The Brass and the Truth

On today's episode we cover the titular firings of high-ranking officers and NCOs of the DoD and why they were relived from command/responsibility. What does this mean for the direction of our Armed Forces and who makes the decisions on who should lead? We also cover, if provided with detail, why they were fired along with the justification based on military law, regulation, and policy.

Who are the Inspector Generals and what do they do? Are the IGs the boogeymen or just a social media acronym? Today we talk about who the "eyes and ears of the Commander" are from how they serve the post commander, what they investigate, and how they serve service members. Lastly, we discuss how IG is viewed by the everyday soldier, controversies, and how the Armed Forces can improve IG to better serve the service member and fight against corruption within the military.

Today we talk about Mental Health in the Armed Forces and the programs in place to protect it. We touch on topics of Suicide and depression within the service, causes and treatments. We discuss the pros and cons of the current programs that each branch and the Department of Defense has in place. Lastly, we give our ideas on how the DoD can improve these programs and take better care of its personnels' mental health. We want everyone to know that they are valued and have a place in this world. If you or someone you know needs help, reach out.988 is the number for the suicide hotlinehttps://www.veteranscrisisline.net/get-help-now/chat/ is the crisis chatline

Today, we follow-up on our last episode by talking about the US military legal system and how Court-Martials work. Who calls for them and what issues are there with sentencings? We highlight several on-going court-martials and results of past cases. Along with that, we discuss if senior leaders receive favorable "punishments" compared to lower ranking soldiers/leaders for the same crimes or even more heinous crimes.Lastly, don't forget to click that subscribe button so you never miss an episode and leave a comment!Docket page for reference:https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/Apps/eDocket/eDocketPublic.nsf/UpcomingEvents.xsp?refreshed=truehttps://legalassistance.law.af.mil/AMJAMS/PublicDocket/docket.html

Today's episode covers what the Judge Advocate General Corp is, what they do for our service and current issues with the JAG Corps that could be the cause for the firings in Washington, D.C. We also breakdown the different JAG offices within the armed forces and how each one can assist you.This is not an endorsement but the link to the page mentioned in the podcast. The Brass and the Truth provides informational references only at this time.https://tjaglcs.army.mil/thequillandswordIf you want to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of JAG with the Army, click the link below to AR 27-1:https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/AR27-1_Web_FINAL.pdf

Today we discuss one of the more public cases of Rank and Civil Punishment, COL Owen G. Ray. What should constitute Honorable service and what is punishment enough? Should senior officers receive an honorable discharge and retirement when they commit a felony while a lower ranking soldier would've received a punishment from the military? Perhaps it is the time for the DoD to reevaluate discharge classifications.

Joined by our Friend and Reservist, Weekend Warrior, we talk about Fraternization in the Army and some recent cases that highlight the issues Service Members may face today. We provide the details of what is considered a fraternization in the Armed Forces. Weekend Warrior tells us the complications of fraternization in the Reserve Component, and the difference between the military and the civilian industries. Lastly, we discuss if the current fraternization policy is essential or should the Department of Defense cut make on its strictness.

Are the Pre-Deployment Training preparing our men and women for combat? We go over each branch's pre-deployment training, that is public record, and our own experience from our time in the US Army. Has the Russo-Ukrainian War impacted our training, if any? For some branches and sub-branches, it reinforced their training or refined it. During COVID, it greatly impeded on the training and readiness of our Armed Forces. As we can see, national and international events impact military readiness, positively or negatively. For the ones that are negative, how do we reduce its impact on our readiness?

Today's episode covers the effect of the COVID mandates on service members during and after the service, and President Trump's decision to reinstate those who refused to take the vaccine. We look at the military regulations for vaccines to see if separation is justifiable and the impact of the mandate had on units using our own experience. During the COVID mandate, decisions and incidents were not reported to the public. This episode will accomplish where the military and the news media failed to do.Besides the COVID, we discuss the recent issue for Veterans getting records from the DoD. This is not an isolated incident, as the Army, in the case we cover in the episode, would drag their feet on cases or personnel records. When they are asked about it, they give a short excuse or say they completely forgot about it. We explain how the DoD cannot be so careless of people's records, even if it's a computer error, and provide more thorough, helpful detail to personnel, and not refuse a FOIA.

This episode serves as our introduction and first collaborative podcast on The Brass and the Truth.