Tag: A-10 Warthogs

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Deployment Can be Very Hard on the Military Family

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Military news…

US and allies quietly prepare for a Ukrainian government-in-exile and a long insurgency

The war in Ukraine is barely two weeks old, and in Washington and European capitals, officials anticipate that the Russian military will reverse its early losses, setting the stage for a long, bloody insurgency.

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In support of Ukraine, US governors cut economic ties with Russia Governors in at least 11 states — Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, New York and Virginia — are pushing state entities to review or cut financial ties with Russian companies.

Israeli premier meets with Putin in surprise Moscow trip

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made an unannounced trip to Moscow Saturday to meet with Putin. Israel alerted the White House in advance of the visit.

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No, The US Air Force Isn’t Going to Give Ukraine its A-10 Warthogs

Despite calls from former U.S. defense officials to transfer some of A-10 Warthog attack planes to Ukraine, the Air Force’s top leaders say there are no current plans for such an exchange.

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Here is another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. Being separated from family while in the military can be very hard.

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Deployment Can Be Very Hard on the Military Family

As parents get deployed in the military, there is a void created. The children are left without a mother or father to have for love and guidance. So remember, it can also be very hard on the children as well.

As for the boys in a family there is a need for a father figure to help show them the way. A father can help him acquire knowledge and confidence he needs.

There is a time when a boy needs to seek out his father for attention. There is a need for someone to play catch with, to wrestle with.

I didn’t have a dad that came home each night to give me a hug and share my day with. My parents divorced when I was only about six years old.

My mother called me her “little one,” when I was very young.

I needed a dad to say, Hi Ace, or How’s it going today champ? I never heard that. It was like my dad was deployed to somewhere else, but he was never coming back.  

My mother was my only comfort zone. She had to be the one that showed interest in me. She was the only one who could support me when I needed it. She was my protector, but I needed someone to show me the excitement outside the realm of our home. My mother worked long hours and was very tired when she came home each day.

My mother did teach me toughness. She allowed me to play with toy guns, Beebe guns, and let me play with GI Joe figures. She did this because three of her brothers fought in World War II.  

I didn’t have a dad to go fishing with. That was probably the most glaring thing missing in my childhood. I loved to fish, but didn’t have the proper skills to know how to do it. My Uncle Paul taught me how to fish, but he was a farmer and didn’t have the freedom to go with me during the summer months because that was the busiest time for him. So I grew up fishing by myself. I needed a dad to get excited with me as I pulled in a fish.  

Today, I go fishing with my two sons often, and there is a special bonding there. Now I need to learn how to spend more time with my daughter, and come up with different ways of bonding with her.

Speaking of daughters, they also need their father or mother to be there for them. Sometimes it is the mother who is deployed, and the father becomes “Mr. Mom.”

He needs to find ways to give his daughter the love she needs without mom around. He needs to join in her fantasy tea parties. He needs to allow her to paint his fingernails a special color. She may even want to give dad a perm. No one expects a mother or father to be perfect in a military home. But you should do whatever you can to keep the family united and happy.

One of the happiest times for a military family is when their loved one comes home. I just watched some videos of surprise home visits that no one knew was coming. To see the joy in the children’s eyes and the tears in a wife’s eye make anyone who is half sane to cry for joy as well.

So many months of separation. So many times of loneliness and sadness from missing their loved one came to a screeching end in one moment.

IWILL

I can’t totally relate to each of you that have a family member deployed, and thus causing a mother or father to be absent. However, I did have a broken home when I was little and possibly I did feel the same hurts, and lost moments.

My heart cries out to you, and I hope that you remain strong, and show confidence to your children through a trial that hopefully will only last for a while.

Think about this

Isn’t it true that a family that prays together stays together?

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There will be more excerpts in the future, but they are getting scarce. Come back often to check them out. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on subscribe. When you do all future posts will come directly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you. How are you doing? Have you been separated from family while deployed?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 14,125 veterans on this site who have you back.

Here is what I am asking you to do…please share this site with other veterans as you can you may know. It has helped so many.

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If you are battling mentally, but you are losing, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number that you can call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will no hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255…texting 838255

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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The Pentagon is Now Saying There Are Over 140,000 Americans Still Trapped in Afghanistan

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I told you in my last post that I would be sharing more discounts for veterans. However the current military news is overwhelming right now and we need to know…

Military news…

The Pentagon has quietly removed a massive collection of Afghanistan War footage totaling more than 120,000 photos and 17,000 videos from its official visual record.

(Something to hide?)

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Speaking of Afghanistan, millions of Afghans will starve as Americans carve Thanksgiving turkeys this month.

(So sad. )

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“Setting up and operating out of a small airport terminal with minimal supplies, equipment, people and so forth is almost like the Air Force dream.” That’s from Master Sgt. Daniel Fajardo, who helped set up a mini airfield with a few dozen other airmen in the middle of the Pacific this summer in preparation for a possible war with China.

(Hope they never need it.)

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An Air Force colonel who was relieved of command last month claims she was fired because she did not personally order her subordinates to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

(MIxed emotions on this.)

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The Marine Corps has publicly admitted what many junior Marines have long known: That it doesn’t really care if you stick around past your first enlistment,

(So very sad.)

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The U.S. military’s toxic exposure problem is far bigger than just ‘burn pits,’ writes Keith Dow in this opinion piece. Whether it’s fuel, chemicals, exhaust or ammunition, chances are that if you’ve served, you’ve likley been exposed to toxic substances, no matter if you’ve deployed or not.

(Scary.)

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Three years after a belly-landing wrecked its nose, A-10 tail number 80-0264 is fully repaired and back in action.

(They are hard to destroy. )

One last shocking bit of news. The Pentagon today admitting that they had the wrong total of Americans still stuck in Afghanistan. They kept reporting that there only 400 or 500 still trapped. The fact is that there is still over 140,000!

(Ridiculous!)

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I am passing on sharing an excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In adn Out of the trenches of Life. There will be more on Monday. Be sure to come to read that excerpt. Better yet..go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will direcly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you my friend…

How are you doing? Have the waves of trouble overcome you. Do you need to be rescued?

FEAR NOT!

There ra over 13,310 fellow veterans here who have your back.

But you are on the edge of a cliif, GET HELP!!

here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there who will help you, and theynwill not hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255..texting 838255.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Fear is Something Many Soldiers Have to Face Every Day.

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Stolen valor, the term for when civilians pretend that they served in the military, isn’t always bad, at least when it takes down racist dirt bags. Specifically, one Army veteran-turned-FBI-informant named Joseph Moore won the trust of a Ku Klux Klan cell in Florida by coming up with fake war stories and pinning false medals to his hat.

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All U.S. service members, even if they are fully vaccinated, now have to wear masks indoors if they are in an area where COVID-19 is raging. Many troops thought the pandemic was over, but now it’s back to the mask, and just in time for the hottest month of the year.

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The Afghan Air Force is already falling apart, despite President Joe Biden’s claims that the U.S. would make sure the Afghans could maintain it. You need spare parts and bombs to keep an air force running, and Afghanistan is zero on both.

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The Navy has charged a sailor with starting a fire in July 2020 that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship that became engulfed by an inferno for days as the ship was docked in San Diego, California. The ship cost $1.2 billion to build, but it only took a few days for it to burn beyond repair.

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“We have to be honest with the American people, who pay for this – not only in money but also in blood and treasure.” That’s from John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, who took reporters through all the mistakes the U.S. made in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. The result: a resurgent Taliban and little to show for the thousands of Coalition and Afghan troops and citizens who died there.

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‘You’re gonna keep your A-10 Warthogs and you’re gonna like it,’ is essentially what Senators said to the Air Force after it tried to cut 42 A-10 attack planes from its fleet in its fiscal year 2022 budget proposal, reports yours truly in this piece. The A-10 is a legendary attack plane that has saved the bacon of countless ground troops over the past 45 years, but it is getting older and Air Force officials worry it’s not up to face China in a big war.
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Here may be the last excerpt for a while. Time to send the book off to the publisher.

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F.E.A.R

(1) Forget Everything and Run, or

(2) Face Everything and Rise.

The choice is yours

Fear is one of the inevitable things a soldiers must face. I faced it a few times. The worst time was when I was on a plane ready to fly to the Bay of Pigs. I was ready to serve my country, but not knowing what was going to happen caused the fear.

In the dictionary fear is described as:

  1. A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil or pain.
  2. Concern or anxiety.
  3. To be worried or afraid.
  4. Reverential awe, especially towards God.

All of us on that plane tried to hide our fear. We were supposed to be men/women. We were not supposed to think about what might happen to us. In reality we all thought about not returning home. We thought about loved ones. We thought about the unknown we were facing.

It is hard to face fear. John Wayne said, ” Courage is being scared and saddling up anyway.” This is the man who played the parts of heroes all his life. Many of his films were military films.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.”

Fear isn’t something that is a cowardly act. It is an honest reaction to what is happening around you.

I have faced my own fears. I was within hours of death when I was rushed to the hospital in and ambulance and had quadruple by-pass surgery on my heart.

When you see a car coming at you, head on, while driving on a highway, You don’t act in a cowardly manner, you react. You take action to save your own life.

If you feel you were fearful too often while you served, don’t let that give you a feeling of failure on your part. It is just an honest feeling that often brings out the best in people.

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How is your day? Did you face fear while enlisted? Did things seem to go belly up for you?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 12,525 fellow veterans subscribed to this site who have your back.

This may not be enough for you. If so, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7.

There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will not hang up until the know you are OK.

Never face fear alone!

1-800-273-8255, Texting 838255

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit from this site, please let them know.