Resources for the Army family

Everybody knows that military life is tough. Not only is it tough on the soldier but it is tough on the entire family. A soldier's day can pass quickly while in training or on deployment but there is always somebody that is left behind at home. Children are missing a parent to talk to, play with and provide guidance. There is a spouse that has to become mom and dad, handle the kids and home on their own and pass the down time alone.

The Army is trying to make this transition as easy on the family as they can by extending assignments and trying to stick to published training schedules. As anybody that has ever served knows its best to live by the motto "Semper Gumby" meaning always be flexible.

I'd like to direct all soldiers and their families to the Army family web site called, My Army Life Too. This site is full of resources for the entire family and includes things like child development, deployment preparation, adjustment to post deployment life and many other resources.

Check it out!

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military

Leo Damascus knife at Everything Below Retail $305 plus free shipping!

Everything Below Retail

A truly rare and unique piece of work blending the centuries-old art of hand forged Damascus with a piece of history. The Leo Damascus a high performance Damascus steel was made available to Boker through a noted European Damascus forger Markus Balbach. The steel used in this knife is forged out of the barrel of the German battle tank Leopard I thus Leo Damascus. This speciality steel is not available to the market and there is no material number even assigned to it because it was only used by the military.

Herr Balbach was fortunate to acquire some for the exclusive use of Boker. A chromium-manganese and vanadium tool steel alloy was added to this extremely wear-resistant barrel steel. The result is a remarkably high hardness for Damascus steel (63-65 HRC). A very high performance Damascus. The pattern provided on the blade is labeled "small pyramid" providing a spectacular work of art; and as with all true Damascus every blade is different.

Handle material is hard coated 6061-T6 aluminium and features exotic desert ironwoods inlays. Liner locking. Includes certificate of authenticity and gift box. Serialized.

Overall length: 7 7/8". Blade length: 3 3/8".

Everything Below Retail

Technorati Tags : Shooting, Fishing, Knives, Hunting, Army, Military

'Operation Restoring Rights' to secure Tal Afar

September 13, 2005


BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, Sept. 13, 2005) – At least 119 suspected terrorists have been detained since Sept. 10 by Iraqi security forces and Coalition troops in northern Iraq as they continue operations to purge insurgents from the city of Tal Afar, about 30 miles west of Mosul.

In a cordon and search Sept. 10, Coalition forces detained 41 individuals suspected of terrorist activity, officials said. Security forces also seized a mortar system with multiple rounds of ammunition and a cache consisting of hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

“Operation Restoring Rights is being conducted to remove terrorists and foreign fighters operating in Tal Afar,” said Col. Billy J. Buckner, spokesman for Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

“This operation is in support of the Iraqi government’s efforts to bring safety and security to the citizens of the city,” Buckner said. “The local government requested Coalition assistance in setting the conditions needed to establish permanent Iraqi security for the people of Tal Afar that will allow them to vote in upcoming elections.”

Task Force Freedom detained 78 more suspected terrorists during operations in Tal Afar Sept. 12 as Operation Restoring Rights continued.

Soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment detained 57 individuals suspected of terrorist activity during two operations.

Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 3rd ACR detained 15 terror suspects during a cordon and search operation.

Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment detained four suspected terrorists.

Soldiers from 3rd ACR also detained two individuals suspected of terrorist activity while patrolling. The suspects are in custody with no Multi-National Force injuries reported

Since Aug. 26, Iraqi and Coalition Forces have captured 211 terror suspects, killed 141 terrorists and confiscated nine weapons caches, MNC-I reported.



(Editor’s note: Information provided by two press releases from the Multi-National Force-Iraq Combined Press Information Center.)

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military

Updates on the offensive in Tal Afar

The offensive in Haditha is in full swing. The Army along with soldiers from the Iraqi army are moving in to secure the town. Read more at In The Bull Pen

Iraqi Soldiers Donate to Katrina Victims

Iraqi soldiers collected 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

By Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq

TAJI, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2005 —

Iraqi soldiers serving at Taji military base collected 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars for victims of Hurricane Katrina.Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil, Iraqi base commander, presented the money to U.S. Col. Paul D. Linkenhoker, Taji Coalition base commander, at a Sept. 5 staff meeting.

"We are all brothers. When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain."
Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil“We are all brothers,” said Abbas. “When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain.”The amount of money is small in American dollars - roughly $680 - but it represents a huge act of compassion from Iraqi soldiers to their American counterparts, said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Goyne.

“I was overwhelmed by the amount of their generosity,” Goyne said. “I was proud and happy to know Col. Abbas, his officers, NCOs and fellow soldiers. That amount represents a month’s salary for most of those soldiers.”

Abbas read a letter he wrote after giving the envelope to Linkenhoker.

"I am Colonel Abbas Fadhil; Tadji Military Base Commander,” Abbas wrote. “On behalf of myself and all the People of Tadji Military Base; I would like to console the American People and Government for getting this horrible disaster. So we would like to donate 1.000.000 Iraqi Dinars to help the government and the People also I would like to console all the ASTs who helped us rebuilding our country and our Army. We appreciate the American's help and support. Thank you."

Technorati Tags:
New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, Military, Iraq, Disasters, War, Army

Sep. 11th 2001, a day hard lessons were learned. Remember 9/11

Its been 4 years since that terrible day and a lot has changed. We are engaged in 2 theaters of war, our transportation systems are guarded like never before, there is great debate amongst the masses regarding our foreign policy, we know without a doubt that America is a target.

Before 9/11, we lived in our own little world where the bad things that happened to us were of our own making. Now, we have an enemy. Not only does this enemy dislike us because of our freedoms, they hate us for our religion. To them we are the enemy no matter where or if we worship, how much money we make, or what we do for a living. These people believe that by killing us they will earn a reward in heaven. We must NEVER forget what happened on that morning 4 years ago, we must never stop working to prevent things like this from happening EVER again.

Some think that we brought this on ourselves......I ask, how? Afghanistan is better off for our being there, Iraq will be better off very soon. So what if Saddam bluffed us about the WMDs....or did he? I have been there and seen what we are doing in Iraq, and I will always say that we are preventing future attacks on our country with our actions in the middle east. We are making the lives of the people in Afghanistan and Iraq better and we are killing terrorists in their own region and not on the streets of America. Find the enemy, fix the enemy and kill them. That is how we can protect America.

Never forget the pain in your hearts when you saw the twin towers come crashing down, never forget the sight of people jumping to their deaths, never forget the hero's that we saw during that time and the feeling of community that we as Americans haven't had since Pearl Harbor.

Finally, NEVER forget who the enemy is and that only the American people can stop the enemy from trying to change our way of life. Be proud to be American, there is no other country like ours. We make mistakes, we don't have all of the answers, but we try and we care about each other. We have chances that people in other countries could never have, protect that.

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military, WTC, 911, Terrorism,

The Civilian Marksmanship Program

For anyone interested in shooting but that doesn't know a lot about it, or those that are or have been in the Military, I have a wonderful resource for training and the purchase of M1 Garand rifles.

Its the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

This program was started to provide training and low cost rifles for citizens so that they would have basic marksmanship training to speed up the draft process. It followed the every man is a rifleman theory that during the time of war, everybody should be able to work a fire arm to defend their country or themselves.

Technorati Tags : Army, Military, America, Shooting, Hunting, Guns,

Our prayers are with those in the path of hurricane Katrina

Our prayers as well as our thoughts go out to you all..........

Technorati Tags:
New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, Alabama, Mississippi, Disasters

One more example of news not covered by main-stream media. I guess Cindy Sheehan is more important!

I don't know about you but I haven't seen any coverage of this part of the Cindy Sheehan story.

Move America Forward has a caravan of people, to include parents of slain soldiers, moving across the country to promote support for the troops and the President. Where are the cameras?
Where are the head lines about the families that are proud of the sacrifice that their children made?

I guess they either don't think anybody cares, or they don't want people like you and me to know that there are some Americans left that believe in the President, our soldiers, the job we are doing in Iraq, or in America itself.

You Don't Speak For Us, Cindy!



Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military, Cindy Sheehan, America

Large selection of knives and accessories at Everything Below Retail.

Well, I knew this would happen sooner or later....the famed shameless plug! Wel, we all do have to eat after all, and most of us know what the Army pay scale is like. ;-)

For a large collection of outdoor items to include knives, hunting gear, fishing tackle, camping equipment, gun accessories, and much, much more.... visit Everything Below Retail.

Thanks to those that have already checked out the new store and to everyone, I ask that you let me know how you like it. After all, what good is a store that is missing what people need, doesn't work properly, or is just plain ugly? I can't wait to hear your feedback.

Have a great day and keep your powder dry!




Technorati Tags : Shooting, Fishing, Knives, Hunting, Army, Military

Does the war in Iraq really have no heros?

I have heard it said that America doesn't have any heros to look up to in the Iraq war. To them I say, you are wrong!

This a hero........

This is a hero......

This is a true hero, SFC Paul R. Smith, Medal of Honor winner.

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military

Send a service member a care package!

Here are some links to find information about sending care packages to our
troops.

I will tell you that there is nothing like being away from home and getting a
letter or package from ANYBODY.

Any and all mail we received was counted as a blessing.


Adopt a Platoon

Any Soldier

Operation
Care and Comfort

Operation Care
Packages

Operation Gratitude


Operation Holidays

Operation
Military Pride

Operation
Military Support

Operation Mom

Operation
Morale

Operation Paperback

Operation Support



Operation Troop Appreciation

Operation We Care
US Troop Care
Package

USO Care Packages

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military, Navy, Air Force, Marines,

Help our service members call home!

Here are links to help deployed service members contact their loved ones.

Please let me know of any other links that I should add or if any of these
links are broken.

Cell Phones for
Soldiers

Freedom Calls
Foundation

Help Our
Troops Call Home

Operation Uplink

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military, Navy, Air Force, Marines,

Resources for service members in need of family support

Here are some links that I found for service members needing family support.

Please contact me if you find more links that I should add or if any of these
links are broken.

Air Force Enlisted
Village

American Heroes Tribute

American
Military Family

American
Red Cross

Armed Forces
Foundation

Armed Services YMCA

Army Emergency Relief

Association of the U.S.
Army Family Programs


Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund

Citizens Helping
Heroes

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance


Deployed Soldiers Family
Foundation

Marine Moms Online

National Military Family
Association


Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society

Operation Child Care


Operation Family
Fund

Operation Homefront


Our Military Kids

Salute Our Services


The Military Family Network


Yellow Ribbon
America

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military, Navy, Air Force, Marines,

Tired of income tax?

Look at the Fair Tax Act and let me know how you feel about changing the current tax code. Do you feel that taxing people on what they make or how they spend their money is more fair? Our founding fathers didn't like taxes and the big government that it helped create, so why should we have them now. Income tax was ment to fund the world wars but was never repealed like it should have been.

Look at the Fair Tax Act!

Technorati Tags : Tax, IRS, Government

The Brookings Institute released information on Iraq

Look at the report from the Brookings Institute on the condition of Iraq and the public opinion of the progress made. This is about as close to the truth as you are going to find and I suggest everybody checks it out.

Click to view report

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military

Tips for deploying soldiers

I found this wonderful post full of tips for soldiers deploying to Iraq.

Check it out!

Thanks to Austin Bay Blog

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military

The first Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima 60 years ago today

Currently Japan is a friendly nation but 60 years ago the country of Japan was a much different place. Today is the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the question "Was it necessary" has been asked. The answer is no, but the result of of not dropping such a powerful bomb would have been far worse for both Japan and Allied forces if we had invaded the island country. It is a fact that more people were killed in the coventional bombing of cities than in the atomic blast. It is a fact that the Japanese government was preparing every citizen to fight in the event of an amphibious landing on their shores.

Looking at the landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa as examples, you will see that the Japanese were dedicated to their country and were willing to fight to the last man rather than giving up to save themselves. No estimate of casualties was below 2 times the number of deaths caused by the bombing. It was expected that we would have over 200,000 killed while Japan would suffer 3 to 400,000 killed during an invasion. We would have pounded every inch of every city to dust and had to face mobs of civilians fighting with sticks to take that island. It is hard to say how many would have given up and how many would have fought with no chance of success.

The Japanese war department wanted to fight on after Hiroshima and again after Nagasaki but is was the Emperor Hirohito that put an end to the war.

In Germany, the Allies bombed cities in response to Hitler attacking England's cities with V-1 and V-2 rockets. This carried over to the pacific theater of war because the plants that made war material were placed in the cities. Today we have the ability to pick our targets with care but back then we could only flatten the city block that held the factory with the hope that we wouldn't need a second bombing run to finish the job.

Some have chosen to try to show American as evil for dropping the atomic bomb but how many know what the Japanese did in Nanking? How about in Nanjing in the 1930's?

I have no hatred for the Japanese but I want to show that they were not victims, they were a ruthless enemy and President Truman did what he felt had to be done to put an end to this war once and for all.

Technorati Tags : Hiroshima, WWII, War, Army, Military, Japan, Hirohito, Nanking,

In response to some comments I received about Gitmo.

I never said that our troops were perfect. I am sure that some of the detainees aren't being treated with kid gloves but it angers me when the media wants to hang our government and our soldiers every change they get. They NEVER come out and call for a terrorists head on a platter after a beheading, but they want our soldiers ruined after taking some STUPID pictures in Abu Ghrab. Lets say a detainee dies of an actual heart attack in gitmo.... The press will blame it on the way he was treated even if nothing "bad" actually happened, by the time the story is dropped, the guards and the unit in charge have been drug through the mud so much that the American people will assume the detainee died of abuse. If a reporter has two stories in front of them to pick from, they will ALWAYS pick the one that is about a soldier screwing up, or getting blown up.

Nobody except our local papers EVER reported about the schools that we opened, the medical clinic that we opened, the sewer that we put in, or the power we brought to people that didn't have and electricity before we came to Iraq.

The media is doing a great disservice to the American people by only reporting the part of the story that they think will sell advertising or the parts that back their political agenda.

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military

I guess a quick lesson is required.......

After reading a couple of the comments I received from readers, I decided that a quick lesson was needed to straighten a couple of things out.

Bad Guy

Good Guys

Atrocity

Handing out donations

Any Questions?

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Baghdad, War on Terror, OIF, Army, Military