Ho Hum

For my friends and fellow bloggers who follow the comings and goings of this blogs top subject Specialist Jacob well,  Ho Hum.  I just received a msg. from him that approximately 50% of his unit is BOG.  Oops, sorry civilians, that's Boots on the Ground.  That means half of his unit is actually in Haiti and the other half is at Fort Bragg.  Now that makes a lot of sense.  Then again we are dealing with the government. You see it is actually the government who set this mess up, not the ARMY.  The question becomes, WHO?  Who made the decision not to send the 82nd into Haiti first.  Allow me this moment of copy and paste.

ITEM 1

The mission of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment is to deploy worldwide on short notice, execute a parachute assault, conduct combat operations, and accomplish the nation's objectives.

This little tidbit of information was copied directly from the 2nd Brigades website.  Doesn't is sound as if these guy and gals could drop into a cow pasture and set up house.  It does to me.  The questions I have are 1. WHY the hell weren't they and 2. what freaking moron in this administration did set this up?

ITEM 2

By Jim Michaels - USA Today
Posted : Monday Jan 18, 2010 12:57:41 EST

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — This is not war, this overwhelming humanitarian effort. But after eight years of dealing with counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, the lessons learned there — getting into the communities to understand the people’s needs — apply here to the job of distributing food and water and providing medical help.

“Those skills are transferable,” said Army Col. Chris Gibson, commander of the brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division that is getting established here.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers and Marines have learned to seek out local leaders and learn gritty details about sewage, electricity and water. They’re doing the same thing here, but no one is shooting at them.

My heart goes out to the people of Haiti and I know yours does too.  I just feel if the politicians would let those trained do the job they were trained for, perhaps, just perhaps things would have and be running a little smoother.

Thank you for allowing my rant.  Oh yes, I will keep you posted if Jacob's status changes.

Pops