Theodore's World

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan –
Soldiers throughout Afghanistan will soon be welcoming a new battle buddy to the Global War on Terror: the Marcbot IV, a four-wheeled, robotic vehicle designed to help troops keep the competitive edge on the battlefield.

“The Marcbot IV is a scout vehicle that allows troops to scope out areas downrange,” said Robert Canfield, senior robotics repair technician Joint Robotics Repair Facility.

“Troops can safely check for (IED’s) and other suspicious items without putting themselves in harm’s way.”

About 50 Marcbot IV robots will soon be distributed throughout Afghanistan as a tool to counter improvised
explosive devices.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
I love these and they will help our troops a lot. Any time something keeps our soldiers from injuuries I am all for it.

Brothers contribute to combat operations at Al Asad
By Cpl. Brandon L. Roach, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Oct 5, 2006, 14:03
Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Miles (left) and his twin brother, Lance Cpl. Devin T. Miles, stand off of ‘skid-row’ after completing their workday at Al Asad, Iraq, Sept. 27. The brothers are avionics aircraft communications/navigation/electrical/weapons systems technicians with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167, Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward). The Marion, Ill., natives are here conducting operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom until March of 2007. Photo by: Cpl. Brandon L. Roach
Blackanthem Military News, AL ASAD, Iraq — During operations in a combat zone, squadrons have to rely on motivated and dedicated Marines to ensure that the aircraft or vehicles are ready to perform at their peak performance levels.
For the Marines of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 this is done with the help of the Miles brothers. With their technical expertise and ability to get the job done, the squadron is able to keep up their high operational tempo.

“We are both in avionics,” said Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Miles, aircraft communications/navigation/electrical/weapons systems technician, HMLA-167, Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward). “Right now, I am in the fire support section, troubleshooting and maintaining the electronic systems that control the weapon systems.”

Although the two are not in the same shops while in theater, they are always looking for each other and wondering what the other is doing throughout the day.

“If we have any spare time, we try to find each other to hang out a bit,” said Devin T. Miles, avionics aircraft communications/navigation/electrical/weapons systems technician, HMLA-167. “We have been best friends through our whole lives, and we are always trying to help each other out.”

While at work, the brothers continue to keep up their positive attitudes and work together to get jobs done so the squadron can keep supporting the troops on the ground.

“We work on everything on the bird from the electronics to the weapons systems,” added Dustin. “If either of us has time and see the other working, we often lend a hand if there is anything to be done.”

The Marion, Ill., natives both agree that they work well together, because they know what the other is capable of accomplishing. If there is ever a better way to do something, they explore their options rather than argue about whose way is better.

“These two are very proactive and have a lot of initiative,” said Master Sgt. Claude Ready, ordnance chief, HMLA-167. “They help out with little things around the different shops, which frees up our other guys for more detailed missions.”

Although they will spend seven months in Iraq, the two know that they will always have support from their parents, Marc and Karen Miles.

“Our parents knew that we would be together at least through recruit training, but never expected that we would be stationed in the same unit,” said Devin. “They have supported our choice and given us tremendous support during our time in.”

While having support from family and friends is one of the most helpful things for deployed service members, the brothers continue to watch out for each other, no matter what happens in their lives.

“We have always been close. We never fight and always tackle every obstacle that we encounter,” said Dustin. “We have never tried to ‘one-up’ one another. We think about the same things, and we just get the job done so that our pilots can be there when the guys in the fight need them.”

Mission accomplishment is always the first thing that a Marine with an air wing attack squadron is concerned with. If the job isn’t done fast and properly, the mission was not a success. With the Marion High School graduates on the job and working together, there will always be UH-1N Hueys and AH-1W Super Cobras in the air, covering the ground forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Wild Thing’s comment…..
Our country has been blessed with the best fighting forces in the world. To be abloe to have a glimpse into the lives of those serving today is something very special.
Thank you to all our Veterans for leading the way and for all those serving today. We have troops all over the world and owe them so much for all they do.
Our counrtries leaders can and do let us down. But our military is consistent and they always give 100%.
God bless our troops and a special thank you in this post to Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Miles and and his twin brother, Lance Cpl. Devin T. Miles.

Col. Steven Dreyer, 4th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group commander, Camp Victory, Iraq, presents his youngest daughter, 1st Lt. Kathrine Dreyer, 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, Balad AB, Iraq with the family flag. Lieutenant Dreyer is a C-130 Hercules navigator deployed from the 50th Airlift Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Ark. (Courtesy photo)
LACKLAND AFB, Texas — Traditions run deep in the military, and for this father and daughter, traditions are what brought them together in Iraq.
Col. Steven Dreyer, 4th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group commander, at Camp Victory, Iraq, reunited with his youngest daughter, 1st Lt. Kathrine Dreyer, 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, Balad AB, Iraq.
The visit marked not only the end of Colonel Dreyer’s final deployment, but also the beginning of Lieutenant Dreyer’s first deployment. During the visit, the colonel presented his daughter with the family’s American flag.

“This flag symbolizes our family’s dedication to serving in the military,” said the colonel, who enlisted in the Marines in 1970. “I have carried this flag during my deployments over the years; my oldest daughter, SSgt. Kristine Dreyer, carried it to Iraq in 2003, and now my youngest daughter is stepping up to continue the tradition.”

The flag, originally flown in front of the home of Colonel Dreyer’s father, a retired Army WWII and Vietnam veteran, has accompanied the colonel on every deployment.

“Originally, I carried it as an identification measure in case my aircraft were to crash in foreign territory,” said the MH-53 Pavelow and HH-60 Pavehawk pilot. “Now, it has turned into a family heirloom. Maybe in 20 years, my now 4-year-old grandson will be accepting this flag from his mother or aunt during his first deployment.”

From Libya to Bosnia from Romania to Africa, the 2-by-3 feet flag was always carried in either the colonel’s flak vest or flight suit pocket.

“I noticed every time he packed his bags for a TDY or deployment, there was always a little triangle on top of the bag,” said Solveig Dreyer, wife of Colonel Dreyer. “He never left home without it.”

“I was raised in the military just like my daughters,” said Colonel Dreyer. “The American flag is important to me, so I always felt it was necessary to carry it with me.”

After 37 years of military service, the Vietnam veteran will retire in the spring, but the next generation will continue to serve.

“I feel proud to be able to continue this tradition,” said Lieutenant Dreyer, a C-130 Hercules navigator deployed from the 50th Airlift Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Ark., “I’ve grown up watching my dad serve his country, so it was only natural that I do the same. The Air Force is home for the Dreyer family.”

Wild Thing’s comments…..
True americans and heroes. Thank you! And thank you to all our troops and to their families!!

Beth at MVRWC has been doing an Insult the Islamotard’s weekends every so often. I think it is a great idea and so I have added a Category Archives in the sidebar on the right side of this Blog.
It will be done periodically on one of the weekend days. Insult the Islamotard’s Day will not mean we do not take on the topic of Islam during the week as well. That would be impossible…… hahaha

This is a Video titled; “First, They Came” that was done by Michelle Malkin. I have stored it at my own storage place because it was banned by YouTube as offensive to the Jihadists. Of course YouTube feels it is ok to have videos that are from terrorist friendly videos of US soldiers being murdered, and soldiers being injured by IED’s. CAIR has been instructing YouTube on their censorship. So of course because of that YouTube does not like anti-Jihad videos and is becoming pro Jihad and Islam.

HERE is the VIDEO…..”First, They Came”.

Here is the message from Michelle Malkin…………

“Instead of boycotting the site, we need to stay and fight. We need all the help we can get flagging the propaganda of the jihadis and their sympathizers.”

Islamic terrorist sympathizers and possibly the terrorists themselves have been using the free hosting service to post videos.

Rumsfeld: North Korea Test Threat Must Be Taken Seriously
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
DOD
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2006 –

North Korea is a known weapon proliferator, and there is a danger that the rogue state may sell nuclear technology to non-state entities, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today.
Rumsfeld spoke during an impromptu Pentagon news conference following meetings with Croatian Defense Minister Berislav Roncevic.
The secretary said the North Korean threat to test nuclear weapons must be taken seriously. He said the North Korean regime has claimed to have nuclear arms since 2003. “We have no way of knowing,” if they have nuclear weapons or not, he said.
The danger to the world is that if the regime does have nuclear arms, it already has demonstrated its willingness to sell the technology to the highest bidder. Non-state actors or terrorist groups are actively seeking weapons of mass destruction. They have no compunction about using those weapons, and they have no hard targets that the civilized world could threaten, Rumsfeld said.
The secretary said diplomacy is still the way ahead in addressing the issue. He said President Bush has pushed the Six-Party Talks – U.S., South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and North Korea – as the way forward.
If North Korea does test a nuclear weapon, then the international community is going to have to examine the situation to understand why the world could not marshal “the cooperation and cohesion to apply leverage to North Korea” to stop the spread of nuclear arms, he said.
The example of North Korea could encourage other states to develop nuclear capabilities, too, he said. It would lower the threshold for these nations.

Wild Thing’s comment……
This guy just won’t give up it seems. Hey Kim!
Nobody likes you,
everybody hates you,
better go eat some worms.

WASHINGTON – Convicted terrorists locked up in U.S. prisons can still use mail and verbal communications to conduct terrorist or criminal activities, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Department of Justice’s inspector general.
The inspector general launched a review after a series of NBC News Investigative Unit reports in February and March 2005 revealed that jailed terrorists — even those responsible for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center — were continuing to support jihadists and encourage violence around the world.
“We found that the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) has not effectively monitored the mail of terrorist and other high-risk inmates,” concludes the 122-page report.
While behind bars at the Administrative Maximum Penitentiary in Florence, Colo., the 1993 World Trade Center bombers continued their terrorist activities, writing letters to other suspected terrorists and brazenly praising Osama bin Laden in Arabic newspapers. The prison, also known as “Supermax,” houses the largest number of and most dangerous terrorist inmates.
In addition to inmates’ mail, the inspector general’s report revealed another related security problem: The prison bureau “is unable to effectively monitor high-risk inmates’ verbal communications, which include telephone calls, visits with family and friends, and cell block conversations.”
The report found that bureau staff often do not listen to or translate calls in a foreign language by inmates on monitoring lists, including calls placed by inmates identified as posing the greatest risk of being engaged in illegal or suspicious activity. For example, the inspector general’s report found that at Supermax, 50 percent of such calls each month were not monitored.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
We hunt them down, we arrest them and then we do not keep on making sure they cannot plan more attacks there is something seriously wrong with this. I feel badly for our police and those that do all the leg work, risk their lives to catch these terrorists and then the prisons can’t keep a close eye on them once they are locked up.
Amazing!!!

Seizures of radioactive materials fuel ‘dirty bomb’ fears
Times Online
SEIZURES of smuggled radioactive material capable of making a terrorist “dirty bomb” have doubled in the past four years, according to official figures seen by The Times.
Smugglers have been caught trying to traffick dangerous radioactive material more than 300 times since 2002, statistics from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) show. Most of the incidents are understood to have occurred in Europe.
The disclosures come as al-Qaeda is known to be intensfiying its efforts to obtain a radoactive device. Last year, Western security services, including MI5 and MI6, thwarted 16 attempts to smuggle plutonium or uranium. On two occasions small quantities of highly enriched uranium were reported missing. All were feared to have been destined for terror groups.
Scientists responsible for analysing the seizures have given warning that traffickers are turning to hospital X-ray equipment and laboratory supplies as an illicit source of radioactive material.
Investigators believe that the smugglers, who come mainly from the former Eastern bloc, are interested only in making a swift fortune and believe that they may have no compunction in selling to jihadist groups. Most undercover operations and recent seizures have been kept secret to protect the activities of Western security services.
Rigorous controls on nuclear processors, especially with Russia co-operating to stop the trafficking of enriched plutonium and uranium, have limited smugglers’ access to weapons-grade nuclear materials. But medical and laboratory sources, including waste, remain vulnerable. Such radioactive waste can be used to make a dirty bomb.
A dirty bomb combines a conventional explosive, such as dynamite, with radioactive material such as spent nuclear fuel like highly enriched uranium and plutonium. In most instances the conventional explosive would kill more bystanders but the dispersion of the radioactive material would have a hugely damaging “fear” factor.
There were 103 cases of illicit trafficking last year, compared with fewer than 30 in 1996. Fifty-eight incidents were reported in 2002, rising to 90 in 2003 and 130 in 2004. Experts point out that seizures in the past three years equal the same amount of trafficking in the previous seven years.
Olli Heinonen, deputy director-general of the IAEA, which monitors trafficking and inspects nuclear plants to audit their radioactive materials, said that while weapons-grade nuclear material smuggling was now rare there were serious concerns about other radioactive substances.

“A dirty bomb is something that needs to be taken seriously. We need to be prepared for anything because anything could happen,” he said. “Terrorists look for the weakest link. We need to be alert and we need to be prepared.”

Al-Qaeda makes no secret of its desire to obtain a dirty bomb. Last month its leader in Iraq, Abu Hamza alMuhajer, called for scientists to join it and experiment with radioactive devices for use against coalition troops. Even before 9/11, Osama bin Laden invited two Pakistani atomic scientists to visit a training camp in Afghanistan to discuss how to assemble a bomb using stolen plutonium. Captured al-Qaeda leaders have since confessed to the CIA of their attempts to smuggle a radioactive device into the US.
Professor Klaus Lützenkir-chen, who helps to analyse the seized substances, said that even small quantities of radio-active material could be of use to terrorists.

“If someone gets hold of it, it is possible it could be used in a dirty bomb,” he said. He added that if such a dirty bomb were detonated in a town centre the physical effect would be comparatively small and unlikely to cause huge loss of life but would have an enormously damaging “fear factor”.

One of the most serious seizures since 9/11 was that of several kilograms of a radioactive substance known as yellow cake that was found in a consignment of scrap metal at the port of Rotterdam in December 2003.
Professor Lützenkirchen said that seizures have been made across Europe, usually at borders and sea ports. Most of the trafficked material originated from the Caucasus region where he said that there was “considerable activity” among smugglers.
Seizures have continued this year, though overall figures for 2006 are not yet available. They include the discovery in Germany of a small quantity of highly enriched uranium.
Roland Schenkel, director-general of the European Commission Joint Research Centre, which analyses seizures for the IAEA and Western security services, said:

“Illicit trafficking will remain high on our list of activities, including threats by terrorists.”

Wild Thing’s comment……
After reading this then thinking about how Harry Reid stood there and so proudly said they had stopped the Patriot Act. Gosh Democrats I bet you are really disappointed that these radioactive materials get seized since you do not believe in protecting the citizens of our country.

Democrat Clark says Saddam death penalty will unleash ‘catastrophic’ violence
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Democrat Ramsey Clark, a former US attorney general who is one of Saddam Hussein’s lawyers, said that any death sentence against the former Iraqi president would increase violence in the strife-torn country.
“It seems clear that a guilty verdict will set off catastrophic violence” and that a death sentence would be even worse, Democrat Clark told a Washington press conference.
“It’s hard to know how many Iraqis, dozens, hundreds, thousands, will die because of the sentence,” he said.
A date for a verdict in the crimes against humanity trial against Saddam and seven co-accused, which opened in October, 2005, is due to be set soon after the trial resumes on October 16.
If Saddam is found guilty and sentenced to death, Iraqi law lays down that he should be executed within 30 days, said Clark.
The US attorney general from 1967-69 reaffirmed his belief that the court is illegal because it was set up only to try Saddam. He criticised the judges because they were “selected, trained, paid, protected by the United States.”
Saddam and his co-defendants, including a half brother Barzan al-Tikriti, are on trial for a crackdown on a Shiite town of Dujail following an assassination attempt in 1982.
He faces a separate trial for genocide against Iraq’s Kurdish minority in the 1988 Anfal campaign.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
Yes I added “Democrat” where Clark’s name shows up in the article.haha Let’s call it a little emphasis of how wonderful the Democrat party is……NOT!
How about if we hang them both? Save the world a lot of grief. Ramsey Clark’s death will unleash ‘catastrophic’ happiness.

“Currahee” is a Cherokee word meaning “stand alone”. To this day the Regiment yells “Currahee” when they jump from airplanes.

World War II veterans gathering in Kingston
KINGSTON – A three-day conference on World War II – honoring those who battled the Nazis, including veterans made famous in the “Band of Brothers” television series – begins today at Holiday Inn on Washington Avenue.
The event, billed “Ulster County World War II Conference and Banquet,” runs through Saturday.
Organizers say the banquet, which begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, will honor Staff Sgt. Robert Dietz, a Kingston resident who was killed in action during World War II and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism. The Uptown Kingston stadium used by Kingston High School athletic teams bears his name, as does an Army Reserve center on Flatbush Avenue in the city.
Veterans will arrive at the Holiday Inn between 1 and 5 p.m. today. A service will be held at 7 p.m. at the Old Dutch Church on Wall Street, and organizers hope to fill the church’s 800 seats.
A breakfast will be held at 7 a.m. Friday, followed by the veterans visiting local schools and the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in the Orange County town of New Windsor.
At 3:30 p.m. Friday, a motorcade of more than 300 Harley Davidson motorcycles is expected to travel from the Kingston Holiday Inn to City Hall on Broadway, where Kingston Mayor James Sottile will welcome the veterans to the city during a brief ceremony.
An informal dinner will be held at the Holiday Inn at 5 p.m. Friday, followed by a social and autograph session for ticket-holders only.
On Saturday, featured speakers will include veterans from the Easy Company 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. The company’s experiences during World War II were depicted in the HBO television series “Band of Brothers,” which was directed by Tom Hanks and produced by Steven Spielberg.
The Saturday seminars will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will be followed by the banquet.
And this……
Currahee Military Weekend set for
October 13-15
CAMP TOCCOA, GA (October 4, 2006) – The Stephens County Historical Society and the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce have partnered again this year to present the 4th annual Currahee Military Weekend set for October 13-15.

The Historical Society has invited all paratroopers who trained at Camp Toccoa and Currahee Mountain during World War II to come to a reunion. “We hope that the paratroopers who trained at Camp Toccoa on Currahee Mountain will take the time to visit Toccoa, reminisce about their training experiences and visit with their friends who shared this very significant time in their lives,” says Brenda Carlan, Historical Society President. In addition, we extend an invitation to families, friends, re-enactors, active military and the public to join these very special men for this memorable occasion.

Stephens County is rich in military history. Camp Toccoa had over 17,000 soldiers who trained here in four regiments – the 506th, 501st, 517th and the 511th.
This is the birthplace of The Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan and The Dirty Dozen. The event serves to celebrate the accomplishments of the veterans who trained at Camp Toccoa.