Sal Guinta

This still won't be a full entry, but there is a very timely quote that I heard today.

I saw SSgt Sal Guinta interviewed today, and he said that he didn't really feel the Medal of Honor was appropriate for him, or perhaps that what he had done wasn't necessarily all that exceptional.  When asked why, he said, "It's not about me...in all the times I've been in combat in Afghanistan, I've never been alone, I've never been shot at alone, I've never been left alone, since I've been in the Army."  He went on to note that he was part of team, and that the team accomplishments were more relevant.

In the Air Force, it has been the same for me.  This is the single largest thing that I could critique about the movie the Hurt Locker; so often the characters, or the small team, seems isolated, and alone.  They frequently separate, and almost never talk to the units or the people around them.  This is not the American way of war...you are never alone.  If you are, something is very very wrong.

As well, I deeply admire his honesty and humility.  Another quote that I found after searching his name, this one is even more eloquent: ."I did what I did because in the scheme of painting the picture of that ambush, that was just my brush stroke. That’s not above and beyond. I didn’t take the biggest brush stroke, and it wasn’t the most important brush stroke."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Giunta

http://iloaktree.blogspot.com/2010/06/hurt-locker.html

TBI

Got the following email several months back, finally posting it...and it happens to be timely for Veteran's Day.
~~~

-----Original Message-----
From: Travers, Chelsea [mailto:Ctravers@caremeridian.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 06:59
To: davewitt
Subject: RE: Question/Website

Hi David,

Thank you for getting back to me. I have gone ahead and attached the article to this email, it contains a few reference links. If you do decide to use the article do you think you could do me a favor and send me an email letting me know that the article is up? I would really appreciate it.

Thank you again for your help and support!

Take Care,

Chelsea


-----Original Message-----
From: David Witt
Sent: Wed 4/21/2010 9:10 PM
To: Travers, Chelsea
Subject: RE: Question/Website

Chelsea,

Sure, please send me the article.

d

  _____ 

From: Travers, Chelsea [mailto:Ctravers@caremeridian.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 14:38
To: davewitt
Subject: Question/Website

Hi,

My name is Chelsea.  I am contacting you on behalf of CareMeridian
(caremeridian.com). CareMeridian is a well known subacute and skilled
nursing/rehabilitation facility located throughout the Western United States
for patients suffering from traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or
medical complexities such as neuromuscular or congenital anomalies.  Brain
injuries are becoming all too commonly associated with modern warfare.  Many
veterans return home with brain injuries without knowing they are suffering
from them. Members of the US Department of Veterans Affairs have even coined
brain injuries as the "signature wound" of the War on Terror. To raise
awareness I was hoping that I could offer you an original article about TBI
as it relates to warfare, that you could post on your website
(iloaktree.blogspot.com).

Please let me know if this is something you'd be interested in.  If you have
any questions please do not hesitate to contact me directly at this email
address.

Best regards,

Chelsea Travers
ctravers@caremeridian.com
~~~

Traumatic Brain Injuries and the Military

Military men and women are continually involved situations where risk of injury is high. One silent war wound that can often go unnoticed is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) . A TBI damages the brain that can often cause life-altering wounds, which can result in changes in personality, behavior, and even the brain functions of the victim. Some of these conditions are not just life-altering, but can be life threatening and are often partnered with rehabilitation from special care facilities like CareMeridian Las Vegas nursing home.

According to the Veterans Health Initiative, active male members of the military were hospitalized due to TBI related injuries at a rate of 231 per 100,000. The rate for female members of the military was 150 per 100,000. Based on these statistics over 4,000 military personnel are hospitalized on average each year for traumatic brain injuries. Some are as mild as a concussion, while others can be severe and have life altering effects.

The best way to prevent TBI is through awareness. Recognizing and responding to the symptoms of a TBI can often aid in the preventing further damage caused by the injury. Dizziness, headaches, changes in personality or sleep patterns, and memory loss are clear signs of TBI. Unfortunately these symptoms can sometimes be ignored or discarded as minor pains during times of conflict and even once the solider returns home. This sets up a dangerous precedent for a war wound that may never heal, so it is vital that serviceman and their families are aware of TBI, so that they can recognize and help treat it if symptoms are present.

Secure Flight Update and What it Means for You

An email I recently got from American Airlines...

~~~
As you may know, since August 2009, American Airlines has collected and transmitted Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) (http://www.tsa.gov/) as required by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Secure Flight is designed to enhance the security of domestic and international commercial air travel by streamlining the DHS watch list matching process.

The next phase in this program requires that effective November 1, all passengers have Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) in their reservation at least 72 hours prior to departure. You will be unable to travel without providing this information.

How will this affect you?

In compliance with this mandate, you will be required to provide Secure Flight Passenger Data (full name, date of birth, gender and redress number*, if applicable):


To purchase any ticket on or after September 15, 2010, regardless of travel date
To travel November 1, 2010, or later, regardless of purchase date
Take steps now to be sure you are ready to travel.

You will need to provide Secure Flight Passenger Data:


If it was not provided when you made your reservation
For reservations made prior to adding SFPD to your AAdvantage® account profile
For all future reservations
Learn more about Secure Flight and find instructions for handling each of the above scenarios at www.aa.com/secureflight.

Update your AAdvantage® account profile now

To save you time and make your future travel easier, additional fields have been added to your AAdvantage account profile on AA.com so you can store this new information. Then, every time you make a reservation with us**, we will automatically add your Secure Flight Passenger Data.

For full details and to update your AAdvantage account, visit www.aa.com/secureflight.

Thank you for your business. We look forward to seeing you on board soon.

*A TSA-assigned identification number. This number is assigned to customers who believe they have been mistakenly matched to a name on the watch list to help prevent misidentification. For more information, visit www.dhs.gov/trip.


**Currently, the option to automatically populate your Secure Flight Passenger Data from your AAdvantage account is only available for reservations booked on AA.com or via AA Reservations. Reservations booked elsewhere will require that you manually enter your SFPD. 

Surrogates

An incomplete piece, but if I don't post it soon I never will.

tags: movies, technology

7 aug 10

A interesting movie. Better than I thought, this movie took a lot of care
to not be a complete piece of fluff.

Obviously it used a lot of CGI effects, but they also paid a great deal of
attention to how they set up and filmed each shot. They went to Panavision
and asked for some slant lenses, which hadn't been used since the 1960s.
Slant lenses have a different focal length across the width of the lens,
allowing the camera to keep two different points at different distances in
focus, which is how they framed many of their shots.

They explored the concept of action at a distance (occasionally a safe
distance) throughout the movie, and the advantages and disadvantages of it.
They also played with the huge social implications of these machines,
specifically the idea of deception. First in the arena of personal
appearance (to include age and gender masking), through the full spectrum to
include impersonating someone by taking over their surrogate (after
murdering them) to fatal effects.

There were a couple of ideas they didn't really play with, such as one
operator controlling many surrogates, or of computer control of surrogates,
creating in effect an autonomous robot.

(Incidentally, I think the widespread use of "surrogates" by the populace as
depicted is unlikely. There are technical reasons, but I think the biggest
is that the machines would be expensive (lots of metal, lots of moving
parts), beyond the reach of most people. They would be the mark of the rich
and powerful. Their use in combat as depicted seems quite likely.)

photo meta-data

Continuing the inconsistent series on digital history...

Facts about files are often written into the files themselves. This
information is called metadata. A common example of this is digital photos.
Most digital cameras will record stuff about the photo, such as the model
camera used, the date and time the picture was taken, camera settings like
f-stop, etc. Newer devices like the iPhone that have built in GPS receivers
will also add lat-long coordinates, which allows for some very cool indexing
after the fact, like listing all photos by location, or by location and
time. (It also leads to some pesky security problems, such as a photo
posted to flickr giving away your location.)

This metadata is referred to as exif, and you can view and edit it with the
appropriate software. See below for more.

http://regex.info/exif.cgi

http://www.friedemann-schmidt.com/software/exifer/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exif

tags: software, history-digital, privacy, security, links

Splice

Seriously?

This was a crappy movie the first time I didn't watch it, when it was called Species.

The GWOT

Just a thought I had as I was studying my Air Force doctrine / PME on the War on Terror.

We invaded Iraq and Afghanistan in prosecuting the war not because this was (necessarily) a direct attack on AQ, but because we believed they were terrorist safe havens. We needed a way to disrupt those safe havens. We chose regime change, and specifically regime change through direct armed intervention.

The Hurt Locker

I've been trying to decide whether or not to write an entry on The Hurt Locker. I finally decided to, because of the movie Restrepo. I didn't know they were making a movie; I saw the author of the book interviewed on The Daily Show and that alone was moving. I'm planning on watching it on the 4th of July, if not sooner.

Expect another entry on Hurt Locker, like what they got right and what they got wrong.

http://www.restrepothemovie.com/

As you entered the banquet hall this evening, you may have noticed a small table here in a place of honor near our head table. It is set for one. Please let me explain. The military caste is filled with symbolism. This table is our way of symbolizing the fact that members of our profession of arms are missing from our midst. They are commonly referred to as P.O.W./M.I.A. We call them "Brothers". They are unable to be with us this evening, and so we remember them because of their incarceration.

*
This TABLE set for one is small - symbolizing the frailty of one prisoner alone against his oppressors.

*
The TABLECLOTH is white - symbolizing the purity of their intentions to respond to their country's call to arms.

*
The single ROSE displayed in a vase reminds us of the families and loved ones of our comrades-in-arms who keep the faith awaiting their return.

*
The RED RIBBON tied so prominently on the vase is reminiscent of the red ribbon worn on the lapel and breasts of thousands who bear witness to their unyielding determination to demand a proper accounting of our missing.

*
A SLICE OF LEMON is on the bread plate to remind us of their bitter fate.

*
There is SALT upon the bread plate - symbolic of their families' tears as they wait.

*
The GLASS is inverted - they can not toast with us this night.

*
The CHAIR - the chair is empty - they are not here.

REMEMBER - all of you who served with them and called them comrades, who depended upon their might and aid, and relied upon them, for surely, they have not forsaken you.


~~~
http://www.homeofheroes.com/hallofheroes/1st_floor/flag/1bfb_disp9cc.html

http://regimentalrogue.tripod.com/srsub/mess_dinner_organization_c.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toast_%28honor%29

Holly Graf

Once again, I don't have time to give the subject it's full due, but it sounds to me like Holly Graf was a terrible leader and she got what she deserved, if the Time article is reasonably accurate. Note as well how her leadership has discouraged younger people from serving...I've seen the same thing happen in the Air Force.

My favorite quote: "I don't have time to train junior officers..." Wrong. Unless it's interfering with the hour to hour running of the ship, training junior officers is you most important duty.

Link

Saving the New York Times

Been writing / meaning to write this entry for awhile. Still dont't a ton of time, but my brain came up with an abbreviated version while I was traveling recently.

NYT: Here's what to do: Sell your new building in NYC and use the money to buy all of your paying subscribers Amazon Kindles, which they can then the read the paper on daily. 1 month later, offer them all an opt out for the paper version and cut their subscription price in half.

From Paris...

Okay, don't have much time for details, so let's cut to the chase.

From Paris With Love: A great example of how NOT to fight terrorism/wage COIN.

(Also, a pretty bad movie to boot...Jonathan Rhys Meyers needs to learn how to act.)