GQ_jumper

If products began transitioning to the services in 2002-03 time frame, wouldn't that suggest that the Programs of Record were initiatied (as part of the AT&L Acquisition process) 5-10 years earlier ... or longer for MDAPs? Quote Actually the majority of the equipment we have seen come down the line in recent years has been a result of new rapid fielding programs. In prior years you would be 100% correct, a new piece of equipment would come out and the soldiers would see it issued years later, the current conflict has helped spawn programs which have drastically cut down the time it takes to field new equipment, like I said before, current conditions are benifitting the soldier. Vortexring, If you really want to try and knock my combat experience I'd be more than happy to e-mail you a copy of my ERB, but I'll let you know now that it will only serve to make you feel like an asshole for questioning my service and dedication to my job. I have never once said that I enjoy the parts of combat which involve watching friends or innocents die, I'd appreciate if you and your little sidekick wouldn't put words in my mouth. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

If Pakistan will not give authorization and our reasons justify engaging in military operations than we should declare a military conflict (or war) with Pakistan. To do otherwise treats the people of Pakistan like children. Quote Doing so would open the door to engagements directly between us and Pakistan, we aren't trying to crush their military, just dig up a few weeds and if Pakistan doesn't want to play we need to do take the initiative and deal with the problem ourselves. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

That's news to me. I thought Dragonskin was being held indefinitely by DoD. The segment on the "Future Weapons" TV program had folks buzzing about it, but I knew there was something funky resulting from real testing. Quote Last I heard the Marines were trying to pick it up, that was a while ago and it very well may have changed, I haven't paid too much attention to it. I've personally been completely happy with my plate carriers for three trips now, its when they try and make us strap on those damn side plates, shoulder plates, cock protectors, neck protectors, etc etc that it gets to be too much. Put a damn plate over your chest and back, anything else is unneeded weight, if it's your day it's your day and theres no amount of armor that can stop it. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

You've already admitted to liking war. That makes you untypical, even for a soldier. And the plural of "anecdote" is NOT "data". The rise in the number of suicides is statistically significant. Your personal preference is not. Quote When I say it's a good time for us I'm not speaking solely about my feelings, last time I checked part of being in the military is working alongside other soldiers. I honestly can't remember the last time I ran across a soldier complaining about how bad it was for us in the big picture. Using suicide numbers is a half-assed argument at best, there are so many factors that go into a persons decision to take their life blaming it solely on the state of affairs at work is nothing more than you scraping for an argument. Typically I try not to discount a persons argument when it comes to military matters simply because they aren't in the military but on certain topics it can be necessary. You saying it sucks to be in the military right now is laughable, pay is getting better all the time, bonuses are going up, benefits are better than ever, and new programs to help oldiers having issues are constantly popping up. As for the war, guess what, going to combat is part of being a soldier, and being killed is part of he risk of going to combat, sometimes that's just the hand that life deals you. Would you pay any attention to someone trying to argue that teaching at a university is a crappy profession right now because of how many shootings there have been lately? History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

My only problem with this is the need of the Administration to BLAST it across the world.... Spec ops are best kept secret rather than broacasting and chest thumping when there is a success. Black Ops should STAY in the BLACK Quote Very well said, but on the other hand there are times when you need to make a statement, if AQ leaders just start evaporating and no one is taking credit it doesn't send the message that they aren't safe from us and the only way for them to survive is to surrender. There is so much tribal infighting over there that not taking responsibility for these hits will only make it worse. Sometimes chest thumping is in order History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Regardless, I stand by my belief that engaging in unauthorized military operations in other nations sets a negative precedent. Quote What's more important, maintaining strong relations with a country that's playing both sides of the fence and therefore hurting us in the long run or acting to stop those that our "ally" is harboring? Everyone is always screaming about how we need to stop all the wars so US soldiers son't have to die anymore, well guess what, Us soldiers are being killed by people residing in Pakistan who travel into Afghanistan to conduct attacks. It seems that if we want a way out Pakistan is the way to go. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

It's coming down the line it's just a ways off at the moment, it takes quite a while for new stuf like that to make it down to us. I heard the marines are picking it up soon. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Is that why suicides are at record highs among US troops and Iraq veterans? Because times are so good? Quote You know there are times when I regard your arguments very highly and others when I wonder what causes your inability to accept certain realities. You've got a soldier who has been in the military going on 9 years and finished 3 trips to Iraq sayng it's a great time to be a soldier and you contradict it. So I'm going to forego rational argument and put it on a level that should get your attention. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A SOLDIER RIGHT NOW?? I'm just curious, how do you go through life looking at everything so negatively and how could you possibly think you could understand whats good for the military and what isn't? History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

an indication of you having no clue what the word means Quote ooh ooh, can I guess what it means History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

How does this sound, McCain as pres. Obama as vice, and Hillary takes over for Rosie O'Donnell as a host on The View. Everything else would work itself out As for everyone arguing over whose fault it is that the military fell apart, those on the left blame everything that has happened in the last 8 years on Bush but refuse to accept that anything happening during Clinton's reign is his fault, kind of flawed logic don't you think. How bout we look at it this way, regardless of whether it was the POTUS himself or the rest of the assclowns(do you hyphenate assclown??) on capitol hill driving the boat, between 1992 and 2000 the military had little to no improvements. Same weapons, same lack of body armor, same uniforms, same basic issue equipment. It wasn't until 2002-2003 timeframe that things started to come down the line to improve upon what we had been working with for the last decade. So point fingers at whomever you would like but the 90's were a bad time for the military, the last 7 years have been the best time to be a soldier, hands down. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well obviously that is not big enough. It cost money to rebuild the military once a Dem gets done ripping it to pieces. sshhhheeeeshhh. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yeah, the dems have been doing a lot of that for the last 8 years. Oh, wait... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maybe his mirror mirror on the wall also reverses time. Quote I hate to break it to the peace and love squad over here but it takes more than a snap of the fingers to undo the damage that the Clinton admin dealt to the military. We wouldn't have to go so far over budget in recent years to be where we are if Clinton had kept developing our capabilities instead of chopping us down. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Awesome references nerdgirl, thanks. I agree with others though, he seems to be the man in terms of national defense and taking care of the military along with shedding a better light on the US in the international community, but I haven't seen enough on his domestic policies to make up my mind yet. I'm having a tough time pickin a candidate in this election, I'm in the hurt locker financially thanks to the housing market, and all my retirement investments are way down, so I want someone who can turn it around. At the same time I know I'll be heading back to a deployable unit in 2-3 years so I want someone that is going to keep me fighting a worthy cause and taking care of us when we're deployed. There seems to be no middle ground with these candidates, Hillary doesn't give a shit about the military, she'll cut my pay before she lifts a finger to help me, Obama seems to have his heart in the right place but doesn't really seem to konw what it takes to take care of the military, and McCain is all over taking care of us but doesn't seem to have enough focus on domestic issues. I'm going to go with Arnold as a right in candidate.. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

You're not coming off well here.Quote Only to those with no sense of humor, go find yours and get back to me, if you consider using humor to break the ice wrong than you should find somewhere to hang out besides the bonfire. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Sorry I don’t get the point about lying and then claiming the woman who believed me (if they did) are stupid. Maybe they just don’t live in the same world that you do. Quote The only person who has mentioned calling them stupid is you, I never said anything of the sort, don't put words in my mouth, it's all harmless fun. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Maybe, just maybe....they knew it was BS but enjoyed the humor. It's cute to see a man confident enough to make an ass out of himself in front of strangers just to entertain his friend. Humor goes a long way with most chickas... So...is your ego overinflated yet?? Quote AAAAANNNNNDDDD.......we have a winner I always have the best luck meeting women when I try to make an ass out of myself to get a few laughs and don't care whether or not I impress them. It was just entertaining because some of my jokes were taken seriously I actually had to pull out my military ID to prove to one girl that I was joking when I said I worked for NASA And to answer your question, my ego was properly inflated long before I went to the bar last night, trust me I would waste away to nothing without my ego History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

What surprises me is the absolute unoriginal concept of immediately comparing anyone that is in the opposition party to the Nazi regime. Nice oneQuote Amazon has been doing it for years with the current administration, its the cool thing to do, all the dissenters are doing it History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Try those lines in a grocery store and you wont get same results. Whether they beleive your lines or not doesnt matter, your potential thats all women need to be satisfied usaully is "potential" Quote Guess again, in the last week I've gotten dates by being my usual goofy self on the ski lift, at the dentist office, and at the hospital, I think I've just got some extra mojo kickin right now, that's about the only reasonable explanation History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

I went through the avalanche course that ski patrols get a few years back and it was some pretty cool stuff, you don't really need to know all the testing for what you'll be doing but I'd venture to guess that a quick google search would pull up some info that would show you how to identify the risk factors. Also local ski patrols of forest service stations should be able to give you avalanche reports that will show where all the big risk factors are. Good luck and have fun History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

know that not all guys are just looking to lie to convince someone to sleep with them. . . but I was just countering the question about females being gullible. Quote Oh trust me I know not all women are that gullible, all my best friends are women and they're all far too smart to fall for that stuff, and I don't let them date guys like me anyways I've just had a great run of good luck since I became single a few weeks ago, I need to get shot down once or twice this week just to balance out the universe a little but it seems the harder I try the more I get asked out History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

You know I honestly had no intention of hookingup this weekend, I was just out to have fun, and I'm never against entertaining my buddies at my expense but it just got too easy. By the end of the night last night I wasn't even having to talk to hook up, I could equate it to a lion going hunting in a field full of parapalegic gazelle's History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

You're gonna have a blast doing that, I did qite a bit of touring two winters ago and it was a great time, awesome workout too. Just make sure you rush up on your avalanche knowledge before heading out, that stuff can definitely save your life. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Why the hell do you buy the BS we tell you at the bar? I told some of the most ridiculous lines at the bar this weekend and pretty much all of them worked. Looking at my phone today I have 3 new phone numbers and two dates this week, all of which I got by going out of my way to make an ass of myself to entertain my friends. It's starting to take the sport out of being single, it's just not fun when I don't have to try anymore. I convinced two different women that I was a launch control timing technician for NASA, I said I was the guy that counts backwards from 10 and it worked. In the last week I've also been a traveling vet who just returned from Iceland where I was studying arctic elephant species, a penguine fluffer for the antarctic wildlife exhibit at the Smithsonian, a hot air balloon pilot instructor examiner, and a competitive pole dancer. The pole dancer line was the only one the girls didn't believe but they thought it was cute so it worked anyway. So I just have to ask, why? History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Nope, smaller group. Specifically I'm referring to Ansar al-islam. Quote OK Gotcha, the AI groups in the north are enemies with all the established Kurdish factions though, there aren't really any AI cells that are predominantly Kurdish, the Pesh have a very tight grip on the north and any group trying to come to power in the north would be crushed before they had the chance to establish themselves as a threat. You'd be surprised at how well the Kurds have that place locked down, I drove around in Suliminiyah with no body armor and only a concealed pistol in unarmored civilian vehicles, there's little to no threat up there. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

cute 80 lb japanese womenQuote I'll take two please

Different Kurds. The ones that the Kurdish national forces were fighting against. Quote Are you thinking of the PKK? History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower