Politicians

Finally, a One on One Debate with Tony Carr

It started with a post over on the Martial Matters facebook page about Tony's choice to use a picture of Colonel John Boyd as his facebook avatar.  Tony responded and with some serious vigor.

I want to thank Tony Carr for the John Q. Public discussion, which he chose not to engage in previously after promising we would have such a public debate.  The insults and the barbs are not a problem, I am quite secure in my position and in my character, and what matters to me is a dialogue.

Having a thick skin is actually very important in my book, and not simply by claiming you have one.  Much like supporting and defending the Constitution is not achieved simply by mumbling some words.

It was interesting to be called a traitor to my nation by retired Lt Col Carr, even if his definition of traitor resembled nothing of the actual meaning of treason and was simply an insult in a rubber-gluck-stick-to-you kind of way.  He knows better than to the lob that description at me.  He knows better than most, but he doesn't let that stop his attempts to insult.

It was an interesting conversation where Tony said he did not know whether or not it would be illegal for Congress to pass a law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, a theme he has championed previously as he remarked that our Constitution contains no rights that are "inviolate."  Still, he seems to be either coming around in an awkward clunky kind of way, or he's just throwing out differing and inconsistent opinions.

At any rate, communication and dialogue (rather than censoring and banning and avoiding conversation) is the most important part of the discussion of ideas.  It does require a thick skin.  Just like in a crew aircraft, the important thing is that crewmembers get the message out.  It doesn't have to be polished, or polite although that is a useful skill.  It has to get out and in a timely fashion.  It's up to the aircraft commander, the decision maker, to evaluate the comments for truth while allowing the venom not to sting (saving it for the debrief), to find and utilize what truth might be there for the sake of mission accomplishment while above terra firma.  That takes security and an openness for disagreement.

I'm glad to see Tony Carr engage on my public Facebook page.

The Air Power Dam Has Burst

Good for the many aviators wanting to get out, but a bad day for air power projection.  News of Voluntary Separation Pay (VSP) approvals is sweeping across squadrons as a great many pilots are being paid to leave the Air Force early.  I'm happy for these guys, but this is going to take a very real toll on our service as hundreds of millions of dollars in training floods out of our Air Force.

I feel bad for the commanders who will have to try to pick up the pieces.  Interesting times we live in.

United States of Secrets

The new PBS Frontline documentary, United States of Secrets, is available in two parts for free online.  It should be required viewing for every military officer.  It is an excellent look at the unconstitutional law breaking that a military officer may very well be ordered to engage in.  General Michael Hayden provides a perfect example of a politician who wears a uniform but is the antithesis of a military officer or public servant, who is more than willing to violate his oath of office and hurt the American people solely to please his boss and serve his own ambitions.

This documentary provides an excellent look into what oath breaking politicians masquerading as military officers look like.  Every military officer should watch this outstanding documentary.

POTUS Nominates Traitor to the First Circuit

Senator Rand Paul wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times yesterday, where he expressed concerns over "David J. Barron, a Harvard law professor and a former acting assistant attorney general," who apparently wrote legal memos while working for the DOJ in support of assassinating Americans without charge or trial away from a battlefield.

Senator Paul brings up the most important topic in American history, and yet a topic that nobody really wants to discuss.

I think it is important to note that David J. Barron is, quite literally, a traitor to the United States if he did in fact support the assassination of American citizens using drones.

Our Constitution in Article III defines treason as:

"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."

 
What are American citizens, but those who created the States, the people of those States.  Levying war against the States means levying war against the People.  Is it war on the People when you target and kill just one?  How about a couple?  What about just Americans in one town, or State?  Or just Americans of a certain viewpoint?

Signing a legal memo to justify using a weapon of warfare...let me repeat that, a weapon of war employing air to ground missiles and laser guided bombs, against the People, one or many, is a textbook definition of treason.

David J. Barron is an enemy of the American people.

It is amazing how far this nation has fallen, where the most paradigmatic anti-American act of treason is shrugged off by the populace.  But it is what it is.  I read the other day that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, while those who do are doomed to watch those around them repeat it.  And so it goes.

And we will most certainly repeat it.  We are 1930s Germany at this very moment in time, and once our judiciary gets filled with the likes of Ernest Janning, and our benches are populated with traitors the likes of Barron, who cheerlead for unchecked and unconstitutional government power at every turn (including the most frightening fascist example, as in the case of assassination), then there will be no hope left for the American people.

The experiment will have run its course.  This isn't hyperbole.  This is our reality.

Reflections & Gratitude

Recently an enlisted troop wrote a letter to the Air Force Times, Why I Won't Re-enlist.  It kicked off some discussion, and it was well written and valuable.  A retired Command CMSgt then wrote an article in response to the Air Force Times, Why He Can't Re-enlist.  That kicked off further discussion.  The Chief's article had some merit to it, but took some real liberties in its negative characterization of the first writer in order to make its points.  Straw man or not, he did bring up a good point about service and benefits.  Got me thinking about the ability to serve, and collecting benefits, and I realized how incredibly fortunate I have been in my career on both accounts.

Today as I was flying 300 miles an hour across a sea of cotton ball clouds that extended as far as the eye could see, I thought to myself, "Damn, life is good."  I know that's not the case for every airman who serves, and I certainly know it hasn't always been rainbows and gummy bears even for me.  I bear the scars to prove it.  But like any hard fought and survived episode, even the scars are highly rewarding.  They are scars of service and they come with some pretty awesome bar stories.  Real service is very rewarding, but it often comes with a price.

After I landed earlier today from my sortie, I started to ponder how wonderful life is for me even after eighteen years in the military.  It's still damn fun!  Last week I flew a low level over some terrain and then popped into an airfield where I screamed up initial in my aircraft, broke at the approach end of the runway, threw out the speed brake, gear down, flaps, and made a nice tight tactical three hundred and sixty degree turn to a beautiful touch and go.  Then off I went, after no doubt making some civilian kids and pilots at the airfield think, "cool!"  My career has mostly been fun and rewarding.  There is only one assignment I have had that suffered from horrible leadership, that wasn't salvaged by jumping in a flying machine.  Even that assignment was highly rewarding, though, because I took it upon myself to serve.  Scars.  Bar stories.

When I look back upon my entire life, the reality is that the Air Force has been amazing to me from day one.  The taxpayer has been generous to me.  I've had more than my share of fist fights and a few knife fights, but it has been a glorious ride all the same.  I am reminded of my old man voicing gratitude for everything the military had provided him; the opportunity to work hard and be rewarded for it.  But his hard work didn't benefit him alone, it also benefited me.  As a kid I received a world class real-life education as a dependent, lived around the world, and I had the benefit of an education that many kids aren't fortunate enough to get.  I also had the benefit of role models as I interacted with the military people in my world.  Our attitudes don't just shape those around us, they also shape the next generation of potential airmen.

That is something for us all to remember, regardless of where we are at in this organization, and regardless of what we think about the importance or insanity of mustache regulations.

The Air Force later funded much of a quality college education and then, of course, allowed me to commission and to fly phenomenal aircraft.  It allowed me to achieve a dream, and did so while paying me well.  I was able to visit many countries, and I was even able to kill quite a few who needed killing while visiting some of them.  And I was able to save American lives.  All very rewarding work.  I got to fly a variety of aircraft from nimble jets with ejection seats, to larger crew aircraft made for globe hopping.

The Air Force also introduced me to my wife, the most exceptional person I have ever met.  When I say that, please note that I don't mean that in the typical "my wife is so amazing" way most people say it.  I mean that she is truly amazing.  After ten years of marriage we have shared combat together overseas, and we have shared other battles for America here at home.  And we both continue to serve while wearing the Air Force uniform.

But there are also the benefits, including those the Chief asserts the first article writer was solely interested in.  The Air Force has been great in that arena, too, but of course as an officer I am much better paid than most of our enlisted folks.  The Air Force has allowed me to live cheaply, and comfortably, and to invest wisely.  Now, with two years left before collecting a generous pension for life, and with no debt, and with multiple paid off properties and other assets, my wife and and I get to spend those final two years on the beaches of Florida where we first met.  Me spending my days flying bad ass machines over the beach, and her working on her high powered corporate litigation.

The chance to serve, and the benefits received, have been very rewarding.  And now we are so very close to realizing an incredible life that most in this world will sadly never get to experience.

All made possible by the taxpayer funded United States Air Force.

But, in order to ensure our service continues to invoke such positive memories and gratitude from its airmen, we must ensure that it does not fail as an institution, and we must ensure that our leadership cares about service and people.  Mission and people. All of us in the trenches must call the baby ugly and take service oriented risks that may put our careers on the line, just as combat requires we put our lives on the line.  Service is important.  But if those below don't see those above actually serving... there is little chance they will do anything but look out for themselves and cast service aside.

Or perhaps they will serve anyway, despite those from above.  That causes friction.  It causes scarring.  Scars are evidence of service.

Air Force Poster Child Experiences Tyranny in America

I was moved watching Air Force Captain Nicolas Aquino's video above, where our United States Air Force had him make a video about the cyber warfare career field, and where he discussed how important freedom was to him.  He shares that he is a first generation American, and that his father was arrested by the military in Paraguay and his family was then exiled from the country.

The Naval Post Graduate student was living in Monterey, California when a neighbor called the police on him for "suspicious" activity.  The problem is Captain Aquino was on his own property, in his own house, when his suspicious activity was called into the police.

When the cop showed up, Captain Aquino identified himself, provided ID, and informed the officer that he lived in the house.  That didn't keep him from being taken to the ground in a choke hold by the cop, and it didn't keep Captain Aquino from later having a warrant for his arrest issued.

According to a local NBC affiliate, the sheriff's deputy reported that he subdued Captain Aquino because he was not being cooperative.  Aquino was then charged solely with "resisting arrest."  Tyranny in the modern police force can be easily seen by asking two simple questions.  Cooperating with what and why?  And resisting arrest for what?

A nation that empowers armed men to arrest anybody who doesn't cooperate with any demand, is not a free nation.  The sheriff wrote in his arrest report that he considered pulling his weapon on Captain Aquino.

Captain Aquino was told by the Naval Post Graduate School that he could not return to class until he got this matter sorted out with the local police.

I believe Captain Aquino is well on his way to learning that tyranny is alive and well in the United States, and that the evidence increasingly shows that we are not served and protected by our law enforcement or the men with guns to include our military, but rather we Americans are increasingly occupied by them.  We are an occupied people.

The good news?  Freedom, like the video above says, is not free.  It's not free because it takes great Americans and great officers to put skin in the game to continually earn it for themselves and for others.  I hope Captain Aquino is ready to go the distance, though if he does I predict he will learn about the character of his peers in uniform.  He will learn how his words are valued when they come to reinforcing the illusion of character, but if he continues to go the distance he will learn that making those words a reality is not condoned.  I hope I am wrong.

One thing I am sure he has learned, is how easy it is for the police state to leverage your military service against you, while they violate your rights.

The Constituion in Crisis

With all the things going on today, this 1987 PBS piece from Bill Moyers, "The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis" is illuminating.  It's interesting to note how "The Enterprise" has grown.  While this video is well worth watching, I hope military officers will not throw up their hands.  Rather, I hope they will find the resolve to ensure that, unlike Lt Col Oliver North, they are steadfast to our Constitution and our nation rather than oath breakers who simply look like patriots when in uniform.

This video should be required for all military officers.  When those above, even the president, order you to violate the Constitution, you have a duty to disobey.

This lesson is more important today than it was in the 1980s.

Operation Just Kidding & Air Force Bankruptcy

UPDATE:  The Air Force was quick to do the right thing.  Good on our service leadership.

Reports are now flowing of multiple individuals who were granted early retirement (TERA) only to be told days later, that a mistake was made, and that they are not actually approved to retire after all.

This in the service that preaches people and resiliency, and excellence in all we do, and is struggling with suicide in the ranks.  The situation in the service has deteriorated to the point where normally risk averse people are screaming on social media and demanding accountability.  They are asking why nobody has been fired over the embarrassing force management incompetence.

The force management program was unleashed upon airmen immediately prior to the Christmas break.  Some thought the timing was a sick joke, but leadership explained it was done to give airmen the ability to share information with their families, and to be armed and able to make tough life decisions.

Since that initial release last year, the service has issued conflicting guidance, changed guidance, removed guidance and taken a "strategic pause."  In that time, airmen have been denied voluntary programs for spurious reasons.  For example, several continued majors with more than fifteen years have been told they were ineligible for TERA due to active duty service commitments, despite clear force management guidance that stated commitments and year groups did not apply to continued officers.

Most airmen, however, remain in the dark about their status as the service blows through deadline after deadline.

And now, after the pauses, the changes and the mayhem, Operation Just Kidding has been launched like a cherry on top of an incompetence sundae.  Airmen are being told that their retirement approvals were mistakes, and told they are no longer approved to retire.  One can only imagine the stress in their households.

The psychological roller coaster ride would likely rival Six Flags.

One lesson is no doubt clear to airmen.  Their service preaches excellence, but can't get basic bean counting right.  Their service preaches accountability and gives them an Article 15 for missing a doctor's appointment, but doesn't punish those in charge who damage mission and people for years to come.  The biggest lesson is that the Air Force cannot be trusted at its word, and you cannot take anything the service says, even the important stuff, at face value.

The incompetence is staggering.  The Air Force is legendary as the service of managers rather than combat leaders.  It's the home of bean counters.  Carl Builder describes the Air Force wing in the Pentagon as projecting almost corporate power similar to a Fortune 500 company.  And yet the service, armed with databases and codes and flags, and spreadsheet software is unable to make basic force management programs work.  Why is that?

As a side note, years ago I tackled a cultural comparison of Enron and the Air Force in my master's thesis.  It raises some interesting questions and is worth a read, I think.

I feel bad for the airmen and their families having to endure this goat rope.  But mostly I'm embarrassed and concerned.  I'm concerned, because this debacle has ensured skilled airmen will run for any door they think leads out of the service (even if it turns out to be an entrance into a labyrinth), and talent will gush from our ranks for decades.  Like a service in shock, where the blood gushes from the body leaving the remaining blood to try to keep vital organs from dying.

Sadly, what once used to be a "sinking ship" portrayal of only a particular squadron or two, is now the way many people paint the entire service.

People will not stay past their initial commitments, and this will lead to manning and capability challenges far into the future.

As people run for the doors, like creditors and investors running from Enron, the house of cards begins to crumble and the result is not good.

Good luck to airmen now and in the future.  I hope somebody in the chain agrees that telling people no, right after you told them yes, is absolutely unacceptable.  Reverse this.  Let them go then correct your vector and stop embarrassing us.

Insane Base Policy Endangers Service Members

Another tragedy unfolded at Fort Hood today, as one or more individuals with weapon(s) shot multiple individuals.  I don't know the details, the motivation, and I will not speculate.  I will, however, note that Fort Hood, like every military installation I have encountered, does not allow military members to carry weapons onto base in their vehicles.

This story demonstrates, as such shootings always do in "gun free" zones, the simple truth that criminals are not deterred with weapon bans.  When an active shooter situation occurs, such dangerous and backward policies only succeed in leaving innocent Americans disarmed and vulnerable.  Such ridiculous base policies nearly guarantee that the body count of dead and injured innocent Americans during such tragedies, will be higher than would be the case if service members could protect themselves when tragedy strikes.

It is incredibly unfortunate that Americans are not allowed to exercise their second amendment right to keep and bear arms, a right that shall not be infringed.  But it is a right infringed routinely in America.  Even for military members, engaged in the business of lethality and defending their nation.

Service members in Texas, like everybody else, can carry weapons in their vehicles anywhere in that state without so much as a permit or license.  But they must remember to take their constitutionally protected tools of defense out of their vehicles when they go to work to Fort Hood, or Randolph, or Lackland, or Dyess, or Laughlin, or Sheppard, or NAS Corpus Christi, and other locations across the nation.  They must then hope that they and their family members are not murdered by those who do not disarm when they go through the gate.

It is a sad irony that a military installation is so dangerous to innocent Americans.  Shelter in place is not a solution, anymore than a herd of antelope freezing deters a lion.  It is insane.

Policies that disarm service members and their families on military installations are stupid, unconstitutional, and life threatening.  They need to be ended immediately by every installation commander who cares about the lives of his or her service members and their families.

It's a real shame the first Fort Hood massacre didn't make that clear.