Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Command structure, base allocation, budget share, recruit pools, equipment allotments, and creation of their mission and doctrines. There is more but that is the gist.
Who watches the watchmen?
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
....unwarranted sense of entitlement...
What? I'm only parroting Grandad! And, he was in the RAF during the War! (Gunners vs pilots and everybody vs the engineers: the fight is real.) 
Edited by Euodiachloris on Nov 13th 2018 at 10:33:19 AM
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
:P Maintainer vs user. I get a kick out of the Terminal lance comics portrayal of armorers.
Who watches the watchmen?
Truly, 'tis the oldest rivalry. I'd bet money there were professional flint-knappers who could quite cheerfully have strangled certain hunters and gatherers (there's no way I am risking a high-quality nodule of flint by trying to bash in what passes for that skull — and, decent anvils don't grow on trees, neither!). ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Edited by Euodiachloris on Nov 13th 2018 at 12:16:08 PM
A good scene from the Commando comic "Whirlwind!" comes to mind: the protagonist Hugh, a squadron leader, goes to check out his new Westland Whirlwind. The chief flight engineer, Hammond, is said to have been "born with a spanner with his hand, and preferred to be left alone so he could use it."
He tells Hugh that everything's fine, until Hugh casually drops a mention on the Whirlwind's troublesome engine. Hammond is delighted that a pilot can speak his language, and a long discussion (offscreen) on the Whirlwind follows.
Amusingly, the main antagonist is a hanger janitor, Arthur Driscoll, who had been considered a troublemaker by Hugh's aristocratic family (repeatedly nicked things from manor), and keeps trying to sabotage Hugh's plane. He's caught one night by Hammond, on his way to put sugar in the engine, and arrested for stealing rations.
Then Hugh nearly gets killed on a dangerous mission, possibly due to an ancient curse (long story, it's complicated), and Driscoll is horrified that he nearly murdered Hugh. He confesses everything, and while he's let go thanks to Hugh's forgiveness, he's shaken enough that he dedicates himself to becoming a flight mechanic, and never a criminal again. Eventually, Driscoll becomes the best mechanic on the squadron, Hammond's pleased and Hugh is back to work in a Typhoon squadron.
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Nov 13th 2018 at 4:22:30 AM
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
Sorta related to the American military occupation of the Philippines:
This is taken from Associated Press.
The Defense Department says Defense Secretary James Mattis plans to travel Wednesday to F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne. Two of the Bells of Balangiga are at the base, and the third is with the U.S. Army in South Korea.
U.S. Army soldiers took the bells after an attack killed 48 American troops in 1901, during the U.S. occupation of the Philippines.
Filipinos revere the bells as symbols of national pride. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly called for their return.
Wyoming officials have said the bells are memorials to American war dead and should not go back to the Philippines.
rollin' on dubs
This is the problem when something becomes a tradition in the sense that "that's the way we've always done it".
Those bells were taken, as trophies by an asshole Jacob H. Smith
.
Back when Complete Monster had a Real Life section, he was in there.
He was so bad that the Army, the 19th century "only good Indian is a dead one" Army forced his ass into retirement. This was 12 years after Wounded Knee.
The bells should go back and those "Wyoming officials" should shut their mouths.
Edited by TairaMai on Nov 14th 2018 at 12:40:21 AM
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be a case on The First 48
Jacob H. "The Monster" Smith.
Jacob H. "Kill and burn! And the more you kill and burn the more you will please me!" Smith.
Jacob H. "Women and children first" Smith.
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Nov 13th 2018 at 10:34:19 AM
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Not deep enough pits in hell for people like him.
Who watches the watchmen?
Worth noting, that by the time the US Army Air Forces became the US Air Force, they were already pretty much operating as their own force independent from the ground forces. At the time, the Army was divided into three major branches: The Army Air Forces, Army Ground Forces, and Army Service Forces. The Air Forces did all the flying, the Ground Forces did all the mudwork, and the Service Forces kept everyone fed, fueled, and armed.
During WWII, generals commanding ground forces really only controlled what air assets were parceled out to them by the USAAF generals, who preferred to concentrate their fighting forces to deliver the heaviest hammer swings possible vs divvying them up among hundreds of different ground combat units. Obviously in any given theater someone was going to be in charge of everything, and the air component commander in that part of the world worked for them, so the USAAF units would still be working in support of whatever strategy was being worked there.
That said, after the USAAF became the USAF, there were a few decades of transition as the Air Force gradually developed their own capabilities to do things like cook food, guard checkpoints, and build runways (Air Force Civil Engineers as we know them didn't really start to come around until the 1960s, with the original Prime BEEF Squadrons). I don't think the Air Force ever got around to developing our own equivalent to the Air Defense Artillery, instead just hosting tenant Army ADA batteries at bases that need it. Somewhere along the way the Air Force stopped wearing khaki and pinks and greens and the Army mostly stopped wearing blues (though the Army has brought back their blue uniforms, much to the chagrin of both the soldiers and the airmen they now get confused for).
Edited by AFP on Nov 14th 2018 at 4:14:42 AM
File under "It seemed like a good idea at the time..."
American Legion post removes Instagram graphic asking women to thank vets by exposing their breasts
Edited by AFP on Nov 14th 2018 at 4:17:53 AM
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
@Taira
- That just ramped it up under Duterte as the reason why he partially has an anti-American attitude 'cause of the bells.
The town where the bells are taken from originally are happy to hear the news.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
Oh, bother.
“THANK A VET SHOW THEM YOUR BOOBS!”
...<slams head against desk>
And then accusing someone who turns out to be a female veteran who is part of that organization of having no sense of humor because she found it offensive.
WTF
Disgusted, but not surprised
Veteran worship was a mistake.
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
What about the poor gay dudes? Or, the dude next to his wife when some rando yandere flasher with a service kink turns up?
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
The American Legion is not exactly one of my favorite orgs. They have a history of being asshats with a particular political bent. I like the VFW and a few other Vet orgs better.
Who watches the watchmen?
A list of the other reliable orgs, just to make sure?
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars is always favored, DAV (Disabled American Veterans), Vietnam Veterans of America, Marine Corps League, Honor Flight, United States Submarine Veterans, Inc., Veterans for Peace, Semper Fi Fund, Team Rubicon, and a number of local orgs. While any one of these groups is far from perfect they are less assholish, entitled, and obnoxious than the Legion.
The Legion are very jingoistic and rabidly against the left. They also have a regular history of ties to groups like the John Birch Society and similar groups typically through people being members in both groups and attempting and even succeeding in influencing the Legion. They have had regular issues with racism and even anti-semeticism and still do. They were involved in the dirty backdoor politicking that was behind the Business Plot and stumped for "Gold Standard" and big business. They were regularly used as strikebreakers and even took on civil rights demonstrations with violence. They have had persistent ties to fascism of one stripe or another and given the political climate today I doubt that has really changed that much.
The VFW is an increasingly mixed crowd and more prone to overall shift in internal views and external actions because those that make up its members are increasingly diverse and from multiple conflicts and periods of US history, the Vietnam Orgs have all sorts of hang-ups partly because of the times and situation that made them Veterans but in general are not horrible and manage to help each other and even Vets outside their era, The Marine Corps League can be clannish and assholish but are rarely severe and part of that is their limited size, Honor Flight does good work, The Sub Vets group are an odd bunch if you ever meet them but so are most submariners, Veterans for Peace is the counterpoint to the more hawkish veterans, Disabled American Vets tries to help our extensive number of disabled Veterans and try and get the care and support, Semper Fi Fund despite being USMC themed ultimately helps all branches, and Team Rubicon tries to get vets back in touch with society via disaster relief.
The Legion did a fair bit of good way back in the day but they rarely held to their ideals and were consistently involved in dirtier aspects of American Politics. They were also responsible for blocking Merchant Seaman from ever receiving benefits for four decades and why they are not considered full veterans now.
Yeah, I really don't like the Legion and I have quite a few good reasons not to.
Edited by TuefelHundenIV on Nov 15th 2018 at 12:48:42 PM
Who watches the watchmen?
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
Mattis is going to oversee the return of the Balangiga Bells. Opponents see this as opening a pandora's box of items taken by American-led forces before and are in American territory/military bases.
Some veterans and officials in the U.S. oppose returning the Bells of Balangiga, calling them memorials to American war dead. But Filipinos revere the bells as symbols of national pride.
U.S. Army soldiers took the bells after an attack killed 48 American troops in 1901, during the U.S. occupation of the Philippines. Two of the Bells of Balangiga are at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, and the third is with the U.S. Army in South Korea.
Philippine presidents including current President Rodrigo Duterte, have repeatedly called for the bells' return. Now, President Donald Trump's administration has agreed that bolstering the U.S. relationship with a key international ally outweighs concerns at home, even among Republican political allies.
Mattis marked the start of a several-week process to return the bells to a church in the Philippines with a visit to the two bells at F.E. Warren. With him was the Philippine ambassador to the U.S, H.E. Jose Manuel G. Romualdez.
"History reminds us that all wars end. In returning the Bells of Balangiga to our ally and our friend, the Philippines, we pick up our generation's responsibility to deepen the respect between our peoples," Mattis said in a ceremony at the base.
Soldiers from the Philippines fought alongside U.S. troops in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War and in the recent struggle against international terrorism, Mattis pointed out.
"To those who fear that we lose something by returning the bells, please hear me when I say that the bells mark time, but courage is timeless," Mattis said.
Those opposed to returning the bells include Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican. Mead took part in the ceremony even as he sides with U.S. veterans who worry that returning the bells could lead to the repatriation of any number of items serving as memorials to American war dead.
"We know you and the president have looked at this, and the highest priority of the military of course is national security," Mead told Mattis at the gathering of a couple hundred Air Force officers, personnel and family members. "We absolutely need to build those friendships."
Wyoming's all-Republican congressional delegation also opposes the bells' return, saying in a joint statement released by Sen. Mike Enzi spokesman Max D'Onofrio that repatriation would set a dangerous precedent for other veterans' memorials in the U.S.
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Good.
Who watches the watchmen?
Max Uriarte, the guy who does Terminal Lance, has a kind of funny story about his only American Legion meeting that he attended. Basically, they had to stand in a formation, do some kind of weird pledge, and pay $60 for a goofy hat. So it was like everything he disliked about the Marine Corps, but with the addition of goofy hats.
But anyhow, my experiences with veteran orgs has been pretty limited. I'm eligible to join the VFW, but haven't gotten around to checking them out (since I'm still in, I guess no rush). Most likely I'll just continue doing CAP though (not technically a veteran org, but a pretty sizable chunk of the adult leadership appears to be vets from my observation).
Also, seeing the articles about the bells from FEW is kind of interesting. Somewhere I've got a picture of those I took over at Trophy Park. I'm curious if they're gonna ask for the weird old English cannon too, nobody seems to be really sure how that thing ended up in the Philippines.
Too much HOI 4 Kaiserreich, the only thing I think of when someone mentions the American Legion is the Silver Legion.
Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
Which cannon?
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
Navy SEAL commander charged with War Crimes during tour in Iraq
Most important takeaway:
. . .
In a two-day preliminary hearing at Naval Base San Diego that concluded Thursday, prosecutors presented accounts from several other SEA Ls in Chief Gallagher’s platoon describing his behavior as reckless and bloodthirsty. They said he fired into civilian crowds, gunned down a girl walking along a riverbank and an old man carrying a water jug, and threatened to kill fellow SEA Ls if they reported his actions.
Some platoon members were so distraught by the chief’s actions, investigators said, that they tampered with his sniper rifle to make it less accurate, and fired warning shots to scare away civilians before the chief had a chance to shoot them.
However horrifyingly these revelations may be, it's still good to know that there are at least a number SEA Ls who defy the increasingly prominent reputation that the Teams have for cruelty, especially in light of the ongoing investigations into the murder of a Green Beret by SEA Ls and Marines.
Edited by FluffyMcChicken on Nov 17th 2018 at 6:11:39 AM
Pardon me for how simple this may be, but, when a service becomes a military branch what changes? For example, what changed, in the practical sense with the air force when it separated from the army? Or what would change with a space force separating from the air force?
Edited by CenturyEye on Nov 13th 2018 at 2:42:06 PM
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives