Category: Military,

Trump administration, military officials at odds over CIA’s Afghanistan role

On By peanutgallerynhIn Middle East,, Military,Leave a comment

The Times reports that some White House advisers have proposed secretly expanding the agency’s presence in the nation — a move that some current and former officials have expressed skepticism about. 

…Some officials told the paper they want CIA-backed forces in the country as part of a counterterrorism force. They claim it could quell worries that the U.S. will be left with little ability to prevent terrorist groups from using Afghanistan as a base of operations if the U.S. pulls troops, as [Trump] suggested will happen last week.

But others, such as Seth G. Jones, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former adviser to the commanding general of American Special Operations forces in Afghanistan, tell the Times they are skeptical of the plan, which they said could be impractical and ineffective.

Trump administration, military officials at odds over CIA’s Afghanistan role: report | TheHill

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Top Navy SEAL warns commanders of ‘order and discipline problem’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Drugs & Drink,, Military,Leave a comment

“I don’t know yet if we have a culture problem, I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately,” Green wrote, according to CNN.

Green reportedly added in the letter that “some of our subordinate formations have failed to maintain good order and discipline,” an issue which has thrown the culture of Navy special forces into the spotlight “for good reason.”

Top Navy SEAL warns commanders of ‘order and discipline problem’ | TheHill

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There’s An Environmental Disaster Unfolding In The Gulf of Mexico

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Gulf Coast Region,, Military,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

First came Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 monster storm that devastated [the] small fishing community in Plaquemines Parish before roaring up the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people and destroying $125 billion in property. Five years later, BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded 40 miles offshore, spewing nearly 200 million gallons of crude. The fisheries have not fully recovered more than nine years later.

But this year may be worse. A historic slow-moving flood of polluted Mississippi River water loaded with chemicals, pesticides and human waste from 31 states and two Canadian provinces is draining straight into the marshes and bayous of the Gulf of Mexico — the nurseries of Arnesen’s fishing grounds — upsetting the delicate balance of salinity and destroying the fragile ecosystem in the process. 

…The torrent of river water pushing into Gulf estuaries is decimating crab, oyster and shrimp populations. The brown shrimp catch this spring in Louisiana and Mississippi is already down by an estimated 80%, and oysters are completely wiped out in some of the most productive fishing grounds in the country, according to state and industry officials.

…It’s not just fisheries that are suffering. Dolphins have been dying in huge numbers across the region — nearly 300 this year already, which is three times the number in a normal year, according to federal and state officials. Fishermen report finding dead dolphins floating in water near shore or beached in the marshes, covered in painful skin lesions that scientists have linked to freshwater exposure. One fisherman reported finding a mother dolphin pushing her dead baby along in the water.

…Dolphins are particularly vulnerable to incursions of river water, he said. “Every time they open the Bonnet Carre spillway, we see a spike in deaths.” 

“Dolphins are like the black box found on airplanes,” Solangi said. “They tell you what’s happening in the environment. When dolphins are doing well, the environment is doing well.”

…Officials say higher-than-normal dolphin strandings spiked in May, when there were 88 discovered along the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coasts. That’s nearly eight times the average monthly number of dolphin mortalities during the BP spill from 2010 to 2014.

…Many fishermen who have worked in these areas for generations suspect something else is threatening their future: politics. As part of a plan to save Louisiana’s rapidly sinking coastline, state agencies want to pump in more sediment-heavy river water to help rebuild the disappearing land. Fishermen question the efficacy of freshwater diversions and worry about the dangers to fisheries and marine life posed by these projects. They question why NOAA would grant waivers to Louisiana last year to bypass the Marine Mammal Protection Act and allow the freshwater diversion construction to proceed.

…[Acy Cooper, a fourth-generation fisherman and president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association] blames the Army Corps for not adequately managing the river and controlling and dredging the river passes that empty into the Gulf, making the effects of freshwater worse. 

There’s An Environmental Disaster Unfolding In The Gulf of Mexico | HuffPost

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The Inconvenience of Being a Woman Veteran

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Media and Culture,, Military,Leave a comment

The military doesn’t just urge women, it requires them—especially if they want to succeed—to view themselves on the same playing field as their male counterparts. They are also expected to behave and perform in traditionally masculine ways—demonstrating strength, displaying confidence in their abilities, expecting to be judged on their merits and performance, and taking on levels of authority and responsibility that few women get to experience. The uniform and grooming standards work to downplay their physical female characteristics. Additionally, the expectation—explicit or implicit—is that they also downplay other attributes that are traditionally considered feminine, such as open displays of emotion.

…Highlighting female characteristics is undesirable. As General Lori J. Robinson, the U.S. military’s first female combatant commander, put it: “I’m a general, a commander, an airman. And I happen to be a woman.”

…They might appear to be like other women, but they aren’t operating on the expectations traditionally applied to women. Behaving at odds with these traditional expectations is often a significant drawback in the ability of women veterans to fit-in in the workplace, in the dating world, in the female civilian community, in society in general. And directly challenging these expectations can often lead to conflict.

…They expect, for example, to be afforded the same respect as their male counterparts—veteran and civilian.

And yet, women are often denied recognition for their military accomplishments. In a 2016 Service Women’s Action Network survey, 74 percent of the respondents said that the general public did not recognize their service.

…Operating in male-dominated environments and doing traditionally male activities, up to and including combat, are so different from the experiences of civilian women that the two sides often cannot relate. Moreover, the behaviors—male behaviors—that women veterans learned were correct in the military are now at odds with the expectations civilians have for women. Instead of helping them fit in, these same behaviors now make them stand out, often in ways that make other people uncomfortable.

The Inconvenience of Being a Woman Veteran – The Atlantic

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Hackers Stole Restricted Data on NASA Mars Rover From JPL in Pasadena

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Military,, Privacy,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

The Pasadena Star-News reports Friday that security weaknesses allowed hackers to steal 500 megabytes of data from 23 files, including two containing restricted information related to the Curiosity rover Mars mission.

A report this week from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General says hackers used a credit card-sized computer and a compromised external user account.

They operated for 10 months until the hack was discovered in April 2018.

The Star-News says hackers also broke into JPL in 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Hackers Stole Restricted Data on NASA Mars Rover From JPL in Pasadena: Report | KTLA

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The Navy’s USS Gabrielle Giffords and the Future of Work

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Military,Leave a comment

 “As equipment breaks, [sailors] are required to fix it without any training,” a Defense Department Test and Evaluation employee told Congress. “Those are not my words. Those are the words of the sailors who were doing the best they could to try to accomplish the missions we gave them in testing.” The intentionally small crew size made the ship ill-suited to forward combat, because not enough people were on board to stand watch.

These results were, perhaps, predictable given the Navy’s initial, full-throttle approach to minimal manning—and are an object lesson on the dangers of embracing any radical concept without thinking hard enough about the downsides.

The Navy’s USS Gabrielle Giffords and the Future of Work – The Atlantic

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Military: Sex assault victims are likely young, on large bases & ships

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Military,Leave a comment

The report found commonalities among victims, and where they are assigned by the military, that continue today. For example, the factors that put victims at high risk of sexual assault – youth, not being married, and having lower rank – correspond to their assignment to large training bases and ships.

…”A large proportion of all sexual assaults occur at a relatively few large installations for each of the services,” according to the report. “The Army and Marine Corps, for instance, each have installations where we estimate there were more than 500 sexual assaults of women and men in 2014.”

Military: Sex assault victims are likely young, on large bases, ships

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Meet the gallant all-black American female battalion that served in Europe during World War II

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,, Europe,, Military,, Race,Leave a comment

Meet the gallant all-black American female battalion that served in Europe during World War II – Face2Face Africa

A wee bit of credibility was compromised with the assertion that the first women to dress up as men so they could serve were in the American Civil War but still, an interesting bit of history.

Rep. Duncan Hunter admits to questionable acts to defend Navy SEAL

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Military,Leave a comment

The Republican member of Congress, who is accused of misusing campaign funds, has rallied to the support of Special Warfare Operator Chief Gallagher, who is accused of stabbing a teenage prisoner to death and then conducting a re-enlistment ceremony next to his body. Gallagher, who has pleaded guilty to all charges in the high profile trial, is also accused of gunning down innocent civilians with a sniper rifle.

…Hunter, a Marine Corps vet who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has repeatedly rushed to Gallagher’s defense, in some cases admitting to troubling actions from his own time in uniform. Last week, for instance, the former Marine major confessed to posing with a dead combatant.

Rep. Duncan Hunter admits to questionable acts to defend Navy SEAL – Business Insider

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Everett Palmer, an Army vet, died in police custody and some organs are missing

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Military,, Race,Leave a comment

He wanted to resolve an outstanding DUI warrant from an incident in 2016 in Pennsylvania to make sure his license was valid for the drive to see his family.

…On April 9, 2018, two days later, the family was told that Palmer had died in police custody at the York County Prison. Fourteen months later, the Palmers say they still don’t know what really happened. But they are suspicious because when Palmer’s body was returned to them, his throat, heart and brain were missing.

“This entire case smacks of a cover-up.”

…An initial autopsy by the York County Coroner’s Office stated Palmer died after an incident “following an excited state” during which he “began hitting his head against the inside of his cell door” and was restrained. The report says Palmer became agitated as a result of “methamphetamine toxicity.” A probable “sickling red cell disorder” as listed as a contributing factor.

…”He would have had to receive (the meth) in the jail itself. We don’t believe that happened,” Merritt said.

Palmer’s body was returned to his family, but it was only after the family hired their own independent forensic pathologist that they discovered Palmer’s body was missing three body parts.

“It’s not unusual to take organs out of a body during an autopsy, especially if you believe they were subject to trauma. The highly unusual part is to misplace them,” Merritt said.

…They were later told by the coroner that the body parts were at an independent lab. However, the lab, Merritt says, has refused to hand over the parts, citing an ongoing investigation.

…[York County District Attorney’s Office] did not answer when asked why, more than one year after Palmer’s death, there is still no official determination about his cause of death.

…”If he was being processed for something that he did wrong in terms of the DUI — he should be held accountable for that — but it shouldn’t be a death sentence, certainly inside of a jail,” his brother added. “We know that there are good people in that prison system. We appeal to them to come forward and share what they know.”

Everett Palmer, an Army vet, died in police custody and some organs are missing – CNN

A few things…

Sickle cell  was part of what made him hit his own head against the wall? WTF?! If you were going to lie on an official document, why would you slip in a completely unscientific and racist trope????!

Also, Sorry Mr. Palmer, if no one has come forward in a year, then you can be sure there are no good people working in that prison system. None. Period. You can also be sure that it seems like at least the ones involved in his brother’s case should be in jail for murder and fraud.

After Felony Conviction, Iraq War Veteran Faces Deportation To Mexico

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Military,, Race,Leave a comment

In one incident last year, he pointed a handgun at his domestic partner; in a second incident, he punched her. She pressed charges. Baltazar was found guilty of “aggravated assault on a family member with a deadly weapon.”

Because he served in Iraq, his case was moved to a special county court for veterans. There, he received a deferred sentence.

Things were going well. Baltazar was attending counseling sessions and passing drug and alcohol tests. In February, he drove across the border to Reynosa, Mexico, to see a nephew fight in a boxing match. The veterans court had approved the trip. But when he tried to return to Hidalgo, Texas, federal agents on the international bridge checked his record, spotted the felony and took him into custody.

After Felony Conviction, Iraq War Veteran Faces Deportation To Mexico : NPR

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