Dr. King Legacy of Equality, Diversity Strengthens Command

Commentary by Warren Ward
Air Force Global Strike Command Programming Division

1/21/2013 - BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 83rd birthday was Jan. 15. . . His courageous crusade for equality was first nationally recognized on Jan. 20, 1986, when President Reagan established the third Monday in January as an official federal government holiday.

Our country, our Air Force and Air Force Global Strike Command can learn much from Dr. King's drive for America to be a nation of equals. . . During his "I Have a Dream" speech given at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 28, 1963, King told a gathering of more than 200,000 Americans, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the meaning of its creed, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.'"

Dr. King completed his moving presentation with an emphasis on the freedom that equality brings, "...from every mountainside, let freedom ring. . . And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men, white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty we are free at last!"

The Department of Defense is a leader in equal opportunity for all patriots seeking to serve this great nation. . . The vigilant warriors in AFGSC understand they are all equal and unified in purpose to provide a safe, secure and effective deterrent force for the United States. . .

Dr. King would be proud to see our Global Strike team - comprised of Airmen, civilians and contractors from every race, creed, background and religion - standing side-by-side ensuring the most powerful weapons in the U.S. arsenal remain the credible bedrock of our national defense. . . Our team must overlook our differences to ensure perfection as we maintain and operate our weapon systems. . . Maintaining our commitment to our Global Strike team, our families and our nation is a fitting tribute to Dr. King as we celebrate his legacy.

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This one is 100 percent authentic (right down to the photo graphic)!  Yes, it was really written by Warren Ward of the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command Programming Division.  Can you believe this guy?!?!?!  I guess this guy never listened to or read Dr. King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech.  Besides pulling a few quotes from the only speech quoted by the corporate press around Dr. King's birthday, he probably hasn't read anything else written by Dr. King.  Ward is either extremely ignorant or was attempting to twist Dr. King's dream to support the aspirations of a fading empire.

The author definitely wasn't listening when Dr. King said, "When scientific power outruns spiritual power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men."

Speaking of dreams, I could not have dreamed this one up.  And if you still don't believe me, read it yourself at the Air Force Global Strike Command website: http://www.afgsc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123333051 

2013 Weapon Systems Handbook Available Now

The United States Army is excited to announce the release of the 2013 edition of its annual Weapon Systems Handbook, which is overflowing with updated information on dozens of weapon systems available for purchase by foreign countries.  

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), in partnership with the nation's top weapons manufacturers, is ready to supply nations anywhere (and everywhere) in the world with the newest and most advanced weapons systems available.

"The systems listed in this book are not isolated, individual products. Rather, they are part of an integrated Army system of weapons designed to equip the Army of the future to successfully face any challenges," according to the Handbook introduction.  That means a developing nation can completely equip its armed forces in complete confidence that its armed forces can meet any challenge presented by an adversary or simply due to the demands of U.S. foreign policy.

A prime example of the products now available for immediate purchase is the RQ-11B Raven Small Unmanned Aircraft System, which is marketed to Denmark, Estonia, Lebanon, and Uganda.

An adequate supply of ammunition is always a concern in purchasing a new weapons system. U.S. weapons contractors, thanks to the partnership with DOD and the generous support of U.S. taxpayers, have plenty of ammunition on hand.  The U.S. sells an endless supply of artillery ammunition both to Israel and to Lebanon.

In an effort to assist nations in acquiring these new and expensive weapons systems the U.S. Government is prepared to provide generous foreign aid packages (to qualifying countries) to allow even the smallest country's army to hit the ground running.

DOD is also prepared to send U.S. Army "advisers" to any country purchasing these highly advanced weapons systems to train armed forces personnel and help fully integrate these weapons systems into the nation's defense. 

To complement the Army's highly trained advisers are a host of private contractors, which can provide additional assistance, employing former military and intelligence personnel who can help take a country's armed forces to the next level.

Countries can rest assured that all weapons systems in the new 2013 catalog are tested under the most rigorous "real-world" conditions, and have helped the U.S. to have the most effective army in the world.  As the catalog's introduction states:

"After 10 years of combat, today's Army is significantly more capable than the Army of 2001. As we draw down from Iraq and Afghanistan, we must remain flexible, adaptable, and agile enough to respond and meet the needs of the combatant commanders."

"Our objective is to equip and maintain an Army with the latest most advanced weaponry to win and return home quickly."

The 2013 edition Weapon Systems Handbook provides just that - "the latest and most advanced weaponry" anywhere. 

The 2013 edition Weapons Systems Handbook is available in both print edition as well as a version for eReaders.

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Loose Nukes Editor's Note:  For anyone who might have even the most remote thought that this is a real news release, forget it!!!  That being said, the 2013 Weapon Systems Handbook is for real.  The U.S. does, indeed, arm the world thanks to a deeply entrenched Military-Industrial Complex that has grown into a monstrous creature that has the entire world in its tentacled grasp.  We should have listened to Ike (President Dwight D. Eisenhower).  Click here to watch Eisenhower's farewell address in which he warned of (and coined the term) the Military-Industrial Complex.

As Fortune Magazine described, "...in backdoor dealings with other nations, American officials act as de facto pitchmen for U.S.-made weapons." 

"Military industries have almost tripled their share of the U.S. economy in just a decade." (David Sirota, America's export economy: arming and fattening the world)

"In 2011 overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market"  (Johnny Barber, We Are at War, in Common Dreams)
      
Thanks to Stephen Aftergood's Secrecy Blog at the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy for the blog post that brought this to our attention, and from which much of the material in this post was plagiarized.  Source URL: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/10/army_weapons.html