Don't know much about history ....

Have an opinion about the state of military history and how it is taught? Well, we're talking about it over at USNIBlog.

The official off-duty magazine of CDR Salamander ...

I am on my fourth issue - and I cannot offer a higher recommendation.

I don't know what you Yankees might think - but I have found a great magazine - Garden & Gun.

Perfect example came from the APR/MAR editions "End of the Line" article by Roy Blount, Jr. starts out with this,

You know how to test the proposition that a dog is a man's best friend? Lock your dog and your wife in the trunk of your car, drive out into the woods somewhere, and let them out. Which one do you think is going to be glad to see you?

Check it out. 'Nuff said.

Don't insult the Sailors .....

Hat tip Theo.

NWU - don't get them dirty!

Just received a note from a USNR friend of the blog.

T.I.N.S.

He is about to head out for a few months at sea for something like ADSW. Paraphrased, his Reserve unit CO told him - I kid you not -

"Don't get your NWU dirty while at sea. They need to be clean to wear for your duty days when you get back."

It was only a matter of time. Don't get a uniform dirty that was intentionally designed to get dirty.

Sailors belong on ships; ships belong at sea? Don't be silly.

Fair advice on DADT

Our buddy Professor Bruce Fleming has an article out in the Baltimore Sun about DADT.

I support repeal of DADT - but the only real reservation I have is that given its history - Big Navy will put the Diversity Bullies in charge of implementing it and as a result, will create more bad blood than needed.

At the end of the article, Professor Fleming finds a middle-ground of truth that, if it is wise, those charged with implementing the repeal will hoist on-board.

Many straight boys simply need to have explained to them that not all gay men want them sexually. There is no evidence that gays are more likely to be rapists than straights are; and everybody can learn not to act on whatever s/he is thinking or feeling during working hours. However, there are situations where sexual orientation would pose a problem, and the military would be wise to acknowledge this.

Advice to the civilians: Lose your exasperation with those in the military who are trying to say why they think integrating openly gay service members will be difficult. Instead, listen to them. We may be able to address some of their concerns; some may simply have to be acknowledged. But even just saying, "Yep, you're right. We'll have to deal with these problems as they arise" is better than saying: "Shut up, you racist, homophobic chauvinist." That's what the military — becoming the enforcer of its civilian masters — will certainly say. Stand by for the drop in morale.

Sadly - I am afraid we will hear the later more than the former. Just look at what happened with Prop8 in CA. The fringe often drowns out the sensible center.

THAT is Strategic thinking

SECDEF - again - nails it center mass.

Defense Department officials have favored the pact as a way to reward Colombia for its successful effort at beating back drug trafficking and the country's insurgency.

At a news conference in Bogota, the Colombian capital, Gates said he met this week with James L. Jones, the White House national security advisor, to discuss an administration push for congressional ratification of the accord.

"I would hope we would be in a position to make a renewed effort to get ratification of the free trade agreement," Gates said. "It is a good deal for Colombia; it is also a good deal for the United States."

President Obama was skeptical about the agreement as a senator and during his presidential campaign, citing Colombia's record of labor crackdowns. But after meeting last year with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Obama said Bogota had made progress on human rights issues and ordered U.S. trade officials to move ahead on the deal.

Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said Bogota was pleased by the Obama administration's growing support for the accord.

"This agreement will help further consolidate security in Colombia," Silva said.

Colombia has been a bright shining example of the progress of freedom in the last two decades.

This isn't an American issue - this is a human rights issue. Along with Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, and Honduras - among others to the south - Colombia deserves our friendship and help. This is easy. This is right.

This will also help make up for some of the interventions we have made in the past. Treat your friends as equals and they will be your friends.

Easy win ... if we can get past our own leftists.

Oh, and if you follow the Colombia tag, you will find other reasons to get, ahem, closer to Colombia. LBG can explain further if needed.

Sailor snapshot

One of my readers sent me an email, part of which I wanted to share with you (with his permission). I've anonomized for all but the inside bunch, slightly edited, and redacted some things - but on balance it is as I received it.

You read very little what it is like for the Fleet Sailor out there.

Heck, I'm as guilty of that as the next guy - but enough of that, let's get a snapshot of what our Sailors are doing - and more importantly what they are thinking about and talking about.

(we completed) an 8 month deployment with the [REDACTED] Strike Group. We are getting ready to leave again ... for two more months of my cruise. I absolutely enjoy being part of a low-density, high requirement asset like the Electronic Attack platforms. I was sitting at the house on my two weeks off before I go back at work, the POM leave thing; while talking with my wife about the future of my career some thoughts have come together, ....

As of this June I will have been in the Navy for [REDACTED] years. Out of that [REDACTED] years according to my latest LES, I have been drawing sea pay for just over half of that, or roughly [REDACTED] years. I am currently on my third sea tour and just extended myself to make the transition from the EA-6B over to the EA-18G. I have completed four cruises all of which have been extended anywhere from one month to two. My first was with the Big E in the summer of 2001 and my latest will be completed (if you add in us going out for two months for RIMPAC) in August of 2010. I have also done one shore based deployment to Iwakuni to gap the EA billet for the Marines in the summer of 2006. Interestingly enough, that was almost extended for a month because of the nuclear bomb testing and missile testing by the NORKS.

I am also a newlywed, since I got married just before my latest deployment. That has been a challenge and have had some interesting discussions about my career future with my new wife. I throw this at you mainly to let you know that there are some of us down in the trenches who look up at our leadership and wonder what the heck is going on. I perceive a leadership failing on the people at TypeCom and higher who aren’t throwing up the BS flag about deployments, doing more with less, and other BS bingo phrases/words. All they seem to care about is appeasing the civilian leadership above, while seemingly paying lip service to those of us below. Until the recent economic troubles, there seem to be a growing trend of personnel voting with their feet. I am not ready to be one of them, one because I have faith in that what I do is important, two I love my job of fixing airplanes on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, and three I am so close now to retirement (even with the threat of PTS over my head) that it only makes financial sense to stay until the end.

Transition for the Electronic Attack bubbas is going to be interesting and what is really throwing all of us for a loop right now ... the first deployment for the EA-18G is going to be shore based, expeditionary style to one of those fun tourist spots like [REDACTED]. Why? Because the CNO and all his OpNav advisors saw what happened to the USAF vis-a-via the F-22. The word on the flight line here in Oak Harbor is that after SecDef as the CG of the USAF what was the last mission the F-22 preformed was and then was basically told it was just now entering squadron and transition process. At which point the SecDef told them that their wonder weapon is done and the government isn’t wasting any more money on it.

There is probably a kernel of truth to that, but I would bet you the first two bottles of fine wine out of your choice Columbia River Valley that is why both LCS’s were sortied on deployments before all the kinks were shaken loose. Anyhow, as each one of the EA-6B carrier squadrons comes homes and enters the pipeline, one of the concrete (expeditionary) EA-6B outfits will replace it in the air wing. Only problem with that is this; there are three active and one reserve EA-6B squadron that are in the concrete role.

Those of us that are making transition are being told to sign open ended extensions, I just signed my on this morning. There were no dates in the when extension starts or ends and to expect at a minimum of three shore deployments to those tourist spots I mentioned earlier. The open ended extensions are to get us through schools, for example the [REDACTED] schooling takes about seven months out. We either go to [REDACTED] or [REDACTED] and go through the standard E/F schools for [REDACTED] stuff there and then return to [REDACTED] to finish up the [REDACTED]. So when we enter the training pipeline we enter the neutral duty loop. After we get out of the training pipeline they tack on a 24 month extension to our tour at the current command. If we choose not to go on the transition bus, then we get a phone call to the detailer and have to make a career decision in about five minutes.

This is really interesting to me that no one has applied lessons learned from the previous transitions like the F-14 to F-18E/F, A-7 to F-18, S-3 removal, SH-3 to H-60, etc. Not finding ways to have smoothed the process or taken the unknown factor out of this. Maybe it is because we are trying to do transition in the middle of a war, I don’t know. It just feels as if there are too many questions and too many “That is a great question, glad you asked that, let me get back to you about the answer…” replies or answers that seem to be set in snowballs being thrown in hell.

Why do we still treat our Sailors like what is described in the last couple of paragraphs? Priorities and personalities, that's why. That, and because we can, we have, and we will.

Besides the Sailor, the Detailer, and a dozen other people - who is going to know? ..........