US Military Advisors killed in Yemen??? US Naval Base under construction there?????

Thanks to MiloMonkey for the link!

via FARS

TEHRAN (FNA)- Several US military advisors of the Riyadh government's army were killed and wounded in heavy clashes with Yemen's revolutionary forces in Saudi Arabia's Najran region.

"The Yemeni revolutionary committee forces killed three US military advisors and wounded two others in the Southern province of Najran," Abu Hessam, a senior Ansarullah commander, told FNA on Sunday.
He noted that seven Saudi military men were also killed in the clashes with Yemeni forces.
Abu Hessam did not disclose the names of the American military advisors.
On Saturday, media reports revealed that the US has invaded and occupied Yemen's strategic Island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean and is now building up its biggest naval base there.
"Hundreds of workers from Asian countries have been deployed by the US navy to construct its biggest naval base on the island," Arabic-language Al-Masyra TV quoted a Spanish-language newspaper as saying.
Socotra is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean; the largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95 percent of the landmass of the archipelago. Socotra is located between the continents of Asia and Africa.
Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 158 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 5,535 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Uh wow.

Military advisors can mean anything but the number is kinda surprising.  If we're thinking "tactically" here then that sounds like a Special Forces A-team got hit and hit hard....of course it could also be a team from SAIC that's providing intel assistance....

I just don't know and will be looking for more info on this.

The blurb about a naval base is also noteworthy.  One thing is certain.  The Pentagon has been too silent in the face of obvious military setbacks to simply ignore this news.

In an information vacuum you take what you can get and dismiss it only after its been proven false.

Its just the nature of this war.

Caspian Flotilla Marines conduct counter-terrorist exercise via Russian Military Technology

All photos and story via RMT...

August 30 - The Caspian Flotilla marines held a counter-terrorist exercise. Approximately 200 servicemen and 20 pieces of military hardware were involved in the event.
The marines practiced repelling the attack of the sabotage group, preventing capturing of the military unit facilities, liquidating the simulated illegal armed group.
The servicemen also trained to provide first aid treatment to the simulated injured by “explosions”.

Bayou Renaissance Man nails it on the schism between Cops and the Community.

This is a MUST read!

Just a small tidbit from the Bayou Renaissance Man...

There's the issue of police themselves. We expect them to be paragons of virtue; but then we send them into situations where their daily interactions are usually with the dregs of society, where they're exposed to violence, threats, lies, filth and the worst that people have to offer. Is it any wonder that they become hardened and cynical, viewing most people (including the 'good guys') as potential law-breakers, regarding everyone as a potential threat until proven otherwise?
There's also the problem of police becoming primarily fund-raising machines for themselves and their localities. I've experienced this myself in Nashville, TN, where I live. Last year I was stopped and issued a ticket for speeding, without the Metro PD officer providing any proof at all that I had, indeed, been speeding. When I protested, he informed me that he wasn't required to do so. He agreed that I could take the matter to court if I wished, but pointed out (rather smugly, I thought) that even if I won, I'd still be required to pay more in court costs than the fine he was issuing me. I was basically in a no-win situation. I thought very seriously about fighting the ticket in court, as a matter of principle; but that would have meant going into town, waiting a full day (possibly longer) for the case to come up, having to come back again if the officer couldn't be there, and all sorts of bureaucratic hassles (as well as having to pay the aforementioned court costs whether I won or lost). It wasn't worth the trouble.

It gets nothing but better from here.  I really believe that he's touched on the issue that is driving much of the trouble between police and the communities they serve.

I only hope that the powers that be get it together soon.  The cop that was assasinated in Houston is the canary in the coal mine.

Everyone knows that I believe that society is breaking down.  IF I'm right (and this is one time that I pray I'm not) then we're about to see this one off becoming a common occurrence.

15th MEU/SPMAGTF-Central Command combined arms exercise .... Photo by Cpl. Jonathan Boynes

An Artillery Marine with India Battery, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, breaks down an M777 Howitzer during a Fire Support Coordination Exercise (FSCEX) in an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, Aug. 25, 2015. The FSCEX is a SPMAGTF and 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit combined arms exercise designed to promote interoperability between the two Marine Corps contingency response forces in the Central Command Area of Operations. BLT 3/1, 15th MEU’s ground combat element, is embarked on the Essex Amphibious Ready Group and deployed to maintain regional security in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

This is interesting.

An MEU working with a SPMAGTF-CR?  I am beyond confused by this duality in thinking.

On one hand we keep hearing about distributed operations, disaggregated MEUs and smaller forces becoming units of action (Company Landing Team).  And on the other we see the Marine Expeditionary Brigade being re-emphasized, talk of combining MEUs on a regular basis and the need to preserve our forcible entry capability.

You can't have both.

Either the Marine Corps will remain a medium weight force in readiness, an excellent combined arms team without peer and having exceptional infantry or it will attempt to go Commando/SOCOM outer perimeter security/aviation mafia.

Infographic via Guide to Prepping.

Note:  I find this interesting because it provides a quick remedy to pepper spray.  I guess the old rule of running water from a hose over your head is now old skool.

Wheels vs Tracks...has the worm finally turned?

Note:  You guys are gonna have to work with/deal with me on this.  I'm experimenting with a new concept for the blog.  Statements made in the comments of blog posts will be popped out to start a new discussion.  Its just an experiment to see how it works, so bear with me.

Wheels vs. Tracks.  Has the worm finally turned?  That's the question brought on by this statement by Herbert...

And why have tracks to operate in rough terrain if all your fuel and other support vehicles are wheeled and cant' follow?

That's just a small snippet of what was said.  The conversation was dealing with the definition of mobility but that part stood out to me because it brings us to the tracks vs wheels thing.

Enter the USMC.

I've been following the USMC's Amphibious Combat Vehicle contest for awhile now.  If you've been following me then you've seen me gyrate between advocating for a detuned EFV, a dramatically upgraded and modified AAV from BAE (still begging them for the actual concept pics of it) and then trying to guess what wheeled vehicle the Marine Corps will select for the project still 7 or more years away.

Having said all that we're reminded of this video by HQMC...



You can watch the whole thing (its quite informative) but the part I want you to focus on starts at 4:38.  That's General Mullen talking and the issue is whats at hand today.  Tracks vs. Wheels.

He states in the clear (and I'm paraphrasing) that wheels have caught up to tracks when it comes to mobility over broken ground.  In talking to him I was challenged to call the staff at the Nevada Test Center to confirm the results of testing on the MPC test bed that showed its mobility rivaled that of the M1 Abrams.

The interesting thing is that we've seen it in the USMC.  The MTVR is approaching almost legendary status as being able to go anywhere and get the job done.  If you look around the globe you see others making the same claims about their wheeled IFVs.  The French VBCI, the Singaporean Terrex 2, the Italian Super AV and others all claim to be able to keep up with tracked vehicles across all terrain.

So ending this the question is asked one final time.

Has the worm turned?

SIDENOTE:  We've all see the go-pro vids of pilots and aircrewman...even a few of sailors doing there thing.  I wish for once a Combat Cameraman or a grunt in the Army or Marines would strap a go-pro to their helmet and give the public a birds eye view of what its like to be going cross country in the back of an AAV or Bradley.  Policy Makers, Congress, the SecDef, even the guys running the services need to be reminded of the heat, dust, and how you can lose situational awareness in the back of these things.  Even better would be to see it from splashing off the back of an LPD to the trip to shore and finally the moment when the ramp goes down.

Is military theory wrong? Mechanized forces are being beaten by light infantry!

The fighting in Syria/Iraq and in Yemen is tossing military theory into the trash bin.

What do I mean?

We're looking at mechanized forces being beaten by light infantry on an almost daily basis.  If you take a step back and look at the "order of battle" for all sides involved, then we should see Iraq curb stomping ISIS in their country, Syria is a bit more muddled, but in Yemen we should see the Saudis/GCC having wrapped up military operations by now.

Instead we see at best military setbacks and at worst a stalemate with the 'insurgent' forces (I use this term for want of a better one).

How can this be?  If we say that its because the mech forces have poor troops then we must also acknowledge that they're facing villagers with a few professionals mixed in.  At best the troop issue is even.  If we look at tech then Iraq/Syria/Saudi-GCC certainly have a huge edge.  Add to all this the available airpower that they all have then we must start asking serious questions about what's going on here.

NOTE:  I didn't delve into tactics because while I believe it to also be an equal factor, I'm sure many of you will consider it the cause of their failure.  I don't think so and for this discussion lets follow my lead and consider both sides to be sloppy in their TTPs.

Note 1:  Is it possible that we've seen the demise of not only the tank but also armored vehicles on the battlefield?  Again, I don't think so.  But I do believe that we might be reaching a point where it takes extremely professional Soldiers/Marines to successfully operate them on hybrid battlefields.

How do you define armored fighting vehicle mobility?

How do you define armored vehicle mobility?

The question comes from the post yesterday concerning the Leclerc MBT.  One of its main attributes put forward by its supporters is that its more mobile than any other tank in the West.

But how do you arrive at that?

Consider the assault on Baghdad.  Traveling at 30mph over broken ground is a jarring experience.  It not only breaks trucks but it gives tanks a good work out.  Quite honestly moving faster than that is not only not necessary but downright hazardous to the crew.

What about obstacles?  If your assault is stalled because you have bring forward bridging equipment for your MBTs but your AAVs or other amphibious vehicles can continue does that mean that they're somehow more mobile than your tanks...even if they're slower cross country?

What about travel on hard packed soil or roads?  Wheeled IFVs can approach (some of them) almost 70-80mph.  Yet those same vehicles struggle in mud, whereas the MBTs (if driven correctly) can make it thru.  What about vehicles that lack the mobility of tanks over broken ground like the LAV-25, yet have the ability to lifted (a short distance) by CH-53E.  Suddenly that dense forest is bypassed by air and your heavy armor has to make a detour.  Does that make the LAV-25 and other readily heli-lifted vehicles the ultimate in being mobile?

So exactly how do you define armored fighting vehicle mobility?

Saturday's side issue. How good is the AMX-56 LeClerc MBT?

I guess this proves that you can never predict what will be important to your audience.

I thought for sure that the drivers of the conversation today would be either (A) the girl being charged with manslaughter for encouraging her "online" boyfriend to commit suicide or (B) whether or not Saudi Arabia/GCC would be successful in their surge operation in Yemen.

I was wrong.  The burning debate seems to be circling around how "good" is the AMX-56 LeClerc MBT.

Personally I'm not "enthused" about the tank.  Its upgrades in my opinion haven't been as robust as we've seen with the M1 Abrams/Leopard 2 and I have serious doubts about its armor.

My thinking was that we'd simply sit back and watch how it performed once it was pushed into the vanguard in Yemen and then compare it to the Abrams.  Still believe that's the best way to go, but the response was rather intense so I'm popping this discussion out so that the "surge" thread can go back to the issue outlined.

So you tell me (and provide something to back up your claims)....how good is the AMX-56 LeClerc?

16th Air Assault Brigade at Hohenfels Training Area.

Note:  In a few of the pics I believe I'm seeing the new squared US Army parachutes mixed with the round British setup.  Can someone with knowledge tell me if that's done these days?  I didn't think you could mix different performing parachutes in the same stick.  Has that changed?

All pics via 16th Air Assault Brigades FaceBook Page.