Bergdahl is gonna get hammered. New White House policy gives it away.

via Washington Times.

The president issued orders for the creation of a special envoy post, a new coordinator of government efforts and a fusion cell of FBI, State Department and Pentagon officials to deal with hostages and their families. He said government officials will work with families and, if necessary, communicate directly with hostage takers.
Obama defended his administration’s efforts to free hostages, noting that many have come home safely and that U.S. military personnel have risked their lives to rescue Americans.

Read it all here.

A couple of things.  First I highlight the creation of the "fusion cell" because that is a HUGE give away.  A special envoy serves no real function as far as coordination goes.  The pros can do that themselves and probably better from an operational standpoint.  What a special envoy DOES DO is to provide a barrier between the President and anything that goes wrong.  That's the real function of bureaucracy, it doesn't help do things better but it does provide cover.

Next, there was no outcry from the public to get this done.  And that leads me to my contention that Bergdahl is about to get hammered by the US Army.

THAT WILL BE HUGE NEWS.  People will be up in arms that a traitor was traded for five terrorist leaders.

The White House is simply getting out ahead of the curve and looking to set the stage ... and the story ... that they've already dealt with the issues that led to this MISTAKE and that they put in place mechanisms to prevent it from happening again.

Mark my words.  This hostage policy isn't about the victims.  Its about politics and legacy.

What is a USMC Heavy Brigade Combat Team?

Marines with 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion fire an M2HB .50-caliber machine gun in a live fire training event during a Heavy Brigade Combat Team qualification course aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., June 19, 2015. During the live fire event, the Marines aimed and shot at moving targets to simulate enemy movement. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Chris Garcia/Released)

Hey!  Does anyone know what a USMC Heavy Brigade Combat Team look like?  Any idea of its manning and equipment?  Is this new, just something I hadn't heard of or simply a captioning mistake?

"I guess they didn’t know I was a Marine"...PFC Edward Henry Ahrens, 1st Marine Raider Battalion...MUST READ!

Photo, Citation and Story via WarHistoryOnline...

Navy Cross CitationAwarded for actions during the World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Private First Class Edward Henry Ahrens, United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving with Company A, FIRST Marine Raider Battalion, during the landing assault and seizure of enemy Japanese-held Tulagi Island, British Solomon Islands, on the night of 7 – 8 August 1942.While a member of a security detachment protecting the right flank of his battalion, Private First Class Ahrens, with utter disregard for his own personal safety, single-handed engaged in hand-to-hand combat a group of the enemy attempting to infiltrate the rear of the battalion.Although mortally wounded, he succeeded in killing the officer in command of the hostile unit and two other Japanese, thereby breaking up the attack. His great personal valor and indomitable fighting spirit were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the defense of his country.General Orders: Commander South Pacific: Serial 804 (March 13, 1943)Action Date: August 7 – 8, 1942Service: Marine CorpsRank: Private First ClassCompany: Company ABattalion: 1st Marine Raider BattalionDivision: 1st Marine Division

Read the story here. 

Obviously the safety brief didn't stick...via Gruntworks...*UPDATED*

via Gruntworks...

Would one of you tube-toting mortar maggots like to explain how this shit happens?! Now that's gonna leave a mark!
-Doc

Doc is being kind.

How the fuck do you explain this?  I like to think I've been a few places and seen a few things but I've NEVER seen something this batshit crazy!

Just wow.

UPDATE:  Rodrigo informs me that the soldier in the pic was involved in fighting with guerillas when this occurred and that he unfortunately died after surgery of respiratory failure.  All idiocy aside (on my part)....My heart goes out to him and his family....

The Russians had a MegaWatt Laser on an Orbital Weapons Platform in '78?

I was reading a nice write up on the Buran Space Shuttle (here) and the author mentioned (in passing...to me he buried the lead) that the Energia launch system didn't get to carry the Buran into orbit but it did carry the Polyus Orbital Weapons Platform, which carried a megawatt laser, in 1978!

If the Russians had megawatt lasers in '78....if the US was working on SDI....then what do we have today?

I have dismissed those that say that tech is being held back from the public but I'm seriously beginning to wonder.  Have you noticed that our rate of advancement has basically slowed to a crawl?  In the area of weapons we're not much better than we were during the 1950's.  More accurate, more precise but weight of fire hasn't increased and in many important areas we've seen a decrease.

But back on task.

The Russians were trying out an orbital weapons platform in 1978.

Just plain wow.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industry is developing a High Speed Amphibious Assault Vehicle!

via Japan Times.

In January, a top U.S. Marine general visited Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan to look at a prototype of an amphibious assault vehicle that could one day be a key pillar in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to sell weapons abroad.
Using engines adapted from the main battle tank the company makes for Japan’s military and new water jet propulsion technology, the full-size prototype is undergoing pool tests, although it is in the early stages of development and production could be years off.
Nevertheless, the maker of the wartime Zero fighter plane is eyeing overseas sales after Abe lifted a decades-old ban on arms exports in April last year as part of his more muscular security agenda, two Japanese defence industry sources said.
Mitsubishi designers believe the prototype shown to U.S. Marine Corps Pacific commander Lt. Gen. John Toolan will be more maneuverable and faster across the water than the 40-year-old AAV7 amphibious assault vehicle used to carry U.S. Marines onto beaches from naval ships anchored offshore, the sources said.
The AAV7 is built by the U.S. unit of Britain’s BAE Systems .
The prototype’s engines in particular could be fitted onto other armored vehicles, the sources added.
“It’s an opportunity for Mitsubishi Heavy to tap overseas markets for its engine technology,” said one of the sources, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Mitsubishi Heavy wants to build an amphibious armored vehicle that can move through water at 20 to 25 knots (37 to 46 kph) compared to the more than 7 knots (13 kph) reached by the AAV7, said the sources.
“If the Japanese can get 20 knots in the water without compromising maneuverability on land, we will be very interested,” said one Marine Corps official who saw the prototype in January but declined to be identified.
“Whether that’s possible remains to be seen.”
A Mitsubishi Heavy spokesman said the prototype had been shown to the Ministry of Defense, but declined to give details about the vehicle. At a Paris arms show last June, a suitcase-size model of an eight-wheeled armored troop carrier was the centerpiece display at the company’s exhibition booth.
The Defense Ministry was aware of Mitsubishi Heavy’s research into amphibious vehicles but was not involved in the project, a ministry spokesman said.

Just plain fucking wow.

While the USMC dithered the Japanese are getting it done.

To be more precise, while the F-35 has destroyed the Marine Corps budget and aviation is swallowing us whole, others are moving ahead for the big fight that's coming in the Pacific.

When will people realize that the entire world is gearing up for a HUGE conventional fight while the US military is stuck chasing savages in the Middle East and realigning its entire structure to do so.

Wow! The MV-22 is one expensive bird!

via National Defense Magazine.

“There are a couple of other customers that might pay the kind of premium we’re talking about here, but not many,” he said.
The premium being paid for is $70 million per aircraft. What buyers receive in return is speed. The Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations Command, the program’s first two customers, have a need to transport troops and equipment quickly and at farther ranges than conventional lift helicopters, he said.

According to a 2014 Teal Group report on the V-22, the program in its early years estimated 400 to 600 foreign sales. “That number now looks quite far fetched,” the report said.
Aboulafia said beyond the Japan sale, Israel looks like it may buy about six of the aircraft. South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar could also buy V-22s. “It’s hard to imagine other customers emerging,” he said.
The so-called “ownership” cost of flying the V-22, which factors in all expenses and divides it by the number of hours the aircraft flies per year, is more than $83,000 per hour, according to Air Force data obtained by the Project on Government Oversight in 2013. A stripped down calculation of flight cost per hour including fuel, personnel costs and such is about $11,000 per hour, a 2009 Government Accountability Office report said. That is double what the program originally anticipated, the report said.
Aboulafia said the two manufacturers were never able to bring the aircraft’s costs down significantly to make it attractive to foreign buyers. “The cost curve didn’t move much. … We’re probably not going to do better than we see today. It’s just a difficult and expensive plane to build and clearly an expensive plane to operate and pay for.”

Read the whole article but one thing is becoming crystal clear.

The USMC is not going to be able to afford its air wing at this rate.  We WILL see a come to Jesus moment....hard choices will have to be made and this scheme that is being carried out will be dismantled.  The only thing I'm left to wonder about is whether it will be the Marine Corps, the DoD or Congress that forces the issue.

Strock explains USMC moves on alternate shipping plans....

USNI.Blog

Among the items to test in Strock’s matrix, and one of the ones getting a lot of widespread attention, is testing the new Afloat Forward Staging Base with the whole range of aircraft and connectors. The Navy just accepted the first AFSB, the USNS Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller(MLP-3/AFSB-1), on June 12, and a lot of people already want to use it.
“It is my understanding that that ship is now, I think, at initial operating capability and is planned to go to support combatant commander mine warfare requirements,” Strock said. However, “a lot of people, to include the commandant, said we’d like to get our hands on that thing and that type of capability – and he’s absolutely right. And we have been developing some ideas on how could we use a ship like that – that ship, or a ship like that – to support the CR MAGTF and Marine Rotational Force Darwin.”
Because the MV-22 creates a lot of heat and a tremendous downwash, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) needs to carefully study whether to certify the Osprey for operations on the various ship classes the Marines are considering as alternate platforms. Strock said the Marines are working with NAVAIR now to certify the MV-22 to operate on the AFSB, though none of the aircraft have landed on the Lewis B. Puller yet.

Interesting...and a must read.

What has me questioning the whole thing though is the claim that the USMC has a shipping shortfall.  The only thing that I've seen that indicates that there is a shortage is the creation of these SPMAGTF-CR's.

I knew of NO real need for the units.  The claim is that Combatant Commanders needed more forces.  I consider that false.  TO BE BRUTALLY HONEST, I stand by the claim that this was simply a creation to boost the "need" for the MV-22.

What is happening is that by establishing these non-standard units into the operating forces we're creating a solution to a problem that never existed AND creating a problem where there was none before (twisted wording but I hope you get what I'm saying).

Kill the SPMAGTF-CR, go to a sustainable deployment model, have a bit of surge capacity in your active duty force and ditch the idea of the MV-22 being indispensable and we're back on track to having a reasonable force.

The idea of turning everything afloat into an amphib will never work and will only add unnecessary churn to the US Navy's maintenance schedule.  Besides.  We've seen San Antonio class LPD's doing work with NASA on shuttle recovery...we've seen the USS WASP taken out of service to perform duty as the F-35 test bed.  If we can do that then we don't actually have a shipping shortage.

Isn't it time for "Cans" to go Marine Corps wide

Lance Cpl. Chase Gindin provides security for his unit before relocating to an alternate extraction point June 4 during Korean Marine Exchange Program 15-19 in the Whiskey 4 Training Area, Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, Republic of Korea. During this portion of the exercise scout snipers simulated a mission involving a lost Marine. This exercise allows the battalion to maintain readiness and build the mutual strength and friendship between the ROK Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Corps. Gindin, from Palm Coast, Florida, is a scout sniper with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine photo by Lance Cpl. Robert Williams Jr./Released)

The above photo showed up in my news feed and unless I'm mistaken that devil dog has a suppressor on his rifle.

Awesome!

But isn't it time for all USMC Infantry to start using them?  The benefit?  Besides flash, the other quick and dirty way of determining where fire is coming from is by noise....removing an identifier for enemy forces is always a win.  IF we make maneuver a solid part of the way that we employ our ground forces then reducing noise signature is going to become even more important.

I think the time has come.  If I recall correctly there was a movement to do just that but I don't know what happened.  This revival is (if it is a revival) welcomed!

USMC Armor Mafia strikes back...

via FabusMaximus.com

An eccentric retired Air Force colonel accepted an invitation to speak to the students of Amphibious Warfare School class of 1979 only after the staff grudgingly agreed to his demand for a five-hour block of time.1 From this slightly awkward beginning, the Marine Corps’ doctrine of manœuvre warfare sprouted and grew. The shift from attrition to manœuvre hardly occurred overnight. It took the efforts of many intelligent and dedicated officers and civilians years to create a critical mass of manœuvreists within the officer corps to bring about this momentous shift.
Now more than three decades later, almost everyone in the Marine Corps can identify that Air Force colonel as John Boyd and say he “invented” the OODA (observation, orientation, decision, action) loop. But few people appear to understand the real significance of Col Boyd’s work anymore. This becomes readily apparent any time a staff creates a synchronization matrix or a battalion attacks straight into an enemy defense during an integrated training exercise. We are doomed to backslide completely into old attritionist habits without a reexamination of our way of doing business. To prevent this, a manœuvre renaissance is necessary to move forward as we transition away from the long war and prepare to confront a future fourth generation adversary.2

This article is a must read.  While I disagree with the young Captain, his heart is in the right place.

Maneuver is alive and well...the problem is how the USMC is approaching the problem.

Once again I have to point out that for some odd reason, the ground side of the house has yielded to the air and maneuver is seen as vertical only.

THAT IS THE PROBLEM.

Even if we emphasize vertical envelopment the last mile...or if we're using proper ground maneuver tactics, the last 25 miles will require speed and agility on the ground.  Additionally there is always a time when assaulting the enemy will require taking hits.  That means armored protection, shock, firepower and agility.

That's why the USMC should be emphasizing the Amphibious Combat Vehicle...that's why we need to bite the bullet and tell the Tankers that they will survive but it will be in a mobile gun system based on the ACV...we need to make as much of our ground combat element swim as possible, use maneuver as an additional form of FIREPOWER and only then will we be able to take on the enemy horde and win.

Oh and a sidenote.  I am getting a little tired of the meme that has developed about Marine Corps tactics.  "Hey diddle diddle, straight up the middle" came from the tight quarters and limited operating space that was afforded during the island hopping campaign in the Pacific during WW2.  It is not to be derided.  It should be applauded.  Those Marines did the hard thing and it's unseemly for today's Marines to look at it in anyway other than pride and astonishment.