Weekend Open Thread
This looks like something similar to what happened 20 years ago. John Kerry took some artistic license to his memories of what he did in Vietnam. Then those who served with him came out and countered what Kerry said where there was a contradiction. Now Tim Walz is facing similar contradictions from those he served with. Enjoy your weekend!
Category: Open thread
First
Thank God for that outdated and overpriced Red Hat Software.
Well would you just looky heah! The Stoned Hacker done copped hisself a FIRST on the TAH WOT. Bless his heart.
KoB how did you and Firebase Magnolia fair with Debby this week?
Lots of rain earlier this week, some wind, but not too bad. The worst of it was to my Southeast, buncha flooding where the Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Altamaha come together. Great big old pecan tree fell across the State Highway just past the North Wall, more from saturated ground than the wind. Went out yesterday morning to make an escort run and there was a good sized pecan limb a’laying just inside the perimeter. Didn’t hit nothing and it’s not too much in the way, so I’ll give it a bit to dry out and the weather to cool some before I make firewood out of it. Steamy as all hell from the humidity, but it’s a balmy 69 degrees F on this couch. Thanks for asking.
Hey now, Pecan wood is CHOICE for smoking any kind of meat!
That’s the plan.
Word.
Pecan’s good.
Mesquite’s better. It’s just not widely available outside of Texas.
Instead of charcoal, I like grilling over a hardwood fire, which you can have fun with different combos of wood, i prefer Hickory, Pecan or Mesquite for grilling but not too much Mesquite, that can give off too hot of a fire!
Glad you’re OK.
Seems Baby Sister in Atlanta didn’t get anything to worry about.
Thankful you’re dry.
Good to hear you made it through. Things were a little damp here but not bad. Most everything was south and east of me. My sister lives in the Carolina Lowcountry and had about 8 inches of rain and some limbs down.
Earlier this week I had to go down to Valdosta and was on the campus of VSU. They had some trees down. I may get a closer look tomorrow at the damage there
Holy Crap, Hack made it!!!
Hack got lucky. Real lucky. Just happened to open the page, and there it was, like the Barracks tramp waiting for the first drunk Marine to invite her into his room. Now Hack has this burning sensation whenever he urinates.
You mean that your magic 8 ball didn’t tip you off on the WOT starting time. Shit can the 8 ball.
Hack sent the Magic 8-Ball out for calibration. Came back all jacked up. Never use All Points logistics for your TMDE calibration.
“Do you believe in miracles?”
Didn’t even have to go to the UK to regain the throne.
As First Commenter for the Weekend Open Thread, it is Hack Stone’s responsibility to provide the Weekend Safety Brief.
Listen up troops, if you plan on taking your personal aircraft up in the air this weekend, put a few extra gallons of aviation fuel in the tank, just in case.
If you plan on scoring some cocaine this weekend, don’t buy it from a guy in the White Castle parking lot.
If you need to have some medical paint driven around South Jersey, leave it the professionals and hire Ronald Mailahn to do it.
If you are ranked the 3rd most dangerous man in the world and find yourself in jail, be sure that your cellmate is not the 2nd most dangerous man in the world.
If you plan on indulging in high risk snacking this weekend, be sure to use a condiment.
Feel free to contribute additional safety tips
Don’t mess with another monkeys monkey, no matter how much she tempts you.
Safety Tips/Life Lessons…
I will give the 80s safety brief that 1SG Stallworth gave us;
“If you go down town and get your ass arrested, don’t call me. Call your parents, they love you, they will get you bail. I ain’t got no money to bail your ass out.
“Whatever skank ass ho is going to bang you after knowing her for 30 minutes at the club is going to have every disease known to man, whatever you stick up in there is going to fall the fuck off unless you triple wrap it.
“If you wanna go back to the house you go out there and smoke and snort up whatever you want. We will send your ass right home. Have a great weekend, make sure ass is here 0530 Monday standing tall.
Don’t drink and drive, don’t drink and swim and, if you get drunk, have sex and fall off the damn bed, it’s you’re own fault– what’re your questions?
Nothing good happens after 2300. Be back before then.
If you’re stupid enough to think the stripper likes you, you deserve to be broke.
Don’t buy the Corvette. Get an F150 5.0L 2WD
If she wants to get married in Vegas, find another girl. She’ll want to get a divorce eventually and hang you for child support.
Just because it sounds fun doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
If you do buy an F150, get the camper shell. Otherwise every weekend you will be helping someone move.
Or the equally difficult to remove hard tonneau cover. The soft fold up/ roll up kind shoots down the argument why you can’t help.
I finally learned how to say “No!” to requests like that.
Unless it’s the kids/grandkids, and I don’t mind helping them.
Only things open after midnight are legs and hospitals.
Jails and bail bondsmans too.
Rats of the Cong to you, YOU WIN a mailbox door that I found somewhere.
Hack is back Jack.
Open for 15 seconds and it seems Hack is the only one who showed to the dance.
The Gun Bunny had just dropped by, while awaiting for the toaster oven to make a cheese toast sammich, heard the lever pop into place and went to check it before I refreshed. Shoulda kept my eye on the prize of the WOT instead of that hot cheese toast sammich. CW…weeps…
Bitterly.
On station.
4th? Man, these are dropping early it seems.
Classic WOT drop, Jonn always dropped the WOT at a random time.
Days are getting shorter.
Not that it matters here.
All days are short when you are old
Well, I thought I might make a two-fer, but Hack Stone beat me to it with that outdated and overpriced Red Hat Software. It finally did the job for him, and I hereby turn over the crown, orb and scepter and usher him into the Throne Room for the week. In honor of Hack taking the coveted, always-earned, never-given FIRST, I offer trivia to the masses.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Does a famous American highway actually cross itself?
By Commissioner Wretched
didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com
Copyright © 2024
The worst of summer is now upon us.
During August, we experience the most heat, the most humidity, the highest heat indexes … and the highest utility bills for running air conditioning.
In the southern latitudes, though, it’s the depth of winter. Cold, snow, wind … almost worth trading for, I think.
Almost.
All things being equal, I’ll keep my summer heat and humidity. I’ve never been much of a snow bunny.
But I will also add in some nifty trivia, which is here for you right now! Enjoy!
Did you know …
… some employers offer their workers places to nap? Companies such as Nike and Google cite research that shows naps refresh our bodies, make us more attentive, and improve our moods. The same research shows that fatigue at work contributes to some $18 billion a year in lost productivity, and tired employees are at a higher risk for auto accidents while on their way home from work. (Suddenly, I don’t feel so bad about catching forty winks at my desk sometimes.)
… the U.S. Government’s official “expert” on marijuana once claimed it turned him into a bat? Dr. James C. Munch (1896-1981), who served as an “expert” on marijuana to the government from 1938 to 1962, testified in court in a murder case in 1938 that he had smoked marijuana and, after two puffs, he was turned into a bat. As a bat, Munch claimed, he “flew around the room and down a 200-foot-deep inkwell.” Munch was advised after his appearance in the case not to be a witness in court any more, or he would lose his appointment as a “special expert.” (Among other things.)
… instant ramen noodles were invented to prevent starvation? In 1958, a Japanese businessman named Momofuku Ando (1910-2007) brought to market a product called Chikin Ramen. These were dry, close-packed noodles with a chicken seasoning packet designed to be cooked quickly and to provide quick nutrition. The noodles became popular because of the food shortages that plagued Japan in the years following World War II, and since their introduction they have become a staple for college students worldwide. (A tasty way to evade starvation!)
… you may know someone who’s involved in apotelesm? If you do, I hope you can at least pronounce that. Apotelesm is an archaic term for the casting of a horoscope. The term comes from the old Latin word apotelesma, meaning “effect of the stars on human destiny.” (It’s all in the stars, friends.)
… anteaters do not have teeth? Instead, they slurp up ants, termites, and other small insects with their long, sticky tongues, then crush the little bugs against the insides of their mouths. After they’ve been swallowed, the insects are then crushed up again by the anteater’s stomach muscles. (So who needs teeth?)
A little known fact is that when the inventor of ramen instant noodles died, they placed his remain into a styrofoam casket, poured in some embalming fluid, put cellophane over it, and popped it into the microwave for 3 minutes. Mourners said that he never looked, or tasted, better.
A semi-truck with a trailer load of Ramen Noodles wrecked not far from my AO, the cargo loss was said to be in the neighborhood of $30-45.
SPC D would’ve likely starved at Camp Jackson PLDC if wasn’t for Ajima and her ramen cart.
Top Ramen, that FTX pogey bait staple.
… a famous American highway actually crosses itself? U.S. Route 66, made famous in songs, stories and a really cool 1960-64 television series, snaked from Chicago to Los Angeles and was a major artery in westward (and eastward) travel until the development of the Interstate highway system in the 1970s. In downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, however, there is a corner where Route 66 actually crosses itself. Until 1937, the highway through that part of town ran in a north-south direction. That year, the alignment of the highway was changed to east-west in the city, and now, at the intersection of Central Avenue and Fourth Street in Albuquerque, you can stand at the corner of Route 66 and Route 66. Additional trivia note: Route 66 disappeared from maps in 1985, but it is still referred to fondly by residents near the highway. It was replaced by five stretches of Interstate – I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15, and I-10. The television show Route 66 was shot all across the country, but almost never along the actual highway. (Get your kicks …)
… the giant sequoia tree takes a long time to flower? One seed from a giant sequoia can take 175-200 years to flower, the longest time in the plant world. (Maybe so, but look at the result!)
… requiring information about children on tax returns had a curious effect? In 1987, the Internal Revenue Service began requiring taxpayers to list the Social Security numbers of children claimed as dependents. As a result, some seven million children “disappeared” from tax returns. (Gee, I wonder how that happened.)
Another bit of rt 66 trivia, is that part of it just clips a very tiny bit of Kansas. Win your next trivia night contest and impress your friends. When your group of trivia friends argue it is/isn’t, bet them you will buy their drinks all night if wrong. They buy yours if you’re correct.
They say that if you were to condense the entire length of US66 into a yardstick, about 1/4 of an inch of it would be in Kansas.
I’ve driven all of the passable sections of RT66 from the TX-OK border to the west coast. I’d do the other half, but I cannot think of a single reason to go to Chicago.
The Museum of Science and Industry (with U-505 and a Stuka) is worth the trip if you do go that way.
Rt 66 is on my bucket list. Not sure if
a newer car for the passable sections, 4wd for the impassable sections or an armored vehicle for some of the cities it passes through.
Some of them “disappeared” because the parents didn’t want a nosy government tracking their kids.
Looking at today’s government, I think they had a point.
… a classic 1990s disaster film had its military support withdrawn? Independence Day, the 1996 alien-invasion disaster movie, received significant support from the Department of Defense for its production – until the military realized that a portion of it was set at the super-secret “Area 51” in Nevada. When the moviemakers would not remove the references to Area 51 from the script, the DoD pulled its support for the film. (Insert your favorite conspiracy theory here.)
… some people believe everything they see on television? Case in point: On May 17, 1991, a Soviet television interview program called The Fifth Wheel put forth the theory that the founder of the country, Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), consumed a great number of psychedelic mushrooms during his lifetime – so many that he eventually became a mushroom himself. The program was a satirical hoax, of course, put on as the strict media controls in the country were being eased during glasnost. A group of Communist party members, however, believed the line they were being fed, and after appealing to the party leadership about the truth, the leadership had to declare officially that Lenin could not be a mushroom, because “a mammal cannot be a plant.” (Make of that what you will.)
Now … you know!
There’s actually nothing at Area 51. It’s merely the distraction.
Someone’s knocking, I’ll be back…
I disagree.
MANY Mammals can be much dumber than a plant or fungus, just look at some of the goobs we have in Congress as well as the rest of the Government!
Yes, indeed, the worst of the summer is upon us. And having The Stoned Hacker rule over us Adorable Deplorables will be insufferable. You do notice that he NEVER offers up ANY refreshments…not even a nibbled on crayon. Worthless as a ‘shroom on a moldy log. He is tripping on making FIRST so there is that. Maybe all that pot he smoked at The Red Hat Soft Wear Sales Convention is what made Hack so bat crap cray cray. He should take a nap.
The anteater should try some Ramen with his dinner. Gets his starches AND his proteins.
I gets stars in my eyes when I think about OAM.
Route 666…The Highway to Hell. Built by the Good Intentions Paving Company.
Them Big trees are nice, but can you make a pie from the fruit/nut/flower it produces?
Wonder how many of them children had 4 legs…and a fur coat?
I’m not concerned about the Aliens destroying us. I’m more concerned about the lying grubermint destroying us.
Best thing to do on a hot August night? Take in a show…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=451H6kaKeSU
Another fine j.o.b., CW. Now…go console yourself with a hug from Lois.
11th SIG used to have a field site in Safford, AZ. On Rt 666. Sometime in ’92, 666 was changed to 191. Our entire convoy missed the exit off I-10 due to the renumbering. Had to go damn near to Lordsburg to turn around. Oops.
Did you blame it on the 2nd LT?
There won’t be any snacks or liquor during Hack’s reign, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive a tank of aviation fuel.
Crap. Too late. Again. Nice on ya, Hack.
W-T-A-F!?!?
WOT dropping earlier and earlier.
How’s a guy supposed to even try to keep up?
Ah, well, no use crying over spilled data bits.
Congrats, Hack. Ya finally made it.
How many is that now?
And when was the last one prior to this?
Tox, to answer your last two questions, Hack Stone now has a grand total of 28 “Firsts” on the WOT/HOTS and his most previous “First” (prior to today) occurred on 12 Jan 24.
Lots of OEF/OIF vets on here, so this needs repeating.
Raise your hand if you were not able to get out of a deployment to Iraq and/or Afghanistan by running for Congress.
Hack Stone got out of working extended hours preparing for an upcoming inspection by being issued a set of desert cammies and heading off to Saudi Arabia in August 1990. Unfortunately, the suckass Warrant Officer who was having us working 15 hour days deployed with us.
That would be me.
Of course I was already a Veteran, was in my late 40s to early 60s, was living in a Veteran’s Home, had COPD, a bad back, was taking meds that caused my dingus to give up ever being useful again, and was sleeping up to 48 hours a day.
But by god I didn’t get out of going because I was running for congress!!
Nopa Nopa Nopa! I was left behind on trip #4 because my lower vertebra said “No Mas BodyArmor”. So they made me the Rear Detachment 1SG. That almost put me in rehab.
I wanted to go, but my reputation preceded me. They knew if they sent me that the war would be over in a week. Or I’d fuck it up like Biden. It’s one of those two reasons.
Never tried it. I tried getting pregnant but as a male that was really hard back then. Nowadays you can just identify as pregnant and you’re good.
Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logistics) lied to Congress.
Does that count?
Unfortunately, this turd’s BS daring-do and other fabrications and his obvious cowardice will fall on the left’s deaf ears. Cripe, we have a creepy, hair-sniffing Pedo for a president and that made no waves among the Left-wing nut job Demorats. They will for sure overlook this minor blip in the radar. Tampon Timmie will be a hero to these creepoids!!
Not just that, look at how the mainstream whorehouse media is fawning over him and Kameltoe Harris!
First! – To wish everyone a great weekend, Remember Everyone Deployed and if you’re dealing with Debby, stay safe on the high ground! Looks like a bit of a mess out that way.
Holy shit, WAY too early for my blood…I wasn’t even TRYING to be FIRST but here I am 20 something’s-th
Oh well…
Frecking HACK BABY!! WWOOOOOOOO!!!!
Suck on THAT Psul and Birdbath!!
Anyway, carry on weirdos…(shamelessly stolen from Angry Cop, DS Hye! 😀 <3 )
Smooches Soggy Bitches.
Well VOTZ is definitely a Cheese Cake
Proof that Tampon Timmie served…
He probably wore a foam rubber flak jacket like that phony Dennis Castilano (sp) wore in Beirut.
I hope this isnt just a meme.
OOOOOOOOOO!
You go GiRL!
Willie Brown’s son was found dead hanging from a basketball hoop a few years ago. HuMMMM?
Come on, don’t leave us hanging. Did he go out like David Carradine?
Was it deemed a good shoot?
Word of the day…
I really need this to happen.
Odie, son, you’re on time out for not issuing a spew alert. Here I am sitting at the bar all by myself, studiously minding my own business, enjoying a prime rib and a Shiner Bock…then I almost spew and choke laughing hysterically. Because I wasn’t getting enough side eyes and looks. Young man, you are really naughty.
And I too hope it is true because that would is hysterical.
Hope you didn’t waste any Shiner or prime rib, OAM.
I know better than to have anything in my mouth reading TAH.
Right now I’m sipping on Shiner Black Lager – but it’s sitting on the shelf to my right while I read.
Sorry for your near loss of what sounded like a great dinner. But it does sound like something Trump would do. Remember his debate with Hillary when he sat that Broderick lady near Bill’s seat? Priceless.
FIRST FORTY FOURTH
I’m claiming to be FIRST. Apparently, that’s how it works now. Congratulate me!
Wow, 50-something and of course, I award myself another Honorary First!
((((OVER))))
Epstein did not kill himself.
Those keeping Epstein’s List so secret are likely some of those in high power.
“NO-BALLS” Tim Walz once signed a bill giving protection to pedos.
And the hits keep coming for walkway walz.https://twitchy.com/justmindy/2024/08/09/walz-cpan-chyron-afghanistan-veteran-n2399445
Damn spellcheck that was sposed to be Walk away Walz
OH, you mean “No-balls” Walz?
They’ve shifted from gas lighting to straight up lying. Now the democratically controlled legacy media is trying to say that Walz “misspoke” when he said he carried a weapon in war.
The more they contort themselves with stupid lies, The dumber they look.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/tim-walz-misspoke-discussed-using-weapons-war-campaign-says-rcna166038
OH, and I have it on good authority that “No-balls” Tim Walz has been endorsed by Phildo and All Points logistics.
So, they know he has no balls because they tried to suck them?
I would bet the only time Tampon Timmy ever handled an M-16 or an M-4 was when he had to qualify at the range. Maybe here was there “battling” the bullseye or that pop-up cardboard “enemy” silhouette target.
I wonder if he even cleaned his own Weapon after going to the range once he made rank? Once he got pinned as a CSM, I bet he went everywhere with binoculars, “creaming his jeans” at the thought of busting someone for walking on “his grass”.
Sunrise from Casa de la Skippy
A bit off topic, but has anyone heard from Dave Hardin? Hope the old Devildog is doing better.
Word.
Getting over a case of Covd. When it rains… it pours.
Probably more like Covid is getting over a case of Dave.
Glad to hear you are feeling better Marine. Semper Fi.
Good to hear you’re on the mend Dave!
How long before someone asks Tampon Tim how many and what kind of guns he owns. I understand that he is a hunter and ice fisherman so maybe, just maybe, he owns one of those scary assault weapons. Inquiring minds want to know.
Probably drills his own holes with a hand auger.
God forbid he get caught using a gasoline powered one.
Always enjoyed ice fishing but it’s really hard to troll.
Get internet access for the ice shed, problem solved.
Well played, troll master. 😉
The False Commander “Phony” Phil Monkress (CEO of All-Points Logistics) works balls in the hall with a man named Paul-mer (of the ballsack) as he continues to avoid calls seeking clarification of his highly questionable and potentially felonious Native American, Navy SEAL and Law Enforcement claims.
I hear rumor that NOT ONLY have Phildo and All Points Logistics endorsed Kameltoe Harris and “NO-balls” Walz, but this nearly forgotten critter self-named Psul/Psulmer HAS ALSO done the same!
Y’all keep talking about Timmy Walz. Which one is he?
The Nutcracker? YEAH, I did that off the High Dive one summer!!!
Napping like Beetle Bailey here. (Honestly, worked today teaching guitar – or trying to.)
Tampon Tim and Knee-pad Kackles – I hope they debate Vance and Trump. That would be pay-for-view entertainment.
Follow-up with the urologist today to check PSAs and Testosterone post-radiation. Results next week but expecting nothing but good news.
No. 11 grandchild has yet to make her entrance. But I may have good news next WOT.
God bless you all, and have a safe weekend.
If #11 arrives before WOT, feel free to break in to whatever story to share the good news. We’ll, that’s my opinion anyway.
Weekend starting out pretty good for Hack Stone. This morning he got on the air during The Chris Plante Show on WMAL in DC, then he rigged the Weekend Open Thread to score the highly coveted and rarely awarded title of First Commenter for the Weekend Open Thread. What awaits him tomorrow?
Honey doo`s
This is NUTz
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ioc-president-says-chromosome-testing-scientifically-not-true-anymore-determining-man-woman
No scientific testing needed if a good swift kick to the nether regions were applied.
Another kick in the Walz;
https://twitchy.com/grateful-calvin/2024/08/09/the-cowards-way-out-mother-of-soldier-slain-in-iraq-blasts-tim-walz-for-abandoning-his-unit-n2399423
Comment #100.
It’s time now for Sturgis 2024. Wonder if Alaska Bob is there?
Naw, Claw. Alaska Bob is still lost in Kelly’s “Canyon”.
More like holed up in some roadside bar drinking up the donation money.
More likely blowing Winos behind bus stops for spare change!
I wonder if the just stop oil folks will show up.
I remember the time when some antifa maggots showed up at the Sturgis rally, they were kept safe by a cordon of Cops who kept them from getting painfully killed.
Too bad that… would have been a good time for the defunding (at least for the day) of the cops..
Cops should have let Darwin decide the outcome. They probably thought the same thing too.
Anybody else miss Archie’s wisdom?
Show what a good actor can do. Carroll O’Conner, in real life, was nothing at all like Archie Bunker. Liberal demonrat but he did enjoy playing that character. My favorite part Mr. O’Conner did was General Colt in “Kelly’s Heroes”.
Carroll O’Conner was also in the running to play Jonas Grumby, better known as The Skipper, on Gilligan’s Island. It would have be hilarious to seem him in that role with some of the mannerisms of Archie Bunker.
Gilligan you Meathead!!
Another blast from the past on an item of GI issue that everybody wanted and made for good trading material.
Just happened to come across a case lot of these (that were being stashed in a camouflage poles bag) in the orphan Deuce and a Half that we drew from CEGE Site 14 in Vriezenveen, Holland for the winter REFORGER of 1985. I think the head Dutch maintenance chief forgot about them being there, but they somehow (/s/) made it back to my S-4 shop on Carson and I had goodies to hand out for the rest of my career. Anyway, here’s what I’m talking about:
7340-00-240-5943 Knife, Folding, TL-29
Nice find.
I may or may not have a few of those stashed away.
A TL-29 was floating around in one of my zoom bag pockets for about 4000 flight hours.
Coming to a blog near you.
UK police commissioner threatens to extradite, jail US citizens over online posts: ‘We’ll come after you’ (msn.com)
Average American response: “You and whose army? HAHA! Maybe third time’s the charm, limeys!”
The present-day Brits are not the Brits of the once vaunted British Empire. They have allowed themselves to be subsumed by their own Progressives/crypto-commies and the Islamofascists that have immigrated there legally and illegally.
Good luck with that. If the British are successful in extraditing American citizens who allegedly violated British laws while in America, then I ran can extradite American women for violating their Sharia laws. And we all could face extradition to Nortg Korea for not prominently displaying a photo of Dear Leader in our homes.
Challenge excepted.
Have dinner in Germany these days….
The British Empire truly has fallen..
Remember when Americans sent all sorts of firearms to help them protect the home islands??? Should have demanded the return of them after WWII
Well then, I FART IN YOUR GENERAL DIREACTION, your mother was a hamster ad your father smells of Elderberries!
I have an answer.
Bring it, Nigel.
Who sung it better? Patsy Cline or Patti Page.
https://youtu.be/d8QAgBfOCLo
https://youtu.be/-XCvfy6Huyc
No way was the 2004 election 20 years ago.
Oh, it was? I feel old. For me, 20 years ago is 1974.
It was just yesterday me and a few guys were sitting around a
flaming barrel of shit telling jokes.
That’s what I like about TAH…it’s just like shit burning detail.
Angry Cops just uploaded this video. A couple of new points I hadn’t heard of before.
Watched it during my lunch break earlier. The guy (Walz) never met the criteria to claim CSM rank, much less put it on a congressional coin. I retired as a SFC, fortunately in an Acquisitions program that had zero 1SGs or CSMs (one of my last coins was from the Futures Command CSM, the first CSM in our NCO Support Channel to my knowledge, the SGM was very senior and went on to a new divisional CSM slot). If I had served in a 1SG position, I could claim that I’d been a company 1SG but couldn’t claim I was a retired 1SG. Much like you (given your screenname) might have served as a company 1SG, battalion CSM, or Ops SGM, but couldn’t lay claim to holding the actual ranks (besides perhaps 1SG). It’s akin to my Drill Sergeant time, where the company XO was often a just-off-the-trail DS filling the position until he PCS’ed. Granted, rank vs. position is something a lot of people don’t understand, but given that XOs are usually senior 1LTs or event CPTs, I suppose some might say they were “basically an officer”…
I think there’s something (that would not affect Walz) where having the identifier (too lazy/tired to look them up) would allow an E8 to retire as a 1SG or an E9 to retire as a CSM, even if their last position saw them lose the diamond or wreath. Funny, but I’ve not heard mention of 1SG rank for Walz (usually a prerequisite for CSM, in the RA at least). That’s one thing I’m surprised AC missed.
I had an S3 SGM in 32nd SIG that had zero 1SG time. Never understood that.
I’m fairly certain that my immediate SGM at my last assignment never had 1SG time. He’d been in the DC area for over 10 years, first as a Supply SGT, then making SFC and moving to Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG). He made MSG there and then SGM, but I’m pretty certain there were no support 1SG slots in AWG. It took me a while to get used to his personality, as even on BDE and general staff, I was used to dealing with E9s that were direct and wanted things their way without question.
Speaking of AWG, the SGM still had access to their former compound, but I never got to check it out. It’s in the training area of AP Hill, cost over $90M and opened in 2014. AWG was founded in 2006 and cased its colors in 2021. So effectively, the compound was only in use for seven or so years. I left the area a year after the unit shut down, and the compound was sitting there unused, with its training areas, ranges, and buildings all silent. The Army spent a lot of money during the GWOT building infrastructure for new formations and units. When they started shutting down the 4th BDEs in each DIV, parts of posts looked like ghost towns. The old 2nd BDE footprint on Fort Stewart was deserted (save for its Shoppette, conveniently located near the truck entrance gate) by 2014, and Kelley Hill on Benning was virtually dead by 2016, with the deactivation of 3rd BDE 3ID, which became a battalion-strength Task Force 1-28. One of the Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFAB) is now there, but I question how long it will be before SFABs go the way of AWG.
MDW forever!
I feel bad for that SGM, unless it was their choice not to. 1SG is the best job to have. You have a lot of control, a lot of leeway, and you can effect a significant amount of change on your company and how it works. You get to make sure your troops are mentored and developed for a long future.
As an acting CSM for a battalion, I sat in a lot of meetings, had to do recruiting for a deployment, had to do a lot of paperwork, and had to fix some NCOs that were lacking. Though, I did get to walk into a few offices and make a couple of phone calls and say, “I’m the acting battalion CSM and there’s an issue with my Soldier?” Which, seemed to help fix issues that I inherited pretty quickly.
Can you enlighten Hack on senior enlisted Army rank structure.
Marine Corps keeps it simple for us crayon chewers. Moving from E-7 (Gunnery Sergeant) to E-8, the Marine lets the Corps which path they are seeking when promoted to E-8. If they want to continue in their Occupational Field, they go the Master Sergeant route. If they prefer to yell at marines to take their hands out of their pockets and stay off the lawn, they would go the 1st Sergeant route. Master Sergeant is promoted to Master Gunnery Sergeant, while 1st Sergeant is promoted to Sergeant Major.
Hacks understanding is that in the Army, an Army Sergeant Major is the senior enlisted in their Occupational Field, supervising the troops in his shop, what a Master Gunnery Sergeant would do. Meanwhile, the Command Sergeant Major is the senior enlisted of the unit, with an office adjacent to the Commander, and fills an administrative role.
Does Hack have it correct, or does he need calibration?
Hit it more or less right on the head.
Put another way, 9 out of 10 times the SGM is up top in the shop and the CSM is on the line and enforcing double time.
At an Army battalion level you have a Command Sergeant Major, he’s part of the command team with the battalion commander. Then you have the Staff Sergeant Major (usually it’s just referred to as Sergeant Major) in the S-3 as the Opns SGM. His job is “turn reds to green” and ensure the whole staff, not just in the S-3, is running, completing taskers, meeting suspenses, and being a big asshole. (Usually because he’s not having as much fun as the CSM and has to do a lot of paperwork and tell dumb people to stop doing dumb things on the staff.)
At higher level units, you can have a SGM in multiple sections, G-1, 3, 4, etc. Some units have more than others. At Division level I believe each section has a SGM as their NCOIC. But, there is only one CSM.
Also, a SGM can stay in for 30 years, generally, but a CSM can stick around for 35.
In “some” special units you can have an E-9 at the company level acting as “Top” but that’s unconventional or specialized units.
A CSM “can” go be a SGM and a SGM can go be a CSM, but for lower level units, CSM is an appointed position and you’re selected by a board and assigned to a particular unit. (Granted, once you get there a Division CSM can move them around.) Once you hit Division, Corps, Army, Command levels, the commanding general usually picks his own CSM if that person is willing to do the job, it happens.
There is some hard ass in the comments talking about he put on sergeant and he’s a sergeant even though he never completed any requirements. I tried to talk to him but he was so spun up his own cockholster that I don’t know if I wanna try to reason with him.
TO clarify, the Futures Command CSM works with a 4-Star, our program was run by a 2-Star (usually a 1-Star) and the SGM working alongside our PEO had CSM times at both the BN and BDE levels.
Funny enough I did my 1SG time as an E-7, got promoted, went to a new unit and was the Ops NCOIC. At one point I became the acting CSM because the CSM was assigned to a new unit and I did that for about 6 months.
I could have been a 1SG as an E-8, but I told the outgoing that it wouldn’t do me any good because I did my 1SG time, so I didn’t need more. There were others who should step up to do the job. So, I became the acting CSM after he left.
Then, I fired one of his 1SGs and put an E-8 in a 1SG position he didn’t want to let be a 1SG. I told him, “I already have one E-8 that doesn’t do shit waiting to retire, I don’t need another E-8 not doing an E-8 job.”
At the end of the day, I tell people I was an “acting CSM” for my battalion, but I never put it on a coin and I did my three combat deployments in actual combat zones.
PHONY Air Force General KIRK LANAM,
busted a week ago,
now “stepping away” from his service dogs charity org.
MORE details here….
https://www.wlns.com/6newsinvestigates/stolen-valor-lanam-stepping-away-from-organization/
Original story, including TV news video coverage,
and Lanam incriminating himself while speaking at a meeting,
claiming to be a General, and claiming hundreds of deployments.
https://www.wlns.com/6newsinvestigates/stolen-valor-local-veterans-service-dog-provider-accused-of-embellishing-service-record/amp/
And these clown working with him just now figured this shit out.
Dude, if it looks like turd, smells like a turd and acts like a turd, it is a turd.
Sometimes people gain shit by looking the other way.
Just saying.
Green Thumb,
He’s worse than Les Brown.
That said, Les Brown didn’t “step away” from the
Elko POW*MIA Awareness Ass. Instead, Les Brown put his Ass klingon minions into phony defender mode, and stuck around until the ugly end.
Worse, after Brown croaked,
they phony memorialized him over his urn with the phony claims.
The whole Ass org chapter is now kaputt,
complaining that they couldn’t get any new younger chapter members.
Unsure IF the service dog charity survives this,
being that Phony Kirk took a powder.
They better do a forensic audit of the books. Bet they will find plenty of checks written out to “Cash”, and ATM withdrawals at the local gentlemen’s club.
Hack Stone,
As the last remnants of the Elko POW*MIA Awareness Ass, including the widow and daughter of Les Brown, emptied out their storage container, and handed over most of their signage and bling to the Pocatello, Idaho chapter….
It is easy to assume that the dozen plus years of Elko records, maintained by a chain of others, including other Stolen Valor phonies, found their way to a Nevada desert burn barrel.
The Michigan service dog charity
now has their hands full… of dick(s), not in a bag.
Now we wait for the Pocatello asshats to merge with the Blackfoot asshats.
Shouldn’t take too long seeing that “No Dick” Hollingsworth is still the HMFIC of the Honor Guard there.
Claw,
Dick Hollingsworth’s new bling.
Not only Post Honor Guard,
but ALSO as a VFW District Commander.
He has replaced his ribbon rack and hanging medals with a white background Vietnam Veteran ballcap patch.
https://post735vfw.org/honor-guard/
I imagine he is attending the All-Points Logistic Christmas party.
TURD Burglar.
+100.
Fresh fish on PHONIES.
After a lengthy spell (absentee admin),
a flood of NEW posts have been approved.
Pick your fave, and bring it here !!!
“Stolen Valor” 28k large private FaceBook group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/256918361098991
Civil Air Patrol question.
Is this a normal and acceptable ribbon rack
for a USAF retiree turned CAP lifer at age 61?
Or, is there something wrong with this picture?
Hmmm, four Meritorious Service Medals, but no NDSM.
How’d that happen?
And a Defense Meritorious Service Medal as his top award.
So, again, I’ll ask “How’d that happen without a NDSM?” /s/
(Maybe he’s just following the guidelines set down by the current CJCS/former CSAF of being a pilot, but not having an Air Medal.)
And he’s also wearing the ribbons for 30 years (10 awards) of the Air Force Good Conduct Medal.
So again, I ask, “How does that happen without having a NDSM?”
Don’t know this dude, but the MSM is not a combat award. Though I guess it can be now days with the whole “C” thing.
Rack looks like it was printed on card stock.
It does have that “Phildoesque” look, does it not?
Dude has 4 Humanitarian Service Medals. That’s odd. Has 3 duplicate ribbons next to each other, which I think are GCM but I could be wrong. Sure there is a lot more but I’m not willing to research at 10:45 at night.
The duplicate ribbons can happen with a bunch of multiple awards (I had the same situation w/unit awards). Weird that there are times when devices don’t cover that.
That lack of NDSM makes you go hmmmmm
The duplicate ribbons happen if you have a lot of OLCs. The Vietnam-era Air Medal had to use numerals instead of OLCs because of all the flight time helicopter pilots booked.
In addition to the question about the NDSM (how did THAT happen?), the last 14 of his ribbons are CAP-awarded. If you take those off, his rack wouldn’t look too different from a USAF CMSgt.
This post identifies as first. 🤙🏼
There have been only two “Bravo Zulu” signal flag recognized Firsts. This won’t be another.
*grin*
“I didn’t know they stacked shit that high….”
Check out the All-Points Logistics leadership team.
As of now, Tampon Timmy has a total of 494 comments (across five postings) directed toward the desertion fuckery that he pulled off.
So, he’s almost to the half-way point of making it to Super-Star Chew Toy status. /s/
He looks like what Canadians would call a HOSER!
My “weekend” is just starting, as I have tomorrow off before working again on Monday. The Fall Hunting Classic started a couple of days ago. If anyone is in need or want of a Beretta A300 Ultima shotgun, they’re $699.99 (normally $979.99) with a $75 rebate. A couple of different camo patterns, 28′ barrels and 12 or 20 gauge. The 5% military discount applies, so with 10.45% sales tax and a round up to the nearest dollar, mine cost $735 out the door and $660 after I send in for the rebate. There are a lot of other deals too, and employees are in the middle of a celebratory additional discount season, where each week different national brands have hefty discounts. I might have to cough up the money for an A300 Ultima Patrol at 25% off, and plan to get a pair of 50% Keen work boots for my 15-year-old daughter to wear in her welding class. I’m also tempted to buy a Yeti soft-sided cooler at 50% off to replace the Bass Pro one I gave my son last week.
For now, it’s wind down time, with a video: That Time a Banana Company Hired Paramilitary Death Squads – YouTube and a little bourbon in my newest whiskey glass: Bass Pro Shops Crystal Clear Rocks Silipint Drinkware | Bass Pro Shops. We just got those in, and everyone was pranking each other by tossing them to unknowing coworkers. I bought two and got the wife and kids when I got home, almost getting smacked in the process. They look like glass, but are fully dishwasher and microwave safe unbreakable silicone. The naysayer in me says I can break anything, and how much should we trust lab-produced Chinese chemicals, but I’ll try [nearly] anything once.
The more I learn about Gov. Walz, the more I’ve grown to despise his attitude and his failure to address his service.
Like the SLUG he is, “No-balls” Tim Walz leaves a trail of slime behind him everywhere he goes.
Another type of stolen valor… PHONY INSTRUCTOR PILOT
Notes:
1 – I am the father of a pilot, about to become an instructor pilot.
2 – This crash and student fatality happened in my area in 2022.
3 – The phony instructor pilot has recently been charged with manslaughter.
If you’ve never seen Hoover
and his YouTube channel of aircraft crash investigations,
it’s not only often entertaining, but tremendously informative.
Late for Weekend Open Thread, but….
Congressman Cory Mills (R – FL)
is now under scrutiny for his military service and claims.
This YouTube is very long and very slow..
but the DD-214 and other FOIA are put up on the screen.
Bronze Star – Yes.
Kosovo Medal – Yes.
Iraq – No.
Afghanistan – No.
Perhaps VG can jump in on this…..
Here’s the problem.
2022 Cory Mills for Congress political ad.
He evaded scrutiny in 2022 (how in the F did that happen?),
and got himself elected to Congress.
Good (Monday) morning.
Anyone with updates on Cory Mills?
Here’s the (.pdf) DD-214.
See for yourself, if it matches the 30 second ad video above.
https://www.corymillswatch.com/_files/ugd/c3307f_4b594e959c2d428bb553baaa14444c85.pdf
Yeah, well back when I was in the Nam in 67 (I was born in 61)…..sorry, couldn’t resist…………