Blood Analyzers bring faster treatment in Iraq

The Maysan Provincial Reconstruction Team with support from Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, recently provided the Ministry of Health with six Beckman Coulter Auto Blood Analyzers.

via DVIDS – News – Blood Analyzers bring faster treatment in Maysan.

V thanks Donna

Two great Americans here:

Smith presented flags flown in Iraq

McGregor’s Donna Smith was honored recently when United States Army Captain Veronica Owens Jordan, 28, proudly presented her with two flags flown in Iraq.

Owens, who was a 2000 McGregor High School graduate, has served eight years in the Army in the 36th Sustainment

Brigade. She has served two tours of duty in Iraq, the first time for eight months and the second tour for 10 months. MGregor High School, I enrolled at New Mexico State University and joined the Army during my junior year,” Owens stated. “I was promoted to Captain in December.

I have served as a logistics officer and I plan to continue a career in the military in the National Guard.”

One of the plaques read: Let it be known that this Texas State Flag flew over the headquarters of the 36th Sustainment Brigade on COB Adder,Tallil, Iraq on Nov. 23, 2009 in honor of Donna Smith. In appreciation for your outstanding support to the troops of the 36th Sustainment Brigade, Task Force “Rawhide” during Operation Iraqi Freedom 09-11. It was signed by SM Elizabeth Shockley and Col. Sean A. Ryan. The second flag was fl own, also at Camp Adder four days later in honor of Donna Smith. Murphy McCardlel, Command Sergeant Major, and Marvin Johnson, LTC, LG Commanding signed this certificate.

Donna Smith and Army Captain Veronica Owens Jordan

Sensing Traumatic Brain Injuries

I thought we already did this. Didn’t the 4th BDE, 4th ID deploy from Hood with some sort of sensor?

The Defense Department continues to put money toward trying to understand head injuries better and information technology is a big part of that. In its latest effort, the department awarded a $17 million to BAE Systems to place sensors in soldiers’ helmets to record the effects of an n explosion, like a roadside bomb.

via Sensing Traumatic Brain Injuries – What’s Brewin’.

Camp Victory, Iraq 10K Shadow Run

Run with our troops in Iraq for Veterans everywhere.  Nancy can use your help with this one.  The Thursday evening might not be ideal, but everyone can sign up or buy a t-shirt and run wherever you’re at.  But Jamie and I could use your company: Camp Victory, Iraq 10K Shadow Run.

Over 500 soldiers from Ft. Hood who are stationed at Camp Victory, Iraq are running a 10K sponsored by Operation Honor Our Heroes (http://www.honorheroes.org). Communities from the Greater Austin area as well as Ft. Hood & III Corps will be gathering to show support and appreciation for those soldiers from the Central Texas area stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now as well as the rest of our Armed Forces.  We will be broadcasting the event in Iraq live on the Jumbo Tron here at the Round Rock Athletic Complex in Round Rock for everyone to see.  So, come out and support our troops and catch a glimpse of the soldiers overseas at Camp Victory.  We will “Shadow” their run simultaneously at the Stadium.  This event is free to the public unless participating in the untimed or chip timed 5K or 10K Run.  The Run will start at 9:30 P.M. CST to coincide with the 5:30 A.M. start in Iraq.  If you cannot be with us here in the Austin area, please feel free to run/walk wherever you live.

Camp Victory, Iraq 10K Shadow Run.

Free Round Rock Express tickets will be given to the first 500 registrants!

Calling an idiot an idiot – a new strategy for the War on Scary Terror Monsters?

I’ve long maintained that your suicide bomber is not the brightest star in Allah’s heaven.  This article is great and calls into question the strategy of turning these religious idiots into some kind of supermen.  Short of actually starting a speed dating culture in these countries, pointing out how desperately stupid and uncool it is may be a great way of discouraging further jihad-ism.  Just in case you think this article exagerattes, please note that Ghulam Sakhi, a “senior Taliban commander” (read:  cowardly, bigoted idiot) was killed trying to hide in women’s clothing last week.  Ooh – that’s honorable eh?

it’s fair to say that the Taliban employ the world’s worst suicide bombers: one in two manages to kill only himself. And this success rate hasn’t improved at all in the five years they’ve been using suicide bombers, despite the experience of hundreds of attacks—or attempted attacks. In Afghanistan, as in many cultures, a manly embrace is a time-honored tradition for warriors before they go off to face death. Thus, many suicide bombers never even make it out of their training camp or safe house, as the pressure from these group hugs triggers the explosives in suicide vests

via The Case for Calling Them Nitwits – Magazine – The Atlantic.

Leader of Military’s Program to Treat Brain Injuries Steps Down Abruptly – ProPublica

Count me on the sad and shocked side.  This problem is much larger than Sutton.  Left to her own – she can fix things.  We’ve seen her do it.  I suspect this has more to do with the short-sighted environment she worked in than any shortcoming of her own.  This will be the Army’s loss and a loss for all the troops she could have cared for.

Still, some veterans advocates were shocked and saddened that Sutton was leaving. They said she had been a forceful, visible advocate for wounded troops and their families who had never received the full support of the militarys medical establishment.

via Leader of Military’s Program to Treat Brain Injuries Steps Down Abruptly – ProPublica.

Rey in the headlines

From the front page of CNN.com

Warriors too deep in their Wheaties?

Maybe if the Air Force wasn’t so busy flirting with 60 Minutes crews, patting themselves on the back for fighting just like the ground guys

“Yeah, when you drive past Las Vegas and look down to the Strip, and turn the corner and head north to the base, you’re leaving one world and you’re going to the other. You know we go from being parents and spouses to being warriors,” he replied.

and this exchange:

“We were in short order able to engage that individual successfully,” Gough told Logan.

The target was hit with a Hellfire missile.

“What if you get it wrong?” Logan asked.

“We don’t,” Gough replied.

“Ever?” Logan asked.

“That’s a tough question,” Gough said after a pause. “Yeah. We have the resources to make sure we’re right. In battle, in combat, in the fog and friction of war, there are always gonna be times that your judgment isn’t with hindsight, you can see things with more clarity.”

“But you’re not there in the fog and friction of war. You’re sitting here in your cockpit in Nevada,” Logan remarked.

“And that’s what makes us more powerful and have that clarity, because I’m able to distance myself from the fight and use resources that are otherwise unattainable to the combatants,” Gough replied.

Then this wouldn’t happen:

In this case, the military Predator operators in Nevada tracked the convoy for three and a half hours, but failed to notice any of the women who were riding along, the report said.

According to military officials in Washington and Afghanistan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters on the case, intelligence analysts who were monitoring the drone’s video feed sent computer messages twice, warning the drone operators and ground command posts that children were visible.

from  Operators of Drones Are Faulted in Afghan Deaths – NYTimes.com.

Not to take too cheap a shot at an obviously battle-field stressed commissioned officer, but the Army operators of the same equipment are specialists and sergeants, forward in the battlespace, under the command of officers and warrant officers with less prestigious titles that the AF officers.  Maybe someone needs to get out of Vegas for a bit more than an evening.

Lies, damn lies, and torture lies

And there ya go:

Well, it’s official now: John Kiriakou, the former CIA operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly unloosed the tongues of hard-core terrorists, says he didn’t know what he was talking about.

via CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding | Foreign Policy.

The only ones with any credibility left in this mess are the few FBI and military interrogators that have come forward to note how worthless torture is, how worthless or absent the information that past admin nuts trumpeted, and how worthless our credibility will be until we bring these sadists to justice.

Greek PTSD

Talk about trying.  Interesting, even if it makes the young guys laugh – the Army tries Greek theater with Theater of War Productions, LLC.  According to the Army’s “Stand To”:

What is it?

“Theater of War” is a DoD project designed to remove stigma related
to psychological injuries by illustrating that many of the bravest
war heroes in history have lived with the psychological effects of
battle. Performances include a dramatic reading of selected scenes
from the plays “Ajax” and “Philoctetes” by Greek General and
playwright Sophocles, performed by a rotating cast of acclaimed film
and stage actors. The reading is followed by a town-hall discussion
with the audience and a panel of members from the local military
community.