FirstSpear

Archive for the ‘Admin’ Category

Look What We Had to Say 3 Years Ago Today

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Our roots go all the way back to October of 97 when we launched the Gear Guru website. We haven’t missed a day of publishing in well over 3 years here at SSD. Maybe we are on to something.

Soldier Systems Blog Logo

We have decided to alter the site’s name slightly in order to more accurately express what is going on here. One of our readers recently suggested the name “Soldier Systems Daily” and mulling it over, we decided he is right. We aren’t a true blog. We don’t pontificate on the woes of the world and we don’t feature feedback from our readers like traditional blogs. The reason is simple, we are a news source; a daily news source.

Our initial inspiration was the old Gear Guru website modernized with a serious dash of Gizmodo. Obviously, the Soldier Systems world isn’t nearly as big as the gadget-verse so we can’t publish as much as they do. But all things considered we are doing a pretty good job of keeping up. We started out publishing one article a day. Now we are at a steady two articles a day and depending on material have published up to six articles in a day. Of course, we aren’t anything without our readers and content. Spread the word amongst your friends and colleagues. We provide new material daily and a visit only once a week won’t keep you up to date. Also, keep those emails rolling in. Finally, we promise to continue with the same streamlined format that our readership praises.

SSD Morale Patch Prototypes

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

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We’ve been considering doing a limited run of patches for trade show swag. Tell us what you think about these.

Marine Corps Directs Sleeves Down All Year Round

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Yesterday, the Marine Corps released a message directing that the entire Marine Corps wear their sleeves down on the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform all year-round beginning 24 October.

R 181719Z OCT 11
UNCLASSIFIED//
MARADMIN 621/11
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC DMCS//
SUBJ/MARINE CORPS COMBAT UTILITY UNIFORM POLICY CHANGE//
REF/A/MSGID:DOC/CMC WASHINGTON DC MCUB/31MAR2003//
AMPN/A IS MCO P1020.34G, MARINE CORPS UNIFORM REGULATIONS.//
POC/XXX/CIV/UNIT:MCUB/-/TEL: XXX/TEL:DSN XXX /EMAIL:XXX//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. THIS MARADMIN ANNOUNCES THE COMMANDANT’S DECISION TO CHANGE THE MARINE CORPS COMBAT UTILITY UNIFORM (MCCUU) WEAR POLICY.
2. EFFECTIVE 24 OCTOBER 2011, THE MCCUU WILL BE WORN WITH THE SLEEVES DOWN, YEAR ROUND. THIS CHANGE DOES NOT AFFECT TIMING OF THE SEASONAL UNIFORM CHANGE, WHICH WILL BE ADDRESSED AND ANNOUNCED IN A FUTURE MARADMIN.
3. REFERENCE (A) WILL BE UPDATED TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.
4. RELEASE AUTHORIZED BY LTGEN W. J. WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR, MARINE CORPS STAFF.//

Any Questions?

AUSA – We’re Here

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Look for AUSA coverage live from the annual meeting. AUSA is generally a challenging cellular environment so this will be a good test to see how SHOT show will go.

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Look for Us at AUSA

Friday, October 7th, 2011

SSD will be attending the AUSA (AUSA) 2011 Annual Meeting October 10-12 at the Walter E Washington Convention Center in beautiful downtown in Washington, DC. Drop us a line if you’ll be there or if you’re a company who’d like to chat.

10 Years at War

Friday, October 7th, 2011

Ten years ago today marked the beginning of ground combat in Afghanistan, essentially launching the war on terror. This is the longest war our Nation has yet waged. It is a foundry that forged the most lethal and experienced military the world has ever seen.

As we enter our second decade of war, think of our troops, both serving and veteran, and do what you can to support them and their families. Whether it’s building protective products or weapon systems, caring for the wounded, donating to military and veteran charities, or just offering an ear to listen, these men and women need the support of the Nation.

Oct 3rd Raid

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Today is the 18th Anniversary of the Oct 3rd Raid during which elements of TF Ranger, deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia conducted an operation on that city’s Olympic Hotel in order to capture key leaders of the Aidid Militia.

Unfortunately, during the exfil portion of the raid a battle ensued that claimed the lives of 18 Americans and wounded another 73. Additionally, CW3 Michael Durant was captured by the militia.

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For those of you unfamiliar, one of the best accounts is contained in the book, “Blackhawk Down” by author Mark Bowden. Much of the information was serialized prior to the book’s publication in the Philadelphia Enquirer. Later this was made into a movie bearing the same name.

Please take a moment to remember these men and their sacrifice.

SOG Knives & Tools – What are THEY Thinking

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

We love SOG Specialty Knives & Tools. However, we don’t love questionable practices in light of military ethics codes. It seems Sergeant Joshua C. Holubz, US Army (Ret) was the winner of the SOG Knives “Friday Faceoff” making him last week’s Face of SOG. Truth be told, his story is harrowing. But that doesn’t justify using his image in uniform to sell knives.

DoD 5500.7R is the Joint Ethics Regulation. Para’s 2-304 and 3-209 cover this issue. Read it and make your own conclusion.

2-304. Use of Military Title by Retirees or Reserves. Retired military members and members of Reserve Components, not on active duty, may use military titles in connection with commercial enterprises, provided they clearly indicate their retired or inactive Reserve status. However, any use of military titles is prohibited if it in any way casts discredit on DoD or gives the appearance of sponsorship, sanction, endorsement, or approval by DoD. In addition, in overseas areas, commanders may further restrict the use of titles by retired military members and members of Reserve Components.

3-209. Endorsement. Endorsement of a non Federal entity, event, product, service, or enterprise may be neither stated nor implied by DoD or DoD employees in their official capacities and titles, positions, or organization names may not be used to suggest official endorsement or preferential treatment of any non Federal entity except those listed in subsection 3 210., below.

When we saw this photo posted on SOG’s Facebook page, we posted a comment that this looked like an ethics violation. SOG didn’t take the photo down. Instead, they deleted our comment.

So, what do you think? Was SOG right or wrong? Would it have been better to use a photo if he was out of uniform?

Unfortunately, SOG will probably never have anything to do with us again after bringing this to light. If so, we can live with that. If you are a servicemember (active or retired), make sure you know what you are doing when you involve yourself with commercial entities. If you are a company, please don’t put our servicemembers in this situation.

If you want to know more about ethics rules here are some resources:
Office of Government Ethics
U.S. Department of Defense Standards of Conduct Office
Office of General Counsel, Department of the Army
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Judge Advocate General, Ethics and Fraud Remedies
Department of the Navy Ethics Program