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3rd ID Soldiers to Deploy to Europe this Year in Response to Russia

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downloadThe U.S. Army plans to deploy more soldiers to Eastern Europe later this year in a show of force against Russian military involvement in the Ukraine, a general said.

Soldiers with the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division in September will deploy to the region “to conduct exercises and response to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe,” Gen. Dennis Via, head of Army Materiel Command, said during a conference on Wednesday in Huntsville, Ala.

The troops will succeed the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division in taking over a suite of equipment known as the European Activity Set, which includes hundreds of Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Paladin self-propelled howitzers in such countries as Estonia near the Russian border, he said.

His command is working to build the set, which includes more than 1,000 combat vehicles, from battalion-sized to brigade-sized, Via said.

The decision last year to deploy additional soldiers and weapons to Europe was a critical part of demonstrating the military’s commitment to allies in the region, according to Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, who spoke at the conference organized by the Association of the United States Army. (Read more from “3rd ID Soldiers to Deploy to Europe this Year in Response to Russia” HERE)

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Special Forces Set to Swarm Southwest and Operate Undetected Among Civilians in Massive Military Exercise

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BoysSeven Southwestern states will soon be infiltrated by 1,200 military special ops personnel as part of a controversial domestic military training in which some of the elite soldiers will operate undetected among civilians.

Operation Jade Helm begins in July and will last for eight weeks. Soldiers will operate in and around towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado where some of them wil drop from planes while carrying weapons loaded with blanks in what military officials have dubbed Realistic Military Training.

But with residents of the entire states of Texas and Utah dubbed ‘hostile’ for the purposes of the exercises, Jade Helm has some concerned the drills are too realistic.

Headlines like Freedom Outpost’s ‘Operation Jade Helm—military trains for martial law in American South-west’ abound across the Right-leaning blogosphere and Info Wars warns that Jade Helm is simply ‘an effort to test the effectiveness of infiltration techniques’ on the American public.

‘They’re having Delta Force, Navy SEALS with the Army trained to basically take over,’ Info Wars’ Alex Jones said Sunday. ‘Texas is listed as a hostile sector, and of course, we are…We’re here defending the republic.’ (Read more from “Special Forces Set to Swarm Southwest and Operate Undetected Among Civilians in Massive Military Exercise” HERE)

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You’ll Never Guess Why This Boy’s ‘Military Haircut’ Got Him a Suspension Threat

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milA young boy’s high and tight haircut meant to honor his soldier-stepbrother earned him the threat of suspension from an elementary school named for a Medal of Honor recipient, and the fallout from the incident has led a Tennessee school district to increase security measures.

Adam Stinnett went to Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School in McMinnville, about a 90-minute drive southeast from Nashville, on March 9 sporting the new hairdo. His mother, Amy Stinnett, said he’d requested the high and tight to be more like Spc. Justin Bloodworth, his active-duty stepbrother.

Adam was written up by the principal, who thought the haircut was against school policy banning “mohawk haircuts or other extreme cuts.”

haircut

Amy Stinnett disagreed. Adam went back Tuesday with the same haircut.

After his mother received an email from the principal and stopped by for a face-to-face chat, it was made clear that Adam’s hairstyle would have to change before he returned to school. (Read more from “You’ll Never Guess Why This Boy’s ‘Military Haircut’ Got Him a Suspension Threat” HERE)

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Several Military Service Members on Purported ISIS ‘Hit List’ Unfazed by Threat

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Photo Credit: ABC News

Photo Credit: ABC News

Several of the military service members whose personal information appears on a purported ISIS “hit list” said today they are unfazed by the online threat, as military officials continued the process of notifying individuals named on the list.

The personal information of 100 service members was posted on a website by a previously unknown group calling itself the “Islamic State Hacking Division” that urged “lone wolf” sympathizers to kill those named on the list . . .

“I wouldn’t say I’m scared,” said one of the service members. “It’s just part of this ‘new war’ against an enemy with a different, more developed capability than what we’ve faced in the past. We have to make the adjustments in order to continue to win the battles.”

A defense official told ABC News it does not appear that the information on the list was gained through a data breach. Instead, the official said it all appears to have come from publicly available information on social media and Internet sites.

Some of the service members acknowledged that information on the Internet can make such a threat possible. (Read more from “Several Military Service Members on Purported ISIS ‘Hit List’ Unfazed by Threat” HERE)

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US Congressman Introduces Bill in Response to Military Oath Deleting “God”

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Photo Credit: Opposing Views

Photo Credit: Opposing Views

U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson introduced a bill that would make it illegal for any branch of the military to change its oaths unless approved by Congress.

Johnson said he wrote the legislation in response to a 2013 decision made by U.S. Air Force Academy to make the phrase, “so help me God,” an optional part of its oath.

Before the change, the cadet honor oath was, “We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably, so help me God.”

Since 1984, cadets must recite the code when they first join basic training. Cadets are required to take the oath once every year, said Air Force Academy spokesman Maj. Brus Vidal.

U.S. Air Force Academy leaders said they decided to make the phrase optional after receiving a complaint for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a group that advocates for religious freedom within the U.S. military. (Read more from “US Congressman Introduces Bill in Response to a Change in a Military Oath” HERE)

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Here’s How Soldiers Reacted to Miniature Drones at an Army Experiment [+video]

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U.S. Army maneuver officials here just finished testing miniature drones and other high-tech soldier kit, much of which is designed to help infantry squads and platoons spot the enemy first.

From March 2 through March 5, soldiers from the Army’s Experimentation Force, or EXFOR, participated in the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment, an annual event aimed at evaluating innovative equipment with the potential to revolutionize infantry combat.

This year, the AEWE focused on 75 prototype technologies ranging from network communications gear to loadbearing kit, to sustainment and force protection equipment.

Many showed promise, but it was the pocket-sized Black Hornet and backpack-sized InstantEye unmanned aerial systems that captured the imaginations of 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, the unit that makes up the EXFOR.

Hosted by the Maneuver Center of Excellence, the AEWE puts untested gear into the hands of infantrymen for a short period of intense field exercises. The experiment puts the EXFOR through a series of day and night missions and several fragmentary orders, or FRAGOs, to make test conditions as challenging as possible. (Read more from “Here’s How Soldiers Reacted to Miniature Drones at an Army Experiment” HERE)

Here’s a Reuters review of some European produced military drones:

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Democrat Congresswoman to Colleagues: ‘Man Up’ and Strip Military Benefits

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By Brendan McGarry. A U.S. congresswoman implored her colleagues to “man up” and accept the recommendations from a blue-ribbon panel to overhaul military benefits.

Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democrat from California and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, praised the recent work of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission. The panel called for offering troops 401(k)-like retirement plans and military families a choice of commercial health insurance plans in lieu of Tricare, among other proposals.

“We’ve just now have got to inject a little guts into all of us to do the right thing,” she said Wednesday during a hearing of the committee’s military personnel subcommittee, which received testimony from commission members.

The hearing was the latest in what will be a series of debates on Capitol Hill over the future of military compensation. Members of the congressionally mandated panel have said their 15 recommendations were designed to give troops, military families and retirees more benefits choices while saving the Pentagon an estimated $12 billion a year in personnel costs by 2040. (Read more about the congresswoman telling colleagues to strip military benefits HERE)

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Wounded Warrior Abused by Doctor and Social Worker

By Richard Sisk. A soldier currently at the Fort Carson, Colo., Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) suffered mistreatment by a doctor and a social worker for several months last year, an Army investigation concluded.

The soldier was mistreated at the Embedded Behavioral Health clinic while he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment before he joined Fort Carson’s WTU.

The fact-finding investigation under Article 15-6 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice found that the two heath care providers engaged in “problematic encounters” with the soldier between February and May of 2014, the Army said.

At a roundtable session with Pentagon reporters Friday, Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho said that the doctor and the social worker “showed a lack of dignity and respect to one soldier” and had been disciplined. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Former Adjutant General Retiring From Alaska National Guard

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Brig. Gen. Leon “Mike” Bridges, who served as acting adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard after the ouster of a former leader, plans to retire on May 1 after he was not chosen to permanently take over the job. . .

Bridges said in an interview Wednesday that he applied for the position and considered himself to be a useful soldier and public servant. But he said Walker is commander in chief of the state’s military forces and has selected his new leadership team . . .

Bridges oversaw a transitional period for the Guard. In September, a report on allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct within the Guard by the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations found victims lacked confidence in the command . . .

Since taking office, Walker’s administration has named retired state court judge Patricia Collins as a special investigator to look into allegations of sexual abuse or harassment by National Guard members. Collins also has been asked assess whether allegations were adequately investigated by law enforcement; whether any cases were handled appropriately by prosecutors; and other matters. (Read more about the general leaving the Alaska National Guard HERE)

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Pentagon Pushing Soldiers to Join the Teamsters

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The United States Army is recruiting soldiers to join the ranks of labor unions, according to an email obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

An email sent on behalf of Lt. Gen. Howard B. Bromberg, the Army’s head of human resources, urged soldiers on the verge of retirement to get involved with the Teamster Military Assistance Program.

“The Teamster Military Assistance Program and other similar programs focus on assisting soldiers and families who are transitioning from military service to be ‘career ready’ and have access to an established network of enablers, and on connecting soldiers with employment opportunities and the health care and education resources required to successfully reintegrate into civilian society,” the email says.

The email was sent through a Pentagon account Tuesday morning and distributed across the ranks. The program is intended to help soldiers, many of whom have extensive experience driving trucks in warzones, to drive big rigs on highways free of IEDs, according to the Army.

“This training program is a multiyear partnership between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, ABF Freight, and the Army to train Soldiers for truck driver positions with ABF Freight throughout the country after they transition to civilian life,” the email says. (Read more about the join the teamsters push HERE)

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Fallen Marine's Family Suing Over Alleged Cover Up

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fallen soldiersThe family of murdered Marine Greg Buckley just wants answers.

Three days before he was scheduled to come home, in 2012, Lance Cpl. Buckley was killed in Afghanistan, in the one place he was supposed to be safe.

He wasn’t killed in a firefight on a battlefield, or by a roadside bomb while on patrol. The 21-year-old was working out with fellow Marines at the base gym when an Afghan teenager walked in carrying an AK-47 — and emptied the clip, killing Buckley and two others.

Buckley’s family, stonewalled in their search for answers, has since resorted to filing a rare lawsuit against the Marine Corps and Department of Defense. They’re not seeking a financial settlement — they say all they want is information about how their son died in the insider attack.

“He shot my son point blank with an AK-47. Shot him four times in his chest and once in his neck. He was in the gym with a pair of shorts and a tank top on,” Buckley’s father Gregory Buckley, Sr. told Fox News. “How is that allowed?” (Read more about the fallen marine’s family’s case HERE)