Bill Walker for Governor announces Chris Fleener as LT GOV running mate

Bill Walker's independent campaign moves forward with announcement of Chris Fleener as LT Gov candidate running mate.

 Fairbanks, AK, October 14, 2013 -- Independent candidate for governor, Bill Walker, announced today his running mate and candidate for Lt. Governor, Craig L. Fleener of Fort Yukon, Alaska.  Fleener is a lifelong Alaskan, military veteran and former Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game.  He is Gwich’in Athabascan and is a descendent of the Doyon Limited region.  Each candidate will gather 3,017 signatures and appear on the November 2014, ballot.

 

EXPERIENCE: as the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Fish & Game, Mr. Fleener provided policy and administrative guidance on wildlife and subsistence management, and worked closely with the divisions of Wildlife Conservation, Subsistence, and Habitat on policy, regulatory, management and funding issues.  He also served on the Alaska Board of Game, and also as the Director for the Division of Subsistence.

Prior to joining the Department of Fish & Game, Mr. Fleener served in several capacities for the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments (“CATG”) in Fort Yukon, including service as Executive Director of that organization. While at CATG, Mr. Fleener served for a number of years as the only U.S. representative on the Gwich’in Council International, a permanent observer organization of the Arctic Council, an international body made up of eight arctic nations which identified problems and created solutions for pollution, international shipping, natural resource development, human dimensions issues and indigenous peoples’ concerns for the arctic region on a global level.

MILITARY: In 1986, Mr. Fleener joined the military and served in the United States Marine Corps.  He is currently a Major in the US Air Force Alaska Air National Guard, where he has served since 1991, and is a senior intelligence officer and recently served a tour of duty in Afghanistan as part of ongoing US operations in the region.  He volunteers as a board member for HAVE Alaska (Helping American Veterans Experience Alaska) providing psychological and physical rehabilitation for wounded veterans.

EDUCATION: Mr. Fleener received his Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources Management from the University of Alaska – Fairbanks in 1999, and in 2013 graduated with Honors from American Public University with a Master of Arts in Intelligence Studies.  He completed substantial work on a Masters of Science in Resources & Environment from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada in 2001, but was unable to complete the degree because of military activations.

"I am in this race to help bring all Alaskan voices together," Craig Fleener stated. "I am working to unite Alaskans and my ultimate goal is to bring us together to solve the problems that we face in order to build a stronger Alaska."

Bill Walker stated, "Craig Fleener brings to this Alaska ticket a depth and wealth of experience in fish and game management, military and veterans' affairs, circum-Arctic policy experience and his proud Alaska Native heritage."

 

 

Non-disclosure agreements for Benghazi survivors; COL George Bristol is not retired

The survivors of the attack on the U.S. Mission at Benghazi on September 11, 2012 have been required to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) regarding their knowledge of the events. Aside from withholding the location of these people so that they cannot be served with Congressional subpoenas, the NDAs place the State Department, CIA and private contractor employees in jeopardy of civil and criminal repercussions were any to testify and divulge what they know. Such extreme, and cynical measures to avoid obeying the law and to keep the facts of the attack secret is simply outrageous. However, this conduct has become the hallmark of the Obama Administration.

The conduct on the part of the Obama Administration cannot be interpreted as other than a blatant attempt to conceal, misdirect, and otherwise avoid Congressional oversight. This is a direct reflection upon the integrity of the President of the United States.

 President Barack Hussein Obama promised a transparent and open administration. Thus far, as with Obamacare, the economy, and his foreign policy, he has failed. His conduct with Benghazi, Fast and Furious, the IRS scandal, the seizure of reporters’ phone records just to mention a few of the many scandals uncovered regarding the conduct of this President’s Administration, certainly render him vulnerable to an impeachment move by the House after the 2014 elections.

In another interesting revelation, COL George Bristol who was the former Commander Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara during the attack on the Benghazi Mission has not retired after all. The Pentagon had previously reported to Congress that COL Bristol had retired and that they did have any information regarding his whereabouts. "Col. Bristol was not invited by Congress to testify before he retired," stated Air Force Maj. Robert Firman, a DOD SECDEF spokesperson. "The DoD has cooperated fully with Congress and the Accountability Review Board since the beginning of this investigation, and we will continue to do so." COL Bristol’s retirement from the USMC is not effective until 1 August.

The lies of the Obama Administration continue to accumulate.

COL Bristol’s testimony before Congress might clarify the issue of whether or not the U.S. military was ordered to stand down rather than go to the aid of those under attack in Benghazi that night. Further, COL Bristol could certainly clarify what ground assets might have been available to send to Benghazi that night.

COL Bristol’s unit was involved in missions in 12 African countries. Regarding the rising threat in Africa from Islam during the change of command ceremony for his unit, COL Bristol stated " . . . an evil has descended on Africa and it is up to us to stomp it out . . . Africa is not the next ridgeline. It is where the enemy is now. And, we are going to do something about it."

COL Kenneth Sipperly, USAF, succeeded COL Bristol as commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara on 13 March, 2013.

COL Bristol has been a sniper and martial artist. He is credited with establishing the USMC martial arts training program. COL Bristol spent 38 years in the USMC with 18 years overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Serbia. He accumulated over 60 months of combat tours during this period.

Congress needs to continue its pursuit of the truth in the Benghazi affair, the dead Americans deserve better than the cover up undertaken by the Obama Administration to cover cynical treatment of this travesty.

For more information:

http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/special-operations-in-africa-task-force-changes-commanders-1.211699

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20130717/NEWS05/307170039/Despite-Pentagon-claims-Marine-colonel-sought-Benghazi-investigation-not-yet-retired

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/congressman-benghazi-survivors-forced-sign-non-disclosure-agreements_739975.html

http://www.examiner.com/video/benghazi-attack-footage

http://www.examiner.com/article/benghazi-a-plot-to-exchange-prisoners

Veterans' Day--Give thanks to our heroes

I am certain that I join Gov. Sean Parnell in expressing the thanks of my family to those serving and those who have served this great country. They are the thin red line that keeps us free and the barbarians from the proverbial gates/

We have vets who have done four tours of one year each, with sailors, Marines and airmen who have done equal time doing six months tours in country. The toll on them and their families is incredible and little appreciated by all too many.

I have seen the scars and wounds some of these young men bear from IEDs and VBEDs. They are simply incredible in the strong, positive manner in which they carry on in the face of their challenge in this life.

We owe them all a debt of gratitude that those safe and warm, who have never really been inconvenienced by this war, or any war, cannot appreciate, because of our inability to fully relate to their sacrifice.

The heat, sand, dust, rain, cold, snow, the itching from sweat, being rubbed raw by straps and equipment, blisters, lack of sleep, aching muscles, stink of unwashed bodies, insects, putting up with equipment and gear that is war weary, that fear in the pit of your stomach, and the adrenaline surge of the fight that cannot be imagined by those safe and warm back in the world of the good old U.S.A.—except where the gangbangers play and induce fear. The horror and sense of loss of one of your own who has fallen.

These guys and gals fight for their own, their sense of honor and duty will not let them fail their buddies. They go back in harms way time and again for their friends and comrades, not to cop out, not to let them down; to be there for them.

Then, there are the families. Those who are now Gold Star families who lost their loved one. Their sacrifice ongoing. That pain will never diminish. And, those whose loved one is damaged physically beyond our current medical technology to fix, and those damaged mentally from what they’ve seen and done. The families of those who go again and again in harms way who live that not knowing every day and who worry, but who themselves soldier on for their loved one.

Then, there is the damage to the families, those who divorce for whatever reason; too long away, one day too many of not knowing, of feeling that the unit comes first over the family, on and on. We know that situation all too well.

The greatest generation is not dead. They are wearing the uniform of the Untied States military. The best and greatest military fielded by any nation at any time in any age.

Our children have heroes as role models. All they have to do is to look up at the aircraft protecting our skies and hauling needed supplies to the troops; the grey ships on the world’s seas, and the bright red and white Coasties in our coastal waters and around the world; to look as far their next door neighbor with the “high and tight” haircut who stands tall in uniform; to the young man or woman in the wheel chair or in a hospital bed in a VA hospital; or to just look as far as mommy and/or daddy, brother, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, grandma and grandpa and great grandma and great grandpa.

That old man who shuffles along with bent back might have been a young Marine witness to Tarawa’s and Saipan’s horrors, a young Ranger or Paratrooper who survived D-Day when too many of their comrades did not, did the attack to the rear from the frozen Chosin; the old woman who might have been a nurse or a mechanic, or a pilot flying aircraft to the war theaters all over the world; or the grandma who was a nurse when the VC breached the wire and got as far as the field hospital. You don’t know until you ask.

Thank a vet and those in uniform for their service and sacrifice. Remember not to forget to tell them to thank their families on your behalf for their sacrifice, too.

May God bless our service men and women and our vets and protect those in harms way in far off lands.