Japan's flying boat...first flight of the year.

Flying Boats.

I first read about them being used by old skool Marines on Mike Sparks blog and ever since I've been intrigued by them.

That feeling increased when a buddy at HQMC told me to take a look at the Japanese model.  Why do I feel that we're leaving a capability and increased operational range on the table?  Don't laugh.  What's old is new and it looks like we might be about to engage in island hopping whether we like it or not.  Putting a couple of Marine Company Landing Teams on a beach via sea plane in the middle of the night...or just off shore and let them paddle in...might be something we need.  Not to mention long (and I mean long) range at sea rescue.