Knee Deep in the Hooah!

I just love these provocative titles. Don’t you?

Apparently there are a lot of pro-censorship guys like Phil Carter, still at work for the Army. In this latest case a certain Lt. G was ORDERED NOT TO BLOG. The story is here, here, and the original is here. Oh, and The Thunder Run also has it. (wave to DavidM.)

BUT, not only was he ordered not to blog … he was then ordered to REMOVE AND DELETE HIS BLOG. We’re lucky that one of his friends archived the entries in question so that you can go read ‘em for yourself. I was a regular reader of Lt. G’s blog, KABOOM. I read the post that got him into hot water. At the time of my initial reading I thought to myself, “The more things change the more they stay the same in the Army.” But it never occurred to me that anyone would take Lt. G’s post as anything but a very, very, glossed over account of a not so atypical day in the life of a rising Officer.

The order to stop blogging for a while? Lame. But no big deal. The order to delete? That’s an abuse of power. And here’s my opinion as a civilian who has been in the Army: The man in Lt. G’s chain of command who ordered this is a POS Pogue who wouldn’t know the pointy end of the spear from his pointy head and should have his leadership “looked into” by JAG.

There. That ought to get me linked to the WaPo Intel Dumpster and Stand-downTo! for sure.

And if that doesn’t then this might - Redleg six, dumping kilobytes and preparing to surrender. Out.

I guess we don’t need political leaders to cause the Army to fail. We’ve still got lots of people like Phil Carter and Wesley Clark to take care of that for us. We’re winning in spite of these people. It amazes me just how good the Army is that it can survive these people.

I love the Army. I really do. I’m trying very hard to get back in. BUT this sort of crap we do not need. It’s weak. It does not support the mission. It supports one individuals ego.

The greatest Army ever to march on the face of the earth doesn’t need this kind of short sighted leadership.

Mr.Hooah!, out.

Tags: Army, Iraq, Morale, Mr. Hooah! Writes, Troop Support, military, war on terror by Mr_Hooah
16 Comments »

In my CafePress shop this sticker is my best selling item. I really had fun making it, and to be honest I really wasn’t sure what I was going to write when I put the picture on the sticker. I think I had just read the article I posted here a while back that correlated negative media coverage and an upswing in insurgent behavior. Anyway, I think I will have to add some mugs and t-shirts.

I will have some new Knee Deep products too now that I have permission to use the word. I have been very busy lately — that and, well, uhm, OK, admittedly I have an avulsion fracture in my left foot. I know you all are thinking that Mr. Hooah! must be keeping me locked up in a basement somewhere and only letting me out for daily beatings with stuff like this and the jaw. I think that an MRI will prove that it’s an issue of running, pronation issues, high arch issues and the desperate need for new shoes.

Tags: Iraq, Morale, Things I love, Troop appreciation, military, war on terror by Claire
6 Comments »

The King of fright decided to pull a partial Kerry on us with the following statement (source link)

“The fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don’t, then you’ve got the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that,”

I call it a partial Kerry because he did not stumble all over himself trying to apologize like Kerry. No, he has no intentions of backing down on what he said, even though his ASSumptions about military personnel are erroneously far from the facts. I know facts are not always important when you are writing fiction, but they matter a lot in the non-fiction world.

Take for example this little tid-bit from the Heritage Foundation’s research on the quality of recruits since the start of the war. See how it looks side to side with King’s statement about troops and literacy:

… in the most recent edition of Population Representation in the Military Services, the Department of Defense reported that the mean reading level of 2004 recruits is a full grade level higher than that of the comparable youth population. Fewer than 2 percent of wartime recruits have no high school creden­tials. Table 2 shows the breakdown for the educational attainment of the war­time recruit cohorts. The national high school graduation rate taken from the Census 2004 ACS is 79.8 percent. [Read more →]

Tags: Hollywood, Morale, anti-military, deployment, literacy, looney leftists, military, politics, veterans, war on terror by Claire
6 Comments »

I have finally been able to get the art work that Mike sent home scanned and into electronic format. The pictures contained in the album are works of art that the Iraqi children drew as a “thank you” to all of those who contributed to the Operation School School Supply drive last year.

My first inclination as an MSW with a background in children’s mental health was to look at the pictures with an evaluative eye. It won’t take you long to see the positive images that I picked up on right away. I see smiling sun shines, lots of color, and even rainbow colored helicopters.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking through their artwork and appreciating their talent. I will have Mr. Hooah! write a “Cliff Notes” version for you of Art History and Islam. It will help you better understand some of the perspectives in the drawings. Also, look for the picture with an Army vehicle (maybe a Humvee?) and a Stryker — on the same road with a Donkey Cart. Of course the sun is smiling in that picture too.

These pictures will be ready to ship to their rightful recipients in the next few days. [Read more →]

Tags: Army, Army Mom Posts, Art, Good News (Iraq), Iraq, Morale, Op. School Supply, Shack Pack news, Things I love, communication, deployment, pictures, updates by Claire
4 Comments »

I knew that this was coming, but to see it in print was enough to make me nearly giddy this morning. Home coming time is sweet and scary. Keep our Surge troops in your prayers in the coming weeks. Their boots are one step closer to US soil!

3,500 U.S. Troops Set to Leave Iraq in Coming Weeks

Tuesday, May 06, 2008
(AP found on FOX News)
(excerpt)

BAGHDAD — About 3,500 American soldiers who were part of last summer’s troop “surge” are scheduled to leave Iraq in the coming weeks, the U.S. military said.

The soldiers, part of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, will redeploy to Fort Benning, Georgia, said a statement released late Monday. The U.S. sent some 30,000 additional troops into Iraq last summer to help stem growing violence.

Those troops, along with the rise of Sunni fighters who allied with the U.S. and began battling al-Qaida and a truce called by a key Shiite militia, were credited with a sharp decrease in violence during the last 10 months.

The soldiers are part of the third of five “surge” brigades scheduled to redeploy. The other two are expected to return to the U.S. by the end of July.

“The continued drawdown of surge brigades demonstrates continued progress in Iraq,” Brig. Gen. Dan Allyn said in the statement. “After July, commanders will assess our security posture for about 45 days and determine future force requirements based on these conditions-based assessments.”

Tags: Army, Army Mom Posts, Good News (Iraq), Iraq, Morale, Troop Surge, combat, deployment, military, prayers, redeployment, reunification, war on terror by Claire
7 Comments »

Thinking of the stir that was created in me last night when I read some blogger’s comments about the troops and his opinion of our bravest and finest, kept me up late. It’s in the midnight hours that most mother’s of deployed soldiers do some of their best worrying and praying. I used to think it was due to the fact that the distractions of the day were calming and suddenly our minds and hands were left with nothing to do. That was a good theory when Mr. Hooah! was gone to Ft. Benning while Mike was first deployed. I have come to realize that, for me personally anyway, it’s because I know that as my day is ending his is beginning. It’s a funny assumption on my behalf because I know he pulls shifts all hours of the day. I got a call today from him, first one in a long time, he sounded tired, but considering it was after 1am there I am surprised he was still awake. I’m a mom. I can’t help it.

So, this stir that was caused within was a flash in the pan, and it’s because the words that were typed on that screen were baseless, senseless, tasteless, and gutless. They were typed out for one reason, and one reason alone — to attract attention and make some big splash. There is a huge difference when someone uses hyperbole as a tool to excite interest or drive home a point, but it’s another when someone uses a constant, heightened offensive tone to bring attention to himself. Ultimately I find comfort in reminding myself that it is not men like this who shape our world. The men who shape our world do not do it by provocatively stomping on the grave of men better than themselves. Instead men who shape this world respect those who defend them. Not only is it true that … “A Nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten,” but I would say the same is true for the individual who thinks that a tantrum will bring him any notoriety and that using the graves of the fallen will accomplish that end for him.
[Read more →]

Tags: Army, Army Mom Posts, Iraq, Morale, Shack Pack news, Troop Surge, Troop appreciation, deployment, family life, looney leftists, military, politics, redeployment, reunification, veterans, war on terror by Claire
8 Comments »

On Friday night we attended the Air Force JROTC Awards Banquet. It was a very nice evening, and I was doubly impressed when I learned that it was a 100% student driven and planned event. The program is very new, and it has already accomplished some things that much older programs have not. The leadership in the program is awesome, and I think that the parental leadership at home is equally awesome. Both of those components can take kids a very long way in life.

The guest speaker we heard is a retired Navy Seal who served two consecutive tours in Vietnam and who earned a bronze star with a v-device for valor. His presence at the podium created a little tension though. It was not a bad tension, but maybe more of a little dissonance related tension. He was a very small man with an equally small voice. His build and demeanor was not what I was expecting, but the words he spoke and the fallen commarades he remembered was a testament to a very strong and determined man that was still present right there in front of us. He reminded us that “it does not matter the size of the dog in the fight, but what matters is the fight inside of the dog.” He told us he was just an ordinary man, but when Major dismissed us he reminded our Speaker that “there is NO such thing as an ordinary Seal!” Amen!

I have a ton of running to do this morning, and won’t get to blog until later. I thought I would do a re-run of a post I did last year. This post came to mind when I heard that Navy Seal speak. Courage, indeed!!

Courage

When I was in undergrad as a BSW major I dabbled in Philosophy. I was just one class away from being able to declare it as my minor, but decided against taking that last class due to overload. The final semester for a BSW consists of a full time internship, and the very nature of social work is working with client populations that have major stress factors attached at every angle. Also, at this point in my education I had become very disenchanted with the study of Philosophy. It seemed as if, to me anyway, there was too much value placed on who could ask the most profound question instead of who could provide anyone with the most profound evidence.

This frustration with academic Philosophy hit a peak for me when I was told during a class that there was no way to prove that evil truly exists. Well, to be quite honest in the convoluted vacuum of Metaphysics there is no way to prove that any of us exists. OK, so now that we are all just a figment of each other’s imaginations maybe we can all agree on something! That was my hope, but the questions would just get more bizarre, and to be honest at that time I couldn’t bring myself to care about the the impracticality in the study anymore. I was taking care of young children in the field of mental health whose minds, bodies, and little spirits had been ravaged by adults who possessed nothing in the lines of a soul or a conscience. I remember the statement “You can’t prove that evil exists!” when I read the file of a young girl who had not said a word in years, but rather barked like a dog because being a puppy was better than being a baby girl. Don’t tell me evil does not exist! [Read more →]

Tags: Morale, military, veterans, war on terror by Claire
3 Comments »

The following story caught my eye this morning while Mr. Hooah! and I were sipping coffee and watching the local news. I was very blessed to read about this “Good Samaritan’s” kindness and mercy he showed to deploying soldiers and their families.

[Read more →]

Tags: Army, Iraq, Morale, Things I love, Troop appreciation, deployment, family life, military, war on terror by Claire
1 Comment »