Christopher Eger's Blog

The Soviets and Americans had a theory known as Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) that meant neither side would be able to 'win' a nuclear war. In the 1980s when the Regan administration started basing Pershing missiles in Germany, launching untraceable Trident SSBNs and designing stealth bombers and cruise missiles while simultaneously working on Star Wars; it appeared that the West could actually win a nuclear exchange by hitting the Soviets first and hard enough to decapitate and blind it.

This scared the borscht out of the Soviets and they started to look for ways around this preemptive strike. The plan was called Perimeter and nicknamed "Mertvaya Ruka" or Dead Hand. It was a doomsday weapon that would automatically go into effect as a backup if the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces lost communication with the Kremlin.

Nicholas Thompson at Wired Magazine interviews a former Soviet Colonel about all of the details in this great article.

In 1900, a Russian Colonel working in Warsaw for the Tsar used an Estonian born agent to turn an Austrian Army Intelligence officer of Ukrainian extraction into one of the most notable spies in history. For the past hundred years the politics have changed almost as often as the borders. This was done for monetary reasons and the Austrian officer, Alfred Redl was well paid. For generations Russian spies, first of the Tsar, then of the GRU penetrated the military's of their neighbors to obtain secrets.

Last week a Ukrainian Colonel, who was serving as the military attaché to the Ukrainian Embassy in Bucharest was declared persona-non-grata and presented with his passport. This stems from an incident brought to light of a Rumanian non-commissioned officer SGT Floricel Achim that offered to sell NATO secrets for $800 (about the price of a moderate flat screen television)

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

When you think of an American conscript draftee, you think of the citizen soldiers who answered the call during the Civil War (where only 2% of soldiers were drafted), the two World Wars, Korea, and finally Vietnam. In the tail-end days of the Vietnam conflict the draft was discontinued in December 1972 with the last draftees reporting for service June 1973. It has often been portrayed in the media that conscripted men taken into service during the latter part of the Vietnam conflict were either those too dumb or poor or both to get out of it. This image is sharply contrasted by draftee Jeffery Mellinger. Mellinger drafted April 18, 1972, served his required two years.

Then he re-enlisted voluntarily-and has continued to do so for the following 37-years.

He is now the Command Sergeant Major for the US Army’s Material Command. CSM Mellinger has made over 3700 military parachute jumps, served around the world, and spent no less than 33-months in Iraq. During his Iraq time the Sergeant Major walked away from 27 roadside bombs and was declared ‘a national asset’ by General David Petraeus. Before going to Iraq he had spent years in the Rangers, was a drill sergeant at Ft Gordon, an ROTC instructor at the University of Alaska and an instructor to the US Special Forces (“Green Berets”).

CSM Mellinger, besides his Legion of Merit and Bronze Star has gained another honor….that of the last US draftee on active duty.