THIS WE'LL DEFEND

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Haven't Gone To War? You're About To

"Grandpa, what did you do in the great war on terrorism?"

"....well....I shoveled shit in Louisiana."

"Alright, you sons-of-bitches, now you know how I feel. Oh.....I would be happy to lead you wonderful guys into battle, anytime, anywhere. That is all."

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Back when it was hard

Article about Harmony Church, Fort Benning

f. Second and third awards of the CIB are indicated by superimposing 1 and 2 stars respectively, centered at the top of the badge between the points of the oak wreath. To date, a separate award of the CIB has been authorized for qualified Soldiers in the following qualifying periods:
(1) World War II (7 December 1941 to 3 September 1945).

(2) The Korean Conflict (27 June 1950 to 27 July 1953).

(3) The Republic of Vietnam Conflict. Service in the Republic of Vietnam Conflict (2 March 1961 to 28 March 1973) combined with qualifying service in Laos; Dominican Republic; Korea on the DMZ; El Salvador; Grenada; Joint Security Area, Panmunjom, Korea; Panama; Southwest Asia Conflict; and Somalia, regardless of whether a Soldier has served one or multiple tours in any or all of these areas. The Republic of Vietnam Conflict Era officially terminated on 10 March 1995.

(4) War on Terrorism (Afghanistan, Operation ENDURING FREEDOM) and (Iraq, Operation IRAQI REEDOM).

Reference my last post, only personnel who served as infantrymen in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam have been awarded the CIB (3rd award). There are several people on active duty now who are wearing the CIB (second award), myself included. The rules involving subsequent awards of the CIB are rather convuluted, and as soon as I am sober enough to Write them up I will do so!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Personnel who have been awarded the CIB three times

REAL FUCKING HEROES

ACUFF to DORNAK	DUCO to LONG	LUTHENS to RUSH	SALUCCI to WYCKOFF
1. ACUFF, Earl C. 2. ADKIN, Alvin E. 3. ALBRIGHT, George A. 4. ALLEN, Lewis D. 5. ALLEN, Norman F. J. 6. ANCHETA, Paul C. 7. APALATEA, Lawrence 8. BACA, John M. 9. BARROW, Franklin L. 10. BARSZCZ, Michael 11. BAUMANN, Adolph E. 12. BEARD, Rutland D., Jr. 13. BERGSTEDT, C. W. 14. BERHOW, Walter E. 15. BERRES, John P. 16. BERRY, William T. 17. BESHIRI, Vasil 18. BINGHAM, Paul A. 19. BISHOP, Bertram J. 20. BLALOCK, Claude R. 21. BOLNER, Donald E. 22. BRADLEY, William J., Jr. 23. BRANNON, Gerald Nicholas 24. BREWER, D. C. 25. BROUSSARD, Lawless, Sr. 26. BROWN, JAMES C. 27. BROWN, Lewis E. 28. BRUNER, Riley R. 29. BRUSTMAN, William F. 30. BRYANT, James B. 31. BUCKNELL, Romeo Henry, Jr. 32. BUTCHER, Marvin L. 33. CANNON, A. B., Sr. 34. CAPLAN, Marvin 35. CARPENTER, Archie Eldon 36. CARTER, Doniphan 37. CARFORA, Joseph F. 38. CASPER, Paul N. 39. CESSNA, Oliver H. 40. CHAPIN, Norman G. 41. CHASSION, P. R. 42. CHISOLM, Robert E. 43. CLARK, Herbert E. 44. CLARK, Shelby T., Sr. 45. CLEARY, F. K. 46. CLELAND, John R. D. 47. CLOUSE, Robert A. 48. COHENOUR, Bernard 49. COLEMAN, Bruce S., Sr. 50. COLLAZO, Arcadio 51. CONMY, Joseph B., Jr. 52. COOPER, Rudolph W. 53. COVELLO, Henry D. 54. CRAIG, Charles W. 55. CRAWFORD, Robert B. 56. CREED, B. J. 57. CRIST, Joseph A., Jr. 58. CROMLEY, David J. 59. CROWLEY, Edwin K. 60. CUZICK, Robert A. 61. DAHNER, Wilhelm 62. DALLAS, Frank J. 63. DARLING, Norman K. 64. DAVIS, Fred E., Sr. 65. DAVIS, James E. 66. DAVIS, Loren E. 67. DeGRAF, William B. 68. DELACRUZ, Vic 69. DELAMETER, B. F.,III 70. DE LA PENA, Miguel 71. DESOTO, William 72. DEXTER, Lewis F. 73. DIETRICH, Frank L. 74. DOMINEY, James E., Sr. 75. DOMINGUEZ, Juan 76. DORNAK, Frankie V.	77. DUCO, Curtis 78. DU PONT, Charles J. 79. DYMOWSKI, Alfred 80. EATON, Richard J. 81. ELLETT, Charles C. 82. EMORY, Ralph H. 83. ERVIN, James H. 84. EWANSIZYK, Alex 85. FASANO, John A. 86. FERGUSON, Charles R. 87. FERNANDEZ, Joseph 88. FINN, Richard 89. FLYNN, W. E. 90. FRANKLIN, William E. 91. FUJIMORI, Masaru 92. FULCHER, Willie B. 93. FULLER, Reuben J. 94. GABE, Robert E. 95. GOAD, L. H. 96. GALLIHER, David 97. GARCIA, Andrew R. 98. GARCIA, John 99. GARTEN, Melvin 100. GIBSON, McKinley J. 101. GILL, George Wilbur 102. GILLESPIE, Robert M. 103. GOOCH, Paul A. 104. GRAHAM, Farrell C. 105. GRANGE, David E.,Jr. 106. GRAVES, William F. 107. GRAY, Max I. 108. GROVE, Raymond J. 109. HALL, T. M. 110. HAMILTON, John R. 111. HARBIN, Darwin D. 112. HARRIS, Thomas C.,Jr. 113. HARTMAN, William F. 114. HAZAM, Mitchell J. 115. HENDRY, James B. 116. HENRY, Lee S.,Jr. 117. HERRIN, Richard E. 118. HIBBERT, Omega G. 119. HICKEY, Lawrence T. 120. HODGES, Warren D. 121. HOOVER, Richard J. 122. HOSKIN, Donald L. 123. HOWLAND, Gilbert H. 124. HUBER, Walter D. 125. HUFFORD, Roy G. 126. HUGHES, Lloyd E. 127. HULSE, James M. 128. JACKSON, Charles A. 129. JOHANNTOBERNS, Marvin L. 130. JOHNSON, Carl B. 131. JOHNSON, G. M. 132. JOHNSON, Lorenza 133. JOHNSON, Wylie J. 134. JONES, Robert A. 135. KAMPE, Raymond L. 136. KELLY, William 137. KENDRICK, Robert C. 138. KLEIN, John C. 139. KOLLAT, Zoltan 140. KRAMER, David O. 141. KROESEN, Frederick J.,Jr. 142. KRUEGER, Lancelot W. 143. LARCK, Warren 144. LAZZELL, Robert E. 145. LEAN, Carlos E., Jr. 146. LEAN, George F. 147. LEDFORD, Charles S. 148. LEECHFORD, Robert E. 149. LEPLEY, Leslie A. 150. LEON, Isidoro 151. LONG, Denver R. 152. LONG, H. S., Jr.	153. LUTHENS, Martin T. 154. LYNCH, William R., Jr. 155. MacCLANE, Robert Mac C. 156. MAHONEY, Edward L. 157. MARKS, Sidney M. 158. MARR, William K. 159. MARTINEZ, Antonio C. 160. MARTINEZ, Luther 161. MASON, Roger J. 162. MATAXIS, Theodore C. 163. MATHIS, John E. 164. MATTEO, Gregory A. 165. MAUSHARDT, Robert E. 166. MAXWELL, Augustus 167. McCAREY, Guy H.,Jr. 168. McCOID, Chester B. 169. McCRIMMON, John C. 170. McDADE, Robert A. 171. McDANIEL, Earl 172. McDONOUGH, James G. 173. McQUERRY, Charles L. 174. McCrory, Robert F. 175. MERCIER, Harry T. 176. METCALF, Donald J. 177. METCALF, Glenn W.,Jr. 178. MEYER, Leo J. 179. MICHIENZI, James (Jacques) 180. MILES, James S. 181. MILLOY, Albert E. 182. MONTEZDEOCA, Manuel V. 183. MORRIS, Robert L. 184. MORRISON, Homer W. 185. MORRISON, Leland E. 186. MOWERY, Lawrence L. 187. MURLEY, Myron H. 188. NAMETH, Thomas S. 189. NAUGHTON, Francis E. 190. NEMETH, John 191. NEWMAN, James E. 192. NIST, Cecil W.,Jr. 193. NUNEZ, Javier S. 194. NUNLEY, Everett C. 195. O’CONNELL, Arthur J. V. 196. ODOM, George W. 197. OKENDO, Lawrence D. 198. OLENDER, Edward J. 199. ORLAND, Dominick J. 200. PARK, Eugene A. 201. PARSONS, Boyd D.,Jr. 202. PATE, Donald H. 203. PEDERSON, Peder L. 204. PEDROZA, Leo R. 205. PEELER, William G. 206. PENKALA, Walter P. 207. PERRY, O. Vern 208. PICKELL, G. P.,IV 209. PINN, Lionel F.,Sr. 210. PIOTRZKWSKI, J. L. 211. PLASS, Frank C. 212. PRICE, Reynold E. 213. PUHR, Edward R. 214. QUIGLEY, George W.,Jr. 215. RADOW, Sammy E. 216. RAINER, Hewlett E. 217. RAMOS-DIAZ, Francisco 218. REDDICK, John R. 219. RICKERT, John H. 220. ROBERTS, Donald L. 221. ROBINSON, Robert M. 222. RODRIGUEZ, Frank 223. ROSE, Harold J. 224. ROSS, Charles G. 225. ROSSI, John E. 226. RUEL, Raymond 227. RUSH, Green P.	228. SALUCCI, Ralph 229. SAVAGE, Charles E. 230. SCHINDLER, Louis A. 231. SCHRODER, Horst W. 232. SCOBEE, Lloyd E. 233. SEAVEY, William H. 234. SEIBERT, Donald A. 235. SHANAHAN, J. G. 236. SHEIL, William R. 237. SHEPHERD, Fred M. 238. SHUFFER, George M.,Jr. 239. SHUFFSTALL, Donald C. 240. SIDNEY, Wilbur A. 241. SIEFJKA, Henry 242. SIFUENTS, Charles L. 243. SILVA, Manuel J. 244. SKELTON, Terrell L. 245. SMITH, Fred L. 246. SMITH, Ivy R. 247. SMITH, Olin Earl 248. SMITH, Robert T. 249. SMITH, Roddy L. 250. SMITH, Thomas O. 251. SPEARS, John H. 252. SPROUSE, Clarence B. 253. SPURLOCK, Aubrey O. 254. SQUIRES, John L.,Jr. 255. STANNARD, John E. 256. STEED, Carlee 257. STEVENSON, James C. 258. STRUGALA, Edward R. 259. SULLIVAN, Theodore T. 260. SWANEY, Kenneth C. 261. SWINDALL, Henry S. 262. TALLEY, Hugh H. 263. TALLMAN, Richard F. 264. TAYLOR, Paul 265. TAYLOR, William W.,Jr. 266. TEWELL, Thomas E. 267. THOMAS, Alfred Ernest 268. THOMPSON, Walter P.,Sr. 269. THORNTON, William H. 270. TOWNES, James E.,Jr. 271. TRIMM, Johnnie M.,Jr. 272. TRUMP, William P. 273. TUNE, Horace R.,Jr. 274. TUTTLE, William B. 275. TUTWILER, Guy I. 276. UPP, Raymond H. 277. VANDER HEYDEN, Ralph C. 278. VENABLE, Joseph A. 279. VIDRINE, George Albert 280. VOIGT, Adolph E.,Jr. 281. WALLACE, Albert L. 282. WALLACE, James J. 283. WASCO, Joseph, Jr. 284. WATSON, Tom F. 285. WEAR, George E. 286. WEDDLE, Charles E. 287. WELLS, Marvin 288. WERNER, Arthur A. 289. WEST, Theodore M. 290. WHALEN, Henry Leo 291. WHEAT, Charles B. 292. WILLEMSTYN, Floyd B. 293. WILLIAMS, Delmer B. 294. WILLIAMS, Harry O. 295. WILLIAMS, Howard M.,Jr. 296. WILLIAMS, John H. 297. WILLIS, Donald J. 298. WILLS, Raymond L. 299. WILSON, Devern E. 300. WOMMACK, William M. 301. WRENNE, Thomas W.,Jr. 302. WRIGHT, James C.,Jr. 303. WYCKOFF, Lloyd H. *according to the United States Army Infantry Museum

[edit]

The CIB and EIB were established by Section I, War Department Circular 209, dated October 27, 1943:

The present war has demonstrated the importance of highly proficient, tough, hard and aggressive infantry, which can be obtained only by developing a high degree of individual all-around proficiency on the part of every infantryman. As a means of attaining the high standards desired and to foster esprit de corps in infantry units; the Expert Infantryman and the Combat Infantryman badges are established for infantry personnel.

This circular also stated that, "only one of these badges will be worn at one time" and that "the Combat Infantryman badge is the highest award."

Award of the CIB was officially authorized by an executive order dated November 15, 1943.

By Act of Congress approved on June 10, 1944, all soldiers, except officers, awarded the CIB were entitled to an additional $10 per month.

Army regulations issued during World War II never prescribed a specific period of time an Infantryman had to serve in combat to be eligible for the CIB.

In 1947, a policy was implemented that authorized the retroactive award of the Bronze Star Medal to soldiers who had received the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II. The basis for doing this was that the CIB was awarded only to soldiers who had borne combat duties befitting the Bronze Star Medal and also that both awards required a recommendation by the commander and a citation in orders.

According to a personal memoir on the web, work to establish the CIB was initiated by General Marshall, who had been prompted by Medal of Honor recipient Major Charles W. Davis' observation to him that "it would be wonderful if someone could design a badge for every infantryman who faces the enemy every day and every night with so little recognition."

The Combat Infantryman's Badge

I. DESCRIPTION: A silver and enamel badge 1 inch in height and 3 inches in width, consisting of an infantry musket on a light blue bar with a silver border, on and over an elliptical oak wreath. Stars are added at the top of the wreath to indicate subsequent awards; one star for the second award, two stars for the third award and three stars for the fourth award.

II. SYMBOLISM: The bar is blue, the color associated with the Infantry branch. The musket is adapted from the Infantry insignia of branch and represents the first official U.S. shoulder arm, the 1795 model Springfield Arsenal musket. It was adopted as the official Infantry branch insignia in 1924. The oak symbolizes steadfastness, strength and loyalty.

Temporary Buildings

Temporary barracks, Camp Jackson, SC 1918. I went to basic training in 1986 in the same type of building at Fort Benning, GA. These type of buildings are still in use on some Army posts.

US Army veteran and Damn Proud of It

I was a dumb kid, barely 18 years old, when I walked into the U.S. Army recuiter’s office and eagerly volunteered to serve my country.
I remember the sergeant’s incredulous face when I told him I wanted to fly helicopters.
“You know you’ll go to Vietnam, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir,” I told him without hesitation. “That’s why I’m here.”
Two weeks later I was doing pushups at 5 in the morning as a screaming drill sergeant made me beg for more.
“More pushups, Drill Sergeant! I love pushups, Drill Sergeant!”
Pushing my nose onto the sandy, hot soil in Fort Polk, Louisiana, was a far cry from looking at the instrument panel of a Huey helicopter, but it was a start, and even through the worst of it I was proud to be wearing the Army green.
I never made it through flight school because I flunked an eye exam during training.
I never made it to Vietnam, either, but the friends I lost in those God-forsaken jungles as well as those who made it home alive are my heroes.
I fought the war behind a desk, and everytime I came across a soldier wearing that yellow, red and green Vietnam Service Medal, I got goosebumps. I wondered what kind of hell they had been through and how they had managed to stay alive.
One time I saluted a soldier who had recently returned from Vietnam.
“Why are you saluting him?” a friend asked. “He’s not an officer.”
“He is to me,” I replied.
I ended up hating the war in Vietnam, and hating war in general, but I have always had the deepest respect and admiration for the brave men and women who serve.
They do what they are told, when they are told, and they do it very well. They put their lives on the line without question and in doing so allow people like me to say what I want, when I want.
That is a freedom I will never take for granted.
As this Veterans Day approaches, I salute every person who wears or who has ever worn a military uniform.
And yes, that’s me in the photo beside my name.
Kenneth H. Fortenberry.
U.S. Army veteran.
And damned proud of it

Thursday, November 15, 2007

CNN- GAO: Investigators pass security at 19 airports with bomb parts

But they're all over the baby formula. Sleep well, America!

What I've learned

It's more important to look good than to be good.
Non-matching furniture is a show-stopper. Untrained troops are not a show-stopper.
A unit that has no money for new computers or spare parts will still manage to afford a big-screen TV for Powerpoint slide shows.
A bad plan with good slides is better than a good plan with bad slides.
Three sergeants thinking about an issue dealing with their MOS for four months and coming up with a detailed plan, is not as good as a colonel who knows nothing about their MOS or the problem thinking about it for 30 seconds.
When you achieve high rank, the difference between what you know and what you feel fades away.
The schools officers go to aren't any better than the schools NCOs go to. But an NCO who goes to the ANCOC that deals with his MOS knows he's not necessarily smarter about his MOS; an Army officer who goes to an Air Force graduate school or a Joint College thinks he now knows more about the branch he's been away from for two years.
A year's hard work by the troops can be destroyed because of some minor incident that happened to the Colonel when he was a lieutenant.
Officers sit around thinking a lot. In a vacuum. This is not a good thing.
Officers think they're businessmen. They think the principles used in business, like "corporate vision" and "TQM" can work in the Army. This is because officers spend a lot of time trying to sell things, usually grand ideas and catchy names.
Officers believe that a plan won't succeed unless it has a good name, like "Operation Intrinsic Action." NCOs would rather give it something simple, like "Operation Beat Their ******* Heads In 5," and get on with it.
Officers really do believe that a soldier is happier when he's busy, even if he's not doing what's important. NCOs know that nothing is so useless as doing well something which should not be done at all.
There are a lot of officers out there who would have been better as NCOs, and a lot of NCOs who would have been better as officers.
NCOs NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES refer to other soldiers as "customers."
Creating a twenty-minute slide show that makes the commander look good will get you the same medal as working your a-- off for 12 months for the same commander.