Manns Medium

When you assume the rank of supervisor within any of the branches of the U. S. Armed Forces beginning at E-4, with it comes the responsibility of troop welfare.  Today, troop welfare has been down-graded on the list of paramount trait required to lead and it appears so far down that list now, many often forget it is even there.  This seems to be the condition that many military commanders and their staff are suffering from right now.  The mission is no longer making sure that their troops are properly prepared and ready to engage at all times, the mission is protecting those in command and the upper echelon from anything that could possibly make waves or result in being skipped over for promotion.  Today, commanders and their staff ignore troop welfare and even troop equipment by concentrating more on troop numbers and anything that will embarrass the command. Today’s troops cannot be compared to yesterday’s troops because of how much things have changed.  ...

As a retired U.S. Marine, there are few things that truly makes me wish to grab certain people and shake them until an apple falls out except when I read that I have lost another brother simply because some loud-mouth politician decided to start a war that they did not have to fight in.  It makes things even more frustrating when those who saber-rattle are also those who can make the changes to correct these suicides but refuse.  I assume that they believe having “yes men and women” on their payroll allows them the conscientious to sleep at night because those yes men and women are former military and tells them exactly what they wish to hear.  I guess my frustration is even more aimed at myself because even after writing a book on how to handle this, it still appears not enough and the more that I attempt to do the less it seems to matter.  That was before I read this article titled “ Suicide Claims 14th Marine From a Unit Battered by Loss ” written by Dave Philipp...

I used to be a little confused as to why some veterans took offense to people thanking them for their service then I read this article and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  The article is titled “ The biggest and most disruptive layoffs in America are coming from the military ” written by Lydia DePillis in it we learn that “ The Army has already discharged 80,000 troops. The next 40,000 will be harder, especially for the communities that depend on them.  As troops poured into the Army base at Fort Drum, the rural area developed at a breakneck pace. With help from state tax breaks, developers built 3,800 units of brand-new housing and 600 hotel rooms. Troops depended on the local hospital system, which received $100 million in upgrades. The school system took on thousands more students. In an area where the last big industry — paper mills — had disappeared decades ago, the infusion of people and cash was welcome.  Now, however, the citizens of Jefferson County are bracing ...

Received this email from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs around 7:24 PM yesterday 18 March 2015 in which they seemed excited to announce new improvements here let me have them tell you.  “Effective March 24th, 2015, VA is implementing improvements to make it easier for you to apply for benefits.  Online application tools, standardized forms, and a new intent to file process will create faster and more accurate decisions on your claims and appeals.  What does it all mean?  As part of the VA’s full-scale transformation in 2015, these new changes will: Streamline the benefits process, making it faster and easier Use standardized forms to file disability claims and compensation appeals Establish a new intent to file a claim process” Now to those who are or may not be aware, if the main issue was applying to benefits that you earned, this would be a welcomed change and things would began looking better for the less than 1% who don those uniforms and mak...

I was taken aback and truly offended when I learned that a “respected” news source like The New York Post was posting a story that they did not investigate regarding Marines “girly” hats.   I must say that I was not surprised to find that Fox News just took the story and ran with it.   I mean “fair and balanced” is after all only a catch phrase and nothing more. Let’s see if I can help to correct the story and clear this up.   Published yesterday, October 24, 2013, FoxNews.com reported that “a change to the Marine Corps’ uniform hats could leave hard-nosed leathernecks looking a lot less macho.   According to the New York Post, President Obama’s plan to create a “unisex” look for the Corps has officials on the verge of swapping out the Marines’ iconic caps with a new hat that some have derided as so “girly” that they would make the French blush.”   First please allow me to educate you on a few things as a former Marine.   Calling us hard-nosed lea...