He and Laura recently went to Haiti with no fanfare except a small mention on his official Facebook page and then when they returned they went to the Dallas Airport to get in line and welcome troops home that landed coming home on leave from Iraq and Afghanistan. Needless to say they were surprise greeters and from the pictures I saw it thrilled everyone there.
Now he shows up in Maine to pay a visit to the Annual Run for the Fallen event. This event is a 65KM run that honors the 65 men/women that have lost their lives in combat since 9/11. The great folks over at the Warrior Legacy Foundation had a team there and I think they were shocked with President and Mrs. Bush showed up to show their support and get their picture made with the team.
The fine folks over at Woodhouse Auto Family are giving away a car to one deserving person out of four that were nominated.
Choose the family that you feel is the most deserving of the new car. Only one vote is allowed per person. The family with the most votes at 11:59pm on Tuesday August 31st will be the winner of the Mercury Milan from our Woodhouse Mercury store in Omaha. Thank you for participating in our campaign. Together we can make a difference!
Well one of the four finalists for this new car is one that truly needs it and deserves it.
This candidate was at Fort Hood, TX Army Base Soldier Readiness Center checking in after returning from a second tour in Iraq. He was 5 days away from going to Officer Candidate School and pursuing a long time dream of becoming an Officer in the army.
That all changed that day when one man that this candidate had never met, came in and started shooting. The gunman’s goal was to kill as many Americans as he could and then take his own life.This candidate saw the laser pointed at his head and was shot 4 times.This candidate’s fiancé was an undergraduate senior at Boston University, one semester away from graduating with a degree in Psychology. She had just been on the phone with him an hour before and knew what area of the base he was on. She later found out that her fiancé had been shot in the head and was in critical condition and probably wouldn’t make it through the night.
When she got to the hospital he was alive, but in very serious condition. Most of his skull on the right side had been shattered and a part of his brain had to be removed from bullet and bone fragment damage. Later the next day, he awoke and asked her how she got there so fast. His next sentence was, “Will you still marry me even though I got shot?” Without hesitation she replied with a kiss and a, “I most definitely will.”It was truly a miracle he survived. His left side was completely paralyzed, leaving him unable to walk or use his left arm.
After just a few short weeks he was able to be moved to the Neuro Rehab Center in Austin. After hours of extremely painful therapy every day, he was beginning to walk.January 8th was his next surgery, to reconstruct his skull and fill in the missing piece. Immediately after the surgery he had a bad reaction to the material used and his condition worsened. Because of many serious complications, the piece put in 10 days earlier had to be removed. A week later a shunt was put in because of fluid building on his brain. All of the progress he had made was lost. This candidate was unable to eat and had lost about 50 lbs. His kidneys were starting to shut down. He had problems with his liver function; and because of several other complications, he was hospitalized for over a month.On February 24, this candidate was able to go back to the Rehab Center in Austin and start over with his therapy.
He was unable to walk, his muscles had wasted away, and he was weak from not being able to eat. But his determination was stronger than ever and within a few days he was beginning to walk again.There have been many challenges and setbacks for the both of them in the past 5 months. His fiancé has been there day and night, by his side, since the shooting. They gain strength from each other and have overcome many difficult obstacles. In reality, they will have a lifetime of obstacles, but I have never seen two people so committed, so determined and in loveHe was shot that day because of his decision to put on that uniform and fight for his country, a decision he made without doubt or regret. This candidate will never be the same, his life – their lives, have taken a much different path than they had originally planned. But they don’t dwell on that; they just simply have agreed to take a different path, knowing together they can accomplish anything.He will have at least one more surgery to reconstruct his skull and will probably be hospitalized for an additional 2-3 months after that and then have several months or years of outpatient therapy.
Because this candidate wasn’t injured in Iraq, and because he was shot on a US Army base by another soldier, the Army doesn’t recognize his injuries as combat related, so the army/government doesn’t offer the support or help for them that a soldier injured in Iraq or Afghanistan would have received.The vehicle they have is a small car that she has to cram and twist and push his wheelchair into the backseat. It sits down low to the ground so it is hard for him, being 6-1 to get in and out of. They wanted to get something bigger but know that they can’t afford to get anything right now. A bigger vehicle would make life a bit easier; it would be very much appreciated.They are both excited and optimistic about what the future holds for them. While they cannot control every aspect of his recovery and they don’t know what the future has in store for them, they do know that the strength and bond they are building through this experience will prepare them for whatever lies ahead.
So as you can see, Candidate #2 needs your help by getting your vote. Please head over to www.woodhouse.com/difference/vote.htm and cast your vote for Candidate #2.
The good boys over at Blackfive.net put THIS one up today. Go check it out and become a little more educated into the vile disgust and hatred that is out there against our troops.
The Rumor Doctor over at Stars and Stripes, Jeff Schogol, has done a good piece on the issues that conventional force commanders have with Special Operation Forces (SOF) and their relaxed grooming standards. The article points out how the wearing of a beard by a man is very well-respected.
For Afghan men, beards are a sign of manhood. And that is why special operations forces tend to look like Grizzly Adams — to earn the trust of locals.
Delta Force operators never shave all year except for official military functions so that they can be ready at any time to quickly insert and appear as a non-military person. SOF forces have been growing bears in Afghanistan since we got there in 2001. You would think that conventional commanders would be used to it by now and not have their panties in a wad over it.
The BOLD emphasis below is mine.
But the higher ups have decided that at least some of the U.S. special operations forces should get better acquainted with their razors…“Soldiers who work as training cadre and those in operational activities where we partner with Afghan Commando and other Coalition troops who are themselves mostly clean-shaven, are better prepared, and set a better example if they meet a traditional military appearance standard,” said Bob Coble, spokesman for Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan, via e-mail.
What I think the issue is with these commanders is that now that conventional forces (not just National Guard anymore in Task Force Phoenix) are embedded with and personally mentoring Afghan forces, that their own troops are having relaxed grooming standards, wearing ball caps, etc. But the reality is that the embedded mission with local forces is a true Special Forces mission, but there are not enough of those guys to do it. That is why the National Guard took over that mission in 2003 and kept it until Aug 31st of 2009 when the ETT mission essentially went away and the new Brigade Combat Team model took over. When that happened, then conventional forces (101st, 82nd, 10th MTN, etc.) took over both kinetic and embedded and mentoring missions.
Back in 2006-2007 when I was there as an ETT, our Commanders and leaders did not give a crap about un-bloused boots, ball caps and some facial hair. To be quite honest, it was not important as we did not have to “set the examples” for junior soldiers because we did not have any junior soldiers. We had all Sr. NCOs and officers. When I went downrange for extended missions of 2-4 weeks I never shaved. There wasn’t time and we could not afford the water waste to do it. When I came back to my FOB, then I shaved as it was the right thing to do and I had no reason to grow a beard anymore. All of my soldiers on my team were the same way. Conventional forces didn’t typically mess with us, but the higher Task Force Phoenix did if we happened to go back to Camp Phoenix in Kabul. They had a very over-zealous BCT CSM that had nothing better to do that worry about patches, clean uniforms and other minuscule soldier looking things.
So the Big Army pushed and pushed to take over the ETT mission from the National Guard whom I feel (and this is purely my opinion) were the only ones conducting the real COIN fight and were on the path to success as we were training the military and police which is the path to leaving Afghanistan. Well Big Army got it and all that comes along with it, but now the whole beards and ball caps issue bothers some in the field grade and higher officer ranks.
You can take a look at the movie RESTREPO (which if you haven’t seen, I suggest you do) and see Big Army soldiers from the 173rd ABN with some relaxed standards, ball caps, etc. and their Commander, CPT Kearney (son of LTG Kearney) did not give a crap about that. Because in the grand scheme of things that stuff does not matter. It doesn’t save lives or help kill more enemy.
I think the officers and probably some of the Sergeant Majors in Afghanistan need to worry about many more important things then beards on SOF forces or what the reflective belt color of the day is. They need to worry about making sure that everything humanly and technically possible is being doing to support, arm, feed, and provide intel to our soldiers on the battlefield.
THIS is great news. I am glad to see Gen McCrystal has already bounced back and will be starting a respectful and humble job of passing on his lessons learned to future leaders of tomorrow.
• Abrahamic religion-shares roots with Judaism and Christianity
• Qur’an holy book – infallible authority
• Five Pillars: Testimony of faith (Shahada), Prayer (Salat), Charity (Zakat), Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj), Fasting during month of Ramadan (Sawm)
• Other Beliefs: Faith (Iman), Oneness of God (Tawhid), Prophets, Angels, Judgment Day, the Books (Qur’an, Bible, Torah), Fate and Predestination
• Division between Sunni and Shi’a not as important as ethnic/tribal differences
• Pervasive part of daily life – Prayer 5x/day, education, Friday mosque
gatherings
• Religious figures (mullahs) respected and influential
-The Mullah is a religious leader or teacher
-Most are qualified by their ability to quote the Koran from memory
-Often times the Mullah retains the role of a leader who arbitrates local disputes based of Islamic principles, and teaches Islamic law and doctrine
• Literacy issues: misinterpretation; opportunity for perceived religious authorities to mislead those who cannot read
