The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

I'm sure a lot of you, by now, have heard of, and seen the trailers for, the movie Act of Valor. It's a movie about the infamous secretive special warfare group, the US Navy SEALs, and their (fictionalized) fight against a drug-smuggler and a Chechen terrorist. Get this, the guys playing the SEALs.... are real-life active SEALs! You get an unparalleled and highly accurate insight into the way the SEALs operate. Here's the thing though, a lot of it, is in fact, extremely watered down. That's not a bad thing, I found the movie to be an instant favorite, not to mention one that drove me to tears! Watered down, as in, the movie is highly accurate, but the true way SEALs operate is kept from public view, for obvious reasons

It is an amazing testament to the sacrifice these special warfare operators make, and the fact that they're always at war in the defense of the United States. Truly amazing. I highly recommend this movie, to all of you! Take a box of tissues, or a handkerchief... you'll definitely shed a tear or two!

Uncommon Valor

Today marks the anniversary of the raising of the flag atop Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima during WWII. Arguably the most famous military photograph to have ever been taken, the second flag-raising's picture encouraged the fighting spirit of the American people and rallied the country in a renewal of efforts to support the fight of the US servicemen overseas.

Six flag raisers, six different people, five Marines and one Corpsman. Three of them died on Iwo Jima, three of them came home and toured the country as part of a war-bonds drive. All six of them had small-town upbringings, strong family values and a rigid adherence to the inherent unwritten code that set each of them as brothers in arms.

• Michael Strank, the toughened sergeant who promised he'd bring each and every one of his squad members home, whether they were alive, in pieces or deceased. 
• Doc John "Jack" Bradley, the quiet Navy Corpsman who, as all other corpsmen serving with the grunts, was considered a fellow Marine. He was awarded the Navy's second-highest honor, the Navy Cross, for his courage under fire in rescuing a fallen comrade. 
• Rene Gagnon, the handsome PFC from New Hampshire who enjoyed the fame that came upon the flag-raisers, but later regretted it towards the final years of his life. 
• Franklin Sousley, the fun-loving PFC from Kentucky, who was always down for a good prank, and loved his little family, and his brother Marines, more than anything.
• Ira Hayes, the Paramarine Corporal from a reservation in Arizona, who could never escape the ghosts of the island he fought on. 
• Harlon Block, the athletic, soft-spoken Corporal who was originally mistaken for another Paramarine, who took part in the first flag-raising.

I highly recommend you read the book, Flags of our Fathers, by James Bradley (his father, Doc Bradley was one of the flag-raisers). It is an amazing read, and gives you an unparalleled insight into the lives of these Marines and Corpsman, their sacrifice, and the demons they faced after the war. 

"That was sure a short day."

50 years ago, US Marine aviator turned NASA astronaut, John Glenn, squeezed his way into the Friendship 7 launch capsule, and a few nerve-wracking hours later, blasted off into space to become America's first astronaut to orbit the earth!

Mission Control

13 seconds into the launch, John Glenn thought it was "little bumpy along about here". This guy definitely had the right stuff!

The view from above!

The full radio transcripts can be found here: http://mercury6.spacelog.org/page/

Shape up before you ship out!

Get in shape, the warrior way! 300 PFT is a proven and successful program that helps you get in shape, doing it right. It's designed by a Marine, and it's been tried and proven to get you the results that you need. Whether you're a civilian planning on entering the military, or a current service-member, 300 PFT is designed to help you achieve! Oh yeah, did I mention, it's free?

Check it out!

http://www.300pft.com/

The future

Ladies and gentlemen, the future of cockpits. The F-35's revolutionary new cockpit design integrates a variety of amazing gadgets that come together seamlessly to form the "brain" of the world's newest fighter aircraft. Touchscreen displays, decreasing the number of knobs, dials, buttons and whatnot, and a helmet-mounted HUD make this one hell of a user-friendly aircraft. Awesome, isn't it?

The ultimate roller-coaster ride.

Six Flags, Cedar Point, Disney? Nooo. The ultimate roller-coaster ride is most definitely getting launched off the deck of a carrier, 0 to 150 mph in just under 2 seconds! 

Iceman's Answers: How do I know which branch is right for me?

Okay, let's start off with the most basic question of them all:

"Which branch do I join?"

There's no easy answer to this. Time and time again, potential recruits need to be reminded that joining the military is a decision that THEY must take, not their parents, friends, significant others, family, etc. By the time you turn 18, you can go right ahead and sign the line on the papers, raise your hand and take the oath. Your parents and friends aren't the ones who should be dictating to you the branch you'll serve in and what you should be doing.

Here's the issue: recruits are confused by the wide array of jobs available, and the different branches that offer these jobs. I've seen confusion between the Marines and the Army, and what exactly they do. The same goes for the Navy and Coast Guard, the Navy and the Air Force, etc.

It all depends on what you want to do. Each branch has it's own set of unique jobs. Let's take aviation, for example. The Navy and Marines usually fly off aircraft carriers. The Air Force is strictly land-based.
If you feel that becoming a fixed-wing pilot is your goal, then you've got 4 options: The Air Force, Navy Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Since there are a variety of fixed-wing type aircraft, let's streamline that a little further to a fighter pilot. Now, that list gets narrowed down to the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. If you don't, for example, want to be a carrier pilot, then the Air Force is the way to go.

Of course, there will always be the motivation to join the branch that seems the best, regardless of what it can offer yo. What I mean by that, is joining, say the Marines over the Army, because everyone says the Marines are the best of the best, and the Army's full of kids who wanted to get their hands on guns, just to have a little fun. Not entirely true. The Marine Corps is an outstanding institution, older than the United States itself! But, that doesn't mean that you don't have half-wits or slackers joining it. The Army also has their fair share of slackers and soldiers who don't do their jobs right, but, is actually very similar to the Corps in terms of jobs and training.

I'm baaack!

Hey guys, it's been 3 months and 6 days since I was last active on here.  I'd like to extened my apologies for that. I'm currently a full-time student with barely any time on his hands, so I easily lost track of the blog and let it go to waste. No more!

I'm going to start off this new blogging year with something different. In addition to my regular posts, I'm going to answer "questions" on here about the military for those of you who plan on joining up, or for all the enthusiasts out there. These will be very basic and general in nature, though if you do have a specific question in mind, go right ahead and send me an email. I'll do my best to find out the answer for you.

I hope y'all had a happy Thanksgiving, a very merry Christmas, a happy New Year and greetings for all the other holidays I must've skipped over while I went AWOL.