer from most is that this is their country too and there was always a hope that the inequities of the time would be settled. During the Revolutionary War, a newly freed slave named Peter Salem joined the Massachusetts Militia as a condition of his freedom.  The folks were also known as Minutemen… During the American Civil War, 180,000 African Americans fought for the Union Army…”

“African-Americans have served in all of America's wars,” according to historian Jay Graybeal. He reported in research that he conducted for the Historical Society of Carroll County in the early 1990s, “Over 10,000 blacks served in the Continental Army and Navy forces; another 1,000 served with the British. Black seamen fought with great distinction at the critical Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

“The Federal government enlisted 178,975 blacks during the Civil War; 69,178 died during the conflict. Blacks were again called for service in World War I. Approximately 90 Carroll County men served in all-black U.S. Army units,” wrote Graybeal.

Another historian, Duane K. Doxzen, reported in his research for the Historical Society in the 1990s, “Although blacks had served in military units before the Civil War, it was this conflict that saw the enlistment of blacks in large numbers. A significant number of Carroll County free blacks and manumitted slaves enlisted in the United States Colored Troops. Most of these volunteers served in the Fourth Regiment U.S.C.T., a unit that had been formed around the volunteers from the two thousand black Baltimoreans who had aided in the fortification of the city amidst the panic of Robert E. Lee's northward incursion in 1863.

“We know at least fifty three blacks from Carroll County served in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. Of this number seven were killed in action, died as the result of a wound inflicted in battle or died of disease. Seven others were discharged or mustered out with wounds or disabilities resulting from their service,” reported Doxzen.

“After the Civil War, the U.S. Congress allowed four colored regiments to be part of the United States Army...two cavalry and two infantry,” said Singh.

“Perhaps the most famous of those regiments was the l0th Cavalry. The soldiers of the regiment were nicknamed "Buffalo Soldiers" by Native
Americans because of the similarity of their hair to that of buffaloes.

“These soldiers fought Geronimo, bandits, bootleggers, Mexican revolutionaries and guarded the lives of American settlers who were occupying the West. The regiment fought alongside of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders during his attack on San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish American War.”

Singh observed, “The American Armed Forces were still largely segregated when World War II began in 1941. This did not stop African Americans from volunteering to serve their country….

“More than 966 African American aviators were trained at an isolated training complex at the Tuskegee Institute near the town of Tuskegee Alabama… Four hundred and fifty black fighter pilots under the command of Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Benjamin 0. Davis, Jr. fought in the aerial war over North Africa, Sicily, and Europe…”

“While President Truman desegregated the Armed Forces in 1948, the civilian sector, especially in the south stubbornly grasped to segregation,” said Singh. “This did not stop African Americans from pursuing successful careers in the Armed Forces… Many African American women have made and are making successful careers in the American armed forces…

“Despite its historical flaws, the American Armed Forces has been a stellar example for personal achievement based on merit this is because, advancement, for the most part, is based upon what you do, not who you know….”

President John F. Kennedy said it best, “A nation reveals itself not only by the by the people it produces, but also by the people it honors, the people it remembers”.

Throughout history ordinary people have served in our extraordinary military and accomplished extraordinary things. For this we are eternally indebted and grateful.

And let’s not forget to say Happy Birthday Marines. November 10, 1775, is the official birthday of the United States Marine Corps.

Westminster will honor Veterans Day on Monday, Nov. 11, 4 p.m. at the Westminster Recreation and Parks Family Center, located in the old Longwell Armory, 11 Longwell Ave. The event is hosted by Carroll Post 31 American Legion.


When he is not reminiscing about serving in the Marines and whistling the “Marines’ Hymn,” “… from the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli…,” while raking leaves, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at kevindayhoff (at) gmail.com. Semper Fi. 

Friday, November 08, 2013

Black Americans have fought for Republic since its founding [Eagle Archive]

Black Americans have fought for Republic since its founding [Eagle Archive]

Black Americans have fought for Republic since its founding [Eagle Archive]

By Kevin Dayhoff, Baltimore Sun November 8, 2013 for Veterans Day


Monday is Veterans Day, a day to pause and remember that the freedoms we enjoy have been paid for by the service in harm's way of our country's nearly 22 million veterans.

"African-Americans have served in all of America's wars," according to local historian Jay Graybeal. "Over 10,000 blacks served in the Continental Army and Navy forces. Another 1,000 served with the British. Black seamen fought with great distinction at the critical Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812."

He reported in research that he conducted for the Historical Society of Carroll County in the early 1990s that, "The Federal government enlisted 178,975 blacks during the Civil War; 69,178 died during the conflict. Blacks were again called for service in World War I. Approximately 90 Carroll County men served in all-black U.S. Army units."

[…]

"If you study American history very closely, you will see that African-Americans have been stepping up to the plate to defend our nation since the founding of the Republic," said Brig. Gen. Linda Singh, 49, the recently appointed commander of the Maryland Army National Guard.

Singh is the first African-American, and the first woman, to be named commander.

"I did not rise to my current assignment by myself," she said. "I stood on the shoulders of giants."


A month ago, Singh and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings were the keynote speakers during the 11th annual Carroll County NAACP Branch 7014's Freedom Fund Banquet in Westminster.


 Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/ “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

November 11, 2007: the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Reprinted by request

November 11, 2007: the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Reprinted by request on June 26, 2013: Veterans Day: 

“The Wall” at 25

November 11, 2007 by Kevin Dayhoff (998 words)




This year Veterans Day is also the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Constitution Gardens adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  The Memorial, well known as “The Wall” was dedicated on November 13, 1982.

“Remembering Vietnam - The Wall at 25,” is the subject of a stunning original Smithsonian Channel Documentary.  The program will be simultaneously web-streamed on the Smithsonian Channel Website - www.smithsonianchannel.com with its on-air broadcast to DirecTV subscribers on Channel 267 this evening at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

My colleague at The Westminster Eagle, Heidi Schroeder and I were provided an advance copy of the documentary.  We had been contacted for research information by Lynn Kessler-Hiltajczuk last summer.

Ms. Kessler-Hiltajczuk is a writer-producer for Alexandria-based LK Productions and served as an independent producer for the program.  She was looking for additional information on Lance Cpl. Muriel Stanley Groomes, a Carroll Countian who was killed in Vietnam on Nov. 2, 1968.

Ms. Schroeder writes that in “addition to a history of The Wall's construction and interviews with veterans, the documentary provides a sneak peek into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection, which features over 100,000 items that have been left at The Wall.”

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund founder and president Jan Scruggs calls the program "the best documentary film about the wall I've ever seen."  After reviewing it several times, I could not agree more.

In the many years since the dedication of The Wall, the memorial has evolved into a national shrine for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam – an often misunderstood and inaccurately reported conflict. 

It has also become a tribute to the American veterans who served our country in that long-ago war thousands of miles away from the comfort of our living room. 

Veterans such as the current Carroll County State’s Attorney, Jerry F. Barnes, (and former Frederick County assistant State’s Attorney) who choose to forego what would have been an easily available draft deferment in May 1968 and joined the Army.

It was in that month, that the 1966 Westminster High School graduate received his draft notice.  According to a biographical sketch written by former Maryland State Delegate Carmen Amedori, Mr. Barnes joined a number of draftees from Carroll County “on a school bus at the (Westminster) Post Office downtown,” and headed to Fort Holabird in Baltimore – and then promptly to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

There Mr. Barnes opted to eschew being drafted for two years and enlisted for three years.  At first he wanted to be a helicopter pilot, but after a series of events, he signed up for Special Forces - the Green Berets.

Mr. Barnes’ Vietnam experience was one of a number of sketches by Ms. Amedori which appears in a new publication from the Historical Society of Carroll County, “Tours of Duty – Carroll County and the Vietnam War,” by Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal.

In a recent phone interview Mr. Barnes talked about his service in Vietnam from September 16, 1969 to September 16, 1970.  Mr. Barnes began his Special Forces – Green Beret training in January 1969. 

Soon after arriving at Cam Ranh Bay he assigned to the first of three “A-Camps” in Kon Tum Province which is located in the Central Tay Nguyen Highlands.  The “A-Camp” counterinsurgency concept is still being used to this day in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In Kon Tum province he served at A-241 Polei Kleng; A-244 Ben Het; A-245 Dak Seang – about 20 miles from the Laotian border as one of approximately 10 American “advisors” serving with several hundred Montagnard tribesmen in the “Civilian Irregular Defense Group” counterinsurgency program.

In Vietnam, Sgt. Barnes served with the 5th Special Forces Group and a “typical” assignment was to go out on 8 to 10-day operations as (more often than not) the lone American with a contingent of South Vietnamese Special Forces counterparts – or Montagnards, to monitor and patrol the Ho Chi Minh trail.  “Our objective was to interdict and disrupt the supply activities of the trail.”

“It was while out on one of these patrols that Barnes’ heroic actions earned him the first of two Bronze Stars for valor,” according to Ms. Amedori.

Mr. Barnes explained that he was with 20 Montagnards 18 miles from the Laotian border “manning a radio relay station for a larger operation farther out when we were attacked as dusk by a (contingent) of the North Vietnamese regular Army.” 

The ensuing firefight lasted throughout the night.  “We took some casualties and before it was all over, it took calling in an artillery attack, then Cobra helicopter gunships followed by suppression fire from C-130’s, known as “Puff the Magic Dragons,” and finally two fighter jets to save them.

Before returning home he was awarded a second Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge among a number of recognitions.  He turned down a number of Army re-enlistment offers and served the remainder of his enlistment stateside with the 10th Special Forces with the famed 10th Mountain Division in New England.

After his honorable discharge in June 1971, he utilized the GI Bill and graduated first from the University of Baltimore and went on to graduate from the University of Baltimore Law School in June 1977.

“I actually started as an intern with the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office in 1976,” said Mr. Barnes.  With the exception of four years with the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s office he has been with Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office ever since.  He served as an Assistant State’s Attorney until he was first elected to the office of Carroll County State's Attorney in November 1994.

Mr. Barnes has “tried as best I can to attend all the Veterans Day ceremonies...  It is important to remember individuals who have dedicated their lives for the establishment and preservation of our freedoms.”

It is important that this Veterans Day, we remember the service of Sgt. Barnes and countless other veterans.  God bless them all for their dedication and commitment.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at: kevindayhoff at gmail.com

####
*****

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Stars and Stripes Daily Headlines: After decade of war, troops still struggling to find work and other news

[img]After decade of war, troops still struggling to find work
This is what the end of a decade of war looked like in Oklahoma a few weeks ago: ex-soldiers in cheap new business suits; human resources managers with salesman smiles and stacks of glossy fliers; a former Marine speaking to a television news crew about the “tough times” and “nightmares” he has had since coming home. 

 
[img]58 killed in Afghanistan violence
At least 58 people were reported killed in Afghanistan on Saturday. In one operation led by Afghan forces, 51 Taliban fighters and three Afghan troops were killed. 

 
[img]US, Afghanistan OK detention center transfer 
The U.S. has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the Parwan Detention Facility to Afghan control, the Pentagon said Saturday, two weeks after negotiations broke down over whether the U.S. would have the power to block the release of some detainees. 

 
[img]US aids Honduran police despite death squad fears
The U.S. State Department, which spends millions of taxpayer dollars a year on the Honduran National Police, has assured Congress that money only goes to specially vetted and trained units that don't operate under the direct supervision of a police chief once accused of extrajudicial killings and "social cleansing." 

 
[img]Iron Man meets HULC as Lockheed enters exoskeletons race
Wearable machines that enhance human muscle power are poised to leave the realm of science fiction and help factory workers hoist heavier tools, lighten soldiers' loads and enable spinal patients to walk. 

 
[img]Key US decision on Cuba terror-designation coming
A normally routine bit of Washington bureaucracy could have a big impact on U.S. relations with Cuba, either ushering in a long-stalled detente or slamming the door on rapprochement, perhaps until the scheduled end of the Castro era in 2018. 
*****

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Time to rethink Afghanistan September 25, 2012 by Kevin E. Dayhoff


In light of a recent dispatch from Michael Yon, “Stuck in the Mud,” 24September 2012, http://www.michaelyon-online.com/stuck-in-the-mud.htm, I am reminded of what I wrote back in March, 2012:

“Time to Rethink Afghanistan” by Kevin E. Dayhoff March 28, 2012






So far, 2012 has not been a good year for the war in Afghanistan. Just last Monday a New York Times/CBS poll quantified what most Americans already know in their gut: support for the war is dropping sharply among both Democrats and Republicans.

According to the Times’ article, “Support in U.S. for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds,” “the survey (a copy of which may be accessed here,) found that more than two-thirds of those polled — 69 percent — thought that the United States should not be at war in Afghanistan. Just four months ago, 53 percent said that Americans should no longer be fighting in the conflict, more than a decade old.”

Inadvertently, the Times article explained part of the problem when it quoted “Michael E. O’Hanlon, a military expert at the Brookings Institution, who is close to American commanders in Afghanistan, said that the opinion polls reflected a lack of awareness of the current policy…”

Yes, Mr. Hanlon, you are correct. Ten years of war and at this point in time, most Americans cannot tell you why we are still risking the lives of our young men and women.

The rest of the quote from Mr. Hanlon reads: “…the current policy, which calls for slowly turning over portions of the country to Afghan security forces, like the southern provinces, where American troops have tamped down the violence.

“I honestly believe,” said Mr. Hanlon, “if more people understood that there is a strategy and intended sequence of events with an end in sight, they would be tolerant…”

Here’s the takeaway: “The overall image of this war is of U.S. troops mired in quicksand and getting blown up and arbitrarily waiting until 2014 to come home. Of course, you’d be against it,” said Mr. Hanlon.

Bingo. Increasingly the overall image of this war has become the feckless foreign policy of sending young men and women into quicksand to get blown-up arbitrarily.

The additional context of the troubled mission-drift approach to the war may be found in a recent telling interview with the top commander in Afghanistan, detailed by Jennifer Hlad and Chris Carroll in Stars and Stripes.

U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen was quoted as saying that “he believes the majority of non-commissioned officers; staff NCOs and young officers are ‘extraordinarily well-trained.’

“Repeated tours in Afghanistan, and prior to that, in Iraq, don’t inherently reduce the effectiveness of the force or reduce the effectiveness of small-unit leadership… I’m confident the institution is solid,” said General Allen in the article, “Allen: Investigation of Afghan killings to look at leadership climate.”

Anecdotally and unscientifically, all intuition and instincts indicate that General Allen has unwittingly responded to what has been, heretofore, only whispers in the hallway… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5001



*****

Friday, March 30, 2012

Half of Army's senior NCOs to face separation boards

March 26, 2012

Half of Army's senior NCOs to face separation boards


A total of 64,500 Army noncommissioned officers will be screened by retention boards, starting with a sergeant major board on June 4, according to a report by the Army Times.

Fifty percent of the Army’s senior NCOs will be considered for possible involuntary separation over the next several months as the boards meet, the Army Times reports…http://www.stripes.com/half-of-army-s-senior-ncos-to-face-separation-boards-1.172713



*****

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Time to Rethink Afghanistan by Kevin E. Dayhoff March 28, 2012 The Tentacle http://tinyurl.com/8a4emqm



Wednesday, March 28, 2012





So far, 2012 has not been a good year for the war in Afghanistan. Just last Monday a New York Times – CBS poll quantified what most Americans already know in their gut; support for the war is dropping sharply among both Democrats – and Republicans.

According to the New York Times’ article, “Support in U.S. for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds,” “The survey (a copy of which may be accessed here,) found that more than two-thirds of those polled — 69 percent — thought that the United States should not be at war in Afghanistan. Just four months ago, 53 percent said that Americans should no longer be fighting in the conflict, more than a decade old.”

Inadvertently, the New York Times article explained part of the problem when it quoted “Michael E. O’Hanlon, a military expert at the Brookings Institution who is close to American commanders in Afghanistan, said that the opinion polls reflected a lack of awareness of the current policy…”

Yes, Mr. Hanlon, you are correct. Ten years of war and at this point in time, most Americans cannot tell you why we are still risking the lives of our young men and women… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5001




*****