H&I Fires* 9 May 07
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.
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
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Last night, the Master and Mistress of Argghhh! had the privilege of dinner with Denizen Blackhawk, an active duy Armor officer stuck in the land of Maneuver Support. He popped up here from Fort Lost-in-the-Woods to crack open young Major's skulls and pour in knowledge as they study here at the Command and General Staff College. Sadly for She Who Will Be Obeyed, it turns out that Blackhawk and I crossed paths professionally and had many shared experiences - which meant that SWWBO had to sit through a dinner of nothing but TINS and geek soldier-talk. Blackhawk and I had a good time, SWWBO was a good sport, but clearly, we pushed her to her TINS limit. In other words, we had fun!
Moving on - speaking of training - this is a significant change:
Department of Defense Announces the ROTC Language and Culture Project
The Department of Defense announced today the award of four grants totaling $2 million to Indiana University, San Diego State University, the University of Mississippi and the University of Texas at Austin as part of the new Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Language and Culture Project."The department's goal is to expose ROTC cadets and midshipmen to the study of languages and cultures of the world critical to national security," said David S.C. Chu, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "Through this innovative effort we hope ROTC cadets and midshipmen will have the opportunity to learn a foreign language which will prepare them for future duties as commissioned officers."
You can read the whole release here, at DefenseLink.
Of further interest on the subject of language and culture proficiency:
DoD Announces Pilot Language CorpsThe Department of Defense announces the implementation of a pilot "The Language Corps" over the next three years. The pilot Corps will include no fewer than 1,000 members drawn from all sectors of the U.S. population. Members will have the opportunity to join a dedicated pool or a national pool of linguists.
The Language Corps, formerly the Civilian Linguist Reserve Corps, represents a vital new approach to address the nation's needs for professionals with language skills.This is an integral component of the Defense Department's comprehensive language roadmap and the President's National Security Language Initiative.
"The department is confident that a successful Language Corps will not only address gaps in
federal preparedness, but also serve to reinforce the importance of language skills in the American population and the U.S. education system," said Gail McGinn, deputy under secretary of defense for plans.The corps will be an entirely civilian organization managed by the DoD for the federal sector
composed of members who will voluntarily join and renew their membership.
Again, more detail is available at DefenseLink.
It's slow progress, in the middel of a war where language and cultural understanding has been an issue, but it's progress.
A request for assistance:
I must try to communicate if possible to Dustoff 339C, an old army medic as he calls himself. I was really screwed over by LTG Kiley personally and would like for this guy to email me at this email address. PLEASE! It would be so great to get in touch with this person as I could use a ltter of support right now to clear my name. Scott (Doc in New York)
Dustoff339C, I can't really verify this. If you wish more information and/or Scott's contact info, drop me a line in email and we can chat. That's it for the nonce - the Armorer
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From the NRA-ILA:
The National Rifle Association has received a number of reports of ongoing firearm confiscations in Greensburg, Kansas.We are currently gathering as much information as possible to verify these claims. If the reports are true, your National Rifle Association will act swiftly to correct this injustice and stop any unconstitutional gun confiscations.
If you have any information regarding gun confiscations in Kansas, or know any law-abiding citizen who has had their firearms confiscated, please contact NRA immediately at 1-800-392-8683. Thank you.
If for some reason you don't want to contact them, send it to me. But bear in mind - if a LEO is walking through a devastated neighborhood and finds firearms laying in the open and unsecured (such as if the Castle was hit and the basement exposed) and they retrieve those weapons and secure them - that isn't necessarily an unlawful confiscation as it is securing dangerous property. Context matters, as well as what they do with them. Bear in mind - at this point, it's a RUMOR and the NRA (and I) are seeking to confirm or deny, not fan a hysterical flame. -the Armorer
UPDATE: It looks like it was a lot less gun confiscation than it was what I suggested - securing dangerous property and keeping it safe. -the Armorer
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SITREP Riverside and Parkville, MO - Water continues to rise. Missouri River is estimated to crest at 7pm tonight. Mostly no rain yesterday, beginning to sprinkle now. 30% showers predicted. Parkville residents continue to move out of the low lying areas. Volunteers have been helping store owners to secure their property and move it to higher ground. Water level prediction to be 11 ft lower than the Great Flood of 1993. This is no comfort since that water level put the area under for weeks, knocked out the local oil storage facility and a number of businesses. New levees and flood gates may protect stores and homes closer to North Kansas City.
Highway 9 going in and out of Parkville and Riverside has been closed to outside traffic so getting pictures and a closer look at the situation is difficult. Where I am in Riverside is currently dry. 1993 flood had covered part of the area down the hill from me, but we may be safe due to the flood gates.
Electricity and other services are still on in our area, but Parkville will be shutting down basic services sometime today for the safety of the population and prevention of fires.
Standby for updates.
-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 (oops, can't call 'em UAVs anymore - they're now Unmanned Aerial Systems... some Colonel got his Legion of Merit for that change...), er, um UAS's 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 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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