Tag Archives: US Army

Recent Posts, videos

Bunkerville Redux

4 Comments

Hi Gang, so much going on it’s tough to keep up with it all. As you know I watch no TV news programming. However, I received an email from my dear friend, and fellow Marine brother this week. Dave follows the blog and he sent me the name of the news program he watches. I checked it and I like it it too. So if you are interested in a news program that gives a fair and balanced programming, check it out. David even sent me a list of where you can find it depending on your device.

Find Newsmax TV on:

Satellite & Cable

  • DirecTV Ch. 349
  • Dish Network Ch. 216
  • Comcast Xfinity Ch. 1115
  • Spectrum (TWC/Charter/BHH)
  • AT&T U-verse Ch. 1220
  • Verizon FiOS Ch. 615HD / 115SD
  • T-Vision
  • Cox Media
  • Optimum Ch. 102
  • Suddenlink Ch. 102
  • Mediacom Ch. 277
  • WOW! TV
  • Orby TV Ch. 308
  • Fision TV (Hotwire) Ch. 540HD / 121SD
  • Armstrong Ch. 118
  • AT&T TV
Download Our Free App
Online Streaming (OTT) Services

I have it on my computer and listen to it while I am doing other things, and when they are on a segment that I want to watch, I simply open it.

Okay, on to the swamp and see what these slimy devious creatures are up to, hell, one never knows do we? Anyway, my brother blogger BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades!  had a great one out today.  And here is the link, what a lot of info. Please go there and see whatr the swamp is still trying to cover up.

FBI Wray refused to discuss the death of Capitol Cop Sicknick – a repeat of Vince Foster Coverup

 

Okay something to smile about.

 

 

Originally posted 2021-03-04 12:37:49.

Current Events

The First is Always the Best

5 Comments

Yes, how well I remember the first salute I received at around 1530 on 7 August 1967 at MB, 8th&I, Washington, D.C. when I was commissioned. Here it is:

Then GySgt Lee M. Bradley, my hero, mentor, and godfather giving the newly commissioned brown bar his first salute and collecting the infamous silver dollar, which now retired SgtMaj Lee M. Bradley says he still has.

One Final Salute                                                                  By: G. Maresca

For my first 17 years, a hat was, well, a hat. It wasn’t until I stepped off the bus in the wee hours of a humid June morning and landed on those celebrated yellow footprints of Parris Island that I quickly learned what I once called a hat was now a cover.

After my tour in the Corps, which included two deployments that literally took me around the globe, the only piece of uniform that fit me upon my departure were my covers. Thanks to adding two inches in height and 45-pounds in girth, my dress uniforms were always a major point of contention, especially during inspections. Fortunately, the camouflage utility uniform had a good amount of give, which was our uniform of the day – the one benefit of not being a pogue.

Once I returned to civilian life, my remaining covers were tucked away in my sea bag that in subsequent moves always found a home anchored in the basement. It wasn’t until my daughter requested me to render her first salute upon her commissioning in the U.S. Army that the cover would find itself, however briefly, returning to active duty.

Having been prior enlisted, I was unfamiliar with the protocols of the commissioning of a second lieutenant. Not only would she be commissioning but was named a George C. Marshall graduate having earned the U.S. Army’s top cadet award based upon scholarship, leadership, and physical fitness.

My poplin camouflaged cover was practically inspection ready considering it spent nearly four decades packed away awaiting its eventual parole to a hunting or fishing expedition that never materialized. My name was still visibly stamped on the inside and all that was left was a brief meeting with a touch of starch and an iron.

The only issue that still needed to be addressed was my hair. The mane is still in full force and pretty much the same color as when I first donned that cover. The mop, or what Uncle Vinny once sardonically called “good guinea hair,” was on tap to get a regulation high and tight shortly before the commissioning allowing enough growth to still pass muster with USMC regulation and acceptable to our family’s commanding officer, the butter bar’s mother.

The last time, I rendered a salute wearing that cover, I was still on active duty. I have no recall who was the heir of that salute, but to think the next one bestowed would be my own daughter decades later at her commissioning was surreal. The entirety of the formal proceedings were certainly a significant moment in time for an aging Jarhead.

Before accepting her request, I wanted to make sure that she didn’t want one of her ROTC cadre to do the honors as she has spoken with high regard for the senior noncommissioned officers that worked diligently with her during her undergraduate years and in particular MSgt. Cardray Moulden.

Our family’s military history is significant, having had two uncles who served in World War II one in the Army, the other in the Navy, and my, Dad, a Marine, served in the Korean War – all were enlisted. On her maternal side, one served on Iwo Jima, while the rest were Army veterans fighting the Nazi’s in Europe during World War II when military service was not necessarily a choice. The common denominator that ran through them was a patriotic sense of time-honored duty to serve one’s nation.

This seems to be missing among today’s youth as last year the Army reached only 75% of its recruiting goal, while the other branches barely met theirs. 2023 is no different. At a Congressional hearing, Pentagon brass testified things have not been this bad since the draft ended in 1973 and that the all-volunteer force may no longer be feasible.

Maria Maresca’s initial salute had two sets of firsts. Not only would she be the first woman in the family on either side to serve, but also the first to forgo the chevrons and pin on the gold bars of a second lieutenant.

Across our fruited plain, May is commissioning season. The formalities at Shippensburg University, not far from the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg or the Army’s longtime War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania is by no means a destination for any of these young officers. Rather it is the first stop in a journey that will sculpt, fashion, and solidify the rest of their lives as they serve a cause much greater than themselves.

The hope inspired by both Major General Andy Munera, the Commanding General U.S. Army Cadet Command out of Fort Knox. Kentucky, and the university’s ROTC’s Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Nicole Jepsen stirred a current that could not help but energize the auditorium of the Luhrs Performing Arts Center.

These newly commissioned officers’ commitment to serve stands out in a nation where only 9% of those eligible to serve do. They carry with them the hope of a nation that my last commander-in-chief Ronald Reagan once called “a shining city on a hill.”

This will be my last post for a while as my bride and I are taking our new RV (new to us) on its second shake down cruise to another FL State Park, that will make two down and 45 to go. I think it is fitting to post Greg’s story of his daughter receiving her first salute from her Dad. Great story. Congratulations Greg to you and to the new Brown Bar! I wish her well.

 

 

 

Current Events, Recent Posts

Go Army!

14 Comments

Don’t know if anyone has seen this, I think I saw it a while ago, but don’t think I posted it. Anyway if I did, sorry about that, here it is again.

Additionally, I believe enough time has gone by for me to post the results of my poll on changing the clocks. I will say I am disappointed in you guys. Eighty-six hits on the post and only twelve comments. Clearly, that sucks! Why do I waste my valuable time even posting if you are simply going to read it and not even click if you like it or not and  then less than 14% of you take the time tell me keep it or ditch it. Sad! to say the least. Why do you even come and read the posts? Anyway twelve comments and  eleven said keep standard time. One felt the need to tell us that since he retired he doesn’t care what time it is. Hmm, I felt that way when I first retired, but wait till he gets to my age, and finds that the body and the mind doesn’t like changes and trying to adjust to something as evident as daylight is a little tougher.  So, if everyone says stop it and keep standard time, why are we still doing it? Send your congressman an email and tell him to stop it. I did, have you?

Anyway folks, meet the new Army, and bear in mind the Corps is not far behind them. Me thinks our CMC is having mental problems. I’ll post something about that late when I have time, but then some of you will read it and pass on.

Current Events

The Corps Part VII

Of course the ANG wants those discharged Marines. First of all they are already trained, disciplined, tough, honorable, and do not have to put up with so much of the woke-ness found in the the active duty services. I happen to know this as a fact. One of my super stars in the Young Marine unit I ran in northern Illinois tried to get into the Corps’ PLC program but was on meds for OCD and was declined, I even wrote the OSO a letter highlighting this young ladies attributes, but it was to no avail. So she went to college under the ROTC program and is now active in ANG and loves it. She says they are not having to put up with all the woke-ness as is the Army. And, as expected, she has risen to a super star in her unit — and is off her meds!.

Why the Marine Corps wants to tank National Guard recruiting efforts

By Philip Athey

From the Marine Times

Historically the Marine Corps has had the lowest retention rate in the Department of Defense, as it intentionally has only kept 25 percent of first-term Marines.

As a result, the National Guard and other services have seen Marines fresh off a first enlistment as fertile recruiting ground, allowing the Guard to swell its ranks with already experienced troops.

The practice is so common the Army National Guard even has recruiters specifically trained and tasked to recruit prior service Marines.

But as the Corps looks to field an older more experienced force, it wants that to change.

“If we do our job right, they’ll never go to the Army or the National Guard to begin with,” Maj. Gen. Jason Bohm, the commander for Marine Corps Recruiting Command, told reporters on Monday.

On Nov. 3, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger released his talent management vision aimed at improving retention by treating Marines “like human beings instead of inventory.”

For those who left the Corps just to realize the grass is not always greener in the Army combat uniform, the Corps wants you back.

“Quite often, not to disparage any of the other services, but we do hear from (prior service Marines) saying ‘This isn’t quite what I expected, is there any chance I can come back?’” Bohm said.

LOL this is so funny. Did any of these so called SME’s in the Marine Corps Recruiting Command stop to consider why that Marine was dissatisfied with the service he/she opted for after the Corps? Perhaps, just perhaps, they missed the loyalty, comradery, pride, brother/sister hood, familial closeness, traditional values, being part of something good, and the sheer joy and honor of wearing the Marine uniform. But now that the Corps is going the way of the other services who started this woke-ness crap way  prior to General Berger arriving will they find the same atmosphere in the “new” Corps? I think so. What happened to the motto: If everyone could be a Marine, it wouldn’t be the Marines, or no one promised you a Rose Garden, or even The Few, the Proud, the Marines. Forget that it’s not important anymore . . . . . I guess?

There already are methods for prior service Marines to return to the Corps, but Bohm said it was not particularly easy.

The Corps will look to streamline that process and welcome the lost sheep back into the Marine Corps’ fold.

The Corps also will improve its efforts to inform Marines who are getting out on ways they can reenter the force if circumstances allow them to return or if they simply change their mind about getting out.

“We are certainly going to maintain contact with those people,” Bohm said.

At least for now the Army National Guard does not seem to expect much to change on its end.

“The Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Force always seeks to recruit and retain the best available talent for the Guard,” Christina Mundy said on behalf of Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention in a Tuesday email.

Marine Corps Times has previously asked the National Guard for numbers on how many prior service Marines it enlists each year and has not heard back.

While the Marine Corps is looking to improve overall retention, the Corps is planning to downsize over the next few years and has completely eliminated certain military occupational specialties.

In 2021 the Corps had an authorized active-duty end strength of 181,200 Marines. By 2030 the Corps looks to shrink the active duty force to roughly 174,000 Marines, the smallest the Corps has been since 2002.

To slowly reduce numbers while improving retention the Marine Corps expects that it will reduce its recruitment goals.

As part of its redesign to faceoff against China the Marine Corps has eliminated its tank battalions, active duty law enforcement battalions and its bridging units.

Marines with military occupational specialties that were eliminated had been offered easy transfer into the Army, where tank battalions are still going strong.

Berger said the Corps needs an older and more mature force to handle the increased complexities of a potential war against a near-peer opponent.

On the future battlefield Marines will have more responsibilities pushed down to lower levels than ever before.

”The machine gunner who is also corpsman, a medic, also has to be able to talk to MQ-9 UAVs and bring in ordnance and understand the satellite connection that is required to do that,” Berger told reporters in early November.

The Corps is also leaning on updated science that shows people do not fully mature until they are in their early to mid-twenties and that peak physical performance does not happen until someone is in their late 20s.

“We based our force on an assumption that (18 to 20-year-olds) were indestructible supermen,” Berger said. “Turns out it’s not. We don’t peak physically or cognitively until our late 20s.”

“We can’t have a force full of 18 to 21-year-olds,” Berger said. Really? Tell that to the Marines of WW I, WW II, Korea, or Vietnam. I wonder how old these Marines are?

Recruits with Delta Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, run up the Reaper during the crucible at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (Cpl. Grace J. Kindred/Marine Corps)

There are so much coming out of CMC’s mouth, I can’t keep up with them, Therefore, I’ll simply provide links to some of the “stuff,” and should you desire to lower your blood pressure even more please click on the link below and read more of this goobly-gook. I find no reason to publish this as a post. It’s simply filled with more BS.

Smarter Not Harder

Current Events

A Veteran Affair

6 Comments

Another good one from my good friend Greg, thanks Greg, this one is very fitting and timely BUT, I have one that will follow along on this one and be a barn burner for many, especially we Marines. Be sure to read when I post it tomorrow. Trust me, you will be sick Marines. .

By Greg Maresca

Not knowing why Veteran’s Day was on a Thursday and not part of a three-day weekend was somewhat perplexing to a recently minted government employee. There is a historic tradition why some holidays like Christmas, New Year’s Day and the 4th of July are standalone celebrations.

Veteran’s Day is one of them.

Given its history and place on the Gregorian calendar, why couldn’t the Great War have ended in June, July, or August? It just so happens that World War I, the war to end all wars, ceased on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month in 1918. For some it must be frustrating having a holiday in early November when the days are short, the skies overcast and the mercury doing a daily descent.

To take a society’s emotional temperature, listen to what folks complain about. As we approach this Veteran’s Day many who served in the nation’s armed forces are concerned about the trajectory of where our military, and thus the nation, is headed.

As the Chinese fly dozens of sorties into Taiwanese airspace probing their defenses, the Biden administration counters by naming Rachel Levine an honorary four-star admiral of the U.S. Public Health Services Commissioned Corps, the first “woman” to reach that rank. “Rachel” is Richard, a biological male and father, who never served in any branch of the military.

Where is that army of ardent feminists as a male living under the aberration of being a female is bestowed such a title?

Do you believe the Russians and Chinese play pretend like we do?

Hoist that rainbow flag to let the enemy know we mean business as soon as they pick the right dress for war.

Such a dubious sideshow draws attention away from the folly of the Biden administration that recognizes global warming and COVID as more tactical enemies than communism and the piecemeal dismantling of the Constitution by American Marxists.

Besides developing viruses, the Chinese are working diligently on weapons’ systems that include their recent launch of a hypersonic nuclear missile which flies below radar, expanding their navy from a green water fleet to a blue water one, while enlarging their nuclear arsenal and learning to fight the next generation of war: cyberspace.

Provided our armed forces continue to serve more as a social experiment than a fighting force, it is guaranteed we will pay an immense price in blood and treasure on a future battlefield.

Rather we counter with “Rachel” Levine, Critical Race Theory, a bungled Afghanistan defeat and forced vaccinations.

If Afghanistan was a “logistical success,” as Gen. Milley defined it, then what retreat wasn’t? The top brass are a bunch of trick or treaters with more ribbons than brains. What would have been the result had the U.S. squared off against the Axis powers in World War II with a woke president and military joint chiefs where social justice is priority one?

The only thing our military is working at hypersonic speed is the implementation of wokeism.

Recently, the navy failed to execute basic shipboard firefighting aboard USS Bonhomme Richard and lost a ship with 15 years of service left. However, they did plant some trees as carbon offsets, so award those humanitarian service medals.

Navy SEALs seeking a vaccine religious exemption are being coerced into compliance. Not only does such harassment intrude upon their First Amendment rights that they swore to uphold, but it is detrimental to our national security.

Global warming and social change are not the military’s mission.

Our military superiority will cease provided we continue to politicize the armed forces, while discharging those who do not adhere to the woke policies of the Biden administration.

There are about two billion people residing in freedom thanks to the sacrifice of the U.S. military over the last 241 years. That is as noble an achievement as any in history and November 11 has been set aside to honor those who have made and continue to make that sacrifice.

Those who have honorably served make up only seven percent of the population.

For them, take a few minutes to right our ship by contacting your Congressional representatives and urging them to act and what better time than Veteran’s Day.

 I fly out tomorrow to be the guest speaker for a group of Marines in Mesa, AZ for their Birthday Ball. I have been perplexed now for weeks trying to come up with something to talk about, and am stymied. Now today, I read an article that saddens me to no end about my beloved Corps. Now I am really baffled as to what to say to the Marines Saturday night. Lord, I need your help. I will post the article tomorrow a.m. before I depart for the airport. STANDBY MARINES!!!!