Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Translation: Do more with less. Don’t dare fail, but don’t dare do ANYTHING that can be criticized from a “human rights” POV–and if you do? Kiss career good-by. Head straight to personnel to process paperwork. Do not pass go–Do not collect $200.
Oh, and GOOD LUCK…..Especially if we decide to bring criminal
charges or throw you under the bus before the Intl. Criminal court under pressure of “world opinion.” Hope you know a good lawyer. (Just ask the Haditha Marines)
PS-Or the Illinois ANG types dragged before that show trial in Shreveport when we were kissing ass trying to get the Canucks to join the “coalition of the willing” prior to Iraq.
Might want to give them a call……see how much fun THEY had.
I think it will be interesting to see who gets what money and where it goes. The AF is hurting, and if something isn’t done quickly, we might not have a viable fighter fleet left. We have taken for granted our mastery of the air for a long time, but if all the Vipers and Hogs and Eagles keep breaking, we won’t have anything to control the skies with…
chic[k] hast recht. I dunno if we really ought to have a separate AF, much as I honor the AF guys in my family.
However, if we _are_ going to have an Air Force, they should not have to fly airplanes, all of which are very old and fixin to come apart.
Bad news guys, I think we’re heading back to Threat Based Assessments and building holidays for the USAF and USN. The ground pogues will be lucky to replace their dead and damaged hardware. The rest of us can expect to do more with less for the next 8 years. What did a viper, hog, eagle or LCS do for a grateful nation over the last 3 years? Nothing worth funding at anything like a realistic level.
If we were really really smart we’d think of how to transfer a lot of capability into the National Guard quietly and garner support at the local level to retain at least some force structure. “key, local level means to get your reps and senators to clamor about jobs in their districts.”
Curtis,
I’m not so sure that we are back to building holidays-but nothing is going to happen for the next few months until PB-10 comes out.
Bet they don’t eliminate the Diversity czars as a cost saving move. Gotta keep up the quotas.
Plus, we will have many added mandates via earmarks to do all sorts of specific, useless crap with “DOD money” that will be taken from the same old pot, not plussed up to add it in to cover the frivolous functions so loved by the Obamacrats.
I dont know, LL the old Hy Quan My Co Vanh’s (sp?) mantra may apply, “We are the unwilling, led by the unqualified, to do the unnecessary for the ungrateful.” Mahan didn’t say didly about nation building. but what would I know I’m only a deck ape?
The only way to fix this is to staff up some more fleets (no ships or planes, mind, but staffs without end)….