"WE TRAINED HARD . . .

. . . but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."

- Gauis Petronius Arbiter, c. 27 – 66 AD

Benghazi in 4 Simple Words: You. Watched. Them. Die.

It's not really all that complicated. Four simple words sum it up.

"Forget you" is taken from the book How to Survive in Your Native Land by James Herndon (originally published in 1971) who said that "Forget You" is a much more powerful & dismissive indictment than FU.



Thanks - and cheers - to latest member of Team SturmBringener: "Sporf"

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

"Better to Die a Hero Than Live a Coward"

Charles Wooes, father of murdered Benghazi SEAL Tyrone Woods, sent this message to Barack Obama.





Yesterday, former National Security Adviser Bud McFarlane added this on Obama’s non-response to the Benghazi 9-11 terrorist attack:

“To have known what he had available, to have known that Americans were under fire, and to have done nothing, is dereliction of duty that I have never seen in a Commander in Chief from a president of any party. Outrageous.”


The Story Refuses to Die

The deaths in Benghazi hang like an albatross about the neck of the Obama Administration - and we all know where the buck stops there.

Or should.

The second half of this disgraceful saga is the incredible complicity of the mainstream media in the cover-up and kool-aid fueled shape-shifting storychanging aspect of the official party line.

Yesterday's post BENGHAZIGATE took me several days to put together, weed through all the "Bravo Sierra" - a quick internet check shows the story as we see it is beginning to emerge on the Lamestream outlets - New York Times, CNN, CBS, etc.

This is because on any given day, more people watch Fox and listen to Rush Limbaugh than all the other outlets COMBINED. What that means is Fox - and Rush - are not "extreme right wing." It means they are, by default, middle of the road.

This is because America is a Conservative country. In fact, what passes for liberal policies over here are considered conservative in the rest of the world.

A great man once said:

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Take heart, people; we are winning. Good men are NOT doing nothing - the after-the-fact collaborators and perpetrators of the mess in Benghazi will answer for their transgressions.


- STORMBRINGER SENDS

NRA LIFE OF DUTY PATRIOT PROFILES: DEVER

NRA Life of Duty presented by Brownells and Smith and Wesson have teamed up to bring you a new Patriot Profile Tribute on Sheriff Larry Dever, a man who continued to fight for what he believed was right until the end.





View the Full Feature at the link below and watch more documentaries and tributes on the NRA Life of Duty Patriot Profiles channel sponsored by Smith and Wesson HERE

HONOR

Even a hurricane won't keep the Honor Guard from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

SitRep FrankenStorm Sandy:

I live on a hill with no trees adjacent to the house so flooding is not an issue and the only wind damage I expect is possibly some roofing shingles. The big concern is the effect of all this rain on the soil around tree root structures + constant strong winds = trees falling on power lines.

The result of power lines going down is overload to systems, then breakers & fuses popping at main line transformers and switches. We expect to lose power - how long it will be out depends on how fast crews can make repairs, and priority to the line branch that services our little cluster of houses.

When (not if) we lose power, we also lose water (my house is on a well+pump system). At this time I have >25 gallons of water for cooking, cleaning & flushing toilets. If power stays off beyond 48 hours ( down in North Carolina we went without power for 10 days after the hurricane in 1996) there is a creek that runs down the bottom of my property and we can filter & purify- not a problem.

We have 7 days non-perishable food on hand, medical supplies capable of minor surgery (just ask the dog), both vehicles & the tractor fueled up + 10 gallons of gas on hand, chainsaw fueled up & lubed, 1000s of rounds of rifle, shotgun & pistol ammunition (for post-disaster breakdown of law & order), 3 bottles of whiskey, 8 bottles of wine, a case of Guiness Stout and a case of Coors.

Be advised when we lose power, we lose internet connectivity but I can still post via cell phone. At some point we cannot charge our cellphones. I have a solar panel arrangement for recharging cellphones but it requires direct sunlight.

At this time my only real concern is will the booze hold out.


- STORMBRINGER SENDS

BENGHAZIGATE

The story keeps getting bigger and bigger - so many outrageous details keep emerging . . . and its difficult to get it straight because the story keeps shifting

I'm going to keep it down to what we know and what I know about how flash message traffic is handled and the subsequent military decision loop; based on my two tours in the CIF and a LOT of time down range working out of embassies.
What happened (and what failed to happen due to inability to make a decision) was disgraceful enough; I'm going to avoid conspiracy theories and speculation . . . here's what we know:


Key Facts:

• There were no protesters at the Benghazi consulate prior to the attack, even though Obama and others repeatedly said the attackers joined an angry mob that had formed in opposition to the anti-Muslim film that had triggered protests in Egypt and elsewhere.

• A US security contingent existed within Benghazi at the mission Annex, about a mile from the US Consulate. This unit’s mission was security support to the program dedicated to recovering shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles (man-portable air defense systems or MANPADS) left over from the anti-Gaddafi uprising.

• US direct-action Special Operations Forces were present on Naval Air Station Sigonella. This contingent included the Theater Commanders-In-Extremis force (CIF) and may have included elements from two Tier 1 units, (i.e. Delta or SEAL Team Six).

• Two unarmed drones were overhead during the episode, and an AC-130 Specter gunship was also reportedly overhead. CIA personnel from the Annex were reportedly able to communicate with the gunship, and to ‘paint’ targets around the Consulate with laser target designators.


Timeline of the Sept 11th Attack:

8:30 pm Benghazi time (2:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time): U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens steps outside the consulate to say goodbye to a Turkish diplomat. There are no protesters at this time. (“Everything is calm at 8:30,” a State Department official would later say at an Oct. 9 background briefing for reporters. “There’s nothing unusual. There has been nothing unusual during the day at all outside.”)

9:00 pm: Ambassador Stevens retires to his bedroom for the evening.

Approximately 9:40 pm: A security officer at the Benghazi compound hears “loud noises” coming from the front gate and “gunfire and an explosion.” A senior State Department official at the Oct. 9 briefing says that “the camera on the main gate reveals a large number of people – a large number of men, armed men, flowing into the compound.”

10:00 pm: Approximate time of attack given at State Depart briefing on 12 Sept 2012. A “senior administration official one” provides an official timeline of events at the consulate, but only from the time of the attack — not prior to the attack - “The compound ... in Benghazi began taking fire from unidentified Libyan extremists.”

10:04 pm: A State Department email from the Regional Security Officer (RSO) at the US Embassy in Tripoli reports that the diplomatic mission in Benghazi is under attack by approximately 20 armed individuals, explosions heard as well. Ambassador Stevens and personnel are reported within the compound safe haven; security support provided by 17th February militia (a Libyan group that emerged during Ghadaffi’s downfall).

10:15 p.m.: (approximately) “The attackers gained access to the compound and began firing into the main building, setting it on fire. The Libyan guard force and our mission security personnel responded. At that time, there were three people inside the building: Ambassador Stevens, one of our regional security officers, and Information Management Officer Sean Smith.”

10:15 - 10:45 pm: Sean Smith is found dead by a rescue team out of the Annex – a mission support site where approximately 30 CIA personnel are located. The rescue team is unable to locate Ambassador Stevens.

10:45 pm: (approximately) The security team from the Annex tried to regain the main building, but the group took heavy fire and had to return to the Annex.

11:20 pm: (approximately) US and Libyan security personnel regain the main building and are able to secure it.

12:00 midnight: The mission annex comes under fire; this phase of the attack continued for about two hours. This attack includes mortar fire landing within the Annex compound. It was during this time that former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed and two more were wounded during the ongoing attack.

12:07 am: The State Department’s Operations Center sends an email to the White House, Pentagon, FBI and other government agencies stating that an al Qaeda-linked group - Ansar al-Sharia - has claimed credit for the attack on its Facebook and Twitter accounts. (The existence of the email was disclosed on a Reuters report 24 October 2012).

2:00 am: American reinforcements arrive at the Benghazi airport and head to the Annex.

About 02:30 am: Libyan security forces were able to assist in regaining control of the situation. At some point in all of this it is believed that Ambassador Stevens got out of the building and was taken to a hospital in Benghazi. His body was later returned to U.S. personnel at the Benghazi airport.


This is What I Know:

Since the takedown of the US Embassy compound in Tehran in November 4, 1979, the security of US missions abroad has been a top priority of US security policy. Over the course of two decades in Special Forces, I was directly involved in this mission; there are specific protocols that during an incident such as Benghazi will drive decision-making and actionable orders.

From the moment the first reports went out from Tripoli on the situation Benghazi, a specific sequence of events takes place:

A FLASH message is generated from within the State Department to the Whitehouse Situation Room; the National Command Authority (i.e. the President, the Secretary of Defense and/or the Vice President and the Deputy Secretary of Defense) are notified.

Acknowledgement of this message by Whitehouse communications personnel immediately generates message traffic to the Department of Defense and to the appropriate theater Combatant Command - in this case AFRICOM Headquarters at Kelley Barracks, Germany.

AFRICOM immediately notifies the Commanders In-Extremis Force (CIF) – a US Army Special Forces unit task-organized for Direct Action missions.

The CIF would immediately begin an emergency planning process which continues to take place during movement toward an assembly area within vicinity of the target.

Now this is key: in order for any of the above NOT to happen (i.e. for the CIF or any assets in theater to stand down) the National Command Authority MUST issue a deliberate order.

In other words, the President of the United States and/or his surrogates, specifically directed US forces within striking distance of the situation in Benghazi, to stand down.


Analysis

A bad decision was made. For whatever reason, the President and his team decided not to send available forces into Benghazi while the US Consulate and the Annex were under attack. Perhaps they feared an ambush at the Benghazi airport; it could have been anything. Hindsight is 20-20 and I am not going to Monday-morning quarterback why that decision was made. It is not illegal to make a bad decision; if it was, nobody would make any decisions at all.


"The basic principle is that you don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on; without having some real-time information about what's taking place. And as a result of not having that kind of information, the commander who was on the ground in that area, Gen. Ham, Gen. Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation." - Leon Panetta.


There were any number of options, and no shortage of real-time, actionable intelligence available. Fast movers out of Sigonella or from one of our carriers could have flown fifty feet over the compound and sonic boomed the attackers. The Spectre AC-130 gunship would have been on station two hours into the attack, and those things are deadly accurate; they can land a 105mm shell into a dumpster. The CIF could have landed at the airport and made their way to the target, guns a-blazing if necessary.

This is Where it Gets Weird:

Upon notification the attack in Benghazi was taking place, AFRICOM Commander General Ham immediately notified the CIF unit and communicated to the Pentagon that his forces were ready to deploy.

General Ham then received the order to stand down. His alleged response was screw it, he was going to help anyhow. Within 30 seconds to a minute after making the move to respond, his second in command apprehended General Ham and told him that he was now relieved of his command.

On October 18 2012, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced:

”President Barack Obama will nominate Army Gen. David Rodriguez to succeed Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command and Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton to succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps.”

So far there is nothing solid to backstop this story, although it is very intriguing that Ham is immediately reassigned less than eighteen months into a three year tour. Maybe Ham attempted to send a reaction force against orders, or maybe he simply gave his chain-of-command a piece of his mind about hanging Americans to dry. At the very least the CIF and whatever other forces were available could have made those who killed our people pay while they were still on the scene.

• We know that over 6 hours elapsed form the beginning of the attack to when the CIA operators were killed by mortar fire - from a heavy mortar emplacement they had laser target designators on, and had requested air support hours earlier in neutralizing. They had also given higher HQ 8-digit coordinates on the mortars, as close as it gets in combat targeting.

From CIA: "No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate.”

Comments by Robert Scheuer, former CIA chief of Bin Laden unit HERE

A good overall Benghazi timeline HERE

Summary of all facts to date HERE


It is bad enough that they could have done something and instead chose to do nothing.

What makes it worse is the subsequent cover-up deception involving the anti-Mohammed video clip, and the constantly shifting stories we have been subjected to over the past six weeks.

Watergate was the cover-up of a third-rate burglary that was busted by two intrepid reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, and it took down a President. This is far worse, because four Americans are dead, there is no shortage of recorded intelligence material about what happened, and this time the Lamestream Media - playing the role of Woodward and Bernstein - are actively collaborating with the Adminstration to help perpetrate the cover-up.

Disgraceful.


- STORMBRINGER SENDS

THEY CALL THEM SPITFIRES

FIND OF THE CENTURY

Lost WWII Planes Discovered In Mint Condition In Myanmar Jungle

Nearly 140 Spitfires discovered in near mint condition after being buried in the jungle for nearly 70 years in their original crates; wings folded back, wrapped in wax paper and covered in grease.

Twenty-five years ago a British farmer by the name of David Cundall overheard a group of American World War II vets discussing how they had buried a squadron of unused Supermarine Spitfire fighter planes in the jungles of Burma. The plan was to leave them there until the RAF needed them, at which time they could be dug up and pressed into service. But as the war ground to a halt and newer planes replaced the Spitfire, there was never a need to retrieve the hidden aircraft. So, they've stayed there, buried under 40 feet of soil, ever since. That story struck a chord with Cundall, who was a farmer at the time, and for some reason felt compelled to go looking for the lost planes. Two-and-a-half decades, and $210,000 later, he has found them, and the discovery has exceeded his imagination . . .


Read the rest of this amazing story HERE

ALSO THIS DAY IN HISTORY . . .

The Saint of Gambier Bay:

Norm St. Germain was one of 400 seamen aboard the USS Gambier Bay on October 25, 1944, the day the navy carrier came under intense enemy fire. Outnumbered and unable to escape, the courageous men defended their ship and one another – not knowing whether or not any of them would make it home alive.

INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH . . .

On this day in 1854 during the Battle of Balaclave, Major General the Earl of Cardigan led 600+ sabre-armed cavalrymen straight into the valley between the Fedyukhin Heights and the Causeway Heights, - famously dubbed the "Valley of Death" by the poet Tennyson - against several well-prepared Russian artillery batteries of over fifty guns with excellent fields of defensive fire. Although they reached the Russian lines under withering direct fire and scattering some of the gunners, the badly mauled brigade was forced to retreat immediately, producing no decisive gains and very high British casualties.

This action - the epitome of military disasters - was brought about by the poor written communication skills of Lord Raglan, overall commander, who intended to send the Light Brigade to pursue and harry a retreating Russian artillery battery near the front line, a task well suited to light cavalry. This in mind, Raglan issued the following order to Cardigan, by courier:

"Lord Raglan wishes the Cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy, and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Troop Horse Artillery may accompany. French Cavalry is on your left. Immediate."

Timeline of the Charge - from Forgotten Heroes: The Charge of the Light Brigade (2007)

The charge was from left to right, with the Russian batteries at the extreme right.


The Light Brigade set off down the valley with Cardigan out in front leading the charge. Almost at once Nolan was seen to rush across the front, passing in front of Cardigan. It may be that he then realised the charge was aimed at the wrong target and was attempting to stop or turn the brigade, but he was killed by an artillery shell and the cavalry continued on its course.

Cardigan never looked back, did not see what was happening to the troops behind him. He reached the Russian guns, took part in the fight, and then returned alone up the valley without bothering to rally or even find out what had happened to the survivors. He afterwards said all he could think about was his rage against Captain Nolan, who he thought had tried to take over the leadership of the charge from him.

Despite withering fire from three sides that devastated their force on the ride, the Light Brigade was able to engage the Russian forces at the end of the valley and force them back from the redoubt, but it suffered heavy casualties and was soon forced to retire. The surviving Russian artillerymen returned to their guns and opened fire once again, with grape and canister, indiscriminately at the mêlée of friend and foe before them

Cardigan survived the battle. After riding back up the valley, he considered he had done all that he could and then, with considerable sang-froid, left the field and went on board his yacht in Balaclava harbour, where he ate a champagne dinner.

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Memorializing Events in the Battle of Balaclava, October 25, 1854

Half a league half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred:

‘Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns’ he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’

Was there a man dismay’d ?

Not tho’ the soldier knew

Some one had blunder’d:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do & die,

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

Volley’d & thunder’d;

Storm’d at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell

Rode the six hundred.

The 11th Hussars strike the Russian Battery with the 17th Lancers

Flash’d all their sabres bare,

Flash’d as they turn’d in air

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army while

All the world wonder’d:

Plunged in the battery-smoke

Right thro’ the line they broke;

Cossack & Russian

Reel’d from the sabre-stroke,

Shatter’d & sunder’d.

Then they rode back, but not

Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon behind them

Volley’d and thunder’d;

Storm’d at with shot and shell,

While horse & hero fell,

They that had fought so well

Came thro’ the jaws of Death,

Back from the mouth of Hell,

All that was left of them,

Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

All the world wonder’d.

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred!

The Valley of Death, photographed some time after the Battle of Balaclava - cannonballs still litter the battlefield.


The Charge of the Light Brigade has also come to epitomize the valour of warriors in carrying out their orders, even in the face of certain destruction.


"Honor them"

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES MILITARY ADVISORY COUNCIL

Mitt Romney Press
Location Boston, MA
17 October, 2012

Today, Romney for President announced its Military Advisory Council.

“I am deeply honored to have the support of so many of our most accomplished military leaders,” said Mitt Romney. “Together we will restore our military might and ensure that America can defend and protect our interests, our allies, and our people, both at home and abroad. I will never forget that the greatest responsibility of an American president is in exercising the role of commander-in-chief. That role is sacred, and when I am president, I will never put my own political interests ahead of our military and our men and women in uniform.”

“I’m proud to be supporting Mitt Romney in this critical election about our nation’s future,” said General Tommy Franks, USA (Ret.), Past Commander, U.S. Central Command. “Governor Romney is committed to restoring America’s leadership role in the world. Instead of playing politics with our military, he will strengthen our defense posture by reversing the President’s devastating defense cuts. The fact of the matter is that we cannot afford another four years of feckless foreign policy. We need level-headed leadership which will protect our interests and defend our values with clarity and without apology.”

“I consider the unprecedented national debt amongst the five greatest threats to the security of our great nation,” said General James Conway, USMC (Ret.), Past Commandant of the Marine Corps. “And yet, I see no indication the current administration, if re-elected, is intent on changing that trajectory. Clearly Defense should bear a portion of the burden in order to regain control of our debt, but the idea of massive military cuts -- at a time of increased global instability—should not even be in the cards. As I listen to Mitt Romney, I am convinced that he 'gets it'.”

Members Of Romney For President Military Advisory Council:

Admiral James B. Busey, USN, (Ret.)
General James T. Conway, USMC, (Ret.)
General Terrence R. Dake, USMC, (Ret)
Admiral James O. Ellis, USN, (Ret.)
Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, USM, (Ret.)
General Ronald R. Fogleman, USAF, (Ret)
General Tommy Franks, USA, (Ret)
General Alfred Hansen, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Ronald Jackson Hays, USN, (Ret)
Admiral Thomas Bibb Hayward, USN, (Ret)
General Chuck Albert Horner, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Jerome LaMarr Johnson, USN, (Ret)
Admiral Timothy J. Keating, USN, (Ret)
General Paul X. Kelley, USMC, (Ret)
General William Kernan, USA, (Ret)
Admiral George E.R. Kinnear II, USN, (Ret)
General William L. Kirk, USAF, (Ret)
General James J. Lindsay, USA, (Ret)
General William R. Looney III, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Hank Mauz, USN, (Ret)
General Robert Magnus, USMC, (Ret)
Admiral Paul David Miller, USN, (Ret)
General Henry Hugh Shelton, USA, (Ret)
General Lance Smith, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Leighton Smith, Jr., USN, (Ret)
General Ronald W. Yates, USAF, (Ret)
Admiral Ronald J. Zlatoper, USN, (Ret)
Lieutenant General James Abrahamson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Edgar Anderson, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Marcus A. Anderson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Buck Bedard, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral A. Bruce Beran, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Lyle Bien, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Harold Blot, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Mike Bowman III, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Mike Bucchi, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Walter E. Buchanan III, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Richard A. Burpee, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William Campbell, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General James E. Chambers, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward W. Clexton, Jr., USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General John B. Conaway, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Marvin Covault, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Terry M. Cross, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William Adam Dougherty, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Brett Dula, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Gordon E. Fornell, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral David Frost, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Henry C. Giffin III, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Peter M. Hekman, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Richard D. Herr, USCG, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thomas J Hickey, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Walter S. Hogle, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Ronald W. Iverson, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Donald W. Jones, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Douglas J. Katz, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Jay W. Kelley, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Tom Kilcline, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Timothy A. Kinnan, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Harold Koenig, M.D., USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Albert H. Konetzni, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Buford Derald Lary, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Frank Libutti, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Stephen Loftus, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Michael Malone, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward H. Martin, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John J. Mazach, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Justin D. McCarthy, USN, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William McCauley, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Fred McCorkle, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thomas G. McInerney, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Joseph S. Mobley, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Carol Mutter, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Dave R. Palmer, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John Theodore "Ted" Parker, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Garry L. Parks, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Charles Henry "Chuck" Pitman, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Steven R. Polk, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral William E. Ramsey, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Joseph J. Redden, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Clifford H. "Ted" Rees, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Edward Rowny, USA (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Dutch Schultz, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Charles J. Searock, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General E. G. "Buck" Shuler, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Alexander M. "Rusty" Sloan, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Edward M. Straw, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General David J. Teal, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Billy M. Thomas, USA, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Donald C. "Deese" Thompson, USCG, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Alan S. Thompson, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Herman O. "Tommy" Thomson, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Howard B. Thorsen, USCG, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William Thurman, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert Allen "R.A." Tiebout, USMC, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral John B. Totushek, USNR, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General George J. Trautman, USMC, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Garry R. Trexler, USAF, (Ret.)
Vice Admiral Jerry O. Tuttle, USN, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Claudius "Bud" Watts, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General William "Bill" Welser, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Thad A. Wolfe, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General C. Norman Wood, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Michael W. Wooley, USAF, (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Richard "Rick" Zilmer, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Chris Adams, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Henry Amos, USN (Ret.)
Major General Nora Alice Astafan, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Almon Bowen Ballard, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General James F. Barnette, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Robert W. Barrow, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John R. Batlzer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jon W. Bayless, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John E. Bianchi, USA, (Ret.)
Major General David F. Bice, USMC, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Linda J. Bird, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James H. Black, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Peter A. Bondi, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John L. Borling, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Tom Braaten, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Robert J. Brandt, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jerry C. Breast, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Bruce B. Bremner, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas F. Brown III, USN, (Ret.)
Major General David P. Burford, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John F. Calvert, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jay A. Campbell, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Henry Canterbury, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James J. Carey, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Nevin Carr, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Stephen K. Chadwick, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral W. Lewis Chatham, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Jeffrey G. Cliver, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Casey Coane, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Isaiah C. Cole, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Stephen Condon, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Richard C. Cosgrave, USANG, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert Cowley, USN, (Ret.)
Major General J.T. Coyne, USMC, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert C. Crates, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Tommy F. Crawford, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James P. Davidson, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Kevin F. Delaney, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James D. Delk, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Robert E. Dempsey, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jay Ronald Denney, USNR, (Ret.)
Major General Robert S. Dickman, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James C. Doebler, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Douglas O. Dollar, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Hunt Downer, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Thomas A. Dyches, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Jay T. Edwards, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General John R. Farrington, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Francis L. Filipiak, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James H. Flatley III, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Charles Fletcher, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Bobby O. Floyd, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Veronica Froman, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Vance H. Fry, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral R. Byron Fuller, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral George M. Furlong, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Frank Gallo, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Ben F. Gaumer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harry E. Gerhard Jr., USN, (Ret.)
Major General Daniel J. Gibson, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Andrew A. Giordano, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Richard N. Goddard, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Fred Golove, USCGR, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harold Eric Grant, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Jeff Grime, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Robert Kent Guest, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Tim Haake, USAR, (Ret.)
Major General Otto K. Habedank, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas F. Hall, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Donald P. Harvey, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Leonard W. Hegland, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John Hekman, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John A. Hemphill, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Larry Hereth, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General Wilfred Hessert, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Don Hickman, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Geoffrey Higginbotham, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Jerry D. Holmes, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Weldon F. Honeycutt, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steve Israel, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James T. Jackson, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John S. Jenkins, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Tim Jenkins, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Ron Jesberg, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Pierce J. Johnson, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steven B. Kantrowitz, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John T. Kavanaugh, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Dennis M. Kenneally, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Michael Kerby, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral David Kunkel, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General Geoffrey C. Lambert, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Arthur Langston, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas G. Lilly, USN, (Ret.)
Major General James E. Livingston, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General Al Logan, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General John D. Logeman Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Noah H. Long Jr, USNR, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Don Loren, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Andy Love, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Thomas C. Lynch, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Steven Wells Maas, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert M. Marquette, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Larry Marsh, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Clark W. Martin, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General William M. Matz, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Gerard Mauer, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William J. McDaniel, MD, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral E.S. McGinley II, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Henry C. McKinney, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert Messerli, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Douglas S. Metcalf, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John W. Miller, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Patrick David Moneymaker, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Mario Montero, USA, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Douglas M. Moore, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Walter Bruce Moore, USA, (Ret.)
Major General William Moore, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Burton R. Moore, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James A. Morgart, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Stanton R. Musser, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John T. Natter, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert George Nester, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General George W. Norwood, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert C. Olsen, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Raymund E. O’Mara, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert S. Owens, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John F. Paddock, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Robert W. Paret, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert O. Passmore, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Earl G. Peck, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Richard E. Perraut Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Gerald F. Perryman, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral W.W. Pickavance, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John J. Prendergast, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Fenton F. Priest, USN, (Ret.)
Major General David C. Ralston, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Bentley B. Rayburn, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Harold Rich, USN , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Roland Rieve, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Tommy F. Rinard, USN , (Ret.)
Major General Richard H. Roellig, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Michael S. Roesner, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William J. Ryan, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Loran C. Schnaidt, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Carl Schneider, USAF , (Ret.)
Major General John P. Schoeppner, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Edison E. Scholes, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert H. Shumaker, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William S. Schwob, USCG, (Ret.)
Major General David J. Scott, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Hugh P. Scott, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Richard Secord, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral William H. Shawcross, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Joseph K. Simeone, USAF and ANG , (Ret.)
Major General Darwin Simpson, ANG , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic, USN , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral David Oliver "D.O." Smart, USNR, (Ret.)
Major General Richard D. Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Donald Bruce Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Paul O. Soderberg, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert H. "Bob" Spiro, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Henry B. Stelling, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Daniel H. Stone, USN, (Ret.)
Major General William A. Studer, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Hamlin Tallent, USN, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Hugh Banks Tant III, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Larry S. Taylor, USMC, (Ret.)
Major General J.B. Taylor, USA, (Ret.)
Major General Thomas R. Tempel, USA , (Ret.)
Major General Richard L. Testa, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Jere Thompson, USN (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Byron E. Tobin, USN, (Ret.)
Major General Larry Twitchell, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Russell L. Violett, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General David E.B. "DEB" Ward, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Charles J. Wax, USAF, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Donald Weatherson, USN, (Ret.)
Major General John Welde, USAF, (Ret.)
Major General Gary Whipple, USA , (Ret.)
Rear Admiral James B. Whittaker, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Charles Williams, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral H. Denny Wisely, USN, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Theodore J. Wojnar, USCG, (Ret.)
Rear Admiral George R. Worthington, USN, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Arthur Abercrombie, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John R. Allen, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Loring R. Astorino, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard Averitt, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Garry S. Bahling, USANG, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Donald E. Barnhart, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Charles L. Bishop, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Clayton Bridges, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jeremiah J. Brophy, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General R. Thomas Browning, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David A. Brubaker, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Chalmers R. Carr, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Fred F. Castle, USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert V. Clements, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Christopher T Cline, USAR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General George Peyton Cole, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard A. Coleman, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Mike Cushman, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Peter Dawkins, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Sam. G. DeGeneres, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General George Demers, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Howard G. DeWolf, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Arthur F. Diehl, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David Bob Edmonds, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Anthony Farrington, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Norm Gaddis, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert H. Harkins, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas W. Honeywill, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Stanley V. Hood, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General James J. Hourin, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jack C. Ihle, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas G. Jeter, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General William Herbert Johnson, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Kenneth F. Keller, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Wayne W. Lambert, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jerry L. Laws, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Thomas J. Lennon, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John M. Lotz, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert S. Mangum, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Frank Martin, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Joe Mensching, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard L. Meyer, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Lawrence A. Mitchell, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Michael P. Mulqueen, USMC, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Ben Nelson, Jr., USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jack W. Nicholson, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Maria C. Owens, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Dave Papak, USMC, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Gary A. Pappas, USANG, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Robert V. Paschon, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Allen K. Rachel, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Jon Reynolds, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Edward F. Rodriguez, Jr., USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Roger Scearce, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Dennis Schulstad, USAFR, (Ret.)
Brigadier General John Serur, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Joseph L. Shaefer, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Graham Shirley, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Raymond Shulstad, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Stan Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Ralph S. Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Donald Smith, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General David M. Snyder, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Michael Joseph Tashjian, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Richard Louis Ursone, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Earl Van Inwegen, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Terrence P. Woods, USAF, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Mitchell Zais, USA, (Ret.)
Brigadier General Allan Ralph Zenowitz, USA, (Ret.)


*Use of Military Branch and/or Rank does not imply endorsement by the service branch or the Dept. of Defense*

The only time I saw anything approaching this collection of flag officers was the time in Ste Mere Eglise in the bar when I turned around and there were seven General officers lined up behind me waiting to be served . . . but that's another story for another time . . .

I'm going not going to call this election one way or the other - the polls are too close, in politics anything can happen, and Mitt wasn't my first choice anyway. Having said that, let me point out once more that this election isn't about who we vote FOR it's about who we vote AGAINST.

In politics anything can happen, sure - let me point out a few things that have happened since the election of Barack Hussein Obama:

ObamaCare - This single issue stands in a class of its own; crammed through Congress and down the throats of the American people by ruse, deception and outright political bribery, Obamacare led to the creation of the TEA Party - the single most significant grassroots movement in the history of the Republic, which in turn let to:

2010 mid-term elections - Republicans over 700 seats; everything from the Senate down to dogcatcher - the greatest turnover of political power in this country since the Civil War.

The Ted Kennedy Senate seat - victory of Republican Scott Brown over a Democrat for this symbolic seat would have been unthinkable less than even five years ago.

Republican victory in the recall election of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker - the Democrats and their allies the union goons, ACORN, OCCUPY, etc. threw everything they had at this thing to the tune of millions of dollars, and failed to win an election in a traditionally deep blue state.

And then we have the polls of course . . .


"That's my story and I'm sticking to it . . ."

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

FEMALE OFFICERS DROP OUT OF GRUELING MARINE CORPS INFANTRY COURSE

Interesting . . . S.L.

Jeff Black, NBC News

Both volunteers in a study to see if women could become Marine ground combat leaders have dropped out of the rigorous Infantry Officer Course, with the second failing because of a medical reason late last week, Marine Corps Times reported.

A second lieutenant was unable to complete the required training and left the program on Friday because of unreported medical reasons, the newspaper reported on its website. It was unknown if she became ill or injured or had other medical issues.

Inquiries from NBC News into her condition were not immediately returned by the Marine Corps.

The other female volunteer, who was also a second lieutenant, was unable to complete the introductory endurance test and dropped out – along with nearly 30 men – on Sept. 28. The program, run at the Marine base at Quantico, Va., is considered the toughest course in the Marine Corps.

Read the rest of it HERE


This is what I have to say about it:

Strapping on an F-15 and zooming around, or pulling guard duty on perimeter with 40 lbs of cool-looking scare gear, is not the same thing as serving in the Infantry.

The entire concept of putting women into the Combat Arms is the epitome of folly. This concept has been gaining traction steadily since the late 80's, based on the notion of fairness - i.e. in order for women officers to gain access to the highest levels of command.

Two things:

The purpose of the military has nothing to do with ill-concieved concepts of fairness and / or political correctness. The modern day battlefield is the most lethal, unforgiving environment in the history of humankind. It is not that women are physically disadvantaged against men; women bring a host of unnecessary challenges with them; not least of all a sanitary issue, but also emotional baggage, etcetera.

Somewhere out there the woman exists who can benchpress more than I can, and who can ruckmarch farther, faster, and with a heavier load than me. I don't necessarily want to meet her.


And that leads to the second thing:

There is something almost sacred about the bond that exists within the Infantry squad. Grunts eat together, sleep together, shit shower and shave together, in the most extreme conditions imaginable. When you work together on a team like this for any length of time, there comes a point where you can identify your compadres - in the dark even - from their individual walk. A collective consciousness emerges, where the squad moves and operates as a single, many-bodied entity. To insert a woman into this mix would be an absolutely disruptive measure on so many levels.

Instead of exploring ways to allow the weaker sex a participatory role in combat, we should constantly strive to up the physical and mental standards of the Infantry and other combat arms MOS's.

Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks this way:

Get Over It! We Are Not All Created Equal!


As a company grade 1302 combat engineer officer with 5 years of active service and two combat deployments, one to Iraq and the other to Afghanistan, I was able to participate in and lead numerous combat operations. In Iraq as the II MEF Director, Lioness Program, I served as a subject matter expert for II MEF, assisting regimental and battalion commanders on ways to integrate female Marines into combat operations. I primarily focused on expanding the mission of the Lioness Program from searching females to engaging local nationals and information gathering, broadening the ways females were being used in a wide variety of combat operations from census patrols to raids. In Afghanistan I deployed as a 1302 and led a combat engineer platoon in direct support of Regimental Combat Team 8, specifically operating out of the Upper Sangin Valley. My platoon operated for months at a time, constructing patrol bases (PBs) in support of 3d Battalion, 5th Marines; 1st Battalion, 5th Marines; 2d Reconnaissance Battalion; and 3d Battalion, 4th Marines. This combat experience, in particular, compelled me to raise concern over the direction and overall reasoning behind opening the 03XX field. Who is driving this agenda? I am not personally hearing female Marines, enlisted or officer, pounding on the doors of Congress claiming that their inability to serve in the infantry violates their right to equality. Shockingly, this isn’t even a congressional agenda. This issue is being pushed by several groups, one of which is a small committee of civilians appointed by the Secretary of Defense called the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service (DACOWITS). Their mission is to advise the Department of Defense (DoD) on recommendations, as well as matters of policy, pertaining to the well-being of women in the Armed Services from recruiting to employment. Members are selected based on their prior military experience or experience with women’s workforce issues. I certainly applaud and appreciate DACOWITS’ mission; however, as it pertains to the issue of women in the infantry, it’s very surprising to see that none of the committee members are on active duty or have any recent combat or relevant operational experience relating to the issue they are attempting to change.

* * *

Having said all this, I say there is a place for women in Special Operations - in fact, they are already there. This is a different set of challenges - albeit related - and a different environment. In SpecOps, women represent the potential of the Female Warrior; in fact, they serve as an incredibly deadly secret weapon. Women have also served as snipers in the Israeli and Russian military, but evidence suggests that this was more due to sheer logistics - the need for bodies on the battlefield - than an any percieved inherent feminine advantage when it comes to marksmanship.

I have no doubt how much carnage this pack of Amazons can unleash. That is also besides the point. The Infantry and the Special Forces ODA must remain the Last Boys Club Carrying exotic weapons and gear and participating in unique missions is night and day away from the day-to-day physical, mental and emotional challenges of an Infantry unit on patrol. Anybody who has served in the Infantry knows what I am talking about. - STORMBRINGER SENDS

NRA LOD: Last of the Great Cowboy Sheriffs

NRA Life of Duty presented by Brownells and Smith & Wesson are paying tribute this month to the last of the great cowboy sheriffs Larry Dever – a man who always stood up for his beliefs regardless of the cost.


Embed Code -


Visit the NRA Life of Duty Patriot Profiles channel sponsored by Smith & Wesson for more documentaries at: www.nralifeofduty.tv/patriotprofiles

UN-affiliated Observers Will Monitor U.S. Elections

I encountered this organization in Bosnia - they are sinister, they are very powerful politically, and they have the ability to shut down an election and declare it invalid. More to follow - S.L.

International monitors at US polling places draw criticism

United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week. The intervention has drawn criticism from a prominent conservative-leaning group combating election fraud.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a United Nations partner on democratization and human rights projects, will deploy 44 observers around the county on Election Day to monitor an array of activities, including potential disputes at polling places.

Liberal-leaning civil rights groups met with representatives from the OSCE this week to raise their fears about what they say are systematic efforts to suppress minority voters likely to vote for President Obama.


My mission in Bosnia involved living in a house out in the 'ville, meeting with all kinds of people and striking up conversations. One of these people was a young Englishman with the OSCE. He explained to me that he was a "Human Rights Lawyer" and that an issue he was primarily concerned with was gun control.

I responded, "Isn't gun control contrary to human rights? Isn't the right to self-defense a primary human right? Look around you, these people were rounded up and slaughtered wholesale BECAUSE they couldn't get their hands on weapons to defend themselves.

Needless to say, we did not have much to discuss after that.

Look up OSCE on wikipedia and it's right there in the opening paragraph:

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control and the promotion of human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections.

OK I did a little homework and learned that this UN-backed goonsquad has been monitoring US elections since 2002; a kneejerk to the 2000 election dilemma, no doubt - the Euros were all bent out of shape over George Bush prevailing over High Priest of Climate Change AlGore.

OK so they're monitoring our elections, looking for voter suppression activities - funny how we didn't hear a peep from them about the New Black Panthers Party voter-suppression activities in the 2008 elections.

OK that's ancient history - in any case it's been alerted on, charges were filed and then subsequently dropped by Eric Holder's Justice Department. What about some of THESE voting irregularities?

Double Voting Democrats - Round 2

Undercover reporters ask OFA (Organizing for America, President Obama's Grassroots arm of his re-election campaign) staffers for advice on double voting. In each circumstance the staffers are complicit in the illegal implications of voting twice.



From the American Thinker


But . . . There Is No Voter Fraud, Right?

The most common argument heard from those against voter integrity laws is that “there is no voter fraud.” Conservative Daily News presents a short list from the last 2 years that proves their theory wrong . . . dead wrong.


SO - what have we learned of this? Liberals have to cheat and lie to win elections. Nothing new here. If they told the truth about their agenda, they would never win an election.

"That's my story and I'm sticking to it . . ."

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

THE COMPANY WE KEEP

A reader sends:

I read this: "A truism of mine is that the stupidest thing a nation finding itself engaged in a war, is to do anything less than 100% of what it takes to win that war."

. . . was reminded of this:

"Having made the decision to go to war, it is folly to proceed by half-measures." - Winston Churchill

TRIBUTE to "WIMPY IV" FU-D

On the evening of 20 October, 1941, at 1829 hours (6:29 pm), Wellington IV FU-D took off from R.A.F. Base Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, Yorkshire. It was 458 Squadron's first operation, a part of a larger air raid. The flight consisted of 82 Hampden's, 48 Wellington's, 15 Stirlings and 8 Manchester's. FU-D's target was Mont-sur-Marchienne, directly south of Charleroi, Belgium.

Six hours later, at around 0030 hours in the morning, 21 October, 1941, Wellington IV FU-D was shot down by a German Messerschmidt BF-110 nightfighter.


PILOT: Sergeant Peter John Maxwell Hamilton, R.A.F. (Killed In Action), age 22

CREW: Sergeant Philip George Crittenden R.A.A.F. (Killed In Action), age 20

Pilot/Officer David Kimber Fawkes, Observer, R.A.F. (Killed In Action), age 25

Sergeant Thomas Jackson, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, R.A.F. (Killed In Action), age 26

Sergeant Andrew Young Condie, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, R.A.F. (Killed In Action), age 23

Sergeant P.G.E.A. Brown, Air Gunner, R.A.F. (Prisoner of War)

Consider the times when the crew of FU-D departed on their fateful flight. Pearl Harbor was still over six weeks away - London was still smoldering from the Battle of Britain, Commonwealth and Imperial British forces had not yet won a significant victory in almost two years of fighting the Germans, Dunkirk was a recent memory, and the U-boat situation in the Atlantic threatened to strangle the tiny island that held out against the Nazi war machine.

Desperate times.

At this time Britain was throwing everything they had up in the air against targets in Nazi-occupied Europe. The crew of FU-D was representative of the British Commonwealth; two Australians (one of whom served in the RAF), three British and a South African. FU-D had the dubious honor of being the first RAAF plane lost on the first Bomber Command mission led by the Royal Australian Air Force.


Month of Honor always starts a couple weeks early for my family - read the rest of this story HERE and HERE

"Respect & Honor"

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

ONLY THE DEAD HAVE SEEN THE END OF WAR

Killed Soldier Warned Obama's Afghanistan Strategy Needlessly Endangering Troops

Stories continue to roll in of soldiers who are losing their lives by fighting a type of warfare we tried in Vietnam to no avail. The story of Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Sitton is one such example. He was KIA on August 2, 2012, after spending months warning his superiors and Congress that the style of warfare he and his men were being forced to undertake was as pointless as it was dangerous.

On June 4, Sitton wrote Rep. Bill Young (R-FL) to describe the conditions under which he was fighting and the types of duties he and his men were being asked to undertake.

In that correspondence, SSG Sitton wrote:

I feel myself and my soldiers are being put into unnecessary positions where harm and danger are imminent. There is no...purpose for the patrols given to us for our chain of command, only that we will be out for a certain time period. We are walking around aimlessly through grape rows and compounds that are littered with explosives.

Again, this is limited war at its best, which is limited war at its worst . . .

Read the rest of it HERE


A truism of mine is that the stupidest thing a nation finding itself engaged in a war, is to do anything less than 100% of what it takes to win that war.

In other words, to do anything less than commit to 100% victory is a war crime against the warriors committed to that war - and in this case I point the finger at the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. We all know who I'm talking about.

This thing in Afghanistan stopped being a war the second NATO got involved and the objective morphed into "nation building."

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

MEIN BLOK LEF

Thanks to my Brothers-of-the-Silk @GordyGourd and @bradyjmoore on Twitter for this - FUNNIEST SH*T I'VE SEEN IN AGES - this is EXACTLY the way paratroopers speak. Lots of 82d Airplane Gang talk, but I think we can all relate:

ALLAHU AKBAR IN YOUR FACE

This one's making the rounds again . . . the guys I work with on the other side of the Pond sent it in this morning . . . I first saw this clip about five years ago . . . I guess it takes some time to make it over there to PommyLand . . . anyhow it's a great clip; it cheers me up to watch it again, in fact it warms the cockles of my heart . . . S.L.


Allahu Akbar

This video was actually made by the Bad Guys. The cameraman is filming his friend as he praises Allah and launches mortar shots at American troops. Little does he know that new mortar shell tracking technology can track the trajectory of a hostile round and fire a retaliatory shot to precisely the spot from which the hostile shell was fired. This only requires the hostile mortar to fire 2 to 3 rounds.


Count the number of mortar rounds the masked insurgent fires in the video. See how well it works. If you listen carefully you can hear the single round from the American artillery fired in the distance. It comes just after the terrorist fires his third round - and his fourth round drops down the tube but that's as far as it gets.


Edit: This is the way the story appears when it circulates on the Internet. Other people are saying that this is incorrect, that the round itself exploded before being fired. Either way, good riddance to bad psychotic rubbish.





No more Allahu Akbars from this source! God Bless America and our Troops!

Isn't technology wonderful?


- STORMBRINGER SENDS

WHO's YER DADDY, BARACK OBAMMY?

I knew this guy was a Commie from Day One and I've burned a lot of bridges and made a lot of bad blood calling him on it ever since. This is what I'm talkin' about . . . S.L.

Dreams from My Real Father
A Story of Reds and Deception

At age 18, Barack Obama admittedly arrived at Occidental College a committed revolutionary Marxist. What was the source of Obama's foundation in Marxism? Throughout his 2008 Presidential campaign and term in office, questions have been raised regarding Barack Obama's family background, economic philosophy, and fundamental political ideology. Dreams from My Real Father is the alternative Barack Obama "autobiography," offering a divergent theory of what may have shaped our 44th President's life and politics.

Read the rest HERE


But-Wait-It-Gets-Better-Dept.

The Intimate Ann Dunham - Frank Marshall Davis Relationship

Racy photos of Barack Obama's mother, Ann Dunham,

have recently surfaced in vintage fetish and bondage magazines.

The photos, taken at Frank Marshall Davis' house in Honolulu, appeared in Bizarre Life, Exotique, Secret Pleasures, and Battling Babes. They help illustrate the intimate relationship between Dunham and Davis. "My father was from Kenya, he grew up herding goats," Barack Obama told the cheering crowds. Did Obama build his political career upon a fairy tale? Was Obama misdirecting Americans away from a deeply disturbing family background and a Marxist political foundation?





Obama's version of his early childhood is false - the family did not split up when the Kenyan Obama went to Harvard as he claimed. In fact, Ann Dunham took "Barry" to Seattle a few weeks after his birth (late August 1961), and began studies at the University of Washington, while the Kenyan remained in Hawaii. All evidence points to a "sham" marriage to cover up an illicit affair. . .

Read the rest HERE

Identification: Ann Dunham’s front teeth and recessed teeth are a match to the magazine model.


Yeah - I can hear the skeptics out there - what a strained conspiracy theory. I say; 'not at all" - and I usually dismiss all conspiracy theories outright. Situations like this happen all the time and the truth rarely surfaces. Consider; nobody has ever done a DNA match on Barack Obama to determine his heritage.

Which one looks like Obama's real father?

In any case this situation is a whole lot more believable than the story I presented for y'all on Saturday . . .

. . . I'm just sayin' . . .


- STORMBRINGER SENDS

MAN SANS MACHINE BREAKS SOUND BARRIER

Felix Baumgartner breaks sound barrier as he jumps from edge of space.

Baumgartner reached speeds in excess of 800 mph, breaking the speed of sound on the same day that test pilot Chuck Yaeger did it in 1947 in a rocket with wings.

No one has ever reached that speed wearing only a space suit.

After the unprecedented leap from 24 miles up his maximum speed was tracked at 833.9 mph, or Mach 1.24. Baumgartner, 43, rocketed head first for more than four minutes before deploying his chute.

The old sub-space HALO infil isn't a joke anymore. Congratulations to this entrepid warrior!

It's good to see that there are still some Final Frontiers out there, and some brave souls willing to pioneer them.

Joe Kittinger didn't jump from space in August of 1960 to set a record. He did it to prove pilots could survive a 23-mile fall.


Back in the day we Special Forces Combat Divers used to wear the Navy SCUBA Diver badge . . .

. . . it was a nondescript little number but we were damn proud of it because we practically had to drown to earn it and along the way we learned how waves tides and currents do not affect the Combat Diver . . . and there was a running joke that went with the badge.

Sooner or later some young babe was going to ask, "Excuse me Sergeant, what is that badge?" and the stock answer was, "Space Shuttle Door Gunner." When they looked at you incredulous, the follow up was, "It was a project they had going in the 80s, we used to get Astronaut Qualified. But they discontinued it, moved the funding over to the stealth bomber project."

The rule is we're supposed to always tell the truth comes with an exclusion clause; you can say anything you want to some young bimbo in a bar. My moment came in the old PX on main post Fort Bragg; some young blonde private from the XVIIIth Airborne Corps. I swear I thought her eyes were going to pop right out of her eye sockets when I laid that whopper on her. She believed me.

"I don't care how many skydives you have, Until you step out of a plane into pitch black darkness at 800' with 200lbs worth of lightweight gear strapped onto your ass and 40lbs of parachute you're still just another f*cking leg!"



Well okay, we'll make an exception - this guy is worthy . . .

- STORMBRINGER SENDS