Why the Army Reserve has it’s advantages

Everyone who isn’t a self-centred twit knows by now who Major Nidal Hasan is. If you don’t know (which means you’re a self-centred twit) he’s a Major in the United States Army who went on a killing spree in Fort Hood, Texas and killed thirteen soldiers. Whilst I suspect that he’s definitely going to be charged under military law and given the death sentence, I simply do not believe this attack was connected in any way to Islamic extremism.

I think that he was a man pushed over the edge by being forced into something he objected to. The death penalty is the only just punishment for that murdering bastard, but it’s clear a lot of people won’t even understand or care why he did what he did.

According to this story on CNN, Major Nidal Hasan wanted the military to allow Muslims to refrain from participation in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq on the grounds of conscientious objection. This is by far the best suggestion I’ve ever heard and I simply cannot believe that someone with the rank of Major wasn’t listened to.

All of this could have been prevented if Major Hasan had been in the Army Reserve… because as I understand it Major Hasan then could have simply refused to go and nothing would have happened. As is demonstrated by the book ‘Fifteen Days’ by Christie Blatchford, at least in the Canadian Forces, it’s usually Reservists who are eager and willing to be deployed and so the Reservists who wanted to do a tour wouldn’t be deprived of the opportunity.

More weapons, more bullets, more soldiers, more dead bad guys

Bad people are killing innocent people all the time and the world seems to just sit by and do S.F.A.  What makes it worse is loony left liberal idiots who think that all you need is love and dialogue.  The thing is that bad people and murdering dogs don’t respond to love or dialogue.

In this latest attack in Baghdad somewhere around 132 people have been killed by two seperate car bombs.  All that Barack Obama can do is ‘pledge his support’.  These attacks prompted the world’s lamest response from the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.  He said ’such acts of terrorism can have no justification, and must be condemned without reservation’. Read more...

The necessity of any armed force

I was having a little bit of a discussion with a friend yesterday about my decision to join the Canadian Forces. The lady I was talking to said she supported my decision but does not like the army.

She went into a rant in greater detail and explained that she hates the way young people often are victims in armed conflict and that war is profitable to major corporations.

I tried to be neutral and explain that whenever there’s an armed conflict and soldiers are sent into battle – they don’t go into a battle for profit; at least a Canadian soldier’s primary motivation into going into battle isn’t to get rich. I told her that Canadian soldiers serve and stand on the front line or stand on a wall to protect her and the rest of Canada’s population while they sleep, and that there’s a need for us to do that.

I also told her about the bumper sticker I saw that reads ‘If you don’t support our troops, feel free to stand in front of them’. Interesting caption huh?

Women in combat

I’ve always been a fan of beautiful women. I’ve also never understood why many militaries in the world seem to have an aversion to putting female soldiers in the line of fire. As was the case with Canadian Captain Nichola Goddard who was an extremely competent Forward Observation Officer who was killed in the line of duty in the area of Kandahar, Afghanistan… female soldiers are extremely competent – without a doubt just as efficient killers as men are.

The women in the photo at the top are all members of the 2-147th Assault Helicopter Battalion, National Guard based in Minnesota. All of them have flown combat missions in Iraq and taken fire – not just transporting groceries around the safer parts of the country.

Check out this video of Captain Andrea Ourada talking about the mission in which she was flying the Blackhawk helicopter when they started taking fire.

You can read this news story from the MinnPost about their combat mission in Iraq.

There’s also a video featuring Chief Warrant Officer Nicole Schuman  – an Apache attack helicopter pilot with more than 1000 combat hours.

With the amount of female soldiers in America’s armed forces they could add hundreds of thousands of extra combat troops to their arsenal if the Yanks would just get over their fear of seeing female soldiers being killed in combat.

What it comes down to is sexism.  It’s the same kind of predjudice that stopped black folks from being American fighter pilots in World War Two.    It’s about time militaries from all over the world stopped discriminating against females and gay people.  They can fight just as hard as anyone else!

Horlicks, diesel, and the Army

I had a cup of Horlicks today for the first time in about ten to fifteen years.  It didn’t taste as great as it did when I was a nipper so I’m going to make another cup later.  The taste brought back a shitload of memories though.

A while back the petrol station clerk at Shell told me that instead of using those engine additives that you can get for $6 a bottle, just get 25¢ of diesel and pour it in your gas tank.  He said he’s told many people, and only about one percent of people believe him.  I took the risk a while back and didn’t regret it at all.  Before I took that risk, I asked Chris at the Toyota garage and he instantly said that it was good – diesel burns cleaner than petroleum.  So every three or four tanks of gas I dump in 25¢ of diesel and it keeps my engine running splendidly.

I applied to join the Canadian Forces Army Reserve… but I’m quite certain I’m going to join the Regular Infantry – 2PPCLI based at CFB Shilo.  It’ll suck big time being away from my children, but it’ll be a steady paycheck, a job which I can’t get fired from… but most importantly the example I wish to set for my children is that being willing to stand up and fight for what’s right, metaphorically or literally is something to be proud of and to be strived for.  I’m excited and afraid all at the same time.