Some of the 'Services' and 'Programs we have available
March 29 Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day
Welcome to Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida 'a Source for Veteran Resources'
180 W. Idaho Ave, Ontario, Oregon 97914
541-889-1978
Some of the 'Services' and 'Programs we have available
March 29 Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day
180 W. Idaho Ave, Ontario, Oregon 97914
541-889-1978
March 29 the Official Day Welcoming Home our Vietnam Veterans More on this story further down on this 'HOMEPAGE'
“There is something inherently wrong, something out of accord with the ideals of representative democracy, when one portion of our citizenship turns its activities to private gain amid defensive war while another is fighting, sacrificing, or dying for national preservation.”
– Warren G. Harding,( R ). 1865 - 1923 - 29th President of the United States, 28th Lt. Governor of Ohio, Journalist, Politician
988” is now the easy-to-remember three-digit, nationwide number to connect directly to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for 24/7 crisis care.
The Chairman of Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida, Ronald Verini, writes two articles every month for publication in a Regional Newspaper, this article "BLENDING INTO CIVILLIAN LIFE" will be published MARCH 9,, 2024. Here is a part of Mr. Verini's article, and you can read the full article by clicking the red bar below.
Blending into Civilian Life…
March 9th , 2024 Veterans Column by Ronald Verini
Most of us when joining the military, were young, naïve and not prepared for service life. Amazing, years later when we decide to transition back to civilian life, we are somewhat in the same position. Might say a little different for some of us in the sense that we are now older or old, naïve and not prepared!!!
This does not have to be the case, at all. You can actually prepare for the transition and make it quite smooth if you plan. And if you don’t your problems will multiply and be out of control. I know because I am one that did not plan. I wanted to get out so fast when I came back from Vietnam, it was a blur and still is in some cases a blur.
Now this article was inspired by a local combat veteran that served several deployments over the last few years and an old veteran from back in my time. Both of these veterans did not plan ahead and both are suffering the consequences of no planning. The old guy has learned the hard way throughout the years on how to get by and I found out also by hard knocks on how to navigate civilian life, somewhat. I have learned that even I and he will be able to get more help now through different organizations and Veteran Service Offices to navigate civilian life. Now the youngster of the group will be using both of us as mentors letting him know what not to do!
Yep, the other day I addressed about 125 veterans up at SRCI and I was thinking about the additional challenges that these veterans will be having blending back into civilian life. I was invited by Matt Galemore Correctional Councilor at the request of the Incarcerated Veteran Association headed by President Steven Hyppolite.. I got to meet Matt’s boss Sara Eastwood Correctional Rehabilitation Manager and the VSO Pat McGuffin Incarcerated Veteran Coordinator, all dedicated with helping the veterans up at SRCI meet the challenges of incarceration and also with the VA rules and the preparation back to civilian life.
I have to admit that I was very impressed with the veteran group that was there filling the Chapel for this meeting. President Hyppolite opened the program and the Color Guard snapped into action with the presenting of the colors. Everyone was sharp and the room came to attention respecting each of our branches of service, POW and our Nations flag was impressive. When the Pledge of Allegiance was recited it was with Love and passion, I was moved by the opening of this meeting. Then Steven Hyppolite presented award certificates to Matt, Sara, Pat and Mike Vokral the Lead Recreation Specialist. When the meeting commenced and I had my chance to speak about what help we have in Ontario for our veterans and their families. I also spoke about the support of food boxes, counseling, and what we are doing here in our community. I was surprised at their reaction, by the questions on how they might help us, as individuals or as a group. They even talked about sending us books that they were finished reading. I, of course, suggested that when they rearranged the furniture out there in their rooms that we would be happy to take the leftovers! I thought that the stainless-steel furnishings would be enjoyed by the civilians on the outside. I certainly got a chuckle out of that suggestion!!! Great group of veterans.
. . TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK THE RED BAR BELOW
MAY 2023
The Food Pantry at Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida has really expanded and grown over the last few years. There has been such an increase of our Veteran and Military Families needing help to handle the increasing problems of 'food insecurity'. We do have a 'modest' pantry open every Monday and Thursday from 9:30am to 3:30pm. Give a call to 541-889-1978 to let us know you are coming to pick up Food Box. Please let us know how many in your family and about when your coming.
Also, if you are interested in volunteering to help our veterans and the Food Pantry please give us a call or come on in and see what we are doing...
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March 2024
Tax season is upon us, and while it’s a time for many to diligently manage their finances, it’s also a period when scams and fraudsters are on the prowl, targeting unsuspecting individuals, including Veterans and their families. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), taxpayers lose millions of dollars each year due to tax-related scams and schemes, making it crucial for everyone—especially Veterans—to stay vigilant and informed to avoid falling victim to these fraudulent activities.
Tax frauds and scams come in various forms, from abusive tax providers defrauding clients to schemes involving fraudulent entities and impersonation of IRS officials. Veterans and their families are particularly vulnerable targets, with scammers often exploiting their personal information and circumstances. It’s essential to recognize common tactics used by fraudsters, such as sending fake emails or making threatening phone calls, especially during tax season.
One crucial aspect for Veterans to remember is that VA benefits are tax-free, and there is no federal income tax on VA insurance proceeds. Additionally, Veterans with a service-connected disability rating may be eligible for local property tax exemptions. Understanding these benefits can help Veterans differentiate between legitimate communication from the IRS and potential scams.
The IRS has introduced Identity Protection (IP) PINs as an extra layer of security to combat tax-related identity theft. By enrolling in the IP PIN program, taxpayers receive a unique six-digit number to verify their identity when filing their federal tax returns. This not only helps prevent identity theft but also provides added protection for those who have been victims of tax-related fraud in the past. Taxpayers can request an IP PIN annually through the Get an IP PIN tool by verifying their identity.
Before applying for an IP PIN, review the following information:
By Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
Since Dr. Seuss first introduced him in 1957, the ultimate Christmas grump has taken the form of the amorphous green meanie known as “The Grinch.”
Depicted as a roughly middle-aged curmudgeon with no family or friends, the Grinch’s past is relatively unknown beyond a brief backstory that suggests he was an orphan.
When the Grinch chooses to steal Christmas, however, his actions happen to be rather consistent with the training and attitude of an angry veteran. Here are a handful of unmistakable signs the Grinch is actually prior military.
The Grinch’s mood mirrors that of a classic driver seat-ranting veteran — mad at the world yet rather disconnected from it.
The choice to steal Christmas is not so much about taking physical gifts as it is about crushing the spirits of the Whos. The recognition that he can destroy the morale of an entire town is extremely top brass.
Max is trained to go above and beyond the normal duties of man’s — or green monster’s — best friend. From being an emotional companion to driving the Grinch’s getaway sleigh, he always rises to meet his owner’s challenges.
The Grinch’s use of a makeshift flamethrower to burn down Whoville’s Christmas tree illustrates clear explosive ordnance training. Accidentally blowing up a gas line while driving a mini-car, however, is also the kind of reckless thing a member of the E-4 mafia might do.
“4:00, wallow in self-pity. 4:30, stare into the abyss. 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one. 5:30, jazzercize; 6:30, dinner with me. I can’t cancel that again. 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing. I’m booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9, I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness,” notes the Grinch as he ponders his day. The regimen mirrors that of many a veteran home longing for the days of deployment.
Many veterans prefer an off-the-grid existence, post-service. In the Grinch’s case, it’s a solitary cave-like home on Mount Crumpit. It’s outdoorsy, far from society, and even has a few characteristics of a doomsday prepper’s domicile.
January 2024 by Jim Absher Military.com
Everyone knows about the federal benefits available to veterans, but did you know many states also offer great benefits to their veterans? State benefits range from free college and employment resources to free hunting and fishing licenses. Most states also offer tax breaks for their veterans and specialized license plates, and some states even provide their veterans with cash bonuses just for serving in the military.
We have compiled a handy summary of the benefits each state and territory offers. Each summary page also has a link directly to the specific State Department of Veterans Affairs, so be sure to check it out. There may be a benefit available to you or your family that you didn't know about!. To choose your State click on the Red Bar below
March 2024, by Joshua Skovlund - Task & Purpose
Whether a veteran can go to just any emergency room is somewhat complicated.The Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are almost bill-free for any veteran. But it can be a convoluted mess if you haven’t navigated the billing protocols, community care access, and several other factors that can affect how much you, as the veteran, will be billed — if anything.
It’s no secret that the VA’s hospitals have been criticized many times by the veteran community since the first facility was established in 1866. However, reforms have improved the care and accessibility of the VAfor all veterans, though there is still room for improvement.
One of those improvements was the addition of community care access so veterans don’t have to drive two hours for an appointment, passing six different hospitals on the way. That’s especially relevant for someone in need of emergency care.
Any veteran with a 50% disability rating or higher has free healthcare through the VA and its community care hospitals, which are local hospitals approved to provide care under the VA’s umbrella. Emergency care must be administered in an emergency room to be covered, but treatment administered at an urgent care or clinic is not considered emergency care. There are benefits that specifically apply to Gulf War veterans with their own criteria, and as of March 5, many more veterans can sign up for VA-sponsored healthcare without having to first apply for VA benefits.
Veterans’ healthcare coverage ultimately depends on the priority group to which they are assigned. Groups 1 to 8 have a wide range of coverage for inpatient and outpatient treatment, hospital stays, medication cost coverage, etc.
Subscribe to Task & Purpose today. Get the latest military news and culture in your inbox daily.
Your priority group depends on a couple of factors:
march 2024 by Patty Nieberg, Task & Purpose
Gen Xers and elder millennials, rejoice! A picture of an American M1 Abrams tank named “Animaniacs” — named for the 90s cartoon beloved by many in those generations — has been spotted in Germany’s Grafenwoehr Training Area. Tank crews are known for creative names to adorn their main gun, but this may be the most nostalgic one we’ve seen.
Filled with skits of anthropomorphic cartoon characters, Animaniacs was mostly a goofy kids’ cartoon but sometimes slid into politics.
One episode recreated the Potsdam Conference, the World War II meeting of Soviet Union Premier Joseph Stalin, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill deciding the fate of post-war Europe. In one clip, Stalin asks Roosevelt if he can have Romania, to which Roosevelt replies “sure” while he gets just a begrudged “okay” from Churchill.
The eponymous M1 was photographed as American soldiers at the 7th Army Training Command’s Grafenwoehr Training Area showed off their vehicles and answered questions from German students during the German-American Partnership Week, which took place in late February. The Americans appeared proud to show off their beloved Abrams to the students, but of course, Germans know a good tank when they see one.
Naming tanks is a longstanding Army tradition so much so that it comes with its own rules and regulations.
February 2024
Military.com | By Patricia KimePublished February 22, 2024 at 5:50pm ET
More than 100 years after they were convicted of mutiny and murder and hanged for the 1917 Houston Riot, 17 Black soldiers have finally received military burial honors along with new headstones reflecting the honorable discharges the Army awarded them last year.
In a solemn ceremony Thursday at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Department of Veterans Affairs and Army officials gathered with relatives of the soldiers, members of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, to honor their service and replace gravestones that had marked the men as unworthy of being in a veterans' cemetery.
What is it like to be airborne in a bomber old enough to have flown in Vietnam? Go aloft in America’s oldest active long range bomber, the B-52.
March 2024 by Nicholas Slayton, Task & Purpose
National Guardsmen who planned on reenlisting this month won’t get their expected bonus. According to a March 1 memorandum from the National Guard Bureau, the reenlistment bonus for the Army National Guard was suspended as of the start of the month.
The suspension affects all contracts that would be paid in the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years. The National Guard is currently assessing the finances for its incentives program. The memo was shared on social media this week, including the National Guard subreddit. A National Guard official verified the authenticity of the memo to Task & Purpose and elaborated on why the suspension is in effect.. The issue, it seems, is that it is too successful of an incentive.
“The popularity of the Army National Guard reenlistment bonus has exceeded our original budgetary projections,” the official said in a statement to Task & Purpose. “This requires a pause to assess fiscal resources that will determine when we can resume offering new bonuses with the issuance of new reenlistment contracts.”
Currently National Guard members who meet stated criteria and agree to reenlist for two-four years can receive as much as $20,000 in the form of a reenlistment bonus. Existing contracts are not impacted by the suspension.
The exact length of the pause is not set, but the National Guard expects it to last only a month. The March 1 memo said that it anticipates restarting paying reenlistment bonuses in April. The National Guard’s statement to Task & Purpose echoed that, but did not definitively say so. “It is the Army National Guard’s intent to resume issuances of bonus incentives with reenlistment contracts in April, pending the findings of this assessment,” the statement continued.
But as long as the bonus are not in play, anyone who reenlists should not expect a retroactive bonus.
“Reenlistement bonuses only apply when contracted,” a spokesperson told Task & Purpose. “That means no retroactive bonuses for those who elect to sign contracts at this time. But given our intent to resume the issuance of retention bonuses in another month, soldiers who intend to extend with a reenlistment bonus may elect to delay their decision until this incentive becomes available.’
Although it is not the only incentive for retention, the military has been trying to keep its ranks filled through several financial offers. Alongside high enlistment bonuses for new recruits in several branches, some have raised the reenlistment bonus. In October, Military.com reported that at least 9,000 National Guardsmen had not been paid their enlistment bonus, even years after when they should have.
Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida was founded by a group of veterans who saw a need for better support and resources for the veteran community. Our organization is committed to providing assistance to veterans in need, whether it's help finding a job, connecting with mental health resources, or accessing affordable housing. We believe that every veteran deserves access to the care and support they need to thrive after serving our country.
Are you passionate about supporting veterans and giving back to your community? Join our team of dedicated volunteers and make a difference in the lives of those who have served. We offer a variety of volunteer opportunities, from helping with fundraising events to providing mentorship to veterans in need. Contact us today at 541-889-1978 to learn more about getting involved with Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida.
Marine Corps leadership selected 29 Navajo men, the Navajo Code Talkers, who created a code based on the complex, unwritten Navajo language. The code primarily used word association by assigning a Navajo word to key phrases and military tactics. This system enabled the Code Talkers to translate three lines of English in 20 seconds, not 30 minutes as was common with existing code-breaking machines
SEPTEMBER 2023
By B.B. Sanders, The War Horse
I remember it like it was yesterday. Receiving live ammo for the first time. It reminded me of when my dad would deal out .30-06 rounds the morning before a hunt. I never got over how similar those two feelings are.
I remember landing and hauling every bit of gear I had across the flight line. The heat. Vomit bubbling in my stomach. I watched a wagon train of fellow soldiers walk off the flight line into the terminal of Baghdad International Airport.
I remember the command sergeant major telling us this was the real deal. A steady stream of rockets that day substantiated his claim, even disrupting Toby Keith’s USO tour later that night. The Phalanx cannons sent a laser beam of exploding .50 caliber rounds into the sky in a brilliant fireworks display of protection.
I remember looking over Sadaam’s leftover aircraft. I still have the gas cap to his 747. Dust settled over everything. Pigeon shit covered the two big hangars they put us in.
I remember it all.
But to this day nothing is so visceral as watching Kevin Keester’s blood wash out of his OH-58D. I was 19. I had never seen anything like it.
A Troop, 3-17 Cavalry, from Fort Drum, New York had come up from Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Their sole mission — get to Baghdad. They carried no ammo and were maxed out on fuel. The idea was to fly fast and low, avoiding any shenanigans on the way in.
They failed.
September 2023
by Col. Paris Davis, MilitaryTimes.com
https://www.army.mil/vietnamwar/
The nation is commemorating the 50th anniversary of America’s withdrawal from Vietnam through Veterans Day 2025, per presidential decree. But we cannot allow any lingering ambivalence on the legacy of the war — or anything else — to further delay honoring the extraordinary contributions of our most covert warriors of that era.
When I recently received the Medal of Honor for the 19-hour battle my Army Special Forces unit fought in Bong Son, Vietnam in 1965, President Joe Biden said, “It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
Indeed, we are well past time to do what’s right, and finally honor the elite U.S Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group, or MACV-SOG, with a Congressional Gold Medal.
This revolutionary, top-secret group operated in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1964 to 1972. Its members fought deep within enemy territory to gather invaluable intelligence for the highest levels of government, including the White House. Their tasks included strategic reconnaissance, sabotage, direct-action raids, psychological operations, deception operations, and rescue missions. The group targeted the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a crucial enemy supply line for the North Vietnamese enemy. Aerial reconnaissance was challenging, making the intelligence provided by SOG teams on the ground invaluable.
Casualty rates for SOG reconnaissance teams exceeded 100%, meaning every man was wounded at least once and approximately half were killed. Of the 1,579 Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War, 50 are from the group. At least 11 SOG teams, perhaps more, simply vanished.
The covert operations of SOG remained unacknowledged by military leadership until partial declassification began in the 1990s. Members of the unit had signed confidentiality agreements and their wartime activities remained mostly secret for decades. As SOG member John Stryker Meyer wrote in his book, Across the Fence: The Secret War in Vietnam, “If I died, no one would tell my mother the truth.”
The Congressional Gold Medal for MACV-SOG would help the American public better understand the members’ extraordinary service, sacrifices, and contributions to our nation. The men of this unit battled not only the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, but also the harsh terrain, debilitating climate, and the chaos and uncertainty of guerilla warfare. They served with valor, often in situations where survival was the only measure of success. Let’s face it: The nation can handle the truth of their service.
August 2023
By Amanda Miller, Military.com
The Department of Veterans Affairs screened more than 4 million U.S. military veterans in the first year of the new PACT Act to find out if they thought they'd been exposed to toxins during their military service. The vast majority of those screened were already enrolled in VA health care.
Of those millions of veterans, 1.7 million had "screened positive" for possible exposure, Steve Miska, the VA's PACT Act transitional executive director, told Military.com.
As a result, the VA is reaching back out to those veterans, "encouraging them to file a supplemental claim that could potentially increase benefits, whether on the health-care side or many of the other benefits," Miska said.
The PACT Act linked a variety of medical conditions with toxins common during specific eras or circumstances of military service. Rather than require veterans or their survivors to prove that a toxic exposure caused a given condition, the law assumes that some illnesses are service-connected if the person served in a certain place at a certain time. This means that veterans may be eligible for additional VA benefits based on past toxic exposure during their service.
Here's how the PACT Act could affect existing VA beneficiaries:
Veterans who already have a partial VA disability rating could have their rating increased now that the VA covers more conditions under the PACT Act, and they don't need to fear that applying could potentially cause their rating to decrease instead, VA officials told Military.com.
That increased rating could add up to a significant difference in monthly compensation, especially for veterans with dependents. For example, a veteran with a spouse and two dependent children under age 18 whose disability rating rises from 10% to 60% could see their pay rise from $165.92 a month to $1,588.65 a month in 2023.
"And we are not going [and] looking back at other service-connected issues trying to decrease those," Kaitlin Richards, assistant director in the VA's Office of Policy and Oversight, told Military.com.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog post.
If you want to learn how to implement these strategies to get the VA benefits you deserve, click here to speak with a VA claim expert for free.
HEY VETERANS! We’ve got some important news about the PACT Act—the game-changing bill for those exposed to toxic substances during military service.
The PACT Act, short for “Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022,” is a bill designed to help you and other veterans exposed to toxic substances during military service.
The bill addresses all of the following related to toxic exposure:
The law aims to make it easier for you to access VA medical care, including mental health services and counseling. It expands healthcare and presumption of toxic exposure for certain veterans, adds new conditions to the list of service presumptions, and strengthens research on toxic exposure.
The PACT Act also helps veterans like you if you don’t have sufficient evidence to win your VA claim, incorporates clinical questionnaires in initial screenings, and establishes outreach and education programs to better inform you and VA personnel about toxic exposure-related benefits and support.
We know dealing with these complex topics can be challenging, so we’re here to break it down for you. Let’s dive into what the PACT Act is all about, and how it can benefit you as a veteran.
The PACT Act brings some much-needed changes to the health care available for veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service. First, let’s break down exactly what toxic exposure looks like for veterans and how this law expands care.
"People who are food insecure are making choices on how to spend their last $20 or $50. Usually food is the flexible component, so they apply it to rent."
Photo-elicitation is a research method that combines detailed interviews with photographs taken by study participants. Researchers use it to gain a better understanding of complex topics. Often, the act of taking photographs—in response to questions from the researcher—can summon emotional responses in study participants. It can also help both participants and researchers gain insight into participants’ behaviors.
Dr. Nipa Kamdar is a researcher at the VA Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (iQUeSt) in Houston. Her focus is food insecurity in Veterans. In October 2021, Kamdar published a commentary, in Public Health Nursing, on her use of photo-elicitation to study food insecurity in low-income, post 9/11 Veterans.
"[This is a picture of what was] in my fridge when I first started the project. You see [there's] hardly anything in there? And see how small the fridge is?" (Photo taken by Veteran study participant.)
The article discussed the results of an earlier study by Kamdar and colleagues that used photo-elicitation to better understand food insecurity in a group of post 9/11 Veterans with children. The researchers found that food insecurity in Veterans is highly intertwined with physical and mental health, military culture, and lack of basic resources like housing or transportation.
"We have the G.I. Bill, the Hazelwood Act, and the 'Voca Rehab' [Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment], but right now, I'm just using the G.I. Bill. It's the money from the G.I. Bill that helps us pay bills and stuff." (Photo taken by Veteran study participant.)
Food insecurity is defined as a limited ability to access food, largely due to financial considerations. In the U.S. population, about 10% of adults experience food insecurity, according to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Veterans have about the same rate of food insecurity as the general population, but differ in their level of food insecurity, according to a 2021 study that looked at working-age Veterans with children. Veterans often experience a greater severity of food insecurity, Kamdar notes. "That severe level means they are cutting down on what they eat, or they are skipping meals."
Those Veterans and Families in the Ontario, Oregon area can reach out to our Food Pantry every Monday through Thursday from 9:30am to 3:30pm.
call 541-889-1978 to come pick up a FOOD BOX.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE FOR US AND OUR GREAT NATION !!!
March 2024 by Patty Nieberg, Task & Purpose
The Army is standardizing the way crews of Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles keep up with their combat skills.
Brigades with the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia have taken the last month to train under a new set of qualification standards, or gunnery tables, against targets set at longer distances for their M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
“What we are trying to do is train our crews to be more adaptable and be more lethal as our adversaries change,” said 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team Command Sgt. Maj. Ryan Roush. “Everyone will go through the exact same validation process. Once these tables are implemented Army-wide, we could receive a new soldier from any unit in the Army and know that the training standard that the soldier has used, are the exact same across the entire Army that we have and then base our performance and expectations off of that.”
Tank crews have to validate their skills twice a year on a unit’s gunnery tables. Under the current integrated weapons strategy there are six gunnery tables that crews must be certified in: Table I gunnery skills test; Table II simulations; Table III proficiency to train with live rounds; Table IV basic skills of the platform; Table V practice and Table VI qualification for crew to participate in live-fire exercises.
Master gunners could previously use their own discretion to create tables with time and distance categories for targets. But with this initiative, there would be set standards that soldiers and crews have to complete, said Sgt. Daniel Blandon, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team Abrams Master Gunner.
Over the last two decades, training for Iraq and Afghanistan was focused on counterinsurgency operations “for a whole career of a soldier,” said Steve Krivitsky, chief of the weapons and gunnery branch at the Directorate of Training, Tactics and Doctrine for the Maneuver Center of Excellence. “There was a series of soldiers that never experienced the long range and then the large-scale, combat-operations-type training.”
Tank crews often were tested only on skills and targets their commanders deemed essential for Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, or that could be shot within the confines of the ranges of their own base.
September 2023
BY JOSHUA SKOVLUND, TASK & PURPOSE
Thibodeaux plans to rebuild the fuselage to resemble an MH-47G Chinook, the same type of helicopter that Arcane 22 was.
Jeremy Thibodeaux was driving back to Hunter Army Airfield, where he was assigned to B Co., 3rd battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) — known as the “Nightstalkers” — when he heard that a special operations Chinook helicopter had crashed in Afghanistan over the radio. Thibodeaux immediately felt sick — he knew this meant some of his friends had probably died.
His worst fear was realized after arriving on base. Two of his friends, Josue “Sway” Hernandez and Nickolas Mueller, were aboard an MH-47G helicopter, “Arcane 22,” that had crashed during a counter-narcotics raid in Afghanistan on Oct. 26, 2009.
“Upon arriving, I found out exactly who was killed, and I just dropped to my knees, just screaming and crying — kind of pulling my hair out,” Thibodeaux said. “I didn’t really know what to do. You know, two of my best friends were on that aircraft. It was just a really — it was a horrible day.”
On Tuesday, Thibodeaux received approval from the Internal Revenue Service for his newly established non-profit, The Arcane Project.
The idea was born years ago when Thibodeaux was still serving. As older CH-47 models became outdated, he joked that he wanted to acquire one to convert into a private bar for guys from the unit. Years later, Thibodeaux brought up the idea with one of his best friends, Chip Davis, and the idea for a non-profit was born.
October 2023
Whiskey has likely been around for some of your most memorable late-night shenanigans in the barracks or downtown. If there’s anything America’s airborne paratroopers know, it’s how to fight and how to drink good whiskey.
So we talked to four Airborne-qualified master distillers who took their well-researched opinions and made some of the best whiskeys out there. Although they make good whiskey, remember that you have gone too far if you find yourself in the brig. Drink responsibly.
In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, America was struggling to pay off its war debt (ah, the good ol’ days when America cared about keeping the nation’s debt under control). Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton proposed a tax in the late 1700s on domestic liquor as a means of paying it off — which was met with opposition from whiskey makers in Pennsylvania.
The Whiskey Rebellion that resulted was short-lived, but it was not the last time whiskey would be involved in war. The brown elixir fueled soldiers throughout the Civil War, especially the North, who were paid better and could afford it.
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant slammed Old Crow whiskey, and President Abraham Lincoln allegedly likened the General’s success on the battlefield to his liquor consumption. The New York Herald reported in a Sept. 18, 1863 edition of the newspaper that Lincoln was approached by a group calling for Grant to be removed from his position, claiming he was a drunk.
The tall hat-wearing president allegedly responded with a quirky quip, asking the group if they knew what Grant was drinking.
“If I can only find out, I will send a barrel of this wonderful whiskey to every general in the army,” Lincoln allegedly said. Historians contest the legitimacy of the quote because of the anonymous sources, but the legend lives on to this day.
Whiskey’s relationship with soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen is not a coincidence, in Derek Sisson’s opinion.
by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
One of the best pieces of advice, for people in careers both in and out of service, is to learn to deal with things or take the bad in stride.
But the military, famed for its ability to turn a phrase or ruin anything with an absurd acronym, came up with its own colloquialism for making the best of any situation: “Embrace the suck.”
Though it’s impossible to trace back the phrase definitively to its first user, it became popularized in 2003 by Marines in Iraq.
Retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. Austin Bay authored a book in the mid-2000s called “Embrace the Suck,” in which he explains the meaning of the phrase.
“The Operation Iraqi Freedom phrase ‘embrace the suck’ is both an implied order and wise advice couched as a vulgar quip,” Bay wrote.
He likens the slang phrase back to legendary military strategist Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz and his views on “friction.”
“Clausewitz went to war when he was 12 years old,” Bay wrote. “Over the last few decades, critics have argued that his treatise ‘On War’ is a bit dated in terms of theory. However, everyone with military experience agrees that Clausewitz understood ‘the suck.’ He called it ‘friction.’”
For Clausewitz, it’s this “friction, or what is so termed here, which makes that which appears easy in war difficult in reality.”
Troops, in their resilience, in effect, mitigate the chasm of difference between training or planning and the often harsh realities they face on the ground. And they do it with aplomb, because they must.
The U.S. military may be a professional war-fighting organization, but it is also filled with people, and people can be very stupid sometimes. That’s why last week, Task & Purpose put out a call for readers to share the dumbest moments they had in uniform. We were not disappointed.
From drunken samurai sword fights to bored forklift drivers, a clear theme emerged: boredom is one step away from a chewing-out by the nearest platoon sergeant.
The best example of this is a story that one Marine veteran named Mike Betts sent us about the time he and his buddies got drunk on salty dogs (a cocktail of gin or vodka and grapefruit juice) in Vietnam. One of the Marines pulled out “a cheap samurai sword he got in Japan,” Betts recalled. Our reader then took the sword and, as one does while inebriated, “commenced my best samurai impression, slashing at anything and everything in the hooch.”
You can see where this is going: at some point during the demonstration, our brave Samurai smacked something that loosened the blade and sent it flying from the handle, striking the sword owner in the chest “and inflicting a pretty nasty wound.”
Nobody wants to have to explain that kind of trouble to someone in charge, so our reader and his fellows snuck the wounded Marine past the officer and sergeant on duty that night and “hustled him off to the hospital” before anyone could notice. Luckily, he was “stitched up and pronounced fit for duty,” Betts said.
“Needless to say, I felt terrible about hurting him,” he added.
Vietnam War kept Bob Kroener from walking across stage with USC classmates in 1971.
Having to wait an extra year to participate in his graduation ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic paled in comparison to the 49 years that had already passed for Bob Kroener, 78, who finally attended his graduate-school commencement on May 17.
The now-retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and civil engineer missed his pomp and circumstance in 1971 due to his deployment during the Vietnam War. So, when he was thumbing through the University of Southern California's alumni magazine a few years ago and saw pictures of that year's graduation festivities he felt it was finally his time to walk across the stage.
"I was sitting there looking at it and I thought, You know, I never got to go through graduation,” he said. “So I picked up the phone, and I called over to the Marshall School of Business."
During the call, USC officials inquired if he had received his diploma and whether he had other information that would help them locate his decades-old records. The school also asked for his student ID number, to which he replied, “I'm too old for that, we only had a Social Security number."
The road to Southern California started north of the border. Then a captain in the Air Force after receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Detroit, Kroener was stationed at a military base in Canada when he learned that he secured one of 26 government-funded spots offered to Air Force officers for graduate school. From a snow-covered mountaintop in Newfoundland he was informed of the schools he could apply to.
"I heard the University of Southern California and I said, ‘I'll take it. I'm going back to sit on the beach after being in 110 inches of snow for a year.’ It wasn't too hard of a decision to make,” said Kroener.
However, it wasn't just the weather that Kroener appreciated about going to school in Los Angeles. He was able to take advantage of the wide variety of corporations that would open doors to students like himself.
"I went to [oil company] Atlantic Richfield to do a paper, I went to Mattel toy company to do a paper, I went to Continental Airlines to basically write a master's thesis, myself and another captain,” he said. “All you had to do was say you're a student doing graduate work at USC. And I mean, they just opened the doors."
Kroener earned his MBA in 1971, but before the graduation ceremony took place he was deployed to Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. As part of his duties, he managed combat engineering teams by setting up their directives and getting them all the equipment needed to prepare for combat in Vietnam. He eventually retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1993.
Feb. 2023 by Sarah Sicard MilitaryTimes
The Navy may have the most complicated rank structure when it comes to its ratings system, but there is another, much more uncouth method for establishing hierarchy among sailors: Filthy coffee mugs.
It is a commonly-held truth in the seafaring service that one can tell a higher-up from a newbie based on the amount of sludge that lives in the bottom of one’s coffee cup.
So, in the interest of salt, here are some professional tips, from Navy veterans, to get an optimally seasoned mug.
1. Always drink black coffee. Milk or creamer curdles and introduces bacteria into the mix. Sour lactose creates a hostile environment — not ideal for going years without washing your mug.
2. Drink the whole cup of coffee. Don’t leave even a drop behind. You want to season the mug with a faint film, not swigging day-old coffee every morning.
3. For extra flavoring, take the leftover coffee grounds from the filter and let them rest in the cup for a few days before dumping it out. Treat your mug like a cast iron skillet.
4. If you need to, rinse it lightly with just a little water. This is only to be done in cases where the buildup is starting to become untenable.
5. Don’t wash the mug with the soap. Ever. You might be tempted every now and again to give it a good soak. Don’t. You will lose all the flavoring, respect from your near-peers and any chance at an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy.
march 2024 by Joshua Skovlund, Task & Purpose
When the HK416 started showing up on SOF compounds throughout Iraq, people noticed.
In the early 2000s, operators in the U.S. military’s special operations community started using the Heckler & Koch HK416 as one of their primary battle rifles. It was initially meant to replace the Colt M4A1 but never realized that potential.
Not just anyone in SOF had the opportunity to carry this German-made rifle into combat though. Rangers, SEALs, Green Berets, and others in SOF often work in the same areas as their higher echelon counterparts, but still carried the M4A1 or even FN SCAR during that timeframe.
When the HK416 started showing up on SOF compounds throughout Iraq, hanging off the shoulder of operators grabbing a quick bite to eat in the chow hall — people noticed. It was the next new thing, but most never got a chance to use it. Unlike the SR25 sniper rifle, MultiCam uniforms, EOTech holographic sights, and high-cut helmets, the HK416 was one bit of kit that never made it into the wider U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) inventory.
The HK 416 is a step away from the traditional operation of the Colt M4A1. Instead of a gas-operated, direct impingement system, it uses a gas-operated, short-stroke piston-driven operating rod. Ultimately, the piston setup was more reliable in testing, but compared to the M4A1, it’s more expensive and heavier.
The operation of the HK416 is relatively similar to what operators were used to with the M4: the safety selector switch, magazine release, charging handle, and Picatinny rails were all the same or very similar. The cleaning procedures are different though, with the M4’s bolt carrier group and chamber needing to be cleaned more often when compared to the HK416’s piston system, which blows gas forward and away from the bolt carrier group — but still results in a different, but regularly required maintenance.
January 2021 By Harm Venhuizen. MilitaryTimes
When separating from the military, it’s not uncommon for servicemembers to discover gaps between their resume and the civilian job they want.
Worries about putting food on the table can make going back to school, getting on-the-job training, or taking an internship seem like costly ways of filling that gap. Luckily, there’s a way servicemembers can gain the experience required by civilian jobs while still on the military’s payroll.
The DoD SkillBridge Program lets active-duty personnel from all four branches spend the last 180 days of their military service interning at a civilian job with one of more than 500 industry partners.
Participants continue to receive military pay and benefits, whether they’re getting certified by Microsoft in cloud development, learning to weld, or taking advantage of any one of the hundreds of other opportunities available.
As part of the DoD’s requirements, all training programs offer a “high probability of post-service employment with the provider or other employers in a field related to the opportunity,” according to the SkillBridge website.
In his internship with the Global SOF Foundation, retired Navy commander Chuck Neu says he not only tripled the size of his professional network, but also discovered a talent for sales.
“Without that exposure to cold-call sales from doing SkillBridge with the Global SOF Foundation, I likely would have ended up on-base as a contractor or a government civilian, which is really not what I wanted to do,” Neu told Military Times....
For more on this story click the 'Red Bar' below.
September 2023
Black Rifle Coffee Company
Barrett Carver (top row second from left) served in the US Army for almost seven years and deployed multiple times. He spent his time in 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, and was one of the Rangers involved in the assault on Haditha Dam, a critical structure to capture during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
During the assault, Carver and his fellow Rangers were holed up inside one of the buildings on “the military side of the dam,” and they were taking indirect fire from the Iraqis. Artillery rounds were impacting close to their building for several hours with barrages of small-arms fire. Carver thought to himself, Well, it’s been a good run.
Suddenly, they all heard a loud twang, and a thick cloud of dust erupted inside the building. Carver looked up to see a horseshoe-shaped indent in the corrugated tin roof over their heads. Everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter — one of the artillery rounds had been deflected by the thin tin roof.
“Deflection is a funny thing,” Carver said. “It could have just as easily been a dud round. Either way, I take a kick where I can get it. Amazing thing is that with the amount they dropped on us, we only had two casualties. Both made it.”
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released in January an updated Department of Defense (DOD) list of locations outside of Vietnam where tactical herbicides were used, tested or stored by the United States military.
“This update was necessary to improve accuracy and communication of information,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “VA depends on DOD to provide information regarding in-service environmental exposure for disability claims based on exposure to herbicides outside of Vietnam."
DOD conducted a thorough review of research, reports and government publications in response to a November 2018 Government Accountability Office report.
“DOD will continue to be responsive to the needs of our interagency partners in all matters related to taking care of both current and former service members,” said Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper. “The updated list includes Agents Orange, Pink, Green, Purple, Blue and White and other chemicals and will be updated as verifiable information becomes available.”
Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service may be eligible for a variety of VA benefits, including an Agent Orange Registry health exam, health care and disability compensation for diseases associated with exposure. Their dependents and survivors also may be eligible for benefits.
June 2022 by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
Is there anything sweeter — literally or figuratively — than biting into the plastic-wrapped chemical compound of luxuriously spongey cake with vanilla cream that is a Twinkie?
Perhaps not. But the original Hostess delicacy was once something else entirely. The preservative-filled dessert that many once believed could withstand nuclear war got its start as a banana cream shortcake, until World War II changed everything.
In 1930, a baker named James Dewar began experimenting while serving as manager of Continental Baking Company’s Chicago area plant in River Forest, according to the Chicago Tribune. He wanted to prove that shortbread could serve a purpose outside strawberry shortcake.
“The economy was getting tight, and the company needed to come out with another low-priced item,” he told the paper. “We were already selling these little finger cakes during the strawberry season for shortcake, but the pans we baked them in sat idle except for that six-week season.”
While in St. Louis on a work trip, Dewar saw a billboard for “Twinkle Toe Shoes,” and thus found the name for his compact confections.
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