US Vets in Africa Protecting Rhinos, Facing PTSD.
The Army Times (I know, a bit out of my swim lane) reports that a group of US combat vets has formed a non-profit that addresses both poaching and PTSD. A former Marine, Ray Tate, founded Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife (Vetpaw) with the goal of protecting rhinos and other game in the bush around their base in South Africa.
The vets have had extensive training and are salty enough “to resist the temptation” of the use of lethal force, and use “textbook COIN” techniques, according to Kevin, a former Green Beret who did not wish to be identified further.
“The organization seeks to employ combat veterans and giving them a similar level of brotherhood, intensity and purpose they knew during deployments. That also may help offset the PTSD that Tate told The Guardian “everyone gets” after returning from war.
“There are all these veterans with billions of dollars of training and the government doesn’t use them. I saw a need in two places and just put them together,” Tate said. ”
I hope part of the price of admission is a valid DD-214. If so, good on them.
Category: Politics
Cool photo. It’s like a big main rhino and a small emergency back-up rhino.
IMHO, any bottom-feeding poacher who kills one of those animals for the horn deserves to have his scrotum crushed in a bench vise. No appeal, no exceptions.
” … bottom-feeding poacher …”
That’s what they are. F’ing moral equivalent of pond scum.
You got that right, then removed with a dull butter knife!!
Rhino horn is made of keratin, like your fingernails, horse and cow hooves, so for medicinal purposes, you might as well boil some cow hooves or eat your fingernails.
Or, just eat some Jello.
Rhino horn flavored Jello!!!
You know, if we could just get the FDA to look the other way, that “Rhino Flavored Jello” might save the species.
Contains “Imitation Rhino horn substitute”….
Or, we call it RINO jello….. nah.
Gluten free, I hope.
Thanks to China for fueling this nonsense
For an ancient “enlightened” culture in many ways they’re as backwards as fucj
Well if this program helps that’s tremendous. The threat of getting shot by pissed off poachers or captured by guerrilla forces seems odd for helping PTSD.
The only thing that is a long term solution for this and other exploitation of the natural resources and labor of Africa is for the people and nations of Africa to develop cultures where this is no longer acceptable.
It’s a culture of dog eat dog and tribalism.
The “leaders” that step forward are no better, and in many cases worse than the colonial puppets put in place by European Powers.
No one really owns the Rhinos, so a whole bunch of folks think “free stuff for the taking”.
“Ownership in common” just leads to “the tragedy of the commons”.
Another form of protecting the species maybe the domestic take down of as many RINOS as possible in November 2018 at the ballot box.
We can just call it thinning of the herd for the welfare of the rest.
CAPT Bones USN (ret)
Concur… wholeheartedly.
Looking at their website this looks like some cockamamie scheme put together by a group of stupid E3s and E4s
Maybe they could get an O-1 butterbar to lead the charge.
As long as nobody gives the Lt a compass and a map they should be OK…
It looks like a nice way for a bunch of people who were non combat types in the military to run off and either get shot by poachers, ripped off by scammers or shoot themselves in the foot.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/2015/05/07/reports-nonprofit-vetpaw-kicked-out-of-tanzania/70963970/
Apparently they have issues,,,,
Ivory poachers should have a ball n chain fitted and be placed infront of a pissed off rhino or two.
There was a funny YT vid a couple years ago entitled ‘When Poaching goes Awry’
Several minutes of hilarity! The funniest clip was of some pygmyish African taking aim at a hippo with a very rough looking SMLE. He pulls the trigger and ‘kaboom!’, the barrel ruptures and banana peels. The poacher falls to the ground screaming( and prolly blinded) His friend with the camera promptly high tails it outta there as an enraged hippo quickly grows closer.
I love a happy ending…..(and not just with my massages 😉 )