News Roundup: USAF Special Tactics memorial, Pentagon demands return of soldier bonuses, Brit soldiers love nudity

Special Tactics memorial unveiled at Hurlburt Field:

HURLBURT FIELD — As the chief of staff of the United States Air Force, Gen. David Goldfein’s time is in high demand in Washington, D.C.

On Thursday morning, however, the general had a special message for the 800 or so people who gathered at the base’s airpark for the dedication of the nation’s first memorial to Air Force Special Tactics personnel.

“Today, there’s no place in the world … I’d rather be than here with you,” Goldfein said. “I’ve never been prouder to be an airman than I am today, standing on this sacred ground.”

As a former fighter pilot, Goldfein has a special place in his heart for Special Tactics airmen. In 1999, a Special Tactics team rescued the then-lieutenant colonel after he was shot down by hostile forces over Serbia.

Goldfein paid tribute to the team who saved his life as well as to the Gold Star families whose loved ones died in the line of duty while serving in one of the four Special Tactics career fields: pararescuemen, special operations weather technicians, combat controllers and tactical control party members.

That is outstanding. Of course, no Special Tactics gathering would be complete without banging out a set of memorial push-ups. Even the general got down to knock ’em out. Not bad, Goldfein.

Follow me on Twitter as I mimic future talk show hosts:

https://twitter.com/BKactual/status/789259751603396608

That’s what I think Trump’s next gig will be, as the presidential race isn’t looking good for him. There’s not a lot one can do when every major institution in America (both parties, the media, Hollywood, academia, the law, etc.) are arrayed against you. And remember, he was caught saying “pussy” on tape! Because of these hate words,  the American people are going to elect the most corrupt politician in American history.

This is why I don’t get emotionally involved in politics. If you know, as I do, that America is doomed to fall apart, then you stop caring. Oh, sure, the country will continue to limp along in its present form for quite some time before the inevitable collapse. It will be like the 98-year-old guy in the nursing home. He continues to exist, but is so far removed from what he once was, he’s been transformed beyond all recognition.

Ah well…one never knows. The only poll that counts is the one on election day, after all. Be sure to listen to the podcast where we shit-talked every debate as they happened.

Two Americans killed in the stupidest war in U.S. history:

The two Americans killed this week in Afghanistan have been identified as Sgt. Douglas Riney and Michael Sauro, the Defense Department announced late Thursday.

Riney, 26, and Sauro, a Department of the Army civilian, died during an attack near Kabul, officials said.

Riney, of Fairview, Illinois, was assigned to the Support Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, at Fort Hood, Texas. Sauro, 40, was assigned to the Defense Ammunition Center, McAlester Army Ammunition Point. He was from of McAlester, Oklahoma.

Another U.S. service member and two civilians were wounded in the same attack. Their wounds were not life-threatening, officials have said.

A U.S. official speaking on background said the attack occurred at an Afghan military ammunition supply point near Camp Morehead outside Kabul. The Americans were visiting the site as part of their train, advise and assist mission when a lone gunman opened fire on them at the entry control point, the official said.

Riney was a petroleum supply specialist. Even that job doesn’t mean you’re safe in this asymmetric war environment. Serious question: How much longer will America continue to send its sons and daughters to go die in Afghanistan for NOTHING?

I would not recommend the military to any young person anymore. It isn’t worth it. Stateside, you’re subject to reflective belts and mandatory transgender training. OCONUS, you may get your goddamn head blown off by the local fuckface who you’ve spent months training. And now you’re about to have Hillary Clinton as president, who can’t freaking WAIT to send your kids off to go fight a stupid war in Syria. I’m calling for the American people to go on strike.

The Pentagon finally finds money they don’t want to spend:

Nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers have been ordered to repay huge enlistment bonuses a decade after signing up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Pentagon demanded the money back after audits revealed overpayments by the California Guard under pressure to fill ranks and hit enlistment goals. If soldiers refuse, they could face interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens, the Los Angeles Times said.

Faced with a shortage of troops at the height of the two wars, California Guard officials offered bonuses of $15,000 or more for soldiers to reenlist.

A federal investigation in 2010 found thousands of bonuses and student loan payments were improperly doled out to California Guard soldiers. About 9,700 current and retired soldiers received notices to repay some or all of their bonuses with more than $22 million recovered so far.

Are you freaking shitting me? This is the hill they are going to die on? How about the 335 million the government spent on a power plant that can muster only one percent of its energy capacity? Or the 486 million that was spent on planes deemed so unsafe, they were later sold for $32,000 in scrap? Or the $34 million spent on a soybean program in a country that doesn’t eat soybeans? Or the $43 million spent on a gas station that should have cost $500,000? Or the $45 BILLION that just up and vanished? I could name a hundred more.

We’ve spent $113 billion dollars on Afghanistan reconstruction alone. That doesn’t even count the money spent actually fighting the “war.” But the Pentagon is going to go after some veteran’s $20,000? GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE.

What is it with British soldiers and weird naked games?

Four decorated senior marines have been spared jail for failing to stop junior ranks ‘reefing’ each other’s bare backsides using a 2ft gel keyboard wrist support nicknamed ‘Big Red’.

Sergeants Richard Melia and Ian Spence and Corporals Robert Wake and John Arnett all pleaded guilty to four counts of failing to perform their public duty during celebrations of the Royal Marine Corp’s 350th anniversary on October 28 2014.

Judge Advocate Robert Hill told the court martial at Portsmouth Naval Base that the behaviour was not a form of ‘character building, forming a strong spirit of camaraderie in an elite brotherhood of soldiers’.

Lieutenant Colonel Victoria Phillips, prosecuting, described how up to 50 marines had gathered at a bar at the 42 Commando barracks at Bickleigh, near Plymouth, Devon, and had decided to take part in a game of ‘spin a dit’.

She described how the participants, who were new joiners, would stand, with their trousers and underwear around their ankles, on a table surrounded by other marines.

They would then take up the challenge of telling a story or singing a song to entertain the others but if he failed to entertain, he would be subject to reefing (being hit) with Big Red.

Lt Col Phillips explained the number of hits would be determined by a throw of a dice but if the participant called out ‘beef reef’ he would receive another hit and would also be allowed to hit the person administering the blows with Big Red.

She said: ‘They were struck on bare backsides by an implement called Big Red. Big Red, kept behind the J company bar, was a red plastic rubber gel wrist support ordinarily used for wrist support when using a computer keyboard.’

The court heard that Spence also poured vodka on to the injuries of Marine William Gibson after he had asked for some form of antiseptic.

Hey, I’m all about team-building and hazing and drinking till you puke. That is a long and storied tradition in all militaries. But the Brits always take this shit too far. They’re constantly getting in trouble for the weirdest shit, like drinking booze out of each other’s buttholes, making each other drink shit and piss, and banging each other. It’s too much. It’s some weird cultural thing they have. The minute they consume enough alcohol, they all want to take their clothes off.

See, to them, what would be an instant fistfight among Americans is just good times. Like walking up behind a guy just sitting there and tapping your dick against his face isn’t gay as fuck, or sexual assault, or cause for an ass-beating. Nah, it’s just boys being boys.

We’ve all been dragged through the mud, or tied upside down on a litter, or forced to chug straight whiskey. I’m fine with all of that. The minute you touch my dick, or expose YOUR dick, I’m murdering you.

SEAL wins fight to keep war dog:

Trevor Maroshek, now 38, a Navy SEAL from San Clemente, wrote letters as he prepared for retirement in 2011, asking permission up the chain of Navy command to keep Chopper, a jet black German Shepherd who helped kill Taliban combatants, injured his back jumping out of a helicopter and took shrapnel in his left eye. Chopper had become his companion, his lifeline, his calming influence.

For a year and a half, Maroshek fought the bureaucracy and was told no.

“It was like someone said you can’t keep your kid,” said Maroshek, who became a civilian on Jan. 1, 2012.

Chopper, in the eyes of the Navy, was a weapon.

One hell of a weapon…

…The first test of their relationship came on the ride back to San Diego.

Maroshek was warned not to put Chopper in the cab of his truck. The dog, he was told, would attack him while they were driving.

Maroshek didn’t follow that order. He put Chopper on the seat next to him, but he held a knife in his left hand just in case the dog went for his throat.

“If you attack me, I will kill you,” Maroshek told the dog. Then he tossed him a piece of beef jerky. The dog stayed nicely on his seat.

Dopey female who complained about high Marine officer standards got WORKED:

You remember her, right? This was that idiot allowed to write an op-ed in the Army Times where she bitterly complained that a 100-pound female might have a bit of trouble in the Infantry Officer’s Course. The vast staff of the SOFREP News Roundup was busy doing hours of research on our article about California’s inexplicable love of setting prisoners free, so we really didn’t give her idiocy the attention it richly deserved. This open letter from a former Marine named Josh over at the Funker530 forum says everything that needs to be said, so go read the whole thing.

First and foremost, stay in your lane. This is an easy enough rule to follow, and you’ve probably bashed it into the skulls of every soldier you have ever had in your charge. Since you are A. Not in the Marine Corps, and B. Not ever going to attempt to join the Marine Corps infantry, the entire situation at Marine Corps Infantry Officer Course has absolutely nothing to do with you, and your thoughts on the subject really do not matter to the Marines.

The Infantry is the Marine Corps’ main element in -ALL- operations. When we say everything else is just support, that is well and truly meant, and understood at all levels of the Marine Corps. For this reason, and this reason alone, the Marine Corps Infantry Officer’s Course is the single toughest school in the Marine Corps.

Marine Corps Infantry Officers cannot have an ounce of weakness in them when they get to the operating forces. An infantry platoon in the Marine Corps is full of alpha type personalities that will spot that weakness and tear it apart, rendering the unit leader ineffective. Thus, incredible standards are put into place for these select individuals, because any of those young Lieutenants could be leading a platoon of 30 men down the rope to secure an embassy anywhere in the world, against a numerically superior force. Any of those young Lieutenants could be placed on a hillside with their platoons, and get told to hold the position or die trying. We need the best individuals for that job, and physically these individuals need to be animals by nature.

Stop responding to people on Twitter:

(CNN) The British Army has apologized and removed a Tweet of a soldier wearing black face paint, after it prompted outrage online.

The tweet showed a soldier with his face painted black and holding a gun, along with the caption: “Being a soldier in the jungle requires a robust sense of humour.”

The post sparked a furious response from social media users, with many calling the “blackface” image “racist.”

https://twitter.com/JonScammell/status/788678797222641664

The army told CNN in a statement that the image was of a soldier “wearing camouflage and concealment measures, standard for jungle training in Belize.”

It added: “We can see how the tweet may have been misinterpreted, have immediately removed it, and apologize for any offense it may have caused.”

After removing the tweet, the army then posted a full apology online.

“There is extensive imagery and video from the Irish Guards’ jungle exercise available on the British Army Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels and we would urge the public to view that imagery to set the activities being undertaken by these soldiers in context,” it said.

He should have just told them he was transgender:

This election season has involved a lot of talk about supporting the troops, but one Army officer is fighting the military for it. Captain Shane Morgan suffered a heart attack during a fitness test, but the Army is refusing to help pay his medical bills.

Morgan is an active duty soldier who served in Afghanistan, but he’s on his own when it comes to fighting $30,000 worth of medical bills after having a heart attack during a required fitness test.

“I’ve been through a lot,” Morgan told WBZ. “This past year has been as difficult, as challenging as my deployment to Afghanistan.”

Last November, Morgan was required to undergo a fitness test. He started the day feeling fine, but after 15 push-ups, he suddenly felt his body struggle. He was then hooked up to an EKG machine and told that he was likely having a heart attack.

“It’s literally a miracle he survived,” his wife, Jaime, told the Army Times.

While he is lucky to be alive, it came at a cost of more than $30,000. His struggle to pay these bills could put his top secret security clearance at risk due to his damaged credit score.

“I’ve already been sent to collections for a $889 bill, and there are more to come,” he told the Army Times. “This could affect my security clearance, which could affect my ability to do my job,” he added.

The Army is refusing to cover his costs due to an earlier blood test that said his cholesterol was 214, which is considered high. Therefore, they ruled that his heart attack did not occur during the line of duty and the Army did not have to cover his medical payments.

This is absurd to the point of being criminal. In what way is taking your PT test, presumably on a military base and in a military PT uniform, not “in the line of duty?” And I’m not sure where the Army doctors have been, but the view on cholesterol has been changing rapidly for a few years. Studies have shown that the link between consumption of cholesterol-laden foods and heart disease are tenuous at best. Now, high cholesterol in the blood may well be an indicator of future problems, or it may not. But this has far more to do with genetics than whatever food we are consuming.

Captain Morgan (heh) had a heart attack. This may have been related to higher cholesterol levels, and it may not have been; it’s impossible to state with accuracy, “This particular heart attack was solely caused by this one thing.” There are so many factors that contribute to a heart attack, including age, sex, activity, genetics, and fitness, it’s ridiculous to say, “Yeah, your cholesterol cause this.”

Also, his cholesterol wasn’t even that high. Borderline high cholesterol is between 200 and 239 mg/dl. “High” cholesterol is anything over 240. Morgan’s last blood test before the fateful day showed his cholesterol at 215. After the heart attack, the labs showed his cholesterol at 185. This is complete nonsense, and the Army should be ashamed of itself. Remember: They’ll gladly pay for a man to chop his penis off, though. Unbelievable.

Is this a new recruiting technique?

A Linden man, who is a U.S. Marine recruiter, faces charges of sexual assault and attempting to lure children into a government vehicle in what authorities say was one of six separate but similar incidents in Union County over six weeks.

Wade Phillips, 27, was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree sexual assault and three counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park said in a statement Wednesday.

Authorities said Phillips faces charges from an incident that happened shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 5, as three children, including a 10-year-old male and two 11-year-old females, were walking in the area of 7th Street and Chestnut Avenue in Roselle.

A man, later identified as Phillips, passed the children in his government vehicle, then backed up, turned around, and parked on the street, said Union County Assistant Prosecutor Caroline Lawlor, supervisor of the Special Victims Unit in the prosecutor’s office.

She said Phillips began touching himself inappropriately while calling for the children to get their attention.

While driving a government vehicle? I swear, when it comes to their weird sexual kinks, some guys don’t give a SHIT.

Coolest drone ever:

The U.S. Air Force is turning obsolete F-16 Fighting Falcons into target practice, a longstanding tradition as older planes age out. The dronified F-16s will be used to test new weapons, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The Air Force had previously relied on F-4 Phantoms turned into target drones, but the supply of obsolete Phantoms is drying up. The air service turned to Boeing for help converting older F-16 fighters into drones.

The process, according to Aviation Today, involves ripping out unnecessary components and replacing them 3,000 wires, a flight control computer, and a new autopilot. The planes are also redesignated with a “Q,” the military aviation code for unmanned aircraft, making them QF-16s.

Here’s a YouTube video by Boeing of the QF-16’s “graduation exercise” in 2014. The aircraft can bank, turn, and kick out flares. It’s even capable of landing after an exercise if it isn’t shot down, so it can be used repeatedly.

I honestly think he should get the death penalty:

WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – A man who was arrested earlier this month for driving naked through Marathon Park pled guilty and was sentenced to one year of probation yesterday. 52-year-old Mark Denham was convicted on one count of disorderly conduct. As part of an agreement with prosecutors an additional charge of lewd and lascivious behavior was dropped.

On October 6 Denham was the subject of multiple 911 calls for driving in a pick-up truck without any clothes on through Marathon Park. Police reports say he exposed himself to several people in the park, and initially refused to get out of the vehicle when police arrived. Officers threatened to use a Taser on him before he surrendered. At the time he was wearing only sandals.

Denham will have to perform at least nine hours of community service each week while on probation. If he gets into additional trouble he could be sent to jail for up to 75 days.

There’s no fixing this. If only we had some sort of “camp” where we could lock these people away so they could  “concentrate” on what they’ve done wrong.

@BKactual