The boy Gov in the Flaming Lip's space bubble

Only in the People's Republic of Norman

Got this in a email...

I was on Flood at the tire shop and we were talking about The City.

He said the merchants were told the work on Flood would include replacing the sewage line.

He said they just did that 2 years ago and was told no they didn't.

They had to go down town and finally someone realized it had been done under contract and they didn't have that in the roads department records so they didn't know.

If a Bank in Oklahoma did this, i would use it!

Only in TEXAS, Enlightened Banking and believers in the Second Amendment.

Chappell Hill Bank is a small town bank, between Houston and Brenham on
Highway 290

RIP Bill Millin, WW II Scottish D-Day Pipe

Bill Millin, a Scottish bagpiper who played highland tunes as his fellow commandos landed on a Normandy beach on D-Day.

Died on Wednesday in a hospital in the western England county of Devon. He was 88.

Lived to see his bravado immortalized in the 1962 film "The Longest Day". The actor playing Millin was Pipe Major Leslie de Laspee, the official piper to Her Majesty The Queen Mother in 1961.

The cause was complications from a stroke, his family said.

Mr. Millin was a 21-year-old private in Britain’s First Special Service Brigade when his unit landed on the strip of coast the Allies code-named Sword Beach, near the French city of Caen at the eastern end of the invasion front chosen by the Allies for the landings on June 6, 1944.

By one estimate, about 4,400 Allied troops died in the first 24 hours of the landings, about two-thirds of them Americans.

The young piper was approached shortly before the landings by the brigade’s commanding officer, Brig. Simon Fraser, who as the 15th Lord Lovat was the hereditary chief of the Clan Fraser and one of Scotland’s most celebrated aristocrats. Against orders from World War I that forbade playing bagpipes on the battlefield because of the high risk of attracting enemy fire, Lord Lovat, then 32, asked Private Millin to play on the beachhead to raise morale.

When Private Millin demurred, citing the regulations, he recalled later, Lord Lovat replied: “Ah, but that’s the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, and that doesn’t apply.”

Bill Millin playing the bagpipes in an photograph from
World War II taken shortly after D-Day.

After wading ashore in waist-high water that he said caused his kilt to float, Private Millin reached the beach, then marched up and down, unarmed, playing the tunes Lord Lovat had requested, including “Highland Laddie” and “Road to the Isles.”

With German troops raking the beach with artillery and machine-gun fire, the young piper played on as his fellow soldiers advanced through smoke and flame on the German positions, or fell on the beach. The scene provided an emotional high point in “The Longest Day.”
In later years Mr. Millin told the BBC he did not regard what he had done as heroic. When Lord Lovat insisted that he play, he said, “I just said ‘O.K.,’ and got on with it.” He added: “I didn’t notice I was being shot at. When you’re young, you do things you wouldn’t dream of doing when you’re older.”

He said he found out later, after meeting Germans who had manned guns above the beach, that they didn’t shoot him “because they thought I was crazy.”

Other British commandos cheered and waved, Mr. Millin recalled, though he said he felt bad as he marched among ranks of wounded soldiers needing medical help. But those who survived the landings offered no reproach.

“I shall never forget hearing the skirl of Bill Millin’s pipes,” one of the commandos, Tom Duncan, said years later. “As well as the pride we felt, it reminded us of home, and why we were fighting there for our lives and those of our loved ones.”

From the beach, Private Millin moved inland with the commandos to relieve British paratroopers who had seized a bridge near the village of Ouistreham that was vital to German attempts to move reinforcements toward the beaches. As the commandos crossed the bridge under German fire, Lord Lovat again asked Private Millin to play his pipes.

In 2008, French bagpipers started a fund to erect a statue of Mr. Millin near the landing site, but the fund remains far short of its $125,000 goal.

Bill Millin was born in Glasgow on July 14, 1922, the son of a policeman, and lived with his family in Canada as a child before returning to Scotland.

Lord Lovat and Bill became lifelong friends and he piped at Lovat’s funeral a decade or so ago. Now known as ‘Piper Bill’, he is one of the very few pipers to play during a World War II battle and is an absolute hero in Normandy. There is to be a statue of him unveiled on the 6th June 2010 close to the spot where he played, in Colleville Montgomery.


After the war, he worked on Lord Lovat’s estate near Inverness, but found the life too quiet and took a job as a piper with a traveling theater company. In the late 1950s, he trained in Glasgow as a psychiatric nurse and eventually settled in Devon, retiring in 1988. He visited the United States several times, lecturing on his D-Day experiences.
In 1954 he married Margaret Mary Dowdel. A widower, he is survived by their son, John.

Nutty North Korea confirms Chinese among detained fishermen

Background: Nutty North Korea silent on fate of South Korean fishing boat crew

North Korea today confirmed it seized a South Korean fishing boat nearly two weeks ago, according to the Yonhap and Xinhua news agencies.

The 41-ton boat called 'Daeseung 55' went missing on August 8 while en-route to a joint fishing area between North and South Korea off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. It was carrying four South Korean and three Chinese crew members.

The North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday for the first time confirmed that it had seized the ship, but said it was seized on August 10 and not August 8.

"According to our initial investigation, the ship was carrying four South Korean and three Chinese crewmembers, and their testimonies have shown that their ship had violated our exclusive economic zone," the KCNA report said, according to Yonhap.

Tensions between the two Koreas are continuing to rise since a March attack against a South Korean ship, which killed dozens of sailors. A South Korean-led international investigation concluded that North Korea was behind the attack, but North Korea continues to deny any involvement.

In June, Beijing took a public swipe at Pyongyang after North Korean border guards shot and killed three Chinese suspected of smuggling and wounded a fourth. North Korea apologized and told China it would punish those responsible.

On August 9, North Korea fired at least 100 rounds of artillery into its side of the Yellow Sea. It happened just after the end of U.S.-South Korean naval drills in a show of force against Pyongyang, a move that was strongly condemned by North Korea on numerous occasions.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the drills were 'dangerous provocations to ignite a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula.'

"These war maneuvers are a wanton violation of the Armistice Agreement and diametrically run counter to the presidential statement of the UNSC dated July 9, 2010 which calls for settling the pending issues on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and negotiations in a peaceful manner," the spokesman said.

"Such ceaseless military provocations being perpetrated in utter disregard of the concern of the international community about the tensions running high in the Korean Peninsula and the region go to clearly prove that the U.S. is, indeed, the arch criminal threatening and wrecking the global peace and security. The warmongers are so reckless as to dig their own graves," he added.

The spokesman said North Korea is ready for both dialogue and war and said it has means and methods to defend itself. "

The U.S. and South Korea are currently holding a joint military exercise, the second inside a month, angering both Pyongyang and China. They also plan to conduct an anti-submarine warfare exercise next month, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

Nutty North Korea Unveils New Battle Tank

USFK Intelligence authorities are analyzing footage of a new battle tank shown on North Korean state TV over the weekend. So far the existence of the "Pokpung" (Storm) had only been a rumor.

A USFK source on Monday said the Pokpung appears to be an improved version of the North Korean Army's previous model "Chonma" (Flying Horse) in terms of firepower and maneuverability.

The Pokpung tank is also known as the M-2002, as it is presumed to have been rolled out in 2002.
Armed with a 125 mm gun, the Pokpung appears to be a drastically improved version of the former Soviet Union's T-90 tank.

It seems to be more heavily armed with a 14.5 mm KPV anti-aircraft machine gun, which is more powerful than the 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on older tanks. Also equipped with a laser range finder and an infrared searchlight, the tank is presumed to have a higher accuracy as it has a more modern fire control system than earlier models.
The Pokpung has a welded hull and turret. Turret has a large wedge-shaped armor module, bolted onto the front for improved protection. A large turret bustle is built at the rear, which possibly contains crew gear or additional ammunition. This MBT possibly might be fitted with explosive reactive armor kit. However this tank looses in term of protection to most current MBTs.

This tank is powered by a turbocharged diesel engine, developing ~ 750 hp. The road wheels and drive sprockets appears to be T-90 components.

Vehicle can be fitted with additional fuel tanks for expended range.

It is believed that this tank has a crew of 4, including commander, gunner, loader and driver.

The North Korean tank was developed by Ryu Kyong-su Tank Factory in Shinhung, South Hamgyong province. The tank's performance tests were learned to have taken place near Pyongyang on February 16 in commemoration of Kim Jong-il's 60th birthday.

The designation of the latest North Korean tank has yet to be confirmed. Since Pyongyang named the tank it developed in 1985 "M-1985", some experts speculate that it may designate the latest one T-2002.

North Korea would not be the first Asian country to have a variant of the T-90. As of mid-2000 India planned to acquire T-90 tanks, based on field trials that had already been completed. Russia had agreed to expedite the delivery at India's request.

There had been previous signs that North Korea was working to develop this tank. Last August, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, during a trip to Russia, visited Omsk, about 2,250 kilometers east of Moscow, regarded as the center of Russia's defense manufacturing industry. There he toured the giant TransMash defense plant, which produces T-80 and T-90 tanks. It was reported then that North Korea wanted to purchase an upgraded model of a T-90 tank recently developed by the company as part of its efforts to modernize its conventional weapons.

North Korea succeeded in developing a new main battle tank, the capabilities of which are nearly identical to those of the T-90 tank Russia developed in the early 1990s

North Korea's development of the tank is consistent with its emphasis on expanding ground-force mobility. North Korea's army now has nearly 4,000 tanks, including one it developed based on the Russian T-80, a sample of which it brought in from Afghanistan in the early 1990s, the most advanced type at that time. Among the country's tanks are some 800 T-62s, 275 T-59s, -55s and -54s, and 250 T-34s.

This is hardly the first time that North Korea has used Russia as a role model in terms of weapons production. Beginning in the late 1970s, North Korea began to produce a modified version of the 115mm-gunned T-62 tank, which was the Soviet army's main battle tank in the 1960s.

Over the years it has become clear that North Korea has made considerable modifications to the basic Soviet and Chinese designs in its own production.

While the Russians have developed export variants of the T-90, the T-90S (or "C" in Cyrillic) and the T-90SK command variant, it is unclear whether either of them was made available to North Korea as it developed its model.

The Russian T-90 has a 125mm main gun. It can also fire a laser-guided missile with a hollow-charge warhead that is effective against both armored targets and low-flying helicopters. The missile gives the T-90 the ability to engage other vehicles and helicopters before they can engage the T-90. The computerized fire control system and laser rangefinder, coupled with a gunner's thermal sight, permits the T-90 to engage targets while on the move at speeds of 45-65km/h, and at night.

The T-90 compares favorably to its Western counterparts such as the US M1 Abrams, German Leopard-2, British Challenger-2, and French LeClerc. It weights less, its main gun is bigger, it carries a guided weapon, the range of its night sight is longer, and it has jammers that disrupt the targeting systems of anti-tank missiles. However, as this is a first-generation system it is probably not as capable as comparable Western systems.

The tank is fitted with precision laying equipment and an automatic loader to guarantee a high rate of gunfire. Secondary armament includes a coaxial 7.62mm PKT machine gun and 12.7mm machine-gun mount for air and ground targets. It also features a new generation of armor on its hull and turret.

The North Korean Army has about 3,900 tanks, much more than the South Korean Army's 2,300, but they are believed to perform much more poorly.

Entered service late 1990s
Crew 4 men
Dimensions and weight
Weight ~ 44 t
Length (gun forward) ?
Hull length ?
Width ?
Height ?
Armament
Main gun 115-mm smoothbore
Machine guns 1 x 14.5-mm, 1 x 7.62-mm
Elevation range ?
Traverse range 360 degrees
Ammunition load
Main gun ~ 40 rounds
Machine guns 300 x 14.5, 1 500 x 7.62
Mobility
Engine diesel
Engine power ~ 750 hp
Maximum road speed 50 ~ 60 km/h
Range 400 ~ 500 km
Maneuverability
Gradient 60%
Side slope 40%
Vertical step ~ 0.9 m
Trench ~ 2.8 m
Fording ~ 1.4 m
Fording (with preparation) 5 m

GEN Stanley McChrystal’s Retirement Remarks

23 July 2010, Fort McNair, Washington D.C.














This is frustrating. I spent a career waiting to give a retirement speech and lie about what a great soldier I was. Then people show up who were actually there. It proves what Doug Brown taught me long ago; nothing ruins a good war story like an eyewitness.

To show you how bad it is, I can't even tell you I was the best player in my little league because the kid who was the best player is here tonight. In case you're looking around, he's not a kid anymore.

But to those here tonight who feel the need to contradict my memories with the truth, remember I was there too. I have stories on all of you, photos on many, and I know a Rolling Stone reporter. (Laughter.) (Applause.)

Look, this has the potential to be an awkward or even a sad occasion. With my resignation, I left a mission I feel strongly about. I ended a career I loved that began over 38 years ago. And I left unfulfilled commitments I made to many comrades in the fight, commitments I hold sacred.

My service did not end as I would have wished, and there are misperceptions about the loyalty and service of some dedicated professionals that will likely take some time but I believe will be corrected.

Still, Annie and I aren't approaching the future with sadness but with hope and iPhones. And my feelings for more than 34 years I spent as an Army officer are a combination of surprise that any experience could have been as rich and fulfilling as mine was and gratitude for the comrades and friends we were blessed with.

That's what I feel. And if I fail to communicate that effectively tonight, I'll simply remind you that Secretary Gates once told me I was a modern Patton of strategic communications. (Laughter.) Fair point.

So if we laugh tonight, it doesn't mean all these years have not been important to me. It means the opposite; that every day and every friend were gifts I treasure and I need to celebrate.

But first, I need to address two questions that we've been asked often lately. The first is: What are you going to do? Actually, Annie is the one who's asking me that. I'm thinking I'd be a good fashion consultant and spokesman for Gucci -- (laughter) -- but they haven't called.

The other question is always asked a bit tentatively. How are you and Annie doing? We did spend some years apart, but we're doing well. And I am carrying some of what I learned into retirement.

First, Annie and I are reconnecting. And now, we're up on Skype with each other. Of course, we never did that all the years I was 10,000 miles away, but now we can connect by video link when we're 15 feet apart. And I think she really likes that. (Laughter.)

I was so enthused I tried using Skype for a daily family VTC -- (laughter) -- where I could get updates and pass out guidance, but there's some resistance to flatter and faster in the McChrystal household. The same is true for the tactical directive I issued soon after my return. It's reasonable guidance: One meal a day, early-morning PT, the basics of a good family life. (Laughter.)

But I've gotten a few night letters, and Annie's stocking up on ammonium nitrate fertilizer -- (laughter) -- which is strange since our new yard is smaller than this podium. Although the insurgency is relatively small -- one woman -- she's uninterested in reintegration. (Laughter.) I assess the situation as serious and, in many ways, deteriorating. (Laughter.)

Mr. Secretary, look at her. I'm thinking at least 40,000 troops. (Laughter.) (Applause.)

Let me thank everyone for being here. This turnout is truly humbling. Here tonight are my wife and son, my four brothers, two nephews, mentors, comrades from countless phases of my career, and some special guests whose service and sacrifice are impossible to describe with words.
But because this crowd is pretty big, for good order and discipline, I've divided you all into four groups. Please remember your group number. (Laughter.)

Group 1 are all the people who accepted responsibility for making this ceremony work from the planners to the soldiers on the field. My apologies for all the time you spend in the heat. You're special people. And in my mind, you also represent soldiers all over the world. You have my sincere appreciation.

The second group -- (applause). The second group is distinguished servants of all nations who have taken time from your often-crushing schedules to be here. And thanks for your years of support and friendship. I got you out of the office early on Friday.

Group 3 are warriors of all ranks, and that includes many who don't wear a uniform but defend our nation with whom I have shared aircraft, VTCs, remote outposts, frustrations, triumphs, laughs and a common cause for many years. You are not all here. Some of you are deployed and in the fight. Others rest across river in Arlington. Most of the credit I've received actually belongs to you. It has been your comradeship that I have considered the greatest honor of my career.

Finally, Group 4 is all those who've heard we're having two kegs of beer in the backyard after my ceremony. This group includes a number of my classmates from West Point, old friends, most of the warriors from Group 3, and some others who defy accurate description. Anyone already carrying a plastic cup might be considered the vanguard of Group 4. (Laughter.) Everyone here today is invited to join.
To Secretary Gates, I want to express my personal thanks, certainly, for your generous remarks but more for your wisdom and leadership which I experienced firsthand in each of my last three jobs. Your contribution to the nation and to the force is nothing short of historic.

Similarly, I want to thank the many leaders, civilian and military, of our nation beginning with President Obama for whom and with whom I was honored to serve. Whether elected, appointed or commissioned, the common denominator of selfless service has been inspiring.
As COM ISAF, I was provided a unique opportunity to serve alongside the professionals of 46 nations under the leadership of NATO. We were stronger for the diversity of our force, and I'm better for the experience.
My thanks, also, to the leadership and people of Afghanistan for their partnership, hospitality and friendship. For those who are tempted to simplify their view of Afghanistan and focus on the challenges ahead, I counter with my belief that Afghans have courage, strength and resiliency that will prove equal to the task.
My career included some amazing moments and memories, but it is the people I'll remember. It was always about the people. It was about the soldiers who are well-trained but, at the end of the day, act out of faith in their leaders and each other; about the young sergeants who emerge from the ranks with strength, discipline, commitment and courage.

As I grew older, the soldiers and sergeants of my youth grew older as well. They became the old sergeants, long-service professionals whose wisdom and incredible sense of responsibility for the mission and for our soldiers is extraordinary.

And the sergeants major -- they were a national treasure. They mold and maintain the force and leaders like me. They have been my comrade, confidante, constructive critic, mentor and best friend.

A little more than a year ago on a single e-mail, Command Sergeant Major Mike Hall came out of retirement, leaving a job, his son and his amazing wife Brenda to join me in Afghanistan. To Mike, I could never express my thanks. To Brenda, I know after all these years, I owe you. I also love you.

To true professionals like Sergeants Major Rudy Valentine, Jody Nacy, Steve Cuffie, CW Thompson, Chris Craven, Jeff Mellinger and Chris Farris, your presence here today is proof that, when something is truly important, like this ceremony, you're on hand to make sure I don't screw it up.

I've been blessed with the presence of old friends throughout my career, friendships that began long ago at West Point, Forts Benning, Bragg, Lewis or countless other locations and shared years of Army life, moving vans, kids, laughs, disappointments, and each other's successes which grew into bonds that became critical on the battlefield.

I treasure a note I received during a particularly tough time in Afghanistan in 2007 from fellow commander, Dave Rodriguez, that quoted Sherman's confidence that, if he ever needed support, he knew his friend Grant would come to his aid if alive. Serving with people who say and mean such words is extraordinary.
I served with many. Many of you are here tonight. And not all the heroes are comrades are in uniform. In the back of a darkened helicopter over Kunar, Afghanistan, in 2004, a comrade in blue jeans whose friendship I cherish to this day passed me a note. Scribbled on a page torn from a pocket notebook, the note said, "I don't know the Ranger Creed, but you can count on me to always be there." He lived up to his promise many times over.

To have shared so much with and been so dependent on people of such courage, physical and moral, integrity and selflessness taught me to believe.

Annie's here tonight. No doubt she walked the 50 feet from our front door in cute little Italian shoes of which we have an extensive collection. (Laughter.)

In Afghanistan, I once considered using Annie's shoe purchases as an argument to get Italy to send additional forces. (Laughter.) But truth be known, I have no control over that part of the McChrystal economy. (Laughter.)

But she's here like she's always been there when it mattered. Always gorgeous. For three and a half years, she was my girlfriend then fiancée and, for over 33 years, she's been my wife.

For many years, I've joked, sometimes publicly, about her lousy cooking, terrifying closets, demolition derby driving and addiction to M&M candy, which is all true. But as we conclude a career together, it's important for you to know she was there.

She was there when my father commissioned me a second lieutenant of infantry and was waiting some months later when I emerged from Ranger School. Together, we moved all we owned in my used Chevrolet Vega to our first apartment at Fort Bragg. The move, with our first days in our $180-a-month apartment, was the only honeymoon I was able to give her, a fact she has mentioned a few times since.

Annie always knew what to do. She was gracious when she answered the door at midnight in her nightgown to fight Sergeant Emo Holtz, a huge mortarman, carrying a grocery bag of cheap liquor for a platoon party I'd hastily coordinated that evening and not told Annie about following a Friday night jump. I got home not long after to find Annie making food for assembling paratroopers. Intuitively, Annie knew what was right and quietly did it.

With 9/11, she saw us off to war and patiently supported the families of our fallen with stoic grace. As the years passed and the fight grew ever more difficult and deadly, Annie's quiet courage gave me strength I would never otherwise have found.

It's an axiom in the Army that soldiers write the checks but families pay the bills. And war increases both the accuracy of that statement and the cost families pay.

In a novel based on history, Steven Pressfield captured poignantly just how important families were and, I believe, are today. Facing an invading Persian army under King Xerxes, a coalition of Greek states sent a small force to buy time by defending the pass at Thermopylae and were led by 300 special, selected Spartans. The mission was desperate and death for the 300 certain.

Before he left to lead them, the Spartan king, Leonidas, explained to one of the Spartan wives how he had selected the 300 from an entire army famed for its professionalism, courage and dedication to duty.

"I chose them not for their valor, lady, but for that of their women. Greece stands now upon her most perilous hour. If she saves herself, it will not be at the gates. Death alone awaits us and our allies there but later in battles yet to come by land and sea."

"Then Greece, if the gods will it, will preserve herself. Do you understand this, lady? Well, now, listen, when the battle is over, when the 300 have gone to death, then all Greece will look to the Spartans to see how they bear it. But who, lady, will the Spartans look to? To you. To you and the other wives and mothers, sisters and daughters of the fallen."

"If they behold your hearts riven and broken with grief, they too will break and Greece will break with them. But if you bear up, dry eyed, not alone enduring your loss but seizing it with contempt for its agony and embracing it as the honor that it is in truth, then Sparta will stand and all Greece will stand behind her.

"Why have I nominated you, lady, to bear up beneath this most terrible of trials, you and your sisters of the 300? Because you can."

To all who wear no uniform but give so much, sacrifice so willingly and serve as such an example to our nation and each other, my thanks.
As I leave the Army, to those with responsibility to carry on, I'd say, service in this business is tough and often dangerous. It extracts a price for participation, and that price can be high.

It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal or professional costs of loss by limiting how much you commit, how much of belief and trust in people, and how deeply you care. Caution and cynicism are safe, but soldiers don't want to follow cautious cynics. They follow leaders who believe enough to risk failure or disappointment for a worthy cause.

If I had it to do over again, I'd do some things in my career differently but not many. I believed in people, and I still believe in them. I trusted and I still trust. I cared and I still care. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. To the young leaders of today and tomorrow, it's a great life. Thank you. (Applause.)

Fort Carson's 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) community is getting larger

Over recent months, the Army's 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) has quietly begun assembling a new operational battalion -- which, when complete, will consist of about 300 mission-ready Green Berets.

The move is part of the first major Special Forces expansion in 20 years, which began in 2008 to address the growing need for Green Berets and their small-team tactics against insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

All five Green Beret groups were tapped to receive a fourth battalion, the Army Special Operations Command said when it announced the expansion. That's an occupational necessity for a unit that deploys in small teams for classified operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although the post has been generally low-key about its fresh arrivals, the new battalion is hardly a state secret. "Other groups have stood up a fourth battalion, this is our turn and there will be others," said 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Osterholzer.

The 5th Special Forces Group (Abn) at Fort Campbell , KY. , got the first additions in August 2008.

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Abn) at Fort Bragg , N.C. , stood up a new battalion last summer.

The 10th SFG (A) plans to publicly announce the new battalion at an Aug. 19 news conference at Fort Carson.

The new Soldiers will bring Fort Carson 's contingent of Green Berets to three operational battalions. A fourth operational battalion under 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) is based in Stuttgart , Germany .

Lt. Col. Osterholzer said the new battalion is about 70 percent complete. "We've taken a blend of experienced (Special Forces) Soldiers from other organizations and balanced them in with new Soldiers straight out of the qualification course," he said.

Lt. Col. Osterholzer said training began "a good number of months ago," with cold-weather mountain warfare drills and urban combat exercises.

To accommodate the new arrivals, Fort Carson will in all likelihood need to add a barracks in the 10th SFG (A) area, Col. Robert McLaughlin, the garrison commander, said in a recent interview.

Until then, the unit will have to improvise by filling rooms left vacant by Soldiers who are deployed, he said. "We're able to shuffle so that our population can be billeted," McLaughlin said.

From an economic standpoint, the new arrivals are good news for the rest of the Pikes Peak Region, said Brian Binn, president of military affairs for The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. "If you add any number of Soldiers, then you add to the economic base," he said.

Terrill Confident Over Grand Jury

Terrill Confident Over Grand Jury

Grand Jury convened today but he's not been subpoenaed.

By Jerry Bohnen
Monday, August 16, 2010

A multi-county grand jury convened Monday in Oklahoma City but State Representative Randy Terrill and other legislators were not called in the Oklahoma County district attorney's probe of their actions to create a state job for one legislator.

Terrill assumed it meant he was no longer a target of David Prater's investigation but also charged Prater would not admit he was wrong in carrying out the probe over the past few months.

"He's so far out on a limb that he's backed himself into a corner," said Terrill in an interview with KTOK News. He sounded confident he and other legislators would not be summoned to testify before a grand jury, noting he had not been subpoenaed and the current grand jury was scheduled to disband in a month.

"I don't know whether he's a target of an investigation or not," explained Terrill's attorney, Stephen Jones. "But there's no basis to indict him or continue the investigation by the grand jury."

Jones contends the Oklahoma constitution is clear that the questions surrounding efforts by Terrill and others in the legislature to create the $80,000 a year job for State Senator Debbe Leftwich 'are the province of the House'.

Does it mean the D-A has dropped his investigation? Scott Rowland, first Assistant District Attorney wouldn't comment when asked about it today.

"He (Terrill) hasn't been subpoenaed for the August grand jury or any grand jury, so any opinion I would have would be speculative," said Jones. "He was subpoenaed for the grand jury in July but it was withdrawn by Prater and no new subpoena has been issued or served, so you can draw your own conclusions from that."

Hoo-AH: National Airborne Day honors past, present paratroopers

I did not see any Presidential Proclamations
which are usually issued before the event,
and there’s nothing in today Federal Register.

On August 16, 1940, "The United States Army Infantry Board Airborne Test Platoon", performed the first official U.S. Army parachute jump and on August 16, 1942 the 82nd Infantry Division was the first airborne division designated and was renamed the 82nd Airborne Division.

Since then U.S. Airborne troops have played a vital role in World War II, Panama, Grenada, Desert Storm, Haiti, Somalia, the Balkans, and the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This year's event commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Army Parachute Test Platoon's first official jump and the 10th anniversary of the Special Operations Museum in downtown Fayetteville.

Lt. Gen. Dick Seitz, a World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge in 1945 and earned a Silver Star, was the event's guest speaker.

In 1967, Seitz commanded the 82nd Airborne Division where he deployed troops to quell riots in Detroit and Washington, D.C. Within 36 hours of notification, he deployed the 3rd Brigade to Vietnam following the Tet Offensive.

Seitz's last assignment before retiring in 1975 was as the commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg. He spoke Saturday of the service and sacrifice made by members of the military.

In his remarks, Seitz revisited the origin of today's Army paratrooper. The first jump from an aircraft in flight by members of the test platoon of Airborne infantry was made from a Douglas B-18 over Lawson Field at Fort Benning, Ga., on Aug. 16, 1940.

"Those members of the test platoon were the cream of our Army," Seitz said. "They set the standards. They laid the groundwork for the spirit, for the professionalism we have in our Army."

“Although the environment has changed, our soldiers are still the dedicated soldiers they have always been,” Seitz said.

Other special guests included Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, the commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps; and Gen. James J. Lindsay, a former commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps.

"Airborne soldiers are a different breed of soldier," Helmick said. "When they take on a task, they go all the way."

In June, the original Iron Mike - the 2,500-pound statue of an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper - was moved from storage on Fort Bragg and placed at the entrance to the Airborne museum.

On Saturday, Iron Mike's plaque was unveiled. It read:

"In honor of Airborne troopers whose courage, dedication, and traditions make them the world's finest fighting soldiers."

On August 14, 2002 President George W. Bush issued a proclamation to recognize August 16th as “National Airborne Day.”

In his proclamation President Bush states:

“During World War II, Airborne tactics were critical to the success of important missions, including the D-Day invasion at Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, the invasion of Southern France, and many others.

In Korea and Vietnam, Airborne soldiers played a critical combat role, as well as in later conflicts and peacekeeping operations, including Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Haiti, Somalia, and the Balkans.

Most recently, Airborne forces were vital to liberating the people of Afghanistan from the repressive and violent Taliban regime; and these soldiers con-tinue to serve proudly around the world in the global coalition against terrorism.

Airborne combat continues to be driven by the bravery and daring spirit of sky soldiers. Often called into action with little notice, these forces have earned an enduring reputation for dedication, excellence, and honor. As we face the challenges of a new era, I encourage all people to recognize the contributions of these courageous soldiers to our Nation and the world.”