Kyiv Asked for a New Kamikaze Drone to Fight Russia. The Air Force Delivered Phoenix Ghost.

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Military news…

The Pentagon is on the hunt for new weapons it can quickly get into Ukrainian hands

Anti-tank weapons and air defense missiles top the list
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Russia releases Marine veteran Trevor Reed as part of prisoner exchange

Russia and the United States have carried out a dramatic prisoner exchange, trading a Marine veteran jailed by Moscow for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America, both countries announced Wednesday.

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More than half of the 90 US howitzers bound for Ukraine now delivered
Ukrainian troops now have more than half of the 90 howitzers that the U.S. pledged them to help beat back a Russian attack in the country’s eastern region, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.

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China protests another ‘routine’ US Navy transit through Taiwan Strait

The Navy sent another guided-missile destroyer through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the fourth U.S. warship to make the trip this year.

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Kyiv Asked for a New Kamikaze Drone to Fight Russia. The Air Force Delivered Phoenix Ghost.

The U.S. Air Force has provided Ukraine with at least 121 Phoenix Ghost drones, a new lethal unmanned aerial weapon that the Pentagon is reluctant to share much information on.

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The Belarusian Railway Workers Who Helped Thwart Russia’s Attack on Kyiv

A clandestine network of railway workers, hackers, and dissident security forces disabled and disrupted the railway in Belarus that the Russian military planned to use to supply its soldiers in Ukraine. 

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i have been sharing some military interviews with you from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. Here is another one.

Interview with SFC William Trent

I was honored to be able to interview SFC William Trent. He was an Afghanistan veteran.

You are from El Paso, Texas. It can get very cold there.

Yes, it can.

So, do you have family?

I am divorced, but I have three children.

When did you get into the service?

Right out of High school. I was seventeen.

What were your duties when you were in the service, especially in Afghanistan?

I was in Dessert Storm as well.

You mentioned you had a couple of buddies killed.

Actually, twelve of my buddies were killed.

How were you able to handle that?

You don’t allow yourself to think about it.

Were you very close to any of them?

I was close to all of them.

Why did you enlist in the first place?

It is a family tradition. My brothers and my grandfather enlisted. I was honored to serve my country.

(Interesting in that I also had a family tradition. My three uncles served in WWII. My brother and I served, and my son retired recently as a Colonel in the Army.)

Would you go back in again?

OH yah!!I wouldn’t change anything I served 22 years.

If there was one thing you could change, what would that be?

I would spend more time with my family. My job came first back then.

What would be your advice to soldiers who are struggling?

Don’t give up! If you are deployed, or getting ready to be deployed, do not think about it.

Do you have PTSD?

Yes, and because of this I recommend that it be mandatory to get counseling when you are getting discharged from the military.

What did you do while you were in the Army?

I was a sniper.

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There is more to this interview. he goes one and talks about what it is like to be a sniper, in my further interview.

Keep coming back to see more interviews from my book. 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? Is everything going OK, or are you struggling?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 14,540 veterans on this site who have your back.

Here is what I am asking you to do…please share this site with as many other veterans as you can. 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 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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Drafted soldiers in the MIlitary Were Totally Different

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I had a great time yesterday, which was Veternas Day. My wife and I went to Applebees for dinner. The meal was free for me since I am a veteran, but it didn’t stop there. They brought me a picture that was colored, and said thank you on it. It was signed by Emily a second grader. Warmed my heart big time. Also added into to the awarding my service they gave me a gift card for the next time I came in. Doesn’t get much better than that.

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Military news…


A Montana Army National Guard soldier is the first woman ever to graduate from the Army’s intense, seven-week sniper course,

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Eddie Rickenbacker: American hero and candidate for most interesting man in the world
Many people believe that opportunity is a combination of luck and preparation. No one embodies that sentiment more than Eddie Rickenbacker, as the next few decades of his life would show.

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“The fact that I made a friend and then literally hours later, you find out they just got killed. It’s pretty horrible.” That’s from 24-year-old Spc. Robert Rolando, one of three soldiers who tol  what it was like to be in Afghanistan last August, ending a war nearly as old as they are.

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“The mobility, range of motion and the modular system are huge improvements over the suit we have right now.” That’s from Army Staff Sgt. Dione Brown, one of several soldiers who are testing out the Army’s next generation bomb suit for explosive ordnance disposal technicians.

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“She not only protected the well being of the children but also their dignity as human beings.” That’s what the command sergeant major of the 82nd Airborne Division had to say about Army Sgt. Breanna Jessop, a chaplain’s assistant who found herself running a makeshift orphanage and taking care of more than 400 displaced Afghan children in Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal in August,

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I am so good to you! Here is yet another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the MIlitray: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

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Drafted Soldiers Are Totally Different

One of the interesting things while I was in the military was the drafted soldiers. They were selected in the draft by lottery, or by age. If you were over a certain age you were safe. If you were in college they seemed to leave you alone, but if you were not you were prime bait.

There was a lot of bitterness coming from these soldiers. They didn’t want to be there and they let you know about it. Those of us who enlisted got very tired of their whining, and several “blanket parties,” came up because of it. A blanket party is when a group of soldiers cover up another soldier with a blanket and rough him up. A blanket party could also be when a soldier hasn’t showered in a long time even after all the rigorous training we had.

I didn’t partake in the “parties,” but I too wasn’t very happy with the whining. They were serving their country, and should be proud of it. I felt they should have gotten over it and learned as much as they could with free training. I enlisted knowing what was ahead of me, and yet I felt obligated to service.

The draftees only had to serve two years. By the time you were through basic training and your MOS, (your job) training you only had about one year left. You could almost do that standing on your head.

Blanket parties were common in my day, but I thought people should at least warn the person that a blanket party might happen. I would think the person may take a shower real fast or change their attitude.

As for the draftees, I felt like I was doing something good for my country and for me as well. The military changed my life completely. I needed the structure, and discipline. I needed the special training. I needed to be away from my safe haven at home, and learn more about the world. I got all of that in the three years I served. I felt the draftees should have thought of about these themselves.

If you are wondering why you enlisted; if you are second guessing your decision, never feel that it was a waste of time. I got so much out of my time in the service. I met new friends. I got some valuable training, and I got to travel, even though it was to Korea, and other Asian countries.

I learned so much about their culture, and how they survive in a not so friendly world.

The military has many good benefits. In in the first place it is a job that you can make enough of an earning to take care of your family and yourself. There are free benefits that you don’t get in the private sector. 

All this and the comfort of knowing you are doing something that is meaningful.

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How are you doing these days? Hard to face this crazy world?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 13,355 fellow veterans here who have your back.

If the crazy world is just to much for you, GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will 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 ar enever 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.