Russia might be about to invade Europe? Russia hysteria is at max level!

Note!  Read the entire article.  The buildup and rationale for the action below is "interesting".  I highlighted this portion to show how the hysteria is reaching max level.


via Washington Examiner.

Another complication is that NATO's force disposition against a Russian surprise attack remains weak. While NATO would intercept Russian communications in the immediate buildup to an attack, if those orders were sent from Moscow on short notice, there wouldn't be much NATO could do. In addition, as I've explained, NATO's rapid reaction forces in Europe are patently incapable of defeating a Russian invasion. This is a symptom of Europe's pathetic defense investment, and its consequences in rendering that continent one of largely impotent militaries. Putin also loves the fact that many EU populations oppose their government's support for NATO article 5 treaty obligations. Remember, where Germany leads, other NATO states like Italy and Spain might follow.

All of this demands decisive U.S. leadership.

First, the U.S. must lead reliable NATO allies into defensive action. Britain and France should deploy their respective rapid response forces, 16 Air Assault Brigade and 11th Parachute Brigade, into Poland. Simultaneously, Germany and the Netherlands should put their Airborne rapid forces division on short notice standby. The U.S. should deploy the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment's ready reaction battalion to join the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy. These units are orientated to disrupt enemy advances and defend critical targets. The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), now at sea, should also be sent to the Mediterranean. Finally, each capable NATO state should send one fighter or bomber wing to the Baltics or Poland.

Alongside these deployments — which should be made public — Trump should again demand that NATO members speed up their plans to spend 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product on defense. He should state that if they do not, the U.S. will have to relocate major military formations in Europe out of states like Germany and Italy and into 2 percent states like Poland and Britain.

Story here. 

Just plain wow.

This is how wars start.  Question.  What if the Russians had responded in the way this author recommends during Sabre Strike 17, Sabre Guardian 17, Noble Partner 17 or BALTOPS 17?

Someone seriously needs to turn down the temperature on the madness.

Cop tells White Woman during DUI traffic stop "We only kill black people"...

via Heavy.com

Georgia police officer is under fire after dash-cam video surfaced where you can hear him tell a white woman that police officers “only kill black people.”

The Cobb County officer, Lt. Greg Abbott, was seen standing outside of the nervous woman’s vehicle after a DUI traffic stop from July 2016.

Abbott can be heard telling the woman “use your phone, it’s in your lap right there.” The woman replies “Ok, I just don’t want to put my hands down…I’m really sorry I just…I’ve just seen way too many videos of cops…”

“But you’re not black, remember we only shoot black people,” Abbott replied. “Yeah, we only kill black people, right? All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen black people
get killed? You have.”

Story here along with a video. 

The dept and the cops attorney is saying that this was only sarcasm and he was using it to de-escalate tensions.

I don't know.  It sounds light hearted, but evil intent can hide behind a smile and kind words.

I'll simply leave it for you to decide.

Was this an attempt on the President?

Thanks to Kinetics for the link!



Well that was weird.

A vehicle suddenly comes out the tree line?

Even better?  I see the Secret Service still guns up.  You could just make out the sweep and the grab for weapons much larger than just a pistol.  PDW's are still the rage for the USSS!

Note:  I don't know if this is real or not but I have heard that the President's convoy has several "decoys" attached.  What I mean is scuttlebutt says that they send an identical vehicle with similar LOOKING protection on different routes to confuse potential attackers.  Is that real?  Have no idea.  Scuttlebutt also says that to look for overhead air cover.  Guys in black to jump out of helicopters to spot the real convoy.  Just rumors from a lifetime ago.  Probably all full of shit.

We've seen tons of BlackHawks but where are the UH-72 Lakota

Remember when the Army National Guard out of the blue made a demand that they needed a lightweight helicopter to handle missions inside the continental United States?

Well I've been watching all kinds of helicopters making rescues today but no Lakotas?

Why?

This should be the time that they shine and prove their worth.

So I ask again.

Where are the UH-72's?

26th MEU stands by to support hurricane relief efforts (with a small rant from SNAFU!)

via Press Release.

 Approximately 690 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force, embarked aboard USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) as part of prudent preparatory measures in anticipation of future tasking to support relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Aug. 30, 2017.

If requested, the MEU’s aviation and lift capabilities will include (8) MV-22B Ospreys, (3) CH- 53E Super Stallions and (3) UH-1Y Hueys. Additional capabilities include water purification and storage, engineering, aerial reconnaissance and aid distribution.

In anticipation of future tasking, II MEF also alerted the Camp Allen Logistics Command team, which bolsters the II MEF logistics capability, and deployed a liaison/ planning team to Expeditionary Strike Group-2.

The Marine Corps can rapidly respond with air, ground and logistics assets when requested for Defense Support of Civil Authorities. The 26th MEU stands ready and capable to provide assistance, in support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Northern Command, and state and local response efforts. If tasked with DSCA, the MEU’s efforts will be in support of the lead federal agency and coordinated closely with state and local officials.

OK.  First the good.

Glad to see that they're up and moving.

Now the bad.

The Marine Corps has become so aviation centric that they can't see the forest for the trees!  More aircraft is gonna be welcomed.  Is this the right mix of aircraft has to be called into question.  The rotor wash from the MV-22 is gonna be tough on civilians not experienced with rotor winged aviation much less the blast from the MV-22.

Next you have to question what these people are thinking.  Many of the people affected are in rural areas (at least those in Galveston).  Batteries will be running low and cellphone service spotty.  They're gonna need vehicles that can swim to houses in the boonies to check on people and deliver supplies.

Before they've even hit ground this "new" Marine Corps is less effective than the old.

This is good but disappointing.  I expected better.  Instead they're still pushing the aviation centric Marine Corps while people are in need.  This is not the time to try and prove the hot new thing.

Pic of the day. 173rd Airborne Brigade Elevator Ride.

Paranoia expands with regard to Zapad 17...via Reuters.

via Reuters.

A total of around 12,700 servicemen will take part in the war games, code named Zapad 2017, which will be held on Sept. 14-20 in western Russia, Belarus and Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad. These will include around 5,500 Russian troops.

Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the U.S. Army’s top general in Europe, told Reuters last month that U.S. allies in eastern Europe and Ukraine were worried the exercises could be a “Trojan horse” aimed at leaving behind military equipment brought into Belarus.

This week Russia’s Defence Ministry rejected what it said were false allegations it might use the drills as a springboard to launch invasions of Poland, Lithuania or Ukraine.

Story here. 

I really and truly don't understand the stance being taken with regard to these exercises.  This is milk toast at best and HARDLY represents any kind of threat.

If you want to understand the silliness of the stance being taken by General Hodges then check out the pic below (taken from the SHAPE website).  That's the number of exercises LEFT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR!  It doesn't show the exercises that have ALREADY OCCURRED!

These complaints are bullshit on a stick.  Click on pic to enlarge.

Now do you get the force of connection.  We're wearing out the force because a Combatant Commander wants to be seen as doing something and MAYBE big Army has found a theater where it can claim it's viability even though no one is questioning it.

"God save us from stupid politicians and glory seeking generals!"

Houston flooding. Addicks reservoir release to continue till the middle of Sept.

Wow.

The hits just keep coming for Houston.  Watching the morning news and they're saying that the Addicks reservoir will continue to release water till the middle of Sept.

Can you say downtown Houston flooded?  Can you say Buffalo bayou trashed beyond recognition?

I said that this could be a hit to the economy and I had some fruit loop call me crazy.

Well heads up sport fans.

How do you deal with serious incidents?

You start with worse case scenario planning and work backwards.  If you plan for the worst, or at least expect the worse then you won't be caught off guard.

THAT'S WHAT I DO ON THIS BLOG!

Whether its military concepts, actual warfare, economic circumstances, crime, and even natural disasters, I start at the worst possibility and work backwards.  Worst case scenario planning folks!  No normalcy bias here.

Bad shit happens everyday and you better get your mind ready to meet that challenge.

Public service rant over.

Remember the US Special Ops raid where 3 children were killed? It's causing major friction in Somalia...

via Reuters.

A raid involving U.S. troops in Somalia has caused a rift between the precarious U.S.-backed government and a powerful clan that says innocent farmers were massacred, months after President Donald Trump approved stepped-up operations there.

The U.S. Africa command, Africom, has acknowledged that U.S. forces participated in a ground operation in support of Somali troops in the village of Bariire last week, and says it is investigating reports of civilian deaths.

It did not reply to further questions from Reuters about the incident, the second mission in Somalia this year in which it has acknowledged the participation of U.S. ground troops. A Navy Seal was killed in a raid in May.

Last week’s raid took place in an area that had been occupied by al Shabaab Islamist militants but was recaptured by government forces earlier in August.

Residents from the Habar Gidir clan, a powerful group spread across southcentral Somalia, said some villagers had weapons, but only to protect themselves from a rival clan. They said the villagers had nothing to do with militants, who had been driven away before the government forces and U.S. troops launched their raid on Friday.

Story here. 

I thought that the bubbas in SOCOM would understand the people in those far off lands that live under tribal rules.

I was wrong.

Making a guess here but I'm betting SOCOM got fooled.  They probably have a "partner" in the Somali Army that is a member of the rival clan who wanted to get a little blood lust satiated and weaken a competitor so he pushed for the raid.

SOCOM being raid happy bit like a shark on steroids and the rest is history.

We keep getting involved in what was once called civil wars, think that a little "civic action" (ie building roads, schools, hospitals etc..) will win hearts and minds and end up hip deep in quagmires.

Our strategy is wrong.

Open Comment Post. Aug 31, 2017

Chemical plants in Houston threaten explosions...could we face a Bopal India scenario?

via Fox News.

Officials in Harris County early Thursday reported two explosions and black smoke billowing from a flooded chemical plant about 25 miles northeast of Houston.

Fox 26 Houston reported that officials evacuated a 1.5-mile radius around the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby. The plant lost power Sunday and its backup generators amid Harvey's days-long deluge, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises.

One deputy was reportedly taken to hospital after inhaling fumes. Nine others drove themselves to hospital as precaution, the report said.

There was "no way to prevent" the explosion, CEO Rich Rowe said earlier Wednesday.

Story here. 

This is the current worry.

Houston is a pertro chemical powerhouse and they have tons of plants down there.  Now?  Harvey trashed the place, the power is out and cooling systems aren't working.

Like the CEO said.  There is no way to prevent an explosion and if the chemicals are toxic then we could be looking at a Bopal India scenario in the Southern United States.

So what's the butchers bill from this hurricane?

1.  The 4th largest city in the US under water.

2.  Hundreds of thousands cars destroyed beyond repair.

3.  Thousands of houses essentially destroyed.  Repairing them after the flood will take months.

4.  The economic engine for that region has been silenced and its citizens displaced.

Yeah.

This thing is gonna be a sucker punch to the US economy.

Charlie Co. 4th AABn doing GREAT work in Houston and Beaumont!

Thanks to Costas TT for the link!

You want an old skool Marine Corps recruiting ad?  You show Marines in combat overseas and then these bubbas doing GREAT work in Houston and Beaumont.

You get someone with the right voice doing a narration a little like this...The United States Marine Corps, winning battles abroad and saving lives at home...do you have what it takes to become one of us?

That would sing and would tell the Marine Corps story in 30 seconds!

How bad is the flooding on Interstate 10 in Beaumont Texas? Pics via Bayou Man Blog.

Yeah.

Now do you think AAVs are overkill for this flood relief effort/rescue?  That's a freaking highway covered in water!

You're looking at better than Sea State 3 (looks just above...I'm seeing chop so I'm guessing 4...could easily be wrong) too so even AAVs might be pushed to navigate that!

Things are bad in Houston, but no one (news media) can even get to Beaumont to cover the incident.  After action reports will be telling.

Rich Piana's girlfriend clears the record on his death...Painful Watch...

I won't even try and guess about the motivation behind this vid but this chic seems sincere.

This whole thing is gonna drag on.  Don't know why.  But the battle over this guy's "legacy" is going to be big. Really thought it would quiet down but it's not.

Funny, but Rich might be bigger in death than in life.  The new Zyzz.

Royal Navy future sub concepts...

Story here.

Someone in her majesty's Navy is smoking crack.

Military relief effort in Houston to equal that of Katrina...

Thanks to Lee for the link!

via Stripes.com

Several thousand troops will soon join about 3,500 servicemembers already responding to Hurricane Harvey rescue efforts in southeastern Texas in an operation that could equal the size of the military’s response to Hurricane Katrina, a National Guard general said Tuesday.

Air Force Gen. James Witham, the domestic operations director for the National Guard Bureau, said military efforts could last several weeks and grow as large as the Pentagon’s involvement in 2005 to Katrina, when some 50,000 guardsmen and 20,000 active-duty servicemembers participated in the response to the devastating storm in Louisiana and Mississippi.

“This will be a long-term effort,” Witham told reporters Tuesday at the Pentagon. “Usually when the Guard responds to hurricane-type events we normally talk about that first 72 to 96 hours for life saving and sustainment then we’re into a recovery effort. Due to the nature of this storm as it spins across southeast Texas for days and dumps record or historical levels of rainfall … our response to this hurricane has been very different than ever before.”

Already some 3,000 Texas National Guardsmen and about 500 active-duty soldiers and airmen are participating in rescue operations, primarily by boat but also by helicopter, Witham said. The bureau on Tuesday was in the process of alerting between 20,000 and 30,000 additional National Guard troops, primarily from states around Texas, to prepare to deploy should Texas Gov. Greg Abbott request them.

Story here. 

The response is TOO SLOW!  Units should be ready to move in or be forward staged in the area.  To move people in later is good for public relations.  We'll hear about units acting valiantly, and they'll toss humanitarian assistance awards around like candy.

But the reality is much different.

The need for military assistance is soon to pass.  Hell it might have already passed once the full force is on deck.

Who took care of this drama?

Local Police and Sheriffs.  Medical Personnel.  City Transport/Utility workers. Customs and Border Protection.  The United States Coast Guard.  Border Patrol.  Louisiana and Texas Wildlife Agents.

The heavy lifting has been done by local law enforcement and other first responders of every stripe.  Also by the local city/county workers.

The govt fucked up the response again.  Bureaucrats are just INCAPABLE of acting in a timely manner.  Bureaucracies are incapable of moving rapidly.

This is the danger of big govt.

During the time of greatest need they default to the comfortable which is to make SLOW decisions after a ton of paperwork has been shuffled. Even my beloved Marine Corps has been infected by this disease.

Add this to another cause of our failures in recent wars.

NOTE:  Be advised though.  In the coming days you will hear all kinds of METRICS about how this was such a successful operation.  You will see people from all parts of the govt pat themselves on the back for how well they handled this terrible situation.

When they do that, and rest assured they will, remember the pics from this event.

So you don't need to prep, build a VIABLE bugout bag/plan & have emergency cash?

The storm is passing thru my area this morning and like I've said before.  It's a non-issue.  More like a fall storm.  Lots of rain, a bit of wind but no worries. We see this shit all the time.  If I had no internet access I'd think it was just another rain shower and not a Tropical Storm.

Having said all that I'm also drinking in pics of people fleeing the flooding in Houston. What do they all have in common? Let's make a quick list...

1. Not one of them seems dressed for the occasion.  Shorts in flood waters? Short sleeve shirts?

2. Not one of them seems to have more than a small DAYPACK worth of gear with them. Those are the more "forward" thinking of the crowd too. Too many of them HAVE NOTHING!  Of course I can understand that too. If you have to depend on others to get you out of dodge then they wouldn't want their boats loaded down with extra gear....that takes up space that another rescuee could use.

3. This is the worst part in my opinion. The evacuee centers, better called refugee centers are already filled.

My question to my readers is simple.

NOW DO YOU GET THE FORCE OF CONNECTION!

NOW DO YOU SEE WHY YOU NEED TO PREP BUILD A VIABLE BUGOUT BAG/PLAN & HAVE EMERGENCY CASH?

The pic above was grabbed off the internet and shows what they call a "family" bugout kit.  Of course it's being sold as a package, and preparedness has become a multi-million dollar business.

It gets worse.

Depending on your "interests" you can see bags that are tilted in particular directions and would serve no practical purpose at all.  I point to the shooting community and the "instructors" that inhabit it/feed off it.

Yeah.  A bugout bag that has an AR, fighting knife, gas mask, zip ties and a few protein bars?

Is the dude going on patrol or trying to get to safety?

But back on task. Lesson learned from this one is to leave soon enough, prepack a decent bag that contains food, water, medicine, clothing and a means to protect yourself (all are important and must be covered), and have emergency cash and a pre-planned site to get to that moves you away from the zone of destruction.

So in short?

You MUST build a viable bugout chest (wheeled), have a viable plan and have emergency cash.

Open Comment Post. Aug 30, 2017

Belarus baffled by media hype around Zapad 17!

via Belta.by

The speculations surrounding the Belarusian-Russian strategic army exercise Zapad 2017 are hard to comprehend, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Defense Minister, Chief of the General Staff Oleg Belokonev on 29 August. Oleg Belokonev will supervise the exercise on behalf of the Belarusian side. Oleg Belokonev remarked that preparations for the Zapad 2017 exercise proceed on the back of a complicated military and political situation in the region. NATO's frontline command centers have been deployed near the western borders of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. NATO exercises are held virtually one after another, including those that deploy troops in the immediate vicinity of the Belarusian border. Oleg Belokonev stated that the number of military exercises in the region has doubled in the last eight years while the number of troops involved has more than tripled. “This is why we fail to understand the mass media hype surrounding the Zapad 2017 exercise,” stressed the official. Oleg Belokonev reminded about NATO's multinational exercise Anaconda 2016, which was the largest one on record since the end of the Cold War. Representatives of 24 countries took part in that exercise. All the main parameters of NATO's Anaconda 2016 exercise in Poland exceeded the parameters of the Zapad 2017 exercise several times over. The number of military personnel involved in the Anaconda 2016 exercise exceeded that of the Zapad 2017 exercise by more than two times. The number of weapon systems and military hardware involved in the Anaconda 2016 exercise exceeded that of the Zapad 2017 exercise by nearly 4.5 times. The practices polished during the Anaconda 2016 exercise were clearly unfriendly, however, Belarus remains calm about it, stressed Oleg Belokonev.

Story here. 

I consider this humorous!  The West is losing its mind over an exercise in Belarus when I've been complaining about exercise overload in Europe for at least a year and a half.

What did they expect would happen!

How can military leadership think that if they do exercise after exercise that this wouldn't be a response?

It's like punching a guy in the face and then getting pissed if he punches you back!

A little more strategy and a little less checkers would be appreciated.  As things stand now it seems as if we have infants running the various defense depts.

Cajun Navy controversy...don't let exaggerated claims cloud good work!

via Jalopnik.

Let’s start with something that’s unequivocally good: According to The Times-Picayune, three men who identified with the Cajun Navy found a woman floating face down in water on Monday. What they did next was heroic.

“We jumped out and got her and gave her compressions right there in the water. We were holding her from behind,” one of the men, Joshua Lincoln, told The Times-Picayune. The woman, identified as Wilma Ellis, 73, eventually came to, wet and disoriented but alive.

“We got her back to safety, and that’s that,” Lincoln later told CNN.

Which is great! But at some point in the midst of all of that happening, there was trouble elsewhere, with a Cajun Navy organizer named Clyde Cain telling CNN some disturbing allegations: that some volunteers had been shot at while trying to help.

Which is awful, if true! Almost immediately though, on Twitter at least, people expressed their skepticism that it had happened at all, with Cain later taking to Facebook live to clarify “the facts,” which mainly consisted of looters in various guises afoot, he claimed, in addition to the shooting. Yes, the shooting happened, Cain insisted, but, no, no one had been shot, despite rumors to the contrary (which he sparked by going on CNN in the first place.)

“No one actually got shot. They shot at the boats. I’m not sure if they actually shot at it, or up in the air, but, shots were fired,” he said, before going on to blame CNN for any misconceptions. “I used to call it ‘completely negative news.’”

Story here. 

This is weird, but I can puzzle what happened (and its just a guess...I wasn't there).  These dudes are civilians.  They're hopped up, jazzed and excited to be doing not only good work but also something a bit dangerous.

They see some looters (they're definitely out and about), are scared to death because they've never seen criminal activity and inflate the story.

Bad on them if I'm right, but no need to pound on them.

They're doing work!

Of course this story revolves back to the need to revitalize Civil Defense.  These people should be organized throughout the South.  Hurricanes hit with alarming frequency from North Carolina down to Texas.  A database should be developed (yeah I know, but proper organization requires collection of information), basic standards developed (perhaps a free operations course on boating in urban areas in high water situations & basic first aid) and a gear list so that each boat is capable of performing basic tasks necessary to  aid citizens in distress.  For examples axes to cut thru roofs, a certain number of life jackets (provided at a discount thru govt vendors) etc....

But one thing is certain.

There are too many trying to trash the work of people trying to do good shit.

Did the guy exaggerate?  At best I would say he did.  Should he have been slammed on a national publication like Jalopnik?  No.  Follow the links and read the comments.  They start off fairly neutral and go down hill from there. That's too bad.  The vast majority are just trying to step up when the Feds were too slow to get the job done themselves.

Forget Homeland Security...revitalize Civil Defense!

It's time to revitalize Civil Defense.

During the 1950's the American people had fresh memories of the dropping of the bombs on Japan and the Soviet Union was seen as a clear and present threat to the survival of the nation.

Fast forward to today and for a variety of reasons the average American seems stuck on stupid.  Instead of taking steps to ensure that their families avoid being refugees in HUGE centers (I can't imagine the craziness involved in having to stay in a center with upwards of 5K people inside.....I watched the Katrina madness and after that became DETERMINED to never allow that to happen...I became a prepper after that incident!) they would rather roll the dice and take their chances.

Consider it NORMALCY BIAS on steroids.

This must change.

We need to start an education plan that for the first week, maybe two, help will not be available.  The American people must be trained and conditioned to handle an emergency in house for at least two weeks.

This will not be easy.

This will not be pleasant.

This will require a change in mindset and will be an admission that the state is NOT all powerful and that individuals are responsible for their own safety and that of their families.

Houston, Katrina, Rita, Sandy and other events have proven otherwise.

But consider this.  Houston is the first disaster we've seen in a US MegaCity. The outcome is still undetermined and I believe the economic impact yet to be felt.  But in comparison to what we could see this is nothing.  An earthquake in California affecting Los Angeles, or an electrical blackout in New York lasting only a week would be potentially more catastrophic.

The American people NEED to get hard.  We need to get fit and self reliant. It's the only way forward that makes sense.

FINALLY! US Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicles arrive to assist Houston!

Thanks to John for the pics!

FUCKING FINALLY!

Someone got head removed from their ass assembly, took a look around and arrived at the obvious.

USMC AAV can be a tremendous help to the people of Houston.

Capability?

How about 10K worth of supplies.  How about the ability (these are legacy models so they have bench seat that can be folded with the center bench removed) able to carry about 30 people standing like on a NY Subway.  Old Timers claimed they were able to stuff 50 Marines inside one during overload situations.

Oh and did I mention that they can go any and everywhere.  Cars blocking the roadway?  They can blast thru (meaning drive thru them....no weapons on this deployment I'm sure).  That weird time when the water is too high for vehicles and too low for boats?  The operation doesn't stop because the AAV can handle it.

It took too long but this makes my heart sing!

Warhammer News. S. Korea planning all out assault & decapitation strike on North?

From Yahoo via Business Insider.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has pushed for a new plan for a rapid war with North Korea and an overhaul of the country's defense industry to overwhelm and crush the North's government, the South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.

The Defense Ministry briefed Moon on an "aggressive wartime action plan led by our military," the paper reported, citing sources from Cheong Wa Dae, the South Korean equivalent of the White House.

Moon took office in May promising to attempt to engage diplomatically with North Korea and seek peace, but in the months since, the North has provoked the international community with missile tests at a blistering pace.

For some time, South Korea has been training a "decapitation force," reportedly with the help of the US Navy's SEAL Team 6, but now an increasingly bold North Korea may demand quicker action.

South Korea's new plan identifies more than 1,000 targets for precision missile fires and sites for marines to drop in and quickly kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the paper reported.

The plan represents a more independent version of South Korea's current plan, which relies on support from US aircraft carriers. As it stands, no major military commander recommends military action against North Korea, which has a staggering array of conventional — and potentially nuclear — weapons pointed at Seoul, where 26 million call home.

Ok this is new.

Seems like another step in the psyops war has been accomplished.  S. Korea is all onboard a war with the North.

Now we can expect the South Korean people to be groomed to believe that a war is not only needed but necessary for national survival.

This thing is going along the normal playbook leading up to a major conflict. If you've watched the buildup to Gulf War 1 & 2 then this should be familiar as hell.

I'm still saying winter of this year/early next as the timetable.  We'll see what happens.  More to come.

It goes from bad to worse in Houston. Levee breach reported....

via CNBC.

Officials in Brazoria County, outside Houston, warned on Twitter on Tuesday that a levee at Columbia Lakes had been breached by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey and urged any residents who had not already evacuated the area to leave immediately.

Houston reservoirs that have contained heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey are starting to overflow, forcing authorities to release more water into the city's swollen drainage system to alleviate pressure on two dams, Harris County officials said on Tuesday.

County officials are monitoring six neighborhoods around the reservoirs and encouraged residents in those areas to evacuate before the water levels rise.

Story here. 

Wow.

Things have gone from bad to worse.

Possible scenario?  We could see downtown Houston flooded by tonight.  Worst case?  We could see these waters remain in the area for another week. Anyone familiar with waterways in the south know one thing.  When you think it's bad, its just the beginning.  Water will rise for another couple of days after the rain stops.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

The authorities are behind the power curve of this event.  FEMA, Texas State, Federal Emergency Management, Dept of Defense are all NOT moving fast enough to keep pace with the changing situation.

Light combat helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics moves forward.

India's light combat helicopter is one of those often ignored but great concepts that's being ignored but I believe hold great promise.

For some reason (probably because UAVs are doing the job in permissive environments) the observation light helicopter role has gone away in many forces.  The only people with active light attack programs (dedicated helicopters, not swing role platforms like the UH-1Y or British Wildcat) are the Japanese and the Indians.

It's a real pity.

I think there IS a role for these aircraft on the future battlefield.  Time will tell if I'm right or wrong.

Interesting and curious. Kurganets-25 to appear at ZAPAD 17???

pic via Lennutrajektoor Twitter Page!

I was scouring the web looking for information on ZAPAD 17.  The backdrop on that is Belarus and Russia are about to conduct a massive training exercise (funny thing...the US and the West have been conducting exercise after exercise but the Russians do it and it's a controversy...am I the only one asking why we keep seeing so many dang exercises by NATO and EU Battlegroups?).

But Lennutrajektoor Twitter Page takes it one step further.  He claims that the Russian 1st Joint Tank Army will be bringing the Kurganets-25 to the event.

Is this true? Will we finally be able to see this ghost in action?

Russian defense industry....I think I've got the reason behind the madness...

Above you see ANOTHER vehicle concept for the Russian military.  I've been amazed and confused by all the different designs that their industry is pumping out.

I've been bewildered by the slow production and how we see what was once called design bureaus coming out with seemingly world beating designs only to see them languish and not enter production.

In the West we'd see these companies and designers fired for lack of work. They would be on the street looking for a new job, but not in Russia.  Why?

I think I stumbled onto the answer.  They keeping these guys busy.  They're keeping their weapons designers employed and working on new ideas. They've recognized the other side of the coin.

Defense industries aren't suppose to be about profit.  They're suppose to be about the defense of the nation.

In short the Russians are preserving their defense base.

If we had done the same we'd have McDonnell Douglas, FMTV and other former greats still designing and building weapons.  We'd have a vibrant defense sector instead of just a few giants.  We'd be in a much better place than we are today.

You can blame Bush Jr and his jacked up economic beliefs that got translated into policy for the sad shape of our defense industry.

Russia and to an extent China don't have that problem.  Many other allies support their industries too.  We MUST rethink our defense industry.  We need to rethink how we deal with our defense corporations.

Harrier air to air galmour shots...pics by Lance Cpl. Christian Oliver Cachola