Showing posts with label National Guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Guard. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Monday, January 31, 1944. Landings at Kwajalein.

The Battle of Kwajalein commenced with landings by the 4th Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division under the command of Marine Corps General Holland "Howlin Mad" Smith, an acknowledged expert on amphibious warfare that some have called the "father of amphibious warfare".


Smith went to Auburn University, graduating in 1901, but his goal was to become an Army officer.  He was already a cavalry 1st Sergeant in the Alabama National Guard.  Nonetheless, following his undergraduate degree, he went to law school and obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree (JD's were not yet common) from the University of Alabama.  He thereafter practiced law in Montgomery, Alabama for a year.

Apparently he had second thoughts about that and determined to revive his interest in joining the Army.  He sought a commission, but none were available, so he instead obtained one from the Marine Corps, entering the Corps on March 20, 1905.  He'd later claim not to have known of the existence of the Marine Corps until the Army recruiter told them they were not accepting applicants, and referred him to the Marine recruiter down the block, although that's almost certain false.  The Marines were well known by 1905, and as he was seeking entry through a direct commission, an application process would have existed, rather than simply joining.

His first assignment as a Marine was in the Philippines.  He first saw action in 1916 in the Dominican Republic.  He was deployed to France in World War One in June 1917.  He was awarded the Purple Heart for service in the Great War, for merit, something that was not done after World War One.  During World War Two, he became instrumental in training both Marine and Army units in amphibious operations.

Smith, during World War Two, tended not to plan for disengagement of his forces once they were committed, something the Army regarded as foolhardy but which reflected the reality of amphibious operations.  The "no plan for retreat" ethos, however, crept into the Marine Corps as a result, and was evidenced in it long after.

He retired in 1946, and lived until 1967, dying at age 84.  His wife had already passed, but he was survived by a son, Rear Admiral John V. Smith, a 1934 Naval Academy graduate.

Sarah Sundin's entry on this event:

Today in World War II History—January 31, 1944: US Army and Marines land on Kwajalein & Majuro in the Marshall Islands, with the first use of the DUKW amphibious vehicle in the Pacific .

The Allies took Majuro in the Marshall's.

U.S. ships at Majuro.

The landing force had expected opposition, but the Japanese had withdrawn to Kwajalein and Eniwetok, leaving a single warrant officer as a caretaker in what must have been an anxiety filled roll.  He was captured, and along with him, one of the largest anchorages in the Pacific. 

The U-592 was sunk by three Royal Navy sloops. All hands were lost.

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Sunday, January 2, 1944. 32nd Infantry Division lands at Saidor.

Just two days after Adolf Hitler had warned the German people to expect more hardships and setbacks, one came.  The Red Army captured Radovel, placing themselves within 18 miles of the pre World War Two, and post Russo Polish War, Russian border.

Much of the attention in late 1943 had been on the war in Ukraine, but this frankly was more than a little ominous.  The Soviets were not only recovering lost ground, they were about to enter ground they had not been on since their 1939 invasion of Poland.

The US landed troops of the 32nd Infantry Division at Saidor in New Guinea in Operation Michaelmas, an operation which would ultimately involve 13,000 U.S. troops in an effort to cut off 6,000 Japanese troops.


The 32nd Infantry Division was comprised of National Guard units from Michigan and Wisconsin and had seen significant participation in World War One.  Immediately after the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor, the unit was designated for shipment to Northern Ireland and ordered to move to embarkment locations, however, Japanese advances caused it to be redesignated for the Pacific, at which time, after having suffered some manpower losses due to restructuring, it was given only three weeks to make the cross-country trek and embark.  It was not fully equipped at the time.  Manpower shortages were filled out, however, by recent conscripts.  It was then sent to Australia.

Division patch.

While the unit's early commitment to combat was problematic, the unit achieved many first during the Second World War.  It was the first US division to deploy as an entire unit from the US and the first to be shipped in a single convoy.  The 128th Infantry Rgt, part of the division, was the first to be airlifted into combat.  It was the first US unit to launch a ground assault against the Japanese.  At Saidor, they became the first US division to make a beach landing in New Guinea.  They later became the first US division to supply eleven battalions at one time from the air.

They were one of the "last" units as well, in that they were fighting Japanese soldiers on the Philippines the day after the Japanese surrender.  They then went into occupation duty in Japan, and returned in 1946.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Wars and Rumors of War, 2023, Part XII. γλυκύ δ᾽ἀπείρῳ πόλεμος. πεπειραμένων δέ τις ταρβεῖ προσιόντα νιν καρδία περισσῶς.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Matthew, Chapter 24.

γλυκύ δ᾽ἀπείρῳ πόλεμος.

πεπειραμένων δέ τις ταρβεῖ προσιόντα νιν καρδία περισσῶς.

War is sweet to those who have no experience of it. But the experienced man trembles exceedingly in his heart at its approach.

Pindar

I'd hoped not to have a new edition of this, this year.  This one shall surely close the year out..

When I should have started this edition:

December 1, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

Fighting has resumed.

December 3, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

Israel's offensive has expanded south.

December 5, 2023

Hamas v. Israel.

It's become increasing clear that not only was the Hamas assault on Israel the largest act of violence against civilian Jews since the Holocaust, but the largest example of militaristic armed rape since the Red Army's late stage World War Two actions in Germany (and Eastern Europe).

Like Red Army soldiers, Hamas combatants gang raped Israeli women to the point of death, or raped them and then killed them.  There's no excusing it, or denying it.

There is a question about it, however.  In the case of the Red Army, the organization was officially theist, which in fact gives license to such behavior.  In the case of Hamas, the organization is officially Islamic, and while the Koran does sanction taking female sex slaves, it doesn't condone rape outright or rape and murder.  This probably explains the official Hamas denials, but it would seem that an explanation from some other quarter is necessary, even if it will not be exculpatory.

December 6, 2023

Hamas v. Israel.

The US banned extremist Israeli settlers on the West Bank from entry into the U.S.

December 7, 2023

Venezuela v Guyana

Venezuela has dispatched troops to its border with Guyana in support of its claim to Essequibo.

This is a long-running dispute which first erupted in 1841, and it involves half of Guyana.

War is likely.

December 11, 2023

Russia v. Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is globe-trotting seeking support for his country's cause.  He was in Argentina over the weekend to witness the new Argentine President being sworn in, and is traveling to the United States today.

December 13, 2023

Russia v. Ukraine

President Zelenskyy addressed Congress yesterday.  It's becoming increasingly clear that Congress will not pass a new aid package this year due to linkage of aid to Ukraine to getting something addressed on the US border, the latter of which is a genuine crisis.

Hamas v. Israel

Israel is flooding Hamas tunnels with seawater in Gaza.

The United Nations voted 153 to 10 with 23 abstentions in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza.

President Biden termed Israeli bombing in Gaza as "indiscriminate".

US National Guard units are being called up for deployment to the Horn of Africa.

December 16, 2023

US/Mexican Border Crisis

Arizona's Democratic Governor, Katie Hobbs, activated elements of the Arizona National Guard in order to deploy them to the state's border with Mexico.  In doing so she stated that the Federal Government's decision to close a legal port of entry in Arizona "has led to an unmitigated humanitarian crisis."

Her activation order reads:


At this point, this is completely out of hand and is in fact a major failure by the Administration.

Russo Ukrainian War

December 26, 2023.  Boxing Day

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine damaged the landing ship Novocherkassk in a missile strike on a Crimean Port yesterday.

December 27, 2023

Russo Ukrainian War

It's being reported that Russia is making back channel communications that it's open to a cessation of the war, provided a cessation leaves Russia with the ability to assert it achieved its goals.

The Russians have taken Marinka in Donetsk Oblast.

Hamas v. Israel.

Israel has expended its operations to Central Gaza.  

It's reported that 20,000 Palestinians have been killed to date in the war.

December 28, 2023

Russo Ukrainian War

From the Department of Defense:

DOD Announces Aid Package for Ukraine

Dec. 27, 2023 | By Joseph Clark

The Defense Department today announced a security assistance package for Ukraine valued at up to $250 million. 

The package includes air defense capabilities, artillery and antitank weapons and other equipment to help Ukraine in its continued fight to counter Russia’s unprovoked invasion.  

The latest round of assistance marks the 54th drawdown of military equipment for Ukraine from DOD inventories since August 2021. 

It comes amid negotiations on Capitol Hill over President Joe Biden’s supplemental request to Congress to continue critical funding for military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.  

Defense officials have warned that, without action from Congress, further U.S. assistance for Ukraine could be in jeopardy at a critical time as Russia’s war approaches the two-year mark.  

"We would, again, continue to urge the passage of the supplemental that we've submitted," Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a briefing last week. 

"As you look at the situation that Ukraine finds itself in, we will obviously continue to support them," Ryder said. "But it is imperative that we have the funds needed to ensure that they get the most urgent battlefield capabilities that they require." 

Spotlight: Support for Ukraine

In a recent letter to lawmakers, DOD comptroller Michael J. McCord said the department would be obligating the remaining $1 billion in funds authorized by Congress to replace U.S. inventories of weapons provided to Ukraine by the end of this month. 

The security assistance package announced today is likely the last until Congress authorizes additional funds. 

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington to meet with Biden, defense officials and lawmakers. During those talks, Zelenskyy extended his gratitude for the United States' support and underscored his country’s urgent need for that support to continue. 

After meeting with Zelenskyy at the White House, Biden pledged that the U.S. "will not walk away from Ukraine," as he implored lawmakers to authorize additional funding. 

"The brave people in Ukraine have defied Putin's will at every turn, backed by the strong and unwavering support of the United States and our allies and partners in more than 50 nations in Europe and the Indo-Pacific," Biden said. "Ukraine will emerge from this war proud, free and firmly rooted in the West unless we walk away." 

He said he would continue to provide U.S. military assistance for as long as congressionally approved funds are available.  

"Without supplemental funding, we are rapidly coming to an end of our ability to help Ukraine respond to the urgent operational demands that it has," he said. 

"Putin is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine," he continued. "We must prove him wrong."   

In introductory remarks ahead of Zelenskyy's address at National Defense University in Washington, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III also underscored the United States' "unshakable" commitment to supporting Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression. 

"Ukraine matters profoundly to America's security and to the trajectory of global security in the 21st century," Austin said. "That's why the United States has committed more than $44 billion in security assistance to Ukraine's brave defenders." He added that the U.S.-led coalition of allies and partners have also contributed more than $37 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.  

Austin said those contributions include capabilities that "are making a crucial difference on the battlefield" and have helped Ukraine retake more than half of the territory seized by Russia since February 2022. 

He said the U.S. and its allies and partners remain "determined to help Ukraine consolidate and extend its battlefield gains and to build a future force that can ward off Russian aggression in the years ahead."
From ISW:

Ukrainian drone footage published on December 27 showed another Russian execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) near Robotyne in western Zaporizhia Oblast.[1] The geolocated video shows Russian servicemen shooting three Ukrainian soldiers whom Russian forces captured in a tree line west of Verbove (east of Robotyne). The video later depicts one Russian soldier shooting an already dead Ukrainian serviceman again at close range.[2] The Ukrainian Prosecutor General‘s Office announced that it opened an investigation into Russian forces violating the laws and customs of war in addition to premeditated murder.[3] The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office stated this incident occurred on an unspecified date in December 2023.[4] ISW previously reported observing drone footage of Russian servicemen using Ukrainian POWs as human shields near Robotyne on December 13.[5] The killing of POWs violates Article III of the Geneva Convention on the laws of armed conflict.[6]
December 29, 2023

Iraq

From ISW: 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani announced that his administration will begin procedures to remove International Coalition forces from Iraq during a press conference on December 28, likely due to pressure from Iranian-backed Iraqi militias. These militias have used legal, military, and political pressure in recent weeks to expel US forces, as CTP-ISW previously assessed. 

December 31, 2023

Russo Ukrainian War

The Ukrainians shelled and struck with drones the Russian city of Belgorod with artillery, killing 21 people, including three children. The raid was likely a retaliatory raid for recent, and ongoing, missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.

US Mexico Board Crisis

From the AP:

Mexico and Venezuela announced Saturday that they restarted repatriation flights of Venezuelans migrants in Mexico, the latest move by countries in the region to take on a flood of people traveling north to the United States.

The move comes as authorities say at least 10,000 migrants a day arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, many of them asylum seekers, and a migrant caravan of thousands of people from across the region — largely Venezuelans — trekked through southern Mexico this past week.

Hamas Israeli War

Also from the AP:

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday it shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired toward a container ship by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. Hours later, four boats tried to attack the same ship, but U.S. forces opened fire, killing several of the armed crews, the U.S. Central Command said. No one was injured on the ship.

Last Prior Edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2023, Part XI. Our Sins coming back to haunt us edition.

Saturday, November 11, 2023

A few Veterans Day Comments.

Somewhere in Korea.

I wasn't going to post on Veterans Day at all, in part because the overblown hero worship that's been attached to it for some time is really starting to bug me. But then, I've been owly recently anyhow.  

But, as predictable (every year the number of posts on this site goes up, this year no exception, which is why I’m considering not posting at all in December) I changed my mind.  A few random comments.

Were you in the Army?

My new associate asked me this the other day, as I have the photograph of my basic training platoon up on my office wall.

Funny, I'm so used to it being there, I never notice it.

Military service, regular and reserve, was routine when I was young. Not everyone had it by any means, but lots of people do.

And this was even more so for my parents.  My father was in the Air Force, his brother in the Army.  My other uncles in the World War Two Navy and Canadian Army, and post-war Navy.  The guys my father ate lunch with every day had all been in the service.

Not so much anymore.

November 7, 1983: Able Archer 83, a Close Call


An item from Uncle Mike's fine blog.

I was in the National Guard at the time. Little did we realize how close we'd come to serving in a short, sharp, and probably nuclear war.

As odd as it may sound, I actually had predicted a war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact at about this time, a predication that didn't come true, but my reasoning was sound.

Reagan became President in 1981 and as soon as his first military budgets started to take effect, things really were noticeable in the Guard.  New equipment, better field training, etc.  The Warsaw Pact took note of that and started building up to counter it.

Able Archer, like Team Spirit, and Reforger were all part of the training regime of the time.  It was no secret that the Warsaw Pact was trying to respond to it all.  In the end, that spending brought them down. They couldn't afford it.

A lesson there to a country that's spending like crazy right now and just got economically downgraded.

Anyhow, my prediction nearly came true with Able Archer, but not for the reason I thought this would happen. I thought it would happen as the Warsaw Pact, or rather the USSR, would reason that it only had so much time while it had military superiority in which to act.

This was a view, I'd note, that was reinforced by playing the military hex and counter war games based on a NATO/Warsaw Pact war.  It was pretty clear that it was really hard for NATO to win a conventional one.

Or so it seemed.

We vastly overrated the Red Army and Soviet military equipment, as the war in Ukraine has demonstrated.

Funny, at the same time I recall being assigned A Republic of Grass in college which suggested we surrender to the Soviets before a war broke out.

A note on Reagan

When Reagan was President, I wasn't sure what to make of him.  As a Guardsman, we were all grateful for the new equipment and attitude.  Carter's military had been a sad sort of thing, as exemplified, perhaps, by the failed attempt to mount a raid to free the Iranian embassy hostages.

But it seemed like we were messing around in Central America an awful lot, which I wasn't sure what to make of. In retrospect, it's clear that the Cold War was being played out there in proxy.

When Reagan was president, I was a university student.  It seems to be forgotten now, but most university students weren't big Reagan fans.  As noted, I wasn't an opponent, but I wasn't a fan.  My father was convinced that Reagan had Alzheimer's which, in fact, he did.

On Reagan and Carter, it's interesting to note that Carter was an Annapolis graduate. Reagan had more of a military career than his opponents claimed, having been a pre-war cavalry reserve officer, but his wartime role was in the branch of the military that made films. That was honorable enough, but Reagan introduced the snappy salute to servicemen which stuck after that, and which I don't like.  Presidents saluting servicemen seems really odd, particularly when we get Presidents who've never been in the military.

Anyhow, most of my conservative friends love and admire Reagan.  I still am not so sure about him.  I can see where he made course corrections at the time which were vital.  It was under Reagan, really, that the country got back on its feet after the Vietnam War.  And Reagan introduced the brief period of Buckleyite conservatism, which I like, to the government.

He also, however, started the populist smudge which is now a roaring flame by using the Southern Strategy to win, and that's having dire effects.  And frankly, I'm not impressed with the starving of the government economically that came in at that time.

On this Veterans Day, don't thank those who served, but ponder those who didn't.

This sounds harsh, but I'm not kidding.

Most veterans don't really want to be thanked for serving.  Truth be known, a lot of us served for reasons that weren't all that noble or were mixed.  Paying for university was in my mind, for example.

Having said that, in my adult years I've known a few people who avoided serving in the military when there was a time of need. Some of them have real reason of conscience and can and do defend it, on the rare occasions it comes up.

In contrast, we have people who sort of hero worship the military, or who are public figures thanking it, about whom there are real questions.

Donald Trump sent out his thanks today, but he avoided the Vietnam draft on a medical profile.  That's never been adequately answered, and in private comments he disdains those who served in the military, which fits right in with his epic level of being self impressed.  Biden had draft deferments too, I'd note.

There are real reasons for deferments, but what gets me here is the co-opting of valor, or the bestowing of it on people who don't deserve it.  People don't claim that Biden is some sort of hero. But you can find completely absurd illustrations of Trump as a military figure.  I don't really see Trump voluntarily serving in any war at any time, and had he lived during the Revolution, I sure don't see him as some sort of Continental Army officer.

So, while it's rude, for at least some thanking veterans "for their service", an appropriate response is "why didn't you serve?".

The real purpose of the day

The real purpose of this day is to remember the dead and badly wounded.  That's about it.

Lots of people serve during time of peace in one way or another. We don't deserve your thanks.  Yes, I'm sure that I'm personally responsible for keeping the Red Horde at bay, but I didn't get hurt serving.  Truth be known, I benefitted from it personally in all sorts of ways, a lot of which are deeply personal.  The service formed a lot of my psychology on certain things in a permanent way, all of which are ways in which I'm glad that it did. 

A lot goes into a person's personality, some of it more significant than others, and I do have more significant ones. The service was, however, a significant one.  Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I had not gotten out of the Guard when I did, also for a selection of personal reasons.

So I owe the service thanks. The country doesn't really owe me any. But people whose lives were permanently altered or last? Well, that's a different matter.

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Space National Guard? Let the lunacy continue.

For the third year in a row, the draft version of the National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision for creating a Space National Guard.

This is, quite frankly, really stupid.

It's stupid in part because the legacy armed forces branch from the Trump Administration is stupid.

The Space Force should be eliminated entirely, and its mission folded back into the Air Force, which was doing just fine with it.

Shoot, if I were the President (which of course I am not), I'd eliminate the Space Force and transfer officers who volunteered to serve in it to Diego Garcia after reducing them in grade one rank.

Back to the absurd Space National Guard idea.

The Space Force's recruiting page says this is its mission:

The U.S. Space Force protects our country and the freedom to operate in space, keeping it secure, stable and accessible for military space power and new waves of innovation.

Eh?

Well it does what the Air Force was doing in regard to space before this dipshittery got advanced.

What would your local Space Force Guard unit do?

Well, probably most states would never have one.  It's not like the Army National Guard where you have real weapons and train to kill people and break things, or the Air Guard which has aircraft.   You'd sit in an Armory, probably the Army Guard armory, where the real soldiers would make fun of you, and train.

Yippee.

In some places that are close to Langley, Virginia you'd probably fill in on a real job on the weekend drills.  Not that the Space Force would need you to, but at least that would give it a reason to exist.

It shouldn't exist, as the Space Force shouldn't exist.

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Friday, August 27, 1943. Wunderwaffe, French arrests, the 43d Infantry at Arundel, Red Army at Kotleva and Sevsk, USS Eldridge doesn't disappear.

A German Henschel Hs 293 struck and sank the HMS Egret in the first successful anti shipping guided missile strike in history.


German Wunderwaffe were beginning to come online.

Former French President Albert Lebrun was arrested by the Gestapo, as was André François-Poncet, the former French ambassador to Germany.  Lebrun would survive the war, albeit in ill health, and breifly maintain to DeGaulle that he remained head of state, which DeGaulle ignored and which was legally incorrect in any event.  François-Poncet would as well, and would repreise his pre-war role as ambassador to West Germany.

Insignia of the island hopping 43d Infantry Division. The 43d was a unit made up of mobilized National  Guardsmen from New England.  It was inactivated as a unit in 1963.

Elements of the US 43d Infantry Division landed on the Nauro Peninsula on Arundel in the Solomon's without opposition.


Unless you are exceptionally well versed on the war in the Pacific, you probably are unaware of this action, but it fit into many such forgotten landings by the Army and the Marine Corps during the war.


The Red Army retook Kotleva and Sevsk.

Following up on the US and British example, the Soviet Union and China gave limited recognition to the French Committee of National Liberation.

The USS Eldridge was commissioned. The Eldridge is famous for being part of a 1950s vintage hoax, in which merchant seaman Carl Meredith Allen fairly successfully convinced people that the ship had been made to disappear as part of a dangerous naval experiment during World War Two. There are people who still believe the hoax.

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Reserve Retirement & Regrets.

It dawned on me the other day that if I'd stayed in the National Guard, I'd have been able to start drawing Reserve retirement pay starting in late May.


Even though I was in the Guard for six years, I've never really been able to grasp how Guard retirement pay works.  I tried to look it up this morning, and learned that it's on a point system, one of those nifty military devices that has been around since at least World War Two in some ways.  The system by which soldiers who fought in the ETO were eligible to go home, for example, when the war ended was based on points.

Anyhow, there are some really useful net articles on this topic, of which this is one:


What I ended up with, in the end, was this useful rough example, from the above:

Of course, you wonder how this applies to yourself.  I was an E5 when I got out, and would have had to have gone (and should have already gone) to the NCO Academy if I was to carry on.  Indeed, for the last half of my time in the Guard, I was in an E7 slot for much of that time.  

Had I stayed in, I would have gone to Officers Candidate School.  It would not have made sense not to, and I was eligible to do so.  One of my good friends from the Guard did do so, and he retired from the Guard as a Colonel after reaching age 60.

Without trying to really figure the math, I think I likely would have drawn, had I taken that course, and assuming that I didn't take a grenade in a street in Iraq or Afghanistan, would have been around $1,000 to $1,500 per month.

Not bad, but not enough to live on, which, of course for reserve service, makes sense.

Some reservists, I should note, draw considerably more and even approach Regular retirement pay as they have so many active duty points.  That would have made a difference, as our Guard units did serve in Afghanistan and Iraq, although not every soldier in the local units served in both. Some did.  Some did more than one tour in one of those countries, for that matter.

Here's a big thing, however.
That alone makes me wish I'd stayed in the Guard and gone to OCS.  I wouldn't be retired in the real sense now, but in real terms, I'd be a lot better off insurance wise.

Or so I say. At age 24, when I ETSed, I don't know that insurance was on my mind.  

Well, I know it wasn't.

I also know that our full time NCS who was our Retention NCO wasn't doing a good job.

Friday, April 14, 2023

The Air National Guard and other comments in the context of the classified leak

As the fairly rapid investigation has revealed that the disgrace brought upon the United States by the leak of confidential information regarding the Russo Ukrainian War was committed by one Airman 1st Class Jack Douglas Teixeira, and as this will inevitably lead to all sorts of inaccurate commentary on the National Guard among other things, a few things to keep in mind.

The Air National Guard is not like the Army National Guard in that the Air Guard is pretty much a 24 hour a day, seven days a week, military establishment.

This tends to go really under the wire in the U.S., which tends to think that the Guard is active, other than for monthly drills, when it's called up in an emergency. Not so. The Guard in general is much more active than supposed.  I was an Army National Guardsman, as has been noted here in the past, and I worked full time status periodically.  Indeed, if I add up all my full time status, and my time in the Army for training, I have as much or more time in day to day uniform as many of the soldiers in my era who did two years in the Regular Army.  

And that's the Army Guard.

The Air Guard flies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and for some of its pilots, that's their full time job.  If you have an establishment flying that often, that means that it has ground crews working that often as well.  Air Guardsmen that I have known not only have done weekend drills, but week day stints of duty, and the like, even if they're ground crews. Air crews obviously have the same schedules as their aircraft.

Teixer was a member of Massachusetts Air National Guard's 102nd Intelligence Wing, which is probably now reeling in shame.


What's it do?

Well, it doesn't fly anything.

According to its website:

Our mission is to provide worldwide precision intelligence and command and control along with trained and experienced Airmen for expeditionary combat support and homeland security.

That doesn't really tell you much, but what we can piece together is that it's been quietly put on a sort of active duty status at some point to support the U.S.'s mission to Ukraine.

Truly, most of the stuff that was leaked has been interesting, particularly if you are a military geek, but not hugely secret.  What is embarrassing, however, is that this is further proof that the U.S. can't keep anything secret.

What's also of interest is this.

The leaker is an AIC.


That's an Air Force two striper, but that's deceptive.

In the Army, two stripes is the rank of Corporal, and at one time it kind of was the same thing in the Air Force.  Corporals have always been sort of a big deal in the Army. As late as World War Two, corporals fulfilled a role that was later filled by sergeants.  In the Army, a corporal is a Non Commissioned Officer and holds the grade of E-4.

An Army E-3 is a Private First Class.

In the Air Force, an E-4 is a Sergeant.  In the Army, a "buck" sergeant is an E-5. An Army Sergeant outranks an Air Force One, in other words.

Most E-4s in the Army are Specialists, a post World War Two rank that is not a NCO.  Corporals are rare.

E-3s aren't rare, but this guy has been in the service since 2019.  I don't know about the Air Force, but at the time I was in the Army National Guard, a soldier who was an E-3 after four years in the service would have been slated to go right out the door.  I frankly doubt he would have been eligible for reenlistment. That's a shocking lack of progress, at least it would have been, but maybe things are different now, or different in the Air Force establishment.

It's rally dangerous to psychoanalyze with; 1) no real patient, 2) remotely, and 3) without a license, but most psychology is flaming BS anyhow, so why not. That leads to this.

This stuff was all leaked, apparently, on a Discord.  I'm not familiar with Discord, but from what I understand of this story, this guy was pretty aggressive and got huffy when people weren't reacting with Cyber Joy in his small community over his leaks.  This leads to this.

Being an E3 at the end of four years and acting that way seems to put this guy in the oddball status to me.  He sure wasn't making grade in the Guard, so why not be a big deal on one of those stupid internet societies.

This is the second time in recent years where leaks were made by somebody pretty clearly psychologically disturbed, the other time being by Army Specialist Bradley Manning.  Manning figured in the Wikileaks matter, and there were clear signs that he wasn't right.  I don't know about Teixeira, but I note this as the service seems to have at least a semi poor record for screening folks with problems out, even in this era in which its difficult, to some degree, to get into the service.  Manning shouldn't have had access to classified documents, and it'll be interesting to see what was known about Teixeira.

What this does reveal, which should have already been known, that not everyone in the service is a hero or even normal.  Most people in the service are normal, but in recent years it's gotten so that whatever you did in the service affords you with Audi Murphy like status, which is just nuts.

There are a lot of predictions now that Teixeira can look forward to hard time at Leavenworth for eons.  Maybe. That has happened in some prior instances.  But my guess it that Manning's story is probably more illustrative.  He did seven years in prison, during which time he decided that he was a girl and underwent some sort of process to artificially attempt to affect that appearance, and then was pardoned by President Obama.  American justice at work.

That does raise this question, although it probably answers itself.  Given as the Russians were seriously wondering, and openly, if this was a disinformation campaign, why not build on that?  A more cynical nation might have simply had a couple of guys from intelligence stop by the Teixeira apartment in the middle of the night and give him an option he practically couldn't have refused and turned him into an asset.  Indeed, why not?  He could have been used to leak disinformation for the rest of the war, or as long as useful.  After that, well, he could have been given the choice of being discharged at the E1 grade with the condition he shut up, or assigned to something really unpleasant for a freaking long time.

But we don't do things like that, apparently.

So now we have this drama, which will play out with the drama of the war.

One person trying to make hay from the drama is Marjorie Taylor Greene, the overgrown toddler from Georgia who pretty clearly just uses stuff to draw attention to herself.  She's not a serious person, and has suggested that the Airman is a Christian antiwar hero.

Seriously?

Tucker Carlson jumped on the bandwagon a bit too.  Carlson shouldn't be taken seriously, but all of this goes to show how far gone the far right really is.

Monday, November 14, 2022

Tuesday, November 14, 1922. The Beeb broadcast the news.

The British Broadcasting Corporation delivered the first radio news report in the UK at 6:00 p.m. on this day.  That would be 11:00 a.m. MST.

The news was full of interesting stuff, including the details of a train robbery a speech by Bonar Law, and a meeting with Winston Churchill.

On the same day, in the U.S., pro-Republican pickets protested regarding the self-imposed death by starvation of Lord Mayor MacSwiney of Cork. Defining that as murder may have been a bit much.



Jānis Čakste was approved by the Saeima, to become the first President of Latvia.  He'd already acted as head of the Latvian state since 1918.  He was a lawyer by profession.

On the same day, Kyösti Kallio became Prime Minister of Finland.  He was a member of the Finnish Agrarian League, which today is its Centre Party.  The party retains an agrarian position.

A delegation of various states' National Guards met with Pershing.

They all appeared in mufti.

The lovely actress Veronica Lake was born.


Constance Frances Marie Ockelman, her real name, was famous in the late 30s and 40s for her "peek a boo" hair style.

Friday, November 11, 2022

Thanks for having been in the service

The Ghosts of Prior Careers


On a Saturday, while working on my now very long term one of nearly thirty years.

I just ran this item:


It'd be very easy to take it the wrong way.

As noted in that thread, it's common now for people to tell you "thank you for your service!"  Indeed, some years ago I saw a National Guardsman coming out of the barber shop and, out on the street, a woman being arrested for something yelled it out, to his surprise.

I'm a contraran anyhow, and I always feel awkward about such thanks, but this thread is on thanks.

But in another direction.  I'm thankful that I served in the National Guard.



Technically, I served in the Army and the National Guard.  Basic training and AIT were so long for cannoneers that I received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army after AIT.  And FWIW I was activated for summer employment and other active service at the armory that I have more time in active service than some guys who did the short two-year Cold War enlistments do.

I've often regretted getting out.  The end of my Guard career was due to a misconception about how busy I'd be in law school.  I listed to people about law school and how hard it was.  I shouldn't have.

Anyhow, I'm glad I served in the Guard.

The National Guard/Army put me together with a lot of men, and we're talking about the basically nearly all military of that era, who came from very different backgrounds than me and who worked in lots of different occupations, many of them in manual occupations.  I learned from that a lot of them had very common interests with me.  I also learned that a lot of them were every bit as smart as I was.  

This is something I've found that a lot of people who haven't ever been in the service don't appreciate.  Blue collar workers aren't there due to intellectual deficit.  And the knowledge they possess in their fields is both vast, and interesting.  Knowing that has served me all my life.

Getting through basic training taught me that I was pretty tough.  I don't know what basic is like now, but the Army basic training at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, of the 1980s was very close to what was depicted in Full Metal Jacket.  We were told by one of our drill sergeants early on that his job was to make basic training as rough as possible, as combat would be worse, and he wanted those who were going to fail, to fail then.  Quite a few did fail.

That's served me ever since as well.  Indeed, not so much now, but for years decades after Ft. Sill, in times of high stress, things I learned there by memory would come flooding bad to mind.  We'd been so well-trained that it was automatic.

It also made every one "man up", although by that age I was pretty much an adult already.  Since getting out of school, I've been amazed by the degree to which a lot of modern adults never actually become adults.  There's a song out there somewhere called High School Never Ends, and for an amazing number of people, it really doesn't.  Being part of an organization in which you are flatly informed that in the event of certain circumstances you are expected to perform until dead, and that death would come soon and violently, really takes the game playing out of a person in serious settings.

Related to that, I've noted it before, and will again, but the Guard also taught me a system of organization and its stayed with me ever since.  Everything I've learned about office management I learned in the Guard, including that there's different roles and classes in offices, just like in the Army, for a reason.  I've watched over the years as people who don't have that background run around talking about "teams" and "we're all in this together" only to see things fail.    I've seen people make friends in offices they shouldn't have, surrender their efficiency to inattention or whatever, and go into power pouts when things didn't go the way they personally felt they should, or just because they turned out to be serious.  I've avoided all of that, in no small part due to the Guard/Army.

And the Guard gave me a job when I was young, and really needed one.  It helped pay for my schooling and gave me a way to try to do that, for which I remain grateful.

The Guard also blessed me with at least one instance of nearly being killed and not be.  That may sound odd, but only people whom have been exposed to sudden violent death, and then escaped it, knows what that means.  People's plans are always subject to the fickle hand of fate.  One moment you are doing your job, and the next an entire battery of 8in artillery shells are coming right down on you.

And finally, it gave me an appreciation of history in a way which only somebody who has been in a military unit can.

Sunday, July 17, 2022

Monday, July 17, 1922. Treaty No. 11.

That time of year. . . 


National Guardsmen at annual training on this day in 1922.

The last of the Canadian treaties with First Nations governments, Treat No. 11, was signed at Ft. Laird, NWT.  The treaty states:

TREATY NUMBER ELEVEN


ARTICLES OF A TREATY made and concluded on the several dates mentioned therein in the year of Our Lord One thousand Nine hundred and Twenty-One, between His Most Gracious Majesty George V, King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, by His Commissioner, Henry Anthony Conroy, Esquire, of the City of Ottawa, of the One Part, and the Slave, Dogrib, Loucheux, Hare and other Indians, inhabitants of the territory within the limits hereinafter defined and described, by their Chiefs and Headmen, hereunto subscribed, of the other part:

WHEREAS, the Indians inhabiting the territory hereinafter defined have been convened to meet a commissioner representing His Majesty's Government of the Dominion of Canada at certain places in the said territory in this present year of 1921, to deliberate upon certain matters of interest to His Most Gracious Majesty, of the one part, and the said Indians of the other.

AND WHEREAS, the said Indians have been notified and informed by His Majesty's said commissioner that it is His desire to open for settlement, immigration, trade, travel, mining, lumbering and such other purposes as to His Majesty may seem meet, a tract of country bounded and described as hereinafter set forth, and to obtain the consent thereto of His Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract, and to make a treaty, so that there may be peace and good-will between them and His Majesty's other subjects, and that His Indian people may know and be assured of what allowances they are to expect and receive from His Majesty's bounty and benevolence.

AND WHEREAS, the Indians of the said tract, duly convened in council at the respective points named hereunder, and being requested by His Majesty's Commissioner, to name certain Chiefs and Headmen, who should be authorized on their behalf to conduct such negotiations and sign any treaty to be founded thereon, and to become responsible to His Majesty for the faithful performance by their respective bands of such obligations as shall be assumed by them, the said Indians have therefore acknowledged for that purpose the several chiefs and Headmen who have subscribed thereto.

AND WHEREAS the said Commissioner has proceeded to negotiate a treaty with the Slave, Dogrib, Loucheux, Hare and other Indians inhabiting the district hereinafter defined and described, which has been agreed upon and concluded by the respective bands at the dates mentioned hereunder, the said Indians do hereby cede, release, surrender and yield up to the Government of the Dominion of Canada, for His Majesty the King and His Successors forever, all their rights, titles, and privileges whatsoever to the lands included within the following limits, that is to say:

Commencing at the northwesterly corner of the territory ceded under the provisions of Treaty Number Eight; thence northeasterly along the height-of-land to the point where it intersects the boundary between the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories; thence northwesterly along the said boundary to the shore of the Arctic ocean; thence easterly along the said shore to the mouth of the Coppermine river; thence southerly and southeasterly along the left bank of said river to Lake Gras by way of Point lake; thence along the southern shore of Lake Gras to a point situated northwest of the most western extremity of Aylmer lake; thence along the southern shore of Aylmer lake and following the right bank of the Lockhart river to Artillery lake; thence along the western shore of Artillery lake and following the right bank of the Lockhart river to the site of Old Fort Reliance where the said river enters Great Slave lake, this being the northeastern corner of the territory ceded under the provisions of Treaty Number Eight; thence westerly along the northern boundary of the said territory so ceded to the point of commencement; comprising an area of approximately three hundred and seventy-two thousand square miles.

AND ALSO, the said Indian rights, titles and privileges whatsoever to all other lands wherever situated in the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories or in any other portion of the Dominion of Canada.

To have and to hold the same to His Majesty the King and His Successors forever.

AND His Majesty the King hereby agrees with the said Indians that they shall have the right to pursue their usual vocations of hunting, trapping and fishing throughout the tract surrendered as heretofore described, subject to such regulations as may from time to time be made by the Government of the Country acting under the authority of His Majesty, and saving and excepting such tracts as may be required or taken up from time to time for settlement, mining, lumbering, trading or other purposes.

AND His Majesty the King hereby agrees and undertakes to lay aside reserves for each band, the same not to exceed in all one square mile for each family of five, or in that proportion for larger or smaller families;

PROVIDED, however, that His Majesty reserves the right to deal with any settlers within the boundaries of any lands reserved for any band as He may see fit; and also that the aforesaid reserves of land, or any interest therein, may be sold or otherwise disposed of by His Majesty's Government for the use and benefit of the said Indians entitled thereto, with their consent first had and obtained; but in no wise shall the said Indians, or any of them, be entitled to sell or otherwise alienate any of the lands allotted to them as reserves.

It is further agreed between His Majesty and His Indian subjects that such portions of the reserves and lands above indicated as may at any time be required for public works, buildings, railways, or roads of whatsoever nature may be appropriated for that purpose by His Majesty's Government of the Dominion of Canada, due compensation being made to the Indians for the value of any improvements thereon, and an equivalent in land, money or other consideration for the area of the reserve so appropriated.

And in order to show the satisfaction of His Majesty with the behaviour and good conduct of His Indian subjects, and in extinguishment of all their past claims hereinabove mentioned, He hereby, through his Commissioner, agrees to give to each Chief a present of thirty-two dollars in cash, to each Headman, twenty-two dollars, and to every other Indian of whatever age of the families represented, at the time and place of payment, twelve dollars.

HIS MAJESTY, also agrees that during the coming year, and annually thereafter, He will cause to be paid to the said Indians in cash, at suitable places and dates, of which the said Indians shall be duly notified, to each Chief twenty-five dollars, to each Headman fifteen dollars, and to every other Indian of whatever age five dollars, to be paid only to heads of families for the members thereof, it being provided for the purposes of this Treaty that each band having at least thirty members may have a Chief, and that in addition to a Chief, each band may have Councillors or Headmen in the proportion of two to each two hundred members of the band.

FURTHER, His Majesty agrees that each Chief shall receive once and for all a silver medal, a suitable flag and a copy of this Treaty for the use of his band; and during the coming year, and every third year thereafter, each Chief and Headman shall receive a suitable suit of clothing.

FURTHER, His Majesty agrees to pay the salaries of teachers to instruct the children of said Indians in such manner as His Majesty's Government may deem advisable.

FURTHER, His Majesty agrees to supply once and for all to each Chief of a band that selects a reserve, ten axes, five hand-saws, five augers, one grindstone, and the necessary files and whetstones for the use of the band.

FURTHER, His Majesty agrees that, each band shall receive once and for all equipment for hunting, fishing and trapping to the value of fifty dollars for each family of such band, and that there shall be distributed annually among the Indians equipment, such as twine for nets, ammunition and trapping to the value of three dollars per head for each Indian who continues to follow the vocation of hunting, fishing and trapping.

FURTHER, His Majesty agrees that, in the event of any of the Indians aforesaid being desirous of following agricultural pursuits, such Indians shall receive such assistance as is deemed necessary for that purpose.

AND the undersigned Slave, Dogrib, Loucheux, Hare and other Chiefs and Headmen, on their own behalf and on behalf of all the Indians whom they represent, do hereby solemnly promise and engage to strictly observe this Treaty, and also to conduct and behave themselves as good loyal subjects of His Majesty the King.

THEY promise and engage that they will, in all respects, obey and abide by the law; that they will maintain peace between themselves and others of His Majesty's subjects, whether Indians, half-breeds or whites, now inhabiting and hereafter to inhabit any part of the said ceded territory; that they will not molest the person or property of any inhabitant of such ceded tract, or of any other district or country, or interfere with, or trouble any person passing or travelling through the said tract or any part thereof, and that they will assist the officers of His Majesty in bringing to justice and punishment any Indian offending against the stipulations of this Treaty, or infringing the law in force in the country so ceded.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, His Majesty's said Commissioner and the said Chiefs and Headmen have hereunto set their hands at the places and times set forth in the year herein first above written.

SIGNED AT PROVIDENCE on the twenty-seventh day of June, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioner and the Chiefs and Headmen in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

WITNESSES:
W.V. BRUCE, Insp., R.C.M.P.
F.H. KITTO.
A.H. MILLER.
G. BREYNAT, O.M.I., Bishop of Adr.,
Vic. Apost. of Mackenzie.
J.A.R. BALSILLIE.
H.A. CONROY,
Commissioner.

PAUL LAFOIN,
Chief, his x mark.

HARRY FRANCIS,
Headman, his x mark.

BAPTISTE SABOURINE,
Headman, his x mark.


SIGNED at Simpson on the eleventh day of July, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioner and the Chiefs and Headmen in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

WITNESSES:
(Sgd)
G. BREYNAT, O.M.I., Bishop of Adr.,
Vic. Apost. of Mackenzie.
JOHN G. CORRY,
W.V. BRUCE, Insp. R.C.M.P.
A.F. CAMSELL.
T.W. HARRIS.

H. A. CONROY,
Commissioner

ANTOINE - signed in syllabic characters.

KORWERGEN - signed in syllabic characters.

BEDSEDIA,
his x mark.


SIGNED at Wrigley on the thirteenth day of July, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioner and the Chiefs and Headmen in presence of the undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

WITNESSES:
(sgd.)
G. BREYNAT, O.M.I., Bishop of Adr.,
Vic. Apost. of Mackenzie.
W.V. BRUCE, Insp., R.C.M.P.
A.L. McDONALD.
F.H. BACON.

H.A. CONROY, Commissioner.

YENDO - signed in syllabic characters.


SIGNED at Norman on the fifteenth day of July, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioner and the Chiefs and Headmen in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

WITNESSES:
(Sgd)
G. BREYNAT, O.M.I., Bishop of Adr.,
Vic. Apost. of Mackenzie.
W.V. BRUCE, Insp., R.C.M.P.
GEO. P. JOHNSTON.
G.H. CAMPBELL, const., R.C.M.P.
H.A. CONROY, commissioner.

ALBERT WRIGHT.

SAUL BLONDIN,
his x mark.


SIGNED at Good Hope on the twenty-first day of July, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioner and the Chiefs and Headmen in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

WITNESSES:
(Sgd)
G. BREYNAT, O.M.I., Bishop of Adr.,
Vic. Apost. of Mackenzie,
W.V. BRUCE, Insp., R.C.M.P.
F.H. BACON,
J.H. BRASHAR, Cpt, G.R.C.C.
H.A. CONROY, Commissioner

SIMEON,
his x mark.

FRANCOIS NATEGAL,
his x mark.


SIGNED at Arctic Red River on the twenty-sixth day of July, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioner and the Chiefs and Headmen in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

WITNESSES:
(Sgd)
G. BREYNAT, O.M.I., Bishp of Adr.,
Vic. Apost. of Mackenzie.
W.V. BRUCE, insp., R.C.M.P.
J. LECUYER, Pr. O.M.I.
J. PARSONS.
H.A. CONROY, Commissioner

PAUL,
his x mark.

NIDE APHI.

FABIEN-LALOO.


SIGNED at McPherson on the twenty-eighth day of July, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioner and the Chiefs and Headmen in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

WITNESSES:
(Sgd)
W.V. BRUCE, Insp., R.C.M.P.
J. PARSONS.
F.H. BACON.
JAMES FIRTH.
JOHNNIE KIKAWCHIK.
H.A. CONROY, commissioner.

JABY LALO.
JOHNNIE KIKAWCHIK.



SIGNED at Liard on the day of, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioners and the Chiefs and Headmen in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

Witnesses:

SIGNED at Rae on the twenty-second day of August, 1921, by His Majesty's Commissioner and the Chiefs and Headmen in the presence of undersigned witnesses, after having been first interpreted and explained.

WITNESSES:
(Sgd)
G. BREYNAT, O.M.I., Bishop of Adr.,
Vic. Apost. of Mackenzie.
W.J. O'DONNELL,
W.V. BRUCE, Insp., R.C.M.P.
ED. HERON, H. B. Co.
CLAUDE Wm. LAFOUNTAIN.
H.A. CONROY, Commissioner

MORPHY,
his x mark.

JERMAIN,
his x mark.

JOSUE BEAULIEU,
his x mark.