Gates still placing foot in European ass.

via AFP.

"The Libya air war has exposed serious shortcomings among NATO allies and European governments will have to agree on joint defense budget priorities to rectify the problem, Gates told AFP in an interview.
The Pentagon chief, who is due to retire this week after more than four years in the post, reiterated views he expressed in a blunt speech in Brussels earlier this month, in which he warned the alliance faced a potentially "dismal" future.
"The truth is, as I said in Brussels, there is a lot of military capability and a lot of money being spent in Europe," Gates said on Thursday."

Of course the designer and main cheerleader for this fiasco in Libya, the President of France had this to say...Translation by Google...

THE PRESIDENT - Mr. Gates was retiring, apparently it does him no pleasure. So do not blame someone who is retiring to be a little bitter. I think his retirement did not have to closely observe what was happening in Libya, because you can say whatever you want but I do not feel in Libya most of the work done by our American friends. You were speaking of Libya at the same time is to say that our American friends have two drones, a number of tanker aircraft, we are very sensitive but it would not come to the idea of ​​a man as responsible and intelligent than President Obama to say that it is America that is the main work in Libya.
This was especially moved by Mr. Gates saying that. And more completely wrong, given what is happening in Libya. There were certainly other moments in history when he could have said it, but not when the Europeans, bravely took the case of Libya, where mainly the French, the English and their allies are the work! I will not allow me to make this statement when, after 15 days the Americans have decided to reduce their aircraft. So it's a statement that is unfair for them falls ill and does not correspond to reality.

Awesome.

Gates brings up a legitimate shortcoming in the alliance and instead of being taken seriously, is accused of being a tired, retiring old man.

This outcome is predictable.  This 'war' will drone on for a while (unless someone gets lucky and kills Khadaffi) and both sides will sue for peace.

The alliance will be exposed for the sham that it is but everyone will continue to pretend that it isn't and will continue business as usual --- building bigger and more elaborate headquarters buildings...doing dog and pony exercises that serve no real purpose....and creating staff billets for generals and admirals.

NATO is useless.  When they go against a second tier military its lights out.  NATO will be routed unless the US participates in full.

F-22's still grounded.

From ASD News.

WASHINGTON - The US Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of F-22 fighters, the most sophisticated combat aircraft in the world, after problems emerged with the plane's oxygen supply, officials said Friday.

The radar-evading F-22 Raptors have been barred from flying since May 3 and Air Force officials could not say when the planes would return to the air.

Wow.

Bad news for the F-22 program.  Worse news for the USAF.

I know that the problem will be solved but while they're doing it I hope they go back and take another look at the F-22 crashes...particularly the one involving the Lockheed Test Pilot that they blamed a loss on.  I think it was ruled partial G-Loc.  If nothing else his record needs to be cleared and these planes fixed and put back into service.

YAT-YAS onboard the USS Whidbey Island.

An amphibious assault vehicle with Marines assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit returns to the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island. The Whidbey Island is deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, participating in the Spanish Amphibious Landing Exercise off the coast of Spain. (Photo by: Petty Officer 3rd Class Desiree D. Green)

An amphibious assault vehicle with Marines assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit returns to the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island. The Whidbey Island is deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, participating in the Spanish Amphibious Landing Exercise off the coast of Spain. (Photo by: Petty Officer 3rd Class Desiree D. Green)

An amphibious assault vehicle with Marines assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit returns to the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island. The Whidbey Island is deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, participating in the Spanish Amphibious Landing Exercise off the coast of Spain. (Photo by: Petty Officer 3rd Class Desiree D. Green)

An amphibious assault vehicle with Marines assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit returns to the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island. The Whidbey Island is deployed as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, participating in the Spanish Amphibious Landing Exercise off the coast of Spain. (Photo by: Petty Officer 3rd Class Desiree D. Green)

Team Timberwolf...the extended video.

Team Timberwolf has released an extended video with better views of their vehicle.  Interesting.

USAF Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore upbeat on F-35 test progress.

Pound sand Air Power Australia!  Your prediction of program failure is wrong again.

Northern Command continues it legacy of failure.

The below pics are from the flooding in the midwest.  If this had occurred in some far off land then you would see the US Navy sending ships at flank speed to the crisis.

Even if everyone involved knew that they could do very little.

The USMC would be assembling a SPMAGTF to deal with the situation and Marines would be brought back from leave or schooling to make sure that it was filled out...

The US Army would be gathering a Brigade Task Force to help out.

The USAF would be boasting of how its C-17's are flying supplies into the trouble spot while other forces are getting assembled.

This is happening in the center of the US and it barely gets mentioned.  Celebrations are held for 'gay rights'...the so called budget impasse is debated...but people who have or are in the process of losing all their worldly possessions are ignored.

America, you attempt to take care of the world yet ignore your own.  We should be ashamed.

The Souris River is swelling in size and breaching dikes built to contain the water here, June 24. By June 29, Mouse River pressures and heights will reach unprecedented levels seven to ten feet higher than the all time record with pressures reaching approximately 16,000 cubic feet per second. On June 22, the river breached the levees and the warning sirens sounded requiring the immediate evacuation of over 11,000 Minot residents to include nearly 1,000 Minot Air Force Global Strike Command airmen.

North Dakota Army National Guard soldiers from the 817th Engineer Company, from left to right, Spc. Ryan Lindberg, Spc. Michael Young, and Staff Sgt. Jason Lothspeich wade through flood water to sling-load one-ton sandbags from a flatbed truck onto a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter June 24, at a flood levee near 13th Street and Railway Avenue, Minot, N.D. The North Dakota National Guard helicopter is being loaded with the large sandbags from a flatbed truck parked in flood water near the levee and placing the sandbags on an area of concern in the flood water of the Souris River. National Guard dump trucks are also responding to the site as they haul flood levee building material in an effort to create a flood barrier for a residential area, which has not yet been flooded. Several residential areas of Minot were inundated with flood water on June 24, leaving thousands of people homeless.

A U.S. flag waves above nearly 10 feet of water in Minot, N.D., June 26. The Souris River has inundated the city and reached a historic height. Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman estimates 4,000 homes have been damaged by the flooding.

The scene from inside the levee system around Minot leaves little question as to the devastating effects of flood waters on homes here, June 24. With water levels continuing to rise and the Lake Darling Dam increasing the flow of water it releases to 29,000 cubic feet per second, many around Minot wonder how much of the city will have to be evacuated and how many people will be left without a home. 

Kevin Neish Blogspot.

Kevin Neish's blog is worth reading even if you're like me and strongly disagree with the guy.  I can't properly describe his politics or his view points.  You'll have to go to his blog for that, but what will be interesting is his 'inside' coverage of the Flotilla 2 on course to Israel.

The Israeli Commandos got a bit of rough handling the first time. 

I'll be watching to see how they handle it this time.  Ole' Kevin will be my inside, twisted point of view, reporter on this.

Interesting stuff and interesting times we live in.

The Marine Corps turns towards Asia.

Thanks for the article Heidi.

This article by Nathan Hodges is titled "Marines aim to avoid post-war identity crisis" is in my opinion a rehash of subjects already debated.

Nothing new in it at all but here are some highlights.

Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos, the service's top officer, sees renewal in the region where Marines experienced their most devastating losses and most heroic victories: "We're going to reorient in the Pacific," he said during a recent swing through bases in Japan and South Korea.
The reorientation is in part because of the coming contraction of the defense budget, in part because of the shifting balance of power in the world, and in part because of a historical fear embedded in Marine culture.

and this...

In meetings with Marines, Gen. Amos said it was his intent, post-Afghanistan, to return the Corps to its mission as a crisis-response force in the Pacific. The commandant envisions keeping about 20,000 Marines stationed at Pacific Ocean bases, plus another 3,000 at an air station in Japan. About 5,000 Marines are based in Hawaii, tens of thousands more in California.
Shifting back to the Pacific would be in line with U.S. strategic objectives. Military planners note that the region is an economic center of gravity—80% of the world's shipping passes through the geographic area covered by the U.S. Pacific Command—and preserving power in the region is a national-defense priority. "We are a Pacific power and intend to remain a power in the Pacific," Mr. Gates said on a recent visit to Asia.

This debate has been had and the answers already found.

Once the war in Afghanistan is wound down then you'll see a move toward the Pacific. 

Nothing to see here.  Move along.

First Operational Test P-8A Arrives at NAS Patuxent River

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The Navy has received its first P-8A production representative operational test aircraft June 24.

The new P-8A arrived at NAS Patuxent River and it will join three developmental test aircraft already undergoing integrated testing in preparation for initial operational test and evaluation of the P-8A Poseidon.

The Navy entered into Low Rate Initial Production of the first six Poseidon aircraft in January 2011. These aircraft will be used to form the first operational P-8A squadron, which is scheduled for initial operational capability in 2013.

German Army is combat IN-effective.

That's right.  According to an article in the Daily Beast the German Army is combat in-effective.

Thanks Jonathan!  Much appreciated.  Read the entire article but here's some highlights.

First this...

"German soldiers mostly don’t know how to use their weapons.” They “have no or little experience driving armored vehicles.” For German field commanders, “the necessity and ways [to protect their units from roadside bombs] are to a large extent either unknown or incorrect.”

Then this...

The secret reports bemoan German soldiers’ outdated training and antiquated, insufficient equipment. German forces could not operate if it weren’t for Ukrainian cargo planes and American helicopters and their U.S. Army crews, most crucially the Chinook troop transports and Black Hawk MedEvac helicopters that ensure Bundeswehr soldiers can get into and out of their battles quickly and safely. Considering Obama’s announcement about the beginning of the pullout of U.S. forces, the Bundeswehr couldn’t even fight in terrain like Afghanistan’s if it wanted to. “If the Americans pull out of the north, the Germans will stand there in very short skirts,” says Bundeswehr General and former NATO Commander Egon Ramms.

I wish I could lay my hands on the actual report. This is damning. 

The most powerful economy in Europe is no longer capable or willing to defending itself.

AMAZING.

Hyundai Rotem's Wheeled Armored Vehicles.

The Koreans have been busy developing and expanding their armored vehicle lines.  Everyone pays attention to the K-21 and the K-1 MBT but Hyundai is attempting to meet its competition when it comes to Wheeled Armored Vehicles.

I wondered why no wheeled vehicle from the West has turned up in Asia.  Now I know.  Between the offerings from Singapore, Taiwan and S. Korea...not to mention China, this market is closed. 

KW1

KW2

Army Humor.

This guy is funny as hell.  Check him out here.

Militarized Police.

A no knock raid.

On US soil by law enforcement officers decked out like an Infantry unit.

Amazingly, they always seem to go against people that don't have the training or the will to resist.  The real hard cases always seem to be missed in these raids (Recall the mobster that is accused of killing 19 plus people?  No SWAT raid...just a ruse to get him out the house...and many suspect him of being the gray haired bandit that was robbing banks in the Los Angeles area).

Militarized Police forces is a problem.  I don't have a position on legalizing drugs.  I do have a position on abuse of police power.

Major hat tip to Every day, No days off blog.

Hey Commandant! Save money. Kill flag billets.

I was doing my early morning blog reading and I ran across this story from the USNI Blog.

Read the whole thing but this struck me as crazy...

The Naval Vessel Registry lists 245 active hulls as of June, 2011.  The same registry lists 268 Flag Officers: 243 Active, 22 Active Duty for Special Work, and 3 Full Time Support.  Last time I walked the Naval Station piers, only three ships had broken an Admiral’s Flag at the masthead.

What has me pounding my head is the idea that every US Navy ship could be commanded by an Admiral.  I was high and to the right and ready to post in the comments section how freaking insane that is and why someone hasn't done anything about it.

Then I thought about the Marine Corps.  From various sources, the word is that the Marine Corps is capped at 80 general officers.

80.

Eight - Zero.

For a force that at its height in modern history might have numbered 202, 000 men.

That's roughly a General for every 2500 Marines.


A General for every 2500 Marines!  Say it out loud and see if that makes sense to you.


HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? (I don't even want to look at the number of Colonels.)

We won't be lean.  We won't be expeditionary.  We won't be the Marine Corps that the nation deserves until we get as savage when it comes to promotion and retention at the top as we are at the bottom...by my estimation we could cut at least 1/2 these billets with no difficulty.  


We should do it today.

DARPA's Crowd Sourced Vehicle....

The above photos are from I09.

Don't even bother to go to the DARPA website....I don't quite get those guys....what is the purpose?  To show that some guys with a wrench, time and money could design a dune buggy?  Me and my buddies could do that...but this is so far from being a combat vehicle that it isn't funny.

This was a waste of time and taxpayers dollars.

11th MEU amphibious assault vehicles conduct training

F-35 Stealth Controversy. Air Force Magazine drives the final nail in the lie.

Via Air Force Magazine.

F-35 Partners Get Equal Stealth: Le Bourget, France—International partners on the F-35 will enjoy a stealth capability on the fighter equal to that of the US versions, according to F-35 program office officials. Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore, deputy director of the F-35 program office, gave a non-committal answer during a press conference here this week at the Paris Air Show when a reporter asked about the level of stealth available to foreign users. International reporters have long hinted that the United States would hold back some capability. However in a subsequent statement issued by the F-35 program office, officials said "the quick answer to the statement regarding partners being less stealthy than the US is 'no.' (Partners will have same capability)." The program officials noted that the stealth aspects of some partner versions will vary slightly due to their inclusion of some unique gear, such as drag chutes, but it is "a program objective to not impact [low-observable] characteristics. It is our intent to produce a common solution to ensure interoperability for coalition operations as well as production affordability."

—John A. Tirpak

Finally.

It seems like we won't have the same nonsense of two paid hacks that happen to wear General's stars debating this till the end of time.

Stick a fork in this boys.

The story is over.

The facts are there for all to see.

The partner nations will get equal stealth.

Now all we have to do is wait for the next made up lie.  Coming your way in 3...2...1....

Mexican Troops cross into the US.

This type of "mistake" is starting to happen with a bit of regularity.

Bad things will happen unless they get a handle on this nonsense. (click the title to go to the news site)

Go Wind Family of Ships.

Go Wind Family of Ships

St. Louis Marine Week finishes...strong...???

Marine Week in St Louis has been marred by some rather unfortunate incidents and statements.  Most glaring would be the statement by the SPMAGTF's Commander and the mugging of Marines without retaliation.

  Col. Tomko: I’ll tell you what, with that M1A1 Abrams we got across the street, if Halladay keeps on pitching well, we can fix that with one round pretty quickly.
  Announcer: - awkward laughs - I’m sure you could. I don’t know if we should say that, but you just did.
  Col. Tomko: I can say whatever I want because I’m a war fighter, and this is the Cardinals Nation the last time I checked.

U.S. Marines with Echo Company, 4th Recon Battalion demonstrate an amphibious assault at the Arch during Marine Week Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Mo., Jun. 24, 2011. Marine Week Saint Louis allows U.S. Marines a chance to interact with the community with volunteer work, physical fitness challenges, vehicle and equiptment displays, musical performances and tactical demonstrations.

U.S. Marines with Echo Company, 4th Recon Battalion demonstrate an amphibious assault at the Arch during Marine Week Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Mo., Jun. 24, 2011. Marine Week Saint Louis allows U.S. Marines a chance to interact with the community with volunteer work, physical fitness challenges, vehicle and equiptment displays, musical performances and tactical demonstrations.

U.S. Marines with Echo Company, 4th Recon Battalion demonstrate an amphibious assault at the Arch during Marine Week Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Mo., Jun. 24, 2011. Marine Week Saint Louis allows U.S. Marines a chance to interact with the community with volunteer work, physical fitness challenges, vehicle and equiptment displays, musical performances and tactical demonstrations.

An MV-22 Osprey displays its capabilities over the Mississippi River to spectators at the Arch Grounds June 24, 2011, as part of a Marine Air Ground Task Force demonstration during Marine Week St. Louis.

U.S. Marines with Echo Company, 4th Recon Battalion demonstrate an amphibious assault at the Arch during Marine Week Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Mo., Jun. 24, 2011. Marine Week Saint Louis allows U.S. Marines a chance to interact with the community with volunteer work, physical fitness challenges, vehicle and equiptment displays, musical performances and tactical demonstrations.

Marines with 4th Recon Battalion and 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Marine Week, 'patrol' as part of a MAGTF demonstration during Marine Week St. Louis.