Category: Deployment

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They Will Allow Recruits in Even if they Smoke Marijuana

Thanks to all of you who have been joining me here. We help bring change to lives. The response has been wonderful.  

We Made it to 5,000! Never dreamed we would do that. Thank you so much for the support. It also excites us that you are supporting veterans. That is our theme here right now. 

Help us make it to 6,000 by subscribing today if you haven’t already. As of today we have 5665.  This shows you care for veterans. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post and click on FEEDBLITZ , and the posts will come straight to your inbox.                            ____________________________________________________________

Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It reaches out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides every day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics.  

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This is a new social network just for veterans. I joined it and made instant friendships with veterans who want to talk about what I want to talk about. Please check it out. You will be glad you did. 

https://www.rallypoint.com/join/spc-douglas-bolton

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They will Fight

If Russia moves against NATO  in the Baltic states or Poland, NATO will stand and fight, a key NATO commander said. This evokes thoughts of a cold war.

The “cold war” has become a problem in that there may be a major conflict causing increasing tensions.

They will stand united against any aggressor.

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The Deregulation President

The Federal Register, which contains all Federal rules, notices and regulations, topped 97,330 pages under President Obama. Under President Trump it has been shaved down to 45,678 pages.

The number of new rules for Trump was 65, way below the average of 213 rules from the last six presidents.

The cost for regulation soared from $68 billion under Bush, to $122 billion under Obama.

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The Army Relaxes Rules on Recruits and Marijuana

In an effort to boost its ranks and hot new targets for enlistees, the Army is relaxing its rules on granting waivers for marijuana use.

The catch is that the new recruits have to pledge to never use marijuana again. (Really?)

IN 2017 the Army granted 506 waivers-up from 191 in 2016.

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Could be a serious problems with a couple of the stories above. Allowing recruits to agree to not smoke marijuana again is pushing it. In the Vietnam days it was common for many of the soldiers to smoke.

Now they will be punished if they start again? Good luck with that.

The fact that NATO is willing to back us 100% is reassuring, but pray they never need to.

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Good evening fellow veterans. How are you doing? Have you had some struggles? Do you battle demons when you try to sleep? You are not alone. There are thousands just like you. We want you to be well, so if you are struggling seek help. If you are considering suicide, seek help.

There is a 24/7 helpline for just you. Call:

(877-247-4645)

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!!

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Troops At Border, Home by Christmas?

Thanks to all of you who have been joining me here. We help bring change to lives. The response has been wonderful.  

We Made it to 5,000! Never dreamed we would do that. Thank you so much for the support. It also excites us that you are supporting veterans. That is our theme here right now. 

Help us make it to 6,000 by subscribing today if you haven’t already. As Of today we have 5,570.  This shows you care for veterans. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post and click on FEEDBLITZ , and the posts will come straight to your inbox.                            ____________________________________________________________

Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It reaches out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides every day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics.  

______________________________________________________________

This is a new social network just for veterans. I joined it and made instant friendships with veterans who want to talk about what I want to talk about. Please check it out. You will be glad you did. 

https://www.rallypoint.com/join/spc-douglas-bolton

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Mission Accomplished: Troops At US-Mexico Border Should Be Home By Christmas

 

It seems like only yesterday that 5,800 active-duty service members were racing to the Southwest border to stop a migrant caravan from entering the United States, but it was about three weeks ago, right before the midterm elections.

Now, their mission presumably on the verge of being accomplished, the troops are finally coming home — and just in time for Christmas.

That’s according to Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the commander of U.S. Army North, who is helming the operation from San Antonio, Texas. “Our end date right now is 15 December, and I’ve got no indications from anybody that we’ll go beyond that,” Buchanan told Politico on Nov. 19.

San Antonio is a fitting locale for mission headquarters. In 1836, the city saw Mexican forces under the command of President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna lay waste to a ragtag outfit of Texians in the infamous Battle of the Alamo.

Fortunately, this time it didn’t come to that. Instead, the invading force — approximately 7,000 refugees advancing by foot from the depths of Central America — opted for one of the oldest plays in the book: the switcharoo.

No sooner had the bulk of Buchanan’s army arrived in Texas to bolster the Border Patrol agents and National Guard units holding the line along the Rio Grande Valley than the caravan changed course, swerving toward the California border.

Thousands of Immigrants already at border. 

Thousands of asylum-seekers have already started to arrive in Tijuana, prompting hundreds of locals to spill into the streets with chants of “Mexico first!” One 62-year-old protester told National Public Radio, “We want the caravan to go; they are invading us.”

Tijuana borders San Diego, where many of the refugees hope to go. However, of the 5,800 active duty soldiers and Marines currently deployed to the border, only 1,300 are in California. And based on Buchanan’s comments, it seems they, too, may be preparing to decamp soon.

According to Politico, the general explained that “the troop deployment should start falling rapidly as engineer and logistics troops … wind down their mission of building base camps and fortifying ports of entry for the Border Patrol.”

Buchanan also clarified why the Pentagon had declined a request from the Department of Homeland Security to back up its personnel if shit went down at the border.

“That is a law enforcement task, and the secretary of defense does not have the authority to approve that inside the homeland,” he said.

U.S. Army North and the Office of the Secretary of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

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General Patton Had a Love/Hate Relationship

Thanks to all of you who have been joining me here. We help bring change to lives. The response has been wonderful.  

We Made it to 5,000! Never dreamed we would do that. Thank you so much for the support. It also excites us that you are supporting veterans. That is our theme here right now. 

Help us make it to 6,000 by subscribing today if you haven’t already. As Of today we have 5,500.  This shows you care for veterans. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post and click on FEEDBLITZ , and the posts will come straight to your inbox.                            ____________________________________________________________

Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It reaches out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides every day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics.  

______________________________________________________________

This is a new social network just for veterans. I joined it and made instant friendships with veterans who want to talk about what I want to talk about. Please check it out. You will be glad you did. 

https://www.rallypoint.com/join/spc-douglas-bolton

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Military News for today.  Great stories.

This first story is very unusual in the it is about the famous General Patton’s grandson.

Ben Patton never was in the military like his grandfather General Patton, but he is doing whatever he can to support veterans through his documentaries that cover PTSD in veterans.

He was interviewed by Andrew Carroll about his contributions.

Your grandfather George Patton Jr. I one of the most famous generals in American history.  You father was a major general who served with Vietnam. That’s a unique way to grow up. 

My father used to say, “We’re not better or worse than anyone, we are just different.” We did have to act a certain way, behave appropriately, and have a service-oriented mind.

You didn’t join the military  was there pressure for you to do so? 

I think I felt pressure from history. I had a strong, but somewhat challenging relationship with my father. However, I always felt he wanted me to find my own path to lead an authentic life.

What inspired you to become a documentary filmmaker and teacher? 

I got interested in film. I wanted to find a way, beyond just going to veteran’s events and representing my family, to apply those talents and skills to the service of veterans and military families.

That led you to do the work of helping those veterans captured on film? 

Yes. Initially I was focused on combat veterans. They had too many things that the just couldn’t articulate in a normal conversation. We found that film could be a wonderful conduit for a veteran to express something.

Your grandfather won lots of glory but was criticized for slapping two soldier fighting battle fatigued.

I’m not an apologist for my grandfather. I would say that generation of the military just didn’t understand the phenomenon of PTSD.

What makes your work different from other PTSD programs? 

There are wonderful writing programs and theater programs , but there something about them being able to create narrative in this way. They can observe themselves in a video but also participate in them.  From this they can take control of their lives.

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The Army’s New Camouflage Will Hide Soldiers And Tanks In Plain Sight Wherever They Are

The U.S. Army is moving forward on next-generation concealment technology to ensure that American soldiers can hide in plain sight.

Fibrotex has built an Ultra-Light Camouflage Netting System that can be used to conceal soldier’s positions, vehicles, tanks, and aircraft. The new “camouflage system will mask soldiers, vehicles, and installations from state-of-the-art electro-optical sensors and radars,” the company said Thursday in a press release sent to Business Insider.

Fibrotex has been awarded a contract to supply this advanced camouflage to conceal troops from night vision, thermal imaging, radar and more.

Soldiers, vehicles, and other relevant systems can just about disappear in snowy, desert, urban, and woodland environments, according to the camouflage maker.

The new program aims to replace outdated camouflage that protect soldiers in the visible spectrum but not against more advanced, high-end sensors. ULCANS “provides more persistent [infrared], thermal & counter-radar performance,” Fibrotex explained.

The Army has awarded Fibrotex a 10-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract valued at $480 million. Full-scale production will begin next year at a manufacturing facility in McCreary County, Kentucky, where the company expects to create and secure hundreds of new jobs in the coming years.

“Today, more than ever, military forces and opposition groups are using night vision sensors and thermal devices against our troops,” Eyal Malleron, the CEO of Fibrotex USA, said in a statement.

“But, by using Fibrotex’s camouflage, concealment and deception solutions, we make them undetectable again, allowing them to continue keeping us safe.”

The result came from roughly two years of testing at the Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center, where new technology was tested against the Army’s most advanced sensors.

Fibrotex noted that the netting is reversible, creating the possibility for two distinctly different prints for varied environments. And while outsiders can’t see through the netting, those on the inside have an excellent view of their surroundings.

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A few personal thoughts for you. Are you having trouble with your daily routine? Are your nights full of restless, sleepless hours?

You are not alone!! Many veterans battle these problems.  This path will lead to a dead end my friends. Get help.! Seek support!!

You can always make a comment here and we will help you in any way we can. You can also call the support line at:

(877-247-4645)

Remember

You are never alone.

You are never forgotten

You are never unloved.

And above all….Never, ever, give up!