I have the strong feeling that if Trump attempts this, there's going to be a lot of men leaving the military, and a drop off of enlistment of epic proportions.
The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry was formed.
A very famous National Guard unit, at one time it was mostly made up members of Philadelphia's social elite. It is still in existence.
The troop was originally called Light Horse of the City of Philadelphia.
Last edition:
The time has come to create a Space National Guard as the primary combat reserve of the U.S. Space Force. So as president, I will sign historic legislation creating a space National Guard.
Donald Trump, yesterday, at the National Guard Association Convention.
The Space Force is frankly absurd and ought to be abolished, with its enlisted men folded back into the Air Force and its officers assigned permanent duty at Tasty Freeze drive up windows.
But a Space Force National Guard?
Please, no.
Of course, if a bill like that passes through Congress, and as goofy as Congress has been in recent years, it probably would, no State Governor is going to turn down the chance to have the Mos Eisley Space Guard station put in their state, so every state will end up with a squadron of "Guardians".
The Space Force is flat out dumb. It's duties belong in the Air Force. One of the unfortunate legacies of the Trump administration, however, is this absurd new branch of the service.
Would that sanity would reign and it would go away.
The first known muster of Tennessee Militiamen took place when Capt. Evan Shelby and 49 militiamen, formed a volunteer company to fight with Virginia militia in Lord Dunmore’s War.
The company was called the Fincastle Company.
Last edition:
The Middle East is a large region. The US has forces Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. Most likely, the Guard is not going to Syria, Qatar (which is mostly USAF), or Iraq, but who really knows?
This is the largest deployment of the 300th since the Korean War, with it being perhaps significant to note that the 300th designation lapsed after the Korean War. During the balance of the Cold War, the Wyoming Army National Guard's artillery in the state was part of the 3d Bn 49th FA, which was part of the 115th FA Bde.
The deployment of a National Guard unit in this role, for this long, really demonstrates the degree to which the National Guard is part of the overall Army structure today. If you are in the Guard, you are going to see active duty.
CAMP GUERNSEY, Wyo. – A fire near Hartville, Wyoming, is causing the residents of the area to evacuate, July 30, 2024.
The Wyoming National Guard opened its gates to offer shelter on Camp Guernsey. If evacuees are seeking shelter, please go to the front gate of Camp Guernsey to start the process.
According to Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, the fire began due to a lightning strike a few days ago outside and north of the Camp Guernsey training area. The fire was almost out when the heat index and wind sparked the fire back up and according to the last report has burned approximately 2,200 acres and continues to grow.
Camp Guernsey, Torrington and Wheatland fire departments are teaming up to fight the fire.
The Battle of Calumpit (Filipino: Labanan sa Quingua), alternately known as the Battles of Bagbag and Pampanga Rivers) concluded with U.S. forces under Arthur MacArthur Jr. combating Filipino forces under General Antonio Luna. U.S. forces were comprised completely of state militia units, essentially the equivalent of today's National Guard, somewhat, those being the 20th Kansas Volunteers, the Utah Volunteer Light Artillery, the1st Montana Volunteers, the1st Nebraska Volunteers and the 51st Iowa Volunteers. All were probably mustered to fight against the Spanish in Cuba, and not the Filipino's in their native land.
U.S. forces prevailed with Medals of Honor, under the original standards, going to Colonel Frederick Funston, Private (later First Lieutenant) William B. Trembley, and Private Edward White.
The Filipinos, interestingly enough, grossly over reported American losses.
A terrible tornado struck:
A statute of Grant was unveiled in Philadelphia.
Adolf Hitler, Ernst Pöhner, Hermann Kriebel and Friedrich Webe were sentenced to five years for his attempted overthrow of the German government. Erich Ludendorff was acquitted.
Hitler was released from incarceration in December, giving the world a sometimes unheeded lesson about the failure to treat coups seriously.
Northern Rhodesia, which is now Zambia, became a British protectorate, its status as a private colony administered by the British South Africa Company having ended.
The Royal Canadian Air Force received royal assent from King George V, having previously been the Canadian Air Force.
Calvin Coolidge gave a press conference, as he very frequently did. Replacing Daughter was a major topic in it.
The National Guard was still in the process of re-forming, literary, following Wilson's haphazard discharging of the conscripted Guard, which came about due to an odd process itself, following World War One. We've dealt with that elsewhere. The Wyoming National Guard (it was all the Army National Guard at the time) was being reformed as cavalry, rather than infantry, as it had been before the war, and had, by that time, taken on its new unit designation of the 115th Cavalry Regiment.
As part of that process, the Guard now had a newspaper.
The paper is interesting as it demonstrated the early organization of the 115th, with the Headquarters Troop being located in Laramie.
This from Reddit's 100 Years Ago sub, the Radio News was correctly predicting medicine, and television, and maybe the Internet, of the future.
Frank Capone, age 28, was shot by Chicago police in a gun battle. He was the older brother of Al Capone.
Last prior edition:
Offensive operations at Monte Cassino by the Allies were halted, and Allied troops withdrew to defensive lines.
In Rome, a bomb planted by Italian partisans killed 33 members of the SS.
In the skies above Italy, the Allies commenced Operation Strangle, an air offensive designed to cut German supplies to the Italian front.
A Japanese attack on Bougainville resulted in heavy Japanese losses.
The US bombarded the Japanese seaplane base on Elouae in the St. Matthias Islands.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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."
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]
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Final Pay Pension
For an E-7 with 2134 points starting their pension in 2016 it’d be $5061.30 * .1482 = $750/month.
