Free Republic

Last week an openly gay man, Eric Fanning, became secretary of the Army. Read that sentence again and contemplate what it reveals about how much and how quickly American society has changed. Only five years ago, openly gay people were barred from serving in its armed forces. During Mr. Fanning’s lengthy confirmation process, his sexual orientation was simply not an issue. That is a tribute to those who fought so hard to repeal the ban, and a measure of the nation’s at times uncertain, but as yet unfailing, march toward equality.

A recent competition hosted in part by the U.S. Army and designed to test core tank crew skills saw European crews take the top honors, while crews from the U.S. Army failed to place. The results raise the question of whether the Army—after more than a decade of focusing on guerrilla warfare—has devoted adequate training to address "big war" skills. Held from May 10 to 12 and jointly hosted by the U.S. Army and the German Bundeswehr at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany, the the Strong Europe Tank Challenge included challengers from six NATO countries: Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland,...

Months before Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said the Pentagon would take steps toward allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military, Army Staff Sgt. Patricia King last year became what she believes is the first openly transgender member of the infantry. While official Pentagon policy still forbids openly transgender personnel, her commanders have been supportive, she said. King even purchased a female dress Army service uniform, anticipating that she would be able to wear it soon. “I made a decision that owning that uniform was important to me, and I believe that our leadership is going to do...

Six simple words, “Don’t worry General, we trust you.” During the Gulf War in 1991, General Fred Franks, VII Corps commander spoke with several soldiers in the now deactivated, but once mighty, Third Armored Division. During the conversation, Franks appeared worried and tired. One of the soldiers looked at him and said, “Don’t worry General, we trust you.” Those six words spoke volumes about the state of the military in 1991 and speak volumes about the wretched state of the military in 2016. How many soldiers or Marines today would repeat those words to someone with stars on their shoulders?...

The number of U.S. Army soldiers on active duty has been reduced to its lowest since 1940, according to a published report. The Army Times reported this weekend that the Army's endstrength for March was 479,172. That's 154 fewer soldiers than the service's previous post-World War II low, which was reached during the Army's post-Cold War drawdown in 1999. The current number is still well above the 269,023 soldiers on duty in 1940, the year before America entered World War II. However, the report says the active force has been reduced by more than 16,500 troops over the past year...

The United States Military Academy at West Point said Wednesday that an investigation is underway regarding a photograph that shows 16 black cadets in uniform posing with their fists in the air. “We can confirm that the cadets in this photo are members of the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 2016,” West Point’s director of public affairs, Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker, told Army Times on Wednesday. “Academy officials are conducting an inquiry into the matter. John Burk, an Army veteran who served in the Iraq War before launching a popular fitness website, accused the 16 female cadets photographed in the...

U.S. Army Kicking Out a Hero After He Confronted an Afghan Pedophile/Rapist Obama Instructed Army to Issue Illegal ‘Gag Order’ to Silence Green Berets The following is from articles written by Jim Emerson in 2015 From a FOXNEWS exclusive, the U.S. Army is planning to kick out Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland for shoving an Afghan pedophile who also happened to be an Afghan police commander. The alleged pedophile rapist, identified as Abdul Rahman, has not yet been charged with a crime. The American trained Rahman was said to be practicing the ancient Afghan act of “Bacha Bazi.” Rahman beat...

In a stunning reversal, the U.S. Army decided late Thursday to retain a decorated Green Beret it had planned to kick out after he physically confronted a local Afghan commander accused of raping a boy over the course of many days. *snip* "In SFC Martland’s case, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records determination modified a portion of one of SFC Martland’s evaluation reports and removed him from the QMP list, which will allow him to remain in the Army," said Lt. Col. Jerry Pionk.

Captain Kristen Griest will become America's first ever female Army infantry officer as she graduates from training today. She has completed the Maneuver Captains Career Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, passing a two-month leadership course necessary for holding a command position. Captain Griest has already completed Ranger and Airborne School and could take charge of her infantry unit of about 150 soldiers in Spring next year.

In the H.G. Wells novel, The Time Machine, the Eloi, are a brain dead, zombie like community who put up no resistance as they are hunted and destroyed by the evil Morlocks. Today’s active duty Army is starting to resemble the Eloi as they willingly accept every absurd, destructive directive from the Morlocks in the Pentagon and the White House, while operating in a trance from reveille to taps every day. The Army’s leaders, from the Chief of Staff down to senior NCO’s (non-commissioned officers, aka sergeants) are suffering from a massive case of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive Dissonance is defined...

One of the best parts about writing articles is watching the comments drift in, some well-intentioned and full of good cheer, others laced with arsenic from irate readers. A few comments this week and comments by a sergeant in the Rangers and an active duty buddy of mine, who’s probably the last guy in the Army with a 3rd Armored Division combat patch have prompted me to write this piece. First the naysayers: What do you know? You served in the Army a long time ago. You were in that Desert Storm War. What makes you qualified to judge the...

Linky only.

The U.S. Army on Friday announced it has approved the first 22 women to be commissioned as infantry and armor officers after new rules issued last month opened all combat roles to female service members. The move is a major milestone on the road to fully integrating women into combat jobs. The Army is taking a leadership first position by first placing female soldiers in leadership roles in combat roles that were not previously open to them, then allowing those women to train and mentor female enlisted combat soldiers. The 22 women are near completion of their officer training and...

The old adage used to go, “First the mission and then the men.” In today’s Army, with its gallant senior leaders at the helm; the old adage has been amended to: first the pension, retirement benefits, defense contractor job after out-processing, TV analyst gig part time, permanent PX parking space for the wife and somewhere after a couple hundred more priorities there is the mission and then the men, the women and of course, the gender neutrals. The US Army seems to be doing a Thelma and Louise every day now. Pentagon feather merchants who resemble Fortune 500 executives feed...

A 25-year-old Louisiana woman made history this week after becoming the first female to enlist in the US Army Infantry School. Tammy Grace Barnett, a former police officer, took the oath of enlistment on Thursday at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Shreveport. Barnett initially planned to join the military police, before deciding she wanted to serve her country on the front lines.

The US military is in mortal danger as I write this article. Americans have no idea that vast social changes forced upon the military are on the verge of destroying it. Americans will no longer sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. We are in serious jeopardy of losing the one institution that has enabled us to maintain our freedom for 240 years. We are in serious danger of losing the one institution that successfully defeated and destroyed the world’s thugs, maniacs and sociopaths that teed off against us....

The latest Category Five Hurricane battering the Army concerns a US Army officer who has demanded to wear long hair, a beard and a turban while on active duty with the lean green machine. As NBC reports: In a decision by the U.S. Army Thursday, Capt. Simratpal Singh, a decorated Sikh-American officer and combat veteran, has received a long-term religious accommodation to serve with long hair, a beard, and turban in accordance with his Sikh faith. In March, a U.S. district judge issues a temporary restraining order against additional non-standard, discriminatory testing. According to The Sikh Coalition, which is representing...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three Sikh American soldiers filed a lawsuit Mar. 29 asking the Defense Department to allow them to serve in the U.S. Army with their religiously-mandated turbans and beards intact. The plaintiffs are Army Specialists Kanwar Singh and Harpal Singh and Army Private Arjan Singh Ghotra. The lawsuit, filed by the Sikh Coalition, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and McDermott Will & Emery, demands that the Army accommodate their religious articles of faith, including turbans, unshorn hair and beards, so that each can begin Basic Combat Training with their various units in May. The lawsuit was filed...

WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, held captive for five years by the Taliban, had a mental-health disorder marked by odd, eccentric behaviors and social isolation when he walked away from his post in Afghanistan in 2009, documents released by his defense team showed. An Army Sanity Board Evaluation in July 2015 found Bergdahl had schizotypal personality disorder, a psychiatric condition marked by unusual fears and beliefs, the inability to form interpersonal relationships and eccentric behaviors. The condition is different from schizophrenia, which is marked by hallucinations and a disconnect from reality.

Here we go again… The insane social engineering of the military marches on with more radical, left-wing, Cultural Marxist, insanity in the US Army, courtesy of the White House, Pentagon feather merchants and gutless officers. Recently, the media learned that US Army soldiers underwent White Privilege Training in April of 2015. As reported in WND and Newsmax: About 400 soldiers at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, were forced to sit through a training session that included a bullet-point discussion on “white privilege,” and outraged members of the social media community now say the instructor should be hit with a dishonorable...