Theodore's World

Barack Obama has refused to answer questions about his conversion from Islam? What is he hiding?

Wild Thing’s comment…..
ExposeObama.com is a project of the National Campaign Fund. Obama just needs to tell the truth, how hard can that be. For him it is !!!
There is a way of speaking where a person is not saying an outright lie but they are not telling the truth. It is done a lot by the left, they have turned it into an art form. Obama excells at this.
The most imporant thing like Tom has said is the impact his past with the Muslim world will have on his being President.
Obama is the one that is making this into something more then the media.

….Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

“The Nation will live to regret what the Court had done today,” Justice Antonin Scalia writes at the end of his dissent in Boumediene v. Bush, the case in which a bare majority of the Supreme Court, for the first time ever, extended rights under the U.S. constitution to enemy combatants who have never set foot on U.S. soil.
Court gives detainees habeas rights

In a stunning blow to the Bush Administration in its war-on-terrorism policies, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay have a right to pursue habeas challenges to their detention. The Court, dividing 5-4, ruled that Congress had not validly taken away habeas rights. If Congress wishes to suspend habeas, it must do so only as the Constitution allows — when the country faces rebellion or invasion.
The Court stressed that it was not ruling that the detainees are entitled to be released — that is, entitled to have writs issued to end their confinement. That issue, it said, is left to the District Court judges who will be hearing the challenges. The Court also said that “we do not address whether the President has authority to detain” individuals during the war on terrorism, and hold them at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba; that, too, it said, is to be considered first by the District judges.
The Court also declared that detainees do not have to go through the special civilian court review process that Congress created in 2005, since that is not an adequate substitute for habeas rights. The Court refused to interpret the Detainee Treatment Act — as the Bush Administration had suggested — to include enough legal protection to make it an adequate replacement for habeas. Congress, it concluded, unconstitutionally suspended the writ in enacting that Act.

Justice Scalia

Both the Chief Justice and Justice Antonin Scalia issued dissenting opinions, and all four dissenters joined in both dissents. In his dissent, Justice Scalia writes, “The game of bait-and-switch that today’s opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.” Justice Scalia’s 25-page dissenting opinion concludes, “The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today. I dissent.”

Chief Justice John Roberts

Chief Justice John Roberts says the rule of law and the American people have lost out–and with this ruling, we “lose a bit more control over the conduct of this Nation’s foreign policy to unelected, politically unaccountable judges.”

So who has won? Not the detainees. The Court’s analysis leaves them with only the prospect of further litigation to determine the content of their new habeas right, followed by further litigation to resolve their particular cases,followed by further litigation before the D. C. Circuit— where they could have started had they invoked the DTA procedure. Not Congress, whose attempt to “determine— through democratic means—how best” to balance the security of the American people with the detainees’ liberty interests, see Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U. S. 557, 636 (2006) (BREYER, J., concurring), has been unceremoniously brushed aside. Not the Great Writ, whose majesty is hardly enhanced by its extension to a jurisdictionally quirky outpost, with no tangible benefit to anyone. Not the rule of law, unless by that is meant the rule of lawyers, who will now arguably have a greater role than military and intelligence officials in shaping policy for alien enemy combatants. And certainly not the American people, who today lose a bit more control over the conduct of this Nation’s foreign policy to unelected, politically unaccountable judges. I respectfully dissent.”

UPDATE :
The District Court judges in Washington who will hear the detainees’ habeas challenges mandated by the Supreme Court will meet soon to decide how to proceed, that Court announced shortly after the Supreme Court ruled. Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth said “I expect we’ll call in the lawyers for both sides to see what suggestions they have for how we can approach our task most effectively and efficiently.”

.

Wild Thing’s comment…..
Lock and load comes to mind.
It was bad enough when McCain said he would close GITMO the day after he becomes President and how all on the left want to shut it down too. And now this????!!!
“The Nation will live to regret what the Court had done today”
No truer words.
Supreme Court, for the first time ever, extended rights under the U.S. constitution to enemy combatants who have never set foot on U.S. soil.
Unbelievable!
This is just outrageous. Never before in the history of US warfare have we had to go out and Mirandize prisoners of war. That’s what we’re going to effectively have to do. We’re going to have to read prisoners of war their rights just as we would a thief at the local convenience store. These 270 prisoners now have access to the US Constitution as though they are citizens.
This is a victory for the enemy. It is a disgrace. is bad for the country. This is bad for US national security.

Um well here is a question heh heh…was Obama a Kanamit???

The Twilight Zone: To Serve Man

.

Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign said Thursday that Michelle Obama never used the word “whitey” in a speech from the church pulpit as he launched a Web site to debunk rumors about himself and his wife.
The rumor that Michelle Obama railed against “whitey” in a diatribe at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ has circulated on conservative Republican blogs for weeks and was repeated by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The rumor included claims of a videotape of the speech that would be used to bring down Obama’s candidacy this fall.
“No such tape exists,” the campaign responds on the site, http://www.fightthesmears.com. “Michelle Obama has not spoken from the pulpit at Trinity and has not used that word.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
For one thing he says at his Fight the Smears site that he never was a Muslim. NEVER was a Muslim?
This is one of the posts at this smear website about it…..
Click here
Um B. Hussein Obama a-hem you had better have a talk with your er um half brother Malik! Like right away!
From the Jerusalem Post:

“Barack Obama’s half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background.”

In an interview with Army Radio he expressed a special salutation from the Obamas of Kenya.

LMAO ……Oh well, look on the bright side. At least he didn’t call his brother “Barack Hussein Obama.”

Chuck Norris To Congress and McCain!

You can CLICK HERE to go to their website and sign their petition.

From VP Cheney:
Cheney Pushes for More Drilling

“Vice President Cheney yesterday called for a substantial increase in domestic drilling for oil and other natural resources, including in environmentally sensitive areas, saying that only increased production — and not new technology — will satisfy the nation’s demand for energy.
“We are an economy that runs on petroleum. Some 20 million barrels of it a day. That can and will change over time, but it will be a very long time,” said Cheney, former head of U.S. oil company Halliburton. “We’d be doing the whole country a favor if more of that oil were produced here at home.”
Cheney chided lawmakers for blocking oil companies from drilling off the nation’s coasts and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. “On Capitol Hill, many have ignored the obvious and stood in the way of more domestic energy production,” he said. “Oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida. But we’re not doing it. The Chinese are, in cooperation with the Cuban government. Even the communists have figured out that a good answer to high prices is more supply.”

McCain now stands with Pelosi, Reid, Kennedy, Conyers, and the whole left.
If he reached across the aisle he’d touch a Republican! –Wild Thing

House Subcommittee Rejects Plan to Open U.S. Waters to More Oil Exploration

A House subcommittee has rejected a Republican-led effort to open up more U.S. coastal waters to oil exploration.
Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., spearheaded the effort. His proposal would open up U.S. waters between 50 and 200 miles off shore for drilling.
For his part, Peterson said: “There is no valid reason for Congress to keep the country from energy resources it needs.”

You can tell McCain to change his views on Oil.
http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/
I sent him a message ! I asked him to change him stance on this. Who the heck cares if the left call him a flip flopper if he would change his mind. He could always say he cares about America and Americans more then this stupid ego.

ALASKA PIPELINE IS A CARIBOU BABE MAGNET!
We have all heard the rino’s, dems and enviro’s over the years complain and whine about the Caribou! They are totally full of it! LIES LIES LIES
Look at this!
Many of us recall the big controversy surrounding the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System that opened in 1977. Designed to move oil from the North Slope to the port at Valdez, Alaska, this monumental project stretches 800 miles, and to date has transported more than 15 billion barrels of oil, with an admirable safety and environmental record.
At the time, the pipeline was fiercely opposed as sop for Big Oil; protesters were vigorous in their belief that this initiative, which has subsequently lessened our dependence on foreign energy and created jobs here in the United States, would disrupt the mating habits of caribou, to cite just one notable example.

Once critic proclaimed that the pipeline “…would cross one of the most active earthquake zones in the world, would scar and despoil vast tracts of magnificent, undisturbed country and would threaten extensive oil spills in the numerous rivers which the pipeline would cross.”

The New York Times said the question was, vis-à-vis indigenous wildlife, “…whether the caribou will go the way of the buffalo.” Furthermore, many of these same critics also doubted the pipeline’s ability to reliably supply large amounts of oil. It seems they were wrong on both counts.

In fact, the current caribou population is higher than one could have even imagined. Walter Hickel, a former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and governor of Alaska, noted recently that the caribou herd…

“…has not only survived, but flourished. In 1977, as the Prudhoe region started delivering oil to America’s southern 48 states, the Central Arctic caribou herd numbered 6,000; it has since grown to 27,128.”

It turns out that the pipeline, heated as it must be to keep the oil moving, became a sort of babe magnet for the caribou, who, not surprisingly, were drawn to the warmth!

So much for oil companies making money hand over fist!!
And you know what? Considering most of their profit comes from upstream sales and petrochemical wholesaling (to other types of chemical companies) and the unfair pressure the government and other useful idiots are putting on them, I don’t blame them one bit. — Wild Thing

Exxon getting out of retail gas business
Houston

Exxon Mobil is getting out of the retail gasoline business, a market where profits have gotten tougher because of high crude oil prices.
The world’s largest publicly traded oil company said Thursday it will sell its 820-company owned stations and another 1,400 outlets operated by dealers to gasoline distributors across the U.S.
The Irving-based company didn’t disclose financial details but said the transition will take place over a “multiyear period.”
However, motorists will continue to see Exxon and Mobil stations throughout the country. About 75 percent of its roughly 12,000 stations in the U.S. are owned by branded distributors. Exxon Mobil will still sell gasoline to those stations and get paid for the use of its name.

And THIS OMG from the POS formerly known as Muslim Hussein Obama:
According to Barack Obama, high gas prices don’t really constitute a problem for Americans. He stated yesterday that the reason for our anger is the rapid increase in prices, not the prices themselves. Obama claimed that Americans would have accepted a “gradual adjustment” to the current cost:

Wild Thing’s comment………
So far, both Obama and McCain are keeping their eyes tightly shut lest they see some truth they don’t want to deal with.
We are on our way to National Suicide and all Congress and BOTH Presidential candidates can do is fiddle. McCain CAN reverse course and come out in favor of drilling because his party is in favor of it. The question is, will he be smart enough to recognize that he will win the election if he starts to promote domestic drilling? I’m not confident that he will. Unless his top advisers can convince him.
As a lifelong Conservative Republican I’m horrified that McCain is the best our party can come up with. God help us all! I’m embarrassed beyond words and disgusted even more that the GOP has no guts, and no spine.
We have brave Americans putting their lives on the line to protect and defend our country. We have human waste in DC that supposedly represent us. What a joke, they represent their own quest for power, greed, and egos.
What the heck happened to a person seeing a problem and the answer being right there. It is sooooo simple. Need more oil, then drill for oil. Tell the left in both parties to shove it. And do what has to be done.
DRILL, DRILL, DRILL ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE. HECK DRILL IN MY BACK YARD.
What do you think of Joe American? He has a lot of things to say that make sense.

“Joe, American” Challenges the Presidential Candidates

In this shocking video, code pink calls all United States Marines war criminals. They also claim al qaeda is not a threat to the United States and that World War two was “wrong.” And she says nothing wrong with communism.

.

Code Pink protesters entice veterans and other patriotic Americans during an anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. A veteran, a veteran’s wife, and some college students turn the tables on Code Pink and send them away with their traitorous tails between their legs.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Don’t you just love the Veteran that ran over and took their sign away from them. YEE HAW!
I would give hima huge hug!

Sen. James Inhofe page with more VIDEOS at YouTube

WASHINGTON, DC
June 11, 2008
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, criticized the Democrats’ Consumer First Energy Act as a “No” Energy bill in floor remarks today. Senator Inhofe voted against cloture on the bill yesterday.

“The simple fact remains that until we explore and develop domestic energy resources and increase domestic refining capacity, the cost of gas at the pump will increase,” Senator Inhofe said.

“As Oklahomans and Americans face $4 per-gallon gas prices, now is not the time for politics as usual – now is the time for common sense solutions. The Democrats’ bill increases taxes by $17 billion on America’s oil and gas producers and increases government bureaucracy.

“The Democrats have introduced an energy bill which contains no energy. The Democrats’ bill does nothing to increase access to America’s extensive oil and natural gas reserves, does nothing for the promotion of nuclear energy, does nothing to increase refinery capacity, does nothing for electricity generation or transmission, and does nothing for the utilization of clean coal.

“As the price of gas at the pump continues to go up, Democrats are proposing yet another energy tax. Their attempted ‘solution’ to our energy challenges is to raise taxes again and further harm American families.”

Additional Inhofe Speech Excerpts:

“Federal law already bans companies from colluding to fix prices and the federal government currently has all the legal tools necessary to address price gouging. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), ‘At least 30 states… have laws that prohibit gouging, excessive price increases, or unconscionable pricing. (LINK) Other states may also exercise authority under general deceptive trade practice laws depending on the nature of the state law and the specific circumstances in which price increases occur.’ So knowing what we do about price gouging, this provision is repetitive, unnecessary, and potentially counterproductive. Most importantly, however, it fails to do anything to address our record-high gas prices.

“The other major component of the Democrats’ Energy Bill reinstates the Windfall Profits Tax (WPT). Democrats want to impose a Windfall Profits Tax despite the fact that we had this same tax almost 30 years ago and the results were disastrous. In 1980, under President Jimmy Carter, Congress imposed an excise levy on domestic oil production called the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax. According to a 1990 report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), the results of Carter’s Windfalls Profits Tax were very counterproductive: ‘The WPT reduced domestic oil production between 3 and 6 percent, and increased oil imports from between 8 and 16 percent… This made the U.S. more dependent upon imported oil.’ Looking back to 1980, we now know what a Windfall Profits Tax will do. It will decrease domestic production and increase America’s oil imports – the exact opposite of what we need to do. For American jobs, for the international competitiveness of American companies, and for consumers at the pump, Congress must reject the Democrats’ attempts to increase taxes and implement back door price controls.

“Oil and gas exploration and production are currently prohibited on 85 percent of America’s offshore waters. Among industrialized nations with shorelines, the United States is the only one not actively seeking new offshore oil and gas deposits. Canada allows offshore drilling in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Great Lakes. Additionally, Cuba is also looking to expand drilling which could occur within 45 miles of parts of Florida and with technology that is much less environmentally sound than that used by American companies. Exploration and production activities are currently prohibited in the Pacific and Atlantic regions of the Outer Continental Shelf, which hold an estimated 14 billion barrels of oil and 55 trillion cubic feet of gas. This is equivalent to more than 25 years’ worth of imports from Saudi Arabia. If President Clinton hadn’t vetoed legislation allowing environmentally sensitive exploration on the Coastal Plain of ANWR 10 years ago, today we would have 1 million additional barrels of oil a day coming from ANWR, which would mean lower gas prices for consumers and more energy security right now. ANWR is estimated to contain 10 billion barrels of oil – about 15 years worth of imports from Saudi Arabia.”

Background:

Last month, Senator Inhofe joined Senator Domenici to introduce S. 2958, the American Energy Production Act of 2008. This legislation will address America’s soaring gas prices by focusing on common sense measures that will increase production of oil and gas in America. By expanding production offshore and in Alaska, and removing obstacles to domestic production in the West, this bill will help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Additionally, in each of the past two Congresses, Senator Inhofe introduced legislation to improve and streamline the permitting process for the expansion of existing and new refineries. The Gas PRICE Act is designed to ease America’s soaring gas prices, address true energy independence, and increase refinery capacity. The Gas Price Act would improve the permitting process for the expansion of existing and construction of new domestic fuels facilities, as well as encourage and fund the development of future fuels, which includes coal-to-liquids and cellulosic biomass ethanol. In addition, the Act would provide for a more stable and certain regulatory environment, and it would have numerous economic benefits, including locating refineries in distressed communities. The legislation would have increased domestic refining capacity, one of the major hurdles to bringing down the price at the pump. When this legislation was offered as an amendment to the Energy Bill last year, it failed 43-52 without a single Democratic member voting for the amendment.

Some past history of this Bill
Dated June of last year!!
June 13,2007
DEMOCRATS REJECT INHOFE AMENDMENT TO
BRING DOWN PRICE OF GAS AT PUMP
WASHINGTON, DC
Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW), today commented on the Democrats rejection of the Inhofe Gas PRICE Act Amendment (1505) to the energy bill.
“Passage of my amendment, the Gas PRICE Act, would have gone a long way in decreasing America’s dependence on foreign oil and help bring down prices at the pump,” Senator Inhofe said. “Unfortunately, Democrats chose to play politics with the pocket books of American consumers and rejected this common sense amendment.
“Today, the Democrats rejected an amendment that would have significantly helped reduce the cost of gas at the pump — an issue that is sure to dominate in the 2008 presidential election. Americans are paying more at the pump today because we do not have the domestic capacity to produce domestic fuels consumers demand. The American public is starving for affordable energy and it appears the Democrats’ only answer is to tell them to go on a diet. It is imperative for the national security of this country that we increase production at home. Despite the rhetoric by some Democratic leaders about energy independence, they continue to oppose measures that would address key factors in helping America achieve that goal.
This will come back to haunt the Democrats as a major issue in 2008.
“My home state of Oklahoma has long been a leader in oil and gas supply, and today it is also a leader in innovating and providing transportation fuels for the future. Passage of my amendment would have promoted building of coal-to-liquids and commercial scale cellulosic ethanol facilities in Oklahoma and across the country.”

.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
I REALLY like this man. Inholfe has been a Conservative warrior in the Senate! He spoke at length of the perils of the global warming hoax, and it was well researched and presented. This energy position that he is taking is another area he excels.
He did NOT give up. They shot him down about this last year and he is back. God bless this man in every way!!
We should all thank him. We need a lot more just like him.
Contact:
MARC MORANO (202) 224-5762
marc_morano@epw.senate.gov
MATT DEMPSEY (202) 224-9797
matt_dempsey@inhofe.senate.gov

A Brief for Whitey
by Pat Buchanan
Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America.
Fair enough but this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.
This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:
First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.
Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.
Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks — with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas — to advance black applicants over white applicants.
Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude?
Barack talks about new ‘ladders of opportunity’ for blacks.
Let him go to Altoona and Johnstown , and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for ‘deserving’ white kids.
Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America? Is it really white America’s fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?
Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?
As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?
Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?
We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.
Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
If someone had told me before this election that we would one day have an election for President of the United States of America where either of the candidates would turn the campaign into anything to do with race. I would probably have laughed. No way would have been my reply, why would anyone do such a thing.
I would have thought instantly of only the likes of Farrakhan and his followers and my mind would not have been able to imagine such a person even being in our government. Way too radical and way to filled with hate.
But alas I was dead wrong. And the thing is this Obama and his wife wear their racism like a garment as normal to them as breathing air.
I honestly believe if we think we have seen the most of this kind of attitude and behavior from them we are only on the edge of their madness. There is more to come and if he gets the power of being President, that madness, and hate will magnify.

….Thank you Mark for sending this.

Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Cuomo, Task Force Storm’s senior enlisted leader, settles into the gunner seat of a UH-60 Black Hawk before heading out on a mission.

CAMP TAJI, Iraq
“Be Know Do” has been a part of the Army leadership doctrine for more than a decade, and many leaders have interpreted it in many different ways.
For two of Task Force XII’s most senior noncommissioned officers, this leadership mantra takes them miles away from the safety of their offices and into a more mobile work station. It’s an alternate work environment that puts them in some potentially dangerous situations.
But still, as they say, the view here is a whole lot cooler than any corner office on Camp Taji.
Task Force XII’s Command Sgt. Maj. H. Lee Kennedy, along with Task Force Storm’s Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Cuomo, help shoulder the workload of UH-60 Black Hawk crew members by serving as crew chiefs and door gunners on missions each week. The task force’s senior officers, all of its pilots, are called on to take to the skies regularly.
The same is true for the senior enlisted leaders as well, who also don their flight gear and mount up for missions. Flying a helicopter as a pilot rarely means washing windows or loading a passenger’s bags for them.
The door gunners, however, regardless of their rank, have to be ready for any mission.

“I believe, as a leader, that I should lead from the front and that I should not ask my Soldiers to do something that I wouldn’t do myself,” said Cuomo, a native of Troy, N.Y.

“If we were doing ground convoys, I’d be in those too. There should be no difference in going outside of the wire. Whether it’s flying or driving, the leader should lead from the front.”

Their Soldiers appreciate their effort and their “can do” attitudes.

“I think it’s great that they get out here and help us with the mission,” said Sgt. Ian McDougal, a crew chief in Company A, 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment. “ Seeing higher ranking Soldiers doing the same job as us really means a lot to the younger Soldiers.”

Both Cuomo and Kennedy are crew chiefs by profession. Combined, the two leaders have more than 50 years of Army aviation experience.

“When a young 19- or 20-year-old Soldier sees a 50-yearold sergeant major wandering around, they say ‘that old man doesn’t know anything about the Army today … what he knew 20 or 30 years ago is obsolete;’ but it’s not,” said Kennedy, a native of Abingdon, Va. “We still use those same tactics and procedures from back then because all those things are standard.”

And like their officer counterparts, the command sergeants major don’t just fly once in a while to get flight-pay, Kennedy and Cuomo are incorporated into the flight schedule and act as replacements when an additional crew chief or door gunner is needed for a mission.

“If a Soldier gets medically grounded or can’t fly for whatever reason, they come to (us) to fill in for them; we do that on a regular basis,” said Cuomo.

“I normally try to fly at least once a week, depending on my meetings and work schedule, but I try to fly as much as time permits.”

Even though he outranks all the crew chiefs and door gunners he works with, Kennedy sais he doesn’t expect to be treated any differently when it comes to the mission.

“As leaders, we should follow the standard harder and set the example truer,” he said. “If I’m cut some slack on any section or piece of that mission, then the other Soldiers should be cut slack too; I must follow exactly what my Soldiers are tasked to do – to the letter.”

“When you’re part of an aircrew,” added Cuomo, “you all have the same level of responsibility; and if one member of the crew starts to slack, it puts everyone’s life at risk.”

The Soldiers also respect it when their leaders get out there and know how to follow the rules while flying and can conduct up-to-date aircraft maintenance, said Kennedy.

“No matter what the rank of the person seated across from me on the aircraft, I’m confident in their abilities to perform their duties because we all train to the same standard,” said McDougal, a native of Eugene, Ore.

Being such a “seasoned aviator” has its advantages and disadvantages, said Kennedy.

“I guess rumor has it that since I’m 51, I’m a little slower getting in and out of the window,” he said. “That may be true; but as far as (scanning my sector) and getting out there doing preflight checks and maintenance, I’m right up there with the 19 year-olds.”

Even though their “Be Know Do” leadership technique may take a little more effort than it used to, Kennedy and Cuomo said they hope to motivate Soldiers by helping shoulder the workload and letting them know the standards must be kept – regardless of the Soldier’s rank.

“I can perform at the same skill level as any other door gunner, and I think that it’s sometimes second nature to me because I’ve been doing it so long,” said Cuomo. “I hope that (my flying) shows the Soldiers that I care and I’m willing to do the same things they’re doing. I think they should be extremely proud of everything we’ve accomplished here in Iraq.”

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christian Smith, a Villa Grove, Ill., native, stands at the open hood of a military humvee
May 16. Smith is the squadron maintenance technician for 4th Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, Task Force XII, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

TF XII maintainer fought for chance to come to Iraq
CAMP TAJI, Iraq

“Chief, what the heck are you doing?”

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christian Smith, a maintenance technician who had just tripped and fallen to the ground, looked up at his confused motor sergeant. Smith, who hails from Villa Grove, Ill., but was on a deployment to Iraq, had fallen a lot lately.
Something was wrong with his left leg, and he didn’t know what – all he knew was that it made him fall.

“I don’t know,” said Smith. “I just fell. It happens all the time.”

“Well next time, yell ‘incoming’ and I’ll go down with you,” said the sergeant.

The year was 2003, and Smith was deployed with a military police brigade. Over the course of the deployment, he noticed his muscles growing alarmingly weaker.

“It was very humbling – to say the least,” said Smith. “There wasn’t much I could do about it then, but I knew that once I got back from (Iraq), I was going to have to go see a doctor and find out what was going on.”

In February 2005, after multiple visits to doctors, Smith underwent surgery for a herniated disc in his back to help relieve pressure on what his doctor thought was a pinched nerve. It didn’t help. By this time, he couldn’t move the toes of his left foot, and he continued to grow weaker.
Still more visits to more doctors led him to a neurologist. Late in September 2005, he was diagnosed with multifocal motor neuropathy.

“It’s a condition where my body thinks there’s something wrong with the nerves,” said Smith.

“It’s attacking my nerves, and it doesn’t allow good conduction for the signals that tell the muscles to move – but there’s treatment for it.”

He began treatments right away. Every three weeks, he underwent an intravenous immunoglobulin treatment at a local hospital. By this time, Smith’s unit was on mobilization orders for deployment, but he was scheduled to stay with the rear detachment.

“Within four or five days, I started noticing a lot more strength, and by 10 days after that, I could wiggle my toes and keep my left foot up,” he said.

“I went back to the unit and told them the treatment was working. At that point, it was a matter of how the Army medical system was going to handle this.”

The unit deployed. Despite his objections, Smith stayed at Fort Hood.

“The doc said, when he diagnosed me, that this is a legitimate medical condition that would definitely keep me from deploying,” he said.

“He asked me why I’d want to deploy if I didn’t have to.”

“It’s one of those things where, having grown up playing sports, you spend all that time practicing with a team; and, all of a sudden, they go to an away game, out of town, and you’re stuck at home,” he added. “It’s not a good feeling.”

A year and a half later, Smith found himself facing the same situation, this time with a new team. He was newly assigned to Troop R, 4th Squadron 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, once again on orders for Iraq.
The treatments were working, and Smith said he was determined not to get left behind again. He began what he called a very frustrating process to make himself deployable.
Once again, the doctors said no. A chain of emails revealed one medical professional after another who believed he had no business deploying.
They cited the risk for contamination with possible secondary effects of anaphylaxis or renal failure. They said his understanding of the condition was “oversimplified.”

“My response to those emails was rather lengthy,” he said. “They thought I was oversimplifying the condition, and I thought they were over-exaggerating it.”

In his response, he said he outlined his own research – discussing the shelf life of the medication and the plan that he and squadron surgeon, Maj. Sean Hollonbeck, had come up with to administer the treatments.

“The Army is attempting and perfecting new things in the theater of operation every day,” he wrote. “Why not this?”

“I didn’t think he’d get to go based on seeing the email traffic from the doctors in theater,” said Capt. Jeffery Hernandez, his troop commander. “I never tried to talk him out of it though. He had such a desire to be with the troops and support the mission.”

“I guess I just felt like I’m in the Army to do a job,” Smith said. “Having been left back once, I told my wife, if I can’t deploy and go do what I’ve trained to do, then I shouldn’t be doing this anymore.”

After a successful month at Fort Irwin, California’s National Training Center, during which an enlisted combat medic successfully administered the treatment, the Army finally relented. Smith deployed to Multi-National Division – Baghdad as part of Task Force XII in November, 2007.

.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
What amazing people we have in our military. We are so blessed as a country for these warriors.

Spc. Theodore Nelson, (top) AH-64D Apache Longbow crew chief from Company C, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, conducts final pre-flight checks with Chief Warrant Officer 3 Philip Mann, pilot Co. C on May 26. The 1-1 ARB Gunfighter air and ground crews work around the clock sustaining air operations and are part of the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, from Fort Riley, Kan., flying in support of Task Force Iron, 1st Armored Division, in northern Iraq.

An AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter gunship from the 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, prepares for a night mission on May 31. The 1-1 ARB Gunfighter air and ground crews work around the clock sustaining air operations and are part of the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division

Gunfighters Take Flight
By Maj. Enrique T. Vasquez
Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
TIKRIT, Iraq
Since the days of early aviation, Army pilots have played a key role in the outcome of ground battles and air missions. For pilots flying the AH-64 Apache Longbows of the 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment in northern Iraq the legacy of influencing the fight continues through careful mission preparation and teamwork. These pilots known as the Gunfighters are part of the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division’s efforts to sustain a constant presence over the skies of northern Iraq in support of Task Force Iron.
However, before the Gunfighters jump into their cockpits and head-out into the skies of Multi-National Division-North they must plan meticulously prior to each mission.

“Pilots are briefed on the five Ws- who, what, where, when and why- in respect to the operations portion of the brief. The crews receive instructions on what the ground commanders want along with any changes in procedures or radio frequencies,” said 1st Lt. Peter Huang, a battle captain for 1-1 ARB.

“Furthermore, pilots receive any changes in battlespace and any updates as to what friendly forces are in the area of operations.”

Just as the operations officer gives a detailed briefing so does the intelligence officer. Everything the enemy might be doing or trying to do is briefed to include the careful articulation of possible enemy courses of action.

“We find patterns and trends the enemy might be engaged in like IED, small arms fire and emplacements. We give the pilots an assessment so they know what to look for, how the enemy might act and what to expect,” said Staff Sgt. Floyd Perry, 1-1 ARB intelligence analyst.

Although the Apache is a two-seater helicopter, both pilots in an AH-64 Apache Longbow has a certain job to perform. While both are capable of flying the aircraft, the duties of the command pilot and the co-pilot gunner called the CPG; are distinctly different in a combat situation.

“The pilot, maneuvers the helicopter so that the CPG can fire,” said Lindeman.

“The advantage to being the CPG is that you have laser and you can shoot missiles or the 30mm cannon.”

“There is nothing better than catching someone emplacing IED. The ground units are always appreciative of us being there.”

There are several types of missions Apache crews often fly. The missions vary between counter IED reconnaissance, to ground support.
Apache pilots say they can see the positive contributions they are making in defeating insurgents.

“The violence has scaled down quite a bit since we got here,” said Menold.

“We used to catch a lot of insurgents emplacing IEDs. However, there are not as many emplacers as there used to be. We are definitely having an impact on IED activity,” said Menold.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
More good news about our awesome troops, news that puts the media and the left in such a bad mood. heh heh
God bless our troops!!!!!