Finally!

Senate confirms new US Military Leadership

The United States Senate cleared a staggering backlog of routine military officer promotions and confirmed pending presidential nominations for some top officers this week.

Chief among these was the confirmation of General Martin E. Dempsey [right] as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is now confirmed to replace retiring Admiral Mike Mullen in September as the US Military's top dog.

The Senate also confirmed General Raymond T. Odierno to replace Dempsey as Chief of Staff of the Army. Odierno oversaw the disestablishment of US Joint Forces Command at a ceremony yesterday in Suffolk, Va. shuttering a 6000-strong command on the advice of former SecDef Robert Gates to save millions of dollars.

Admiral Jonathan Greenert was confirmed as the next Chief of Naval Operations to replace retiring Admiral Gary Roughead in September and Air Force General William Fraser III as Commander, U.S. Transportation Command.

The most urgent appointment was that of Admiral James A. "Sandy" Winnefeld Jr., who not 48 hours after his Senate confirmation, was sworn in as the 9th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday. This followed the vacation of the post by General James E. "Hoss" Cartwright [left] who had his retirement ceremony at the 8th & I, Marine Barracks in Washington D.C. on Wednesday after almost 40 years of service.

Admiral Winnefeld was replaced as Commander of U.S. Northern Command and NORAD by the first Army officer to hold the position, General Charles Jacoby who also received confirmation [and a fourth star] on Tuesday.

Other appointments were not so urgent but were also confirmed before the Senate recessed until after the Labour Day weekend in September. They included confirmations made after approval for UNETIDA appointments were granted by the UN Security Council in July. U.S. Air Force Colonel “Rockets” Thompson, was confirmed as Missile Defence Commander [Northern] replacing Brigadier General “Ballista” Jackson who will now retire in November. U.S Marine Colonel "Whopper" Creedon was confirmed as Director of Intelligence and will assume duties in December. Creedon will be replaced by U.S. Navy Captain “Barnacle” Strakovski as Director of Special Operations.

The 2500+ confirmations were approved by voice vote and without discussion. They put in place one of the single-largest changes in decades in U.S. military leadership that began with Leon Panetta's appointment as Secretary of Defence on July 1.

The changing face of defense

After he replaced Donald Rumsfeld during the Bush administration and after being asked to stay on by President Obama, the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a former director of the CIA will take another stab at retirement on June 30th. Gates will be replaced by current CIA Director Leon Panetta who has already vowed to put National Security and the troops first.

Behind POTUS, [Left to Right] Director Panetta, Gen. Petraeus and Lt.Gen. Allen

Panetta’s vacated position in the CIA will be filled by retiring US Army General David Petraeus, currently in command of the International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, a post he was given following the General McChrystal scandal.

Yesterday, President Obama formally nominated Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Allen, USMC to receive a fourth star and serve as the next commander of ISAF and U.S. Forces Afghanistan following Petraeus’ departure.

Later in October Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will also retire. It was originally expected that current Vice Chairman, Marine Corps General James Cartwright, a “favourite” of the Obama administration would take Adm. Mullen’s place, but a minor controversy involving a female adjutant which came to light earlier may have removed the Marine from consideration and ended the USMC’s occupation of one of the two top military seats for 12 years. Instead, the relatively new Chief Of Staff of the US Army, General Martin Dempsey has been nominated to ascend to the Chairman’s position.

[Left to Right] Gen. Dempsey, Adm. Winnefeld, Gen. Odinero

Navy Admiral James Winnefeld, Jr., will leave his position as Commander, U.S. Northern Command and Commander, NORAD to assume the #2 job as Vice Chairman.

Army General Raymond Odinero [the man who famously shaved Steven Colbert’s head last summer], current commander of the soon to be decommissioned US Joint Forces Command will be promoted to replace Gen. Dempsey as Chief of Staff for the US Army.

Also due to the shock resignation of UNETIDA’s Director of Intelligence, Général de Brigade “Escargot” Delacroix of france following a necrophilia scandal; President Obama has forwarded Marine Corps Colonel “Whopper” Creedon’s name to the UN Security Council in New York as prospective replacement.

Col. Creedon and Brig. Gen Jackson

This follows his earlier forwarding of UNETIDA's Missile Defence Commander [Northern], Air Force Brigadier General "Ballista" Jackson's name to replace RAF Air Vice Marshall "Albatross" Davenport III once his term as UNETIDA Director is up in September.

Second test flight for Black Silk takes place.

The Chinese showed off their new stealth fighter to SECDEF Gates during his visit to China in January. It was first public account of a flight of the new aircraft, the J-20 dubbed "Black Silk". Flying the prototype during Gates' visit didn't strike me as a very peaceful welcome. Had China’s realistic approach to joint defense relations with the U.S. turned into a hard line? Was Beijing’s growing self confidence in its military and economical power going to facilitate the narrowing of its military gap with the Western superpower? Well those questions won't get answered until the J-20 is deployed somewhere outside the People's Republic airspace sometime.

Yesterday a Chinese newspaper reported a second test-flight on Sunday of the J-20, showing a photograph of "an alleged J-20 prototype" preparing to take off from an airfield in Chengdu in Sichuan province on Sunday. There was no confirmation from the PLA Air Force or Defence Ministry.

Analysts have suggested from studying information that China may be making faster-than-expected progress in developing an aircraft to rival the F-22 Raptor, designed to evade radar detection. Coupled with the possible deployment of their first aircraft carrier this year and a new anti-ship ballistic missile, the Chinese have caused some concern.

UNETIDA Air Operations Commander Senior Colonel “Besra” Hu is an officer of the PLA Air Force and he was confident that the J-20 trials were a positive step toward world peace as well as China's increased willingness to support the global effort to destroy aliens. He did however make it clear that this was conjecture on his part as he claimed to know nothing about the J-20 or would even confirm it's existence.

Sources: FOX News / Wired /Time

DOD Announces the National Security Space Strategy

Yesterday, the Department of Defense announced the release of the National Security Space Strategy (NSSS), signed jointly by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

It is derived from the National Security Strategy and the National Space Policy and outlines necessary changes to enhance national security through DoD and intelligence community activities in space. It is the culmination of a lengthy and detailed Space Posture Review conducted in close consultation with other agencies and allies.

SECDEF Gates said "The National Security Space Strategy represents a significant departure from past practice. It is a pragmatic approach to maintain the advantages we derive from space while confronting the new challenges we face."

The NSSS is driven by an evolving strategic environment. Space is crucial for military operations and intelligence collection, but it is increasingly congested with satellites, orbital debris, and radiofrequency interference; contested by countries developing counterspace capabilities; and competitive with an increasing number of spacefaring countries and companies.

The NSSS will be implemented by updating guidance, plans, doctrine, programs, and operations to reflect the new strategic approach. The DoD's fiscal 2012 budget will contain initial steps toward implementing the strategy, and the department will use the coming year to lay the foundation for changes in fiscal 2013 and beyond. The new Defense Space Council, chaired by Secretary of the Air Force and Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space Michael Donley, will help oversee implementation.

"The strategy provides a basis to update defense plans and programs and make the hard choices that will be required to implement the strategy," Gates continued. "We look forward to working closely with Congress, industry, and allies to implement this new strategy for space."

Colonel "Whopper" Creedon of UNETIDA speaking from the Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing And Space Sciences where he is currently "securing data" welcomes the DOD's new initiative. "Once the Air Force gets funding for anti-satellite tech we'll be able to knock all sorts of useless shit out of the stratosphere" smiled the Marine. "There's actually a french thingy I want to eliminate because it's making discoveries. Discoveries that the US have more of a right to make."

Stars barred

When Congress returns from it's pre-election break on Nov. 15th, a deep freeze will settle over the confirmation process for flag and general officer promotions and assignments as Sen. Jim Webb [D-Va.] a key lawmaker, uses senatorial privilege to place a hold on the nominations. Usually these holds are done in secret and are of a short duration but Webb, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel subcommittee, mailed the Defense Department on Monday and issued a public statement announcing what he is doing.

Webb is fighting to try to save the Virginia-based U.S. Joint Forces Command from the closure and subsequent loss of 3000 jobs announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates as a budget-cutting measure but has had difficultly wrestling information from the military to help make its case and will now put a hold on all nominations until the Pentagon answers questions he first posed two months ago.

The information he is seeking is a historical comparison of the size of the defense and service staffs and the size of staffs at combatant commands, which he believes will show that growth in Pentagon-based staff has been far greater than growth in places like the Joint Forces Command.

Webb served five years in the Pentagon, including time as Navy secretary and as the assistant defense secretary for reserve affairs, said he doesn’t understand what is taking so long. “This failure to respond to a request for basic information that should be readily available is indicative of the lack of cooperation that has characterized the proposal to close the U.S. Joint Forces Command,” he said in a statement. “The lack of transparency and consultation stand in stark contrast to how decisions traditionally are made.”

Senate approval is required for appointments above O-6 after being nominated by The President.

Source: Marine Corps Times

General Lavelle exonerated

President Obama has exonerated and nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. John D. "Jack" Lavelle posthumously for advancement to the rank of general on the retired rolls, more than three decades after allegations he ordered the unauthorized bombing of North Vietnam. Lavelle, who was reduced by two stars in 1972, denied those charges until the day he died in 1979. But only recently, tape recordings revealed that the strikes were authorized by the White House and Levelle was used as a scapegoat.

Lavelle was in charge of U.S. air operations in Vietnam in 1972. His pilots were increasingly getting hit by North Vietnamese fire, and he wanted to strike back harder. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird visited Vietnam and gave Lavelle approval to go ahead. There was a follow-up written approval from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But all that remained secret until 2007, when researchers found tapes — maintained by the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum — of Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger. A conversation from 1972 indicates Lavelle had White House approval for the stepped-up bombing. Congress was unaware of this at the time and neither did the USAF investigators who learned of the increased bombings and went after the general.

Lavelle was recalled to Washington and relieved of command. He was unable to get a meeting with either Laird or top Air Force officials to defend himself. Lavelle was retired in the grade of major general, two grades lower than the last grade he served on active duty.

In light of the new information, a request was made to the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records for his posthumous reinstatement to the grade of general. Further, the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records found no evidence Lavelle caused, either directly or indirectly, the falsification of records, or that he was even aware of their existence. Once he learned of the reports, Lavelle took action to ensure the practice was discontinued. The nomination to restore his four-star rank was recommended by the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records, the SECDEF Gates and the Secretary of the Air Force.

Goodbye Stan

Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, retired Friday at a ceremony at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C.

During the ceremony SECDEF Gates called McChrystal one of America’s greatest warriors and a treasured friend and colleague. “We bid farewell to Stan McChrystal today with pride and sadness,” Gates said. “Pride for his unique record as a man and soldier; sadness that our comrade and his prestigious talents are leaving us.

“Over the past decade, no single American has inflicted more fear and more loss of life on our country’s most vicious and violent enemies than Stan McChrystal,” he said. “Commanding special operation forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, Stan was a pioneer in creating a revolution in warfare that fused intelligence and operations. And when violence in Iraq seemed almost unstoppable in 2006 and 2007, McChrystal and his special operators all but “crushed al-Qaida.”

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said McChrystal is a true warrior and professional, calling him one of the most experienced and successful officers in today’s Army. His career has been unique and amazing, Casey said, noting his various assignments in special warfare units, as well as positions on the Joint Staff and as commander of forces in Afghanistan. “Stan has had a truly remarkable career in both peace and war; He has walked the career path of a warrior, scholar and statesman. I can’t think of no officer who’s had more impact on this country’s battle against extremism,” he said. “For 34 years, Stan McChrystal … his face has been marred by the dust and sweat of combat. He is a warrior … our Army and our nation will deeply miss him.”

McChrystal resigned amid controversy last month after Rolling Stone magazine published a high-profile article in which the general and his aides made disparaging comments about top Obama administration officials.

“This has the potential to be an awkward, or even a sad occasion,” McChrystal said. “With my resignation, I left a mission I feel strongly about. I ended a career I loved that began over 38 years ago, and I left unfulfilled commitments I made to many comrades in the fight.

McChrystal’s service spanned four decades. He assumed command in Afghanistan in June 2009, following then-commander Army Gen. David McKiernan’s resignation. Obama’s order for an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan was based on McChrystal’s assessment of the war there.

As I leave the Army to those with responsibilities to carry on, I’d say service in this business is tough and often dangerous,” McChrystal said. “If I had it to do over again, I’d do some things in my career differently, but not many. I trust in people, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Source: Defence.gov

Lesson 1: Think before you speak

If I didn't shoot my mouth off every now and again I'd have two or three stars on my shoulder by now. But it's hard sometimes. Anyone who's worn the uniform has felt at least the slightest frustration when you have to take an order from someone for whom the closest they've got to war was sitting in the front row while watching a screening of Black Hawk Down. But at the best of times we suck it up and say "yes sir" to the man in the suit who has been democratically elected by you, the voters to give us, the fighting men, our orders.

We do our venting by mouthing off to each other in closed circles, wishing for the glory-days of Reagan or whomever embodied the greatest leader we've had in our own opinion. It's secret. What we do not do is give an interview to one of the most popular magazines on the face of the earth, criticising current senior administration officials and mocking them for all the word to read. That is however, exactly what US Army General Stanley A. McChrystal, Commander, International Security Assistance Force and US Forces Afghanistan and his staff did for Rolling Stone this month.

Last year SECDEF Robert Gates asked for US Army General David D. McKiernan's resignation as Commander, ISAF and USFOR-A. Gates said new leadership was needed as the new administration of President Barack Obama launched a new strategy in the seven-year-old Afghanistan war. McKiernan was replaced by General McChrystal [right] who began his command in May '09, with an assessment of the war effort as his first task.

While it was unusual to have a wartime commander removed even during a change in administration [the tlast time it had been done was when President Truman replaced General MacArthur in Korea], McChrystal was described as "a driven visionary with the fortitude and intelligence to turn the war around" he had a wealth of experience in counter-insurgency as a Special Ops officer in difference to McKiernan who was a more traditional military commander and retired with full honours after being replaced.

For the most part, the substitution worked. Based on McChrystal’s original assessment, President Obama ordered an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Under his direction, US and ISAF operations in Afghanistan have achieved a greater degree of success and a number of high-profile surges like Operation: Moshtarak in February were successful in the end [despite some civilian casualties]. In March, McChrystal began to exercise a perceived over-arching authority over Special Operations forces, which I will say drew some fire from myself, but as I said; sometimes I shoot my own mouth off.

Despite McChrystal's military achievements, he has a history of making waves. Late in '09, as Obama was weighing how to adjust Afghanistan policy, McChrystal spoke bluntly and publicly about his desire for even more troops — earning a scolding from the president, who felt the general was trying to box him into a corner. But the Rolling Stone article was not something that could be answered by a scolding, it was time for McChrystal to do the honourable thing and avoid the indignity of being fired.

President Obama has selected the current Commander of US Central Command, Army General David H. Petraeus to replace General McChrystal. As McChrystal had been employing some of the tactics that Petraeus himself had hammered out at CENTCOM and what Petraeus developed while in command of US and coalition Forces in Iraq previous to that; it was seen as a logical choice that Petraeus himself step in to replace his disgraced colleague. It is technically a step down for the man known as "King David" who up until now had held the senior military position in direct administration of both the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and who made the news himself only last week.

General McChrystal himself said in a statement: “This morning the president accepted my resignation as commander of U.S. and NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan”. “I strongly support the president’s strategy in Afghanistan and am deeply committed to our coalition forces, our partner nations and the Afghan people. It was out of respect for this commitment and the desire to see the mission succeed that I tendered my resignation.”

The President himself said: “Over the last nine years with America fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has earned a reputation as one of our nation’s finest soldiers, but war is greater than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or a president. As difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe it is the right decision for our national security.” In nominating General Petraeus, Obama reiterated that the change in leadership marks a change in personnel, not policy.

Posted as a reminder to think before you speak. Each of us is entitled to say what we think, just not in uniform.

Here is the Rolling Stone article online.

Source: Fox News, USDOD, Rolling Stone

Amos a surprise tap to replace Conway

If I was a betting man, I'd have lost money Monday as Secretary Of Defense Robert Gates announced his recommendation that current Assistant Commandant General James F. Amos replace General James T. Conway [right] as the 35th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps when Conway retires in the Autumn.

The odds of Amos [left] being picked were remote for two main reasons: One is only 5 out of the previous 30 officers whom have held the Assistant Commandant position have been selected to continue on as Commandant, the latest one being General Paul X. Kelley in 1983. The second reason is that in the entire history of the Marine Corps, only infantry officers have ever served as Commandants and Amos is an aviator.

My money would have been on Lt. General Joseph F. "Fighting Joe" Dunford, the current Commanding General of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command - basically the top Marine in Afghanistan and Iraq. Failing Dunford, I'd have gone for General James N. "Mad Dog" Mattis, current Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation as being commandant would be an extraordinary capstone to his incredible career.

I have no issue with Amos however, he is a man with his own ideas an opinions and had not just played second-fiddle to Jim Conway for 4 years. In fact I suspect that Gates may have chosen him partly because he's less hardlined against the repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy than I suspect Mattis [right] would be and I know Conway is. General Dunford at 55 is likely in retrospect considered to be fairly young for the position and may have had trouble commanding the respect of the older generals, but Gates has tapped him for the Assistant Commandant position, so perhaps he'll grow from there.

As for Amos, during my famous visit to the 8th and I in March '09 as we passed the Assistant Commandant's house, I recall Gunny Price pointing out what a strange metal bar braced over the General's basement entrance was for "That's where General Amos does his pull ups every morning" he said. When he noticed my shock he smiled "Yeah, he's in his 60's!"

Obama scraps Bush's European Missile Defence Plan

President Obama is overhauling President Bush's plan for a missile defense shield in Europe, based partly on an "updated intelligence assessment" of Iran's offensive capabilities and replaced it with a new system. Obama said "new missile defense architecture in Europe ... will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack" than the program that Bush proposed. The Islamic republic's "short- and medium-range" missiles pose the most current threat, he said, and "this new ballistic missile defense will best address" that threat.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking from the Pentagon immediately after the president's announcement, denied the United States was "scrapping" missile defense. "This new approach provides a better missile defense capability for our forces in Europe, for our European allies and eventually for our homeland than the program I recommended almost three years ago." Gates said. The new system will have "hundreds" of missile interceptors.

Left: SECDEF Robert Gates. Right: General James Cartwright, VCJCOS

It also will have mobile radars, including some in space, "that can move to wherever the threat actually emanates and wherever we feel we need to defend ourselves," said Gen. James Cartwright, deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He contrasted the new sensor technology with the radar systems envisioned in the old plan, which he called "basically left over from the Cold War." The new plan includes three types of missiles to shoot down incoming threats -- Patriot missiles, which defend a single location; SM-3 interceptors, which he said could protect "a general area like the area from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C."; and large ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California. The first phase of the system is due to be in place in 2011, with the subsequent phases rolling out around 2015, 2018 and 2020. "It's a more advanced system, more cost-effective and efficient," the Marine general said.

Elements of the new plan are extremely familiar to those that were made aware of the United Nations Extra-Terrestrial Invasion Defence Agency's 2005 "Alien Mothership Deterrent Initiative" proposed by Colonel "Whopper" Creedon who was then the Extra-Terrestial Encounters Advisor to the Bush White House, now UNETIDA's Special Operations Commander who was unavailable for comment today. Other UNETIDA personnel were on hand however:

"A volley of multi-kinetic neutronic mines will solve most of your hostile encounter problems" said Captain "Harpoon" Dutton KBE, Commander, UNETIDA Naval Tactical Support (CUNTS) "but I'm a big fan of serious missile power too. It pleases me that we'll be getting more of them."

Brigadier General “Ballista” Jackson, UNETIDA Missile Defence Commander [Northern] said "The system that President Bush proposed would have deployed interceptors that had yet to be tested in real conditions to defend against ICBMs that Iran has yet to develop. They'd have been useless against the technology that we know Iran does have. The new plan make more sense short term, then we worry about long term threats once that's in place." When asked if Obama's plan was in fact related to Creedon's 2005 proposal he responded. "It's a more advanced system, more cost-effective and efficient plus we will now have hundreds of missiles at our command rather than just 10! Does that sound like a Colonel Creedon plan to you?"

Sources: Fox News, US DoD, CNN

I love the smell of Ligero in the morning...

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary put some fears to rest concerning the smoking ban that was recommended to be imposed following the publication of a recent report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which called for eliminating tobacco sales at all military installations and setting a “specific, mandatory date by which the military will be tobacco-free.”

Morell said troops already are under enough stress and making enough sacrifices in fighting the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he says Defense Secretary Robert Gates [right] doesn't want to do add to that stress by taking away one of the few outlets they have to relieve it. However it is expected Gates will look at the study to see what other things can be done to move toward a goal of a tobacco-free force.

The announcement of the SECDEF’s stance coincided with a statement from the advocacy group Military Families United opposing the IOM stance and calling instead for developing a comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation program. "Nobody doubts the effects of smoking, but it is not an illegal substance and should not be banned," said Brian Wise, executive director of the group. "Our troops make enough sacrifices to serve our nation. They give up many of the freedoms civilians enjoy already without being told they cannot partake in yet another otherwise legal activity. Perhaps more than anything, smoking in the field is more about comfort and coping with an often hostile environment."

What caused even more of a stir in Washington was the measure of success being attributed to Colonel "Whopper" Creedon, [left] the stogie-comping Marine hero attached to the United Nations Extra-Terrestrial Invasion Defense Agency when he vocally took exception to the IOM report earlier this week. "Who's insane f&%ked up idea was that?" he was quoted as saying. Rumour has it, the phrase spread like wildfire around all branches of the Armed Forces by all members carrying a Zippo. There have also been unconfirmed reports of T-Shirts created in honour of The Colonel's defiance.

Some members of the Joint Chiefs weighed in on their impression of Colonel Creedon: "Well it would be speculation to say Secretary Gates acted upon The Colonel's words, but as a Marine, I know we can’t be ignored. Case in point: Creedon is often cited as one of the main reasons the V-22 Osprey is flying today" said General Cartwright, the Vice Chairman.
Admiral Mullen, Chairman added “It’s clear to me that we have a lot of influential officers on the front lines like Creedon and we need to be more proactive in tapping into their aptitude and directing it towards policy.
General Conway, Marine Corps Commandant also commented, “It’s clear that he’s used his talent to inspire others and achieve unprecedented success in the field and perhaps it’s now time for him to look into broadening the scope of his authority. He has his finger on the pulse of the issues which we encounter daily and he has proved he has the ideas and solutions to deal with them. To that end, I’ll be personally forwarding Colonel Creedon’s name to the Brigadier General promotion board.”

Source: AP, MarineCorpsTimes, Fox News

Holy Crap! What's Next: A ban on Grenades because they could explode?

Members of the U.S. Armed Forces may soon find that they aren't allowed one of life's simple pleasures for defending their country.

Health "experts" at the Pentagon are pressing SECDEF Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military installations, according to a report in USA Today. The report says Gates will be advised to adopt proposals by a federal study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban. The VA and the Pentagon requested the study, which found that troops worn out by repeated deployments often rely on cigarettes as a "stress reliever." The study also found that tobacco use in the military rose after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

The study recommends requiring new officers and enlisted personnel to be tobacco-free, eliminating tobacco use on military installations, ships and aircraft, expanding treatment programs and eliminating the sale of tobacco on military property. The Institute of Medicine study recommends a phased-in ban over a period of perhaps up to 20 years.

Colonel "Whopper" Creedon [right] was one officer apalled by the recommendations. "First we had a ban on Cubans, the best cigars on the planet and now they want us to give up all of them? Who's insane f&%ked up idea was that?" Creedon is well known for lighting up while leading his men into battle. "..of course they draw enemy fire at night - that's what makes life so godammn exhilirating! Hooyaa!"

Kenneth Kizer, a committee member and architect of California's anti-tobacco program points out that the Commander in Chief, President Obama, could set an example for all the military by ending his own smoking habit once and for all...

Read all about it at USA Today.

Bush Honoured With Parade

An armed forces parade honoring the service of President George W. Bush as commander in chief took place Tuesday at the gymnasium at Fort Mayer in Arlington Va. In a speech, Bush acknowledged that his military decisions haven’t always been popular. He defended his actions, which include taking the country into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and told an assemblage of troops representing all branches of the military that they have served a “just and right” cause. "The missions you have carried out have always been necessary. And the work you have done has ... been every bit as courageous and idealistic as that of any generation that came before you.”

Bush said U.S. troops helped liberate the people of Afghanistan and Iraq from the “chains of despotism” and he thanked them for that. He talked about the boost in military enrollments in response to the terrorist attacks. And he noted that the troops are never alone in shouldering the burdens of lengthy and repeated deployments far away from home and their loved ones. “We appreciate you, we love you and we honor your service,” Bush said.

Above: Lieutenant Colonel Creedon, USMC, Rear Admiral Justice, USCG and other members of the armed forces applaud the great George W. Bush.

Before the president spoke, Adm. Mullen, CJSOS, and SECDEF Gates thanked Bush in separate speeches on behalf of the more than 2 million military men and women. Mullen read from a journal, signed by service members, that he said he had passed around during his travels. One entry, from a member of the Air Force, said: “Nice to see that our president is still quick on his feet after eight years in office. Next time, pick up the shoe and throw it back.”

Gates, who has agreed to continue as defense secretary when Barack Obama becomes president, said Bush will leave behind a U.S. military that is “more agile, lethal and prepared to deal with the full spectrum of 21st century conflict” than when Gates last served in government 15 years ago.Bush received several honors, including the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, and the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from the five military branches.

Nearly finished with his eight-year presidency, Bush has been saying his goodbyes to the uniformed men and women under his command, including recent stops in Iraq and Afghanistan and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Source: DefenseLink / AP

SECDEF Gates to be Retained

FOX News is reporting that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will keep the top Pentagon job for at least the first year of the Obama administration.

Gates has very strong support among Democrats and the President Elect's decision to keep him on follows speculation, encouraged before the election by Obama's aides, that Gates would stay on for an interim period. A registered independent, Gates has served various Republican administrations. President Bush nominated Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld after the 2006 midterm elections, when the war in Iraq was descending into chaos and became a political liability for Republicans.

Gates will continue to preside over two U.S. wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, that Bush launched as part of the larger war on terror. There are several issues on which Gates and Obama disagree, including missile defense. Gates supports placing a missile defense system in Europe, but Obama already has suggested that he won't sign off on it until the technology has been proven capable.

A formal announcement is expected immediately after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as part of an unveiling of the new national security team, which is expected to include Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state; Gen. Jim Jones as national security adviser, Admiral Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence and Susan Rice as U.S. ambassador to the UN.

Source: FOX News

9/11: Seven Years On

As the world watched Barack Obama and John McCain put their differences aside for a day, share a hug and make remembrance speeches at Ground Zero in New York; A call was being made at the site of another terrorist attack on that day, a call to Remember… Reflect… Renew.

The Pentagon Memorial, was dedicated today to the memory of the 184 people who perished in the September 11th attack on the nucleus of the blanket of freedom provided almost worldwide by the noble forces of the United States Military.

Seven years after AA flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, the nation's first major memorial to the tragic events of 9/11 opened to the public after a dedication ceremony attended by 20,000 guests, including President Bush.

The Memorial is a small park of benches and trees located just feet from where the aircraft struck the building. Family members of those who died in the attack played an important role in raising the funds needed for it's construction and insisted that it should be placed at the site of the aircraft's impact with the building.

"It's an individual memorial. It's a collective memorial. It kind of tells a story of what happened that day," says Jim Laychak, who heads the Pentagon Memorial Fund and whose brother David died on 9/11.

"Seven years ago at this hour a doomed airliner plunged from the sky, split the rock and steel of this building and changed our world forever," Bush said in his dedication speech. "The years that followed have seen justice delivered to evil men in battles fought in distant lands. Since 9/11, our troops have taken the fight to the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home," said the President, joined at the ceremony by former SECDEF Donald Rumsfeld, who was actually in the Pentagon during the attack.

Rumsfeld, who wore a sling on his arm from recent shoulder surgery, said it was at the Pentagon that the fate of the victims - both on the ground and on the plane - were "cruelly merged forever." His successor, SECDEF Robert Gates, said that while the Pentagon represents U.S. military power, the memorial will be a remembrance of how "fanaticism once laid its terrible hand upon this building."

"Thanks to the brave men and women, and all those who work to keep us safe, there has not been another attack on our soil in 2,557 days," President Bush said to applause. The ceremony was the last time that he will lead the nation in recalling the attacks that prompted him to declare a Global War on Terrorism that has defined his presidency.

Though now open to the public, the fundraising effort to pay off the memorial will continue. So far, $19 million of the memorial's $22 million construction costs have been donated and an additional $10 million is needed to fund an endowment to maintain the memorial.

You can donate here: http://www.pentagonmemorial.net

Source: ABC News, Reuters, Associated Press.

They're gonna give a woman a fourth star!

SECDEF Robert Gates announced President Bush’s nomination of Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody US Army, as the commander of Army Materiel Command at Fort Belvoir, Va., which, pending Senate approval, would make her the first woman to be a four-star officer in U.S. history.

Dunwoody, who has served in several command positions since her Army commission in 1975, including her current role as the Army’s deputy chief of staff for logistics, is one of five women now fulfilling three-star flag officer duties. Fifty-seven active-duty women and 47 female reservists wear stars on their shoulders in the armed forces.

General Dunwoody has a bachelor's degree in physical education from the State University of New York at Cortland, a master's degree in logistics management from the Florida Institute of Technology, and a master's degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. She is a graduate of the Quartermaster Officer Basic and Advanced Courses and Basic Airborne School. If confirmed by the Senate, Dunwoody would command the teams of soldiers, civilians and contractors responsible for providing materiel readiness and development, new technology, acquisition support and logistics.

Source: John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service

General Pace Retires, Admiral Mullen Sworn In

“We have an enemy who has declared war on us. We are in a war. They want to stop us from living the way we want to live our lives." Marine Corps General Peter Pace said during his sun-splashed retirement ceremony Monday on the parade field at Fort Myer, Virginia. “We will prevail, there’s no doubt about that.”

Gen. Pace, who ends a 40-year career that began as a rifle platoon leader in the Vietnam War and ended as the first Marine to be CJCS, addressed a standing-room-only crowd that included President Bush, Vice President Cheney, SECDEF Robert Gates, Gates’ predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, the service secretaries and the JCS.

Pace deliberately blurred the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although it is the Iraq war that appears to provoke the most national anger and most of the calls for the withdrawal of troops. His comments aimed at acknowledging both that anger and what officials have said is the fragile depth of the nation’s ground forces, which are wearing thin from the strain of fighting the two wars — a situation that some critics say has significantly weakened the military’s ability to respond elsewhere around the world if called upon.

The officer sworn in Monday to replace Pace, US Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, expressed a similar desire to rebuild during his own remarks. “I’m ... eager to work closely with our service chiefs, our combatant commanders, as together we develop and execute a strategy to support our national interests in the Middle East; we reset, reconstitute and revitalize our armed forces, especially our ground forces; and we properly balance our risks around the globe,” Mullen said. “The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will one day end. We must be ready for who and what comes after.”

Getting to such a point, Pace said, will require thoughtful dialogue, not partisan bickering. While he didn’t mention Congress, the fights over war funding and calls for immediate withdrawal from Iraq that have marked the past year on Capitol Hill were clearly on his mind as he spoke his parting speech "What worries me is that in some instances right now we have individuals who are more interested in making somebody else look bad than they are in finding the right solution,” he said. “They are more interested in letting their personal venom come forward instead of talking about how do we get from where we are to where we need to be.”

Adm. Mullen said “We owe it to the American people and to all of you, our men and women in uniform and your families, to provide you with clear direction,” after being sworn in, as members of every branch of the armed services looked on. With honor guards and a flyover by fighter jets, it was a day of high ceremony for Mullen and the chairman he replaced, Gen. Pace.

Mullen was SECDEF Robert Gates’ choice to replace Pace, who had been vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs when the Iraq invasion was launched in 2003. Gates said he decided to replace rather than reappoint Pace because he feared the escalating debate over the Iraq war, particularly between the president and a frustrated Congress, would have triggered a bitter confirmation process that could have undermined the country.

A Marine still occupies the second biggest chair in the armed forces, the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff is now General James E. Cartwright formerly Commander, United States Strategic Command.

Source: Marine Corps Times

Military Shock!!! Pace not to serve 2nd term!!!

In a shock announcement yesterday, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that he will be advising President Bush not to re-nominate Marine General Peter Pace as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Gates said he feared a contentious re-nomination hearing in the Senate that would focus too heavily on six years of war (while Pace served as Vice Chairman and later CJCOS) rather than the way ahead.

While Gates wanted to keep Pace, the first Marine to serve as CJCOS, for a second 2-year term in that job; he said he changed his mind because of the highly charged atmosphere in Congress over the length and direction of the Iraq war, which blew up this spring into a tough battle between Congress and the administration over war funding and ultimately unmet demands for measurable benchmarks of progress on the part of the Iraqi government.

Gates' choice of replacement is current Chief Of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Mullen. He said that, as with Pace, he had intended to ask President Bush to re-nominate Admiral Edmund Giambastiani as the Vice Chairman but that such a move became impossible once he’d decided on Mullen (right) because by law, the Chairman and Vice Chairman cannot be members of the same branch of service. Coincidently however, earlier in the week Giambastiani announced his intention to retire in August anyway.

As he will have to nominate a new Vice-Chairman as well so Gates has cleverly chosen U.S. Strategic Command chief Marine General James E. Cartwright. It appears that the Marines will retain their rightful presence in the top two hot seats that Pace held for 6 years.

Cartwright (left) has commanded StratCom since July 2004, where Gates said he is responsible for global command and control of U.S. strategic forces, computer network operations and Defense Department information operations. That experience, on top of his previous job as director for force structure, resources and assessment on the Joint Staff, make him “exceptionally well-qualified” for the Vice Chairman position.

The SECDEF vehemently denied that his decision anything to do with the way Pace had performed as Chairman, and he also declined to characterize the two high-level moves as a shakeup. “I think that this is an effort to do what I think is in the long-term interests of the services and the country, as well as the individuals involved,” he said. "General Pace has served our country with great distinction, and deserves the deepest thanks of the American people for a lifetime of service to our country and for his leadership.”

Seems to me that there has to be some give and take now that the damn Democrats are in control of the senate and a price must be paid for the President's necessary veto against them last month.

Souce: Military Times

Rummy Out

I expected a pitched battle, a firefight with a Mexican standoff situation before Donald Rumsfeld left office, but it looks like I'm denied.

United States Secretary Of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, a patriot in the strongest sense of the word and one of the few civilians I've to ask "How high?" when he asked me to jump, has resigned after 6 years of service in the position. He leaves behind a reformed Pentagon and a transformed, stronger and superior US military war-machine not seen since WWII with heavy emphasis on special operations and global co-operation. I'll miss you Mr. Secretary.

Thankfully, I'm "rather excited" by the President's choice of replacement for Rumsfeld, former Director of National Intelligence and former CIA Director Robert Gates. A "Cold-warrior" whom you may remember from the Iran-Contra days. It's good news for those with political or military interests in clandestine operations, wetwork and anything "black". I think we're in for some good times ahead.