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Over the last 8 years, in addition to fighting Obama's numerous wars, the US army has served as a gigantic social sciences lab under this president. Gays can serve openly, as can transgender people. The government will even pay for some gender reassignment surgeries for trans soldiers. Women are now eligible for some combat roles, including special forces. It seems that President Obama has cared more about imposing his cultural agenda on the military rather than winning wars. Now, in the waning days of the administration, the army has decided to take the idea of a "uniform" and turn it...

Beck speaks about public demonstrations of military strength... in America

WINTHROP, Wash., Sep. 3, 2006 -- Task Force Blaze is returning home to Fort Lewis, Wash., today, following a three-week deployment to fight wildfires in the state’s north-central region. Spc. Aldo Gonzalez lights a fire as part of a burnout operation. Gonzalez is one of 550 soldiers making up Task Force Blaze, which deployed to firelines Aug. 17 to assist civilian firefighters with containing the huge Tripod Complex fire near Winthrop, Wash. Gonzalez is an Avenger crew member assigned to 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash. Photo by Patti Bielling  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

An Iraqi Soldier raises the national flag during a pass and review ceremony held yesterday at Camp Taji. The Iraqi Army's 6th Motor Transport Regiment conducted a transfer of authority ceremony that released control by the 4th Sustainment Brigade. Story and photo by Sgt. Trevor Snyder 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi Army 6th Motor Transport Regiment took control of its own operations in a ceremony July 3 at Camp Taji, a sprawling joint Iraqi-Coalition facility just a few miles north of Baghdad. The regiment has been working closely with the 4th Sustainment Brigade since October 2005....

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (Army News Service, June 15, 2006) – Soldiers in Afghanistan celebrated the Army’s 231st birthday June 14. Coalition Joint Task Force-76 Commander Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley spoke to Soldiers about the Army’s successes – both past and present. “The American Army has fought in over ten wars in its 231 years, from the revolution to the global war on terror,” said Freakley. “Ten wars of Soldiers laying their lives down on the battlefield, just like yesterday when we lost two of our brothers (in Afghanistan) and were reminded of the sacrifice that Soldiers make to preserve...

RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq, May 26, 2006 – The Iraqi Center for Military Values, Principles and Leadership here aims to build an army that is competent, loyal and accountable. Ken Johnson, the senior American adviser to the center, said the center's building process seeks to change the culture of the Iraqi military as it works to become a part of a democratic country. Part of the process is simply defining the values of the Iraqi military. The structure of the force will be built on those enduring values. "This obviously is not something we can impose upon the Iraqis," American adviser Army...

INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. (Army News Service, May 18, 2006) - Soldiers can serve on the battlefield with confidence knowing the world’s best medics are there to help if they become injured. The best of the best of these Soldiers wear a badge that identifies them as the cream of the Army's medical crop - the Expert Field Medical Badge. Only 18 of 250 candidates earned the badge at the Army’s largest EFMB testing session, which took place May 12 at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. The low number might seem alarming, but it is a testament to the badge's demanding criteria....

FORT HOOD (Army News Service, April 26, 2006) – Darnall Army Community Hospital will officially receive U.S. Army medical center status and a new name during a rededication ceremony May 1 at Fort Hood, Texas. The new name will be the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, according to Commander Col. Loree Sutton. The hospital originally opened at its present site in April 1965. Today, the hospital has approximately 2,500 military, civilian and contracted personnel supporting more than 150,000 TRICARE beneficiaries living within the hospital’s catchment area. On an average day, there are 3,867 outpatient visits, 26 surgeries, seven newborn...

Col. Michael Dixon holds the flag of the Provisional Unmanned Aerial Systems Training Battalion, as Lt. Col. Ronald Myers, left, and Command Sgt. Maj. Raleigh Matthews unfurl the banner at Wednesday's activation ceremony on Fort Huachuca's Rugge-Hamilton Airfield. In the background, one of the company commanders and a first sergeant of the new battalion unfurl their units guidon. (By Bill Hess-Herald/Review) Herald/Review FORT HUACHUCA — As of Wednesday, the Army’s intelligence-gathering unmanned aerial systems are now part of the Aviation Warfighting Center at Fort Rucker, Ala. But the initial operation and maintenance of the pilotless planes will not be...

FORT MYER, Va. (Army News Service, March 29, 2006) – Twenty four Walter Reed Army Medical Center patients who were injured in the Global War on Terrorism were honored by the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) March 24. The Old Guard gave the patients a tour of Arlington National Cemetery, where they also conducted a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Spc. Noah Bailey said he was happy to see so many servicemen and women showing their support at the Tomb. “It felt good to get all that attention from other military members,” said Bailey,...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2006 – New, modular brigade combat team units accompanied the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division on its third tour to Afghanistan, the division's commander told Pentagon reporters today. "This marks the first deployment of the Army's modular force to Operation Enduring Freedom," Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley said from Afghanistan during a satellite news conference. Freakley is also commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, based at Bagram Air Base. The task force has more than 15,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines and about 4,300 coalition members, including Canadian, British, Dutch and Romanian forces. The 10th's brigade...

An Iraqi soldier kneels and shoots at a target during reflexive fire training. Soldiers train to shoot kneeling and standing while moving in closer to targets. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Cassandra Groce U.S. Army’s Cav Troops Help Train Iraqi Soldiers Just like the U.S. Army, the Iraqi army is continually training to become better and to maintain the skills they have mastered. By U.S. Army Pfc. Cassandra Groce 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment MUQDADIYAH, Iraq, March 2, 2006 — Enlisting in the army to defend your country from insurgents is the dream for many of the new soldiers...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2006 – A modified version of an Army robot that's used to thwart roadside bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq now packs a punch of its own. The 3-foot-tall robot, known by the acronym SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Remote Direct-Action System), can be seen at the Washington Auto Show at the Washington Convention Center here. The show started today and runs through Jan. 29. The robot is part of an Army exhibit. The remote-controlled machine at the auto show is fitted with an M-249 machine gun and can travel up to 5 mph on its two tank-like tracks,...

Fifty ways to leave your lover: US Army's online Lothario wreaks havoc and heartbreak By Andrew Buncombe in Washington 12 June 2003 For Robin Solod, a sassy New Yorker who had spent four years trawling internet dating sites looking for the right man, Colonel Kassem Saleh seemed the perfect catch. He was a tall, good-looking, special forces officer contacting her from a war zone and he wrote her messages that she found as intoxicating as a crystal flute of champagne. What's more, he clearly had no commitment issues: within months of their "meeting" he had proposed marriage to her. Unfortunately,...