Admiral In Charge Of Army Armor School?

They put a Navy admiral in charge of the US Army’s Armor School?

What does the Navy know about tanks?!

No, no, no.

The US Army’s Commandant of the US Army Armor School is a Brigadier General named Kevin Admiral.

Brigadier General Kevin D. Admiral assumed duties as the Armor School Commandant on 27 September 2019.

Commissioned in Armor from the University of Kansas in 1994, Brigadier General Admiral holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular Biology and a Master of Science in Campaign Planning & Strategy from the Joint Advanced Warfighting School. He is also a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies, London where he was a Senior Service College fellow.

Brigadier General Admiral has served in Armor, Cavalry, Mechanized Infantry and Stryker formations during his career. He served as an OC/T at the National Training Center, Small Group Instructor for the Armor Captain Career Course at Fort Knox, KY and Aide-de-Camp to the 36th Army Chief of Staff. His command assignments at every echelon from Company through Regiment includes two commands in combat; 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry (SBCT) and 3d U.S. Cavalry Regiment (SBCT) in Afghanistan. Following command of the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen at Fort Hood, TX, Brigadier General Admiral served as Executive Officer to the Commanding General of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, US Forces Korea (UNC/CFC/USFK). Prior to assuming his current duties at Fort Benning, he most recently served as the Deputy Commanding General for Maneuver, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson and Commander, Task Force Southeast in Paktiya, Afghanistan.

It’s Friday and I just found this kind of funny. The plays on his name just write themselves.

A New Must Read Blog

A friend sent me a link to a new blog called, “NRA in Danger.”

Having read all of their postings, I’d say it is a must-read blog especially for any NRA member who is concerned about the bankruptcy filing, the organization’s future, and the shenanigans played by Wayne and company. I don’t know who is writing this blog but I have found their reporting on the NRA’s bankruptcy hearings astute and incisive.

Here is how they describe themselves:

We are a group of NRA members, all life or above, who are concerned about where our organization is being taken. In 2019, the 150 year-old NRA, the oldest civil rights organization in the country, was rocked by financial scandals. The New York Attorney General (It’s a New York corporation) sued to dissolve its corporate charter, to kill it as a corporation. Since then its leadership and Board of Directors has consistently made the worst possible decisions, feeding her ammunition. A good move would have been to announce it was concerned about the allegations, was going to seriously investigate, and remove or otherwise punish those responsible. She’d have had no case then, yes there were problems, and NRA’s board is curing them.

Instead, the choice was to purge those who supported an investigation, threaten any who might join them, cover up everything, keep those responsible, and hand them big bonuses. Members were told that nothing was wrong, her case was all lies and posed no danger. Then the Board filed for bankruptcy, spending millions to escape from that supposedly harmless suit.

The members deserve truth, and we will do our imperfect best to give it to them.

We can be contacted at: NRAlifer -at- protonmail.com

I have only listened to some of the bankruptcy hearings. However, this one part from Day Five which included testimony from Judge Phil Journey just infuriated me.

At board special meeting in March, he was told his motion made him an enemy of NRA’s position. Charles Cotton asked that anyone adverse to NRA not attend executive session, while staring at him. He attended anyway. Got up to speak at microphone, chair ignored him, refused to call on him and he eventually sat down. When they went back into open session he asked to speak on a point of personal privilege, his honor had been impugned, and people shouted him down and Willis Lee, 2nd VP and chair, ruled him out of order. So he was prevented from speaking to the rest of the board about the issues and why he had filed.

A majority of the Board and especially the leadership are acting like petulant children. Their actions are more reminiscent of the behavior of members of the Soviet Politburo towards someone who had fallen out of Stalin’s favor.

I will freely admit that I was taken in by Willes Lee. I endorsed him not once but twice. I regret ever urging anyone to vote for that snake in the grass. The best I can say in my defense is that Willes was very good at cozying up to and playing members of the Second Amendment new media. That is, until he got what he wanted. Now we are yesterday’s news and treated like untermensch.

RemArms Reopens Ilion Plant

The former Remington plant in Ilion, New York has finally reopened under the Roundhill Group’s ownership. It opened last week with 45 workers plus management.

From the Herkimer Times Telegram:

“We have called back approximately 45 employees as of this week that along with the 20 management people that have been back for several weeks now,” Richmond Italia, a managing partner for the Roundhill Group Inc., owner of RemArms, the plant’s new operator, said in an email. “And we expect to round that number off to over 200 before the end of the month.” 

It appears that the sticking point to the plant reopening was the contract with United Mine Workers Local 717. Most of the plant’s workers are members of that Local. It will formalize the recall process of furloughed workers and sets a 60-day window for starting negotiations on a new collective bargaining contract.

UMWA International President Cecil Roberts had this to say:

“This letter of agreement was a long time in the making,” said UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts. “It is the first step toward re-establishing a normal relationship between the union and the operators of that plant, one that will allow the professional craftspeople who have built firearms in Ilion to return to doing what they do better than anyone.” 

He added: “There is more to do here. The company needs product to sell, and we fully understand and support that. We are pleased that UMWA members will soon be going back to work at the plant, if the company holds to its expected timetable. The next step is to negotiate a full collective bargaining agreement that the members can ratify and then get operations fully back to normal.”

As I reported earlier, the initial product coming from the plant will be the 870 line of shotguns.

The negotiations with the union delayed reopening by approximately a month. The initial restart was to have begun in early March and actually didn’t begin until April.

A Tale In Three Pictures

Do you recognize either the man or the location of the remnants of this fire?

Here let me give you a hint on the location.

Yes, that is the Branch Davidian compound in Mount Carmel outside of Waco, Texas as it is going up in flames. 76 men, women, and children died in that fire. The siege began when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms raided the compound on February 28, 1993. 12 surviving members of the Branch Davidians were later tried on a variety of firearm offenses. The young man standing in the ashes holding what appears to be a M16 M14 was the ATF case officer for the trial.

Maybe you recognize him in this picture.

Getty Photo

Credit should go to the the British newspaper Daily Mail for linking the first photo to the man who is now President Biden’s choice to be the next Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The Daily Mail also has placed Chipman at the other infamous raid of that era – Ruby Ridge.

I guess Biden couldn’t get Waco Jim Cavanaugh so is making do with Chipman.

Prince Philip Anecdote

As most people know by now, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has passed away. He was known to have quite a dry sense of humor and I rolled over laughing when I read this one.

I think even the Aussies would like that one.

Every Picture Tells A Story, Part XII

And now for some good news!

Yesterday, Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) signed SB 0765 which provides for permitless carry of handguns in Tennessee for all legal adults over the age of 21 and for members of the military ages 18 to 20. This makes the Volunteer State the 20th state to adopt constitutional or permitless carry. It should be emphasized that this only applies to handguns and not to long guns. The law goes into effect on July 1st.

There is one change made in this version of Every Picture Tells A Story over the previous editions. One of the criticisms of the earlier versions is that they went by what the law said and not what was actually happening on the ground. Thus, in the past, we counted Hawaii as “may issue” as the law specified as opposed to “no issue” which they are in fact. As of today, no private citizen has been issued a concealed carry permit in the state of Hawaii which is, in itself, shameful.

Rob Vance calculated the percentage of the US population that lives under each carry regime.

  • No Issue (HI) — 0.4%
  • May Issue (CA,DC,MD,MA,NJ,NY,RI) — 27.0%
  • Shall Issue — 55.7%
  • Permitless — 16.9%

While the state of Indiana punted on constitutional carry, it appears that bills are advancing in both Louisiana and South Carolina to adopt some form of permitless carry. What happened in Indiana is similar to what happened in North Carolina a few years ago. Top Republicans in the State Senate decided not to go forward with it after the State House had passed the measure. In North Carolina, Sen. Majority Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) was fearful of losing his super-majority. He lost it anyway.

Chipman Is Delusional!

David Chipman, Biden’s nominee to be Director of BAFTE, is not only anti-gun but a delusional liar.

He participated in a Reddit AMA or Ask Me Anything. During that AMA, he asserted that the Branch Davidians shot down two Texas ANG helicopters in Waco with two .50 caliber Barrett rifles.

According to a list of firearms recovered from the compound after the fire that destroyed it, there were zero .50 caliber firearms regardless of maker. This list came from the US Department of the Treasury based upon a dual FBI and Texas Depart of Public Safety search of the Branch Davidian compound.

As the case agent assigned to the trial of the surviving Branch Davidians, Chipman must have known this. If he didn’t, he was derelict in his job performance. Thus, we can either assume Chipman is an incompetent or a liar. You make the call.

H/T David Harsanyi – National Review

NRA Bankruptcy Hearing

The US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern Texas District is holding a live hearing on the NRA’s bankruptcy petition today. You can watch it live using this link: https://us-courts.webex.com/webappng/sites/us-courts/dashboard/pmr/hale

I believe this is the third day of the hearing and the witness is NRA EVP Wayne LaPierre.

Wayne does not make a good witness. The judge has had to admonish him a dozen times or more to limit his answer to the question asked. His own attorney has instructed him to just answer “yes or no” when asked that kind of question. On virtually every other answer, the attorney asking him the question has to ask the judge to strike part or all of the answer as being non-responsive and Judge Hale is sustaining that objection.

I believe every NRA Board member needs to be watching Wayne’s testimony. There are a few that I’ve noticed listed in the WebEx as being online. Given what I’ve seen so far, board members need to be asking themselves this question: Is it or is it not time for Wayne to retire?

I know what my answer is.

Biden’s BOHICA

The White House just posted the proposed Executive Actions along with their intent to nominate David Chipman to head BATFE.

It has all the stuff we’ve been expecting.

“Ghost guns” (sic). Check.

Pistol braces under NFA. Check.

Red flag law. Check.

Infrastructure monies to “community violence intervention.” Check.

So you don’t have to go and pull it up, here is it in its entirety.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing six initial actions to address the gun violence public health epidemic. The recent high-profile mass shootings in Boulder – taking the lives of 10 individuals – and Atlanta – taking the lives of eight individuals, including six Asian American women – underscored the relentlessness of this epidemic. Gun violence takes lives and leaves a lasting legacy of trauma in communities every single day in this country, even when it is not on the nightly news. In fact, cities across the country are in the midst of a historic spike in homicides, violence that disproportionately impacts Black and brown Americans. The President is committed to taking action to reduce all forms of gun violence – community violence, mass shootings, domestic violence, and suicide by firearm.

President Biden is reiterating his call for Congress to pass legislation to reduce gun violence. Last month, a bipartisan coalition in the House passed two bills to close loopholes in the gun background check system. Congress should close those loopholes and go further, including by closing “boyfriend” and stalking loopholes that currently allow people found by the courts to be abusers to possess firearms, banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines, repealing gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and investing in evidence-based community violence interventions. Congress should also pass an appropriate national “red flag” law, as well as legislation incentivizing states to pass “red flag” laws of their own.

But this Administration will not wait for Congress to act to take its own steps – fully within the Administration’s authority and the Second Amendment – to save lives. Today, the Administration is announcing the following six initial actions:

The Justice Department, within 30 days, will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of “ghost guns.” We are experiencing a growing problem: criminals are buying kits containing nearly all of the components and directions for finishing a firearm within as little as 30 minutes and using these firearms to commit crimes. When these firearms turn up at crime scenes, they often cannot be traced by law enforcement due to the lack of a serial number. The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of these firearms.

The Justice Department, within 60 days, will issue a proposed rule to make clear when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act. The alleged shooter in the Boulder tragedy last month appears to have used a pistol with an arm brace, which can make a firearm more stable and accurate while still being concealable.

The Justice Department, within 60 days, will publish model “red flag” legislation for states. Red flag laws allow family members or law enforcement to petition for a court order temporarily barring people in crisis from accessing firearms if they present a danger to themselves or others. The President urges Congress to pass an appropriate national “red flag” law, as well as legislation incentivizing states to pass “red flag” laws of their own. In the interim, the Justice Department’s published model legislation will make it easier for states that want to adopt red flag laws to do so.

The Administration is investing in evidence-based community violence interventions. Community violence interventions are proven strategies for reducing gun violence in urban communities through tools other than incarceration. Because cities across the country are experiencing a historic spike in homicides, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking a number of steps to prioritize investment in community violence interventions.

* The American Jobs Plan proposes a $5 billion investment over eight years to support community violence intervention programs. A key part of community violence intervention strategies is to help connect individuals to job training and job opportunities.

* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is organizing a webinar and toolkit to educate states on how they can use Medicaid to reimburse certain community violence intervention programs, like Hospital-Based Violence Interventions.

* Five federal agencies are making changes to 26 different programs to direct vital support to community violence intervention programs as quickly as possible. These changes mean we can start increasing investments in community violence interventions as we wait on Congress to appropriate additional funds.

The Justice Department will issue an annual report on firearms trafficking. In 2000, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) issued a report summarizing information regarding its investigations into firearms trafficking, which is one way firearms are diverted into the illegal market where they can easily end up in the hands of dangerous individuals. Since the report’s publication, states, local, and federal policymakers have relied on its data to better thwart the common channels of firearms trafficking. But there is good reason to believe that firearms trafficking channels have changed since 2000, for example due to the emergence of online sales and proliferation of “ghost guns.” The Justice Department will issue a new, comprehensive report on firearms trafficking and annual updates necessary to give policymakers the information they need to help address firearms trafficking today.

The President will nominate David Chipman to serve as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. ATF is the key agency enforcing our gun laws, and it needs a confirmed director in order to do the job to the best of its ability. But ATF has not had a confirmed director since 2015. Chipman served at ATF for 25 years and now works to advance commonsense gun safety laws.

I’m surprised that they didn’t add a PS saying, “Fuck you, all you bitter clingers.”

I fully expect each and every one of these proposals to be fought in the courts. If it was good enough for President Trump’s immigration Executive Actions, it is good enough for this.

As to Chipman, you damn well better start calling your senators. Filibuster or no filibuster, he must be stopped.