BREAKING: In a rare move, after
@Militarydotcom
's investigation -- the Army suspended a 4-star general, referred him to DoD investigators after our reporting found he may have leveraged his power to subvert the command assessment process for a subordinate
A Washington state Guardsman received a phone call from a Ukrainian who has an issue with the Javelin. Guardsman talked him through it. 30 minutes later, Guardsman gets a call from the Ukrainian who just blew up a Russia vehicle.
Puckett has issues walking, two soldiers held his arms to walk him on the stage. But for the MOH citation reading, he's standing on his own, a soldier brought his walker and he pushed it away.
Lt. Col. Tulsi Gabbard took command of the 440th Civil Affairs Battalion, a Reserve unit at Ft Carson over the weekend. Gabbard has a long history of peddling conspiracy theories and pro-Russian talking points. She also guest hosted Tucker Carlson's Fox show.
Tulsi Gabbard, long know for her pushing of conspiracies and Russian talking points, briefs special ops students on the role of psyops, leadership and disinfo
Cawthorn voted against a major toxic exposure package which is arguably the most significant boost to veteran healthcare since the creation of the VA itself.
Me: How much did the Department of Defense spend on snow crab and Alaskan king crab in 2018?
DoD: I don’t have that amount
Me: $2.3 million. Do you know how much Pgh spends each year on our unhoused folks? Only $1.2 million & they’re not being served gourmet seafood.
Texas Guard leadership is denying hardship requests en mass with soldiers facing financial hardship begging to be excused from the border mission, facing losing their cars & homes. Many haven't been properly paid in months.
Pvt David Dean graduated from basic training today and is soldier of the cycle. He went through the fitness track of the prep course to qualify for the Army. He entered at 320 lbs, now weighs 250 lbs. He could barely run a mile. Now his ACFT score is 570.
Roughly 60,000 Reserve and Guard troops are now cut off from pay & cannot train after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The huge number comes amid a recruiting crisis & annual training season for part-timers.
An 82nd Airborne soldier was arrested after the feds found a long history of overt white supremacist ties and threats
Why he said he enlisted:
"I serve for combat experience so I'm more proficient in killing n-----s"
If Russians are actually out of food/fuel and Ukrainians are truly treating POWs well, feeding them good, letting them call home -- that's more devastating than any traditional weapon.
Both the Pentagon and National Guard are radio silent on whether troops are ultimately for hire after a GOP billionaire spent $1 million funding a border deployment.
Just me still wondering how the Army lets a Lt Col spin vague threats of insurrection on a nearly daily basis opposing “tyrannical policies” which are never specified - while the private gets smashed for a mild alcohol offense.
Maj. Gen. Donahoe retired this week with the Army taking no action against him after he defended women in a spat with Tucker Carlson. The Army found his conduct gave the service negative media attention.
Pentagon isn’t sure what to do with its Twitter accounts or whether to pay for verification, a spokesperson effectively blaming Elon Musk changing his mind every couple hours making it difficult to make a plan.
Ft Gordon is now Ft Eisenhower: The Army has finished renaming bases which originally honored Confederates who waged war against the US largely to preserve the slave trade
Tulsi Gabbard - a Lt. Col. in the Army Reserve has been peddling Russian talking points for the past couple weeks - and is strongly suggesting US troops are planned to be involved in the fighting in Ukraine.
@MattWalshBlog
Pitbulls are some of the easiest to train and lovely dogs. There is absolutely no data on them being more prone to violence. It's all about the owner, they dictate what kind of dog they have 100%.
An Army lieutenant colonel was relieved of command for far-right, racist, & inflammatory social media posts and is now facing discharge. This follows the Pentagon's warning troops' social media will face more scrutiny amid efforts to combat extremism.
I don't know how the Army expects to operate in the disinformation age if its senior officials are muzzled and can't issue even the most milquetoast rebukes.
NEW: The Army Inspector General said that while MG Pat Donahoe's defense of servicewomen in light of comments made by Fox News' Tucker Carlson was "potentially admirable," it brought too much "negative publicity," according to the report we obtained.
Spc. Valley was cut from a rope in the midst of a suicide attempt. His unit provided no substantial inpatient care or observation. He died 30 days later.
The system failed him. This story contains graphic depictions of suicide.
After the numbers, Ukraine’s top military official ended the statement saying “Welcome to Hell.” The key is do Russians have the will to suffer heavy losses. They’ve already lost more than the US did in Afghanistan. Ukraine is putting up a serious fight.
Per Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, 2,800 Russian troops so far have been killed.
Other Russian losses:
Tanks – About 80
Other armored vehicles - 516
Planes – 10
Helicopters – 7
SCOOP: The Army is looking at allowing commanders to reassign soldiers to a new base if local laws discriminate against them, amid a wave of red state crackdowns & threats on LGBTQ and reproductive rights
SCOOP: The National Guard is behind paying thousands of soldiers their enlistment bonuses. It has gotten so bad thousands more have served their entire contracts and left without ever being paid.
Was sent this pic of a bunch of patches, complete with Arctic tabs, ready to be handed out to roughly 12,000 soldiers today as the 11th Airborne Division is formed in Alaska.
BREAKING: A Wisconsin Guardsman who pleaded guilty to his role in the Jan 6 Capitol assault in Sept is being removed from the service. But he was allowed to keep training with his unit, with weapons, and drew a monthly paycheck.
Nothing to see here just a Lt Col and former congresswoman saying the “mainstream media” is going to get more people killed than Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor
Tulsi Gabbard on Fox just now: Biden efforts to hire women, minorities, LGBT+ etc for top administration roles makes him just like Hitler.
(she actually said this on live television not 10 minutes ago)
Like with war, I’m very much in the school of thought that - with the consent of families - show the public what the cost of policy decisions looks like.
Some journalists argue that if lawmakers and American citizens were able to see the graphic images of dead bodies in classrooms, there could be a shift in how some in the country approach gun rights.
The Army Secretary is going to issue a reminder to commanders: They cannot deny parental leave. I talked to some soldiers who say their units are breaking the rules, denying leave.
A Marine corporal was discharged in less than a week after refusing to comply with mask mandates and refused to get a vaccine. It was a fast dismissal from the force. Here's what she told me:
Some of these Afghans are the reason some veterans are alive. Side note that in terms % of tax payer dollars, VA is the 2nd largest government bureaucracy to the DOD. Anyone that tells you vets aren’t a top priority is lying or not aware of the federal budget.
Soldiers right now are more likely to be away from home than the peak of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars. Europe, the Pacific, Africa and constant training obligations are stretching the force thin and pushing families to the breaking point.
A lot of bad actors are going to giggle at this, but deployment experiences vary widely and I don't think anyone has experienced thousands of people violently coming at them at once while having little backup or leadership communications.
New Investigation: How children are hurt, abused & traumatized at military daycares, and how the services skirt norms, laws and weaponize ignorance to protect itself and keep parents in the dark. with
@KToropin
&
@rachelnostrant
Guardsmen have finally been awarded their Purple Hearts after two years of pushback from a senior leader and attempts from the Trump administration to downplay Iran's missile attack on a U.S. base.
Their injuries are debilitating, not just "headaches."
If anyone wanted an update on the Ohio Guard general who shoved a reporter a few months back:
"Maj. Gen. Harris , OH AG, has received the Harry Hertz Leadership Award from the Baldrige Foundation, which recognizes an individual whose behaviors are a role model for others."
A man who was a part of the Jan 6 mob which sought to overthrow the government was just sentenced to more than 5 years in prison, the longest sentence yet.
At least 115 soldiers infected with COVID-19 at a Arkansas Guard training event - kneecapping training. Leaders really want their soldiers vaccinated but their hands are tied.
After early success getting 10,000 new recruits into basic training who otherwise wouldn’t qualify to enlist - the Army prep courses will no longer be a pilot program and be cemented in a permanent school for the Army.
DoD says it isn't clear whether Russian soldiers knew they were going to war.
Imagine if you went to a training event and the "OPFOR" started returning fire with live rounds. Combat can be traumatic,but surprise combat has to be next level for serious mental health consequences
An unnamed Army official's description of me, per a source. "He's one of the more difficult reporters we have to deal with, but also gets that sometimes the Army is just dumb."
@lara_korte
@GavinNewsom
Even if you have insurance, how are you supposed to know if the hospital and the specific doctor are in your network? Ambulance rides are like $10k out of pocket, I'm not getting in one if I don't absolutely have to.
You're going to see a lot of vague calls from GOP lawmakers to give more military support to Ukraine - but they didn't support Trump's first impeachment over withholding that aid for political gain.
A Ft Hood 1SG banned his troops from using the elevator in the morning for…reasons.
I called to ask him about it, he told me to never call again and hung up.
A Fort Carson commander effectively banned his troops from meeting with doctors, mental healthcare providers, legal assistance, and basically all critical services during PT hours.
The takeaway from some Army leaders and other officials at AUSA was the Army lost control of the Donahoe story, somewhat due to slow messaging. The bigger issue is the Army doesn't have a playbook on dealing with disinfo and rapidly developing media narratives.
There has been confusion on an issue where there should be none. So let me be clear: I expect
@USArmy
leaders to stand up for women—and all Soldiers—who are unduly attacked or disrespected.
It is truly a privilege to have been selected to serve the soldiers of the 440th Civil Affairs Battalion as their Commander. In these times of ever-escalating tensions and global uncertainty, our role as the warrior diplomats of the Army is more important than ever.
It's far into the story, but the Army is facing two big problems right now: Its outdated social media/comms policies and top officials are terrified of stirring up right-wing media and GOP lawmakers. No one wants to be the subject of the Tucker Carlson segment.
Biden signed the PAWS Act into law today, directing VA to start a limited program giving a few grants to organizations who train and provide service dogs to vets. It's the first major federal backing of dogs as a tool for therapy.
The National Guard is two weeks from totally collapsing and canceling all training, grounding aircraft - setting back careers - unless Congress reimburses the force for the Capitol mission.
It's much less dramatic, but the Army has also been concerned about a lack of access to health care for women in red states. Restricting care is increasingly being seen as a readiness issue for the troops.
The move comes as Sen. Tuberville is holding ~300 military nominations over DOD's reproductive health policies. US officials have said they had concerns about Alabama’s reproductive policies & what it would mean for troops if SPACECOM were moved there.
Some 600 Mississippi Guard troops are deployed to Jackson amid the water crisis. They are on SAD orders, which precludes them from earning benefits such as the GI Bill and VA home loan and typically means they earn less pay than generally associated with active duty.
Let me spell this out - the Guard will remove a service member, often fast, for using marijuana - even in states where it’s legal. They can also remove you for being overweight. But if you attack the government in a coup attempt, you can stay in it appears.
A soldier in the
@WI_Guard
pleaded guilty to assaulting the Capitol on Jan 6. Leaders in the state are begging for him to continue his service. The Guard refuses to say if he deployed to protect the Capitol after attacking it.
Texas Guardsmen on Greg Abbott's scandal-scarred border mission move to unionize - a possible flashpoint for Guardsmen as governors increasingly rely on them.
All public statements and moves from the administration and NATO shows the priority is avoiding war - and to keep US troops out of any risk of confrontation with Russian troops.