Tag Archives: US Army

Fort Hood Soldiers Living in Substandard Housing

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While Individual 1 is looking to divert money from military construction budgets to pay for his “beautiful border wall” under his bogus claim of a National Emergency, soldiers and their families at Fort Hood near Killeen are living in substandard housing.  The Austin American Statesman reports there are “deplorable conditions inside on-post housing, ranging from blooms of mold and lead paint to infestations of snakes and cockroaches and dangerously faulty window screens.” It is unclear whether Trump’s use of military funds would have an impact on fixing up the pathetic housing provided to the military.  These problems are rampant across barracks run by the US Armed Forces and other housing which is provided under a privatization program under an Australian Company Lend Lease.  Privatization of military housing was supposed to improve conditions and provide cost savings and it appears to have done neither.   Diversion of funds from the military for Trumps BBW may not have any impact on whether our military families get decent housing, but it does show where Trump’s priorities lie – which is doing anything to save face for his absurd campaign pledge rather than addressing the actual needs of soldiers and their families for safe and secure housing.

Today in Texas History – December 17

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From the Annals of PTSD –  In 1883, Col. Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, a veteran U.S. Army Cavalry officer, was diagnosed as suffering from “paralysis of the insane.”  Mackenzie was from New York and graduated first in his class from West Point in 1862.  He served with great distinction in the Union cavalry during the Civil War, ending the conflict as a brevet major general.  After the war he was stationed in Texas at various times in command of the Fourth United States Cavalry.  He was largely forgotten to history until publication of Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne.   Gwynne’s book focused on the Comanches but also told the story of Mackenzie who was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing an end to the Comanches reign of terror over the vast expanse of territory in which their warriors operated.  Mackenzie is best known for his victory against the Comanches at Palo Duro Canyon and for the extralegal Remolino raid into Mexico in pursuit of Kickapoo raiders.  But is was his incredible determination that finally put an end to the Comanches’ raids. Mackenzie had planned to marry and to retire near Boerne, Texas.  However, it seems likely that he suffered from severe undiagnosed PTSD and he was committed to a New York asylum in 1884.  He died on Staten Island in 1889.

The Coming War with Iran

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It is becoming very clear that Trump wants a war.  As he said during the campaign, “I love war, in a certain way” and clearly pointed out that nuclear weapons were “very important to me.” Red takes Trump at his word.  His already flagging approval rating is merely the latest warning sign.

There are two sure ways to temporarily boost your popularity in the White House – 1) do things that are actually popular and improve the country, or 2) start a war.  The first way is hard and Trump seems incapable of doing anything likely to get a majority of the country behind him (and remember readers – Red fully supports complete implementation of the Trump/GOP agenda starting with locking up Hillary and deporting 12 million illegal aliens and building a wall at Mexico’s expense).  But all he has been able to do so far is make some weak moves on immigration that are getting tied up in the courts and pay some lip service to unleashing Wall Street to deservedly feast on the unwary – yet again.  It isn’t working.  We are only 2.5 weeks in and Trump is already  stalking the corridors of the White House late at night when the cable news outlets go into repeat mode.  That usually doesn’t happen until deep in a second term.

So what’s a poor billionaire to do when faced with an increasingly disapproving public and the “dishonest media.”

Red has an idea! Drum up a war.  And who can most of America agree to hate – that’s right IRAN.  It’s only been 36 years since the hostage crisis and the aged clerics are bound to screw something up that will provide at least a thin veneer of an excuse for unleashing hell.  And a thin veneer will suffice for Trump and likely for a good number of Americans.

Which brings us to the coddling of Russia.  Trump is smart enough to know that a war against Iran will be much easier if Putin throws in with us.  They are right there after all and we can stage operations from Mother Russia much more easily than from say – Iraq.  The question is – what is the price of Russian cooperation.  Is it the Ukraine?  The Baltics?  All of Central Europe?  Whatever it is, Trump may be willing to pay if he thinks that a US-Iran conflict will deliver him the ratings and favorable poll numbers that he so greatly desires.  And if we have to lose a few thousand men and women and spend trillions of dollars, well that is a small price to pay to have your ego stroked.

Yes, there is that small problem of  the Constitution and Congress and a declaration of war, but that hasn’t really stopped any president in a long time.  If war is what Trump wants, Congress is likely to give him one.

So those of you out there with teenage boys and girls, like Red, take heed.  Do you want your son or daughter sacrificed on the altar of Trump’s vanity?  We fought a failed war in Iraq without a draft, but  a war against a much larger, much richer opponent may just require reinstitution of compulsory service.  No more fighting wars on the cheap.  The price is blood and Red thinks there will be many payments made before Trump is sated.

 

 

 

Today in Texas History – December 15

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From the Annals of the Cavalry –  In 1855, the Second United States Cavalry Regiment first came to Texas. The SUSCR  was organized specifically for service on the Texas frontier. Its officers were hand-picked by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.  The regiment was known as “Jeff Davis’s Own.” The SUSCR stayed until the Civil War.  THE SUSCR engaged in 40 actions on the Texas frontier and along the Rio Grande fighting Apaches, Comanches, Kiowas, and Mexican marauders.  The regiment was home to future Confederate Generals Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert E. Lee, Edmund Kirby Smith, and John Bell Hood.

Today in Texas History – August 13

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From the Annals of Discrimination –  In 1906, an alleged attack by soldiers from the  black  25th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Brown resulted in the largest summary dismissals US Army history.  The troops fresh from duty in the Phillippines arrived in Brownsville on July 28.  . The First Battalion, minus Headquarters and Company A, arrived at Brownsville.  The town greeted them racial hostility and discrimination with many local businesses refusing to serve them.  After reports of an attack on a white woman on the night of August 12,  Maj. Charles W. Penrose, after consultation with Mayor Frederick Combe, declared an early curfew the following day to avoid trouble with the increasing tension.  Sometime around midnight, a locol bartender was killed in a shootout that also critically wounded a police officer.   Some townspeople blamed the troops and made unverified claims that the soldiers were running through the streets shooting.

A series of investigations followed, but no individual soldiers were ever identified as having committed criminal acts.  Maj. Augustus P. Blocksom, of the army’s Southwestern Division, found that the soldiers were uncooperative and recommended dismissal. The troops for their part denied any knowledge of the shooting. Texas Ranger Cap. William J. McDonald arrested 12 men but none were ever indicted. Inspector General Ernest A. Garlington claimed there was a “conspiracy of silence”  and urged dismissal of the men. On November 5 President Theodore Roosevelt summarily discharged “without honor” all 167 enlisted men who had been stationed at Fort Brown.

A Senate investigation of the matter instigated by Roosevelt rival Sen. Joseph B. Foraker (R-Ohio) resulted in conflicting majority and minority reports and no action for the men who had been summarily dismissed.   When some of the men reapplied for enlistment, Roosevelt was forced to appoint a board of retired army officers to review the applications. After interviewing about half the applicants, the Court of Military Inquiry approved only fourteen of the men for re-enlistment.

The matter lay dormant until 1972,  when  Rep. Augustus Hawkins (D-California) took up the cause of the wrongly dismissed soldiers. The Nixon administration concurred and awarded honorable discharges without back pay. Dorsie Willis, the only surviving veteran, received a $25,000 pension.

Countdown to Jade Helm 15

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Only 57 days until the Federal Government starts to take over Texas, round up our women and children and most critically take our guns!

Here is a quote from the official US Army Special Operations Command circular explaining Jade Helm 15.

Under the Heading – Why Texas? – the USACOC explains:

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM )has conducted numerous exercises in Texas, because Texans are historically supportive of efforts to prepare our soldiers, airmen, marines and sailors to fight the enemies of the United States.

That is, as long as a Democrat is not Commander in Chief.