Politics Talk. I'm looking to General Kelly on this latest controversy...UPDATED!!!!

By now you've heard the latest Trump misstep.  To me this would be unforgivable if it's true.

I know the guy thinks he's smooth and a people person but he has a missing "empathy" gene.  He's also a bit glib and thinks it's cute.  Finally he likes to play the tough guy.

This thing keeps spiralling though and Trump did his usual of trying to bluff.  What did he do?  He said that he had proof and that if the Congresswoman didn't retract that he would prove it.

She didn't retract.  He hasn't provided proof.

I'm looking toward General Kelly.  He's one of the few guys with stars that still has a sense of duty.  Oh and don't get it twisted.  You can wear stars and push a jacked up war strategy (at least in my eyes) but still maintain your sense of duty (we just disagree on how the war should be conducted).

So yeah.  General Kelly has my trust.  I want to see what he does.  His actions will tell it all in my view.  Trump will push for him to go out in front of the cameras and smooth this over for him.  If he does then I'll roll with him.

If he doesn't then we know that Trump really is as stupid, idiotic, narcissistic, and simply batshit crazy as many believe.

UPDATE!!!  THANKS TO ERIC!!!!

Mr Wright said he did most of the talking. Told @POTUS son's unit in Niger should have had air support: "he was not aware of that situation"

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 18, 2017

Jesus.

I'm spinning like a top.  I know the Congresswoman is batshit crazy but to lie about something like this? 

And now the father is saying that he did most of the talking and Trump wasn't disrespectful?  He asked about his son needing air support?

Wow.

Pop sounds like he's either been in the military or is well read.  I will add the dad to the trust list...right along with Kelly.  They're both good with it?  Then I am too.  There is one other uncomfortable truth here too.  For some reason beyond me, black women are totally in the democrat camp. I would hate to think that the serviceman's wife would use this for political purposes along with the congress critter but it's not beyond imagining. And before you slam me for slamming the family of a slain servicemember I'm just trying to figure out motives here.  For there to be two totally different accounts of a phone call is puzzling.  Could it be a mistake and misunderstanding?  Yeah, but the Congresswoman coming out with this instead of the family is suspicious as hell...in HINDSIGHT it is.  Might have gotten played on this one or it might be a mistake.  Who the fuck knows.

I'm not ashamed to say this makes me feel...we need a new strategy and more answers!

What you see above is the video of Sgt La David Johnson being brought home after being killed in combat.

I'll ignore the idiocy (AGAIN!!!!!!) about whether Trump said that "he knew what he signed up for" when he talked to his widow this morning, as a Congresswoman is accusing him of (Trump says he has proof that he did not).  That Congress Critter making the accusation is as loony as a cat overdosing on catnip.

I want to circle back to the mission in Niger that these Special Forces troops were on.

We need answers and an explanation AND a better strategy!  Almost 20 years of playing whack a mole isn't cutting it.

V-280 Valor Helicopter Rotors Ground Run & 100% Rotor RPM Testing (Vid)

Open Comment Post. Oct 18, 2017

5 Combat Engineer Regiment @ Exercise SAPEUR INTRÉPIDE....pics by Sgt Marc-André Gaudreault

One flight deck incident damages 3 Harriers...the hits keep coming for Marine Air...

via DodBuzz.com

While the pilot was given a clean bill of health and no other personnel were hurt, the explosion and fire caused damage to two other Harriers on the deck and one $3.6 million LITENING advanced targeting pod, according to the investigation.

Other Harriers that had already launched from the aircraft were diverted to Bahrain after the fire and ordered to jettison their bombs at sea in a designated “drop box.”

While the investigation cleared the pilot of any culpability in the incident, it left questions unanswered as to what caused the engine failure, described by the investigating officer as “catastrophic.”

The aircraft was found to be properly maintained and within guidelines for operation. Multiple witnesses and the pilot suggested the damage was caused by a problem with a compressor blade.

“The investigating officer was unable to determine what exactly caused aircraft BuNo 165003 to suffer an unexpected and catastrophic engine failure on 8 March 2016,” the investigation states. “An Engineering Investigation is warranted and should be conducted by the AV-BB Fleet Support Team (FST) upon the USS Kearsarge’s return to the United States.”

Story here.

Read the whole story and be impressed.  That RAF pilot done good.  Don't know him but his nation should be proud of the airmanship demonstrated.

As far as Marine Air is concerned the hits keep coming.  What I would like to know and they obviously didn't release is how bad was the damage to the other 2 planes.

Are they considered writeoffs too?

Regardless Marine Air seems snakebit.  It beyond obvious that there is something seriously wrong in that house and Davis put wallpaper over cracks. It's past time Neller reassessed its thinking.

Aviation Centric Marine Corps?

They can't handle that much stress.

Proper leadership?

Obviously not. Davis spent his time promoting the F-35 and MV-22 instead of looking after the health of the Wing as it was during his tenure. He violated the old maxim of command.  Leave it better than when you found it.  In other words Marine Air is in a much worse place after Davis than it was before he took charge.

The new Deputy Commandant for Aviation and the Commandant need a come to Jesus moment. 

They need to get serious about fixing things before even more Marines (and exchange personnel) die on training flights.

British MPs upset about F-35B price, vertical landing and LM public relations campaign!

via Portsmouth.co.uk

The defence committee grilled bosses from Lockheed Martin over the firm’s lacklustre response to claims the new jets would bust budgets and be too heavy to land vertically, safely, on the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers. It comes after claims made by The Times earlier this year, which prompted the committee’s hearing. Responding, top leaders of the company from the UK and US said the jets were capable of landing on Britain’s new supercarrier and they were confident the price would drop as production continues. Justifying its inaction over claims by The Times, Peter Ruddock, Lockheed Martin’s UK chief executive, said the company did not respond to every one of its critics as it was ‘counter-productive’. He added the fears raised by the newspaper ‘weren’t an issue’. But this outraged MP Ruth Smeeth, who lambasted the firm for its public relations blunder and not issuing a ‘one-line’ response. ‘If we’re at a point where the general public believe that these new aircraft can’t land on the aircraft carrier, then something has gone very, very wrong with your communications plan,’ she said. Responding, Jeff Babione, executive vice-president and general manager of the F-35 programme, said a letter had gone into the paper. But he said: ‘We probably could have done a better job.’

Story here. 

Interesting!!!!!!

So it seems that the British Govt is well aware of the debate that is going on with the F-35 and they're pissed that Lockheed Martin doesn't have a better PR campaign to battle the basement dwellers!

Freaking awesome!

Time to reassess.

I've been told several times that bloggers and bad press doesn't matter one bit with the F-35.  I believed it to be true.  I was wrong!

British MPs can't be losing their lunch over this little issue.  Something has to be brewing in the background that is making them mighty nervous.

They talked about two issues.  Landing on an aircraft carrier and price.  Lockheed only responded to the price coming down in the future with increased production.  What is going on with the F-35B's vertical landing? Are we missing something huge?  As far as price that's yet to be determined they won't build as many as they have programmed so we'll see what that ends up being but on that alone we're looking at a death spiral...especially with the program continuing to slip.

This F-35 fight ain't over by a long shot!

Kuwait seeking to buy 218 M1A1 tank hulls...

via UPI

The U.S. State Department approved Kuwait's possible purchase of hundreds of M1A1 Abrams tanks from the United States.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which manages the Foreign Military Sales program, said the proposed deal for 218 tank hulls with 120mm guns and AGT-1500 engines carries an estimated value of $29 million.

The Kuwaiti purchase would support the gulf country's M1A2 tank recapitalization.

"This potential sale is associated with Congressional Notification 16-66 which was notified to Congress on December 12, 2016, regarding recapitalization of 218 Kuwait M1A2 tanks," the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in its notification to Congress on Monday. "Subsequent to the notification, Kuwait requested 218 M1A1 tank hulls from U.S. inventory be provided and upgraded ... using Kuwait's current fleet of tanks due to its interest in maintaining operational readiness."

Kuwait has an interesting mix of US and Russian vehicles (with a smattering of Chinese artillery). 

One day these Arab Armies are gonna click onto the idea of standardizing their systems and they'll neck down to a certain type.

F-35 news. It's not about first production planes...it's about the combat capable lie!

via Daily Beast.

The U.S. military has signaled that it might cancel essential upgrades for more than 100 early model F-35 stealth fighters flown by the Air Force, rendering the radar-evading jets incompatible with many of the latest weapons.
In that case, some 6 percent of the flying branch’s planned 1,700-strong F-35 fleet would be unfit for combat, sticking U.S. taxpayers with a $20 billion tab for fighters... that can’t fight.
Experts say the military never should have bought the planes the first place, as they rolled out of Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth factory before the F-35’s design was complete and thoroughly tested—a deliberate strategy called “concurrency” that the military hoped would speed up the program’s progress.
“The risk that the services would be stuck with less-than-capable aircraft is one that the Pentagon knowingly took when leaders decided to overlap the development and testing of the program with the production,” wrote Dan Grazier, an analyst with the Project on Government Oversight in Washington, D.C.

Story here. 

We covered this a week or so ago but it appears that the mainstream media is just catching up to the story thanks to the Think Tank pushing it.

Awesome.

But its also apparent that the talking points have been rolled out and passed along to the trolls to tamp down the outrage.

What are we hearing?

6% or something like that of the F-22 weren't upgraded.  They say the same applies to every fighter that has ever been produced.

I don't know.

What I do know is that this is the first time we've put a plane into production before testing has been completed.

But even that misses the point.

What is the point then?

The USAF and USMC declared these planes combat capable.  Now the program office is stating that they might not upgrade almost 200 planes to MAKE them combat capable because it would be too expensive.

That means someone lied.

That is the freaking story!

There is no need to get into the weeds on this.  A bird's eye view tells you everything you need to know.  This isn't about numbers or costs (even though the costs are mind blowing).  This is about trust.  Military leadership is trusted.  If they lie about procurement then they'll certainly lie about operations, combat deaths/injuries and even about how well a fight/war is going.

It's just that simple.

Philippine Marines and Soldiers celebrate victory...4th Light Reaction Company Sniper Team kill terrorist leaders (pics)

via Semper Annoying Tumblr Page.

Soldiers and Marines of the Philippine armed forces in Marawi City celebrate and are all smiles after hearing the good news.

“Finally after more than 6 months, 160 soldiers KIA and 1000 enemy kills. Justice is served to the top honchos of the Maute Daesh ISIS group.

Clean kills from 4th Light Reaction Company sniper team and rangers from the 3rd Scout Ranger ‘Excelior’ Battalion got the privilege of delivering the final blow to Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute.”

Nicely done.