A few months ago, I wrote a post about how much I love going to the Commissary- the grocery store of the military.   I went there this evening, and since there are a whole lot more members now on this site, I thought I'd repost and it and ask a question of you.  This is what I said:

Going to the Commissary is somewhat of a religious experience for me.  I love it.  For those of you who don't know what  I mean by Commissary, it is basically a grocery store on a military…

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OK, you may have heard about this man with 8 Purple Hearts, 3 nominations for a Medal of Honor and countless other recognitions, but I had not until the other day. He is said to be the most decorated American alive when he was living.

Robert Howard was wounded 14 times in 54 months of combat , during a total of 5 tours in Vietnam.  When I first heard of him, I just had to know more.  I discovered a worthwhile website dedicated to him. …

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Seal Team 6 has struck again in an awesome way.

While not the same individuals who "got" Osama Bin Laden, men from the same unit rescued an American woman named Jessica Buchanan as well as Dane Poul Thisted . Both were aid workers in Somalia.

These Seals are amazingly talented, sneaky and lethal.  What American didn't cheer when they heard of Bin Laden's end?  Now we can do it again, Nine very bad guys in Somalia are history thanks to Seal Team 6.  The planning, logistics and…

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You may have read the memorable story of Daniel "Hutch" Hutchison ( also a member here) in the forum. This was written by Hutch's friend and member Colonel Ron Albers. USAF, retired.   If you didn't you can do so here.

It is a sad…

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Thanks for reading this. Now I would love your feedback. I built this site from scratch with a vision of what I wanted it to be. I have to say it is turning out pretty much like I hoped it would. Sites like this take time and patience to build, and while I would love a million members about now, I am pleased with the steady growth.

Many of you know I teach full time and have a 3 year old who rules the roost. I do what I can on here when I can, and have many things I'd like to implement in… Continue

If you come across any good videos that are military- related, and that others would enjoy, please post them in the videos section on this website.  Please keep videos with excessive language, graphic scenes, or other inappropriate things to yourself, however.  I realize that is the nature of the military beast at times, but young eyes may be on here :)…

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I regularly follow this guy's blog and he's made some great posts on the subject. This is one I just read and want to share it with others. If you are experiencing the same, perhaps this would be a good place to share it. And, even if you don't, it might help you understand the condition.

Combat…

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About a week ago, member Bob Barclay emailed me asking for help. He said many years ago he bought a box of junk at an Ohio auction. He never looked through it until a couple of years ago. Inside he found a set of WWI Dogtags with their leather case. Bob has wanted to find this doughboy's next of kin since he laid eyes on his great treasure.



I was immediately intrigued with this story. A few nights ago I looked up the soldier's unique last name online. Bob told me the tags also said… Continue

A while back I blogged about military grooming and the changes taking place in the Army standards.  Women wearing earrings with ACUs (the camouflage uniform), visible tattoos and soldiers carrying around cell phones may be a thing of the past.

All of this is intended to get that good military "look", and I tend to agree with the changes.  I find it funny that during grungy Basic Training situations (or any military event including combat), good…

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Here in Ohio the weather has been much less than desirable.  It has rained or drizzled for pretty much three days and nights straight.  Tonight we had our first snow, and while there is no accumulation yet, there is supposed to be an inch by morning.  Selfishly, I don't mind the snow because I am a teacher, and now and then we get a glorious reprieve from coaching the young ones.  But this cold wind and rain downright stink!

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Member Richard Boyd's recent story "My Pilgrimage" inspired me to write this post.  Richard talks about his trip to the Marines Corps Memorial (sometimes called the Iwo Jima Memorial) in…

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I just read an article in the Army Times about new items the Department of Defense is adding in the MREs- the Meals Ready to Eat.  The new delicacies include Skittles, Au Grain potatoes, Asian pepper steak fry, a Banana nut Ranger bar, and Asian pepper steak fry.  Yummy.

MREs have been around a long while as the grandchild of C-rations, feeding soldiers on deployment, in the combat zone and during training when a hot meal is not available.  I remember most of us groaning when…

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Reading all the new biographical information on new members lately got me to think about regrets.  Sometimes I do regret leaving the military when I did and not getting to the "golden" number of 20 years.  I regret that I didn't go to this NCO school, or volunteer for that mission.  Sometimes I even think I would have loved to have been a Navy cook because I love cooking for large groups ( I can already here some of you saying, Nooooooooooo, don't do it!).  I am glad I did what I did…

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My Perception of Today’s Heroes

By Ron Albers, Colonel, USAF, retired

 

   It appears to me that the heroes of the average American today are sports figures.  Our Air Force members are a professional team, so let’s compare them to professional athletes. Airmen are often criticized for occasionally missing targets, perhaps causing “collateral damage.”  True, sometimes they are off-target; but certainly more than…

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