Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Agreed. That and Iron Dome is pretty impressive.
Lol. Nah, they take crayons back.
Realistically though part of the USMC culture is even if you are discharged at the end of your service you are still considered a Marine. That is unless you are kicked out under Bad Conduct or a Dishonorable discharge. Part of the reason for that is that the kinds of offenses that can earn you either type of discharge are pretty bad and often involve serious crimes or very serious breaches of military conduct and serious cases of misbehavior.
Who watches the watchmen?
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
Hmm, very interesting.
I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.
rollin' on dubs
Israel has approved America's use of Iron Dome in multiple countries
, while it's secret, smart money says that the US Army will put Iron Dome in countries where Iran is a threat.
@Droy - enlisted members get "bad paper" from a Bad Conduct Discharge (Big Chicken Dinner) or a Dishonorable Discharge (Duck Dinner). Both can only be given by a Court Martial. Officers are subject to Dismissal- they get kicked out of the service and lose all pay and benefits.
Fun Fact - a review board looks at officer retirement, especially when there has been proven misconduct. Two officers made headlines when their retirement was reduced:
- Army demotes Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair two ranks for sexual misconduct
- Air Force busts retired four-star general down two ranks for coerced sex
- In this wikipeida article, it discusses how Colonel Michael D. Murphy had to retire as a First Lieutenant
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
Oh, I already knew about the dishonorable discharge part.
I just didn't know the fact that unless discharged dishonorably, there are no such thing as "ex-Marine."
EDIT: Heh, chicken dinner and duck dinner bit is also quite amusing. The military sure has a way with acronyms.![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Edited by dRoy on Jan 26th 2021 at 4:58:37 AM
I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.
Point of clarification: The Marine Corps takes back the crayons, but they must be clean before CIF will accept them.
The previous snowfall record recorded by the 14th Weather Squadron occurred when the installation receive 59.4 inches of snowfall in December of 2000. The weather squadron maintains an archive of snowfall records ranging back to the 1950s.
35th Civil Engineering Squadron snow and ice removal teams, alongside Japan Air Self-Defense Force partners, performed 24-hour operations throughout December to clear installation runways, taxiways, roadways, and parking lots to support uninterrupted airfield and base operations.
Also, if you're looking for some new wallpaper, plenty of neat photos of jets, to include F-16CJs, F/A-18Es, and best of all, a KC-135 Stratotanker!
Is this Russia's new coastal base for the 'doomsday nuke' drones?
Just read this on how the British submarine HMS ''Venturer'' (P68) intercepted the German U-boat ''U-684''.
It was mentioned in that article that the Venturer's crew found U-684 because the hydrophone of the former heard the failing engines of the latter. The Venturer's captain J.S. Launders held the rank of Lieutenant at the time. What rank would the guy listening in on the hydrophone hold?
In the name of being honest
The sonar suite on a submarine is usually crewed by enlisted ratings. So the most junior operator would be an able seaman, rising up to petty officer and finally warrant officer as they gain seniority.
I'd like to call out the article's assertion that hydrophones have "limited range", by the way. The entire concept of acoustic sensing in naval warfare hinges on the fact that sound can travel a very long way in water, depending on pressure, temperature, current/turbidity and the presence of refractive/reflective elements.
US, Russia agree to extend 'New START' nuclear arms treaty.
The United States and Russia had "agreed in principle" to extend the arms treaty by five years following a phone call between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday.
A Kremlin description of the call between the two leaders said they had both "expressed satisfaction" that diplomatic notes had been exchanged earlier Tuesday confirming that the treaty would be extended,
The extension doesn't require approval from lawmakers in the US.
Deadline approaching
The White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the two leaders agreed to have their teams "work urgently" to iron out the details of the extension before the treaty's expiration date, February 5.
*insert cutesy minimalist diagram on the US nuclear weapon modernisation program here*
◊
The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), was signed in 2010 by former US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart at the time, Dmitry Medvedev.
The treaty limits each party to 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), 1,550 nuclear warheads on deployed ICBMs and SLBMs, and 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers.
It also envisions a rigorous inspection regime to verify compliance.
The last nuclear arms control agreement
Biden had indicated during his presidential campaign that he favored extending the treaty, and Russia has long proposed its extension without any conditions or changes.
However, negotiations to extend the treaty were stalled by the administration of former US President Donald Trump, which insisted on tougher inspections for Russia and for China to be included, which Beijing refused.
During Trump's term, the US withdrew from a separate nuclear weapons control agreement with Russia, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, making New START the last remaining nuclear weapons control treaty between Russia and the US.
Edited by eagleoftheninth on Jan 27th 2021 at 5:36:55 AM
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
If anyone is looking for a fun book to read, I just finished "Pantheon" by KR Paul. She's an active-duty Air Force officer who had a plot egg that was basically "Logistics troops are superheroes."
It's about an Air Force officer who discovers she has the ability to teleport to any location she has been to before, and is quickly shuffled away into a secret military unit that collects folks with these abilities and uses them... to move people and things great distances instantly. It sounds goofy, but it was a really fun read. There's more to it than that too, but, you know, spoilers.
Who Am I?
You should bring that up in any "real world implications of super powers" discussion.
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
rollin' on dubs
Let Down Your Hair: New Army Rules for Ponytails, Nail Color
WASHINGTON (AP) — Female soldiers can let their hair down, and flash a little nail color under new rules being approved by the Army. But male soldiers will still have to shave.
Army leaders announced Tuesday that they are loosening restrictions on various grooming and hairstyle rules, as service leaders try to address longstanding complaints, particularly from women. The changes, which also expand allowances for earrings and hair highlights and dyes, are particularly responsive to women of various ethnicities, and will allow greater flexibility for braids, twists, cornrows and other styles more natural for their hair.
The new regulations take effect in late February and come after months of study, in the wake of a directive by former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who ordered a new review of military hairstyle and grooming policies last July. The review was part of a broader order to expand diversity within the military and reduce prejudice, in the wake of widespread protests about racial inequality last summer.
“These aren’t about male and female,” said Sgt. Maj. Michael Grinston, the Army’s top enlisted leader during a Facebook Live presentation on Tuesday about the latest changes. “This is about an Army standard and how we move forward with the Army, and being a more diverse, inclusive team.”
The Army announcement has been long-planned, but it came just days after the Pentagon’s first Black defense secretary — Lloyd Austin — took over. Austin has vowed to try to root out racism and extremism in the ranks and foster more inclusion. Esper and many of the service leaders have also been taking steps to make the military more diverse, particularly in the higher ranks.
As an example, Esper last summer ordered that service members’ photos no longer be provided to promotion boards. Officials said studies showed that when photos are not included “the outcomes for minorities and women improved.”
On Tuesday, Army Sgt. Maj. Brian Sanders told reporters that the panel recommending the new grooming changes considered a variety of factors, including cultural, health and safety issues. He said the tight hair buns previously required by the Army can trigger hair loss and other scalp problems for some women. And larger buns needed to accommodate thick or longer hair, can make a combat helmet fit badly and potentially impair good vision.
At the same time, he said that changes, like allowing women in combat uniforms to wear earrings such as small gold, silver and diamond studs, let them “feel like a woman inside and outside of uniform.”
He added, “At the end of the day, our women are mothers, they’re spouses, they’re sisters, they definitely want to be able to maintain their identity and that’s what we want to get after.”
In many cases — such as the earrings — the changes simply let female soldiers wear jewelry or hairstyles that are already allowed in more formal, dress uniforms, but were not allowed in their daily combat uniforms.
Army leaders said women will now be able to wear their hair in a long ponytail or braid and tuck it under their shirt. Sanders said that allowing that gives female soldiers, particularly pilots or troops at a firing range, greater ability to turn their head quickly, without the restraints that the buns created.
The new regulations also allow the exact opposite. Female soldiers going through Ranger or special operations training get their heads shaved, like male soldiers do. But when they leave training, their hair is too short, based on the Army’s previous minimum length requirements. Now there will be no minimum length rules.
For men, however, the perennial request to allow beards is still a no-go.
Grinston’s answer to the question from the online audience was short and direct: “No.” He noted that the Army already makes exceptions for medical and religious reasons.
Also, male soldiers still can’t wear earrings.
The new lipstick and nail polish rules, however, allow men to wear clear polish, and allow colors for women, but prohibit “extreme” shades, such as purple, blue, black and “fire engine” red. Men will also be able to dye their hair, but the colors for both genders are limited to “natural” shades. Prohibited colors include blue, purple, pink, green, orange or neon.
In another sign of the times, the new rules state that soldiers will now automatically receive black and coyote-colored face masks. They are also permitted to wear camouflage colored masks, but have to buy those themselves.
The Army also is taking steps to change wording in the regulations to remove racist or insensitive descriptions. References to “Fu Manchu” mustache and “Mohawk” hairstyle have been removed, and replaced with more detailed descriptions of the still-banned styles.
Edited by TairaMai on Jan 27th 2021 at 4:11:59 PM
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48
Honestly morale would go up if they let go of the beard ban.
Isn't the beard ban about the fact it means your gas mask doesn't seal properly?
"Yup. That tasted purple."
rollin' on dubs
Yes![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
, for some reason Israel, India and even the German Armed Forces never come up. They allow beards and don't seem to have a problem.
One NCO told me that a tube of Vaseline is all that's needed to help a promask seal with a full beard.
But for some reason the Pentagon has beard hate - the Navy even did a "study" to justify the beard hate.
Tl;dr - that study's result was "Naval Safety Center records show only one event 26 years ago in which a beard played a role in a mishap."
Edited by TairaMai on Jan 28th 2021 at 9:11:59 AM
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
To be blunt if you have to apply vaseline to your beard before you can get a good seal that is a problem. In the CBRN exposure scenarios the faster your mask goes on the better. You don't have time to fuck around with stuff like greasing your beard.
Who watches the watchmen?
A procrastination in of itself
What’s the justification for maintaining the ban on ear jewellery for men, homophobia? I assume that the ponytail allowance is also gendered?
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
meow
IIRC, ear jewellery can be quite painful if it gets caught on something. Not something I've experienced myself, but I've seen it happen.
jamie-b-good.tumblr.com
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Jewelry is a snag and grab point. Lots of gear can grab it. If you are a maintainer and using machines and equipment no jewelry period and any hair is bound up tight.
We learned pretty quickly if you fight an opponent with exposed jewelry you grab and rip. Necklaces that are not on a beaded safety chain can be used to strangle you.
Who watches the watchmen?
In the name of being honest
Plus everyone knows that the enemy will go after you first if you'd drop a rare loot.
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
Phhhhfffffff ![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
![[awesome]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minis/award_star_gold_3.png "[awesome]"){kind=small}
Relating to Indian procurement problems that eagle brought up earlier, there's the infamous Bofors scandal, where unluckily the legendary Amitabh Bachchan (who is practically God in North India) was tangled up in the affair because he was trying his hand at being a politician at the time. He wasn't involved at all, but got implicated by a newspaper just because he was that famous already; he left politics after that.
The Indian Army adopted the Bofors 155mm anyway and used it in the Kargil War regardless.
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Jan 29th 2021 at 12:03:46 PM
Whenever folks bring up the gas mask thing, I just point out that 99% of the time, if you needed to put on your gas mask rightthehellnow then you're dead anyways. Most folks don't operate at MOPP Ready most of the time.
The jewelry is actually a really good comparison. What do married folks do when they're about to work in an industrial area or around other heavy machinery? They take off their wedding ring. Same thing could apply if you needed to go from MOPP Nothing to MOPP Ready. Shave the beard off when you go to grab your bag.
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
The Tatmadaw is in a standoff with the civilian government. Previously, it said it won't get involved and blamed electoral fraud and they didn't provide evidence.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
A procrastination in of itself
Yeah chemical weapons aren’t such a common risk that you need everyone to be ready for them at all times, a “no beard in-theatre” rule for any theatre where they might be deployed seems entirely manageable.
Shit, how often are people even given gas masks as part of their equipment? That could even be the shave-stage.
"And the Bunny nails it!" ~ Gabrael "If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we." ~ Cyran
Israel Allows U.S. to Deploy Iron Dome Missile Defense in the Gulf.
Y'know what, this doesn't exactly look like a vote of confidence for the Saudi Patriot network.
This comes against the backdrop of the Abraham Accords between Israel and two Gulf States, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and of two large U.S. arms deals, one with the UAE, and the other with Saudi Arabia.
Three weeks ago, the Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Defense Ministry handed over a second Iron Dome
battery to the U.S. Defense Department. The battery was developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems as part of an agreement for two Iron Dome batteries signed between the two countries in August 2019.
The Iron Dome systems were handed over to the Americans
– and Israeli defense sources say the United States has received the approval of senior Israeli officials to begin deploying the missile defense systems on American military bases in a number of countries, including in the Middle East, Europe and Far East.
“I am certain that the system will help the U.S. Army defend American soldiers against ballistic and aerial threats,” said Defense Minister Benny Gantz
at the ceremony for delivering the second batterys.
Because of the sensitivity of the matter for the Americans, Israeli officials are refusing to reveal in which countries the Iron Dome interceptors will be deployed. But behind closed doors, Israel gave its tacit agreement to the Americans to place the batteries in order to defend its forces from attacks by Iran and its proxies, according to Israeli officials.
As well as the Gulf states, deployments are also expected in Eastern European countries, out of fear that Russia could endanger American forces, or strategic infrastructure in those countries, said the Israeli officials.
In September 2018, a Saudi newspaper reported that Riyadh had signed an agreement to purchase an Iron Dome battery from Israel with the Americans acting as a mediator. The Defense Ministry rushed to deny the report that such a deal had been signed – but did not deny that the Saudis had asked to purchase the system.
After the attack on the oil refineries and facilities
of the Saudi national oil company Aramco in Saudi Arabia in September 2019, which was attributed to Iran, the Saudis – and other countries – raised their request to buy Iron Dome batteries to defend against the Iranian threat,
defense officials said. But Israeli officials deny that providing Iron Dome systems was part of the normalization agreements with the Gulf states – because the purchase of the Iron Dome batteries by the United States was signed in 2019, well before the Abraham Accords.
The first two batteries delivered to the United States were developed in Israel by Rafael and other partners. But in a few months, Rafael is expected to open a production line along with U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, one of the largest defense companies in the world, for an American version of the interceptor missiles. This will enable Rafael and Raytheon to export the American version to the U.S. Army and other countries in Europe, the Gulf and East Asia.
The Defense Ministry and military industries have asked oversight bodies to ease the export restrictions on Israeli weapons systems, including Iron Dome. The defense industries think it is possible to make export versions and sell them to a number of countries to which Israel has so far has avoided selling advanced weapons systems.
The establishment of a Rafael subsidiary in the United States and its connection with a leading defense firm such as Raytheon – which also makes the Patriot antiaircraft systems – could make it much easier for Rafael to export the American version of Iron Dome, even to countries that until now were off-limits because of security and diplomatic considerations.
Raytheon has a large share of the arms deals signed between the United States and the UAE, in part from the sale of dozens of long-range stealth cruise missiles that can be launched from F-35 planes.