Sell Resources

Anyone work in Human Resources for Army? Do people enrolled in the MACP get sent together when one gets a compassionate reassignment? My husband and I are both in the program, and the reason I have to be reassigned is a medical issue w/our unborn baby. We've both turned in separate requests to our commands, but I read in the regulation that MACP spouses are given copassionate consideration? What exactly does that mean? If it helps, we are both 63B (mechanics) trying to get to the DC area. Also, will he be considered immediately upon receiving MY request? Or will they wait to get his? I included his information on the request, and his social is on my ERB.

Where do I get my DD 214? I was discharged in February of 2006 and I have lost my copies of my DD 214. I tried contacting the National Personnel Records Center many times, and they always say that they do not have my DD 214 on file. I have also tried Army Human Resources Command and they say I am still listed as active duty. I do not know where else to get my discharge form. Do you think a recruiter or state represenative could get it for me? Thanks.

Who has access to the Army 09 SFC selection preposition list? The Army centralized board system for Sergeant First Class selections convened February 3-27, 2009. The results (selections) are to be publicly released on March 20th. Human Resources Command will publish a restricted / prepositioned list about a week prior the the public release. Does anyone have access to the restricted list?

Where is the Master Sgt Board Results for 2008/2009 ? After contacting Army Times. com, i got a response back to my search for the Promotion Board List!!!! Here is what I was Given. The list can be accessed at the following Web site (Army Human Resources Command, active component enlisted promotions, FY09 master sergeant list) see below! https://www.hrc.army.mil/site/Active/select/Promo.htm

this may be an answer to many? now if you are prior service seeking to change your re code or discharges listen up the board of corrections some times in many cases deny your claims simply because in your record of files you may have not exhausted your administrative obligations first. Now you maybe thinking what is that or how can you do this first of all for the army personnel you have to call the army human resources command and tell the communications hub tech that you want to submit a letter to the commander of the hrc to request that he change your discharge and code then they will give you the number to their fax and you need to sumbit all documents proving that you are now wanting to re-enter the military and be very specific about what you want change and why. for the other branches this works the same way submit a letter to your direct chain of command and use this technique and trust me that this will really work they will contact you either by phone, email, or mail about the next step to take which all depends on where you left of with your last military service trust me this really works and if you don' t belive me then read the instructions and directions of the board it will tell you to always exhaust all of your administrative obligations first before appealing to them

will tricare drop me on my 21st bday although i will be 38 weeks pregnant? i am currently 35 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child. my fiance and I are getting married when his father returns from deployment in august. Therefore since i am a full time student and unmarried and I am still a dependent of my dads. He is active duty military. My 21st birthday is coming up on the 22nd of this month. In order to renew my id and deers i must bring a letter of verification and my sponsor must be present or fill out a dd1172 form. However my parents refuse to fill out the form or allow me to renew my deers. they used the excuse that i have other insurance (which i do have and pay for) however i have been going to an army medical center with this WHOLE pregnancy seeing the same exact midwife i saw my whole pregnancy with my first and who also delivered him. They JUST told me yesterday they will not (mind you i have been asking them to do it for months) now i have only two weeks to figure something out. Not to mention i already have alot going on with preparing for labor, packing bags, arranging the nursery, plenty of last min shopping to do, keeping up with my 18 month old and FINALS! My id expires on the 21st i'm due the first week of May. I will be 38 weeks when it expires. Is there anyway around my parents. When i called this morning to speak with my midwife to tell her i have to switch hospitals the nurse i left the message with told me she doesn't think tricare can just drop me until i am done with this pregnancy. I asked my parents if they could just renew it so i could deliver him and that very same day they can take me off. They refused to and instead believe it is simple to just find a clinic that can get me in for 4 appointments in the next few weeks, one that will take my other insurance, register with the other hospital, speak with my insurance company to see if they will even pick up this pregnancy since i have been using tricare for it. I've already been having complications from stress and this last minute mess is not helping. in between my classes i have been calling all around, so far i have just been getting i can't do anything without my sponsor's signature. i'm waiting on the army human resources command to contact me back. i'm just curious if anyone has been in a similar situation and knows if i have any rights to continue my pregnancy with tricare. thanks in advance.

Will my husband be deploying? On April 7th, my husband called me and told me that we will be moving to Baumholder, Germany because he got stationed there. My husband received an email yesterday with the subject 'Assignment Readiness' and it stating this: You have been placed on assignment to a brigade combat team or other deploying unit. You are required to report to your gaining unit worldwide deployable. Our records indicate that you are worldwide deployable; if you believe that you are not worldwide deployable, you must immediately take action to ensure your records reflect your non-available status. To assist you in determining your medical availability for deployment, the following link to your AKO Medical Readiness web page is provided: <web address> For further guidance on availability for deployment, the following link to Army Human Resources Command BCT/deploying-unit readiness guidance is provided: <web address> Thank you for your service and best wishes on this challenging assignment! Does this mean my husband will be deploying, his unit MAY deploy, or do they call it 'worldwide deployable' because we're leaving the U.S? So does that mean that he will be deployed no matter what within the next three years of his tour?

What do I do about my DD 214 (discharge certificate)? I am prior service active duty Army and I want to join my local Army National Guard unit. I was discharged from the Army 2 years ago (Re Code: 1 Honorable Discharge) and I kept my DD 214 at my parents house. Well, they didn't know what a DD 214 was, and they put them in the garbage while they were cleaning out the house. Here is where I have tried to get another copy of my DD 214: National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO Army Human Resource Command My old unit My congressman Where can I get a copy? I have tried for the past 6 months to get a copy. If worse comes to worse can an Army National Guard recruiter process me without the DD 214? Thanks. I appreciate the answers, but archives.gov is the NPRC, which is on my list of where I tried to get my copy.

Where is my DD 214? I was in the Army for 3 months. I graduated BCT and I was in AIT when I was discharged (Uncharacterized Discharge, RE 3 JFW) because of a knee injury. I was discharged in February of 2006 and I have been trying to get my DD 214 off and on since that time. I have tried to obtain my DD 214 through the National Personnel Records Center (archives.gov in St. Louis), Army Human Resource Command, and from Ft. Sill (where I did my training). Since I was only in for 3 months do they even have a record of me being in the Army? Everyone always tells me to contact the place in St. Louis and I always get the letter in the mail saying they do not have a record of my service. What is next? Am I screwed? Could a recruiter get it for me? Please keep in mind, I have already tried the archives.gov place over 4 times. That always seems to be people's answer and I have already tried them. Thanks for the responses, I just requested my DD 214 from archives.gov, AGAIN!

Army DD-214 (Question about an employee)? Hello, I have a pretty random question about DD-214's, 1st, When someone goes to Ranger School, or Special Forces School/ SFAS, how would that look on a DD-214, Would it say "Spec Frces Crs" Short for special forces course? Or would it say somthing different. Also, how, and where dose Ranger School appear on a DD-214. I am asking this in an effort to find out weather or not I should call a CID agent or Detective about an employee I am promoting to Manager. If whats on his 214 matches up with what someone on here tells me, I will disregard the idea that it may be incorrect. Tried calling HRC (Human Resources Command) in St. Louis, GOT NOWHERE! Also called NPRC National Personnel Records Center, and they are not authorized to disclose the employees information with me (even though I already have it). Thank you for your time. Hey guys, thanks, I apperciate it. You guys got some serious expierence behind you, I will try and do the AARTS verification. As always, thank you for your service, and thank you for defending my country.

I am bangladeshi & MBA from bangladesh study centre of Royal roads university,canada. Can i get job in canada? I am MBA and also completed degree engineering in mechanical. I have also completed my post graduate diploma in Human Resource Management. I am having 15 years of service experience as an officer in the corps of Electrical & Mechanical Engineers of Bangladesh Army and holding the appointment like Officer commanding of various independent units; Acting Commanding Officer of Production Wing of Base Workshop; Workshop Manager of Base Workshop; Logistic Officer; Administration Officer of Field Workshop; Instructor of Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Centre & School; Deputy Assistant Director of EME (Staff appointment) and Deputation in UN Peace Keeping mission etc. Responsibilities mainly related with command, control and maintain the discipline of the unit. Looking after the welfare and administration of the subordinates; personal management; supervising the inspection, maintenance and repair of the automobile and equipment and special vehicles; carry out the inspection of vehicle and other equipments; procurement of spares & equipments , preparing & expending budget; controlling of a group of technical and non-technical peoples and acted staff officer. Expert in handling and troubleshooting of computer. I have also following field of expertise: (1) Administrative/General Management:Besides civil education experiences while working including with the exposure to civil-military organizational environment at national and international level made me confident in performing administrative responsibilities coordination among different braches, analyzing & evaluating problems areas, developing sets of alternative solutions and making prudent decisions. Supply & distribution of ration, POL, clothing and other stores. (2)Human Resources management (HRM):More than a decade of my service career as a military officer required me to perform all the HRM functions starting from recruiting of soldiers. For developing skill ness, increasing the professional efficiency I conducted 'On the Job Training' / courses/ cadre etc. Also prepared the carrier plan for the troops, taking step to fill up the vacancies and making them qualified for next promotion. (3)Disaster Management Experience:Several times, I have deployed my sub-unit in countries emergency, disaster management and relief works activities. Also perform duty to maintain the law and order situation. (4)Procurement & Provisioning Experience: As an officer, its a prime and major task for us. I was also experienced in UN Mission while serving under UNTEAT with the similar procurement & provisioning task. (5)Pre-shipment Inspection Experience : I have also experience of carrying out the pre-shipment inspection and signing a contractual agreement of 50 million US $ loan protocol between and Bangladesh. Can I have job in canada?

Holocust what do you think of this article? We take life for granted. I think we take a lot of the freedoms and the resources available to us in our blessed lives for granted. After reading the tragic line of events happening through out the horrifying era of the holocaust, I think its safe to conclude that we are the lucky ones. Just the basic necessities of food, water and shelter were more of a luxury then anything else for the victims of Hitler’s mindless torture. Even more so, the simple act of giving someone the dignity of being a human being was difficult for the Nazis to perform. Imagine living in that era, witnessing the deaths and separations of family and loved ones. Not being able to eat for days, not knowing that if you sleep tonight you will wake up alive tomorrow. Not knowing where your brother, sister, mother or dad might be. Not knowing what sick and evil plan the SS soldiers have in stored for you the next day. Not knowing if you will be shipped out to another concentration camp, or will you be put through the death chambers. How can you live like that? How do you find the courage to go on and not give up on life in general? But yet, these people did; and not because they were Jewish but because they had a strong will to survive and had the courage to face the barbaric acts of the Nazi army headfirst. And yet you would have to wonder why it happened, whatever happened to these people. Did they hurt anybody? Did they have a dislike towards the German people or Nazi army? Why did this happen to them, What’s the reason? For me there is only one explanation “Hatred”. Hatred towards the Jewish people for no particular reason other then the fact that they followed the jewish religion and were not good enough for Hitler and his vision of a mad world. Only a psychopath could think of something of this nature. What saddens me is that innocent people got caught in the cross fire between wars in between different countries of globe. Innocent women and children, who had no affiliation to no government whatsoever in general got caught in the middle and were tortured, put into concentration camps and brutally murdered. George Levy Mueller was such a person that was caught in this mayhem of madness created by Nazi soldiers under Hitler’s command. In his book “Lucie’s Hope”, he talks about the hardships and struggles of life he had to face at an early age. The story in his books follows an all too similar path which I read in previous holocaust books also. He grew up in a happy, rich family. His parents sent him to a catholic school , even though he was jewish because it was the best school in town. And then everything changed in the blink of an eye; The Nazi soldiers came, stripped his family of everything they had and everything they had worked for. George watched his father die after he was tortured by SS soldiers. His mother shipped him off along with his sister because she thought it was better for them this way. He was only 8 years old then. That is the last time he ever saw her. At a mere tender age of 14, when a lot of things are confusing to a growing teenager in the first place, he was forced to witness death and inhumane behavior by the Nazis on the Jewish people. When you are 14 and you are walking around a camp with a spoon in your hand in hopes of finding something to eat, then that gives you a pretty good idea of how bad things are in your life. There were times when he had to eat rations of food that had urine dumped on it. There were times when he had to witness a brother fight with his own brother just to munch on a few pieces of bread. The Nazis had reduced the prisoners at the camp to mere animals, and they were treating them like one too. They were ordered by the Nazis to wear the yellow Star of David, which would symbolize them as being jewish. George remembers being picked on and being made fun of because he was jewish, He was blamed for the killing of jesus even though he had nothing to do with that ordeal. He remembers having diarrhea constantly for 2 years. He remembers not being able to run like any normal kid, because his legs were so weak they would give way under him and he would fall. He remembers he would check the clothing of all the dead people around him and if they were better then the ones he had on already he would change them. His body was covered with lice all the time during his stay at the camps, He contracted typhus and thought that he was going to die. And yet, through all of this turmoil he did his best to take care of his sister Ursula, because that was a responsibility that his mother bestowed upon him before they got separated, and George intended to keep that promise no matter what. Amazing how you can find courage and resiliency in times of such hopelessness and pain. He remembers him and his sister were always moving from one camp to the other. The Nazis soldiers never told the prisoners where they were being moved off to and why. All the people could do was speculate and hope and pray for the best. Along the way, many people died because of extremely unhealthy environmental conditions. Some were sent to their death by shipping them to gas chambers or having them shot. They were usually people who had gotten too old or to sick to work and labor anymore for the Nazis. I have to wonder if all this killing and beating of people made George normal anymore, whether it still bothered him to watch people being gased or beaten to a bloody plump by the SS soldiers. I wonder if his heart became so numb from watching these acts of violence over and over again everyday, that it became normal for him and didn’t really bother him anymore. The Nazis took away his innocence; they took it away at a very young age as did they took away the innocence of thousand other children along with him in the concentration camps.

Job Search Recommendation on Employment? I am a recent retiree from the United States Army, I retired after a successful career of 24 yrs and I was able to attain the rank of Command Sergeant Major. Education: BS - Public Administration (Upper Iowa University) MA - Human Resource Development (Webster University) MBA - Emphasis in Management & Business Security(Webster University) Certification: Homeland Security (Upper Iowa University) Having serviced in the military for 24 yrs I am new to the Civilian Sector and all the employment jargon. Based off my education and military experience can anyone offer any points on possible employment and for a career military soldier.

Is this a good reason to increase security on the borders? This is a deadly combination, should Janet and obama be more concerned with border issues because of this? Secret Army Report: Drug Cartels, Terrorists Join Forces to Infiltrate U.S. Friday, June 5, 2009 6:53 PM By: Nat Helms A secret intelligence mission recently conducted along the southern border of the United States found that drug cartels are teaming with terrorists to exploit the numerous vulnerabilities along the sparsely defended 2,000-mile Mexican border. The mission, dubbed Operation Red Zone was conducted in February and March by the Army’s Asymmetrical Warfare Group (AWG). The clandestine intelligence gathering organization is a 350-member “special mission unit” that works to “identify critical threats and enemy and friendly vulnerabilities through global first-hand observations,” the Army says. The group is based at Ft. Meade, Maryland, also home to the National Security Agency. Red Zone investigators discovered numerous alien smuggling and drug trafficking operations along the border. Perpetrators are using “maritime surface craft, semi-submersible watercraft, ultra-light aircraft and possess the capability [to] utilize other potential aerial infiltration techniques to circumvent ground border protection capabilities,” according to Asymmetric Observations Along the U.S.- Mexican Border released May 14 by the Army to federal and state law enforcement agencies. “The AWG served as observers to advise the Border Patrol, Coast Guard and local law enforcement. During the operation AWG personnel were not authorized to enter Mexican territory and none were armed,” Donald Cicotte, spokesman for the AWG at Ft. Meade tells Newsmax. After the mission was completed, AWG personnel prepared a classified report for the Department of Defense. A “cleansed” version, like the one viewed by Newsmax, was sent to civilian law enforcement agencies “Obviously we don’t want to lose control of this [report,]” CiCotte adds. “We obviously don’t want to tell the bad guys what we know.” Operating behind the scenes on the project was Joint Task Force – North (JTF-N), a joint-service command headed by Army Brig. Gen. Sean B. McFarland. The 180-member task force helps local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies plan and coordinate activities to thwart drug cartels, human smugglers, and other emerging threats, JTF-N spokesman Armando Carrasco tells Newsmax. In this instance the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the San Diego area requested assistance identifying new threats and the AWG was recruited, he said. “We don’t have any resources of our own. We don’t have heavy equipment or helicopters. For instance we can’t call up an engineer battalion to build a road. We solicit units from all the services equipped with what we need and asked them for help,” Carrasco said. “We have three JAG attorneys that ensure we are legally authorized to perform the mission. The lawyers spell out in briefings to each unit that they cannot be deployed in a law enforcement role.” Militarty theorists define assymetrical threats as strategies and tactics used by ill-equipped terrorists and criminals to circumvent sophisticated defenses of more powerful governments. Common examples include clandestine cross-border infiltration, smuggling, and defeating sophisticated electronics and optical sensors with simple counter-measures. During the operation, the AWG worked with the Department of Homeland Security and state and local law enforcement in the San Diego area to “observe asymmetric infiltration operations and emerging asymmetric threats.” The Army investigators discovered that drug traffickers and smugglers are employing “exceptional surveillance and counter-surveillance capabilities, robust technical communications capabilities as well as effective marking and signaling techniques to facilitate smuggling of illegal personnel and illicit cargo into the United States,” the report says. Some of the aliens are suspected of being terrorists from Middle Eastern countries sneaking into the country by employing drug smugglers skilled in transporting human cargo into the United States, the report adds. Few of the tactics employed by the border busters appear sinister at first glance. In one example, the AWG reported seeing a woman setting up a road-side tamale stand on the south-side of the primary border fence. Upon investigation it was found that her car was parked pointing toward “known fence breach points” as a signal to border jumpers. Other seemingly innocent activities observed by the intelligence operatives revealed drug trafficking and “alien smuggling spotters” using taxis and other legitimate businesses located on the U.S. side of the border to monitor and report Border Patrol activities to criminals who pay them with drug proceeds. http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/mexico_border_fence/2009/06/05/222148.html There is more to the story but too long to post who

Poll: anyone here up for a good read? -- contains some violence/gore--? i know most P&Sers don't read. and that we're all lazy... but if you wouldn't mind giving your opinion, tht would be great! An explosion went off, shards of shrapnel flew everywhere rebounding off the walls of trenches or going home, into the leg, the arm or the face of an unsuspecting soldier. A man screamed, he held his face with one hand, his other was no longer existent due to it’s proximity to the initial blast. A large piece of metal protruded through the man’s left eye, blood drizzled down his hands, a sickly red liquid, he was lucky to survive, or maybe not. Screams echoed throughout the confined corridors of the narrow trenches. The noises reverberated off of the walls, distorting and amplifying to a degree where they were no longer recognisable as human, a sound that made hell seem peaceful. A thud sounded nearby, the wounded man looked up, his remaining eye revealing his pure horror, horror at the arrival of this enemy which he knew could not be defeated. They were merciless, really, an army of darkness, somewhat arisen from the very depths of the flames of hell. Or rather, they descended from the darkness of the blackest regions of space, from which evil may have utter control. The man began to turn, but not before he saw his commanding officer fly around the corner, or what was left of his commanding officer, his limbs where separated from the torso as they arched through the air. Everything went quiet, there was no screaming, no moaning of disembowelled men or no blast from explosions. The man had finished his turn now, he faced a corridor that would lead him back to safety, but something wasn’t quite right. Bending down, he picked up a stone and threw it, it passed through the air for several metres it seemed to rebound as it hit a solid surface, then it continued its path. The man blinked, he knew something was not right, but the enemy couldn’t possibly have managed it, the resources it would have taken. But then, war was unpredictable, as was this enemy. The corridor ahead began to swirl, as if being sucked down a vortex and being replace by a great, grey mass of metal. The man now knew his doom, the mechanism was one of the enemy’s most powerful weaponry systems, second only to the destructive firepower of their massive death-ships. It was designed to hunt, designed to kill, designed to finish the battle. The troops that had once come crawling out of the trenches opposite in a never ceasing volley could cause not even a tenth of the destruction this, this monster would deal. It began to upright itself, looming over the man, making his very existence seem superfluous. There was nothing else to do, except run, he turned and he sprinted through the winding corridors of the Godforsaken trenches. The machine was scanning the area, it’s heat vision looking for the yellow-red tinge emitted from the human body. There was nothing, just the cold blue, like the depths of the ocean. The machine stopped, various processes running through its mechanical mind. The order came from above, search and destroy. It reared up, a machine the size of a family home, it was based on the basic design of a human, two arms two legs. But there was no head, there was a slit travelling around the torso, allowing the mechanism a full three-sixty view. The machine was capable of producing ranged weaponry, rocket launchers, machine guns, lasers. At the moment it kept these withdrawn, maximising its armour. It began to search, stepping over the trenches and causing the ground to tremor. The man lay still, barely even breathing, a broken pipe poured water over the ground, the mud was the perfect place for him right now. He had managed to run before the machine fully recovered from the effort of producing the illusion. He knew not where he was going and was lucky enough to stumble across the supply tent. The only place in the trenches with plumbing, he had dug into the walls, one handed gasping in pain as he did so. The pipe was thin and rusty, it had broken apart easy, showering the ground in cool water, turning it to mud instantly. The man had then rolled in the mud, covering himself in it, with any luck the machine’s heat vision would not be able to penetrate. However, it wouldn’t completely fool the machine, he had only to hope that this one was inexperienced, judging by its use of melee rather than weaponry.

so, what do you think of the first 700 words, or so of this? i know, there may be spelling errors, grammatical errors and punctuation errors, i have a friend who says he can help me with that stuff though. this is just what i've written, it's fairly basic - be advised 'graphic' content. An explosion went off, shards of shrapnel flew everywhere rebounding off the walls of trenches or going home, into the leg, the arm or the face of an unsuspecting soldier. A man screamed, he held his face with one hand, his other was no longer existent due to it’s proximity to the initial blast. A large piece of metal protruded through the man’s left eye, blood drizzled down his hands, a sickly red liquid, he was lucky to survive, or maybe not. Screams echoed throughout the confined corridors of the narrow trenches. The noises reverberated off of the walls, distorting and amplifying to a degree where they were no longer recognisable as human, a sound that made hell seem peaceful. A thud sounded nearby, the wounded man looked up, his remaining eye revealing his pure horror, horror at the arrival of this enemy which he knew could not be defeated. They were merciless, really, an army of darkness, somewhat arisen from the very depths of the flames of hell. Or rather, they descended from the darkness of the blackest regions of space, from which evil may have utter control. The man began to turn, but not before he saw his commanding officer fly around the corner, or what was left of his commanding officer, his limbs where separated from the torso as they arched through the air. Everything went quiet, there was no screaming, no moaning of disembowelled men or no blast from explosions. The man had finished his turn now, he faced a corridor that would lead him back to safety, but something wasn’t quite right. Bending down, he picked up a stone and threw it, it passed through the air for several metres it seemed to rebound as it hit a solid surface, then it continued its path. The man blinked, he knew something was not right, but the enemy couldn’t possibly have managed it, the resources it would have taken. But then, war was unpredictable, as was this enemy. The corridor ahead began to swirl, as if being sucked down a vortex and being replace by a great, grey mass of metal. The man now knew his doom, the mechanism was one of the enemy’s most powerful weaponry systems, second only to the destructive firepower of their massive death-ships. It was designed to hunt, designed to kill, designed to finish the battle. The troops that had once come crawling out of the trenches opposite in a never ceasing volley could cause not even a tenth of the destruction this, this monster would deal. It began to upright itself, looming over the man, making his very existence seem superfluous. There was nothing else to do, except run, he turned and he sprinted through the winding corridors of the Godforsaken trenches. The machine was scanning the area, it’s heat vision looking for the yellow-red tinge emitted from the human body. There was nothing, just the cold blue, like the depths of the ocean. The machine stopped, various processes running through its mechanical mind. The order came from above, search and destroy. It reared up, a machine the size of a family home, it was based on the basic design of a human, two arms two legs. But there was no head, there was a slit travelling around the torso, allowing the mechanism a full three-sixty view. The machine was capable of producing ranged weaponry, rocket launchers, machine guns, lasers. At the moment it kept these withdrawn, maximising its armour. It began to search, stepping over the trenches and causing the ground to tremor. The man lay still, barely even breathing, a broken pipe poured water over the ground, the mud was the perfect place for him right now. He had managed to run before the machine fully recovered from the effort of producing the illusion. He knew not where he was going and was lucky enough to stumble across the supply tent. The only place in the trenches with plumbing, he had dug into the walls, one handed gasping in pain as he did so. The pipe was thin and rusty, it had broken apart easy, showering the ground in cool water, turning it to mud instantly. The man had then rolled in the mud, covering himself in it, with any luck the machine’s heat vision would not be able to penetrate. However, it wouldn’t completely fool the machine, he had only to hope that this one was inexperienced, judging by its use of melee rather than weaponry. --- in process-- constructive criticism would be great.. soz, i indent the paragraphs... that doesn't work on this. yeah, i forgot to take the 'hands' part out... and as for the pain... mmm, gotta work on that...

Job Search Recommendation on Employment? I am a recent retiree from the United States Army, I retired after a successful career of 24 yrs and I was able to attain the rank of Command Sergeant Major. Education: BS - Public Administration (Upper Iowa University) MA - Human Resource Development (Webster University) MBA - Emphasis in Management & Business Security(Webster University) Certification: Homeland Security (Upper Iowa University) Having serviced in the military for 24 yrs I am new to the Civilian Sector and all the employment jargon. Based off my education and military experience can anyone offer any points on possible employment and for a career military soldier.

Job Search Recommendation on Employment? I am a recent retiree from the United States Army, I retired after a successful career of 24 yrs and I was able to attain the rank of Command Sergeant Major. Education: BS - Public Administration (Upper Iowa University) MA - Human Resource Development (Webster University) MBA - Emphasis in Management & Business Security(Webster University) Certification: Homeland Security (Upper Iowa University) Having serviced in the military for 24 yrs I am new to the Civilian Sector and all the employment jargon. Based off my education and military experience can anyone offer any points on possible employment and for a career military soldier.

Job Search Recommendation on Employment? I am a recent retiree from the United States Army, I retired after a successful career of 24 yrs and I was able to attain the rank of Command Sergeant Major. Education: BS - Public Administration (Upper Iowa University) MA - Human Resource Development (Webster University) MBA - Emphasis in Management & Business Security(Webster University) Certification: Homeland Security (Upper Iowa University) Having serviced in the military for 24 yrs I am new to the Civilian Sector and all the employment jargon. Based off my education and military experience can anyone offer any points on possible employment and for a career military soldier.

What does the letter for military occupations signify? For example a Bravo vs a Foxtrot? Is there any rythm or reason? See below details: BRANCH 11 INFANTRY * 11A INFANTRY BRANCH 12 ARMOR * 12A ARMOR, GENERAL * 12B ARMOR * 12C CAVALRY BRANCH 13 FIELD ARTILLERY 13A FIELD ARTILLERY, GENERAL BRANCH 14 AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY 14A AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY, GENERAL * 14B SHORT-RANGE AIR DEFENSE (SHORAD) ARTILLERY 14D HAWK MISSILE AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY 14E PATRIOT MISSILE AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY BRANCH 15 AVIATION 15A AVIATION, GENERAL 15B AVIATION COMBINED ARMS OPERATIONS 15C AVIATION ALL-SOURCE INTELLIGENCE 15D AVIATION LOGISTICS BRANCH 18 SPECIAL FORCES * 18A SPECIAL FORCES BRANCH 21 CORPS OF ENGINEERS 21A ENGINEER, GENERAL 21B COMBAT ENGINEER 21D FACILITIES/CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT ENGINEER (FCCME) BRANCH 25 SIGNAL CORPS 25A SIGNAL, GENERAL BRANCH 31 MILITARY POLICE 31A MILITARY POLICE BRANCH 35 MILITARY INTELLIGENCE 35B STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE (RC) 35C IMAGERY INTELLIGENCE (IMINT) 35D ALL SOURCE INTELLIGENCE 35E COUNTER INTELLIGENCE (CI) 35F HUMAN INTELLIGENCE (HUMINT) 35G S IGNALS INTELLIGENCE/ELECTRONIC WARFARE (SIGINT/EW) BRANCH 38 CIVIL AFFAIRS 38A CIVIL AFFAIRS, GENERAL BRANCH 42 ADJUTANT GENERAL'S CORPS 42B PERSONNEL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT 42C ARMY BANDS BRANCH 44 FINANCE CORPS 44A FINANCE, GENERAL BRANCH 55 JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S CORPS 55A JUDGE ADVOCATE, GENERAL 55B MILITARY JUDGE BRANCH 56 CHAPLAIN 56A COMMAND AND UNIT CHAPLAIN 56D CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATOR BRANCHES 60-62 MEDICAL CORPS 60A OPERATIONAL MEDICINE 60B NUCLEAR MEDICINE OFFICER 60C PREVENTIVE MEDICINE OFFICER 60D OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE OFFICER 60F PULMONARY DISEASE OFFICER 60G GASTROENTEROLOGIST 60H CARDIOLOGIST 60J OBSTETRICIAN AND GYNECOLOGIST 60K UROLOGIST 60L DERMATOLOGIST 60M ALLERGIST, CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGIST 60N ANESTHESIOLOGIST 60P PEDIATRICIAN 60Q PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGIST 60R CHILD NEUROLOGIST 60S OPHTHALMOLOGIST 60T OTOLARYNGOLOGIST 60U CHILD PSYCHIATRIST 60V NEUROLOGIST 60W PSYCHIATRIST 61A NEPHROLOGIST 61B MEDICAL ONCOLOGIST/HEMATOLOGIST 61C ENDOCRINOLOGIST 61D RHEUMATOLOGIST 61E CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGIST 61F INTERNIST 61G INFECTIOUS DISEASE OFFICER 61H FAMILY PHYSICIAN 61J GENERAL SURGEON 61K THORACIC SURGEON 61L PLASTIC SURGEON 61M ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON 61N FLIGHT SURGEON 61P PHYSIATRIST 61Q THERAPEUTIC RADIOLOGIST 61R DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGIST 61U PATHOLOGIST 61W PERIPHERAL VASCULAR SURGEON 61Z NEUROSURGEON 62A EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN 62B FIELD SURGEON BRANCH 63 DENTAL CORPS 63A GENERAL DENTIST 63B COMPREHENSIVE DENTIST 63D PERIODONTIST 63E ENDODONTIST 63F PROSTHODONIST 63H PUBLIC HEALTH DENTIST 63K PEDIATRIC DENTIST 63M ORTHODONTIST 63N ORAL MAXILLOFACIAL SURGEON 63P ORAL PATHOLOGIST 63R EXECUTIVE DENTIST BRANCH 64 VETERINARY CORPS 64A FIELD VETERINARY SERVICE 64B VETERINARY PREVENTIVE MEDICINE 64C VETERINARY LABORATORY ANIMAL MEDICINE 64D VETERINARY PATHOLOGY 64E VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY 64F VETERINARY COMPARATIVE MEDICINE 64Z SENIOR VETERINARIAN (IMMATERIAL) BRANCH 65 ARMY MEDICAL SPECIALIST CORPS 65A OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 65B PHYSICAL THERAPY 65C DIETITIAN 65D PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT BRANCH 66 ARMY NURSE CORPS (ANC) 66C PSYCHIATRIC/MENTAL HEALTH NURSE 66E OPERATING ROOM NURSE 66F NURSE ANESTHETIST 66H MEDICAL-SURGICAL NURSE 66N GENERALIST NURSE BRANCH 67 MEDICAL SERVICE CORPS 67A HEALTH SERVICES 67B LABORATORY SCIENCES 67C PREVENTIVE MEDICINE SCIENCES 67D BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES 67E PHARMACY 67F OPTOMETRY 67G PODIATRY 67J AEROMEDICAL EVACUATION BRANCH 74 CHEMICAL 74A CHEMICAL, GENERAL 74B CHEMICAL OPERATIONS AND TRAINING 74C CHEMICAL MUNITIONS & MATERIEL MANAGEMENT BRANCH 88 TRANSPORTATION CORPS 88A TRANSPORTATION, GENERAL 88B TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT 88C MARINE AND TERMINAL OPERATIONS 88D MOTOR/RAIL TRANSPORTATION BRANCH 91 ORDNANCE 91A ORDNANCE, GENERAL 91B MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT 91D MUNITIONS MATERIEL MANAGEMENT 91E EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL BRANCH 92 QUARTERMASTER CORPS 92A QUARTERMASTER, GENERAL 92D AERIAL DELIVERY AND MATERIEL 92F PETROLEUM FA 24 INFORMATION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING 24A TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS ENGINEER 24B DATA SYSTEMS ENGINEER 24Z INFORMATION SYSTEMS ENGINEER FA 30 INFORMATION OPERATIONS (IO) 30A INFORMATION OPERATIONS OFFICER FA 34 STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE 34A STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE OFFICER FA 35 MILITARY INTELLIGENCE (USED WITH AOC 15C ONLY) 35D ALL SOURCE INTELLIGENCE 35G SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE ELECTRONIC WARFARE FA 39 PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS AND CIVIL AFFAIRS 39A PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS OR CIVIL AFFAIRS, GENERAL 39B PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS 39C CIVIL AFFAIRS 39X PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS AND CIVIL AFFAIRS, DESIGNATED FA 40 SPACE OPERATIONS 40A SPACE OPERATIONS FA 43 HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 43A HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT OFFICER FA 45 COMPTROLLER 45A COMPTROLLER FA 46 PUBLIC AFFAIRS 46A PUBLIC AFFAIRS, GENERAL 46B BROADCAST FA 47 USMA STABILIZED FACULTY 47A USMA, PROFESSOR 47C USMA, PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH 47D USMA, PROFESSOR OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCES 47F USMA, PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING 47G USMA, PROFESSOR OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES 47H USMA, PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS 47J USMA, PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL SCIENCES 47K USMA, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY 47L USMA, PROFESSOR OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES AND LEADERSHIP 47M USMA, PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY 47N USMA, PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 47P USMA, PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 47Q USMA, PROFESSOR AND ASSOCIATE DEAN 47R USMA, PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 47S USMA, PROFESSOR OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION FA 48 FOREIGN AREA OFFICER 48B LATIN AMERICA 48C EUROPE 48D SOUTH ASIA 48E EURASIA 48F CHINA 48G MIDEAST/NORTH AFRICA 48H NORTHEAST ASIA 48I SOUTHEAST ASIA 48J AFRICA, SOUTH OF THE SAHARA FA 49 OPERATIONS RESEARCH/SYSTEMS ANALYSIS (ORSA) 49A OPERATIONS RESEARCH, GENERAL 49W TRAINED, ORSA 49X UNTRAINED, ORSA FA 50 FORCE DEVELOPMENT 50A FORCE DEVELOPMENT FA 51 ACQUISITION 51A SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT 51C CONTRACTING AND INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT 51R SYSTEMS AUTOMATION ACQUISITION 51S RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING 51T TEST AND EVALUATION 51Z ACQUISITION FA 52 NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND OPERATIONS 52B NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND OPERATIONS FA 53 INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT 53A INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT 53X DESIGNATED SYSTEMS AUTOMATION FA 57 SIMULATIONS OPERATIONS 57A SIMULATIONS OPERATIONS OFFICER FA 59 STRATEGIC PLANS AND POLICY 59A STRATEGIC PLANS AND POLICY FA 90 LOGISTICS 90A LOGISTICS MFA 70 HEALTH SERVICES 70A HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION 70B HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION 70C HEALTH SERVICES COMPTROLLER 70D HEALTH SERVICES SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT 70E PATIENT ADMINISTRATION 70F HEALTH SERVICES HUMAN RESOURCES 70H HEALTH SERVICES PLANS, OPERATIONS, INTELLIGENCE, SECURITY, AND TRAINING 70K HEALTH SERVICES MATERIEL MFA 71 LABORATORY SCIENCES 71A MICROBIOLOGY 71B BIOCHEMISTRY 71E CLINICAL LABORATORY 71F RESEARCH PSYCHOLOGY MFA 72 PREVENTIVE MEDICINE SCIENCES 72A NUCLEAR MEDICAL SCIENCE 72B ENTOMOLOGY 72C AUDIOLOGY 72D ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 72E SANITARY ENGINEER MFA 73 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES 73A SOCIAL WORK 73B CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY IMMATERIAL CODES 01A OFFICER GENERALIST 02A COMBAT ARMS GENERALIST 05A ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT REPORTING CODES 00A DUTIES UNASSIGNED 00B GENERAL OFFICER 00C RELIEVED FROM DUTY, SICK IN HOSPITAL OR QUARTERS 00D NEWLY COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AWAITING ENTRY ON ACTIVE DUTY FOR OFFICER BASIC COURSE ATTENDANCE 00E STUDENT OFFICER OFFICER SKILL CODES CODE TITLE 3A JOINT DUTY ASSIGNMENT 3D GOVERNMENT CONTRACT LAW SPECIALIST 3E TACTICAL EXPLOITATION OF NATIONAL CAPABILITIES (TENCAP) * 3F NATIONAL SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 3G CLAIMS/LITIGATION SPECIALIST 3H JOINT PLANNER * 3J M1A2 ABRAMS TANK 3K JOINT COMMAND, CONTROL AND COMMUNICATIONS (C3) 3L JOINT SPECIALTY OFFICER 3N INTERNATIONAL LAW SPECIALIST 3Q STRATEGIC DEBRIEFER AND INTERROGATOR 3R FORCE MANAGEMENT 3S UNIT AIR MOVEMENTS OFFICER 3W NSA JUNIOR OFFICER CRYPTOLOGIC CAREER PROGRAM * 3X M2 BRADLEY INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLE/ M3 CAVALRY FIGHTING VEHICLE 3Y SPACE ACTIVITIES * 3Z MORTAR UNIT OFFICER 4B OPERATIONS RESEARCH/SYSTEMS ANALYSIS 4H BRANCH AUTOMATION OFFICER 4J POSTAL 4K ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 4M ARMY ACQUISITION CORPS CANDIDATE OFFICER 4P SECURITY ASSISTANCE 4R ROBOTICS 4S ATTACHÉ 4T RECRUITING OFFICER (RO) 4V MORTUARY AFFAIRS OFFICER * 4W UNDERWATER SPECIAL OPERATIONS * 4X MILITARY FREE FALL SPECIAL OPERATIONS 4Z CERTIFIED ARMY ACQUISITION CORPS OFFICER 5B VISUAL INFORMATION 5D RADIO FREQUENCY MANAGER 5H NUCLEAR CHEMICAL TARGET ANALYST 5J TECHNICAL ESCORT 5K INSTRUCTOR 5L NBC RECONNAISSANCE 5N INSPECTOR GENERAL 5P PARACHUTIST 5Q PATHFINDER * 5R RANGER * 5S RANGER-PARACHUTIST 5T EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ADVISOR 5U AIR OPERATIONS OFFICER 5V MARINE DIVER 5X HISTORIAN 5Y CIVIL DEFENSE OFFICER 6A DEFENSE SENSOR INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION TRAINING PROGRAM (DSIATP) 6C ECONOMIST 6D PUBLIC EDUCATION OFFICER 6E CIVILIAN SUPPLY OFFICER 6F PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OFFICER 6G PUBLIC FACILITIES OFFICER 6H PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER 6M MOBILIZATION AND DEMOBILIZATION OPERATIONS 6P MASTER FITNESS TRAINER 6R PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER 6U AGRICULTURAL OFFICER 6V CULTURAL AFFAIRS OFFICER 6W ARCHIVIST 6X ARMY RESEARCH ASSOCIATES PROGRAM 6Y INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT (IM) 6Z STRATEGIST 7E CHAPLAIN EDUCATION AND TRAINING 7F PASTORAL COORDINATOR 7H UPPER EXTREMITY MUSCULOSKELETAL EVALUATION 7K MARRIAGE AND FAMILY MINISTRIES 7M CHAPLAIN RESOURCE MANAGER 7Q TRAINING DEVELOPMENT 7R HOSPITAL MINISTRIES 7T CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST 8A INTENSIVE CARE 8D MIDWIFERY 8E NURSE PRACTITIONER 8F COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING 8G OBSTETRIC AND GYNECOLOGIC NURSING 8J INFECTION CONTROL 8T BLOOD BANKING 8Z MEDICAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, TEST AND EVALUATION 9A MEDICAL PROFICIENCY (ALL AMEDD CORPS) 9B MEDICAL PROFICIENCY (MC, DC, VC AND AMSC ONLY) 9C MEDICAL PROFICIENCY (MC, DC AND VC ONLY) 9D MEDICAL PROFICIENCY (MC, DC AND VC ONLY) 9E MEDICAL PROFICIENCY (MC AND DC ONLY 9I HEALTH FACILITIES PLANNER A2 OH-58A/C SCOUT PILOT A3 OH-58D SCOUT PILOT A4 OH-58D WARRIOR PILOT B1 UH-1 PILOT B2 UH-60 PILOT B5 EH-60 PILOT C2 CH-47D PILOT D2 AH-1Q/S PILOT D5 AH-64A PILOT D7 AH-64D PILOT E3 C-20 PILOT E5 C-12 PILOT E6 C-21 PILOT E7 C-23 PILOT E8 C-26 PILOT F3 RC-12 PILOT F4 RC-12K/N PILOT F5 O-5A/EO-5B/RC-7 PILOT G5 EXPERIMENTAL TEST PILOT G6 MAINTENANCE TEST PILOT G7 AVIATION RELATED G8 AVIATION SAFETY OFFICER * K4 SPECIAL OPERATIONS AVIATION (SOA) * K5 MH-60K PILOT * K6 MH-47E PILOT M1 ORTHOPEDIC PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT M2 EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT M3 AVIATION MEDICINE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT M4 CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE M5 EMERGENCY NURSING This is for the Army, but if you have knowlege of any branch please let me know.

Wouldn't you rather be suspicious and wrong than complacent and wrong? I know, I know, only tin-foil-hat types could harbor suspicions that our political class is capable of "malfeasance"... Senator Max Cleland - Former member of the 9/11 Commission, resigned in December 2003: "I, as a member of the [9/11] Commission, cannot look any American in the eye... It is a national scandal... this White House wants to cover [9/11] up." Senator Mark Dayton - Member, Senate Committee on Armed Services and Homeland Security: "[NORAD] lied to the American people, they lied to Congress and they lied to your 9/11 Commission.. .the most gross incompetence and dereliction of responsibility and negligence" Congressman Ron Paul - Vice Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee: “The [9/11] investigations that have been done so far are more or less cover-up and no real explanation" Congressman Curt Weldon: "[9/11 Commission] there's something very sinister going on here... something desperately wrong... This involved what is right now the covering up of information that led to the deaths of 3,000 people" Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney - Member of the House Armed Services Committee: “The [9/11] Commission ran up against obstruction by the administration and non-cooperation from government agencies... the errors and omissions immediately jumped out at us" Director of the FBI, Louis Freeh: "[9/11 Commission findings] raise serious challenges to the commission's credibility and, if the facts prove out, might just render the commission historically insignificant itself" Former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Paul Craig Roberts, PhD: "Distinguished national and international scientists and scholars present massive evidence that the 9/11 Commission Report is a hoax and that the 9/11 "terrorist attack" has been manipulated to serve a hegemonic agenda in the Middle East... We know that it is strictly impossible for any building, much less steel columned buildings, to "pancake" at free fall speed. Therefore, it is a non-controversial fact that the official explanation of the collapse of the WTC buildings is false" Assistant Secretary of Housing, Catherine Austin Fitts: "The official story could not possibly have happened... It’s not possible. It’s not operationally feasible... The Commission was a whitewash." U.S. Army Intelligence officer, Federal Prosecutor, Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Department of Justice, John Loftus: "The information provided by European intelligence services prior to 9/11 was so extensive that it is no longer possible for either the CIA or FBI to assert a defense of incompetence" Foreign Service Officer, George Kenney: "I cannot believe, much as I might like to, the standard account of 9/11" Foreign Service Officer, J. Michael Springman: "Fifteen of the nineteen people who allegedly flew airplanes into buildings in the United States got their visas from the same CIA Consulate at Jeddah" Deputy Attorney General, State of Pennsylvania, Philip J. Berg, Esquire: "The official story of what actually took place on 9/11 is a lie. " Major General U.S. Army, Commanding General of U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, Albert Stubblebine [his specialty – analyzing satellite photos]: "I look at the hole in the Pentagon and I look at the size of an airplane that was supposed to have hit the Pentagon. And I said, ‘The plane does not fit in that hole. So what did hit the Pentagon?’” Col. Ronald D. Ray, U.S. Marine Corps, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Deputy Director of Field Operations for the U.S. Marine Corps Historical Center: "I'm astounded that the conspiracy theory advanced by the administration could in fact be true and the evidence does not seem to suggest that's accurate." Col. Robert Bowman, U.S. Air Force, Director of Advanced Space Programs, PhD Aeronautics and Nuclear Engineering: "The official 9/11 story is impossible .. There is a cover up... high levels of our government don't want us to know what happened... highly placed individuals in the administration. ..Dick Cheney...the very kindest thing we can say about George W Bush...is high treason and conspiracy to commit murder." Col. George Nelson, U.S. Air Force, aircraft accident investigator: "I never witnessed nor even heard of an aircraft loss, where the wreckage was accessible, that prevented investigators from finding enough hard evidence to positively identify the make, model, and specific registration number of the aircraft -- and in most cases the precise cause of the accident... The government alleges that four wide-body airliners crashed on the morning of September 11 2001, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,000 human beings, yet not one piece of hard aircraft evidence has been produced in an attempt to positively identify any of the four aircraft. On the contrary, it seems only that all potential evidence was deliberately kept hidden from view .. with all the evidence readilty available at the pentagon crash site, any unbiased rational investigator could only conclude that a Boeing 757 did not fly into the Pentagon as alleged. Similarly, with all the evidence available at the Pennsylvania crash site, it was most doubtful that a passenger airliner caused the obvious hole in the ground and certainly not the Boeing 757 as alleged .. the most heinous conspiracy in outr country's history." Major Douglas Rokke, PhD, U.S. Army: [Regarding the impact at the Pentagon on 9/11/2001] "When you look at the damage, it was obviously a missile." Capt. Russ Wittenberg, U.S. Air Force, fighter pilot, commercial pilot flying 707, 720, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, and 777s. Had previously flown Flight 93, which impacted in Pennsylvania, and Flight 175, the second plane to hit the WTC: "The government story they handed us about 9/11 is total B.S. plain and simple...[Regarding Flight 77]"The airplane could not have flown at those speeds which they said it did without going into what they call a high speed stall. The airplane won't go that fast if you start pulling those high G maneuvers at those bank angles... The vehicle that hit the Pentagon was not Flight 77" Lt. Col. Karen U. Kwiatkowski, PhD, U.S. Air Force, Office of the Secretary of Defense, staff of the Director of the National Security Agency: "It is as a scientist that I have the most trouble with the official government conspiracy theory, mainly because it does not satisfy the rules of probability or physics. The collapses of the World Trade Center buildings clearly violate the laws of probability and physics...There was a dearth of visible debris on the relatively unmarked Pentagon, where I stood only minutes after the impact. Beyond this strange absence of airliner debris, there was no sign of the kind of damage one would expect from the impact of a large airliner... this visible evidence or lack thereof may also have been apparent to the Sec of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who in an unfortunate slip of the tongue referred to the aircraft that slammed into the Pentagon as a ' missile ' ... I saw nothing of significance at the point of contact ~ no airplane metal or cargo debris was blowing on the lawn in front of the damaged building as smoke billowed from within the Pentagon .. all of us staring at the Pentagon that morning were indeed looking for such debris, but what we expected was not evident .. the same is true with regard to the damage we expected .. but I did not see this kind of damage. Rather, the facade had a rather small hole, no larger than 20 feet in diameter. Although this facade later collapsed, it remained standing for 30 0r 40 minutes, with the roof remaining relatively straight .. The scene, in short, was not what I would have expected from a strike by a large jetliner. It was, however, exactly what one would have expected if a missile had struck the Pentagon " Senior Military Affairs Journalist at the Naval Postgraduate School, Barbara Honegger, MS: "The US military, not al Qaeda, had the sustained access weeks before 9/11 to also plant controlled demolition charges throughout the superstructures of WTC 1 and WTC 2, and in WTC 7, which brought down all three buildings on 9/11...A US military plane, not one piloted by al Qaeda, performed the highly skilled, high-speed 270-degree dive towards the Pentagon that Air Traffic Controllers on 9/11 were sure was a military plane as they watched it on their screens. Only a military aircraft, not a civilian plane flown by al Qaeda, would have given off the "Friendly" signal needed to disable the Pentagon's anti-aircraft missile batteries as it approached the building...Only the US military, not al Qaeda, had the ability to break all of its Standard Operating Procedures to paralyze its own emergency response system" Capt. Gregory M. Zeigler, PhD, U.S. Army, U.S. Army Intelligence Officer: "I knew from September 18, 2001, that the official story about 9/11 was false. ... [A]nomalies poured in rapidly: the hijackers' names appearing in none of the published flight passenger lists, BBC reports of stolen identities of the alleged hijackers or the alleged hijackers being found alive, the obvious demolitions of WTC 1 and 2...and WTC7...not hit by an airplane...the lack of identifiable Boeing 757 wreckage at the Pentagon" Capt. Eric H. May, U.S. Army, Intelligence officer: "I view the 911 event ...as a matter that implies either...A) passive participation by the Bush White House through a deliberate stand-down or B) active execution of a plot by rogue elements of government, starting with the White House itself, in creating a spectacle of destruction that would lead the United States into an invasion of the Middle East" Former Chairman, National Intelligence Estimates, CIA, responsible for preparing the President’s Daily Brief, U.S. Army Intelligence Officer, Raymond L. McGovern: "I think at simplest terms, there's a cover-up. The 9/11 report is a joke...just as Hitler in 1933 cynically exploited the burning of the parliament building, the Reichstag, this is exactly what our President did in exploiting 9/11...making a war of aggression on a country that he knew had nothing to do with 9/11...that' s certainly an impeachable offense...But compelling evidence for an even more disturbing conclusion: that the 9/11 attacks were themselves orchestrated by this administration precisely so they could be thus exploited." National Intelligence Officer and Director of the CIA's Office of Regional and Political Analysis, William Christison: "There is persuasive evidence that the events of September did not unfold as the Bush administration and the 9/11 Commission would have us believe. An airliner almost certainly did not hit The Pentagon. The North and South Towers of the World Trade Center almost certainly did not collapse and fall to earth because hijacked aircraft hit them...this all was totally an inside job. I have since decided that... at least some elements in this US government had contributed in some way or other to causing 9/11 to happen or at least allowing it to happen... The reason that the two towers in New York actually collapsed and fell all the way to the ground was controlled explosions rather than just being hit by two airplanes. All of the characteristics of these demolitions show that they almost had to have been controlled explosions.. . I think you almost have to look at the 9/11 Commission Report as a joke and not a serious piece of analysis at all... It's a monstrous crime." U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer, case officer CIA. Robert David Steele: "I am forced to conclude that there is sufficient evidence to indict (not necessarily convict) Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and others...This is, without question, the most important modern reference on state-sponsored terrorism, and also the reference that most pointedly suggests that select rogue elements within the US Government, most likely led by Dick Cheney with the assistance of George Tenet, Buzzy Kronguard, and others close to the Wall Street gangs, are the most guilty of state-sponsored terrorism... I'm absolutely certain that WTC 7 was brought down by controlled demolition and that as far as I'm concerned means that this case has not been properly investigated. There's no way that building could have come down without controlled demolition." CIA Case Officer, Specialist in the Middle East, Directorate of Operations, Awarded Career Intelligence Medal, Robert Baer: [Regarding the opinion there was an aspect of 'inside job' to 9/11 within the U.S. Government], "There is that possibility, the evidence points at it." Counter-terrorism expert in the Security Division of the federal Aviation Administration. Team leader of the FAA's Red (Terrorism) Team in the Federal Air Marshall program, Coast Guard officer, Bogdan Dzakovic: "At worst, I think the 9/11 Commission Report is treasonous." Minister of Justice, West Germany, Horst Ehmke, PhD: "Terrorists could not have carried out such an operation with four hijacked planes without the support of a secret service." State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Defense, West Germany, Andreas von Buelow, PhD: "The official story is so inadequate and far-fetched that there must be another one...This is unthinkable, without years-long support from secret apparatuses of the state and industry." President of Italy, Francesco Cossiga: "[9/11] could not be accomplished without infiltrations in the radar and flight security personnel." General Leonid Ivashov, Chief of Staff, Russian armed forces, Ministry of Defense: "Only secret services and their current chiefs or those retired but still having influence inside the state organizations have the ability to plan, organize and conduct an operation [9/11] of such magnitude... Osama bin Laden and "Al Qaeda" cannot be the organizers nor the performers of the September 11 attacks. They do not have the necessary organization, resources or leaders." Foreign Minister of Egypt, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal: "Bin Laden does not have the capabilities for an operation [9/11] of this magnitude. When I hear Bush talking about al-Qaida as if it was Nazi Germany or the communist party of the Soviet Union, I laugh because I know what is there. Bin Laden has been under surveillance for years: every telephone call was monitored and al-Qaida has been penetrated by American intelligence, Pakistani intelligence, Saudi intelligence, Egyptian intelligence. They could not have kept secret an operation that required such a degree of organisation and sophistication. " Chief of Staff, Pakistani Army, General Mirza Aslam Beg: "The information which is now coming up, goes to prove that involvement by the "rogue elements" of the U.S. military and intelligence organization is getting more obvious. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda definitely do not have the knowhow and the capability to launch such operations involving such high precision coordination, based on information and expertise." European Parliament, Committee on Security and Defense, Giulietto Chiesa: "Billions of people were given only one explanation. ...which is entirely false....everyone who dares to question it is treated as if he was a fool." French Army Intelligence and artillery officer, Col. Pierre-Henri Bunel, Expert in the effects of artillery weapons and explosives: "Image of the impact on the Pentagon is very instructive as to the nature of the explosion. ... It corresponds to a detonation of an explosive with high energetic power. The explosion does not correspond to a deflagration of kerosene...suggests a single engine flying vehicle much smaller in size than an airliner...resemble s the effects of anti-concrete hollow charges that I have been able to observe on a number of battlefields. ..lead me therefore to think that the detonation that struck the building was that of a high-powered hollow charge used to destroy hardened buildings and carried by an aerial vehicle, a missile." Safety Engineer and accident Analyst, National Safety Technology Authority, Finland, Heikki Kurttila, PhD: "Conclusion: The observed collapse time of WTC 7 was 6.5 seconds. That is only half a second longer than it would have taken for the top of the building to fall to the ground in a vacuum, and half a second shorter than the falling time of an apple when air resistance is taken into account. ... The great speed of the collapse and the low value of the resistance factor strongly suggest controlled demolition." Counter-Terrorism Officer, MI5 (Britain), David Shayler: "The available evidence indicates that people in key positions in the FBI, the State Department, the CIA and so on were not loyal to the Constitution; that they saw an opportunity in plans laid down by genuine Islamic terrorists to carry out an operation that would shock the world and would therefore justify U.S. adventurism in the middle East, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq." Chairman, 9/11 Commission, Thomas H. Kean, Former Governor of New Jersey: "FAA and NORAD officials advanced an account of 9/11 that was untrue...We, to this day, don't know why NORAD told us what they told us...It was just so far from the truth." Vice Chairman, 9/11 Commission, Lee Hamilton, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Homeland Security Advisory Council: "We got started late; we had a very short time frame...we did not have enough money...We had a lot of people strongly opposed to what we did. We had a lot of trouble getting access to documents and to people. ... So there were all kinds of reasons we thought we were set up to fail." 9/11 Commissioner, Timothy J. Roemer, PhD, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: "That panel members so distrusted testimony from Pentagon officials that they referred their concerns to the Pentagon's inspector general...We were extremely frustrated with the false statements we were getting." Senior Counsel, 9/11 Commission, John J. Farmer, Jr., Former Attorney General, NJ, Former Commissioner of the State Commission of Investigations: [Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon's initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public] - "I was shocked at how different the truth was from the way it was described... The tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years." "Taxes are not raised to carry on wars, wars are raised to ca

Special Immigrant Visas for Iraqi and Afghan Translators/Interpreters - FAQs For Applicants Living Overseas?

Poll: Did you like The Oddysey or The Iliad better? I liked the Iliad better. This was my favorite part: Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jove fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another. And which of the gods was it that set them on to quarrel? It was the son of Jove and Leto; for he was angry with the king and sent a pestilence upon the host to plague the people, because the son of Atreus had dishonoured Chryses his priest. Now Chryses had come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the sceptre of Apollo wreathed with a suppliant's wreath and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, who were their chiefs. "Sons of Atreus," he cried, "and all other Achaeans, may the gods who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam, and to reach your homes in safety; but free my daughter, and accept a ransom for her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Jove." On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away. "Old man," said he, "let me not find you tarrying about our ships, nor yet coming hereafter. Your sceptre of the god and your wreath shall profit you nothing. I will not free her. She shall grow old in my house at Argos far from her own home, busying herself with her loom and visiting my couch; so go, and do not provoke me or it shall be the worse for you." The old man feared him and obeyed. Not a word he spoke, but went by the shore of the sounding sea and prayed apart to King Apollo whom lovely Leto had borne. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the silver bow, that protectest Chryse and holy Cilla and rulest Tenedos with thy might, hear me oh thou of Sminthe. If I have ever decked your temple with garlands, or burned your thigh-bones in fat of bulls or goats, grant my prayer, and let your arrows avenge these my tears upon the Danaans." Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. He came down furious from the summits of Olympus, with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him. He sat himself down away from the ships with a face as dark as night, and his silver bow rang death as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. First he smote their mules and their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead were burning. For nine whole days he shot his arrows among the people, but upon the tenth day Achilles called them in assembly- moved thereto by Juno, who saw the Achaeans in their death-throes and had compassion upon them. Then, when they were got together, he rose and spoke among them. "Son of Atreus," said he, "I deem that we should now turn roving home if we would escape destruction, for we are being cut down by war and pestilence at once. Let us ask some priest or prophet, or some reader of dreams (for dreams, too, are of Jove) who can tell us why Phoebus Apollo is so angry, and say whether it is for some vow that we have broken, or hecatomb that we have not offered, and whether he will accept the savour of lambs and goats without blemish, so as to take away the plague from us." With these words he sat down, and Calchas son of Thestor, wisest of augurs, who knew things past present and to come, rose to speak. He it was who had guided the Achaeans with their fleet to Ilius, through the prophesyings with which Phoebus Apollo had inspired him. With all sincerity and goodwill he addressed them thus:- "Achilles, loved of heaven, you bid me tell you about the anger of King Apollo, I will therefore do so; but consider first and swear that you will stand by me heartily in word and deed, for I know that I shall offend one who rules the Argives with might, to whom all the Achaeans are in subjection. A plain man cannot stand against the anger of a king, who if he swallow his displeasure now, will yet nurse revenge till he has wreaked it. Consider, therefore, whether or no you will protect me." And Achilles answered, "Fear not, but speak as it is borne in upon you from heaven, for by Apollo, Calchas, to whom you pray, and whose oracles you reveal to us, not a Danaan at our ships shall lay his hand upon you, while I yet live to look upon the face of the earth- no, not though you name Agamemnon himself, who is by far the foremost of the Achaeans." Thereon the seer spoke boldly. "The god," he said, "is angry neither about vow nor hecatomb, but for his priest's sake, whom Agamemnon has dishonoured, in that he would not free his daughter nor take a ransom for her; therefore has he sent these evils upon us, and will yet send others. He will not deliver the Danaans from this pestilence till Agamemnon has restored the girl without fee or ransom to her father, and has sent a holy hecatomb to Chryse. Thus we may perhaps appease him." With these words he sat down, and Agamemnon rose in anger. His heart was black with rage, and his eyes flashed fire as he scowled on Calchas and said, "Seer of evil, you never yet prophesied smooth things concerning me, but have ever loved to foretell that which was evil. You have brought me neither comfort nor performance; and now you come seeing among Danaans, and saying that Apollo has plagued us because I would not take a ransom for this girl, the daughter of Chryses. I have set my heart on keeping her in my own house, for I love her better even than my own wife Clytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in form and feature, in understanding and accomplishments. Still I will give her up if I must, for I would have the people live, not die; but you must find me a prize instead, or I alone among the Argives shall be without one. This is not well; for you behold, all of you, that my prize is to go elsewhither." And Achilles answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, covetous beyond all mankind, how shall the Achaeans find you another prize? We have no common store from which to take one. Those we took from the cities have been awarded; we cannot disallow the awards that have been made already. Give this girl, therefore, to the god, and if ever Jove grants us to sack the city of Troy we will requite you three and fourfold." Then Agamemnon said, "Achilles, valiant though you be, you shall not thus outwit me. You shall not overreach and you shall not persuade me. Are you to keep your own prize, while I sit tamely under my loss and give up the girl at your bidding? Let the Achaeans find me a prize in fair exchange to my liking, or I will come and take your own, or that of Ajax or of Ulysses; and he to whomsoever I may come shall rue my coming. But of this we will take thought hereafter; for the present, let us draw a ship into the sea, and find a crew for her expressly; let us put a hecatomb on board, and let us send Chryseis also; further, let some chief man among us be in command, either Ajax, or Idomeneus, or yourself, son of Peleus, mighty warrior that you are, that we may offer sacrifice and appease the the anger of the god." Achilles scowled at him and answered, "You are steeped in insolence and lust of gain. With what heart can any of the Achaeans do your bidding, either on foray or in open fighting? I came not warring here for any ill the Trojans had done me. I have no quarrel with them. They have not raided my cattle nor my horses, nor cut down my harvests on the rich plains of Phthia; for between me and them there is a great space, both mountain and sounding sea. We have followed you, Sir Insolence! for your pleasure, not ours- to gain satisfaction from the Trojans for your shameless self and for Menelaus. You forget this, and threaten to rob me of the prize for which I have toiled, and which the sons of the Achaeans have given me. Never when the Achaeans sack any rich city of the Trojans do I receive so good a prize as you do, though it is my hands that do the better part of the fighting. When the sharing comes, your share is far the largest, and I, forsooth, must go back to my ships, take what I can get and be thankful, when my labour of fighting is done. Now, therefore, I shall go back to Phthia; it will be much better for me to return home with my ships, for I will not stay here dishonoured to gather gold and substance for you." And Agamemnon answered, "Fly if you will, I shall make you no prayers to stay you. I have others here who will do me honour, and above all Jove, the lord of counsel. There is no king here so hateful to me as you are, for you are ever quarrelsome and ill affected. What though you be brave? Was it not heaven that made you so? Go home, then, with your ships and comrades to lord it over the Myrmidons. I care neither for you nor for your anger; and thus will I do: since Phoebus Apollo is taking Chryseis from me, I shall send her with my ship and my followers, but I shall come to your tent and take your own prize Briseis, that you may learn how much stronger I am than you are, and that another may fear to set himself up as equal or comparable with me." The son of Peleus was furious, and his heart within his shaggy breast was divided whether to draw his sword, push the others aside, and kill the son of Atreus, or to restrain himself and check his anger. While he was thus in two minds, and was drawing his mighty sword from its scabbard, Minerva came down from heaven (for Juno had sent her in the love she bore to them both), and seized the son of Peleus by his yellow hair, visible to him alone, for of the others no man could see her. Achilles turned in amaze, and by the fire that flashed from her eyes at once knew that she was Minerva. "Why are you here," said he, "daughter of aegis-bearing Jove? To see the pride of Agamemnon, son of Atreus? Let me tell you- and it shall surely be- he shall pay for this insolence with his life." And Minerva said, "I come from heaven, if you will hear me, to bid you stay your anger. Juno has sent me, who cares for both of you alike. Cease, then, this brawling, and do not draw your sword; rail at him if you will, and your railing will not be vain, for I tell you- and it shall surely be- that you shall hereafter receive gifts three times as splendid by reason of this present insult. Hold, therefore, and obey." "Goddess," answered Achilles, "however angry a man may be, he must do as you two command him. This will be best, for the gods ever hear the prayers of him who has obeyed them." He stayed his hand on the silver hilt of his sword, and thrust it back into the scabbard as Minerva bade him. Then she went back to Olympus among the other gods, and to the house of aegis-bearing Jove. But the son of Peleus again began railing at the son of Atreus, for he was still in a rage. "Wine-bibber," he cried, "with the face of a dog and the heart of a hind, you never dare to go out with the host in fight, nor yet with our chosen men in ambuscade. You shun this as you do death itself. You had rather go round and rob his prizes from any man who contradicts you. You devour your people, for you are king over a feeble folk; otherwise, son of Atreus, henceforward you would insult no man. Therefore I say, and swear it with a great oath- nay, by this my sceptre which shalt sprout neither leaf nor shoot, nor bud anew from the day on which it left its parent stem upon the mountains- for the axe stripped it of leaf and bark, and now the sons of the Achaeans bear it as judges and guardians of the decrees of heaven- so surely and solemnly do I swear that hereafter they shall look fondly for Achilles and shall not find him. In the day of your distress, when your men fall dying by the murderous hand of Hector, you shall not know how to help them, and shall rend your heart with rage for the hour when you offered insult to the bravest of the Achaeans." With this the son of Peleus dashed his gold-bestudded sceptre on the ground and took his seat, while the son of Atreus was beginning fiercely from his place upon the other side. Then uprose smooth-tongued Nestor, the facile speaker of the Pylians, and the words fell from his lips sweeter than honey. Two generations of men born and bred in Pylos had passed away under his rule, and he was now reigning over the third. With all sincerity and goodwill, therefore, he addressed them thus:- "Of a truth," he said, "a great sorrow has befallen the Achaean land. Surely Priam with his sons would rejoice, and the Trojans be glad at heart if they could hear this quarrel between you two, who are so excellent in fight and counsel. I am older than either of you; therefore be guided by me. Moreover I have been the familiar friend of men even greater than you are, and they did not disregard my counsels. Never again can I behold such men as Pirithous and Dryas shepherd of his people, or as Caeneus, Exadius, godlike Polyphemus, and Theseus son of Aegeus, peer of the immortals. These were the mightiest men ever born upon this earth: mightiest were they, and when they fought the fiercest tribes of mountain savages they utterly overthrew them. I came from distant Pylos, and went about among them, for they would have me come, and I fought as it was in me to do. Not a man now living could withstand them, but they heard my words, and were persuaded by them. So be it also with yourselves, for this is the more excellent way. Therefore, Agamemnon, though you be strong, take not this girl away, for the sons of the Achaeans have already given her to Achilles; and you, Achilles, strive not further with the king, for no man who by the grace of Jove wields a sceptre has like honour with Agamemnon. You are strong, and have a goddess for your mother; but Agamemnon is stronger than you, for he has more people under him. Son of Atreus, check your anger, I implore you; end this quarrel with Achilles, who in the day of battle is a tower of strength to the Achaeans." And Agamemnon answered, "Sir, all that you have said is true, but this fellow must needs become our lord and master: he must be lord of all, king of all, and captain of all, and this shall hardly be. Granted that the gods have made him a great warrior, have they also given him the right to speak with railing?" Achilles interrupted him. "I should be a mean coward," he cried, "were I to give in to you in all things. Order other people about, not me, for I shall obey no longer. Furthermore I say- and lay my saying to your heart- I shall fight neither you nor any man about this girl, for those that take were those also that gave. But of all else that is at my ship you shall carry away nothing by force. Try, that others may see; if you do, my spear shall be reddened with your blood." When they had quarrelled thus angrily, they rose, and broke up the assembly at the ships of the Achaeans. The son of Peleus went back to his tents and ships with the son of Menoetius and his company, while Agamemnon drew a vessel into the water and chose a crew of twenty oarsmen. He escorted Chryseis on board and sent moreover a hecatomb for the god. And Ulysses went as captain. These, then, went on board and sailed their ways over the sea. But the son of Atreus bade the people purify themselves; so they purified themselves and cast their filth into the sea. Then they offered hecatombs of bulls and goats without blemish on the sea-shore, and the smoke with the savour of their sacrifice rose curling up towards heaven. Thus did they busy themselves throughout the host. But Agamemnon did not forget the threat that he had made Achilles, and called his trusty messengers and squires Talthybius and Eurybates. "Go," said he, "to the tent of Achilles, son of Peleus; take Briseis by the hand and bring her hither; if he will not give her I shall come with others and take her- which will press him harder." He charged them straightly further and dismissed them, whereon they went their way sorrowfully by the seaside, till they came to the tents and ships of the Myrmidons. They found Achilles sitting by his tent and his ships, and ill-pleased he was when he beheld them. They stood fearfully and reverently before him, and never a word did they speak, but he knew them and said, "Welcome, heralds, messengers of gods and men; draw near; my quarrel is not with you but with Agamemnon who has sent you for the girl Briseis. Therefore, Patroclus, bring her and give her to them, but let them be witnesses by the blessed gods, by mortal men, and by the fierceness of Agamemnon's anger, that if ever again there be need of me to save the people from ruin, they shall seek and they shall not find. Agamemnon is mad with rage and knows not how to look before and after that the Achaeans may fight by their ships in safety." Patroclus did as his dear comrade had bidden him. He brought Briseis from the tent and gave her over to the heralds, who took her with them to the ships of the Achaeans- and the woman was loth to go. Then Achilles went all alone by the side of the hoar sea, weeping and looking out upon the boundless waste of waters. He raised his hands in prayer to his immortal mother, "Mother," he cried, "you bore me doomed to live but for a little season; surely Jove, who thunders from Olympus, might have made that little glorious. It is not so. Agamemnon, son of Atreus, has done me dishonour, and has robbed me of my prize by force." As he spoke he wept aloud, and his mother heard him where she was sitting in the depths of the sea hard by the old man her father. Forthwith she rose as it were a grey mist out of the waves, sat down before him as he stood weeping, caressed him with her hand, and said, "My son, why are you weeping? What is it that grieves you? Keep it not from me, but tell me, that we may know it together." Achilles drew a deep sigh and said, "You know it; why tell you what you know well already? We went to Thebe the strong city of Eetion, sacked it, and brought hither the spoil. The sons of the Achaeans shared it duly among themselves, and chose lovely Chryseis as the meed of Agamemnon; but Chryses, priest of Apollo, came to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the sceptre of Apollo, wreathed with a suppliant's wreath, and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus who were their chiefs. "On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away. So he went back in anger, and Apollo, who loved him dearly, heard his prayer. Then the god sent a deadly dart upon the Argives, and the people died thick on one another, for the arrows went everywhither among the wide host of the Achaeans. At last a seer in the fulness of his knowledge declared to us the oracles of Apollo, and I was myself first to say that we should appease him. Whereon the son of Atreus rose in anger, and threatened that which he has since done. The Achaeans are now taking the girl in a ship to Chryse, and sending gifts of sacrifice to the god; but the heralds have just taken from my tent the daughter of Briseus, whom the Achaeans had awarded to myself. "Help your brave son, therefore, if you are able. Go to Olympus, and if you have ever done him service in word or deed, implore the aid of Jove. Ofttimes in my father's house have I heard you glory in that you alone of the immortals saved the son of Saturn from ruin, when the others, with Juno, Neptune, and Pallas Minerva would have put him in bonds. It was you, goddess, who delivered him by calling to Olympus the hundred-handed monster whom gods call Briareus, but men Aegaeon, for he is stronger even than his father; when therefore he took his seat all-glorious beside the son of Saturn, the other gods were afraid, and did not bind him. Go, then, to him, remind him of all this, clasp his knees, and bid him give succour to the Trojans. Let the Achaeans be hemmed in at the sterns of their ships, and perish on the sea-shore, that they may reap what joy they may of their king, and that Agamemnon may rue his blindness in offering insult to the foremost of the Achaeans." Thetis wept and answered, "My son, woe is me that I should have borne or suckled you. Would indeed that you had lived your span free from all sorrow at your ships, for it is all too brief; alas, that you should be at once short of life and long of sorrow above your peers: woe, therefore, was the hour in which I bore you; nevertheless I will go to the snowy heights of Olympus, and tell this tale to Jove, if he will hear our prayer: meanwhile stay where you are with your ships, nurse your anger against the Achaeans, and hold aloof from fight. For Jove went yesterday to Oceanus, to a feast among the Ethiopians, and the other gods went with him. He will return to Olympus twelve days hence; I will then go to his mansion paved with bronze and will beseech him; nor do I doubt that I shall be able to persuade him." On this she left him, still furious at the loss of her that had been taken from him. Meanwhile Ulysses reached Chryse with the hecatomb. When they had come inside the harbour they furled the sails and laid them in the ship's hold; they slackened the forestays, lowered the mast into its place, and rowed the ship to the place where they would have her lie; there they cast out their mooring-stones and made fast the hawsers. They then got out upon the sea-shore and landed the hecatomb for Apollo; Chryseis also left the ship, and Ulysses led her to the altar to deliver her into the hands of her father. "Chryses," said he, "King Agamemnon has sent me to bring you back your child, and to offer sacrifice to Apollo on behalf of the Danaans, that we may propitiate the god, who has now brought sorrow upon the Argives." So saying he gave the girl over to her father, who received her gladly, and they ranged the holy hecatomb all orderly round the altar of the god. They washed their hands and took up the barley-meal to sprinkle over the victims, while Chryses lifted up his hands and prayed aloud on their behalf. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the silver bow, that protectest Chryse and holy Cilla, and rulest Tenedos with thy might. Even as thou didst hear me aforetime when I prayed, and didst press hardly upon the Achaeans, so hear me yet again, and stay this fearful pestilence from the Danaans." Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal, they drew back the heads of the victims and killed and flayed them. They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, set some pieces of raw meat on the top of them, and then Chryses laid them on the wood fire and poured wine over them, while the young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in their hands. When the thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon the spits, roasted them till they were done, and drew them off: then, when they had finished their work and the feast was ready, they ate it, and every man had his full share, so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, pages filled the mixing-bowl with wine and water and handed it round, after giving every man his drink-offering. Thus all day long the young men worshipped the god with song, hymning him and chaunting the joyous paean, and the god took pleasure in their voices; but when the sun went down, and it came on dark, they laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the ship, and when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they again set sail for the host of the Achaeans. Apollo sent them a fair wind, so they raised their mast and hoisted their white sails aloft. As the sail bellied with the wind the ship flew through the deep blue water, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. When they reached the wide-stretching host of the Achaeans, they drew the vessel ashore, high and dry upon the sands, set her strong props beneath her, and went their ways to their own tents and ships. But Achilles abode at his ships and nursed his anger. He went not to the honourable assembly, and sallied not forth to fight, but gnawed at his own heart, pining for battle and the war-cry. Now after twelve days the immortal gods came back in a body to Olympus, and Jove led the way. Thetis was not unmindful of the charge her son had laid upon her, so she rose from under the sea and went through great heaven with early morning to Olympus, where she found the mighty son of Saturn sitting all alone upon its topmost ridges. She sat herself down before him, and with her left hand seized his knees, while with her right she caught him under the chin, and besought him, saying- "Father Jove, if I ever did you service in word or deed among the immortals, hear my prayer, and do honour to my son, whose life is to be cut short so early. King Agamemnon has dishonoured him by taking his prize and keeping her. Honour him then yourself, Olympian lord of counsel, and grant victory to the Trojans, till the Achaeans give my son his due and load him with riches in requital." Jove sat for a while silent, and without a word, but Thetis still kept firm hold of his knees, and besought him a second time. "Incline your head," said she, "and promise me surely, or else deny me- for you have nothing to fear- that I may learn how greatly you disdain me." At this Jove was much troubled and answered, "I shall have trouble if you set me quarrelling with Juno, for she will provoke me with her taunting speeches; even now she is always railing at me before the other gods and accusing me of giving aid to the Trojans. Go back now, lest she should find out. I will consider the matter, and will bring it about as wish. See, I incline my head that you believe me. This is the most solemn that I can give to any god. I never recall my word, or deceive, or fail to do what I say, when I have nodded my head." As he spoke the son of Saturn bowed his dark brows, and the ambrosial locks swayed on his immortal head, till vast Olympus reeled. When the pair had thus laid their plans, they parted- Jove to his house, while the goddess quitted the splendour of Olympus, and plunged into the depths of the sea. The gods rose from their seats, before the coming of their sire. Not one of them dared to remain sitting, but all stood up as he came among them. There, then, he took his seat. But Juno, when she saw him, knew that he and the old merman's daughter, silver-footed Thetis, had been hatching mischief, so she at once began to upbraid him. "Trickster," she cried, "which of the gods have you been taking into your counsels now? You are always settling matters in secret behind my back, and have never yet told me, if you could help it, one word of your intentions." "Juno," replied the sire of gods and men, "you must not expect to be informed of all my counsels. You are my wife, but you would find it hard to understand them. When it is proper for you to hear, there is no one, god or man, who will be told sooner, but when I mean to keep a matter to myself, you must not pry nor ask questions." "Dread son of Saturn," answered Juno, "what are you talking about? I? Pry and ask questions? Never. I let you have your own way in everything. Still, I have a strong misgiving that the old merman's daughter Thetis has been talking you over, for she was with you and had hold of your knees this self-same morning. I believe, therefore, that you have been promising her to give glory to Achilles, and to kill much people at the ships of the Achaeans." "Wife," said Jove, "I can do nothing but you suspect me and find it out. You will take nothing by it, for I shall only dislike you the more, and it will go harder with you. Granted that it is as you say; I mean to have it so; sit down and hold your tongue as I bid you for if I once begin to lay my hands about you, though all heaven were on your side it would profit you nothing." On this Juno was frightened, so she curbed her stubborn will and sat down in silence. But the heavenly beings were disquieted throughout the house of Jove, till the cunning workman Vulcan began to try and pacify his mother Juno. "It will be intolerable," said he, "if you two fall to wrangling and setting heaven in an uproar about a pack of mortals. If such ill counsels are to prevail, we shall have no pleasure at our banquet. Let me then advise my mother- and she must herself know that it will be better- to make friends with my dear father Jove, lest he again scold her and disturb our feast. If the Olympian Thunderer wants to hurl us all from our seats, he can do so, for he is far the strongest, so give him fair words, and he will then soon be in a good humour with us." As he spoke, he took a double cup of nectar, and placed it in his mother's hand. "Cheer up, my dear mother," said he, "and make the best of it. I love you dearly, and should be very sorry to see you get a thrashing; however grieved I might be, I could not help for there is no standing against Jove. Once before when I was trying to help you, he caught me by the foot and flung me from the heavenly threshold. All day long from morn till eve, was I falling, till at sunset I came to ground in the island of Lemnos, and there I lay, with very little life left in me, till the Sintians came and tended me." Juno smiled at this, and as she smiled she took the cup from her son's hands. Then Vulcan drew sweet nectar from the mixing-bowl, and served it round among the gods, going from left to right; and the blessed gods laughed out a loud applause as they saw him ing bustling about the heavenly mansion. Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and every one had his full share, so that all were satisfied. Apollo struck his lyre, and the Muses lifted up their sweet voices, calling and answering one another. But when the sun's glorious light had faded, they went home to bed, each in his own abode, which lame Vulcan with his consummate skill had fashioned for them. So Jove, the Olympian Lord of Thunder, hied him to the bed in which he always slept; and when he had got on to it he went to sleep, with Juno of the golden throne by his side. Now the other gods and the armed warriors on the plain slept soundly, but Jove was wakeful, for he was thinking how to do honour to Achilles, and destroyed much people at the ships of the Achaeans. In the end he deemed it would be best to send a lying dream to King Agamemnon; so he called one to him and said to it, "Lying Dream, go to the ships of the Achaeans, into the tent of Agamemnon, and say to him word to word as I now bid you. Tell him to get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for he shall take Troy. There are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Juno has brought them to her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans." The dream went when it had heard its message, and soon reached the ships of the Achaeans. It sought Agamemnon son of Atreus and found him in his tent, wrapped in a profound slumber. It hovered over his head in the likeness of Nestor, son of Neleus, whom Agamemnon honoured above all his councillors, and said:- "You are sleeping, son of Atreus; one who has the welfare of his host and so much other care upon his shoulders should dock his sleep. Hear me at once, for I come as a messenger from Jove, who, though he be not near, yet takes thought for you and pities you. He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for you shall take Troy. There are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Juno has brought them over to her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans at the hands of Jove. Remember this, and when you wake see that it does not escape you." The dream then left him, and he thought of things that were, surely not to be accomplished. He thought that on that same day he was to take the city of Priam, but he little knew what was in the mind of Jove, who had many another hard-fought fight in store alike for Danaans and Trojans. Then presently he woke, with the divine message still ringing in his ears; so he sat upright, and put on his soft shirt so fair and new, and over this his heavy cloak. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, and slung his silver-studded sword about his shoulders; then he took the imperishable staff of his father, and sallied forth to the ships of the Achaeans. The goddess Dawn now wended her way to vast Olympus that she might herald day to Jove and to the other immortals, and Agamemnon sent the criers round to call the people in assembly; so they called them and the people gathered thereon. But first he summoned a meeting of the elders at the ship of Nestor king of Pylos, and when they were assembled he laid a cunning counsel before them. "My friends," said he, "I have had a dream from heaven in the dead of night, and its face and figure resembled none but Nestor's. It hovered over my head and said, 'You are sleeping, son of Atreus; one who has the welfare of his host and so much other care upon his shoulders should dock his sleep. Hear me at once, for I am a messenger from Jove, who, though he be not near, yet takes thought for you and pities you. He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for you shall take Troy. There are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Juno has brought them over to her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans at the hands of Jove. Remember this.' The dream then vanished and I awoke. Let us now, therefore, arm the sons of the Achaeans. But it will be well that I should first sound them, and to this end I will tell them to fly with their ships; but do you others go about among the host and prevent their doing so." He then sat down, and Nestor the prince of Pylos with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: "My friends," said he, "princes and councillors of the Argives, if any other man of the Achaeans had told us of this dream we should have declared it false, and would have had nothing to do with it. But he who has seen it is the foremost man among us; we must therefore set about getting the people under arms." With this he led the way from the assembly, and the other sceptred kings rose with him in obedience to the word of Agamemnon; but the people pressed forward to hear. They swarmed like bees that sally from some hollow cave and flit in countless throng among the spring flowers, bunched in knots and clusters; even so did the mighty multitude pour from ships and tents to the assembly, and range themselves upon the wide-watered shore, while among them ran Wildfire Rumour, messenger of Jove, urging them ever to the fore. Thus they gathered in a pell-mell of mad confusion, and the earth groaned under the tramp of men as the people sought their places. Nine heralds went crying about among them to stay their tumult and bid them listen to the kings, till at last they were got into their several places and ceased their clamour. Then King Agamemnon rose, holding his sceptre. This was the work of Vulcan, who gave it to Jove the son of Saturn. Jove gave it to Mercury, slayer of Argus, guide and guardian. King Mercury gave it to Pelops, the mighty charioteer, and Pelops to Atreus, shepherd of his people. Atreus, when he died, left it to Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes in his turn left it to be borne by Agamemnon, that he might be lord of all Argos and of the isles. Leaning, then, on his sceptre, he addressed the Argives. "My friends," he said, "heroes, servants of Mars, the hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me. Cruel Jove gave me his solemn promise that I should sack the city of Priam before returning, but he has played me false, and is now bidding me go ingloriously back to Argos with the loss of much people. Such is the will of Jove, who has laid many a proud city in the dust, as he will yet lay others, for his power is above all. It will be a sorry tale hereafter that an Achaean host, at once so great and valiant, battled in vain against men fewer in number than themselves; but as yet the end is not in sight. Think that the Achaeans and Trojans have sworn to a solemn covenant, and that they have each been numbered- the Trojans by the roll of their householders, and we by companies of ten; think further that each of our companies desired to have a Trojan householder to pour out their wine; we are so greatly more in number that full many a company would have to go without its cup-bearer. But they have in the town allies from other places, and it is these that hinder me from being able to sack the rich city of Ilius. Nine of Jove years are gone; the timbers of our ships have rotted; their tackling is sound no longer. Our wives and little ones at home look anxiously for our coming, but the work that we came hither to do has not been done. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say: let us sail back to our own land, for we shall not take Troy." With these words he moved the hearts of the multitude, so many of them as knew not the cunning counsel of Agamemnon. They surged to and fro like the waves of the Icarian Sea, when the east and south winds break from heaven's clouds to lash them; or as when the west wind sweeps over a field of corn and the ears bow beneath the blast, even so were they swayed as they flew with loud cries towards the ships, and the dust from under their feet rose heavenward. They cheered each other on to draw the ships into the sea; they cleared the channels in front of them; they began taking away the stays from underneath them, and the welkin rang with their glad cries, so eager were they to return. Then surely the Argives would have returned after a fashion that was not fated. But Juno said to Minerva, "Alas, daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, shall the Argives fly home to their own land over the broad sea, and leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the Achaeans have died at Troy, far from their homes? Go about at once among the host, and speak fairly to them, man by man, that they draw not their ships into the sea." Minerva was not slack to do her bidding. Down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus, and in a moment she was at the ships of the Achaeans. There she found Ulysses, peer of Jove in counsel, standing alone. He had not as yet laid a hand upon his ship, for he was grieved and sorry; so she went close up to him and said, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, are you going to fling yourselves into your ships and be off home to your own land in this way? Will you leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the Achaeans have died at Troy, far from their homes? Go about at once among the host, and speak fairly to them, man by man, that they draw not their ships into the sea." Ulysses knew the voice as that of the goddess: he flung his cloak from him and set off to run. His servant Eurybates, a man of Ithaca, who waited on him, took charge of the cloak, whereon Ulysses went straight up to Agamemnon and received from him his ancestral, imperishable staff. With this he went about among the ships of the Achaeans. Whenever he met a king or chieftain, he stood by him and spoke him fairly. "Sir," said he, "this flight is cowardly and unworthy. Stand to your post, and bid your people also keep their places. You do not yet know the full mind of Agamemnon; he was sounding us, and ere long will visit the Achaeans with his displeasure. We were not all of us at the council to hear what he then said; see to it lest he be angry and do us a mischief; for the pride of kings is great, and the hand of Jove is with them." But when he came across any common man who was making a noise, he struck him with his staff and rebuked him, saying, "Sirrah, hold your peace, and listen to better men than yourself. You are a coward and no soldier; you are nobody either in fight or council; we cannot all be kings; it is not well that there should be many masters; one man must be supreme- one king to whom the son of scheming Saturn has given the sceptre of sovereignty over you all." Thus masterfully did he go about among the host, and the people hurried back to the council from their tents and ships with a sound as the thunder of surf when it comes crashing down upon the shore, and all the sea is in an uproar. The rest now took their seats and kept to their own several places, but Thersites still went on wagging his unbridled tongue- a man of many words, and those unseemly; a monger of sedition, a railer against all who were in authority, who cared not what he said, so that he might set the Achaeans in a laugh. He was the ugliest man of all those that came before Troy- bandy-legged, lame of one foot, with his two shoulders rounded and hunched over his chest. His head ran up to a point, but there was little hair on the top of it. Achilles and Ulysses hated him worst of all, for it was with them that he was most wont to wrangle; now, however, with a shrill squeaky voice he began heaping his abuse on Agamemnon. The Achaeans were angry and disgusted, yet none the less he kept on brawling and bawling at the son of Atreus. "Agamemnon," he cried, "what ails you now, and what more do you want? Your tents are filled with bronze and with fair women, for whenever we take a town we give you the pick of them. Would you have yet more gold, which some Trojan is to give you as a ransom for his son, when I or another Achaean has taken him prisoner? or is it some young girl to hide and lie with? It is not well that you, the ruler of the Achaeans, should bring them into such misery. Weakling cowards, women rather than men, let us sail home, and leave this fellow here at Troy to stew in his own meeds of honour, and discover whether we were of any service to him or no. Achilles is a much better man than he is, and see how he has treated him- robbing him of his prize and keeping it himself. Achilles takes it meekly and shows no fight; if he did, son of Atreus, you would never again insult him." Thus railed Thersites, but Ulysses at once went up to him and rebuked him sternly. "Check your glib tongue, Thersites," said be, "and babble not a word further. Chide not with princes when you have none to back you. There is no viler creature come before Troy with the sons of Atreus. Drop this chatter about kings, and neither revile them nor keep harping about going home. We do not yet know how things are going to be, nor whether the Achaeans are to return with good success or evil. How dare you gibe at Agamemnon because the Danaans have awarded him so many prizes? I tell you, therefore- and it shall surely be- that if I again catch you talking such nonsense, I will either forfeit my own head and be no more called father of Telemachus, or I will take you, strip you stark naked, and whip you out of the assembly till you go blubbering back to the ships." On this he beat him with his staff about the back and shoulders till he dropped and fell a-weeping. The golden sceptre raised a bloody weal on his back, so he sat down frightened and in pain, looking foolish as he wiped the tears from his eyes. The people were sorry for him, yet they laughed heartily, and one would turn to his neighbour saying, "Ulysses has done many a good thing ere now in fight and council, but he never did the Argives a better turn than when he stopped this fellow's mouth from prating further. He will give the kings no more of his insolence." Thus said the people. Then Ulysses rose, sceptre in hand, and Minerva in the likeness of a herald bade the people be still, that those who were far off might hear him and consider his council. He therefore with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus:- "King Agamemnon, the Achaeans are for making you a by-word among all mankind. They forget the promise they made you when they set out from Argos, that you should not return till you had sacked the town of Troy, and, like children or widowed women, they murmur and would set off homeward. True it is that they have had toil enough to be disheartened. A man chafes at having to stay away from his wife even for a single month, when he is on shipboard, at the mercy of wind and sea, but it is now nine long years that we have been kept here; I cannot, therefore, blame the Achaeans if they turn restive; still we shall be shamed if we go home empty after so long a stay- therefore, my friends, be patient yet a little longer that we may learn whether the prophesyings of Calchas were false or true. "All who have not since perished must remember as though it were yesterday or the day before, how the ships of the Achaeans were detained in Aulis when we were on our way hither to make war on Priam and the Trojans. We were ranged round about a fountain offering hecatombs to the gods upon their holy altars, and there was a fine plane-tree from beneath which there welled a stream of pure water. Then we saw a prodigy; for Jove sent a fearful serpent out of the ground, with blood-red stains upon its back, and it darted from under the altar on to the plane-tree. Now there was a brood of young sparrows, quite small, upon the topmost bough, peeping out from under the leaves, eight in all, and their mother that hatched them made nine. The serpent ate the poor cheeping things, while the old bird flew about lamenting her little ones; but the serpent threw his coils about her and caught her by the wing as she was screaming. Then, when he had eaten both the sparrow and her young, the god who had sent him made him become a sign; for the son of scheming Saturn turned him into stone, and we stood there wondering at that which had come to pass. Seeing, then, that such a fearful portent had broken in upon our hecatombs, Calchas forthwith declared to us the oracles of heaven. 'Why, Achaeans,' said he, 'are you thus speechless? Jove has sent us this sign, long in coming, and long ere it be fulfilled, though its fame shall last for ever. As the serpent ate the eight fledglings and the sparrow that hatched them, which makes nine, so shall we fight nine years at Troy, but in the tenth shall take the town.' This was what he said, and now it is all coming true. Stay here, therefore, all of you, till we take the city of Priam." On this the Argives raised a shout, till the ships rang again with the uproar. Nestor, knight of Gerene, then addressed them. "Shame on you," he cried, "to stay talking here like children, when you should fight like men. Where are our covenants now, and where the oaths that we have taken? Shall our counsels be flung into the fire, with our drink-offerings and the right hands of fellowship wherein we have put our trust? We waste our time in words, and for all our talking here shall be no further forward. Stand, therefore, son of Atreus, by your own steadfast purpose; lead the Argives on to battle, and leave this handful of men to rot, who scheme, and scheme in vain, to get back to Argos ere they have learned whether Jove be true or a liar. For the mighty son of Saturn surely promised that we should succeed, when we Argives set sail to bring death and destruction upon the Trojans. He showed us favourable signs by flashing his lightning on our right hands; therefore let none make haste to go till he has first lain with the wife of some Trojan, and avenged the toil and sorrow that he has suffered for the sake of Helen. Nevertheless, if any man is in such haste to be at home again, let him lay his hand to his ship that he may meet his doom in the sight of all. But, O king, consider and give ear to my counsel, for the word that I say may not be neglected lightly. Divide your men, Agamemnon, into their several tribes and clans, that clans and tribes may stand by and help one another. If you do this, and if the Achaeans obey you, you will find out who, both chiefs and peoples, are brave, and who are cowards; for they will vie against the other. Thus you shall also learn whether it is through the counsel of heaven or the cowardice of man that you shall fail to take the town." And Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, you have again outdone the sons of the Achaeans in counsel. Would, by Father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that I had among them ten more such councillors, for the city of King Priam would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we should sack it. But the son of Saturn afflicts me with bootless wranglings and strife. Achilles and I are quarrelling about this girl, in which matter I was the first to offend; if we can be of one mind again, the Trojans will not stave off destruction for a day. Now, therefore, get your morning meal, that our hosts join in fight. Whet well your spears; see well to the ordering of your shields; give good feeds to your horses, and look your chariots carefully over, that we may do battle the livelong day; for we shall have no rest, not for a moment, till night falls to part us. The bands that bear your shields shall be wet with the sweat upon your shoulders, your hands shall weary upon your spears, your horses shall steam in front of your chariots, and if I see any man shirking the fight, or trying to keep out of it at the ships, there shall be no help for him, but he shall be a prey to dogs and vultures." Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans roared applause. As when the waves run high before the blast of the south wind and break on some lofty headland, dashing against it and buffeting it without ceasing, as the storms from every quarter drive them, even so did the Achaeans rise and hurry in all directions to their ships. There they lighted their fires at their tents and got dinner, offering sacrifice every man to one or other of the gods, and praying each one of them that he might live to come out of the fight. Agamemnon, king of men, sacrificed a fat five-year-old bull to the mighty son of Saturn, and invited the princes and elders of his host. First he asked Nestor and King Idomeneus, then the two Ajaxes and the son of Tydeus, and sixthly Ulysses, peer of gods in counsel; but Menelaus came of his own accord, for he knew how busy his brother then was. They stood round the bull with the barley-meal in their hands, and Agamemnon prayed, saying, "Jove, most glorious, supreme, that dwellest in heaven, and ridest upon the storm-cloud, grant that the sun may not go down, nor the night fall, till the palace of Priam is laid low, and its gates are consumed with fire. Grant that my sword may pierce the shirt of Hector about his heart, and that full many of his comrades may bite the dust as they fall dying round him." Thus he prayed, but the son of Saturn would not fulfil his prayer. He accepted the sacrifice, yet none the less increased their toil continually. When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal upon the victim, they drew back its head, killed it, and then flayed it. They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, and set pieces of raw meat on the top of them. These they burned upon the split logs of firewood, but they spitted the inward meats, and held them in the flames to cook. When the thigh-bones were burned, and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon spits, roasted them till they were done, and drew them off; then, when they had finished their work and the feast was ready, they ate it, and every man had his full share, so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began to speak. "King Agamemnon," said he, "let us not stay talking here, nor be slack in the work that heaven has put into our hands. Let the heralds summon the people to gather at their several ships; we will then go about among the host, that we may begin fighting at once." Thus did he speak, and Agamemnon heeded his words. He at once sent the criers round to call the people in assembly. So they called them, and the people gathered thereon. The chiefs about the son of Atreus chose their men and marshalled them, while Minerva went among them holding her priceless aegis that knows neither age nor death. From it there waved a hundred tassels of pure gold, all deftly woven, and each one of them worth a hundred oxen. With this she darted furiously everywhere among the hosts of the Achaeans, urging them forward, and putting courage into the heart of each, so that he might fight and do battle without ceasing. Thus war became sweeter in their eyes even than returning home in their ships. As when some great forest fire is raging upon a mountain top and its light is seen afar, even so as they marched the gleam of their armour flashed up into the firmament of heaven. They were like great flocks of geese, or cranes, or swans on the plain about the waters of Cayster, that wing their way hither and thither, glorying in the pride of flight, and crying as they settle till the fen is alive with their screaming. Even thus did their tribes pour from ships and tents on to the plain of the Scamander, and the ground rang as brass under the feet of men and horses. They stood as thick upon the flower-bespangled field as leaves that bloom in summer. As countless swarms of flies buzz around a herdsman's homestead in the time of spring when the pails are drenched with milk, even so did the Achaeans swarm on to the plain to charge the Trojans and destroy them. The chiefs disposed their men this way and that before the fight began, drafting them out as easily as goatherds draft their flocks when they have got mixed while feeding; and among them went King Agamemnon, with a head and face like Jove the lord of thunder, a waist like Mars, and a chest like that of Neptune. As some great bull that lords it over the herds upon the plain, even so did Jove make the son of Atreus stand peerless among the multitude of heroes. And now, O Muses, dwellers in the mansions of Olympus, tell me- for you are goddesses and are in all places so that you see all things, while we know nothing but by report- who were the chiefs and princes of the Danaans? As for the common soldiers, they were so that I could not name every single one of them though I had ten tongues, and though my voice failed not and my heart were of bronze within me, unless you, O Olympian Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, were to recount them to me. Nevertheless, I will tell the captains of the ships and all the fleet together. Peneleos, Leitus, Arcesilaus, Prothoenor, and Clonius were captains of the Boeotians. These were they that dwelt in Hyria and rocky Aulis, and who held Schoenus, Scolus, and the highlands of Eteonus, with Thespeia, Graia, and the fair city of Mycalessus. They also held Harma, Eilesium, and Erythrae; and they had Eleon, Hyle, and Peteon; Ocalea and the strong fortress of Medeon; Copae, Eutresis, and Thisbe the haunt of doves; Coronea, and the pastures of Haliartus; Plataea and Glisas; the fortress of Thebes the less; holy Onchestus with its famous grove of Neptune; Arne rich in vineyards; Midea, sacred Nisa, and Anthedon upon the sea. From these there came fifty ships, and in each there were a hundred and twenty young men of the Boeotians. Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Mars, led the people that dwelt in Aspledon and Orchomenus the realm of Minyas. Astyoche a noble maiden bore them in the house of Actor son of Azeus; for she had gone with Mars secretly into an upper chamber, and he had lain with her. With these there came thirty ships. The Phoceans were led by Schedius and Epistrophus, sons of mighty Iphitus the son of Naubolus. These were they that held Cyparissus, rocky Pytho, holy Crisa, Daulis, and Panopeus; they also that dwelt in Anemorea and Hyampolis, and about the waters of the river Cephissus, and Lilaea by the springs of the Cephissus; with their chieftains came forty ships, and they marshalled the forces of the Phoceans, which were stationed next to the Boeotians, on their left. Ajax, the fleet son of Oileus, commanded the Locrians. He was not so great, nor nearly so great, as Ajax the son of Telamon. He was a little man, and his breastplate was made of linen, but in use of the spear he excelled all the Hellenes and the Achaeans. These dwelt in Cynus, Opous, Calliarus, Bessa, Scarphe, fair Augeae, Tarphe, and Thronium about the river Boagrius. With him there came forty ships of the Locrians who dwell beyond Euboea. The fierce Abantes held Euboea with its cities, Chalcis, Eretria, Histiaea rich in vines, Cerinthus upon the sea, and the rock-perched town of Dium; with them were also the men of Carystus and Styra; Elephenor of the race of Mars was in command of these; he was son of Chalcodon, and chief over all the Abantes. With him they came, fleet of foot and wearing their hair long behind, brave warriors, who would ever strive to tear open the corslets of their foes with their long ashen spears. Of these there came fifty ships. And they that held the strong city of Athens, the people of great Erechtheus, who was born of the soil itself, but Jove's daughter, Minerva, fostered him, and established him at Athens in her own rich sanctuary. There, year by year, the Athenian youths worship him with sacrifices of bulls and rams. These were commanded by Menestheus, son of Peteos. No man living could equal him in the marshalling of chariots and foot soldiers. Nestor could alone rival him, for he was older. With him there came fifty ships. Ajax brought twelve ships from Salamis, and stationed them alongside those of the Athenians. The men of Argos, again, and those who held the walls of Tiryns, with Hermione, and Asine upon the gulf; Troezene, Eionae, and the vineyard lands of Epidaurus; the Achaean youths, moreover, who came from Aegina and Mases; these were led by Diomed of the loud battle-cry, and Sthenelus son of famed Capaneus. With them in command was Euryalus, son of king Mecisteus, son of Talaus; but Diomed was chief over them all. With these there came eighty ships. Those who held the strong city of Mycenae, rich Corinth and Cleonae; Orneae, Araethyrea, and Licyon, where Adrastus reigned of old; Hyperesia, high Gonoessa, and Pellene; Aegium and all the coast-land round about Helice; these sent a hundred ships under the command of King Agamemnon, son of Atreus. His force was far both finest and most numerous, and in their midst was the king himself, all glorious in his armour of gleaming bronze- foremost among the heroes, for he was the greatest king, and had most men under him. And those that dwelt in Lacedaemon, lying low among the hills, Pharis, Sparta, with Messe the haunt of doves; Bryseae, Augeae, Amyclae, and Helos upon the sea; Laas, moreover, and Oetylus; these were led by Menelaus of the loud battle-cry, brother to Agamemnon, and of them there were sixty ships, drawn up apart from the others. Among them went Menelaus himself, strong in zeal, urging his men to fight; for he longed to avenge the toil and sorrow that he had suffered for the sake of Helen. The men of Pylos and Arene, and Thryum where is the ford of the river Alpheus; strong Aipy, Cyparisseis, and Amphigenea; Pteleum, Helos, and Dorium, where the Muses met Thamyris, and stilled his minstrelsy for ever. He was returning from Oechalia, where Eurytus lived and reigned, and boasted that he would surpass even the Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, if they should sing against him; whereon they were angry, and maimed him. They robbed him of his divine power of song, and thenceforth he could strike the lyre no more. These were commanded by Nestor, knight of Gerene, and with him there came ninety ships. And those that held Arcadia, under the high mountain of Cyllene, near the tomb of Aepytus, where the people fight hand to hand; the men of Pheneus also, and Orchomenus rich in flocks; of Rhipae, Stratie, and bleak Enispe; of Tegea and fair Mantinea; of Stymphelus and Parrhasia; of these King Agapenor son of Ancaeus was commander, and they had sixty ships. Many Arcadians, good soldiers, came in each one of them, but Agamemnon found them the ships in which to cross the sea, for they were not a people that occupied their business upon the waters. The men, moreover, of Buprasium and of Elis, so much of it as is enclosed between Hyrmine, Myrsinus upon the sea-shore, the rock Olene and Alesium. These had four leaders, and each of them had ten ships, with many Epeans on board. Their captains were Amphimachus and Thalpius- the one, son of Cteatus, and the other, of Eurytus- both of the race of Actor. The two others were Diores, son of Amarynces, and Polyxenus, son of King Agasthenes, son of Augeas. And those of Dulichium with the sacred Echinean islands, who dwelt beyond the sea off Elis; these were led by Meges, peer of Mars, and the son of valiant Phyleus, dear to Jove, who quarrelled with his father, and went to settle in Dulichium. With him there came forty ships. Ulysses led the brave Cephallenians, who held Ithaca, Neritum with its forests, Crocylea, rugged Aegilips, Samos and Zacynthus, with the mainland also that was over against the islands. These were led by Ulysses, peer of Jove in counsel, and with him there came twelve ships. Thoas, son of Andraemon, commanded the Aetolians, who dwelt in Pleuron, Olenus, Pylene, Chalcis by the sea, and rocky Calydon, for the great king Oeneus had now no sons living, and was himself dead, as was also golden-haired Meleager, who had been set over the Aetolians to be their king. And with Thoas there came forty ships. The famous spearsman Idomeneus led the Cretans, who held Cnossus, and the well-walled city of Gortys; Lyctus also, Miletus and Lycastus that lies upon the chalk; the populous towns of Phaestus and Rhytium, with the other peoples that dwelt in the hundred cities of Crete. All these were led by Idomeneus, and by Meriones, peer of murderous Mars. And with these there came eighty ships. Tlepolemus, son of Hercules, a man both brave and large of stature, brought nine ships of lordly warriors from Rhodes. These dwelt in Rhodes which is divided among the three cities of Lindus, Ielysus, and Cameirus, that lies upon the chalk. These were commanded by Tlepolemus, son of Hercules by Astyochea, whom he had carried off from Ephyra, on the river Selleis, after sacking many cities of valiant warriors. When Tlepolemus grew up, he killed his father's uncle Licymnius, who had been a famous warrior in his time, but was then grown old. On this he built himself a fleet, gathered a great following, and fled beyond the sea, for he was menaced by the other sons and grandsons of Hercules. After a voyage. during which he suffered great hardship, he came to Rhodes, where the people divided into three communities, according to their tribes, and were dearly loved by Jove, the lord, of gods and men; wherefore the son of Saturn showered down great riches upon them. And Nireus brought three ships from Syme- Nireus, who was the handsomest man that came up under Ilius of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus- but he was a man of no substance, and had but a small following. And those that held Nisyrus, Crapathus, and Casus, with Cos, the city of Eurypylus,