Wednesday, December 11, 2013
The Return of Middleboro Jones & driving cross country....
The Return of Middleboro Jones....From where?
Well I got home from my last sojourn to Afghanistan in late May of this year. It was a great feeling to be home and I wanted to spend time offline as much as possible. Blogger.com made that easier as I had trouble logging in to the website and posting any info. That allowed me to be free of the need to feel I should make a regular post.
So what have I been doing since then?
Well to start off, I looked at starting a small business and acquired a vehicle for that purpose. A 1974 VW Bus no less. Bought it online from a man in Seattle. The key issue was how to get it from Seattle to Boston. After a few discussion of pros and cons, I decided to drive it home from the West Coast.
Now a few advised against it but as someone who traveled the wilds of Afghanistan, how could this be more risky? The real risk was if I bent it up or it broke down seriously while in transit.
I had a ton of frequent flyer miles from my rides to & from the far side of the world so getting to Seattle from Boston cost me $25, First Class no less. The owner of the bus picked me up and we drove out to his home about 20 miles north of Seattle. Nice country but not someplace I would like to stay long term.....winter there must be tough as it is very hilly.
Got to the VW and looked her over....she ran OK and I had my doubts but paid the man $3000 and off we went....3200 miles to Boston and nothing but lots of open road. The first 300 miles took me from Seattle to Spokane across the largest area of emptiness I had seen in quite some time, The Columbia River Valley. Miles and miles of green rolling hills and not a thing in between. Pretty country but very empty of people.
Pulled into the Spokane KOA at 9 PM and was glad to rest. A long day of traveling. Got the Kombi set up for sleep, plugged in my extension cord for device power and off to sleep. Next AM, got up and decided to hit the road early. One problem - the VW would not idle or stay running. It was a Sunday, so that means I am not going anywhere. Not that this is the worst problem as I am at a campground and can be comfortable while I wait.
So I kill a day and Monday AM get AAA to tow me to a local shop that handles VWs and has done so for 40 yrs. The issue turns out to be a faulty fuel pump. An easy fix and by 1 pm, I am back on the road heading west toward Idaho.
I manager to get across Idaho and into the western edge of Montanna where I pull off for the night at the next KOA I find. A nice rest stop and again, some incredible sights along the way cross the Cascade Mountains. The Continental Divide is no small feat in a VW bus. The sign says 6396 ft and that is a long way up for the VW and then we have to go down the other side which is also no small feat for a VW Bus which has skinny tires.
Next Day is spent driving across a good sized piece of Montana following Rte 90 East. I manage to get where I am supposed to go and land in Sheridan, WY. Just as I arrive, I can see a large and nasty looking Thunderstorm closing in as you can see for quite some distance and the storm is about 20 miles wide as it bears down on us.
I get to Sheridan when the most hellatious hailstorm hits and for better part of 2 hours, I hide under a service station canopy. This is good as the hail is pounding anything exposed. After the storm, I make my way to the Sheridan KOA. Sheridan is a pretty town with a nice rustic center with shops & such.
Just when I get settled in late in the evening, a 2nd round of thunder & lightning hits....I am too tired to care & sleep takes over.
Another early start and I head into the vast open nothingness of the flatlands of South Dakota.... open & flat pretty much sums it up. Lots of wide open spaces. I stop at a service station just off the highway and while I am in my VW making notes, 2 bikers walk up all dressed in leather. I wonder if they are looking for a hippie to beat up....
The first one walks up and says " Das is ein gut bus!!" - They are 2 Germans driving bikes cross country and were admiring my VW Bus.....funny guys and they spend about 20 minutes looking her over and talking in their best english about how much they like the Kombi.
I set off on my way and was planning to stop in a little village called Belvedere, SD where there is a KOA. I get there and discover that the only things there are the KOA & a gas station....kinda spooky looking too and decide tosee where the next KOA is along Rt 90. I find the next one is only 50 miles and decide to make a run for it before it gets dark. The next place worth stopping turns out to be Kennebec, SD which is small (population 248) but it will do. Get settled in and even able to pull up the Stanley Cup Finals game on my Ipad via wifi...will wonders never cease?)
More to follow in the next day or so.....as long as Blogspot works well.
Update - Blogspot still misbehaving .....not easy to post.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Navy Yard Shooting today in Washington DC
Prayers for all those killed and wounded today in an yet unexplained act of Terrorism.
I hope the authorities will find those responsible and bring them to justice.
A sad day for all Americans.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced the mounting death toll in a 2 p.m. news conference. One suspected shooter is dead, and Lanier said authorities still are looking for two other potential suspects wearing green and tan military style clothing.
“The big concern for us right now is that we have potentially two other shooters that we have not located at this point,” Lanier said.
Mayor Vincent C. Gray said no motive is known. He said they have no reason to believe it was an act of terrorism, though he said he could not rule it out.
Lanier described one of the possible suspects as a white male in his 40s, wearing what appeared to be tan military clothing, “consistent with a Navy uniform,” and a beret. She said police also are looking for a black man in his 40s with gray sideburns, wearing an olive-drab military-style uniform.
“We have multiple pieces of information that would suggest” that the two suspects are armed. “We have reason to believe that they are involved in some way.”
Police are asking anyone with information on these two people to call 202-727-9099
Two law enforcement officials said the shooter is among the 12 dead. The dead shooter had an assault rifle and a handgun, two law enforcement officials said. One said he also had a shotgun.
The officials said police are working under the theory that there may be additional shooters because of witness accounts and surveillance video among other information. One of those officials also said all the weapons were not accounted for.
At least two police officers were among those shot. Police on the scene said one is a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer who was shot twice in the leg and was evacuated to a hospital. Lanier said he was in stable condition after engaging the shooter with gunfire. The other was a base officer. The D.C. officer, a male, was conscious at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and his chances for survival were good, hospital officials said.
Janis Orlowski, the chief medical officer at Washington Hospital Center, said three victims in all were brought to the center, all in critical condition but alert, responsive and able to talk with doctors. The victims were also able to speak briefly to law enforcement officers before undergoing surgery or treatment, she said.
The other two victims at the hospital were female civilians, Orlowski said at a press conference.
All are likely to survive.
Ten public and charter schools and a public school administration building in the District were placed on lockdown as a precaution, and flights out of Reagan National Airport were briefly halted, causing delays even after they began departing again.
Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the chief of Naval Operations, was evacuated from his residence at the Navy Yard complex shortly after the first report of shots fired, Navy officials said.
Greenert, a four-star admiral and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was safely evacuated to the Pentagon along with his wife, Darleen, said Cmdr. Ryan Perry, a Navy spokesman.
The U.S. Navy said that three shots were fired around 8:20 a.m. at Building 197, where about 3,000 people work.
Rick Mason, a program management analyst who is a civilian with the U.S. Navy, told the Associated Press that a gunman was shooting from a fourth floor overlook in the hallway outside his office. He said the gunman was aiming at people in the building’s first floor cafeteria.
Tim Jirus, a Navy commander who works in Building 197, said that as he was evacuating the building he saw a co-worker who had been shot getting into a police car, and heard more shots fired from inside his workplace.
A worse sight lay just ahead. Jirus went to an alley where he thought he would be safe, and talked briefly with a man there about what was going on. Jirus said he heard two gunshots, loudly echoing off the building. It caused him to spin around and look in the direction of the sound. When he turned back, he looked down and saw the man he had been conversing with lying on the ground, shot in the head.
Uncertain where the shooter was, he ran.
“I was just lucky,” he said. “The other person was shorter than me. There were two shots, he got that guy, he didn’t get me. . . .The randomness of it -- standing right next to me, one person gets shot.”
David Stevens, a Navy contractor, was on the phone talking in building 197 when he heard an initial volley of shots fired. He heard people shouting that a shooter was on the building’s fourth floor.
He said he ran to the edge of a glass atrium that overlooks all the floors and glanced up, only to hear a “second deluge” of shots. The fire alarm sounded, and people began exiting the building.
Stevens described the building as very secure. He said employees must present an ID at the entrances. Visitors must have security clearance to get in.
“It’s unbelievable that someone could get a rifle in there -- if that’s what the shooter had,” he said.
Two Navy yard employees interviewed on CNN said they were fired on in a hallway by a gunman they described as a tall black man.
A woman who gave her name as Terry Durham said that as she and co-workers were evacuating, she saw a man down the hall raise a rifle and fire toward them, hitting a wall. “He was tall. He appeared to be dark-skinned,” she said.
“He was a tall black guy,” said her co-worker, Todd Brundage. “He didn’t say a word.”
One man who said he was at his desk on the second floor when the shooting began recalled hearing a loud noise “like someone dropping an old metal desk.” The man, who declined to give his name, said there was a pause, then several noises close together and he realized the danger: “There’s a shooter in the building. I started walking toward the door and I heard people running down the hall.”
Employees described the chaos, as a fire alarm sounded and people shouted, “Where is he? Where is he?”
Police closed the 11th Street Bridge as well as M Street SE between 2nd and 4th streets SE due to the shooting. Entrances to the Navy Yard Metro station remain open.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed enhanced security at the Capitol, but no immediate threat.
As helicopters circled overhead and emergency vehicles continued to rush to the scene, crowds of onlookers gathered on sidewalks and at a construction site near the Navy Yard, but police pushed them back, yelling at them to keep a distance from the grounds.
President Obama on Monday expressed sympathy for the victims of the shooting in the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington and said justice must be sought.
“I’ve made it clear to my team that we want the investigation to be seamless, so that local and federal authorities are working together,” he said.
A sad day for all Americans.
At least 12 dead in Navy Yard shooting. Two possible suspects at large
By Carol Morello, Peter Hermann and Clarence Williams,
At least 12 people are dead and others were wounded after as many as three shooters dressed in military style uniforms opened fire in a rampage at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, police said, spreading fear and chaos across the region as authorities tried to contain the incident.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced the mounting death toll in a 2 p.m. news conference. One suspected shooter is dead, and Lanier said authorities still are looking for two other potential suspects wearing green and tan military style clothing.
“The big concern for us right now is that we have potentially two other shooters that we have not located at this point,” Lanier said.
Mayor Vincent C. Gray said no motive is known. He said they have no reason to believe it was an act of terrorism, though he said he could not rule it out.
Lanier described one of the possible suspects as a white male in his 40s, wearing what appeared to be tan military clothing, “consistent with a Navy uniform,” and a beret. She said police also are looking for a black man in his 40s with gray sideburns, wearing an olive-drab military-style uniform.
“We have multiple pieces of information that would suggest” that the two suspects are armed. “We have reason to believe that they are involved in some way.”
Police are asking anyone with information on these two people to call 202-727-9099
Two law enforcement officials said the shooter is among the 12 dead. The dead shooter had an assault rifle and a handgun, two law enforcement officials said. One said he also had a shotgun.
The officials said police are working under the theory that there may be additional shooters because of witness accounts and surveillance video among other information. One of those officials also said all the weapons were not accounted for.
At least two police officers were among those shot. Police on the scene said one is a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer who was shot twice in the leg and was evacuated to a hospital. Lanier said he was in stable condition after engaging the shooter with gunfire. The other was a base officer. The D.C. officer, a male, was conscious at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and his chances for survival were good, hospital officials said.
Janis Orlowski, the chief medical officer at Washington Hospital Center, said three victims in all were brought to the center, all in critical condition but alert, responsive and able to talk with doctors. The victims were also able to speak briefly to law enforcement officers before undergoing surgery or treatment, she said.
The other two victims at the hospital were female civilians, Orlowski said at a press conference.
All are likely to survive.
Ten public and charter schools and a public school administration building in the District were placed on lockdown as a precaution, and flights out of Reagan National Airport were briefly halted, causing delays even after they began departing again.
Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the chief of Naval Operations, was evacuated from his residence at the Navy Yard complex shortly after the first report of shots fired, Navy officials said.
Greenert, a four-star admiral and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was safely evacuated to the Pentagon along with his wife, Darleen, said Cmdr. Ryan Perry, a Navy spokesman.
The U.S. Navy said that three shots were fired around 8:20 a.m. at Building 197, where about 3,000 people work.
Rick Mason, a program management analyst who is a civilian with the U.S. Navy, told the Associated Press that a gunman was shooting from a fourth floor overlook in the hallway outside his office. He said the gunman was aiming at people in the building’s first floor cafeteria.
Tim Jirus, a Navy commander who works in Building 197, said that as he was evacuating the building he saw a co-worker who had been shot getting into a police car, and heard more shots fired from inside his workplace.
A worse sight lay just ahead. Jirus went to an alley where he thought he would be safe, and talked briefly with a man there about what was going on. Jirus said he heard two gunshots, loudly echoing off the building. It caused him to spin around and look in the direction of the sound. When he turned back, he looked down and saw the man he had been conversing with lying on the ground, shot in the head.
Uncertain where the shooter was, he ran.
“I was just lucky,” he said. “The other person was shorter than me. There were two shots, he got that guy, he didn’t get me. . . .The randomness of it -- standing right next to me, one person gets shot.”
David Stevens, a Navy contractor, was on the phone talking in building 197 when he heard an initial volley of shots fired. He heard people shouting that a shooter was on the building’s fourth floor.
He said he ran to the edge of a glass atrium that overlooks all the floors and glanced up, only to hear a “second deluge” of shots. The fire alarm sounded, and people began exiting the building.
Stevens described the building as very secure. He said employees must present an ID at the entrances. Visitors must have security clearance to get in.
“It’s unbelievable that someone could get a rifle in there -- if that’s what the shooter had,” he said.
Two Navy yard employees interviewed on CNN said they were fired on in a hallway by a gunman they described as a tall black man.
A woman who gave her name as Terry Durham said that as she and co-workers were evacuating, she saw a man down the hall raise a rifle and fire toward them, hitting a wall. “He was tall. He appeared to be dark-skinned,” she said.
“He was a tall black guy,” said her co-worker, Todd Brundage. “He didn’t say a word.”
One man who said he was at his desk on the second floor when the shooting began recalled hearing a loud noise “like someone dropping an old metal desk.” The man, who declined to give his name, said there was a pause, then several noises close together and he realized the danger: “There’s a shooter in the building. I started walking toward the door and I heard people running down the hall.”
Employees described the chaos, as a fire alarm sounded and people shouted, “Where is he? Where is he?”
Police closed the 11th Street Bridge as well as M Street SE between 2nd and 4th streets SE due to the shooting. Entrances to the Navy Yard Metro station remain open.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed enhanced security at the Capitol, but no immediate threat.
As helicopters circled overhead and emergency vehicles continued to rush to the scene, crowds of onlookers gathered on sidewalks and at a construction site near the Navy Yard, but police pushed them back, yelling at them to keep a distance from the grounds.
President Obama on Monday expressed sympathy for the victims of the shooting in the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington and said justice must be sought.
“I’ve made it clear to my team that we want the investigation to be seamless, so that local and federal authorities are working together,” he said.
Friday, August 9, 2013
Summertime and this Blogger has been busy ( just not blogging)
Apologies all around for my lengthy absence...Guess after getting off my deployment in late May, the last thing I have wanted to do is sit down at my laptop....Blogspot & IE were not talking either so that didn't help.
Got a new roof done in July with a lot of sweat equity by yours truly....sorely needed and glad to have it done.
Further projects in the offing ( vinyl siding, new windows, etc) so no rest for the wicked ( or the weary) - Much work needed to the homestead after three years absence overseas
Still posting on Twitter as often as possible - my handle is @Leadership_One - Check it out in Twitter-ville
Still working on my manuscript for book about my experiences in Afghanistan....We'll see if cooler weather gets me back behind the laptop as I want to epublish it soon as possible
Hope all are enjoying Summer as much as I am..... I'll be back.....
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Blogspot not working well with IE
My apologies for not posting more often.....
Seems as Blogspot & IE are not on speaking terms....so posting is down to IPad. Benn busy making up for lost time including a new roof on the old homestead.....Big job as on many places, there were 5 layers of roof shingles....I've been loading them onto my pick-up truck & taking them to the dump....talk about your workout plan....
Hope that Blogspot gets its issues worked out as this is NOT how I want to post..... Thanks for being patient.
Seems as Blogspot & IE are not on speaking terms....so posting is down to IPad. Benn busy making up for lost time including a new roof on the old homestead.....Big job as on many places, there were 5 layers of roof shingles....I've been loading them onto my pick-up truck & taking them to the dump....talk about your workout plan....
Hope that Blogspot gets its issues worked out as this is NOT how I want to post..... Thanks for being patient.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Happy 4th of July from Boston.... 1st time in 4 years
Time waits for no man.....
A year ago, I was in Kandahar City on the 4th of July - Now, I am home, and this time for good. No more trips to Afghanistan as three missions there has been quite enough. this is the first 4th of July I've been home since 2009.
Just wanted to make sure while you are having your holiday and time off for the the 4th, all remember that your military are out there in 120+ degree heat of Afghanistan ( and other places around the world) keeping you safe. Here were my thoughts from a year ago..... Happy 4th of July to all !!
4th of July in Kandahar City 2012
It is the 4th of July here in Kandahar City, Afghanistan.
The day arrived earlier than stateside due to we are 8 1/2 hours ahead of the US. Most back home are preparing for a night's rest along with some going out on the night before a day off.
Here in Afghanistan, it is just another day.
On military bases here, there will be a bit of celebration and some good food at the DFACs ( Dining Facilities). At the same time, many will carry out their normal work of going in harm's way, working to guard the freedom of the people here. All will go about the normal business of the work that occurs here in the war zone.
Likewise, the work here will go on for me also.
It is another work day and one that has become a bit of a habit for me. This is the 3rd year in a row that I have been here for the 4th of July. I have been working contract work for the past three years and that means being here for most of the year including the summer.
There will be no BBQs to attend or fireworks ( as the fireworks here are usually a bad thing). The holiday passes quietly here and that is understandable. It is what we have agreed to as part of the deal of working overseas, away from home and family.
Back home in the USA, things are not all "beer & skittles" either. 1.4 million people in the Mid-Atlantic area are still w/o power due to the thunderstorms that came through earlier this week, 14 million people are unemployed or underemployed ( leaving them w/o work or the type of work they usually would perform) and the majority of our citizens are unhappy with the direction our government has taken over the last 4 years.
Being away from home is tough at times like this, but so is being at home without work. I have had to deal with that and it is a terrible place to be. Like many others, I have spent a significant number of years working as a manager in HR and now face the new reality that what was of value to employers in the past is undervalued now. The degree and experience I have is treated in the same manner as some look upon an older car.
Employers are hiring younger workers and paying them 1/2 of what someone like me should earn. This is not just happening to HR professionals, but professionals from all different professions. The recession has given businesses the ability to shed older workers, who carry larger wage & benefit costs and hire younger workers who seek less.
This trend will wind up hurting companies as they will spend more in training and loss of customer satisfaction. They are acting shortsighted and it is only making things worse economically.
Don Henley is on my IPAD with the song “The Heart of the Matter” and sings, " These times are so uncertain, there's yearning undefined and people filled with rage..." - very true and accurate even after the 20 years since he wrote the song.
America finds itself in perilous straits - The economy is sluggish and that is partly due to the 14 million people who are effectively unemployed. They don't have the income they need and that means they are not purchasing goods and services. That in turn holds the economy back. We have a President who acts like an insolent teenager and thinks that it is cool to hang out with Hollywood types. Instead of seeking maturity and competance, his supporters want to act like eternal high schoolers on a spending spree with their parent's credit card. The Middle class is struggling more than ever and all we get from the President is "Party on..." as he parties on the taxpayer's dime.
We deserve better leadership and the people sitting in the White House & Congress ain't it.....
The 4th of July is one of the days that makes me think more about the country I love and how difficult it was back in 1776. The signers of the Declaration of Independence faced tough times including the risk of their lives for opposing the King.
My family has been in America since 1635 so many of my ancestors were there when the Revolutionary War freed our nation.
The key is that as Americans, we will continue to make our country and the world a better place by our actions. Though we will disagree with each other and argue about what is needed, the outcome will still be an example to others about what can be accomplished if we set our minds to doing something.
That is essentially what I am doing here in Kandahar City - working to help the people of Afghanistan by leading them to create a better country for themselves and their children. That is the lesson we learned back in 1776 and one we still honor and celebrate today.
Happy 4th of July to all our military serving abroad, our colleagues working to support them and all back home in the USA.
A year ago, I was in Kandahar City on the 4th of July - Now, I am home, and this time for good. No more trips to Afghanistan as three missions there has been quite enough. this is the first 4th of July I've been home since 2009.
Just wanted to make sure while you are having your holiday and time off for the the 4th, all remember that your military are out there in 120+ degree heat of Afghanistan ( and other places around the world) keeping you safe. Here were my thoughts from a year ago..... Happy 4th of July to all !!
4th of July in Kandahar City 2012
It is the 4th of July here in Kandahar City, Afghanistan.
The day arrived earlier than stateside due to we are 8 1/2 hours ahead of the US. Most back home are preparing for a night's rest along with some going out on the night before a day off.
Here in Afghanistan, it is just another day.
On military bases here, there will be a bit of celebration and some good food at the DFACs ( Dining Facilities). At the same time, many will carry out their normal work of going in harm's way, working to guard the freedom of the people here. All will go about the normal business of the work that occurs here in the war zone.
Likewise, the work here will go on for me also.
It is another work day and one that has become a bit of a habit for me. This is the 3rd year in a row that I have been here for the 4th of July. I have been working contract work for the past three years and that means being here for most of the year including the summer.
There will be no BBQs to attend or fireworks ( as the fireworks here are usually a bad thing). The holiday passes quietly here and that is understandable. It is what we have agreed to as part of the deal of working overseas, away from home and family.
Back home in the USA, things are not all "beer & skittles" either. 1.4 million people in the Mid-Atlantic area are still w/o power due to the thunderstorms that came through earlier this week, 14 million people are unemployed or underemployed ( leaving them w/o work or the type of work they usually would perform) and the majority of our citizens are unhappy with the direction our government has taken over the last 4 years.
Being away from home is tough at times like this, but so is being at home without work. I have had to deal with that and it is a terrible place to be. Like many others, I have spent a significant number of years working as a manager in HR and now face the new reality that what was of value to employers in the past is undervalued now. The degree and experience I have is treated in the same manner as some look upon an older car.
Employers are hiring younger workers and paying them 1/2 of what someone like me should earn. This is not just happening to HR professionals, but professionals from all different professions. The recession has given businesses the ability to shed older workers, who carry larger wage & benefit costs and hire younger workers who seek less.
This trend will wind up hurting companies as they will spend more in training and loss of customer satisfaction. They are acting shortsighted and it is only making things worse economically.
Don Henley is on my IPAD with the song “The Heart of the Matter” and sings, " These times are so uncertain, there's yearning undefined and people filled with rage..." - very true and accurate even after the 20 years since he wrote the song.
America finds itself in perilous straits - The economy is sluggish and that is partly due to the 14 million people who are effectively unemployed. They don't have the income they need and that means they are not purchasing goods and services. That in turn holds the economy back. We have a President who acts like an insolent teenager and thinks that it is cool to hang out with Hollywood types. Instead of seeking maturity and competance, his supporters want to act like eternal high schoolers on a spending spree with their parent's credit card. The Middle class is struggling more than ever and all we get from the President is "Party on..." as he parties on the taxpayer's dime.
We deserve better leadership and the people sitting in the White House & Congress ain't it.....
The 4th of July is one of the days that makes me think more about the country I love and how difficult it was back in 1776. The signers of the Declaration of Independence faced tough times including the risk of their lives for opposing the King.
My family has been in America since 1635 so many of my ancestors were there when the Revolutionary War freed our nation.
The key is that as Americans, we will continue to make our country and the world a better place by our actions. Though we will disagree with each other and argue about what is needed, the outcome will still be an example to others about what can be accomplished if we set our minds to doing something.
That is essentially what I am doing here in Kandahar City - working to help the people of Afghanistan by leading them to create a better country for themselves and their children. That is the lesson we learned back in 1776 and one we still honor and celebrate today.
Happy 4th of July to all our military serving abroad, our colleagues working to support them and all back home in the USA.
Friday, June 28, 2013
A Work In Progress
Been busy At home and that has made less time for being online. When I was in Afghanistan, I had some extra time on my hands and that allowed for time to work on the web.
Now that I am home, there are a multitude of items that need my attention. This keeps me from spending more time online but that is fine. I will make time to keep this blog updated one way or the other.
One off shoot of the time overseas in Afghanistan is that I will be e-publishing a book on my travels through Afghanistan. I have quite a few stories to tell ( or retell) as the case may be. I am working on a title as that will be one of the keys to marketing it online.
More info to come but for now, I am trying to make time to balance home, web, work and other tasks.
As with many other things in my life, it is a "work in progress"
To be continued.....
Now that I am home, there are a multitude of items that need my attention. This keeps me from spending more time online but that is fine. I will make time to keep this blog updated one way or the other.
One off shoot of the time overseas in Afghanistan is that I will be e-publishing a book on my travels through Afghanistan. I have quite a few stories to tell ( or retell) as the case may be. I am working on a title as that will be one of the keys to marketing it online.
More info to come but for now, I am trying to make time to balance home, web, work and other tasks.
As with many other things in my life, it is a "work in progress"
To be continued.....
Monday, June 24, 2013
Being Home is the best & working with The Home Base Program
Been home for a month now and things are just starting to feel normal again. By normal I mean that I am starting to feel like I will be home and stay home. The first few weeks felt like a R&R as most time at home while deployed is 2-3 weeks.
Now, with Summer in place, I am looking forward to the things I missed over the last few years - 4th of July, Barnstable County Fair, Cape League Baseball and some time at the beach.
I am also working with the Home Base Program out of Massachusetts General Hospital. The VA has proven to be pretty useless as they don't listen and don't want to see things as they are. The VA seems dedicated to downplaying the issues that you have as if they validate them, it will be a "cost" to them. When it comes to the VA, it comes down to $$, not what is best for the Veteran.
The Home Base Program has been put together by MGH and the Red Sox foundation. If you are a Veteran of Iraq and/or Afghanistan and need help, they will assist you free of charge. The staff is attentive and focuses on what is needed, not what it costs.
I highly recommend you look into this great program. Click on the link below.
http://www.homebaseprogram.org/general-information.aspx
Now, with Summer in place, I am looking forward to the things I missed over the last few years - 4th of July, Barnstable County Fair, Cape League Baseball and some time at the beach.
I am also working with the Home Base Program out of Massachusetts General Hospital. The VA has proven to be pretty useless as they don't listen and don't want to see things as they are. The VA seems dedicated to downplaying the issues that you have as if they validate them, it will be a "cost" to them. When it comes to the VA, it comes down to $$, not what is best for the Veteran.
The Home Base Program has been put together by MGH and the Red Sox foundation. If you are a Veteran of Iraq and/or Afghanistan and need help, they will assist you free of charge. The staff is attentive and focuses on what is needed, not what it costs.
I highly recommend you look into this great program. Click on the link below.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Chicago Teacher Union Boss/BS Artist - "It's everyone else's fault...."
BullSh-t Artists abound in our society.....You can spot them easily as they have been on the government payroll their entire lives, have not done a thing to help others ( only worked on fattening their wallets) and still want to blame everyone else for their failures.
Case in point - The Head of the Chicago Teacher's Union. While I am no fan of the Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel, this woman is a total BS artist. She'll be living off the taxpayers for the rest of her life, but still thinks taxpayers need to impoverish themselves to make things right....in her warped world.
What a bunch of BS. There ought a be a law against ths type of outright stupidity.
Chicago teachers union chief faults ‘rich white people’ for city’s education mess
The Daily Caller
Case in point - The Head of the Chicago Teacher's Union. While I am no fan of the Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel, this woman is a total BS artist. She'll be living off the taxpayers for the rest of her life, but still thinks taxpayers need to impoverish themselves to make things right....in her warped world.
What a bunch of BS. There ought a be a law against ths type of outright stupidity.
Chicago teachers union chief faults ‘rich white people’ for city’s education mess
The Daily Caller
In a scathing speech on Wednesday, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union charged that racism and “rich white people” are to blame for the immense financial crisis facing the Chicago Public Schools.
In her remarks to an audience at the upscale City Club of Chicago, union boss Karen Lewis strongly criticized Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. She also urged the city schools to follow the strategic blueprint of the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
“Members of the status quo — the people who are running the schools and advising the mayor on how to best run our district — know what good education looks like because they have secured it for their own children in well-resourced public and private institutions,” the Dartmouth graduate charged.
“When will there be an honest conversation about the poverty, racism and inequality that hinders the delivery of a quality education product in our school system?” Lewis also asked in the speech. “When will we address the fact that rich, white people think they know what’s in the best interest of children of African Americans and Latinos—no matter what the parent’s income or education level.”
The union leader then questioned the motives of “venture capitalists” who have expressed a desire to improve the quality of education for poor and minority students.
“There is something about these folks who love the kids but hate the parents,” Lewis inveighed. “There’s something about these folks who use little black and brown children as stage props at one press conference while announcing they want to fire, layoff or lock up their parents at another press conference.”
Lewis called for “an end to corporate subsidies and loopholes.” She demanded “progressive taxation” to close the $1 billion budget deficit currently facing the Second City and its public schools.(RELATED: It’s official: Chicago Public Schools will close 49 elementary schools for good)
Higher income tax rates on wealthy residents would generate billions in necessary revenue, the union chief suggested. She also proposed new taxes for commuters and for financial transfers.
In her closing remarks, Lewis, a self-professed Chicago White Sox fan, suggested that the Chicago Public Schools would be wise to emulate the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise.
“When the Cubs lose a game they don’t call for Wrigley Field to close down. They don’t want the entire team dismantled. Despite empty seats, the stadium isn’t accused of being underutilized,” she said.
Lewis, who obviously spends little time listening to Chicago’s two main sports radio stations, also suggested that “no one questions” the salaries of Chicago baseball players.
Year after year — despite individual player performance, despite game losses and near wins — the fans show continue to show up. We keep cheering for our Cubbies. We know they are winners. We dream. We believe,” Lewis said.
“Do the same for our children,” she implored. “Cheer them on. Invest in them. Love them. Support their parents. Support their teachers. Support their schools. Let’s work together. Let’s win, Chicago. Let’s win.”
The Chicago Cubs famously have not won a World Series since 1908 (or a National League pennant since 1945). The team is currently in next-to-last place in Major League Baseball’s National League Central division — 16 games out of first place.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Best laid plans of mice and men
Well I hoped to be home by Saturday but the bus needed another repair. Right rear CV joint and axle was NFG so that cost me a day in Madison, WI. Found a great group of guys at Kelly Moss Motorsports who were able get me up & running, even coming in on Saturday morning to finish the job as the parts weren't there until then.
Ran into some great people along the way at the KOA Campgrounds I stayed at and had a good time but like anything else, the trip was longer than I wanted. Time to be home and start working on the next adventure.....Had enough of being away from home. Really.
Ran into some great people along the way at the KOA Campgrounds I stayed at and had a good time but like anything else, the trip was longer than I wanted. Time to be home and start working on the next adventure.....Had enough of being away from home. Really.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
On the road.....
As previously mentioned, I am on an adventure of sorts. Bought a 1974 VW Bus in Seattle and I'm taking her cross country back to Boston. Something I have always wanted to do (Drive Cross the USA) and part of getting the right vehicle.
Have had a few hiccups - Fuel Pump went in Spokane, WA - That delayed me a day but found a shop with great mechanics. Had to replace 2 front tires after road damage on Rt 16 leaving Mt. Rushmore ....These things happen on a 3000 mile drive in 40 yr old vehicle.
Every where I go, she's the "Rock Star" as all anyone wants to talk about is her, I'm just the entourage. This VW Bus attracts attention everywhere we go.....
I'll post pics later once I get home . Trying to get there sometime Saturday......Inshalla
As my Afghan friends would say.
Have had a few hiccups - Fuel Pump went in Spokane, WA - That delayed me a day but found a shop with great mechanics. Had to replace 2 front tires after road damage on Rt 16 leaving Mt. Rushmore ....These things happen on a 3000 mile drive in 40 yr old vehicle.
Every where I go, she's the "Rock Star" as all anyone wants to talk about is her, I'm just the entourage. This VW Bus attracts attention everywhere we go.....
I'll post pics later once I get home . Trying to get there sometime Saturday......Inshalla
As my Afghan friends would say.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Lay Offs at NUWC at Newport, RI Navy Base
We have plenty of $$$$ for the lack wit in the White House to waste on numerous vacations & other BS but we'll shut down NAVY research into better systems of defense for our fleet??? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ???
2400 more furlough notices go out at NUWC
Jun. 7, 2013 The Associated Press
NEWPORT, R.I. — The second round of furlough notices for civilian employees of Newport’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center is being sent out.
WLNE-TV reports the letters were going out on Friday. A spokesman at the center tells The Associated Press that about 2,400 notices are being delivered. That’s in addition to 300 that went out last month.
The furloughs are a result of automatic federal budget cuts at the U.S. Defense Department. Employees are required to take 16 hours of unpaid time off every two weeks through the end of September. Furloughs start the week of July 8.
The facility serves as a research, testing and support center for Navy submarines and ships. All 439 civilian employees at the U.S. Naval War College are also being furloughed.
2400 more furlough notices go out at NUWC
Jun. 7, 2013 The Associated Press
NEWPORT, R.I. — The second round of furlough notices for civilian employees of Newport’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center is being sent out.
WLNE-TV reports the letters were going out on Friday. A spokesman at the center tells The Associated Press that about 2,400 notices are being delivered. That’s in addition to 300 that went out last month.
The furloughs are a result of automatic federal budget cuts at the U.S. Defense Department. Employees are required to take 16 hours of unpaid time off every two weeks through the end of September. Furloughs start the week of July 8.
The facility serves as a research, testing and support center for Navy submarines and ships. All 439 civilian employees at the U.S. Naval War College are also being furloughed.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Apologies and updates / On the road again.......
I apologize to anyone who has wondered why I have been lax in posting anything for a bit. Getting off deployment to Afghanistan is not as easy as it sounds.
I have been home for just under 2 1/2 weeks and it takes getting used to being back on home footing. I have visited with most friends and family, gotten caught up with some home stuff and also got busy on some work related items. Then an opportunity comes along that changes the schedule.....
I'm on a road trip of sorts and it involves a cross country drive. Landed in Seattle on Saturday and made my way across Washngton State. Pretty country and some serious peaks.....now, spending the day in Spokane. The Eastern part of Washington State is wide open farmland as far as the eye can see....It was breathtaking and eiree as there were places out there without people/towns/etc. as far as the eye could see. Lots of large wind farms near Yakima.....A great place for wind energy.
More info to follow....Just wanted to let you know that Middleboro Jones is out exploring a little of the USA for a change instead of the wilds of Afghanistan. Hope to be able to share some pictures soon.
I have been home for just under 2 1/2 weeks and it takes getting used to being back on home footing. I have visited with most friends and family, gotten caught up with some home stuff and also got busy on some work related items. Then an opportunity comes along that changes the schedule.....
I'm on a road trip of sorts and it involves a cross country drive. Landed in Seattle on Saturday and made my way across Washngton State. Pretty country and some serious peaks.....now, spending the day in Spokane. The Eastern part of Washington State is wide open farmland as far as the eye can see....It was breathtaking and eiree as there were places out there without people/towns/etc. as far as the eye could see. Lots of large wind farms near Yakima.....A great place for wind energy.
More info to follow....Just wanted to let you know that Middleboro Jones is out exploring a little of the USA for a change instead of the wilds of Afghanistan. Hope to be able to share some pictures soon.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
On the Cape today
Took a ride to the Cape today....
Visiting with Dad and making sure the woods don't take over his yard.
As always, a stop at the beach is required....A few people were sunning themselves. Looks like the start of a nice summer.
Visiting with Dad and making sure the woods don't take over his yard.
As always, a stop at the beach is required....A few people were sunning themselves. Looks like the start of a nice summer.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Sailing on the Charles with the staff of MGH Home Base Program
Spent Sunday sailing on the Charles River with the staff of Mass General's HOME BASE Program, the RED SOX Foundation and the staff of Boston Community Boating.
Colleagues back in Kandahar are dealing with heat, dust and the ongoing issues in Afghanistan but I was able to spend the day with my daughter on the water. A great day and a great time was had by all.
Colleagues back in Kandahar are dealing with heat, dust and the ongoing issues in Afghanistan but I was able to spend the day with my daughter on the water. A great day and a great time was had by all.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Next Mission
Spent the first week home getting used to life in these United States again. It takes a little while to get off the deployment express and get back to being part of the homefront.
Part of this is also looking at what options are available to me for the next mission.
I have been told by multiple friends and family that my days of traveling to Afghanistan are at an end. I've made enough trips there ( 7 trips in and out of country in total).
Working on the next plan and have been looking toward self employment. There are resources available to help Veterans like me with setting up a business. I have become somewhat disolusioned with work in corporate America as they are solely focused on $$$. People have become a disposable resource to companies and for a HR professional who values workers, it has become disheartening.
More to follow as the next mission progresses. Like other challenges I have faced, this one will be an adventure I am sure.
Part of this is also looking at what options are available to me for the next mission.
I have been told by multiple friends and family that my days of traveling to Afghanistan are at an end. I've made enough trips there ( 7 trips in and out of country in total).
Working on the next plan and have been looking toward self employment. There are resources available to help Veterans like me with setting up a business. I have become somewhat disolusioned with work in corporate America as they are solely focused on $$$. People have become a disposable resource to companies and for a HR professional who values workers, it has become disheartening.
More to follow as the next mission progresses. Like other challenges I have faced, this one will be an adventure I am sure.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
A Dull Tour is a Good Tour.....Remembering our fallen warriors
Getting used to being back home.....Helped out with breakfast at ALL ARE WELCOME Saturday morning which was nice. Got to see my daughter perform the annual " That's Entertainment" show which I had missed for the past few years....also nice.
Having no major issues occur while deployed constitutes the "Dull Tour" side of things, but the time spent in Afghanistan was not without issues and challenges.
I've got the start of a book on my time in Afghanistan and will look to get it into format for e-publishing in the near future. I like the idea of not having to deal with the publishing houses and all that related BS. I wonder how many writers could have gone forward but were frustrated by the "system".
Getting used to being back home is a process and making sure all goes as expected takes time and effort. I'll take it one step at a time and look to get myself back to normal here one day at at time. Doing so will also be part of what I put in the book.
In the meantime, make sure to honor our fallen Warriors and show them that their sacrifice matters. Yeah, holiday weekend and a break from work, etc.,etc. but take time for those who gave their all so you can have this break for work.
ALL gave some, but some gave ALL. Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti of Raynham, MA is an example in point. He gave his life in Afghanistan trying to save his battle buddies.
We remember him and all others who gave the last full measure for their battle buddies and all of us.
Thank you to them and all who serve our great land.
Having no major issues occur while deployed constitutes the "Dull Tour" side of things, but the time spent in Afghanistan was not without issues and challenges.
I've got the start of a book on my time in Afghanistan and will look to get it into format for e-publishing in the near future. I like the idea of not having to deal with the publishing houses and all that related BS. I wonder how many writers could have gone forward but were frustrated by the "system".
Getting used to being back home is a process and making sure all goes as expected takes time and effort. I'll take it one step at a time and look to get myself back to normal here one day at at time. Doing so will also be part of what I put in the book.
In the meantime, make sure to honor our fallen Warriors and show them that their sacrifice matters. Yeah, holiday weekend and a break from work, etc.,etc. but take time for those who gave their all so you can have this break for work.
ALL gave some, but some gave ALL. Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti of Raynham, MA is an example in point. He gave his life in Afghanistan trying to save his battle buddies.
We remember him and all others who gave the last full measure for their battle buddies and all of us.
Thank you to them and all who serve our great land.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Memorial Day 2013.... Nice to be Home
Getting used to being home in the good old US of A....quite a haul over last 36 hrs to get here from Afghanistan.
Memorial Day this weekend.....Please take time to honor our military who gave the last full measure of devotion to duty, honor and country.
It takes a small bit of your time but it means a lot to all who served.
Memorial Day this weekend.....Please take time to honor our military who gave the last full measure of devotion to duty, honor and country.
It takes a small bit of your time but it means a lot to all who served.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Aloha Spirit - Retro VW Style
Demob countdown is down to 1....and I am dreaming of time in Hawaii..... Found this on the web
Awesome retro cool old steel... I plan on visiting Hawaii again...and will look to have an aircooled VW to drive when I get there.
Awesome retro cool old steel... I plan on visiting Hawaii again...and will look to have an aircooled VW to drive when I get there.
JAWS - Movie Posters reimagined
If you've been paying attention to things on Cape Cod, you might know that summers there are now more shark infested than ever. The seals are thriving due to protection as marine mammals and that in turn brings the Great White Sharks in for the summer.
That got me thinking about what would it be like if JAWS was made today, instead of 38 years ago...Just hope the sharks focus on the seals only.
Here's a couple updated copies of posters for JAWS, the quintessential summer movie.
That got me thinking about what would it be like if JAWS was made today, instead of 38 years ago...Just hope the sharks focus on the seals only.
Here's a couple updated copies of posters for JAWS, the quintessential summer movie.
Friday, May 17, 2013
The Demob Countdown continues...... "Getting Short"
I am getting " short " as the number of days until I demob is now at 3 !!!
It was a rough night for the people of Kandahar as they had to deal with another carbombing which caused up to 16 deaths and another 60+ wounded.....Sad, sad, sad.
While there are many things I will not miss about this place, (Flies, Dust, Heat, Conflict, etc.), there has been moments where the beauty of the desert presents itself.
Sunrise is one of my favorite moments in the day as all is still and nature shows us her palette of colors and textures can create. Enclosed is a picture I took of one of those moments.
Hope all are well stateside and looking forward to joining you soon.
It was a rough night for the people of Kandahar as they had to deal with another carbombing which caused up to 16 deaths and another 60+ wounded.....Sad, sad, sad.
While there are many things I will not miss about this place, (Flies, Dust, Heat, Conflict, etc.), there has been moments where the beauty of the desert presents itself.
Sunrise is one of my favorite moments in the day as all is still and nature shows us her palette of colors and textures can create. Enclosed is a picture I took of one of those moments.
Hope all are well stateside and looking forward to joining you soon.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Gen. Stanley McChrystal writes about " The Courage to Change "
As a student of Leadership and a HR Professional, I have spoken to many about " change " and why it is so difficult for people.
WE are creatures of habit....each one of us has our daily routines and we use these to set our schedules on a daily basis. By doing so, we can control our life and try to have an expectation of what to expect. I try to help others understand that "change" is the one true constant in life.
Here, General Stanley McChrystal talks about how he had to come to grips with change to make sure his efforts and the efforts of his troops were effective.
This is part one of his posting and I will follow-up with part two when it is published.
WE are creatures of habit....each one of us has our daily routines and we use these to set our schedules on a daily basis. By doing so, we can control our life and try to have an expectation of what to expect. I try to help others understand that "change" is the one true constant in life.
Here, General Stanley McChrystal talks about how he had to come to grips with change to make sure his efforts and the efforts of his troops were effective.
This is part one of his posting and I will follow-up with part two when it is published.
The Courage to Change
By General Stanley McChrystal
At 49 years old, I was a two-star general, and less than a year into what would ultimately be an almost five-year tour as the Commanding General of the Joint Special Operations Command. Within two years I would be wearing a third star, and would ultimately spend almost the entire command tour forward deployed in combat zones. My position placed me in charge of thousands of the United States’ most elite service-members, men and women who had been screened and tested at multiple levels throughout their careers to make it into the military’s most demanding units. I commanded Army Rangers and special operators; the most highly-selected Navy SEALs; the best helicopter pilots in the world; the Air Force’s finest medics and communicator;, and a host of brilliant specialists whose diverse expertise was required to keep our organization moving. We were thousands strong, dispersed around the globe, and by any measurable standard the best trained and most rigorously selected organization that the battlefield had ever seen. My force comprised people selected (amongst other qualities) for their inability to accept anything but victory: We were hard-wired to win.
All of this made my revelation that spring all the more difficult. We were losing. There were no front lines to measure, no enemy higher-headquarters to spy on. This type of conflict was new to us. My units were nightly engaging Al Qaeda in Iraq’s fighters, but our enemy’s influence continued to spread. We were pushing ourselves to our physical and mental edge, but the enemy network was expanding faster than we could move. Most importantly, every metric I could think of was trending negative: al Qaeda acts of violence were on the rise, shadow governments were surpassing the influence of local authorities, civilian casualties were steadily rising, car bombs were exploding every day in Baghdad. Meanwhile, my organization simply had no more capacity, human or technical. Like most soldiers, I’d never contemplated finding myself on the losing side in a war, but I was increasingly convinced that this was what if felt like.
The word—losing—pounded in my head as the hot desert air whipped through the helicopter. I had felt it in my gut for several months, and my visit that night had confirmed it for me intellectually.
But the challenge was this. Our people weren’t losing: They won all their fights. Our units weren’t losing: They could point to their progress. Every element of my several-thousand-strong task force was effectively and steadily winning when it came to their area and their problem set. Yet, collectively, we were still losing. The challenge we faced, I was beginning to realize, was unlike anything we’d ever encountered—or, worse, anticipated—as a possibility.
The members of our force in Anbar were risking their lives every night to address the problem they faced. But did we have the right solution? More important, did we understand the real problem? It was hard for anyone in our force to truly articulate how their actions, effective as they were, tied to the larger effort across the battlefield to debilitate Al Qaeda’s insurgency. At best, I sensed, we were winning in small pockets—capturing enemy leaders and weapons—and hoping that this somehow supported an overarching strategy. At worst, we were risking, losing, and taking lives without knowing that those sacrifices were getting us any closer to ending the war.
At that point, on that night, I had more questions than answers. But I’d begun to understand what needed to be done. As the leader of this organization, I knew the first step would be significant, and it was one that only I could take. We needed to fundamentally change our organization, and that change would need to start with me. I knew, too, that I was entering what would be one of the most challenging periods of my career. I did so with a message that I and I alone could deliver to the Task Force. It went something like this:
You are the finest force the world has ever known, and I’m proud of everything you’re doing. You go out, night after night, into harm’s way—and do incredible things. As individual units, you're winning every time. I recognize and appreciate that. But I’m here to tell you we are losing this war. I know each of you is doing everything you can, and doing it better than history has ever seen. I also know that your families at home make sacrifices every day to support you, our mission, and our nation. I recognize and appreciate that.
So we need to make a choice. We can continue on this road, and all go home with medals and war stories, but those stories will all end with the fact that we, collectively, lost the war. Or, we can change how we operate. If we don’t, we will lose—of that I have no doubt. Changing will be a painful process, but the road we're on is destined for failure. So we start now. I will be here with you, every step of the way.
Thus began our journey
At 49 years old, I was a two-star general, and less than a year into what would ultimately be an almost five-year tour as the Commanding General of the Joint Special Operations Command. Within two years I would be wearing a third star, and would ultimately spend almost the entire command tour forward deployed in combat zones. My position placed me in charge of thousands of the United States’ most elite service-members, men and women who had been screened and tested at multiple levels throughout their careers to make it into the military’s most demanding units. I commanded Army Rangers and special operators; the most highly-selected Navy SEALs; the best helicopter pilots in the world; the Air Force’s finest medics and communicator;, and a host of brilliant specialists whose diverse expertise was required to keep our organization moving. We were thousands strong, dispersed around the globe, and by any measurable standard the best trained and most rigorously selected organization that the battlefield had ever seen. My force comprised people selected (amongst other qualities) for their inability to accept anything but victory: We were hard-wired to win.
All of this made my revelation that spring all the more difficult. We were losing. There were no front lines to measure, no enemy higher-headquarters to spy on. This type of conflict was new to us. My units were nightly engaging Al Qaeda in Iraq’s fighters, but our enemy’s influence continued to spread. We were pushing ourselves to our physical and mental edge, but the enemy network was expanding faster than we could move. Most importantly, every metric I could think of was trending negative: al Qaeda acts of violence were on the rise, shadow governments were surpassing the influence of local authorities, civilian casualties were steadily rising, car bombs were exploding every day in Baghdad. Meanwhile, my organization simply had no more capacity, human or technical. Like most soldiers, I’d never contemplated finding myself on the losing side in a war, but I was increasingly convinced that this was what if felt like.
The word—losing—pounded in my head as the hot desert air whipped through the helicopter. I had felt it in my gut for several months, and my visit that night had confirmed it for me intellectually.
But the challenge was this. Our people weren’t losing: They won all their fights. Our units weren’t losing: They could point to their progress. Every element of my several-thousand-strong task force was effectively and steadily winning when it came to their area and their problem set. Yet, collectively, we were still losing. The challenge we faced, I was beginning to realize, was unlike anything we’d ever encountered—or, worse, anticipated—as a possibility.
The members of our force in Anbar were risking their lives every night to address the problem they faced. But did we have the right solution? More important, did we understand the real problem? It was hard for anyone in our force to truly articulate how their actions, effective as they were, tied to the larger effort across the battlefield to debilitate Al Qaeda’s insurgency. At best, I sensed, we were winning in small pockets—capturing enemy leaders and weapons—and hoping that this somehow supported an overarching strategy. At worst, we were risking, losing, and taking lives without knowing that those sacrifices were getting us any closer to ending the war.
At that point, on that night, I had more questions than answers. But I’d begun to understand what needed to be done. As the leader of this organization, I knew the first step would be significant, and it was one that only I could take. We needed to fundamentally change our organization, and that change would need to start with me. I knew, too, that I was entering what would be one of the most challenging periods of my career. I did so with a message that I and I alone could deliver to the Task Force. It went something like this:
You are the finest force the world has ever known, and I’m proud of everything you’re doing. You go out, night after night, into harm’s way—and do incredible things. As individual units, you're winning every time. I recognize and appreciate that. But I’m here to tell you we are losing this war. I know each of you is doing everything you can, and doing it better than history has ever seen. I also know that your families at home make sacrifices every day to support you, our mission, and our nation. I recognize and appreciate that.
So we need to make a choice. We can continue on this road, and all go home with medals and war stories, but those stories will all end with the fact that we, collectively, lost the war. Or, we can change how we operate. If we don’t, we will lose—of that I have no doubt. Changing will be a painful process, but the road we're on is destined for failure. So we start now. I will be here with you, every step of the way.
Thus began our journey
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) makes Naval Aviation History
History in the making.....The US NAVY leading the military ( and the world) with technology.
Bravo Zulu !!
From Navy.mil
ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 14, 2013) An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator launches from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is the first aircraft carrier to successfully catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tony D. Curtis/Released
Bravo Zulu !!
From Navy.mil
ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 14, 2013) An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator launches from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is the first aircraft carrier to successfully catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tony D. Curtis/Released
Monday, May 13, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Find'em Catch'em Kill'em - "US Special Ops Have Become Much, Much Scarier Since 9/11"
I have written about " Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs". The people in our country are the sheep and the Terrorists are the wolves who will mercilessly slaughter the sheep. The only thing standing between them and the Wolves are " The Sheepdogs "
Many don't want to think about it but we live in a very, very, very dangerous world. It would be nice if we could think otherwise but anyone who thinks there are not people plotting to kill us 24/7/365 is living in a fantasy world.
To deal with the " Wolves ", we have men who's sole job is to hunt the "Wolves" down.
Period. They are the Joint Special Operations Command or (JSOC).
We have and operate many military agencies but the men who spend their days "taking out the trash" are the quiet professionals who keep us safe. They are the tip of the spear. They don't focus on "hearts & minds", only taking out the most dangerous enemies.
God Bless them. I will not apologize to anyone about this as I support them as much as I supported what we did to Europe & Japan in WW2. We leveled cities and burned them to the ground. It was what was required.
War is a terrible thing but there are much worse things such as the loss of Freedom and our nation.
Rock on Boys. Take the bad guys out. You have my support.
The full scale of the shadow war is just coming out now, as detailed in "Dirty Wars: The World Is A Battlefield" by investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Jeremy Scahill.
Directed by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the White House expanded the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) into a global capturing and killing machine.
JSOC, which includes troops from a variety of America's best units, grew from fewer than 2,000 troops before 9/11 to as many as 25,000 today.
While most of their missions remain classified, JSOC operators have been used far more aggressively in the past decade than ever before.
"Their real days of glory ... really only started after 9/11," Colonel Walter Patrick Lang, who spent much of his career in covert operations, told Scahill. "They didn't do a lot of fighting before that."
Known within the covert ops community as ninjas or "snake eaters," JSOC operators train to track a target, fix his position, and then finish him off without being detected.
"They're the ace in the hole," General Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Clinton, told Scahill. "If you need someone that can sky dive from thirty miles away, go down the chimney of a castle, and blow it up from the inside — those are the guys you want to call on."
The command was "created in secrecy to perform operations that were kept hidden to virtually all other entities of military and governments," Scahill writes, and the White House took full advantage of that.
From "Dirty Wars":
By late 2002 JSOC operators were discreetly based in Qatar and Kenya for potential missions in Yemen and Somalia. It developed an in-house signals intelligence unit, known as the Activity, and Rumsfeld created a JSOC human intelligence collection operation, called the Strategic Support Branch, that mirrored the capabilities of the CIA.
The addition of the intelligence aspect "effectively meant that JSOC was free to act as a spy agency and kill/capture force rolled into one," Scahill writes.
JSOC even ran an interrogation program, parallel to the CIA's black sites, that would provide the administration with even more flexibility and less oversight (See: Camp Nama).
Rumsfeld worked to make sure that the unit was "unrestrained and unaccountable to anyone except him, Cheney, and the president" while Cheney began going to JSOC headquarters at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to give direct action orders.
"It grew and went out of control under the vice president. It kinda went wild," Vincent Cannistraro, a career CIA counterterrorism officer, told Scahill. "There were a couple of places where, because they weren't coordinated, they weren't informed, they killed people that were not real targets. They were wrong. It happened, frequently."
In September 2003 JSOC, led by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, was running the show in Iraq, including training Iraqi Special Ops units that became unaccountable death squads.
It was also making its presence known in Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer (Ret.), a career military intelligence officer who wrote the book "Operation Dark Heart," wrote that JSOC's force in Afghanistan "had the best technology, the best weapons, the best people — and plenty of money to burn."
From "Dirty Wars":
In early 2004 Rumsfeld signed a secret order, known as the Al Qaeda Network Execute Order, that "streamlined JSOC's ability to conduct operations and hit targets outside of the stated battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan."
By mid-2004 JSOC operations in Iraq had accelerated dramatically to the point where they were effectively "running the covert war buried within the larger war and controlling the intelligence," Scahill writes.
In 2005 and 2006 JSOC had its hands full with the Iraqi insurgency. It recruited 12 "tactical action operatives" from the private military company Blackwater from a secret raid (code-named Operation Fury) targeting an al Qaeda facility inside Pakistan.
Scahill notes that by 2007 the budget for U.S. special operations had grown to more than $8 billion annually, up 60 percent from 2003.
In January 2007, Scahill writes, JSOC began "a concentrated campaign of targeted assassinations and snatch operations" in Somalia while a CIA-backed Ethiopian force began an ill-fated invasion of the country.
In June 2008 Vice Admiral William McRaven took charge of JSOC, and the next month President Bush approved a secret order authorizing Special Ops Forces (as opposed to their Blackwater contractors) to conduct strikes in Pakistan without the country's permission.
Special Operations Forces were now being used to "go in and capture or kill people who were supposedly linked to extremist organizations around the world, in some cases allied countries," a source dubbed "Hunter," an operator who worked with JSOC on acknowledged and unacknowledged battlefields, told Scahill.
From "Dirty Wars":
Shortly after Barack Obama took office in January 2009, Scahill writes, he gave "carte blanche to JSOC and the CIA to wage a global manhunt. Capture was option two."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-of-jsoc-in-dirty-wars-2013-4#ixzz2T5BUuLSP
Many don't want to think about it but we live in a very, very, very dangerous world. It would be nice if we could think otherwise but anyone who thinks there are not people plotting to kill us 24/7/365 is living in a fantasy world.
To deal with the " Wolves ", we have men who's sole job is to hunt the "Wolves" down.
Period. They are the Joint Special Operations Command or (JSOC).
We have and operate many military agencies but the men who spend their days "taking out the trash" are the quiet professionals who keep us safe. They are the tip of the spear. They don't focus on "hearts & minds", only taking out the most dangerous enemies.
God Bless them. I will not apologize to anyone about this as I support them as much as I supported what we did to Europe & Japan in WW2. We leveled cities and burned them to the ground. It was what was required.
War is a terrible thing but there are much worse things such as the loss of Freedom and our nation.
Rock on Boys. Take the bad guys out. You have my support.
US Special Ops Have Become Much, Much Scarier Since 9/11
The full scale of the shadow war is just coming out now, as detailed in "Dirty Wars: The World Is A Battlefield" by investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Jeremy Scahill.
Directed by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the White House expanded the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) into a global capturing and killing machine.
JSOC, which includes troops from a variety of America's best units, grew from fewer than 2,000 troops before 9/11 to as many as 25,000 today.
While most of their missions remain classified, JSOC operators have been used far more aggressively in the past decade than ever before.
"Their real days of glory ... really only started after 9/11," Colonel Walter Patrick Lang, who spent much of his career in covert operations, told Scahill. "They didn't do a lot of fighting before that."
Known within the covert ops community as ninjas or "snake eaters," JSOC operators train to track a target, fix his position, and then finish him off without being detected.
"They're the ace in the hole," General Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Clinton, told Scahill. "If you need someone that can sky dive from thirty miles away, go down the chimney of a castle, and blow it up from the inside — those are the guys you want to call on."
The command was "created in secrecy to perform operations that were kept hidden to virtually all other entities of military and governments," Scahill writes, and the White House took full advantage of that.
From "Dirty Wars":
It was the beginning of what would be a multiyear project by Rumsfeld and Cheney to separate this small, elite, surgical unit from the broader chain of command and transform it into a global killing machine.
What they developed looked like a paramilitary CIA, according to Scahill's reporting.By late 2002 JSOC operators were discreetly based in Qatar and Kenya for potential missions in Yemen and Somalia. It developed an in-house signals intelligence unit, known as the Activity, and Rumsfeld created a JSOC human intelligence collection operation, called the Strategic Support Branch, that mirrored the capabilities of the CIA.
The addition of the intelligence aspect "effectively meant that JSOC was free to act as a spy agency and kill/capture force rolled into one," Scahill writes.
JSOC even ran an interrogation program, parallel to the CIA's black sites, that would provide the administration with even more flexibility and less oversight (See: Camp Nama).
Rumsfeld worked to make sure that the unit was "unrestrained and unaccountable to anyone except him, Cheney, and the president" while Cheney began going to JSOC headquarters at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to give direct action orders.
"It grew and went out of control under the vice president. It kinda went wild," Vincent Cannistraro, a career CIA counterterrorism officer, told Scahill. "There were a couple of places where, because they weren't coordinated, they weren't informed, they killed people that were not real targets. They were wrong. It happened, frequently."
In September 2003 JSOC, led by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, was running the show in Iraq, including training Iraqi Special Ops units that became unaccountable death squads.
It was also making its presence known in Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer (Ret.), a career military intelligence officer who wrote the book "Operation Dark Heart," wrote that JSOC's force in Afghanistan "had the best technology, the best weapons, the best people — and plenty of money to burn."
From "Dirty Wars":
Unlike the Green Berets, JSOC was not in the country to win any hearts and minds. Once JSOC took charge, the mission would no longer resemble anthropology. It was to be a manhunt, at times an assassination machine.
In early 2004 Rumsfeld signed a secret order, known as the Al Qaeda Network Execute Order, that "streamlined JSOC's ability to conduct operations and hit targets outside of the stated battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan."
By mid-2004 JSOC operations in Iraq had accelerated dramatically to the point where they were effectively "running the covert war buried within the larger war and controlling the intelligence," Scahill writes.
In 2005 and 2006 JSOC had its hands full with the Iraqi insurgency. It recruited 12 "tactical action operatives" from the private military company Blackwater from a secret raid (code-named Operation Fury) targeting an al Qaeda facility inside Pakistan.
Scahill notes that by 2007 the budget for U.S. special operations had grown to more than $8 billion annually, up 60 percent from 2003.
In January 2007, Scahill writes, JSOC began "a concentrated campaign of targeted assassinations and snatch operations" in Somalia while a CIA-backed Ethiopian force began an ill-fated invasion of the country.
In June 2008 Vice Admiral William McRaven took charge of JSOC, and the next month President Bush approved a secret order authorizing Special Ops Forces (as opposed to their Blackwater contractors) to conduct strikes in Pakistan without the country's permission.
Special Operations Forces were now being used to "go in and capture or kill people who were supposedly linked to extremist organizations around the world, in some cases allied countries," a source dubbed "Hunter," an operator who worked with JSOC on acknowledged and unacknowledged battlefields, told Scahill.
From "Dirty Wars":
The mindset, [Hunter] said, was, "The world is a battlefield and we are at war. Therefore the military can go wherever they please and do whatever it is that they want to do, in order to achieve the national security objectives of whichever administration happens to be in power."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-of-jsoc-in-dirty-wars-2013-4#ixzz2T5BUuLSP
Saturday, May 11, 2013
How far we have fallen.... Recalling JFK's "City Upon A Hill" Speech JAN 9th, 1961
We as a nation have allowed people who are highly unqualified to take control of our governments on the Federal, State and Local levels. The people who are in charge are a mere shadow of those who were elected in the past..... Think about people like Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Truman, IKE and JFK....Compare them to the faux leaders who are in our halls of government now....
There is no comparison. We do not have the quality leaders we need. There is no comparison and we need better leaders now more than ever.
Take a listen to the enclosed link and read the words that JFK spoke just before he was to be inaugurated. This speech sums up in 8 minutes what we need from our leaders. You don't have to agree with JFK's political views but you can't argue with his principles of what we should be getting from our leaders on all levels of the government we elect and who should serve the people, not the other way around.
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/OYhUZE2Qo0-ogdV7ok900A.aspx
City Upon A Hill
President Elect John F. Kennedy
Massachusetts General Court,
January 9, 1961
I have welcomed this opportunity to address this historic body, and, through you, the people of Massachusetts to whom I am so deeply indebted for a lifetime of friendship and trust.
For fourteen years I have placed my confidence in the citizens of Massachusetts--and they have generously responded by placing their confidence in me.
Now, on the Friday after next, I am to assume new and broader responsibilities. But I am not here to bid farewell to Massachusetts.
For forty-three years--whether I was in London, Washington, the South Pacific, or elsewhere--this has been my home; and, God willing, wherever I serve this shall remain my home
It was here my grandparents were born--it is here I hope my grandchildren will be born.
I speak neither from false provincial pride nor artful political flattery. For no man about to enter high office in this country can ever be unmindful of the contribution this state has made to our national greatness.
Its leaders have shaped our destiny long before the great republic was born. Its principles have guided our footsteps in times of crisis as well as in times of calm. Its democratic institutions--including this historic body--have served as beacon lights for other nations as well as our sister states.
For what Pericles said to the Athenians has long been true of this commonwealth: "We do not imitate--for we are a model to others."
And so it is that I carry with me from this state to that high and lonely office to which I now succeed more than fond memories of firm friendships. The enduring qualities of Massachusetts--the common threads woven by the Pilgrim and the Puritan, the fisherman and the farmer, the Yankee and the immigrant--will not be and could not be forgotten in this nation's executive mansion.
They are an indelible part of my life, my convictions, my view of the past, and my hopes for the future.
Allow me to illustrate: During the last sixty days, I have been at the task of constructing an administration. It has been a long and deliberate process. Some have counseled greater speed. Others have counseled more expedient tests.
But I have been guided by the standard John Winthrop set before his shipmates on the flagship Arbella three hundred and thirty-one years ago, as they, too, faced the task of building a new government on a perilous frontier.
"We must always consider," he said, "that we shall be as a city upon a hill--the eyes of all people are upon us."
Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us--and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill--constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities.
For we are setting out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken by the Arabella in 1630. We are committing ourselves to tasks of statecraft no less awesome than that of governing the Massachusetts Bay Colony, beset as it was then by terror without and disorder within.
History will not judge our endeavors--and a government cannot be selected--merely on the basis of color or creed or even party affiliation. Neither will competence and loyalty and stature, while essential to the utmost, suffice in times such as these.
For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each one of us--recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state--our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions:
First, were we truly men of courage--with the courage to stand up to one's enemies--and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one's associates--the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed
Secondly, were we truly men of judgment--with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past--of our own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others--with enough wisdom to know that we did not know, and enough candor to admit it?
Third, were we truly men of integrity--men who never ran out on either the principles in which they believed or the people who believed in them--men who believed in us--men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?
Finally, were we truly men of dedication--with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest.
Courage--judgment--integrity--dedication--these are the historic qualities of the Bay Colony and the Bay State--the qualities which this state has consistently sent to this chamber on Beacon Hill here in Boston and to Capitol Hill back in Washington.
And these are the qualities which, with God's help, this son of Massachusetts hopes will characterize our government's conduct in the four stormy years that lie ahead.
Humbly I ask His help in that undertaking--but aware that on earth His will is worked by men. I ask for your help and your prayers, as I embark on this new and solemn journey.
There is no comparison. We do not have the quality leaders we need. There is no comparison and we need better leaders now more than ever.
Take a listen to the enclosed link and read the words that JFK spoke just before he was to be inaugurated. This speech sums up in 8 minutes what we need from our leaders. You don't have to agree with JFK's political views but you can't argue with his principles of what we should be getting from our leaders on all levels of the government we elect and who should serve the people, not the other way around.
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/OYhUZE2Qo0-ogdV7ok900A.aspx
City Upon A Hill
President Elect John F. Kennedy
Massachusetts General Court,
January 9, 1961
I have welcomed this opportunity to address this historic body, and, through you, the people of Massachusetts to whom I am so deeply indebted for a lifetime of friendship and trust.
For fourteen years I have placed my confidence in the citizens of Massachusetts--and they have generously responded by placing their confidence in me.
Now, on the Friday after next, I am to assume new and broader responsibilities. But I am not here to bid farewell to Massachusetts.
For forty-three years--whether I was in London, Washington, the South Pacific, or elsewhere--this has been my home; and, God willing, wherever I serve this shall remain my home
It was here my grandparents were born--it is here I hope my grandchildren will be born.
I speak neither from false provincial pride nor artful political flattery. For no man about to enter high office in this country can ever be unmindful of the contribution this state has made to our national greatness.
Its leaders have shaped our destiny long before the great republic was born. Its principles have guided our footsteps in times of crisis as well as in times of calm. Its democratic institutions--including this historic body--have served as beacon lights for other nations as well as our sister states.
For what Pericles said to the Athenians has long been true of this commonwealth: "We do not imitate--for we are a model to others."
And so it is that I carry with me from this state to that high and lonely office to which I now succeed more than fond memories of firm friendships. The enduring qualities of Massachusetts--the common threads woven by the Pilgrim and the Puritan, the fisherman and the farmer, the Yankee and the immigrant--will not be and could not be forgotten in this nation's executive mansion.
They are an indelible part of my life, my convictions, my view of the past, and my hopes for the future.
Allow me to illustrate: During the last sixty days, I have been at the task of constructing an administration. It has been a long and deliberate process. Some have counseled greater speed. Others have counseled more expedient tests.
But I have been guided by the standard John Winthrop set before his shipmates on the flagship Arbella three hundred and thirty-one years ago, as they, too, faced the task of building a new government on a perilous frontier.
"We must always consider," he said, "that we shall be as a city upon a hill--the eyes of all people are upon us."
Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us--and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill--constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities.
For we are setting out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken by the Arabella in 1630. We are committing ourselves to tasks of statecraft no less awesome than that of governing the Massachusetts Bay Colony, beset as it was then by terror without and disorder within.
History will not judge our endeavors--and a government cannot be selected--merely on the basis of color or creed or even party affiliation. Neither will competence and loyalty and stature, while essential to the utmost, suffice in times such as these.
For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each one of us--recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state--our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions:
First, were we truly men of courage--with the courage to stand up to one's enemies--and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one's associates--the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed
Secondly, were we truly men of judgment--with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past--of our own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others--with enough wisdom to know that we did not know, and enough candor to admit it?
Third, were we truly men of integrity--men who never ran out on either the principles in which they believed or the people who believed in them--men who believed in us--men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?
Finally, were we truly men of dedication--with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest.
Courage--judgment--integrity--dedication--these are the historic qualities of the Bay Colony and the Bay State--the qualities which this state has consistently sent to this chamber on Beacon Hill here in Boston and to Capitol Hill back in Washington.
And these are the qualities which, with God's help, this son of Massachusetts hopes will characterize our government's conduct in the four stormy years that lie ahead.
Humbly I ask His help in that undertaking--but aware that on earth His will is worked by men. I ask for your help and your prayers, as I embark on this new and solemn journey.