“I, {state name}, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

This is the enlistment oath taken by every enlisted personnel as they enter into their military service, before they leave for boot camp, but it is also used when re-enlisting, while currently serving.

“I am a United States Sailor.
I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I will obey the orders of those appointed over me.
I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world.
I proudly serve my country’s Navy combat team with Honor, Courage and Commitment.
I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all.”

This is the creed that every sailor memorizes and promises to uphold when they graduate Navy boot camp.

“In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation’s call. A common man with uncommon desire to succeed.

Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest special operations forces to serve his country, the American people, and protect their way of life.

I am that man.

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes that have gone before, it embodies the trust of those I have sworn to protect. By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day.

My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own.

I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men.

Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.

We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates and accomplish the mission. I lead by example in all situations.

I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.

We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates and the success of our mission depend on me – my technical skill, tactical proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete.

We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required yet guided by the very principles that I serve to defend.

Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail.”

This last creed, The Warrior’s Creed is specific to the most elite combat force in the US military, the Navy SEALs.  It hasn’t been around for very long, but it took a while to come up with something that embodied everything that SEALs are expected to live up to.

I was fortunate enough to read American Sniper when Chris Kyle was still alive.   It is a tale of combat. Of loss. Of honor.  But most of all, it’s a memoir of a man who was trying to save lives.

“But he’s a sniper! HE KILLED people!” I can hear the critics screaming.  Service members do not take lightly their obligations to do the things most people could not.  And beyond morality, they are also taught that every single time they pull the trigger on a weapon, that there is a lawyer attached to that bullet, so their actions had better be justified.

The current Rules Of Engagement (ROE) as per the US Navy War College is 99 pages in length. There are four different types of self defense outlined.  “Self-defense” here is defined as ” …the use of force to defend against attack or imminent attack.”   Also the book details that “Hostile Act” (attack) and “Hostile Intent” (threat of imminent attack) are justifiable reasons to use force for self-defense.  It also states that where operational circumstances permit that military forces need to warn the threat  and “give {them} an opportunity to withdraw or cease it’s threatening actions.”  (Read: expose your hidden position to an active shooter, communicate in another language to your potential killer that you have greater fire power that you’re willing to use, unless they stop, and only THEN can you actively engage and defend yourself, meanwhile several of your best friends may have been killed by this entity you’re trying to convince to stop shooting so THEY can retreat.)  Only THEN is “the use of force authorized so long as the hostile act or hostile intent continues.”

So if that wasn’t clear enough, let me paint the picture for you: You’re on a rooftop in the sandbox, with a sniper rifle, and it’s your job to protect your friends, who you share a tent with, and keep them alive while they are trying to engage terrorist.  You see your friends’ convoy just below you, but you look ahead through your scope to see a local, with a suspicious looking device and acting suspiciously, as he glances over his shoulder multiple times looking directly at your friend’s convoy.  You think he may be placing an improvised explosive device (IED) on the side of the road to kill your friends.  But you’re not sure what he has, or what he’s doing, really.  You have to use your training and experiences and the potential target’s behavior (is he acting like everyone else? If not, HOW is he acting? Who is he been hanging around? What has that group of people been doing? Are they actually locals? Or are they terrorists trying to kill your friends?)  AND you have to determine all this in a matter of SECONDS.

This doesn’t even begin to touch on the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) but since we’re not really going down that road, I’ll skip it for now.

The current ROE for our armed forces have become a web of bureaucratic law that ties the hands of our armed forces so as not to have ANY casualties of war that it winds up getting more of our troops, our sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters killed.

“But if the ROE makes it so that we don’t kill ONE innocent life, then it’s ALL worth it!” I can hear you saying.

If this is your thought, let me ask you, would you still feel that way if that was YOUR son, daughter, husband, or wife that was killed because they were following these overly restrictive, yet collateral damage reducing ROE?

Which brings me to my actual point.

Michael Moore tweeted, “My uncle killed by sniper in WW2. We were taught snipers were cowards. Will shoot u in the back. Snipers aren’t heroes. And invaders r worse”

Seth Rogen tweeted, “American Sniper kind of reminds me of the movie that’s showing in the third act of Inglorious Basterds.”

Michael Moore followed his tweet up by saying, “But if you’re on the roof of your home defending it from invaders who’ve come 7K miles, you are not a sniper, u are brave, u are a neighbor,” essentially saying that the terrorist snipers who are actively trying to kill American troops who are trying to fulfill a mission of giving a country back to it’s people from a tyrannical government are “brave,” and “neighbors.”

Seth Rogen followed his up with, “I just said something “kinda reminded” me of something else. I actually liked American Sniper. It just reminded me of the Tarantino scene.” and “I wasn’t comparing the two. Big difference between comparing and reminding. Apples remind me of oranges. Can’t compare them, though.” Finally “But if you were having a slow news day, you’re welcome for me giving you the opportunity to blow something completely out of proportion.”

I hardly expect either Moore or Rogen to understand the kind of commitment, dedication, and literal blood, sweat, and tears it takes to be in the military, let alone what it takes to be a SEAL, or a combat sniper.

I will forgive Rogen for accidentally putting his foot in his mouth.  We have all done it at some point.  However I try to keep my podiatric sandwiches exclusively in person, and not posting it to where I can be criticized by the world.

Moore, however, has a lot more to make up for than two offensive, insensitive, unpatriotic, disrespectful tweets.  (But we won’t go into Bowling for Columbine, Farenheit 9/11, etc. here.) This is directed specifically to Michael Moore, (and anybody that agrees with him):

You specifically said your uncle was killed by a sniper in WWII.  Then you said you were taught that snipers were cowards.

Lets examine these two statements.  Your uncle, if he was killed in WWII, we can infer that he was a combat soldier/Marine/sailor.  If your uncle was a military guy, then he was over there, literally fighting, bleeding, and dying to protect our way of life from the greatest threat the world had ever known up to that point.  So to your uncle, I say “THANK YOU!” And to you I say this; How dare you categorize a single specific aspect of the military, which you obviously know nothing about, when your only knowledge of the subject came from the opposing end, and from a source that may have been forced upon by threats of death to be there.  (Unlike our military, not all Nazis were volunteers.) In case you forgot, we WON that war, and continue to live in freedom because of the brave selfless acts of those LIKE Chris Kyle AND your uncle!  Chris Kyle made himself abundantly clear on his Facebook page when he started getting criticism after the release of his book by posting, “If you don’t like what I have to say or post, you forget one thing, I don’t give a shit what you think. LOL.”  But your uncle, on the other hand, gave his life in combat, (and is probably rolling over in his grave) so obese, small minded, disgraceful people like you could continue to express your opinions because of the First Amendment.

To be clear, Chris Kyle, and Moore’s uncle are the heroes.  Moore, is the coward.

So as a veteran, not that you really understand or even care or acknowledge what that means, and on behalf of all veterans, you’re welcome. And try to show some more respect in the future.

-Joseph Forefathers

So I had a dream last night, which I actually remember, and that’s kind of a big deal, because I normally don’t remember my dreams.  So here it goes:

Dream:

I’m a kid again and I’m at a group archery lesson.  Only it’s not just archery, it’s baseball…combined with archery. (This sounds perfectly safe…) {I think the rules were the same as baseball, except that all the players had a bow, instead of a glove, and the arrow replaced the ball, but the “batter” had to catch the flying arrow, and shoot it into the outfield.  No tag outs by a direct shot.}

So I’m up to “bat” and the kid playing catcher is someone I remember from my youth, but represented completely out of character here.  He was taunting me, and being a general bully, but unlike my actual child self, I was standing up to him and generally not letting him get to me.  But because he wasn’t getting to me, he escalated.  I missed the first arrow, and instead of shooting it back to the “pitcher” he shot it directly at my face!  I was fortunately fast enough to see this, and duck out of the way, but none of the adults in charge saw it.  When I blew up and started screaming at him, all the other teammates jumped in on HIS side, saying “it was just a stupid joke,” and “don’t be so sensitive about it,” and “grow up!”

I screamed at the top of my lungs, “YOU SHOT AN ARROW! AT MY FACE!!!” Again it was met with the same kind of excuses.

At this point I finally went to the neglectful adults to inform them of the current situation.  They all followed me, back to the field where we came to find every other player lined up like perfect angels, each one in turn, starting with the primary offender, offering the most straight-faced, insincere, obligatory apology, paired with a curtsey.

The adults of course bought it, while I was not fooled.

End Dream.

When I woke up this morning, I was admittedly confused.  Then I got on Facebook and started reading comments about the SOTU last night.  And it dawned on me.  My dream was a direct relation to how I feel about the current State Of The Union.  Those in charge of making the rules have altered the rules into an atrocity of the original game.   And then not even appropriately (and even excluding themselves) enforcing the mandated tax penalty “new rules”, furthermore practically condoning those who are literally physically assaulting those of us who are trying to still play BY the new, albeit INSANE rules.

But this isn’t baseball.  This is the fundamental process of how this country works!  This country was founded as a Republic, and upon a free market economy – NOT SOCIALISM!

Our Forefathers knew and even warned of the dangers of both  losing  the republic, and the dangers of having political parties, especially that of a two party system.  And yet, that is exactly what we have devolved into.

Which brings to mind the current social climate of the union.  We have truly devolved as a society.  Someone once said (and I’m paraphrasing here) “America has never been more united than on September 12, 2001.”  We were bound together as a nation in tragedy, but it brought out the best in us as neighbors, friends, strangers, and even families.   But here we are 14 1/2 years later and people are at each others’ throats over the most trivial things.  Because they get blown out of proportion to the degree that we have truly divided as a nation.

I hear a lot of people say that you shouldn’t “judge” others.   To that I say, “Bullcrap.”  Even Martin Luther King Jr. knew that we had to make judgements, but to do so for the right reasons!

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

“NOT be judged by the color of their skin, BUT BY the content of their character.” 

It’s not only “good” to make judgements…it’s absolutely VITAL.   We make judgements all the time!  Those two suspicious characters in the alleyway looking over their shoulders trying to look casual, are you going to go down that alleyway because it’s the shortcut home?  Or are you going to use your judgement and take the long way, because it’s out in the open and you know three people that live on that route?

People, use your GOD GIVEN brains, that HE WANTS YOU TO USE, and start thinking more about what you can do to be a better person, a better neighbor, and better son, daughter, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparent, grandchild, and just a better citizen of this country.  Stop worrying about the latest fads, trends, the newest app/game/device, etc, and get out in the world and BE A PART of IT!  And for the love of all that is good and holy, STOP PUTTING YOURSELF FIRST!  What can you do to help others? Learn to compromise, to speak kindly, and to be a decent human being.

I know I am full of my own flaws, we all are.  I’d be a straight up liar if I said I was even a fraction of 1% on my way to being perfect.  I’m not…but I am trying to be the best human being I know how to be. And I’m educating myself where and when I can, on every subject that I can by being open to other points of view, other than my own.   And I adapt.   If I have always done something a specific way, but someone shows me a new, more efficient, faster way to do something, I adapt and my life becomes easier because of it.  I think we could all benefit from adapting more, and learning to judge for the RIGHT reasons.  If everybody else was trying as hard as they could, then pushed a little bit further, this world could be a dream to live in.

But I guess that’s why it’s only a dream.

-Joseph Forefathers