Military

Failing Empire

The Commandant of the Marine Corps has announced a new plan where some Marine Corps recruits won’t have to attend boot camp. He claims that some positions don’t require Marines to, well, be Marines. So much for “every Marine is a rifleman.”

The rapid rise in importance of the cyber domain, for instance, has challenged us to find creative ways to quickly build critical skills at mid-career and senior levels. Unless we find a means to quickly infuse expertise into the force – at the right ranks – I am concerned that advances in artificial intelligence and robotics, among other fields where the speed of technological change is exponential, will force us into a reactive posture.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger

When he says it, he claims that cyber warfare is the reason. When I hear it, I think this means each unit will have an assigned “gender studies specialist” or some other political officer assigned to it.

He also wrote that Marines no longer on active duty who now have “critical career experience” should be able to return to service at a higher rank.

“I can envision a Marine who left active duty as a captain or corporal rejoining our ranks as a lieutenant colonel or gunnery sergeant, respectively, after spending 5-7 years working in a cyber or IT field where the service currently lacks capacity,” Berger wrote. “With the right education and experience, that same corporal might also be eligible to return as a mid-grade or senior officer.”

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger

So a person can sign up for 3 years, leave as an E-4, then 5 to 7 years later return as an E7? What about those who stayed? Are they gonna be stuck without promotion because the ones returning are taking up billets? For those who don’t know, a person who enters the service as a brand new O-1 (Second Lieutenant) officer takes a minimum of ten years to be promoted to O-5 (Major).

Sorry, but this destroys the entire idea of the Marines. I say this as one of your Navy brothers: Anyone who serves from this day forward won’t have my respect.

On the other hand, it isn’t like the US Navy is doing much better. Navy ships are becoming rust buckets that are filled with unqualified personnel, which is why they can’t seem to stop colliding with everything that gets near them.

This is the same thing I noted when we talked about this fat ass from Meal Team 6:

Our military is a shell of its former power. If we engage in combat with any near peer adversary, we are going to get our asses kicked.

By Divemedic, ago

Veterans’ Day

Today is November 11, veterans’ day. As a veteran, I can tell you that I don’t need or want a holiday to honor what I did. I don’t even stand when places ask us to. My wife doesn’t understand why. I just don’t think that I did anything special. If you want to honor someone for their service, please wait for Memorial day.

By Divemedic, ago

Scaring the PTB, part 2

Remember when I told you that the Biden administration was scared of losing control over the military? Then news that the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (also known as the Confederate flag) was found flying from the flagpole of the headquarters of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, located at Rose Barracks in Germany, is certainly feeding those fears. The American and German flags for that installation are also missing.

The worry that the military won’t all go along with their plans scares the crap out of them.

By Divemedic, ago

The Purge Continues

I recently asked “Can you imagine how that would go today?” about a sailor who was brought up on charges for saying he was “on the pussy watch” while serving as the sentry in front of the women’s barracks. Well, now we know. Anyone in the military who is accused of sexual harassment will be summarily discharged, as the military will have civilian oversight that will investigate charges of sexual harassment:

For sexual harassment cases, it also calls for independent trained investigators and the mandatory discharge of those who engage in sexual harassment.

I once had a boss who gave us a sexual harassment class. He summed it up perfectly: “Sexual harassment is whatever the woman says it is.” Of course, he said that back in the 90’s. Today, the accuser will also be one of the LGTBQHRY… mafia. Say anything that a person under your command doesn’t like, and your career is over.

Now that isn’t to say that all claims of sexual harassment are bogus. Some men are pigs who will use rank to get sexual favors. However, the vast majority of sexual harassment complaints are not because of that. The vast majority are for perceived slights that exist more in the mind of the accuser than anywhere else.

This is just another tool that will be used to eliminate those who are politically unreliable from the ranks of the military.

By Divemedic, ago

This week’s COVID update

A couple of things. The cases at the hospital are declining. One of the four hallways that we staffed to handle COVID patients was closed this week because our number of patients fell.

The second, and more interesting to me, piece of information came to me last night. I was having a couple of beers with a some military pilot friends of mine. They were telling me the story of the mandated vaccine. The President declared that, since the Pfizer vaccine was now approved by the FDA, he was mandating that all military members get the vaccine.

The military, being the efficient government agency it is, doesn’t have enough of the Pfizer vaccine for the military to get vaccinated. So they solved it by forcing the military to get the Moderna vaccine. You know, the one that isn’t approved.

By Divemedic, ago

US Army has a history of trying to take over

General Milley’s actions in refusing to obey the orders of the President, along with the fact that his subordinates knowingly followed along changed the US military from a professional military force under Constitutional authority into an armed mob engaged in a military junta. Make no mistake about it, the four men pictured below engaged in a mutiny against legitimate Constitutional authority.

The framers of the U.S. Constitution worked to ensure the military would be under civilian control. When they wrote the Constitution, they separated the responsibilities for the military, placing the responsibilities firmly in civilian hands. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states, “The President shall be the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States when called into the actual Service of the United States.”

Oddly enough, Milley isn’t the first US military officer to attempt to overthrow the US government. In the early days of the Republic, before the concept of civilian control of the military sank in, some military officers actively plotted against the government.

General James Wilkinson was the senior military officer from June 15, 1800 to January 27, 1812. He fought in the Revolutionary War and outfitted the Continental Army. Wilkinson became a key figure in the plan to induce what was then the “southwest United States” to form a separate nation allied with Spain. He took an oath of allegiance to Spain, spied for his secret new patron, and received an annual Spanish pension of $4,000. He was the governor of the Louisiana Territory from 1805 to 1806.

He continued as the ranking officer in the Army through 1812, when his incompetence and scheming were finally recognized and he was relieved.

The fact that Milley unilaterally decided to disobey the orders of the Commander in Chief, along with his immediate subordinates means that the US military is no longer under civilian control. Not only that, but this also means that no one who is in the military has any obligation to obey the orders of their superiors.

Milley disobeyed orders repeatedly. He did so in 2019 when he lied to the President about troop strength in Syria. He refused orders in 2020 when ordered to deploy the National Guard to stop BLM rioters in the Capitol.

When Marine Lt Colonel Scheller resigned his commission, he cited a loss of trust and confidence in his superiors’ ability to lead. When Army Lt Colonel Hague resigned HIS commission, he complained of “an ideologically Marxist takeover of the United States government at their upper echelons.” It appears as though they both knew more than the rest of the American public were led to believe.

As I have said before, we haven’t even begun to see yet how bad things can get. As the wheels continue to fall off, things will get worse and worse. Sooner or later, some military units will mutiny. That’s when things get sporty.

That is exactly why the Biden administration freaked out when they began to think that the rank and file of the US military may not be following orders any longer.

By Divemedic, ago

On watch

When I was in the Navy, we would periodically have women on board, usually reserve units. Back in those days, women were not normally present onboard combat ships. Whenever they were aboard, they were housed in a berthing compartment that had its own head, as well as having only one easily guarded entrance. A lucky petty officer was then posted at that entrance to make sure that no males entered. One of them was on this watch when a friend saw him just standing there in the middle of the passageway. The conversation that ensued was very much like this:

Passerby: “What are you doing, standing here in the way?”

Person on watch: “I am on the pussy watch.”

Well, one of the females housed in the aforementioned compartment overheard the exchange and filed a complaint for sexual harassment. The petty officer was brought to Captain’s Mast for punishment. It went like this:

Captain: “Why did you refer to your assignment like that?”

Petty Officer: “Well, when I am on duty caring for the ship’s generator, I am on Ship’s Generator watch. When I am caring for the steering gear, I am on steering watch. I was guarding the pussy, so I figured I was on the pussy watch.”

The Captain reduced him one full paygrade, took half of his pay for two months, and confined him to the ship on extra duty for 45 days. In other words, he got the maximum punishment permitted without a courts martial.

Can you imagine how that would go today?

By Divemedic, ago