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It doesn't have leaders like MG William Zana... An Army general’s final ‘walk’ at the Tomb of the Unknowns MG William Zana, the only guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to reach the rank of general, took a final guard shift on the night he retired. At exactly 10 p.m. on the warm, last night of May, MG William Zana received his orders and began his final guard shift on the smooth marble stone plaza at the center of Arlington National Cemetery. In two hours it would be midnight, a new day and new month. A new guard would relieve him at his post, he would march off the plaza and suddenly, instantly, be a civilian. But for the final two hours of his 37-year career, Zana wanted one last chance to stand a shift he had held as a young sergeant: keeping watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “I was Pvt. Zana when I showed up to the Old Guard,” Zana told Task & Purpose.“You know, all of us who raise our right hand and serve, there’s things that define you. First combat tour, first loss of personnel. For me, volunteering for and serving at the Tomb was absolutely both defining and shaping.” (Full story at the title link) I don't know the man, nor do I know much about his career other than what I read in his bio; but based on this article, I have the utmost respect for him!

Thanks to all who have spent the holiday in a far away place.

Yes, many. Among them are the UN Charter, the 1975 Helsinki act, the 1990 Charter of Paris, and the 1997 NATO-Russia founding act. None of which place any limit on NATO's expansion or which exclude Ukraine from joining NATO. All of them recognize each nation's sovereign right to determine their own alliances and allegiances. Russia is a party and signatory to every one of these treaties and agreements. Make note, Bashi didn't provide any treaty or agreement that limited NATO's expansion - no such document exists. He provided you a video of a guy saying that Putin (Putin, specifically) warned us not to. That's different. There is no reading of the facts which alleviates Russia's full responsibility as the aggressor in this conflict. They are in direct violation of every one of those treaties. One could argue, as Bashi does, that it was unwise to allow NATO to expand eastward, and that can be a basis for a good argument, but it's also fully opinion, and there is no treaty or arrangement that Ukraine or any other NATO member state has violated that Bashi can point to which places any legal blame on the West. Ask him to provide a receipt. He'll be unable. In 1999, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia (all former Soviet satellites) joined NATO. Czech and Poland also join the same year. In particular, Poland's accession into NATO had been underway for the entire decade - starting in 1990. Notably, Russia signed the NATO-Russia founding act in 1997 - which as far as years are concerned, comes after 1990 the last time I checked. Also of note, Poland was once a former Soviet satellite. Hey, the more you know! Right? Tough for me to know how long and on what setting I would have to microwave my brain in order to believe that Russia was super upset about its former satellites joining NATO, but would also simultaneously sign an agreement saying it's cool, but then again, I'm no statesman. Hence, why the entire line about them being upset over Ukraine joining NATO is total horse shit. In 2008, Ukraine (and Georgia) were "invited" to NATO at something called the Bucharest summit. As his final act as President before stepping down, Putin expressed discontent that Ukraine would be invited to NATO. Understandable. Falls squarely into Bashi's opinion that "we provoked" this conflict. We get it. Putin didn't want Ukraine in NATO. And because Putin didn't want it, it's our fault. This is the one fact Bashi can lean on and which comprises the totality of his argument. Putin didn't want it. Undisputed. Flash forward to 2014 and Vlad is back in power pushing little green men into Ukraine. I, for one, can always tell who the good guys are in any conflict by who's soldiers are wearing unmarked uniforms, occupying another state's parliament buildings, and then holding "elections" for them which in turn result in the dissolution of their government. Flash forward to 2022, and Putin has his full-on invasion. Personally, my opinion is that Putin is concerned about Ukraine becoming (more) Westernized because of the enormous economic power they wield both in terms of agriculture and energy. Putin (or Russia) losing a substantial amount of their economic leverage over Europe would be strategically devastating for Russia. NATO expansion is a pretext because Ukraine can continue down the path of Westernization with or without being a NATO member state. Yeah, there is a complicated relationship between NATO and Russia given the legacy of warfare in Europe in the 20th century, but there is nothing which has ever limited any state from choosing their own alliances - and this includes Ukraine. Anyone who wants to read them can find them on the internet. Russia has signed all of them. I predict two things. First, that this war will end with Russia annexing eastern Ukraine (Crimea), permanently. As the trade to achieve peace, what is on the west side of the front (Ukraine) will eventually be allowed to join NATO. The second prediction I have is that Bashi will down vote this comment.

Pete Hegseth named to be SECDEF....WOW! He was labeled a threat/extremist by his Guard unit for vigorously supporting Trump. I hope he turns the building upside down!

Given that we're a "total force" now, I've always said they should move AETC to the ARC. While some wouldn't care to teach UPT/FTU, many would. It's a ANG dream, no deployments, no chem gear, much easier job to maintain as a part timer...it's a no brainer from that perspective. You'd have no problem filling squadrons and keeping great experience around to teach the young studs. Free up all those AD IP's to fill the spots in AD squadrons. Rotate a small number of AD pilots through to keep a fresh look/perspective, but that will naturally happen as we hire AD pilots anyway. If we had something like that, I'd probably still be in.

What is wrong with you people? How could Hegseth with a Bachelor of Arts in politics at Princeton University, A Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University, multiple combat tours possibly know anything about leading the people in the DoD? Instead we should rely on professionally trained people like Donald Rumsfeld, at the time of his nomination had three years on active duty and two terms as a Congressman under his belt. Maybe Obama's model is better, he picked Chuck Hagel who served as a squad leader in Vietnam before becoming a senator, businessman and LOBBYIST. You are all racist.

But it's so much more than that. First (R) president to win the popular vote in two decades. An indisputable electoral college victory. Huge gains within minority groups. Retaking the Senate and most likely holding the House. It's the closest thing to a mandate a presidential candidate can win in the modern era. This will greatly reduce "the resistance," especially from within the conservative sphere as many will be forced to reevaluate their future and strategy. It's still a tragedy that we're in a point in history where Donald Trump is the leader of the free world, but it's as good as the tragedy could have gone. We're still on a collision course with fiscal and monetary doom, but perhaps we can at least put out some fires.

My brain has two points of view on this: First and foremost, any leadership involved specifically in the Afghanistan withdrawal should be keelhauled, then fired, and exempted from any mil-industrial complex jobs. Second, the concept of subjective and politically based "purging general officer leaders" should induce shivers and revulsion from anyone who has studied history. This will be messy.

People don't have to like Trump to have picked him over Harris. I don't like him at all and think he's generally a bad person. But I prefer his views on government over those of Harris (who is also a bad person in my opinion). I know there are some die hard supporters that ignore/justify everything bad he has done (and he's done plenty of bad things), but I would bet the majority of people that voted for him are not in that category. He's personally done plenty of bad things and I disagree with many of his policies, but as often happens in these arguments, people can point out just as many bad things the other side does. So, it all comes down to which policies do you support, and which bad things they do are reasonable to overlook. He's a narcissist and I think the majority of what he does/says is to seek approval rather than following his beliefs. But, the left has engaged in absurd levels of law-fare, demonized half the country, overtly supported castrating kids and taking those kids away from parents that don't support the government castrating their kids. I'll take the narcissist over someone that wants to give my kids castration drugs without my approval.

Rich isn't it. The double standard is astounding especially when you look at the case of Democrat Congressman Eric Swalwell who actually WAS having an affair with a Chinese agent...no big deal according to Democrats.

me too. General Chang.

Haha, yeah, right. Total pipe dream. You're probably one of those guys that thinks a spaceship can fly itself back to the launchpad and land in a pair of "chopsticks". Ridiculous.

Hey guys look! somebody who was in he Minnesota guard that actually did deploy to a combat zone. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Agreed. Overall the GOP handed the Dems their ass in this cycle. This is a referendum on the Dems and their bowing to the insane progressives the last several years. I am glad the GOP has total control for now, BUT I do not like that long term. I sincerely hope the Dems actually learn from their colossal mistakes over the last several years and move back towards the center with reasonable candidates. Maybe we can get back to a more balanced fed govt in 4-8 years, I hope.

Pre-Market snap shot at 0751 EST Dow +1337 NASDAQ +332 S&P +132

Unknown, but zero active duty American casualties and Russia will be unable to fight a peer/near-peer for a generation.

Assert dominance. Make it bigger.

Passengers or groundfire?

"I will ask for the resignations of every single senior military official who touched the Afghanistan disaster. I want their resignations immediately. And I want them on the desk of the Oval Office at twelve o'clock, Inauguration Day." https://x.com/Osint613/status/1853181484640735326

“While the F-35 was designed from the start to accommodate a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) version, this requirement is absent from the Chinese design” Dammit, they didn’t take the bait!

It's been a long time since I was a UPT IP, but I always had a simple hypothetical for the tanker guys I flew with that were debating the assignment. You can adapt this to whatever your current airframe is. If it was a Wednesday, middle of the day, and I came to your desk and told you that I had a pattern only sortie about to step, and you had no beans left, no requirements, nothing in your desk job that required you to skip the flight; basically, if you did it you would be doing it for nothing other than to hop in the plane and fly a little. It hasn't been a while since you've flown, and you haven't been flying your ass off. Just... Do you *want* to fly? If the answer to that is "hell yeah," then you're probably going to enjoy UPT. If you're the guy who would rather use the time to catch up on some low priority tasks, or maybe hit the commissary so you don't have to after work, or whatever other simple life and career tasks we all have, then it's probably not for you. Bottom line, if you just fucking love flying airplanes, it's hard to get a job as good as upt. If flying planes is just how you pay the bills, then moving your family to the least exciting cities in America is probably not going to be particularly fulfilling.

First beta tester results: Wife: “Seriously!!! Turbo Ass Blaster 3000?! We’re having a baby, not an Eagle driver. You need to take this seriously.” Husband: “Yes dear. And also to clarify, does that mean Hugh Jorgan is off the table too?”

Then Europe will get what it deserves. why should we fund their defense when they could do it themselves but choose not to?

I don't think people who have never been falsely accused of a crime, and acquitted, understand the "innocent until proven guilty." They're also the dipshit who don't realize how easily it is to be accused of a crime and fuck up your personal and professional life.

Here we go again. If innocent until proven guilty is a technicality for you, then your evidence-free initial response to COVID seems to be the standard by which we should judge you. I'm old enough to remember when the Democratic party called Brett Kavanaugh a gang rapist based on absolutely zero evidence, including the newly-rejected vice president. So pardon me if I choose to trust our founding-principals on the assessment of guilt rather than the oft-corrupted media complex when deciding if Gaetz is a child rapist. Until the sin of the Kavanaugh hearing is confessed and atoned for, I won't be trusting *any* accusations of guilt from Democrats unless I see the evidence myself. You know, the same way I literally saw the Hunter Biden laptop materials with my own eyes. Why is it you pop up here only to make the absolute dumbest arguments?

I don't know much about him either but this sounds ok.

I went to a very liberal college and I’m usually not that petty with some old friends over how these things go, but the condescending attitudes they’ve had on why it happened…. So I sat down and fired this off into the room like a flash bang. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your standard tactic when confronted with the horrific actions of your party...counter with something a FORMER aide said he did. You can never admit of confront the evil. Trump sucks, I've said it a thousand times, but the DNC has no limits to what they will do to retain power.

It's funny to see Jimmy Kimmel talk about something being bad for women...the same guy who co-hosted the man show. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

I hope that happens, and I think any GO is senior. I have some names to suggest if he's looking. And Miley should be pulled from retirement just to get demoted.

its over, Trump wins.

I have no opinion on his motivations for mishandling classified documents, what kind of response were you expecting? I don’t know the man. And who said he’s a student of national defense? WTF are you talking about? Mishandling classified is a crime. That’s bad and I don’t support or condone it. However selective prosecution of crime is worse. A lot of what you guys simplistically label “whatabout-ism” is legitimate anger at double standards. If the law is the law and people who break it are punished (including Trump) then great! But democrats didn’t offer that, instead they offered lawfare against their political opponents, censoring free speech, men in womens sports, hate crimes for Christian’s praying outside abortion clinics and bail for looters burning police stations. Most of this nation saw it and rejected it.

An update shows the FEMA employee has been fired. "Trump supporters are evil so therefore I'm doing this for the team" is the same mindset as the IRS employee and the other 3 letter organizations. That mindset is a direct result of the higher ups in the organization. This person would not have done this if she didn't think she would not suffer repercussions. I'm not sure how deep Trump can fire people to restore fair and objective thinking but he needs to use the biggest cutting implement he can get his orange hands on.

I would love to see Tulsi as the head of homeland security so she can ask who put her and her husband on the terrorist watch list.

Can’t get rid of affirmative action Loyd Austin soon enough. Both OSD and JCS could be slashed in half. Actually let CCDRs do their job.

If someone isn’t willing to do a job because they’re worried they could get fired then I would not want that person in said job in the first place.

I blame State way more than I blame the DoD. Fire them all first.

Pandemic turnout could be an interesting avenue to explore. 81,000,000 votes down to ~62,000,000 votes DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. That is inexplicable. It cannot be hand-waived. That is an unbelievable difference in voter turnout. You're talking 20,000,000 people showing up, and then not showing up. That doesn't happen without a very clear reason. Period.

The worst thing Trump can do is put in people because others want them in and/or need to be rewarded. This is how you get Mayor Pete as Transportation Secretary. Trump made this mistake in his first term and he told Rogan he won’t do it again. So no, Haley should definitely not be in his campaign…again. Trump needs to put people in his cabinet that he can trust and that he truly believes can lead and solve problems….and definitely not anybody from the DC ruling class.

Oh it will happen, what it will be is yet to be seen yet. Thankfully we can now be unburdened by what has not been.

Marine Corps Blames Pilot Error for Crash of Malfunctioning F-35 in South Carolina Forest Kind of a fucked up situation with a non-aviator Commandant reaching in to roll this dude long after the fact. A quick summary of events, some of you may know more: 1. Crap Weather 2. Dude went missed approach 3. While on going missed his HMD glitches three times going blank - the report indicates no attitude information (assuming in the HMD), but does not say nothing about primary displays 4. The report says he lost his transponder AND radios 5. "With no visible reference to the horizon or ground, and unsure of which flight instruments he could trust, he perceived that the aircraft was still not responding to his commands to convert -- and therefore was out-of-controlled flight," 6. If you read the report (which is heavily redacted), they place the blame on the pilot "The investigation concluded that the mishap was a result of "pilot error" in that Del Pizzo incorrectly diagnosed the out-of-control flight emergency and "ejected from a flyable aircraft -- albeit under extremely challenging cognitive and flight conditions." 7. The report recommends NO punitive action against the pilot. 8. Leadership reviews the report, puts him back on status and sends him to a follow on command. 9. 100 days into new Command the Commandant does a second review of the report and decides to mort this guy in what can best be described as a perception kill. 2,000' in bad weather with a malfunctioning jet and your brain stem can't determine what is up and what is down...hard to blame a dude for punching because he is Spacial D.