Free Republic

Kicking off on the night of last year’s election and Donald Trump’s ascension to the Presidency, there was a lot of 2016 in the debut of American Horror Story: Cult. But not the numbers: with 3.93 million viewers and a 2.02 rating among adults 18-49 on September 5, the latest installment of the Ryan Murphy- and Brad Falchuk -created series premiered down significantly from last year’s season opener of American Horror Story: Roanoke. In overall sets of eyeballs watching the politically drenched Cult, there was a 24% drop from the September 14, 2016 premiere of Roanoke. Among the key demo,...

I read today that the Army is now going to hand out the new "Combat Action" Badge. It was designed similarly to the Combat Infantryman's Badge. The Combat Infantryman's Badge has a musket with a wreath around it. The Combat Action Badge has a similar wreath, but it has a bayonet and a hand grenade in place of the musket. The Army is apparently still trying to hammer out the exact criteria for the new badge. Here is my recommendation: nobody. This kind of reminds me of the Army's decision to make the black beret part of our uniform. It...

A recent bill that passed the House of Representatives and is en route to the Senate would forbid women from serving in combat support units below brigade level. Let me be the first to say that I have no idea what this means. My brigade has a forward support battalion. That battalion supports the brigade - is that considered "at" brigade level or "below" brigade level? Or is the forward support battalion considered "below" brigade level, by virtue of being a battalion? I have no idea. Unfortunately, it is very hard to tell what the facts are, because of 1)...

Today was just like the battles that I watched on G.I. Joe cartoons, when I was a kid. I still remember the introduction to the show, as the narrator voiced over the music:"G.I. Joe is the code name for America's daring, highly-trained, special mission force. It's purpose: to defend human freedom against Cobra; the ruthless, terrorist organization, determined to rule the world." Replace "Cobra" with "Islamofascism" and you get a somewhat accurate description of our situation. Then, if you consider what happened today, the similarities make the show seem downright prophetic. Today's fight lived up to all of the foolish...

I have received countless emails asking me for ideas, for what to send to Soldiers deployed in Iraq. So, I have decided to dedicate an entry to this topic. This will also form the basis for a "frequently asked questions" page that the webmaster is making. Most of the people who write, asking this question, want to know what to send to units such as mine. By "units such as mine" I mean those units that are not living the extravagant lifestyle afforded by the cushier Forward Operating Bases and Logistical Support Areas. The short answer to this question is...

This was probably the biggest near miss of my life. I have had near misses with IEDs, small arms, RPGs, mortars, and even a tentpeg that came out of nowhere. But, this recent near miss was the one that gave me the most butterflies in my stomach. I was nearly appointed as the Battalion Supply Officer. What a thankless and painful job. To call the world of logistics “the painful world of logistics” is redundant, but I continue to use the “painful” modifier just to ensure that nobody forgets just how much being a logistician sucks. I am an infantry...

Recent intelligent reports of dubious value gave me occasion to reflect upon our intelligence community in general, today. The whipping boy of the post 9/11 world seems to be our intelligence community. The errors, shortcomings and red tape of the Central Intelligence Agency and, to some degree, the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been held up as the reasons that we did not see the 9/11 attacks coming and for difficulties in Afghanistan and Iraq. Perhaps this is because of how we define quality intelligence. For intelligence to be of value, it must meet two criteria. It must be timely...

Today is May 1st, also known as May Day, the communist holiday. Communism has been soundly defeated, so now we can observe communists as one would observe a zoo animal - with curiosity, rather than fear. It is still correct to despise communists, for their inherent evil, but I now consider May Day to be a day when we can set aside our differences over basic issues such as happiness, freedom, liberty, and justice and just be cordial to one another. Thus, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my wishes for a Happy May Day to the...

John Stuart Mill was a utilitarian philosopher in the 19th century.  While his most significant contributions to humanity were in the fields of philosophy and economics, his most well-known quote is one cited, correctly and incorrectly, by many in the military and many who have an interest in military affairs.  I have seen so many different versions of that quote that I decided to do some research into the correct quote, a few months ago, before we deployed to Iraq.  I found it on my computer today.  Here is the actual quote and the source:“But war, in a good cause,...

Colonel David H. Hackworth (USA, Ret.) recently published a very timely column titled "A Tale of Three Sergeants" at SFTT.org. It raises important questions regarding recruiting and promotions. He asks a particularly frightening question, rhetorical to those of us who are in the Army, that should cause alarm among those who do not understand the damage that was done to the Army when it was so dramatically downsized in the 1990s and the continuing damage being done to the Army by our lackluster recruiting standards and promotion standards - or lack thereof. Hackworth writes: "But as this is being written,...

Ronald Reagan used to say of his relationship with the Soviets "trust, but verify". That was a wise decision, as trust is a two-way street. Your adversaries must have your trust before you can have theirs. However, when you deal with a party that has a long history of deceit, then experience tells you that you must verify. Here, that concept is very relevant.