The Wandering Minstrel

When I was working on an Army program at the aerospace mill, my project lead, at the time, was a Major in the California National Guard. He, like me, was a firearms enthusiast, so the topic of our banter often turned to guns. When we spoke about favorite guns, he would often cite his Military-issue Beretta as filling that role for him. He bought one for his personal arsenal.

We always were going to ‘get around’ to going to the range, but things changed - he went to Afghanistan and I went back to satellite systems engineering. We never made the range meeting, but, he always swore by that pistol. I would have liked to fire a few rounds with it and see for myself.

Today, I saw this article in an email from American Rifleman, quoted here in part:

25 Years of Service - The Beretta M9
A U.S. military contract truly did seem an impossible goal for a foreign company in 1978, the year Congress issued its directive to the Dept. of Defense instructing it to search for a new 9 mm handgun to replace the M1911A1.

Although the M1911 was widely recognized as a reliable, powerful and iconic sidearm of American military might, and was a favorite with veterans, soldiers and traditionalists, Congress decided that maintaining the stockpile of M1911s and some 20 other types of military sidearms was impractical. Many of the M1911s were old and in disrepair. Maintaining ammunition and parts supply for the vast array of sidearms incurred unnecessary costs. Also, Congress believed it was imperative that the U.S. adopt the standard 9 mm Luger round so its soldiers could work more closely in the field with its NATO allies. [more…]

The Army charged Major Nidal Malik Hasan with thirteen counts of premeditated murder today. There will also be additional charges against this “soldier of allah” as the numerous aggravated assault and other charges are investigated and applied. The investigation, according to the official who read the charges of murder, is on-going.

What I would like to know is when will Hasan be charged with treason? He acted on behalf of enemies of the United States when he opened fire on unarmed soldiers and civilians at Ft. Hood. To me, that constitutes treason.

In addition to the terrorist acts he commited, Hasan may also have been funneling money to Pakistan. He also is alleged to have attempted to contact al Qaeda.

Authorities at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. have described Hasan as being psychotic. He was often described as surly and difficult to talk to. One official was quoted as saying that anybody who knew Hasan would not want him in their foxhole.

No wonder Hasan has that shit-eating smirk - he knew he was going to be infamous someday.

Treason? You bet.

Firing squad? We can only hope they televise the execution. Pay-per-view - yeah! That’s the ticket . . .

We are at home today quietly celebrating Veterans Day. We have been reading the blogs and other news on the internet plus watching some of our daytime shows on the tube.

I had some time on my hands (read that as bored and too lazy to do any real work today) and decided to look into how I could get a plug-in for the Wordpress Blog Engine that would allow me to take polls from readers from time to time. I found a popular plug-in called Democracy and installed it on the web server this afternoon.

So, here’s the first attempt at a poll. Please vote in it. I am still learning about the plug-in’s options, so please bear with me while I do. Thanks for voting!

After Lt. Gen Cone’s lame declaration that Ft. Hood soldiers don’t carry guns because “this is our home,” it made me wonder why the most well-schooled-in-firearms people in the world should be excluded from self-defense. Michael Ledeen, who blogs at The Corner, wonders the same thing, and notes how the USMC gets it right, at least in the case below.

Gun Control on Military Bases [Michael Ledeen]

Lots of folks have wondered why there weren’t more soldiers with guns at Ft. Hood, and I’m one of them. Our younger Marine is home for the weekend from The Basic School at Quantico, and Barbara and I asked him if there were Marines with guns on the base. There are. Lots of them. And they move around all the time, checking places where Marines congregate, from classrooms to outdoor obstacle courses and parade fields and barracks. Apparently it occurred to the base commander some time ago that it was a bad idea to leave his men and women unprotected.

Amen.

Those of us fortunate enough to have attended the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and saw Major Chuck Ziegenfus give his presentation on Project VALOur-IT, have a head start in knowing how much good the project does.

The 5th annual VALOur-IT drive is now underway. From now until November 11th, you can support this important project with your generosity. See the links below.

This year, even though I’m a Navy veteran, we will be supporting Team Army, given Chuck’s convincing argument to do so:

But honestly, the most important thing you can do is reach out to the 237,999,998 Americans who don’t read this blog. Make them aware of VALOur-IT, Soldiers Angels, and the 2009 service members waiting to be adopted. Encourage them not only to donate (especially to Team Army, since the Army bears the brunt of the casualties, and does the majority of the fighting) but to also reach out to other people they know, to educate, contribute, and ask them to reach out. It’s how things go viral besides the video of the fat kid going ape in the candy store.

Electronic Check, Credit Card and Pay Pal all accepted. Choose your team and Donate:

Team Army
Team Navy
Team Marines
Team Air Force

Out in the middle of the California Desert, along an otherwise pretty boring ride, the George S. Patton Museum at Chiriaco Summit provides an interesting place to stop and visit. We have visited here before, so this time we only paused long enough to rest, walk the dog and snap a few pictures of the equipment in the museum’s display yard.

If you happen to have a pair of 3D glasses handy, you can see a 3D image of this tank on the family website.

Just off of Interstate 10 in Quartzsite, AZ, there is a park dedicated to the concept of freedom through strength. That’s something that the Obamination seems to forget - we’re free because we are willing to FIGHT for freedom.

This is an F-4 “Phantom” (clickable image) - sometimes referred to as the “Wild Weasel.” This remarkable aircraft was deployed as Navy Squadron VX-4 at the U.S. Naval Air Station at Point Mugu, CA, while I was stationed there as an aviation electronics technician. Seeing these here today took me back to the days when we were proud to serve under a Democratic administration headed up by JFK.

Today? Not so much.

We stopped by the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ today. We would have gone in except for one minor “No Firearms Allowed” placard. Screw it. I can see the good stuff through the fence, be armed and save the 25 dollar admission ripoff for the two of us.

There is this one good shot that the Better Half got of an A7 with a C-130 in a low-pass in the distance.

Sweet. Clickable image.