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Military Will Allow Illegals to Serve

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Photo Credit: APPentagon to enlist illegal immigrants approved by Obama’s White House

By Douglas Ernst.

The Pentagon plans to expand a program that has historically targeted foreign nationals with desirable skill sets to include the children of illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. before their sixteenth birthday.

Future enlistees who have been approved under a 2012 Obama administration Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program, or DACA, will now be allowed to take part in the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program, Military Times reported Thursday. The Pentagon will have a pool of individuals that ranges from 1.2 million to 2.1 million young men and women.

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Photo Credit: AFP / GettyMilitary to allow undocumented immigrants to serve

By Andrew Tilghman, Military Times.

A small number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. will have an opportunity to join the military for the first time in decades under a new Department of Defense policy unveiled Thursday.

The new rules will expand an existing program allowing recruiters to target foreign nationals with high-demand skills, mostly rare foreign language expertise or specialized health care training.

For the first time, the program — known as Military Accessions in the National Interest, or MAVNI — will be open to immigrants without a proper visa if they came to the U.S. with their parents before age 16. More specifically, they must be approved under a 2012 Obama administration policy known as Deferred Action for Child Arrivals, or DACA.

The new Pentagon policy may be the first phase of a broader government-wide effort to ease pressure on immigrants and create new paths to citizenship. President Barack Obama, frustrated with the failure of Congress to pass any substantial immigration reform, has vowed to aggressively use his presidential authority to change the way immigration policies are carried out.

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Photo Credit: Army10K soldiers must go this year, 20K next year

By Jim Tice.

Nearly 30,000 soldiers must be removed from the active rolls in the next 17 months if the Army is to make the first waypoint in a drawdown that eventually will reduce the force to 450,000, or even 420,000, soldiers.

As of April 1, there were 519,786 troopers on active duty, according to the most recent accounting of Regular Army strength by the Defense Manpower Data Cnter.

The personnel total includes 4,000 West Point cadets and several hundred soldiers who are processing for separation because of physical disability, and several hundred others who have been identified for involuntary separation or retirement because of indiscipline or selection by force reduction boards.

Since the beginning of the drawdown in October 2012, Army strength dropped from 550,000 to 530,000 by the end of fiscal 2013.

Budget projections indicate the Army will end fiscal 2014 on Sept. 30 with 510,000 soldiers. With that level of manning, the service will have to cut the active force by 20,000 soldiers in 2015.

Read more from this story HERE.

Former Navy SEAL: Over 90 Percent Of Troops Do Not Support Obama (+video)

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / Larry DowningAccording to former U.S. Navy SEAL Carl Higbie, over 90 percent of troops disapprove of President Barack Obama. Higbie made the comments to “On The Record” HOST Greta Van Susteren Wednesday.

“Effective today, the president? A photo-op? or something in between?” Susteren asked.

“Photo-op. Complete photo-op. This indicative of a global failure of his foreign POLICY,” Higbie explained. “He has toted that he is behind the troops before and he stands in front of these guys, gets a photo-op, everything like that, while saying he’s going to send 3,000 guys to combat Ebola, but I’m not going to send any to combat an actual enemy that’s really threatening America.”

“What do you think they think? I mean, I suppose it’s kind of a mixed bag?” Susteren pressed.

“I’d say most of the troops,” Higbie replied. “Probably over 90 percent, do not support the president.”

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ISIS Urging "Lone Wolves" To Target US Soldiers

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Photo Credit: TownHallBy Daniel Doherty.

My visceral reaction to reading this story was intense anger. And yet, why am I bewildered that a terrorist organization that kills innocents has reportedly stepped up its efforts in urging rogue extremists in the U.S. to target American soldiers?

On second thought, I’m not surprised at all. But that doesn’t mean I don’t find their their latest tactic to kill Americans somewhat strange. Is this not the same army of barbarians whose chief spokesman (since killed in a drone strike) arrogantly prodded the president to “send [us] your soldiers, the ones we humiliated in Iraq?” If ISIS is so confident and proud of their own military capabilities, why must they RESORT to such cowardly and desperate acts?

Fox News has the exclusive…

Read more from this story HERE.

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Law enforcement bulletin warned of ISIS urging jihad attacks on US soil

By Jana Winter.

A law ENFORCEMENT bulletin obtained by FoxNews.com warned that Islamic State fighters have increased calls for “lone wolves” to attack U.S. soldiers in America in recent months, citing one tweet that called for jihadists to find service members’ addresses online and then “SHOW up and slaughter them.”

There will be “a continued call – by Western fighters in Syria and terrorist organizations – for lone offender attacks against U.S. military facilities and personnel,” warned a July law enforcement intelligence bulletin from the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange, a state-run agency that gathers, assesses and shares threat information and works with the Department of Homeland Security. “These threats will most likely increase should the U.S. or its allies attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) in Syria or Iraq.”

In one example cited in the bulletin, a British jihadist encouraged radicals still living in the West to use Facebook and LinkedIn to find and target soldiers.

“You could literally search for soldiers, find their town, photos of them, look for address in Yellowbook or something,” the tweet read. “Then SHOW up and slaughter them.”

On Thursday, Peter Boogaard, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, told FoxNews.com that “there is no credible intelligence at this time to suggest that there is an active plot by (ISIS) to carry out an attack in the United States.”

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Photo Credit: The FederalistWashington’s Ruling Class Is Fooling Itself About The Islamic State

By Angelo Codevilla.

The American people’s reaction to Muslim thugs of the “Islamic State” ritually knifing off the heads of people who look like you and me boils down to “let’s destroy these bastards”—which is common sense. But our ruling class, from President Obama on the Left to The Wall Street Journal on the Right, take the public’s pressure to do this as another occasion for further indulging their longtime preferences, prejudices, and proclivities for half-measures in foreign affairs—the very things that have invited people from all over the planet to join hunting season on Americans.

This indulgence so overwhelms our ruling class’s perception of reality that the recipes put forth by its several wings, little different from one another, are identical in the one essential respect: none of them involve any plans which, if carried out, would destroy the Islamic State, kill large numbers of the cut-throats, and discourage others from following in their footsteps. Hence, like the George W. Bush’s “war on terror” and for the same reasons, this exercise of our ruling class’s wisdom in foreign affairs will decrease respect for us while invigorating our enemies.

The WSJ’s recommendations, like the Obama administration’s projected activities, are all about discrete measures—some air strikes, some arming of local forces, etc. But they abstract from the fundamental reality of any and all activities: He who wills any end must will the means to achieve it…

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School Tells Soldier Escorting Daughter to Leave Because of Offensive Uniform

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Photo Credit: IJ ReviewA Lieutenant Colonel was escorting his daughter to Rochester Adams high school in Michigan, when the man in uniform was rudely informed that he would not be permitted to enter the premises.

The reason that the military officer was given? His uniform ‘might offend people.’

The security personnel hired by the school told the 24-year veteran Lt. Col. Sherwood Baker that if he wanted to take his daughter inside the building, he would have to go home and change clothes.

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Obama Uses Executive Authority to Cut Military Pay Second Year in a Row

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Photo Credit: DVIDSHUBOn August 29, President Obama sent a letter notifying Congress that he is using his authority under law to cap the active duty military pay raise at 1 percent in 2015.

Typically the active duty pay raise is determined by private sector wage growth, measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index (ECI). The ECI calls for a 1.8 percent pay raise in 2015. [In other words, Obama’s unilateral action has created a .8% pay reduction (1.8% – 1%) for our troops]

However, the President has executive authority to make an alternative pay adjustment if he considers it necessary due to national emergency or economic concerns.

This is the second consecutive year the President used his authority to implement a lower pay raise.

From 2000 to 2012, Congress worked hard to eliminate a 13.5 percent military pay gap with the private sector caused by repeatedly capping military raises in the 1980s and ‘90s.

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Obama to Send Approximately 350 Additional Military Personnel to Iraq

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

President Obama announced Tuesday he is sending approximately 350 additional military personnel to Iraq to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities and workers in Baghdad.

The White House said in a press release that the personnel will not serve a combat role, and are fulfilling a request from the State Department for more protection as the country fights an insurgency from the Islamic State militant group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The White House said the additional personnel will be able to provide a “more robust, sustainable security force” and will allow previously deployed personnel to leave the country.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement that Obama’s authorization will result in a net increase of approximately 350 military personnel. Kirby said 405 personnel will be sent to Baghdad, and 55 will leave, leading to the net increase.

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Report: 25 Percent of Troops Use Food Assistance

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Photo Credit: AP / U.S. AIR FORCE

Photo Credit: AP / U.S. AIR FORCE

The recent results of a survey by Feeding America (page 16), the largest domestic hunger-relief charity in the U.S., suggests that 620,000 households containing at least one currently serving military member utilize food banks and other food assistance programs.

That’s a staggering statistic – 25 percent of the currently serving force.

Pentagon officials were quick to refute the validity of the report’s statistics, but regardless of the actual number, the survey reflects many military families are using food banks to help make ends meet.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Military Downsizing Leaves U.S. Too Weak to Counter Global Threats, Panel Finds

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Photo Credit: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta

Photo Credit: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta

An independent panel appointed by the Pentagon and Congress said Thursday that President Obama’s strategy for sizing the armed services is too weak for today’s global threats.

The National Defense Panel called on the president to dump a major section of his 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and write a broader strategy that requires the military to fight on multiple fronts at once.

It also said the shrinking U.S. armed forces, which are being downsized to fit that strategy and budget cuts, is a “serious strategic misstep on the part of the United States.” The forces’ numbers spelled out in Mr. Obama’s QDR are “inadequate given the future strategic and operational environment.”

The warning comes as Mr. Obama is under criticism from many Republicans and some Democrats for his standoff policy toward Syria and his limited response to a June offensive by an al Qaeda offshoot that has gobbled up swaths of territory in Iraq.

Congress authorized the panel of outside experts to review the QDR, a strategy for shaping the active and reserve force. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel appointed the co-chairmen: former Defense Secretary William Perry, who served under President Bill Clinton, and retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, who ran U.S. Central Command during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sheriff Joe to Obama: Deploy U.S. Military to Mexico

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Photo Credit: WNDPresident Obama should deploy the U.S. military across the Mexican border to work bilaterally to curb illegal immigration, declared Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio in a radio interview Sunday.

“If we are worried about the danger, then I would send the military across the border, work with their military bilaterally and get the job done,” said Arpaio. “That’s what I would do and we’d clean up this mess.”

“Of course, you have to get the Mexican president to OK it,” he added. “I would just go in there and have a few drinks with him and get the job done.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Reminds the Greatest Generation How He’s Changing the Military (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP / Charles DharapakAt a ceremony commemorating some of the bravest Americans of World War II, President Barack Obama reminded the “greatest generation” how the U.S. military has changed under his command, by slipping in references to immigrants and women.

Speaking at Normandy, President Barack Obama singled out three veterans who stormed the beaches under heavy fire.

These were “the men who were willing to lay down their lives for people they never met,” Obama said. “Wilson and Harry and Rock, they are here today,” the president continued, as he briefly described their service to their country.

“Gentlemen, I want each of you to know that your legacy is in good hands,” he told the three men. “For at a time when it has never been more tempting to pursue narrow self-interest, to slough off common endeavor, this generation of Americans — a new generation…has chosen to do their part as well.”

Read more from this story HERE.