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.
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In today's From the Front: 07/21/2009 (Click the link to read the stories highlighted below)
P.J. Tobia: Bergdahl Deserted
The Canada-Afghanistan Blog: The Little Girl Matters
Thomas L. Friedman: Teacher, Can We Leave Now? No
Embedded in Afghanistan...: Taken
Lt Nixon: Should I Bring the Gun or the Flowers?
Sorority Soldier: Crossroads
Maliki Remakes Himself Ahead of Elections
US Troops Complain of Limits in Iraq
Attacks Kill 10 in Restive Iraqi Cities
Forces Probe Rocket Attack, Detain Suspected Terrorists in Iraq
Debate Over Afghanistan Rages in Britain as Casualties Rise
A Deadly Month for US Troops in Afghanistan
Convoys Roll Through Danger to Deliver Goods
Taliban attack town in Afghanistan
Pak troops kill 114 Taliban in Dir, Swat
AND MORE.... - David M
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A little Joint firefight, at that.
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BTW - It's the 21st of July, albeit today, not under a burning sun here in Kansas. -the Armorer
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In today's From the Front: 07/21/2009 (Click the link to read the stories highlighted below)
P.J. Tobia: Bergdahl Deserted
The Canada-Afghanistan Blog: The Little Girl Matters
Thomas L. Friedman: Teacher, Can We Leave Now? No
Embedded in Afghanistan...: Taken
Lt Nixon: Should I Bring the Gun or the Flowers?
Sorority Soldier: Crossroads
Maliki Remakes Himself Ahead of Elections
US Troops Complain of Limits in Iraq
Attacks Kill 10 in Restive Iraqi Cities
Forces Probe Rocket Attack, Detain Suspected Terrorists in Iraq
Debate Over Afghanistan Rages in Britain as Casualties Rise
A Deadly Month for US Troops in Afghanistan
Convoys Roll Through Danger to Deliver Goods
Taliban attack town in Afghanistan
Pak troops kill 114 Taliban in Dir, Swat
AND MORE.... - David M
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Military Family Member Creates Blog for Kids of Deployed Personnel:
Army family member Katie Glenn has created a cool way for kids of deployed military personnel to express their feelings about their parent being away or who have lost a parent from the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan.
With the assistance of Families United, a non-profit organization, Glenn started a blog – www.militarykidsblog.com. She said she got the idea after taking a “new media” course at American University in Washington, D.C., where she is a senior.
Read More... - David M
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Firefight in Afghanistan...
A little Joint firefight, at that.
-the Armorer1) Independence Day fire fight; B-Roll package: U.S. and Afghan National Army forces enter the village of Darbart, Afghanistan, to talk with the village elder, July 4. Upon the arrival they find the streets empty and the elder nowhere to be found. After identifying and marking several
fighting positions overlooking the village, the patrol is ambushed, leaving the village, by insurgents using small arms fire, automatic fire and Rocket Propelled Grenades. U.S. and ANA forces return fire and destroy the fighting positions using mortar, 155mm artillery fire and a 2,000lb GBU-31 bomb from an F-15. (Produced by Sgt. Justin Puetz, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
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BTW - It's the 21st of July, albeit today, not under a burning sun here in Kansas. -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. Of course, now I have to call them UAS's, because someone got a Legion of Merit for the name change.Anyway, I call the post H&I Fires because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to that particular topic. Another term of art that might be appropriate is Free Fire Zone.
Thus endeth the reading of the Joint Pub.