by Travis Partington | Mar 25, 2017 | Podcast
Question of the Week
I was asked about AMVets marching in the Saint Patty’s Day Parade. I do and I don’t care. I care that AMVets had to make such a big deal about this. I don’t care because as long as you can shoot, carry ammo boxes and get me to the doc if I am wounded you and be with whoever you want. Those three things should trump everything else.
Marine Corps League Rifle Detail
I talked about my experience last weekend being part of my Marine Corps League Detachment’s Rifle Detail. I am a member of the Ist. Lt Brian McPhillips MCL Detachment 1115 – DET 1115 Website We were honoring one our member’s friend who was in the Navy. I asked my Marine Sister and Brothers what this meant to the family and they told me that people appreciate seeing their loved one honored in this way.
I would certainly encourage any Marine to look at joining their local Marine Corp League Detachment. This was a somber but powerful experience.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
by Travis Partington | Mar 17, 2017 | Podcast
Question of the Week
I have been asked repeatedly about the absolute FUBAR situation with the sharing of explicit photos of unaware female Marines by male Marines. Tuesday, Commandant Neller had to answer for the actions of his Marines. I am going to do a show on this, I just want to get some more detail. I don’t know why Marines chose to do this. These actions are indefensible, and it was tough watching our Commandant getting grilled for this. I am trying to make sense of the scope of this and why it took so long to come out. More to follow on this story.
The Word
Almost 7 years ago Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 and wounded 30 in the worst shooting on a military base ever. This podcast is not about what he did. I wanted to focus on the decision to execute Nidal Hasan by lethal injection. News and social media outlets that were military based praised this.
I am In disagreement. This guy was investigated by the FBI for emails between him and Anwar al-Awlaki. That this never raised questions about his activities still defies explanation. Nidal Hasan prepared to commit jihad. We could say that was successful on certain levels. Here is my question,
Family members of Pvt. 1st Class Kham Xiong, who died in the Fort Hood shootings, grieve by a photo of him, at a memorial service at Fort Hood, Texas, for the victims of the Fort Hood shootings on Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Jay Janner, POOL)
What if jihad wasn’t the end game? What if the end game was to be a Martyr? What do you think?
The Complaint Department
Grunt is upset at the proposal to make Marine Corps Boot Camp co-ed. I am against this. There is no reason to change what is working. POG doesn’t have this problem since he is not a Marine.
Unit Shout Out
This episode’s shoutout is to the doctors at Walter Reed Medical Center. They conducted a 70mm nerve graft from a cadaver to save a Marine’s arm. If he hadn’t gotten this nerve graft he would have lost use of his arm. It is looking good that he is going to enjoy a high quality of life thanks to the skills of these doctors.
Walter Reed Medical Nerve Graft Story
Upcoming Events
I finally got some upcoming events from the VA in the Greater Boston Area and will be listing those next week. If any of you have any events you want posted drop me a note. Thanks
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
by Travis Partington | Mar 10, 2017 | Podcast
This episode was about Marlene in Illinois who is coordinating taking her father on Honor Flight. The Honor Flight Network mission is, “To transport America’s Veterans to Washington, DC to visit those memorials dedicated to honor the service and sacrifices of themselves and their friends.” Go to Honor Flight — Honor Flight Website
Marlene’s father was a Navy Seabee during Vietnam. Seabees are the Navy’s Construction Battalion. They are an integral part of the U.S. Navy especially when they build in combat zones. Marlene wanted to do this for her father, and started working to make this happen.
Marlene has a good story, and I don’t want to give it away here. Check out the episode and learn more about this great organization.
Seabees – We Build, We Fight
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
by Travis Partington | Mar 3, 2017 | Podcast
Question of the Week
This question came from one of my Shreveport, Louisiana friends. “Why did you join the Marine Corps if you liked airplanes so much? Wouldn’t that have been the smart thing to do?” The answer to that question is simply this: I wanted to go all the way and the Marine Corps seemed like the best way to accomplish that goal. I agree it wasn’t the smartest thing I could do, but the irony is with at General Technical score of 120, I was a “smart” Marine. Fancy that for minute
The Word
I promised you all that I would start writing my story about PTSD this year. It is getting ready to happen. I will be posting weekly updates to the BLOG location on http://www.oscarmikeradio.com.
However, before I do this I wanted to give some background on War Neurosis. This condition is called Shellshock and PTSD. I do not currently suffer from these conditions, but I am writing about them or specifically PTSD. There is much that we don’t know and I want to bring attention to it in my way because I am angry at seeing veterans kill themselves and it doesn’t make sense to me. It is also heartbreaking to watch people suffer through this. I have seen my brothers and sisters overcome PTSD through various means.
So to start looking at this I went to the VA’s website VA.GOV – History of PTSD to look at how this came to be diagnosed as such around the Civil War until now
The Complaint Department
Unit Shout Out
U.S. Army Paratroopers from 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry jump near Deadhorse, Alaska in operation Spartan Pegasus. Deadhorse is about 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Watch this video and tell me if that doesn’t motivate you.
US Army Paratroppers making Cold Weather Jump to Artic Circle
Let’s just say cold… real cold
Upcoming Events
No upcoming events for this week. What I am doing is getting events from people all over for Memorial Day. If you have an event, you can email me at travis@oscarmikeradio.com.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
by Travis Partington | Feb 24, 2017 | Podcast
B-52s at Barksdale Air Force Base
I joined the Marine Corps from Shreveport, LA. However, my first real exposure with the military was the Air Force. My Dad would take us to the annual Barksdale AFB Air Show every year. It was cool. We would see everything from WWI to modern military aircraft. I remember watching the B-52s land after Desert Storm, and I was proud that these old planes got the job done and came home.
Since I was going to be in Shreveport this week, I wanted to do Episode 32 on this Air Force Base. Especially since it is so important to our country being able to project force in the world.
“Barksdale Field was named in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Eugene Hoy Barksdale (1895–1926) on 2 February 1933. Lieutenant Barksdale received his wings in Great Britain in 1918 and flew with the British during World War I. Barksdale died on 11 August 1926, over McCook Field near Dayton, Ohio when testing a Douglas O-2 observation airplane for spin characteristics. He did not recover from a flat spin while parachuting out of the plane, and his parachute was caught in the wing’s brace wires, causing Barksdale to fall to his death. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.”
Credit – Wikipedia Article
Barksdale AFB is home the 2D Bomb Wing, the oldest Bomb Wing in the Air Force. Today it is home to the B-52 H. Barksdale also has A-10 Warthogs of the 917th Fighter Group. It was something to see the A-10s taking off doing attack runs during the Air Show.
It is always good running into an Air Force Veteran who served at Barksdale AFB. In a way this is where it all started with me.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
