Free Republic

SIERRA VISTA – At 18 years old, Buena High School senior Adrian Garlant is living his dream. The Buena High School senior recently received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. Garlant says he’s been dreaming of attending West Point Military Academy since the sixth grade. His mother Elizabeth Clark remembers the day he announced his plan. “They must have had career day or something, because he came in the door and said, ‘Mom, I’m going to West Point when I grow up’,” Clark recalls. “I said, ‘Do you know how hard that is?’” Clark...

U.S. President Donald Trump has selected a Christian conservative and ex U.S. Army flight surgeon Mark Green to succeed former "out" homosexual U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning. Ex-Army officer and West Point alumnus Mark Green is said to be Trump's top nominee for the post that is currently held by Fanning, reported The Tennesean. Green was part of the Army's special operations team that took former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003. He left the Army in 2006 and went to build and become CEO of AlignMD, a medical staffing firm until 2016 when it was acquired by American Physician...

Army chief Gen. Mark Milley had just warned the House Armed Services Committee that if Congress punts on a new defense budget at the end of this month, it will result in American deaths on the battlefield. . . . Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., cut off the general during his answers and argued that lawmakers should not have to approve new war funding without details on how it will be spent. "General, where is the war plan for ISIS? You were told to have it done in 30 days," Garamendi said. Milley declined to discuss what he said is classified...

FORT HUACHUCA — An important piece of naval history has been transferred from a private collection to the National Museum of the United States Navy. On Monday, a flag believed to have belonged to Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher — a highly decorated World War II Navy hero — was transferred from the Wisniewski and Hildebrandt families to the Navy where it will be displayed in the naval museum in Washington D.C. The flag had been gifted to retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 Tom Wisniewski by his cousin and friend John Hildebrandt, who served in the Navy from 1961 to 1965....

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Army soldiers finished wading across a stream in a rainforest in Hawaii, and they were soaked. Their boots and socks were water-logged and their clothes, hair and ears were caked with mud. The soldiers were going through training at the first jungle school the Army has established in decades. The course is part of a program to train soldiers for exercises and potential combat on terrain that looks more like islands and nations in the Pacific than arid Afghanistan and the deserts of the Middle East. Brig. Gen. Stephen Michael, deputy commander of the 25th...

The New York Times is reporting that State Sen. Mark Green (R-Clarksville) is under consideration by President Trump to be named Secretary of the Army. Senior admin official confirms Mark Green is being considered for secretary of the Army. — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 15, 2017 Several sources have independently confirmed this report to The Tennessee Star. Green is considered a front runner in the race for the Republican nomination for Governor of Tennessee in 2018. Should he not run, there will no longer be a strongly conservative candidate in the race to challenge Randy Boyd and potential candidate Rep....

The U.S. military is sending an additional 2,500 ground combat troops to a staging base in Kuwait from which they could be called upon to back up coalition forces battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The deployment will include elements of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which is based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. About 1,700 soldiers from the same unit are overseas now, spread between Iraq and Kuwait.

President Abraham Lincoln promotes Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the Rank of Lieutenant General. He is the first Army officer to hold that rank since George Washington.

Judicial Watch at CPAC: Scandal Matters to the American People Federal Court Hearing Set for Next Week on Clinton Email Scandal U.S. Gives Soros Groups Millions to Destabilize Macedonia’s Government JW Goes to Court After Army Stonewalls on Opiate Use by Americans in Afghanistan U.S. Gives Soros Groups Millions to Destabilize Macedonia’s Government Even as we pursue the truth about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails from a recalcitrant State Department, we are learning of another of the department’s nefarious activities. Our Corruption Chronicles blog has the story . The U.S. government has quietly spent millions of taxpayer...

RALEIGH, N.C. (KTRK) -- They are the sniffles heard around the world. When Lisa Williams' plane arrived at Raleigh-Durham Airport, passengers were asked to wait to let someone off the plane first. When she looked out the window, there were several soldiers unloading a flag-draped coffin from the cargo hold. For minutes, the plane remained silent, aside from the sniffles coming from the passengers. A woman walked over and placed her hand on the casket to say her final goodbyes, and others -- presumably family members -- joined her. Then, seven Green Beret soldiers dressed in full uniform carried the...

Two weeks ago, a senior commander with the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division, serving in battle-hardened Afghanistan, sent a letter to Auburn, Alabama. It was addressed to a national hero. “You are a true legend…and continue to inspire the troops of today, all across the globe,” he wrote. “We hold one of your edicts close to our hearts – ‘No second-place trophies.’ The winning spirit is alive and well.” A few months earlier, movie stars Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn made a special trip to Auburn for the sole purpose of seeing this same hero. He and Gibson had met...

Black women serving in the United States Army are cheering revised regulations that permit hair locks, ending what critics said were years of scrutiny and confusing enforcement of rules about their appearance.

President Trump's nominee for Army secretary, Vincent Viola, withdrew his name for the position late Friday. Viola said he backed out because he was not able to navigate Defense Department rules regarding his family businesses. The nominee is the first Trump nominee back out after being named. "I appreciate the confidence President Trump showed in me," Viola said. "I offer my continued support for President Trump and his administration, and look forward to redoubling my efforts to support the Army and its veterans as private citizens," he told the Military Times. Trump nominated Viola to the post in mid-December. Since...

U.S. Army tanks recently deployed to Europe arrived at a port in Germany, some of them with dead batteries and without sufficient fuel. The Wall Street Journal reported this week on logistical challenges that the U.S. military faced when sending an armored unit of 4,000 soldiers and 90 tanks to Europe in order to protect NATO member states and deter Russian aggression.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's "arsenal of democracy" that helped win World War II has been gradually withering away for two generations. This isn't just a story about other countries stealing U.S. jobs, it also reflects a failure of federal leadership in protecting the industrial foundations of America's military might. Washington is the main customer for U.S. weapons output, so if it doesn't manage the defense industrial base wisely, the base decays. Consider tank production. Tanks have been the premier expression of land warfare since the first primitive armored vehicles appeared on the Western Front a hundred years ago. But even though...

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who faces court-martial on a charge of desertion after walking away from his base in Afghanistan and spending five years in militant captivity, sought and failed to receive a presidential pardon by President Barack Obama before he left office, according to Bergdahl’s attorney Eugene Fidell. The attorney acknowledged the effort Friday after Berghdahl’s legal team filed a new motion to dismiss the Army’s case against their client, citing past harsh rhetoric against Bergdahl by newly sworn-in President Trump. The New York Times previously reported the pardon effort was considered, but Bergdahl’s legal team...

SIG SAUER, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Army has selected the SIG SAUER Model P320 to replace the M9 service pistol currently in use since the mid-1980’s. Released in 2014, the P320 is a polymer striker-fired pistol that has proven itself in both the United States and worldwide markets. The P320 is the first modular pistol with interchangeable grip modules that can also be adjusted in frame size and caliber by the operator. All pistols will be produced at the SIG SAUER facilities in New Hampshire. The MHS Program provides for the delivery of both full size and compact...

In the final days of the Obama administration, the military has issued new guidelines for religious accommodations and dress.

Former Army Ranger Fernando Duarte was shot and killed Sunday outside of a casino in Florida after winning a prize at the slot machines. . . . His family said Duarte served in the military for twelve years, including deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Police say that everything began to head downhill after Duarte got into “a brief verbal altercation” with two black men, Mikey Tyquan Lenard and Kenin Sherrod Bailey while still inside the casino.

President-elect Donald Trump will nominate former infantry officer, billionaire businessman and National Hockey League team owner Vincent Viola as secretary of the Army, his transition team announced Monday. "I am proud to have such an incredibly accomplished and selfless individual as Vincent Viola as our Secretary of the Army," Trump said in a statement. "Whether it is his distinguished military service or highly impressive track record in the world of business, Vinnie has proved throughout his life that he knows how to be a leader and deliver major results in the face of any challenge." Viola is the founder of...