The Jump Blog

FOXNews.com - U.S. Military: Leaders Can’t Lead - FOX Fan
Now, I’m no retired colonel, I was never anything more than a piss ant squad leader, so I feel obligated to defer to Col. Hunt’s rank –but that’s where my deference ends. It’s hard for me to fathom how a man can be so mistaken, especially […]

At my core I’m a paratrooper. The only thing I am more proud of and would defend with more zeal are my children. I feel a sense of deep kinship with other paratroopers and it is for that reason that I post the following list of the fallen. Their sacrifice was not greater than that […]

H/T: Blackfive
If Only War Reporting Were More Like Sports Reporting - Early Warning
I didn’t comment on the William Arkin comments earlier this year. The guy is just so obviously a Class A Tool™ that I wouldn’t have known where to begin.
I’ve also been trying to tone down the rhetoric and profanity level here in an […]

Dick Durbin impersonator that is.
Garrison Keillor is a consumate professional, a booster of Roots and Americana music, a fine radio host, an instinctual historian, and a fine author. He’s also a flaming Liberal (he is on NPR after all, it’s in the contract), a fact that I have chosen not to let bother me for […]

H/T To Francis for bringing this story over at Andi’s World to my attention. It is simply outrageous, especially considering the soldier’s hometown is receiving a pretty large boost to the economy thanks to the National Guard. If you wish to express some outrage you can contact the court directly:
517-483-6500
Ingham County Circuit Court
Family Court Division
Grady […]

For those that are new to the blog, I used to vote Democrat nearly fifteen years ago. I also lived a lifestyle that wasn’t exactly conservative. I had many friends whose parents came from the hippie drug counter-culture of the sixties. I knew these parents intimately, and getting to know them so well is now […]

I wrote a response to a comment recently that I thought deserved a front page showing. Not for anything that I have said, but because of the unique issues the poster brought up, and my sincere belief in how I answered. Here it is:

I’m as sentimental as the next guy (and probably moreso unless the next also happens to be a sodden Irishman with a penchant for sad songs, depressing literature, and old movies) but I am not at all upset about the vote to close Walter Reed. Why? Because it is not going to happen. But one […]

Perhaps you can help. You see there are these 4 young males (not men) running around Seattle who need to be hauled in before a King county judge.
They severly beat two young soldiers recently returned from OIF, breaking their jaws, an arm and several other bones. Lucky for us the whole incident was caught on […]

I hesitate to trot this tired old horse out of the barn anymore, and wouldn’t, except that a buddy of mine just had some pretty profound things to say about it. This buddy is a Marine with long years of service doing some pretty special things and who has been ’sandy’ a couple times in […]

I listen to NPR because they go in depth into stories that others spend seconds on. That said I must always apply my own “english” to what they report. If one doesn’t apply the counter-spin then one winds up wearing a T-Shirt that says “Leave Only Footprints, Take Only Pictures”, munching granola outside of the […]

I have spoken before on how I wholeheartedly believe that the farce called ‘Winter Soldier” influenced an entire generation of Americans. It set in stone what they believed the Army was, what war was, what soldiers did, and how they were trained. Go back and watch M*A*S*H*, Simon and Simon, Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, […]

And then there is the abyss.
I am loathe to give this woman any more press than she is already getting but if one needed any more evidence of her instability and agenda driven ulterior motive I recon this would do a fine job.
Cindy Sheehan: I won’t pay tax

There’s a new support program out designed to help troops returning with injuries that disable their hands by providing laptops with speech-to-text software installed. This is a result of the success CPT Chuck has had with the software (something else I got in too late on).
I’ve missed the big push on this but I’m going […]

H/T: Mudville Gazette
Michael Yon has a great dispatch up. He is phenominal. Go read it.
Deuce Four is an overwhelmingly aggressive and effective unit, and they believe the best defense is a dead enemy. They are constantly thinking up innovative, unique, and effective ways to kill or capture the enemy; proactive not reactive. They planned an […]

Still busy closing down my business, looking for other gainful employment, and working on some programming projects (yuck) to make ends meet. I’m also working on the extended 4 song single of “My Pretty Ones” that should be available soon.
I just wanted to drop a line to let everybody know I’m still kicking and apologize […]

Got an e-mail from Russ today with this touching bit of poetry for the families of the Ohio Marines. Matt at BlackFive also has it posted.
Thanks Russ.
Why Was It My Son Had to Die?
To the families of the brave Ohio Marines
Why was it my son had to die,
To preserve some truth? To hide a lie?
Why […]

I am sure that by now we have all seen news reports of the despicable actions of Jim Phelps. While every single thing he does is odious, I was looking at their schedule and I see that his group is planning to picket a soldier’s funeral at Arlington on Monday morning. Special Forces Sgt. Jason […]

Looks like Rolling Rock is throwing a party. They’ve invited a few bands like Live, The Bloodhound Gang, The Clarks, Rusted Root, and The Julliana Theory. They’ve also invited the entire military free of charge (all active duty and reserve members is what the invite says, but I’m guessing a Retired ID card would get […]

And I’ll say it again. If you aren’t reading Jack at Texas Music then you are as wrong as… well… there is no clean way to finish that sentence so I’ll just say the he is one of the most talented bloggers out there today, bar none. I wish I could write half as well […]