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It takes a truly brave man to put his raw self in such stark public relief. I hope he is able to find peace and that his courage can bring peace to others.

This is probably one of the saddest, yet courageous, commentaries I've ever read. After reading this, go hug your children. http://www.386aew.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123420007

We had a girl say she gets hit harder when she burns dinner.... Half the instructors broke character on that one.

Yes we were fighting them in Iraq, but we also gave them support when we were there as well (Sons of Iraq). In fact, we had them on the payroll to the tune of several hundred million dollars...and in large part, it improved conditions in Iraq while we were still there (even if the 'peace' was simply bought). It's a mistake to write off ISIS as a solely crazy fundamentalist Islamic militant organization that won't respond to reason (or money, or inclusion in society, etc.). They're is certainly a component of that within their ranks, but it's more complicated. Unfortunately things have gotten bad enough that for the time being the imminent threat has to be dealt with, but there's a reason they aren't pushing into Turkey/Lebanon/Jordan. If their forces were only basing their advance on some backwards militant Islamic principle and they truly wanted to martyr themselves in battle they'd be fighting everywhere they could reach, but they aren't. They've carved out a very specific region for themselves, and it's based on logic (even if flawed), not on some fundamentalist ideal. In 2003 when we rolled into Baghdad there were plenty of people in the streets singing the praises of the Coalition. Every single one of them was a Shiite Muslim that felt he'd been liberated from the oppression of the Sunni dominated Hussein regime of the previous 20+ years. Behind the scenes, the 35% Sunni population was quietly shitting their pants with the expectation of going from the dominant force in the country to complete subjugation by the majority Shia, and likely reprisals for the last two decades. When Paul Bremer blacklisted Ba'ath Party members and dissolved the entire Sunni dominant Iraqi military (against advice of others), their fears were realized. Hundreds of thousands of young men took their weapons and went home unemployed...and then the insurgency flared up. Elections were boycotted by the Sunnis and the government turned out to be largely biased towards the Shiites. Exceptions only existed because the U.S. took steps to ensure at least some Kurdish and Sunni participation. Then Bush installed Al-Maliki, a man widely considered incompetent. Several high level officials resigned over frustration in dealing with him. When we left, there was no longer anybody to ensure a balanced makeup of the Iraqi government. Al-Maliki immediately began a campaign of purging the government of Sunni participation. He had his own Sunni vice president arrested days after U.S. forces departed, and started cracking down on Sunnis throughout the country. That included slowly eliminating the Sons of Iraq from participation in the Iraqi Security Forces, again sending a hundred thousand armed, disgruntled men, home unemployed. There are some very aggressive and violent people (many foreign fighters) occupying leadership positions within ISIS, but they can't be effective without cannon fodder. They've got plenty of foot soldiers at their fingertips because of the disillusioned Sunni population in Iraq that would rather align with other Sunnis, regardless of their brutality, than to be a subjugated class within Iraq. Even those Sunnis that aren't willing to actively participate in the movement are likely to allow ISIS to 'occupy' their villages without resistance. That makes it possible for ISIS to push their offensive lines further into contested areas without having to dedicate fighters to maintain a presence in every village they pass through in order to protect their supply lines. The complete removal of the Sunnis from Iraqi civil governance is what Obama was referring to when he said that there is no military solution to the problem...and he's right. They're in a situation no different than the Shia were under Hussein, except that they are a minority where the Shia at least had numbers under Hussein. When the Shia attempted to revolt against Hussein's government, the U.S. lionized them as freedom fighters. Now the Sunni do the same under similar conditions (yes, I know, the severity of the subjugation doesn't compare to Shia under Hussein) and they're just written off as crazy animals. Their behavior has earned them that, and I'm certainly not excusing it, but don't think for a second that had the Shia been able to get the upper hand in 1991/92 that they wouldn't have done the same. And again, it's a mistake to write them off as unreasonable. If conditions change (and I'm not saying that they will or can at this point) many ISIS foot soldiers may abandon the cause and the animals at the top can't survive without them.

Your friend is an ass. If he had legitimate complaints about the service he received from finance, he did not address them in his fake apology. If he took leave enroute from a deployment, they need to know where he took the leave and how he got home. Finance doesn't make this shit up, they follow laws and DoD policies. He says he forgot which cities he flew through on leave. If this is true, he is a moron. Vouchers are a pain, welcome to the federal government. Nobody said we were good at paperwork. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms about how centralizing DFAS at Ellsworth and manning the center with contractors hired into a poorly written contract was a horrible way to save money and manpower. And there are plenty of instances where a lack of focus on quality customer service, failures of leadership and incompetence have caused undue delays on vouchers. But bitching that it is unfair to expect you to document how you returned from a deployment is ridiculous. The only message he sent was that he is a tool and not fit to lead anyone, handle weapons or solve problems.

The report is in the public domain if you do a search for it. Some of it is redacted, but it paints a picture that really is embarrassing to the reputation of the military and the Navy in particular. Very sad. And, it does reinforce the point in my mind that people serving in the military are not "super-human". Perhaps the public wants to see us that way, and that we are above the vulnerabilities inherent in the human condition. Military people are held to a higher standard by society and our leaders. However, it seems that press takes great interest in the negative vs. the positive things that people in the military every day.

Thankfully once football starts again in 3 weeks, we can give NASCAR the respect it deserves. Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

Damn allergies.

To be fair, your buddy sounds like a douchebag.

After try 2, he should have probably just gone to finance. And, you know...be an officer. ETA I'll be perfectly honest. Officers need to stop playing the victim card so much. Step up to the plate and lead. If something isn't going how it is supposed to, be polite and work your way up the chain. You'd be surprised and how far common courtesy goes.

1500? AQ-I/ISIS has been bigger than 1500 for a long time. You're right it's not the same; it's far more brutal than it was 8 years ago.

You do know that is website is a military satire... right?