Archetype. The best short Sci-Fi film I've seen in years.

You know a short film is good when it has you wanting to see more.  You know its great when you sit through the credits cause you want to see who the actors, directors, producers etc...are.  Archetype is that kinda film for me.  Check it out!

A blast from the past: Marines In Action...1965

A Canadian Journalist slams the UK.

I was doing my regular web searches and ran across this article.  To say that I was shocked is an understatement.  This is via the Vancouver Sun.  Read the whole thing....its sad and if true, then our friends across the pond have some serious troubles that I never began to fathom.

Britain's constant boast that it punches above its weight internationally rings more hollow by the day. The defence ministry is eviscerating the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force and making deep cuts to the army, too. There have been sweeping redundancies across all three services, the sudden retirement of the fleet of Harrier jump jets, the premature retirement of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the likely immediate sale to raise cash of one of two carriers now being built. Even after the current round of Draconian cuts, it is difficult to see how Britain can sustain the force that will remain, let alone underwrite plans for a new generation of nuclear submarines, new frigates and the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
That Britain can no longer even pretend to be a major global player was already obvious to its troops and allies in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Well-trained, brave soldiers from fabled regiments went into battle under-equipped because the British treasury no longer has enough money to pay for the kit required for expeditionary escapades. While, for example, Ottawa gave Canadian troops in Kandahar whatever they urgently required, from boots to state-of-the art command posts, helicopters and safer armoured vehicles, British troops often have had to make do with gear that sometimes looked as if it had seen service against Rommel's Afrika Korps - and in a few cases, may have actually been used in that war.
Much has been made lately of Britain's decision to opt out of a new European financial treaty that tried to rescue the continental economies because the other EU states refused to grant London's financial institutions special status. Britons of ``the wogs start at Calais'' school celebrated Prime Minister David Cameron's intransigence as they did earlier British decisions to keep the pound instead of the euro and to maintain a totally separate set of immigration and customs checks than their neighbours across the English Channel. The almost universal European response to Downing Street's latest act of isolationism was to say ``good riddance.''

I don't know if his critique of the Ministry of Defense is adequate.  As a matter of fact, at least a couple of procurement issues can be traced back to 'urgent requests' that were rubber stamped without proper vetting.  What I mean by that is this...it appears that the UK tried its best to make sure that its troops were properly equipped--no matter what the costs. 

I look forward to hearing British readers weigh in on this one.  I just don't know.

Lava Viper 2012.

U.S. Marines with Gulf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, ride in CH-53 cargo helicopters while conducting immediate-action drills during Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 20, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

U.S. Marines with Gulf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, ride in CH-53 cargo helicopters while conducting immediate-action drills during Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 20, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

U.S. Marines with Gulf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, conduct immediate-action drills during Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 20, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

U.S. Marines with Gulf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, conduct immediate-action drills during Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 20, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

U.S. Marines with Gulf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, conduct immediate-action drills during Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 20, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Noland Lynch, section leader, combat assault company, stands atop an amphibious assault vehicle during Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 19, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

U.S. Marine Pfc. Maxwell Dossett, machine gunner, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, maintains security during immediate-action drills at Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 19, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

U.S. Marines with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, conduct immediate-action drills during Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 19, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Marco Othon, with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, maintains security during an immediate-action drill at Lava Viper in Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 19, 2012. Lava Viper is a battalion-level combined-arms training exercise to better prepare Marines for upcoming deployments.

Marine Aviation = 1...Critics = 0....

via CBS News via the AP

FORT WORTH (AP) — A U.S. defense official says Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is giving fresh backing to the Marine Corps’ version of the next-generation fighter jet, the F-35.
The F-35, which is developing Navy and Air Force variants, is the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program. It has faced delays and other problems that raised doubts about its future.
During a visit Friday to a naval air station in Maryland, Panetta will announce that the Marines’ version of the Fort Worth-built joint strike fighter is no longer on what Panetta’s predecessor, Robert Gates, called “probation.” That’s according to a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the announcement.
Gates announced one year ago that if the Marines’ version of the plane had not overcome its problems within two years he would attempt to cancel it.

This is more about the partner nations than it is about the Marine Corps.  Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan and others have been nervous about the airplane being canceled.  This news should chill them out.

CH-53 down in Afghanistan.

Just heard on a radio that a CH-53 went down in Afghanistan in Helmand province.  Its unknown (more precisely they aren't saying what caused the crash) what caused the incident, but all 6 people on board were killed.  This from ABC News via AP...

A NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing six members of the international military force, the U.S.-led coalition said.
The coalition said in a release early Friday morning that there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash in southern Afghanistan.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated. The coalition did not disclose the nationalities of those killed.
The helicopter crash occurred on the same day seven civilians were killed outside a crowded gate at Kandahar Air Field, a sprawling base for U.S. and NATO operations, after a suicide attacker set off a vehicle laden with explosives. The Taliban claimed responsibility, claiming they were targeting a NATO convoy.
It was the second suicide bombing in as many days in southern Afghanistan, officials said. The coalition said no NATO troops were killed. It does not disclose information about injured troops.

Rest in peace to the fallen and comfort to their families.

VMFAT-501 gets another bird...

BF-7 departs Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base at 2:07 p.m. CST on its 90 minute ferry flight to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. With the delivery of BF-7, a F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) jet, Eglin is now the home of the largest F-35 fleet in the Department of Defense. (Lockheed Martin photo by Randy Crites)

F-35A Performs First Night Flight

JOAC released. AF set to be priority service.

The JOAC has been released and although there isn't much news in it, it does reveal a surprising couple of facts...
The document focuses on striking deep and not rolling back enemy forces.  It also emphasizes leveraging our superiority in certain areas to counter act enemy attempts to use irregular warfare to disrupt our efforts.

Long story short this is a strategy that is tailor made to Air Force thinking circa Desert Storm 1.

Any thoughts that the Navy would become the lead service in this enterprise is just wishful thinking.  The Navy is mentioned but its operated on the margins.  Talk about small boats armed with IEDs, and being able to conduct anti-mine warfare are some of the items that stuck out in this document.

The Army got one blurb in....using the land forces to support this concept.

Big winner is the AF for obvious reasons.  The Navy got steam rolled and the Army/Marine Corps are set to be sidelined (if this goes forward as outlined in this paper).  Air Force one, the rest of the service 0.

JOAC Jan 2012 Signed

Israel conducts first Airborne exercise in 15 years....

I call this gearing up.  Reconstituting airborne capability after so many years?  And then conducting it at a battalion level (at least)?  They're gearing up for Iran and they want the whole world to know it.  The attack on that country's nuclear reactors might include more than destruction...maybe a snatch and grab too....

The caption for the following pictures is as follows:

January 17, 2012

As part of their first operational parachuting drill in the last 15 years, the entire Paratroopers Brigade soared through the air. The drill was conducted under the supervision of the Brigade's commander, Col. Amir Bar'am, and in the presence of Maj. Gen. Gershon Hacohen.
In the drill, thousands of the Brigade's soldiers have pushed their limits, examining their preparedness for whatever future operation that might arise, all in the effort to continue to assure Israel's security.

11th MEU raiders fast-rope

Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn

 

Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn

Photo by Cpl. Chad Pulliam

Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn

Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn

Photo by Cpl. Chad Pulliam

Photo by Cpl. Chad Pulliam

Photo by Cpl. Chad Pulliam

The Captions for the above photos is as follows:
Marines serving with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force descends from a CH-46E Sea Knight hovering 35 feet above USS Makin Island here. The helicopter is flown by pilots serving with the unit's aviation combat element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 (Reinforced). The unit is currently deployed aboard the amphibious assault ship as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, which is a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force. The group is also providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

NH90 NFH

Latest photos from Eurocopter...