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I was recently invited to be a panelist at a veterans’ symposium on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I sought to decline, saying that I never had PTSD and had no qualifications to talk about it. I was told that I represented an earlier generation of combat veterans and that my views and experience would be interesting. So I accepted. Three other panelists had personal family experience with the traumatic aspects of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I restricted myself to the Korean War. As background for my views, I explained the generational context of my experience as follows:...

(CLICK THE LINK FOR A PREVIEW OF THE BOOK) This book is a compilation of the personal remembrances of twenty-two former members of The Old Guard who participated in President Kennedy’s State Funeral in November 1963. The seven parts of this book are arranged in the chronological order in which the major ceremonial events took place: (1) Planning and Preparation, (2) Andrews AFB and Bethesda Naval Hospital, (3) Events at The White House, (4) The Capitol Building, (5) Saint Matthew’s Cathedral, (6) Arlington National Cemetery, and (7) The Gravesite and events after the burial. This compilation of twenty-two personal memoirs...

The U.S. Army is drawing some unfriendly fire about an email obtained by POLITICO recommending that photos of “average-looking women” should be used for stories about female soldiers. The email, written by Col. Lynette Arnhart, was meant to advise Army spokespeople about how they should educate the public about the Army’s integration of women into combat. “In general, ugly women are perceived as competent while pretty women are perceived as having used their looks to get ahead,” Arnhart wrote. “There is a general tendency to select nice looking women when we select a photo to go with an article (where...

The Army should use photos of “average-looking women” when it needs to illustrate stories about female soldiers, a specialist recommends — images of women who are too pretty undermine the communications strategy about introducing them into combat roles. That’s the gist of an internal Army e-mail an Army source shared with POLITICO. “In general, ugly women are perceived as competent while pretty women are perceived as having used their looks to get ahead,” wrote Col. Lynette Arnhart, who is leading a team of analysts studying how best to integrate women into combat roles that have previously been closed off to...

A U.S. Army Special Forces sergeant from Keller was killed Sunday in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, Defense Department officials reported Monday. Staff Sgt. Alex Anthony Viola, 29, was fatally wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated, according to a news release. “This was Viola’s first deployment during his military career,” according to a news release from the U.S. Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. His unit was attacked “while on dismounted patrol.” Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/11/18/5348539/army-staff-sergeant-from-keller.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

In a unique battlefield commendation, a Marine Corps member of Delta Force has been awarded the nation’s second highest military honor for coming to the defense of Americans last year at a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya. Delta Force, a counterterrorism unit in the secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), has been thought of as a strictly Army outfit. But it does take on qualified “operators,” as they are called, from other services. The Washington Times has reported that two Delta Force members were among a seven-person rescue team sent from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli to Benghazi on the...

WASHINGTON – The extraordinarily large number of senior military officials being relieved of duty during the Obama administration – nine generals and flag officers this year alone and close to 200 senior officers over the last five years – is part of the creation of a “compliant officer class,” according to a U.S. Army intelligence official. Since WND’s ongoing coverage of what some top generals are openly calling a “purge” of senior military officers who run afoul of Obama or his agenda, some military personnel have been speaking out. According to a veteran Army intelligence official who spoke to WND...

Parents of US Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, who died shielding Polish troops under attack from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, have received the Afghan Star and Polish Army Gold Medal. The 24 year-old from Staten Island, who served in the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light) stepped in front of a suicide bomber so as to shield Polish colleagues as the Ghazni base in eastern Afghanistan came under attack on 28 August this year. The Gold Polish Army Medal, which was received by the dead soldier's father and mother, Robert and Linda...

 H/T Tish "This is a picture I took this evening on a wall just down the hall from my office. It's new and put up today. While it may look innocent enough, those in the know realize the paranoia this poster represents. It's part of this year's campaign against insider threats which included a mandatory online program where you 'vet' other workers based on 'suspicious' evidence. In other words, the suspects were primarily conservative males who were outspoken against current US policies and adhering to constitutionality. Females were present but the focus was on white males. Let that sink in...

October was Iraq’s deadliest month since April, 2008. In those five and a half years, not only has there been no improvement in Iraq’s security situation, but things have gotten much worse. More than 1,000 people were killed in Iraq last month, the vast majority of them civilians. Another 1,600 were wounded, as car bombs, shootings, and other attacks continue to maim and murder. As post-“liberation” Iraq spirals steadily downward, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was in Washington last week to plead for more assistance from the United States to help restore order to a society demolished by the 2003 US...

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The Army has relieved the commander of its largest base in Japan after an investigation into alleged misconduct, according to a U.S. Army Japan press statement sent late Friday. The investigation had been ongoing since June 7, when Col. Eric Tilley was suspended from his job as commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan. Maj. Gen. James C. Boozer, Sr., commander of U.S. Army Japan and I Corps (Forward), officially relieved Tilley on Friday for “lack of confidence” based on the results of the inquiry, according to the press statement. The statement provided no other details....

It’s about dang time this happens. Heck, just last week evangelical Christians were once again lumped in with extremists at Fort Hood. And a few weeks ago it happened at Camp Shelby. You can’t tell me there isn’t some mastermind behind these briefings. After all, we know the Obama administration is replacing commanders in the military with ones who agree with them. Which means ‘radicals’. FOX NEWS – The Secretary of the Army has ordered military leaders to halt all briefings on extremist organizations that labeled Evangelical Christian groups as domestic hate groups. The shutdown comes just four days after...

During last night’s World Series opener Major League Baseball staged a salute to our military heroes, complete with three living Medal of Honor recipients, including the newest, Will Swenson. Likely similar tributes will take place two or three times during the remainder of the National Football League season too. Giant flags will wiggle across the fields. Color guards will parade. The broadcast team will cut away to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan where troops in camo uniforms will wave at the cameras. There may or may not be a flyover by fighter-jets; those are mostly on hold because of...

Soldiers attending a pre-deployment briefing at Fort Hood say they were told that evangelical Christians and members of the Tea Party were a threat to the nation and that any soldier donating to those groups would be subjected to punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A soldier who attended the Oct. 17th briefing told me the counter-intelligence agent in charge of the meeting spent nearly a half hour discussing how evangelical Christians and groups like the American Family Association were “tearing the country apart.” Michael Berry, an attorney with the Liberty Institute, is advising the soldier and has...

Soldiers attending a pre-deployment briefing at Fort Hood say they were told that evangelical Christians and members of the Tea Party were a threat to the nation and that any soldier donating to those groups would be subjected to punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A soldier who attended the Oct. 17th briefing told me the counter-intelligence agent in charge of the meeting spent nearly a half hour discussing how evangelical Christians and groups like the American Family Association were “tearing the country apart.” Michael Berry, an attorney with the Liberty Institute, is advising the soldier and has...

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno revealed this week that just two Army brigades are combat-ready, with budget cuts hampering the military's ability to train its own troops. The startling comments were made Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army conference. Odierno and Army Secretary John McHugh both addressed the fallout from the budget cuts, as well as the recent partial government shutdown, and appealed to lawmakers to restore some stability to military funding. "Functioning like this is just dysfunctional," Odierno said. He said that after the sequester kicked in, "we had to stop training basically" in the...

While the president of the United States pitched his crumbling healthcare program like a late-night infomercial barker, the Army's chief of staff made a shocking admission about national defense. Gen. Ray Odierno told a Washington conference Monday that the U.S. Army had not conducted any training in the last six months of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. And, he said, there currently are only two Army brigades rated combat-ready. That's a total of between 7,000 to 10,000 troops and less than one-third what the combat veteran regards as necessary for proper national security. "Right now," Odierno said, "we have...

The government shutdown may be keeping furloughed federal workers at home, but on Monday the U.S. Army contracted to buy a mechanical bull. The $47,174 contract was awarded on Oct. 7 to Mechanical Bull Sales Inc. of State College, Penn. … Lt. Col. Hank McIntire of the Utah National Guard tells CNSNews.com that the mechanical bull is regularly used as a tool by recruiters at fairs and other events. …

U.S. military academy football teams will play this weekend, despite the government shutdown. A senior defense official said Wednesday the decision affects this weekend's games only, and future games will be evaluated as events unfold. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity. Navy later confirmed its home game against Air Force in Annapolis, Md., would be played as scheduled Saturday. The game is sold out.

The Greatest Hero America Never Knew The true story of Waco's Col. Robert Howard. By by David Feherty The Department of Homeland Security is not doing its job. As proof, I, David Feherty, a 17-year resident of the Dallas area but an Irishman by birth, recently became an American citizen. There goes the neighborhood—but yay, me! The reason I felt compelled to become an American is my Troops First Foundation, a nonprofit organization that does its best to improve the quality of life and future prospects of some of our most severely wounded servicemen and women. I became involved after...