The Department of Defense Purposefully & Deceptively Blocks Retirees From Accessing Medical & Other Benefits

 

We can go ahead and chalk this up to "conspiracy theory" that perhaps later somebody will get around to proving is true.  Regardless, it's true.  Whenever it comes to the federal government doing shady and illegal shit to fuck over ordinary Americans, to include veterans, it's always true.

The military is purposefully putting up digital road blocks and circular loops, as has been practiced by horrible companies for some time now, in order to deny military retirees their benefits.  Log in to check for a medical appointment one day, the next day you have to verify your identity using some insane metric.  What do you mean you don't remember the correct image out of the hundreds you were told to select as part of your authentication?  You don't remember picking that image, randomly given to you as though it was supposed to mean something memorably in a way the hundreds of other images didn't?  Well, we don't know it's you anymore so you can't check your GI Bill benefits or log into the VA portal.

Never fret though, we have a "remote proofing" procedure we have established to figure out who you are.  It's really simple.  First, you take a picture of your passport or some non-military ID identification.  Military ID, obviously, is the last form of identification to be used to determine you're retired military, duh.  So throw in some State driver's license.  Then, take a selfie.  Press the submit button, we'll wait a minute, then we'll tell you that our system couldn't verify you.  Maybe it was the lighting.  You can try again.  Once you've tried and failed four times, and you will, then you'll be locked out for a month.  We have a phone number you may be able to find if you do some research.  Don't forget to choose Option 7 and wait for nobody to answer.

According to this (I know, I know) Business Insider article, the DoD (led by the guy who thinks white supremacy is the biggest threat to America) has been hiring private companies (not Facebook or Twitter, different companies that come with the same plausible deniability) to perform "remote proofing."  And, according to that article, at least one company has been purposefully ensuring retirees are unable to get verified in the system.  While they suffer from medical ailments that need treatment.

From the article:

HELP! I am trying to apply for health benefits as well as the financial benefits for my 90-year-old father who has Alzheimer's and is also a veteran. He is unable to do the application himself and ... I can't verify his identity through ID me.

While it appears that company has been replaced, the same methods are still being employed to deny American retirees their benefits.  And this is a tactic that is being used by other government organizations also trying to save a buck when it comes to people's medical expenses.

While veteran suicides skyrocket and retirees die more quickly due to the purposeful roadblocks enacted by their government to ensure they can't timely access benefits that might assist them with burn pit ailments, you can be assured that this same government will be eyeing your retirement check even beyond what they've stolen from you through inflation.

To be fair though, if the government didn't get creative at stealing money from its own citizens, how would it be able to fund the pensions of those in Ukraine?

Adam Kinzinger, the Domestic Enemy of our Oath

He did it because he's an enemy of the American people and of America.  Bolstered by the un-American propaganda that has been flowing in our military officer ranks for decades and which is facilitated frequently on the forum you find yourself on by your colleagues (which until recently included the Congressmen himself).  Some of your other colleagues, before it became unfashionable, sung the praises of Kinzinger.  They may have changed their tune, but they still share his values.  That's to say nothing of the usual suspects on the forum who might as well be preaching from the Communist authoritarian hymnal.  Military officers.  And their choir is growing.

Anti-American propaganda coupled with careerist carrots has destroyed the character of our military and our federal government and of the American people as a whole regardless of professed politics.  The dumbing down of the population through the takeover of our education system by propagandists hasn't helped (see your colleague BashiChuni trying to talk sense to "educated" morons for reference).

The federal government is the enemy of the American people and our military has been a faithful tool in its treason for decades if not longer.  Why is it so obvious now?  Because there is little need for pretense in the arena we find ourselves in anymore.  The American people are vulnerable, weakened, and easily conquered.  Peoples throughout history have been conquered because they couldn't see how the weapons of warfare had changed, they clung on to the old ways.  It's the same today as people say "come and take it" and build up their ammo stores.  We are in an incredibly different world from 1776, those who own our government know it, and there really isn't much need to pretend anymore.  So enemies from within, like Adam Kinzinger, don't fear the little secret getting out that they hate our nation and our citizenry and use our taxpayer funded machinery against us.

We had a chance to avoid this.  While the usual suspects censored and demonized American voices and asked "what are you doing except posting online," the reality is that our voices were the only chance we had.  Most of us didn't use them.  Now we can't use them in any effective way.  And it will get worse from here.

All perfectly forseeable while our government and military was using our taxpayer money to murder Americans without charge or trial outside war zones (to the cheers of most of your digital officer colleagues).  And while our government was using our money to spy on us and to pass laws giving the POTUS the unconstitutional power to use the military to arrest any of us, citizen or not, in America without charge or trial and imprison us indefinitely.  And now we know it uses our taxpayer money to have us censored online (your forum likely does it for free, they're good like that in the bro network).

Murder, imprison, silence.  All without due process or a jury of peers.

So what's left before the cultists pronounce the reality of our situation?  Does the POTUS need to come out with a crown on his head?  The answer is that they want it.  They love exercising force over other people on both the so-called "left" and "right."  America cannot survive in that environment and it has not.  What our nation has become has been so very evident for a long time now.  There isn't a fascist despot in history who wouldn't give a thumbs up with envy at what our rulers have achieved over us with the aid of technology that is far deadlier to freedom and democracy than any Panzer division or gunpowder illuminating the face of a puzzled Aztec.  But it really doesn't matter at this point.  We're way beyond bingo fuel.

We don't live in the world of Red Dawn.  It's over.  We had our chance and we passed it up.  The experiment has ended.  There will be no getting out of the overt tyranny that will continue to increase far beyond the insane levels we just went through.  Once the Central Bank Digital Currency is released, it's a wrap, and life will start to look much more like the old history books except in color.  So, if you're still serving, honor your oath and accept the consequences.  Otherwise, just enjoy the show, wait for your ticket onto the train and consider, if you have children, what your action or inaction has meant for their lives.

Adam Kinzinger isn't the exception.  He's the rule.

Contacted Again by the Fiasco Podcast Folks

I have previously blogged about being contacted by the Fiasco folks here.  This morning I got another email from Leon Neyfakh.  The subject line was "Brandon Bryant" and the message read:

Dear Rick,

I hope you are well. Last week I interviewed a sensor operator named Brandon Bryant. I am wondering if you might agree to speak to me, off-the-record, about your experience with him. I just need to know how to assess some of the things he told me. 

I would be most grateful for your help. 

Leon

 

I responded:

 

What I will tell you about Brandon Bryant is that he is a mythomaniac and he is severely mentally ill.  So whatever claims he's making about me (and he has a habit of making false claims about me), if you simply require him to provide evidence for his claims that should prove helpful.  If he cannot, then they're false claims.  Sadly Bryant is adept at finding "journalists" who don't require evidence and who don't ask follow up questions.

You can feel free to share with me what claims he's made about me and I'll consider responding.

You might also want to check out: https://youtu.be/HDU9Icy_E9wk

And also: https://youtu.be/y8gO1jBykPY

Cheers.

 

I followed that up with this response:

While hopefully you won't sacrifice your podcast's credibility by including Brandon Bryant in it, here is another video you may find useful.  It'sf Bryant talking about me.  You might consider his claims in this video while evaluating whatever claims he has made about me now in case it's useful.  Cheers.

https://youtu.be/NqOn-9uDUPY

19 Feb 23 Update:

Leon followed up with another email stating:

Hi Rick,

Thanks for your response -- writing you back from my work email to keep things straight. 

Brandon actually didn't mention you by name in our interview. He did talk about someone he referred to as "the major," who he says informed him of the order to kill al-Awlaki. According to Brandon, the major said he believed the order was unconstitutional because the target was an American citizen.

This struck me as something you could provide context for. Having watched the video you sent, and the longer documentary you posted, I'm hoping to convince you to speak with me by phone or video chat. (You would be free to record the conversation even if you don't want me to use it in our podcast.)

My purpose here is to figure out, as best I can, how the killing of al-Awlaki happened, and to better understand the events that led up to it.

Leon

 I responded:

"He did talk about someone he referred to as "the major," who he says informed him of the order to kill al-Awlaki."

If Bryant was referring to me, then he made a false claim.

It's possible he is referring to some unidentified "flight operations supervisor" that he claims, in a TedX talk, told him that.  See 20:43 in this video: https://youtu.be/HDU9Icy_E9w?t=1243

I was not Bryant's "flight operations supervisor" and have never had a physical conversation with Bryant.

I suspect the story Bryant tells in his TedX talk is made up, but you could simply ask him to name the "flight operations supervisor" he was referring to if you want to track down the veracity of his claim.

You should have more than enough information to make it clear that Bryant is a serial liar who makes up claims, but if you choose to investigate his claims, simply require him to provide evidence for them.  Good luck.

 Leon responded:

Thanks Rick. Sounds like you're not the person he's talking about. 

Is there anything you'd be willing to tell me about your own experience being ordered to target an American citizen?

I responded:

As I stated previously, I am not interested in participating in your podcast but I wish you the best with your journalism.  It's an important discussion.

Leon responded:

Can I ask you why you don't want to participate? I accept your decision, I just want to understand it... 

I did not respond.  He then followed up with:

Haha, just saw your blog post. Hello to all your readers! If any of them want to help me, I'll await their outreach :)

If any of my two, possibly three on a busy day, readers want to assist with this story, Leon is easy to find on Twitter.

Welcome back JR!

For more than a decade now, one of my favorite contributors over on the BaseOps.Net forum has been GearPig.  He typically offers reasoned views and has a decent enough head on his shoulders.  He's a bit too responsive to bad actor pressures that lead him to practice the conformity he no doubt disdains, and he goes off the deep end every once in awhile culminating in some wild accusations of various online identities being me, going "underground" in a frenzied panic via a name change and other spectacular antics, but his offered views are often value added so I appreciate his voice on social media.

If you want an interesting chit chat over coffee, or a riling forum discussion, the newly dubbed GearHog is your guy as he has an uncommon level of intelligence and an operational bullshit-meter.  But intelligence isn't what makes a good military officer.  Rather, what makes a good military officer (or any public servant) is intelligence combined with principle.  Principle is best demonstrated by courage.

Having some "correct" views that challenge the herd may be fun for discussion and might stroke one's ego in a debate, but it's acting courageously for what is right that makes a good military officer.  Most military pilots are intelligent in comparison to society at large.  They can tie their shoes, they can read good, they can take tests.  But few are principled.  While they mouth their oaths of office and obey commands to salute symbols they don't understand or actually value, the vast majority haven't thought deeply about what America actually is (the idea that they are paid to make more real) and they don't really care about their country.  They want a paycheck, they want a fun job, and they want people to see them in uniform and credit them with all the character they don't actually possess.  And there it ends.

They are herd animals.  Worse, they are herd animals who think they are the best of the best.  As a result, people with a bit more intelligence like GearPig are able to take them to task fairly easily.

If only America's defense were a forum thread debate like the heavily censored BaseOps.Net.  But it's not.  It requires much more than being right on the Internets.  You can admire those who venture where you dare not tread, but your admiration of your betters is also not good enough.

America is critically injured and dying.  And cowardice by those entrusted with her defense is the dagger in her back.

The Good Ole USA - a Satelite of China

 

While hundreds of American citizens in Montana are herded like cattle, scanned, and groped in Department of Homeland Security airport lines that infringe on their constitutional rights, overhead is a Chinese spy balloon on its days long trip overhead our nation's ICBM facilities.

Our government could have shot the craft down before it entered our airspace, but it didn't.  It could have gotten on the phone and made it clear to China that it would remove its spy balloon immediately.  But it didn't do that either.

General Milley, our nation's ranking military member, certainly has Communist China's phone number since he used it to conspire with their military to thwart a sitting President of the United States and any potential nuclear strike that President might make.  Despite General Milley's literal treason, he was not reprimanded and is still at the helm of our military.

Biden will do as he does, and talk a good game that doesn't comport with his actions.  He has serious financial ties to China and his loyalties are less divided than they are non-existent when it comes to America.  Likewise, many politicians in both parties are purchased by China just as multitudes of business leaders are.  These politicians, like bureaucrats in our nation's institutes of higher learning, work tirelessly on behalf of China to implement policies that weaken our nation militarily, economically, and socially.

The spy balloon is just the latest action by China to make it obvious who is in control of who.  While our politicians still talk a good game and play tough, just as Democrats and Republicans pretend to oppose one another while walking hand in hand, they are merely playing to the dumbest among us who still don't get it.  Much as our installed "leaders" in foreign nations would talk a good game about being against policies of the United States to appease their masses, while dutifully moving as the puppet master required.

The United States has been conquered by China.  We are a mere puppet nation.  A satellite.  We are a Made-in-China-America that was defeated from the inside in a fifth generation war combined with good old fashioned dollar diplomacy.  Our decision makers and power base was purchased, and the rest of us have been programmed with the over-confidence we love so much, the pom-pom patriotism and cheap plastic pride in our nation and we have been conditioned to see our rights and liberty as a threat (whether the ability to freely speak, or keep and bear arms, or protest) and we have been inundated with the notion that the majority in our nation are bad because of their skin color, and that criticizing non-white nations is racism.

We have been encouraged to degrade our nation's ability to produce energy, our food production, and told that every conceivable physical or taste difference between us is paramount.  Our ability to speak has been controlled and censored as is done in China, protestors have been arrested and locked away without due process for having anti-government views as is done in China, and the armed-components of our government are increasingly used against citizens to punish dissent.  Our nation has been divided, splintered, plundered, and conquered.  From the inside on behalf of the outside.

The fact that a hostile nation's spy balloon continues for days above a key piece of our nuclear triad makes this perfectly clear.  That would have never happened at any other time in America's history when it was an independent nation comprised of people who valued freedom.  That it is happening now while few take it seriously, to include active serving military officers, is just one more indicator of our failed nation.

The United States of America no longer exists and hasn't for some time now.  It has never been more obvious than it is today.

CMSAF JoAnne Bass is Unfit for Office

 

In November of 2020, CMSAF JoAnne S. Bass responded to me on her official Facebook page to express her disagreement with my viewpoint.  She then censored my comments and banned me from the page.  Ironically, my deleted comments included the comment that the First Amendment does not permit those, like Chief Master Sergeant Bass, to censor people due to their viewpoints.  After my ban I sent several messages to Chief Bass asking her to comply with the Constitution in order to avoid a lawsuit and negative press directed at our Air Force.  While at least one of those messages did make its way to Chief Bass, and despite the "response requested" box on the message form checked, Chief Bass chose not to respond.

So I filed a federal lawsuit thanks to pro bono representation from the Center for Individual Rights which resulted in Chief Bass being directed to unban me from the page and to change the rules of the page to make it clear that people cannot be banned or censored due to their viewpoint.  Chief Bass failed to abide by the court-signed agreement in the agreed upon time frame but, after the Department of Justice was made aware of Bass' breach, she quickly reinstated my account access to her official page and I have been able to post several comments there so far.

As a result of the lawsuit and the actions of Chief JoAnne Bass, the Air Force has garnered some less than stellar media attention including an article in the Wall Street Journal, Stars and Stripes, the John Q Public Blog, on Military.Com, on at least one Substack, and on other media sites.  Interestingly, the Air Force Times did not cover the story.

Eight days after my court-agreement, the DoD published its first ever social media policy, DOD5400.17 which states:

Social media account managers will not remove social media content from official DoD accounts unless there is a factual or typographical error; violation of a law, policy, term of service, or user agreement; or an operations or information security concern. Removal of content will be publicly acknowledged and communicated to audiences to provide context and appropriate clarification for the action; managers must persistently monitor, communicate, and, where appropriate, responsively engage with users regarding such removal. Removal of content can unintentionally discredit DoD information if the action appears to be taken to:

(1) Avoid embarrassment;

(2) Stifle or silence discussion about a controversial topic; or

(3) Mislead users to believe an issue is inconsequential or of minor significance

Chief Bass' actions have also resulted in continued negative commentary across social media from Facebook to Twitter to Reddit.  Even folks outside of the Air Force and DoD have taken note of Chief Bass, with one vlogger providing an excellent analysis of Chief Bass' "non-apology" for the "hats" smearing of a PJ, asking the critical question "where are the officers?" and calling Chief Bass the biggest "cyberbully" in the Air Force.  The main thrust of this commentary from digital military trenches is that Chief Bass is a net negative on social media, that she acts like a high school girl who refuses to admit fault, and that she was an unqualified pick for the position of CMSAF who is doing a poor job in that role. 

In my view, this depiction of Chief Bass is correct.  She is not qualified for the office she occupies and her selection for it was a gross error.  Chief Bass does not demonstrate the seriousness one would expect of a senior leader in a military service which is often, although not always, to be expected from an individual so far removed from the serious aspects of the core military mission.  Rather, CMSgt Bass consistently role models petulance, hypocrisy, gossip, and vindictiveness.  Her actions make a mockery of her office, invite ridicule from those she is meant to lead, and only reinforce her glaring insecurity which results in her decision making being further clouded.

Further, the fact that Chief Bass repeatedly demonstrates an inability to own up to her failures (to include violating the very Constitution of the United States she has sworn to support and defend, in full view of airmen) and given that she had to be dragged into complying with a court-order indicates that Chief Bass does not have the proper respect for authority, be it our supreme law or judicial processes that direct her to comply with the law.  As such, Chief Bass is wholly and completely unqualified for the position she finds herself in.  A person who does not respect the laws and judicial processes of the United States has absolutely no place in public service in any capacity, certainly not as the highest enlisted member in the Air Force.

Chief Master Sergeant JoAnne S. Bass should be removed from office immediately before she further damages the mission of the United States Air Force and the security of the United States.  This is an opportunity for General Charles Q. Brown, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, to role model leadership by fixing his mistake for the benefit of the service and the nation.  Chief Bass should not be allowed to "quietly" go into the night through retirement.  She needs to be removed with a quickness.  The thing about the double-edged sword of social media, which General Brown would be wise to remember, is that all airmen are watching what he condones and what steps he takes, or does not take, for accountability and for the service and nation as a whole.  Not for "Team 19" or for his personal friends.  For the service and, most importantly, for the nation.

Does General Charles Brown think his pick for CMSAF accurately represents and speaks for the backbone of our service?  Does he even care how well our enlisted force is represented?

That General Brown has not corrected his mistake of selecting this CMSAF after episode after episode of blunder from her and despite the calls from so many for her to be held accountable, calls into question General Brown's respect for our enlisted troops.  Perhaps he does not think it important for them to be accurately represented by somebody of quality?  If so, that also needs to be addressed.  Our enlisted men and women deserve better than an embarrassment to represent and speak for them.

 

13 Sept 22 UPDATE:  The Army's top enlisted leader's PA team banned a soldier on social media.  It was brought to his attention.  He quickly fixed it and drove on.  That's how it's done.  There are way more pressing issues to focus on than Day Care internet bullshit.  Leaders in the actual profession of arms understand that given our incredibly dangerous world.

6 Sept 22 UPDATE:  I am told that Chief Bass has uncensored my comments on her page that she previously hid from public view.

1 Sept 22 UPDATE 2:  Chief Bass' censorship-filter took out a response I made on her page.  So I split my response up into little bits and it all got through, except, interestingly enough, the phrase "...to add to the corporate distraction bread-for-the-masses..."  Why would Chief Master Sergeant Bass have an unconstitutional censorship filter set up to not allow the phrase "corporate distraction" or "bread-for-the-masses?"  The graphic below shows my commentary and the censored comments are highlighted.

1 Sep 22 UPDATE:  Chief kicked off the new month with her usual disdain for our judicial system by censoring a comment from myself and from another retired special operator in response to her upcoming "coffee talk."  First I'll provide the comments that were not censored and then show the comments that were censored.  See if you can determine why those particular comments were not allowed by Chief Bass as it appears there is a theme here:

And these were the comments that were censored:

24 Aug 22 UPDATE:  Today's breach of the court agreement when Bass censored this comment:

18 Aug 22 UPDATE:  Another day, another court-agreement violation by Chief Bass.  This response to Dave below has been censored from the official page:

17 Aug 22 UPDATE:  My second comment was censored today on Chief Bass' page in breach of the court agreement.  It would appear that my comment was censored through a filter that auto-hides certain content (making it only visible to the person commenting and their FB friends).  I tried to investigate the particular terms that might have triggered the filter but could not isolate the term.  "China" does not appear to be the trigger, nor does the combination of "China" and "General Milley" so I'm not sure what about this comment below triggered Chief's auto-censorship filter.  I am sure, however, that these filters constitute a violation of the First Amendment as one federal court has already ruled:

My other comment response was not auto-censored, so there is something about the comment above that triggers the Chief's filter:

  Minutes after the exchange above, the comment from Stefano was hidden or deleted...

13 Aug 22 UPDATE:  Chief Bass is yet again in breach of the court agreement. Not only has she immediately censored a comment I made today on her official page, but she has also, in her latest post, hidden a comment from somebody else.  I can't see that individual's comment, so I have no ability to determine the merit of her decision to censor that person.  In my case, however, Chief Bass has yet again violated a court agreement; she has an apparently strong insurrectionist streak that doesn't recognize our laws or government judicial authority and she violates our laws with abandon.  This will be addressed shortly.  The comment about China, in response to a post from Bass about the Chinese military versus the American military and the importance of culture (which she hid from all but my Facebook friends) is reproduced below: