Robert Billard

Logistician and History Lover | Graduate @UCCS and @Tulane

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

“Never get out of the boat … unless you’re going all the way”

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

First one to capture this update in English language (thanks Dataminr!).

I don’t think this realistically changes anything - for now. But it does make me harken back to 2013 when, as a lieutenant in Okinawa, I saw the announcement that MCAS Futenma was moving to the Henoko area at Schwab. The old timers around me all chuckled at my naïveté that this would happen quickly. Prescient and sage, the lot of them. 13 years later still chipping away.

For more details on what’s next, please read below 🙇🏻

[Military.com @Militarydotcom]

Three plaintiffs challenging landfill approval for the Okinawa Marine Corps air station relocation gained standing in a Japanese Supreme Court ruling. https://t.co/mfgtCjPUSj

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Now reading while sequestered to the BOQ due to Typhoon.

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

My first typhoon in 12 years. Not bad. Glad to be back at the point of friction.

[Stars and Stripes @starsandstripes]

STORM TRACKER | Typhoon warning has been canceled for the Marianas. Guam has resumed Condition of Readiness 4. U.S. bases remain in TCCOR 1 as repairs and damage assessments continue.

Read more at: https://t.co/j2hpILCmcS

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Logar Province, Afghanistan. November 2014.

Proudly flying the flag in the face of the enemy.

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

@B_1Tactical

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Time for revenge on the Red Devils!

[Jean-Claude Van Damme @JCVD]

Hi, FIFA World Cup Fans!
Belgium vs. United States match was really a great game to watch.
Thank you so much for... http://t.co/FzLDQgWT7h

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Watching Kickboxer (1989) now. Makes me wonder who @JCVD has for 🇧🇪 vs 🇺🇸 ⚽️

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Great find at @BOOKOFF in Okinawa today. Clausewitz in Japanese. I’m determined to spread Carl’s word to the furthest ends of the earth.

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Grateful to be back in Okinawa. It’s revitalizing to return to the Fleet Marine force; after all… one can get too comfortable with the National Capital Region.

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Leaving never gets any easier. But I will do my best. Keep on keeping on.

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

@BWBailey85 @INTSUM5_2 Insurgencies require external benefactors to be successful. Failure to remove those pipelines for 20 years directly enabled the Taliban to do as they pleased. Not surprisingly this came in the form of weapons, money, safe haven, and certainly IED making materials

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

@INTSUM5_2 @BWBailey85 Imagine that - they leveraged their sanctuaries to max extent possible. Good work putting this all together to visualize it

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Thank you @BWBailey85 for giving me this opportunity to talk about Afghanistan at the strategic level (among other things). The lessons from this war NEED to be applied NOW.

[Beth W. Bailey @BWBailey85]

In the latest episode of The Afghanistan Project Podcast, Afghanistan veteran and https://t.co/ks2ZOtjjL1 contributor @RobertBillardJr talks about the strategic failures in our Afghanistan war - including the failure to apply lessons learned from prior conflicts

https://t.co/pXFLZjOlEg

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

@infantrydort The fact that he was a logistician in the Mexican-American War gives me hope

[Leading Report @LeadingReport]

Trump admin official who backed a U.S. takeover of Greenland argued it could help bring back Red Lobster’s all-you-can-eat shrimp, according to the New Yorker.

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Great time talking with @BWBailey85 about a range of topics but all boiling down to strategy in Afghanistan.

[Beth W. Bailey @BWBailey85]

Afghanistan veteran and https://t.co/z8HXxJgwxB writer @RobertBillardJr talks about strategic failures of the Afghanistan war and his own experience in Afghanistan in this week's episode of The Afghanistan Project Podcast

https://t.co/nqvwgWQnHP

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

One of the major reasons why I’m so interested in researching SgtMaj Jiggs is that I think these mascots deserve to be properly venerated in Marine Corps lore.

General Harry Lee had the headstones removed in or around 1934. For what reason I do not know.

But Camp Pendleton has multiple memorials and plaques for Sgt Reckless the horse. I think commemorating the Corps’ first mascot is a worthy endeavor.

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

The Marine Corps at least went searching for Jiggs VIII. Not sure if they found one. More research is needed.

Yes, I am a massive marine corps history nerd. I understand this is real sick stuff doing this level of primary source/archival research on dog mascots.

But it’s an important part of Corps history that few people seem to know about it.

Pictured below is Jiggs II (center) flanked by two friends and General Smedley Butler.

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Did you know that before Chesty, the Marine Corps mascot was an English bulldog named “Jiggs”? There was at least seven of them. I did a deep dive today at the Marine Corps Archives at @MarineCorpsU and found a trove of information! 🧵

[Robert Billard @RobertBillardJr]

Jiggs VII. Went AWOL several times. Also called to Captain’s Mast several times. Died of a heart attack. Pictured below at the 1959 Shrimp Bowl.
Born: ???
Enlisted: Nov 1955
Died: 10 Aug 1960