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5月10日

Limb Deficient Youth Earns Eagle Scout Award

 
 
May 9, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) On May 26, 2007, Zachary James Foster will be honored for having earned the Eagle Scout award, the highest advancement rank in Scouting.  Only 2 in 100 scouts will achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.  This is especially significant since Zach did it with only one arm; he was born missing his right forearm.  That obviously did not stop him.  As a member of Boy Scout Troop 423, Zach has earned merit badges in such taxing physical skills as canoeing, rowing, swimming, and horseback riding.  He also completed the arduous Mile Swim twice.  With the use of a prosthesis, he has rappelled down cliffs, gone rock climbing, boulder jumping, practiced archery, gymnastics and learned to tap dance. 
 
To earn the Eagle Scout rank, a boy scout must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service, and outdoor skills by earning at least 21 merit badges.  Zach earned 24 merit badges.  Not satisfied with just scouting, he volunteers for “A Touch of Love,” a support group for limb deficient children, and for Congressman David Drier’s office.  Zach is a member of the nationally acclaimed Bonita High School Chamber Singers, has taken mostly Honors or Advanced Placement classes in high school, has learned to read and write Spanish fluently, is in the Bonita Book and Kung Fu Movie Clubs.  Zach is now teaching himself Japanese because he is also in the Anime Club.
 
Zach’s Eagle Ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 26, at 11:00 a.m., at the Via Verde Country Club in San Dimas.  For more information on limb deficient support groups, contact “A Touch of Love” at 1(800) 493-5462.  For more information on scouting, contact San Gabriel Valley Council at (626) 351-8815. 
12月28日

Ford Helped U.S. Recover from Watergate

 
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
 
 
Dec. 27, 2006 – Americans will remember former President Gerald R. Ford as a man with the courage to heal a nation.  Ford, who died at his California home last night at age 93, assumed the presidency at a grim time in American history.
 
In the midst of a distinguished career in the House of Representatives, the Michigan Republican was President Richard M. Nixon's choice to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president. Agnew resigned in disgrace on Oct. 10, 1973, after pleading no contest to corruption charges, and Nixon himself was facing impeachment.
 
Nixon's difficulty started with a break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate building here during the 1972 presidential campaign and evolved into a cover-up that involved many figures in the administration up to the president.
 
By August 1974, the prevailing mood in the country had turned against Nixon. Nixon had been re-elected in a landslide in November 1972, but revelations about the Watergate cover-up kept surfacing. A Senate select committee led by Sens. Sam Ervin and Howard Baker investigated, and Americans began realizing how far the corruption had crept into the administration. In July 1974, Congress voted to begin impeachment proceedings against the president. Nixon weighed what lay ahead for him, and on Aug. 9, 1974, became the first president of the United States to resign from office.
 
The resignation was effective at noon. At 12:05 p.m., Gerald Ford began the healing process in a speech to America and the world. "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over," Ford said. "Our Constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws, and not of men. Here, the people rule."
 
A year before becoming president, Ford was not even in line for the job. He was the House minority leader, and his fondest wish was for the Republicans to gain control of the legislative body so he could become speaker of the House. After Agnew's resignation, Nixon nominated Ford for the vice presidency. The Senate confirmed Ford, and he took that office on Dec. 6, 1973.
 
Ford was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Neb. His parents divorced, and his mother took him to Grand Rapids, Mich., to live with her parents. In 1916, she married Gerald R. Ford, and Leslie King became Gerald R. Ford Jr.
 
Ford excelled in school and in sports. He became an Eagle Scout in 1927 and was an all-state football player. He attended the University of Michigan, where he studied political science and economics and starred on the football team. When he finished college, the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions approached Ford to play for them, but he opted to become a boxing coach at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., where he received his law degree in 1941.
 
During World War II, Ford joined the Naval Reserve and was commissioned as an ensign. At first, he was a physical fitness instructor at a pre-flight school at Chapel Hill, N.C., but in 1943, he reported to the aircraft carrier USS Monterrey and participated in operations in the Pacific Theater. He ended the war as a lieutenant commander and returned to Grand Rapids.
 
The future president joined a local law firm, and in 1948, challenged the isolationist Republican legislator. He won by a wide margin and took office on Jan. 3, 1949. At the height of the election campaign, Ford married Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren, known as "Betty."
 
Ford built a reputation in the House of Representatives as an effective legislator. He rose in the ranks and served as the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Ford as one of the members of the Warren Commission looking into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
 
In 1965, Ford ran for and was elected as minority leader in the House. He held that position until he became vice president.
 
During his term as president, Ford faced many challenges. The Soviet Union was still a power, and Ford continued Nixon's policy of working to thaw relations with the Soviet Union. The Ford administration began negotiations of strategic arms limits and negotiated the Helsinki agreements on human rights.
 
In the Middle East, the Ford administration launched "shuttle diplomacy" in an effort to carve out a peace.
 
In Asia, the war in Vietnam continued as Ford took office. North Vietnamese regulars took the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon in April 1975, and the war was effectively over. But on May 12, Khmer Rouge forces seized the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez miles off the Cambodian coast. Ford ordered U.S. forces to retake the ship and free the 39 crewmembers. U.S. forces freed the vessel and the crewmen, but 41 Americans died in the operation.
 
Ford's most controversial position was one taken a month after taking office. He believed that prosecuting Nixon would keep the United States mired in the Watergate scandal. He granted Nixon a pardon before the filing of any criminal charges against him. Many said the decision was the result of a deal, but Ford always maintained it simply was the right thing to do.
 
In 1976, Ford faced down a challenge from Ronald Reagan and received the Republican nomination for president. At the beginning of the campaign, he was far behind the Democratic candidate, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter. Ford campaigned well and closed the gap, but lost one of the closest presidential elections in history.
 
Ford retired to California and was much in demand as a speaker and lecturer. In August 1999, then-President Bill Clinton awarded Ford the Medal of Freedom - the country's highest civilian award. Clinton, a Democrat, did it in recognition of Ford's role in guiding the United States through the turbulent post-Watergate era.
 
Upon learning of Ford's death last night, President Bush issued a written statement praising the former chief executive. "With his quiet integrity, common sense, and kind instincts, President Ford helped heal our land and restore public confidence in the presidency," Bush's statement said. In a televised statement this morning, Bush called Ford "a true gentleman who reflected the best of America's character."
 
In 1979, Ford published his autobiography, titled "A Time to Heal."
 
U.S. flags will fly at half-staff for 30 days in Ford's honor. The former president is survived by his wife and four children. An announcement on funeral arrangements is expected later today.
 
Article sponsored by criminal justice leadership; and police and military personnel who have become writers.

Rumsfeld Remembers Ford as Patriot Who Restored Confidence

 
By Donna Miles
 
Dec. 27, 2006 – Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld remembered Ford as a patriot who led the United States through difficult days and helped restore confidence in its government.  "President Ford was a man of great decency and towering integrity," Rumsfeld said in a written statement released today.
 
Ford died last night in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93. Rumsfeld served in Ford's Cabinet, as chief of staff from 1974 to 1975, then as the youngest U.S. defense secretary from 1975 to 1977.
 
Rumsfeld called Ford a patriot who left a budding law career to join the Navy in World War II, then demonstrated a deep pride in the country and respect for its government while serving in the U.S. Congress.
 
Rumsfeld's long association with the former president dates back to the 1960s, when both served in the U.S. House of Representatives. While serving as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1974, Rumsfeld was called back to Washington to serve as chairman of Ford's presidential transition team.
 
"Our nation has a way of finding leaders that are needed in tough times," Rumsfeld said.
 
Rumsfeld called Ford "just the president our country needed back in 1974." He remembered the former president as a serious, effective legislator who never sought the presidency but was ready to serve as vice president, then president, when the country needed him.
 
"He became president in a time of widespread distrust of government and those who governed," Rumsfeld said. "As president, his personal character helped restore the reservoir of trust in the government and its leaders that is needed for our system to function effectively."
 
Ford did so, Rumsfeld said, "by being who he was and always doing what he believed was in the best interest of our country and the American people."
 
Article sponsored by criminal justice leadership; and police and military personnel who have become writers.

 

11月22日

People Should Get Annual Flu Shots, Official Says

 
By Gerry J. Gilmore
 
Nov. 21, 2006 – All people, particularly very young and older citizens, should obtain an annual flu shot, a top DoD health official said here today.  The influenza virus is a contagious respiratory illness that annually kills about 36,000 Americans and hospitalizes 200,000, Dr. David N. Tornberg, deputy assistant secretary of defense for clinical and program policy, said during an interview with the Pentagon Channel.
 
Therefore, obtaining the annual vaccine against influenza is "a safety measure we should all embrace," Tornberg asserted.
 
Active-duty servicemembers are required to be immunized against the flu each year, Tornberg pointed out. The defense department has "an abundant supply" of vaccine on hand for this year's flu season, he said, which started in October and runs through May.
 
Catching the flu is normally an unpleasant, but not life-threatening, experience that can last several days, Tornberg said, noting flu symptoms can include muscle aches, a runny nose, a dry, sore throat, cough, fever and chills.
 
However, Tornberg said, the flu can be dangerous to some people with undeveloped or compromised immune systems. Those most vulnerable to getting the flu, he noted, are children from six months to five years of age and adults ages 50 and older.
 
It's particularly important, Tornberg said, that people within that group - as well as health care workers and caregivers for seniors -- get flu shots each year.
 
"We extend the safety net widely by immunizing those groups and those groups associated with vulnerable populations," he said.
 
Getting immunized against the flu doesn't guarantee that you won't get it, Tornberg noted. But, people who do get an annual flu shot, greatly reduce their chances of contracting the virus, he said.
 
Tornberg said flu shots also can mitigate the effects of the virus, if one comes down with the flu after taking the vaccine.
 
It takes about two weeks for a person to develop immunity benefits after getting a flu shot, Tornberg said. It's a good idea to get a flu shot in October or November, he said, but vaccinations can be obtained throughout the flu season.
 
"DoD has more that adequate supplies" of flu vaccine to administer to military members, he reiterated.
 
The medical field today is much better prepared to address influenza than it was back in 1918, when a flu epidemic killed millions of Americans, Tornberg said.
 
"The 1918 flu epidemic occurred in a population that was ill-prepared to deal with the consequences of a major influenza [outbreak]," Tornberg said. There were no acute care facilities available at that time, he pointed out, nor were there antibiotics that could be used to treat pneumonia and other secondary illnesses sometimes brought on by the flu.
 
"An excess burden of death was the consequence of that flu [epidemic]," Tornberg said.
 
Article Sponsored by Air Force Gifts and Police Officer turned law enforcement writer.
10月4日

Cooperation Leads to Progress, Prosperity in Central America

 
By Kathleen T. Rhem
 
MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Oct. 3, 2006 – Twenty years ago, Central America was riddled with fighting among its countries. Today, progress and growing prosperity define the region, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here yesterday at a Defense Ministers of the Americas conference.  "International cooperation is the promise of this new century, which is why conferences such as this can be so valuable," he said in brief remarks to the assembled delegations of 33 countries in attendance.
 
Rumsfeld stressed that terrorism is everybody's problem and that no country can fight that threat on its own. "Almost every minister here ... has attested to that fact," he said.
 
The secretary said the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks weren't just targeting the United States, "but civilization itself and, with it, the international system that supports security, freedom and the promise of growing prosperity for our people."
 
A common theme of remarks from various defense ministers from Western Hemisphere nations was cooperation and coordination. Navy Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, told a small group of reporters that remarks from the ministers were "reassuringly similar and supportive."
 
Countries recognize that problems like narcotics trafficking and organized crime know no borders, so regional cooperation is the only way to defeat them. "The folks down here are emphasizing that it's not one unit alone that can do it, whether it be diplomatic or military or economic or social or medical," Keating said. "It's a system of systems, and it's collaboration and cooperation."
 
In his speech, Rumsfeld called these illegal enterprises "anti-social elements" and said they have a common thread. "They destroy faith in government by casting a dark shadow on the democratic process and by eroding economic opportunities for our people.
 
"They are destabilizing forces in a part of the world that has worked so hard and suffered so much bloodshed to trade dictatorships and civil war for democracy and stability," he said.
 
Some countries in Latin American have had great success fighting narcoterrorists and organized gangs and are now sharing that expertise with their neighbors. Some are even considering using their hard-earned expertise to help countries outside their region, including Afghanistan and Iraq.
 
Maj. Gen. Omar Halleslevens, chief of the Nicaraguan army, said today that his country would send troops with mine-clearing expertise to Afghanistan if asked to do so.
 
U.S. Army Gen. Bantz Craddock said officials are working with Colombia to send forces from that country to Iraq to help the Iraqis devise ways to better protect their oil pipelines and other infrastructure from terrorist attacks. Craddock has been commander of U.S. Southern Command, which has responsibility for military operations in Latin America, for nearly two years. He is set to give up his SOUTHCOM command and take over U.S. European Command later this month.
 
"(Some Latin American countries) have enormous expertise, and they have worked through many of those challenges," he said. "Now there's an opportunity where they may see a chance to help other countries overcome the problems they have faced in the past. Wherever we can, we're going to help do that."
 
Interagency cooperation within individual countries is important, as well, Keating said. Since it stood up four years ago, NORTHCOM has become effective at cooperating with other countries and other U.S. government agencies, and the command's leaders are working to share these lessons with other countries in the hemisphere.
 
"NORTHCOM has a lot of good ideas to share with these countries, ways to combat terrorism, ways that we work with the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, all the interagency partners and state and local partners, and increasingly with commercial partners," he said, noting that commercial shipping companies are anxious to ensure their containers are secure.
 
"So we, working with the Department of Homeland Security, have kind of a playbook, and we're happy to share that information with countries down here," Keating said.
 
In remarks opening the ceremony, Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos noted how important security is to prosperity. "National security is inseparable from sustainable development," he said.
 
"I believe that it's a simple equation: more security is equal to more investment, which is equal to more jobs, which is equal to less poverty, which is equal to more well-being, which is what we want," he said through a translator.
 
In his comments later, Rumsfeld echoed the sentiment. "Too often people fail to realize just how closely connected security is to democracy and to free markets," he said. "It is up to us to communicate to our legislatures and our citizens how open economies, effective security and responsive democratic institutions all contribute each in their own way to national, regional and hemispheric stability."
 
Rumsfeld, who has traveled extensively in Latin America during his time as defense secretary, said cooperation among nations here is better than ever. "It is very clear that the cohesion and the cooperation -- real cooperation among these countries -- is greater today than I have seen it in the past six years," he said. "It is particularly true in Central America."
9月27日

Cheney on terrorists and war on terror

 
By Jim Garamone
 
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2006 – Vice President Richard B. Cheney yesterday thanked Michigan National Guardsmen for their service to their state and nation, and talked about the war on terror and the central fronts of Afghanistan and Iraq.  In a time of war, the National Guard is absolutely vital to protecting the United States, Cheney said at a rally for Guardsmen and their families in Wyoming, Mich. He said Guardsmen serve to defend the country and to respond to natural and man-made disasters. "I want all of you to know that we appreciate the work you do, we respect the sacrifices you make, and we admire your skill and your devotion to duty," the vice president said.
 
Since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 80 percent of the Michigan National Guard has been called to active duty, Cheney said. They have served in Bosnia, in ground support operations in Iraq and in training missions in Afghanistan. "The assignments have been varied, but the standard of performance has been high and unwavering," he said. "You've put duty ahead of convenience and service above self-interest. It is impossible to overstate how much Americans in uniform have done to make this nation safer, and to bring freedom, stability and peace to a troubled world."
 
Five years ago, Cheney said, Afghanistan was saddled with a merciless regime that harbored terrorists and plotted murder for export. "Today, Afghanistan is a rising nation with a democratically elected government, a market economy, and millions of children going to school for the first time."
 
Guardsmen and their active-duty compatriots understand what is at stake in the war on terror, Cheney said, and so do the terrorists. "That is why they commit acts of random horror, calculated to shock and intimidate the civilized world," he said. "The terrorists know that, as freedom takes hold, the ideologies of hatred and resentment will weaken and the advance of free institutions in the Middle East will produce a much safer world for our children and grandchildren. The war on terror is a battle for the future of civilization. It's a battle worth fighting. It's a battle we are going to win."
 
The vice president reiterated that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. Having removed a dictator, the coalition is working with Iraq's leaders toward a mutual goal: a democratic country that can defend itself, that will not be a safe haven for terrorists, and that will be a model of freedom in a troubled part of the world.
 
"Our strategy in Iraq is clear, and our tactics will remain flexible," he said. "Progress has not come easily, and we can expect further attacks from those who are opposed to freedom. Yet there is no denying the hopeful signs, and we can look to the future with confidence. All of us live in a better world because (al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-) Zarqawi is dead, Saddam Hussein is on trial, and Iraq is free."
 
Cheney defended the U.S. government's terrorist surveillance program, saying the program is to monitor international communications that officials believe are related to al Qaeda or to a terrorist network. "It's hard to think of any category of information that could be more important to the safety and security of the United States," he said.
 
Cheney called a judge's decision ordering the program to cease "just plain wrong" and said he is confident the decision will be reversed.
 
The vice president said the United States will keep its word to defeat terrorists. "We will carry on in the work that is ours to do," he said. "But for all the effort that lies ahead, this period of testing for our country is also a time of promise. The United States of America is doing great good in the world by defending the innocent, confronting the violent, and bringing freedom to the oppressed.
 
"We're a good country, a generous, compassionate, idealistic country. We are doing honorable work in a messy and a dangerous world," Cheney said. "By defending ourselves, by standing with our friends abroad, we're meeting our responsibilities as freedom's home and defender, and we're securing the peace that freedom brings."
9月21日

Citizen-Soldiers, Airmen Making Difference on Border

 
By Sgt. Jim Greenhill, USA
 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Sept. 20, 2006 – The Department of Homeland Security has seen a drop in the number of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S. border with Mexico for the first time, and the National Guard has made the difference, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said here Sept. 18.  "For the first time, we are seeing a reduction in the flow of illegal immigrants," Chertoff said during the 128th General Conference of the National Guard Association of the United States. "This is the first real ... sign we've had of success since we began this effort. It could not be done without the National Guard."
 
The National Guard's support to the U.S. Border Patrol through Operation Jump Start -- "dramatic help," Chertoff called it -- is just one reason Americans hold Guard members in high esteem, he said.
 
"Perhaps never has the critical role of the National Guard -- at least in my lifetime -- been demonstrated to the people of this country as it has during the past year," the secretary said. "The National Guard is now recognized by the public as a group of heroes, a group that can step up and handle all missions, whether it's something that nature throws at us or something that terrorists throw at us, overseas or here at home, or whether it's just the pressure of economic migration at the southern border."
 
 
Calling the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks a turning point in Americans' lifetimes and a reflection of a war that was already under way between a radical ideology of hate and the United States and the West, Chertoff said the Guard immediately stepped up. "I remember what a comfort it was to see the National Guard on duty," he said.
 
Because the Guard faces so many important missions, it will not stay on the border any longer than necessary, he said. Chertoff also outlined how his department is permanently boosting border security.
 
"We face a very significant challenge," Chertoff said, "thousands of miles, some of it through some very inhospitable terrain and a problem with respect to managing the border that goes back 20 years."
 
The DHS fix includes using new police technology such as sensors and vehicle barriers, increased manpower, additional tactical infrastructure such as fences, roads and lights and stronger enforcement of the nation's immigration laws.
 
"We have at long last ended the pernicious policy of catch-and-release," Chertoff said. "That was demoralizing, and it was self-defeating. Now we catch, detain and remove everybody who is here illegally that we catch at the border."
 
Some 9,000 Border Patrol agents were on duty Sept. 11; more than 12,000 are now; 18,000 are promised by the end of 2008, he said.
 
"Within a short period of time, we will be announcing (a) new 21st century high-tech program to bring the kinds of tools that we've refined in other areas in national defense to the border," Chertoff said.
 
Ramping up a permanent improvement in border security takes time, he said. "The National Guard has stepped in to give us the kind of immediate support that we have long expected the Guard to be able to offer."
 
Guard members are providing surveillance, operating detection systems, working in entry identification teams, analyzing information, assisting with communications, and giving administrative support to the Border Patrol.
 
"This literally multiplies the eyes and ears that help the Border Patrol agents on the front line deter and respond to illegal entries," Chertoff said. "What this allows us to do is to take the Border Patrol away from these critical but back-office missions and put them on the line where they can actually intercept, apprehend and remove the migrants ... coming across illegally."
 
Up to 6,000 troops have been helping the Border Patrol since August, a mission expected to continue for about two years. "As we bring the Border Patrol on line, we will be excusing you from duty at the borders of this country," the secretary said.
 
Meanwhile, the National Guard is working with DHS on a second vital task. "The second is getting our emergency preparedness and response capabilities ready for another catastrophe, whether it be a natural catastrophe or a manmade catastrophe," he said.
 
Chertoff said local response takes the lead. "State and local governments have the primary lead in a disaster," he said. "That includes the National Guard when called up by the governor."
 
However, the secretary said, synchronization between all agencies must improve. "Never again do we want to have federal, state and local officials introducing themselves for the first time when the hurricane is hitting," he said.
 
Several improvements are under way, including:
 
-- The National Guard Bureau and DHS are synchronizing assessment and communications capabilities;
 
-- NGB and DHS have completed joint training exercises;
 
-- NGB and DHS have worked together on evacuation planning;
 
-- NGB liaison officers are stationed full-time at DHS headquarters in Washington and at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and in Louisiana, where Hurricane Katrina recovery continues;
 
-- NGB is supporting information collection and reconnaissance; and
 
-- The Guard has participated in pre-hurricane exercises in five FEMA regions.
 
Chertoff thanked Guard members for what they do for America. "You blend uniquely," Chertoff said, "and your civilian skills and your military determination and training are wrapped together in a spirit of volunteerism which has characterized this nation from its founding over 200 years ago."
 
(Army Sgt. Jim Greenhill is assigned to the National Guard Bureau.)
8月26日

Global Alert Map

The global alert map, operated by the National Association of Radio-Distress Signaling and Infocommunications, Havaria Emergency and Disaster Information Services, Budapest Hungary, provides a fantastic near-real-time recap of world-wide events; everything from terrorist attacks in Turkey to an algae bloom in an Oregon lake.
 
 
There is also a hyperlink to the map from the blog at www.terrorism-online.blogspot.com
 
Raymond
8月24日

War on Terrorism Blog surpasses 500 entries

In June 2006, as he was researching book “From Cold War to Hot War: The New War on Global Terrorism,” author and lecturer Raymond E. Foster realized he was amassing a tremendous amount of research.  Traditional academic research, open source information from the Department of Defense daily briefings, data from the National Counterterrorism Center and a host of daily, weekly and monthly news digests provided enough information to found a comprehensive blog on the War on Terrorism.
 
The blog includes original works like “Terrorism: Crime or Asymmetrical Warfare;” an effort to define terrorism in the context of American criminal justice.  Other original works, like the analysis of world-wide attacks on police officers provide important data, information and analysis for the development of “street” counterterrorism tactics.  Indeed, that blog entry has been published by a number of American municipal police departments; and, translated by two foreign governments for use by their uniformed police officers.
 
In addition to monitoring domestic conditions and events, the blog has many entries detailing events overseas, specifically in the Middle East.  While the blog reports on events, it also reflects many of the human experiences of American’s fighting terrorism abroad.  For instance, in a recent entry, an Air Force Technical Sergeant describes how he was eating lunch in the break room when he felt as if he had been slugged in the arm and was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. At first, he thought the television exploded. In reality, a rocket sliced through the back of his left shoulder and peppered his hands and arms with metal shards. There was only one thing going through his mind at the time: "Survival! I just wanted to make it out alive," he said.
 
According to Sun Tzu, in “The Art of War, "Thus it is said that one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements."  Mindful of the need to know ones self and the enemy, the blog contains hyperlinks to important documents such as the “Al Qaeda Training Manual” and “The United States Military Guide to Terrorism in the 21st Century.”  Updated daily, the blog can be read at http://terrorism-online.blogspot.com/