There are several key elements of the memo worth discussion, but none more important than the third paragraph, which reads in part “…our military is first and foremost a warfighting force, and while we seek to deter wars, we must also be prepared to fight and win them. This means that overall, the Navy’s strategic future requires focusing more on posture, not only on presence, and more on new capabilities, not only on ship numbers.”This is power politics stuff!
I interpret this statement (and the thinking behind it) as saying that “in a pressurized budgetary environment, conventional deterrence is of relatively less importance than warfighting”, and one can see this reflected in the items taken from the budget (lesser capable ships) and what is added to the budget (munitions, upgrades to the submarine force, and strike fighter capacity).
I am of two minds on this conclusion. First, as a Seapower advocate, I find myself rejecting the false choice between deterrence and war-fighting. The fleet must be balanced for both, and the rhetoric coming from OSD leads one to believe that budgetary restrictions have caused them to unbalance the Navy program with a thumb on the scale of warfighting. The nation can afford both, and the case must be made to ensure that the Navy receives the resources to do both. But that is not the budget environment we are in today, and so the consultant in me sees rationality and coherence in the OSD position.
For those familiar with cars or trucks with manual transmissions, or with motorcycles, DNP essentially works like keeping the clutch slipping all the time. The engine (the mitochondria) may be putting out a lot of power, burning gas rapidly, and generating a lot of heat, but much of the power is not getting to the wheels. Instead, it’s going into heating the clutch. Obviously, one ordinarily slips the clutch for only short period of time. But with DNP, the “clutch” (proton gradient) of the cellular machinery is made to slip all the time. The result? A lot of heat production, and a lot of fuel burned. And not that much energy actually making it to productive use.If that doesn't convince you that this concoction is hell on wheels then check out what else they say....
More specifically speaking, DNP induces proton leakage from the mitochondria, causing them to have to burn more fuel to yield the same amount of ATP in the cell, or even perhaps less ATP than normal.
Large or even dangerous increase of body temperature, intense sweating, yellow bodily fluids, lethargy, water retention, insomnia, hunger, nausea, dehydration, electrolyte depletion, shortness of breath, reduction of insulin production, and reduction of T3. Frequency of these side effects is about 100% except, for example, frequency of nausea might be only about 25%, and dehydration and electrolyte depletion are avoidable.This is from a website called THINK STEROIDS...they'll give you the low down on anything you could ever consider taking and even they warn people away from DNP.
Those guys in the photos are staff pukes assigned to a special TF which is part of Special Operations Command-Africa (aka SOCAF) headquartered in Stuttgart at Kelley Barracks. Stuttgart is also home to 1/10th SFG and two Naval Special Warfare teams.Yeah. That makes a bit more sense. The weapons look sparkling new...maybe used once or twice. No wear on their webbing/packs...also new. I might be out of line here but they don't have the "hard look" that I associate with someone that depends on their conditioning to keep them alive.
The necessity or otherwise of RAF strikes in Syria needs to be judged on the political arguments, not operational ones. Whilst the RAF has extremely experienced aircrew and Tornado GR.4 and Reaper in particular are also well suited for the mission, there are simply too few to make a military difference to the realities on the ground. Increasing the RAF striking power from 8 Tornados and 10 Reapers to 10 Tornados, 6 Typhoons and the 10 Reapers represents a significantly greater burden on the RAF without making much of an impact on the total coalition firepower available to hit ISIL. Brimstone is a uniquely accurate and low-collateral missile for destroying vehicles but its tactical utility will not change the strategic calculus in Syria. The same is true for Paveway IV in its class as a PGM. The most useful contribution that the RAF makes to the coalition efforts over Syria is in ISR – with E-3D, Sentinel R.1, Reaper and Airseeker (UK Rivet Joint) all having been providing ISR over Syria long before the vote to authorise strikes.This is a damning article.
