All sailors are freaks....Two star fired for public nudity and drukendness

via Navy Times

One of the Navy's top supply officers has been fired and rebuked for drunkenness and nudity that was fueled by hard drinking at a trade conference in Florida, becoming the Navy's most senior officer removed from their post this year.
Rear Adm. David Baucom was removed from his job as the director of Strategy, Policy, Capabilities, and Logistics at U.S. Transportation Command in October after an investigation into his misbehavior in April while attending the National Defense Transportation Association's Transportation Advisory Board in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
On the night of April 7, Baucom attended a dinner with about 70 conference attendees and imbibed all or part of at least eight drinks, according to an investigation released by the Navy after inquiries from Navy Times.
Baucom, 56, became so intoxicated that he was unable to stand and had to be brought by a hotel employee back to his room. Later, he was discovered wandering naked through public areas of the hotel, seeking a towel to cover himself, the investigation found.

Dude is a lightweight.  Eight drinks has him naked and wandering the halls?   He should spend a two day tour in the barracks during a Typhoon!  I've seen multiple cases of beer downed by a single Marine and literally a pallet hauled into the barracks when the storm approached.

MWR was extremely well funded!

Anyway, this goes to prove.  Doesn't matter the rank.  All sailors are freaks.

Side note:  I did this tongue in cheek but it's a shame that this guy's career is ended because of a "oh shit" moment.  Zero deficit is and will always be a lie.... until they get a better view of this recruiting/retention crisis that is...

Royal Marines Landing Craft & Viking Armored Vehicles storming the beach (pic)...

Pictured are Royal Navy Marines taking part in a simulated beach landing using Landing Platform Dock ships.
The Assault Ship HMS Bulwark is visable in the distance. The Marines were part of the NATO Exercise, Trident Juncture.
The role of the Landing Platform Dock ships, HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion, is to deliver the punch of the Royal Marines ashore by air and by sea, with boats from the landing dock in the belly of the ship and by assault helicopter from the two-spot flight deck. LPDs can carry 256 troops, with their vehicles and combat supplies, and this can be swollen up to 405 troops.
HMS Bulwark (L15) is able to flex her amphibious muscle to respond quickly to any crisis and world events.
The LCVP MK5 is 15.5 metres long and 4.3 metres wide and capable of carrying a close combat company of thirty five fully equipped Commandos (or vehicles such as the Viking). The LCVP MK5 can travel up to twenty-five knots and has a range of over two hundred and ten nautical miles.

Pictured are Royal Navy Marines taking part in a simulated beach landing using Landing Platform Dock ships. and Viking armoured vehicles. The Assault Ship HMS Bulwark is visable in the distance. The Marines were taking part in the NATO Exercise Trident Juncture. 

Viking Armoured Vehicles provide protected battlefield mobility for the Royal Marines of 3 Commando Brigade. Designed for amphibious operations they have the ability to 'swim' when required, either to land troops ashore, or to cross obstacles like rivers and lakes. 

The Viking has the ability to move rapidly across the majority of terrain to outmanoeuvre the enemy. 

Although the primary role of the Viking is in protected mobility for the Royal Marines, it is also often used in battlefield reconnaissance, fire support and as a command platform.

Trump calls for 'complete shutdown' on Muslims entering U.S. UPDATED!

via Military.com

Donald Trump called Monday for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," an idea swiftly condemned by his rival GOP candidates for president and other Republicans.
The proposed ban would apply to immigrants and visitors alike, a sweeping prohibition affecting all adherents of Islam who want to come to the U.S. The idea faced an immediate challenge to its legality and feasibility from experts who could point to no formal exclusion of immigrants based on religion in America's history.
Trump's campaign said in a statement such a ban should stand "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." It said the proposal comes in response to a level of hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans.

As usual the Republican Party is reacting to the dictates of the beltway instead of taking into account the concerns of the rank and file.

Additionally instead of taking the statement at face value and seeing this as a "pause" until policy can be reworked to meet the threat, its being seen as a threat to freedom of religion etc .

I'm waiting to see how this plays out but one thing is certain.  We will get hit again.  Its almost guaranteed.  IF the US govt continues to lecture people on how to treat Muslim citizens INSTEAD of working overtime to prevent that attack/explain what is being done to keep the homeland safe, then all they're doing is setting us up for a HUGE backlash in the future.

On a sidenote.  If you think gun sales have been brisk before, then watch them go into overdrive now.  People aren't scared.  They're concerned about their safety and no  one believes that govt at ANY level is competent enough to protect them...they can catalog the crime scene after the deed is done, but they're incapable of protecting them.  Personally, I welcome the swing toward reality.  The sobering thing is this.  They never could. 

UPDATE:  I'm getting slammed in my in box with the opinion (and in the couple of comments) that this is some pure NAZI shit.  Again, maybe I'm giving the guy too much of the benefit of the doubt but he's about to appear on Morning Joe so I'll be sure to update this.  I repeat that the news media and Republican/Democrat elite have been after him with long knives since his campaign began.  I'm no fan but with those people as enemies I'm willing to give him a bit of rope.

UPDATE 1:  Just watched the interview on Morning Joe.  Trump said that this was temporary and not a long term deal.  He wants the govt to get a handle on the situation.  He gave Paris as an example of what he didn't want to see in the US and said that its changed forever after the attacks.  Scarborough cut him off as he was trying to explain his position.  Now he's back so if there is more news from this interview I'll update again.  Long story short.  They're playing "gotcha games" with the man.  They're trying to generate headlines.

Italy rejects the offer to bomb Syria.

via The Week.

Italy will not join U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced Sunday in a statement which warned against unintended consequences of reactive military interventions.
"If being a protagonist means playing at running after other people's bombardments, then I say 'no thank you,'" Renzi said. "Italy's position is clear and solid. We want to wipe out terrorists, not please the commentators. The one thing we don't need is to multiply on-the-spot reactions, without a strategic vision."
Renzi also drew comparisons to the 2011 NATO airstrikes in Libya, which successfully helped rebel efforts to oust Moammar Gadhafi but left the country a chaotic haven of terrorism: "Four years of civil war in Libya show it was not a happy decision. Today there needs to be a different strategy," to deal with Syria, Renzi said. He added, "The one thing we cannot allow ourselves is a repeat of Libya." Bonnie Kristian

Uh wow.

This is a forceful rebuke of US policy.  Interesting.

General Dynamics protests ACV award.

Thanks to Jonathan for the link!

via Defense News.

According to John Garner, Advanced Amphibious Assault program manager, some "subfactors" established in the request for proposals played out in the service's decision. Being able to operate well in water and on land were equal to requirements to carry personnel, as well as protection, he said, "so the intent was to balance the capabilities."
But he added, "We did have individual emphasis areas that would give extra credit, so to speak, all the other things being equal, and those emphasis areas were weighted toward the amphibious capabilities of the vehicle because there were some very capable ground vehicles out there, but fundamentally this vehicle has to be an amphibious vehicle."
The ACV 1.1 armored personnel carrier has been a long time coming and "will yield a balanced combination of performance protection and payload all at an affordable price," William Taylor, the Marine Corps' Land Systems program executive officer, told reporters prior to the award on Nov. 24.

I told you that the General Dynamics offering was biased toward the original Marine Personnel Carrier contest.

Additionally the program office has said that the ACV 1.1 and 1.2 were merging...and that corporations wouldn't be punished but rather rewarded for exceeding the threshold capabilities in the ACV 1.1 contract.

So what did General Dynamics do?  They revamped the Stryker, put a big ass swim vane on it and thought that it would be good enough.  The funny thing is that they have a "Marine Corps" section to keep them informed on where things are going.

They should have hired me as a consultant.  I could see them getting their tits smashed from orbit.  BAE/IVECO and SAIC/ST Kinetics were playing for keeps and built vehicles to fulfill the ACV 1.2 requirements while General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin decided to be coy and lazy!  Even if they get the program to do another assessment they won't be able to win the re-do.

They emphasized land performance and didn't do a simple appraisal of where the USMC was going.  They won't be able to afford a different vehicle for ACV 1.2 so that meant the idea of a capable MPC type vehicle with poor swim from ship to shore was a non starter.

Once again the smartest guys in the room were anything but.  A fucking blogger could see this coming and they couldn't.

Future USS Zumwalt's first underway at sea

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Dec. 7, 2015) The future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is underway for the first time conducting at-sea tests and trials in the Atlantic Ocean Dec. 7, 2015. The multimission ship will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works/Released) 151207-N-ZZ999-505

USS Zumwalt heads out for sea trials. THE BATTLESHIP IS BACK!

via AP

The largest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy headed out to sea for the first time Monday, departing from shipbuilder Bath Iron Works and carefully navigating the winding Kennebec River before reaching the open ocean where the ship will undergo sea trials.

For all intents and purposes the battleship is back.

Consider.  Between ship and sub launched tomahawk missiles, they now have more reach than the carrier air wing.  Additionally they can sail independently AND have the flexibility to do a wide assortment of missions.

I'll call it now.  Not only is the battleship back but within a decade the carrier air wing will seem outdated.  You will hear calls for a max of 5 carriers in the fleet during your lifetime.

The first Female Ranger School grads were pencil whipped...

Thanks to AL Z. for the link!

via People

Way back in January, long before the first women attended the Army's elite Ranger School – one of the most grueling military courses in the world – officials at the highest levels of the Army had already decided failure was not an option, sources tell PEOPLE.

"A woman will graduate Ranger School," a general told shocked subordinates this year while preparing for the first females to attend a "gender integrated assessment" of the grueling combat leadership course starting April 20, sources tell PEOPLE. "At least one will get through."

That directive set the tone for what was to follow, sources say.

"It had a ripple effect" at Fort Benning, where Ranger School is based, says a source with knowledge of events at the sprawling Georgia Army post. "Even though this was supposed to be just an assessment, everyone knew. The results were planned in advance."

On Tuesday, PEOPLE revealed that Oklahoma Republican Rep. Steve Russell had asked the Department of Defense for documents about the women who attended Ranger School after becoming concerned that "the women got special treatment and played by different rules," sources say.

Ranger School consists of three phases: Benning, which lasts 21 days and includes water survival, land navigation, a 12-mile march, patrols, and an obstacle course; Mountain Phase, which lasts 20 days, and includes assaults, ambushes, mountaineering and patrols; and Swamp Phase, which lasts 17 days and covers waterborne operations.

But whereas men consistently were held to the strict standards outlined in the Ranger School's Standing Operating Procedures handbook sources say, the women were allowed lighter duties and exceptions to policy.

Why is this old article (Sept of this year) important?

Because it gives an indication of what we can expect throughout the US military when it comes to training.  If the US Army will lower standards and "pencil whip" graduates thru the Ranger School then no MOS or billet is safe.

If you know a young man of character or potential, do him a favor and warn him away from service in the armed forces.  You will do him justice...especially now.  This will not be easy and MANY careers will be ruined while the military does the bidding of the USNI Blog, Haynie and other feminist overlords that lurk in the halls of the Pentagon.

If you're currently serving then don't be fooled by the generous bonuses that are being paid.  They're doing everything possible to keep the boat spaces filled after shafting so many others.  Put in those retirement papers, start your EAS process as soon as you can.  You too can be a victim because this will be fast tracked and the last thing you want is to get dinged at the end of years of faithful service.

To the military leadership.  You failed at war, you failed your troops, you failed the nation and now you've failed the Corps.  There is a special place in hell for the likes of you.

16th Air Assault Brigade paratroopers fully load a Chinook (pic)..

This is obviously gonna be a short trip.  Is it my imagination or is that a VERY CLEAN helicopter?

ISIS is ready to unleash chemical weapons on Europe...this is the World War 3 scenario...

Thanks to Maurice for the link!

via Daily Mail

ISIS has recruited experts with chemistry, physics and computer science degrees to wage war with weapons of mass destruction against the West, a shocking European Parliament report has claimed.
The terror organisation, according to the briefing document, 'may be planning to try to use internationally banned weapons of mass destruction in future attacks'.
The document, which was compiled in the aftermath of the deadly attacks on Paris claimed that ISIS has already smuggled WMD material into Europe.

I saw this story a couple of days ago but it slipped my mind.

But make no mistake about it.  If ISIS somehow unleashes chemical weapons (or worse biological weapons...they tend to be more persistent) on Europe then we're looking at a World War 3 scenario.

Europe will turn rabid.

Muslims and those that look Muslim will come under attack in the streets.  I could even imagine the horror of them being shot on sight and then the real drama begins.  They're pushed into slums and once there the military is sent in.

That doesn't even begin to compare to what will be happening in the Middle East.  Senator Cruz talked about glowing sand?  How about turning sand into glass?  And it won't be the US leading the charge but France, the UK and Germany.

The veneer of civilization is thin.  ISIS foolishly is trying to rip it away.