A Pre-Travel Post

I’m traveling to Atlanta today, but should be there early enough to sit back in my hotel room and blog a bit. Anyway, to hold you over here are some things that caught my eye:

1)  I am a bit annoyed at Fred for dropping-out after running a half-ass campaign.  I still like him, but damn if he wasn’t like some hot gal on a date who teases you to death and then says goodnight with only a kiss on the cheek.  And after I bought him dinner, too.  Sigh.  Eh, maybe he will take a VP slot?  

2)  I am enjoying the spectacle of the Dems tearing each other apart.  The Clintons will do anything to get Hillary elected - anything - and it will be fun to see if Obama can stand up to them.

3)  It’s too bad about Heath Ledger.  I liked him in A Knight’s Tale.  He was a pretty good actor and seemed sane enough by Hollywood standards.  I don’t like that they keep referring to him as that “Brokeback” actor though since he did other good work. I guess that is just because I thought that film sucked.  Anyway, sad.

 4)  Yeah, everyone sneaking across our southern border is just a decent, hardworking person looking for work.  NOT!  You want my vote, promise you will close the borders, dammit.

5)  Chuck Norris, a big Huckabee supporter, called John McCain too old to be President.  I like Chuck Norris, but he needs to shut the hell up.  John McCain is a fricken war hero. Norris, tough as he is - and he is very tough no doubt - is just a celebrity.   I am not a big McCain fan, but Norris was an idiot to say this. 

6)   I had some personal experience with the Stasi back in the late 1980s when I was stationed in then West Germany. Good times.

Recruiting Commercials (And More)

At the risk of building up Viper’s ego even more, I really like this commercial .  For some reason I can’t get it to link though which is really pissing me off.  Click over to see it though as it is really great. You can read all about it and more here. It’s worth the time.  Watch it more than once because I swear it gets better every time.

It’s about as good as this commerical about my old agency is bad. And it’s really bad - like 1970s porn movie bad.  Still, it does cover what they do pretty well. 

Although I do think this US Air Force commercial is very nearly as good as the Marine one.

The thing about these two recruiting commercials - the Marine one at the top and the Air Force one just above - is that they are simply true.  They are not exaggerations or fabrications like so much of what we see on TV and in the movies these days.  They are not political statements that have the weight of a feather in the wind. 

They are fact. As real the ground beneath your feet and the sky above your head.

These brave men and women have been protecting our nation since its beginning and they will continue to protect us as long as we exist.  Let us not forget we owe them everything.

Okay, end of lecture.

Here’s an interesting video of an AFOSI protective detail being ambushed in Iraq.  The chase car is taking the video and you can see it move around to cover the VIP car in the middle after the attack. 

Another video of AFOSI guys shooting with Aussies. Pretty cool.

And a news story on what AFOSI is doing in Iraq.  Very cool. I know it probably doesn’t make sense to most people but I wish I was there with them.

Firepower

We didn’t have neat toys like this when I went through executive protection school. Sweet.

Men In Black

I’ve never talked about this before but did you guys know I am a former Man in Black? Seriously, Google ”AFOSI” and “Men in Black” and you will see my dirty secret.

What brought it to mind was this renewed interest in UFOs and this show on the Sci Fi Channel, Kecksberg Exposed, which I watched last night and which mentioned AFOSI about a dozen times.

The UFO Disclosure press conference at the presitgious National Press Club was organized and run very well. Only accredited journalists were present, and each official or witness spoke to their personal experience concerning a craft whose origin could not be explained by anomalous weather, local military activity, flares, or commercial flight. Incidents ranged from a 1986 sighting over Anchorage by Japan Air Lines pilots and crew who saw a object with flashing lights that was six times the size of their 747, to a large disc seen by commercial pilots last spring at Chicago O’Hare that suddenly lifted up into the air above the airport. Panelists included former Belgian Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff Wilfried De Brower, Dr. Jean-Claude Ribes, who served 35 years for the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France. two Peruvian Air Force commanders, and French astrophysicist Dr. Claude Poher. Former Governor Fife Symington of Arizona spoke last. A former military pilot himself, the governor recalled the Phoenix Lights incident, in which he saw a delta-shaped craft of large size silently moving towards the mountains. Symington says that no Air Force or military explanations surfaced, and that a couple of half-hearted theories didn’t satisfy him. He said they couldn’t have been flares, as flares don’t move in formation. As for a base shrugging it off as some A-10’s, the governor noted that A-10’s are quite noisy, while the V-shaped object seen by hundreds of thousands from Maricopa County to southern Arizona was silent.

I’d tell you more but then I would have to kill each and every one of you and I just don’t have the time. My advice is to just not worry about UFOs.  Everything is under control.

Trust me, I’m with the government and I’m here to help you.

Not All Fly, But All Fight

Three more Airman serving with my old outfit, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations were killed in Iraq this month.

11/5/2007 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq – The names of three Airmen who made the ultimate sacrifice were added to the Fallen Airman Memorial here Nov. 4.

Special Agents Thomas Crowell, David Wieger and Nathan Schuldheiss died of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device Nov. 1.

“All three were outstanding role models, exceptional warriors and great American patriots who died in a mission directly protecting the Tuskegee Airmen and the Soldiers and civilians stationed at Balad AB and LSA Anaconda,” said Brig. Gen. Burt Field, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander. “All three of them are heroes.”

Brig. Gen. Dana Simmons, Air Force OSI commander, joined General Field in the unveiling of the memorial’s additions. “I am very proud of them,” General Simmons said. “I am very humbled to have served with them and will continue to honor them by continuing the fight on the war on terror.”

He also promised mourners those responsible would be found and brought to justice.

These brave men join four other AFOSI warriors who have given all for their country while serving in Iraq - Special Agent Rick A. Ulbright, Special Agent Daniel J. Kuhlmeier,  Special Agent Matthew Joseph Kuglics, and Special Agent Ryan Andrew Balmer.

I was in the same class as General Simmons at the AFOSI Academy and I can only imagine how he feels right now.  AFOSI is a relatively small command in the Air Force and no doubt only has a small number of agents stationed in Iraq (again relative to other commands), so I guarantee he personally knew each and every one of these men.

Leadership is a heavy burden to bear and God bless those who take up that responsibility.

As an aside, I blogged about SA Albright on my first blog back in 2004.  Since that blog is gone I thought I would re-post what I wrote back then here.  It applies to Special Agents Thomas Crowell, David Wieger, Nathan Schuldheiss, Matthew Kuglics and Ryan Balmer as well.

I just finished reading my current issue of the Global Alliance, which is the quarterly publication of the Association of Former OSI Special Agents (I am a former OSI Special Agent), and I was saddened to learn that AFOSI - the Air Force Office of Special Investigations - lost a Special Agent on August 8, 2004 during the Kirkuk AB rocket attack in Iraq. The agent, Rick A. Ulbright, had retired as a Master Sergeant with AFOSI and been accepted back as a civilian agent in 1998. In June 2004, he volunteered for duty in Iraq and was on temporary duty there when he was killed. I also noted that three AFOSI Special Agents were seriously injured in a bombing in Iraq in October, 2004. The agents, Therese Frentze, James Hamilton, and Todd King, are now recuperating from their injuries at military hospitals in the United States.

For those ignorant of all things military (i.e., the media), AFOSI has been the investigative agency for the United States Air Force since 1948.  As such, it is tasked to perform major criminal and fraud investigations and to provide counterintelligence and antiterrorism services to Air Force commanders worldwide. When in doubt, just think “FBI of the Air Force,” but much better. Or if you still don’t understand, then just watch the TV show NCIS and imagine it with normal people and not as many fancy gadgets.

And because of this mission, AFOSI agents are deeply involved in the war on terror worldwide, but especially so in Iraq and Afghanistan. AFOSI agents are working closely with the other services gathering threat information, and are providing antiterrorism and force protection services to USAF personnel. They are also working arm in arm with American and foreign intelligence and law enforcement agencies tracking down terrorists and investigating terrorist attacks like the ones that killed and wounded these agents. And I don’t mean sitting at the Air Base drinking coffee and writing reports. These guys and gals are in the field with intelligence and special operations personnel collecting information under combat conditions, as well as providing security details (think Secret Service) for high-ranking Air Force and American civilian personnel in theater. They are were the bullets are flying not to put too fine a point on it.

Anyway, the purpose of this post was not to brag on AFOSI - although it is certainly an agency worth bragging on. In fact, I am not sure I even have a purpose - no pithy line to close with - no moral to the story. I guess all I wanted to do was talk about some brave men and women serving their country and how some of them are giving - have given - so much to that noble cause. And some, like Special Agent Ulbright, have given all.

And I am proud to have served with them.