The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East

October 3, 2023 Alaska National Guard Public Affairs

Alaska National Guardsmen Prepare for Middle East Deployment

“Lt. Col. Luke Bushatz, 1-297th battalion commander, spoke to the Guard members about safeguarding the fundamental freedoms we cherish.”

“You guard liberty because you choose to be a part of something that is bigger than the individual,” said Bushatz. “You willingly choose to submit yourselves to one another, holding yourself accountable for the preservation of rights of men given by God.”

The people of Alaska needed services in Kosovo in 2020

“The deployment ceremony was not the first for many of the Guardsmen in the formation. In 2020, more than 150 Guardsmen from the 1-297th returned from a year-long deployment to Kosovo.”

If I was with the press, I would ask Lt. Col. Bushatz if the Kosovo deployment was also somehow related to American rights and freedoms. I’d ask if it was related to defending the US Constitution.

I would ask Lt. Col. Bushatz if the freedom talk is just for federal holidays and overseas military operations.

Bosses over at the media outlet probably would not want these sorts of questions to be presented to military authorities.

Newspeople Avoid Asking Questions

Will there ever come a time when newspeople ask if there is any military emergency, national emergency, draft, or declaration of war, linked to the movement of National Guard troops to an overseas location?

Lt. Col. Bushatz,

Does the US Armed Forces function like some sort of giant civil rights organization?

Both major political parties are now OK with treating 18-20 year old adults as second-class citizens. Can you explain the militarized version of freedom here?

Alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and firearms restrictions are in place for 18-20 year old adults. Is there any state where recreational marijuana laws remove prohibition for adults at age 18?

Doesn’t seem to fit with a society that can’t stop bragging about freedom, thanking the troops for freedoms, fighting wars for freedoms, staging military jet flyovers at sporting events for freedom, etc.

Certainly, Americans do not live in a free and honest society.

School Teachers Avoid Asking Questions

Hey school teachers, are the Joint Chiefs of Staff sending The Troops to fix any of this? Will National Guard deployments from Hometown, USA to distant lands (already been done for decades now) enhance American rights and freedoms?

Lt. Col. Bushatz,

Honest and meaningful ideas stand up to questioning and discussion.

The US Armed forces have been operating in the Middle East for decades now. These military operations are somehow linked to American rights and freedoms? Please explain.

Tough Assignment

Trying to recruit a younger generation for US military service after the US Dept of Defense already spent the last 30 years squandering prestige and credibility overseas and at home.

Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, it feels like the people who run the Pentagon specialize in undeclared/unwon wars. The DOD brand has been wrecked.

Understandable why young people and their parents and grandparents would take a dim view on all this.

Sending the National Guard from Alaska to the Middle East in October of 2023, and the message to The Troops and their families is that this is about freedom and liberty?

Yes, 18-20 year old adults, we need you to maintain a place to live and a regular job in your Alaska hometown area when you are not doing time in foreign lands helping DOD with undeclared/unwon wars and missions completely unrelated to your home state. Sign up to ship out and listen to your CO tell you its about freedom and liberty decades after the USA has already been conducting military operations in the area that are clearly not linked in any way with American rights and freedoms. When you get home, it will not be legal for you to buy a six pack of beer, a pack of cigarettes, or take your 20 year old girlfriend (a responsible adult) over to the tavern to order up a couple beers to celebrate freedom. There once was a time when each of the 50 states could set its own minimum drinking age. This was before Desert Storm, 9/11/2001 and various post 911 military operations for freedom. Maybe we should ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff if more deployments to distant lands will change any of this.

Freedom?

School children are taught about a free enterprise system. They grow up to find out that the federal government will tell them what kind of shower head they must install in the bathroom, and what type of gas can they must buy for their lawn mower.

Did hostile forces in distant lands attempt to replace US consumer demand with government demand and end the free enterprise system?

May 28, 2020 WMAR

Salisbury Mayor deploying to Africa with Maryland National Guard

“I am honored to do my part to ensure that the citizens of this community and all Americans remain safe and free.”

Several news sources published this quote. View them here.

The idea that sending hometown troops to Africa would be linked in any way with keeping the people of Salisbury Maryland safe and free calls for more discussion.

Mayor Day,

While the troops were deployed, federal law was signed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to adults age 18-20.

Can you help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?

December 21st 2019 KOMO News

Legal age to buy cigarettes, vapes raised to 21 nationwide

“Signed into law by President Donald Trump Friday as part of the new $1.4 trillion spending bill, a new measure prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.”