PrairiePundit

 AP: In the dusty California desert, U.S. Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China. The role-players in this month's exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian. The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack. In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it. If the images seem familiar, they are, playing out on televisions and websites worldwide right now as Russian forces pound Ukrainian cities with airstrikes, killing scores of civilians. The information war on social media has showcased impassioned nightly speeches by Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zele...

 Daily Mail: As the world braces for a potential WWIII, the U.S. Army is lowering its fitness  standards to be 'more inclusive'.  The Army is changing several of its fitness test exercises - including the dreaded leg tucks - in favor of planks because about half of all female soldiers were unable to complete the exercise.  The new Army Combat Fitness Test, ACFT, which is comprised of six exercises, also slashes the number of push-ups from 30 to 10, reduces the power throw distance by two-thirds and gives more time to finish the two-mile run.  The Army has been considering a new physical test to replace the 1983 United States Army Physical Fitness Test since combat jobs including the infantry and cavalry were opened to women in 2015.  Under Donald Trump, a tough gender-neutral ACFT test was suggested but a trial found 70 per cent of women failed, compared to 16 percent of men. ... The reason the military has physical fitness tes...

  Washington Free Beacon: As Russia Wages War, US Army Trains Officers on Gender Identity   Mandatory military training program pushes soldiers to undergo gender reassignment surgery While Russia wages a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Army is putting its soldiers through training on gender pronouns and coaching officers on when to offer soldiers gender transition surgery, according to an official military presentation on the subject obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The mandatory presentation, "Policy on the Military Service of Transgender Persons and Persons with Gender Dysphoria," was given to officers earlier this month along with instructions for them to train their subordinates on the material. Portions of the presentation were provided to the Free Beacon by a whistleblower who was ordered to undergo the training as a high-ranking officer in the Army Special Forces. ... Those responsible for this "training" should be court marshaled.  This is a...

 Washington Free Beacon: President Joe Biden's nominee for the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate "gender advisers" for combat troops are critical to the United States' success, a position some veterans say is nothing more than a left-wing initiative that distracts from the military's core duties. The revelation came during a Dec. 8 exchange with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.), who asked how Adm. Christopher Grady intends to implement "women, peace, and security" legislation within the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "The role of a gender adviser is a way to attack a very significant issue, and if confirmed, I look forward to leveraging those advisers who can make me think better and smarter about the issues that you raise," Grady said. "So I look forward to, if confirmed, understanding that ecosystem and helping advance that cause going forward again." ... Grady's answer drew outrage from veterans such as Jason Chu...

 Andrea Widburg: For decades, the most trusted institution in America has been our military. It's been colorblind and completely apolitical. Young men and women join it, where they learn institutional discipline, self-discipline, and useful skills, all in the service of our country. However, in a mere six months, the Biden administration has launched an all-out attack on the integrity of the American military. While Obama was obsessed with LGBT representation in the military, Biden is taking it to the next level by bringing in Critical Race Theory and openly seeking to purge Republicans and Trump supporters. ... Just to give more context to what you'll read at the Power Line link , news recently broke that troops are speaking out about an Army officer who denigrated White men : An Army commander is under not-so-friendly rhetorical fire from troops outraged at comments the officer reportedly made denigrating white men as a class. The episode has prompted a formal investigati...

  Epoch Times: ‘Hundreds’ of Whistleblowers Say Military Forcing ‘Anti-American Indoctrination’ on Them: Sen. Cotton Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on June 10 that “hundreds” of military whistleblowers have reported being forced to receive “anti-American indoctrination” training, including critical race theory (CRT). In a Senate hearing with Austin, Cotton claimed that within the military, there’s “plummeting morale, growing mistrust between races and sexes where none existed just six months ago and unexpected retirements and separations based on these trainings alone.” One whistleblower, Cotton alleged, said that military history training was replaced with training about police brutality, “systemic racism,” and “white privilege.” Another said that his unit had to read “White Fragility” by feminist author and critical theory proponent Robin DiAngelo, according to the senator. In May, the Space Force confirmed it relieved Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, a ...

The wokeirrati in the military are a threat to troops and the country.  It is as if many at the top in the military have been turned into Critical race theorists instead of people who should be leading the troops and preparing them to defe4nd the country instead of this woke BS.  They are a threat to good order and discipline.  They make excuses for domestic terrorists like Antifa and BLM while pushing this critical race theory BS.  Sen. Tom Cotton is on to something by pushing for a ban on this nonsense.

 Jazz Shaw: We only recently learned that the Chinese have been  experimenting with gene editing  to help them create a new generation of “super soldiers.” Not to be outdone, the United States has been working on its own upgrades to the Americans who serve in uniform. But rather than editing their DNA, we’re apparently looking at brain implants that will  allow our soldiers to read each other’s minds . Sure, that sounds like something out of a dystopian science-fiction novel, but it’s apparently not. Using a concept similar to the one developed by Elon Musk’s Neuralink company, Artificial Intelligence combined with some sort of neural-scanning implant and a smartphone would eventually allow warfighters in the theater of combat to communicate with each other instantly over significant distances. But will they be able to read the enemy’s mind as well? (The Debrief) Groundbreaking research into decoding signals from the brain presents the possibility that soldiers may b...

Washington Times: Army training will now focus on actual battlefield skills, not social issues Fighting will now take precedence over dealing with transitioning transgender troops, drug abuse and other issues as the Army seeks to overhaul its training regimen to hone its soldiers’ battlefield skills. In a series of servicewide memorandums approved by Army Secretary Mark Esper and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and obtained by The Washington Times, service leaders are making optional previously mandatory training on issues such as transgender transition and drug abuse. The move, Army leaders argue, is designed to relieve stress on the overburdened troop training regimen and refocus on soldiers’ ability to fight in combat. ... This is a good move.  It is, after all, what they are there for.

DuffelBlog: Soldier Dies From Massive Erection After Firing .50-Cal For The First Time I don't know if this story is true, but I can't say I was ever that excited to fire any weapon.  Staying calm and keeping blood pressure low seems a better way to assure accuracy.

AP/Washington Times: More than a dozen troops carefully maneuver through overgrown shrubs, firing laser-tag rifles at the enemy as they advance on a compound in the New Mexico desert. Fifty miles away in West Texas, other soldiers in helicopter and tank simulators provide air and ground support for the virtual training exercise. An Army supervisor watches it all unfold on a computer screen at a Fort Bliss command center. The real mission, however, comes next: a thorough, high-tech review of the soldiers’ tactics. The exercise is part of a new virtual program that records every aspect of Army training missions so soldiers can use video-game-like replays to study how effectively the ground and air forces interacted. The system — a major upgrade over previous platforms that didn’t fully integrate tank and helicopter communications — will be installed at posts across the United States and abroad. The Integrated Training Environment is designed to cut costs, sharpen soldiers’ abilit...

Washington Times:   Deep in the woods, mosquitoes whine, flies buzz, and thick brown spiders dart from under one fallen leaf to the next, trying to evade the nearly 100-degree heat. On her elbows and knees,  Army Capt. Aston Armstrong  crawls to the top of the hill, peers through the brush and spots the objective: an enemy airfield. The blond platoon leader devises a plan for her 33-member team to destroy the airfield by blowing a 20-foot crater in it. She jogs back to her team and huddles with the platoon sergeant and three squad leaders. The men lean in as she whispers orders: They will have to pass her commands to the rest of the team, who are on watch to avoid ambush. Leaves crunch under their boots as they creep into position. Sweat drips from their helmets as they set the charges.   “Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!” Capt. Armstrong   yells just before an explosion shoots a cloud of white dust into the air.   The mock-combat mis...

NY Times: Training Course Opens to Female Marines Beginning in September, female officer volunteers will participate in the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course, often called the most grueling school by its instructors. It is a very challenging course that requires top conditioning.  From the obstacle course to the confidence course it requires both upper and lower body strength.  The course also develops leadership skills under stress.  It features 20 mile hikes and live fire drills.  When I went through it, most days began with a three mile run in combat boots.  Some exercises included longer runs in full battle rattle.

Washington Post: IED blast, sports concussion brain damage similar Sports concussions maybe from repeated trauma while IED blast maybe more profound, but the movement inside the skull can be significant in either to cause injuries.  The good news is that both the athletic teams and the military have an incentive to find an answer on how to prevent the injury or treat it.  It maybe more important to sports teams over the long term, because they want to continue to play well after this war is over.  I hope they can work together to find answers to the problem.

Washington Times Editorial: America’s top-line military schools are supposed to be cutting-edge centers of strategic education. But say a bad word about Islam there, and it could end your career. On April 24, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a memo expressing concern that “academic institutions within the  Department of Defense  may be presenting material … which goes well beyond merely presenting alternative intellectual viewpoints on radicalism to advocating ideas, beliefs and actions that are contrary to our national policy, inconsistent with the values of our profession, and disrespectful of the Islamic religion.” The memo ordered a thorough screening of course curricula and outside speakers with a view toward “cultural sensitivity, respect for religion and intellectual balance.” Disciplinary action could be taken against academics whose courseware is judged somehow to be offensive. Outside speakers could be blacklisted. The review was ordered after ...

NY Times: A highly successful program by the armed forces to recruit skilled immigrants who live in this country temporarily has run into a roadblock, leaving thousands of potential recruits in limbo. The Army stopped accepting applications for the program last week, officials said Thursday, because the Pentagon had not completed a review required to keep the recruitment going. The program, which started as a pilot in February, allowed recruiters to enlist immigrants, most of them in the Army, with special language or medical skills who are in this country on temporary visas. Successful recruits are offered the chance to become United States citizens within a few months. More than 1,000 immigrants have been enlisted through the program, and hundreds more, at least, are in the final stages of approval, Army officials said. More than 14,000 immigrants have contacted Army recruiters to see if they qualified for the program and have passed a first level of vetting, the officials s...

Independent: Fear has been eliminated from the human mind for the first time in a series of pioneering experiments that could open the way to treating a range of phobias and anxiety disorders with behavioural therapy rather than drugs. Scientists have selectively blocked thoughts of fear by interfering with the way memories are "reconsolidated" by the brain. It could lead to new ways of treating the thousands of people whose lives are crippled by fear and anxiety relating to phobias and memories that go back many years. The research, funded by the US National Institute of Mental Health, may offer an alternative form of treatment to the current use of drugs, which have side-effects. The study suggests that it may be possible to permanently eradicate an overwhelming fear by relatively simple behavioural therapy. ... Conventional behavioural therapy involves exposing people to a phobia – such as showing a spider to arachnophobes – under "safe" conditions. The new r...

Houston Chronicle: Staff Sgt. Daren Stewart remembers driving down a rural road in Arkansas and thinking how easy it would be to jerk the wheel and flip his car into a ditch. The 27-year-old Iraq war veteran says he wasn’t suicidal. He just figured that injuring himself was the only way he could get any time off from his job as an Army recruiter. “I would rather spend three years straight in Iraq, without coming home, without a break, than ever be a recruiter again,” said Stewart, who recruited in Hot Springs, Ark., from 2005 to 2008. Five-hundred miles away in Houston, the suicides of four Army recruiters from a single battalion have focused lawmakers and veterans advocates on the enormous stress endured by soldiers tasked with refilling the ranks of the all-volunteer military during wartime. In response to the deaths, the Army will suspend all recruiting nationwide Friday to focus on leadership training, suicide prevention and the health of its 8,900 recruiters. The Army Inspecto...

Washington Post: Carrying heavy combat loads is taking a quiet but serious toll on troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan , contributing to injuries that are sidelining them in growing numbers, according to senior military and defense officials. Rising concern over the muscle and bone injuries -- as well as the hindrance caused by the cumbersome gear as troops maneuver in Afghanistan's mountains -- prompted Army and Marine Corps leaders and commanders to launch initiatives last month that will introduce lighter equipment for some U.S. troops. As the military prepares to significantly increase the number of troops in Afghanistan -- including sending as many as 20,000 more Marines -- fielding a new, lighter vest and helmet is a top priority, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway said recently. "We are going to have to lighten our load," he said, after inspecting possible designs during a visit to the Quantico Marine base. Army leaders and experts say the injurie...

Washington Post: The Army needs to add at least 30,000 active-duty soldiers to its ranks to fulfill its responsibilities around the world without becoming stretched dangerously thin, senior Army officials warn. "You can't do what we've been tasked to do with the number of people we have," Undersecretary of the Army Nelson Ford said in an interview last week. "You can see a point where it's going to be very difficult to cope." Already, the Army lacks a strategic reserve of brigades trained and ready for major combat, officials said, and units being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving new soldiers at the last minute, meaning they have insufficient time to train together before crossing into the war zone. But the demand for soldiers extends beyond those countries, with the Pentagon creating new missions that require troops trained in cyber-warfare, homeland defense, intelligence-gathering and other areas, Ford said. "We have five to 1...