A little Ambien is all the kid needs to get some sleep. Many times once you get the sleep you need you don’t need the drugs anymore. Well the Air Force has changed policies and you cannot just show up and say your sick anymore. You got to get yourself an appointment. The problem is the earliest appointment they could give him was 15 days away. If you need to sleep and haven’t slept in a month, do you think another 15 days is going to be an easy thing?

He could just go to a doctor off base, but without a referral from a base doctor he would have to pay totally out of his own pocket. Which defeats the whole reason why we have health insurance; and this is Government Health Insurance in the first place! Doesn’t sound so great to me. I personally have Blue Cross and Blue Shield and I haven’t ran into this problem; and they are a private company. Isn’t Government supposed to be better for the patient?

So the question becomes: Is this on purpose or just a unavoidable thing? If it’s on purpose it’s exactly what the republicans and Tea Party goers have been saying. When the government takes over anything it’s going to have to worry about budget, so if you make something hard to get the person might just end up paying for it themselves and give up their right to the money that was owed to them. If it’s just something that’s unavoidable, well it still supports the republicans and Tea Party goers but isn’t something corrupt, just mismanaged.

From the Wall Street Journal

For nearly a hundred years, federal power has expanded at the expense of the states—to a point where the even the wages and hours of state employees are subject to federal control. Basic health and safety regulations that were long exercised by states under their “police power” are now dominated by Washington.

The courts have similarly distorted the Constitution by inventing new constitutional rights and failing to limit governmental power as provided for in the document. The aggrandizement of judicial power has been a particularly vexing challenge, since it is inherently incapable of correction through the normal political channels.

There is a way to deter further constitutional mischief from Congress and the federal courts, and restore some semblance of the proper federal-state balance. That is to give to states—and through them the people—a greater role in the constitutional amendment process.

The idea is simple, and is already being mooted in conservative legal circles. Today, only Congress can propose constitutional amendments—and Congress of course has little interest in proposing limits on its own power. Since the mid-19th century, no amendment has actually limited federal authority.

But what if a number of states, acting together, also could propose amendments? That has the potential to reinvigorate the states as a check on federal power. It could also return states to a more central policy-making role.

The Framers would have approved the idea of giving states a more direct role in the amendment process. They fully expected that the possibility of amendments originating with the states would deter federal aggrandizement, and provided in Article V that Congress must call a convention to consider amendments anytime two-thirds of the state legislatures demand it. As Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist Papers of this process: “[W]e may safely rely on the disposition of the state legislatures to erect barriers against the encroachments of the national authority.”

What the Framers did not anticipate, however, was the profound reaction to their own “runaway” convention in 1787. By junking the Articles of Confederation in favor of a new Constitution, they gave us strong and stable government. They also showed exactly what constitutional conventions can do. As a result, no similar body has ever been assembled, and even suggesting a new convention can freeze the marrow in constitutional lawyers.

Hmmm…. the ability of the states to directly make amendments. Where have I heard that before. Oh. Wait! It’s called the Senate! Well, the old senate. Maybe if they read the constitution they would have noticed that in 1913 the seventeenth amendment was  ratified making the senate directly voted in by the people. Before this legislation Senators were elected by the State Legislatures. Which is why we have a bicameral congress, one part is elected directly by the people and the other is by the state government (which is elected directly by the people). It was this awesome nifty thing that allowed the states to make sure one state’s population couldn’t control another state through the Federal government. The State would be able to appoint people that would ensure that the states stayed powerful and the federal government wouldn’t slowing but surely make them obsolete.

So!? Why not just redact the 17th amendment? We did it to prohibition and that turned out well for us! I mean it is stupid to have two houses in congress that are elected to do the same job by the same people. It’s like having two carpenters build 2 different chairs, argue about the best design of a chair, then compromise and build a third chair and then charge you for three chairs; but you get one.

Just to point out you can’t get anymore anti-American than the UCMJ and the American Military. It blows my mind how I and my fellow military members deal with such a slap in the face of American ideals.

To understand how America could allow something so anti-American to exist it important to understand American history. The United States never had a standing army until after World War II. We always had a very small force that could train a larger force very quickly. The US only raised an army when it was going to war. So in the sense of living under an authoritarian rule for the length of a war was a sacrifice that had to be paid. Since we never had a standing army the rights and privileges of the citizens inside of the organization was never an issue. Their can’t be any change when 2 or 4 years after enlistment the millions of fighters leave and go back to their farms and never care about the Army they had just left.

Many American Soldiers I speak with believe that every military must be the same because the way we run our military must be the most logical. This is of course is what happens when you brainwash people. Don’t get me wrong, in basic training it’s very fundamentally important to get a person to learn how to kill. Everything in our humanity pushes us away from wanting to kill another person.

Our brothers in Europe have a bit more liberty. It mostly stems from the fact that they have always had a standing military and things like the possibility of mutiny and voters demographic come into play. The voters demographic is a big one. Our total military power makes up roughly 3 million out of 300 million; which for my math challenged friends is 1% of the population. In America it’s becoming very rare that the common citizen is even related to uniformed service member. Also, deep rooted customs play a considerable role. The United States Military forces all of it’s males to pretty much have a high and tight hair cut with the side burns very high, and the only authorized facial hair is a small mustache. The only military guys your ever going to see with facial hair are special forces operatives trying to blend in with the local population. Even though in American history it was customary of our our generals to have very large beards. When the invention of chemical warfare came around, the US was very quick to nix the wear of beards. Unlike our Germany pals who to this day still rock awesome side burns and I’ve seen many beard wearing German Soldiers, even officers.

Which seems odd considering how as citizens Americans are much more free from their government than citizens of European countries.

Maybe not the best example but when Americans deploy to a combat zone it’s sure enough that the first order out of the commanders mouth is, “You are no longer authorized to drink beer.” Just like that. When I’ve worked with British and German troops I’ve brought this up and they have all agreed that if their commanders would order such a thing that their would surely be mutiny among the men. I’ve also noticed that the British, German and Canadian leaders treat their people with much more respect.

Once again we must look at history to understand the way things are. Before World War II it was very common for men to reach the 6th grade and leave school to pursue work. The common man was very uneducated. Officers were those who had received education and enlisted were the uneducated. In the simplest of terms you can’t have a uneducated moron running things. Officers were always with the men. Officers led the troops. They were responsible for everything they did.  However, in our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan you’ll find it very hard to find an officer anywhere off base. Officers very rarely go on missions. Everything is run by Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO). In the past you might have had a captain or a major in charge of a convoy you will now find a First Sergeant or Sergeant First Class in charge of a large convoy. In our current wars officer stay inside the base and write memos and push paper. They make strategy, policies, look at the broader war and run command and control or much larger elements.

This isn’t just possible because the world has changed, or that majority of Americans graduate high school with a degree but because the military requires a GED or High School Diploma to enlist. Because of educational benefits most senior enlisted possess a bachelors degree.

With this knowledge it seems absurd that people like LTC Allen West was brought up on charges for the actions of his men below him. Who shouldn’t have been in trouble in the first place. They assaulted an Iraqi Police Officer who betrayed his country and was selling it out to terrorists. He most likely had 200 to 300 men under his command, how can he be responsible for the actions of so many?

To expand on this, when I joined the military I had always believed that if I did something wrong accidentally or for the greater good that the military had your back. Your leaders had your back. Your country had your back.  Maybe because of the actions of those at My Lai during Vietnam that sent our policy to sell out our men for the smallest of infraction. Which is insane, it’s a war people are dieing and someone gets punched in the face and it’s to jail with you! How many enemies did those Soldiers kill for their country and your going to throw them in jail for punching one?

Warriors like the Navy Seals who are being charged for punching some low-life terrorist in the mouth and/or stomach could face time in prison for something they might or might not have done. The absurd thing is that it went so far that they requested a court-martial, but that it should have ended with their commander saying, “Don’t do that again *wink wink* Now get out of my face! Oh and take some much needed R&R.”

Something is wrong with our Leaders, our law, and our military that these things have to be even spoken about.

How many times did our World War II vets probably go a little over-the-line, we don’t know? Because that generation knew how to keep it’s mouth shut and watch each others back. We’ve lost Esprit de corps and it makes me sick.

article from CNSNEWS.com

The accuser, Ahmed Hashim Abed, is the alleged architect of the murder of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. The bodies of the four Americans were burned and hanged from a bridge for display.

The three Navy Seals–Matthew McCabe, Jonathon Keefe, and Julio Huertas–will be arraigned on Monday in Norfolk, Va. They are facing a special court martial–which is equivalent to a misdemeanor charge–and have each denied the allegations of abuse and cover-up.

The trial date for McCabe, the Seal charged with the alleged assault, is tentatively set for Jan. 19, 2010, McCabe’s attorney Neal Puckett said.

Defense attorneys told CNSNews.com that they are waiting to see the evidence from military prosecutors because it is still under review to determine if it is classified. Even the charges, the only court filings in the case thus far, are still under review.

“The government has not handed over anything,” Huertas’ attorney Monica Lombardi told CNSNews.com. “They are now claiming that things are classified, but they are not saying what’s classified and what’s not classified. I filed my discovery request, and they denied it, pending a classification review. … We have no photographs of the alleged injuries. We have no medical reports of these alleged injuries.”

Attorneys for both McCabe and Huertas said they would insist on cross-examining Abed. The Constitution grants Americans the right to face their accuser at a trial.

“If somebody was trying to claim that you assaulted them, but they refused to come into court, what prosecutor in what state would deny you your right to confrontation of the alleged victim?” Lombardi said.

When CNSNews.com asked what would happen if the military declined to bring Abed to the United States to testify for security reasons, Lombardi said, “It would be, at that point, we could ask the judge to dismiss the charges.”

McCabe, a special operations petty officer, second class, is charged with assaulting the detainee for reportedly punching him in the midsection; with dereliction of duty for failure to safeguard the detainee; and with making a false official statement on the matter.

Though news reports differ on whether it was a punch to the gut or a bloody lip, Puckett says the official charge is a punch to the mid-section.

Huertas, a special operations petty officer, first class, is charged with dereliction of duty, making a false official statement and impeding an investigation.

Keefe, a special operations petty officer, second class, is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false official statement.

Under special court-martial rules, all three defendants would face the same maximum penalty, Puckett said, even though the charges against each one deviate slightly. The maximum penalty for the charges would be one year in military confinement, reduction of two-thirds of their pay for a year and discharge from the military for bad conduct.

Lombardi said Huertas greatly appreciates the public outpouring of support since the reports first surfaced of the arrest.

“My client is extremely grateful for all the support from the American public,” Lombardi said. “He’s a career professional who’s just doing his job. It boosts your morale when you know that you go over there and are doing your job and the American public actually does care about what you’re doing. He’s really humbled by it.”

The military first sought non-judicial punishment, called a “captain’s mast.” It would have spared them any chance of imprisonment but would have severely harmed and possibly ended their military careers, Puckett said.

“There was some pressure on them to accept a lesser form of punishment,” Puckett said. “That would have meant that some commander had predetermined their guilt and would have punished them in a way that would have ended their careers. They weren’t willing to accept that and felt that it would not be a fair hearing.”

They each refused the captain’s mast and opted for a court martial, which is a military trial, to clear their names. The punishment from a court-martial conviction could be greater.

Though it was a better option than accepting guilt, Puckett said, such charges should have never been brought.

“Forget what the punishment would be, even a conviction would be a federal conviction for these guys,” Puckett said. “A federal conviction alone–even before you consider what punishment they get–is grossly disproportionate to the misconduct that’s alleged.

“If we’re talking about the detainee getting punched in the gut by Petty Officer McCabe, given the evil that guy [Abed] is alleged to have wrought on American contractors back in 2004 in Fallujah, it seems that it’s overkill to think that it’s appropriate to send these guys to court martial,” Puckett added.

Puckett suspects this was an overreaction by military brass in regards to detainee abuse.

“The most obvious speculation to me seems to be that the American military and particular Army commanders, and this was an Army commander, are overly sensitive to allegations of detainee abuse in the wake of Abu Ghraib,” Puckett said. “I think they feel a need to overly punish, overly react to these allegations to keep future ones from happening again.”

The alleged punch happened on Sept. 1 when Abed was in captivity.

Abed, after his capture, was held at Camp Baharia, a U.S. base outside of Fallujah. He was briefly handed over to Iraqi authorities and then returned to U.S. custody. Another petty officer, not a Navy Seal, reported the alleged abuse, Lombardi said. It then went up the chain of command, and the commanding general ordered the charges.

Lombardi believes if there was any abuse, it might have happened on the Iraqi side.

“He was turned over to the Iraqi police,” Lombardi said. “He is an Iraqi citizen. Eventually, he’ll go home. Wouldn’t it be a lot better to claim the Americans abused you than the Iraqi police?”

Lombardi said there is a legal defense fund for the Seals, and that she is glad the public can see the Seals were doing the right thing.

“They were capturing a terrorist that we’ve been searching for, for five years. They did it in a professional manner,” Lombardi said. “When you think you’re doing everything right and you’ve got somebody saying, ‘no, you did it wrong,’ it’s really nice to know everybody is saying, ‘you did it right. You did us a favor. Why are you being punished?”

I however quickly learned that this wasn’t true.  In many cases, Soldiers are not even seeing their rifles for 6 months to 2 years at a time.

The federal government, especially the military has the biggest problem with trust.  The official explanation for Soldiers not being armed is that they are all living in the safest gated community in the United States.  However, on Army and Marine bases especially, the perpetrators are those already living on the inside.  I’m sorry but some of our service member’s are criminals who just haven’t been caught yet, and in some cases they have been caught (that’s what a MORAL WAIVER is for).  I hate to say this but the Air Force tends to have the ability to be picky about who they hire.

From a second amendment standpoint; “good” service members aren’t even safe in their own homes.  While gun ownership laws continue to get stricter, most Americans still have the right to bear arms in their own home.  They feel safe with a gun under the pillow.  Service member’s are not allowed to possess personal firearms.

While in government housing (which is mandatory for most) the possession of a firearm is a crime.  A service member can own a personal firearm but must put it in the base armory.  For example, when a Soldier wants to go hunting he/she has to sign out their OWN gun from the armory.

From a security forces perspective it even gets scarier.  A base with approximately 30,000 workers on it is going to have a police force of about 90 to 120 Department of Defense civilian police officers and military police combined.  Most bases work with three shifts, so that’s about 30 police officers protecting sometimes up to 40 to 80 square miles at one time.

Now while the off duty officers might be only 2 to 10 minutes away, they cannot respond.  Security forces (civilian and military alike) currently have to sign out their weapon at the beginning of each shift.  So if their was some kind of major attack on an installation; the police force would be quickly overwhelmed as their relief would have to first arm up before responding.

We have all given up the responsibility of protecting ourselves to police officers.  When a big scary person with a gun comes after you, what do you do?  Call the Police?  Why?  It’s simple, they have guns!  If this was anytime for the 1920s it was a simple solution, “Paw and Maw git yer gun!”  (unless of course they were already touting it.

Excerpt from this thing called the constitution:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Some people argue that the right to bear arms is referring to that of the military.  However, the use of the comma in the bill of rights is clearly used to show separate rights.  The comma is kind of used as saying this is a right, and oh by the way this is also a right and don’t confuse it with the previous this I states.  Like in the 1st amendment the freedom of speech is broken down with a comma showing that the freedom of the press, religion, and to peaceably assemble are all separate and equal rights. Plus, this little thing that states “The right of the people” I mean if the dudes that wrote the constitution meant it to be just the military they would have stopped at the word militia.  But, they were very smart and continued on with, that’s right adding in other people, like you and me!  The People!

Then their are those who say that to bear arms doesn’t include on your person.  A simple look at the word “bear” in the use of a verb reveals this in my trusty dictionary; “to hold up; support; to hold up under; be capable of; to hold or carry; to exhibit; to show; to have and use.”  Then my ever useful thesaurus says, “carry, convey, deliver, ferry, fetch, lug, move, pack, take, tote, transfer, transport.”  To just prove a point the antonym of bear is that of which gun laws provide, “refuse, take, throw away.”  Plus, the word Keep is usually a dead give away.

To boot at the end they added in this thing that says, “Shall not be infringed.”  By definition adding laws that govern the right to bear arms in itself is an infringement.

My point is that if you every watch a western, all the good guys aren’t calling cops to help them.  They all had guns!  You defended yourself!  While I believe we should have a well armed and powerful police force, I also believe that everyone has a responsibility to protect themselves.

If everyone is armed you will still see shootings, but you would never see one person kill 12 people and harm 30 others. You might get two people before the whole  crowd guns you down.

Currently their is a bill before congress H.R. 675 that would change the status of DOD police officers to Federal Police Officers.  They would be allowed to carry weapons at all times, make arrests and enforce laws.  They currently can subdue civilians but have to turn them over to local police.  Who in many cases just release them.  For an example, if a civilian brought a firearm onto a federal installation the DOD police would then arrest them, call the county police department, who would then show up and release the person because they didn’t break a state law.

While I think all citizens should be able to carry firearms on their person at all times without the government arresting them, I do think the DOD police should be able to enforce other laws.

When I use the term DOD police I’m referring to th Department of Army, Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force police.

But, David Letterman didn’t commit adultery; he isn’t married?

According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 134 – Adultery – he did commit adultery because he had sexual relations with someone who was married.  Is this fair?  No.  The penalty for adultery is Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.  You go to JAIL!

While I do not condone adultery (or marriage for that matter).   It’s my opinion that the government has no right to dictate or criminalize unmoral acts.  By doing so I think that the government is violating our first amendment right of free expression, and religion.  Free expression because sexual intercourse in it self is an expression of intense feeling, love, or lust.  Free religion because marriage is a bond between two people and God; or whatever god you believe in or don’t.

If David Letterman was arrested their would be a huge outcry for his release.  So why are military service members treated as second class citizens?  No where in America is adultery a criminal act for a civilian.  So what we have is a set of laws for civilians and a set of laws for the military.  Except the laws for the military are in no way similar to the laws for civilians.  In it self this is wrong but more over it goes against the constitution itself.

The thing that bothers me the most is that the constitution and the bill of rights are our highest laws.  So how can the UCMJ violate the constitution?  I’ve heard officers and NCOs try and say that when you join the military you give up some of your rights.  WHA!?  It was my understanding that you cannot give up your fundamental human rights.  When I swore to protect the constitution I never realized I was apparently giving away my constitutional rights, and putting myself under a crappier version of our laws.

I wasn’t stupid.  I did know of the UCMJ; but at the time it didn’t bother me because I wasn’t going to commit adultery or some of the other insane crimes that are part of the UCMJ.  After spending eight years in the military I’ve heard some pretty messed up things.

Let me tell you a story.   I’m going to change the names of everyone involved.

So Private Joe Snuffy, a 21 year old brand new soldier in the United States Army just got out of basic, his job school and is reporting to his first duty station.  He arrives finding out that his unit is currently training in the field and will be back in three weeks.  So he’s new to the area so he goes to a local club.  He meets a older woman named Beth who is treating him really nice; buying him drinks and taking him to other clubs.   For the next two weeks they spend a lot of time together; some of it in hotel rooms.

Well his unit comes back and every time the men come back from the field the unit has a unit party where all family members are invited.  Pvt. Snuffy gets to meet his new 1st Sergeant.  The 1st Sergeant introduces Pvt. Snuffy to his wife.   Unfortunately, Pvt. Snuffy already knows the 1st Sergeants wife.  It’s Beth!

Pvt. Snuffy feels so confused he tells his squad leader what’s up.  He tells him he has been having sex with the first sergeant’s wife for 2 weeks now, and he didn’t know she was married.  She never wore a ring, and they never talked about work.  She said she was single.

Pvt Snuffy’s squad leader, Sgt. Luke Skywalker tells him; “Don’t say anything, to anyone!”

Well, Pvt. Snuffy couldn’t keep his mouth shut and had to open up to the first sergeant and tell him about what’s been going on.  Word gets around the base and the military police show up.  They arrest Pvt. Snuffy for adultery.  The criminal investigators interview everyone, including Sgt. Skywalker and order them to not talk about it or to speak with Beth.

Now if Pvt. Snuffy didn’t know he was committing adultery; then he didn’t commit it!  However, Beth won’t tell the investigators that she lied about being married.

Sgt. Skywalker won’t have his new troop thrown in jail.   He goes to Beth and demands that she fess up about lying.  It’s no hair off her back, except looking like a liar.  Base security finds out that Sgt. Skywalker is at Beth’s house even though he was ordered to stay away from her.  They arrest Sgt. Skywalker for disobeying a direct order from an officer.  Now Sgt. Skywalker and Pvt. Snuffy are both in jail.

The happy ending of this story is that Beth did fess up to criminal investigators that she was lying about being single.  Pvt. Snuffy was set free.  Sgt. Skywalker received a reprimand, but the charges against him were dropped.

Does this sound like America?  It is, and it makes me sad.  If it makes you sad; write your congressman that you don’t think it’s right for service member’s to have laws that don’t exist anywhere in America applied to them.

I’ve actually been getting IP addresses from the Pentagon and Fort Meade… I hope they aren’t going to charge ME with something.  Erk!

I was in Oklahoma looking for a new job. I had to take a physical training test to be considered for the job. Luckily the military instilled in me the need for recon. I went to check out the site I was going to take the test at the night before. The instructions to the track were terrible and no address left my GPS useless. I got lost… so I did something I haven’t done since I purchased my GPS… I asked for directions.

To my amazement the airman I asked was more than willing to just give me directions. He jumped in his car and at almost midnight drove me out to the base track. That airman definitely earns some needed kudos.

I should have ordered my hotel room through orbitz like I did my flight and rental car. I was hoping to stay in on-base lodging; which is a hotel service-members can stay in while traveling. It’s very cheap and on-base so I wanted to stay there. Turns out on drill weekends the hotel is always full. I ended up driving around finding all the other hotels outside the base were also full.

I found a motel called the Colonial Motel. Just by the name I knew it was going to be a bad choice. I was tired and they had a vacancy so I got a room for one night. Entering the room I was immediately concerned. It was a dump. I was horrified to find the top blanket full of cigarette holes. The sheets looked like they had been thrown up on and then bleached instead of thrown out.

The lamps above the bed were out of line as someone had grabbed them during sex.

I didn’t even want to know what the bathroom looked like but I had to go. The toilet and shower shared the same fate as my sheets. They had marks all over them as someone put hundreds of cigarettes out on their charred faces.

The other motel guests didn’t give me any reason to feel at ease.

There was only one thing left to do. I sent a txt to my best friend letting him know I might be robbed or murdered during the night. His only response was that he once stayed in a hotel in north Philly that had a bullet hole in the window.

I went to bed in my clothes.

Well I survived the night and headed to the training site. Needless to say I passed all the events easily. Afterward, all the participants got to talking and I shared my motel horror story.

They needed to schedule a rifle firing for the next week but I was on orders. A fellow applicant who was in the Air Force worked at the firing range and went out of his way to get me to shoot that day. He wasn’t successful but I appreciate the attempt.

One of the people I got to meet was a former-Marine from New York. He offered his room for the night. I said, “Hey you’ve got a room and I have a car, its a deal.”

Just meeting each other that day we hit it off pretty well. We went back to the hotel to change and took off to see the sites. The first place we went was the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. I was at the twin towers 2 years after 9/11 but seeing the Oklahoma Memorial was pretty serene. To think an American could do this to his fellow Americans. The museum started off ok; but it ended up being very intense.

We visited Bricktown and got some food and beer.

Our verdict is Oklahoma city is pretty nice.

So is it the military that’s makes us this way or is it a personality type that is willing to help that puts us in the job of defending our beloved country?

I’ve been activated for deployment twice and I know all about this.  An entire unit shows up to this thing called SRP, (an SRP is basically a process of making sure all your paperwork, medical issues and equipment is ready for deployment).  The biggest deal with these things are the medical review.  When my unit was deployed, half of the people inside the unit had teeth pulled.  That’s right!  Teeth pulled!  It’s cheaper for the government to just pull your teeth out than fix them.

Well about two or three years ago, the military opened up Tricare to reservists, and about one year ago they opened up a dental plan.  The problem was they were losing to many people through the SRP process (if your too broken to deploy, they won’t send you) and it was costing the government a lot of money to fix people’s issues.

If you think government run health care is great.  Let me tell you about my experience.

Sure, while your on active duty it’s totally free!  You just show up and they take care of your problems.

However, it’s been my experience that they make it very unpleasant to go.  First off, ever wake up in the morning and feel like total crap?  Of course everyone does.  That’s when you call up work and call in dead.  Sometimes the best remedy is just rest.  Why go to a doctor if you know you just need some good old Zs?

Not in the military!  If you wake up and you just need some rest.  SICK CALL!  See the military (and government for that matter) has a process for everything.  If your sick, go to sick call.  Their view on it is; your not a doctor, so you can’t make a judgment like that on your own.  Want to go to sick call?  The night before you have to see your supervisor and fill out a sick call form.  You have to show up for the morning formation;  Usually around 4:30 or 5am (forget about that recommended sleep I was talking about earlier).  Then, you can be taken to the hospital or local clinic.  Since sick call is at a specific time, the waiting line is incredibly long.  I mean who thought sending everyone to the hospital at the same time was a brilliant idea?  So after you’ve waited around for a couple hours you finally get to see a medic.

Now be careful; I love medics, but those guys will try and convince you that you need an IV!  You go in for a headache and their like, ‘what you need is some H20 in your veins!’  Why do they want to stick you?  Well they need to do so many ’sticks’ a year to stay certified.  So they are always pushing for IVs.  My recommendation is if you came in with a hangover… take the IV, it’s WONDERFUL!

Now sick call is for minor things, if your issue turns out to be something bigger.  They will then schedule you to see a specialist.

Another problem is sometimes your chain of command will give you a hard time about seeing a doctor.  Just like a normal business, nobody likes to lose their employee for a day or two.

I’ve also heard people complain that health care insurance companies force people to go to only doctors inside of their plan.  That you have to call ahead to, ‘OK’ seeing a doctor.  Guess what!  Tricare does the same thing.  In my opinion they are even worse.  I had to get a physical and was told my closest choice was an hour and a half away.  Recently for a flight physical I had to get my eyes checked.  Even though their are plenty of doctors that do Eye Refractions, if I wanted the government to pay for it I had to go to the closest government medical facility.  It just so happens that it was about three hours away.  Efficiency, nope.

I’ve heard congress talking about preexisting conditions a lot recently.  Which kind of makes me laugh because of the enlistment process.  Everyone knows recruiters will tell you anything to get you into the military.  However, did you know that their are people whose job revolves around making sure you can’t make it into the military?  When potential recruits make the decision to join the military they take them to a place called MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station).  Now it’s the recruiters job to make sure you get into the military, and it’s MEPS job to make sure you don’t.  WAH!?  Yes!  The medical department at MEPS is tasked with weeding out people who are trying to enter with preexisting conditions.  Most people think they are just trying to see if you meet the standard of what is expected of a service member.  It’s just not true.  You see many people try to enter the military to get free health care.  They find out something is wrong with them that will costs MEGABUCKS, and they figure my only choice is the military.  Well, the truth is the government doesn’t want to fix broken people.  They, just like a corporation have to worry about costs.  Nobody wants to take on someone who already has problems.  So, if your planning on joining let me tell you, ‘those doctors at MEPS aren’t your friend!’

Don’t get me wrong.  It’s nice having free health care while on active duty.  Except, it’s not really free.  My taxes and your taxes are paying for it.  The military is full of great doctors who really care about helping troops.  My opinion is that health care is too big of an issue to pass it through quickly and it’s just sounds too complicated as some of the plans are 1,000 pages long.  It sounds like a lot of loop holes to me.

Free Market Military supports the effort to change the law so that health care can be bought across state lines.  If the president wants competition, start with allowing companies to go to any state!  That’s a no brain`er.  I think they should pass a bill now for tort reform and health care across state lines.  Once that’s done, hey, let’s see if we still even need the public plan.  Maybe, it will fix itself… with the FREE MARKET!

In my heart I’d really like to support single-payer solution.  Our taxes pay for police, fire departments, mail; why not my doctor?  If I thought it would work, I would support it.  Frankly, I think the only thing the government would do is mess it up.  I’ve always thought of the government as this person who is suppose to protect you and enforce standards.  But, if the government becomes your provider… who’s going to protect you from the government?

The US Army has by far the worst commercials in the entire world.  The Marines are off fighting dragons while the Army is portrayed as standing in formations making facing movements.  Who really thought that was a good idea?  For god’s sake the Navy’s commercials are nothing but showing off the Navy Seals!  The Navy Seals have to make up like less than 1% of the total Navy, but they make up about 98% of their advertisements.    This is what is called, “Smart.”  The Air Force of course shows off their fighter jets and their Para-jumpers.  Once again, Pilots make up 4% of the total Air Force and the PJ are probably around 1%.  Why are these other services showing off combat, but not the Army?

The Army shows Soldiers standing around in formations, some videos of combat but they are all of Soldiers doing things very carefully, cautious and not being extreme. Also, note the use of really dull music. The Army’s videos always try to instill some sense of pride (BORING!). The other services have this hard rock music and things exploding.

Marines fighting Dragons, I mean Demons! (Proabably a Baylor from Lord of the Rings) (I know there is a Dragon one but I couldn’t find it)

Marines Fighting Wizards!

Marines Doing Crazy Things and Transforming!

This proves cool videos get people (Warning extreme Language)

Air Force Rocking Out the Jets!

Air Force Jumping out of Planes!

Navy portraying it’s 1%!

Probably the Only Army Commercial I liked. Dude Running in Desert being B.A.

Soldiers Standing Around, Not Doing Cool Things, Just Reciting Boring Stuff! (This one makes me think, “Army standing around becoming cannon fodder in formations!”

Really Old Boring Army Commercial

Soldiers Turning Their Heads and Soldiers Jumping out of Planes in a Boring Manner.

This Isn’t Going to Get Young People In The Army

You know what would fix this… maybe a little free market mix up!  I see things like Poptent being the future of Advertisement.

Even the Brits have better commercials then us…. NOOO!!!

I love the music in this one

Choose SOMETHING!

War with Iran now?  Unless the US completely pulls out of Iraq and lets Afghanistan become completely undermanned (again) would we be able to fight another war, without a draft.  We just don’t have the manpower to pull it off.  America is already too tired; I’m betting Iran is betting that too.  They will just continue on assuming we aren’t going to do anything about it.  My guess… they are right.  We won’t see an US led invasion of Iran.   The most the US will lead is to the UN asking for more sanctions.  I will guarantee that Israel will take care of the problem. So once again, don’t worry America.

From the Military Times / AP

The United States warned Wednesday that Iran is close to having the capabilities to produce a nuclear weapon and urged Tehran to join in fresh talks with key allies about its disputed intentions.Glyn Davies, Washington’s chief envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the latest report by the nuclear watchdog shows that Tehran is either very near or already in possession of sufficient low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, if the decision were made to further enrich it to weapons-grade.

“This ongoing enrichment activity … moves Iran closer to a dangerous and destabilizing possible breakout capacity,” Davies told the agency’s 35-nation board of governors.

From Times of London

The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad’s director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility.

So what does this mean for America?  Given the fact that Israel is always willing to fight for it’s freedom, this move is almost a guarantee because Israel will not want to give up it’s biggest asset.  If Israel is no longer the only nuclear state in the Middle East, Iran will basically have taken away their hold on the region.  Pakistan and India have possessed nuclear weapons for over a decade and that hasn’t stopped their fighting over Kashmir.  Since Israel has had the bomb they have basically been allowed to do strikes against their opponents with a small amount of chance their target will strike back (Here, Here, Here).  To explain, if Israel attacks another nation, they cannot fight back for fear of being nuked.  By Iran having the bomb this means Israel is then checked.  But not in a good way.  This will lead to full blown conventional warfare.  I believe they can fight each other and not nuke one another.

This is why Israel has to take out their nuclear facilities now.  If they don’t it will end to a full scale war, or Iran using the nuke or giving/selling it to terrorists organizations who will definitely use it against them or anyone else for that matter.

Back to my question, “What does this mean for America?”  Say, we stay out of it completely until they start killing each other.  If they end up fighting each other we will  have to intervene with a combination of humanitarian aid and/or military power and a lot of blankets.

Old War Goats are people who are above 40 years old, they served a long time on active duty and now switched to the reserves.  The thing about Old War Goats, and I think it’s kind of systemic of anyone who has a blue collar job and is above 40.  They have absolutely no clue how computers work.  I don’t mean like the actual electronic functions of a computer I mean; how to use windows, word, powerpoint, excel.  Frankly, if you were born after 1980 you probably would be considered an expert on the functions of these software’s in their minds.

College Students refer to actual college students, and people who wanted to join the military but thought it might be a good idea to try out the reserves before joining the regular army. Or, basically anyone that is young and has only served in the reserves.

My first duty station was an Area Support Group which is mostly office jobs.  To be fair a lot of the Non-Commissioned Officers usually coming into the reserves were infantrymen or mechanics of some sort.  So they would rather eat a MRE than figure out how to Copy and Paste.  However, the Commissioned officers were exactly the same.  At the heart of the job of a commissioned officer is button pushing and memorandum writing.  So I don’t know what their excuse is…

Now this is where I start getting to my point. What was my point again… oh Right!  Being previously in the IT field and having classes in high school that covered Microsoft Office I quickly became the unit Computer Expert and was told time and time again I was a valuable resource.  The problem with being a “Resource” in the military is commanders have the power to decide whether or not to let you leave the unit and join another unit.  Which is why people are ultimately are terrible at everything can leave whenever they want.  Commanders are more than willing to give someone else a problem child.  If you love your unit this is not a problem, but if you hate your unit and you hate the policies of your command… it can be hell.  Also, for people who joined the military to get specialized training, sometimes it can be hard for career development if your commander won’t let you leave.  The National Guard is the worst in my opinion on this particular issue.

This might seem trivial, but it makes for a good example (I lied it’s the first thing that popped into my head).  Say the commander of the 33rd Baton Cleaners Detachment makes a policy of no one can wear headphones while working out in Army PT uniform.  Also, even while in civilian clothes during your off duty workout you may not wear your Ipod or IShuffle (or IBucket… IGlasses) while doing an off duty run on the road.  Solely basing the policy to prevent Soldiers from getting hit by cars while running on the road.  Before you ask, yes, this is a real policy on pretty much every single base I’ve been on.  Now while it’s admirable to prevent Soldiers running along a road to run in front of a car because they didn’t hear it coming.  It’s also a clear infringement on personal choice.  (To further point out how stupid this particular policy is every military base has a Maximum speed limit of 25MPH. Also I remind you we are talking about trained killers, not children… so to think they are responsible enough to take a life but not run on a road while listening to music is fundamentally flawed)

If a Soldier is unhappy with the policies of their command, right now their is nothing they can do or say.  However, if a free market existed pertaining to Soldiers switching units of their own free will.  It would be a positive by forcing commanders to change unreasonable policies to hold onto exceptional Soldier that might be convinced to work for a different command.  This is what I’m advocating, give Soldiers the same right as normal Americans.  You have a choice whether or not to stay with a company that treats you well or poorly.  If the pay or the benefits are good.  Now, I’m not saying let people out of their military contracts.  I’m saying take away the power of commanders to control if a Soldier can move to a different unit or not.

Would you not agree this is a free market solution?

The fact is that keeping “Good Resources” “Smart/Educated/Self Motivated Soldiers in the military is hard because many people get frustrated with the way they are treated.  Keep a good Soldier in the Army, Re-enlist! (Sorry don’t like your policies I’m outta here! (by outta here I mean the left the military completely (Man, we need a free market system)))