40,000 American Army Troops Cut – What Does That Mean For Them, America, And YOU?

July 8, 2015

By Lorra B.

We live in a country consumed with fears of potential war and the never-ending threat of ISIS on our own soil. Yet, the U.S. Army is looking to shed 40,000 soldiers from its ranks over the next two years, leaving many citizens and troops concerned that we will not only be ill equipped to fight wars effectively but that our troops moral may sink to all-new lows.

Diminishing resources have been blamed as a contributing factor in cutting active military down to 450,000 troops from 490.000 by the end of 2017. The upcoming cuts have military personnel not only anxious but also changing how they view the military.

$287 million was spent on programs with one goal in mind, improving the morale of the U.S. military. It seems the money spent boosting the soldiers moral may have been better spent finding ways to keep soldiers employed. According to USA Today, 52% of American troops “across all branches remain pessimistic about their future in the military.” What is even more interesting is that declining moral seems to be caused by financial stresses, both in pay grade and longevity of career.

According to a 2014 Military Times study “In 2009, 87 percent of active-duty troops who participated in Military Time’s survey rated their pay and allowances ‘good’ or ‘excellent. This year the figure was just 44 percent.”

Our military has gotten the smallest pay hike in 41 years at just 1%. 

Now, adding to their already low moral, troops also worry about the longevity of their service, and with good cause. The Budget cuts being announced are cuts to the Army but many other military branches are worried as well.

“Thirty years ago, if you were a good airman and worked hard, you could serve for 20 years,” stated Air Force Chief Master Sergeant James Cody. “I’m not sure you can say the same today. [The budget] is curtailing the ability to serve.”

The budget planners at the Pentagon have grieved over the budget restraints saying they are “dangerous to national security, but over the last three years Congress has not found any realistic compromise to replace or dismiss the spending caps.”

The anxieties the budget cuts are creating in the ranks are surmountable. Military members have expressed concerns about career options, their pay and what it will mean for their readiness to fight. Army Sergeant Major Dan Daily stated, “We may have to tell good soldiers to go home.”

Our soldiers “should not have to deal with thinking about if they’re going to have enough resources to go ahead and do our mission,” stated Marine Corps Major Ronald Green.

Soldiers have tremendous burdens just trying to make the resources they have work for them in and off the field. The fear of being ‘laid off’ shouldn’t be another one of those burdens. Yet, it is, and for good reason. 40,000 of their jobs will be cut along with 17,000 civilian Army workers.

What does this all mean for the Untied States and her ability to fight a war and what does it mean to you?

These budget cuts, which will naturally bring about moral issues for our troops, were announced right after President Obama stated that the US would be stepping up its campaign in Syria and adding that it would be a long battle indeed! Yet, 40,000 troops will be cut.

This doesn’t make sense to me and it didn’t make sense to Alaskan Republican Senator Dan Sullivan either and he stated as much. There are valid concerns of Russian hostility in the Arctic and military assets are shifting to the Asia-Pacific. Budget cuts downsizing forces in Alaska “make no strategic sense,” said Sullivan.

If this war is going to be a long one, and most agree it will, why would cuts be made to our troops in the first place? You know, the ones actually protecting America.

Defense cuts are sparking real doubts with both our citizens and our troops. With moral on a seemingly ever-downward spin of late and upcoming military personnel ‘lay-offs’ many ponder whether America will be in a position to defend itself against war, and rightfully so.

According to the Heritage Foundation the US military, under the Obama Administration, is now only ‘marginally able’ to defend her because of how depleted the military has become. We have the lowest troop levels since World War II.

Screenshot credit, State Of Defense

Cutting 40,000 troops to already depleted ranks is an error during time of war, and make no mistake, we are in a time of war. This cut is wrong for America and it is wrong for her citizens who should not have to live in fear whether they will be protected from outside, or inside threats.

By Lorra B.

NATO Plans 40,000-strong Rapid Response Force In E. Europe

June 23, 2015

Reuters:  Kacper Pempel

NATO’s rapid response Spearhead Force in Europe might reach 40,000 troops, a tenfold growth from the initial 4,000-strong force deployed last year, the military alliance’s chief said. Most of these troops will be stationed near Russian borders.

“NATO defense ministers … [will] make a decision to further increase the strength and capacity of the 13,000-strong NATO Response Force (NRF) to 30,000 or 40,000 troops,”Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.

The decision is to be officially announced during NATO’s defense ministers meeting on June 24-25 in Brussels.

The troops will be under the command of 6 HQs to be stationed in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The Spearhead Force will include Special Forces and rapid response teams, enforced with marine and air components.

A new rapid reaction force ready to be deployed within 48 hours was initially intended to consist of 4,000 troops.

The Spearhead Force has already held its first military drills codenamed Noble Jump in Poland. The war games became “the biggest reinforcement” of defense since Cold War times, said Stoltenberg, adding that the alliance is facing challenges from “the behavior of a more assertive” Russia.

Last week, Stoltenberg criticized Russia for announced plans to add to its nuclear arsenal 40 newly made intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2015.

“This nuclear saber-rattling of Russia is unjustified. It’s destabilizing and it’s dangerous. This is something which we are addressing, and it’s also one of the reasons we are now increasing the readiness and preparedness of our forces,” Stoltenberg said during a news briefing in Brussels last Tuesday.

More at Reuters

Dusclaimer: This article was not written by Silent Soldier.

Liquid Body Armor – Army Says It Hardens On Impact

A Polish firm beyond the battlefield and on the lighter, more flexible, making for protection, the impact that the meek-looking harden fluid is the latest to concoct, according to HiTechTidings.

April 23, 2015

Army News Services:

By Tonya Johnson

This type of body armor is light and flexible, which allows soldiers to be more mobile and won’t hinder an individual from running or aiming his or her weapon.

The key component of liquid armor is a shear thickening fluid.

STF is composed of hard particles suspended in a liquid. The liquid, polyethylene glycol, is non-toxic, and can withstand a wide range of temperatures. Hard, nano-particles of silica are the other components of STF. This combination of flowable and hard components results in a material with unusual properties.

“During normal handling, the STF is very deformable and flows like a liquid. However, once a bullet or frag hits the vest, it transitions to a rigid material, which prevents the projectile from penetrating the Soldier’s body,” said Dr. Eric Wetzel, a mechanical engineer from the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate who heads the project team.

To make liquid armor, STF is soaked into all layers of the Kevlar vest. The Kevlar fabric holds the STF in place, and also helps to stop the bullet. The saturated fabric can be soaked, draped, and sewn just like any other fabric.

Wetzel and his team have been working on this technology with Dr. Norman J. Wagner and his students from the University of Delaware for three years. The goal of the technology is to create a new material that is low cost and lightweight which offers equivalent or superior ballistic properties as compared to current Kevlar fabric, but has more flexibility and less thickness,” said Wetzel. “This technology has a lot of potential.”

Liquid armor is still undergoing laboratory tests, but Wetzel is enthusiastic about other applications that the technology might be applied to.

 

More at Army News Services

Disclaimer: This article was not written by Silent Soldier.

101st Returns Home From Liberia and Ebola Mission

March 3, 2015

Fox News:

A small number of U.S. troops will remain in Liberia to build on major gains in combating the Ebola virus following the return of more than 1,000 troops from the 101st Airborne Division, the Pentagon said Friday.

The 101st ended its mission in Liberia, where Ebola cases and transmission rates have fallen dramatically since the first U.S. servicemembers deployed to the country to fight the disease in September. Members of the 101st were expected to return to the U.S. in April.

The returning troops will have to undergo a 21-day “controlled monitoring,” or quarantine, period before they will be allowed contact with their families and others, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.

Kirby said about 100 people, consisting of American troops, civilians and contractors, will remain in Liberia after April to provide engineering, medical training and facilities support in the continuing effort to contain the virus. In January, the Pentagon put the cost of the U.S. military’s work in Liberia at nearly $400 million.

Earlier, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was welcomed by an honor cordon at the Pentagon and met with Defense Secretary Aston Carter to thank the military for its efforts in her country.

History’s worst Ebola epidemic began in West Africa early last year, hitting hardest in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

At one point, the Centers for Disease Control projected that the region could have 1.6 million Ebola cases by mid-January, but the efforts of local governments backed by the U.S. military, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Health Organization and a range of non-governmental organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, combined to contain the virus.

Through Feb. 25, the CDC reported a total of 23,825 cases of Ebola in West Africa and 14,263 deaths.

In Sierra Leone, the CDC reported steep declines in case incidents while also warning that transmission remains widespread. Guinea also had declines in case incidents, the CDC said, and in Liberia “transmission continues at very low levels, with only one new case reported in the week up to February 22.”

Sirleaf met with President Obama at the White House, and both pledged continued work to bring reports of new Ebola cases down to zero.

“Our job is not yet done, and neighboring countries like Guinea and Sierra Leone are still somewhat behind the progress that’s been made in Liberia,” Obama said

More at Fox News:

Too Fat? Army Says Only 30% of Americans Are Eligible to Join

October 28, 2014

Stars and Stripes: JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The U.S. Army now says that seven out of 10 young people between the ages of 17 and 24 are ineligible to become soldiers.

The alarming reduction in the pool of prospective soldiers worries Army brass, and they largely attribute it to three issues: obesity or health problems; lack of a high school education; and criminal histories.

“There’s a reliance on an ever-smaller group of people to serve and defend the country,” said Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet, commanding general for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky. “What do we do about that and how do we address that concern?

“That’s the big national security question that I’m struggling with today.”

Facing challenges like more restricted access to schools and technological changes that require hiring for positions with very specialized skills like cyber warfare, the Army is preparing for a recruiting offensive using new tools and techniques to redefine the 21st century soldier.

“I would say it’s modernizing, or defining in a more precise way, what is considered quality for soldiers,” Batschelet said.

The current state of Army recruiting remains solid.

Influenced by budget cuts and the drawdown of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with a still sluggish economy, the Army has been able to tighten requirements while still meeting its manpower needs.

In 2011, after surging during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the active-duty Army swelled to over 561,000 soldiers.

“Today, the Army is at about 500,000 troops,” Batschelet said. “Given the current guidance that we’re getting from Congress, the chief of staff of the Army’s plan is that he has to take the Army down to about 450,000.”

The result has seen the Army drawing its most highly qualified soldiers, according to current Army standards, in recent memory.

“This last year we recruited 96,000 young men and women for both the active and reserve [Army],” Batschelet said. “The quality was some of the highest we’ve experienced in many, many years.

“We had almost 95 percent of our regular Army recruits who were high school grads.”

In fact, with the current educational requirements of a high school diploma, two of the most-decorated soldiers of World War I and World War II, Alvin York and Audie Murphy, would be ineligible to join the Army today.

“We’re looking for America’s best and brightest just like any Fortune 500 company out there,” said Lt. Col. Sharlene Pigg, head of the Jacksonville-based 2nd Recruiting Brigade. “We’re looking for those men and women who excel in science, technology, engineering and math.”

However, the Army may be pricing itself right out of the market.

“That three in 10 number that I mentioned, we think that number is headed to two in 10 by 2020,” Batschelet said.

‘Family business’

Along with so many young people ineligible to serve, the Army is also becoming more of a “family business,” he said.

“We know that about 79 percent of our recruits report that they had a family member who served or was currently serving,” Batschelet said. “That’s a little troubling to us because we want to broaden those opportunities and get other young Americans to join.”

From baby boomers to young millennials, nearly everyone had a father, grandfather or other family member who served in the military.

However, as the Greatest Generation passes away, that is no longer the case.

“The fewer people who serve, the more troubling that becomes for the nation,” Batschelet said.

In addition, the general also acknowledged that, in some areas of the country, recruiters see less access to high school students due to a variety of factors.

“We’re seeing an increasing trend with schools shutting us out from access or making access pretty restricted,” Batschelet said. “Then the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Test) test itself, schools are either choosing to not administer the ASVAB or withholding results from recruiters.

“There are unintended consequences there, because we think that is indirectly sending the signal that service to country in the military is not an honorable profession or something to which you should aspire.”

Limiting opportunities

In Batschelet’s view, this serves to limit opportunities for high school students. “It denies young people an opportunity to hear about some of the benefits, both tangible and intangible, of serving in the Army,” he said. “That’s an issue for the other services also, I believe.”

However, in the Southeast — what one might call the “Solid South” — that seems to be less of a problem.

Historically, the Southeast has punched above its weight for soldiers per capita and still does.

“They are at a higher propensity even in the face of lower unemployment numbers for the youth there is, in the Southeast, a higher propensity broadly for young people to consider joining the Army,” Batschelet said.

Recruiters in Jacksonville have noticed this as well.

“I would say that overall we have had great access to all of our school districts,” Pigg said. “We have a great rapport with the faculty, we have access and, as a whole, I would say they’ve embraced our recruiters on the school campuses.

“Also, there is just the overall South having a high propensity to serve.”

In many other areas of the country, the same does not hold true and Army policymakers are putting forth never-before-seen proposals to try to combat the dwindling pool of recruits.

“The two definitions of quality today, which are doing well on the ASVAB and a high school diploma, maybe that’s not holistic enough for the future,” Batschelet said. “So we’re moving into the arena of non-cognitive testing and personality testing.

“Maybe your academic scores aren’t all that great, but you’ve got some characteristics that would allow you to perform well as a soldier.”

Perhaps one of the most groundbreaking ideas, especially for hard-line Army traditionalists, is a changing of standards for certain roles inside the Army.

Rise in obesity

Obesity alone, according to numbers cited by the Army, has risen in children ages 12 to 19 from 5 percent in 1980 to 17.6 percent in the 2006, the most recent year available.

The current Army policy is that every recruit, whether enlisting for infantry or graphic design, has to meet the same physical requirements to join — that may be changing.

“Today, we need cyber warriors, so we’re starting to recruit for Army Cyber,” Batschelet said. “One of the things we’re considering is that your [mission] as a cyber warrior is different.

“Maybe you’re not the Ranger who can do 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups and run the 2-mile inside of 10 minutes, but you can crack a data system of an enemy.

“But you’re physically fit, you’re a healthy person and maintain your professional appearance, but we don’t make you have the same physical standards as someone who’s in the Ranger Battalion.”

Batschelet admitted that such a drastic change may be hard for some to swallow.

“That’s going to be an institutional, cultural change for us to be able to get our heads around that is kind of a different definition of quality,” he said.

“I would say it’s a modernizing, or defining in a more precise way, what is considered quality for soldiers.”

However the Army chooses to adapt, the central problem remains that the service is facing a shortage of eligible soldiers unlike it has faced since it became an all-volunteer force in 1973.

“Societally, the bottom line is that the Army had a demand-based model under the all-volunteer force for the last 40 years,” Batschelet said. “We didn’t have to worry too much about it because supply was adequate to demand.

“It just doesn’t look like that is going to be the case going forward.”

Written by Clifford Davis, Stars and Stripes

 

Lorra B. Chief Writer for Silent Soldier

http://SilentSoldier.us

Over 137 High-Ranking Military Officers Fired at Unprecedented Rate–Military Purging?

 

 

October 8, 2014

Since Barack Obama has been in the White House, according to General Paul Vallely, high-ranking military officers have been removed from their positions at a rate that is absolutely unprecedented. Things have gotten so bad that a number of retired generals are publicly speaking out about the ‘purge’ of the U.S. military that they believe is taking place.

As you will see below, dozens of highly decorated military leaders have been dismissed from their positions over the past few years. So why is this happening? What is going on right now is absolutely crazy especially during a time of peace. Is there a deliberate attempt to reshape the military and remove those who don’t adhere to the proper ‘viewpoints’? Does someone out there feel a need to get officers that won’t cooperate out of the way?

Throughout world history, whatever comes next after a military purge is never good. If this continues, what is the U.S. military going to look like in a few years? Perhaps you are reading this and you think that ‘purge’ is too strong a word for what is taking place. Well, just consider the following quotes from some very highly decorated retired officers:

-Retired Army Major General Paul Vallely: The White House protects their own. That’s why they stalled on the investigation into fast and furious, Benghazi and Obamacare. He’s intentionally weakening and gutting our military, Pentagon and reducing us as a superpower.  Anyone in the ranks who disagrees or speaks out is being purged.

-Retired Army Major General Patrick Brady: There is no doubt he (Obama) is intent on emasculating the military and will fire anyone who disagrees with him.

-Retired Army Lt. General William G. Jerry Boykin: Over the past three years, it is unprecedented for the number of four-star generals to be relieved of duty, and not necessarily relieved for cause.

-Retired Navy Captain Joseph John: I believe there are more than 137 officers who have been forced out or given bad evaluation reports so they will never make Flag (officer), because of their failure to comply to certain views.

A Pentagon official who asked to remain nameless because they were not authorized to speak on the matter said even young officers, down through the ranks have been told not to talk about Obama or the politics of the White House. They are purging everyone and if you want to keep your job just keep your mouth shut.  Now this trend appears to be accelerating.

General Vallely’s comment:

Coincidence? Every communist regime on the planet did this as soon as they gained power.  I am doing my part by sending this email, I hope you will do the same.

Paul   (General Paul Vallely)

The following is a list of our military elite who have been dismissed or fired under Obama.

Gen. John R. Allen
Fired Nov, 2012

Commanding Generals fired:

 

� General John R. Allen-U.S. Marines Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] (Nov 2012) � Major General Ralph Baker (2 Star)-U.S. Army Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn in Africa (April 2013) � Major General Michael Carey (2 Star)-U.S. Air Force Commander of the 20th US Air Force in charge of 9,600 people and 450 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (Oct 2013) � Colonel James Christmas-U.S. Marines Commander 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit & Commander Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response Unit (July 2013) � Major General Peter Fuller-U.S. Army Commander in Afghanistan (May 2011) � Major General Charles M.M. Gurganus-U.S. Marine Corps Regional Commander of SW and I Marine Expedit ionary Force in Afghanistan (Oct 2013) � General Carter F. Ham-U.S. Army African Command (Oct 2013) � Lieutenant General David H. Huntoon (3 Star), Jr.-U.S. Army 58th Superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point , NY (2013) � Command Sergeant Major Don B Jordan-U.S. Army 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command (suspended Oct 2013) � General James Mattis-U.S. Marines Chief of CentCom (May 2013) � Colonel Daren Margolin-U.S. Marine in charge of Quantico ‘s Security Battalion (Oct 2013) � General Stanley McChrystal-U.S. Army Commander Afghanistan (June 2010) � General David D. McKiernan-U.S. Army Commander Afghanistan (2009) � General David Petraeus-Director of CIA from September 2011 to November 2012 & U.S. Army Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] and Commander U.S. Forces Afghanistan [USFOR-A] (Nov 2012) � B rigadier General Bryan Roberts-U.S. Army Commander 2nd Brigade (May 2013) � Major General Gregg A. Sturdevant-U.S. Marine Corps Director of Strategic Planning and Policy for the U.S. Pacific Command & Commander of Aviation Wing at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan (Sept 2013) � Colonel Eric Tilley-U.S. Army Commander of Garrison Japan (Nov 2013) � Brigadier General Bryan Wampler-U.S. Army Commanding General of 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command [TSC] (suspended Oct 2013)

Commanding Admirals fired:

� Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette-U.S. Navy Commander John C. StennisCarrier Strike Group Three (Oct 2012) � Vice Admiral Tim Giardina(3 Star, demoted to 2 Star)-U.S. Navy Deputy Commander of the US Strategic Command, Commander of the Submarine Group Trident, Submarine Group 9 and Submarine Group 10 (Oct 2013)

Naval Officers fired:

(All in 2011 & 2012) � Captain David Geisler-U.S. Navy Commander Task Force 53 in Bahrain (Oct 2011) � Commander Laredo Bell-U.S. Navy Commander Naval Support Activity Saratoga Springs , NY (Aug 2011) � Lieutenant Commander Kurt Boenisch-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock Ponce (Apr 2011) � Commander Nathan Borchers-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer Stout (Mar 2011) � Commander Robert Brown-U.S. Navy Commander Beachmaster Unit 2 Fort Story , VA (Aug 2011) � Commander Andrew Crowe-Executive Officer Navy Region Center Singapore (Apr 2011) � Captain Robert Gamberg-Executive Officer carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (Jun 2011) � Captain Rex Guinn-U.S. Navy Commander Navy Legal Service office Japan (Feb 2011) � Commander Kevin H arms- U.S. Navy Commander Strike Fighter Squadron 137 aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (Mar 2011) � Lieutenant Commander Martin Holguin-U.S. Navy Commander mine countermeasures Fearless (Oct 2011) � Captain Owen Honors-U.S. Navy Commander aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (Jan 2011) � Captain Donald Hornbeck-U.S. Navy Commander Destroyer Squadron 1 San Diego (Apr 2011) � Rear Admiral Ron Horton-U.S. Navy Commander Logistics Group, Western Pacific (Mar 2011) � Commander Etta Jones-U.S. Navy Commander amphibious transport dock Ponce (Apr 2011) � Commander Ralph Jones-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock Green Bay (Jul 2011) � Commander Jonathan Jackson-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 134, deployed aboard carrier Carl Vinson (Dec 2011) � Captain Eric Merrill-U.S. Navy Commander submarine Emory S. Land (Jul 2 0 11) � Captain William Mosk-U.S. Navy Commander Naval Station Rota , U.S. Navy Commander Naval Activities Spain (Apr 2011) � Commander Timothy Murphy-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island , WA (Apr 2011) � Commander Joseph Nosse-U.S. Navy Commander ballistic-missile submarine Kentucky (Oct 2011) � Commander Mark Olson-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer The Sullivans FL (Sep 2011) � Commander John Pethel-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock New York (Dec 2011) � Commander Karl Pugh-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 141 Whidbey Island , WA (Jul 2011) � Commander Jason Strength-U.S. Navy Commander of Navy Recruiting District Nashville , TN (Jul 2011) � Captain Greg Thomas-U.S. Navy Commander Norfolk Naval Shipyard (May 2011) � Commander Mike Varney-U.S. Navy Commander attack submarin e Connecticut (Jun 2011) � Commander Jay Wylie-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer Momsen (Apr 2011) Naval Officers fired: (All in 2012): � Commander Alan C. Aber-Executive Officer Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 71 (July 2012) � Commander Derick Armstrong- U.S. Navy Commander missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (May 2012) � Commander Martin Arriola- U.S. Navy Commander destroyer USS Porter (Aug 2012) � Captain Antonio Cardoso- U.S. Navy Commander Training Support Center San Diego (Sep 2012) � Captain James CoBell- U.S. Navy Commander Oceana Naval Air Station’s Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic (Sep 2012) � Captain Joseph E. Darlak- U.S. Navy Commander frigate USS Vandegrift (Nov 2012) � Captain Daniel Dusek-U.S. Navy Commander USS Bonhomme � Commander David Faught-Executive Officer destroyer Chung-Hoon (Sep 2012) � Commander Fra n klin Fernandez- U.S. Navy Commander Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24 (Aug 2012) � Commander Ray Hartman- U.S. Navy Commander Amphibious dock-landing ship Fort McHenry (Nov 2012) � Commander Shelly Hakspiel-Executive Officer Navy Drug Screening Lab San Diego (May 2012) � Commander Jon Haydel- U.S. Navy Commander USS San Diego (Mar 2012) � Commander Diego Hernandez- U.S. Navy Commander ballistic-missile submarine USS Wyoming (Feb 2012) � Commander Lee Hoey- U.S. Navy Commander Drug Screening Laboratory, San Diego (May 2012) � Commander Ivan Jimenez-Executive Officer frigate Vandegrift (Nov 2012) � Commander Dennis Klein- U.S. Navy Commander submarine USS Columbia (May 2012) � Captain Chuck Litchfield- U.S. Navy Commander assault ship USS Essex (Jun 2012) � Captain Marcia Kim Lyons- U.S. Navy Commander Naval Health Clinic New England ( A pr 2012) � Captain Robert Marin- U.S. Navy Commander cruiser USS Cowpens (Feb 2012) � Captain Sean McDonell- U.S. Navy Commander Seabee reserve unit Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14 FL (Nov 2012) � Commander Corrine Parker- U.S. Navy Commander Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 1 (Apr 2012) � Captain Liza Raimondo- U.S. Navy Commander Naval Health Clinic Patuxent River , MD (Jun 2012) � Captain Jeffrey Riedel- Program manager, Littoral Combat Ship program (Jan 2012) � Commander Sara Santoski- U.S. Navy Commander Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 (Sep 2012) � Commander Kyle G. Strudthoff-Executive Officer Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 (Sep 2012) � Commander Sheryl Tannahill- U.S. Navy Commander Navy Operational Support Center [NOSC] Nashville , TN (Sep 2012) � Commander Michael Ward- U.S. Navy Commander submarine USS Pittsburgh (A u g 2012) � Captain Michael Wiegand- U.S. Navy Commander Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (Nov 2012) � Captain Ted Williams- U.S. Navy Commander amphibious command ship Mount Whitney (Nov 2012) � Commander Jeffrey Wissel- U.S. Navy Commander of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (Feb 2012)

Naval Officers fired:

(All in 2013): � Lieutenant Commander Lauren Allen-Executive Officer submarine Jacksonville (Feb 2013) � Reserve Captain Jay Bowman-U.S. Navy Commander Navy Operational Support Center [NOSC] Fort Dix , NJ (Mar 2013) � Captain William Cogar-U.S. Navy Commander hospital ship Mercy’s medical treatment facility (Sept 2013) � Commander Steve Fuller-Executive Officer frigate Kauffman (Mar 2013) � Captain Shawn Hendricks-Program Manager for naval enterprise IT networks (June 2013) � Captain David Hunter-U.S. Navy Commander of Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron 12 & Coastal Riverine Group 2 (Feb 2013) � Captain Eric Johnson -U.S. Navy Chief of Military Entrance Processing Command at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, IL (2013) � Captain Devon Jones-U.S. Navy Commander Naval Air Facility El Centro , CA (July 2013) � Captain Kevin Knoop-U.S. Navy Commander hospital ship Comfort’s medical treatment facility (Aug 2013) � Lieutenant Commander Jack O’Neill-U.S. Navy Commander Operational Support Center Rock Island , IL (Mar 2013) � Commander Allen Maestas-Executive Officer Beachmaster Unit 1 (May 2013) � Commander Luis Molina-U.S. Navy Commander submarine Pasadena (Jan 2013) � Commander James Pickens-Executive Officer frigate Gary (Feb 2013) � Lieutenant Commander Mark Rice-U.S. Navy Commander Mine Countermeasures ship Guardian (Apr 2013) � Commander Michael Runkle-U.S. Navy Commander of Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 (May 2013) � Commander Jason Stapleton-Executive O ffice Patrol Squadron 4 in Hawaii (Mar 2013) � Commander Nathan Sukols-U.S. Navy Commander submarine Jacksonville (Feb 2013) � Lieutenant Daniel Tyler-Executive Officer Mine Countermeasures ship Guardian (Apr 2013) � Commander Edward White-U.S. Navy Commander Strike Fighter Squadron 106 (Aug 2013) � Captain Jeffrey Winter-U.S. Navy Commander of Carrier Air Wing 17 (Sept 2013) � Commander Thomas Winter-U.S. Navy Commander submarine Montpelier (Jan 2013) � Commander Corey Wofford- U.S. Navy Commander frigate Kauffman (Feb 2013)

 

By Lorra B. Chief Writer for Silent Soldier

http://SilentSoldier.us

Military Families in Danger—ISIS Supporters Instructed to Slaughter Them—Sleep Well, Everything is Under Control

October 3, 2014

Fox News obtained an Army intelligence report that stated ISIS are asking their ‘supporters’ to hunt through all social media avenues for the addresses of U.S. military and their families.

ISIS, using Twitter in this case, called on their supporters to use the ‘Yellow Pages’ and then go to their perspective homes and “slaughter them” [the military family members].

According to the Intelligence report, this threat was intercepted by the Army Threat Integration Center (ARTIC) whose job it is to issue warnings of impending terror threats to Army posts around the world.

The report is recommending several precautions for military and their families in order to protect themselves, their homes and their online identities.

“Given the continued rhetoric being issued by ISIL’s media services and supporters through various social media platforms the ARTIC is concerned of the possibility of an attack,” the report stated. “Soldiers, Government Civilians, and Family Members are reminded to be vigilant of their surroundings and report suspicious activities to their respective military or local law enforcement.”

The intel group, according to ARTIC, has not discovered “any corroborative or definitive extremists plots” centered around U.S. military or their families. What they are warning against, however, is an attack based on all the social media rhetoric that ISIS is putting out on Twitter and Facebook, among others.

“This document is a reminder to stay vigilant,” reported the Army. “It provides renewed emphasis on force protection measures to ensure the safely and security of our DOD components, defense critical infrastructure, personnel, and communities.”

With the recent beheading of an Oklahoma woman and murder of New Jersey’s Brandon Tevlin, these Twitter threats of retaliatory violence against the U.S. are being taken seriously and all links to terrorist ties are being investigated.

It is the strategic objective for al-Qaeda to increase the cost of security in the U.S. even though ISIS has broken from al-Qaeda.

It has been reported before that ISIS is using social media such as Facebook and Twitter to recruit supporters and Mike Rogers (R-Mich) confirmed this on Wednesday. Rogers indicated that as many as 3,400 people a month are being recruited by this technique.

There are currently about 300 Americans fighting alongside ISIS, according to the US Government. “This is an increase from an initial estimate of 100,” stated ARTIC. “There is concern that these Americans could return to the US and commit attacks using the skills they have learned overseas.”

It wouldn’t take much of an imagination stretch to see many of these American traitors finding their way back into the U.S. and carrying out an agenda. What’s really to stop them?

It is no surprise to most Americans that our borders remain open, with no help coming anytime soon to remedy the situation. With our borders open and American traitors in our midst, or soon to be, citizens are frightened and frustrated. They want answers.

While our troops are sent to help contain a tragic Ebola outbreak, no troops are being sent to help protect our borders from domestic or foreign threats.

While Americans are looking for answers and a sense of security, Pentagon officials are finding it difficult to supply answers or provide security due to “significant gaps in intelligence.”

American Citizens and our Military are looking over their shoulders in anxiety as more and more ISIS supporters are being recruited. They are worried about being tracked down and slaughtered, or worse. Yet, amazingly, our borders remain unsecured, the Pentagon is having intelligence issues, and the Secret Service is having a hard time keeping armed citizens away from our president and the White House.

Sleep well America, everything is under control.

 

 

By Lorra B. Chief Writer for Silent Soldier

http://SilentSoldier.us

 

Transgender, Formerly Army Private Bradley Manning, Files Lawsuit Against U.S. Government

September 23, 2014

Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Army private Bradley Manning, is back in the news from her prison cell stating that the military is just giving her “lip service” and not addressing the gender-reassignment treatment she asked for last year.

In August of 2013 Manning was found guilty of 20 charges that ranged from espionage to theft. For the disclosing of hundreds of thousands of classified documents Manning received 35 years imprisonment at Fort Leavensworth.

“I am Chelsea Manning. I am female,” Manning stated. “Given the way that I feel, and felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transaction.” It has been a year since she made those statements. 

On Tuesday, Manning stated that the military has failed to provide her with the medical treatment for the condition she has been diagnosed with, Gender Dysphoria.

“Gender identity disorder (GID), also known as gender dysphoria, is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant dysphoria (discontent) with the sex they were assigned at birth and/or the gender roles associated with that sex,” according to Wikipedia.

Manning was diagnosed with GID in 2010. According to the suit, the American Civil Liberties Union states that it was the Army medical personnel who diagnosed her.

Because of the pending litigation, Army Lt. Col. Alayne Conway, a spokeswoman from the Pentagon, stated that she could not comment of the situation.

Filed in U.S. District Court, the lawsuit points out that Manning is a high risk of ‘self-castration.’ The suit also indicates that if she does not receive the proper treatment for her gender dysphoria she is at a high risk for suicide as well.

 

ACLU attorney Chase Strangio stated, “Such clear disregard of well-established medical protocols constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”

Grooming principles are also at the heart of the lawsuit. Manning is seeking the right to groom herself according to female standards, including the length of her hair and her attire. She would like to use cosmetics and receive hormone treatments “in order to express her female gender,” the suit explains.

Manning’s lawyers stated that she “will suffer continued pain, depression and anxiety…,” all of which can to lead to suicidal inclinations.

Excited that she had been granted the rights to be formally know as Chelsea Elizabeth Manning, she said, “I’ve been working for months for this change, and waiting for years.”

“I requested that the military provide me with a treatment plan consistent with the recognized professional standards of care for trans [gender] health. They quickly evaluated me and informed me that they came up with a proposed treatment plan.

“However, I have not yet seen their treatment plan, and in over eight months, I have not received any response as to whether the plan will be approved or disapproved, or whether it follows the guidelines of qualified health professionals,” Manning said.

The truth is, having never dealt with this type of situation, that the Army has struggled with just how to handle Manning’s situation. Federal prisons have the ability to handle cases of transgender inmates. Military prisons, on the other hand, do not. Technically, a person who is transgender would not even be able to serve in the military.

Manning, according to the Army, is still considered a male and she will continue to be held with male inmates.

Read Chelsea Manning’s ‘The Fog Machine of War.’

 

By Lorra B. Chief Writer for Silent Soldier

http://SilentSoldier.us

Stop Glorifying Football Players and Start Glorifying Soldiers

 

September 19, 2014

TIME: No football player is a hero in the way that a man or woman who risks his or her life in a just cause is a hero

A lot of National Football League players have been right up on the front page lately, but for all the wrong reasons. Ray Rice is in serious trouble for knocking his then-fiancé out cold—the tape of the event is enough to make almost anyone at least slightly ill. Adrian Peterson will soon be up on charges for punishing his four-year-old son with a switch. Two other ballers of an especially hard-nosed type are also in trouble with the law over domestic abuse. Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panthers has been convicted of the crime: his case is on appeal. (He was on the field this past Sunday, post-conviction.) Ray McDonald of the San Francisco Forty-Niners is being investigated. Meanwhile, almost forgotten in the new melee of violence and possible violence, Aaron Hernandez, former star tight end of the New England Patriots, sits in a prison cell in Massachusetts awaiting trial on multiple counts of murder.

What are we to make of all this? Why are these players—and perhaps a few others as yet undetected and uncharged—behaving so badly?

No less a personage than Dwight David Eisenhower observed that one should never try to understand why it is that people do what they do. They simply do it, that’s all. Observe what they do and make the best of it you can.

And yet one still wonders what this misbehavior is all about.

When I posed the question to a friend of mine, he responded directly. What do you expect? They’ve been worshipped like gods ever since they were kids, he told me. And that’s true enough. Adults have melted in awe at their ability to fling a ball down a field, dodge a tackler, or knock another player on his can. Of course some have outsized egos and a royal sense of entitlement. Of course some think they can get away with more than the rest of us. If someone had treated you like a monarch from the time you could wear shoulder pads, so would you. If people took you for a hero because you could create first downs or stop them, what would you be like?

I thought about what my friend said (and what I heaped on to his observation myself) and after a while I suspected that he was on to something. The operative word here was a common enough one. The operative word was “hero.”

In our culture we treat sports players as heroes. Of course we do: because what they achieve on the playing field is amazing. Baseball players and hoop stars and of course gridiron greats perform spectacular feats all the time. And so we worship them—of course we do.

But is a football player (or an ace b-baller or a twenty game winning pitcher) really a hero? If you think so, you are parting company with tradition.

In the Western tradition a hero is, in the earliest manifestation, a warrior. It’s someone like Homer’s Hector, or Virgil’s Aeneas, who is willing to fight and if necessary to die to defend his people. Hector has to face the amazing Achilles in defense of Troy—and of course Hector loses. Aeneas fights all enemies, including the formidable Turnus, to secure the founding of Rome. In the Hebrew tradition, David steps up to Goliath to save his nation.

Other heroic archetypes come along over time. People learn to stand in awe not only of warriors, but of saintly individuals like Jesus and Buddha and Confucius. People learn to salute great thinkers like Plato and Aristotle and later major scientists like Einstein. Human beings first find their heroes among warriors and spiritual leaders and men and women of imposing intellect. The saint, the warrior, the true thinker: these were the original heroes.

We still need heroes. Everyone at every time has. But we cannot find our martial heroes on the battlefield anymore. We do not know if our recent wars are just. We do not know if our causes are true. Were we right to invade Afghanistan? Were we ultimately justified in going into Iraq? Most people are not sure.

The newspapers don’t tell us many stories of the men and women who fight under our colors in the Middle East. We usually do not know who they are and what they are doing. Right now we do not have bona fide martial heroes to praise.

So we worship football players instead. We worship athletes: we swoon at the feet of simulation heroes. The average NFL fan can probably name 20 football heroes. How many heroes from the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan can the fan name?

Football players can be brave: it’s true. What they do on Saturday and Sunday afternoons is graceful, beautiful and dangerous. But no football player who ever lived or ever will live is a hero in the way that a man or woman who risks his or her life in a just cause is a hero. Those are real heroes. The Greeks were devoted to sports: they were, of course, the inventors of the Olympic games. But no Greek would tell you that an athlete was more important than Leonidas and the three hundred Spartans who stopped the Persians at Thermopylae. No Greek could imagine that an athlete was more to be praised than Themistocles and his sailors, who won the victory at Salamis.

Sports heroes are simulation heroes. I love sports—don’t get me wrong. But we’ve blown the games and the players all out of proportion.

The players: we treat them like Hector and Achilles and Aeneas and Ajax. We look at them as though they were man-gods. And after a decade and a half of being worshipped, is it surprising if pro athletes turn out to be willful, spoiled, bullying and selfish? Remember how the gods in the Greek myths were prone to act? They were willful and selfish and all the rest.

If we could start worshipping real heroes—true thinkers and just warriors and lovers of humanity—we could take back a little bit of our investment in football idols. That would be a fine change for us all—and I’ll bet it wouldn’t be a half bad thing for the players, either.

Written by Mark Edmundson 

 

By Lorra B. Chief writer for SilentSoldier

http://SilentSoldier.us

 

 

Shooting at Fort Lee—4th Violent Act of its Kind at Military Installation

In an apparent suicide attempt, a female soldier injured herself at the Fort Lee Army base in Virginia around 9 a.m. Monday morning.

Fort Lee was placed on temporary lock-down and an Active Shooter protocol was established after the individual was seen with a gun inside the building.

Officials stated that she began throwing objects and then “the soldier turned the weapon on herself and fired one shot, injuring herself.” She did not wound anyone, other than herself, and an ‘all clear’ was given at around 9:50 a.m.

The shooting took place in a four-story building that, according to a military press release, is the headquarters for the Army’s Combined Arms Support Command.

She barricaded herself on the third floor when the lock-down came. According to officials, there were over 1,100 individuals in the building at the time of the shooting.

According to Stars and Stripes, “The daily population at Fort Lee—25 miles south of Richmond and 130 miles from Washington—is about 34,000, with members from all branches, their families, civilians and contractors. Fort Lee’s website says the installation has seen enormous growth and renovations over the past decade as a result of realignment and closures of bases across the U.S.”

As of yet, Army officials are not releasing the name of the shooter but stated that the soldier shot herself in the head after she had barricaded herself in the building. She is being treated at Virginia commonwealth University Medical Center.

The commanding general at Fort Lee, Maj. Gen. Stephen Lyons, stated that the soldier is a sergeant first class and has been in the Army for 14 years. The gun she used was not a service weapon.

 “We’re going to keep her in our prayers. She’s a soldier, she’s one of our teammates,” Lyons stated. Declining to indicate on her mental health condition or what could have lead up to the incident, Lyons simply said that she was “upset and enraged.”

 “We are sad for our soldier in arms that she faced those kinds of challenges that she felt that she had to resort to those kinds of actions. At the same time we’re grateful because this situation could have been worse.”

 Whether or not the soldier was being treated for mental health issues or if drugs or alcohol could have been a factor, officials are unclear and wont speculate. Lyons also stated that he wasn’t sure if her enraged state during the incident was an indicator of her personality trait or not.

 This shooting at Fort Lee, the fourth of its kind, came just four months after a soldier plagued with mental health issues opened fire killing three people and wounding 16 others at Fort Hood in Texas. This Fort Hood incident was the third of its kind in six months at that military base. Stars and Stripes reports, a civilian truck driver, in March, shot and killed a “sailor aboard a Navy destroyer at Naval Station Norfolk before he was shot and killed by Navy security…In June, authorities said a sailor repeatedly stabbed another near Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. The same installation was placed on lock-down in April when a sailor shot and killed himself inside a barracks there.”

“Monday’s lock-down came days after Fort Lee announced in its official newspaper that a new mass warning and emergency notification system would be activated in the coming weeks…The system allows users to input phone numbers, email addresses or pop-up alerts on any computer that’s part of the main Fort Lee network, the newspaper said.”

180,000 students are trained annually from CASCOM and on Aug 22, Lyons became its new commanding general.

 

By Lorra B. Chief Writer for Silent Soldier

http://SilentSoldier.us