Riehl World View

Time To Call In The Marines For Project Valour-IT

I've been remiss on this, too swamped with politics. It's a worthy effort I've supported in the past. I'll turn it over to Cassy Fiano for the details.

Right now, the Marine team is getting our butts kicked by the Army team in the Project Valour-IT fundraiser competition, so we need to step up our game and show them who is really number one! With that said, here are ten reasons why you should support the Marine team this year!

More On Joe Miller's Officer Efficiency Report

After posting Joe Miller's Officer Efficiency Report (OER), this morning I received an email from a retired Army officer claiming to be able to shed more light on the report given his knowledge of Miller's former unit and his rating officers. The source requested anonymity, but forwarded three of his own OERs to confirm his claims and identity. I've also confirmed the individual has no direct ties to Joe Miller, his campaign, nor has he donated money to Miller's campaign. He did express frustration at Lisa Murkowski's claim that Joe was not a fit leader given his own knowledge of the unit, Miller's relevant responsibilities and the rating officers named in Miller's OER. He stated that it was that frustration that prompted him to contact me.

He's retired-military and working in Washington, DC. I've not edited the statement except to redact the individual's name per request.

I just wanted to pass on some perspective on Joe Miller's Officer Efficiency Report that you posted online.  I was in Miller's unit from 1986-1990 and served with both CPT Orth and LTC (later Colonel) Fontenot.  I didn't know Joe Miller, as he probably arrived shortly after I left the battalion.  But I know the two men who rated Joe Miller and I can attest to the difficulty of achieving the ranking Miller received in that battalion at that time.

In the Army then, the rater's (CPT Orth) portion of the OER was sort of considered a "throw away."  Army-wide promotion boards did not devote a lot of time to reading a rater's narrative.  They did check to make sure there was nothing remotely derogatory in that block, but in general, it was not going to determine whether or not you got promoted.  But promotion boards did focus in on the senior rater (LTC Fontenot) portion of the OER.

Senior raters in the Army are limited in how many #1 rankings they may award in any given rating cycle.  The percentage may have changed a bit since I left the Army but generally speaking, if a senior rater gave out too many #1 rankings, he got to have a one-way chat with a 2  or 3-star General about that senior rater's inability to make  meaningful distinctions regarding leadership ability.  Needless to say, not a lot of Lieutenant Colonels wanted to have those conversations.  They took the management of their senior rater  "profile" very seriously and I know from personal experience that LTC  Fontenot was exceptionally meticulous in that area because, like Joe Miller, I got the coveted "one block" also.

You can assume that LTC Fontenot had 3 #1 block ratings to give out.  That's a solid assumption.  There were I think 26 Lieutenants in that battalion at the time.  (There may have been one or two more.)  So Joe Miller was rated #1 among 26 or so, thus roughly putting him in the top 10% of the Lieutenants in the battalion.  But when that OER next goes to the Department of the Army level for processing, the personnel types there merge ALL of LTC Fontenot's rankings onto the OER.  So the  rated officer - in this case Joe Miller - will then be able to see w here he stood among all officers of that grade EVER rated by the  senior rater.

Now the OER you posted online doesn't show the full Senior Rater profile.  But I can say this...

LTC Fontenot's senior rater "profile" was one of the most credible I ever saw and I have no reason to believe it changed substantially from  the time I left the battalion, until one year later when Miller  received his own report.  Getting a "one block" from LTC Greg Fontenot was the hardest thing I ever did in a 21-year Army career.  There was no faking it; you brought your A-game every single day and any slip up was immediately noticed, catalogued and (uncomfortably) spit back at you when it was time for you to be rated.
 
I am not exaggerating when I say it was the hardest thing I ever did.   LTC Fontenot was absolutely uncompromising when it came to leadership in his unit.  As an example, the day he got the word the unit was going to deploy for the Gulf War, he came back and fired his Battalion Executive Officer (a Major).  Why?  Is it sad, but instructional - while that Major was a great peacetime Army administrator and manager, Fontenot lacked complete faith in him as a combat leader.  Much to Fontenot’s credit, he told that man to his face.  He also opted to leave a couple other junior officers behind when the battalion deployed for the very same reason.  He also had the same man-to-man conversation with those officers.

So my point is that when Greg Fontenot tells you that you are a leader - you are.

I recognize Miller's OER for what it actually is, recognition of a truly capable leader who is competent under intense pressure, and so recognized by an excellent officer himself.  Too bad Lisa Murkowski doesn't care about that.

Sincerely,

(Name redacted by request)

Exclusive: Exposing The Real Joe Miller

While Democrat Scott McAdams and Joe Miller attempt to remain focused on issues that should matter to Alaskans, a power hungry Lisa Murkowski has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for investigators, desperate to dig up any dirt they can on Miller. I hope to write more on that. I've seen it. It's irrelevant nonsense based upon a part-time job Miller performed successfully for 7 years.

There is no future for Alaska in the filthy politics of Lisa Murkowski. She'd be happy to forever keep Alaska dependent on Washington and any largess she might be able to drag back to the state only to keep herself at the top of the heap. It's a misguided strategy, especially for a state as rich in resources as Alaska.

Tomorrow I hope to write a more detailed post on the irrelevant garbage Murkowski's investigators are trying to push. If you want to know Joe Miller, read the pdf file below, written by his superiors in the military.

Those are people with no political agenda who knew the real Joe Miller when it mattered most. Read the full file here: Download Officer Evaluation Report (21 Jun 91), or click to expand this image for one portion of it, if you don't have Adobe pdf capability. And there's more below that.

 

Now read this, where it talks about Joe Miller's suitability for advancement "now," as well as his "unlimited potential" for great responsibility and authority.

 
And read this one, too - in which Joe Miller is deemed an outstanding leader. It also speaks to his meticulousness, coolness under fire, as well as his competence and demonstrated excellence. Then remember, this is the real Joe Miller without Murkowski's pathetic political garbage. This is the Joe Miller awarded a Bronze Star in combat, a man Lisa Murkowski, who was anointed by her Daddy, had the audacity to proclaim not fit to lead. I don't even want to begin to think of what a genuinely despicable creature she must be to try and get away with that crap, only to hold onto something she didn't earn in the first place.

Forget leadership, Lisa Murkowski wasn't even fit to sit at the same table as Scott McAdams and Joe Miller in their recent debate. Support Joe Miller and send Lisa Murkowski back to whatever rock her ugly write-in campaign crawled out from under.

 

Video: Harry Reid On His Good Friend General Petraeus, Calls Him A Liar

Nevada's Harry Reid bragged about his good friendship with General Petraeus during tonight's debate with Sharron Angle. Some friend you are, Harry.

Left's Pathetic Attack On Republican Iott For German Re-enactment Participation

Led by the increasingly pathetic Atlantic, the Left is attacking Republican House Candidate Rich Iott for having participated in military re-enactemnt activities as a German soldier. Iott is running in OH - 9. His website. More on Iott and progressive incumbent Marcy Kaptur, one of the Stupak 11, here.

They are unfairly trying to paint Iott as a Nazi. From History of War On Line, here is a list of reenactment groups focused on the German army. It's about military history, not Nazism, not that the Left has any real fondness for the former, either. But this is what they do, it's who they are - they'll smear anyone for anything if they think it might help them hold onto power.

Army Group South - Reenactment in Australia
Großdeutschland, 7 Kompanie - East Coast
Beltring War & Peace website
Ostbattalion, 352.Infanteriedivision - Singapore
1./Feldgendarmerie Abt. 541 - "Chain-dog" New England
Grenadier Regiment 980 - PA, NJ, and New England
OSTFRONT - 22. INFANTERIE REG
25.Panzergrenadier Division - Indiana and Illinois
45.Infanterie-Division, 135.Regiment - NJ, DE and PA
15.Infanterie Regiment, 29.Panzer Grenadier Division - Tennessee
Axis WWII Discussion Group
Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung 11 / 11.Panzer-Division - East Coast
2.Kompanie, Panzergrenadier Reg 110, 11.Panzer Division  - US
Der Erste Zug - 352nd, 272nd, 71st, 11th Infanterie Divisions - East Coast
Kriegspfarrer, portrayal of the German Chaplain - US

1st SS Panzer Division, "Die Leibstandarte" - (US)
1.LSSAH, Aufklärungs Abteilung 1, 1st SS Panzer Division - Texas.
Schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 101 - Europe
1.SS-Division "LSSAH", Aufklärungs Abteilung 1 - Arizona
1.SS-Division, 11.Komp., 2.SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment - East Coast
1.SS-Division "LSSAH", 2./SS-Pionier Battalion 1 - East Coast
2.SS-Division "Das Reich", 2.SS-Panzer Aufklärungs - Nth East & Canada
2.SS-Division "Das Reich", SS-Panzer Pionier Bat. 2 - Idaho
Second Battle Group - English
4th.SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment "Der Führer" - Michigan, Indiana, & Illinois
4th SS Panzer Grenadier Division - New Jersey, East Coast
2nd.SS Division, "Das Reich" - Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois
2nd.SS Panzerdivision, "Das Reich" - Minnesota
2.SS Division "Das Reich" - New England
2nd SS division "Das Reich
2.SS Division “Das Reich” - East Coast
2nd SS Panzer Division
2./SS-Panzer Pionier Bat. 5, 5.SS Division, "Wiking" - US
6.SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord" - IN
9.Kompanie, 3.SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment, "Deutchland" - New England
9.SS-Division "Hohenstaufen" -  East Coast
12.Kompanie, 3.SS-Panzergrenadier Rgt. “Deutschland” - East Coast
9.SS Division, "Hohenstaufen" - East-coast US.
9./20.SS-PanzGren Reg, 9.SS Division, "Hohenstaufen"  Michigan & Indiana
10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg 3rd Kompanie Reconnaissance
7.Kp, II./23.SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "Norge" - Ohio
12.SS Division, "Hitlerjungend" 25th PG, Kompnie 4 - Minnesota
12th. SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 25, Kompanie 1 - East Coast
12.SS-Division "Hitlerjugend" (CHG): California
14th SS division Galicia (Nr.1 Ukrainian) 30th SS regiment - California
16.SS-Division, "Reichsführer-SS" - Australia
1.Kompanie, I./Panzergrenadier Rgt. 25, 12.SS "Hitlerjugend" - UK
17.SS Division, "Götz von Berlichingen" - Arizona.
17.SS Division, "Götz von Berlichingen" - Pennsylvania
SS-Panzer Aufklärungs Abt. 17, "Götz von Berlichingen" - Pennsylvania
102. schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung, Aufklarungs-Zug - PA & OH.
British Free Corps - Based in OH specializing in British volunteers in the SS
5th SS Wiking German Reenactment
SS Fallschrimjäger Batl. 500/600 (UK)
SS-Fallschirmjäger Bat. 500 & 600 - Florida
99th SS Fallshirmjäger Einsatzgruppen - National
Totenkopf - UK

German Navy (Kriegsmarine)
Kriegsmarine Küstenabteilung - TX & OK
Kriegsmarine Küstenabteilung Atlantik, Coastal Artillery - France

Axis Re-enactment Society - Das Reich

2nd Panzer Division - Chicagoland & Midwest
2nd Panzerdivision, Panzergrenadier Regiment 2 - SE Canada
2nd Panzerdivision, 38.Panzer Pionier Bat - Combat enginee, Ohio
3.Panzer Grenadier Division - 8.Regiment(mot) - Northeast US
4th.Gebirgsjäger Division - Midwest
5th.Gebirgsjäger Division, GJR.100 - Ohio
11th Panzer-Division, Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung 11 - East Coast
11th Panzer Division, 1./Panzerjäger Abt. 61 - CO & NM
21st Panzer Division - California
21st Panzerdivision, Pz.Gren.Regiment.192 - Germany
33rd Infantry Division, Infanterie Regiment 104 - Midwest
29th Panzergrenadier Division, Infanterie Regiment 15 -  Tennessee.
44th Infantry Division, Inf Reg 134, "Hoch- und Deutschmeister" - Southeast
44th Infantry Division, Regiment 131 - North Carolina
45th Infanterie-Division, Infanterie Regiment 135 - NJ, NY and PA
79th Infanterie-Division, 3.Kompanie, Infanterie-Regiment 226 - East Coast
98th Infanterie-Division - Florida
116th Panzerdivision "Windhund", 3./PzJgAbt. 228 - Germany
116th Panzer Division, Panzer Grenadier Regiment "Windhund" - Midwest
116th Panzer Division, Windhund - (UK) ****
116 Panzer Division, 60 PzGrReg, 3 Komp - Holland
216th Infantry Division, Grenadier Regiment 980  - PA, NJ, & New England
250th Infanterie-Division, Spanish Blue Division - Ohio
272 Infanterie Division - US Pacific Northwest, Oregon
272.Volksgrenadier Division (e-mail link) - PA
352nd Infanterie-Division - OH
352nd Infantry Division, OstBattalion43 - Singapore
1/Kp Panzer Grenadier Division Página principal - Spain
7 Kompanie Grossdeutschland - USA
Gefechtstroß - Großdeutschland Combat Trains - USA
AG Panzer Grenadier Regiment 192 - Germany

Panzergrenadier Regiment 110, USA
1./Feldgendarmerie Abt. 541 - New England

15th Reg/29th Panzergrenadier Tennessee
43rd Sturm Pionier Florida

134th Grenadier Regiment Hoch-und Deutschmeister - Atlanta

1/Feldgendarmerie Abt.541
Grenadier Regiment 980
Panzergrenadier Regiment 110, 11 Panzer Div

Axis 42, Mediterranean, Paratroopers (UK)
Fallschirmjaeger Regiment of Washington
FALLSCHIRMJAGER REGIMENT 2 (UK)
Pionier-Batallion 1, 1.Fallschirmjäger Division -  Pennsylvania
Luftlande Sturmregiment - New Jersey, Pennsylvania, & New York
Fallschirmpionierbattalion 5 - Germany
5./Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6 - Midwest & East Coast
15th Kompanie - Fallschirmjäger Regiment 5 - California
Fallschirm-Pionier-Battalion 5 - Germany
Traditionskompanie Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6 - German
2.Kompanie,Fusilier Batalion.16,16.Luftwaffe Field Division (E-mail link) NC
II/Panzergrenadier Regiment 1, Panzer Division "Hermann Göring" - US
Luftwaffe Aircrew Reenactors Association - Living history group US
18.Feld Division (Luftwaffe) "Göring's Grenadiers" US
Fallschirmjäger Regiment 19, 7 Fallschirmjäger Division - Midwest
Greendevils - Fallschirmjäger Kampfgruppe Martz - East Coast
8th and 18th Luftwaffe Field Division - Eastern States
3.K, Fallschirm-Pionier-Bat 1, 1.Fallschirmjäger Division - Pennsylvania
Luftlande Sturmregiment - New Jersey, Pennsylvania, & New York
2.Fallschirmjäger Division - Mid-West
16.Luftwaffe Felddivision, 1.Kompanie, Fusilier Battalion 16 - Southeast
17.Luftwaffe Felddivision - California
Luftwaffe Aircrew Reenactors Association - US
Ramcke Fallschirmjager Brigade - UK
IG Fallschirmpioniere - Germany
4th Gebirgsjäger Division, TSG
The Frontline Association - Mainly portraying Fallschirmjager Regiment 9

Infantry Reg 27, 12th Infantry Div (UK) Currently offline
2/Pz.Aufkl.Abt Grossdeutschland (UK)
916 Grenadier Regiment (UK)

2nd Battlr Group SS (UK)
Battle Group South (Ireland)
Sanitätsabteilung 82 - Medical Unit
Feldgendarmerie 39 - 45 Military Police (UK)

The Herman Goring Living History Ass (UK)
Luftwaffe Society (UK)
27th Regiment, 12th Infantry Division, Das Heer (UK)
Tiger 1, Kampfgruppe StahlKrieger - Panzer crews & panzergrenadiers (UK)
Ramcke Fallschirmjager Brigade - Afrika Corps (UK)
Green Devils of Carentan FJR6 - German paratroopers (UK)
2nd Panzer Division, Feldgendarmerie Trupp 82 - Military police (UK)
Panzer Füsilier Regiment Großdeutschland - (UK)
2/Pz.Aufkl.Abt.Grossdeutschland - (UK)
2/KP Panzer Grenadier Rgt Großdeutschland - (UK)
10 SS Division "Frundsberg", 21 Reg, 3 Komp. - UK
Sturmgeschütz Brigade XII Motorised artillary - (UK)
The 39-45 Living History Society - Mainly german, includes one british (UK)
Kompanie1: WWII Re-enactment Society - Includes the following:
*** 12th SS Panzer Division ***
*** Fallschrimjäger Regiment 3 ***
*** Panzer Lehr Division ***
*** US 82nd Airborne ***
*** SS Field Police ***
*** Royal Norfolks ***

Hey, Harry Reid, Your War Is Lost

Don't ask about Sharron Angle, just tell Nevada voters about Harry Reid. He's incompetent, ineffectual, divisive and a weak majority leader, even with an overwhelming majority in the Senate. Between this, his corruption and his Nevada-based land scams, there's no reason for Nevadans to re-elect Harry Reid.

Harry Reid’s botched battles

The disappointment was widespread.

Gay rights groups were upset that the process Reid employed may have undermined progress in repealing the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military.

Hispanic groups were disappointed that they couldn’t even get a vote on a narrow piece of comprehensive immigration reform — an amendment known as the DREAM Act that would have enabled citizenship for illegal immigrant students in exchange for government or military service.

And Democrats on both sides of the Capitol are unhappy that a debate on gay rights and immigration distracted yet again from issue No. 1: jobs.

Ex-Army Analyst Arrested Enroute To China With Restricted Document

I guess there are still some things you can't do via computer and the Internet today.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A former U.S. Army analyst from Oklahoma was arrested in Minneapolis while trying to board a one-way flight to China with electronic files containing a restricted Army field manual, authorities said Friday.

Federal prosecutors said Liangtian Yang, 26, also known as Alfred Yang, of Lawton, Okla., allegedly was carrying multiple data storage devices when he was arrested Thursday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Yang was charged Thursday in Oklahoma City with one count of theft of government property, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Defense attorney Frederick Goetz of Minneapolis said the charge is a misdemeanor, but declined further comment Friday.

Haditha Marine Seeks Dismissal, Attorney Was Retired Against His Will

It's an interesting motion. I'm wondering why they forced his counsel, Vokey, to retire despite he desire to stay? So, Vokey then joins a civilian firm, but can't represent him due to a conflict of interest there. That could be some very interesting lawyering going on there.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Lawyers for a Marine sergeant whose squad killed 24 Iraqis said Thursday they are preparing a motion that will seek to have the case dismissed because the Marine Corps retired his military attorney.

Attorney Haytham Faraj, a civilian lawyer representing Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, told a military judge that the Camp Pendleton Marine's defense has been compromised because the retirement violated attorney-client relationship rights.

Another civilian defense attorney, Neal Puckett, told The Associated Press after Thursday's hearing that their aim is to have the case thrown out.

Puckett said the Marine Corps retired Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey in 2008 despite the objections of Vokey, who wanted to stay on the case as his detailed military counsel until after the trial.

Defense lawyers are calling their filing the "Hutchins Motion" after Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, whose murder conviction was thrown out this spring by a military appeals court that ruled he was given an unfair trial because his military defense attorney was relinquished before his 2007 court martial.

After retiring from the military, Vokey continued to represent Wuterich as a civilian lawyer. But Puckett said that is no longer possible because Vokey now works for a firm that has represented another Camp Pendleton Marine who is being called by the prosecution to testify in Wuterich's trial.

That presents a conflict of interest and would make it difficult for Vokey to cross-examine the witness during the two-week trial, Puckett said.

Vokey plans to withdraw from the case, and the defense will ask the judge to dismiss all the charges against Wuterich, arguing that his defense has been compromised, Puckett said, adding that Vokey was the only defense lawyer to go to Iraq and witness the scene of the killings. The case is similar to what happened to Hutchins, he said.

CIC Obama Weighs In On Attacks Across Iraq

If you haven't been following it, there was a coordinated attack across Iraq today.

Today's coordinated assault in Iraq, which included two dozen attacks spanning the country which killed 55 Iraqis, comes one day after U.S. troop numbers fell below 50,000 for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Evidently, the press with Obama wanted a comment ... and they got it. Politico's Carol Lee on Twitter.

POTUS out for lunch in Vineyard, tells reporters who ask about Iraq: 'We're buying shrimp guys - c'mon'

The USS Ranger Foundation Moneybomb

It appears they are raising funds to cover costs - see here.

The announcement by Former Governor Victor Atiyeh that Metro has agreed to allow the USS Ranger Foundation to move forward with plans to moor retired supercarrier USS Ranger at Chinook Landing Marine Park, was met with applause by those attending Ranger’s 53rd Birthday Bash at the proposed site on Tuesday morning.