Coffee. Marines. Make me laugh.

Speaking of Marines:

May 7, 2008: The U.S. Marine Corps has had more success than expected in attracting recruits, and has moved up the date for completing their current expansion. Last year, Congress ordered the marines to expand their strength from the current 181,000 to 202,000. At first, the marines thought it would take them four years to do it. But between the large number of recruits, and the many current marines who are staying in, the expansion will be accomplished by next year.

And this (catching up with the USMC Google Email Alerts, LOL):

The Marine Corps is strict and straight to the point.

It starts on the yellow footprints at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

That’s where all new recruits learn the basic stance of attention.

Before moving into the contraband room, where a recruit’s personal belongings are taken.

And on to the barbers seat, they come in as individuals come out looking the same.

“They’re pretty much all carrying the same stuff, they all kind of look the same, they’ve all got the same haircut and we just try to take away that individualism,” Sgt. Murch.

“The basic human instinct is me, me first, that doesn’t work in a military environment and especially the Marine Corps, it just doesn’t work. We have a place to put the manners and respect, self discipline, the honor, and the pride and all those things they came to us to get,” said Drill Instructor Johnson.

Just the other day I wrote about the instructor and student killed at Columbus AFB in a training accident.

Yesterday (Thursday) morning, another instructor and student were killed at Sheppard AFB in yet another training accident….

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) — The Air Force says it has grounded all T-38C training jets following the second fatal crash involving the aircraft in eight days.

Military authorities say two pilots died early Thursday when their high-altitude, supersonic jet crashed at Sheppard Air Force base in northern Texas.

A public affairs spokeswoman says the plane was assigned to the 80th Flying Training Wing, which trains combat pilots for NATO.

Two pilots died April 23 when their training jet crashed at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi.

The Air Force has suspended all T-38 flights pending investigations into what caused both crashes.

82nd Training Wing Public Affairs

5/2/2008 - SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — Sheppard officials have identified the pilots killed during a May 1 training mission.

Maj. Brad Funk, 35, a 90th Flying Training Squadron instructor pilot, and 2nd Lt. Alec Littler, 23, a student pilot in the 80th Flying Training Wing’s Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program, died when their aircraft crashed on approach during a training mission at about 7:55 a.m.

A memorial service will be held for the victims at 10 a.m. May 5 in Hangar 2408.

An investigation board is currently working to determine the cause of the accident. Anyone who witnessed the crash, or has any photographs or video of the events before, during or after the accident, please call the 80th FTW at (940) 676-1601.

Because of the accident, the military flight operations have been suspended until further notice. Civilian air traffic resumed normal operations today.

More information will be released as it becomes available.

Maj. Funk and Lt. Littler, God Bless your families as they grieve their loss. Requiescat In Pace.

It is not easy for a training command to suffer one tragedy, much less two in such an extremely short amount of time. It is not combat, but training these students to become future fighter pilots is not exactly the safest of endeavors, but a fulfilling one to be sure.

I know that they both occured supposedly during a critical phase of flight, with this last one during the landing phase… there’s never a good time for a problem during flight… but it is definitely not a good time when terra firma is so close and you’re moving at 175+ knots approach/landing speed ( pretty slow for a T-38). While they’ve got the 38s grounded, I surely hope that they find out what has caused these two crashes. We can ill afford to lose more brave warriors, much less to training accidents…

When we read the headlines it’s often quite misleading. People on the right know this and those on the left don’t; they run with the headline without taking in the substance of the article. IOW, they don’t read the whole thing AND think about it.

An example of hype if I ever saw one, right here:
Study finds troops shy away from mental health care

Really?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. military personnel fear that seeking help for mental health problems could harm their careers, according to a survey released Wednesday.

Three out of five members of the military worry it would have at least some impact, according to the small online survey conducted for the American Psychiatric Association. About half said they thought other people would think less of them if they sought help for mental health problems.

Red Flag alert: SMALL ONLINE SURVEY.

Dr. Carolyn Robinowitz, president of the APA, called those figures “alarming” and urged Congress to devote more money to treating mental health problems arising from service in combat zones.

One in four of the troops surveyed said he or she knew “nothing at all about effective mental health treatments for issues that may arise from their service in a war zone,” Robinowitz said.

As if pouring money into this will help. There’s an old saying: You can’t force a horse to drink water it doesn’t want to drink. Troops do not need government telling them what effective treatments options are; their doctors are quite capable of this. People, including military service members, usually KNOW when they are having real and true problems. Often, through their human spirit they resolve these on their own. Without anyone’s help. And we don’t need to assume that admitting a mental health problem equates some weakness in a man. That’s an excuse that is bogus. And it’s the excuse some are grasping at here in an effort to push this agenda.

“The military has done a good job of having a lot of educational materials around,” she said, but she is not sure the information “filtered down” to the people who need it.

An Army psychiatrist admitted it is a challenge to get people to seek help.

It’s not a challenge to get the pamphlets and brochures into the grunt barracks. I’ve seen them in these places. The guys simply ignore them and would prefer to play a video game or watch American Idol. They are fine. I’ve heard many say they are sick and tired of the government trying to tell them they have should have mental problems they just don’t have.

So how big is this so called problem?

A clear majority of troops rated their own mental health as good or excellent, but many reported regularly experiencing common symptoms of mental illness, including difficulty sleeping at least twice a week and a lack of interest in daily activities at least twice a week.

So here we have a government, looking to convince soldiers and Marines they have mental health issues and even going so far as to tell them they might, just might, have brain injuries, and very few are taking up offers of help. Why? Cause the vast, not clear, majority are okay. Sure, they have nightmares now and again. They miss friends who have been killed in action. They have seen things most of us never nightmare about. But, the human spirit can rise above these demons and compensate for the feelings and emotions that sometimes come with it all. Men in particular, are able to section off certain memories and thoughts and keep them in check. We don’t need to mess with this.

Liberal whine bags and other limpdicks often decry President Bush and the Republicans for a lack of true caring for the troops. I call bullshit. It’s not something anyone can force upon a person who isn’t showing true clinical symptoms- treatment, therapies- AKA medications- can ruin a person’s life much more than the will to call oneself a survivor. These bleed hearts don’t trust people to take care of themselves.

Good Bye Matt…and it’s been a long goodbye.

CINCINNATI - Military workers and supporters from across the country joined in memorials Sunday for a slain Army reservist who had become a poignant picture of the war in Iraq after he was captured by insurgents.

Officials estimated that about 10,000 people walked past Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin’s casket during a weekend visitation at a civic center in Clermont County, east of Cincinnati, where he grew up. Another 4,000 headed Sunday to Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds, for an afternoon memorial service billed as a celebration.

You’ll be (and have been) missed by many, Matt. Rest in peace.

I love the Marines. Everyone knows this.

But when I read this I wanted to go smack them upside their high and tighties.

In a special ceremony, the Pentagon recently promoted a Wahhabi-trained Muslim chaplain who catered to al-Qaida detainees at Guantanamo and fought to establish the first mosque in Marine Corps history.

When we cater to enemies, they stab us in our backs.

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England personally promoted Navy chaplain Abuhena Mohammed Saifulislam from lieutenant to lieutenant commander. Saifulislam also received a Joint Service Commendation Medal at the Pentagon ceremony held on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The Pentagon has gone completely PC. Like it was before 9-11.

England also earlier this year personally dedicated a new Islamic center at Marine headquarters in Quantico, Va., on the advice of Saifulislam, a Bangladesh immigrant who became a U.S. citizen in 1995.

The Muslim chaplain, who is stationed at Quantico, recited verses from the Quran in Arabic and English at the summer dedication ceremony, which included representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, several leaders of which have been convicted on terrorism-related charges.

Uugh. How can a Marine do this knowing the very people he is praising are actively killing his comrades in a war that is one against an ideology seeking to kill freedom as we know it?

Saifulislam, which is Arabic for “Sword of Islam,” received his religious training at a radical Islamic school raided by federal agents after 9/11. The Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, based in Leesburg, Va., is run by Taha Jaber Al-Alwani, an unindicted co-conspirator in the Sami al-Arian terror case. A federal affidavit used to obtain a warrant to search the school alleges Al-Alwani gave at least $50,000 in jihad money “to support suicide bombings.”

The Marines have a sword as well. Here, the evil sword takes precedent. All to appease those who cry and make noise when we stand up to them, ready to fight back.

“With the Quantico mosque, the Pentagon is facilitating the study of the holy text the enemy uses, heretically or not, as their manual of warfare.”

Saifulislam’s promotion along with the dedication of his new Quantico mosque – the first of its kind in the 230-year history of the Corps – comes on the heels of a Muslim spy scandal at Gitmo involving another Muslim chaplain.

Army Capt. James “Yousef” Yee, who ministered to al-Qaida detainees, was charged with mishandling classified information. Yee, a convert to Islam, quit the Army and the charges were dropped. But two of his Muslim military friends at Gitmo were convicted of espionage-related crimes.

Some say it’s just a few. It was only a few who planned, plotted and carried out those attacks on September 11th.

It’s ironic this these few chaplains and their followers have joined the Few and Proud.

Read the entire article and ask: What’s going on here? And weep for those who truly stand for freedom and who directly fight for it.

Perhaps both? I am trying to figure out which accurately describes the party of Roosevelt and Kennedy (John, not Ted).

Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, opened the hearing where General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were set to testify to the situation in Iraq and the progress of “The Surge” and its eventual drawdown. Here is what he said:

To open the hearing, Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said recent fighting in Iraq has cast new questions on the effectiveness of the U.S. troop surge, and the United States must move toward shifting the burden of fixing Iraq over to the Iraqis.

“The purpose of the surge as announced by President Bush last year … has not been achieved,” said Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Reminds me when Senator Harry Reid (D - Nev) came out and declared The Surge a failure before it even really started. Now that we’re well into The Surge, the Surrendercrats are grasping onto ANYTHING to declare it a complete and utter failure.

Levin said the recent outbreak of fighting in Basra “leads many of us to once again challenge Bush’s policies.” He called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s plans “haphazardly” developed, and said the United States must “force that government to take responsibility for their own future. (emphasis mine)

Didja get that? Our enemy has just learned (just learned? nah, they know, this just reaffirms it) that everytime they either strike or fight back, even if they lose completely in the effort (ie: Tet Offensive), the Party of Surrender, and their willing accomplices in the MSM, are ready to wave the white flag and proverbially snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Under questioning by Levin, Petraeus said he could not predict when troop reductions would be resumed or how many U.S. troops were likely to remain in Iraq by the end of this year.

…

Levin reminded Petraeus that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said a “pause” in troop reductions should be “brief.” Noting that Petraeus used neither word, Levin said the Petraeus plan amounted to an open-ended suspension.

“What you’ve given to your chain of command is a plan which has no end to it,” Levin said. He asked Petraeus when he would be in position to recommend further troop cuts, once the 45-day evaluation period ends in September.

“It could be right then, or it could be longer,” the general said. He declined to be pinned down, saying he would recommend further cuts when conditions were right.

When conditions are right. No General Petreaus, that is not acceptable. The Party of Surrender requires that we have a timetable for withdrawal, preferably one that can fit on the pages of the New York Times and is written in arabic and farsi so that the PoS’s allies in the region don’t have to translate.

They’ve apparently recovered Sgt. Maupin’s remains in Iraq. Looks like he was given his Geneva Convention rights… ya know.. the same rights we give the jihadis…. (/irony and sarcasm).

Michelle Malkin has some tributes that were done for Sgt. Maupin.

More good news regarding the Marines being prosecuted persecuted for the civilian deaths in Haditha.

The Haditha Eight has now shrunk to three as all charges against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum were dropped today and his case dismissed just before jury selection was about to begin for his court martial.

Cpl. Tatum has also been issued an immunity order, and his lawyer stated that he will testify if called upon in Sgt. Frank Wuterich’s court martial, the date of which continues to be delayed and has still not been set. Cpl. Tatum’s lawyer also affirmed that they has struck no agreement with the government before the dismissal of charges.

The next scheduled action is the court-martial of First Lt. Andrew Grayson in mid-April.

Lawyers for Sgt. Wuterich and Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani said that this dismissal demonstrates the weakness of the government’s case and are hopeful that this whole house of cards will soon fall over completely.

I agree: it’s past time to end this travesty!

My wife played for me Tim McGraw’s “If You’re Reading This” for the first time this weekend. I haven’t kept up with the country music since I was a senior in high school, so I know this is an older song. That being said, I don’t think that I’ve cried this hard in a long time. I just kept thinking ’bout my buddy Ernie (tribute in my sidebar). And how he would never be a husband and a father. That he sacrificed what I currently have. He is a better man than I, which makes me wonder why God took him instead of me. I know this is a question man has asked since the beginning, and I doubt it will be answered until the end, but is a question that will be asked…

I am including a tribute that includes the song. I won’t stop thinking about those who have, and continue, to sacrifice for this country.

Ernie, I love you man.. and this world is a darker, colder place without you in it…

Two Marines are being railroaded. They’re heroes and don’t deserve this…but the shiny Pentagon brass asses want to hang them out to crucify. Please help the Marines involved. This is political correctness gone MAD.

Russ Vaughn points to his latest writing over at Old War Dogs.

Before you go there though, check out this web site, which introduces us to Chronic Marine Syndrome:

Symptoms to look for are:

1. Pride in oneself and the organization they represent.
2. A strong willingness to put in extra attention to detail to get the job done.
3. May wear articles of Marine clothing; T-shirts, jackets, watches, well into their 80’s.
4. Will not hesitate to stand up or put their hand over their heart, or even salute when the National Anthem is played.
5. Does not succumb easily to political correctness.
6. Is sure of who they are.
7. Is often either respected or hated by others, due to their abilities and talents.
8. May donate toys to needy kids at Christmas.
9. Some have been known to wear their hair in a high and tight well into their 90’s.
10. Will look you in the eye when talking to you.
11. Will give you a firm handshake.
12. Knows what honor, courage and commitment mean.
13. Can usually be found in some type of leadership position in whatever organization they work for.
14. Will often regard their drill instructors with the same respect as their parents.
15. Often found in either law enforcement or various professions.
16. Is extremely thorough at what they do.
17. Does not wear a bunch of patches to adorn their uniform. Their title of Marine is often sufficient.
18. Often arrives at work earlier than expected. If they wear a shirt and tie in their job, you might see the tie clip. between the third and fourth button centered.
19. Had spent time training at one of two places; Parris Island or San Diego.
20. May be able to field strip their rifle, up to 60 years after leaving active duty.
21. Can recite the nomenclature of the M1, M14 or M16.
22. May often have his pencils sharpened to a perfect precision point.
23. Will not back down from a fight.

…again, don’t ask me why Jarheads make me oh so horny.

X Posted @ Michael’s (A jarhead who does make me horny)

Spot on! I vaguely remember scanning some hyper headline about suicide rates being very high among US Soldiers and Marines…because it was a MSM hit piece, I didn’t read it. This article sheds a lot of light on this subject. Make sure you read the whole thing though.

You know the war in Iraq is going better when the mainstream media stops reporting on casualties there. In fact, the casualty count has decreased so much that the media has given up claiming that our soldiers will all be killed if we don’t surrender soon, and is now forced to claim instead that our soldiers will just all kill themselves if we don’t surrender soon.

That was the tacit message in widely carried reports last week that the military suicide rate had reached crisis proportions. As I’ve pointed out before, the media has no use for the soldier when he is healthy, gung ho, and mission focused. But let him get killed, maimed, abused, drunk, arrested, evicted, or otherwise in deep trouble and suddenly they care a lot. The media loves a soldier, when he’s a victim.

Russ Vaughn sent this via email and I reposting it here in it’s entirety.

Entertaining Considerations

Russ Vaughn

Here’s WHY:

…
The truth is, Medea, you slack jawed, droopy-faced, fucking nitwit, that you don’t want this office there because it makes you feel small. It makes you feel dirty. It makes you feel unworthy. And you should. Because you ARE small, dirty, and unworthy. You have spit in the face of those who, for generations, have actually defended democracy, upheld the Constitution, and literally stood up to defeat Hitler – and any reminder of the importance of their actions is also a reminder of the utter worthlessness of yours.
…

Read it all and offer up Mike the Marine a solid salute!