Imagine if the Soldiers had been wearing OCP.
Archive for the ‘Morale’ Category
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Friday, October 28th, 2011Pointe du Hoc Foundation
Thursday, October 27th, 2011For those of you unfamiliar with the term “Pointe du Hoc,” please open your history books to the chapter on D-Day. On the 6th of June, 1944, Soldiers from the 2d Ranger Battalion were given the harrowing mission of scaling a 100 foot cliff face along the beaches of Normandy to knock out a gun emplacement threatening the invasion force. Naturally, they were successful, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t lose some good men along the way. And, over the years, as the 2d Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment was stood up, more Americans served, and unfortunately paid the ultimate sacrifice.
That is why, in summer of 2012, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, home of 2/75, will break ground for the Pointe du Hoc Memorial to honor the sacrifice of those who have served in the Battalion. Making this happen is the The Pointe du Hoc Foundation (PDH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established to recognize and commemorate the heritage and contributions of the men of 2d Ranger Battalion and their families. They need your help to raise $500,000 for groundbreaking of this 2d Battalion Ranger Memorial by summer 2012.
For more information visit www.pointeduhocfoundation.com.
Operation Urgent Fury
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011On the morning of October 25th, 1983 America awoke to reports that our troops had invaded a small Caribbean nation named Grenada in order to liberate American medical students from danger posed by political instability. Joined by Regional Security System troops from a variety of Caribbean partner nations they swiftly overwhelmed the Grenadian and Cuban troops. While Operation Urgent Fury was in name, a joint force operation and included the use of Special Operations Forces, it highlighted many interoperability issues such as use of operational overlays and radio issues.
I was in high school when this went down and it made me want to be in the Army even more than I already did. Thankfully, over time, many of the stove pipe issues suffered by the pre-Goldwater-Nichols military were beginning to be identified when I joined a few years later. Interestingly, the operation was conducted with many systems still in use from the Viet Nam war. Our next time at bat, in Panama, saw several new weapons developed during the Reagan buildup such as the F117 stealth fighter and the Marine Corps LAV. Additionally, SOF took a much more prominent role in operation Blue Spoon.
Let us not forget the 19 Americans killed in action and the 116 who were wounded. Unfortunately, there were 24 Grenadian civilians killed in the conflict and our communist Grenadian and Cuban foes also suffered heavy casualties.
Today We Remember Warriors Lost in The Lebanon
Sunday, October 23rd, 2011On October 23, 1983 at 6:22 AM, a large delivery truck drove to the Beirut International Airport where US Marines, serving as part of a multinational force were billeted. They were in Lebanon to help keep the peace in a land torn asunder by internal strife, fueled by outside influence.
The truck contained 12,000 lbs of TNT. The driver detonated the truck bomb and in this cowardly act killed 220 Marines 18 Navy personnel and three Soldiers, along with sixty Americans injured.
Unfortunately, the deaths did not end there. Two minutes later, the barracks of the French contingent was attacked with a bomb killing 58 paratroopers from the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment and wounding another 15.
To make the day even more tragic, the Lebanese janitor of the American barracks as well as the wife and four children of a Lebanese janitor at the French building were also killed.
Remember all of them and their sacrifice today.
New IDPA Documentary: Down Zero
Friday, October 21st, 2011
Panteao Productions has just begun pre-orders on what is the first in a new series of documentaries. The new video, called “Down Zero”, follows shooters competing at the 2011 IDPA Carolina Cup. It’s geared towards introducing people to shooting sports and gives them a rare, inside look at a match from the perspective of the competitors and safety officers. “Miami Vice” fans should get a kick out of seeing actor Michael Talbott, known for his role as Detective Stan Switek make his competitive debut. Viewers will also get a glimpse at a free shooting clinic taught after the match by shooters like Super Dave Harrington, World Champion Robert Vogel, Mark Redl, and Tom Yost.
Available for pre-order with a 1 November release, check both Panteao Productions and IDPA Headquarters for the DVD. It’s already available to subscribers at the Panteao website: www.makeready.tv.
Tommy V Challenge is Tomorrow!
Thursday, October 20th, 2011The Thomas J. Valentine Memorial Fund, established in 2010, is a tribute to the memory of USN SOCS Tom Valentine who was a SEAL. Through CharitySmith The Thomas J. Valentine Memorial Fund is now an established non-profit memorial fund (EIN #87-0636433) and supports the Navy SEAL Foundation.
This year’s Golf & Skeet Tournament will be held tomorrow morning at the NAS Oceana Skeet Range & Aeropines Golf Course beginning at 0800.
I will be shooting skeet on a team at this year’s event. For those of you in the Tidewater of Virginia come out to support the foundation.
SSD Morale Patch Prototypes
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
We’ve been considering doing a limited run of patches for trade show swag. Tell us what you think about these.
AFSOC Memorial March
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011Having spent several years of my military career assigned as an Intelligence Officer to the 720th Special Tactics Group and a couple of its subordinate squadrons, it makes me proud to hear that 18 of our Special Tactics Airmen are conducting a 812-mile memorial ruck march from Texas to Florida. They begin on 16 October, marching in three-man teams with each team walking about 144 miles carrying 50-pound rucksacks and a commemorative baton engraved with a fallen Special Tactics Airman’s name.
Track their progress on the AFSOC blog hosted by Maj Kristi Beckman.
