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It's OK trust me...stay to the end.

One Year Ago...

One year ago, 28 JAN 07 we lost two fine Americans.

In the open desert North of the city of An Najaf, CW3 Cornell Chao and CPT Mark T Resh (serving with 4-227 AVN, 1CD) lost their lives when their AH-64 Longbow Apache helicopter was shot down while they were engaging enemy forces that were endangering coalition forces on the ground. They gave up their lives when they rolled in and took out a gun truck that had just engaged and damaged their flight lead, flown by CW4 Johnny Judd and CW2 Jacob Gaston. For their actions that day they recieved the Silver Star Medal.



Mr Judd's aircraft remained on station, by himself, damaged, gun inoperable, covering his downed wingman. The only friendly forces on the ground was a small SF team with some USAF JTACs. They were miles from any other friendly forces. And they stayed there (where their wingman had been shot down, and where they continued to take fire from) until another attack weapons team arrived to relieve them.

This was the beginning of a long day which in the end resulted in over 400 enemy dead and some 200 more captured. Attack helicopters from the 1st Air Cavalry BDE, 1st Cavalry Division (both 1st and 4th Battlaions of the 227th Aviation Regiments) remained on station constantly, engaging enemy forces multiple times until the downed aircraft was secured. CAS and AC-130s pounded the enemy positions especially after nightfall.

For a story about a USAF F-16 pilot who received a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions that day go HERE

How About A Shave?

Stick with this it's not what it appears to be...

Obituaries

I don't know if you heard about this, but the actor Heath Ledger passed away yesterday. Of course I'm being facetious, because if you watched any of the morning news shows or really any kind of news after 1700 CST yesterday you were subjected to breathless commentary about this or that aspect of Mr. Ledger's demise...endlessly.

What you didn't hear about was this:

January 22, 2008

MND-North Soldier dies in accident (Kirkuk)

Multi-National Division – North PAO

TIKRIT, Iraq – A Multi-National Division – North Soldier died from injuries sustained during a vehicle rollover while conducting operations in Kirkuk Jan. 22.

Additionally, one other Soldier was wounded and evacuated to a Coalition hospital.

The cause of the vehicle rollover was non-combat related and is still under investigation.

The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.

Or this:

January 21, 2008
DOD IDENTIFIES ARMY CASUALTY The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.Staff Sgt. Justin R. Whiting, 27, of Hancock, N.Y., died Jan. 19 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.

January 21, 2008
DOD IDENTIFIES ARMY CASUALTY The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.Spc. Richard B. Burress, 25, of Naples, Fla., died Jan. 19 in Al-Jabour, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

January 21, 2008
DOD IDENTIFIES ARMY CASUALTY The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.Spc. Jon M. Schoolcraft, III, 26, of Wapakoneta, Ohio, died Jan. 19 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

The only time people like SPC Schoolcraft, Burress or SSG Whiting are worthy of discussion in the media is when they want to use their sacrifice to lament this terrible awful wrong headed war that we were lied into...in other words to bash the President of the United States.

I sat there this morning and listened to people lament the tragedy it was to loose such a talented young man, so full of life, all the possibilities he had in front of him now gone.

It made me want to vomit. Is Mr. Ledger's passing a tragedy to his family and friends? Of course it is. And it is sad when a talented person, whose work you've enjoyed, career is cut short (John Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley). But if anyone wonders what is wrong with this nation, take one look at the priorities that people have. The things people think are important. The things that are held up and honored.

Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Service, Honor, Integrity, Courage...those are the Army values. Does every Soldier live it every day? I wouldn't be so stupid as to proclaim that, but I do know that is a much more lofty standard than anything I heard discussed on the news this morning...and that is a tragedy.

Happy Birthday!

Silencing the Guns by Jim Dietz

Found this on Blackfive

The "Paratrooper of Love" wishes MAJ Dick Winters a happy 90th birthday.

For those of you who have seen the HBO mini series "Band of Brothers", MAJ Winters was, among other things the commander of Easy Company 506th PIR during the Normandy invasion.

At this site there is a link to a petition to upgrade the Distinguished Service Cross Maj Winters received to the Medal of Honor.

I have linked a video below of the Cable TV version of those events.



This show is the best thing I have ever seen TV/ Movies you name it in regards to presenting the soldier and his experience in that particular war. Obviously I'm not a WWII veteran, so I can't comment on the overall accuracy, but the tone and feel of it was so well done. I can watch this series over and over again. If you've never seen it go out and rent or buy it NOW.

On a related note I have always wondered what CPT Spears received for his actions that day in Belgium when he took over command of Easy company in the middle of combat and then raced through German lines to affect a link up with friendly forces on the other side of town, only to return through the same German lines after the link up was achieved. That to me was the other defining moment of this show.

Lets Get This Party Started

P!nk she's just like a pill, instead of making me feel better, she's making me ill.

Yeah, I know why bother even talking about entertainers who show their asses when they try to make political arguments...it is after all par for the course.

Well, this one was so heinous, that I just stood there, mouth hanging open as the video for P!nk's song, "Dear Mr. President" played on VH-1 the other morning.

For those not familiar here are some of the lyrics:

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

And it just gets better from there...the video manages be even more malicious, if that is possible.

Aside from the juvenile reasoning that the President of the United States is responsible for every thing that is wrong in the world, or that he could somehow magical fix it, what is the point? Everything was obviously peaches and cream when Mr. Clinton was in office...ugh, why do I even bother.

On further review I have determined that this song is over a year old now. Where the hell was I? Oh yeah, I was in Iraq...duh. Never though that I'd be thankful for being there so I could avoid idiotic stuff like this. But like a bloodhound it tracked me down. Thanks VH-1...dillholes.

P!nk, I liked her much better when she was just a Girrl rocker singing about getting parties started and Parisian hookers and such.

A Cartoon for a Sunday

I found this one at Last of the Few

It's not totally true, but it is close enough for government work.

Scarlett Visits the Troops

Actress and all around "hot piece of ass" (I'm sure she'd be flattered by that description, sorry mom) Scarlett Johansson was in Kuwiat reciently visiting and greeting the troops.

B-roll of actress Scarlett Johansson visiting troops in Kuwait as part of the USO Tour. Scenes include service members lining up to see the actress and Scarlet Johanson greeting, taking photos and signing autographs for service members.

For those with a DVIDS account (it's available to anyone willing to share their phone number and e-mail with the feds) here's the link to the video There's not that much to it, except near silent footage of her greeting folks...so I didn't post it.

If I'm not mistaken she's had her share of buckethead quotes about the war and such. But she made the effort and that's a lot more than you can say about a lot of them. As much grief as people give Hollywood for its lack of support it was nice to see an actual movie star step up and go see the people out near the pointy end of the stick.

Also there is a story that I found HERE while looking for a suitable photo of her.

Here's a quote from her;

The 23-year-old says: "This USO tour to the Gulf region truly means a lot. I've wanted to go over and visit for some time, and now my moment has arrived.

"It's one thing to reply to a letter or extend your thanks to service members in a speech, but it's another thing to visit them and spend time with those that do so much for us back home."

How To Sell Work Clothes

Via Ace of Spades(who can always be counted on to deliver this kind of stuff) comes this ad (apparently from the UK) for Scruffs work clothes.

WARNING! Not safe for work. Hide the kids, shield the pets...this is outrageous.

Oh forget all that, it's like non stop sexual innuendo and imagery. They could never even attempt to get this on American TV, unless it was cable. Funny though.

Girl Friday, 18 JAN 08

Global warming my ass...it's supposed to be 28 in the morning. I'm sure someone could point me to something that says because it's cold THAT is a sing of global warming.

Well, this is something hot...

Miss August 2000, Summer Altice strips down to get ready for the weekend.

Let's hope you have a fun, happy weekend!

Yes I did notice that her panties changed color and she moved from the drivers seat, to the passenger side and back again...so sue me. If I had taken these photos rest assured THAT would never have happened.

Hitler says...

It was all Jessica's fault.

Be advised the following video slings the "F Bomb" in the subtitles.



I was raised a Cowboys fan. Watched Staubach throw the "Hail Mary" pass in Minnesota. Have seen every Super Bowl appearance. Hate Jerry Jones. Love the Cheerleaders. But even after all of that, I can appreciate the humor in this video.

Brothers at War...a Review

Dirty Harry over at LIBERTAS has seen Brothers at War.


You can read his impressions HERE.

Girl Friday, 11 JAN 08

I hope everyone had a great week. Paid leave is a wonderful thing, even if I'm up to my armpits unpacking junk I had no idea I owned.

To welcome the weekend, Playmate Nicole Lentz drops by...

Have a great weekend!

And You Thought "Pron" Was Only Good For One Thing...

From the Aviation Week Blog Ares comes this story about how the military is able to leverage technology that is being driven by users (pornography websites among them) that demand large bandwidth and high usage.

New generation cellular telephones – which offer wider channel width and much faster data rates that allow video and the internet to be shown on a handheld telephone screen – are being driven by the large commercial market for games, pornography and gambling, say top electronic warfare researchers.

That popularity is reducing prices so that these same capabilities are being adopted and reshaped to fill the arsenals of the worlds’ military cyber warriors. Military organizations around the globe, including the U.S., are using commercially developed attack and network exploitation technologies to build an arsenal of rapidly upgradable, flexible and hard to avoid cyber weapons.

Sorry I just committed the unpardonable sin of taking the majority of their story...please feel free to click on this link and read the "fascinating" story about why they selected some Chinese dude as their "Person of the Year"

Vote For SGT Jill

This is hard for me to do...but I am telling you to vote for someone who's not Miss Texas in the "America's Choice" for Miss America.

Miss Utah, Jill Stevens is a medic and a SGT in the Utah National Guard. As part of her duties she has already been deployed to Afganistan.

Read more about her HERE

Vote for her HERE by clicking on the state of Utah and following instructions. You can vote once a day...get on it now.

Another Fly-By...

This was at a TCU-NAVY game. Note the tail hook and the aircraft manuvering around the scoreboard. I've seen one lower but it was at an actual airfield not a football stadium.



Via Air Warriors

F-111 (1) Crappy Building (0)

This is what happens when an Aardvark blows past around Mach 1.

ENJOY!

A Young Person Writes the USAF

Via Castle Argghhh! comes this transcript of a young person's expression of his desire to become a fighter pilot.

Sir:

I am D. J. Baker and I would appreciate it if you could tell me what it takes to be an F-16 fighter pilot in the USAF. What classes should I take in high school to help the career I want to take later in life? What could I do to get into the Air Force Academy?

Sincerely,

DJ Baker
*********************************************

From: Van Wickler, Kenneth, Lt Col , HQ AETC

Anybody in our outfit want to help this poor kid from Cyberspace?

LTC Wickler
**********************************************

A worldly and jaded C 130 pilot, Major Hunter Mills, rises to the task of answering the young man's letter.
**********************************************

Dear DJ,

Obviously, through no fault of your own, your young, impressionable brain has been poisoned by the superfluous, hyped-up, "Top Gun" media portrayal of fighter pilots.

Unfortunately, this portrayal could not be further from the truth. In my experience, I've found most fighter pilots pompous, backstabbing, momma's boys with inferiority complexes, as well as being extremely over-rated aeronautically. However, rather than dash your budding dreams of becoming a USAF pilot, I offer the following alternative:

What you really want to aspire to is the exciting, challenging and rewarding world of TACTICAL AIRLIFT. And this, young DJ, means one thing, the venerable workhorse, the C-130! I can guarantee no fighter pilot can brag that he has led a 12-ship formation down a valley at 300 feet above the ground, with the navigator leading the way and trying to interpret an alternate route to the drop zone, avoiding pop-up threats, and coordinating with AWACS, all while eating a box lunch with the engineer in the back relieving himself and the loadmaster puking in his trash can!

For the rest go HERE

I could provide a few choice phrases but I will refrain in this case.

In My E-Mail

From the NY Times, this e-mail whose subject line said this:

Today's Headlines: U.S. Considers New Covert Push Within Pakistan

It's not exactly COVERT if we tell everyone...is it?

Here's the rest of the blurb and the link to the story:

U.S. Considers New Covert Push Within PakistanBy STEVEN LEE MYERS, DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITTA plan that could authorize more aggressive operationsfollows concern that Al Qaeda and the Taliban hope todestabilize the Pakistani government, officials said. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/washington/06terror.html?th&emc=th

I think we've already established where the NY Times stands as far as being supportive to our nations efforts in this conflict...but for the love of GOD, if there any limit to what they will do?

Hypocrite Thy Name Is Heigl

From the conservative film website, LIBERTAS comes this link .

The movie hit “Knocked Up” may have bumped Up Katherine Heigl’s celebrity status - and movie pay day - but the outspoken actress tells Vanity Fair’s January issue she thinks the Judd Apatow comedy is “a little sexist.”

I notice or assume she doesn't fail to cash the checks she's getting for her work on that movie. Also her feelings about things that are sexist didn't stop her from posing in everyone's favorite AAFES pron magazine, Maxim.

Yep, I can she why she's upset about her character in the film.

Also please note she wants romance, don't just ram your tongue down her throat. I guess since she just got married, she found what she was looking for in that department. At least I hope she did.

Being an actress must be hard work. I should be happy that I have such an easy carefree life. I can only imagine the living HELL it must be pretending to be someone else, memorizing lines from a script that someone else wrote and possibly having to play the part of someone who is in fact different in personality and temperament than yourself...the HORROR.

Damn if she aint hot though.

MND-B Memorial Service

This video is about 40 minutes long, it's available to be downloaded and it's well worth your time if you care about Soldiers and what we are about.

I encourage you to go to the following website...
1st Cavalry Division

You will see a row of buttons on the left, click on the one that says media, then click on video. You will then see a list of videos. For the month of DEC there is one labeled MND-Memorial, if you right click you can download. Or left click and just watch it. Be warned as I said earlier it's around 40 minutes long. But it's more than worth your while.

Sorry the file was too big to post on You Tube. I suppose it could be broken into pieces and posted that way...maybe someone will do that later, but I thought those who are interested can visit the site and see the video if they desire. Especially touching to me was the Division Chaplain's sermon...he did an outstanding job.

We will see them all on the "Green", RIP soldiers.

Could Be Worth Your Valuable Time

I just recieved an e-mail from Amazon about this book...

No reviews are posted and this is the first I've heard of this book...color me shocked.

I have ordered it and will post a review when I've finished reading this one...stay tuned.

Click here for the Amazon site for the book

GirlFriday...Welcome Back Edition

I know it's been a while since I added to this selection of lovely ladies...so here's one for the New Year.

Talyor James drops in to welcome back the Girl Friday feature, and the New Year.

Have a great weekend.

Here's Something Odd...

A band that plays its own instruments, writes songs and then performs them to a live audience. The Foo Fighters are an actual ROCK BAND, and I was beginning to believe they didn't exist anymore.

Check out their new CD, buy their music on I-Tunes or steal it from whomever you steal your MP3s from...I don't care. This is good stuff.

They also have a pretty good sense of humor check out the video for their song; Long Road to Ruin HERE...embeding was disabled so you'll have to click if you'd like to see it.

Idiot on the loose, New Years Edition

First of all this video goes out to all those still in the box...for those of you who can look at You Tube...Happy New Year. And I hope you get your own real life version of this video soon.



Second, the model/actress who made this commercial is suing because she says they made her "look lewd".

Are you kidding me? What the hell did you think rolling around in a bed, moaning would look like?

Thanks for keeping the trees alive.
H/T Ace of Spades
Link to the news story

Brothers at War

There's a documentary coming it's called Brothers At War.

Watch the trailer HERE

Looks like it might be worth watching...I really hope so. I'll keep an eye out!

So That's What Those Guys Do.

Not that we pay that much attention to the ground guides anyway.

Courtesy of ROFASIX comes a video of some folks who take the marshaling of aircraft SERIOUSLY. Watch it to the end.

The Fate of Bonecrusher Six

For those of you not in my BN I apologise for the inside joke.

The commander of one of our companies is a banjo aficionado (for CPT Baker, that means someone who is really good at playing the banjo :) )...if you can use that word in regards to an redneck instrument like a banjo. Bonus redneck geek points for the song choice.

H/T My Pet Jawa