Bouhammer's Military Blog

A blog about Military Issues, Afghanistan, and everything in between

Military presence deal in Afghanistan faltering

Efforts to forge a deal that will govern the American military presence in Afghanistan beyond a planned U.S troop withdrawal in 2014 are faltering, current and former Afghan officials said on Monday.

They said obstacles include disputes over the transfer of American-run detention centers, night raids and quarrels within the Afghan president’s inner circle that led one of his top advisers to threaten to resign.

Good, we don’t need to worry about being there any longer. We are already going to fund their military and corrupt government for years with Billions a year in taxpayer dollars. We have moved the bus, given them a tour and now it is time to hand them the keys and let them live in what was built. They can either destroy it or make it better….their choice.

Read the whole story at www.wavy.com/dpp/military/afg-officials-us-troop-deal-faltering

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Spring 2012 Rotation of new units to Afghanistan announced

DOD announced new units today which will be rotating in over the next few months. There are a few things I have noticed over the last few rotations announcements. No more National Guard units being activated and deployed and what seems to be a lot more higher headquarters and not as many trigger-pullers.

In my humble opinion, the last thing Afghanistan needs is more people running around looking for uniform violations and seeing who is wearing a reflective belt or not. They need more guys willing to go “outside the wire” and do the hard job that needs to be done.

Aw well, I guess that is why they don’t allow senior NCOs to become Generals…

DOD Identifies Units for Upcoming Afghanistan Rotation

The Department of Defense announced today three major units to deploy as part of the upcoming rotation of forces operating in Afghanistan. The Spring 2012 scheduled rotation involves one corps headquarters with more than 500 personnel; one division headquarters with more than 700 personnel; and a brigade combat team with more than 3,000 personnel to include:

Headquarters units:

V Corps Headquarters, Wiesbaden, Germany

1st Infantry Division Headquarters, Fort Riley, Kan.

Brigade Combat Team:

4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

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Now I know why

Make Kony Famous, that is the goal of this mega-viral video on You Tube. A Video that was first released March 4th. That was 4 days ago. It now has over 26 million views. Yes 26 million in 4 days is remarkable. I had seen multiple friends of mine share it on Facebook and had planned to go watch it, but this morning a good friend of mine sent me the link so I finally watched it.

Yes it is 30 minutes long, but you will become more educated in that 30 minutes then you will watching just about any of the crap on TV today if you watched TV for 24 hours.

I had never heard of Kony, however I did know about the deployment of US Special Forces soldiers to Uganda last year. I knew it had to be for a reason, and a good one for the President to authorize it, but I had no idea how important of a reason. We have Special Forces soldiers deployed all over the world, all the time helping countries deal with security situations, most of which we never hear about or know the details of.

Thanks to this video, now we do. Please take a moment, actually take 30 minutes and watch this video. At the end, you decide if you want to get involved or not.

 

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God Speed to a Warrior and a Milblogger-UPDATED

The news was starting to break last night as we wrapped up our You Served Radio show. However due to wanting to make sure the family was notified and the rumors didn’t spread until after all the rights things were done, the milblogging community kept it to ourselves.

This morning I would like to give my thoughts and prayers to the family and friends  (of which there are many) to retired TOPGUN pilot US Navy Capt. Carroll LeFon, also known as Neptunus Lex.

Since retirement Carroll had been a contractor flying “OPFOR” aircraft for young budding Navy pilots to learn and hone their skills. Yesterday he was killed doing what he loved most, flying.

You can learn more about “Lex”, and see some of his writings on his blog at www.neptunuslex.com/

God Speed Brother. You will be missed by many…those that knew you personally and those who knew you through your writing. A great voice has been silenced. See you on the other side.

UPDATE-There are many on the interwebs who are honoring Capt. LeFon today. Here is a running list as I get them of some of those tributes and remembrance posts.

cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2012/03/neptunus-lex-thank-you-and-farewell.html

www.thedonovan.com/archives/2012/03/there_is_a_univ.html

www.thedonovan.com/archives/2012/03/we_were_blogger.html

instapinch.com/?p=1970

blog.usni.org/2012/03/07/pardon-him-theodotus-neptunus-lex-carroll-lefon/

www.susankatzkeating.com/2012/03/neptunus-lex-1960-2012.html

milblogging.com/index.php?entry=entry120307-062547

www.woodshed.steveambrose.net/2012/03/07/dont-blink/

blog.usni.org/2012/03/07/a-remarkable-man-has-stepped-into-the-clearing-captain-carroll-lefon-usn-ret-1960-2012/

aw1tim.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/one-of-our-own/

homefrontsix.blogspot.com/2012/03/fair-winds-and-following-seas.html

grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2012/03/sic-transit-lex.html

tcoverride.blogspot.com/

www.thesniper.us/?p=9644

fuzzilicious.blogspot.com/2012/03/hole-in-our-world.html

 http://steeljawscribe.com/2012/03/07/ave-atque-vale

soldiersangels.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=1017&cntnt01returnid=15

www.thesandgram.com/2012/03/07/carroll-lex-lefon-you-are-cleared-due-west/

www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fthanlont.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F03%2Fwell-that-sucks.html&h=mAQGOXCmN 

www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Flignesdedefense.blogs.ouest-france.fr%2Farchive%2F2012%2F03%2F07%2Fcrash-d-un-chasseur-kfir-de-la-smp-atac-le-pilote-a-ete-tue.html&h=rAQEJmzBf

johncarmichaels.typepad.com/carmichaels_position/2012/03/talk-among-yourselves.html

tailhookdaily.typepad.com/tailhook_daily_briefing/2012/03/neptunus-lex.html

soldiersangelsgermany.blogspot.com/2012/03/fair-winds-lex.html

pebbledrops.blogspot.com/2012/03/mourning.html

boudicca.mu.nu/archives/327294.html

battleland.blogs.time.com/2012/03/08/life-and-death-on-the-fringe/

www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2012/03/lex.html

And many more can be found at

tcoverride.blogspot.com/2012/03/remembering-lex.html

 

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A blog for you to read TODAY!

I have stumbled across a milblog that reminds me of the hundreds that used to exists in 2004-2008. It is from the front, it is raw, it is cold, but it is truth. I came across it via The Sandbox and am glad I did. David Stanford over at the Sandbox is doing a great job perusing the internet finding what few milblogs are still out there.

There has been a lot of talk recently on milblogs and mainstream sites about where milblogs have gone. While there are many that have disappeared for various reasons, it is refreshing to find little gems like the WarBird Doctor Diaries out there still putting out the truth from the front lines.

There are thousands of followers of this blog and for that I am always grateful. You are the reason why I still write. However, many became fans of this blog while I was deployed, giving those front-line dispatches.

If you are missing that current and raw look into the war on terror, check out warbirddoctor.blogspot.com/ and give it a read. As you can tell from the title, he is an Army doctor and provides you with a perspective that only those who provide the much needed and critical care know about.

So take some time and check it out. In his latest dispatch “Speechless…” you will probably walk away speechless yourself. I don’t want to give that blog entry contents away, but I do want to highlight a great closing paragraph he wrote. It is below.

It seems many back in the U.S. individuals support the troops in various degrees. Some offer gratitude, nods and handshakes, and others are active in supporting our troops through their time sending care packages, writing letters, knitting hats, and making a difference in a soldiers world both in theater and back in the United States. I don’t want to rain on someone’s proverbial parade but if you aren’t going to take an active part in making a difference in our troops lives don’t bother with the handshakes, nods and superficial forms of gratitude; we know your happy in your comfortable world where you don’t have to risk everything for a nation that we as soldiers care so much for. The last thing freedom needs is to be cheapened by superficiality. Everyone has the opportunity to make a difference. You can shy away into your protected corner or spread your wings and let freedom ring loud and clear. The choice is yours. God bless America, and all individuals who seek freedom.

Go now and read warbirddoctor.blogspot.com/

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Joyriding or Theft?

Two Army vehicles equipped with highly classified technology used to jam deadly roadside bombs were stolen from under the noses of soldiers on a military base in Afghanistan.

The vehicles — both black up-armored Toyota Land Cruisers outfitted with life-saving CREW Duke electronic jamming systems — vanished in January from Camp Eggers in Kabul, according to a notice on Army Criminal Investigation Command’s website.

The vehicles would be “priceless” to an enemy, who might attempt to reverse-engineer the jammer or use the vehicles to launch a Trojan horse-style attack, said Christopher O’Gara, a former official with the national security division of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and a retired Reserve colonel.

Oh this is just GREAT news, NOT! Of all the things to lose, they lose two DUKE systems and the vehicles they were in? On Camp Eggers of all places, which has almost as many field grade officers as the Pentagon. So which idiot didn’t lock up the keys?

Two key fobs that belonged to the vehicles were stolen from the supply room of the 26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Base Support Group, on Jan. 7, and sometime between Jan. 7 and Jan. 8, both vehicles were stolen.

Continue reading →

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