11 posts tagged “173dabn”

From Blackfive, courtesey of Uncle Jimbo

OK, I have some pictures in my photo section.

A few pictures from Walter Reed are here.

No, no one came out of the closet. I mean we went out on the town, (Washington, DC), with some very fine young men from Chosen Company, Second 503 173DABN.

We were accompanied by Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive, Jonn Lilyea, from ThisAIntHell, (but you can see it from here) and Tankerbabe. 

Jonn has a post up already about last night. It features yours truly in a supporting role alongside the irrepressible Uncle Jimbo, as we try to join the pinkos/union thugs down the street from the Main Gate at Walter Reed and call for the immediate withdrawl of Russian troops from Georgia. (The country, not the state)

We all want peace, right?

We all had our 173D Sky Angels t-shirts on. (Well, except Jonn, who does have one, but refused to dis-robe in public, in spite of several car bombs, and Harps) You can get yours by going to the 173rdSky Angels Fund website and placing your order. Do it now, before they sell out.

I have met hundreds of soldiers and Marines over the course of the past 3 years. Most of them I met at Walter Reed. I am still awestruck by these young men (and women) who volunteer to serve our country. They never claim heroic acts, never take credit for actions above and beyond, preferring instead to state emphatically, "It was THAT guy that did it", "I just did my job", "HE deserves the medal, not me".

Young, dedicated, Warriors. These are the survivors of ambushes and firefights by sadistic militants from muslim countries fixated on one goal, killing innocents in the name of some twisted belief that they are superior.

These young men are heroes. Their stories will be told. Their sacrifices and honor will be made public and when the history books are written, we will call these Warriors, our Greatest Generation.

You can take that to the bank.

H/T to Laughing Wolf from Blackfive.

Stars and Stripes has the story after the jump.

While you're at Blackfive check out the free-fly from Uncle Jimbo and Kev of the fund-raiser for the 173DABN Homecoming.

Thank You UJ, Kev, Tankerbabe and Blackfive. That was above and beyond the call. BRAVO ZULU

from Military.com

Prayers up for the families and the men dealing with the aftermath.

These were our guys. Short time is the worst. You still have to do your job, knowing you're going home in a month. 30 and wake-up. 20 and a wake-up. You get nervous. You get cautious to the point of hesitancy. Sometimes you even get complacent, and complacency kills.

The enemy knows our deployment routine. They knew these guys were short time. The ACM (Anti-Coalition Militia) will step up attacks in the next three weeks.

On the other hand, it's crap like this that needs to be stopped. Note that the Taliban says the women had been ACCUSED of prostitution, not actually proven to be true.

Elsewhere, Taliban militants executed two women in central Afghanistan late Saturday after accusing them of working as prostitutes on a U.S. base.

The women, dressed in blue burqas, were shot and killed just outside Ghazni city in central Afghanistan, said Sayed Ismal, a spokesman for Ghazni's governor. He called the two "innocent local people."

Taliban fighters told Associated Press Television News the two women were executed for allegedly running a prostitution ring catering to U.S. Soldiers and other foreign contractors at a U.S. base in Ghazni city.

1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a U.S. military spokesman, said he had not heard allegations "anything close to that nature."

Logo 173dabct

Click this link and help us show these Warriors what a homecoming is supposed to feel like.

I'm going to forgo adding to my ramblings regarding the IVAW/VVAW Winter Soldier 2 farce, and direct your attention to my good friend Rurick who spent the entire day Friday inside the belly of the beast, so to speak.

I have to warn you that Rurick goes into great detail and as a result, the piece I am directing you to is long; but well worth the read, because he describes the situation inside very well.

The link is here. Here is a sampling from the first part of his report.

Now on to the most widespread of all the alleged crimes, what I call car-icide. Everybody has a story about shooting cars, either cars sitting by the side of the road, or speeding up and trying to dash through American convoys. Ever since the Hajjis started using cars as a major means of delivering explosives, the troops have been very sensitive about cars that fail to cooperate. Convoys are preceded and followed by vehicles bearing large signs in English and Arabic warning civilian vehicles to maintain a 50 meter distance, or so I have been told by other non-IVAW Iraqi vets. Funny that the IVAWs omitted mentioning that detail. Just as it is funny that they omit mentioning the quaint Islamic couture of suicide belts when mentioning occasions of Iraqi civilians being gunned down by US troops.

Now, between you and me and the internet, 50 meters is only, ONLY, 160 feet, (+/-). The distance from the 50 yard line to the end zone. That's called DAMN CLOSE when you're dealing with a VBIED.

And of course we have the requisite racist mind-set of America. After-all all Americans are racists right?

Of course the template requires that anything involving America must include racism to be complete. Thus we have the first speaker Hart Viges, who is at pains to denounce the term “hajji” as racist. First of all, in Arabic the term “hajji” is a title of honor, attached to the name of anyone who has made the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca, though I doubt that the average American knows the significance. Or would care if he did. Fact is, in every war, both sides have some special term they use to designate the enemy. This is a common feature of us, our allies, and our enemies as well. Even as far back as 1776 when we fought the Lobsterbacks. And yes, they have always had negative terms for us as well. Logan Laituri, who seems to be a real prince of self-loathing-by-proxy made a big deal of comparing himself to a KKK member because he was more bothered by the death of a fellow American than by anonymous Iraqis. Do not let your hair down and relax with a man like that. While some of these guys might be plausible drinking companions this one seems like he would be an unbearable PC shithead.

Umm, more bothered by the death of his fellow warriors, than the death of an Iraqi, who may or may not have been a terrorist? Analyze that sentence. He's bothered by his concern for his brothers. I'm sitting here shaking my head, trying to understand that and it's going to give me a headache if I think about it for much longer, so I'm going to stop.

Go read the rest.

My friend Maggie has a post you should read.

Warning: This is a hanky alert.

and

My buddy Matt over at Blackfive has an interesting post up.

173rd Airborne Brigade Leadership Meet with Narang District Leaders

New members in the leadership of 2/503rd Brigade Combat Team, 173rd Airborne Brigade recently met with Narang District Leaders in and around the Narang Valley, Konar Province.

The new Destined Company leadership met with the Narang Valley Sub-Governor in an effort to continue the good working relationship between Coalition Forces and Afghan National Security Forces and the people of the Narang Valley.  They discussed future possible Civil Engineering Reconstruction Projects (CERP), the importance of the Afghan National Police and their vital role to the security and stability of their District, and helped the Sub-Governor distribute Humanitarian Aid to some of the people near the District Center.

Al Qaeda: "We Did it! Wait...No We Didn't!"

Within hours of the brutal assassination of Benazir Bhutto officials in Pakistan and the US released news of intelligence intercepts linking Al Qaeda to the killing.  The Asia Times Online quoted “al-Qaeda’s top commander for Afghanistan operations and spokesperson Mustafa Abu al-Yazid” who proclaimed in a telephone interview,

We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat mujahidin.  This is our first major victory against those [eg, Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf] who have been siding with infidels [the West] in a fight against al-Qaeda and declared a war against mujahidin.

via WND

WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden's quest for a nuclear weapons arsenal now focuses on al-Qaida efforts to destabilizing Pakistan, plunging the nation into civil war, seizing power in conjunction with other radical jihadists and grabbing control of the world's first Islamic bombs, according to a report in a West Point anti-terrorism journal.

Writing in the Combating Terrorism Center's Sentinel, a new publication of the U.S. military academy, Bruce Riedel, a former senior U.S. official now with the Brookings Institution, says Pakistan represents the "real front line in the war against al-Qaida."

The most frightening part of advances by Islamists confronting the government of Perves Musharraf is the determination of al-Qaida to obtain nuclear weapons.

Al-Qaida has been pursuing nuclear weapons for more than a decade, according to former CIA Director George Tenet.

"Today, [al-Qaida] has a secure operating base in the country, its leadership is issuing constant guidance to its global supporters, it is threatening NATO's position in Afghanistan through its Taliban allies, and it is now a growing force in Pakistan itself," writes Riedel. "The current political crisis in Pakistan is endangering the secular democratic forces in the country, polarizing the debate about the country's future and strengthening al-Qaida's Islamist partners."

Riedel reports both bin Laden and his No. 2 commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri, could well be in any of Pakistan's remote areas, out of control of government forces.

"From Baluchistan to Kashmir, much of western Pakistan is sympathetic to al-Qaida's message and remains an open field where they can operate," wrote Riedel. "Even in the urban areas, al-Qaida operatives have been able to attack key targets, including military posts, with increasingly deadly results."

Al-Qaida, Riedel writes, "seeks to destroy the secular political leadership and civil society that offers an alternative to its extremist Salafist Islamic preaching. Al-Qaida's goal in Pakistan is to polarize the country into warring factions, break the back of civil and secular society and ultimately see its allies in the Pakistani Islamist movement seize power."

COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE- 82
COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN

By Navy Chief Petty Officer Robert Thornton

PIO, PRT Farah

The communication center has the capacity to support 24 lines for phone, fax and Internet, allowing villagers in this remote district to contact friends and family around the world. Services are provided on a fee-per-use basis.

District Manager Haji Mohammad Akbar placed a ceremonial call to the Director of Telecommunications in Kabul during the opening ceremony, which was attended by Servicemembers from Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team.

“We told him thank you for the opening of this DCN,” Akbar said.

The center is part of a nationwide United States Agency for International Development program to provide telecommunications equipment for DCNs in every district in every province throughout Afghanistan.  USAID contracted with Afghan Telecom to supply the equipment for 11 DCNs in Farah Province.

Benefits from the new communications network include a means for shopkeepers to communicate with their suppliers to facilitate an increase in commerce, the generation of additional revenue for the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and lower prices for national and international calls.

“This is going to connect the people with the government and the people with the entire world at a very cheap price per minute. This is a link between the government and the people so they can solve their problems together,” said Abdul Qadir, provincial manager of Afghan Telecom.