Which Marine base is nicknamed "The Stumps"?

Do you know what Nov. 10th is? The 244th birthday of the United States Marine Corps! That’s 244 years of Honor, Courage, and Commitment – and we could not be more proud of our Marines or more humbled by their sacrifice.

Marines are serving our country coast to coast – from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to Camp Pendleton in California. At this moment we have Marines at 35 designated bases around the world – but how much do you know about where they are stationed?

Test your Marine Corps knowledge: Take our "Where in the World Are the Marines?" quiz now!

We’re celebrating the Marine Corps’ birthday with a special quiz series to put your Marine knowledge to the test – starting right now with our "Where in the World Are the Marines?" quiz. We hope you’ll join the celebration:

Semper Fidelis,

The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation

The Navy Vessel Built From Steel From The Wreckage Of The World Trade Center

The Navy Vessel Built From Steel From The Wreckage Of The World Trade Center

Joe Daraskevich, The Florida Times-Union

September 11, 2018 at 07:15 AM

Sailors aboard the USS New York pay their respects every year to those who died in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The plan for Tuesday is to perform the ceremony at Naval Station Mayport, the home base for the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock.

But this ship carries more than a New York name. Reminders of 9/11 abound. Its very nose is made from steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. And its sailors are taught to never forget their connection to the catastrophe.

"Every ship in the Navy has a namesake room or a legacy room, but on our ship the whole ship is a legacy to what happened," Command Master Chief Ben Hodges said.

A steel plate recovered from the Trade Center rubble is on display above one of the most-used passageways. A firefighter's helmet reminds sailors of the first responders who sprang into action.

Hodges said the reminders extend to the ship's daily prayer ritual, for which the chaplain chooses the name of someone who died in the attacks to honor. It all makes it impossible to forget Sept. 11, he said.

"We talk to all of our sailors when they initially check in and explain to them the significance of what they are a part of," Hodges said. "You can't help when you walk around the ship to notice all the things meant to remind you of why you serve."

Despite all of the reminders found in many corners of the ship, the piece with the greatest significance goes unseen.

The New York's bow stem — the part at the very front of the ship just below the water's surface — was forged using steel from one of the twin towers.

https://taskandpurpose.com/uss-new-york-world-trade-center?fbclid=IwAR2FqCFjGPXDYZGdjCG_5wJnrjZfIJ8rzR8m3nE0IYU3yEcQ6xvawZHVYhY&utm_campaign=buffer&utm_content=buffer04bc9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com

People who talk to their pets are actually smarter than those who don't

Your habit of talking to your pets, plants or any inanimate object, for that matter, is a sign of intelligence, not stupidity.

https://thedailynet.com/read/life/people-talk-pets-dogs-cats-smarter-than-those-who-do-not-converse-with-their-pets

Why Shelter Dogs are Good for Veterans

Why Shelter Dogs are Good for Veterans

The general health benefits of spending time with dogs, has been well documented through scientific research. Canine companions can lower our blood pressure and stress levels as well as assist with pain management. They decrease feelings of social isolation and depression as well as offer the motivation many need to stay more active.

As Military-Civilian recently reported, Service Dogs have been improving the quality of life for many vets returning to civilian life with PTSD. These dogs help to break through social barriers, offer unconditional love, and foster feelings of safety for their veteran companions.

Beyond improving physical and mental health, shelter dogs in particular offer several benefits for veterans returning to civilian life:

 

Sense of Purpose
Our canine friends are social animals. Like humans, social isolation is painful and traumatic for them to endure. Dogs waiting for a second chance at shelters across the nation are hungry for attention and companionship. Volunteering to take them for a walk or play some fetch is a low commitment way for veterans to enjoy a sense of purpose by providing a vital support structure for these abandoned dogs.

 

Second Chances

It is not a coincidence that so many returning veterans find a special bond with shelter dogs. Many vets find a kinship with canines who, like them, are looking for a second chance to thrive in life. When veterans adopt or foster shelter dogs, they can experience giving the love, support and guidance that enables those dogs that may have experienced neglect and abuse to “fit” in a world that has been a traumatic place.

Being patient with second chance dogs can remind returning vets to be patient with themselves as they take on the sometimes difficult transition back to civilian life.

 

In the Moment

Dogs live in the present. Veterans struggling with anxiety or depression can get fixated on memories or worries that are a distraction from the joy available to us in each moment. Dogs offer a chance to focus on something safe and enjoyable, right now. They can give vets an easy way to access fun and joy, critical for creating balanced perspective that includes gratitude for the simple pleasures in life.

 

Organizations Devoted to Pairing Vets and Shelter Dogs

The impact of shelter dogs on the lives of veterans has been so profound that several organizations offer programs to help vets find the right dog for their lifestyle and needs. Here are just a few:

Pets for Vets

This organization has nearly 30 local chapters across the nation to help pair veterans with shelter dogs in their area. They use a detailed application process to get a good picture of the lifestyle, needs and desires of applicants in order to find a strong match.

Dogs undergo in home training with a professional trainer before being placed in their new homes as Companion Animals. The special needs of each individual vet are taken into account when designing a training program for each dog. The costs of adoption fees, initial vaccines and spay/neuter procedures are covered thanks to donations from sponsors.

Pets for Patriots 

There are three factors that make this organization unique:

·       They focus on placing the most overlooked shelter animals who are at a high risk for euthanasia due to breed, age or special needs.

·       They provide generous financial support with food and veterinary care to make pet ownership more affordable for veterans.

·        They work with all vets, including those on active duty and those that served as far back as WWII.

K9s for Warriors 

The focus of this organization is to train rescued shelter dogs to be full-fledged Service Animals for vets with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and/or those who experienced sexual trauma during their military service.

Not only is this organization run by vets, they include each veteran applicant in the process of training their own Service Animals. The extensive program is designed to get vets actively engaged in their own recovery. In addition, helping to train their own service animal fosters a tremendous bond with these second chance canines.

Due to an extensive wait list, the focus of K9s for Warriors is on post 9/11 veterans.

 

Volunteering and Fostering

Veterans that are not ready for the commitment of full time dog ownership can still reap the benefits that shelter dogs offer. All of the programs mentioned above offer volunteer opportunities for vets that want to learn more about dog training or just want to spend some time with rescued dogs. In fact, most shelters also make room for volunteers to help provide the dogs in their care with much needed socialization.

Another excellent opportunity to get a dog in your life is to consider fostering a second chance dog to give them a temporary safe home while they wait for their forever family. Fostering is a great way to learn if having a dog fits your lifestyle as well as getting to know more about the canine personality that is the best fit for your needs. Many shelters and local foster groups offer services such as pet sitting and financial assistance for foster parents.

 

Author Bio:

Mathew has worked with dogs for just under a decade and is the founder of wileypup.com, a dog lover’s website that provides great tips and advice for paw parents everywhere.

 

Military Dogs

The Mysterious Origins of ‘HOOAH,’ The Army’s Beloved Battle Cry

 

The Mysterious Origins of ‘HOOAH,’ The Army’s Beloved Battle Cry

By SARAH SICARD

 on October 5, 2017 

To a civilian, “hooah!” can sound like a completely nonsensical utterance, the guttural wail of an unhinged man on the verge of defeat. But to a soldier in the U.S. Army, however, it’s a fearsome a battle cry that heard on battlefields and among battalions deployed around the globe.

The meaning of the battle cry is difficult to describe: According to the Army’s Brief Guide to Modern Military Jargon, “hooah” can mean literally anything aside from no, even though dropping the magic word “can do anything from getting a Soldier off the hook to earning him or her pushups,” the guide suggests, cautions. But while some Navy units have adopted “HOOYAH” soon and the Marine Corps now lays claim to “OOHRAH,” the characteristic road belong, always, to the Army.

But how did the primal roar became a mainstay of Army vernacular? For decades, the answer has remained a mystery even to the most devoted soldiers, and military message boards have surfaced theories about historical origins of the favorite battle cry. Here are the top four answers — as well as some real-keeping from a retired general:

It was first uttered by a Seminole tribal chief.

According to E. Kelly Taylor’s 2009 history “America’s Army and the Language of Grunts: Understanding The Army Lingo Legacy,” one theory suggests that hooah originated with the Seminoles in Florida in the early 1800s, where tribal Chief Oseola was unable to say the words of a formal toast during a meeting with Army commanders and instead dropped a solid ‘Hooah!’”

Sounds like a stretch, but it’s a rumor that’s made the rounds in one form or another. One Snopes commenter swore in 2005 that they’d heard something similar on an American Forces Network broadcast

A group of soldiers (esp. one specific general, but I’ll be damned if I remember who) sat down to eat with a group of Native Americans. (When or where, I cannot remember. Why am I writing this?) Anyway, when they said hello to the Chief, he replied, “Hooah.” Supposedly, he was trying to say hello back, but didn’t speak English, so he messed it up.

We call shenanigans on this one — especially since Osceola (that’s the accepted spelling) probably spoke pretty good English; his birth name was Billy Powell. And conflicting reports suggest it was not Osceola, but a Chief Coacoochee who instead mispronounced “how do you do.”

It’s Vietnamese.

“Vâng” in Vietnamese translates to “yes,” but it’s pronounced “u-ah.” Service members and veterans on Snopes message boards often cite this as the origin of the battle cry, derived from years of fighting in the Vietnam War. Supposedly, because the Vietnamese soldiers answered “u-ah” in place of “yes,” American troops began to pick it up as shorthand for an affirmative.

This jives with Taylor’s own interpretation of hooah as “acknowledgment or agreement with hooah meaning “yeah,” “okay,” “sure,” “that’s right,” or “whatever.”

And our personal favorite: It’s an acronym.

The Army, nay the entire military, loves acronyms. And as far as ”hooah” goes, there are a few rumored explanations. The first reportedly comes from the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II, whose soldiers would reply to orders from their commanding officers with “HUA,” an acronym for “heard, understood, acknowledged.” 

But across various chat boards, other origin explanations crop up: HUA really stands for “head up ass,” or HOOA, for “head out of ass.” It kind of reminds us of Mattis and the origin of his call sign (CHAOS, not Mad Dog).

It’s a Union thing.

A fourth, less mentioned theory documented by Taylor suggests the term dates all the way back to the Civil War, wherein soldiers supposedly shouted “hoozah.” But this explanation is also difficult to verify, as few other historical resources cite this as the answer to the hooah origin question.

The Army’s answer: Who cares?

In truth, there is no definitive proof of any of these “hooah” origin stories (the Army did not respond to multiple inquiries from Task & Purpose for confirmation). But even though soldiers aren’t schooled in the historical birth of their battle cry with with any real authority — or even how to spell it correctly — they still known damn well what it stands for when they’re rushing into battle.

“I don’t know how exactly to spell it, but I know what it means,” former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan told The Balance. “It means we have broken the mold. We are battle focused. Hooah says — ‘Look at me. I’m a warrior. I’m ready. Sergeants trained me to standard.’”

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” 

Irish terriers, the little red dogs that went to war

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-23/irish-terriers,-the-little-red-dogs-that-went-to-war/8442204?sf72737287=1

The Commandant and Mrs. Annie Glenn - "With The Thanks of A Grateful Nation" - Arlington National Cemetery Earlier Today

"On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Marine Corps, and a grateful Nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service." 

Rainy Remembrance

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert B. Neller, left, presents the American flag to Annie Glenn, widow of John Glenn, during his graveside service at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., April 6, 2017. Glenn, a Marine, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth and a U.S. senator from Ohio, died Dec. 8, 2016. He was 95. Army photo by Rachel Larue

30th Space Wing, Vandenberg AFB

Airmen from Minot and Vandenberg Air Force bases conducted an operational test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III missile. Today’s test launch used an intercontinental ballistic missile pulled randomly from a silo on Minot, which was then transported and reassembled at Vandenberg, and launched by crew members from 91st Missile Wing. The ICBM was equipped with a test reentry vehicle, and traveled approximately four thousand two hundred miles to a test range near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. ICBM test launches verify the accuracy and reliability of the weapon system, providing valuable data to ensure a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent.

https://www.youtube.com/user/30SWVandenberg

Photos Hidden in a Trunk for 71 years depicting amazing scenes from World War 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWYZ8wZtSq4

The FUTURE is approaching faster than one can handle....!

The FUTURE is approaching  faster  than one can handle....!

    

In 1998, Kodak had  170,000 employees and sold  85% of all photo paper  worldwide.

              

Within just a few years,  their business model disappeared and they went  bankrupt.

What  happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next  10 years and, most people  won't see it coming.
Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never  take pictures on film again?

                     

Yet digital cameras were  invented in 1975.  The first ones only had  10,000 pixels, but followed Moore's law.  So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a time, before it became way superior and became mainstream in only a few short years.  It will now happen  again with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and  electric cars, education, 3Dprinting, agriculture and  jobs.   Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution.  Welcome to the Exponential  Age .       

              

Software will disrupt most  traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.

                               

Uber is just a software tool,  they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest  taxi company in the  world.

                   

Airbnb is now the biggest hotel  company in the world, although they don't own any  properties.

                            

Artificial  Intelligence:  Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world .  This year, a computer beat the best Go-player in the world,  10 years  earlier than expected.

                          

In the US , young   lawyers already don't get jobs.   Because of IBM's Watson, you can get legal advice  (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with  90% accuracy compared with  70% accuracy when done by  humans.

                   

So if you study law, stop  immediately.  There will be 90% less lawyers in the  future, only specialists will  remain.

            

Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer,  its 4 times more accurate than  human nurses.

              

Facebook now has a  pattern recognition software that can recognize faces  better than humans.  In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans. 

              

Autonomous  cars  : In 2018 the first self-driving cars  will appear for the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will  start to be disrupted. You don't want to own a car  anymore.  You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your  location and drive you to your destination. You will not need to  park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be  productive while driving.

              

Our kids will never get a  driver's license and will never own a car.

             

It will change the cities,  because we will need 90-95% less cars for that.  We can transform former parking spaces into parks.

              

1.2 million people die each  year in car accidents worldwide.  We now have one accident every 60,000  miles  (100,000 km), with autonomous driving that will drop to 1 accident in  6million miles  (10 million km). That will save  a million lives each  year.

              

Most car companies will  probably become bankrupt.  Traditional car companies  try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple,  Google)  will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on  wheels.

                  

Many engineers from  Volkswagen and Audi; are completely terrified of  Tesla.

              

Insurance  companies will have massive trouble  because without accidents, the insurance will become  100x cheaper.   Their car insurance business model will disappear.

               

Real  estate  will change.  Because if you can work while you commute, people  will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.

                            

Electric cars will become  mainstream about 2020.  Cities will be less noisy  because all new cars will run on electricity.

            

Electricity will become  incredibly cheap and clean:  Solar production has been  on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can now see the burgeoning impact.

            

Last year, more solar energy  was installed worldwide than fossil.  Energy companies  are desperately trying to limit  access to the grid to prevent competition from home solar  installations, but that can't last.  Technology will take care of  that strategy.

              

With cheap electricity comes  cheap and abundant water. Desalination   of salt  water now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter (@  0.25 cents). We don't have  scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water.   Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

            

Health: The  Tricorder  X price  will be announced this year.  There are companies who will build a  medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works  with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample  and you breath into it.

            

It then analyses  54 bio-markers that will identify nearly  any disease..  It will be cheap, so in a  few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class  medical analysis, nearly for free Goodbye, medical  establishment.

              

3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from  $18,000 to $400 within 10 years. In the same time, it  became 100 times faster. All major  shoe companies have already started 3D printing  shoes.

       

Some spare airplane parts  are already 3D printed in remote airports.  The space station now has a printer that eliminates the  need for the large amount of spare parts they used to have in the past.

            

At the end of this year, new  smart phones will have 3D scanning possibilities.   You can then 3D scan your feet and print  your perfect shoe at home.

            

In China, they already  3D printed and built a  complete 6-storey office building.  By  2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.

                     

Business  opportunities: If you think of a niche you want to go in, first ask yourself: "In the future, do I think we will have that?" and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?

                      

If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea.  And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed to failure in the 21st century.           

 

Work : 70-80% of jobs will disappear in  the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a short time.  This will require a rethink on wealth distribution.               

              

Agriculture : There will be a  $100 agricultural robot in the future.  Farmers in 3rd world countries can then  become managers of their field instead of working all day on their  fields.

              

Aeroponics will need much less water.  The first Petri dish produced veal, is now available and will be  cheaper than cow produced veal in 2018. Right now,  30% of all agricultural  surfaces is used for cows.  Imagine if we don't need that space  anymore.

              

There are several start-ups  who will bring insect protein to the market shortly.  It contains  more protein than meat. It will be labelled as "alternative protein source"  (because most people still reject the idea of eating  insects).

              

There is an app called  "moodies" which can already tell in  which mood you’re in.  By   2020 there will be apps that can  tell by your facial expressions, if you are lying.  Imagine a  political debate where it's being displayed when they’re telling the truth and when they’re not .