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The End in Sight? Iraq Withdrawal Continues! DoD Blogger Roundtable
We are finally leaving Iraq… well maybe not… the diplomats are still talking… the troops are left holding their breath. According to current agreements as of December 31st 2011, the 41,000 military personnel in Iraq will have left and the final 22 bases will have been closed or handed over to the Iraqis. Eight years of conflict leaves a lot of material, equipment and trash. We have gone from a high of 505 bases and 165,000 troops to the current levels in a short time but the count down to the end of the mission continues rapidly. One point six million (1.6M) pieces of equipment have been moved from the…
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He “Refused to be a Burden” and Earned an Air Force Cross – DoD Blogger Roundtable
TSgt (Select) Robert (“Gute”) GutierrezHUMBLE HONORED BLESSING THANK YOU SERVICE BEFORE SELF FIT FOR DUTY TEAM FATHER FAMILY Words heard frequently during the interview… A motto… FIRST THERE … THAT OTHERS MAY LIVEImagine a night time assault on a bad guy stronghold with the best fighters in the world on your side. You are outnumbered and the bad guys have the high ground (never a good thing) but you have A-10s and F-16s overhead and the night is your friend. Plus you have eyes in the sky overlooking the battle situation with an ISR platform. But you are the guy calling in the airstrikes, you control them with your radio,…
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Rebuilding and Cleaning Up Iraq – “The Right Thing To Do” DoD Blogger Roundtable
American forces are preparing to leave Iraq on December 31st and in fact, some of our folks are “looking at their watches” but what have we accomplished after a war, the loss of too many American lives and huge expenditures of our national treasure? Brig. Gen. Rock DonahueThose thoughts ran through my mind as I talked with Brig. Gen. Rock Donahue , director of U.S. Forces Iraq J7, the senior engineer in Iraq during the DoD Bloggers Roundtable. Gen Donahue carefully went through the statistics, the huge effort, that, our men and women in the military community have made to clean up Iraq during and after the war. He was…
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Cyberspace – The Bears and Packers? The offense and defense from the LandWarNet conference – DoD Roundtable
The use of computers, smart phones, satellite tv, cable, networks, wifi, email, Facebook, Twitter, immediate communications, long distance communications ++ has become so routine we expect them to be available. When we wake up and find our wifi or other electronics not working it is not a good start to the day. Imagine losing these capabilities when we have a cyber attack? Last week I had the privilege to speak with two electronic engineers who have compared cyber war to a football game. US Cyber Command Logo It was a great conversation but a bit over the head of this non geek. Yes, I remember taking a carburetor apart on…
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Energy Independence and the US Navy – DoD Bloggers Roundtable
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (Official Photo). It will “make us better warfighters” Are we improving our national security by demanding that the Department of Defense use biofuels? Are we experimenting with our ability to fight a war by requiring that by the year 2020, 50 percent of our Navy’s shore based energy requirement be supported by alternative sources other than fossil fuels? According to the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, the answer is a big yes and no! The DoD Bloggers Roundtable met with SECNAV yesterday to discuss his energy goals and how they interfaced with joint initiatives with the Department of Energy and Department of Energy.…
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PCS from Iraq! Good Stewards of American Taxpayer Dollars – DoD Blogger Roundtable
PCS Fun 1 million pieces of US Government owned equipment still in Iraq! Imagine the most difficult PCS you ever faced? I remember one that was so complex it makes my head hurt! We had most of our household goods going into temporary storage and some into long term storage (3 years) and a small amount being flown to the overseas PCS location. We had to have family travel stuff and I was going to school and had personal items and professional goods being shipped to that location. I am sure my director of logistics (my bride who experienced 18 PCS moves) would have more details but then I took…
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A Split Second Decision – and a Medal of Honor! DoD Blogger Roundtable
Medal Of Honor Recipient Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry and his wife Ashley“Rangers Lead the Way” We all make them – those decisions that are made in the blink of an eye. But some are more important than others, how about life changing ones? We take time to consider those? Right? Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry had a life changing decision and he only had the blink of an eye to make it in – the grenade was live, it was close and he and his fellow Rangers were going to die. His decision to pick up the Taliban’s grenade and throw it away from his team saved their lives and…
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“No Shame in Seeking Help” – Real Warriors Campaign DoD Blogger Roundtable
Staff Sgt. Meg KrauseStaff Sgt Meg Krause had her act together! Joining the Army in 2001 she served as a medical technician at Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany and then found herself in Iraq. It was according to her a “life changing experience for me”. Something she did not expect! Leaving active duty in 2006 to attend college at Penn State she stayed part of the military with duty in the Army Reserve. Then the problems came: alcohol abuse, tardiness, poor class attendance, attitude changes, bad decisions and more! The unit leadership and peers noticed, family and friends too! But she failed to respond until her First Sergeant sat…
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“They Helped Me Up” Staff Sergeant Eddie Peoples – DoD Blogger’s Roundtable
Staff Sergeant Eddie PeoplesHow do I start? This story is about one of our own, a hero for wearing his country’s uniform, a “Defender” in his one words and certainly a model for caring! United States Army Staff Sergeant Eddie Peoples came home on leave from Vicenza, Italy with his family to care for and see his ill father who had had a stroke. Stopping in the branch of the Sarasota, Florida Bank of America, he saw a robbery “go down” and elected to get involved! More defending to do and children to protect (two of his own were with him), he described himself as on call 24 hours a…
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It Takes More Than an Infantry Force to Win in Afghanistan! DoD Roundtable
Deh Afghanan village, Afghanistan, May 27, 2011This is a time of transition in Afghanistan. The winter is over and summer has arrived with a vengeance. But more importantly, the transition from a NATO/US led force to an Afghan led military is in full swing! In the year 2014 the plan is to turn the lead over to the Afghan National Security Forces for defense of their own country! A big step but one that requires infrastructure, support forces, training institutions, logistics, plus …! We can create the best fighting infantry and lose the war in 2014 if we do not leave the Afghans with educators, qualified mechanics, supply experts, civil…
