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H&I* Fires, 23 JAN 2007

January 23, 2007 | | Comments (35)

Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite. [Hey - trackbacks work again!]

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“Military service, particularly in combat arms units, is something akin to a religious experience. But to an outsider who has never slogged through the mud with an M-16 rifle or winged an F-18 Hornet up into the stratosphere, such a comparison might seem nothing more than hyperbole. And if not hyperbole, perhaps something that edges close to a bridging – thus a violation – of the separation between church and state.”

Is there a connection between Spirituality and “The Brotherhood”? I wouldn’t know. I’m a Normal.

I always love how people cherry pick stuff to justify doing the wars they want and denounce the wars they don’t. [Armorer's note: The author of the article Ry links to obviously has no understanding of what the situation in Iraq was like, from a looming internal disaster perspective - a point that reinforces what Ry said]

Two words that shouldn’t go together but somehow do: hockey and strategy. (And in case you’re wondering what they mean by 5th Gen go here, and maybe read Neither Shall the Sword.)

There's lots of ways this can be interpreted: "Al Qaeda deputy to U.S.: If we are killed, you will be killed"
---ry

[Ry - this is a particularly toothsome set of links. Well done, boyo! -the Armorer]
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This is an interesting post over at (koff) the Huffington Post. Strip out the guy's bias, and there is useful info in there. If it *is* how he sees the elites at Davos seeing it, I don't see that as a bad thing. More people stepping up to the plate and succeeding, consequently with more to lose by failing, will perhaps raise up more people to shoulder the burden, and consequently lessen ours, whether through sharing or via regional leadership. No doubt the entrenched powers in the realm of politics and economics won't like it - but there is potential for goodness in there. Rising tides, and all that. Hey, I'm a blogger! We Rule! We Own the Media! How come I didn't get invited? 8^) -the Armorer

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For those who follow it - Carnival of the Recipes (full of diabetic-friendly recipes this time) is available at, oddly enough, Diabetic Recipes! -the Armorer

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Raising TRICARE fees - it's baaaaack! As we knew it would be. For what it's worth - though I don't care for more than doubling it overnight, essentially, the fact that the fee structure hasn't changed in 10 years is rather unrealistic. As I said before - I think lumping *all* officer retirees in one group is unfair to the company grade retirees. If *I* were King for a Day, I would make some breaks in the officer ranks, as we did the enlisted. Company Grade/WO1-CW2 - same as the senior enlisted (most of those guys retired pay is roughly equivalent to the Senior Enlisted retired pay band), Field Grade/CW3-CW5 - the current proposed cost, and Flag Officer - whatever, but more than the Field Grades are paying. That seems fair to me. -the Armorer

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Judging from my sitemeter data, the Discount Mats people are probably not all that happy. -the Armorer

UPDATE: Wolfwalker links to an article on it in the comments, and Blackfive also highlights more media coverage.

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Hello everyone. It's not often that I get to kill two birds with one stone. For Ry is sure to be tickled pink, and aggravate Mr. Tuttle with his slow connection. Ahhh! The joys of SF6 - BOQ

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And the culture leaves me farther and farther behind. I haven't seen *most* of the Oscar-nominated movies. That didn't used to be true. Aherm. Ponderponderponder. -the Armorer

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*A term of art from the artillery. Harassment and Interdiction Fires.

Back in the day, when you could just kill people and break things without a note from a lawyer, they were pre-planned, but to the enemy, random, fires at known gathering points, road junctions, Main Supply Routes, assembly areas, etc - to keep the bad guy nervous that the world around him might start exploding at any minute.

Not really relevant to today's operating environment, right? But, it *is*

The UAVs we fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for targets of opportunity are a form of H&I fires, if you really want to parse it finely. We just have better sensors and fire control now.

I call the post that because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to. It's also an open trackback, so if (Don Surber uses it this way a lot) someone has a post they're proud of, but it really isn't either Castle kind of stuff, or topical to a particular post, I've basically given blanket permission to use that post for that purpose. Another term of art that might be appropriate is "Free Fire Zone".

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35 Comments

By BillT on January 23, 2007 6:14 AM
Chaplains assigned to my Jersey Guard outfit usually stayed put for six to ten years, so we got to know one another pretty well. One of them asked me why she (yup, a couple of them were Ladies) seldom saw me at Sunday services. Well, that's simple -- as an IP, I was invariably flying with a stoont or on a live mission, so my answer was, "Don't fret, Chappy-Ma'am, whenever I strap in, I'm even closer to God than you are." She liked that answer a lot. In Vietnam, our Chaplain was a Jesuit by trade and a Green Beanie Colonel by profession. We'd fly him around to all the B-Camps on Sunday and he'd show up at the aircraft with full battle-rattle, including two frags, a Randall Bowie, M1911 and a CAR-15 with six mags. One morning between stops I asked him if he'd ever converted any VC with all that weaponry and he told me, "Nope, but I've put the fear of God into a couple of 'em..."
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 23, 2007 7:00 AM
Is there a connection between Spirituality and “The Brotherhood”? I wouldn’t know. I’m a Normal. Well, the ranks of the military are more religious than the general population, true even before the war started. But yes, many of the things that bind soldiers together are the same things bind believers, for the same basic human reasons. You'll find it's true in the First Responder community, as well. It's that whole death thing.
 
By FbL on January 23, 2007 7:20 AM
It's that whole death thing. I've long thought (from my observer position) that there may also be another factor at work: that for those in Western combat arms (and first responder) traditions, religion is a way to hold on to the best of humanity and its potential for good in circumstances/requirements that are sometimes so much in the other direction. I also think there's a strong streak of idealism among people in these lines of work, and so religion (with its calls for a better individual and a better world) is naturally appealing... which (paradoxically) also breeds the "old-soldier cynic" who is disappointed and jaded by a world that has fallen so short of his ideals. So guys, am I wandering in the wilds of conjecture and projection here, or is this reasonable analysis?
 
By BillT on January 23, 2007 8:14 AM
...the "old-soldier cynic" who is disappointed and jaded by a world that has fallen so short of his ideals. Us old soldiers are generally cynical because we see the fallacies inherent in the continuous chirping that "all men are essentially good -- just good within their own frame of reference." Not that we deny there's good in mankind as a whole, it's just that a huge number of us've seen people cheerfully perform works of absolute, unmitigated evil for no other reason than to advance what is, in essence, an opinion -- and the cultural relativists who refuse to recognize that evil for what it is are usually the ones who encourage those people and those works. Heh. How's *that* for a sentence? To be kinda zen about it, while the relativists are vocally admiring the shiny paper and colorful bows, us dinosaurs are quietly looking straight at the dogsh*t contents of the package...
 
By BloodSpite on January 23, 2007 8:25 AM
I must add to Bill's excellent run down by saying that please don't forget, as soldiers we're sent off to work doing some grand deed for god country and apple pie by those lofty white towered individuals who win their place through speeches laced with what they will do to improve our world as a whole. Then we watch them tear it to pieces come the next ballot run. Support, while a fickle thing, is to say that we watch our best work undone by those who tell us to do it.
 
By FbL on January 23, 2007 8:33 AM
I like the Zen version description of the phenomenon best. :)
 
By FbL on January 23, 2007 8:37 AM
...a huge number of us've seen people cheerfully perform works of absolute, unmitigated evil. I hope I was clear that that's what I was referring to with "a world that has fallen so short of his ideals." Most only read about it, but so many of you have seen it first-hand...
 
By wolfwalker on January 23, 2007 8:41 AM
Changing tacks entirely, there's an update to the Discount Mats story. Via Snopes.com, I found a news report with new information. The company says the rude email was the work of a "rogue employee," who has since been fired. Snopes also says that the company has been buried under an avalanche of angry calls and emails, and that (regrettably) many of the calls and emails have been vicious or downright threatening. It also seems that the publicized address and phone number are actually those of the owner's residence, where he lives with his parents.
 
By JimC on January 23, 2007 8:46 AM
I would remind folks that for over 500 years the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem, later of Rhodes and later still of Malta were at the forefront of the defense of the West and they were warrior monks. Despite the recent, in historical terms anyway, trashing of their reputation; the Knights Templar gave a good account of themselves as warrior monks. And that just names the two most well known orders of warrior monks. Other religions produce warrior monks as well so I would suggest that among those that deal in death and destruction there is a spiritual connection. That spiritual connection is not always to the good side.
 
By FbL on January 23, 2007 8:56 AM
Maybe I'm being unduly skeptical, but it's what's between the lines in that news article wolfwalker links that caught my attention. The company is owned by Faisel, who says the "rogue employee was fired." But the company address and phone number are the same as Faisel's parents with whom he lives. So... how likely is it that he has an actual employee? Add to it that Ramzan (Faisel's father) is obviously speaking for the company, but there is no mention of his official role in it. And Faisel says he and his wife support the troops... but no mention of his son's opinion. And Ramzan's direct quotes about the "rogue employee" seem to imply he has no idea who that employee is. His son runs a business so small this it uses his parents' and his home address, but father doesn't know who that employee is? Like I said, maybe I'm too skeptical, but I just don't buy it. Faisel (company owner) wrote that email. I'd bet money on it.
 
By FbL on January 23, 2007 9:05 AM
And there's more that crosses my mind about Faisel's demographic (first generation from immigrant parents, living situation, etc.,) and the pronouns used in the offending email that are of interest, but I'm getting into libelous territory. [edited for clarity]
 
By FbL on January 23, 2007 10:13 AM
Okay, I take back the assumptions about the size of the company. There is apparently conflicting information out there. Blackfive has another article that says Faisel Khatani is a co-owner, and omeone identified as a company VP is quoted.
 
By Dan tdaxp on January 23, 2007 10:31 AM
Thanks for the link! The Hockey / 5GW post is also crosslinked at Dreaming 5th Generation War.
 
By Jim Jacobus on January 23, 2007 11:41 AM
Could someone send me the e-mail address for Army Sgt. Jason Hess. I would like to talk to him about the sleeping pad requirements. I'm a scout leader for Pack 207 and Troop 207, and I would like to see what we can do to help. Many of us use self-inflating air mattresses when camping, with many models being very light. Maybe he could use that type. I would like to bring this issue up tomorrow at our committee meeting. Don't know where it will go, but I would like to try. If I could get just 25% of the parents to purchase one, we could end up with about 30 to ship. Thank you. Jim Jacobus [email deleted so Mr. Jacobus doesn't get hit by spambots] Cumming, GA
 
By Casey Tompkins on January 23, 2007 11:42 AM
First, what the frack is a "Normal?" ;) Second, not all soldiers are necessarily virtuous, even good ones. Take the French Foreign Legion, for example, or the condottieri. Don't feel too bad, John, I haven't seen any of the Oscar nominees either, but a couple seem to be pretty good. The trailer to Venus (Peter O'Toole, best actor) looked interesting, and I very much intend to catch Pursuit of Happyness. By all accounts Dreamgirls is an excellent adaptation. Still, I note that the movies cited are ones most normal people will never had heard of. Whoops, I tell a lie; Sacha Baron Cohen was nominated for best adapted screenplay. Yes, it's for Borat. Feh. Will Smith should get best actor this time around, if there's any justice; or at least give it to O'Toole; but they'll probably hand it off to Forest Whitaker. After all, who doesn't love a homocidal cannibal? Best Picture will be Letters from Iwo Jima, best acress will be Helen Mirran, The Queen, best supporting actor Alan Arkin, best supporting actress Cate Blanchett, and Eastwood for best director. Happy Feet will get the nod for best animated film.
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 23, 2007 1:05 PM
Well, I do confess to having seen Little Miss Sunshine, and Arkin did a fine job.
 
By Cricket on January 23, 2007 1:09 PM
Yeah, I clicked on the link to the CNN story of the finger wagging persyn. If we secure them, they in return 'might' secure us. In the Arab world it is all about nuance. We were not secure when 9-11 happened, but we are better equipped to stop an attack in our country than they are. Let us review: We are fighting overseas. They are not fighting here unless they are using the legal system to do so (see pig farmer in Texas story) and sneaking across our leaky borders. We can still carry arms in this country. We also have a huge pool of military veterans who are vigilant. There are other things I am sure, but being rather not informed, let me just say that we are not fighting in the streets of our cities. Not that it is enough, but for now, it shows our resolve.
 
By Cricket on January 23, 2007 1:15 PM
Um...first responders would be cops, emergency rescue types like firefighters and so forth? If they are, I will say they are religious. I am sure in their lines of work they have seen the best and the worst of the human condition and all layers in between. I also think they have seen miracles that defied the best minds of man to analyze, which proves to them there is a Divine Presence. Having been rescued and having a trooper tell me there was no way that the laws of physics should have been abated, I will say no more. Some things should be kept private.
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 23, 2007 1:23 PM
Mr Jacobus (and others)- two things. 1. I removed your email address from the comment. This will save you from having your email address harvested by spambots. Trust me, you wanted me to do that. 2. I forwarded your note to Sergeant Hess. I have no idea if you'll get a response or not, I'm sure he's being swamped right now...! The only email I have for him is his .mil email address, I'm not going to give that out. I'll let him choose to do that or use a different one. I'm doing that as a courtesy to Sergeant Hess. Cheers, The Armorer Casey - Normals... all people not like us, us being defined as military/first responder types. People who live more mainstream lives, and don't ponder issues of life and death on a routine basis, outside of the normal, usually family-driven ones everybody has to confront.
 
By MajMike on January 23, 2007 2:14 PM
Scoutmaster Jacobus: dang, you got yourself a big troop. John: that brings to mind an interesting corollary. i wonder how many of us mil types have/had some type of involvement with Scouting. "belief" is one keystone of the whole program. i'm an Asst Scoutmaster (of a much smaller troop), and when i read (nighly) the obit clips of our fallen in my local paper, i have been struck by the percentage of them that have a blurb such as "..was an Eagle Scout." just wondering.
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 23, 2007 3:01 PM
I was a Scout, though my troop died while I was a project short of Eagle. So I'm just a lifer.
 
By Laurie on January 23, 2007 3:08 PM
On the topic of award winning movies... Most of those nominated are never the blockbusters, or the popular things people want to go see for entertainment. Go to imdb and pull up the lists of awards winners versus highest grossing movies. They are usually poles apart. So, yeah, like those award winning movies might be okay, but who would know, we're not paying to see them. LOL!
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 23, 2007 3:41 PM
On a note of pure trivia - Laurie left comment number 36,000 at Castle Argghhh!, on entry 3,389, maintaining the average of 10 comments per post. Heh. I remember, before Bill arrived to wake things up, that if this place had 10 comments in a day that was a *huge* day. We are pleased with the general quality of our commenters, their good manners, and pretty much troll-free environment. For that, the management thanks you profusely.
 
By Cricket on January 23, 2007 3:54 PM
You can still get yer Eagle. One other question: IF this bidness is anti war, well, being good Americans and having freedom of choice, of course Mr. Faisel is allowed to discriminate against his customers. However, (this is the mean spirited chess player) I think someone ought to check to see if Mr. Faisal is legitimately here in this country, along with his 'rogue' employee. Just saying...
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 23, 2007 4:04 PM
You can still get yer Eagle. Reeeely? I'd look odd in the uniform. And I rather suspect that the Armorer's Father deep-sixed such records as existed as to a merit-badge count, etc. I do remember seeing my Life Scout badge somewhere, though.
 
By MajMike on January 23, 2007 4:26 PM
i never made it past Webelo myself, but had a number of Eagles for classmates and realized then what i had missed out on. making up for it vicariously now thru my first born, and being the Asst Scoutmaster who always seems to end up being the one to coach 'em all on map reading, fieldcraft, and marching in the parades.
 
By BillT on January 23, 2007 4:50 PM
I've got a nice collection of mugs and patches from the various troops "down the shore." By the time I was finished the fly-in classes on navigatin', communicatin' and aviatin' the kids usually cinched the badge. Movies? Geez. Lessee -- ummm -- is Jaws up for any awards?
 
By Maggie on January 23, 2007 6:47 PM
So, I'm a "normal"? Hehehe On the Oscar nominations, I saw "Departed" (DiPaahhdid) after all it's about my people, lol. Wanna know something scary? I was a den mother. Think on that for a while. Yep. There are six guys out there (19, 20, 21) whose young minds, I molded, LOL!
 
By BillT on January 23, 2007 8:04 PM
So you were a den mother last year, then? Wondered why you seemed so distracted at times...
 
By Laurie on January 23, 2007 11:23 PM
On a note of pure trivia - Laurie left comment number 36,000 at Castle Argghhh!, on entry 3,389, maintaining the average of 10 comments per post Wow, this is the first notable thing that has happened since.... since.... well, I guess since I posted the Where's Noonan cartoon. ;)
 
By Cricket on January 24, 2007 4:59 AM
If you have all the required merit badges and had nothing left but the project I don't see why not. Take it up with the local council. I was told that if Jonathan had had all the requirements in place but the project he would have been awarded it. We went over his stuff and he lacked one merit badge and the rank. The Engineer was an assistant to the 11 year old scouts. He taught them map reading, navigation and marching as well as the proper way to treat the flag and have flag ceremonies. Our sons are always asked to do the flag ceremonies at Eagle Courts of Honor and at scout camp. Wonder why.
 
By ry on January 24, 2007 6:00 AM
Crick, the aQ warning strikes me as the 'hissing cat defense'. Those boys are nervous is how I read it. Of course, there's lots of ways to parse this. But that's the way I do.
 
By Cricket on January 24, 2007 7:56 AM
Of course they're nervous, but the nuance even *if* we keep our word, they *might* or *might* not. It is the dual standard too, of them not signing the Geneva accords but then screaming foul because we don't? But how we treat them is in accordance with the Geneva conventions. I just got through smacking a troll who wept crocodile tears because through a first hand account a terrorist suspect 'lost my mind' after having total sensory deprivation for a year. I don't think a year and I don't even thing a month. A couple of days, tops. Anyway, he was a typical whiner (from the EU) who admitted that the rapacious thuggery in Europe was a 'tiny minority,' and didn't seem to be too perturbed over gang rapes, riots and the bombings, citing us as the problem for all the ills of the Middle East. Well, we haven't had 'those problems' here from the Muslim community...more rather the use of our rules to try to 'get even.' That is why I want to invoke the rules and see if this mat merchant is here legitimately and if not, deport him. Not because he is Muslim. But because he is here illegally and like this AQ2, going to incite the Muslim community to make us apologize and back down.
 
By Oldloadr on January 24, 2007 9:42 AM
To segue off of Cricket: I know from my interaction in the middle-eastern culture that in the devout, fundamentalist Muslim’s way of seeing things; it is not immoral, unethical, or in any way wrong to lie to a non-Muslim. This, of course is backwards to Western thinking as we see a lie as reflecting on the one telling it, not the one hearing it. But then, that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to different ways of seeing life between them and us...
 
By Cricket on January 24, 2007 4:41 PM
Oh, when I said that on a religious political forum, I got yelled at because I said the same thing, only I used *deep breath here* the phrase "oriental as opposed to occidental customs." The ignorami that populated that forum thought I meant Asians. Sigh. Trying to explain to these calcium plated people what that meant was tiresome and difficult. I was calling everyone who lived in Asia a liar. Two people came to my rescue who had lived in the ME and in North Africa and said the same thing you did; they will lie to westerners because of how they are perceived. Then we have the AP story of six people being burned in front of a mosque. Please.
 
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