What is the purpose of the US Army?

This may sound like a trick question, but its not. Most people have a severe misconception when it comes to the purpose of the US Army.

There is one commonality that binds all Soldiers, be they Enlisted, Warrant Officers, or Commissioned Officers. Even among these three distinct groups, their training and focus diverge almost immediately. The training of a Military Police officer will differ from that of a Finance clerk. The experience of your average Infantryman will be different from any random Chaplain.

Ask the next adult you come across. You may get an answer like: Defend America! Protect the people of this country! Beat our enemies!

All of these people will be wrong. When you get past the glib slogans and propaganda messages there is really only one stated goal that all Soldiers hold. Just one. It comes from the Oath.

Every Soldier swears to "Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same..."

That's it. The Constitution. It is not a piece of paper. It is the embodiment of every freedom and dream that the United States possesses. Soldiers do not swear to give their life for the country. Soldiers do not give an oath to the protection of the people.

Every Soldier swears to give their life to the very thing that gave us birth. The hope, the dream, the origin, the Constitution.

Ask yourself, if a house is damaged in a storm: Can you rebuild with enough material and time? Your answer is yes. Now ask yourself: If the foundation of a house is damaged, will the house stand the test of time. No. No, it will not.

And so our lives are pledged to the underpinnings of the dream. The foundation of our country will journey through time on our shoulders.

US Army General Speaks Out (in public!!!)

A few days ago I heard an amazing statement from a General in the United States Army. He indicated that he was eligible for a promotion from Major General (two stars) to Lieutenant General. That is, from a two star General to a three star General. This is a pretty big deal when you move in the circles at the top of the US military.

He went on to say that even though he was eligible, he seriously doubted that he would be promoted BECAUSE OF POLITICS. He stated that he had testified on several occasions before Congress. When asked his opinion on issues involving President Bush's policies (strictly relating to the military and its current actions) he gave his HONEST opinion. That opinion differed from that of the administration. Here you have one of the subject matter experts stating before Congress on multiple occasions, that the President's policies are wrong.

WOW.

This was said in an open forum where the press may have been present. There were definitely non-military people present recording his speech. After "Retired" General after "Retired" General suddenly getting the backbone to speak up in public, it is refreshing to have one that is on active duty stating in public that he disagrees with the Administration.

Unfortunately, politics will win and he will never get promoted because of it.

Fortunately for us, the Honest Truth won out over personal ambition.

The new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Not to knock the guy, but why would a Naval Admiral be placed in charge as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a time period when there are two major land battles occurring? Not exactly loaded with smarts the man that made that decision.

I happen to be able to hear the good Admiral talk on 7 Nov 07. He mentioned that the war against terrorism would be take generations. Hmmm, could he mean that we will be in Iraq for decades to come? Mayhap.

State Department personnel say Iraq is a death sentence

The State Department is finally feeling the pinch for their deployments to Iraq. At a town hall style meeting various State Department workers objected to the plan to involuntarily place people on assignment to Iraq.

Before you start laughing at these suddenly nervous individuals understand this: The Federal Government is using a clause in their employment contract which allows for postings wherever the Government needs people.

Ever wonder if your contract has the same language? Ever wonder if ALL contracts with the Federal Government state the exact same thing? Now isn't that a scary concept for the comfortable lives of all Federal employees?

Also, the positions that are still open are mainly with the Provisional Reconstruction Teams (PRT). The PRTs are way beyond the pointy end of the stick. They are the bait in the trap and the worm on the hook. They do not have a lot of protection. Little to no Armor. Few weapons. And only the locals to depend on if things heat up really fast.

Now the good Ms. Condi Rice sends and e-mail stating that everything will be okay. Of course she sent this e-mail from within massive layers of security in our own dear US of A. Her reassurances would be a lot more heart felt if she relocated her office to Iraq.

BUSH TROOP WITHDRAW REVEALED AS A FAKE

According to the Associated Press, “ President Bush will tell the nation Thursday evening that he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by next summer but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress.”

What a crock. President Bush will insult the intelligence of the American people by calling this a, “troop withdraw.” Actually, the insults have already begun. Take Senator Pete Domenici, R-N.M. for example. Sen. Domenici is quoted by the AP as saying, “Americans should be happy that we can begin to reduce troop levels months ahead of schedule”.

No more lies, misdirection, and slight of hand con artistry! Here is some straightforward Honest Talk.

1) President Bush presented to the American public the idea of a 30,000 strong Troop Surge.

2) The Troop Surge would allow the American Military to reduce the over-all violence on the streets of Iraq.

3) The Surge would be TEMPORARY.

This is not a reduction in Troop level. The increase of 30,000 was always supposed to be temporary. It was meant to end. Telling the American public that, “we are going to bring home the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen that we already told you we were going to bring home,” doesn’t actually tell the public, the Soldiers, or the Families that have loved ones in harms way anything.

When can we start bringing home the 130,000 Troops that keep getting deployed to Iraq? Answer that question. Or maybe, just maybe, we can shift some of those troops to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to hunt down Bin Laden. Please do not mention “respecting national borders,” since we took over two countries in the past six years.

When can we, the voting public, expect some real answers out of this administration?

Until Next Time

As this forum has received little (if any) feedback I have decided to terminate this blog. For those of you that have support this effort, thank you.

Loss as a part of Life

Earlier this year I came to the realization that I was an adult. This was a combination of my age and maturity level. It came to me that I absolutely did not approach life with a "young" mindset.

Last month I heard a statistic regarding the "average life span" and I realized that I was at the halfway point. Technically, that would make me "middle age". WOW, now that was a bit of a shock.

Last week my family had a loss. One of my parental figures died. On 2 Nov she first learned about a growth. It was diagnosed as terminal lung cancer. By 30 Nov she had died.

For those people that remain there is the fealings of sadness and dispair. There is loss.

Okay, here is the philosophy portion of this Blog entry:

But life goes hand in hand with loss. For every life there is a death. For every birth there will be someone left behind. Life comprises every moment of our existence, but so does death.

Everything we eat, vegtable or animal, was once alive. Most of the clothes items that we wear are made of plant or animal matter. Ever wonder where "fossil" fuel comes from?

With death there can still be happiness. Yes, there is a loss. But, if treated like the rest of our day to day existence we can view it for the life that was had, not the passing that was. Remember the joy. Remember the happiness. Remember the arguments. Remember the boredom. Remember the fire. That is the stuff of existence. That is life. And with every person that remembers, and grows, and continues, the chain of life is never broken.