WACO, TX, December 1, 2009 – As the one-month anniversary of the Fort Hood shootings approaches, Rudy’s “Country Store” and Bar-B-Q today announced that it will donate a portion of its revenues from online and participating store locations on December 5^th, the one-month anniversary of the Fort Hood tragedy, to Soldiers’ Angels, a non profit organization that helps veterans and their families. Soldiers’ Angels plans to give each of the 46 families affected by the shootings gift packages that consists of toys, Christmas cards and pre-paid VISA/Mastercard cards that they can use to purchase essential items and for holiday shopping.
In addition, Rudy’s will donate $1 for every new verifiable Twitter follower and Facebook fan from November 30^th to December 7^th. Rudy’s can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rudysbbq and ‘friend’ requested on Facebook at http://facebook.com/rudysbbq. More information can be found at http://rudys.com/follow2support.
“Soldiers’ Angels is calling on companies and organizations in Texas and around the country to follow Rudy’s example in showing support for the Fort Hood victims by giving generously,” said Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers’ Angels. “We can all make a difference in the lives of those who have been hurt by this senseless act of violence especially during the holidays.”

There were 13 killed and 33 wounded in the Fort Hood shootings. Many families with children have been left without a parent and/or grandparent.
“Speaking for myself and the Rudy’s organization, we can’t even begin to imagine the suffering and pain that the families of the Fort Hood victims are going through right now,” said Pete Bassett, VP of Operations at Rudy’s. “We hope that our contribution will help make their holidays and New Year a little brighter.”
ABOUT RUDY’S “COUNTRY STORE” AND BAR-B-Q
Since 1989, Rudy´s "Country Store" and Bar-B-Q has been serving up genuine Texas Bar-B-Q to folks in the Southwest USA.  Its roots can be traced back to the original Rudy’s store in Leon Springs, Texas, built in the 1800’s.  Rudy’s Bar-B-Q pits are 100% wood fired with oak. Along with time and oak, Rudy’s cooks with a dry spice that ensures perfectly smoked bar-b-q every visit. It is best served with Rudy’s famous "Sause.”  Rudy’s also sells Meats, “Sause”, Rubs and Merchandise online at http://www.rudys.com. You can follow Rudy’s Bar-B-Q on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rudysbbq and on Facebook at http://facebook/rudysbbq.
ABOUT SOLDIERS’ ANGELS
Established in 2003, Soldiers' Angels is a volunteer-based 501(c)(3) non-profit providing aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, as well as veterans and military families. For more information, please visit www.soldiersangels.org or call 626-529-5114.

They still don't get it.

Below is the RNC's purity test.  If a candidate disagrees with more than two, they don't get RNC funding, which means they can flip-flop, disagree, or otherwise be weak on two and still get funded.  That's the first problem.  Agree (and do so in a legally binding manner) to all ten, or GFYS.  My addendums and corrections below  in bold.

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill; ("smaller" is a relative term.  So is "lower."  Give me hard numbers or don't bother.)

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare; (Market based is BS.  How about "laissez-faire economic growth?")

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation; (Better:  We will stop wasting money on the Dept. of Energy, who's had 30 years to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and failed; will remove restrictions to building nuclear power plants, and encourage exploration and exploitation of all our nation's natural energy resources.)

(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check; (We support the worker's rights to unionize, will not intervene on behalf of the worker or the employer, and the employers rights to fire their asses.)

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants; (and will ensure the government actually enforces immigration laws by finding and repatriating the current crop of illegals.  New illegal immigrants, henceforth referred to as "insurgents" will be summarily executed as a clear and present danger to US security.)

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges; (we will not only support, but will fund, any and all support requests from the theater commanders, and if the CinC decides to "not decide" for a given length of time, we will not pass any legislation put before us until he does.)

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat; (by containment we mean destruction of any and all offensive capability and the cordoning of both states from international support, relief, trade, or travel.)

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act; (this is pandering to the religious right.  They should support the rights of all Americans to engage in a civil contract of their choosing.  They should also support the rights of all businesses to define marriage for themselves when selling insurance, health care, or whatever.  Business owners should have just as much right to define which civil contracts they cover.  If it is a matter of benefits, the business should, again, be allowed to determine which benefits they will confer to other parties not employed by them.)

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing, denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and (How about we take out "vulnerable?"  Would the government fund an abortion if the life of the mother were at risk?  Is she not "vulnerable?"  Is there any instance where abortion would be paid for by the government, and if so, who decides what fits the equation and who does not?  By the way, who is actually FOR health care rationing, and denial of healthcare?  Let's get rid of this one and replace it with "All our elected party members will serve no more than two terms, if they  accept current government pay and benefits.  If, however, they agree to receive a salary equal to the government-set poverty level plus 10%, they can serve for more than two terms.  They must, however, decide before they accept any cash from us.  Current office holders must decide right now what they will do.

(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership. (Again, the RNC missed the mark.  We don't want you to just oppose government restrictions on ownership.  We want you to support the position that to keep and bear arms is a specific, enumerated, and individual right, that the government may not infringe on that right for any reason, and limiting access, sale, taxation, impeding on importation or exportation across state lines, or any other measures taken that will impede a citizens right to buy, sell, carry (open or concealed), or make usable any firearm, ammunition, or firearm component, is contrary to that right.  Further, you will actively seek to repeal or otherwise strike down any law or regulation already on the books that does so.)

--Chuck

Don't ever let it be said I don't get into the Christmas spirit.

It just doesn't always last through all the "Christmas cheer."

I did buy a Christmas tree today for the first time in forever. The picture after the jump.

~~Code Monkey


That happens to be the tree I always wanted to take home when I was a kid. As an added bonus, it fits on top of my computer. It's perfectly perched above my monitor.

There, standing by the door at the big-box store, wal-mart, target, etc., stads the receipt checker.

20 feet from the register, and they ask to see your receipt.

You have a constitutional right to be secure, in your person and papers, from search without probable cause. That means they must have a warrant to search you, as all the stuff you just bought is now YOURS.

Letting them check your receipt or rifle through your belongings is acknowledging that you consent to their unreasonable search.

Think about it.

--Chuck

Spending thanksgiving with wounded soldiers and thier families, including Mark, who we call "lucky."

Mark was shot three times by that sack of shit at Ft. Hood.

Add to the list things I am thankful for, that I am blessed to lead men such as these.

1. My wife who, even after all these years, loves me each day like it was our first (despite growing evidence for her to stop.)
   
2. My two amazing and wonderful kids who are healthy and happy!
3. My seven amazing nieces and nephews who bring a smile to my face just by thinking about them!
4. I have a shoes on my feet and can provide the same for my family.
5. My dog thinks I'm the bee's knees.
   
6. I have food, and enough to share.
7. My wife is able to follow her dreams and her heart.
8. My mom is alive.
9. I live in America--it may not be perfect, but it is a better place to live than anywhere else.
   
10. My children don’t take drugs.
11. My sister, Adessa, is a self-made woman who has faced far more challenges than I have, and still laughs.
    
12. I have a great code monkey, who fixes all m p>p element between row 1 and row 2
13. I have friends I can look up to, and am proud to introduce my children to.
14. I live in a town that is virtually crime free.  (It may have to do with the two federal prisons.)
    
15. My scars have healed and my pain is (mostly) managed..
16. There are people in my life who will always sacrifice for the benefit of others..
    
17. The stuttering voice in my head has made friends with my inner child.
18. My daughter's strong will plagues me now, but will someday lead her to greatness.
19. My son is a much more intelligent and divergent thinker than I was at his age.
    
20. I work with some fantastic people who all care deeply about this country.
21. I have a very large extended family who blesses me each day with their emails, phone calls and comments to this blog. Thank you all for being part of my blessings!

Via Sarah:

One of Hasan's commanding officers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Guerrero, told investigators she had considered failing him as an intern but "decided to allow him to pass since he was going into psychiatry and would not be doing any real patient care."  (emphasis added)

Yet another reason I adamantly refuse to so much as speak to an Army mental health professional.  Either treatment does not qualify me as a RealPatient(TM) or the person I would be speaking to (and seeking help from) could be a bottom of the barrel near-failure who was passed along despite abysmal performance.

This is EXACTLY what happens when a string of leaders make the easy, wrong choice to keep someone in the Army who clearly does not belong.  I have been that decider myself, and it is not always an easy choice to make.  I usually weight it with "would I want to inflict this person on a Platoon" and "Do I think this person can positively contribute to the Army" and then, if I have any  doubts about my decision, I recommend in favor of letting them stay--with prejudice.  (i.e. probationary status, double secret probation, etc.)  The only time I have absolutely zero heartache with not allowing someone to serve or continue service is when they clearly and repeatedly fail to meet or achieve standards. 

--Chuck

Last night, during my weekly visits, I was greeted by SGM Rocky S., our latest laptop recipient, with a quick little dance. I think he even clicked his heels! He is so terribly happy to have received a laptop and is really looking forward to having Joe show him all the in's and outs. You made this SGM, who has served faithfully for 40 years and is as crusty as they come, do a happy dance in the lobby - PRICELESS!

Monica

Oh great! Another medical drama, and one with an "Army" spin! It's like ER meets "Over There." Or M*A*S*H* meets "The Unit".  What it is is horrid sterotyping.  A soap opera that had doctors and nurses having affairs while deployed, PTSD from all the horrors they saw, flashbacks, and generally sensational topics of war in a hospital setting.

Next week: A bottom of the barrel psychologist (not a psychiatrist) named Lidan Kilam Nassah meets some Jehovah's witnesses. After reading through several issues of "Watchtower" he decides that all war is wrong because he's now a pacifist. Except he's all conflicted because he's in the military. He is unable to find solace in the arms of a exotic dancer (not a stripper) nor able to meet any sufficiently devout Jehovah's witness to marry at the local temple. Since he's no longer able to abide violence, he decides to kill as many soldiers as he can, because they are zionists who will eventually repress him. In his design to strike first, he chooses to build a potato cannon and fire it into the veteran's day parade.

Unfortunately, (for him) the local sheriff realizes what he's up to and before he gets off the 1st shot, fires the potato gun into his rectum. The sheriff is found to be a rabid anti-Jehovah's Witness and the poor misguided psychologist is treated for the PTS disease he suffered from the incident. The sheriff is branded a terrorist and sent to prison. The psychologist suffers permanently from complete and total loss of anal retention (a future Very Special Episode for sweeps week) and an inability to smell McDonald's French Fries without having an apoplectic fit

In the Aftermath, congress passes health care reform bills to ensure all Jehovah's witnesses can get treatment for PTSD by proxy, and then passes legislation making potato gun shows illegal (and closing the potato loophole), and places a prohibitive tax on potatoes, and sets a limit on the number you can purchase or own at any given time. The BATF is given control over regulation , and becomes the BAPTF. They also pass a bill to have a ten-day waiting period and TS-level background check to purchase PVC pipe or anything else that can be used to produce these weapons of starch destruction. Every Idaho farmer is sued by the Brady campaign for not ensuring their product isn't being sold to mentally unstable service members.

Just like real life.


--Chuck

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one! It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?

This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you's. Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

Through Soldiers' Angels, patriotic Americans can do their Holiday shopping or planning and support the troops at the same time!

Through Soldiers' Angels, patriotic Americans can do their Holiday shopping or planning and support the troops at the same time!

The easiest way to do this is shop online at all your favorite stores. If you stop by GoodShop and Shop to Earn before you start, you can visit all your favorite online stores, purchase anything you want at the usual great prices, and a portion of what you spend will be donated to Soldiers' Angels--at no extra cost to you! On GoodShop, be sure you select Soldiers' Angels as the charity you are "GoodShopping for."

Another great way to do your Holiday gift giving while supporting the troops is to make an honorary donation to Soldiers' Angels in honor of friends or family. Simply follow the directions and you can receive a beautiful commemorative certificate to present as a gift.

Two great companies--SunNight Solar and Bake Me a Wish--have teamed up with Soldiers' Angels to allow customers to double-up their purchases in a "Buy One, Give One" format. Through the SunNight Solar BOGO program, customers can buy a solar-powered flashlight for themselves or as a gift and have another flashlight sent to a soldier in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bake Me a Wish donates a percentage of each cake purchase toward sending a deployed soldier a birthday cake through Operation Birthday Cake.

There are also a number of companies who donate a percentage of their sales to Soldiers' Angels. Check out the SA Discounts page for more information. Items for sale include great gift ideas such as clothes, books, gourmet food, jewelry and music (look closely at each company listed--some merely offer discounts, while others donate a percentage of sales).


Purchasing anything from the Angel Store as a holiday gift is also a great option. All "profits" from the sale of jewelry, clothing, office items and other great products at the Angel store go right back into all the wonderful Soldiers' Angels programs that support the troops.

And don't forget a CamoSock for the servicemember in your life! They come personalized for each service branch, and Soldiers' Angels receives $3 fo each CamoSock sold.

So this year, shop for the troops and check off your Christmas list at the same time!

Major Keller will get in more trouble for writing this, than anyone in Hasan’s chain of command or elsewhere in the government will get for failing to do their job.

--Chuck

Serving those who have served us well

Bastrop-based nonprofit, Soldiers' Angels, helps soldiers and veterans cope.

By Jeremy Schwartz

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

BASTROP — Patti Patton-Bader's living room is filled nearly to the ceiling with cardboard boxes containing packages for wounded soldiers. Soon, they will make their way from her Bastrop home to hospitals and bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, where soldiers will find clothing with fabric-fastener flaps to replace flimsy paper hospital gowns, as well as phone cards to call home once they reach Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and a "blanket of hope" — a personalized quilt handmade by a Soldiers' Angels volunteer.
Patton-Bader, the grandniece of Gen. George S. Patton, started the group shortly after her son Brandon deployed to Iraq in 2003. She would send him daily care packages, and when he told her that many soldiers in his unit weren't getting anything from home, she began sending baby wipes, beef jerky and powdered Gatorade to his fellow soldiers.
She tapped friends and family to help and, when that effort reached its limit, started a Web site where volunteers could "adopt" soldiers. Soon, a mushrooming number of volunteers were conducting letter-writing and care package campaigns.
Soldiers' Angels has evolved from that shoestring operation to a $25 million-a-year nonprofit with more than 280,000 volunteers. The group does everything from provide winter jackets to homeless veterans to raise money for voice-activated laptops for wounded service members.
In the wake of last week's mass shooting at Fort Hood, Soldiers' Angels is collecting stuffed animals and encouraging notes for the victims' children and plans to give Christmas gift certificates to affected families and those injured in the attack.
"Patti is very much like General Patton," said her husband, Jeff Bader, who co-founded the group. "She doesn't see defeat in the picture."
As Soldiers' Angels enters its seventh year, Patton-Bader said she's become convinced that the general public has an important role to play in helping the hundreds of thousands of returning veterans heal from the horrors of war. But too many folks, she said, are fearful of engaging with veterans just back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"They have 18 months of memory of hell. We have to try to fill their minds with more beauty," she said. "They're not going to kill you, and they're not totally broken. If you give them that inner gratitude, they start to heal. It's not a miracle, but every little bit takes away from the yuck of war."
Patton-Bader also thinks that soldiers who feel supported at home have less of a chance of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, a hypothesis supported by several studies, including a recent University of Texas study looking at risk factors for PTSD.
As deployments stretched ever longer and soldiers were called for multiple tours of duty, the group's attention turned to the impact on the families left behind, and Soldiers' Angels began organizing mass baby showers for expectant mothers whose husbands were deployed abroad. Lately, as more soldiers return home, the group is helping service members transition to civilian life. Soldiers' Angels now helps wounded veterans with traumatic brain injury get access to cutting-edge hyperbaric oxygen treatment and use music therapy to regain lost memories.
"We have that ability to be fluid," Patton-Bader said. "Everyone has a different thing that they can do. If you can sew, sew. If you don't have a lot of money, write a letter. If you have money, send a check."
Toby Nunn, a former U.S. Army sergeant who served two tours in Iraq and now works for Soldiers' Angels, said most people aren't aware of how much even small gestures can help returning soldiers.
"It's simple little things, like if you see some soldier in an airport, give a clap; what does it take? A calorie and a half?" he said. "Some people get scared, like, 'Ooh, there's a soldier.' But that five seconds of acknowledgement, that smile, that moment of eye contact, can have a direct impact."
Nunn said he saw the impact of Soldiers' Angels when he led a squad of the Stryker Brigade into Iraq at the beginning of the war. After hearing about the group, he asked volunteers to adopt his unit. Soon, they were sending care packages and letters to soldiers they hadn't met.
"Their stress level goes down," Nunn said. "When they got a thank-you or letter from the volunteers, even the soldiers without much family support knew 'someone out there loves me.' It wasn't cheesy help; there was no agenda behind it."
Nunn got much more personal help from Patton-Bader and her husband when he returned home. After his second deployment to Iraq last year, Nunn moved to Cedar Park and found himself in a familiar position for many veterans. He struggled to make peace with what he'd seen in combat; his marriage crumbled, and he had no idea what to do with his life.
"It was a very abrupt change," he said. "I went from being one of the more successful military guys to nothing."
That's when a Soldiers' Angels volunteer he had met while serving abroad put him in contact with Patton-Bader and her husband, who had recently moved from California to Bastrop. Eventually, Nunn became the group's director of project development.
Nunn would like to give similar opportunities to other returning veterans. Soldiers' Angels is opening a new healing center and warehouse in San Antonio, next to Brooke Army Medical Center, that will employ service members transitioning from active service to civilian life and help them find veteran mentors.
jschwartz@statesman.com; 912-2942

see more Political Pictures

Here is a chance for people to get
great looking items, free shipping and help the families at Ft. Hood
right around the holidays.

http://www.bouhammer.com/2009/11/vsw-and-hooahradio-helping-the-families-at-ft-hood/

//Update:

To alleviate confusion, I'm not quitting (yet).  CJ wrote "A Soldier's Perspective".  His chain of command are the tools.  I strongly urge you all to contact both the chain of command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, and the Congresspersons from Alabama, and ask them to look into why a decorated combat veteran with 15 years of service isn't allowed to bring facts and logic to a supposed debate about school uniforms to a PTA meeting, how that in any way affects his military performance, and why his chain of command would side with a PTA and attack CJ for blogging.//

What happens when leaders refuse to be honest, or to stand up for their soldiers when they are unfairly accused of wrongdoing, and when the chain of command would rather bow to small-minded bigots than stand up for reason and logic and polite discourse?


This:

Blogging is no longer worth the trouble. Everything is fine as long as the stories are happy and positive. The military wants happy stories, not honest stories. Everything must be 100% in concert with the Army spin. If it's not, you're considered an "embarrassment" to the Army, the installation, and/or the NCO Corps. Integrity is no longer an accepted method of leadership. If I can't be honest and open, I won't write at all. I refuse to allow my private blog's message to be dictated with threats and intimidation. It's been a fun six years!
-CJ

"America's military bloggers are also an important voice for the cause of freedom."
President George W. Bush

ROFASIX has a first-person account of what happened at Fort Hood.


No, we as an Army are not broken.  Where do we get such men and women?


I am proud to wear the same uniform as them, command people like them, and work for people like them.


--Chuck

Lately, we've been studying Task Force Smith, the ill-fated first response to the Korean War in 1950.  Untrained solders with WWII surplus equipment were sent to stop the North Korean Army, with the very misguided belief that the NorKs wouldn't dare mix it up with the US, because we were the victors in WWII.


Thousands of US soldiers died, because of two things:  Hubris and Ill-preparedness.  The Hubris was on the shoulders of their higher-echelon leaders who thought that their being Americans would give the the North Korans pause.  What ended up happening was US troops faced North Korean Tanks with their rifles and pistols, and no anti-tank weapons at all.  The ill-preparedness was also on the shoulders of the chain of command.  These troops were a constabulary force from Japan.  They were not trained for warfighting, other than their basic training.  Most were not even WWII veterans.  They were in the midst of reconstructing Japan, and just happened to be the closest thing MacArthur had to throw at the North Koreans.  (You could write a book, and many have, about MacArthur's hubris.)


Unlike Ralph Peters, I am not going to redirect the blame for the mass murder at Fort Hood onto political leaders, senior Army leaders, chains of command, or anyone but Nadal Malik Hasan, who I will refer to henceforth as That Murdering Sack of Shit* (TMSOS).  What we have is a man who chose to murder American soldiers, a man who equated suicide bombers (premeditated murderers) with a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save his comrades (instinctual gallantry.)


TMSOS MADE A CLEAR, PREMEDITATED DECISION TO MURDER SOLDIERS.  TMSOS DID NOT GO TEMPORARILY INSANE.  TMSOS brought two pistols to work that day, and extra magazines as well.  This was a planned attack against American Soldiers, based around political and religious beliefs.  It is an act of terror in the same vein as Timothy McVeigh, who murdered because of his political beliefs, and The 19 Saudis who murdered 2974 on 11 September 2001 for their (the hijackers) religious beliefs.  TMSOS is a terrorist.  Having said and believing that, I am glad that isn't the charge he's currently facing.

You see, if He's charged with 13 murders and 31 attempts, a military court can have a quick decision to make on his guilt.  ALL of his appeals in the military system are based on whether or not the trail was functionally correct--i.e. was the process correct. The process of the trial is what matters, and only if the proceedings are at fault is another trial granted.  If it is adjudged an act of terror, he could be sent to GITMO, and find himself retiring in Fiji.  If the military keeps his criminal trail within the UCMJ, his 12 peers will all be military officers.  Men and women who've dedicated their lives to leading and protecting soldiers are not likely to lose any sleep at night by giving him the death penalty.  From the time he's convicted until he eventually is put to death, he'll spend every last minute of his life in solitary confinement at the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.  He'll have to be in solitary because all of the convicts at the DB are former solders, many of them are officers who've committed a crime, but even then, they still have some sense of duty and honor.  TMSOS would find himself beaten to death,  quick fast and in a hurry, by fellow inmates if left in general population.

But enough about TMSOS--as a leader charged with protecting troops, I must look at this incident with an intent to prevent it from ever happening again.  How can we (as leaders) ensure that no soldier will ever be able to murder or seriously wound 44 fellow soldiers?  We know that banning concealed weapons didn't work, or this wouldn't have happened.  Registering weapons (which is required for all weapons on post) simply didn't work.  No other "prevention or control" method worked.  A wolf in sheepdog's clothing violated several orders and regulations that day, before he murdered. 

There is only one clear option if we want to prevent, or at least limit the severity of these types of attacks in the future:  allow soldiers (who trust each other implicitly, with their lives in combat) to carry concealed privately owned weapons.  If a soldier is A)  Allowed by statue to own a pistol, and B)  Allowed by the state to carry a concealed weapon in states which allow it or, in states that don't, the provost martial can authorize CCWs for on-post carry, then he should be allowed to do so.  Keeping us unarmed makes us just as ripe a target for terrorists as schools.  If only 5% of the 39 people killed or wounded had a weapon to defend themselves, two people would have had the means to stop TMSOS.  How many would be alive and uninjured if our policies for "force protection" actually allowed the force to protect itself.  Remember, I'm not suggesting issuing weapons for carry, just allowing soldiers to carry a concealed, privately owned weapon, on base, in and out of uniform.  We trust these soldiers in combat.  We trust them on ranges and in training.  We trust them with all manner of deadly and dangerous weapons and explosives.  Yet for some reason, we don't trust them to carry a concealed weapon.
Every soldier and civilian in that gym was at the mercy of  TMSOS, and he wasn't showing any mercy that day.  Only when a civilian contacted police officer arrived (minutes later, when lifespans were measured in seconds) was TMSOS stopped.  Sadly, until this policy is changed, we will continue to be sheepdogs when deployed but sheep at the mercy of wolves, or wolves in sheepdog's clothing, when we are at home, because we are forced by our superiors' policies to be defenseless.  All I ask for is the answer to just one question:
Can you demonstrate one time or place, throughout all history, where the average person was made safer by restricting access to handheld weapons?
 
And since safety and comprehensive risk management is at the cornerstone of what we believe and how we plan, shouldn't we focus on how we can best protect the force from future incidents of mass murdering terrorists attacking us or our families or children on post?  We can't hire an MP to put on every street corner and in every building (because they would soon just spend all their time setting up speed traps for driving 22 in a 20--which is my perception of how MPs spend 99% of their "out in public" duty time.)  We can't catch everyone coming on post with a weapon.  We can't take all the privately owned weapons on post and store them in unit Arms rooms.  Because in the end, it'll be someone who doesn't follow the regulation to secure their weapons who then goes and murders unarmed soldiers, or worse, their family members.

I can only see one clear answer to protecting the force from future occurrences of mass-murder.  Maybe that shows a lack of imagination or understanding on my part, but at least, unlike J. Edgar Hoover and FDR, I'm not advocating rounding up every person of a certain ethnicity or religion and putting them in concentration camps.  I'm just suggesting allowing soldiers the ability to defend themselves, and each other, from this ever happening again.  I'd even bet (if we are so afraid of concealed weapons,) that many would opt to carry openly, if that were allowed in uniform.  Being that we ARE a stratified society, the Army policy doesn't have to even be fair.  If it's a trust issue, the commander can limit the regulation to include only Officers and NCO's,  or just officers. (Which has historical precedent.)

We trust each other with our lives.  Let us protect each other as well.

--Chuck

By RALPH PETERS

Last Updated: 2:50 PM, November 6, 2009

Posted: 1:36 PM, November 6, 2009

On Thursday afternoon, a radicalized Muslim US Army officer shouting "Allahu Akbar!" committed the worst act of terror on American soil since 9/11. And no one wants to call it an act of terror or associate it with Islam.

What cowards we are. Political correctness killed those patriotic Americans at Ft. Hood as surely as the Islamist gunman did. And the media treat it like a case of non-denominational shoplifting.

This was a terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it's an act of terror. Period.

When the terrorist posts anti-American hate-speech on the Web; apparently praises suicide bombers and uses his own name; loudly criticizes US policies; argues (as a psychiatrist, no less) with his military patients over the worth of their sacrifices; refuses, in the name of Islam, to be photographed with female colleagues; lists his nationality as "Palestinian" in a Muslim spouse-matching program, and parades around central Texas in a fundamentalist playsuit - well, it only seems fair to call this terrorist an "Islamist terrorist."

But the president won't. Despite his promise to get to all the facts. Because there's no such thing as "Islamist terrorism" in ObamaWorld.

And the Army won't. Because its senior leaders are so sick with political correctness that pandering to America-haters is safer than calling terrorism "terrorism."

And the media won't. Because they have more interest in the shooter than in our troops - despite their crocodile tears.

Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan planned this terrorist attack and executed it in cold blood. The resulting massacre was the first tragedy. The second was that he wasn't killed on the spot.

Hasan survived. Now the rest of us will have to foot his massive medical bills. Activist lawyers will get involved, claiming "harassment" drove him temporarily insane. There'll be no end of trial delays. At best, taxpayer dollars will fund his prison lifestyle for decades to come, since our politically correct Army leadership wouldn't dare pursue or carry out the death penalty.

Maj. Hasan will be a hero to Islamist terrorists abroad and their sympathizers here. While US Muslim organizations decry his acts publicly, Hasan will be praised privately. And he'll have the last laugh.

But Hasan isn't the sole guilty party. The US Army's unforgivable political correctness is also to blame for the casualties at Ft. Hood.

Given the myriad warning signs, it's appalling that no action was taken against a man apparently known to praise suicide bombers and openly damn US policy. But no officer in his chain of command, either at Walter Reed Army Medical Center or at Ft. Hood, had the guts to take meaningful action against a dysfunctional soldier and an incompetent doctor.

Had Hasan been a Lutheran or a Methodist, he would've been gone with the simoon. But officers fear charges of discrimination when faced with misconduct among protected minorities.

Now 12 soldiers and a security guard lie dead. 31 soldiers were wounded, 28 of them seriously. If heads don't roll in this maggot's chain of command, the Army will have shamed itself beyond moral redemption.

There's another important issue, too. How could the Army allow an obviously incompetent and dysfunctional psychiatrist to treat our troubled soldiers returning from war? An Islamist whacko is counseled for arguing with veterans who've been assigned to his care? And he's not removed from duty? What planet does the Army live on?

For the first time since I joined the Army in 1976, I'm ashamed of its dereliction of duty. The chain of command protected a budding terrorist who was waving one red flag after another. Because it was safer for careers than doing something about him.

Get ready for the apologias. We've already heard from the terrorist's family that "he's a good American." In their world, maybe he is.

But when do we, the American public, knock off the PC nonsense?

A disgruntled Muslim soldier murdered his officers way back in 2003, in Kuwait, on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Recently? An American mullah shoots it out with the feds in Detroit. A Muslim fanatic attacks an Arkansas recruiting station. A Muslim media owner, after playing the peace card, beheads his wife. A Muslim father runs over his daughter because she's becoming too Westernized.

Muslim terrorist wannabes are busted again and again. And we're assured that "Islam's a religion of peace."

I guarantee you that the Obama administration's non-response to the Ft. Hood attack will mock the memory of our dead.

Ralph Peters' latest novel is "The War After Armageddon."

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