Click the link for the whole story and other services' "responses". :-)
"A soldier is trudging through the muck in the midst of a downpour with a 60-pound rucksack on his back," Petraeus began. "'This is tough,' he thinks to himself. Just ahead of him trudges an Army Ranger with an 80-pound pack on his back. 'This is really tough,' he thinks. And ahead of him is a Marine with a 90-pound pack on, and he thinks to himself, 'I love how tough this is,' " Petraeus said to appreciative cheers from his audience. "Then, of course, 30,000 feet above them, an Air Force pilot flips aside his ponytail," he added to howls of laughter and applause from the Marines. "-- I'm sorry, I don't know how that got in there I know they haven't had ponytails in a year or two -- and looks down at them through his cockpit as he flies over. 'Boy,' he radios his wingman, 'it must be tough down there.' "
#1
Boy, those Air Farce types sure are sensitive little tykes. Somebody got their panties all twisted up. That must really hurt! Us Navy types would calm down, adjust the AC and get another cup of coffee. See, no problem. HA!
In the first one the pilot is a Navy one, he doesn't have a ponyryial but he says it must be tough donwn there. For the airforce one he is watching TV.
On the second one (in the blog from an Airforce guy) the Army guy is walking in the mud, the Marine one is lying in the mud and wishing for thougher consition, the Navy one is suntanning and having a drink with friends on a carrier's deck and for the Airforce one, wel he is in a room with hamf a dozen scantily clad women.
#4
I was stationed at OAFB many moons ago and, as the JSTPS was HQ'd there, had the opportunity to mingle with members of our sister services. The butt of the jokes rotated, and we all, for the most part, got along.
IMHO, the AF Association response is more, than anything else, symptomatic of todays hyper-sensitivity and lack of focus....
#5
Each of the services is ordered to secure a building. The Marines destroy theirs, the Army establishes a defensive position around theirs, the Navy paints theirs gray, and the Air Force leases theirs for 5 years.
#6
In the version that I knew (circulated at Youngsan AIG circa 1992) the infantryman (in the rain and mud) was saying, "This sucks," the Ranger up to his waist in a swamp was saying, "I love it when it sucks like this," the Special Forces guy with a knife in his teeth, up to his neck in the swamp with an alligator swimming by was saying, "I wish it would suck some more!" and the AF guy in skivvies lying on his bunk was looking at his TV and saying, "No cable? This place sucks!"
Seriously, and on behalf of Air Force members past and present, can I ask for them to lighten up, for heck's sake?
#7
Per the article, probably the best response from an AF type: "Remember, he is from the service that has to use comic books to teach soldiers how to do periodic maintenance."
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/16/2009 9:27 Comments ||
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#8
Seriously, and on behalf of Air Force members past and present, can I ask for them to lighten up, for heck's sake?
Oh, they do. When they hear the A-10's cannon raking the bush and clutter in front of them after way too many minutes that drag into what seems like hours of an intense ordnance exchange with people seeking to do them harm. Then its the sweetest symphony to their ears. They'll be more than happy to buy a round of cold drinks in an air conditioned abode if they ever see that pilot back in semi-civilization.
If you tell the Army to secure a building, they call in artillery and have armor deliver covering fire until an infantry squad can attack and clear it.
If you tell the Marines to secure a building, they will charge it and clear each room until it's safe.
If you tell the Navy to secure a building, they will post an armed guard at each door and maintain a 24-hour watch.
If you tell the Air Force to secure a building, they'll put down 10% of the appraised price and sign an option to buy.
Frankly, if anyone in the USAF got upset about this, they need to lighten up. Considerably.
Mike
USAF 78-98
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/16/2009 9:42 Comments ||
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#13
"and the AF guy in skivvies lying on his bunk was looking at his TV and saying, "No cable? This place sucks!"
And as a retired USAF MSgt who installed the satellite downlinks to feed our multiple channels of AFRTS television to those cable systems (on Navy, Marine Corp, Army and Air Force Bases)I feel safe saying we often resembled those remarks.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/16/2009 10:47 Comments ||
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#14
Retired Air Force here and these jokes never bother me. Each service has a job, ours usually can be accomplished miles away from combat and is accompanied by clean sheets and three squares a day.
#15
The only funny Doonsbury I've seen was during the first Gulf War. He had some soldiers in the desert complaining of the heat. Drinking lots of water. Etc. Then cut to the Navy. I'm freezing, can someone turn down the Air Conditioner. It was pretty funny. I suspect some soldier sent him the idea.
#19
I used to work with a retired Air Force E-9. He said the AF's philosophy was simple when building a new base: first put in the golf course, O Club and EM clubs, family housing. If they run out of money to build an airfield, they just go back to Congress and demand more. After all,what's an Air Force base without an airfield?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/16/2009 18:59 Comments ||
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#20
OK Jar-Heads, Squids and Groundpounders... Youze guys/gals probably have not heard of the U.S. Air Force Special Ops Command (AFSOC)....
There is no easy way to join the ranks of AFSOC. But one of the best routes into this Air Force unit is to first join the Army, Navy or Marines and distinguish yourself as a Ranger, SEAL or member of Force Recon.
In other words, after some "learnin'", come see us and we'll get your training wheels off!!!!
Go Air Force!
Now I gotta' go oil the wheels on my chair (AFSC Certified!)....
Dianne McLeod recalls her husband, Stanley, getting so visibly upset when the debt collectors called that she had to take the phone away from him. She believes constant harassing phone calls and other tactics eventually killed him. Ever heard of a "Cease and Desist" letter, Dianne?
"I think they were a major contributor to his death because of the stress and what I saw it doing to him," she said.
McLeod is suing her mortgage company, Green Tree Servicing, for the wrongful death of her husband. McLeod said she thinks he would be alive if not for the stress caused by Green Tree's debt collectors. She said they sometimes called up to 10 times a day and also called the McLeods' neighbors.
Continued on Page 49
#5
Of the 45,000 complaints received by the FTC in 2009, the agency opened one investigation.
How about everybody who gets harassing phone calls - call the FTC BOZO in charge of litigation until he actually litigates say 1% of the complaints a day?
#6
Depending on the state you live in, contacting the State AG office is an alternative that may be far more effective.
"Debt collectors canât do or say anything they want Federal law specifically prohibits debt collectors from harassing, oppressing, or abusing you. This means that debt collectors MAY NOT:
Use threats of violence or criminal means;
Use profane or obscene language;
Advertise your debt;
Make repeated calls to you in order to annoy or harass you;
Call your relatives, your neighbors, your credit references or anyone not legally responsible for the debt."
- source
#9
"debt collectors" I don't think it wrong for a lender to expect repayment and if you aren't calling them they have every right to contact you. Not sure why they would contact neighbors.
#1
Unless the voters in that Florida district are "Kool-Aid Drinkers", you and I have just heard a speech from U.S. House of Representatives member Allen West, Class of 2010.
Posted by: Elmatle Prince of the Wee Folk3039 ||
12/16/2009 11:08 Comments ||
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#2
Col. West ran two years ago and got beat. Donated several bucks to the cause, but didn't hear how close he came to victory.
#3
besoeker you beat me on my first ever post. Seems like there are more than just 1 GA ppl on here listening too MR. west after the commencement speech at Fort Benning a couple years ago.
Posted by: chris ||
12/16/2009 12:12 Comments ||
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#4
bman everyone was on that Obama train a couple years ago and West wasn't speaking th Hope And change BS
Posted by: chris ||
12/16/2009 12:13 Comments ||
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#5
Hang in there Chris. Despite the tired old axiom regarding, "Old age and cunning" it does not triumph over youth and enthusiams every time. Believe me.
#6
chris dear, it was a good choice as a first post. However, somehow there was no source URL in your submission. Copy the address and paste it into the "Source" box. Get in first, and have that source in place, and you will get published. I look forward to it -- Rantburg is a group enterprise.
#7
sorry about the posting messup, wife is computer genius an I can barely turn 1 on. How did West do on the last speech or campaign? Last speech i saw was a commencement for Fort Benning GA (that I saw anyway) the man rocked the house and would just about bring a tear too your eyes. wAs why I insisted on trying too post this when I saw it last night.
Posted by: chris ||
12/16/2009 12:48 Comments ||
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#8
You should have seen the problems I caused when I first started posting articles, chris. If I can climb that learning curve, absolutely anyone can. I'm not at all worried about you. :-)
The political chaos in 1971 culminating in secession of Pakistan's Eastern Wing was the result of a plan executed jointly by USA, Israel, Britain, India and former Soviet Union. Its mastermind was the Zionist International Jewry that controls the power centres in these countries through its entrenched lobbies.
I s'pose it's more comfortable to think one was defeated by those so much cleverer that success was impossible, but it seems to me that would lead to the idea that success would never become possible so long as the clever ones are still around. But clearly our writer and his fellow Pakistanis are too stupid to realize that.
The plan could not have succeeded without the active participation of a treacherous gang of some civil and military leaders within Pakistan.
Because even Pakistani stupidity isn't quite stupid enough without some of its cleverer members helping the clever ones. Got it.
East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, may still one day rejoin with the parent country.
Why? Given how many y'all killed and raped in 1971, and the latest incident, non-stupid people would assume that the best Pakistan would ever get from Bangladesh is being ignored. Less good would be active plotting to destroy Pakistan.
People in both the wings are ready to forgive and forget.
Really? Who, exactly, besides the bunch involved in the recent incident, pretty much all of whom are hoping their livers don't succumb to cirrhosis before they go to trial.
No one doubts that they were made the victims of an international conspiracy that included the services of several local agents. The Muslim of Bangladesh have realised that they were misled by design into looking upon Indians as their friends and West Pakistanis as enemies.
How I miss fans as a fashion accessory. They were so useful in covering what could be received as insulting expressions.
But the military surrender was devastating and beyond imagination.
Pakistani imagination at least, which has been so often demonstrated as limited, poor dears.
The humiliation and the anger felt by the masses, and more so by the soldiers, who had been cheated by their top commanders, lingers in their minds.
Although there is plenty of literature on the 1971 crisis, yet several devious schemes that nurtured the crisis and shaped its outcome are still to be exposed. Moreover, the writings of some Americans on the 1971 episode are a rich source of revelations about many of the otherwise less known occurrences. When this material is analysed it exposes USA' hand in fomenting rebellion by the Awami League, assisting India in deploying the Mukti Bahni terrorists, provoking the war and devising a quick defeat for Pakistan.
For a given reading of the source material. Much like Professor Mann's hockey stick program, which produces the same graph regardless of the data input.
It is most depressing to find how Pakistan's top leaders were duped into accepting the idea of a military surrender although Indians were not expected it. Indian Army's Maj Gen Sukhwant Singh in his book wrote: "...most of the Pakistani units were up to operational strength and had a considerable potential to continue the war, if Gen Niazi had not accepted such an early ceasefire." Indeed, in spite of all the handicaps, Pakistan forces could have fought on for several weeks. So what caused the surrender?
Possibly because they would have lost in the end anyway, but with the Pakistani forces significantly understrength by that point?
The surrender was brought about by the US with masterful machinations, involving local agents in Pakistan and India and manipulation of the pliant persons who had been placed in key positions in Islamabad and Dhaka. The master stroke was the highly deceptive dispatch of the US naval forces to the Bay of Bengal.
I imagine the dispatch was not deceptive in the least, which is why the Pakistani generals actually got the message.
The dramatic deployment of the US warships performed the pivotal role in the grand manoeuvre of deception and psychological warfare targeting the Pakistani leaders. Admiral Elmo R Zumwalt, Chief of Naval Operations of the US Navy in 197I, in On Watch: A Memoir wrote: "On Dec 10, a presidential order, that was not discussed with the Navy in advance, created Task Group (TG) 74, consisting of the nuclear carrier Enterprise and appropriate escorts, and sent it steaming from the Gulf of Tonkin to Singapore. The order did not specify what TG 74's mission was....The ships were held off Singapore for two days. On Dec 12 they were ordered through the Straits of Malacca into the Indian Ocean. Within an hour that order was rescinded! Next day it was reissued. At the same time, 'sources' in Washington let it be known that the object of the exercise was covering the evacuation of American civilians from Dhaka. This clearly was a cover story since that evacuation was successfully completed two days before TG 74 entered the Indian Ocean....On Jan 08 it was ordered out of the Indian Ocean as mysteriously as it had been ordered in. I still do not know exactly what to think of the TG 74 episode."
Zumwalt is right. Not even President Nixon knew what was TG 74's mission. Originally, the mission was a Zionist secret known only to Kissinger and his schemers from the CIA and Mossad. It was controlled from the White House, in other words, by Kissinger, who was the national security advisor to the president.
Really, given the resources available to your enemy, why do you keep so futilly striving?
The Naval Task Force was used as a lethal instrument for a psychological blow. It was to flash a signal of support to the dispirited leaders in Pakistan, who were facing a desperate situation in the war, so as to boost their morale with the hope that US military help had arrived after all; and then at a set time cancel the signal abruptly, causing in Pakistan's military leaders a sudden and complete collapse of morale rendering them incapable of resistance to the offer of ceasefire with surrender. This was exactly what happened.
Why on earth would they assume America planned to intervene on their side in an unnecessary and ugly war they started?
The writer is a retired commodore, Pakistan Navy.
No wonder Pakistan never wins.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/16/2009 06:21 ||
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#1
Posted by: john frum ||
12/16/2009 6:44 Comments ||
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#2
It's this brand of insanity that ensures Pakistan will remain one of the first-class shitholes on our planet for generations to come.
#6
funny how these guys get all riled up years after they're defeated in whatever war, (choose war here) and then try to explain away their own incompetence and subsequent military loss as being the inevitable outcome of conspiratorial forces beyond their control. I guess they need a new lesson in the old adage "live by the sword, die by the sword.
#9
Yeah the Soviet Union was helping out the Americans to screw Pakistan on behalf of Israel. That is a twisted little circle they've created. Much smarter if they had blamed an Indian/Burmese secret deal because Burma is in the proximity of East Pakistan and the government of Burma disappeared into the swamps of Myanmar making it impossible to truly prove conspiracy was made up.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
