Update your maps. Marines are in Yemen and Sudan.

via UPI.com

"We are in a full-court press at every single one of the posts in the Middle East and anywhere else there is any chance of demonstrations after Friday services to make sure nothing bad happens -- and to have the security in place in case bad things do happen," the official said Thursday.
Yemeni security forces, backed by water cannons, blocked streets near the U.S. Embassy Friday as several dozen protesters gathered near the mission, carrying posters and shouting slogans. CNN reported witnesses said security forces opened fire on protesters but it wasn't clear what type of weapons were used. Two protesters died in demonstrations there Thursday. The Pentagon sent 50 marines to Sanaa to secure U.S. interests, the Times said.

Interesting.

We have "mini" Embassy Reinforcement Missions going on in Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Sudan...those are the missions that are publicly known. 

BREAKING. Camp Leatherneck got hit with a complex attack.

Not many details but Camp Leatherneck got hit with a complex attack involving rocket propelled grenades, mortars and heavy small arms fire.

More details when I get them.

NOTE:  This is a region wide crisis.  We have suffered (as SOFREP said) a type of modern day Tet Offensive.  A withdrawal from Afghanistan under fire will be most difficult.

24th MEU Flight Operations.

US Marine Corps video by Gunnery Sgt. Chad R. Kiehl



The Atlantic Wire has a full map of the countries involved in the violence against American interests.  Earlier I stated that this stretched between CENTCOM over to AFRICOM areas of responsibility.  I was unaware of the troubles in India, Thailand and Malaysia.  That means that PACCOM is also involved.

Theoretically you could see all three MEU's involved in Embassy Reinforcements and Evacuations of American citizens.  With a crisis area this large perhaps the Norway Air-Landed Marine Expeditionary Brigade Concept needs to be expanded to more areas.

Not only a well planned attack but it was prepped with a psy-ops campaign that's won the day.

The terrorist that killed the Ambassador were good.

Real good.  As in A-Team, had to have help from a foreign power good.

Why do I say that?

Because I've been watching the news with one eye this morning and although even the extremely left leaning Rachel Maddow stated on her program that the movie played no role in the attack on the Ambassador, the news media has bought it hook line and sinker.

Additionally, it appears to my untrained eye that someone searched YouTube in order to find offensive material and then coordinated across several countries to get Islamic leaders to express outrage.

Don't believe me.  Check out the timeline of events for yourself.  Watch Al Jazeera and note that they state that in Libya there wasn't even a protest.

Then watch American media...in particular MSNBC news and watch them apologize give the mobs an excuse for their violence.

I can only think that we're seeing a well laid out psy-ops campaign, coupled with a well planned/coordinated attack, mixed with a flawed/wishful thinking Middle East strategy all coming to a head.

Long story short.  We have idealist/dreamers dictating strategy.  We're screwed.

Tragedy leads to opportunity...the USMC will be most ready when the nation is least ready...

Tragedy has struck.

Mobs are assaulting our embassy's and consulates all over the Middle East.

Instead of calls going out to SOCOM, or the Army, calls are going to the Marine Corps and our Navy partner.

This is a tragedy.  MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT!  But it is also an opportunity for the Marine Corps to shine in the eyes of the public.  Hopefully our MEU is fully staffed and trained for embassy reinforcement and evacuation of US citizens.  Hopefully they will be able to solve this diplomatically and host nations will control their people (I want to be careful with this though...free speech is free speech even if I think they're crazy as jay birds...but killing people IS crossing a line no matter what type of speech occurred)...

But if they don't or can't control the local populace,  then I want MY United States Marine Corps ready to heel stomp some throats, double tap some foreheads and put three in the upper torso.

The USMC will be most ready when the nation is least ready.

Its time to live up to that motto.

RWS vs. Manned turrets.

Check out this video from Rafael.  At the 1:40 mark it clearly shows the dirty little secret behind unmanned turrets.  They free up space under armor and save weight.  Marine Corps doctrine wants vehicle commanders with their heads up and out of the turret searching for targets.  Maybe times have changed.  The benefits that come with remote weapons stations outnumber the benefits brought by manned systems.

AEL Sistemas supplying ELBIT UT-30 turrets to Brazil.

Interesting.  via Shepard News Group.

The company was issued an initial production order valued at $15 million. This follows the January 2011 announcement by Elbit Systems of the award of a framework contract valued at approximately $260 million for the supply of UT30 BR 30mm Unmanned Turrets to the Brazilian Army’s land forces.

The Brazilian Army is carrying out a programme to renew its APC fleet under a deal with Iveco signed in December 2009. The Guarani vehicle is being developed in a number of configurations and will form part of a 2,044 strong fleet of vehicles, of which the Guarani APC will form the backbone.

Deliveries for the Unmanned Turrets is expected to be complete within two years.

The contract will be completed in two years?

Impressive.  Very impressive.

While the US Army and Marine Corps is having trouble getting the Ground Combat Vehicle and Amphibious Combat Vehicle (respectively) off the ground, the Brazillians are moving ahead.

Hey Commandant.  A sense of urgency please.  A sense of urgency!

Its time to throat stomp the entire fucking region.

Its time to be done with the fucking middle east.

They raped the guy before killing him?  What sadistic, evil bastards.  5.56mm bullets are too good for them...time to turn that region into glass.

Our President will be is a pussy, will be politically correct...will say a bunch of shit that means nothing.  

Oh and Zebra Dunn  I owe you an apology.  You were right.

via The Washington Times.

According to the Lebanese news organization Tayyar.org, citing AFP news sources, U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, who was killed by gunmen that stormed the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday, was reportedly raped before being murdered.

FUCK THOSE MUSLIM BASTARDS. 

This story went from being tragic to horrific.  I want Libyan blood for doing this.

Real vs. Fake? Real wins everytime.

We have real live pack animals.  Why the synthetic version?  Waste of money...what a waste of money.

CF-01 and CF-02 in flight.

U.S. Navy test pilot Lt. Cmdr. Michael Burks, top, and Peter Kosogorin, a BAE Systems employee, bottom, fly F-35C Lightning II aircraft during a formation flying qualities test in the Atlantic Test Ranges over the Atlantic Ocean Sept. 5, 2012. The F-35C carrier variant of the Lightning II is distinct from the F-35A and F-35B variants with its larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear to withstand catapult launches and deck landing impacts associated with the aircraft carrier environment. The F-35C was undergoing test and evaluations prior to delivery to the fleet. (DoD photo by Layne Laughter, courtesy of Lockheed Martin/Released)

Leadership at its worse.

Major Hat to CDR Salamander.

This is not the position of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to engage with a civilian INCONUS.

Full stop.

General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with Pastor Terry Jones by phone on Wednesday and asked him to withdraw his support for a film whose portrayal of the Prophet Mohammad has sparked violent protests - including one that ended with the death of America's envoy to Libya. "In the brief call, Gen. Dempsey expressed his concerns over the nature of the film, the tensions it will inflame and the violence it will cause," Dempsey's spokesman, Colonel Dave Lapan, told Reuters.

Do we really want active duty officers to encourage citizens to surrender or withdraw their Constitutional rights because foreign nationals (who are our enemy) don't like them?

Is that in the spirit of "... support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic?"

I have no use for Terry Jones - but having an Army General, in his official capacity, in uniform, pressuring a tax payer to surrender Constitutional rights, is not a nation I think I live in.

General Dempsey, General Casey (5-min mark) needs a bowling partner, give him a call.

Marines are indoctrinated to follow orders.

Immediately.

Without hesitation.

Mission accomplishment.

But its time to sit back and take a serious look at the people sitting in the big chairs of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

We're seeing the worst military leadership of the past 100 years.  These guys have no moral compass, no backbone and definitely no military bearing.  Unfortunately that also flows to their Senior Enlisted advisers.

How a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would find it within his realm of responsibility to CALL a private citizen and tell him to stop an activity that is PROTECTED by the constitution is beyond me, but if it isn't a crime it should be.  If it was an ORDER then it was an ILLEGAL order.

The US Military can't win wars at this time because leadership is so screwed up.

Libya, FAST Company and the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

 We're seeing something of a type of mission creep for FAST Company if they're now doing the Embassy Reinforcement mission.  A quick wiki passage sums up the mission set nicely...

The Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) is capable of rapidly deploying to immediately improve security at United States Government installations worldwide. FAST Marines are deployed at the discretion of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps when the primary and auxiliary security forces of the Marines are unable to adequately respond to a security crisis. FAST goes through the Close Quarters Battle School in a specialized course known as Advanced Urban Combat. Once completed, they are given the MOS of 8154.
Established in 1987, FAST companies provide a limited-duration, expeditionary security force to protect vital naval and national assets. FAST maintains forward-deployed platoons at various naval commands around the globe, and possesses U.S.-based alert forces capable of rapidly responding to unforeseen contingencies worldwide. Each FAST company is equipped and trains with some of the most state-of-the-art weaponry and currently consists of around 500 Marines.
FAST maintains a high degree of readiness in order to conduct these short-notice, limited-duration contingency operations, as seen in the port security mission following the attacks on the USS Cole (DDG-67) in October 2000 and the American Embassy reinforcements in Liberia and Haiti. On 12 September 2012 a FAST team was sent to Libya in response to the 2012 U.S. diplomatic missions attacks.^[3]

FAST Company responds before an incident in order to deter threats.

I'll say it since no one else will.

1.  We either suffered a tremendous intel failure or...
2.  The Ambassador misread the situation and thought that relationships that he had established in Libya would protect him AND the people that he was responsible for.

But back to the subject at hand.  FAST is appropriate for Egypt.  FAST is appropriate for Kabul.  FAST is not appropriate for Libya.

Why?

Because situations can rapidly spiral out of hand.  IF.  I repeat IF, the time comes to evacuate US and allied civilians from that country then a FAST Company does not have the resources to do it.  After an attack on an Embassy proper worst case planning would require that the threat of follow on attacks would be high.  By deploying the capable but equipment poor (as in helicopters, vehicles and supporting ships off the coast) FAST Team you're limiting your options.

Finally, it must be asked.  If Embassy reinforcement is no longer an MEU mission then what is their new mission set?  Is it to be only Humanitarian Assistance?  I hope not and I hope that the Marine Corps isn't snatching another mission from the MEU.  Its our most capable formation...the most forward deployed formation...and the most useful formation that the Marine Corps fields.

NOTE:
One other possibility exists for why the FAST Company is being tasked with this duty and not the MEU.  The MEU operates as Theater Reserve.  IF intel is indicating some type of uptick in violence in Afghanistan then everything I've just written gets thrown out the window.  That's the problem with operating from outside looking in.  You just don't have all the info necessary to make more than educated guesses.

UK's Wildcat Helicopter in action.

FAST Company has embassy reinforcement mission now?

MSNBC is reporting a FAST Company is going to reinforce the embassy in Libya.

Interesting.

Traditionally the MEU has the reinforcement mission set.  IF a FAST Company is actually deploying then we're seeing the MEU being degraded to support specialty units.  The MEU's MV-22's will likely be "requested" to move them to the area and we will see their deployment pattern altered to support the supporters.

Curious.

Clarification:
FAST Company deploys ahead of an incident.  If intel indicated that trouble was coming then you'd send in a FAST Team.  Once trouble hits then you need the resources of the MEU.  If not then you're robbing the MEU to support the FAST Team.. not good.

We're probably looking at an "enhanced" AAV.

I just re-read the story by National Defense Magazine and this stood out...

An analysis of alternatives has been completed comparing six capability sets ranging from an enhanced AAV to the requirements originally sought under Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, Pacheco said.

The study was completed in June and is being analyzed with a fine-toothed comb to ensure the proposal is accepted by Congress and that industry can deliver the right vehicle affordably, Amos said.

“This is not a Cadillac Escalade we’re trying to build here,” Amos said. “This is a fighting vehicle that will come from ship to shore and go inland with likely a squad of Marines. We want to make sure we’re not trying to build something with capabilities that we either don’t need or can’t afford. From my perspective, we’ve got one opportunity to do this right.”

No date has been set, but the Marine Corps will release a request for proposals to industry some time in the fall.

Capability sets ranging from an "enhanced" AAV to the original EFV capability set.

"This is NOT a Cadillac Escalade we're trying to build here..."

"...we're not trying to build something with capabilities that we either don't need or can't afford."

He might as well come out and say it.  We're looking at an Enhanced/Upgraded AAV.   BAE has already shown us the future.  Check it out below.

I can see the spin coming from HQMC about this upgrade.

The enhanced AAV-12 continues a long line of Marine Corps amphibious vehicles.  Although it superficially resembles the legacy vehicles its new in every way.  From an upgraded engine, to a superb suspension system, blast resistant armor and seats to a dramatically improved weapon system, this is not your fathers AAV.

Yeah.  That's how they're gonna play it.

Its 9/12 all over again.

I didn't post anything about the 9/11 anniversary.  Instead, I chose to read what others wrote.

I was disappointed.

What I saw was a bunch of self important snivelling.  Alot of politically correct, finger in the air "talk" about how we'll never forget.

WHAT A PILE OF BULLSHIT.

Its 9/12 all over again.  Our Ambassador in Libya, a country that we recently helped free, is dead.  What do we get from leadership?

Condemnation.

Sorrow about the fact that another American citizen died at the hands of radical Muslims.

More words.

No action.

Isn't it time to turn that God forsaken land into glass?  If not that then how about we bomb them back to their level of civilization instead of rebuilding/building their countries?

We're soft as a country and when animals sense weakness they attack.  The rabid dogs have their teeth around our necks...but instead of action we just get more talk.  Yeah.  9/12 all over again and nothings changed.

ACV and MPC are just wishful thinking.

via National Defense Magazine.

The same goes for a portion of the existing fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicles, said Manny Pacheco, spokesman for the Marine Corps’ Advanced Amphibious Assault program office. Of the 1,000 amphibious tracked vehicles in the service’s fleet, just under 400 will be reset, he said. It will be another in a laundry list of overhauls and upgrades the 40-year-old vehicles have been through since they came into service in 1972.

“We have to find a way to bridge that capability, to make some of these vehicles last, at least until the ACV starts to come online,” Pacheco told National Defense.

The tracked ship-to-shore fighting vehicles will have to pull their weight at least until 2030, when the ACV is scheduled to enter the fleet. Automotive upgrades should be in development and testing until 2014, with reset AAVs returning to active duty between 2015 and 2017, Pacheco said.

Resetting the AAVs will involve upgrading their armor, installation of blast-mitigating seats and adding beefed-up suspension systems.

AAVs that do not undergo reset and overhaul will eventually be replaced by Amphibious Combat Vehicles, the now-defunct  Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program under a different name. When that program was voluntarily shuttered in January 2011, Marine Corps engineers went immediately to work “redefining and refining” the service’s requirements, Pacheco said.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

The JLTV doesn't make sense for the Marine Corps and they haven't given a compelling reason for why its better than simply upgrading/retrofitting existing Humvees.

But that isn't the real kicker.  Read the whole article but I recommend you have a bottle of your favorite adult beverage within arms reach when you do.  Either that or go see the local drug dealer and have him sell you something powerful.  Cause you'd have to be drunk or smoking crack to believe what they're trying to sell.

The current AAV will have to soldier on till 2030.

That means that the basic design of the Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicle will be almost 70 years old before it BEGINS to be replaced.

Over the course of (lets be generous) 5 years, the production run of the ACV will be completed and we can begin buying Marine Personnel Carriers.  That means that the MPC will come online in 2035.

We're all being fed bullshit and we don't have defense reporters that are smart enough to realize exactly how crazy that timeline is.

You're talking about a longer development cycle for the ACV than you had for the EFV!

Let me give you the real news here.  The MPC is just a dream.  It won't make it to service. A 2030 timeframe for it to enter production?  Planning that far out never comes to fruition.  We don't even need to talk about that vehicle anymore.  ACV?  Ditto.  They can run numbers and do all the busy work but real is real.  If you're talking about it hitting the fleet in 2030 then you might as well believe in the tooth fairy.

We really only have two legit vehicle programs.  JLTV and the AAV upgrade.  Remember.  You heard it here first.

Know your enemy and a website you have to see.

China.

They're becoming the big bully on the block and they know it.  How are they responding?  They're getting their public relations act together.  I didn't even realize it existed but the Peoples Republic of China, Ministry of National Defense has an english website.  Its a must see and you can check it out here.

Osprey Stack

Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys with Marine Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 161, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), fly over the Arabian Sea Sept. 6, 2012. VMM-161 was transferring their aircraft to VMM-261, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, U.S.S. Iwo Jima.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Keonaona C. Paulo)

31st MEU executes complex raid during integration training