GQ_jumper

Being part of the military only means you are trained to do your specific job and are familiar with military customs and courtesies. As I said before at no time in my military training have I ever been conditioned to think a certain way, I have always been free to hold my own opinion. You have absolutely nothing to back up your claims of my brainwashing other than the typical "you don't believe what I believe so therefore you have been brainwashed". That is a pretty weak argument my friend. I've never said that I know more than everyone elsejust because I'm on the groundd watching it happen. I have however stated that I have the opportunity to get a better perspective of what's going on because I get to see things happen and take affect first hand. Not to mention that I am privvy to everything that the media does not get its hands on as well as all the things they conveniantly filter out so everything fits the image they are trying to portray. All media outlets do this not just the extremist ones, even some of my favorite news stations do this. Yes some are better than others at just reporting the facts, but it's always "filtered" to some extent. The world's super power uses its own military for a countless number o reasons. Sometimes it is called upon by the international community to remedy a situation that can have negative impacts on innocent people, and sometimes it decides on its own to use it for its own interest. Simply because I say that being the worlds super power comes with added responsibility in no way implies that I have been brainwashed as you claim. for someone being brand new to these forums you sure like to shoot of at the mouth a lot to people you know nothing about while you hide behind a profile that's not even filled out. I have quite a bit more justifying reasons than you to make a claim that you have been brainwashed by an extreme leftist organization but I decline to make comments like that seeing as how I haven't had a chance to figure you out yet. For someone who claims to have so much higher education(the degrees listed in your profile) you sure draw conclusions awfully quick and with very little substantiating data. But what would i know, I'm just a brainwashed knuckle-dragging ground pounder stuck in Iraq because I didn't do well in school right History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

I think due to, how shall I say, military training/brainwashing, you are a litte misguided in your beliefs. Whether or not this war was a good idea to begin with we created a mess and need to fix it and take responsibility for our actions. And as for people saying fuck everyone else we're the US we only need to look out for ourselves, well, welcome to the world of being a super power, you are forced at times to do what others can't do for themselves and it comes at the cost of soldiers lives and taxpayers money. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

On the bright side, sooner or later, they're either going to run out of ammo or people. Quote That unfortunately will never be the case. There is so many loose munitions floating around third world countries that no task force of any size could ever put a significant dent in it. And as for people, well, there will always be undeducated people who fall for the extremist propaganda and decide to give their life to the "greater good". The upside is that getting the resources and personnel to operate inside our borders is becoming increasingly more difficult. at a minimum we are at least keeping the fight elsewhere. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

If "making a difference" results in a thousand people a month dead and dozens of bombings, assassinations, torture sessions and mass executions in one city alone - then I'd prefer we didn't make a difference. Throwing more soldiers into the mix is a way to change the plan, that wasn't the ONLY fix that was put in place it was one of many. It just happens to be the most noticeable one. I can see tons of changes going on here int he way we are approachign this conflict, and the change in the number of soldier on the ground is the smallest of them it just happens to be the one getting the most media attention. No one back hame arguing this tactic is wrong, IMO. They just aren't privvy to the same info and insight you get form being here, that's the way the media works, they attempt to control what you see and how you react to things. This one is more of a general comment Bill, I apologize for wording it to look like I was shooting it straight at you, I respect your opinion and argument. And although I agree that we need to keep the soldiers safe I stand by my opinion that a US soldier giving their life in a conflict that could result in a society being safer has done their part. I'm not trying to get into the left v right, we invaded for oil/money/Halliburton/because GWB is a war-monger argument, this is a statement geared towards the desired end result of the conflict. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Imagine what it's like to live in a city where the Virginia Tech massacre would represent a better than average day. Quote Don't have to imagine, I've lived there, which is exactly why I understand the troop surge. It's a hard fact for some to accept but having the military there acting as a "buffer" between the battling groups truly does make a difference. Would you honestly rather have some soldiers there fighting to make a difference or would you prefer that people be left to their fate? As much as people don't like to admit it the underlying job of the US soldier is to give their life for the safety of the innocent. We are an expendable asset, and as long as one of us dying saves the life of one single civilian than we have done our jobs. So many people sit in there nice safe homes and complains about how we don't need to be there because dispite the troop surge there are so mnay bombings, but without the troop surge it would be twice as bad. No amount of soldiers can stop the attacks on innocents, but more of us can at least make it harder for those that intend to kill innocents to do their job, and this is a small victory. No one single victory wins a war, it takes time, that's all we need, time, and lots of it. Quit screaming about troops getting killed, it's par for the course and in the end it's for a greater good. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

They're just pissy they may have to pay a little more to break federal laws...99.9% are not medical cases, just scofflaws hijacking the seriously ill's misery for their own recreational purposes.Quote Exactly, the same could be said about people in jail for shooting someone who was trying to break into their house and kill them. Plenty of people who had no ill intentions other than their own survival are in prison but no one is crying for their release. Yet at the same time there are countless criminal organizations who fund themselves through the sale of recriational drugs. There is no simple way to decide who should be punished and who shouldn't apart from drawing a distinct line in the sand saying if you carry it you're going to jail, and people still want to whine. kind of sad. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

were part of an imperialist army visiting death and destruction down on innocent people. Quote Last time I checked there were only a small number of servicemembers involved in incidents such as this. All of the poeple sitting behind their keyboards bitching about how the US military is full of mindless bloodthirsty killing machines take a second and back up your claims. I ask anyone who has ever claimed that it is SOP for the US military to target innocents to take a few moments out of their lives to get a count of every soldier involved in an incident like this. It won't be hard to do, if there is even the slightest whisper of a soldier killing someone who wasn't standing in the street with an RPG in one hand and a sign in the other saying"I am here to declare jihad on the US", the media jumps all over it because that is what gets them ratings. Fuck what the majority of us in the military do while in combat, that one knucklehead that was so nervous because he was in his first firefight and winced and pulled the trigger too soon is the perfect example of how we should be portrayed, right? It's not too hard to get a count of every US servicemember who has killed an innocent, there are countless websites that document all the incidents where innocent civilians lost their lives(although I can't name one that lists all of the soldiers who have given their lives to protect innocents). Now after you have that number, take a look at the sources of all those reports, the majority of them come from anti-US establishments, so that number can obviously be a little bit exaggerated. Even if that wasn't true though, and the number were completely accurate, the count on soldiers who intentionally commit atrocities resulting in the death of innocent would be a mere fraction of the US military. Yet simple minded people continuously use this as a means to judge the entire culture of my military. I'll even be kind enough to throw in a little example for ya: Sure the guys on my team have a little bit of pride in what they've accomplished under fire, but I have never once heard someone say, "dude, it was so badass how many people I fuckin killed that day!!". The tone is always more geared towards how the team is proud about how it was faced with 3 to 1 odds and was able to come out on top with no casualties. To someone LOOKING for excuses to bash us, hell yeah it's going to look like we're proud that we ended lives. OTOH, to someone who can see it for what it is we are proud that we were able to face odds that very well should have claimed our lives and we came out on top. It's a thin line but it still has nothing to do with bloodlust, it has to do with survival, teamwork, and being proud that we have the ability to "one-up" the other team. I'm sorry if you are offended by the fact that us "winning" involves people losing their lives, but last time I checked the world I live in involves people dying. We don't live in your little fairy tale world where everyone can get along nicley, for some of us it's kill or be killed, and I fully intend to make sure that my teamates are around to watch their children grow up. So as for the claim that I am part of an imperialist army visiting death on innocent people........that's a pretty narrow-minded and biased claim. Take a look at the REAL numbers, and if you haven't let the extremist media control your thoughts too much you may see what is really going on. *DISCLAIMER:this of course is all just my personal opinion, I mean, honestly, what the hell would I know, I've only spent nearly 8 years of my life in the military and am currently on my third combat deployment so obviously a media source run by civilians knows more about the military mindset than me* History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

until I had the opportunity to work with members of the US Army & Airforce (commercially). The people I met were very different to the image presented (in general although there was a guy who typified the image of the inbred redneck!). Quote The majority of the people who stereotype the US military are the ones who have never had a chance to work with us. It is 100% true that you will find a few mindless rednecks here and there just lookin for that kill, but honestly I have seen more contractors like this than soldiers. Most people who interact with soldiers on a regular basis have very positive things to say about them. Actually, of all the people back home that I interact with on a regular basis less than half of them know what I do for a living. The few that know exactly what it is that I do are the ones that I am very close with. I have heard the line "I never would hve guessed you're in the military", more times than I can count. Which is exactly why I put very little weight in Chuteless's post. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

The usual M.O. is to rape them first . Thats how the USA usually does it. Vietnam...Iraq.... and some guy posted awhile ago and asked why the USA is hated so much all around the world.!!! Quote None of us were there and know the exact circumstances that caused the Marines to open fire a second time, but you obvioulsy have no idea about the kind of emotions you have to deal with in an engagement. When you've just spent any period of time fighting for your life you're amped up and ready to kill anything that looks like it could present a threat to you. Your statements were completely uncalled for. Edit to add: I am not trying to justify the deaths of innocents but i despise people making statements like the one I replied to. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

I can't find anything online right now, I'm in Iraq right now and info gets to us kinda slow, so if anyone watched it on TV I'd be relly gratefull if you could share a few details. thanx everyone dan History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

The second step to getting better is jumping regularly with others that have similarly focussed goals. If you can get a group together to jump one day a month,Quote Something along those lines, if your group only wants to get together say one day a monthfind someone that wants to go every weekend and do tons of 2 ways. Having the same person to jump with every weekend will help. I love 2 ways, you can work on a hell of a lot History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

if you have the money I'd recommend a tunnel camp, Airspeed runs some awesome ones and I've heard a lot of positive feedback about the ones at Perris. www.tunnelcamp.com has some info for ya. As someoen else recommended a world class coach will do wonders for you, and it's extremely motivating to fly with someone like that. Makes you want to be able to do the same. good luck History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

If you take a look at the scoreboard... there was a little doubt for quite some time!Quote I had faith in 'em History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

clicky Exceptional my arse.... there are lads in combat... their circumstances are exceptional. This lot are just pawns... talk about diverting the media from the real issues. Why not, that sorry excues for a soldier Lynch sold her story to the media, and she did the exact same thing, failed to do her job. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

No. Perhaps I might know more than you actually think you might think you know. No? Quote I think that you don't think that I know what you think I thought I knew. But maybe it's just me thinkin crazy again History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Amazing competition and amazing scores! Quote Did you have any doubt that they would win History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

YesQuote smartass History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

It's the HP DVD player, it was on the laptop when I bought it. I'm basically trying to pull some shots off a tunnel video to send. And my windows media player doesn't want to play the DVD. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

thanks, it's kind of working. I'm trying to save a screen shot from a movie, I'm playing it with the normal DVD player program but it only saves as long as the player is still up. As soon as I close the player the pic saved turns black. Do you know if I need to save it from a different viewer or something? History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

I'm trying to figure out how to save a screen shot from a video so I can email it. Anyone on here know more about computers than me?? History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Wasn't there an American marine who stuck to nothing other than name rank and number after capture by the VC? Amongst other horror's I believe they eventually broke every single bone in his body, although he did eventually come out of it all alive. Quote Exactly, when you try and be a badass they beat the piss out of you, if you keep it up, they beat the piss out of your buddy. You have to pick and choose your fights, and besides there are other ways than just saying "fuck you" in situations like that. But if I told you more I'd have to kill you History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

What a pussy. I can GUARANTEE you I would have said "Fuck you, I was outside your waters...Is there any deodorant in this fucking pisshole of a country?" When they went to work on my fingernails, or showed me video of Mexican Cat Juggling, I might have caved......but only then. Quote Oh how big and tough you must think you are, we have a number of military folks in this thread, a few of us with SERE school under our belts telling you that it ain't like in the 007 movies where you can stand up to gettin the piss knocked out of you for days on end and you still act like Johnny Rambo. I thought I was the ultimate badass too before I went to SERE school, I was jokin with my buddies about all the smartass things I would say if anyone ever tried to question. Let's just say I came out of there with a different attitude. and your statements on here prove nothing more than you've never experienced anything close to what these Brits went through. As tough as you THINK you are, your whole attitude changes when you suddenly lose control of your physical environment. Sure maybe they didn't put up with what the Nam POW's did, but they gave up a lot too those guys in the Hanoi Hilton. Trust me. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

I fully plan on voting Republican in this next Pres. election, but if a Dem. wins I would much rather have it be Obama than Clinton. She is just as decietful and under-handed as Bill. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

I did a two way when I had about 70 jumps and was wearing sunglasses, the guy I was jumping with had a camera mounted and watching the video there was no way to tell what I was trying to communicate to him. It looked like he was flying with a robot. Sunglasses are bad mmkkkay History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower

IIRC the Fastrax webiste has them all animated as well. Really good site for info. History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. --Dwight D. Eisenhower