Talk of the Town

Some current events demand comment. The news has been full of them lately.

The Plan for Iraq and General Looney's Retirement Announcement

The President of our great country has unveiled his new plan for Iraq, and apparently the highest ranking general in Texas doesn't think much of it. Here is a link to the whole article, but General Looney, Commander Air Education and Training Command, peppered his blunt, colorful speech with expletives. He apparently said, "I'm not sure 20,000 will do anything. We need more than we have, that's for sure." Talking about some the administration's decisions early in the war, specifically debanding the Iraqi Army, "... political decision against military advice." He was very candid and didn't have many positive comments for the senior leadership of our country.

Thank you General Looney, the emperor really has no clothes. Everyone on Lackland is talking about this. The general consensus: enjoy your retirement General Looney. Whether or not anybody agrees with his comments in irrelevant, he'll be spending his days fishing and serving corporate boards very soon. By the way, everything General Looney says is exactly true.

I'm honestly surprised by this "surge" plan. When I served in Iraq last year, the whole military machine seemed to be waiting for the orders to begin the draw down in Iraq. When the chatter began after the November election, I couldn't believe my ears; the Republican's lost their ass, and decided the best course would be more troops? The real problem is the mission of the troops already in Iraq, and the inability of the Iraqi's to move against sectarian militia. Our troops are designed to kill people and break things. Their mission in Iraq against the insurgents is very difficult considering both cultural differences and tactics/resources available to our specific force structure. As for the Iraqi's, each side has reasons to keep fighting; both sides believe they can win. Additionally, different factions are vying for position when American forces do actually leave. Let's not add more inches of writing about the Iraqi War here, let move to more important issues.

My Neighbor is the Centerfold

What people in San Antonio are really talking about is the drill sergeant turned Playboy model. Yep, that's right, a drill instructor in charge of basic trainees brand new to the Air Force is gracing the pages of February's Playboy. Reporting in the local news says that she completely surprised to be in trouble with the Air Force. First let me say, I don't see a great big problem with her posing in Playboy, and normally, her position in the AF shouldn't exclude her posing for the magazine.

There are some problems with it though. First of all, she is drill sergeant. Her trainees probably read Playboy, and they would be likely to recognize her. It would be an unnecessary distraction. So she can't really do her regular job anymore. You can be discharged for inability to perform designated duties (even if she thinks she can, her supervisors may disagree). The military also requires notification before obtaining off-duty employment; this isn't exactly typical off-duty employment, but could be interpreting that way by her chain of command. Also a big problem for her: she gave Playboy pictures of herself on duty. I'm pretty sure she would need clearance to release those pictures; I'm positive she wouldn't get it. In short, I believe (I could be off base here) her specific duties will get her in trouble here.

Even if that didn't cause a problem, the very nature of military service makes this a bad idea. Our community is extremely tight knit; this is not the kind of thing that her peers are ever going to forget, and remember, her peers are an extremely conservative bunch. They will not approve. Spouse of Fourth best friend has met her, and she did have anything positive to say about her. Her kids go to my kids school; I've heard through vine that her 5th grader is mortified (but the kindergartner thinks it's pretty cool, his mom is famous, for 15 seconds). Unfortunately, the effects of the episode are likely to stick with her for more than her 15 seconds of fame.

I wish the AF would run the other way with this. Join the AF, all the women look like this. The Air Force won't. I'll give her this: I've seen the censored pictures, and she obviously has a great body. I also feel for a her little bit, after all, I was just in similar position myself. When I found out I was actually getting published in the Washington Post, I felt it was my duty let my boss know. Bosses don't like these kinds of surprises! I'm sure her boss was even more surprised than my boss!