Comments for H&I* Fires, 18 FEB 2007

H&I* Fires, 18 FEB 2007

2007-02-19T05:58:03Z

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!]

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

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This is an old one, but a favorite of gollum’s. It also ties somewhat into the Rumsfeld discussion (http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/02/i_knew_i_didnt.html) as institutional knowledge existed about Arab culture, if one were to ask around a tad, so there was no real need for a plan to have cultural ignorance problems. I may be eating all of my thoughts on that thread.

deAtkine: Why Arab’s Lose Wars.
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Here is some good news on the military medicine front.

Here’s some really bad news coming in on that same front. Even if it turns out to be blown out of proportion, which I’m not saying it is, this is really wrong to be going on at Walter Reed.

J over at ArmchairGeneralist has some more on VA affairs that stink to high heaven.
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Update on contractors under fire for bad faith in Iraq: One gets 4 years of prison.
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We need something silly. I know. Weeblstuff: Death Kitty and the Fat Man.
ry

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Someone you should know - Bert Brady. H/t, Mike D.

This is fun - The Hind Dance. I like the eyes, and for some reason the little fan just tickles my funnybone. H/t, Strategy Page.

Again via Mike D - Powerline blogs and links to Congressman Johnson's speech during the House Debate on the Surge.

Way to go, Leftenant Wales! And yer Mum, too. -the Armorer

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Yesterday Lex put up one of his patented must-reads: How Democracies Perish. And on a much lighter note, he offers up an aviation "sea story" full of the "tender brotherly love" demonstrated by members of naval aviation's Junior Officer Protective Association... heehee! - FbL

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Drowning in Amenities: Soldier in Afghanistan proves Arkin's critique by posting a picture of his waterbed.

Yesterday seemed like a bad day for heart rending messages. A soldier wrote to an Angel that his friend had died and all he kept seeing on TV were close ups of Anna Nicole Smith. No one mentioned Afghanistan. He went on to say that she would be the movie of the week in no time and his friend will have been forgotten. I was pretty saddened by that. Then I grabbed myself by the bootstraps and thought what we should do. I wrote Let us rededicate our selves" because, after this message, the message from my friend in Iraq and the vote last week, it is clear we need to get motivated and get moving. Stand by for some thoughts on how we can send a giant message of support to our troops.

Finally, on a lighter note again, I thought I would mention that I was apparently #5 on a search engine request for "camouflage hijab". I don't know if that is good or bad. Probably bad, huh?

My number one referrer is the Castle of course (thank you John, denizennes and readers galore), running a decent second for referrals to my sight is a search on second amendment rights. Third highest referring link is a search for "Feminists Against Abortion". I figure, with all these excellent referrals from the three best links/searches you could ask for, I can forget how many times I've seen "camouflage hijab" in the last 24 hours. Right?
-kat

]]> *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".

Comment from ry on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T22:46:10Z

Fuzzy, thank you so much. I'm no leader. If this is left to me, on my lonesome, it'll fall apart, but it needs to get done. Feel free to hand out my email to people, Fuzz. That way you don't have to play operator.

Comment from FbL on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T15:48:41Z

OMG, I just read that second article. Unbelievable! And when you actually KNOW ABOUT some of the people they cover... talk about being able to slant a story. I don't have any reason to deny or disbelieve anything they describe (other than that this story is at least several months old), but the tone... the tone!! I swear, if I didn't know a thing about Malogne house and didn't know any wounded vets, I'd read this and couldn't help but conclude they're all a bunch of "combat-addled" (to quote the WaPo!) druggies who will ever make anything of their lives again!!!!! I'm so angry I can hardly see straight!!!!

Comment from FbL on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T15:27:16Z

Excellent points all the way around, MaryAnn. That's why I said I wanted to talk to some contacts. And I suspect you're right about the impact of the 2011 closure (no plans for refurbishment).

Comment from MaryAnn on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T12:06:45Z

The WaPo now have a second WR article up http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801335_pf.html Fixing Bldg 18 certainly is the most actionable item, and involving one of those "extreme makeover" groups is an excellent idea. But what I like about having "regular" people do the work is that the time spent at the facility could lead to relationships being made amongst the patients and staff.... which, in turn, could lead to the formation of some new type of patient advocacy group or program. Patient advocacy seems to be the biggest problem at medical facilities of all kinds, as I mentioned above. When my Dad had a stroke last December, I realized what a huge issue this is. My 78-year old Mom could never have managed the process alone. Getting back to the work on Bldg 18... what I've learned from having an ongoing presence at Landstuhl is that people gradually start turning to you, asking for assistance in filling gaps in the system. As you earn their trust by demonstrating you can get stuff done without going public about it or stepping on anyone's toes, those requests increase. However, even when operating "outside the system", it is crucial to respect the system and the staff. You will get nothing done if people feel you are going around them or showing them up. Volunteer work can be very political. I'm sure FbL knows what I'm talking about here. There is a Commander at each facility like this, and he/she needs to buy in to everything that happens. Commander and PAO. For all we know, there may already be plans to refurbish or replace Bldg 18. On the other hand, since WR is slated for closure in 2011, there may no longer be federal funding available for improvements. In that case they may be very open for assistance from the private sector.

Comment from FbL on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T11:50:47Z

They'll also be able to talk credibly about how things are today, not just how they were a yea ago (as the article does).

Comment from FbL on 2007-02-19

2007-02-19T11:49:35Z

Ry, I'm got contacts who have contacts at WR, if you know what I mean... I'll run this past them--they're likely to know how things really work.

Comment from ry on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T05:33:24Z

No, actually, that's a great idea. An angle I hadn't thought of before. I wonder if they have the budget for it though, and the legal requirements to be met. Now I need to make a list of people to contact on that too. I was thinking that we would go one of two routes if that doesn't work: 1) A large group(300+ people) that does the carpentry and painting in a week. 2) A small (10-30,rotating) group that does a room every couple of days---carpentry and painting both. BOth depend on what type of group get's put together and what the PTB can deal with. Flexibility. Mold sounds like such a namby-pamby thing, but it isn't. They need different paint than what they used to combat that(sometimes lowedt bidder isn't best, depends on what corners they cut to be lowest bidder). I'm glad I've thrown this out there now. I was afraid of looking like a jerk when it failed and I had to slink off and hide in shame. Now I know it won't. I've got some Denizens backing me up. Thanks Fuzz.(knock on wood) And of course, I blame John for putting pretensions of being able to do this in my head. Don't it suck when people actually follow your lead, BB?;) I've emailed RC at WR and left something in the WR guestbook(low prob of contact on the last). I've tracked down the phone numbers list off the website. I'm thinking either public works or security. BEst guess people?

Comment from FbL on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T04:25:55Z

Haven't had time to put down my thoughts about this... but hopefully tomorrow. Ry, you hit on the core of this problem that is most actionable--the condition of the building. Most of the other issues have either been recently addressed or are matters of bureaucratic organization/systems (stuff that we can't touch, other than through advocacy). But here's a crazy idea I had about the building: how about one of those rebuild/makeover places tackle it? Lodging the occupants for a week might be a problem, since they're probably not feeling up to a week at some tourist destination. But perhaps a local hotel could donate a floor of rooms or something for a week, and a shuttle service would donate their time to get people to and from tWR? I mean, imagine the PR they all would get for it! Maybe it's late and I'm crazy. I'll sleep on it tonight and see if this still sounds reasonable to me in the morning.... ;)

Comment from ry on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T02:46:27Z

YOu know Maggs, I've got some ideas. BUt no idea how to put them into action. 1) Budget and buearacracy are always a problem How to cut the middle man---like the guy who got the grant only to be stymied. So screw it. We do it. Donations of cash, materials, and manhours to do it with. Which requires moving piles of red tape---as Fuzz can attest to---but we can do it. I can't do it alone and have no idea where to start. Advice is very welcome at this point---particularly on the orginizational front(I've never taken care of more than 20 athletes at one time). 2) Who to contact about a) getting myself a place to place my bedroll(or not) b) who to hit up and how for materials and certified contractors(would prefer a rotation so nobody get's hammered--but adds to red tape) to satisfy building code ord and such c) who to contact in officialdom to start the pebble that becomes the mountain we have to move. Again, advice is very welcome at this point. 3) I'm no leader either. This will likely fail, but someone has to start. Please, any advice at all people. Phone numbers and email addys for those I have to start contacting. 4) I'm tired of this, and tired of being shamed by John to pitch nickels in a hat. "He who dares", right? I need help. Lots of it. BUt I'm not going to get this changed on my own. Who's down with this? These are my people. I have a responsibility to them that's been ignored for too damn long. I need help. Who's coming along?

Comment from justsomeguy on 2007-02-18

2007-02-19T02:26:44Z

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Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T22:49:33Z

Maggie - I sent the Bldg 18 story to my newly-elected *health care expert* Democrat House Rep with a note that here was a chance to excel. Rather than pursue pointless posing with non-binding resolutions, ask this Administration what it was going to do about it - and provide an answer if the Administration offered nothing but air as a response.

Comment from Kat-missouri on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T21:16:11Z

And, I liked Sen. Johnson's speech. But I also liked the major who sent the slides in regards to the Star Tribune insisting the Iranian stuff was manufactured. His closing words were: "We are looking for imbeds from the Star Tribune"

Comment from Kat-missouri on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T21:10:38Z

You know, my first thoughts were, "do we have Angel presence there."? did we float this up or into forums?

Comment from MaryAnn on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T19:08:23Z

Look forward to your thoughts, FbL. The article describes what goes on in civilian hospitals everywhere, unfortunately. But we should be doing a BETTER job at military hospitals.

Comment from FbL on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T18:30:44Z

Maggie, I'll have some thoughts on this later today. And here's the response of the guy in charge:

Comment from Maggie on 2007-02-18

2007-02-18T16:07:42Z

OK, I read the Walter Reed article. What are we supposed to do? I am a follower, not a leader. I don't think outside the box. You're in charge here. You've explained the problem. Now find us solutions.